BusinessMirror October 10, 2018

LOPEZ: INFLATION TOUGH, BUT LAW ON NEW TAXES MUST TAKE EFFECT T

VISIT THE PHILIPPINES AWARD Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima Romulo Puyat, representing the Department of Tourism, and BusinessMirror Publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon shake hands during the signing of a memorandum of agreement for Mission:PHL, the BusinessMirror’s Envoys & Expats Awards. Also in photo are (from left) Adebelo O. Gasmin, BusinessMirror vice president for finance; Psyche Roxas-Mendoza, special projects director for Mission:PHL; DOT Assistant Secretary Roberto Alabado III and DOT Assistant Secretary Howard Lance Uyking. Mission:PHL recognizes the commendable development work done by Philippine partner-countries and of development aid agencies.

The first of its kind in the Philippines, Mission:PHL is conducted in partnership with 10 government agencies: the National Economic and Development Authority, the Departments of Foreign Affairs, of Environment and Natural Resources, of Agriculture, of Science and Technology, of Trade and Industry, of Public Works and Highways, of Education, of Transportation and the DOT. ALYSA SALEN

MEDIA PARTNER OF THE YEAR

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RADE Secretary Ramon M. Lopez has conceded that fuel prices have really gone through the roof, but insisted the scheduled next round of increases on oil and coal taxes must take effect because it is what the law says.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Lopez admitted the string of oil-price hikes the past weeks could be challenging for consumers, particularly the poor. However, he will not go out of his way to call for the suspension of the excise tax on oil under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

“It [rising fuel prices] is a challenge. The problem is we have a law. As for me, I will go [with] what is in the law. We have a provision there that if Dubai crude reaches $80 per barrel, then the provision on petrol tax will be suspended,” Lopez explained in a mix of English and Filipino.

He added that deferring the next round of increases on oil and coal taxes will be at the expense of the government’s social services, to which 30 percent of the TRAIN’s revenues are penciled. “I

A broader look at today’s business

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Wednesday, October 10, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 361

‘Trabaho’ bill seen to hit IT-BPM industry badly T

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE uncertainty brought about by the rationalization of tax incentives is hurting the information-technology and business-process management (ITBPM) industry across all growth indicators, particularly on job generation and investment inflows, business leaders said on Tuesday.

Rey E. Untal of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap) said the looming

removal of incentives for locators in economic zones casts a pall over the IT-BPM industry.

As such, it will most likely fail to generate 100,000 new jobs this year, as envisioned in the Philippine

We have all these factors that make us successful—the people, the experiences, the quality of work and everything—but, at the end of the day, they are going to compute for the cost of doing business in the Philippines.”—Uligan IT-BPM Roadmap 2022. The industry, Untal pointed out, is just recovering from overseas concerns on protectionism brought about by the election of United States President Donald J. Trump in 2016.

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Govt bans pork from Belgium

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Dancing in the dark with a bear Teddy Locsin Jr.

FREE FIRE My personal intervention at the talk on Maintaining International Peace and Security: Visions from the Regions held at the MacMillan Center, Yale University, September 12, 2018. I made that plain; it was equally plain they weren’t interested in what I might have to say in my official capacity. A wonderful exchange followed. Great fun was had by all.

‘T

HE fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing,” said Isaiah Berlin. We know what a fox is: he is the uneatable chased by the unspeakable on horseback. It must, perforce, be dodgy, diving into any cover; turning any which way that presents itself. A hedgehog is a spiny creature that rolls itself in a ball for self-protection. I thought it was a mole; so while it knew one big thing this singular focus came of living in the dark deep in the ground. Well it is not a mole. It lives above ground like the rest of Southeast Asia in full view and easy reach of Chinese avidity.

Economists tell govt to focus on inflation

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@jearcalas

HE Philippines has banned pork imports from Belgium, one of the country’s top suppliers of meat products, to prevent the entry of African swine fever (ASF) after Brussels confirmed that the disease killed wild boars in Luxembourg.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol issued Memorandum Order (MO) 31, which authorized the blanket ban on the importation of domestic and wild pigs and their products, including meat and semen from Belgium.

2016 EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

Continued on A6

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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BusinessMirror

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T

will leave it at that because if I agree to suspend the taxes, what about the pending programs to which they are allocated for?” Lopez said.

“Yes, maybe they’ll pay a little higher for this, but education is free, as well as health, and the roads and infrastructure are better, including the wages of our uniformed men. There really are benefits across sectors,” he added.

Pump prices of petroleum products on Tuesday rose for the ninth consecutive week: gasoline by P1 per liter, diesel P1.45 per liter and kerosene P1.35 per liter.

This prompted senators to gather authorities next week in an effort to address the spiraling prices of fuel. On the other hand, opposition lawmakers, such as Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, look to file a joint resolution seeking to suspend the higher excise tax on oil.

The TRAIN imposed excise tax on petroleum products of up to P6: P1 in 2018, P2 in 2019 and P3 in 2020. The next round of increase—by P2—will be implemented on January 1, 2019.

A MEAT dealer at the Balintawak Market in Quezon City segregates different pork meat parts before these are sold by the kilo to consumers. On Tuesday the Department of Agriculture announced that Manila has banned meat imports from Belgium, its eighth top source of pork products, to prevent the entry of African swine fever, as the European country detected the dreaded hog disease recently. NONIE REYES

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 54.2320

OCAL economists believe that even if the Philippines reaches high-middle-income status next year, this will not make a difference in the lives of millions of Filipinos.

Filipinos, economists said, are reeling from high commodity prices. This is why the President’s economic managers should instead focus on addressing inflation. “ T hat’s [whether the Philippines can achieve the highmiddle-income country status] not the point; it’s whether we can manage inflation and growth,” Ateneo Center for Econom ic

What happens if [we do] not [hit upper-middle-income status]? It just means we fell short [of expectations] and that there could be some political flak.

But [I] doubt if ordinary Filipinos will feel the difference. What they feel is inflation.”—Monsod R esea rc h a nd De ve lopment (Acerd) Director Alvin P. Ang told the BusinessMirror.

n JAPAN 0.4790 n UK 71.0005 n HK 6.9276 n CHINA 7.8274 n SINGAPORE 39.1963 n AUSTRALIA 38.3746 n EU 62.3343 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.4611

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Source: BSP (9 October 2018 )

A2 Wednesday, October 10, 2018

News

BusinessMirror

DOT credits tourism growth to marketing pros of hotels

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

T

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE Philippines continues to be top of mind of many foreign tourists as arrivals grew by 8.5 percent to 4.85 million from January to August 2018.

In a speech before guests at the Virtus Awards 2018 of the Hotel and Sales Marketing Association International (HSMA) at the Marriott Manila grand ballroom, Undersecretary for Tourism Development Planning Benito C. Bengzon said the country “has kept a high profile in the world of tourism. We are still among the most sought-after destinations by foreign travelers. In fact, foreign visitor arrivals to the country continue to grow by leaps and bounds.”

While South Korea continued to be the top source of tourists at 1.06 million, this was slightly lower than the 1.07 million recorded in the same period in 2017, data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed. Driving much of the growth in foreign visitors in the first eight months of the year was the 35.66-percent rise in Chinese tourists to 870,177. This firmly entrenched China as the secondlargest source of foreign visitors

during the reference period.

In third place, said Bengzon, was the United States, with visitors increasing by 8.2 percent to 715,050; followed by Japan at 431,779 visitors (up 6.5 percent); and Australia at 178,655 visitors (up 6.8 percent).

He noted that as per the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts results, domestic tourism “has increased significantly over the last two years by 21.91 percent.” In 2017 domestic travelers reached 96.7 million from 79 million in 2016. “Many consider travel as a life goal, especially those receiving high disposable incomes. The working class or the young millennials are some of those who travel in and out of the country at a rate we have never seen before,” Bengzon noted.

He added that tourists are also staying longer in the country at an average of 9.35 nights, from just three to four days some years

1.06M The number of tourists from South Korea who visited the country from January to August 2018

ago. The foreign tourists have also increased their spending in the country with an estimated average of $125.65 a day, based on the DOT’s 2017 Visitor Sample Survey. The biggest chunk of their expenses go to food and beverage ($38.21), followed by accommodation ($33.75), entertainment and recreation ($20.97), and shopping ($20.90 daily).

Speaking on behalf of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima Romulo Puyat, Bengzon said this year’s Virtus awardees should take pride in being among the “game changers who have made it to the top and changed the way we look at doing business today.”

He expressed thanks to the HSMA for recognizing the hard work and creativity of the sales and marketing professionals in the hotel industry, who have each contributed to the growth of Philippine tourism.

“The DOT hopes that more and more people will be encouraged by this award, to take into heart our common goal of raising

competitiveness in tourism, and most important, in instilling in everyone the culture of excellence, and making tourism a way of life,” he emphasized.

According to HSMA President Christine Ibarreta, this year’s nominees were the largest number in the awards’ four-year history, especially for the category on outstanding sales and marketing associate.

This award went to Timothy Adrian Santos of Bellevue Manila.

Other awardees were: Mae Fatima Lolita Mationg (Makati Diamond Residences) for outstanding sales and marketing manager; Francis David (Hyatt-City of Dreams) for outstanding sales and marketing leader; and the Filipino heritage campaign of Erwin Dona III (Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar) for outstanding marketing campaign of the year. “ Through this annual competition, we hope to ignite the passion of hotels and resorts through their all-important sales and marketing team, excite the market and deliver vigorous business,” said Ibarreta.

For her part, Virtus Awards Chairman Rose Libongco said: “Each Virtus winner is a champion and the confirmatory award raises expectations of better performance from the recipient. Bringing home the Virtus trophy is not the goal; it is the opportunity to do better and prove oneself to be equal to the consistency and commitment to the Virtus ideals.”

This year’s board of judges include the country’s foremost tourism leaders: Cathy Turvill, Tess Mauricio, Nerissa Juan, Edwin Pasahol, Jojo Clemente, Carmie de Leon, Arlene Padua Martinez, Kassy Pajarillo, Dr. Nards Garcia, Jos Ortega, Maeyeth Cadungog and Alpha Allanigui.

Founded in 1979, HSMA has a membership of 120 hotels and resorts in the country.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Govt keen on importing corn at zero duty to plug Ompong-sparked shortfall

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE government may import 300,000 metric tons (MT) of corn at zero duty to augment the shortfall caused by Typhoon Ompong (international code name Mangkhut), which ravaged farms in Northern Luzon last month.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the National Food Authority (NFA) could import and sell corn to local feed millers.

“We are looking at the NFA to import corn so it could be tariff-free. This will allow feed millers to have access to cheaper corn,” Piñol told reporters in an interview recently. “The NFA will import then sell it to the private sector with a little bit of profit margin.”

The country slaps a 35-percent tariff on corn imports within the minimum access volume, while those outside the quota are levied a 50-percent duty. Corn from Asean member-countries is slapped a tariff of 5 percent.

Piñol said he has recently approved in principle the importation of 300,000 MT of corn but there have been no takers from the local feed milling industry.

However, Piñol said Cotabatobased corn flour manufacturer Lamsan Inc. have reached out to him for the importation of about 100,000 MT of corn. Piñol announced in midSeptember that the Department of Agricuilture (DA) may allow the importation of at least 200,000 MT of corn to replace the crops destroyed by Ompong in corn-growing provinces in Northern Luzon.

Based on the latest available damage report from the DA, Ompong affected about 214,596 hectares of corn farms which resulted in a production loss of 496,881 MT valued at P8.17 billion.

In end-July Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. (Pafmi) wrote a letter to Piñol requesting for duty-free importation of yellow corn to aug-

214,596 The hectarage of corn farms damaged by Typhoon Ompong, which resulted in a production loss of 496,881 MT valued at P8.17 billion

ment local supply and ease the high price of animal feed. The group made the request even before the economic managers floated the idea of reducing the tariff on corn imports.

“The Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc. respectfully requests for a duty-free import of 200,000 MT of yellow corn to support livestock and poultry requirements,” the group said in the letter dated July 27, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror.

Pafmi argued that the two successive typhoons—Henry and Josie along with the monsoon rains— which battered Northern Luzon“have adversely affected the quality and price of corn.”

Feed millers reduced their “acceptance parameters” to be able to purchase corn with “higher moisture content,” according to Pafmi.

This, according to the group, led corn prices to shoot up to P19.50 per kilogram (kg), from P15 per kg (Bulacan benchmark).

Pafmi also argued that based on their surveys, farmers delayed their planting, which could affect supply in the early part of 2019.

“Although there are feed wheat imports coming in, this will not substitute for the corn requirements of the poultry industry,” the group said.

“We are cognizant of the expected harvest of local corn and recommend that the imports arrive only between the months of November 2018 to January 2019. We feel this will complement the current supply of local corn and maintain prices to reasonable levels,” Pafmi added.

LOPEZ: INFLATION TOUGH, BUT LAW ON NEW TAXES MUST TAKE EFFECT Continued from A1

The law is the law

LOPEZ said he understands the sentiment of consumers and businesses, but demanded the law be followed. However, he said if taken in isolation, suspending the excise tax on oil will provide relief to the public, especially the poor.

“If world crude hits that $80 per barrel mark and the excise tax on oil is suspended, I, too, believe it will be a big help for consumers. I’m not recommending it because we have to comply with the law, but we can see this [suspension of fuel tax] will benefit the people,” the trade chief argued.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Employers Confederation of the Philippines have recently moved for the suspension of petrol tax as a way to control transport and power costs.

Last week PCCI also proposed, among others, the deferral of the next round of increase on coal taxes to make power cost competitive.

The TRAIN imposed a tax of P50 per metric ton on both local and imported coal every year until January 1, 2020, when the rate peaks at P150 per MT. “ The Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] is a dynamic location for investments, and the Philippines is competing for investments in heavy industries, manufacturing and technology against countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The power rates of these countries are significantly lower than that of the Philippines at between P4 to as much as P7 per kilowatt-hour,”

the PCCI said.

“Competitive power rate has been elusive. Sixteen years into the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and yet the goal to ensure reliable and affordable power supply has yet to be achieved,” it added.

DOE statement

T H E D e pa r t me nt of Ene r g y (DOE), in an effort to address the growing unease over the steady rise in world fuel prices as compounded by the higher excise tax, said all agencies in the energy sector “are united in taking steps to ease the effects of rising prices, particularly of oil and other petroleum products.”

In a statement, the DOE explained that “the rise in petroleum prices is due to the current global situation where international political and economic factors are at play.” It cited these current developments: ■ US exit from the Iran nuclear deal was accompanied by its re-imposition of economic sanctions on Iran, including those related to oil; ■ Political and economic instability in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and is considered one of the largest oil exporters in the West; and ■ A lack of clear commitment from oil producing countries for an actual production increase to replace expected supply constraints.

Global oil prices, the DOE explained, “also tend to go up in the winter months [October-March], as dema nd for heat ing is at its highest.”

The DOE claimed that “even

before the onset of the spike in world petroleum prices, the energy family has been relentless in working out ways to help our most vulnerable sectors such as transport groups. Public-utility vehicles are able to avail of fuel discounts through the continued expanding partnership of the DOE with various oil companies.

The Philippine National Oil Co.-Exploration Corp. has, meanwhile, been asked to look into importing low-cost diesel to augment supply and offer a more affordable fuel option to our public transportation sector.

“We are also part of the interagency Pantawid Pasada program being led by the Department of Transportation, where fuel subsidy cards are being distributed to qualified franchise holders of public-utility jeepneys,” the DOE added.

The agency appealed to the public “to adopt simple yet far-reaching changes in the energy choices we make, with efficiency at its core,” such as using fuel wisely.

“A mind-set on energy efficiency is key to living an energy efficient lifestyle. Helping bring down the overall energy demand of our country is hinged upon our energy habits. We already have the energy ability. Let us hone it by being smart about our energy choices may it be on fuel or power.

Simple tasks such as turning off appliances that are not in use become second nature when done repeatedly. In addition, switching to LED lighting and inverter technology significantly reduces our power consumption, which means lower electricity bills,” the DOE said. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

News BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Experts: House draft charter dangerous and self-serving

S

OME political analysts on Tuesday criticized the House draft charter, which, they say, contains “self-serving” and “dangerous” provisions that may spell doom to the Duterte administration’s bid for a federal shift in government.

Political analyst Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, said the House version is a “draft constitution retaining a unitary system despite its lip service to the term ‘federalism.’”

“Worse, it is basically a selfserving document, favoring the national elite, including those in Congress, with its restrictions on political parties, candidates and citizen rights, its removal of term limits, and additional powers and perks for itself,” he said in a Facebook post. “It [House draft charter] entrenches oligarchial rule and diminishes participative democracy.”

Nonetheless, Casiple said, the issue strengthens the argument for the convening of the independent constitutional convention.

Lawyer Michael Ll. Yusingco, nonresident research fellow at the Ateneo School of Government, said: “I sincerely hope the House bill would not lead to the further alienation of Congress from the people. As it is, it can only doom the President’s federalism project. Maybe, it was designed to do so…the proposed House draft charter collides with the one proposed by [the] Constitutional Commission.”

“These two proposals are now in direct competition with each other for the attention and acceptance of politicians and the general public.

This new development will be a huge

challenge for the administration candidates in the midterm elections next year,” he added.

“We must keep an eye on how the Duterte faction and the GMA [Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] faction will resolve this dilemma,” Yusingco said in an e-mail message, adding he sees now why some people sees the House draft as “self-serving.”

“Removing term limits and not imposing a self-executory provision regulating political dynasties very clearly benefits traditional political families, most of whom are now well entrenched in Congress.

I think the Speaker herself took a big risk putting her name on this draft because it will certainly give fodder to talks that she intends to grab power from the President,” Yusingco added.

All in all, he said, the entry of the House draft proposal has “complicated” the situation for the administration’s move to promote federalism.

“There could be doubts now if the President is still keen on pushing for this landmark reform,” he said.

Maria Fe-Villamejor Mendoza, dean of the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance, said the proposal was “very risky and dangerous draft that will serve only the interest of President Duterte, Speaker Arroyo and their cohorts.”

Villamejor-Mendoza pointed out that the draft seemed like it was “devoid of study and reason.”

“No policy reform. Only personal advocacies and preferences,” Villamejor-Mendoza said in text message.

“But since they are in the position, they may get away with it with us left with the empty bag.” Bernadette D. Nicolas

Wednesday, October 10, 2018 A3

PHL to shun US-led sea exercise in Nov–Palace

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

T

HE Philippines has assured China that it will not participate in the military exercise that the United States will be conducting in the South China Sea in November, which coincides with President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

The assurance was made when Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua paid a courtesy call on President Duterte on Monday afternoon at the Palace.

“China, of course, expressed concern over a naval—a military exercise that the United States will be conducting in the area at about the same time that the Chinese President will be in the Philippines;

the President said that we will not take part in that military exercise,” Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said in a briefing with Palace reporters on Tuesday.

In a bid to send a message to Beijing, the US military is reportedly planning to send US warships, combat aircraft and troops.

The reports also came weeks after the US and China have been at odds over trade sanctions.

Moreover, Roque said the upcoming visit of President Xi was also discussed during the meeting.

Xi is expected to visit the Philippines after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Papua New Guinea on November 17 and 18.

They also agreed to further cement the strong relations between the Philippines and China,

Roque said.

“Both agreed that a joint exploration in the disputed West Philippine Sea would be to each other’s interest, to both countries’ interest; and China reiterated that they do not desire any military confrontation as a result of the West Philippine Sea [claim], either with any of the claimant states or with any other powers because China is the biggest user of the West Philippine Sea, and any military confrontation in the West Philippine Sea will have dire consequences as far as Chinese commerce is concerned,” he added.

Earlier, Malacañang said the government is doing everything to have the joint exploration deal signed during Xi’s visit as a means to curb rising oil prices.

Roque also announced that Ambassador Zhao affirmed Chinese fi-

House leader Andaya faces addl charges for SALN ‘misdeclaration’

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

H

OUSE Majority Floor Leader Rolando G. Andaya Jr. is now facing additional charges for alleged misdeclaration of his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) in the last two years.

The Philippine Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) filed an administrative case against Andaya on Tuesday before the Ombudsman for failing to include some of his possessions in his SALN for 2016 and 2017.

PACC Commissioner Greco B. Belgica said that these include nine properties registered at the Land Registration Authority, as well as high-powered firearms with an estimated value of P4.96 million.

He also said Andaya also underdeclared the value of his vehicles, which are actually worth P12.5 million, instead of its declared value in his SALN of just P2 million.

Andaya denied the allegations, claiming it is a form of harassment from his political rivals to bar him from running as governor of Camarines Sur in the 2019 polls.

Belgica formally charged Andaya for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and the Revised Penal Code.

Andaya may be perpetually barred from government service if proven guilty.

Aside from these cases, Andaya also have pending graft cases at the Sandiganbayan.

PACC said they will be filing other cases to other high-ranking government officials in the coming days, including senators and former Cabinet secretaries.

Senators admit ‘oversight,’ seek recall of coconut levy resolution

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

S

ENATORS tackled at length on Tuesday’s plenary session a Concurrent Resolution sponsored by Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri requesting the office of President Duterte to return enrolled copies of a bill passed by the Senate and the House creating a Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Trust Fund.

Zubiri’s proposal seeks to “enable Congress to introduce an amendment that it failed to include during the bicameral conference” on the bill and to avert a presidential veto of the measure.

Under interpellation by Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, the proponents admitted “overlooking” some provisions in the bill.

“We want to review the performance of the law over a period of time,” Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, cosponsor of the measure, said, admitting during the interpellations: “We are only human; we make mistakes, we are not perfect.”

The Zubiri resolution noted that the enrolled copies of Senate Bill 1233 and House Bill 5745 creating the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Trust Fund were sent to the Office of the President through the Presidential Legisla-

tive Liason Office (PLLO) for the signature and approval of President Duterte.

“After a careful perusal of the enrolled bill submitted to the Office of the President, it was found out that a major amendment to the bill was not included in the Bicameral Conference Committee Report.” the Resolution stated, adding: “there is a need to withdraw the enrolled bill to enable Congress to reconsider its approval and introduce a major amendment which it failed to include in the Bicameral Conference Committee.”

Zubiri confirmed that they held a meeting with President Duterte on Monday night “to avert a possible

Economists tell govt to focus on inflation continued from a1

University of the Philippines Prof. Toby Melissa C. Monsod told the BusinessMirror that, while the prospects of the country reaching the upper-middle-income status remains “fair,” inflation is a “greater problem.”

Monsod said the country’s gross national income per capita is at $3,660, the GNI per capita of upper middle-income countries is anywhere between $3,896 to $12,000.

She said that if the country hits a growth of at least 6.4 percent this year, the Philippines can hit upper-middle-income status.

“What happens if [we do] not [hit uppermiddle-income status]? It just means we fell short [of expectations] and that there could be some political flak. But [I] doubt if ordinary Filipinos will feel the difference. What they feel is inflation,” Monsod said.

Infrastructure constraints

MEANWHILE, University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics Dean Cid Terosa said attaining upper-middle-income status is “not possible” given the country’s infrastructure constraints.

Terosa said the Philippines still needs to address infrastructure constraints and improve institutions, both of which will take time and a lot of resources to achieve.

He said, however, that even if the President’s economic team will not achieve this aim of reaching high-middle-income status, the economic

team cannot be faulted for it.

“Targets are guideposts. As long as we are moving toward them, I don’t see any problem. As I’ve said, no team is good enough to achieve everything the team has targeted. This is universal. All countries and economic teams are not perfect. People want to create intrigues out of something that is usual,” Terosa said.

Last month the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) asserted that despite recent domestic challenges, such as typhoons and high commodity prices, and external concerns, such as high oil prices and the trade wars, the country will still achieve upper-middle-income status by next year.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said that even if per capita income only grows by 4.4 percent, instead of 4.9 percent in recent years, the country will still be able to enter upper-middle-income status by 2019.

He said per capita income in the Philippines is just below $3,900, which is the low end of the World Bank’s classification of around $3,900 to $12,100 for upper-middle-income countries.

“We are going to hit [a per capita of] over $4,000 in 2019,” Pernia said.

Upper middle-income countries include Brazil, China, the Russian Federation, Malaysia, Thailand and Turkey. Based on the World Bank, these countries have a per capita income of $3,896 to $12,055. Cai U. Ordinario

veto of a bill, which is the coco levy fund use,” noting that Malacañang was poised to veto what he billed as “a landmark measure on how to use the coco levy fund. We are now committed to recalling the measure, reconsidering it and bringing it back to the bicam which we will reconstitute today [Wednesday].”

Zubiri explained that the recall will enable the Senate to “correct an oversight in the coco levy regarding the P10-billion fund that was overlooked, including a sunset provision.”

Drilon disputed the justification for recalling the bill, saying he “could not accept it.”

“I don’t think we overlooked it because this is a fund of coconut

farmers, it came from them,” Drilon said, adding, “there is a sunset clause. It was not overlooked. We dont accept that the majority overlooked the sunset clause.”

Zubiri, however, explained that the P10 billion is “a new fund created by law and not from the coco levy.”

Villar added that it was their House counterparts in the bicameral panel that asked for inclusion of the provision. “They asked us to reconsider, and we granted it.”

But Drilon disagreed, saying: “I am sorry, I cannot accept that reason.”

