BusinessMirror October 05, 2019

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FARMING CAN BE FUN www.businessmirror.com.ph

SIRAO Flower Garden, Cebu’s “Mini Holland”

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Saturday, October 5, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 360

P25.00 nationwide | 24 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo | Special to the BusinessMirror

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HERE’S more to farm tourism than just bringing a bunch of tourists to any farm and allowing the guests to participate in the harvesting of produce onsite.

In a recent Farm Tourism Summit hosted by the Department of Tourism (DOT), Rajah Tours President Jose C. Clemente III outlined ways for participants to promote and market their farms. “Find out what makes your agri-tourism site unique,” he advised. “This could be the crops you produce, the history or cultural significance of your area (e.g., festivals), supporting activities, and education opportunities.” For instance, lanzones farms in Camiguin can capitalize on their province’s annual Lanzones Festival.

To make farm tours work, however, proponents must have vital facilities and services in place, he underscored, such as “knowledgeable guides/facilitators, accommodations onsite or near the farm, dining/product sampling and other non-farm activities, restrooms, and souvenirs.”

Clemente added, the farm also needs to be accessible to potential guests. “Is it easy to get to?” he asked. “Are their main areas or other farms nearby?” The farm owners also need to determine how many visitors they can accommodate at any one time, so the place doesn’t get too crowded that guests will have difficulty moving around or

hearing the explanations of the tour guides about the farm.

He cited some examples like the Hijo Resort in Davao, which is within a banana plantation, but has beachside accommodations onsite.

Clemente said maintenance of the farm tourism site is important and the facilities need to be clean and its service continuously upgraded.

Among the many challenges for farm tourism is the marketing of the destination. “Farms need to have their profiles raised to become viable,” Clemente, a veteran of selling missions abroad, said.

“This will create the image and the demand for the farms and sites,” he added. “They need to get the word out to possible visitors,” that the farms exist and ready for visits. He pointed to the Napa Valley wine tours as an example of popular and profitable farm tours.

The DOT has accredited 174 farm tourism sites across the country, 31 of which are in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) area or Region IV-A. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat expects the number of accredited farms to continue to increase as the demand for “low-impact tourism” rises with the comple-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.9500

ALHIBÉ Farm in Carmen, Cebu

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

The PHL is seen reaping benefits from farm tourism, with the DOT accrediting 174 farm tourism sites across the country, as the demand for “low-impact tourism” rises and the watchwords sustainable tourism and inclusive development become more than just tokenisms. tion of the Farm Tourism Strategic Action Plan (FTSAP) this year.

She cited farm tourism as a catalyst for sustainable tourism and inclusive development, now all the more strengthened with the release of the Implementing Rules

and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10816 titled “Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016.”

In her keynote address during the recent Farm Tourism Summit, the DOT chief stressed the pivotal role of farm tourism, a priority un-

der her administration. “We at the DOT are looking forward for Farm Tourism to serve as a catalyst for greater sustainability; we know that we can now pursue it properly, guided by the IRR. Farm Tourism holds the promise of food sufficien-

cy and additional income for our tourism stakeholders, including farmers, farm workers and fisherfolk. After all, gainful employment, enhanced productivity and sustainable livelihoods are what tourism is really all about,” she said.

The Farm Tourism Development Act, coauthored by Sen. Cynthia A. Villar and AAMBIS-OWA Rep. Sharon S. Garin, provides the policy and enabling environment for the encouragement, development and promotion of farm tourism in the country. It also recognizes the importance of agriculture in making available food and other products necessary to sustain and enhance human life, and in providing livelihood to a major portion of the population.

“Farm Tourism capitalizes on two of our competitive advantages: agriculture, as 41.7 percent of the total land area in the country is devoted to farming (as of 2016 according to the World Bank), employing 23.5 percent of the Filipino workforce (as of July 2019), and the world-renowned Filipino brand of hospitality that brought in 7.1 million foreign visitors to the country last year,” Romulo Puyat stressed.

This year, the Farm Tourism Development Board will be fully established with the appointment of private-sector representatives.

A National Farm Tourism Association will likewise be organized to unify farm tourism establishment efforts in addressing issues and to facilitate implementation of the FTSAP. Farm Tourism summits will also be held in the Visayas and Mindanao, the location of majority of farm tourism sites.

n JAPAN 0.4860 n UK 64.0595 n HK 6.6255 n CHINA 7.2938 n SINGAPORE 37.6258 n AUSTRALIA 35.0195 n EU 56.9788 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.8500

Source: BSP (October 4, 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Saturday, October 5, 2019

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Cebu City to host farm tourism confab

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HE Queen City of the South takes center stage once more as the country’s leading farm tourism practitioners and stakeholders gather for the 6th Farm Tourism Conference at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, Cebu City, from November 6 to 8.

Themed “Building Community Relationship for Sustainable Development of Farm Tourism,” the event is hosted by the City Government of Cebu, and is co-organized by the International School of Sustainable Tourism (ISST) and the Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialists Inc. (Catos), with the support of the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

To deliver keynote messages are former President and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, DA Secretary William Dar, and Sen. Cynthia Villar, author of the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016.

According to ISST president and event director Mina Gabor, the conference will focus on the unique fusion of farming and tourism that helps empower local communities, provides diversified income for farmers, and encourages sustainable practices for food security.

“Farm tourism attracts visitors and travelers to farm areas, generally for educational and recreational purposes that encourage economic activity to provide farm and community income. It is one of the country’s sunshine industries which can be developed because of the agricultural nature of the economy,” she said.

Resource persons include Asean Center for Biodiversity executive director Theresa Mundita Lim, Board of Landscape Architecture chairman Paolo Alcazaren, Arslan SRS Philippines chief executive officer Augustus Caesar Esmeralda, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture director Gil Saguiguit Jr., Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez, DownToEarth Farm Shop and Café president Nicolo Aberasturi, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Eduardo Gongona.

Meanwhile, Bolo Aloguinsan Ecotourism Association vice president Jomelyn delos Reyes and Cebu

ADLAWON Vacation Farm

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Pacific director for corporate communications Charo Lagamon will talk on the importance of publicprivate partnership Moreover, success stories in Asia will be shared by India’s Agri Tourism Development Company managing director Pandurang Taware, and Charinee Chaiyochlarb of Mini Murrah Farm in Thailand.

Gabor said the event will ac-

cord the Lakbay Bukid Award or Farm Tourism Award to the country’s foremost farm tourism pioneers, practitioners, institutions and groups who have contributed significantly to the development of the industry. Now on its third year, the award has been opened to Asian farm tourism establishments, the first of its kind in the continent.

Groups, individuals and diplomatic missions may submit their nominations until October 18.

The three-day event will also have an exhibition area for fresh and locally grown agricultural produce, and a site visit on the leading farm tourism spots, namely, Sirao Flower Farm, Jaime Chua’s Orchid Farm and Adlawon Vacation Farm.

Are Russia and Saudi Arabia still pumping too much oil?

By Dina Khrennikova & Olga Tanas Bloomberg News

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HIS year, the oil market has faced some of the worst supply disruptions in recent times and yet prices remain stuck in the $60s.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties’ (Opec) oil production tumbled the most in 16 years last month after the worst-ever attack on Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure temporarily halved its output. Earlier in the summer, Russia’s Druzhba contamination crisis forced it to make sharp output cuts and US financial sanctions on Iran remain in force.

And yet, Brent crude has averaged around $66 a barrel for most of 2019, far from a price which suggests the world faces an oil shortage. As Russian energy minister Alexander Novak and his newly appointed Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman meet on Wednesday at a conference in Moscow, the world “Minister Novak and Prince Abdulaziz recognize…face considerable peril next year” as prices may continue their slide, said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group.

“Oil-demand growth is hitting the skids as macroeconomic, trade and political risk drivers continue to intensify, from Brexit to impeachment through Persian Gulf conflict risk and the US-China trade war,” he said.

Oil has just ended its worst quarter since late last year on demand risks, putting pressure on Saudi Arabia, which is heavily dependent on petrodollars and aims to

start the initial public offering for its state crude giant Saudi Aramco this month. For Russia’s surplus-running budget, weaker oil is less of a problem yet the country will need full coffers as it plans to increase spending in the next three years to revive its sluggish economy.

Novak said on Wednesday uncertainty over global crude demand and price volatility are making it difficult to forecast how the oil market will behave this winter in the northern hemisphere.

Market reassurance

MEETING at Russian Energy Week, both countries’ energy ministers will likely focus on reassuring the market that the Saudi attacks have left global supply unscathed. They may also advocate for continued production cuts from the Opec and its allies, Joe McMonigle, senior energy advisor at Hedgeye Risk Management Llc., said.

“I think they will want to plow ahead of keeping Opec+ cuts in place and will start using concerns about the global economy and trade war to stay the course,” McMonigle said. “This gives an opportunity to provide some lift to prices, especially with the pending Aramco IPO.” To be sure, Novak and Prince Abdulaziz will be careful when outlining the future of the cuts. As history has shown, “it’s a prerogative of leaders to take such decisions on strategic partnership,” said Ildar Davletshin, London-based energy analyst at Wood & Co.

In September, Russia’s average daily oil output still exceeded its Opec+ target even after producers made deeper cuts from a month

earlier. The country pumped about 11.25 million barrels of crude and condensate last month, according to government data, meaning Russia produced 60,000 barrels a day more than its Opec+ cap. Novak said on Wednesday that Russia was “aiming to comply” with the Opec+ deal in October.

It was Russian President Vladimir Putin who announced the most recent extension to Opec+ production cuts in late June after meeting the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Japan. His statement, made just two days before Opec+ officially gathered to discuss future cooperation on output curbs, showed it was decisions made by Russia and Saudi which drove action across the whole group.

Putin is also making a keynote speech at the conference, although he’s unlikely to reveal whether Russia intends to commit to further cuts before the extension deadline, in March 2020. Putin said in June that oil at $60-$65 a barrel suits Russia “just fine.”

Whatever efforts Russia and Saudi Arabia may make this week to reassure that they can balance the oil market, they may have to redouble them by the end of the year.

“When we get to December, the outlook for 2020 will seem more oversupplied than it does today,” McNally said. By then, the question will be “less whether Moscow and Riyadh will signal unity and resolve to keep a floor under oil prices next year, but instead whether their signaling and supply policies will be sufficient to keep pace with fast-shifting fundamentals.”

Teacher's Day Feature

A3 Saturday, October 5, 2019

Teachers recognized, received incentives on World Teachers‘ Day O

By Leony R. Garcia

NE book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.” –Malala Yousafzai

Famous Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai was right. With a book and a pen for a child and one teacher to guide him/ her, the world’s gonna change for the better.

Malala herself experienced this. She defied the Taliban terrorist as a young girl of 11 in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. For her activism, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, but survived and went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

The youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate –awarded The Nobel Peace Prize 2014 jointly with Kailash Satyarthi 'for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education' – Malala continues her campaign today through Malala Fund investing in education programs in developing countries to help girls go to school and reach their full potential.

On World Teacher's Day, Malala’s work and advocacy for education definitely comes to mind.

And while the teacher's duty is primarily to

guide the students to learning and unlocking potentials for them, teacher's go a long way doing extra duties. They even partner with groups and institutions advocating further learning for the young generation even beyond the four walls of the classroom.

For one, the public-school teachers through the Department of Education (DepEd) in partnership with BDO Foundation and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) are the "main implementors" of the Financial Literacy Program for School. Launched in May 2018, the program comes in videos and various teaching aids. As many as 24 million students and 700,000 teachers are expected to benefit from the program which is BDO Foundation’s flagship corporate citizenship initiative under its financial inclusion advocacy.

To date, the program has deployed the financial literacy videos to more than 47,000 public schools nationwide while lesson guides have been uploaded on the DepEd learning materials portal for teachers to access.

The Philippines is one country that puts premium on education. That's why the

government implement various efforts to honor the hard work and commitment of the teachers.

In celebration of World Teachers’ Day, the Senate of the Philippines, salutes them and all the educators of the world for their unwavering commitment and dedication to this noble profession.

Under Senate Resolution 155, teachers were commended for playing “a vital and indispensable role in shaping the minds of the youth, preparing and arming them with the skills and knowledge they need in order to be upstanding members of society.”

Further, the upper chamber underscored its commitment to uphold the interest and welfare of teachers in the country. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the Senate will work hard to institutionalize pay increase of basic education teachers in the 18th Congress.

Over at the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker and Pangasinan Rep. Rose Marie Arenas proposed to declare October 5, World Teachers’ Day, as a non-working day for public and private school teachers through House Resolution 152. Citing the need to recognize the contributions and strategic role of Filipino teachers in nation-building, she said: “Teachers cannot celebrate World Teachers’ Day in the same way as the working people celebrate Labor Day on May 1 because October 5 is a working day.”

She emphasized the typical day of basic education teachers, in particular, in the public sector “as characterized by waking up early after late night preparations, commuting, trekking, and long hours of walk in the case of teachers in

far-flung areas, teaching often times big number of students in a crowded classroom and equally challenging teaching environment, doing daily lesson log, detailed lesson planning, and rigid document-centered new performance system not to mention class observations and other administrative work.”

Over at Makati City, classes in all public elementary, secondary and tertiary schools were suspended on Friday, October 4, in celebration of World Teachers’ Day. In an executive order, Mayor Abby Binay addressed all concerned departments, agencies, instrumentalities of the local government of Makati to actively participate and support activities and programs for the celebration thereof “to revitalize the image of teaching as vocation by increasing public awareness on the value of teachers in Philippine society and national development.”

Meanwhile, Assistant Minority Leader and ACT Teachers France Castro urged Congress to ensure funding for the Annual Medical Examination and Treatment in the 2020 budget, saying this is a benefit provided in the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and should not be combined with the Universal Health Care that teachers contribute through the PhilHealth.

“Since the enactment of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers in 1966, the provision that mandates government to provide for the annual medical examination of public school teachers remained unfunded,” she said.

Section 22 of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, entitled ‘Medical Examination and Treatment’ provides that

public-school teachers should undergo free compulsory medical examination before employment and should undergo free medical check- up at least once a year. DepEd is also mandated by the same provision to provide free medical treatment and/or hospitalization.

Further, as a show of gratitude for the hard work and commitment to develop and nurture the country’s future leaders and nation builders, the DepEd has granted the World Teachers’ Day Incentive Benefit (WTDIB) to all public-school teachers, who are in service at the department as of September 30, 2019.

The WTDIB, in the amount of P1,000, were given to each entitled public-school teacher on or earlier than October 5.

The incentive was made possible through the DepEd Special Provision 12 under Republic Act 11260 (General Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2019).