In turn, Zubiri blamed the snafu on the PLLO, saying: “the problem is we have a weak PLLO.”

Govt bans pork from Belgium continued from a1 Piñol issued the order after Belgium’s national laboratory confirmed the outbreak of the dreaded hog disease in Etalle, Luxembourg, which killed wild boars.

“There is a need to prevent the entry of ASF virus to protect the health of the local swine population,” Piñol said in MO 31.

MO 31 ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for the importation of pork products from Belgium.

It also ordered the DA veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors to confiscate all meat shipments coming from Belgium.

“Frozen pork meats with slaughter/ process date on or before August 25, 2018, are allowed to enter the coutnry subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations,” Piñol said.

In 2017 Belgium exported 15,103.634 metric tons (MT) of pork products to the Philippines, which was 7.57 percent lower than the 16,340.017 MT it shipped in 2016.

Piñol also issued MO 30 which imposed the same blanket ban on pork imports from five other countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa and Zambia.

This brings to 13 the total number of countries banned by Manila to export products to the Philippines due to the ASF outbreak.

The confirmation of an ASF outbreak in Belgium has caused the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to go on heightened alert as it was near Germany, the country’s top source of imported pork products.

Simeon S. Amurao Jr. of the BAI earlier told the BusinessMirror that the government will impose an immediate temporary blanket importation ban on trade partners that would confirm an ASF outbreak.

Amurao cautioned, however, that the temporary import ban on pig products could cause global pork prices to shoot up.

“We are closely monitoring the spread of the ASF in China, as well as in Europe,” Amurao said in an interview.

“In fact, we are paying close attention to Germany because its neighboring countries have already reported an ASF outbreak. If Germany gets hit by ASF, then we have to ban them even if it is one of our biggest sources of pork imports,” Amurao added.

If ASF hits Germany, Amurao warned that the price of pork from United States and Canada—two of the top pork-exporting countries—could increase.

nancial assistance in the implementation of a long list of projects.

Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the Chinese President is also set to sign at least 10 loan agreements since China is one of the country’s development partners to ensure the success of the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

The Duterte administration has been criticized for taking a “softer approach” in dealing with China on the maritime dispute in exchange for investments and funding for infrastructure projects.

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a landmark decision that invalidated China’s massive claims to the West Philippine Sea. Until this day, however, China still refuses to recognize the arbitral ruling.

‘Trabaho’ bill seen to hit IT-BPM industry badly continued from a1

“[At] the first half of 2017 we were dealing with an offshoot of 2016, which is the protectionist concerns, the issue on rhetoric, the issue on security during that period,” he told reporters.

“My point is that while people are worried that the impact of uncertainty will happen when the tax reform is crafted, in reality, the uncertainty is already upon us. While all of us are waiting for exactly what that eventual regime will be, we are all reeling from the uncertainty already,” Untal said.

House Bill 8083, or the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities (Trabaho) bill, will reduce corporate income tax (CIT) on one hand and rationalize tax perks granted to locators on the other. It is the second package of the Duterte administration’s tax-reform program.

As ironic as it is, the Trabaho [Filipino word for jobs] bill could result in thousands of job losses, according to industry leaders.

Untal argued that incentives are crucialforlocalIT-BPMfirmstostaycompetitive against international counterparts.

“The industry players are saying that the incentives, as we have it right now, are very important to them,” he said.

“Equally, they are saying that if there is a radical shift from what we are enjoying from a global competitiveness standpoint, they are not saying that they will close shop nor moving out, but the tendency is they will grow less as a result.

That is the sentiment that they have expressed,” the Ibpap president added.

Jojo J. Uligan, president of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines, said the country’s competitive advantages, such as the population’s fluency in English, are not enough to attract IT-BPM firms nowadays. He pointed out the cost of doing business is always page one of the book for investors.

“We have all these factors that make us successful—the people, the experiences, the quality of work and everything—but, at the end of the day, they are going to compute for the cost of doing business in the Philippines. I also wanted call out and say that there is more computation today than before,” Uligan said.

All this factored in, Untal concluded the IT-BPM industry is already “below what we think we can be.” Under its road map, the IT-BPM industry is projected to grow to $38.9 billion in 2022 from an estimated $22.9 billion in 2016. Its employment is also expected to reach 1.8 million in 2022, from about 1.15 million workers in 2016.

However, it could take a hit from the Trabaho bill. While the proposed fiscal reform will lower CIT gradually to 20 percent in 2029 from 30 percent, it will remove a couple of incentives that locators, including IT-BPM firms, deem crucial in their decision to stay here.

One tax perk the Trabaho bill will remove is the 5-percent gross income earned granted to firms registered in economic zones. Locators pay this in lieu of local and national taxes.

A4 Wednesday, October 10, 2018 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Groups question House substitute measure slashing royalty tax, pitch different formula

T

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

@jonlmayuga

WO nongovernment organizations on Tuesday questioned the “hasty” committee-level approval of a House substitute bill establishing a new fiscal regime for the mining industry.

The Bantay Kita and Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) were referring to a still unnumbered bill, which proposes a margin-based royalty on income for all metallic mining operations outside of mineral reservations.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman and Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita B. Suansing, who announced the committee’s approval, said the bill will replace House Bills 422 and 7994.

The lawmaker said the substitute bill aims to level the playing field considering that, under the present taxation, only mining contractors inside the mineral reservations pay royalty tax.

In addition, she said, the draft substitute bill ensures that the government gets its fair and rightful share in the profits from mining operations.

Under the approved substitute bill, large mining contractors will follow a marginbased royalty on their mining operations.

If the margin is 1 percent up to 10 percent, the royalty will amount to 1 percent; if it is 10 percent to 20 percent, 1.5-percent royalty; 20 percent to 30 percent, 2-percent royalty; 30 percent to 40 percent, 2.5-percent royalty; 40 percent to 50 percent, 3-percent royalty, 50 percent to 60 percent, 3.5-percent roy-

alty, 50 to 70 percent, 4-percent royalty; and above 70 percent, 5-percent royalty.

Small-scale mining operations, whether within or outside of mineral reservations, will pay royalty amounting to 1/10 of 1 percent of gross output, levying windfall profits tax to secure the government’s fair share.

Under the substitute bill, the corporateincome tax is retained, including excise tax and royalty to indigenous people, local business and real property taxes.

Instead of the proposed margin-based royalty, Bantay Kita is appealing to lawmakers to approve a tax regime that ensures fair and equitable share from the one-time extraction of the country’s mineral resources.

Bantay Kita is proposing a 5-percent mineral royalty payment on all mining operations that would add a total of at least P2.5 billion to annual government revenue.

The proposal, the group added, is also administratively more feasible in terms of transparency and ease of collection.

“Royalties are to guarantee payments to the government as resource owner. The marginbased royalty on the income of operations will not ensure payments for minerals, and if

royalty is profit-based, the government will be collecting less over the mine life.”

The group also asked whether the proposed bill would ensure public disclosure of profit information so that the community can monitor the proper payment of taxes.

“Will the costs of operations be disclosed publicly? Congress should ask for simulation of tax collection, or the government might end up, [and even] lower tax take before the increase in excise tax,” the group said.

The anti-mining group ATM said it welcomes new taxes for mining operations with the intent that communities and the whole country can benefit from the revenues from extracting minerals.

However, Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of ATM, told the BusinessMirror in a text message that the group supports the proposition that new taxes must be based on gross revenue, and not only on margins of income.

“In effect, this new substitute bill lowered the royalty payments of large-scale mining operations in mineral reservations. It would have been more just if all large-scale mining operations were levied a 10-percent royalty-payment requirement, based on gross income,” he said.

Moreover, ATM said while it supports the provision that a ban on open-pit mining was inserted in the substitute bill, the group is skeptical that Congress will pass such specific provision.

“At most, we can expect that, at the final stages of passing this bill into law, the provision that bans open-pit mining will be scrapped by a bicameral committee. We reiterate our call to President Duterte that he can and he should immediately issue an executive order that puts a ban on open-pit mining,” Garganera said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

NFA sets ‘aggressive’ palay procurement goal

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

T

HE National Food Authority (NFA) is optimistic that it will hit its palay procurement target this year of 2.6 million bags despite purchasing only about 3 percent of the total volume so far.

The NFA’s optimism came after the NFA Council approved an additional P3 incentive to the food agency’s support price for local palay. The NFAC is the highest policy-making body of the NFA. “We call this additional P3 kilogram incentive as NFA’s bufferstocking incentive. Aside from encouraging farmers to sell to NFA, they are also helping us build up a buffer stock from our very own produce,” NFA OIC and Deputy Administrator Tomas R. Escarez said on Tuesday.

Escarez said the NFA would embark on an aggressive palay procurement program to be able to hit its target and beef up its buffer stock.

“We have 279 buying stations nationwide where farmers can sell their palay. Our field offices also undertake mobile procurement in far-flung areas for farmers without transport facilities so they would not have to bring their produce to [the] NFA,” Escarez said.

With the approval of the

additional incentives, the NFA’s total support price for palay now stands at P20.7 per kg, which Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol is already competitive enough against private traders.

In end-September, the NFA it was able to procure a total of 77,594 50-kg bags, or about 3,897.7 metric ton so far. The figure, however, is only 2.98 percent of the NFA’s 130,000-MT procurement target for 2018.

Furtheremore, Escarez said that farmers who would sell wet palay— up to 30-percent moisture content —to the NFA would still be able to avail themselves of the incentive.

“The buying price for wet palay is determined based on the agency’s equivalent net weight factors for moisture content and purity levels. The additional P3/kg applies to all palay classifications under the NFA’s ENW. This means that even palay with higher moisture content and lower purity level will get the same additional incentives of P3 and P0.70/kg,” he said.

“We have also simplified our procurement process to encourage farmers to sell their produce to the agency. Farmers who are selling their palay to the NFA for the first time can deliver their palay up to as many as 200 bags even without a passbook,” he added.

SSS premium hike to raise P16B in 1st year–Dooc

T

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE implementation of a contribution rate hike of one percentage point that will gradually be raised to 15 percent in succeeding years under a bicam-approved bill to amend the Social Security System’s (SSS) 21-year-old charter will generate an initial P16 billion in its first year.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc expressed his gratitude to the bicam on Tuesday for the approval and adoption of the almost unchanged Senate Bill (SB) 1753, or the Social Security Act of 2018.

“If we are able to adopt and implement the scheduled additional contribution that is incorporated in the law...we will be collecting initially maybe about P16 billion a year,” Dooc told financial reporters at the sidelines of the bicam hearing at the Senate office on Tuesday.

Despite its envisioned additional collections estimated at P50 billion from a 3-percent increase in contribution rates under the state-run pension fund’s original proposal, Dooc said that the SSS is happy with the bicam approved one-percentage-point increase in contribution rates, as well as the gradual adjustments in its minimum and maximum salary credit rate.

The current contribution rate imposed by the SSS is 11 percent, which is expected to rise by one percentage point in 2019, or when the bill is signed by President Duterte into law. This is expected to reach 15 percent by the year 2025.

“Before we envisioned collections from a 3-percent additional contribution in one lump sum, that would have given us over P50 billion a month, but I’m happy that we have this law. And for the long term, there are provisions to collect more, and of course, we have a sound and stronger financial base, this also fulfills our goal of providing more meaningful benefits,” he added.

One of the salient features of the SB 1753 is the rationalization of powers of the Social Security Commission (SSC), the policy-making

body of the SSS, allowing it to expand the investing capacity of the pension fund that will generate better income for the benefit of its members and pensioners.

“It was adopted, the allocation of our assets increased to 15 percent [for offshore investments] from 7.5 percent,” he said.

The bill also helps to ensure the social security of the growing number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as it provides for the mandatory SSS coverage for Filipinos working outside the country.

The bicam-approved version also calls for an unemployment insurance measure for SSS members who will be displaced involuntarily from their jobs.

Dooc pointed out that some provisions of the bicam-approved version of the bill may need implementing rules and regulations (IRR) before it can be implemented. Among these provisions are the OFW mandatory SSS coverage, as well as the unemployment insurance measure.

“In the case of the unemployment insurance, it will need a guideline or an IRR. There are some provisions that are self-executory, they don’t need any IRR. I can foresee the unemployment insurance will definitely need an IRR like also the OFW coverage,” he added.

When asked when he sees the bill to be signed into law, the SSS president pointed out that he is hoping for the bill to become a law before the end of this year.

“There will be some protocols, this will be enrolled in both the records of the Senate and the Lower House, and so it will be endorsed to the President for his signing. And I hope to see it become a law before the end of the year,” he said.

Members of the bicam panel who were present during the consolidation of SB 1753 and House Bill 2158 were Sens. Richard J. Gordon, Ralph G. Recto, Franklin M. Drilon and Sherwin T. Gatchalian, and Representatives Prospero A. Pichay Jr. and Mark O. Go. The meeting was held immediately a day after the Senate version of the bill was approved on third and final reading on October 8, with 20-0-0 votes in the upper chamber.

briefs D.P.W.H. STARTS VITAL FLOOD-CONTROL PROJECT IN PAMPANGA THE public works department broke ground on Tuesday for the P4.78-billion Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Measures in low-lying areas of Pampanga Bay, signaling the start of the initiative to alleviate the perennial flooding in the area.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar said in a statement that the start of the construction of disaster-resilient infrastructure in the calamity-prone area is the “realization” of his agency’s target outputs for the disaster-proofing of Pampanga’s low-land municipalities.

The project, funded by a loan agreement between the Philippines and South Korea, aims to construct structures that will help mitigate the effects of flooding in the following municipalities: Macabebe, Masantol, Minalin, Santo Tomas and Apalit.

These areas in Pampanga are said to be flood-prone, as “river tributaries and channel network could not contain the volume of waters in the highlands that flow down the Pampanga River Basin,” according to Villar. Lorenz S. Marasigan

MARINA BEEFS UP WORK FORCE WITH 60 NEW OFFICERS, PERSONNEL

THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has beefed up its organizational work force with the appointment of 60 new officers and personnel, the agency said on Tuesday.

In a media advisory, Marina said its administrator, Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero, has approved the 60 new plantilla positions, and led the mass oath-taking of the new officers, an unprecedented event in the history of the agency.

The new officers are mostly lawyers, maritime development specialists, accountants, computer programmers and administrative aides.

“The assumption into office of these employees will allow the Marina to deliver its frontline services faster, more conveniently and more efficiently to maritime stakeholders,” the statement read.

It added that the hiring of more offers is part of the agency’s 14-point agenda for 2018. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Editor: Angel R. Calso | www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

IMF downgrades outlook for world economy to 3.7% growth in 2018

W

ASHINGTON— The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is downgrading its outlook for the world economy, citing rising interest rates and growing tensions over trade.

the July forecast. But it predicts that US growth will slow to 2.5 percent next year as the effect of recent tax cuts wears off and as President Donald J. Trump’s trade war with China takes a toll.

The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, has raised short-term US rates three times this year as the American economy gains strength more than nine years after the end of the Great Recession.

The fund kept its forecast for growth in the Chinese economy unchanged at 6.6 percent this year. Citing the impact of US taxes on Chinese imports, however, the IMF shaved the outlook for China next year to 6.2 percent, which would be the

country’s slowest growth since 1990.

The US and China— the world’s two biggest economies—are sparring over Beijing’s aggressive effort to challenge American technological dominance. Washington charges that China uses predatory tactics, including outright cybertheft and forcing foreign companies to hand of trade secrets in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

The outlook for world trade overall also darkened: The fund expects global trade to grow 4.2 percent this year, down from 5.2 percent in 2017 and from the 4.8 percent it expected in July. AP

India seen escaping Argentina’s fate as remittances curb deficit

Malaysia to unveil new tax measures to help pay off debt

The IMF said on Monday that the global economy will grow 3.7 percent this year, the same as in 2017 but down from the 3.9 percent it was forecasting for 2018 in July. It slashed its outlook for the 19 countries that use the euro currency and for Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East

and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report comes on the eve of the October 12 to 14 meetings in Bali, Indonesia, of the IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

The IMF expects the United States economy to grow 2.9 percent this year, the fastest pace since 2005 and unchanged from

I

NDIA’S vast army of overseas workers should cap the country’s current-account deficit and keep it from joining emerging-market counterparts that have struggled with currency crashes this year, according to Capital Economics.

“Remittances from abroad are a vital—yet often under-appreciated— source of funding for India,” Shilan Shah, a senior India economist in Singapore at Capital Economics, wrote in a note on Tuesday. Without that support, the nation’s deficit “would have placed it alongside the likes of Turkey and Argentina— two countries that have suffered a currency crisis.”

India received $69 billion in overseas remittances last year, equivalent to almost 3 percent of GDP, Capital Economics said, citing World Bank data. Without that inflow from an estimated 20 million nationals abroad, India’s current-account deficit

would have been around 5 percent of GDP at midyear, rather than 2 percent, it said. Remittances should rise 5 percent to 6 percent in the coming years, preventing the deficit from widening past 2 percent to 2.5 percent of GDP, the research group said.

Diminishing demand for emerging-market assets thanks to US monetary tightening has helped send the rupee down 14 percent against the dollar this year, the most in Asia. It’s also been hit by a rising oilimport bill (India imports

more than 80 percent of its needs) and worries over a debt-burdened financial system. The slump itself may encourage more remittances, which should also be helped by technological advances, Capital Economics says.

“Remittances may not grow as fast as the wider economy over coming years but they should continue to increase,” Shah wrote. “This will allow India to maintain domestic demand in excess of potential supply without having to rely heavily on other, more volatile types of inflows.” Bloomberg News

K

UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia— Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says the government is expected to unveil new tax measures to help raise funds to pay off national debts that have snowballed due to corruption under the previous government.

Lim says it will take the government three years to resolve its fiscal woes due to more than 1 trillion ringgit ($240.5 billion) in debt and another 35 billion ringgit ($8.4 billion) in accumulated ta x refunds owed to the people.

Lim told an economic forum on Tuesday that “some pain” is expected during the fiscal consolidation. He didn’t give details of the tax measures.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told the forum the fiscal problems had turned Malaysia from an Asian tiger into a “small kitten.”

Mahathir led an alliance to a stunning electoral victory in May. AP

Trade minister says US tariffs won’t force China to back down

T

HE United States shouldn’t believe that ever higher tariffs can induce China’s government to capitulate to American demands in the escalating trade dispute between the world’s biggest economies, according to Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan.

“There is a view in the US that so long as the US keeps increasing tariffs, China will back down,” Zhong said in a written statement to Bloomberg. “The US should not underestimate China’s resolve and will.”

Zhong’s statement comes after the two countries imposed more tariffs last month. With both sides now attacking each other, there are no signs that either side will back down, and the conflict is now expected to cut global growth this year.

“This unyielding nation suffered foreign bullying for many times in history, but never

succumbed to it even in most difficult conditions,” Zhong wrote in response to questions from Bloomberg. “China doesn’t want a trade war, but would rise up to it should it break out.”

The ongoing clash would have a “negative influence” on China’s economy, but Zhong argued that the victims of the US’s tariffs on Chinese products include American companies and consumers. The US is attacking its own exports, he said, stressing that China is confident and capable that it can ensure stable and healthy development.

China’s meager profits

TRADE has benefited both countries, Zhong emphasized, rejecting the claim of President Donald J. Trump that China has taken advantage of the US. In making that point, he said that the majority of Chinese industries are at the

bottom of the curve, only making meager profits.

That echoes earlier comments from Fu Ziying, the Ministry of Commerce’s international trade negotiator, who argued last month that, while the US has a trade deficit with China, Chinese companies have a profit deficit with the US. Zhong’s comments are the latest in China’s public efforts to make its case, including an 81-page white paper, a paid supplement in Iowa’s largest newspaper highlighting the trade war’s impact on local farmers and senior officials facing the media. The Iowa advertisement seemed to have contributed to Trump’s accusation that China was attempting to interfere in the 2018 US midterm congressional elections.

Accusation of election meddling the Chinese foreign ministry denied that allegation

last month, with Spokesman Geng Shuang saying, “we urge the US to stop smearing and accusing China.”

Zhong addressed accusations that China’s growth has been made possible by stealing intellectual property and forcing foreign companies to transfer their technology. In denying those allegations, he said China’s laws and regulations do not contain any requirement for technology transfer. Zhong attributed China’s technological progress to the country’s reform and opening and the work of its citizens.

He added that China will continue to open up, no matter the trade war. In explaining why, Zhong cited Xi saying that “openness leads to progress while seclusion leaves one behind.”

“Going forward China will unswervingly open up at a preset pace,” he said.

Bloomberg News

A5

A6 Wednesday, October 10, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Zero hunger in PHL

E

nding world hunger is the focus of this year’s celebration of World Food Day on October 16.

Through the event, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hopes that countries around the world will support its bid to wipe out hunger by 2030. Ending hunger, along with achieving food security, improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture are part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

The Philippines is one of the countries that have committed to end hunger and achieve the other SDGs by 2030. Hitting the zero-hunger target, however, may be a tall order for the Philippines, partly due to inflation. Millions of Filipino families are regarded as “subsistence poor” or food poor, based on the latest available data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

PSA figures showed that the number of subsistence poor families in the Philippines remained above 1 million. In 2015, 1.303 million families were regarded as food poor. In terms of population, there were 8.225 million food poor Filipinos in 2015. These are people who earn less than the per-capita food threshold, or the amount required to meet their basic food needs.

The highest subsistence incidence, according to PSA data, was recorded in Mindanao, where the poorest provinces are found. The highest subsistence incidence among families was observed in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at 17 percent. This means that nearly 2 out of 10 families in the ARMM are food poor and cannot meet their basic food needs. Among the provinces that make up the ARMM, Lanao del Sur recorded the highest subsistence among families at 33 percent, which indicates that 3 out of 10 families are unable to meet their basic food needs. The figure is also the highest in the Philippines.

Data from the PSA also showed that provinces where subsistence incidence breached 10 percent are areas that rely on agriculture. These figures bolster claims that farming is no longer a profitable venture in these areas, making it more difficult for farmers to produce enough food to feed the entire country. Sans policies that would help improve the profitability of farming, planters would continue to leave the sector in droves and cause food production to fall significantly.

Apart from providing the need to increase production to meet the food requirements of a growing population, the government must step up its campaign against food waste. While millions of people go hungry, the FAO said one third of all food produced worldwide is lost or wasted.

The global cost of food waste has been estimated at $2.6 trillion per year.

In the country, the Philippine Rice Research Institute noted that rice wasted in 2008 alone was equivalent to 12.2 percent of the country’s total rice imports of P7.27 billion that year. Citing data from the Food and Nutrition Research, rice wasted in 2008 could feed around 2.5 million Filipinos in a year. Citing the 2016 report of the PSA, PhilRice said each Filipino wastes an average of 335 grams of rice. This figure only accounted for the leftovers on plates after eating and did not include those intentionally cooked and fed to house pets.

The FAO had outlined recommendations that the government can adopt to achieve zero hunger by 2030. These include boosting social protection interventions, empowering local and subnational authorities, having “zero-hunger” budget allocations and partnering with academia.

These recommendations are doable but also require a lot of political will, something that this administration has shown in its war on drugs.

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Dancing in the dark with a bear Teddy Locsin Jr.

Free fire Continued from A1

M

y subject is Southeast Asia; today defined as tomorrow’s battleground in the struggle for mastery in Asia between China and the, as usual, reluctantly reigning hegemon, the United States.

We weary of America’s perennial hesitation—those of us acclimated to the Long Peace of the Cold War made possible by mutually assured destruction punctuated by arrant displays of hot American wars. Korea, Indochina, the near-run thing with Cuba and the missile crisis; and, while still heady with victory in the Cold War, Afghanistan then Iraq and Iraq again. That was power.

Confident, unhesitating; its diplomats polished and learned, sporting the indifference to personal risk in personal career and to their very persons characteristic of those who’ve had everything from birth and are therefore indifferent to the prospect of losing it all. The strong silent type of American is gone; among the last of them James Baker; the absolute last John McCain. Not always right, and when wrong catastrophically so; but their bold presence was always clarifying and reassuring. They were there when they were needed and even when not; they were always there. Now we get the 9 to 5’s, as I was told by a retiring officer in the clandestine foreign service.

It all has to do with reefs in the South China Sea. Nobody, not even the Chinese, ever thought that the name meant that China owned it.

It meant the British named it when they owned China.

As the Chinese Civil War wound down to a Blue defeat by the Reds, in a spasm of hurt pride Chiang Kaishek—who bled his forces to fight the Japanese while the Communists waited it out in the far North—drew a nine-dash line around the belly of China extending far into the South China Sea; farther out to what would be the surrounding coastal states’ extended economic zones and continental shelves. None of it national territory but exclusive for their respective exploitation and the duty of preservation.

Old Chinese in Manila were taught the nine-dash line in school.

But the few Filipinos who cared enough thought of it as merely aspirational metaphor from a dying regime.

Only a handful in high places knew its import; but they were discreet because uncertain. And so Philippine presidents sent armed forces quietly to occupy islets and reefs in the South

China Sea closest to home.