As of last April, there are 847,000 teaching positions at DepEd. Of this number, 806,000 teaching positions have been filled.

By 2020, DepEd expects that “there will be about 900,000 teachers” in public schools with the creation of additional 10,000 teaching positions as cited in the proposed budget of the agency for 2020.

In the Philippines, the celebration of the National Teachers’ Month is officially celebrated from September 5 to October 5.

National Teachers’ Day is officially on October 5 based on the Presidential Proclamation 242 (s. 2011) and Republic Act 10743 (s. 2016).

October 5 was declared World Teachers’ Day by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Why Teachers can be ideal Financial Educators

FROM LEFT: BDO Foundation President Mario Deriquito, Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy Managing Director Pia Roman-Tayag.

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OOKING back, you might remember a teacher who made a lasting impact on your life, someone who shaped your future for the better and whose influence remains a guiding light in your heart and mind. Who would that be?

In the case of blogger and financial planning expert Fitz Villafuerte, that teacher is truly someone he’ll never forget. She was none other than his own mom.

As an elementary public school teacher, his mom taught all subjects to her advisory class.

Still, there was a subject that she taught young Fitz, through patient advice and example, that many, if not most Filipinos, have had no chance to learn--proper money management or personal finance.

Little-known subject

No one is born with the proper knowledge of how to spend money wisely. Most Filipino parents themselves were not formally taught, as they were growing up, how to spend based on a budget--or for that matter, how to properly use savings, investments, and insurance to secure one’s financial freedom and even build wealth.

As a consequence, study after study conducted on Filipinos show the same results:

Many Filipinos end up with huge debts, many don’t have bank accounts, many don’t have insurance, and only a rare few are able to invest.

Putting all of that together, it looks like many of us are setting ourselves up for a financially difficult life, especially when we reach our retirement years. And what about our family members? How will they cope with financial difficulties if they never learned personal finance as well?

According to Fitz, the financial management lessons that his mom taught him were really basic. Yet, these laid the foundation for him to find success later in life.

“Because I learned the importance of saving at such a young age, I likewise became familiar with the concept of delayed gratification early in my life. This concept would turn out to be a powerful mindset, which developed into grit, patience, and persistence. And having these traits helped me attain a lot of goals in life,” said Fitz.

Fitz’ experience also underscores the importance of getting financial education early in life. The earlier a child learns it, the sooner he will reap the benefits of proper spending and saving.

“My mother handled the money in our family, and she would often do her budgeting while taking care of me. I still remember her writing our household expenses in a notebook, all the while talking to me about the value of saving money and the concept of needs versus wants.”

“I also remember her getting me an illustrated children’s book, The Ant and The Grasshopper. It’s one of Aesop’s fables, which taught me about the importance of preparing for rainy days.”

expands financial inclusion and boosts the country’s economy,” Mr. Deriquito said.

Among the financial education materials produced for teachers are videos, which discuss the ideal attitudes and traits they should have when it comes to handling finances.

One particular video produced for teachers is “Save to Have a Million: Teacher’s Edition.” It uses a game show format to orient teachers on saving, wise spending, and investing.

There’s also “Scamatayan,” a play on the Tagalog word kamatayan. The horror-comedy video gives pointers on what teachers should look out for to avoid scams and other dubious schemes that could drain their hard-earned money.

Empowered, teachers are able to impart more knowledge on proper money management to their students through the Financial Literacy Learning Tools, which were made available earlier this year.

Under this partnership program of BDO Foundation, DepEd, and BSP, these materials are being made available to DepEd for use in its various training programs for teachers and nonteaching personnel. The goal is to reach DepEd’s more than 800,000 teachers, who would then pass on the lessons to some 24 million students in around 47,000 public elementary and high schools nationwide. The videos, together with the discussion and lesson guides, are available in the DepEd learning portal and are disseminated nationwide through DepEd Memoranda 32 and 107, series of 2019.

For someone who has experienced a

Paying it forward

As a financial planner who helps people manage their money, Fitz said financial education has become a personal advocacy for him. In a way, his life now is an expression of his mother’s two-fold legacy to him as a son: teaching and proper money management.

Fitz’s experience of being educated on financial matters at a young age is what BDO Foundation is aiming to replicate.

BDO Foundation president Mario A. Deriquito said they are working with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to provide training as well as learning and teaching materials to public school teachers, so they are equipped to teach financial education lessons to their students.

“BSP is right in making financial inclusion a priority. Financial education not only helps Filipinos manage their finances better but also

Fitz Villafuerte and his mom, Rosalinda Villafuerte.

teacher’s (and a mother’s) brand of loving care like Fitz, BDO Foundation’s financial education programs help plant the seeds of proper financial management to younger generations of Filipinos.

“BDO Foundation’s efforts are commendable because these programs will definitely help teachers avoid financial stress. When our teachers achieve financial independence, they’ll have more time and energy to focus on their vocation,” Fitz said.

Having been mothered, taught, and raised by a public school teacher, Fitz, of course, has so much respect for teachers. His reflection on their role in society rings true in our hearts this National Teachers’ Month. “[Teachers are] the first influencers of young minds. And teaching is more than just imparting knowledge. It also inspires change. In the Philippines, where there’s still a lot of room for growth and progress, we need teachers to spark that change and create a society that’s inspired, motivated, and dedicated to make our country better.”

“Without teachers, we wouldn’t be who are today. Without teachers, our country wouldn’t be what it is now. So, if we want our fellow Filipinos to become more financially responsible, we start with our teachers,” Mr. Deriquito said for his part.

So with that, why don’t we send our favorite teacher some flowers, chocolates, or even a special, heartfelt message over e-mail or chat? He or she surely deserves our gratitude and appreciation. Happy Teachers’ Month, Ma’am! Sir!

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

A4 Saturday, October 5, 2019

Demand for choco confectionery in Russia ‘robust’

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ALES of chocolate confectionery have been strong in Russia with the rise of imports and recovering economy driving growth.

The Euromonitor Digest released by the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau said the supply of chocolate confectionery is benefiting from many imported brands returning to Russia and the increase in local production.

There was a drop in the supply of imported brands in 2015 and 2016, which prompted a rise in domestic production, following the introduction of European Union and the United States sanctions.

“While domestic brands typically cater to the mass market, imported brands also cater to demand for premium chocolate confectionery,” it said.

The report said retail volume growth was, however, slower in 2019 compared to the previous year, which was partly due to an increase in value-added tax and the resulting price hikes.

It noted consumers are expected to focus on quality over quantity, which should benefit value sales but could act as a drag on volume sales.

Tablets was the second-largest category in chocolate confectionery in current value terms in 2019 and is projected to become the largest category over the next few years, overtaking chocolate pouches and bags.

While being smaller categories, seasonal chocolate and boxed assortments both saw strong growth in current value terms in 2019. These products are often given as gifts, or are consumed for special occasions.

“As a result, they have benefited from Russia’s improving economy with consumers showing a greater willingness to spend out on gifting.

Seasonal chocolate saw particularly strong growth in 2019, albeit from a relatively low base,” the Euromonitor Digest further said.

The report added this category is benefiting from new product development with local and international brands focused on pushing seasonal sales with attractive packaging.

5,000 MT of premium rice ready for export to Papua New Guinea

By Manuel T. Cayon

Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—Mindanao rice farmers would be testing a new export deal sealed by the Philippines with Papua New Guinea (PNG) early this month, with an initial shipment of 5,000 metric tons (MT) of premium and organic rice.

The initial shipment would be out as soon after export documents are completed, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) said.

The shipment to PNG’s capital city of Port Moresby would consist of the

best quality rice produced in Mindanao, including RC 160, 7-tonner, Banaybanay, Dinorado and Organic Rice, the MinDA said.

The shipment was the initial commitment from the Philippine side, after both parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the rice farmers’ groups of Mindanao, represented by the MinDA Chairman, Secretary Manny Piñol, and PNG’s Central Province Gov. Robert Agarobe.

The agreement was signed early this month in Port Moresby.

PNG Prime Minister James Mar-

ape and Philippine Ambassador to PNG Bienvenido Tejano witnessed the signing.

PNG imports an estimated 400,000 metric tons of rice every year from Australia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Marape, however, said there is a niche market for good eating quality rice in the country.

Under the agreement, the Central Province Government, through its Economic Enterprise Office, would import the Mindanao rice to be distributed in the province and other areas of the country, the MinDA said.

Rice prices in PNG range from K3.50 to K5 per kilo. The conversion rate of kina to peso is P14. Premium rice, however, commands a higher price in PNG. Gov. Agarobe and East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, who are among the ardent supporters of the agricultural engagement between PNG and the Philippines, assured that PNG rice consumers “are willing to pay a premium price for good eating quality rice.”

The export of Mindanao’s premium rice to PNG would also assure Mindanao rice farmers of a fair price

for their produce, the MinDA added.

The MinDA said the Philippine engagement with PNG started in December 2017 after a meeting between President Duterte and then- PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neil in Danang, Vietnam. In that meeting, MinDa said, Duterte instructed then-Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to forge an agriculture cooperation agreement with PNG which was signed in 2018.

The Philippines assisted the PNG through the private sector in establishing a rice demo farm in PNG.

Philippines set to resume export ‘Export outlook remains weak’ of poultry products to S. Korea T

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OREA is set to conduct an onsite inspection and accreditation of new poultry manufacturing facilities in the Philippines following the resumption of chicken exports to South Korea.

This was announced on Monday during a meeting between Agriculture Secretary William Dar and the official delegation from the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The accreditation comes more than two months after the lifting of the ban on the import of poultry and pet birds from the Philippines on July 4, 2019. It will also pave way to the resumption of the market access of Philippine duck meat and poultry eggs to Korea.

Dar expressed his gratitude to the Korean government for lifting the suspension of Philippine chicken meat to Korea and wished for the earliest dispatch of the onsite inspection team.

“We are hoping to increase the volume of export of poultry products to South Korea,” he said Wednesday in a news statement.

To facilitate the exports of Philippine chicken to Seoul, the South

Korean government will dispatch its audit team to the Philippines to conduct onsite inspection of three new Philippine poultry manufacturing facilities that confirmed readiness for inspection and interest to apply accreditation for chicken meat exports to Korea this year.

With the assistance from the National Meat Inspection Service and the Bureau of Animal Industry,

Korea is set to inspect the facilities in Davao City, Batangas and La Union.

Korea’s chicken imports in 2018 reached 140,000 metric tons. It is projected to increase to 145,000 MT this year due to continuous increase in the demand for processed chicken products and the cheaper price for imports compared to domestic chicken.

HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the outlook for Philippine exports remains weak amid lackluster economic prospects in major trade partners, but imports can pickup speed driven by continued strength in domestic consumption and a recovery in investment.

In an update of its flagship annual economic publication, Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019, ADB particularly cited trading partners of the country, including Japan, which accounts for 15 percent of exports; and the European Union, which accounts for 12 percent.

“As exports remain sluggish, imports of raw materials and of parts and components used mainly to manufacture exports should remain subdued, too,” the Manila-based multilateral bank said.

However, the bank noted that imports of both consumer and capital goods could be accelerated by continued strength in domestic consumption and a recovery in investment.

“Strength in net service exports and remittances from overseas workers should continue to cushion the trade deficit somewhat. The current account deficit is expected to be narrower than foreseen earlier, equal to 1.7 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] in 2019 and 2.0

percent in 2020,” it added.

ADB slightly reduced its economic growth forecast for the Philippines this and next year amid the slowdown in domestic investment in the first half of 2019 mainly caused by the delayed passage of the 2019 national budget, which held back public expenditure, particularly on infrastructure.

Its forecast for Philippine GDP growth is now 6 percent in 2019 and 6.2 percent in 2020, against the previous forecast of 6.4 percent for both years.

The bank revised down economic forecasts for Southeast Asian countries from 4.9 percent to 4.5 percent for this year, and from 5 percent to 4.7 percent for next year.

“With escalation in the US-PRC [United States-People’s Republic of China] trade conflict, weakening global activity and trade, and a downturn in the electronics cycle, a significant export slowdown in the first half of the year hit the whole subregion except Cambodia,” it said.

The multilateral bank added softening domestic investment exacerbated export woes in most larger sub-region economies, including the Philippines, but domestic consumption held up well to cushion the slowdown.

Export quality local products top list of Duty Free Cebu’s bestsellers

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UTY Free Philippines, the country’s sole operator of the duty- and tax-free merchandising system, announced that Cebu province’s best local products topped in terms of sales at the DFP store inside Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).

DFP Chief Operating Officer Vicente Pelagio Angala said based on the sales performance from January to August 2019, local products have become the best seller, marking 25.97-percent share in the total sales of the International Departure of MCIA Terminal 2.

Meanwhile, the consistent best sellers, liquor and skin-care products ranked second and third, respectively.

Angala said DFP seeks to feature more of the region’s best local products in response to the growing number of foreign tourists visiting Cebu.

“DFP Mactan is the new shopping haven for Cebu’s famous local pasalubong where tourists can bring home a piece of the Philippines to their home country as souvenirs,” he said.

“It is the perfect venue to showcase the region’s ingenuity, creativity and artistry,” he added.

DFP Mactan was inaugurated in August 2018 and has an area of about 1,200 square meters, both in the predeparture and arrival areas.

The store is also offering a “shopnow-pickup-later” mode for international travelers who have confirmed a departure ticket to the Philippines

within 30 calendar days.

The Travelite Program allows travelers to purchase items before their departure time, and to claim the items upon their return to the country. The shopping mode also offers customers a 7-percent discount on selected items. PNA

www.businessmirror.com.ph

OurTime BusinessMirror

Sen. Pimentel: Eight million senior citizens will benefit from NCGHRI

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EN. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III visited the National Center for Geriatric Health and disclosed his plans to convert the center into a National Center for Geriatric Health and Research Institute (NCGHRI).

In line of his advocacy to ensure senior citizens receive appropriate care, the senator from Cagayan de Oro filed Senate Bill 100 otherwise known as the “National Center For Geriatric Health And Research Institute,” a bill that will provide a full range of health-care services, including primary care, wellness services and behavioral health care to the country’s elderly population.

“Gawin na natin na magkaroon na

tayo ng ’di lang Geriatric Institute, pero sana National Geriatric Hospital para sa ating mga senior citizens.

Meron tayong National Children’s Hospital, dapat meron din para sa matatanda,” Pimentel said.

In 2018, the country’s senior citizen population increased to 8.013 million or 8.2 percent of the total population.

“The National Geriatric Health and Research Institute will ensure the availability and accessibility of

I

joy life and the fruits of their labors as retirees,” she said.

Among those that were discussed during the program are physical exercises, activities and food essential for maintaining the health of the aged.

Participating elders were asked about their daily activities and food intake.