Unfortunately, closest to one’s home was still proximate if not equally to another’s. The occupations spread without fanfare or much notice. It wasn’t grabbing because you weren’t taking anything from anybody. These were res nullius, said President Marcos then (but Sven Lindqvist uses “terra nullius” in another context). There was no one in those places—or rather “features” as The Hague Tribunal later labeled them. Features yielding 12 nautical miles if they jutted above water at high tide—and none at all if they stayed submerged; in any case not entitled to continental shelf or exclusive economic zone. A more technically precise explanation is in the two copies of Justice Antonio Carpio’s book, which I am leaving behind.

(The books went to the MacMillan Center on International and Area Studies and the Yale Library.)

Later the new China we now know took one from us and dredged and dumped sand on it to keep it above water; habitable in a complicated and expensive way, and “weaponizable.”

China hopes it will qualify as an island generating a 200-mile exclusive economic zone eating into ours, and a continental shelf that may well include all of us. China claimed it by ancient right. Yeah sure, ancient like the day before yesterday when they dredged it up. Chinese historiography is inextricable from wishful thinking geography.

Shortly before the US invasion, Vietnam seized features once taken

by France and never abandoned.

Maybe it is still French. Vietnam did it again after the last US chopper took off from the embassy then turning around to knock out a Chinese army in the North. Both Vietnam and the Philippines kept it up on a vague notion of strategic and economic value—thus far unrealized. I was a member of the board of an aggressive oil exploration company. We found nothing of value; in the stock market we traded in hope. I hope there isn’t anything there so we won’t be bound by honor to fight for it. The curse of oil.

And so it went on, Taiwan and Malaysia joined. Then the Bamboo Curtain erected around itself by Red

China—and reinforced by the US Seventh Fleet—began to crumble from pressures of enlarging economic opportunities; largely supplied, say some writers, by the US to counterbalance Soviet power with a strong albeit still incarnadine China in the Far East—or Far West, depending on where you are looking out from.

The rest you know; China overtook Japan as the second-largest economy; and very soon it will overtake the United States. This still doesn’t say much in terms of military power for as long as the projection of US power from the American mainland stays strong. China’s proximate advantage—of itself being in a war theater in the South and East China seas—is also its gross disadvantage.

The US can hit it from a safe distance across the Pacific, as well as quite close from its Asian allies if they will allow it. China will be in the thick of the fight, subject to withering fire from its distant and moving enemy and its closer allies.

Nonetheless, China has kept taking features belonging to Vietnam and the Philippines. Indonesian power checked its advance in its direction. The tally for now: China had no presence in the Spratlys until 1988 when it clashed with Vietnam, killing 84 Vietnamese civilians and then took six more maritime features which China has developed into artificial islands. China took Mischief Reef from the Philippines in 1995.

And in 2012 poached Scarborough.

One day, Chinese coast guard surrounded a feature belonging to the Philippines and excluded its fishermen. Philippine coast guard should have responded. But our only warship was already in the area, picking up part of a North Korean missile; so it went to the rescue and China called it a belligerent act. The US intervened and said both sides should back off.

The Philippines did. China did not.

Without being asked to explain its own uselessness, the US said it is only interested in defending freedom of navigation. This encouraged China. But then Obama was mostly pro-Chinese unlike the Republicans before him. Hillary did better. Asked

by China with the usual oriental indirection how the US would respond if China’s spat with its Philippine ally continued, Hillary said: Go ask the CINCPAC commander (who doesn’t listen or answer but simply sends out the fleet and launches fighters and missiles—or not). China stood down but only briefly.

Freedom of navigation is nothing.

When the US exercised it by sending part of the US Seventh Fleet, a Chinese flotilla welcomed it at the entrance of the South China and escorted it all the way out its backside: thereby proving two things: it is a polite host and the South China Sea is part of its home: the swimming pool.

Freedom of navigation is nothing if it is not wedded to the proposition

that a predominantly naval power must be committed to the independence of nations, keeping them free from imperial threat. (Gaddis, On Grand Strategy, citing the 1907 Crowe Memorandum, “…England, more than any other non-insular Power, has a direct and positive interest in the maintenance of the independence of nations, and therefore must be the natural enemy of any country threatening the independence of others, and the natural protector of the weaker communities.”) Otherwise freedom of navigation is just the privilege of passing by the animal cages in a zoo; which is essentially what US freedom of navigation and nothing more amounts to in a region under threat from a continental power.

We were outraged; what was the use of our Mutual Defense Treaty.

Later Obama told the Japanese the US would go to war with China over the Senkaku islands, which are uninhabited. Asked by the Philippines press if he would do the same for the Philippines, he said no. This was further encouragement he gave China.

We were not entirely powerless.

We had international law on our side.

Since both China and the Philippines had signed up to Unclos, we went to The Hague. China refused to participate. We had verbal US support, which is of course worthless, not least because it was qualified—the US is only interested in freedom of navigation, which as I explained is nothing.

And the US won’t sign onto Unclos.

We won a tightly crafted claim: what are the reefs in the South China Sea that we possess—one or two of which were stolen by China which now excludes us from resources well within our exclusive economic zone.

The Hague said they are features at best; generating in some narrow cases if they’re high tide elevations 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and nothing else.

Today we are urged to keep filing notes verbale. I refuse. Every note verbiage you send to a country that ignores it merely confirms that notes are worthless, that the international community is even more so, and every note ignored is a stone in the edifice of possession which is 9/10ths of the law and will morph in time into a legal right of ownership. And that Thucydides is still right: the strong will do what they like and the weak must swallow their pride and even lose their independence. One of the features has been made habitable and “weaponized” with an airfield, radar, docks for warships. But it is still not an island, which The Hague said only God can make.

That’s the foxy way of looking at it. It is just a local Philippine problem and not much of one if there is no oil. We can talk around it and make mutually beneficial deals so long as we don’t sign away what’s ours by law because that would be treason.

See “Locsin,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Chances and choices: Lotto and ‘siling labuyo’

Data aggregators for catastrophe insurance Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

Atty. Amabelle C. Asuncion

Competition Matters

A

testament to the unique Filipino trait of having fun even in adversity, the recent headlines on rising prices of rice and fuel are interspersed with updates on the billionpeso lotto jackpot. The record jackpot has attracted habitual gamers and first-time bettors alike, including celebrities and politicians. With fingers crossed, bettors divine the six lucky numbers based on birthdates, anniversaries, age and other numbers that bear some meaning in the bettor’s life. Bets range from P24 to P22,000+. Some pin their hopes on winning while others simply try their luck. Regardless of the motivation, bettors await the results with optimistic enthusiasm.

As a game of chance, lottery makes no guarantee of winning; the only assurance is that the numbers will be drawn fair and square. Thus, while it cannot guarantee winning, it does promise a fair chance of winning, of course depending on the amounts and number of bets placed. Win or lose, such assurance allows bettors to hope, thus keeping the game alive through the years.

Establishing a business is like betting on lotto. The chance of earning entices businesses—old and new, big and small —to try their luck and compete with other businesses. Business owners employ different strategies and invest varying amounts, depending on capacity and appetite. The prospect of winning motivates the neighborhood sari-sari store owner as much as the business tycoon.

Like lotto, competition cannot guarantee success; however, it does ensure fair chances for all those competing. If this promise is kept, businesses will continue to crack the winning combination.

Even where a jackpot is won, there is always a new draw and another jackpot to be won. Amid economic uncertainties, people turn to games of chance because these offer a chance of improving their lot, even if the gamble is risky. Similarly, people venture into business for an opportunity to earn. This opportunity can only be real if everyone will play by the rules. In the same way that lotto cannot afford to be smeared by allegations of rigging, competition must be free from manipulation. However, the integrity of the game also rests on the gamers. A bettor who expects the system to be fair is also expected to play fair. For competition to be fair, businesses must play fair.

Otherwise, there will be no point in playing and the market will fail. nnn Aside from rice and fuel, the price of siling labuyo skyrocketed to an unprecedented P1,000 a kilo. Siling labuyo or bird’s eye chili is used for spicy Filipino dishes like Bicol Express, laing, kinilaw, caldereta, etc. Siling labuyo used to be affordable that it could be given for free to diners to spice up their soy sauce dip. With the price increase, consumers scrambled for ways to cope.

Carinderia owners resorted to using less quantities while bigger restaurants looked for cheaper sources abroad. Still, others looked for alternative spices that could give the same heat to their dishes for a lesser price. Some of the substitutes were sweet and chili pepper, bell pepper, jalapeño, paprika and black pepper. The quality of heat, price and availability vary compared to the siling labuyo, making some of them more likely substitutes than others.

For example, black pepper provides

Locsin. . .

continued from A6

Here’s the hedgehog view: this is all a portent of Chinese aggression and its evident aim to establish Chinese hegemony in Southeast Asia by taking possession of all the waters as close as possible to the shorelines of the littoral states around.

And why?

To break out of the first island chain of iron alliances drawn by the United States from South Korea through Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, which locks in China and locks out commodities essential to China’s economic strength and military power: principally energy.

And then push the US back to Hawaii or San Diego.

There is a thriller, Trident, that envisions a scenario where an alliance of littoral states led by Japan interdict Chinese commerce in the Straits of Malacca and sink it in the South China Sea. It ends with a nuclear demonstration explosion

less heat than siling labuyo and may not be a good substitute for Bicol Express.

Jalapeño or sweet and chili pepper may be good substitutes in terms of quality of heat. If the prices are comparable to siling labuyo (prior to the increase) and the produce easily available, consumers may switch to these alternatives. Consumers can cook their spicy sisig using these cheaper substitutes. This means siling labuyo, jalapeño, and sweet and chili pepper are substitutable.

In competition parlance, substitutable goods are considered part of what is called the same “relevant market.”

Defining the relevant market is the first step in competition analysis. However, more than an academic analytical tool, “relevant market” represents the plethora of choices available to consumers to answer a need. In the example, the consumer willing to spend a certain amount can choose from siling labuyo, jalapeño, and sweet and chili pepper for spice needs. If one spice is unavailable or increases in price, the consumer can switch to substitutes to fulfill her need.

The more substitutes, the more options for consumers; the more substitutes, the more suppliers vying for the patronage of consumers. This would translate to more vigorous competition, to the benefit of consumers. But if none of the alternatives can substitute for siling labuyo, then they do not belong to the same relevant market. In such a case, siling labuyo may be a relevant market on its own. So, if siling labuyo prices increase, consumers would have to absorb the increase. Limited or absence of substitutes could lead to greater market power of siling labuyo suppliers and possibly abuse of such power, to the detriment of consumers.

Therefore, relevant market indicates the options available to consumers and sets the stage for competition among suppliers. What competition policy seeks to do is ensure that consumers will benefit from multiple choices at affordable prices, and suppliers will compete fairly. Where the relevant market is less competitive, competition policy guards against monopolistic or abusive behavior of suppliers enjoying market power. In short, competition law lets the consumer savor spicy Filipino food at reasonable prices, with or without siling labuyo.

Wednesday, October 10, 2018 A7

D

ata is vital for catastrophe modeling, as well as for determining industry exposure and industry loss estimates. The catastrophe insurance market relies on data collected for vital decision-making.

One of the leading data aggregators is the Pan-European Risk Insurance Linked Services or Perils AG (Perils). Perils was founded in January 2009, but started its operations only in 2010. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland. Perils shareholders include Allianz SE, AXA, Assicurazioni Generali, Groupama, Guy Carpenter, Insurance Australia Group, Munich Re, Partner Re, Swiss Re and Zurich Insurance Group. It operates as a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. Each shareholder holds an equal share. The purpose of Perils is to enhance transparency to the natural catastrophe risk landscape, thereby ensuring its stability in the market, by providing high-quality

data relevant to the insurance industry. Perils was incorporated as a joint stock company in Zurich.

Perils AG basically provides catastrophe insurance market data directly collected from insurance companies that write property businesses in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The data collected are compiled on a Cresta level (zones).

Cresta refers to the Catastrophe Risk Evaluating and Standardizing Target Accumulations organization. Cresta was established by the insurance and reinsurance industry in 1977 as an independent body for the technical management of natural hazard

coverage. Cresta globally determines country-specific zones for the uniform aggregation of insurance data, mainly for property business. Cresta’s main goal is to establish a uniform and global system to transfer, electronically, aggregated exposure data for accumulation risk control and modelling among insurers and reinsurers.

Perils’s operations and services are generally limited to Europe. Its services, however, have been made available in Australia and Turkey.

When it started operations in 2010, it focused on European wind events for which total insured losses exceeded €200 million. Today, it provides two main products available on a subscription basis. One, exposure data, provided on an annual basis. Two, loss estimates following a covered natural catastrophe event.

Perils collects data and are subjected to quality control. It is anonymized, aggregated and subsequently extrapolated to industry or market level. The resulting data are made available to its subscribers.

The operation of Perils was patterned after another data aggregator in the United States, the Property and Claims Services which operates for US catastrophes. The Property and

Claims Services (PCS) is a subsidiary of Insurance Services Office Inc., a for-profit Delaware stock corporation that is the leading provider of information on property/casualty insurance, including statistical information, actuarial analyses and underwriting services in the United States. PCS is the internationally recognized authority on insured property losses from catastrophes in the United States. It prepares estimates of total insured property damage for every catastrophe that occurs. It was established in 1984.

Of course, there are other data aggregators. Among them is the Swiss Re Sigma. Since 1970 Swiss Re’s Economic Research & Consulting team collects data from various sources about natural catastrophes and man-made disasters. Each year an issue of the Sigma publication series presents data related to catastrophic risks. Another is the Munich Re Geo Risks Research. Munich Re has been researching geoscientific phenomena, their risks and their loss potentials, since 1974.

Dennis B. Funa is the current insurance commissioner. Funa was appointed by President Duterte as the new insurance commissioner in December 2016.

E-mail: dennisfuna@yahoo.com.

PUJ modernization fears unfounded, but reforms needed

Before her appointment to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), Commissioner Asuncion was engaged in corporate and commercial practice and served as chief legal counsel of a top company and a corporate partner of a law firm. She was also previously involved in legislative, law and policy reform, advocacy, and adjudication work. Commissioner Asuncion has a Master of Laws degree (with distinction) in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to the New York bar.

n March 2019 deadline dead?

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) backpedaled on its marching orders setting a deadline on jeepneys to consolidate into cooperatives or corporations by March 2019 after it faced a Senate gauntlet of resistance from jeepney leaders, who lamented a litany of problems and issues about modernization.

For one, there is no adequate financing available to replace all 220,000 jeepneys nationwide, which would augment the Development Bank of the Philippines’s (DBP) pilot financing of only P1.5 billion. Jeepney operators also detest getting only P80,000 per jeepney as subsidy equity for a financing on a Euro-4 vehicle costing P1.6 million, which now ballooned to P1.8 million to P1.9 million per unit. Worse, old jeepneys are to be melted as scrap metal in exchange for P30,000.

For operators, the risks are too high if the brand-new vehicles fail, as they could no longer bring back

their units melted as scrap iron. And breakdowns are likely being subjected to stressful passenger overloads and 14 hours daily operating time.

This worries DBP as warranties are guaranteed only for three years, leaving the rest of a seven-year daily amortization period unsecured.

Consolidation required but tedious? Another stumbling block is that while consolidation either through corporation or cooperative is required, getting registered as cooperatives takes six to 10 months owing to tedious procedures, while it only takes one to three days to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) requires unrealistic economic surveys (business plans), daylong seminars inappropriate for less-schooled drivers, who prefer practical handson learning over lectures, which are repeated almost the same by the Office of Transport Cooperatives (OTC). CDA has become less developmental and more regulatory by requiring

five reportorial requirements every year with onerous penalties, and many more past ridiculous regulations.

By law, minimum number of cooperators is 15 at P1,000 each for a total of P15,000 minimum paid-up capital, but OTC requires a P300,000 paid-up, causing delays in collections. Aren’t the jeepney units assets that could be considered as equity? If allowed, even the poorest associations can project bigness and bankability by converting their units as equity shares. n Rationalization means better incomes? Contrary to fears that modernization’s route will affect livelihoods and incomes, Engr.

Dave Garcia, of Atin’To Development Services and consultant to many transport groups, explained that if 30 percent or 400 of the 1,400 jeepneys plying the Pasig-Quiapo route are removed, the volume of commuters will remain, but the fares from the 400 units will now go to the remaining 1,000, which can be shared by everybody.

If this route grosses P3,500/ jeepney, broken down into P1,000 operator’s bound ar y income, P1,000 for the driver and P1,500 for diesel, the perceived “lost revenues on the 400 jeepneys removed amounting to P1.4 million a day can now go to the 1,000 units for an additional income of P1,400/ unit. The main objective of route rationalization is optimum use of capacity to meet commuter demand on varying hours, thus avoiding cutthroat competition during lean hours through a systematic “platoon dispatch system” that is only

by the United States to sober up everybody that the economic and political game is really not worth the flame of a nuclear candle.

Kagan says that is only the half of it: the wider gain is the Indian Ocean, which Arab oil and African rare metals must cross to reach China after passing the Straits: the entire enchilada from source to consumption and back again in an Indo-Pacific theater under Chinese control or with significant say to the exclusion of American presence except by leave of the Chinese state.

The question for the government succeeding the one that won at The Hague was whether to keep banging our head against the Great Wall to the applause of a useless power and forego the benefits of Chinese trade and credit. Or play along with it.

I asked a Central Asian ambassador, knowing the Tans are menaced by Russia and China. He said, “What do you do if a bear is running toward you? Do you run? It will overtake you and maul you, exasperated because you made it run.

Do you stand and fight, it will maul you worse for your insolence. What you do is run toward the bear and hug it tight.

Of course, it can crush you against its chest. But not if you hug it really tight and dance with it.

This much is true. The “weaponized” reef is the most useless investment China ever made toward increasing its military power and reach because the worse thing in warfare today is an immovable object. It has cost China the suspicion of all Southeast Asia, which was lured by its generous credit. (A professor in the audience explained that a submarine cable from the reef to the mainland will show what satellites cannot: the passage of submarines up and down the South China Sea. OK, I missed that and I shouldn’t have; that point was made by one of the audience at an Asia Society event hosted by China expert and Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd and Graham Allison, author of Destined for War: The Thucydides Trap and, more famously much earlier, the last word on the Cuban missile

crisis, The Essence of Decision.) Now they prepare for the worst from China. And there is this too: military experts say that in the first half hour of conflict between China and the Philippines, a missile strike will evaporate the “weaponized” reef, indeed turn its sand into glass. Yet, it would arguably not be an act of war because the reef belongs to the Philippines but the point was made.

Out of this parochial situation has arisen fox and the hedgehog concerns: does the US preemptively strike down Chinese aspirations in the Western Pacific with hedgehog-like focus? Or does it weave in and out of situations generated by friendly and hostile relations between China and the United States? Like a fox.

Is the US still interested in being the indispensable power in the world or will it be the first empire in history—whose presence is far more reassuring than resented—that wants to decline and fall without a shot fired in anger and selfrespect. Becoming just another continental country like Russia but with internal

freedom in the Age of China. American diffidence, of course, can cite the authority of Kennan—your greatest and most elegant foreign policy thinker—and his view of the limitations of American power to change things in its image. But then he was wrong to see the Philippines as an American foreign policy misadventure because without it the US would not have been able to wage the Vietnam War from its Philippine bases. And while it lost that war, the devastation the US visited on Indochina stopped the further spread of Communism in Asia, if not the world.

No one wanted to undergo that experience. (But Arab Islamic fundamentalism has shown the fortitude and more to take it on again and again.)

One other option is to revisit US-Philippine relations and recreate some of its old features. MacArthur called Taiwan America’s unsinkable aircraft carrier.

Actually, the Cold War Philippines was America’s unsinkable carrier group off the coast of China just as Britain was off the coast of Europe. That can be replicated to greater effect even without formal

Michael Makabenta Alunan

on the contrary

J

eepney modernization fears are totally unfounded, although major reforms are needed as the government is not yet ready on many fronts as revealed during Sen. Grace Poe’s hearing, which turned more into a grievance session that drowned the unheard voices of a few who welcome modernization.

possible through fleet management under franchise consolidation. n Few leaders embrace modernization. What policy-makers must also hear are the voices of the unheard few, like Ramil Rodrigo of Curoda Transport-Koop and Ponciano Letrodo of Pamaqoda, who embrace modernization, and converted their associations to cooperatives despite much difficulty.

Rodrigo is an ex-military with a medal of valor for involvement with the UN-Peacekeeping force in East Timor, while Letrodo is a former Piston leader. Both believe that for modernization to succeed, cooperativism is the only way to become efficient. n Benefits from maintenance. Meanwhile, other leaders are clamoring for fare hikes to P12, but they don’t realize fuel efficiency can improve by 10 percent to 30 percent with better maintenance, thus, diesel at P50 per liter can mean savings or earnings of P5 to P15 per liter, much more than Piston’s earlier demand for a P6 per liter fuel discount, and enough to absorb rising prices.

Humans need maintenance like food, sleep, exercise, etc., similarly, vehicles need proper maintenance like change oil, filters, etc., but what is lacking is knowledge and reforms addressing this concern, which are actually provided by law. Sens. Grace Poe, Bam Aquino and Ralph Recto argued separately that modernization cannot be forced, but what cannot be compromised is safety (road-worthiness) and clean-air compliance.

US bases: an entire archipelago of over 7,000 islands offering an impossible-totrack ordnance platform from any part of which the US can strike out and move out of range to another part.

What is the role of the UN? I cannot imagine. We cannot even raise our maritime issues without losing our connections to dominant regional and economic groupings that favor China.

The UN is the parliament of man with all the human weaknesses that entails.

China has the means to replace the US as the major funder of the United Nations and become the major influencer in the world. But China doesn’t move.

Its contributions are minimal. Maybe it doesn’t think it necessary to buy big into an institution under increasing American disdain when it can set up a parallel one; like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank—its answer to the Japanese-American ADB. All of America’s closest western allies have joined the Chinese bank. After holding back out of independent pride and suspicion, we lamely followed. I hope we got in.

E-mail: mikealunan@yahoo.com.

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

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SEC asks trade operators to follow data-privacy laws

T

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered trading-platform operators to comply with data-privacy laws and data-protection regulations following a series of data breaches that happened since last year.

In its letter to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEC), the SEC s a id it s ow n r u les m a nd ate market participants to have a

comprehen sive i n for m at iontechnology plan and to subject their IT, trading, business continuity, disaster recovery and risk-management systems to a regular review and audit by an

independent firm. The rule came from the Securities and Regulation Code of 2015.

“These are designed to ensure that trading in the market are efficient, not interrupted and not susceptible to glitches, as well as for the protection of personal and other data against any accidental or unlawful destruction, alteration and disclosure, and against any other unlawful processing,” it said.

The market institutions are required to submit their compliance report within 30 days.

“It should be understood that the foregoing advisory should not be construed as a legal obligation on the part of the department to continuously update the

company on the latest issuances of the commission,” it said.

“It is emphasized it is still the sole responsibility of the company to keep itself abreast of the issuances of the commission and ensure full compliance therewith,” it added.

Last year online stock broker COL Financial Group Inc. admitted it had a data breach of its clients’ profiles. It claimed no data were stolen.

Last month Lopez-led ABSCBN Corp. said it had to shut dow n two online stores that were the targets of a data breach, which it said some personal information and credit-card details of its customers may have been compromised.

ManageEngine offers new solution to protect SMBs from browser-based cyber attacks

By Roderick L. Abad

@rodrik_28

Contributor

M

A N AGEENGI N E h a s launched an endpoint solution for browserbased cyber attacks to help companies secure their corporate data in the Cloud and protect their networks from Web-based threats.

Called the “Browser Security Plus,” it is now available for organizations to have a layer of management capabilities for browsers and their add-ons to maintain robust enterprise security.

“For the longest time, browsers have been considered just another application,” said Mathivanan Venkatachalam, vice president of ManageEngine.

“With cloud applications pivoting the way business is done, browsers have become endpoints in and of themselves, capable of achieving functionalities of a number of native applications put together,” he added.

Browser Security Plus allows enterprises to enhance network health by preventing, detecting

G.R.I. SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT

and fixing any browser vulnerabilities.

As of the first quarter of this year, browsers have accounted for 23.47 percent of exploit attacks, Statista said.

This has a serious impact on business security as attackers take advantage of unsecured browsers and Web applications to create lasting effects.

Helping address this issue, ManageEngine has developed a comprehensive browser management solution that can secure multiple browsers—Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Edge—used in Windows environments.

Per Net Market Share, 88.18 percent of desktops worldwide run on Windows. Google Chrome accounts for 63.37 percent; Firefox, 10.62 percent; Microsoft Internet Explorer, 13.46 percent; and Edge, 4.86 percent.

“By managing browsers the same way they manage endpoints like desktops and mobile devices, enterprises can seal their network from possible attacks at

its most used threshold,” Venkatachalam said.

Cyberhygiene practices implemented in Browser Security Plus include compliance, policy deployment, add-on management and browser isolation.

This new offering by ManageEngine covers all critical aspects of securing a browser, from obtaining visibility, enforcing security policies and controlling access to ensuring compliance with enforced policies.

The company also plans to extend its browser management capabilities to macOS, followed by other operating systems in the near future.

Price points start at $12 per license annually. A fully functional, 30-day trial is also available as well as the free edition for start-ups and small and medium businesses to manage up to 25 computers.

Being an information-technology management company under Zoho Corp., ManageEngine has offices worldwide, including the United States, the Netherlands, India, Singapore, Japan and China.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (left), chairman of Ayala Corp.; and Teresita Sy-Coson (right), covice chairman of SM Investment Corp., flank Sunny Verghese, chairman of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, during the GRI Sustainability Summit: Together towards a Sustainable Philippines. The summit provided a forum for business leaders to discuss trends and perspectives on sustainability and reporting. It also provided a platform where new and experienced sustainability professionals and reporters could build their capacity, skills and knowledge to improve corporate transparency for sustainable business decision-making. NONIE REYES

Now Corp. files case vs DICT, NTC for ‘legal violations’ in selecting 3rd telco player

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

W

HY is Now Corp. filing a case against the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) over alleged “legal violations” in crafting the terms of reference (TOR) for the selection process for the third telco player?

That was the very question Eliseo M. Rio Jr., who heads the ICT department, asked on Tuesday, when his group received a copy of the case filed against the two agencies for supposedly inserting three monetary requirements in the rules for selection.

Now Corp., headed by businessman Mel V. Velarde, whose representatives bought bid documents for the process on Monday, questioned before a local court the “insertion of new requirements not taken upon during public hearings” for the third telco selection.

He listed them as the P700-million participation security, the P14billion to P24-billion performance security, and the P10-million nonrefundable appeal fee, calling these “barriers to entry.”

Velarde said the group is “suing the NTC to protect its public share-

holders and President Duterte from any suspicion that he is complicit to the money-making schemes in the TOR for the third telco.”

Rio confirmed his group received the case, but questioned the timing of the filing of the case and the group’s motive in blocking the selection process. He explained the standards included in the rules were discussed during a public hearing in August, and was published in the previous draft terms. Rio said these could have been raised during the meetings with the government.

“Is it to further delay the entry of the third telco? Again, and to emphasize, the selection of a third telco is no small matter, and to set the bar low for those who apparently cannot meet the standards is detrimental to the people who will directly benefit from a third telco that has not only the technical capacity but, more important, the financial muscle to compete with giants Globe and Smart,” Rio said.

The participation security, he said, was put in the rules to ensure the financial capability of the incoming third telco. Its war chest, Rio said, should be “at least comparable to the duopoly” to ensure it can effectively compete in the market that is already well-entrenched by the two incumbents.

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Companies BusinessMirror

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

October 8, 2018

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

ASIA UNITED 58.5 58.95 56.15 58.95 56.15 58.95 8560 501166 BDO UNIBANK 113.9 114 115.4 117 114 114 1438080 165780243 BANK PH ISLANDS 81.7 81.9 81.2 82.55 81.1 81.9 490600 40173821.5 CHINABANK 28.65 28.7 28.85 29 28.5 28.65 46800 1342975 EAST WEST BANK 12.34 12.38 12.36 12.42 12.34 12.34 85300 1055018 METROBANK 66.2 66.3 66.3 67.2 66.2 66.2 1487070 98652114 PB BANK 11.1 11.6 11.6 11.68 11.6 11.6 15100 175248 PBCOM 19.6 24.65 24.7 24.7 24.7 24.7 100 2470 PHIL NATL BANK 42.95 43.75 42.9 43.8 42.6 42.95 9500 406400 PSBANK 72.1 74.7 73 75 73 74.9 200 14839 PHILTRUST 103 111 101.4 101.4 101.4 101.4 40 4056 RCBC 25.5 25.7 25.4 25.5 25.4 25.5 10900 277940 SECURITY BANK 144.7 144.8 145.1 146.4 144.7 144.8 773450 112264218 UNION BANK 65.55 66 66 66 65.5 65.95 6610 435962 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.37 1.45 1.37 1.37 1.36 1.36 6000 8170 BDO LEASING 2.4 2.58 2.56 2.58 2.56 2.58 12000 30840 COL FINANCIAL 15.9 16 15.12 16 15.12 15.9 7900 122578 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.13 4.25 4.15 4.25 4.12 4.25 38000 157470 IREMIT 1.61 1.72 1.73 1.73 1.6 1.72 10000 17120 MEDCO HLDG 0.51 0.52 0.51 0.52 0.51 0.51 125000 63770 NTL REINSURANCE 0.9 0.91 0.9 0.91 0.9 0.91 459000 414370 PHIL STOCK EXCH 184.2 189.9 189.9 190 184 184 1280 237528 SUN LIFE 1865 1919 1866 1866 1866 1866 75 139950 VANTAGE 1.17 1.21 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 10000 11700

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.26 1.27 1.26 1.27 1.26 1.27 147000 185640 ABOITIZ POWER 33 33.6 33.7 33.85 33 33 1090300 36153740 BASIC ENERGY 0.216 0.218 0.22 0.22 0.216 0.216 730000 157780 ENERGY DEVT 7.07 7.08 7.07 7.09 7.07 7.08 4569200 32355517 FIRST GEN 16.3 16.32 16.3 16.48 16.28 16.3 359900 5868088 FIRST PHIL HLDG 64 64.55 64.5 64.85 63.4 64.55 6530 420992.5 PHIL H2O 4.55 4.7 4.76 4.76 4.52 4.7 71000 326480 MERALCO 341.6 341.8 355 355 341.6 341.6 94220 32683222 MANILA WATER 25.85 25.9 25.5 25.95 25.5 25.9 694600 17963055 PETRON 8.51 8.6 8.64 8.64 8.5 8.56 155900 1332346 PETROENERGY 4.07 4.14 4.07 4.14 4.07 4.14 22000 89910 PHINMA ENERGY 0.95 0.97 0.95 0.97 0.95 0.95 225000 215780 PHX PETROLEUM 10.6 10.76 10.78 10.78 10.44 10.78 36400 390576 PILIPINAS SHELL 52.95 53.05 53.65 53.75 52.9 52.95 60110 3190690 SPC POWER 5.19 5.2 5.5 5.5 5.18 5.2 349100 1818362 AGRINURTURE 18.2 18.26 18.28 18.32 18.14 18.26 690200 12595588 BOGO MEDELLIN 91.05 112.9 90.15 90.15 90.15 90.15 10 901.5 CNTRL AZUCARERA 17.1 17.74 17.06 17.76 17.04 17.76 10200 180406 CENTURY FOOD 13.5 13.56 13.5 13.56 13.5 13.5 30200 407706 DEL MONTE 7 7.3 7.2 7.3 6.57 7.3 3700 25868 DNL INDUS 10.08 10.1 10 10.14 9.96 10.08 3498600 35269642 EMPERADOR 7 7.01 7 7.02 6.96 7.01 330000 2310903 SMC FOODANDBEV 92 93 94 95 91 93 482950 44681392 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.92 0.93 0.94 0.95 0.9 0.92 17880000 16514540 GINEBRA 25 25.25 25.25 25.3 25 25 56600 1415980 JOLLIBEE 243 243.8 247 248 243 243 927610 227524624 LIBERTY FLOUR 40.05 60.95 41 41 41 41 200 8200 MAXS GROUP 10.98 11 11.1 11.4 11 11 186400 2054790 MG HLDG 0.176 0.184 0.177 0.184 0.177 0.184 30000 5380 PEPSI COLA 1.77 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.77 1.77 90000 161760 SHAKEYS PIZZA 11.62 11.72 11.68 11.72 11.6 11.72 29100 338748 ROXAS AND CO 2.38 2.4 2.4 2.45 2.38 2.4 195000 465210 RFM CORP 4.83 4.84 4.84 4.84 4.82 4.84 8450000 40897630 ROXAS HLDG 2.84 3.09 3 3 2.8 2.8 20000 56200 SWIFT FOODS 0.123 0.129 0.122 0.122 0.122 0.122 30000 3660 UNIV ROBINA 134.5 134.9 134 135.9 133.9 134.5 531360 71473554 VITARICH 1.84 1.85 1.88 1.89 1.84 1.85 1294000 2406390 CONCRETE A 64.8 65 65 65 65 65 50 3250 CEMEX HLDG 2.2 2.21 2.27 2.34 2.16 2.21 5689000 12759440 EAGLE CEMENT 15.14 15.16 15.2 15.38 15.12 15.14 199600 3022790 EEI CORP 8.28 8.34 8.34 8.34 8.28 8.28 67600 561250 HOLCIM 6.63 6.65 6.65 6.66 6.62 6.65 109300 725955 MEGAWIDE 14.58 14.6 14.1 14.8 14.08 14.6 8416000 122296462 PHINMA 8.98 9.04 9.04 9.04 9.04 9.04 500 4520 TKC METALS 0.9 0.91 0.96 0.96 0.9 0.91 81000 73930 VULCAN INDL 2.07 2.08 2.08 2.13 2.07 2.08 2533000 5316600 CROWN ASIA 1.72 1.74 1.71 1.71 1.7 1.7 26000 44300 LMG CHEMICALS 4.81 4.88 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 50000 240000 MABUHAY VINYL 3.03 3.39 3.3 3.4 3.28 3.4 28000 92880 CONCEPCION 37.2 38 38 38 37.2 37.2 1200 44800 INTEGRATED MICR 12.24 12.3 12.44 12.96 12.3 12.3 282800 3500296 IONICS 1.84 1.85 1.89 1.9 1.84 1.85 94000 174690 SFA SEMICON 1.61 1.63 1.68 1.68 1.62 1.63 25000 40880 CIRTEK HLDG 33.9 34.5 35.25 35.4 33.7 34.5 354600 12216780

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.43 0.435 0.42 0.44 0.42 0.435 9340000 4035000 ASIABEST GROUP 26.55 26.85 26.8 27.35 26.4 26.85 12800 345490 AYALA CORP 928 930 930 935 921 930 113110 105212740 ABOITIZ EQUITY 46.8 46.95 47.25 47.65 46.95 46.95 1001600 47212905 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 11.76 11.82 12 12 11.76 11.76 1773400 21036826 ANSCOR 6.11 6.14 6.14 6.14 6.14 6.14 200 1228 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.89 0.93 0.88 0.88 0.88 0.88 2000 1760 ATN HLDG A 1.19 1.2 1.24 1.24 1.17 1.19 9479000 11361960 ATN HLDG B 1.19 1.2 1.24 1.25 1.18 1.2 1949000 2373620 COSCO CAPITAL 5.94 5.97 5.92 5.96 5.9 5.94 3572800 21247583 DMCI HLDG 12.02 12.04 11.8 12.16 11.8 12.04 976700 11751232 FILINVEST DEV 7.1 7.18 7.2 7.2 7.05 7.18 4546800 32335749 FJ PRINCE A 4.53 5.63 5.74 5.74 5.74 5.74 100 574 FORUM PACIFIC 0.201 0.203 0.201 0.203 0.201 0.203 30000 6050 GT CAPITAL 739 740 797 797 740 740 62280 46895490 JG SUMMIT 47.7 48.5 49.05 50 47.6 48.5 1631400 79009750 LODESTAR 0.55 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.54 0.57 1173000 656130 LOPEZ HLDG 4.43 4.63 4.66 4.66 4.42 4.43 36000 161330 LT GROUP 13.86 13.9 14.3 14.38 13.9 13.9 1772600 25024666 MABUHAY HLDG 0.55 0.57 0.55 0.58 0.55 0.55 1183000 660380 METRO PAC INV 4.94 4.95 4.84 5.02 4.78 4.95 12677000 62831010 PACIFICA 0.037 0.038 0.037 0.039 0.037 0.037 15800000 595400 PRIME ORION 2.36 2.38 2.36 2.38 2.36 2.38 39000 92280 SOLID GROUP 1.36 1.4 1.37 1.37 1.35 1.36 107000 145760 SYNERGY GRID 200 456 320 320 320 320 40 12800 SM INVESTMENTS 866 874 870 879.5 866 866 346550 302744405 SAN MIGUEL CORP 170 170.3 172.8 173 169 170 345990 58786914 SOC RESOURCES 0.78 0.84 0.83 0.84 0.83 0.84 65000 54590 TOP FRONTIER 278 280 280 281 275 281 280 77620 WELLEX INDUS 0.242 0.248 0.25 0.25 0.235 0.242 4460000 1085300 ZEUS HLDG 0.196 0.213 0.15 0.213 0.15 0.213 40000 7080

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.62 0.63 0.62 0.63 0.62 0.62 44000 27300 AYALA LAND 39 39.05 39 39.5 39 39 9817000 384572605 ARANETA PROP 1.9 2 2 2 2 2 20000 40000 BELLE CORP 2.37 2.49 2.39 2.41 2.37 2.37 1335000 3183690 A BROWN 0.82 0.83 0.82 0.83 0.81 0.82 1750000 1427230 CITYLAND DEVT 0.91 0.92 0.9 0.92 0.9 0.92 275000 248550 CROWN EQUITIES 0.22 0.229 0.232 0.232 0.219 0.23 670000 149730 CEBU HLDG 5.16 5.35 5.16 5.16 5.16 5.16 40000 206400 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.33 4.39 4.42 4.42 4.35 4.39 23000 101370 CENTURY PROP 0.44 0.445 0.44 0.445 0.435 0.445 1630000 717700 CYBER BAY 0.38 0.395 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 120000 48000 DOUBLEDRAGON 19.36 19.38 19.54 19.54 19.36 19.38 297900 5,781,446( DM WENCESLAO 8.3 8.34 8.34 8.34 8.28 8.34 116900 971942 EMPIRE EAST 0.53 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 4000 2200 EVER GOTESCO 0.11 0.119 0.105 0.11 0.104 0.104 100000 10730 FILINVEST LAND 1.45 1.46 1.45 1.46 1.44 1.46 4511000 6541910 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.1 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.1 1.11 418000 463050 8990 HLDG 7.11 7.22 7.04 7.22 7.04 7.22 33600 241146 IRC PROP 2.48 2.49 2.5 2.59 2.44 2.49 18989000 47766880 MEGAWORLD 4.15 4.19 4.23 4.23 4.15 4.15 4884000 20413430 MRC ALLIED 0.58 0.59 0.6 0.61 0.58 0.59 39599000 23444370 PHIL ESTATES 0.435 0.44 0.45 0.45 0.43 0.44 930000 404250 PRIMEX CORP 3.88 3.89 3.96 3.98 3.89 3.89 218000 854550 ROBINSONS LAND 19.8 19.9 20 20.3 19.74 19.9 1290500 25757773 PHIL REALTY 0.415 0.435 0.43 0.43 0.415 0.42 420000 175700 ROCKWELL 1.96 1.97 1.96 1.98 1.96 1.97 544000 1066850 SHANG PROP 3.11 3.15 3.17 3.17 3.15 3.15 33000 104000 STA LUCIA LAND 1.1 1.13 1.12 1.13 1.09 1.13 1010000 1106640 SM PRIME HLDG 34 34.15 34 34.6 33.85 34 8184800 278618175 STARMALLS 6.27 6.28 6.24 6.35 6.24 6.28 45900 287555 SUNTRUST HOME 0.73 0.78 0.73 0.79 0.73 0.79 290000 221500 PTFC REDEV CORP 31.55 40.85 31.4 31.4 31.4 31.4 600 18840 VISTA LAND 5.95 5.99 5.9 6.05 5.87 5.99 2055900 12266679

SERVICES ABS CBN 20.8 20.9 21.5 21.5 20.9 20.9 26000 549710 GMA NETWORK 5.24 5.25 5.3 5.34 5.24 5.25 134100 707377 MLA BRDCASTING 16 17.1 15 15 15 15 200 3000 GLOBE TELECOM 2328 2330 2264 2380 2244 2330 115550 269927710 PLDT 1410 1415 1399 1448 1381 1415 162010 230191630 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.037 0.041 0.037 0.04 8500000 336200 DFNN INC 8.18 8.97 8.97 8.97 8.97 8.97 200 1794 ISLAND INFO 0.114 0.115 0.115 0.115 0.114 0.114 390000 44470 ISM COMM 2.42 2.49 2.46 2.55 2.41 2.42 2662000 6587510 JACKSTONES 3.09 3.19 3.18 3.19 3.18 3.19 3000 9550 NOW CORP 7.25 7.27 7.3 7.49 7.2 7.27 735400 5364147 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.51 0.52 0.52 0.52 0.5 0.51 23692000 12073210 PHILWEB 4 4.07 4.22 4.22 3.98 4.07 462000 1881780 2GO GROUP 10.32 10.4 10.34 10.62 10.3 10.32 12700 131980 ASIAN TERMINALS 13.04 13.48 13.86 13.86 13.86 13.86 900 12474 CEBU AIR 67.4 67.45 67.35 68.5 67.25 67.45 29230 1971588 CHELSEA 4.88 4.9 4.99 5.07 4.88 4.88 3538000 17415350 INTL CONTAINER 94 94.7 95.45 95.45 94 94 1022640 96607816 LBC EXPRESS 14.52 15 15 15 15 15 1400 21000 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.91 0.94 0.95 0.95 0.91 0.94 43000 39940 MACROASIA 17.06 17.08 17.1 17.16 16.72 17.06 285600 4868130 METROALLIANCE A 1.4 1.5 1.52 1.52 1.5 1.5 2000 3020 PAL HLDG 8.5 8.85 8.6 8.6 8.5 8.5 2100 18050 HARBOR STAR 2.65 2.67 2.6 2.69 2.57 2.65 1197000 3159980 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.059 0.06 0.062 0.062 0.058 0.059 11910000 706720 WATERFRONT 0.65 0.66 0.67 0.67 0.65 0.66 352000 232250 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7.21 8 8 8 7.03 8 111800 892945 IPEOPLE 11.6 11.98 11.62 11.62 11.6 11.6 7400 85854 STI HLDG 0.79 0.8 0.81 0.83 0.79 0.8 4895000 3983740 BERJAYA 1.83 1.85 1.86 1.86 1.82 1.85 2256000 4136780 BLOOMBERRY 8.35 8.4 8.25 8.51 8.19 8.35 6331600 53140446 LEISURE AND RES 3.35 3.39 3.41 3.49 3.31 3.35 549000 1842600 MANILA JOCKEY 5.68 5.8 5.82 5.82 5.65 5.8 8600 48722 MELCO RESORTS 7.01 7.02 7.05 7.05 7.01 7.02 8256500 58085008 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.85 0.86 0.85 0.86 0.85 0.85 1057000 903750 TRAVELLERS 5.19 5.2 5.19 5.2 5.18 5.2 471000 2446853 METRO RETAIL 2.29 2.3 2.3 2.32 2.3 2.3 376000 867650 PUREGOLD 42.2 44.25 44.8 44.8 42.2 42.2 1387100 59341270 ROBINSONS RTL 77 79 78 78.35 77 77 1214250 94384923.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 99 100 100 100 98 100 54100 5355850 SSI GROUP 2.36 2.37 2.47 2.55 2.32 2.36 26012000 63726560 WILCON DEPOT 10.84 10.9 10.6 10.94 10.6 10.9 536000 5835216 APC GROUP 0.455 0.465 0.465 0.465 0.455 0.455 3450000 1583650 EASYCALL 19.1 19.12 20.1 20.6 19.08 19.12 126700 2443708 GOLDEN BRIA 306 310 312.2 312.2 305.4 312 1010 313012 IPM HLDG 7.55 7.6 7.65 7.65 7.6 7.6 13000 99050 PAXYS 3.03 3.28 3.02 3.28 3.02 3.28 2000 6300 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.365 0.375 0.375 0.38 0.365 0.365 430000 157950 SBS PHIL CORP 7.43 7.45 7.6 7.6 7.43 7.43 2900 21580

MINING & OIL ATOK 16.52 17 17.5 17.5 16.52 16.52 14200 247756 APEX MINING 1.46 1.47 1.49 1.49 1.45 1.46 2511000 3673570 ABRA MINING 0.0024 0.0025 0.0024 0.0025 0.0023 0.0025 353000000 847300 ATLAS MINING 2.88 2.9 2.9 2.91 2.88 2.88 120000 348000 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.3 0.305 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 60000 18000 CENTURY PEAK 1.91 1.92 1.93 1.93 1.91 1.92 339000 650590 DIZON MINES 7.05 7.07 7.08 7.08 7.01 7.05 60900 429346 FERRONICKEL 1.82 1.83 1.8 1.84 1.8 1.83 2825000 5171230 GEOGRACE 0.2 0.206 0.201 0.205 0.2 0.2 550000 110520 LEPANTO A 0.108 0.114 0.115 0.115 0.108 0.109 260000 28880 LEPANTO B 0.109 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.101 0.11 310000 33910 MANILA MINING B 0.0071 0.0099 0.007 0.0071 0.007 0.0071 11000000 77900 MARCVENTURES 1.21 1.29 1.18 1.27 1.18 1.27 6000 7250 NIHAO 1.09 1.13 1.15 1.15 1.11 1.11 4000 4520 NICKEL ASIA 4.33 4.34 4.3 4.36 4.21 4.33 271000 1168720 OMICO CORP 0.64 0.65 0.7 0.7 0.65 0.68 428000 281200 ORNTL PENINSULA 1.07 1.09 1.09 1.1 1 1.07 1655000 1747020 PX MINING 3.26 3.29 3.27 3.3 3.26 3.26 369000 1208470 SEMIRARA MINING 25.45 25.5 25.1 26 25.1 25.5 1826200 46703670 UNITED PARAGON 0.0065 0.0071 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 2000000 14000 ORNTL PETROL A 0.013 0.014 0.014 0.014 0.013 0.013 13100000 173600 ORNTL PETROL B 0.013 0.014 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 1200000 15400 PHILODRILL 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 20100000 241200 PHINMA PETRO 3.5 3.6 3.5 3.64 3.5 3.6 72000 253330 PXP ENERGY 15.82 15.88 15.98 16.18 15.8 15.88 1266200 20251958

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GTCAP PREF A LR PREF MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

98 465 490 100 983 101 490 910.5 1.01 100 100.1 101.3 75.05 76.2 72.45 74.95 75 75 74.5 74.5

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

19.4 5.05

2.33

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 5.01 XURPAS 2.12

106.4

-4300 -13055 8347645 -12560975 -15594616 -514447 -822618 827724 -4020 -23073965 7636915 310 -5216268 263450 26460220 -3700 40120 -2720 -207478105 -13644222 -55210 2370 -0 -28831625 -2741100 579739.9998 -6750 -4420 26700 48000 2,290,948.0002) -9936 -1100 -2100 456100 35830 -3734650 -7742120 80300 30100 -250030 3728675 -88180 -129166375 -10377917 136003890 28670355 -4560 -50800 -3895 -746490 -374450 -901694 -8630570 -465621.5 -270816 2580 -519720 -3600 -6560 -708010 -136300 8006174 -44060 -5642210 -128390 -6910 -2678525 -14088190.5 -15680 -3195430 5549758 22750 -20820 14500 21700 -23160 776470 -4060 -20810 4800 -57190 -835590 -2851610 -3600 1233194.0001

98 480 502 100.4 983 102 490 964.5 1.03 101 102.9 103.1 76.45 76.3 75 73.5 75 75.2 74.5 74.7

98 480 502 100.4 1000 102 490 964.5 1.03 101 102.9 103.1 76.45 76.3 75 75 75 75.2 75 75

98 480 490 100.2 983 100.5 490 964.5 1.03 99.8 102.9 101.3 76.45 76 75 73.3 75 75.2 74.5 74.7

98 480 499 100.2 1000 100.5 490 964.5 1.03 99.9 102.9 101.3 76.45 76.3 75 75 75 75.2 75 75

200 1360 60 74170 7240 10000 480 10 100000 14000 90 340 770 12140 1000 24000 97300 100 38840 51000

19600 652800 29920 7431838 7232880 1008320 235200 9645 103000 1398396 9261 34722 58866.5 925818 75000 1773975 7297500 7520 2904800 3817513

-

20 5.06

19.2 5.06

19.4 5.06

19.2 5.06

19.4 5.06

282000 172000

5470400 870320

1171759.9998 -870320

2.36

2.31

2.35

2.3

2.34

130000

300270

-

5.04 2.13

5.16 2.18

5.16 2.22

5.01 2.12

5.01 2.12

991600 464000

5012390 995710

210941 -86010

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

-15255130 -21598824 3034286 327280 -6168930 4197900 -188493 4800 126259.9999 -325088.5 5180 7826872 390150 4859066 -1038900 -9993153.5 -34800 -137317730 -122896 -3540 -133180 11600 -2303950 -3660 36569948 -6867680 -1367680 -424268 -46602686 -57240 -29700 -745654 -77800 -

99 480 499 100.2 1000 102 498 963.5 1.04 102.9 102.8 108.7 76.45 76.95 75 75 75.35 75.2 75 75

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

318399 -25935127 7266481.5 -395090 -420542 -25686055 -47065 750 -37707801 -152931 -6800 5120 56970 -

107

106.8

107

106.4

106.4

8160

869550

15990

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Aon names 4 PHL companies among Best Employers of 2018

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes Contributor

H

@brownindio

IGH employment engagement is an important tool to generate growth and investment, leading global professional services Aon said.

The firm recently conducted and organized the Best Employers Philippines 2018 awards.

“A highly engaged work force results and a top line increase have a direct correlation. Based on data analytics, high engagements make more meaningful engagements,” said Aon Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Philippines Inc. CEO Andrew Minnitt in an interview with the BusinessMirror.