De Guzman said elders in the region entertain themselves through joining church organization, groups and playing socialrecreational games.

“It is good that they have these activities because we want them to become productive,” she said.

Some kept their lives busy by playing mahjong, but de Guzman reminded them not to forget to allot time for physical activities.

She said a 10-minute walk can help the elderly become more active and healthier.

Concerning food intake, she said it is important that the elderly take in

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

I SEN. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III delivers his message at the National Center for Geriatric Health

medical services for the elderly. They [senior citizens] have served and contributed their talent and time to the society during the prime of their life. We owe this to our senior citizens. Hindi natin sila papabayaan,” Pimentel added.

Senator Pimentel also expressed his support in the education and training of physicians, nurses, health officers, social workers and other medical personnel in the implementation of health services to the elderly.

less salt, sugar and oily foods.

“They should also drink more water for the maintenance of good health and for them to cleanse. It is very important that everyday, they have regular bowel movement,” she said.

The health department also told the aged to avoid self-medication and to consult their doctor when feeling unwell.

Most of the diseases and health conditions that the elderly suffer in the region are hypertension, diabetes and body aches.

The elders were also updated on the services offered by the DOH 6 to assist them with their maintenance medicines.

“For those who may be diagnosed with hypertension, or with diabetes, we have free medicine accessed at health centers. For them to access the medicines, they have to be registered for their maintenance and they have to consult every three

months for the management of their diabetes and hypertension,” she said.

De Guzman said it is also important for them to visit their dentist regularly as oral health is also part of the concern of the health department.

Maintaining healthy teeth and gums can help the elderly in their digestion process, which is important as they take in the food they need.

Engr. Rodrigo Naval, president and chairman of Iloilo City Federation of Senior Citizens Associations of the Philippines, said he appreciated the effort of the government to gather the elderly and emphasize the importance of keeping healthy and productive lifestyle.

“It is good that we have people here from the government. This is much appreciated and it makes us feel that we are recognized in the little things that we do,” he said. PNA

Lack of toothbrushing for seniors in nursing homes may sound gross, but it’s a serious health risk

By Frank Scannapieco

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LDERLY people in nursing homes often go without a good toothbrushing.

While it might be icky to imagine the horrible way that feels to the oldsters, there are consequences worse than grossness. The mouth and other parts of the oral cavity are a gateway into the body, allowing bacteria inside our bodies that can cause serious disease.

This lack of basic care is big issue for seniors in nursing homes, who number about 1.3 million. It is an example of serious challenges that these facilities face in keeping people healthy. One recent study published in Special Care in Dentistry in 2017 found that only 10.3 percent of patients admitted to a nursing home over a five-year period utilized dental services within the home at least once during their stay.

A recent investigation by The New York Times into a fatal fungus in nursing homes highlighted one specific difficulty of patients in nursing homes, bringing their plight to the forefront. Even so, it’s not exactly captured the attention of the presidential candidates.

I am a dentist and periodontist also trained in microbiology. About 30 years ago, I began to investigate how bacteria in the mouth could affect overall health. My colleagues and I determined, for example, that

bacteria that cause pneumonia, likely, stick to teeth first before being aspirated, or inhaled, into the lungs, especially in vulnerable patients, such as those who are intubated in intensive care units or who reside in nursing homes.

In one study, we found that the bacteria cultured from the lungs of hospitalized patients with diagnosed pneumonia were identical to those cultured from the teeth of the same patients.

No one’s ideal residence

THERE is good documentation that oral hygiene in hospitalized and nursing home patients is often overlooked, deficient and sometimes ignored. The lack of care, including toothbrushing, has been ignored for years, in part because basic Medicare does not cover dental care.

Thousands of people a day who are in nursing homes often go without their teeth being brushed. The bacteria that arise as a result of the poor care often are resistant to antibiotics, and contribute to infections that are commonly found

The lighter side of senior life

By Nick Tayag

DOH 6 says govt is looking after welfare of elderly

LOILO CITY—The Department of Health-Centers for Health Development (DOH-CHD) in Western Visayas (Region 6) has assured that the government is looking after the health and wellness of the elderly sector.

Around 300 senior citizens gathered at SM City, in this city’s Mandurriao district for the celebration of the Elderly Filipino Week on Tuesday.

Revolving around the theme “Healthy and productive aging starts with me,” the DOH 6 has guided the elderly on how to live a healthy and fit lifestyle.

Cristina de Guzman, DOH 6 regional program coordinator for health and wellness, said the elderly sector is also given health priority programs of the government.

“We are grateful for them because they have done a lot for this country. We cannot afford that our elders are sick. We want them to en-

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, October 5, 2019 A5

in these places.

And, there is considerable evidence and general agreement that microbes that cause pneumonia in health-care facilities can enter the lungs through the mouth to cause severe lung infections.

This problem will certainly worsen as the population ages and more people will require nursing home care.

Oral biofilms and pneumonia

ONE of the best-documented connections between the oral cavity, which includes the teeth, tongue and gums, and overall health is pneumonia. A substantial body of evidence suggests that attention to oral hygiene can reduce the risk for pneumonia. This is especially well-documented in the case of hospital- and nursing home-acquired pneumonia, both common forms of pneumonia that kill many people and have a large economic impact.

Bacteria first make a home in the mouth and then can be aspirated, or inhaled, into the lungs to cause serious infections.

The bacteria that normally reside in the mouth grow as dental plaque, a biofilm that firmly attaches to teeth and oral surfaces, such as the tongue. Dental plaque is difficult to remove, and the bacteria within them are more resistant to antimicrobial rinses.

While toothbrushing and flossing help, the best way to remove biofilm like dental plaque is for a professional, such as a dentist or hygienist to remove it with sharp instruments or ultrasonic scalers. This mostly does not happen since payment for such services are mostly not covered by medical insurance. Various interventions have been explored and show promise, including nurse-assisted toothbrushing, oral rinses such as chlorhexidine and betadine and topical antibiotics.

For toothbrushing and flossing to work, they must be performed meticulously several times a day.

Older patients are often too sick to do this themselves, or they may not do it well enough. While nurses and nursing aids can perform this task, they are often overwhelmed doing other things, and they themselves may not be sufficiently practiced to this task well. Performing effective oral hygiene is quite difficult and time consuming. It is also often unpleasant due to the fact that oral biofilms often produce unpleasant odors, and may contain food debris.

ONCE had an idea for a TV show that would be a senior counterpart to the Kulit Bulilit type of laff in. I pitched the idea to some producers but everyone politely declined the idea.

I said 10 million captive seniors would love it. No dice. I persisted: everyone in the household would tune in. Still no dice.

Seriously, why not? Sure, senior life is all about aches, pains, pills, problem knees, and all that. Each passing year brings a few more wrinkles, creaks and groans. But there’s another way of looking at it. If you ask me, getting older also brings the funny.

Ecclesiastes says there’s a time for everything. A time to sow, a time to reap. Being 60 or 70 is a time to laugh. After all, “I’ve paid my dues!” “I’ve raised my kids.”

“Now I want to have fun.” Aging should include a sense of humor!

Here are some of the vignettes I was thinking for that show.

The case of the memory booster I have a confrere who is of my age and in one of our periodic rendezvous at an old mami house in Quiapo, he couldn’t wait to talk about a new medicine that his neurologist prescribed for his frequent forgetfulness. “It really improves your memory and sharpens your thinking,” he gushed. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I said I will try it. When I asked the brand name of the medicine, he suddenly became silent, probably rummaging through his memory. He spent the next hour trying to recall the name, unable to relish the steaming hot noodle soup on our table.

Speaking of being forgetful, there’s this elderly couple having dinner at another couple’s house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went to the kitchen. The two husbands are talking, and one says, “Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly.”

The other man asked, “What is the name of the restaurant?”

The first man thinks and thinks and finally asks, “What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know...the one that’s red and has thorns.”

‘Do you mean a rose?’

“YES, that’s the one,” replied the man. He then turns toward the kitchen and yells, “Rose, what’s the name of that restaurant we went to last night?”

One time the wife goes shopping and asks the husband what he likes her to buy for him. The husband mentions a couple of items and tells the wife to write it down. Wife insists no need, she would remember them. When she comes back, the husband asks if she bought the things he wanted her to buy and she says “I forgot.” She asks, why what did you want me to buy. Husband looks at her with a vacant stare. “Oh, I forgot.”

Never too old

IN our group of seniors, there’s one who has a child who is still in the elementary and we were wondering how he managed to sire a child at this late stage. It turned out, the said son was born out of his indiscretion. But he assured us that he has made his peace with his wife and members of his family and the child has been accepted as part of the family. With a twinkle, he said: it was a “sperm of the moment.”

Hearing problem

THE housewife who lives next door has an acute hearing condition when it comes to the noise of her neighbors. When the dogs bark, she makes a case out of it, when the volume of the music is turned a little loud, expect her to knock on your door and confront you, with a voice turned to maximum volume.

But lo, when a bill collector or donation solicitor calls, she doesn’t seem to hear the loud knocking on her gate. She obviously suffers from a selective hearing condition.

You got a hit

A COMPOSER of well-loved songs was feted on his 84th birthday.

Invited was an up-coming new pianist-composer, who agreed to play impromptu some of his songs for the birthday honoree. After being applauded by the appreciative audience, the young hit maker sat down for dinner beside the old hit maker, who felicitously congratulated the younger composer and whispered: “Hey, I love your new songs. I think you got some hits there.” In the course of the evening, the highly flattered young man found out that the senile birthday celebrant was completely deaf.

God provides

BECAUSE of the difficult economy, a retired senior has a hard time juggling bill payments. At the end of the month he realizes that most of his pension goes to pay for his medicines and utility bills. Being a deeply religious man, he believes that God would take care of his financial needs. With admirable equanimity he tells us: When the debt collector comes knocking, all I have to do is to pray. And sure enough money comes just in time.

“Then, looking up with grateful eyes, he raises his two hands and proclaims: “Pays the Lord!”

Epitaph

TWO 70-year-old friends were talking about people they know fading out one by one. One of them suddenly said, “You know Mae West?” “Sure,” she was a Hollywood sex goddess. Why? She said something in one of her movies and promise me, when I die, and because I know I will go first, I want that to be my epitaph on my grave stone. “Why,” his curious friend asked, “what did she say?” He wrote it down on a piece of paper. Then he handed it over to his friend. “Here, promise me you’ll keep it and get it engraved.”

The note read: “Come up above and see me sometime.”

Fitness gym

LISTEN to a senior woman: “I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor’s permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour.

But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.” Getting older gives a whole new meaning to the rock and roll hit “twist and shout.”

Yes, with all the body aches, bouts of depression, and all that, there’s a funnysidetogrowingold.Sure,many times, it hurts when we laugh. But if wecan’tlaughatourselves,thenwe’ve learned nothing from experience.

Remember: You don’t stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing or being funny.

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Saturday, October 5, 2019 | Editor: Mike Besa

CALLAWAY MD5 JAWS WEDGES

CALLAWAY MD5 Jaws wedges

The most aggressive grooves in golf are back!

CALLAWAY MD5 Jaws wedge grinds

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T’S been almost a decade since Callaway introduced golf to the original X-Forged Jaws wedges. There is no other golf club in my (admittedly failing) memory bank that was possessed of a more appropriate name. The grooves on this thing were like sharper than anything I’d ever played. Perhaps, a little too sharp; these things shredded golf balls. It got to the point that I tried to avoid hitting full shots with any of my wedges as they rendered the golf ball nearly unplayable.

Today, thankfully, we now know this was a bad thing. Not only did it destroy perfectly good golf balls, but the shearing motion that bit into the ball and would shred the cover, actually cost us spin since the shearing led to the ball slipping while the grooves were tearing into the cover. It would have been more effective if the groove held the ball in place while in contact with the clubface.

Enter the new Callaway MD5 Jaws wedge.

The most salient features of the MD5 Jaws wedge are its grooves. The draft angle (where the clubface’s surface transitions to the groove) is much more acute than the grooves on the MD4. The new grooves meet the legal limits of the USGA and R&A but are on the edge. The grooves are also extremely hard to cut. Each

clubface takes 10 full minutes to complete and that doesn’t include the work to make the microgrooves. Initial prototypes suffered a 50-percent failure rate, with that many failing the USGA specifications.

Callaway’s solution was to change the cutting tool after every 15 wedges. Now that’s not as frequently as a few other manufacturers but more frequently than most but the net effect is the consistency of the new grooves and the promise that production tolerances remain as tight as possible from wedge to wedge.

The MD5 wedges also feature Callaway’s Groove-in-Groove Technology which saw production in the MD4 wedges. These aren’t grooves, per se, but more like micro-ridges that provide additional points of contact with the golf ball. All told, if anyone’s counting, that’s a total of 84 points of contact with the golf ball. It shouldn’t make a huge difference on good hits in dry conditions, but on damp fairways, they could make a huge difference.

The effect of the improved face design is 500 rpm more spin than the MD4 on a series of shots from 40 yards. Launch angle is down 1 degree, something that better players will appreciate.

Another change this year is that Callaway

has refined the shapes of the MD5. The 58- and 60-degree wedges are the same as before, but the lower lofted wedges are slightly more compact to mimic the shape of an iron. The smaller heads increase the club’s ability to flight the ball better on full swings. This also smooths the transition from the irons to the wedges, especially if you carry the 46- or 48-degree MD5 instead of the set’s pitching wedge.

The MD5 Jaws wedges now boast five different sole grinds; four were carried over from the MD4 with the new addition being a low bounce variation of the wide-soled W-grind. This grind features relief grinding on the heel of the wedge to facilitate opening up the face at address.

The other grinds weren’t just carried over, either. From the C-grind to the W (wide) sole wedges, everything has been tweaked. There is more heel relief across the board, allowing just a bit more versatility without compromising the grind’s intended function.

The skinny on the grinds is as follows: The C and X grinds both feature significant relief around the heel and toe of the wedge. The C works best for golfers with a shallow angle of attack or that play in firm conditions. The X-grind is appropriate for golfers that like to

play wedge shots with an open clubface but are steeper coming into the golf ball or play in softer conditions. The W high remains the high bounce option for golfers that play most of their shots with a square clubface and have a steep angle of attack or play in soft conditions.

The W low features the same wide sole as the W high but slimmed down somewhat with some heel relief and less bounce. It’s ideal for golfers that are shallow into the golf ball or that play in firm conditions. The S-grind is Callaway’s most versatile grind. It features a ribbon milled across the back end of the club and mild heel relief. Although it’s best played square to the target line, mild heel relief allows you a bit of creativity.