Minnitt said the Philippines can capitalize on its high degree of engagement to attract more investors in the country as they will realize workers who are more engaged are more productive.

“Investors will realize that low cost and low engagement will cost more in the long run,” Minnitt said.

Prashant Chadha, Aon managing director for Malaysia and the Philippines, defined engagement as employees’ high regard for a firm that result in strong individual performance at work and low turnover rates. It is the “strongest measure of employee experience. Moreover, a 5-percent increase in employee engagement scores is linked to a 3-percent increase in revenues the following year.”

In a study conducted this year, Aon said the engagement levels in the Philippines and India posted a

high 71 percent, surpassed only by Indonesia at 76 percent. Other countries like Singapore registered at the lower end at 59 percent.

“Filipinos are a happy people” who work hard, Chadha said. This attitude in the employment arena results in a strong performance culture, which links to higher revenues, a constant ideal for global firms. A highly engaged employee operating heavy machinery, for instance, will have less accidents in the workplace compared to one who is less engaged and spends much time on his cell phone.

“Filipinos lead the charge” as far as engagement at work is concerned, and that always counts for something,” he said.

In addition to high engagement, firms recognized by Aon Best Employers Philippines 2018 also show superior scores in other critical areas of talent management, namely effective leadership, performance and branding. These three, however, are now considered prerequisites for companies to simply remain competitive.

Four Philippine-based companies made it to the Best Employers of 2018 category. These were: American Express International Inc., DHL Express Philippines Corp., TeleTech Customer Care Management Philippines Inc. and Telus International Philippines Inc. Other firms that received special recognition were: The Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. for commitment to engagement; Novartis Healthcare Philippines Inc. for commitment to leadership; and HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines) Inc. for commitment to employer brand.

Minnit said the objective of Best Employers Philippines is to prod companies to pick up best practices from one another, given the current war for talent. In 2018, 460 organizations and 730,000 employees in Asia Pacific and the Middle East were part of the Best Employer program.

Those named Best Employers showed 8 percent lower attrition, 1.6 times more job openings filled internally, and 1.6 times higher revenue gain.

Peco in danger of losing legislative franchise

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

T

HE failure of Panay Electric Co. (Peco) to rationalize its billing system could lead to the nonrenewal of its legislative franchise that expires in January 2019.

Rep. Franz Josef E. Alvarez, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises, said complaints from Peco customers of up to 1,000-percent increase in monthly electricity bills is just one of the factors being seriously considered by the House committee in coming up with a decision whether pr not to extend the franchise.

Iloilo City Councilor Joshua Alim said that, early this year, the city had to ask the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to help resolve the complaint of many Iloilo residents regarding erroneous billing, mainly on account of a new metering system employed by Peco.

During the ERC session last April 2018, Peco admitted the errors occurred because of the new meterreading system it implemented.

The ERC resolved 80 percent of the complaints of the Iloilo City consumers, except the ones that concerned the sudden increase in the bills due to alleged uncollected consumption, indicating the utility firm continued to have problems in its system, the Iloilo city councilor said.

Peco posted profits and declared tens of millions of dividends to its stockholders from 2015 to 2017 amid strong protest from residents of Iloilo City complaining of Peco’s penchant to over-bill its customers, including the most recent case of a sudden 1,000-percent increase in many residents’ monthly bill.

Alavarez said the committee could not reconcile Peco’s ability to declare dividends amid mounting complaints from its customers.

Based on company declarations with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Peco paid the Lopezowned First Philippine Holdings Corp. which owns 30 percent of Peco, P51 million in dividends in 2017, up from P43 million in 2016 and P41 million in 2015.

Trend Micro urges govt to build up cybersecurity capability

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LOBAL network security prov ider Trend Mic ro Philippines is urging the Philippine government to focus in building up its cybersecurity capability to be able to protect and manage its digital assets.

“The number of certified information security systems professionals is a big concern for the country mainly because of the skills-gap problem in the Philippines’s cybersecurity industry,” said Ian Felipe, country manager of Trend Micro Philippines in the press briefing held in Makati City.

“Compared to our Asean neighbors, our country is lagging behind in the number of cybersecurity personnel. In fact, Indonesia has 107, Thailand has 189, Malaysia has 275 and Singapore has 1,000,” Felipe said.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology said the country has only 84 certified information security systems professionals, with almost half of

them working overseas.

The 2017 Global Information Security Workforce Study by Frost & Sullivan for the Center for Cyber Safety and Education said the world will need 1.8 million cybersecurity professionals by 2022. The think tank reported that 61 percent of professionals surveyed in Asia Pacific said they are experiencing a shortage of information security workers in their departments.

Trend Micro’s Micro Smart Protection Network data said, the Philippine threat landscape indicated that old or previously patched vulnerabilities are still being exploited by threats such as malware.

“Among the top threat detections in the country include the DOWNAD/Conficker malware, which ex ploits a 10 -year-old vulnerability in Windows; and WannaCry ransomware, which arrives and spreads via a vulnerability disclosed in 2017,” Felipe said. Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

MUTUAL FUNDS

October 8, 2018

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 240.86 -15.92% -1.67% 0.32% -17.85% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.3608 -17.03% 3.28% 1.21% -14.78% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 3.7455 -16.26% -0.18% -0.65% -18.45% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.8675 -14.01% N.A. N.A. -14.7% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. * ********* 0.7944 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 4.9833 -14.2% -2.66% -0.38% -17.12% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * ****** 114.88 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.7973 -18.38% N.A. N.A. -19.68% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 46.8615 -14.57% -0.75% N.A. -16.9% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 487.55 -15.5% -1.99% -0.86% -17.15% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.2064 -12.13% 0% N.A. -14.09% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 35.1158 -11.81% 0.44% 2.27% -14.55% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 4.7101 -14.49% -0.1% 2.09% -16.99% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 786.12 -14.46% -0.35% 1.76% -16.88% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.8116 -14.44% -2.67% N.A. -16.08% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 3.8895 -12.66% -0.38% 0.63% -15.08% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 0.9068 -14.67% -0.27% N.A. -17.06% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.3362 -11.01% 0.76% 0.39% -14.33%

FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* ***105.1667 -13.92% 0.84% N.A. -16.51% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.972 -8.84% 3.1% 0.19% -12.3% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.2865 6.49% N.A. N.A. 1.68% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.6083 -12.07% -3.57% -2.15% -13.69% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.1492 -11.31% -0.5% -0.05% -12.53% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.4487 -10.07% -3.96% -2.92% -11.6% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* **** 1.2776 -11.35% N.A. N.A. -12.19% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.7953 -8.18% -0.34% -0.1% -9.9% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.4117 -12.1% -2.12% -1.15% -12.92% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 15.3171 -12.1% -2.1% -1.21% -12.76% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* ******** 2.0042 -9.64% -0.54% 1.4% -10.61% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.5531 -9.36% -1.07% -0.13% -11.09% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.9039 -9.64% -1.43% N.A. -11.41% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03469 -3.77% -0.34% 1.9% -3.91% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $0.9588 -6.42% 2.5% -1.1% -8.42% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.6528 3.57% 5.75% 3.53% 0.01% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0885 -0.5% N.A. N.A. -2.13% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 341.52 1.45% 1.8% 1.75% 1.31% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ******* 1.8579 -2.35% -1.07% -0.25% -1.82% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9378 5.48% 5.32% 5.34% 4.1% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.1179 -0.17% 1% 1.13% 0.75% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.2137 -0.19% -0.05% 0.32% -0.11% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.5768 -2.06% -1.45% -1.15% -2.03% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.8423 -6.41% -1.72% -0.69% -5.13% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.4625 -1.12% -0.57% 0.24% -1.21% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.8837 -5.32% -1.91% N.A. -4.28% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.7602 -0.4% 0.11% 0.53% -0.6% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5329 -1.01% -0.39% 0.01% -1.08% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $445.54 0.23% 2.16% 3.09% -0.09% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є213.03 0.28% 1.33% 1.66% -0.32% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1201 -1.09% 0.77% 1.79% -1.23% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.0248 - 0.8% 0.54% N.A. -0.8% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6916 -4.74% -0.45% 1.3% -4.51% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $1.0246 -5.05% -1.58% -2.77% -4.56% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $2.1402 -4.49% 0.32% 2.45% -4.92% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0568472 -1% 0.85% 1.94% -0.62% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.8797 -4.47% 0.55% 1.75% -4.42% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 119.84 2.3% 1.65% 1.43% 1.9% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1723 1.57% 0.32% 0.35% 1.29% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.209 2.4% 2.13% 1.39% 1.98% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* ***** $1.0111 N.A. N.A. N.A. 1.24%

* - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY ** - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO *** - LISTED IN THE PSE.

**** - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BALANCED FUND STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 (FORMERLY GREPALIFE BOND FUND CORP.).

***** - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 6, 2017 ****** - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 08, 2018 ******** - RENAMING OF THE FUND WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST APRIL 13, 2018. ********* - BECAME A MEMBER SINCE APRIL 20, 2018. ******* - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Senators eye ‘professional’ SSS Board

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By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

ENATORS on Tuesday moved to “professionalize” composition of the board of directors of the Social Security System in a bid to insulate the SSS Board from “political influence.”

“We have improved the SSS charter,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon told reporters, adding: “the first important change is that we professionalize the membership of the SSS Board by requiring that the members of the board should be a lawyer or involved in management or banking, insurance, so that their qualifications will be fit to the requirements of the SSS.” Drilon pointed out that the SSS is a fund that should be properly managed “for the future of our retirees or employees, so this is very important that the commission should be composed of professional members.”

The senator noted that the secretary of finance chairs the commission that oversees the fund “because, again, this is a payroll tax and therefore, the secretary of finance should be the ex-officio chairman.”

“Again, it will put professionalism in the commission,” Drilon added. “Then, to remove the commission from political influence, the commission members have a term and they have the right to approve whatever increase in benefits.”

Moreover, the Senate Minority Leader affirmed that the premium payments are fixed in the law “because, again, this is

a payroll tax and it should not be left to their discretion.”

“Basically, the version of the Senate was adopted,” said Drilon.

Repeal

MEANWHILE, Sen. Richard J. Gordon pressed for early enactment into law of his bill repealing the old SSS Law to “ensure longer life for the pension fund and provide better benefits” to SSS members.

Passed by senators on third reading, Gordon’s Senate Bill 1753, to be known as the Social Security Act of 2018, aims to “rationalize and expand the powers and duties of the Social Security Commission to ensure the long-term viability of the SSS and thereby guarantee better benefits for members of the state-run pension fund.”

Gordon said the remedial legislation was crafted so that more Filipinos would be covered by the SSS “so they could build better nest eggs for their retirement.”

He explained that the proposed Social Security Act of 2018 is “an enhancement of the previous laws and ensures hope that the people would not be a burden to the country; that they are partners of the government not by way

of exaction of taxes but by their contribution so that their welfare is assured.”

According to Gordon, the proposed law will “expand, protect and increase the SSS fund so that when the time comes, there would be available pension for the people.”

Culture

GORDON added the proposed law will also “ensure a more meaningful social security protection to members and their beneficiaries against the hazards of disability, sickness, maternity, old age, death and other contingencies resulting in loss of income or financial burden.”

He further said the bill will give the SSS the power to determine the salary credit and monthly contributions of members, which would now allow the commission to increase contributions “depending on the actuarial survey.”

At the same time, he said the proposed law would also empower the SSS to invest its Reserve Funds to “grow the wealth of SSS and ultimately yield higher income.” However, the investments must satisfy requirements of liquidity, safety/ security and yield “to ensure the actuarial solvency of the funds of the SSS.” “We want to develop a culture of work, save, invest [and] prosper. The bill envisions a benefits-based system—what you invest is what you get; no investment, no benefit,” Gordon explained. “But the maximum profitability of investible funds and resources of the program shall be ensured through a culture of excellence in management grounded upon sound and efficient policies employing internationally recognized best practices.”

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Fierce competition for BPO business

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OT too long ago, the Philippines certain incentives, including tax holidays (even outflanked India and became the with the lowering of corporate taxes), is causNo. 1 darling country of choice for ing many existing and prospective BPO playbusiness-process outsourcing (BPO) more FINEX FREE ers to step on their corporate brakes. TRAIN popularly known as call centers.

ENTERPRISE 2 is considered a real BPO threat. However, Back in 2016, A.T. Kearney’s Global the good thing about the BPO business is it Zoilo ‘Bingo’Dejaresco III Services Location Index covering 55 counis being diversified by the nature of work: tries was categorical it was the Philippines contact centers, back-office services, data and India as BPO No. 1 and No. 2;sometimes interchanging places. transcription, animation, software development, engineering There was a time, the Philippines was so good, we were development and game development. One nation need not be a called “The Swiss Banking of Outsourcing,” which was a golden profit leader in all counts. compliment. In 2016, the country’s BPOs scored $25.5 billion, Secondary cities and tertiary cities, therefore, have a leeway rivaling the remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and to compete based on their own relative strengths. Take, for exemploying 1.4 million Filipinos. ample, the city of Tagbilaran in Bohol.

Quite recently, by sheer size, China has been a new challenger In 2014 the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. invested and the more recent ones are “disruptors” like Canada and Israel P700 million to erect a 328-kilometer stretch of inland and submaand “creative” nations like populous Brazil and an unlikely Chile. rine fiber optics with an initial capacity transmission of 40 GigaAs a consequence, the recent Tholon Report, on the other hand, bytes per second to improve the Internet reception and quickness. still saw five Philippine cities in the Top 100 BPO sites in the world The place has a relatively lower cost of living than nearby Cebu but their rankings have dropped. Manila from 2nd to 4th, Cebu from except for some scant food items whose prices have been driven 8th to 12th, Davao 69th to 85th, Bacolod 85th to 97th and Santa by the excessive demand from tourism from overall in the region.

Rosa, Laguna, barely making it at No. 100th, dropping from 82nd.

It is an ideal Rest and Recreation place, being a prime tourist In a September 2018 analysis by Collier International among destination and has a stream of qualified graduates coming from 16 selected ranking BPO cities in the world, Manila was ranked three universities: the Holy Name University, the University of only No 9, scoring poorly in traffic ($3.5-billion daily losses) and Bohol and the BISU (Bohol Island State University).) environment (with Edsa being one of the most polluted highThis has spurred the recent establishment of two BPO-oriented ways in the world). facilities. One is a 1.3-hectare land called Tagbilaran Uptown IT Topping as the most attractive were Bangalore, Singapore and Hub fronting prime mall Island City Mall developed by propriShenzhen—carried high by issues like deep talent pool and aspietor Al Uy, whose first building can generate at least 3,000 in rational attitude of employees. The Collier Ranking was weighed information-technology jobs. over issues like socioeconomic, property and human factors.

The other is in the heart of the city built around a three-story The Philippines’s good ranking has always been bannered by building along the city’s main thoroughfare Carlos P. Garcia Avour large English-speaking pool, of Filipinos being very adaptive enue built by the Alturas Group of Cos.—the two providing the and culturally aligned to the West, as well as having relatively relevant office spaces. The only remaining concern is that the cheaper office rent (nationwide) and cost of living. Cashman and Philippine cities are not just competing among themselves to Wakefield 2015, for instance, gave the country 92.5 percent in enthuse the investors to positively eyeball their territories but national English proficiency. the country itself, the Philippines, is being challenged by robust The sometimes horrible situation in congested, expensive newbie-nations with creative ideas. metropolis like Manila and Cebu had, in fact, allowed secondary Can we compete? cities to become alternative BPO centers, like the cities of Iloilo, Dumaguete, Baguio, Metro Clark and Cagayan de Oro, in that order.

Dejaresco, a former banker, is a financial consultant, media In sum, the rather ambitious target of hitting $40 billion to practitioner and book author. He is a Life Member and Chairman $55 billion in BPO billings by 2020 now remains to be seen with of Broadcast Media of Finex. His views here are personal and do the fiercer competition from new entrant countries and our own not necessarily reflect those of Finex. He could be reached via changes in the governance game. For instance, the removal of dejarescobingo@yahoo.com.

B4 Wednesday, October 10, 2018

PHLPOST CELEBRATES WORLD POST DAY, URGES STUDENT TO WRITE LETTERS

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HE Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) celebrated World Post Day on October 9 by encouraging the students to write letters to their beloved teachers.

Schools nationwide took part in the nationwide Salamat Po Teacher raffle promo and competition, with the goal to effectively promote the value of gratitude to teachers who have done most, apart from their parents, in shaping their future to become better persons in society.

The World Post Day was declared by the 1969 Universal Postal Congress in Tokyo as a means to mark the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union’s (UPU) creation in 1874.

The purpose of World Post Day is to bring awareness to the postal service’s role in everyday lives of people and businesses, as well as its contribution to global social and economic development. PHLPost is an active member of the UPU, a specialized agency of the United Nations who has a membership of about 192 postal administrations

in countries worldwide. The postal service is inviting elementary, junior and senior high-school students to write and mail letters of gratitude.

The Thank You letters were mailed via the Post Office, through the Ordinary Mail Service, with theme “4As of Gratitude: Appreciation, Admiration, Approval and Attention.” Awards and cash prizes awaited raffle and competition winners.

Aside from the raffle draw, students had the chance to participate in the regional and national letter writing competition. The winner in the national competition will also represent the Philippines in the UPU Letter Writing Contest in Berne, Switzerland, to compete from among the 192 countries who are also members of the UPU. Unfazed by the advent of technology, PHLPost has come up with an innovative idea to bring letter writing to schools. For particulars,visit the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SalamatPoLetterWriting/.

SUN LIFE GREPA INTRODUCES INSURANCE RIDER

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OMETIMES we encounter unexpected turns in life, such as the sudden death of someone we love. In most cases, this unexpected event leaves one strained by the experience—both emotionally and financially. One can only imagine the family’s struggle to make the necessary preparations for the wake and the burial and, perhaps, even for standing medical expenses.

What if people had help in easing their financial burdens during these times, so they can focus on emotional recovery?

It would make the matter of rebuilding life much easier.

Extending this kind of support allows companies to help their employees. Companies that genuinely care for their employees must ensure their adequate financial protection, so they can be prepared for such uncertainties and be able to cope better.

These companies can partner with Sun Life Grepa Financial Inc. (Sun Life Grepa) because, together, both can ensure that the employees and their families are taken care of

during the most trying times. With Sun Life Grepa as a steady and reliable partner, companies can provide immediate help and assistance to relieve the emotional and financial burdens of families suddenly experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Sun Life Grepa has the Family Assistance Benefit (FAB) rider, the latest in its supplementary benefit offerings or “riders” for its group life-insurance plan. Through this rider, the bereaved families will receive repatriation and cash assistance to ensure that the deceased safely returns home for burial and that funeral arrangements and/ or interment for the deceased can be made.

The FAB rider is designed to release the proceeds as soon as possible. With minimal claim requirements and streamlined claiming process, the rider provides support when it is needed most. In this way companies can show sympathy and compassion, while helping ease the financial burden shouldered by the family their employees left behind.

For more information, visit www.sunlifegrepa.com.

GROUP WANTS E.R.C. TO LOOK INTO HIGH POWER RATES IN ILOILO

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EMBERS of Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and Environment (Pinoy Aksyon) trooped to the office of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to protest high electricity rates of the Panay Electric Co. (Peco). It also echoed the call of Iloilo power consumers on Congress not to renew the franchise of Peco.

The group said they are in solidarity with the power consumers of Iloilo and in order to expedite the resolution of the complaint they have filed against Peco for 1,000-percent increase in their electricity bills even if they were experiencing frequent power outages.

According to BenCy Ellorin, chairman of Pinoy Aksyon, “it is not just to increase power bills but, at the same time, that power services are frequently out.”

Peco consumers filed a complaint before the ERC in August. The ERC is set to hear the case this week.

An earlier petition by Peco consumers was addressed to the Congress. In a petition letter submitted to the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises, consumers called on to the Congress to disapprove the franchise renewal application of Peco, filed under House Bill 6023.

He explained that their group is helping the electric consumers of Peco bring their cause to the ERC and even in the Congress, where Peco’s franchise renewal is being deliberated.

Pinoy Aksyon said in a statement that they would like ERC to exercise its mandate as a regulatory agency, by looking in the public-utility franchise of Peco,

which to start with is based on “comfort and convenience.” The ERC should look whether Peco is following to the letter its franchise as a public-service provider or not.

“As a company engaged in delivery of public service, they should put first the interests of their consumers and not just their bottomline or profit,” Ellorin said.

Among the reasons enumerated in the petition were overbilling, billing without reading of electric meter, frequent power outages, poor consumer relations and disrespect to the city council of Iloilo City.

Pinoy Aksyon is an independent advocacy group and think tank. It promotes consumer rights, good governance, and the right of the people to live in a healthful and balanced environment.

NSJBI REINTRODUCES COMMUNITY HOUSING PROJECT New San Jose Builders Inc. (NSJBI), the developer of Metro Manila Hills (MMH), held another significant event in Rodriguez, Rizal. In photo are (from left) Jerrey Jun Oris, senior marketing manager; Lorelle Urica, executive vice president; and Darwin Villanueva, macro sales head, leading the ribbon-cutting ceremony to signify the grand relaunch of MMH.The said project promotes nature living, giving residents a relaxing vista of the city skylights and a lush mountain view.

NBA PUTTING EMPHASIS ON WOMEN IN POWER

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, October 10, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

SAN Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach Becky Hammon (right photo) talks with Head Coach Gregg Popovich on the court during a time-out of their February 2016 game against the Los Angeles Lakers in San Antonio, as Los Angeles Lakers President Jeanie Buss sits in the stands prior to her team’s game with the Boston Celtics in Los Angeles in March last year. AP

The National Basketball Association earned an “A+” for racial hiring practices but a “B” for its gender hiring practices this summer from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

That puts the league “significantly above” other professional sports, even as the number of women hired at the team level dropped for a third straight year with the percentage of women in team vice presidents and professional staff dipping, as well.

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By Teresa M. Walker The Associated Press

EMPHIS, Tennessee—San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich sees one simple way for both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and women to mark real progress in the league.

Hire more women in positions of power.

“I think there just has to be more, more of the same,” said Popovich, who during the offseason promoted Assistant Coach Becky Hammon, moving her one step closer to a head coaching seat. “There are more Beckys out there, they just have to be noticed and given the opportunity by people who are wise enough and courageous enough to do it and not just sit in the old paradigm.”

And not just on the bench, but on the business side of the NBA, as well.

The NBA routinely gets high marks for its diversity efforts and is widely viewed as a leader on social issues. Still, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver believes the league needs to be better, and he made his feelings known in a memo to teams in the wake of the Dallas Mavericks’ embarrassing scandal.

Several NBA teams tout statistics about women in their work force, but beyond a handful—including Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson—the next step for the league seems to be more women in positions of power such as CEOs and COOs. Memphis guard Mike Conley said it’s important for basketball, business and society itself to have women in positions of authority.

“We welcome it, and we do want to see more of that,” Conley said, “and I think that will help bridge that gray area and all the things that have been happening with the Mavs and situations like that and hopefully it will never occur” again.

The NBA earned an “A+” for racial hiring practices but a “B” for its gender hiring practices this summer from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. That puts the NBA “significantly above” other professional sports, even as the number of women hired at the team level dropped for a third straight year with the percentage of women in team vice presidents and professional staff dipping as well, according to the report’s author, Richard Lapchick.

When the NBA began investigating a report of sexual harassment and improper workplace conduct involving the former team president, the Mavericks did not have one woman at the executive level. Owner Mark Cuban hired former AT&T Senior Executive Cynthia Marshall as CEO and president in February, promoted four women to executive roles and now has eight women among 18 leadership roles.

A memo obtained by The Associated Press last month shows the NBA plans workshops in Atlanta and Los Angeles in mid-November on the diversity and inclusion efforts. The NBA also set up an anonymous tip line after the Mavs’ story broke.

NBA teams surveyed by The Associated Press say they’ve already been holding seminars on workplace conduct and putting women in leadership roles.

Irina Pavlova represented the Nets on the Board of Governors before leaving last year and was replaced by a woman as president of the company that runs the Nets, Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum.

The Toronto Raptors have Teresa Resch as vice president of basketball operations and player development, and Dr. Lisa Callahan is chief medical officer for both the Knicks and the WNBA’s Liberty.

The Miami Heat recently hired Ruth Riley Hunter as its newest television and radio analyst, a move in motion before Silver talked about wanting more women in the NBA. Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace has seen the number of

Ice Theatre of New York to honor Yamaguchi N

Howard’s back problems delay Wizards debut

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wight Howard’s first preseason with the Washington Wizards is apparently over before it started.

Howard needs an injection to alleviate pain in his back, and Washington Coach Scott Brooks said that the eight-time AllStar has hopes of being back on the court by early next week.

If it takes that long, that means Howard won’t appear in any of Washington’s preseason games. And if he doesn’t play in the preseason, that would cast doubt on Howard being ready when Washington’s regular-season slate starts against Miami on October 18.

“We’re going to take it day by day,” Brooks told reporters before Washington’s preseason game at New York on Monday night.

Howard, who turns 33 in December, has always been durable.

He missed a total of seven games in his first seven seasons, and played in 81 of 82 games with Charlotte last season. The one game he missed was while he was serving a suspension—and the Hornets wound up beating Memphis that night by 61 points anyway.