With wedges the adage is that, “bounce is your friend.” With the MD5 Jaws wedges, the gap between the lowest bounce offering and their highest bounce offering is a mere 4 degrees. Now, that isn’t as big a gap as other manufacturers offer and golfers that require more or less bounce will have to look elsewhere. But in initial testing, the wedges seem to work as needed. Only extended bag time will tell whether the grind designs can make up for any perceived deficiencies in the range of bounce available.

Callaway has made great strides with the quality and range of wedges that they offer. It might come as a shock to some, but Callaway is now the No. 2 wedge on Tour (Titleist’s Vokey wedges own the top spot by a large margin) displacing Cleveland Golf. That kind of demand from the best players in the world is endorsement enough of the quality of Callaway wedges.

Callaway has done everything right and little wrong with the MD5 Jaws wedges.

They have gone over every detail of the wedge, from grooves to grind, in an effort to make the best wedge that you can buy. From where we sit, they’ve hit their target.

If you’re interested in this or the other new releases from Callaway, head down to the Transview Philippines proshops in Solaire, Podium and at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club today. Mike Besa

TAKING MATTE CLUBS AND ASS TO MOVE GOLF A Written by Mike Besa Photos by Ricky Alegre

T the onset of the Duterte administration, the golf industry was filled with hope that golf tourism would finally get the much-needed support from the government that it so desperately needed. Wanda Tulfo was the appointed secretary of the Department of Tourism and Frederick (Ricky) Alegre, a colleague and avid golfer was appointed assistant secretary. As a result of Alegre’s passion for the game, the Asian Golf Tourism Convention was held in the country in April of 2018.

Golf tour operators from around the world made their way to the country in record numbers. The International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) let it be known that the convention at the Marriott Hotel in Resorts World Manila had the greatest number of tour operators in attendance, since the convention was initiated. Such was the interest within the international community for golf tourism in the country.

To millennials, golf might be a snooty old man’s game, but there was once a time that the

Leishman Lager is a winner—in more ways than one

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By Helen Ross

OT everyone can go in a restaurant and order a beer that bears your name—not to mention, one that you helped create.

Marc Leishman, a four-time Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour winner, can though.

Three years ago, the Aussie partnered with Back Bay Brewery to create Leishman Lager to serve at a gala for the Begin Again Foundation that he and his wife Audrey started after she recovered from a life-threatening bout with toxic shock syndrome, sepsis and acute respiratory syndrome.

What originally was slated for a one-month limited release has proven extremely successful and remains a year-round feature at the brewery in Virginia Beach, where Audrey grew up and the couple lives with their three young children. It can be bought in grocery stores and ordered in about 100 local restaurants, bars and 19th holes in the area, with a portion of the proceeds going to the foundation.

“We went to them and then just sort of for the lack of a better word, it just blew up,” Leishman said. “It was a lot more popular than what they thought it was going to be. And now it’s one of their best-selling beers. So, it’s good.

I’m enjoying it. It’s nice being able to get it.”

While Leishman, who will be one of the key men in the International Team to face the

United States Team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in December, says he’ll occasionally order wine with a thick, juicy steak, beer is his adult beverage of choice.

And he’s not just a consumer of Leishman Lager—“I really do like it,” he said with a smile—the four-time PGA Tour winner was intimately involved in developing it.

Leishman wanted it to be a light beer, not unlike one from Australia called Furphy. The hops the brewers used even come from Down Under, a mixture of Pride of Ringwood (used in Foster’s and Victoria Bitters) and Helga, which brings in floral and citrus-like notes.

“I’m not smart enough to know what I want to put in beers and all that to make it taste a certain way,” said Leishman. “So, I left that to the brewers, but I did put the hops in the first batch.

“Apart from that, I’ll sort leave it up to them.

We’ve tweaked it a little bit here and there. For the most part, it’s pretty similar to how it was the first batch.”

Travis Powell, who is the head brewer at Back Bay, said he and Leishman talked extensively about the kinds of commercially available beers he likes to drink before putting the brew together.

“So, he wanted a little bit of floral components and a little bit of citrus in there. He definitely didn’t want anything really heavy on the malt or really strong in the hops,” said Powell.

One of the hardest things, Powell said, is to get Leishman to offer constructive criticism because he’s such a nice person. The beer, which takes four to five weeks from brewing to consumption, is always subject to tweaking, much like the Aussie works on his golf game.

“I’d rather somebody tell me the negatives about the beer, than all the positives,” Powell said. “I want them to help me make it better. So,

it’s kind of hard pulling it out of him. I’ll usually say things because he won’t tell me.

“I’ll say like, ‘Oh, you know, I think it might have a little too much front-end hops. What do you think about dialing it back like 10 percent?’

And then he’ll be like, ‘No, I actually like it,’ or he’ll say like, ‘Oh that’s a great idea, mate.’”

Leishman is the first professional athlete that Back Bay has partnered with, although it

MARC LEISHMAN

MARC LEISHMAN with his family after his win in the 2017 BMW Championship.

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES

PGF launches 2019 School Championship A

By Bobbet Bruce

REFORMATTED tournament will welcome participants to the 2019 Philippine Golf Foundation (PGF) School Championship to be held from October 20 to December 1, 2019, at the Southlinks Golf Course in Muntinlupa City, Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Parks in Calamba, Laguna, and the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in Trece Martires, Cavite.

This year’s 14th edition of the only college level golf event in the country will feature a four round stroke play competition and a two round match play competition. Individual players without teams can join the individual medal play and school teams whether varsity or club level can play both the stroke and match play competition. There will be individual and team awards for stroke play and team awards for the match play competition.

The top 4 college teams after the stroke play

competition will play in a stepladder match play competition. Four high-school boys teams will also be invited to play in the match play competition. College teams will be made up of four players, men and/or women with the best three scores counting or the team play in the stroke play, while three players per team will play in the match play round based on their individual standings in the stroke play competition.

The high-school teams invited will have four boys per team.

The PGF took a new direction for the championship this year to further push college golf competition in the consciousness of traditional big school leagues like the UAAP and NCAA. The tournament aims to show the leagues and the colleges not familiar with the sport that golf is a viable and exciting sport to support.

PGF’s Arsenic Laurel, the prime mover for the championship said that “The PGF School

Championship is an interim showcase for college golf.

Ultimately, we hope that the UAAP and NCAA can see that golf is a sustainable sport to support and that we have enough talent to not only fill up school team rosters but also to produce regional and even world-class contenders. We want them to take over and include it as a regular sport in their calendars.”

Noting the young age of our national team members and the limited opportunities post junior golf, he added “College golf is one of the missing parts of our local golf ecosystem. If we have a vibrant college golf league in the UAAP and NCAA with schools offering scholarships, we can have an avenue for our talented junior golfers to continue playing after high school. They will have another option other than going to the US to play college golf, turn professional or just stop playing. The golfing landscape will dramatically change.”

The individual and team stroke play competition will be held on October 20 and 27 at Southlinks Golf

Philippines was one of the great golfing nations of the world. Filipinos were among the best golfers on the planet, the Philippine Open is the oldest national open golf championship in Asia and many of the game’s great often made the Philippines a regular stop on their golf sojourns around the world.

But those times are but a distant memory and the game has languished in the Philippines for the last two decades.

The Asian Golf Tourism Convention created a lot of buzz but most disappointingly, the buzz died out almost as quickly as it grabbed the headlines.

There were a variety of reasons for this. The local golf industry has, yet, to take a unified position on how to handle golf tourism in the country. Our best golf courses are all private clubs, so throwing the doors open with a red carpet welcoming all those that want to play was never really going to happen. Beyond that, Tulfo unexpectedly resigned under a cloud of financial impropriety. Her successor shelved all the existing programs, seemingly unwilling to sully her hands with potentially (politically) risky endeavors.

So, golf tourism was orphaned yet again and left to languish in the dustbin of failed government programs. The country’s golf courses continue to be the unicorns of the gigantic world golf tourism industry.

There are sectors of the golf industry that aren’t prepared for such as fate. Herminio “Minieng” Maravilla of the Iloilo Golf and Country Club rallied the country’s golf tourism proponents and hosted them at the Iloilo Golf Summit held in Santa Barbara on the 21st of September, this year.

In attendance were representatives from the Dakak Golf and Country Club, the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club, the Villamor Golf Club, the Ayala Greenfield Golf and Country Club, the Orchard Golf and Country Club, as

has done specialty brews before. The brewery, which offers 16 beers at one facility and 12 at its other bar, is putting out a beer called VB Strong with the proceeds benefiting the families of the tragic shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building last month.

“We like partnering with organizations,” Powell said. “We like charitable organizations, as well.

The owners who started Back Bay did it originally for something that’s fun and something for the community.”

When the Begin Again Foundation came calling, it was important to both parties that the beer stand on its own. Having Leishman’s name on it was a plus, but everyone wanted a beer that was drinkable and commercially viable.

The label, designed by Back Bay’s in-house artists, actually pays tribute to Leishman’s homeland rather than golf. Inside the brewery’s signature swan, there’s a shield with elements of the Australian flag flanked by kangaroo and an emu.

“It’s funny,” Powell said. “There’s a lot of people who think the name is familiar, but on our logo there’s not a whole lot showing that it’s a golfer. So, people who aren’t into golf might not know it.”

The beer has been available on draft for several years now. Recently, though, it was canned for the first time and the first 7,200 sold out in less than a month.

Plans are being made to make the beer available outside of Virginia, once the tax and trade approvals are complete and distributors are found.

Who knows, maybe one day, Leishman’s friends back home in Warrnambool will get to drink their favorite son’s beer.

“We were actually joking about that,” said Powell, who has relatives in Sydney. “I’m like, ‘You know, I think we really need to do a remote tasting room for the Leishman Lager in Australia.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh I would love to do that.’”

Course, November 10 at Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club, and November 17 at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club. The match play competition will be held on November 24 and December 1 at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club.

Regular intercollegiate golf championship team participants and potential college participants Ateneo, La Salle, Lyceum of the Philippines University, UP, College of Saint Benilde, UST, FEU, NU, San Beda College, San Beda College-Alabang, Mapua and TIP will be given invitations. Ateneo, La Salle Greenhills, De La Salle Zobel and Xavier School will be invited for the high-school boys division.

All college level golfers are invited to contact their respective athletic directors, moderators or departments to form teams and submit rosters or submit their school club team rosters or if they don’t have official school varsity teams or even clubs to register directly as individual players to play in the championship. Schools, clubs and interested parties may register to the PGF secretariat by call or text at +63926-6556462, e-mail at PhilippineGolfFoundation@yahoo.com or Facebook personal message @PGFSchoolChampionship. Entry fee is P500 per player for the entire tournament.

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, October 5, 2019

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ERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS SOCIATIONS BAND TOGETHER F TOURISM FORWARD HERMINIO “MINIENG” MARAVILLA presents his caddy and his caddy’s family as proof of how golf can provide opportunities to lesser advantaged Filipinos.

THE delegates of the Iloilo Golf Summit 2019

well as representatives from the Federation of Golf Clubs of the Philippines, Association for Inbound Golf Tourism, Resorts World Manila and some suppliers to the golf industry.

After the meetings and presentations, the group put forth a manifesto that appears here in its entirety: MANIFESTO Philippine National Golf Tourism Year 2020

Iloilo Golf Summit 2019 The Philippines is a tourist destination known for its beautiful natural resources, hospitable and friendly people, and a growing golf destination.

Among the destinations sought by travelers are recreational facilities that exhibit the pristine and natural environment of the country including worldclass golf courses.

The Philippine golf courses are located all over the Philippines, employing many Filipinos from

all sectors of society, whose fluency in English complement the amenities and recreational activities sought by foreign and local tourists.

The promotion and enjoyment of golf as a part of the national tourism program will improve the quality of golf facilities, increase tourism revenues and promote employment in related service industries. Considering that golfing tourism is expected to increase significantly in fiscal year 2020, and the Philippines has the potential and

the resources to benefit from the expected golf tourism boom, it is desirable to have a national golf tourism program that is fully supported by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the Senate of the Philippines, the House of Representatives, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Finance, and the other departments, agencies and the local governments all over the country.

We, hereby, declare fiscal year 2020 as the Philippine National Golf Tourism Year

and manifest to plan for and cooperate in a national golf tourism program together with the government and the private sector in order to promote the Philippines as a golfing tourism destination.

We further manifest that we commit ourselves individually, and as members of our respective clubs, offices, agencies, and businesses to cooperate and work in making the Philippines as a premier golf tourism destination in the year 2020 and onwards, and to encourage, invite, and seek the vibrant participation of all sectors of the Philippines in realizing this objective.

Anyone remotely acquainted with the game in the country knows fully well the economic impact of a golf club on the community around it. The club provides employment, requires supplies and services. All of which represent financial opportunities for all sectors of society.

Adding the prospect of tourism dollars will enhance all of this and bring real long-term prosperity to the community.

It is, therefore, unfortunate that the turn of political events that led to the changing of the guard in the Department of Tourism resulted in the scrapping of one of the most promising tourism projects of this administration. The golf

tourism is a $250 billion worldwide industry with precious little coming to the Philippines.

If anything, Korean tour operators have struck gold here and bring in thousands of golf tourists a year. But since they control nearly all facets of their local operations, a mere fraction of the money earned trickles down to the local economy.

The Korean model is proof positive of the potential of the Philippines as a viable, profitable golf tourist destination. The economic impact on the communities that support golf courses would be immeasurable.

This isn’t something that will require massive infusion of government funds either. All the components are already in place, the people and the golf clubs are ready and willing to support its growth.

All that is required is the leadership that only the government can provide and some incentives to persuade all private clubs to join the program and work together to allow the industry to prosper. After all, what program is in a position to generate the potential foreign revenue with as little investment as golf tourism? Golf tourism is as viable an endeavor as it was when we were all on a high after the Asian Golf Tourism Convention. It’s a no-brainer.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, October 5, 2019

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

STUNNING NIGHT AT TRACK WORLDS

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By Eddie Pells

The Associated Press

OHA, Qatar—None of them could believe it.

OLYMPIC champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo suffers her first loss in the 400 meters in more than 25 months despite shattering her personal-best time by more than halfa-second. AP

When Salwa Eid Naser crossed the finish line and saw her time, her jaw dropped in a look of utter amazement—a far cry from Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s stony glare at the scoreboard: How could she run 48.37 and lose?

Not the woman who pulled off the biggest upset of the world championships.

Not the woman she beat.

And certainly not that second-place finisher’s husband—decathlete Maicel Uibo, who walked away with a silver medal that was almost as big a surprise as the one his wife is taking home.

On a warm-and-fuzzy kind of night at the track where nothing went quite as expec ted, Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo suf fered her first loss in the 400 meters in more than 25 months despite shattering her personal-best time by more than half-a-second. The woman who beat her was 21-year-old Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, whose time of 48.14 seconds was the fastest since 1985 and the third fastest ever.

When Naser crossed the finish line and saw her time, her jaw dropped in a look of utter amazement—a far cry from Miller-Uibo’s stony glare at the scoreboard: How could she run 48.37 and lose?

“I still can’t believe the time,” Naser said. “When I saw the time, I went completely crazy. I was training so hard but I never expected to run this fast.”

But this Thursday night at Khalifa International Stadium was a night for expecting the unexpected.

Uibo, the decathlete, cer tainly didn’t come out of nowhere, but neither was he at the top of the list of medal candidates.

COOL SMASHERS VS. FLYING TITANS IN ILOILO SORTIE

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ANCIED Creamline seeks to formalize its stint in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference semifinals in Iloilo on Saturday as it faces a sister team trying to sustain its own late Final Four drive at the University of San Agustin gym.

Iloilo City has been a regular stop of the PVL with another sellout crowd expected when the Cool Smashers stake their unbeaten 11-0 slate against the surging Flying Titans at 4 p.m. of another explosive out-of-town twinbill in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.

PetroGazz, which stunned Creamline to capture the Reinforced Conference crown early in the season, also puts its remarkable seven-game run on the line against PacificTown Army at 2 p.m.

Though the star-studded Cool Smashers are tipped to repeat their four-set triumph over the Flying Titans last August 31, the latter have shown tremendous improvement and promise after snapping a long skid with a scrambling five-set escape over Chef’s Classics then beating BaliPure, BanKo-Perlas, PacificTown Army and Motolite to bounce back into semis contention.

They remain outside of the Magic Four with a 6-6 card but their recent surge has bolstered their chances to grab at least a playoff for the last semis slot with Motolite and BanKo-Perlas just ahead at joint third with 7-5 slates and PacificTown Army at fifth with a 6-5 mark. PetroGazz is a cinch to clinch the second semis seat with an 8-2 mark.

But Choco Mucho’s vaunted triple town combination of Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag and Bea de Leon must come up with one solid game to neutralize Creamline’s vaunted firepower anchored on Alyssa Valdez, Michele Gumabao, Jema Galanza and Risa Sato.

Focus will also be on the Angels-Lady Troopers clash with the former, bannered by Jonah Sabete, Jeanette Panaga, Paneng Mercado, Jovielyn Prado and Cai Baloaloa, out to duplicate their straight-set romp over the latter last August 28.

But the veteran-laden Army side is also itching to rebound from a sorry five-set setback to Choco Mucho the last time out with Royse Tubino, Jovelyn Gonzaga, MJ Balse-Pabayo, Nene Bautista, Luth Malaluan and Jem Gutierrez expected to lead the charge and firm up their own semis bid.

Meanwhile, Creamline and PetroGazz also brace for a fiery clash next Sunday when they meet again in Bacolod with PacificTown and BanKo-Perlas providing the appetizer in what promises to be another thriller of a twinbill in the league backed

by Mikasa, Asics and KFC.

Since winning the NCAA title competing for Georgia in 2015, he had never captured an international decathlon competition. At the last worlds, in 2017, he didn’t finish. At the Olympics in 2016, he finished 24th. He was coming off leg and shoulder injuries that had forced him to miss a big chunk of 2018-19, and that had turned his javelin throw into a crap shoot.

But midway through the second day of the 10-event endurance test, world record holder Kevin Mayer got bounced after failing to record a mark in the pole vault, while another top contender, Lindon Victor, met a similar fate in the discus throw. Meanwhile, Uibo had been slowly climbing up the standings, from sixth, to fifth, to third, to first.

He had a 19-point lead over the eventual winner, Niklas Kaul, when he lined up for the finale, the 1,500-meter race. Uibo needed to hang within three seconds of Kaul to win the gold. But Kaul’s personal best was 10 seconds faster than Uibo’s. Kaul, 21 and now the youngest world champion decathlete ever, beat him by 15 seconds.

“I tried to stay with him, but he had more in the tank,” Uibo said. “I had to give that up and try for second.”

A few minutes earlier, Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson completed her victory in the heptathlon; the multievents were held in conjunction as part of organizers’ plan to move all the action to the nighttime and beat the heat.

In the other final, China’s Gong Lijiao won her second straight world shot put title and Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd took silver.

That marked the third field medal in these championships won by athletes from Usain Bolt’s land of sprints. Who’d

have seen that coming?

And speaking of unexpected, how about the bronze medal that landed in the lap of Orlando Ortega.

The Spanish hurdler had been closing the gap with the leaders when he got knocked off course in the 110 final the night before by a flailing Jamaican.

Ortega spent most of Thursday in bed, thinking about what might have been.

The phone rang. Track officials had decided to make him the co-bronze medalist. The ceremony was scheduled for that evening.

“I took a taxi,” Ortega said. “I said, ‘Please drive very fast, I have a medal ceremony.’”

He made it on time.

So did Naser, who looked more like a 100-meter sprinter as she moved into the homestretch and built a seven-step cushion over Miller-Uibo, who became famous in her homeland, the Bahamas, when she dove across the finish line to beat Allyson Felix in the final of the 2016 Olympics.

There were no such dramatics this time.

“When I saw the distance between us, I said, in my head, ‘I let her get too far away,’” Miller-Uibo said. “I knew I had a lot of strength coming home, but I just couldn’t get her.”

All that was left was to hang out and see how Maicel would do about a half-hour later, as he dragged his exhausted legs to the start of the 1,500 to finish off the evening.

Shortly after her husband crossed, Miller-Uibo walked out and doused him with a bottle of water, then gave him a kiss.

“It’s great we get to celebrate together,” Miller-Uibo said.

They train together, too. Maicel described the relationship as “competitive at times.”

“It’s on and off the track. Anything, really,” he said. “Sometimes we just argue about who our dogs love most.”

Maybe soon, they’ll tease each other over who has the prettier of those two silver medals they’re taking home.

The obvious answer for both husband and wife: “I do.”

IT’S all in the family for heptathlete Kendell Williams. AP

WILLIAMS SIBLINGS SHARE DOHA STAGE

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OHA, Qatar—This was not your typical family get-together.

The Williams crew has been busy over the past two days in Doha.

Kendell Williams was competing in heptathlon. Devon Williams was in the decathlon.

Trying to keep tabs on all the action were their parents, who were watching from the stands at the world championships.

Kendell finished fifth overall on Thursday night. Devon no-heighted in the pole vault, skipped the final two events and didn’t earn a place.

“It was awesome and stressful at the same time,” Kendell said of sharing the stage with her older brother.

Awesome because the men’s and women’s multi-event competitions aren’t t ypic ally contes ted at the same time at worlds (one is usually at the end and the other at the star t

of the championships). Stressful because she would glance over and see her brother on the giant monitor in the stadium.

“I get too nervous watching him,” Kendell said. “It’s nerve-wracking because I want him to do so well.”

He doesn’t get nervous watching his sister, though.

“We’ve been doing this our whole lives and we know what we’re doing and what we’re capable of,” said Devon, who went to University of Georgia along with his sister. “She just has to go out there and compete.”

Mom charts all their performances and dad nervously paces.

“They’re such track parents,” Kendell said.

Someone else getting a workout was their college Coach Petros Kyprianou, who went from one end to the other to keep up. AP

BEARS ALL SMILES IN JAPAN

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OBE, Japan —They didn’ t score a point and they were the first team officially eliminated from title contention at the Rugby World Cup, yet the Russians still had smiles on their faces.

After watching his Russia team lose to Ireland, 35-0, on Thursday in Kobe’s Misaki Stadium, Coach Lyn Jones was jubilant.

“It’s a big day for Russian rugby and we came through with five stars,” Jones said.

The Bears were tipped for a thrashing. Ireland was only Russia’s second Tier One opponent in eight years since the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where it lost to the Irish, 62-12.

Just two months ago, Russia lost to Italy, 85-15.

Ireland was on the rebound on Thursday after being stunned by Japan, while Russia conceded 30 to Japan and 34 to Samoa in defeats.

And yet, in their third pool match, the Russians gave their best performance yet, despite playing 20

minutes with 14 men. They made Ireland, which came to the tournament ranked No. 1, grind for all 35 points.

Ireland committed 28 turnovers.

“We came here with an understanding, we’re not stupid people,” said Jones, Russia’s coach for 14 months. “We knew we had .001 percent of a chance of winning.

“Tonight was just enormous for our players. The whole occasion, and the fact we were playing against Ireland, brought the best out of them.”

Ireland Coach Joe Schmidt paid them tribute.

“The Russians certainly had a bit to offer. They gave up nothing,” he said. “We felt we made some good line breaks but they fought really hard to make it difficult for us to get anything off the back of them.”

Ireland made an ominous 14-0 start in 14 minutes, then was limited to one try in the next 50 minutes, and while a Russian was in the sinbin. Ireland didn’t score the fourth

bonus-point try they desperately sought until the game was more than an hour old, and finished with a late try when Russia tired.

The Rus sians made a tournament-high 182 tackles with a 90-percent success rate.

“We are making good steps forward,” said captain Vasily Artemyev, who played rugby in Dublin as a teenager. “It’s already an achievement for us that we managed to trouble Ireland—they could not score for about 20 minutes in the second half.”

Actually, 22 minutes.

Tagir Gadzhiev led the Bears with a match-best 20 tackles, and the flanker admitted it was hard to breathe trying to catch green jerseys.

“Irish players are the same people as we are, but they are a team of massive experience,” he said.

“However, in some aspects, we were not worse than them individually.”

Lock Bogdan Fedotko made a

RUSSIAN players bow to the crowd following their Rugby World Cup Pool A game against Ireland at the Kobe Misaki Stadium. AP second-best 15 tackles, but his yellow card for a second professional foul paved the way for Ireland’s third try. He had no regrets.

“I’ve got some satisfaction, as some skeptics thought we would lose by 70 or 80 points,” Fedotko said. “We fought worthily. It’s a pity we did not manage to score any points.”

Fedotko said he became tired from the 30 th minute. Winger Denis Simplikevich said he began to f lag f rom around t he

65th. Ar temyev admit ted they had fatigue issues, which they also suf fered from against Japan and Samoa.

“We are losing the games but we are not broken,” Artemyev said.

“We get positive feedback from home, and we’ve got good exposure from the [Russian] federal sports channel.”

Yet, to win a Rugby World Cup match, Russia completes its pool play against Scotland on Wednesday in Shizuoka. AP

‘PLAY WITH THE MASTERS’ SRS GOLF UP AT VILLAMOR

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SENIORS golf tournament, aptly dubbed “Play with the Masters” and put up by the many-time Philippine Masters champion no less, will be held on October 23 in what has long been considered as the home of The Masters—Villamor Golf Club.

Senior Professional Golfers Association of the Philippines (SPGA) President Robert Pactolerin, who dominated Philippine golf during

his prime with multiple Philippine Masters crowns stacked in his trophy cabinet, is spearheading the staging of the 18-hole tournament open to all senior pros 50 years old and above, which will also feature the rising and leading amateur players in the men’s and ladies ranks.

Cash prizes plus gif t items will be up for grabs in the centerpiece seniors pro division while trophies and prizes will be staked

in the amateur side of the event backed by Ellesse, RMN Media and Marketing Ventures, Seven Echo, Serve Well and GCAP Ventures Philippines.

Entry fee is P3,500 for the amateurs, inclusive of green fee, caddie and meal. For tickets and reservations, call Robert at 0977-139-8071 or Ben at 0956-812-0099.

Proceeds of the tournament will be used to fund the training

and upgrading of the senior pros’ teaching skills.

Aside from Pactolerin, who last won on the Philippine Golf Tour in Bacolod in 2011, others seeing action in the event aimed at helping the country’s senior pros are Mario Siodina, Caloy Nival and Mario Manubay, who like Pactolerin is a former Philippine Open champion.

Meanwhile, the amateur category will have two categories—

the re gular 54 year s old and below and the senior s 55 year s old and above to be c las si f ied under Clas s es A , B and C to be p l ay e d u n d e r t h e Sy s t e m 3 6 s cor ing for mat .

The top 3 finishers, along with those in women’s play, will receive trophies and merchandise items.

Tee-off is at 6 a.m. with one pro and three amateurs making up each flight.

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

BusinessMirror

Saturday, October 5, 2019 A9

The Lee Seung-gi drama primer and where you can stream PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

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HENEVER I tell people how we watched Chinese and Korean dramas in the early 2000s, they think I’m kidding. You needed to get one or two apps in order to download episodes of the drama from a site that most probably obtained it via nefarious means. Or you would need to stream on your laptop. During this time, phones weren’t that high-powered yet. You had to stream until the episode was complete or you’d have to do it all over again. You couldn’t just restart.

Thanks to video-on-demand streaming services, like Netflix, HOOQ, Viu and others, you can now watch your favorite videos anytime, even on your phone without it eating into your storage.

Korean star Lee Seung-gi is a favorite among those who love Korean dramas. He has portrayed a variety of roles in different genres.

The actor will also be in the Philippines for his fan meeting on October 12, at the New Frontier Theater.

Tickets are available via www.ticketnet.com.ph and TicketNet outlets.

Here are some of his hit dramas you can bingewatch or rewatch before his fan meeting in Manila: 1. ‘MY GIRLFRIEND IS A NINE-TAILED FOX’ OR ‘MY GIRLFRIEND IS A GUMIHO’ My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox is the story of aspiring action star Cha Dae Woong (Lee Seung-gi) and the legendary nine-tailed fox (also known as a Gumiho) in a human form named Miho (portrayed by Shin Min-ah).

Cha Dae Woong meets Miho while hiding from his grandfather who wants to enroll him on a “Spartan-style academy.” Unable to accept the idea, the rich yet spoiled Cha Dae Woong ends up seeking shelter in a Buddhist temple with no intention of going back until his grandfather changes his mind.

He comes across an illustration of a tailless fox, who is Miho. She has been imprisoned inside the ancient painting for 500 years.

Desperate to break the chains that have trapped her within the temple’s four walls, she asks for Cha Dae Woong’s help. Although he successfully manages to set her free, he almost loses his life in the process when he falls down a cliff while running away from the eerie place. Still grateful for his help, Miho saves him by granting him the power of her fox bead, reviving his almost lifeless body after the fall.

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CHILDREN in Southeast Asia today use the Internet increasingly for video and music entertainment, as well as for software downloads, and lesser for online messaging. More kids in the region use the World Wide Web to watch their favorite TV series like Game of Thrones and movies like The Avengers, according to the 2019 report from “Kaspersky Safe Kids.”