But the back problems have kept Howard from practicing or playing with the Wizards so far in training camp and the preseason.

For his career, Howard has averaged 17.4 points and 12.7 rebounds—averaging a double-double in each of his 14 seasons, as well.

Luka Doncic scored 15 points, JJ Barea added 14 and Dallas topped Philadelphia 76ers, 115-112, to earn a split of the teams’ National Basketball Association China Games series.

Joel Embiid led all scorers with 29 points for Philadelphia.

Dallas’s Ding Yanyuhang scored one point and got one game ball. The Chinese rookie played the final 8:33, to the delight of the fans in Shenzhen, China. “We know how special this night is for Ding,” Barea said. AP

women in the NBA jump dramatically since he joined the league in 1986 and believes its heading in the right direction. Chantal Hassard has been with the Grizzlies since the franchise was in Vancouver and is entering her third season as VP of team operations and player programs. Memphis also just brought back Nicki Gross as a basketball analyst after she was the D-League’s only woman assistant in 2015 with Iowa.

“I think it adds a viewpoint, a skillset that is very beneficial for the teams,” Wallace said.

Silver wants teams hiring more women, including jobs with power, so the NBA is going to help. The NBA plans an event at the All-Star break in Charlotte, North Carolina, in February to grow the “pipeline of female talent in basketball operations roles.”

Lapchick said hiring more women has to be a combination of efforts by both the NBA and its teams.

“Teams saw the results in Dallas with no women in leadership to stop/ confront bad behavior, which I believe is not uncommon toward women in the workplace in and out of sport,” Lapchick told the AP. “Adam has the respect to push and I am impressed by the NBA’s actions after the decline in gender grade when the Report Card was published followed by the post investigation in Dallas.”

Ethan Casson, CEO of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Lynx, said it can’t be a quota approach—and believes there are qualified women in the candidate pools. About 40 percent of Minnesota’s full-time employees are women with 35 percent of department heads and above women. He noted how transparent the NBA and its teams have been on this issue.

“It’s constantly challenging your organization’s thinking and creating what that environment is, and that’s what makes the diversity inclusion so important,” Casson said. “You’re a better organization when you’re built that way from the ground up.”

Kristi Yamaguchi, flanked by her children Emma (left) and Keara, reads from her children’s book Dream Big, Little Pig at Turtle Town Books and Gifts in Nisswa, Minnesota, in June 2011. AP

EW YORK—When Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) honors Kristi Yamaguchi on October 15, it will be for a whole lot more than her performances as a figure skater.

Her on-ice résumé is superb, of course, including the 1992 Albertville Olympic championship, followed by a starring role in the highly successful Stars on Ice tour. Her work away from the rink has been exemplary, particularly Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation that for the past seven years has fought child illiteracy.

“It is crazy that one in four kids grows up not knowing how to read,” Yamaguchi says. “This is a fixable problem.

“I think being able to chase my dreams and have the support I did from family and community, I was so lucky and so fortunate. Once I was able to achieve certain success, I really wanted to share this with other people.

Maybe we can be that support that someone needs, and with the Always Dream Foundation, that was the inspiration behind it, to help underserved children. Many of them have no books in their homes. We are providing that access and making sure they have the potential to develop that love of books that will help them in school and beyond that.”

Yamaguchi believes the discipline she learned and artistry she developed as a champion skater can also be created through reading. But children need to be presented the opportunity to do so. The foundation began 22 years ago, and in the past seven years, the reading program has aided more than 10,000 students.

“Competitions and winning is really great and wonderful and what a lot of skaters work for,” says Scott Hamilton, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist and a mentor and close friend to Yamaguchi through the decades. “I guess it is what you become from that or after that, that

is truly your place in history, in society, as a representative and ambassador of the sport. I don’t know anyone that has done it better.”

And that’s exactly why ITNY has chosen Yamaguchi for its 2018 honor. Part of the organization’s mission is to keep alive the legacies of great historical figures from the figure skating world.

“Every year ITNY honors someone who is accomplished within our ice dance world, and who has stayed connected to the field beyond their own performances,” says Moira North, founder and artistic director of Ice Theatre of New York. “Someone who has given back to figure skating and has been a role model for others both on and off the ice.

“Kristi is the epitome of this person, not only because she was national, world and Olympic champion and winner of Dancing With The Stars, but also because she is a successful wife, mother, author and humanitarian.”

Hamilton remembers his first encounter with Yamaguchi, who was eight years old at the time. He already was an established star in the sport when the national championships came to San Diego, and Californians Yamaguchi and her mother attended.

“She had some flowers and her mom said to give some to the skaters and she handed me a rose,” Hamilton recalls with a chuckle. “I said, ‘For me, this is for me?’ She just blushed. But you know first impressions of a kid last the longest.

“Years later, she was competing and getting ready for Albertville, and we were covering it. I was practicing in the practice rink there because I was still touring. I’m out there by myself, and she came over to the boards and had a flower in her hand and threw it on the ice. A homage to that first time we met.” AP

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Business

C2 Wednesday, October 10, 2018

U.S. TABLE TENNIS BET ENDS NAYRE’S YOUTH GAMES BID

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ann Mari Nayre saw his medal bid in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) come to an end after losing to Rio de Janeiro Olympian Kanak Jha of the United States on Monday at the Table Tennis Arena of the Technopolis in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Jha swept Nayre in four sets, 13-11, 11-8, 15-13, 11-8, but not after encountering a strong resistance from the Filipino ace on his final match in Group B of the men’s singles preliminaries of the meet featuring the finest under-18 paddlers in the world.

Losing back-to-back matches after winning his opening game opposite Nicolas Burgos of Chile, the 18-year-old pride of Baybay, Leyte, failed to advance in the round of 16 and bombed out of the tournament for good.

“I was in game shape but my opponent is really that good,” said Nayre, the first Filipino table tennis player to qualify for the YOG. Jha, No. 1 in the world in the under-18 category, regularly plays in meets in America, Asia and Europe as well as Burgos and Austria’s Maciej Kolodziejczyk, who clipped Nayre in four sets on Sunday.

“My match against the Austrian was crucial.

This is a learning experience for me,’’ said Nayre, who made it to the quarterfinals of the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last year and the round of 32 in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta in August.

Korean coach Kwon Mi-sook, who mentored the late Ian Lariba in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, was also credited for helping Nayre qualify in the YOG. According to chef de mission and Philippine Olympic Committee Auditor Jonne Go, Kwon helped spent for the training of Nayre out of her own pocket.

Filipino-Norwegian Christian Tio got into the top 6 out of 12 entries in the first round of the kiteboarding competitions, while swimmer Nicole Oliva failed to advance to the finals of the women’s 100-meter freestyle event after landing sixth out of eight in her heat in 57.33 seconds.

Oliva, based in Santa Clara, California, will swim in the heats of the 800-meter free on Wednesday while golfers Yuka Saso and Carl Jano Corpus will start their bid at the Hurlingham Club, as well as fencer Lawrence Everett Tan in the men’s foil event.

Drug-free bodybuilding tilt up

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HE World Natural Bodybuilding Federation of the Philippines (WNBF) steps up its campaign for a drug-free bodybuilding competition.

The group holds the second leg of its nationwide series of tournament on October 28 at Johnny B. Good in Glorietta 3 at the Ayala Center as part of its advocacy to promote both a drug-free athlete and sport.

So far, more than 30 bodybuilders have signed up for the one-day meet that features three categories, namely bodybuilding and physique for men and bikini for the women.

The competition strictly features “all natural” method for bodybuilders without the benefit of banned substances.

“It’s how you train and the amount of protein you eat, the amount of fat, the amount of carbs you eat,” WNBFP Vice President Chris Byrne told the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association at Tapa King Restaurant at the Farmers Plaza in

Cubao, as he explained the proper way of achieving a sculpted body even without the benefit of performance-enhancing drugs.

“When you guys come to the show, you’ll see amazing bodies and you’ll be blown by their physiques and what they’ve accomplished just from eating well and working out well.”

The WNBFP official was with son Christopher Byrne and competitor Ashter Munar in the public sports program presented

by San Miguel Corp., Tapa King and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Munar later showed his physique by performing a short routine pose at the conclusion of the weekly forum.

As an affiliate of WNBF, the local chapter will also be promoting stringent drug-testing among tournament participants.

Competitors are required to pass a polygraph test performed by an officially registered examiner before they are permitted to step on stage.

Argentina’s women’s beach handball team celebrates during their preliminary round at the Beach Handball Arena against Paraguay in the the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires on Monday. AP

OLYMPICS IN AFRICA

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UENOS AIRES, Argentina—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has picked its first African host of any Olympics, formally awarding the 2022 Youth Games to Senegal.

Senegal President Macky Sall was present on Monday to see IOC members confirm the executive board’s preference from four candidates.

Senegal will host the youth games in three places: Dakar; a new city of Diamniadio, close to the capital; and the coastal resort of Saly.

Sall said a 50,000-seat Olympic Stadium will be built for the government-backed project.

The games budget is estimated at $150 million, the IOC executive director of Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, said at a news conference.

Senegal’s games are likely to be held in late-May. This would be at the end of the dry season to “greatly reduce the prevalence of tropical diseases,” IOC Vice President Ugur Erdener told the membership.

Erdener pointed to Senegal’s “booming economy” and better conditions than the other bidders from Botswana, Nigeria and Tunisia.

The construction project includes a rail link and an athletes village which will become university accommodation.

“It is not required to have a detailed budget at this stage,” Erdener said, though noting that Senegal’s government has “full understanding of the magnitude” of its task.

One IOC member from Africa said the whole continent would share the responsibility of its first Olympics, comparing it to soccer’s 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“In Africa, when a family organizes a party all the neighbors chip in and they help organizing the event,” said Lydia Nsekera of Burundi, who also sits on Fifa’s ruling council, responding to a fellow IOC member’s question about Senegal’s economic indicators.

“It doesn’t matter, everyone will be there to help President Macky Sall organize and stage these games.”

Nsekera is a candidate to lead the African group of national Olympic bodies, Anoca, in an election next month.

The 2022 decision was taken at a two-day IOC meeting on the sidelines of the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics.

In reports by past and future Olympic organizing committees about their work, the Pyeongchang Winter Games reported an

operating profit of $55 million.

Pyeongchang organizing president Lee Hee-beom said the games in South Korea beat its target from sponsorship and donations, and raised almost $1 billion.

The IOC executive board has agreed to give its share of the surplus to sports in South Korea.

Three Pyeongchang venues still lack a long-term plan for use, including two skating arenas and the Alpine skiing downhill course.

The slope at Jeongseon was promised to be replanted with trees and restored as a forest.

“This obviously has always been a concern,” Dubi said of the legacy planning. “It has been the case for many months and it will continue to be the case.”

Organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics said they hope to propose new sports for its medal program to the IOC “early next year.” AP

‘LIGA’ showcases athletes’ effort in winning games

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TOKYO Gov. Yuriko Koike (left) and Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda walk past the logo of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during the Olympic flag arrival ceremony at the Haneda International Airport. AP

2020 Tokyo Olympics expenDITUREs:

$25 billion and growing, fast

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OKYO—The price tag keeps soaring for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics despite local organizers and the International Olympic Committee saying that spending is being cut.

A report just released by the national government’s Board of Audit shows Japan is likely to spend $25 billion to prepare the games, and the final number could go even higher.

This is nearly a fourfold increase over Tokyo’s winning bid in 2013, which the report said projected costs of ¥829 billion, or $7.3 billion at the current exchange rate of 113 yen to the dollar.

Tracking Tokyo costs is getting more difficult as work speeds up, deadlines near and disputes arise about what are— and what are not—Olympic expenses.

Complicated accounting also makes it difficult to figure out who pays for what, and who profits.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), meanwhile, has lifted a provisional ban imposed on one of the two Russian athletes who tested positive for doping at the

Pyeongchang Olympics.

CAS said on Monday that a contaminated product caused bobsled driver Nadezhda Sergeeva’s positive test for trimetazidine in South Korea in February.

The CAS anti-doping panel created for the 2018 Games had disqualified Sergeeva from her 12th-place finish.

Sergeeva’s case with the panel continues, but any final sanction can be reduced to take into account the seven-month provisional ban she already served.

In April a Russian federal medical official said “organizational fecklessness” led to Sergeeva’s mother, a doctor, giving her unapproved heart medicine containing trimetazidine.

The second Russian doping case from Pyeongchang involved Alexander Krushelnitsky, who tested positive for meldonium in the mixed doubles curling competition. He and his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova, were disqualified and stripped of their bronze medals.

A CAS panel is expected to give its verdict in Krushelnitsky’s appeal case this month. AP

EHIND every successful team are individuals who work hard to uplift each other.

This is the central message of Toby’s Sports’s acclaimed short film, titled LIGA, which was launched as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the country’s largest multi-brand sports retailer.

LIGA, which has garnered more than 800,000 views so far, tells the story of Kevin (played by Art Artienda), a member of a championship-bound basketball team who feels that his efforts and sacrifices have gone unnoticed and underestimated, and that his time to shine in the league is long overdue.

When the team’s star player gets injured at a crucial point in time, Artienda’s character faces a dilemma: Now that the ball is in his hands, is he going to take a once-in-a-lifetime shot to show the rest what he’s truly got, or will he set aside his personal ambition for the greater good?

Directed by Chris Cahilig and shot by Patrick Ferrer, LIGA, just a week after it was officially launched, was selected to participate in four international film festivals—Dramatic Shorts Film Festival 2019, Live Action Shorts Film Festival 2018, International Shorts Festival Australia 2018 and the Los Angeles CineFest 2019 as semifinalist.

“LIGA best expresses the values that propelled Toby’s Sports to where it is now, 40 years after it was launched in the country as a modest toy shop. The short film celebrates the importance of teamwork, in the same way that we at Toby’s Sports pay tribute to every member of our growing family who contributes to our continuous success in the industry,” said Toby Claudio, president of Quorum International Inc., the parent company of Toby’s Sports.

Toby’s Sports celebrated its 40th year in the industry with a grand event called “It’s Game Time” on August 30 at the Metrotent Convention Center in Pasig City, where LIGA was first shown to the audience.

Attended by executives, members of the media, guests and special performers, the anniversary affair paid tribute to the men and women behind the success of Toby’s Sports and coincided with the retirement of its chief executive officer, Bobby Claudio.

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sMirror

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

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TIGHT BATTLE UP T

THE Philippines’s Cyna Rodriguez and Thailand’s Onkanok Soisuwan slug it out in an early flight.

Ramos seeks repeat up north in regionals

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ean Ramos hopes to ride the momentum of his wireto-wire triumph in Canlubang Amateur Open last week as he seeks for another crown in the Northern Luzon Regional Golf Championship, which gets going on Friday at Beverly Place Golf Club in Pampanga.

But the Orchard bet braces for a fierce challenge from host of rivals, including Aguinaldo’s Masaichi Otake, who placed third in Cangolf, Weiyu Gao of Alta Vista, The Cliffs’ Chester Calpotura, Canlubang’s Carlo Villaroman, Southwoods’ David Guangko, Jet Hernandez of Alabang/Orchard and Rald Sarmiento, also of Aguinaldo.

Ramos’s Orchard teammates Joaquin Gomez and Kim Tae Soo are also vying in the 54-hole tournament serving as part of the PLDT Group’s National Amateur Golf Tour organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Laurea Duque, who finished third in the ladies division in Cangolf Am won by Nicole Abelar, looms as the player to watch in the Elite women’s division, which also drew Sophia Blanco, Kristine Fleetwood, Junia Gabasa, Weifang Gao, Shin Seo Yun and Sunshine Zhang.

Other titles to be disputed over 36 holes on Saturday and Sunday are Group 1 (5-12 handicap) and Group 2 (13 and above) in men’s division, both gross stroke and net competitions.

Blue Eagles eye win No. 6 against Tams

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TREAKING Ateneo and Far Eastern University (FEU) collide in a crucial Season 81 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball game on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

On a hot five-game roll, the Blue Eagles (5-1 won-lost) try to ascend to the top and overtake co-leader the Adamson University Soaring Falcons, who absorbed a shock 85-88 overtime loss to the Tamaraws last Sunday.

The painful loss relegated Adamson University to a share of the lead and gave Ateneo a chance for a strong finish approaching the conclusion of the first round of eliminations.

The game is set at 7 p.m.

University of the Philippines (3-3), meanwhile, tries to spike its record when it clashes with University of Santo Tomas (2-4) at 2 p.m.

In its last four games, Ateneo gave its opponents a nightmare with a winning margin of 25.5 points. The Blue Eagles’ 71-55 victory over archrival De La Salle Green Archers proved to be the cherry on top of their mighty rally after a season-

HE International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Camp John Hay Ladies Championship marks its return to the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) calendar starting on Wednesday with Cyna Rodriguez and Princess Superal setting out in early clashes with two of Thailand’s best bets in the P1.5-million event at the rolling John Hay course in Baguio City.

Rodriguez, the runaway winner when the event was last held in 2014, slugs it out with Onkanok Soisuwan in the 8:10 a.m. flight that includes local amateur bet Marianne Bustos while Superal, who ruled the inaugural staging of this championship in record fashion in 2013, tangles with Waralee Atcharerk and another amateur in Sunshine Baraquiel in the 8:40 a.m. group.

Rodriguez, a former three-time LPGT Order of Merit winner, is actually out to snap a long title spell in the circuit she used to dominate but remains wary of her chances given the depth of the field that includes a number of top Filipina players and 11 other stars from Thailand.

Superal, on the other hand, is seeking to nail a third LPGT victory this year after scoring back-to-back victories at Tagaytay and Riviera in March. But like Rodriguez, the former US Girls Junior champion believes it will take a lot of hard work, determination and guts plus luck to get past a talent-laden field in the event also serving as the second leg of LPGT’s new season.

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By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

ETRAN finally barged to the Final Four with a huge 79-61 win over San Sebastian College in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 seniors basketball action on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

It took three years for the Knights to get past the elimination round after a fruitful 2015 championship against the San Beda Red Lions.

From there, Letran would see a drastic change, where its former coach, Aldin Ayo, shipped himself to De La Salle in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Jeff Napa, who took over the coaching reins, brushed off the air of excitement and remained focused on giving the school another run for the title.

“We are thankful because we reached this situation. But we still have two games before we look forward to the Final Four,” said Napa, whose team improved to 12 wins against four losses.

The Knights’ last two eliminations games are crucial in their bid to snatch a twice-to-beat incentive in the semifinals.

The mission is far from over.

“We want to perform and rest assured, we will work hard.

We will give our Final Four opponent a good fight,” Napa said.

Letran’s Larry Muyang collected 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Bonbon Batiller added 15 points that went with six boards. Nico Galvelo was also on fire with four triples for 14 points.

Despite the Stags’ scoring blitz in the third quarter, the Knights limited the CM Recto-based dribblers to a ninepoint output in the fourth quarter as the lead ballooned to a high of 22.

Michael Calisaan scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the already-eliminated Stags (4-12). opening loss to Adamson University last month.

Kakou Kouame chipped in 20 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, while Anton Asistio was the only other double-digit scorer with 12 points.

It wasn’t offense that gifted them the victory, but it was their relentless defense that forced the Green Archers to yield.

De La Salle committed 28 turnovers, allowing Ateneo to score 29 points from those blunders.

The Blue Eagles also held the Taft-based squad to a season-low in points and field-goal percentage. Even more upsetting was De La Salle’s three assists in the entire game, compared to Ateneo’s 14.

FEU, on the other hand, fought toe-to-toe and gave Adamson University its first loss in six games.

Arvin Tolentino was at the forefront of FEU’s assault with 19 points and four rebounds.

The Tamaraws withstood the scoring performances of Jerrick Ahanmisi and Sean Manganti, who tallied 21 and 10 points, respectively. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Thunder-Bucks NBA showdown airing live

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BA On ABS-CBN” kicks off on S+A on Wednesday with the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Milwaukee Bucks live at 8 a.m. in a match featuring Most Valuable Player favorites Russell Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Most hoop heads, however, are looking forward to the early clash of LeBron James and the revamped Los Angeles Lakers and the super-loaded Golden State Warriors of Steph Curry, which will air on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

It will be the first time James will face the Warriors since the Finals in June and as a member of the storied Lakers franchise.

Over the course of the next weeks, however, ABS-CBN Sports will whet the appetite of Filipino fans as the season finally opens on October 17.

On opening week, the Joel Embiid-led Philadelphia 76ers take on Kyrie Irving’s Boston Celtics on October 17 live at 8 a.m.

Lonzo Ball and the Lakers, meanwhile, face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trailblazers on October 19 at 10:30 a.m.

To cap the week off, the Boston Celtics visit the Toronto Raptors, now led by their new star Kawhi Leonard, on October 20 on ABS-CBN at 8:30 a.m.

Perlas gals take floor vs Warays

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nbeaten BanKo-Perlas sets out for another win as it faces Tacloban, while equally streaking Creamline tries to join idle Pocari-Air Force at second as it tangles with winless Adamson-Akari in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan on Wednesday.

The Perlas Spikers have been on a roll, capping their big run with a straight set 27-25, 25-19, 25-11 romp over erstwhile undefeated Ateneo Lady Eagles last Sunday to remain the lone unbeaten squad in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.

They hope to sustain their form against the

The elite roster includes Atcharerk, who is itching to join the growing number of Thai winners on the local circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. She tied for eighth in the Champion Tour at Tagaytay Midlands in July won

by Ching Huang Taiwan and is expected to lead the assault on the par-69 layout.

Meanwhile, Alex Etter, who tied for 15th at LPGT Highlands in March, served notice of her title bid in the 54-hole championship as she led her team that included amateurs Paolo Wong, Danny Wong and Ferdie Matias to the pro-am crown with a 16-under 53.

They edged Jaruporn P Na Ayutthaya, with Rachel Julian, Nora Sy and Nida Whybrow, and the other group of Sarah Ababa, with Mar Bustos, Marianne Bustos and Tim Allen, in the countback.

Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang and Numa Gulyanamitta are the other Thai players tipped to figure in early contention along with Chakansim Khamborn, Chommapat Pongthanarak, Goonlacha Paiboonpong, Kamonwan Lueamsri, Chouvarest Chourkittisopon, Omicha Konsunthea and Patraporn Kratururk.

Aside from Rodriguez and Superal, other Pinays expected to crowd the favorites are former leg winners Chihiro Ikeda and Ababa, while Daniella Uy and Marvi Monsalve hope to dish out top form coming off a stint in the Taiwan LPGA leg, the first LPGT co-sanctioned tournament abroad, last week where Superal and Rodriguez also saw action.

Al Mendoza alsol47@yahoo.com

THAT’S ALL

Looking at a trilogy this early A crack roster of amateurs is also out to humble the pros and duplicate Superal’s feat in 2013, led by The Country Club’s Sofia Chabon, Mafy Singson and Samantha Dizon along with Eagle Ace Superal, Arnie Taguines, Laia Barro, Kristine Torralba, Mariel Tee and Korean Lee Ji-hyeon.

KNIGHTS IN FINAL 4

SAN Sebastian College’s Alvin Capobres snakes out of the defense put up by Letran’s Jeo Ambohot.

ROY DOMINGO

Elite try to extend streak

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LACKWATER hopes to extend its run and join Barangay Ginebra San Miguel atop the standings when the Elite takes on the streaking Magnolia Hotshots in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup on Wednesday at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The Elite made heads turn with their impressive string of victories that catapulted them to solo second place with a 6-1 won-lost record.

A win over the Hotshots (5-1) in the 7 p.m. game would give Elite a strong chance of pocketing a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs.

Although a bonus in the quarterfinals is within reach, Elite Head Coach Bong Ramos wants to keep his wards sharp and steady and avoid complacency in their remaining assignments.

“I don’t want to think about the playoffs. I want it one game at a time. We will play defense,” Ramos said.

Blackwater beat Rain or Shine, 99-93, last Sunday, as the young cast of locals revved up their games to support the highly efficient import Henry Walker.

Mike Digregorio topscored for the Elite with 17 points that went with five rebounds and three assists.

John Pinto was as productive with 16 points and five boards, while Walker had no problem distributing the ball to tally a triple-double of 14 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.

The slightest mistake could turn the luck to Magnolia as its victory would mean a jump to solo second place.

Currently on a three-game streak, the Hotshots last beat Columbian Dyip, 113-95, to share third spot with the Alaska Aces.

Import Romeo Travis was a monster inside as he registered 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, while Marc Barroca complemented Travis’s efforts with his 16 points and four assists. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Fighting Warays in their 4 p.m. encounter and build some momentum and confidence they would need when they play their keenly awaited last two assignments in the single-round elims next week—against the Cool Smashers on October 17 and the Lady Warriors on October 21.

Their bronze-medal finish in last week’s Vinh Long Cup in Vietnam have indeed toughened up the Perlas Spikers, who have been drawing solid games from former University of the Philippines stalwarts Nicole Tiamzon and Kathy Bersola, with former Lady Eagle Dzi Gervacio providing the experience and poise along with the likes of Joy Dacoron, Jem Ferrer and Joy Doromal.

In contrast, Tacloban has been on a roller-

coaster ride, bouncing back from an openinggame loss to the PetroGazz Angels with backto-back victories over the Iriga Lady Oragons and Adamson Lady Falcons before yielding a straight-set defeat to the Cool Smashers.

But behind Jovielyn Prado, Heather Guino-o, Mary Ann Esguerra and Menchie Tubera, the Warays hope to fight back and become the first team to beat the Perlas Spikers in what promises to be a slam-bang duel in the featured matchup.

Unless Adamson University comes up with a gem of a rebound from its three straight losses, Creamline is poised to cruise past the third placer in the last Collegiate Conference in their 6 p.m. clash.

AS usual, I get the same question all the time: Will the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather 2 push through?

And, as usual, too, I say, “It will push through.”

Many say it will again transform from a fight to a fake when the bell rings. Much the same way as when the two first met on May 2, 2015?

That forgettable night in Las Vegas, Mayweather simply toyed with Pacquiao to win all 12 rounds in “The Fake of The Century.”

When the rematch finally gets going in December, hopefully in Las Vegas again, the only difference could be that Pacquiao might be 100-percent healthy.

In 2015 Pacquiao fought Mayweather concealing an injured shoulder—a crucial point that the Pacman revealed only after the fight.

When they meet again, that’d be a thing of the past.

Boxing is the most forgetful of all sports.

Pacquiao is turning 40 on December 17.

Mayweather is 41.

In boxing, age is immaterial.

If we get to watch senior citizens banging each other up atop the ring, fine.

No one’s going to enjoy an undue advantage.

It’d be an entirely different thing altogether if one of them is much younger than the other.

An utter mismatch is downright avoided if we pit Pacquiao and Mayweather.

With them fighting, boxing has shown respect for balance.

Both have shown signs of slowing down in their recent fights. Fine. That equalizes matters—their narrow age gaps a bit of a redeeming factor.

While admittedly, Mayweather might be a bit faster than Pacquiao, that is just a minor margin. Pacquiao can counter that liability easily with punches more telling than Mayweather’s.

Pacquiao has the world title but staking it matters not much.

They will fight chiefly for the money.

That’s all there is to it.

Now, in the event Pacquiao upsets Mayweather—that isn’t far-fetched if you ask the Vegas oddsmakers—that’d make it even-steven for both at 1-1.

Would that not set up a third fight? A trilogy all over again?

Never mind if the crowd would be dominated by the wheelchair-bound, the hearing impaired and the PWDs as a whole.

This is boxing. Where money talks all the time, all of the time.

THAT’S IT In my column here last week, I wrote that Michael Que won the Tokai Cup Classic, one of the major golf tournaments held yearly in Tokyo. Wrong. It was Angelo Que who authored the triumph worth a whopping P10.22 million. How could I commit such grievous mistake when in fact, Angelo Que, as written here last week, was one of my four players in the Philippine squad that I had captained when the country competed in the 1998 World Team Golf Championship in Santiago, Chile? Maybe, time has started to play tricks with me? Hey, that Chile joust was 20 years ago and the brain must be teeming now with information both vital and non-vital. Although Angelo might not have minded it as Michael is his brother, still, I offer my deepest apologies to Angelo, whose world-class swing is a combination of the smooth and seamless strokes of Ernie Els and Fred Couples. I thank my good friend Alex Sison, who was the first among the many concerned readers to call my attention about the error.... Looking forward to the dinuguan cum Cabanatuan longganisa breakfast with Col. Sergio Austria, Jake P. Ayson and Admiral Luisito F. Fernandez. Cheers!.... Happy trip to my compadre Marvin Velayo and his wife, Pia, who will leave today (October 10) for a 20-day vacation to European countries like Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Germany and France in the company of Baby Velayo. We pray for your safe and sound journey. Enjoy!

Drew Brees passed Peyton Manning to become the National Football League’s all-time leader in yards passing, with a 62-yard touchdown to rookie Tre’Quan Smith on Monday night.

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By Brett Martel The Associated Press

MAKING HISTORY IN STYLE

EW ORLEANS—Before Drew Brees could blow kisses to the adoring Superdome crowd, before he could embrace his wife and children on the sideline, the Saints’ 39-year-old quarterback had to shred one of the National Football League’s (NFL) top pass defenses with ruthless efficiency.

And so he did.

Brees passed Peyton Manning to become the NFL’s all-time leader in yards passing, with a 62-yard touchdown to rookie Tre’Quan Smith on Monday night that sent New Orleans on its way to a lopsided 43-19 victory over the mistake-prone Washington Redskins.

“It’s hard for me to reflect too much right now just because my career’s not done. There are still goals to be accomplished. There are still challenges to be met. And so I’m still very focused on that,” Brees said. “And yet, when something like this happens, there are so many people who are responsible for that, that are a part of that, that makes me happy. It makes me proud and it makes me extremely grateful—extremely grateful for the opportunity to play this game, to play it as long as I’ve played it, to have wound up here in New Orleans.

“It’s just been an unbelievable journey.”

Brees entered the game needing 201 yards to eclipse Peyton Manning’s previous mark of 71,940 yards. He had 250 yards and two touchdowns by halftime and finished 26 of 29 for 363 yards and three touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception this season. He did, however, make his eighth career reception on his own deflected pass, and pushed across the line of scrimmage to add an extra yard to his career total.

“He throws for 5,000 yards just like he’s sleeping at night, and it’s crazy to see that,” Redskins cornerback Josh Norman said. “He’s at the top of them all right now and he’s not done yet.”

The Saints’ Smith, a third-round draft choice last spring, caught two touchdown passes from the 18th-year pro. Brees also hit Smith for a 35-yard score down the right sideline early in the third quarter.

Any hope Washington had of coming back was all but snuffed out when Justin Hardee, a special teams regular who was in the game because of Marshon Lattimore’s concussion symptoms, snagged Alex Smith’s underthrown pass at the Saints’ 19-yard line and returned his first career interception to the Washington 4.

That set up change-of-pace QB Taysom Hill’s one-yard touchdown run that put the Saints (4-1) up, 40-13.

Smith completed 23 of 39 passes for 275 yards for the Redskins (2-2). He ran for a short touchdown late in the

Sports

DREW BREES acknowledges the Saints’ fans after making league history. AP

BusinessMirror

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| Wednesday, October 10, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

first half that pulled Washington within 26-13.

When the Saints began one of their last first-half possessions on their own 38, Brees needed just 35 yards to break the record. On the first play of the drive, Brees launched a pass toward the right sideline to the speedy Smith, who was wide open and easily sprinted away from Nicholson’s tackle attempt en route to the end zone.

“I knew we were within striking distance” of the record, Brees said.

“I didn’t know it was going to happen on the first play to Tre’Quan. But I don’t think it could have happened in any better fashion than it did.

To have then that moment with my teammates on the field, the offensive line, it played out even greater than I ever could have imagined.”

Brees’s teammates ran toward their quarterback as he jogged behind the play, and a group of them formed a jumping, celebrating mass of black and gold next to the Saints’ fleurde-lis emblem on the 50-yard line.

Brees then removed his helmet, saluted fans and exchanged hugs on the sideline with his wife, Brittany, their four kids and Saints Coach Sean

Modric, Mbappe in contention for Ballon d’Or

Payton. The ball was handed over to Pro Football Hall of Fame officials.

With the game well in hand after the two-minute warning, Payton subbed Brees out of the game. As Teddy Bridgwater ran onto the field and Brees trotted to the sideline, Brees got one last ovation before fans began chanting: “Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints.”

Running back Mark Ingram, playing in his first game this season after serving a four-game suspension, scored two touchdowns on 2- and 1-yard runs in the first half.

He finished with 53 yards rushing and 20 receiving.

“It’s great to have him back,” Payton said, stressing the Ingram’s presence reduces the physical toll on fellow running back Alvin Kamara. “That combination—those are two real good running backs.”

Oblak, Paul Pogba, Ivan Rakitic, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Ramos, Luis Suarez, Raphael Varane.

With the financial gap in Greek soccer getting smaller and smaller, Olympiakos is finding it harder and harder to stay at the top.

The perennial Greek champions—the team has won 19 of the last 22 league titles—are normally already well out front by mid-October. But this year, Olympiakos is only in fourth place following a 1-1 draw with defending champion AEK Athens at the Olympic Stadium.

“For all the teams chasing the title, it isn’t enough to create chances. Those chances need to be finished,” said Olympiakos Coach Pedro Martins, a former midfielder who played one match for Portugal. “We didn’t make that happen today. It cost us the game today.”

Olympiakos midfielder Kostas Fortounis gave his team the lead in the 58th minute on Sunday, but Tasos Bakasetas equalized in the 90th with a powerful header.

Giannis Fetfatzidis could have scored the winner for Olympiakos, but he missed an open goal in the final seconds.

The draw comes a week after Olympiakos lost to league leader

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ARIS—Luka Modric and Kylian Mbappe are in the running to break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 10-year dominance of the Ballon d’Or. The World Cup finalist and champion, respectively, are nominees for this year’s award, alongside Brazilian forward Marta. For the first time, France Football magazine is awarding the individual trophy to a woman and a man on December 3 in Paris.

The last player to win the trophy before Ronaldo and Messi took over was Kaka in 2007. This year, Ronaldo and Messi have not been as dominant, leaving the door open for a new winner.

Marta features among the 15 women’s nominees unveiled on Monday, along with Lyon players Ada Hegerberg of Norway and Dzsenifer Marozsan of Germany.

Mbappe won the World Cup for France in Russia, where he became the first teenager to score in a final since Pele in 1958. France beat Modric’s Croatia, 4-2, in the final, and the latter was voted player of the tournament.

Last month the technically gifted Modric won Fifa’s best player award, and is regarded as the frontrunner for the Ballon d’Or. The France Football award merged with Fifa’s player of the year from 2010-2015, but they split two years ago.

In addition to guiding Croatia to the World Cup final, Modric also won the Champions league with Real Madrid.

Mbappe also helped Paris Saint-Germain to a domestic treble last season.

Ronaldo and Messi are also among the 30 male nominees. They have shared the past 10 Ballon d’Or trophies, winning five times each.

Antoine Griezmann, Neymar, Gareth Bale, Mohamed Salah and Sergio Aguero are also listed.

Bale scored with a bicycle kick for Madrid in the Champions League final, while Salah enjoyed a

Trent Alexander-Arnold (left) plays chess with world champion Magnus Carlsen and loses in 17 moves.

Kylian Mbappe’s (right) France wins the World Cup in Russia at the expense of Luka Modric’s Croatia, 4-2. AP

breathtaking first season with Liverpool, bagging 32 goals in the English Premier League.

Among prominent names who did not make the cut was PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who finished fourth last year but was penalized by Italy’s absence from the World Cup. Women’s nominees: Lucy Bronze, Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg, Amandine Henry, Lindsay Horan, Fran Kirby, Sam Kerr, Saki Kumagai, Amel Majri, Dzsenifer

Maroszan, Marta, Lieke Martens, Megan Rapinoe, Wendie Renard, Christine Sinclair.

Men’s nominees: Sergio Aguero, Alisson, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Edinson Cavani, Thibaut Courtois, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Roberto Firmino, Diego Godin, Antoine Griezmann, Eden Hazard, Isco, Harry Kane, N’Golo Kante, Hugo Lloris, Mario Mandzukic, Sadio Mane, Marcelo, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Neymar, Jan

BEATEN IN 5 MINUTES

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ANCHESTER, England—Trent Alexander-Arnold swapped a soccer field for a chess board when he took on world champion Magnus Carlsen.

It all ended pretty quickly.

The 20-year-old Liverpool defender lost to Carlsen in only 17 moves in a game that lasted five minutes on Monday.

“Although it may go down as a 1-0 loss, I will be practicing more and maybe there will be a rematch,” Alexander-Arnold said.

The England international, who played at the World Cup in Russia, has played chess since he was a kid. He competed against his brothers at home and friends at school, saying it gave him a game to play instead of soccer when it was raining.

He said he has played chess with Liverpool teammate Ben Woodburn on their smartphones during trips for away games.

“This whole experience has been an eye-opener, not only into just how much goes into becoming great at the game but also seeing the similarities between it and the sport I love, football,” Alexander-Arnold said. “Football and chess can seem like polar sporting opposites, but there are so many similarities with the modern game.” AP PAOK Thessaloniki, which has won all six of its matches but has only 16 points because it started the season with a two-point penalty. Atromitos, a small Athens-based team, also has 16 points but trails on goal difference.

AEK and Olympiakos have 13 points each.

The renewed competitiveness for the Greek league title comes at a time when financial gap is closing. Olympiakos is still the most valuable team in the league with an estimated worth of €64 million ($74 million), while PAOK is valued at nearly €60 million ($69 million). AEK, which has battled back to the top division after going bankrupt five years ago and winning successive promotions from amateur leagues, has caught up to nearly €40 million ($46 million).

The rules of how soccer is run have also changed.

Danish referee Kristoffer Kristoffersen was in charge at Sunday’s game after a shakeup introduced this season bringing overseas officials in to be used at every major Greek match.

Clashes between AEK fans and police did break out at halftime on Sunday, but criticism normally leveled at the referee after key matches was muted. AP

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God of all grace

OD of all grace, You animate us to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. In trust we pray: Let us rejoice in Your love, Oh God. For newly weds, parents and grandparents. For those who embrace the single vocation. For vowed religious, priests and deacons. For widows, widowers, separated, divorced. May God confirm us in our calling and strengthen us to live as members of Christ’s Body in all humility and gentleness, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

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

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

Life BusinessMirror

‘WALKING DEAD’ STAR TRADES ARC OF WEAPONS FOR ARC OF STORY D3

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

D1

New Zealand fines travelers who won’t unlock secure devices

Forget Fomo.

Think Jomo instead.

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By HayLey PHeLan New York Times News Service

OU could say I had the epiphany when, in the middle of a flight to Los Angeles—and a busy New York workday—the Wi-Fi stopped working. Two very odd things happened in quick succession. First: I did not fall out of the sky. Second: After recovering from the initial furyimplosion, I worked more intently and productively than I had in ages.

What was this strange, unburdened feeling, I wondered, as I stepped off the plane hours later?

Turns out the Internet had a word for it already: Jomo.

Jomo is not a misspelling of “mojo” but, rather, stands for “joy of missing out.” The antithesis of Fomo (fear of missing out), Jomo is about disconnecting, opting out and being OK just where you are.

It’s a lot like that age-old wisdom about being present—only retrofitted for a world in which missing an e-mail could be a fireable offense, and deleting Bumble could mean you don’t go on a date for another three months. Like it or not, we need our technology devices; we just don’t need them as much as we think we do. Jomo is about finding that balance.

“To me, it’s about setting boundaries,” said Cara Wenig, 30, a sales rep and Jomo practitioner. “In my work, it is really important to respond quickly and to be on top of things so it’s not as if I can completely unplug. But I can be more mindful about it.”

Given Jomo’s Luddite bent, it’s (perhaps) surprising that the tech industry has recently come on board.

This spring, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, took the stage at the company’s annual developer conference with the words “Joy of Missing Out” projected behind him. Pichai was announcing a new “digital well-being” initiative that aims to encourage healthier tech habits via several tools, including a dashboard on its newest Android that shows you how much time you spend per app, suggested breaks from marathon sessions, and batched notifications to avoid the update-everysecond situation.

Apple announced, soon after, its own stab at digital health: a “Screen Time” dashboard, which gives you a peek into your digital use, and enhanced “Do Not Disturb” functions.

Of course, it’s safe to assume that Google and Apple are not doing this solely out of the good of their hearts.

Over the past few years, research has been building on the impact of our constant tech use, including one study that suggests the rising suicide rate among teenagers may be linked to smartphone use and social media. “We see time and time again that the constant distraction is making people feel very unhappy,” said Ashley Whillans, a behavior scientist, who has been studying the relationship between happiness, time

and money.

All of which means missing out can be a good thing. But how best to do it?

1. KNOW THAT YOU LIKELY HAVE A PROBLEM. If you’re wondering whether you may also be engaging in unhealthy tech habits, here’s a helpful pop quiz: Do you own a smartphone?

That’s it. Because if you answered yes, you’re essentially carrying around what the Center for Humane Technology, an organization working to spur reform in the tech and media industries, calls a “slot machine” in your pocket. Play it enough times, and you’re bound to get hooked. This isn’t an accident. This is big business.

“Tech companies have spent the last 10, 20 years building Internet and mobile products that are addictive on purpose,” said Dan Frommer, editor in chief of Recode. “There is a threshold where utility becomes addiction, and I think it’s safe to say a lot of the most popular products today have taken it too far.”

2. MONITOR YOUR DIGITAL DIET AS YOU WOULD YOUR FOOD DIET. Today, many of us are mindful about what we put into our bodies because we know how certain foods make us feel: Gluten may make one sluggish, say, while sugar can worsen anxiety. But what about when it comes to our minds? Imagine what that extra hour of mindless scrolling is doing to it.

Try making a mental note (or keeping a diary) on your digital habits. Apps like Moment, which help you track your app usage, can help, as will the forthcoming dashboards from Google and Apple. Then experiment with eliminating or limiting the amount you engage in each one. See what you learn.

Instead of focusing so much on the contents of our food, we may do better to cultivate awareness around which mental and digital activities actually nourish us—and which send us into a tailspin of anxiety and despair. Gorging on clickbait content and emptycalorie YouTube sessions probably isn’t doing us any favors. But, as with our tummies, starvation isn’t the answer. Don’t think of Jomo as a detox, but more like an integral part to a healthy, well-balanced nutrition plan for your brain. You may not always want to do it, it may not always feel natural or fun, but, like that kale smoothie you choke down or the probiotics you spring for at Whole Foods, you do it because it’s good for you.

3. MANAGE PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS OF YOU (AND SET THEM LOW). Begin to cultivate the expectation that you may take a while to respond to text messages and e-mails. If you feel undue pressure from family and friends, you can let them know ahead of time that you may not always be available.

Google’s “director o’ design” (his real title), Glen Murphy, said one of the most surprising realizations he took out of his digital well-being research was how much “social factors” played a role in determining

“expectations of responsiveness.”

Certain people like to respond to things right away, while others take their time. The problem is, friends and colleagues may have certain expectations no matter which camp you’re in. If you don’t respond quickly, they freak out. But it doesn’t have to be that way. “I think we all have the friend or the boss that takes days to respond to an e-mail,” Murphy said. “We can all strive to have that freedom.”

4. DO THINGS WITH INTENTION. Next time you find yourself about to binge-watch that next series on Netflix, remind yourself what you could be doing instead, like catching up with a friend on the phone, or simply getting more sleep. Of course, the last episode of, say, The Staircase may win out—but at least you’ll be choosing it with intention.

“A lot of the time, we fail to recognize the moments in our lives actually become our lives,” Whillans said.

“The moments that we’re spending on our computer checking e-mail slowly accumulate to hours and days, time we’re not spending living our lives.”

Whillans’s research suggests that we’re pretty bad at recognizing the opportunity cost that comes with spending money, and even worse at seeing the opportunity cost when it comes to time. “We don’t spontaneously recognize all the things we’re not getting by saying yes to something,” Whillans said.

She has found, however, that if people were reminded of what they were giving up to spend that extra hour online, or doing chores—namely, time they could be spending with family, friends or learning a new skill—they often choose to give up on the timesucking activity, and feel happier in the process.

5. HOLD THE TECH INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABLE. There’s a reason abstinence often doesn’t work: It’s too difficult.

So, as long as we’re not all going to collectively delete our social-media accounts or chuck our phones out the window, we’ll need the tech industry to cooperate. “The measures that a person can take are what we call Band-Aids,” said Max Stossel, head of content and storytelling at the Center for Humane Technology. “Ultimately we really need changes like the ones Apple and Google are just starting to explore.

We only have so much willpower to resist.”

Both Apple and Google benefit from consumers using their product to the point of addiction, Frommer said, “but they also are probably starting to have people burn out and stop using their device altogether,” which no business wants.

“It will be really crucial to see how these companies will follow through with the announcements,” Frommer said. “Are they just following a trend for good PR, or is this the kind of thing they really value and build into everything they offer.”

Time—that precious and all-too-scarce commodity—will tell. n

CANBERRA, Australia—Visitors to New Zealand can be fined 5,000 New Zealand dollars ($3,243) for refusing to provide passwords to unlock electronic devices and allow customs officials to examine them under a new law that a civil liberties group on Thursday condemned as a grave invasion of privacy.

The law came into effect on October 1 as part of an update of 22-year-old customs legislation. It also gives customs officials authority to copy data found on searched devices.

“The traveling public is unlikely to notice much difference at the border,” the New Zealand Customs Service said in a statement last week.

But the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties said the law gives customs officials the power to force travelers to unlock their smartphones without justification, and without legal options for travelers to challenge an order to enter a password.

“Modern smartphones contain a large amount of highly sensitive private information including e-mails, letters, medical records, personal photos and very personal photos,” council spokesman Thomas Beagle said in a statement.

“Allowing customs to be able to demand the right to examine and capture all this information is a grave invasion of personal privacy of both the person who owns the device and the people they have communicated with,” Beagle said.

Beagle questioned whether the intrusion would catch criminals, who would prefer to pay the fine than expose evidence that could lead to prison.

Criminals could also store their data in the cloud, travel with a wiped phone and restore the data once they passed customs, he said. AP

GLOBE TREATS FOR DISNEY, K-DRAMA FANS

SAY annyeong to your favorite Korean oppa and get ready to enjoy the best of Disney with three months free access to Viu Premium, as well as DisneyLife with your Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi. From now until November 15, all Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi customers can redeem their free subscriptions to DisneyLife and Viu Premium via the Globe At Home App, and get up to P248 savings per month.

Download the app via the Google Play store for Android and the App Store for Apple devices. Connect to Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi, open the Globe At Home App dashboard and click Activate Subscriptions to start enjoying unlimited access to Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD, Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm on DisneyLife app, and binge watch on dramas, variety shows and movies on Viu Premium in as fast as eight hours after the original broadcast.

Say saranghae to EXO’s DO as he plays the Crown Prince in 100 Days, My Prince, or welcome back So Jisub to the little screen as he stars in Terius Behind Me. Meanwhile, the Korean movie Beauty Inside gets its TV reboot that is premiering this month. Learn the ropes inside an international airport in Where Stars Land, validate the belief that opposites attract in Third Charm, or find out who made the cut in Hello K-Idol, Viu and Globe Studios’s very own K-Pop talent search.

Before heading to the cinema for the second instalment of Wreck-It Ralph, why not rewatch the first movie on Disney Life? Or find the inner child within courtesy of Disney movies, such as The Jungle Book, Frankenweenie and Finding Dory.

Then reawaken The Force within a Star Wars movie marathon, featuring the classics The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. For comic-book superhero fans, The Avengers and Ant Man are available, among other blockbusters.

More information is available at www.globe.com.ph.

D2

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Pet Corner BusinessMirror

Therapy dogs can spread superbugs to kids, hospital finds THIS March 2017 photo provided by Johns Hopkins University shows therapy dog Winnie at the university’s hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Therapy dogs who visit hospital patients can bring joy, affection and—superbug bacteria, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins released on October 5. AP

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By Mike Stobbe The Associated Press

EW YORK—Therapy dogs can bring more than joy and comfort to hospitalized kids.

They can also bring stubborn germs.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore were suspicious that the dogs might pose an infection risk to patients with weakened immune systems. So they conducted some tests when Pippi, Poppy, Badger and Winnie visited 45 children getting cancer treatment.

They discovered that kids who spent more time with the dogs had a six times greater chance of coming away with superbug bacteria than kids who spent less time with the animals. But the study also found that washing the dogs before visits and using special wipes while they’re in the hospital took away the risk of spreading that bacteria.

The results of the unpublished study were released on Friday at a scientific meeting in San Francisco.

One US health official said the findings add to the growing understanding that, while interactions with pets and therapy animals can be beneficial, they can also carry risk.

“Whether covered in fur, feathers or scales, animals have the potential to carry germs that make people sick,” said Casey Barton Behravesh of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pet therapy can help people recover from a range of health problems. Past studies have shown dogs or other animals can ease anxiety and sadness, lower blood pressure and even reduce the amount of medications some patients need. But there have been episodes of the superbug MRSA riding around on healthy-looking therapy dogs.

MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, often live on the skin without causing symptoms. But they can become more dangerous if they enter the bloodstream, destroying heart valves or causing other damage. Health officials have tied MRSA to as many as 11,000 US deaths a year.

The bacteria can spread in daycares, locker rooms and military barracks, but public health efforts have focused on hospitals and nursing homes.

The Baltimore study looked at 45 children who interacted with the four dogs—petting, hugging, feeding or playing with them—over 13 visits in 2016 and 2017.

Among kids who had no MRSA, the researchers

Connecticut family reunited with dog missing for 5 years NORWICH, Connecticut—A Connecticut family has been reunited with their dog five years after the beloved pet went missing. The Norwich Bulletin reports that Norwich Assistant Animal Control Officer Donna Gremminger spotted the 17-year-old female dachshund last Thursday in a parking lot in a city park. She had lost most of her sight and hearing.

Through a microchip, they identified the dog’s owners as Rick and Michelle Riendeau, of Brooklyn, Connecticut, about 20 miles from Norwich, and reunited them on Monday.