PHOTOS: @LEESEUNGGI.OFFICIAL ON INSTAGRAM

Indebted to Miho, Cha Dae Woong is then forced to do her bidding until he gets better.

Written by the Hong sisters, Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran, the 2010 drama was very popular (it was shown here on local TV, I think) and even earned various awards during the SBS Drama Awards that year. Lee Seung-gi and Shin Min-ah both won the Excellence Award in a Drama Special, and the pair also bagged the Best Couple Award. Additionally, the series won the Best OST Song award (“Losing My Mind” by Lee Seung-gi) during the 2010 Melon Music Awards.

2. ‘HWAYUGI: A KOREAN ODYSSEY’ Another drama written by the Hong sisters, Hwayugi: A Korean Odyssey showcases the writers’ flair for fantasy love stories combined with a bit of thriller and action.

Hwayugi: A Korean Odyssey is a spin-off of the Chinese classic Journey to the West. In the drama, Lee Seung-gi portrays the “Monkey King,” also known as “the Great Sage who is equal to Heaven,” Son Oh-gong.

His character is known to be a prideful and selfish immortal being. Although he has been imprisoned due to his mischievous antics, Son Oh-gong is not exactly an evil deity-in-the-making.

Lee Seung-gi is partnered with Oh Yeon-seo, who portrays Soh Oh-gong’s love interest Jin Seon-mi.

Although the two have a rough start, they decide to work together after Jin Seon-mi unintentionally traps Son Oh-gong’s heart with a magical bracelet called the Geumganggo, making the once great sage her “love prisoner,” as the bracelet makes the wearer obedient to its owner using the “power of love.” The two then start to stick close to each other, as Jin Seon-mi tries not to fall for Son Oh-gong “fake love confessions,” while Son Oh-gong also fights the urge to truly fall in love with her.

3. ‘GU FAMILY BOOK,’ OR ‘KANG CHI, THE BEGINNING’ In Gu Family Book, the roles are reversed from Lee Seung-gi’s hit drama My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox as the actor plays a half-human and half-Gumiho in the series.

Here, Lee Seung-gi plays the son of a guardian spirit named Gu Wol-ryung (portrayed by Choi Jinhyuk) and the daughter of a nobleman Yoo Seo Hwa (portaryed by Yoo Se-ah). Due to an unfortunate turn of events, he becomes an orphan and gets adopted into the house of a merchant named Park Mu Sol (portrayed by Um Hyo-sup), who later named him Choi Kang Chi. Despite being known for his penchant for mischief, Kang Chi grows up to be loyal and with good heart. For almost 20 years, he has no idea about of his real identity.

4. ‘THE KING 2 HEARTS’ Set in a reimagined time period where South Korea’s monarchy never ends and the royal family’s bloodline still continues, The King 2 Hearts is about how a South Korean prince and a North Korean Special Forces Officer fall in love.

Prince Lee Jae Ha (portrayed by Lee Seung-gi) and the North Korean Deputy Minister’s daughter Captain Kim Hang-ah (portrayed by Ha Ji-won) meet during a joint military training with representatives from both North and South Korea. At first, the two have a hard time overcoming their differences in terms of personality. The prince is arrogant, carefree and a total playboy, while Kim Hang-ah is down-toearth, strict and innocent when it comes to love. The latter also proclaims how she has been trained to kill the prince. But as the two countries decide to move toward a peaceful and friendly relationship, Kim Hang-ah points out that her past training is no longer relevant. This, however, doesn’t stop the prince from living in constant fear during the first few days of their boot camp.

As the two become unlikely roommates, they start to open up more to one another. Eventually, the pair also develops romantic feelings for each other.

This 2019, Lee Seung-gi is starring once again in a new drama, titled Vagabond, which you can watch on Netflix. All dramas mentioned in today’s column can be viewed on Netflix and most probably Viu. This is not a Netflix or Viu press release but a primer of sorts of you want to watch Lee Seung-gi in Manila. ■

Filipinos, SEA kids use Internet for video and music downloading over online messaging

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES FILIPINO children and their counterparts in Southeast Asia are heavy users of the Internet especially for video and music entertainment, as well as for software downloads, and lesser for online messaging. Moreover, they also use the World Wide Web to watch their favorite TV series like Game of Thrones and movies like The Avengers, according to the 2019 report from “Kaspersky Safe Kids.”

Based on the report’s 2018 and 2019 results, Kaspersky observed a doubledigit growth in children using the Internet for accessing software, audio, and video web sites—Indonesia (38.72 percent to 60.33 percent), the Philippines (25.41 percent to 49.12 percent), Singapore (25.03 percent to 42.32 percent), Thailand (11.28 percent to 37.23 percent) and Vietnam (27.11 percent to 50.14 percent).

Only Malaysia scored a slight decrease from 60.08 percent to 51.15 percent. This category, however, remains the current top online interest among Malaysian kids.

The software, audio, video category

includes web sites for downloading audio and video files: movies, recordings of sports events and concerts, music, music videos, video clips, audio and video learning materials, etc.

Torrent trackers and file sharing services irrespective of physical location of files to which they provide access were also under this category.

“It is an accepted fact that our children are better Internet navigators than us adults. With their curiosity and quickness in grasping or even making their own online trends, it is undoubtedly important for parents to know their interests and habits. Our report showed videos, music, and software are increasingly becoming kids’ favorite activities, and we are fully aware that such sites are plagued with malware, virus and dangerous content.

We hope these findings could help parents in understanding their kids better and in protecting them against the potential dangers in the digital world,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky in a news statement.

Furthermore, Yeo said it was the same trend in Africa, Asia, as well as Arab nations. “The decline in the use of PCs for online messaging, however, reflects the shift in children’s preference in using mobile devices over computers for messaging apps,” Yeo said.

Yeo said the same report also noted there was an increase in online shopping among the youth in Southeast Asia, where the year-on-year comparison showed as much as 13-percent increase from January to July 2018 and 2019.

Singaporean kids led the pack tallying 18.82 percent compared with just 5.58 percent of children using the Internet for e-commerce. The Philippines closely followed at 13.21 percent compared with 2.39 percent last year. Malaysia recorded an increase of over 8 percent (4.70 percent to 13.02 percent), while Indonesia and Thailand have 4.8-percent and 1.62-percent growths, respectively. Only Vietnam marked a slight decline from 1.03 percent to 1.02 percent of young shoppers online. The electronic commerce category includes web sites for any electronic

money transactions through special Web applications. This covers online stores and auctions Kaspersky said another significant finding in the study is the decline in percentage of kids in Southeast Asia who use the Internet to access adult content.

Moreover, the region showed lesser interest for pornography and related content this year. Malaysia posted a very minimal increase of only 0.09 percent in

this category.

“Asia, in general, also scored a decline from 2.72 percent to 2.26 percent, yet, its numbers remained quite high compared with other regions globally in terms of adult content interest among kids,” Kaspersky said.

Kaspersky said the youth from Latin America had the largest share of visits to adult sites with 4.28 percent followed by South Asia (2.74 percent).

A10 Saturday, October 5, 2019

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THE growing options for outsourcing meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking can be called time-saving blessings or culture-destroying curses. AP

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Does outsourcing affect our personal connection to food?

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BY MELISSA RAYWORTH The Associated Press

HE growing options for outsourcing meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking can be called time-saving blessings or culturedestroying curses. In the end, they’re probably a complicated mix of both.

The positive spin goes something like this: Assuming you can afford it, you’ll save precious time by clicking a few digital boxes and getting someone else to choose your vegetables and deliver your groceries. No time to plan a meal? An ever-expanding list of meal kit services including Blue Apron and HelloFresh will send you premeasured ingredients to whip up a variety of recipes—complete with step-bystep, photo-enhanced instructions. All that for around $8 to $10 per person.

No time to cook? Get a week’s worth of frozen meals delivered courtesy of Home Chef, Freshly or a host of other local and national services: It’s the modern version of a TV dinner, but it tastes better.

And if hunger strikes and you need immediate gratification, you’re no longer stuck ordering a pizza or a few containers of takeout Chinese: Uber Eats, DoorDash and GrubHub stand ready to deliver anything you crave.

But as people increasingly limit their involvement in meal prep, the question of how that affects our personal connection to food is debatable.

“As we exist at a greater distance from where these foods originated, we tend to forget—or now, perhaps not even learn—where things come from,” says Jason Seacat, a professor of psychology at Western New England University, who studies the relationship between people and food. “This growing disconnect not only contributes to a loss for humans, but also for our natural world because greater disconnect often equals less concern for the natural environments that produce the food.”

Dana White, an associate professor and sports dietitian at Quinnipiac University, doesn’t see the situation as black and white: “It depends on what the baseline was before.”

If you’re someone who never cooks and eats out at fast-food places all the time, ordering groceries or meal kits could be a step in the right direction.

But “if it’s taking you away from the farmer’s market and you stop putting the basil plant in your backyard,” White says, these services may do more harm than good.

Mark Jenike, associate professor and chairman of the department of anthropology at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, says food is both biological and cultural, and the approach to it needs to take both into account.

“It fulfills biological needs but is imbued with meaning that makes it very cultural as well,” Jenike says. “So I could certainly see for some people that

getting a meal kit allows them to focus on bonding and together time as they prepare and consume a meal together. That could be a very appealing option.”

If an hour that would’ve been spent driving to the grocery store and rushing through the aisles is instead spent purposefully simmering a sauce, a home cook could become more connected to their food. And if a meal kit includes everything premeasured down to the last half-teaspoon of chili powder, White says, people who find cooking intimidating might discover it’s actually kind of fun.

But there are downsides. A growing number of young adults have no idea how to scramble an egg or cook rice. White often sees “students that come to college and they have no idea how to feed themselves.

They don’t know how to grocery shop. They don’t have basic cooking skills.”

Jenike notices the same thing at his university: “One of the real problems with things like Uber Eats and eating out all the time and food delivery is that so many kids now grow up without the skills to prepare their own food.”

A company called Starship Technologies has begun delivering takeout via AI-controlled robots on a few college campuses nationwide. No need to even say hi to a delivery guy, which may present problems of its own. If that isn’t enough to concern you, try this: In his work studying what “comfort food” really is,

Jordan Troisi has found that the psychological comfort we get from foods has to do with the social meaning we attach to it. We’re comforted by spaghetti and meatballs not necessarily because of the tasty carbs, but because it’s what our family always ate.

“Food is a physiological need for humans,” Troisi says. “As a consequence, it gets attached to so many other needs that we have, including feelings of safety, feelings of connection, feeling a sense that in times of stress, things are going to be OK.” But what happens, he wonders, to a kid who doesn’t grow up with any “family recipes” because the meal kits they were raised on changed every week?

Last year, HelloFresh began offering an entire Thanksgiving dinner in a box and they’ve followed up with other holiday boxes, including one for Mother’s Day. Is this the end of family recipes, or is it possible that having the basics covered helps home cooks really focus on making a few family favorites from scratch as holiday side dishes?

Donna Talarico-Beerman and her husband Kevin tried ordering groceries. But with their hectic work schedules, produce would sit in the refrigerator instead of being used.

“I call our crisper drawer ‘The Mush Factory,’” Talarico-Beerman, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, says.

“We have good intentions, but we waste a lot of food.”

Coming up with meal ideas after a long day of

DTSI Group, Dimension Data become NTT Ltd. NTT Ltd. (www.hello.global.ntt), the world-leading global technology services provider, announced that DTSI Group, Dimension Data Philippines and Emerio will join 28 other companies and brands from over 70 countries worldwide, rebranding as NTT, the global $11-billion technology services company.

DTSI (Diversified Technology Solutions International Inc.), which is the largest NTT Ltd. business in the Philippines, will continue to be led

by Miguel Garcia as the chief executive officer. The leading facility and IT solutions provider will be integrated as part of the NTT Asia Pacific organization and is in the process of being rebranded as NTT. Miguel reports directly to Asia Pacific CEO for NTT Ltd., John Lombard.

Also, Maria Aileen Rodriguez has been appointed as CEO of NTT Philippines Solutions Inc., rebranded from Dimension Data Philippines. She reports to Asean CEO for NTT Ltd., Kim-Meng Png. Based in Singapore, Png will be responsible for the company’s strategic development and operations across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and the Philippines. He reports to John Lombard.

When launched on July 1, NTT Ltd. brought together 40,000 people from brands including NTT Communications, Dimension Data, NTT Security,

DTSI Group, Emerio and Training Partners into one company. The company will partner with over 10,000 clients around the world, including leading organizations across financial services, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, energy and utilities, manufacturing, automotive and technology sectors. In becoming NTT, NTT Ltd. in Philippines will be able to offer its clients an unparalleled range of skills and capabilities across many technologies.

The brands that will be combined over a phased period to form NTT Ltd. include; Arkadin, CAPSiDE, Communications Lifecycle Management, DPA, DTSI Group, Emerio, e-shelter, Euricom, e2y, Global IP Network, Gyron, Netmagic Solutions, NTT Communications Cloud Infrastructure Services, NTT Communications Managed Services, NTT Global Networks, NTT Indonesia Nexcenter (NTTI Nexcenter), Oakton, RagingWire, Secure-24, SQL Services, Symmetry, Training Partners, Transatel, Viiew and WhiteHat Security.

As well as being able to offer more in-depth industry solutions for clients, NTT Ltd. in the Philippines will benefit from NTT’s innovation center in Japan, as well as being able to utilize its full partnership network.

Lombard said, “We’re delighted to launch the NTT brand in Asia Pacific, as various companies

including Dimension Data, DTSI, Emerio, NTT Communications, NTT Security and Training Partners join the NTT Ltd. family.”

In commenting on Miguel’s role in the NTT Ltd. integration, Lombard said: “Miguel has proven himself as a thriving entrepreneur for many years and will continue to blaze the trail in innovative workplace solutions for us in the future. As part of the NTT Ltd. integration, we are looking to expand the business worldwide as we plan to operate a global factory for intelligent workspace solutions. As we progress toward this goal, DTSI will continue to provide its existing solutions, as well as all the new solutions of NTT Ltd., for its long list of clients in the Philippines and globally.”

Lombard added, “I’m also pleased to appoint Maria Aileen Rodriguez as CEO to head the other sizable NTT Ltd. business in the Philippines. She has been chosen to lead the business based on her exceptional background and proven track record in the organization. I’m confident that under the combined leadership and collaboration they will continue to successfully drive the ambitious goals for our clients. In doing so, we will become a leading services provider that can deliver intelligent, innovative solutions that address any of our clients’ digital challenges worldwide.”

work often felt like too much trouble, so they’d end up ordering takeout. But since they’ve begun ordering frozen meals from Schwan’s, a service their own parents used years ago, “we definitely eat more at home,” she says. And it’s been good.

“Even if we’re reheating stuff,” Talarico-Beerman says, “we’re setting the table together.” ■

LINKEDIN CEO Jeff Weiner speaks during a product announcement at his company’s headquarters in San Francisco in 2016. LinkedIn wants users to step outside their professional silos to boost someone else’s career. AP

LINKEDIN ASKS USERS TO THINK BEYOND PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS DALLAS—LinkedIn wants users to step outside their professional silos to boost someone else’s career. The company pushed on Thursday to narrow a “network gap” that disadvantages people who don’t have access to strong professional or alumni networks.

The service says it’s not reversing its guidance that LinkedIn users accept connections only from people they know and trust. Instead, it’s nudging people to reach outside their traditional networks—such as someone they share a ride with or sit next to on a plane.

It is pitched as an altruistic cause but could indirectly benefit LinkedIn’s growth if some users invite others to join the service.

LinkedIn owner Microsoft says growth in the business has slowed down over the past year, though revenue has still been increasing more than 20 percent each quarter. AP

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, October 5, 2019 A11

RESULTICKS BRINGS ADVANCED OMNICHANNEL MARKETING SOLUTIONS TO PHL

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor

The Beatles’ revolutionary use of recording technology in ‘Abbey Road’

BY WILLIAM D. MOYLAN University of Massachusetts Lowell

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ITH its cheery singles, theatrical medley and iconic cover, The Beatles’ 11th studio album, Abbey Road, holds a special place in the hearts of the band’s fans. But as the album celebrates its 50th anniversary, few may realize just how groundbreaking its tracks were for the band.

In my forthcoming book, Recording Analysis: How the Record Shapes the Song, I show how the recording process can enhance the artistry of songs, and Abbey Road is one of the albums I highlight.

Beginning with 1965’s Rubber Soul, The Beatles started exploring new sounds. This quest continued in Abbey Road, where the band was able to deftly incorporate emerging recording technology in a way that set the album apart from everything they had previously done.

SOUND IN MOTION ABBEY Road is the first album that the band released in stereo only.

Stereo was established in the early 1930s as a way to capture and replicate the way humans hear sounds.

Stereo recordings contain two separate channels of sound—similar to our two ears—while mono contains everything on one channel.

Stereo’s two channels can create the illusion of sounds emerging from different directions, with some coming from the listener’s left and others coming from the right. In mono, all sounds are always centered. The Beatles had recorded all their previous albums in mono, with stereo versions made without the Beatles’ participation. In Abbey Road, however, stereo is central to the album’s creative vision.

Take the opening minute of “Here Comes the Sun,” the first track on the record’s second side.

If you listen to the record on a stereo, George Harrison’s acoustic guitar emerges from the

left speaker. It’s soon joined by several delicate synthesizer sounds. At the end of the song’s introduction, a lone synthesizer sound gradually sweeps from the left speaker to the listener’s center.

Harrison’s voice then enters in the center, in front of the listener, and is joined by strings located toward the right speaker’s location. This sort of sonic movement can only happen in stereo—and The Beatles masterfully deployed this effect.

Then there are Ringo Starr’s drums in “The End,” which fill the entire sonic space, from left to right. But each drum is individually fixed in a separate position, creating the illusion of many drums in multiple locations—a dramatic cacophony of rhythms that’s especially noticeable in the track’s drum solo.

ENTER: THE SYNTHESIZER IN the mid-1960s, an engineer named Robert Moog invented the modular synthesizer, a new type of instrument that generated unique sounds from oscillators and electronic controls that could be used to play melodies or enhance tracks with sound effects.

Harrison received a demonstration of the device in October 1968. A month later, he ordered one of his own. The Beatles are among the very first popular musicians to use this revolutionary instrument.

Harrison first played it during the Abbey Road sessions in August 1969, when he used it for the track “Because.”

The synthesizer ended up being used in three other tracks on the album: “Here Comes the Sun,” “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” and “I Want You [She’s So Heavy].”

The Beatles didn’t incorporate the synthesizer for novelty or effect, as The Ran-Dells did in their 1963 hit “Martian Hop” and The Monkees did in their 1967 song “Star Collector.”

Instead, on Abbey Road, the band capitalizes on the synthesizer’s versatility, creatively using it to enhance, rather than dominate, their tracks.

In some cases, the synthesizer simply sounds

Carousell PHL partners with Go Negosyo CAROUSELL Philippines, the country’s leading classifieds platform, recently partnered with Go Negosyo for its participation in “Sign Up! Angat Lahat Sa Digital” mobile app summit and expo. This year’s summit was aimed at gathering mobile app platforms that help micro-entrepreneurs become selfearning in the digital economy.

It also highlighted the impact of platforms in helping achieve inclusive growth and prosperity for all. The mobile

app summit and expo gathered more than 100 participating digital and mobile app platforms at the World Trade Center.

Present during the forging of the partnership were (in photo, from left) Senior Adviser for Asean BAC and Angat Lahat Sa Digital Adviser Josephine Romero, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion, and Carousell Philippines Head of General Classifieds Tina Bautista.

like another instrument: In “Here Comes the Sun,” the Moog mimics the guitar. In other tracks, like “Because,” the synthesizer actually carries the song’s main melody, effectively replacing the band’s voices.

A DRAMATIC PAUSE IN 1969, the LP record still reigned supreme. The Walkman—the device that made music a more private and portable experience—wouldn’t be invented for another 10 years.

So when Abbey Road was released, people still listened to music in a room, either alone or with friends, on a record player.

The record had two sides; after the last song on the first side, you had to get up, flip the LP and drop the needle—a process that could take about a minute.

The Beatles, conscious of this process, incorporated this pause into the album’s overall experience.

“I Want You [She’s So Heavy]” ends side one. It’s full of energetic sounds that span the entire leftto-right spectrum of stereo, bounce from lower to higher frequencies and include sweeps of white noise synthesizer sounds. These sounds gradually amass throughout the course of the song, the tension growing—until it suddenly stops: the point at which John Lennon decided the tape should be cut.

The silence in the gap of time it takes to flip the LP allows the dramatic and sudden conclusion of side one to reverberate within the listener.

Then side two begins, and not with a bang: It’s the gentle, thin guitar of “Here Comes the Sun.” The transition represents the greatest contrast between any two tracks on the album.

That gap of silence between each side is integral to the album, an experience you can’t have listening to Abbey Road on Spotify.

Abbey Road, perhaps more than any other Beatles album, shows how a song can be poetically written and an instrument deftly played. But the way a track is recorded can be the artist’s final stamp on the song. ■

SINGAPOREAN company Resulticks has expanded in the Philippines to cater omnichannel marketing solutions to local enterprises.

This initiative could be attributed to a strong domestic demand as 70 percent of Filipino brands have already started to consolidate their customer engagement database.

Based on its recent study, this is a critical leading indicator of the market’s growing movement toward an omnichannel marketing approach.

Named by Gartner to its Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs for three consecutive years, Resulticks is a timely solution in this marketplace, given that homegrown brands, per the survey, have highlighted technology limitations and an overwhelming amount of data as their top 2 marketing challenges.

“The Philippines is a key market for our expansion, as Southeast Asia continues its rise as a global economic powerhouse,” said Redickaa Subrammanian, cofounder and chief executive officer of Resulticks. “As local companies become more sophisticated, we want to position ourselves as a key partner in their growth plans.”

To commit to this goal, she announced the appointment of Ria Rodriguez Bie as director for partnership channels in Asia Pacific (AsPac).

Her expertise on the local market, combined with our technology, looks set to give local brands new tools and strategies to engage with customers in brand-new ways,” said Redickaa.

Having engaged for 21 years in the Software as a Service (SaaS) space, Bie has spearheaded huge regional channel partnerships and sales leadership initiatives across AsPac. During her stint at Oracle, Microsoft and IBM, she led her teams in cultivating key partnerships that won over major customers in retail, airline, real estate and telecoms, as well as large agencies. With her new position at Resulticks, she is tasked to expand the company’s partner networks in the region.

According to her, Filipino consumers have become increasingly saturated with marketing messages from brands. It means that local brands have had to undergo major transformations to shift with the times, she said.

“This is why 59 percent of local brands have said that real-time marketing is a key priority for them in 2019. Through our market-leading technology, we want to help local brands—especially those in the BFSI, retail, and travel and hospitality sectors— take their marketing strategy to the next level and help them engage with their customers in a more meaningful way,” said Bie. Resulticks also has tapped Cloudian as its implementation partner of choice in the Philippines, based on its expertise and knowledge of the firm’s business and the market landscape.

“Brands in the Philippines are tapping into the power of digital and innovation to create new opportunities for growth and foster a future-forward environment. We at Resulticks are thrilled to be an enabler of this transformation as our presence grows across the country,” said Resulticks Chief Operating Officer Kulmeet Bawa.

With the omnichannel reach of the leading real-time customer engagement solutions provider, brands can coordinate marketing campaigns across all relevant channels, including social media, e-mails, e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, SMS and digital assistants.

Resulticks can also allow integrated campaigns by bridging the gap with offline channels using technology, such as QR codes and location beacons in conjunction with robust customer data. What’s more, it pairs robust customer data management capabilities with artificial intelligence and machine-learning to enable brands to better deliver seamless customer journeys and individualized interactions with customers in real time.

Headquartered in Singapore, Resulticks has offices in the United States, India, Australia and AsPac.

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

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Saturday, October 5, 2019 A12

Tech4All: Bridging the digital divide TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

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E live in a world where technology has become an inescapable part of our daily lives, from the moment our alarm rings to wake us up in the morning, to the way we eat, travel, work, communicate and interact, up until when we sleep and lose consciousness, and even then some of us still use technology to monitor our sleeping patterns.

There is no doubt that digital technology will continue to change the world. The challenge is how to make sure that everyone can benefit from the positive changes that digital technology brings. A couple of weeks ago we went back to China, this time for the Huawei Connect 2019 event held in Shanghai. The annual flagship event hosted by Huawei for the global ICT industry aims to establish an open, cooperative and shared platform for customers and partners to explore new opportunities for an intelligent future.

This year’s theme focused on AI, but it’s not about “Artificial Intelligence” but “Advance Intelligence,” as the company revealed its breakthrough products, such as the Atlas 900, the world’s fastest AI training cluster, the Da Vinci architecture, and its newest lineup of processors, Kunpeng, Ascend for AI, Kirin for smart devices, and Honghu processors for smart screens. The company said it is investing another $1.5 billion to support 5 million developers and enable its worldwide partners to develop the next generation of intelligent applications and solutions.

Compared to the speeches during the Huawei Developer Conference, the discussions throughout this three-day conference got even more technical. So it was the sessions about Tech4All, Huawei’s Digital Initiative, that interested me the most.

The theme of the summit was “How Inclusive Innovation Can Empower the World” and Huawei’s Deputy Chairman Ken Hu elaborated on Huawei’s Tech4All initiative. Tech4All promotes inclusive development so that no person, home or organization will be left behind. After sharing the initiative’s current progress, Hu called on more individuals and organizations to join Huawei in addressing global issues related to health care, education, development, and the environment with the target of helping another 500 million people to benefit from digital technology in the next five years.

“I always talk about technology, but today I want to talk about people,” Hu said, starting his speech with a story about how his friends’ parents have bemoaned that they can’t get around the city anymore since taxis are all booked by apps, and they can’t pay for tickets on the bus.”

“For most of us, apps like DiDi [a ride-hailing app like Grab] or WeChat Pay can make our life easier. But for older people who don’t carry a smartphone, technology can make life much more difficult for them,” he shared.

Old people are not the only ones affected by these digital innovations. When I was in Shenzhen, I wasn’t able to change my peso to RMB, and since most of the establishments there do not accept even credit cards, (most prefer WeChat or AliPay) I couldn’t buy anything, even a single bag of chips from a convenience store.

“At Huawei, digital inclusion is a key part of our vision and mission. So we put together an action plan. We call it Tech4All,” Hu explained.

“It’s easy to remember. Just a few numbers: one, two, three, four, five.”

“One vision: To bring digital to every person, home and organization.”

“Two layers of value: Good business means a positive social impact. That means going beyond profits, and investing in the long-term growth of our partners, our employees and our communities.”

“Digital technology is reshaping the world. Technology is the foundation, applications are the key and skills provide assurance.” Hu said. “Tech4All will focus on three areas: technology, applications and skills.”

Hu then identified four domains in which it could comprehensively promote digital inclusion; health care, education, development and environment.

In health care, for example, congenital eye diseases among babies and young children remain as the most difficult

to diagnose in the pediatrics department.

According to the World Health Organization, 19 million children around the world are visually impaired. And 70 percent are preventable and curable if diagnosed early. Huawei is partnering with IIS Aragon (a local medical research lab) and DIVE (a local research center) to develop a new medical device that can detect visual impairment in young children.

With this device, children simply need to look at images on the screen of Huawei’s MateBook E, which stimulate the eyeballs. The DIVE system then collects gaze data and then transmits this data to a Huawei P30 phone. With the help of the HiAI and the machine learning capabilities of the P30 phone, a doctor can then analyze the data and detect the signs of eye diseases. This is an app called Track AI on the P30 phone. With the help of digital technology, trained parents can also detect visual impairment in their children, just like skilled doctors. This approach is even faster, simpler and more efficient, and will benefit 19 million visually impaired children around the world.

In Kenya, Huawei has partnered with organizations like Unesco and Close the Gap, a nonprofit organization in Belgium, to convert cargo containers into mobile, digital classrooms that provide digital skills training to teachers, women and young entrepreneurs in remote rural regions in Africa. This will give them equal access to digital education resources. Through these efforts, the futures of numerous young people will change for the better.

To save tropical rainforests, Huawei is working with Rainforest Connection to convert a huge number of used Huawei mobile phones into solar-powered devices that will monitor the rainforests, turning them into the “ears” of the rainforests. Equipped with AI, these phones are now used to listen to and identify the sounds of trucks and electric saws that are illegally felling trees, helping international environmental protection organizations more efficiently protect the planet. Developed by Topher White, RFCx also has an app that allows you to listen to the various sounds of the rainforest. Such a technology could be beneficial to saving not just our rainforests here in the country, but also save the endangered species from illegal loggers and poachers.

And No. 5: To help another 500 million people directly benefit from digital technology in the next five years.

When you make technology that changes the world, there are always two questions that linger in the back of your mind. The first is whether or not those changes are good. The second question is: If it’s good, what about the people that don’t have it?

“Tech4All aims to enable more people, homes and organizations to enjoy the beauty of the digital world. We want to protect vulnerable groups and make ordinary people extraordinary. This is the unique value of technology.” said Hu.

HONOR-ABLE COMEBACK

IT’S been a quiet year for Honor after making a grand comeback in the Philippine market last year. As far as I remember, I think they only launched a couple of phones this 2019, the Honor 8C and the Honor 8S. Ranked as the No. 1 smartphone with the biggest online market share globally, local Honor representatives promised to continue their expansion nationwide through both online and offline channels. The brand has started to regain some

momentum with the announcement of Honor Vision, the first device to run Huawei’s Harmony OS, which they confirmed will be available soon in the Philippines.

Another big announcement is the arrival of the Honor 9X and maybe the Honor 9X Pro in the Philippines in the next month or so. The Honor 9X, revealed in China, now has a new 8GB RAM variant with 128GB of internal storage, a Kirin 810 processor, a dual-camera setup with a 48MP main sensor and a 6.59-inch FHD+ full-screen notchless display with a pop-up camera.

For now, the spotlight is on the just released Honor Band 5, the stylish armband that makes it possible for on-the-go Filipinos to be in control of their day-to-day personal, fitness, travel and health goals.

Honor Band 5 brings the brand’s latest technology with its all-new health and smart features displayed on a large 0.95” full AMOLED touchscreen. It is equipped with a highlevel fitness tracker that includes heart rate, workout time, distance, speed, oxygen level and even calories, just to name a few, ensuring a better exercise experience.

Honor Band 5’s health tracker comes with a cuttingedge TruSeen 3.0 heart rate monitor, which ensures a nondisruptive 24-hour real-time heart rate monitoring even at night. It also features a smart sleep quality tracker which accurately identifies common sleeping problems along with personalized assessments and suggestions for sound sleep experience. Adventurers will have a worry-free road and sea experience with its water-resistant feature of up to 50mm deep, and long battery life which lasts up to 20 days on a single charge. The 0.95-inch full-color AMOLED touchscreen helps in maximizing the wearable’s power efficiency, and allows it to enhance overall user experience.

The Honor Band 5 can, likewise, display call notifications, message content, reminders and useful phone finder features for a seamless hands-free experience. It even has a remote for taking photos to effortlessly capture countless selfies and group photos. Music lovers will have an even better and easier sound experience with its music control features. ■

HUAWEI’S Deputy Chairman Ken Hu delivers a speech at the Tech4All Summit

GIFTS, FREEBIES WITH GLOBE AT HOME’S PREPAID WIFI PROMO ANY preholiday freebies will always be welcome, and Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi just got better with its Shake and Win promo. You can enjoy the benefits of your Prepaid Home WiFi, and get amazing freebies and promo codes from Grab, Shopee, Eatigo, and a lot more—just by downloading and loading via the Globe At Home app!

Loading HomeSURF199 gets you one promo code, while loading HomeSURF599 gets you two promo codes, and loading HomeSURF999 and up can get you three promo codes. These codes can be used to redeem amazing freebies that can help boost your online business with Grab Express’s P30 off for every P150 transaction, P50 QR voucher in GCash and 10-percent off on Shopee.

You can also score vouchers for free family movie night at home with 15-day VIP access from iflix and HOOQ, free family timeout from Eatigo, Traveloka and Zen Rooms, or even free learning sessions with the kids with free one month online course from Shaw Academy.

Using the Globe At Home app also makes it easier for you to load your Prepaid WiFi and track your data usage.

Simply download the app for free via Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi is now more affordable at just P1,499. It is 2x faster with 2x stronger signal and 2x wider coverage than your usual pocket Wi-Fi, loadable with sulit promos and can be shared with the whole family to use even on multiple devices.

More information at Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi and the Globe At Home app is available at www.facebook/ GlobeAtHome.

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In the ad material of Notice of filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on August 1, 2019, the name of Mr. Feng, Xiaoyun under the GOODYIELDS SERVICES INC. should have been read as Mr. Fang, Xiaoyun and not as published.

If you have any information/objection to the above mentioned application/s, please communicate with the Regional Director thru Employment Promotion and Workers Welfare (EPWW) Division with Telephone No. 400 6011.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

BusinessMirror

A23 Saturday, October 5, 2019 Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Regional Office No. IV-A 4th Flr. Andenson Bldg. II, Brgy. Parian, Calamba City Telefax No.: (049) 545-7362 October 5, 2019

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CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. JILIN XU/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Material Controller

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CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. JIMIN LIU/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

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CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC MR. HONGFENG LI/ POWER CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

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CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. DI WANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

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CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. QINGHUA LIU/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Site Manager

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LHK CREATION, INC. Brgy. Santol, Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas

MR. KYU SUP LEE/ Korean

Managing Director

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JL IMEX PHILIPPINE CORP. FCIE, Brgy. Langkaan, Dasmariñas City, Cavite

Mr. CHANG HUE HAN/ Korean

General Manager

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DONG WU PLASTIC, INC. CEZ, Rosario, Cavite

MR. CHEOLKYU PARK/ Korean

Quality Assurance Manager

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LHK CREATION, INC. Brgy. Santol, Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas

MR. WON JOO LEE/ Korean

Chief Executive Officer

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. TIANYAN HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. LING HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. LONG HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. JIACHAO MA/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. DONGXU LYU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

Mr. YANG HE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MR. ZAIBING DING/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MR. XIAOLONG ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MR. KAI LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. JIGUO XI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. ZHONGQIU DENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. MINGSHU CHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. XUEJIAO PENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. TAO LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. PENGFEI LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. SHUNLAN LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. PEI LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. YUWEI CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

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MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. YANQIN TANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

56

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. YUTING CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

57

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. XUJIAN ZHOU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

58

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. MINGQIN ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

59

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. KAIYU ZHAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

60

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. LIN XIE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

61

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. YONGZE QU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

62

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. XUEPING LIN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

63

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. YAOYAO YAN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

64

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. WEI GAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

65

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. ZHE YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

66

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. YAN XU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

67

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. JING LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

68

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MS. MIN LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

69

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. ZHANGBIN HE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

70

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. KUN LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

71

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. KANG FENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

72

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. LI LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

73

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Brgy. Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite

MR. XIAOWEI XIONG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT (AEP) Notice is hereby given that the following employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s.

Name and Address of Company/Employer

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Brief Description of Functions

1

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. LIXU CUI/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

2

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. QINGLI XU/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Logistic Admin

3

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION Mr. YUNJIAN LIANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

4

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. BAISONG CHEN/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

5

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. ZHAOYI SONG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

6

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. ZHIGUO WANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

7

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. ZHIJUN SONG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

8

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. PENGFEI LI/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Interpreter

9

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. HONGYU LI/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Quality Control Manager

10

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION Mr. QINGJIA YANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Site Supervisor

11

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YINGJIU SHANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

12

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YUNLIANG CAI/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Material Controller

13

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YONGKUAN SUN/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

14

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. KAI TIAN/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

15

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC MR. JUN ZOU/ POWER CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

16

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. HENG CHEN/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

17

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. GUANG YANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Interpreter

18

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. LONGCHUN CHEN/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

19

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YUFENG LI/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

20

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YUCHI LI/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

21

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YI XU/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Asst.

Manager

22

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YAOXU ZHANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

23

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. ZHENGUANG ZHANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Interpreter

24

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. LIWU ZHANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Site Supervisor

25

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. GUOHUI GAO/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Material Controller

26

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. YULONG ZHANG/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

27

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRIC POWER CONSTRUCTION MR. QUANFU YU/ CORPORATION Chinese San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

Mandarin Speaking Admin Officer

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A24 Saturday, October 5, 2019

Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant opens three new stores in September

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ONTI'S signature dishes and delicacies are now delightfully available in SM City Bacoor, Uptown Bonifacio BGC, and Century Mall, where the well-loved bakeshop and restaurant opened its new stores this month. The home-based pastry business started by sisters, Cecille, Carole, and Angie Conti in Parañaque has been experiencing unprecedented growth since Udenna Corp. oversaw operations in 2018.

“On behalf of the founders, we are thankful to have been entrusted to grow Conti’s further. I hope to see the next 29th to a hundred stores in the days to come,” says Dennis Uy, Conti’s Chairman and Udenna Corp. Chairman and CEO, at the inauguration of its newest branch in Makati.

It was followed by the launch in Uptown Parade in Taguig, Conti’s first store in a Megaworld Lifestyle Mall. And marking the chain’s 28th branch, the 8th store to open under Udenna Corp., is the kickoff in Century Mall, Makati This is the first time we had 3 store openings in just 1 month. We want to continue spreading the delightful experience and become part of more celebrations, big or small, by opening more branches,” shares Conti’s President and CEO, Joey Garcia.

Conti’s has been satisfying the Filipino appetite for 22 years, serving more than 150 dishes including favorites such as baked salmon, chicken pie, and the famous “Mango Bravo.” www.udenna.ph Salmon petit pie and

other hearty favorites from Contis’s wide selection of pastries and cakes.

Aside from the long list of delightful food favorites, the newly-opened restaurants also offer a cozier ambiance and more “homey” feel as they adapt the improved store design that’s more “instagrammable.” More branches are expected to launch this year in response to the increasing clamor to get a taste of the delightful Conti’s food experience in more locations.

At the opening ceremony in Century Mall, from left: Dennis Uy, Conti’s Chairman and Udenna Corp Chairman and CEO, Cherylyn Uy, Udenna Corp Corporate Treasurer, Cecile Maraño, founder, Amb. Jose E.B. Antonio, Chairperson and CEO of Century Properties Group, Maria Teresa Cuervo, Cuervo Appraisers Treasurer and Director, Angie Conti, founder, Quintin Sumulong, husband of founder Carole Sumulong, and Joey Garcia, Conti’s President and CEO.

Sitel appoints Chief People Officer for Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand

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ITEL Groufp recently announced the appointment of Haidee Cabanag Enriquez, a seasoned IT-BPM executive and recognized Human Resources expert and People Manager, as its new Chief People Officer (CPO) for the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand (PHANZ).

Haidee has been with Sitel since 2009, handling regional and global responsibilities including VP-HR for APAC, VP-Global Talent Acquisition and General Manager – PH Countryside. In her latest role as General Manager for PH Countryside, Enriquez was responsible for Sitel’s provincial operations in Baguio, Tarlac, and Puerto Princesa. She led Sitel’s expansion to greenfield markets, successfully launching eight new business logos within two years and providing job opportunities to thousands of workers in the countryside.

InhernewroleasCPO,Enriquezwillleadthecontinuing transformation of people functions for Sitel PHANZ including Talent Acquisition, HR Business Operations, HR Shared Services, Leadership Development, Total Rewards, Corporate Communications, Strategic People Programs, and People Analytics. She will also continue to helm Sitel’s Crisis Management Team, lead strategic expansion initiatives, and strengthen Sitel’s partnerships with external stakeholders and strategic partners.

A multi-awarded leader, Enriquez was conferred the “People Management of the Year” award by the

People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) in 2017. In 2018, Sitel Academy, under her executive sponsorship, was given the distinction of “People Program of the Year” by the same organization, and in the same year the elite Society of Fellows of PMAP conferred her the distinction “Fellow in People Management”. Very recently, she was elected as the Chairperson of the Contact Center of the Philippine’s (CCAP) HR Council and of the Palaweno ICT Association.

NVP 1World recognizes Pinoy achievers in the US

THE AWARDEES, FROM LEFT: Perlita Sabado Tarroza, Olivia ST, Randy Famacion and Ariel Arana.

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STABLISHED in January 1, 2018, NVP1WORLD ENTERTAINMENT LLC is an entertainment production company in the US headed by Filipino singer/entertainer, Chicago-based nurse Nick Vera Perez. It was established to give opportunity for real and raw talented Pinoys in America to showcase their talents as well as to recognize achievers in this side of the world.

On September 21 at Four Points Sheraton Hotel, NVP himself, joined by friends Nell and Lain Frias, Ella Basilio and hubby, Janet Guinsatao and Jerry Masangkay, and Myah Vlahogenis, the reigning Miss NVP1World beauty queen 2019, welcomed the awardees. While NVP1World's homegrown wonderful talents: Olivia, Rozz, Irelyn, Shyla, and Sheryl Ann thrilled the audience to no end.

The Four Pillars of NVP1World Surprise Awardees were the following: Love: Ariel Arana; humanitarianism: Perlita Sabado Tarroza; Music: Olivia ST, and Healthy Lifestyle: Chicken Atiatihan/ Randy Famacion.

NVP said these four have tremendously affected his life and helped him change to become a better person himself.

NVP also recognized the gorgeous, classy, stylish presenters during the Honors 2019 who were: Marlon Carpio, a nurse executive from California; humble partners Victor & Perlita Sabado Tarroza from Illinois, retired nurse and businessman; Sheryll Ann SahagunColobong, a nurse at University of Illinois at Chicago from Illinois who is also a committed supporter to daughter NVP1World talent Davin Arielle; Scott Dubick & AJ Peregrino from Illinois, partners at World Travellers; Jerry Masangcay & Janet Guinsatao, from Illinois whose loving relationship is blossoming to inspire goodness from the hearts with music and care; Matillano Elijah & Imelda Cortezano De Leon from Illinois; Lane & Nell Frias from Illinois; owners of Creative Imprints, NVP’s official printer for all social announcements and needs; and Gemma Esmalla from Illinois, who is also the winner for RN Executive of the Year 2019.

CX is core strategy, says Teleperformance Philippines COO Mike Lytle

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ELEPERFORMANCE in the Philippines recently participated in the annual industry summit, Contact Islands, organized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP). In the photo are thought leaders from various industries sharing their experiences and expertise during the CEO panel, including Teleperformance Philippines Chief Operating Officer, Mike Lytle (second from right).

This year’s theme for the summit was Reimagining CX: The Future and Beyond, based on CCAP’s belief that there is more to explore and understand from Customer Experience (CX) as companies from various industries transform their legacy businesses into truly engaging and innovative customer experience service hubs.

“Empowering and enabling the front line to make the right decisions and to create the feedback loop that helps them get better every day is key to re-imagining customer experience for the future," said Lytle who was happy to share his experiences in creating valuable interactions with customers during his early years as an agent in TP. TP highlights how CX is in the core of its mission with their latest brand campaign

anchored on TP’s corporate tagline “each interaction matters.” The statement highlights the company’s interaction with billions of customers every year, across every channel.

Lytle asserted how TP is committed to enabling warm and caring interaction experts who effectively make the customer feel that their concern is heard and professionally handled.

Accompanying Lytle in the summit were Senior Vice President for Human Capital Resource Management Jeffrey Johnson and Senior Director for Communications and Marketing Marilyn Ventenilla.

To learn more about Teleperformance Philippines and their various programs, you may visit their website at www. teleperformance.ph/en-us or their Facebook page at /teleperformance.philippines.