An emotional Rick Riendeau said he contacted animal control when the dog, named Lady, first went missing. He said because they live near a wooded area, they feared she may have been killed by a predator, or had wandered off. He called Lady “the greatest dog we’ve ever had.” AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

z

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, 40; Mario Lopez, 45; Wendi McLendon-Covey, 49; Nora Roberts, 68.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Some of the people around you will undergo changes that leave you wondering what you should do next. Instability is a sign that change needs to take place, but what and how you alter your life will be crucial this year. Take your time, even if someone tries to pressure you to decide prematurely. Do what’s best for yourself. Your lucky numbers are 4, 9, 14, 25, 32, 38, 49.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Just do it. Don’t hesitate or let your responsibilities hang over your head. Take the initiative and clear the air of any baggage you carry. Once you are free and clear of excess dead weight, you’ll feel less stressed and increasingly motivated. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Time is on your side. Consider all your options and plan your actions carefully. You have plenty to gain if you follow your heart and do what you know is best for yourself. Don’t let anyone goad you into an argument. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Touch base with people you find inspiring. Working alongside people who get things done will give you the boost you need to take care of some of your own unfinished business. The relief you feel will be worth the effort. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Plan something special. Get involved in events you care about. Mingle with people who can make a difference in your life. Partnerships look promising, and love and romance are encouraged.

Family planning will lead to a feeling of belonging and greater togetherness. HHHHH

found the superbug on about 10 percent of the samples taken from those kids after the dog visits. They also found MRSA on nearly 40 percent of the samples from the dogs. The researchers also determined that the more time someone spent with the animals, the greater the chance of ending up with the bacteria.

The researchers think the dogs were generally clean of MRSA when they first came to the hospital, but picked it up from patients or others while they were there, said one of the authors, Meghan Davis.

“Our hypothesis is it’s really person-to-person transmission, but it happened through contact with the fur,” said Davis, a Johns Hopkins public health researcher and veterinarian.

Under hospital protocols, therapy dogs must be bathed within a day of a visit and are checked for

wounds or other health problems. Children who see them are supposed to use hand sanitizer “but that wasn’t strictly enforced,” said Kathryn Dalton, another one of the researchers.

Later in the study, the researchers asked the dogs’ owners to bathe the animals with a special shampoo before the visits. They also had the dogs patted down every five to 10 minutes with disinfecting wipes at the hospital. Those steps dramatically decreased the bacteria level on the dogs, Dalton said.

She hopes further study will show that such cleanings can reduce any risk of superbug infection.

“I really had the opportunity to see how important these dogs were to the patients,” Dalton said. After the sessions with the dogs, the kids “would say how much this made their day.” n

Airline partners with start-up to improve pet travel ATLANTA—Delta Air Lines is partnering with a pet travel pod start-up, as it changes its prices and policy for transporting passengers’ animal companions, the airline announced on Tuesday. The carrier struck a long-term partnership with CarePod, saying the Singapore-based start-up will help it carry and monitor pets better and give real-time updates to customers. The firm offers safety monitoring, tracking and logistics software for transporting pets.

The details of the deal are unclear, but the Atlanta-based airline said in a statement that its cargo division will “launch a new pet transportation strategy” through the partnership.

Shawn Cole, vice president of Delta Cargo, said the demand for shipping pets is strong and the company is always looking for ways to improve the travel experience for pets and their owners. “Working with a start-up like CarePod allows Delta the flexibility to enhance our service in new and innovative ways,” he said in the statement.

Jenny Pan, CarePod’s founder and CEO, said the startup’s goal is to transform the future of pet travel, calling the opportunity to work with Delta an “exciting step.” In 2016 Delta stopped accepting pets as checked baggage following criticism for the death of pets in checked carriers. Instead,

Delta said some pets could travel as carry-ons in the plane’s cabin and others could be shipped via Delta Cargo, with rates at the time ranging from roughly $195 to $1,485.

On Monday Delta changed its prices for transporting a pet via cargo to vary based on the kennel size instead of weight, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. AP

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Overreacting will only hold you back and end up costing you.

Accepting what you cannot change will help you work with, not against, the powers that be. Use your ingenuity, and you’ll come up with a way to overcome adversity. HH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A business trip or hanging out with someone you haven’t seen for a long time will help you figure out what you should do next. It’s OK to dream and strive to acquire what will make you happy. HHHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Put more creativity into whatever you do. How you handle situations and people will make a difference in the outcome of a situation you face at work or at home. Listen, and respond with suggestions and the willingness to compromise. HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take a deep breath and prepare to implement change.

Don’t get frazzled if others don’t pitch in and help. If you believe in what you are doing, follow through with passion and precision. HHH

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Listen to advice, but when it comes time to decide, be cognizant of what’s truly to your benefit and what someone else may have suggested for his or her personal benefit. Act on your own behalf. HHH

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take pride in what you do. It’s OK to be unique and to show off what you have to offer. Do your own thing, and be proud of your accomplishments. An important relationship will undergo a positive transformation. HHH

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t be swayed by what someone else is saying or doing. Walk away from excessive or indulgent people. Sit tight until you feel you are in a better position to make positive change. HH

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Look for a different route if you feel you are being blocked. Use your ingenuity to turn something you want to pursue into a going concern.

Love, money, lucrative contracts and better health can be yours if you make the right choices. HHHHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are intense, possessive and forceful.

You are creative and competitive.

‘richard lets his hair down’ BY TIMOTHY E. PARKER The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Chester ___ Arthur 5 Skylit mall feature 11 Suicide squeeze stat 14 Country music’s McEntire 15 Mountaineering Himalayan 16 Bond’s Fleming 17 Casual Richard’s old jukebox?

19 Civil War side (abbr.)

20 Safari antelope 21 Mouth dabber 23 Twenty-ninth US president 26 Large migratory birds 27 Point in the right direction 28 Least high 31 Brewery opening?

32 Musical by Elton John 33 Switch words?

36 Mouse spotter’s utterance 37 Casual Richard’s old-style pants are...

40 Common Market abbr.

41 Downhill racer 43 Females

4 Historic sailing vessel 4 46 Toadying dudes 48 Fierce resentment 49 Macho, muscular types 51 Some post office machines 52 Nasal appraisals 54 Armadillo’s plate 55 An outstanding crossword solver 56 Casual Richard’s job at the theater?

61 Start to stink?

62 Fuel gas 63 Poetic Ireland 64 Poker term 65 In a beach chair 66 Quite focused, as attention DOWN 1 Airport abbr.

2 Deplaning gift in Hawaii 3 Early school lesson 4 With less on?

5 Tilted 6 Super-skimpy swimsuit 7 Desmond’s sitcom co-star 8 Feeling of rage

9 “...wish ___ a star” 10 Emulate Buck Showalter 11 Casual Richard’s yard marker?

12 Rationale 13 Senselessly silly 18 Donahue of an old sitcom 22 Money in Mexico 23 Modern cribs?

24 Shakespearean sprite 25 Casual Richard’s favorite toon?

28 Make analogies 29 Elaborate lyric poems 30 General battle 32 Dull pain 34 Horrific smell 35 Wound reminders 38 Suffix with “symbol” 39 Old Athens foe 42 Regard as 45 Whole number 47 Traps 48 Defeated convincingly 49 Garfield’s predecessor 50 Uneven, as gnaw marks

1 Director’s take 5 53 Where contractors dig 54 Three-person card game 57 Half of a lively dance 58 Noted period 59 Frosty air quality 60 Common explosive

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘Walking Dead’ star trades arc of weapons for arc of story

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By Jeff Martin The Associated Press

ENOIA, Georgia—Andrew Lincoln will no longer evade the arc of a knife, a bullet or a bloody baseball bat wrapped with razor wire on the Georgia set where AMC’s The Walking Dead is filmed.

The show’s upcoming ninth season, which premieres Sunday night, will be the last for his character, sheriff’s Deputy Rick Grimes, and Lincoln has wrapped his last scene.

Now he’s hoping to direct an episode of the show, so he’s “shadowing” one of the directors during filming near the small town of Senoia.

“I’ve always had a fascination with the language of film,” he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “And I’m a control freak. I have strong opinions aesthetically, and maybe it’s time for me to own up to it and see if I can, you know, put my money where my mouth is.”

His trademark humor finds its way into many of his answers to questions about his future.

“You’re interrupting my shadowing!” he says. “[There are] lessons being taught out there right now and I’m not there. Which way to point the camera is probably being taught at the moment.”

The drama sometimes follows the story lines of a comic book series that debuted in 2003, but also veers from that narrative to create new tales.

It’s built around a cast of characters struggling to survive in a world that’s fallen into chaos and become infested with zombies they call “walkers.” The humans also break into factions and sometimes wage war with one another.

As the show enters its final season with Lincoln’s character, he speaks lovingly of the “less-is-more” aspect of the upcoming season. “There’s less gas, there’s less guns, there’s less food,” he says. “But we’ve got more tension as a result, and thrills and spills.

If something goes wrong in this landscape that we inhabit now, then we’re in serious trouble.”

Lincoln says The Walking Dead has always been an ensemble show that’s not dependent on any one character. “The themes this season are absolutely what we set out to achieve in the first season,” he said.

“It’s a story of hope, family and friendship. People with nothing in common realizing that they have everything in common.”

AMC President Charlie Collier said that “What started as the Rick Grimes story really became a story about a group of people helping each other survive and having each other’s backs in the worst of conditions.” Collier recalled when Lincoln’s character rode on horseback into a destroyed and deserted Atlanta and then waged war on the downtown streets.

As Lincoln prepared to film his final episodes, he said he felt like he was watching a cruise ship slowly

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

BLIND SPOT BRUCE C.

STINGY

SO people are wondering why most Filipino stars are usually badly or poorly dressed for awards shows and here’s the answer, according to stylists: the stars and their managements don’t like to spend a lot of money.

What happens is that the stars rely on exchange deals; if they pay, it usually is just a minimal fee.

Many makeup artists and hairstylists work with the stars for social media mileage. A lot of stylists also do that. These people manage to get well-paying clients when they’re seen styling celebrities, no matter how horrible the clothes are.

SPECIAL PLACE IN HER HEART THE female celebrity’s fans love to bash the young comedian for supposedly being a user. What the fans don’t know is that the female celebrity has a special place in her heart for the comedian. She was overheard saying that the comedian was very protective of her and really took care of her. They were never in a relationship because the fans made it impossible for even the friendship to continue. The comedian said he was sick and tired of being judged, with fans bashing even his family members. We hope that someday, they will find each other again, even if only as friends. They’re both nice people who deserve love and happiness.

LOW-KEY GIRLFRIEND THE Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln

pulling away from him.

“On this cruise ship, there are lights and the dancing and I can hear the clink of the glasses, but I’m sort of bobbing around in the shallows of the sea as it drifts away, you know, it continues and it continues in an amazing fashion.”

Much of the show is filmed in Senoia, a small town 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Atlanta. It has helped fuel the film industry in Georgia, which has boomed in the past decade.

“Atlanta was not a place I knew,” Lincoln said, “and over the last decade it’s become the new hub of the industry.” He had always envisioned coming to the United States from his native England “as a sort of gateway to literally trying to raise my profile so I could keep working in America.”

“It kind of worked,” he says. “It went beyond

GMA President and COO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr., GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, Federico Moreno, and GMA EVP and CFO Felipe S. Yalong

GLORIA ROMERO and Federico Moreno

anybody’s expectations—this show and the success of this show—it was always with a future to working here.” Lincoln lives in an Atlanta suburb, where the stories about him include one from a Halloween evening, where he ran into a foreign exchange student dressed in a zombie costume. He was wearing a mask so the boy, who was by himself, didn’t recognize him.

“Then I took my mask off, and he absolutely freaked out,” Lincoln said. “He was just a sweet kid, and we just thought, ‘Well, what are you doing, come with us.’”

The story has parallels to the show, where the characters often collect stragglers in forests or along country roads. That’s what Collier says will continue to drive the show after Lincoln’s character disappears: The story of a group of people trying to survive.

“You’ll see others rise,” he says. “There’s just so much more story to tell.” n

SOCIAL Welfare Undersecretary Isko Moreno

SO there really seems to be a love triangle involving an actor who is older than the two women being linked to him. The actor has a longtime girlfriend, who kind of gave up her career for the sake of the relationship, but he allegedly has a side chick, his favorite leading lady. Because their show is rating very well, the network supports the relationship of the actor and his leading lady while the real girlfriend, who used to be a prized talent, is suffering silently. We wonder how long the girlfriend will patiently wait for the actor to publicly acknowledge her.

SECRET MEAN GIRL

THE young actress is popular but not well-liked.

She seems to be nice and full of positivity but there’s a dark side to her. All this time, she’s been subtly bullying girls linked to her now former boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend actually broke up with the young actress because he saw that she was changing in the sense that she felt she was too good for him. In fairness to the ex-boyfriend, he is well-liked. The young actress, on the other hand, has a mean side which she doesn’t show to everyone.

GMA Films President Atty. Annette M. Gozon, GMA First Vice President for Program Management Joey R. Abacan and GMA Entertainment Group SVP Lilybeth G. Rasonable

GMA commemorates German Moreno’s enduring legacy GMA pays tribute to the late entertainment icon German “Kuya Germs” Moreno and his valuable contributions and loyalty to the network by renaming one of its studios the German Moreno Studio.

Marking the 85th birthday of Kuya Germs on October 4, the network remembered the industry’s star-builder extraordinaire and the man behind the groundbreaking variety shows, including Germside, Germspesyal, GMA Supershow, That’s Entertainment and Walang Tulugan with the Master Showman.

During the dedication ceremony, GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon relived Kuya Germs’s enormous and lasting contribution to the lives of many individuals and to show business, “We are grateful to Kuya Germs for devoting the more successful and longest part of his illustrious career in show business. Naming our Studio 6 after him will ensure that he will never be forgotten for his legendary contributions to the industry and his generosity to everyone in show business.”

GMA COO and President Gilberto R. Duavit

Jr. described Kuya Germs as the epitome of a loyal “Kapuso” as he spent almost five decades of his showbiz life in the network, “Hindi natulog, hindi kumupas at walang naging katulad ang ipinakitang loyalty ni Kuya Germs sa GMA. Nag-iisa lang talaga ang ating minamahal na Master Showman.”

GMA CFO and Executive Vice President Felipe S. Yalong, in turn, shared that Kuya Germs lived his colorful life out of love and passion: “Talagang makulay at makabuluhan ang naging buhay ni Kuya Germs.

Karangalan kong masaksihan ang buong-puso niyang pagmamahal sa industriyang ito.”

GMA Films President Atty. Annette M. Gozon talked about Kuya Germs being a man of humility and generosity, “I’ve always admired Kuya Germs in his commitment to help aspiring stars.

He had the vision, that’s why so many world-class Filipino talents came from him. And even if he was ‘the’ Kuya Germs, talagang very down-to-earth. I’m very happy that we commemorate Kuya Germs by naming the studio after him.”

GMA Entertainment Group Senior Vice

President Lilybeth G. Rasonable took pride in Kuya Germs’s hard work, integrity and undeniable influence in the industry, “It was such a great honor working with him. Ang mga leksyon at payo na ibinahagi niya sa aming mga taga-gawa ng mga programa at sa mga artistang mga nakakatrabaho namin, lahat ’yon ay napapakinabangan namin hanggang sa ngayon. Kaya isang malaking pasasalamat talaga sa legacy ni Kuya Germs.”

Meanwhile, Kuya Germs’s family, led by his son Federico Moreno, described Kuya Germs as “a man who did not just devote his life to his craft but also to the people he truly loves.”

Federico expressed his deep admiration for his father’s dedication to his profession and his selflessness: “For me, the most significant part of his life was honest-to-goodness love. I would like to say thank you for this honor that you have bestowed on him. I’m sure he is here. I know in his wildest dreams, he would have never expect this because he never expected anything back.”

One of Kuya Germs’s dearest friends, Marichu “Manay Ichu” Maceda, thanked the network for

valuing Kuya Germs’s works and loyalty, “I would like to extend our deepest and sincerest gratitude to GMA from the executives and to all the employees for having treated German as your very own. For that, we will forever be grateful to you.”

Social Welfare Undersecretary Isko Moreno, one of Kuya Germs’s talents, testified to the late icon’s loyalty: “Today, he teaches us that it pays to be loyal.

Ipinakita niya na ang pagiging matapat ng isang tao ay pagbubungahan niya hanggang sa kabilang buhay. We were taught that way by Kuya Germs many times.”

The occasion was graced by various personalities close to Kuya Germs’s heart, including Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Chairman Maria Rachel Arenas, Gloria Romero, John Nite, and his grandchildren Jose Miguel, Franshesca, Luis Gabriel and Jaime Rafael.

GMA stars Jestoni Alarcon, Tina Paner, Sheryl Cruz, Jackie Lou Blanco, Sanya Lopez, Jak Roberto, Jake Vargas, Renz Valerio, Marika Sasaki, Will Ashley and other GMA executives were also on hand to honor their mentor, friend and father figure in showbiz.

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Image BusinessMirror

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESSILOR VOLUNTEER TOPS OPTOMETRIST BOARD EXAM

PRODUCT samples from fair exhibitors displayed at the Park Central Showroom in Makati City.

Habi moves to reintroduce cotton to indigenous weavers

AN Essilor (www.essilor.com.ph) volunteer for the brand’s eye health care campaign and a graduate of Manila Central University (MCU), Morel Paul Abesamis successfully topped the 2018 Optometry Licensure Exam with a rating of 87.23 percent.

Conducted by the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC), this year’s Optometry Licensure Exam recorded that 188 out of 222 successfully passed the exam.

Last year Essilor scholar Jennifer Parmerola, who is also a graduate of MCU, also topped the 2017 Optometry Licensure Exam.

As the world leader in ophthalmic optics and a key player in visual health, the Essilor Group provides solutions to protect visual health, as well as correct and prevent visual problems. Essilor is also dedicated to providing underprivileged people the opportunity to live a better life through various global philanthropic and scholarship programs.

By Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez

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HE Philippine Textile Council holds the eighth installment of the Likhang Habi Market Fair to preserve the indigenous textile industry and reintroduce cotton to local weavers. The three-day fair will open on October 12 at the Activity Center in Glorietta, Makati, and will be attended by more than 80 participating vendors.

Cotton production has weakened over the past few decades in the country—from a 38,000-hectare plantation in the 1990s to only 1,000 hectares today— which inevitably caused traditional weavers to turn to synthetic thread.

“It used to be a lively industry but somehow it lost its steam and the weavers started using polyester, which does not command a better price. Now that the world is looking for natural fibers, cotton has to be brought back.” said Habi Chairman Maribel Ongpin.

Ongpin said that the event will serve as an avenue for start-up enterprises to showcase their handwoven traditional textiles, as well as sustainable and ethical fashion and lifestyle products. “The fashion industry is taking an interest in cotton, and it’s very popular among young designers.”

Organic and ethically produced garments are indemand due to the current slow fashion movement, commanding a need for textiles made from cotton and other natural fibers like abaca and piña. Past Habi tradeshows have opened opportunities for the weavers to supply materials to prominent fashion designers and bag manufacturers.

Among this year’s exhibitors are established brands and manufacturers such as Rurungan sa Tukod Foundation, Interweave, Yakang Yaka, Manila Collectible, Casa Mercedes, Filip+Inna, Gifts & Graces Foundation, Good Luck, Humans, La Herminia Piña, Liwayway Handicraft, Creative Definitions, Kalinga Weaving, Ayala Foundation Inc. and items by noted Filipina artist and designer Ditta Sandico.

For the first time since its inception, the show will also include textile exhibitors from the Asean region, namely, the weaving communities of Brunei

PAIN DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE

THE members of the Philippine Textile Council.

Darussalam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam. “We hold this annual fair to provide the exhibitors the push they need to tap Metro Manila’s consumer market by giving them free space in the show.” Habi President Adelaida Lim said. She added that Habi also allows sellers to deal directly with wholesale buyers, foreign buyers and stores. This way, middlemen, or people who buy their products at lower rates but sell them at much higher prices, will be moved out of the equation.

When asked about the other programs that the Philippine Textile Council holds in support of cotton farmers, Lim said that they have been working with communities by purchasing cotton crops from farmers in Ilocos Norte and Iloilo.

The lint is spun into yarns by the Philippine Textile Research Institute. PTRI will also establish a spinning facility in Iloilo this year so that locally grown cotton can be spun by weavers.

The objective is to place micro spinning machineries in cotton farming communities to lower the cost of production. The cotton yarns will then be

transformed into higher-quality textiles.

Furthermore, “we visit weaving communities and we encourage them to have new designs and to participate in our market fairs to tap potential clients.

We also teach them how to price their products and manage their finances.” said Ongpin. “They have the skills to weave and to design; what they don’t have is the right material. But if they do, they’ll have plenty of potential to compete globally,” ended Lim. nnn THE Philippine Fiber Development Authority (PhilFida) already laid the groundwork to revive cotton production in Region 3 and Mindanao. In 2017 it spearheaded the planting of the Bt cotton variety, a genetically engineered crop that resists bollworm, in the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and areas in the southern Philippines.

A previous report by BusinessMirror (bit.ly/2RAuHf1) also revealed that the agency will plant cotton in about 150 hectares in Tarlac, 160 hectares in Ilocos and another 350 hectares in Mindanao in the second half of the year. n

Got an hour? Chalk up 4 quick financial wins

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By Liz Weston NerdWallet

OMETIMES money is like technology.

Getting stuff done—whether it’s updating an operating system or moving a bank account— often takes longer than it should.

There are some money chores, though, that can be done a lot faster than you may think. The following financial tasks, which could save you a lot of cash and stress in the future, each can be dispatched in 15 minutes or less once you’ve decided on a plan and have your information at hand.

ADJUST YOUR WITHHOLDING TAX reform means different brackets, the elimination of many deductions and the real possibility you’re withholding too much or too little.

Avoid unpleasant surprises next year by checking your withholding now.

You’ll need last year’s tax return plus your latest pay stubs. Plug the necessary numbers into the IRS site’s withholding calculator. The results will include instructions on exactly how to tweak your

withholding, with a convenient link to a printable W4 form. You can drop that off at your human resources department, or ask HR if there’s an online form.

DRAFT POWERS OF ATTORNEY MOST Americans don’t have a will, which means they likely don’t have two documents that are even more important: powers of attorney for health care and finances.

If anything, these two estate planning documents—in which you name the people you want to make decisions for you should you become incapacitated—are even more important than a will.

Wills are supposed to dictate what happens after you’re dead, but powers of attorney affect what can happen to you while you’re alive.

For the medical power of attorney (also called an advance health care directive), name your fiercest advocate: the person who is devoted enough to carry out your wishes and stand up to doctors or relatives who disagree.

For the financial power of attorney, name the person in your life who is not only good with money but also extremely ethical. Consider naming backups

to both positions, and collect everyone’s addresses and phone numbers before you begin.

START SAVING FOR COLLEGE GOT kids? They’re going to need some kind of postsecondary training to succeed in the 21st century.

Don’t worry right now about whether they’ll get a four-year degree. You probably can’t save enough to pay the whole bill for that anyway. But whatever you save can reduce future student loan debt for whatever education they wind up getting.

ROLL OVER A RETIREMENT ACCOUNT DON’T risk losing track of your retirement money.

If you currently have a good 401(k) plan at work, call the plan’s toll-free number to find out if it will accept a rollover from your previous job’s account. (What’s a good plan? One indicator is that it offers low-cost options, such as target date funds with an annual expense ratio under 0.66 percent, which is the current industry average.) If the plan accepts rollovers, ask for help in getting started—filling out the forms takes just a few minutes if you have the account number for your old plan. AP

YOU feel pain to signal that something is not right with your body. Left untreated, pain may become chronic, persisting for months or even years. Often, when caused by a minor accident or sports-related injury, it can be treated with proper rest and therapy.

But pain caused by long-standing illness or conditions can become a permanent ordeal, hindering you from doing daily activities and achieving long-term plans.

A leading hospital in the Philippines, Makati Medical Center (www.makatimed.net.ph) explains chronic pain and how it can be managed to ensure you can go about your daily routine and enjoy optimum quality of life.

Acute pains are normal. This is a painful sensation following surgery, broken bones, cuts, burns, dental work, childbirth and the like. On the other hand, chronic pain is pain that lasts more than 12 weeks. According to Merle F. de la Cruz-Odi, MD of MakatiMed’s Pain Management Services, chronic pain is persistent pain that may last for months— even years.

“Chronic pain may be triggered by an injury or illness,” says Odi. “But it greatly varies from person to person, as some patients deal with fatigue, sleep disturbance, decreased appetite and mood changes alongside chronic pain.”

Cases of chronic post-operative pain are largely addressed by the MakatiMed Pain Management Services. This type of pain is a poorly recognized potential outcome of amputations, thoracotomies (surgeries to gain access to the heart, lungs or esophagus), and breast surgery, and affects millions of patients every year.

Dealing with chronic pain can affect a person’s quality of life, compromising flexibility, strength and stamina. Because pain is a highly subjective experience, doctors must base their course of treatment on the patient’s description of it, also known as pain history. “Pain history describes how the patient perceives pain as either sharp or dull, constant or on and off, and other descriptive factors to help us pinpoint the possible cause,” says Odi. “Chronic pain may also be caused by multiple issues.

The health-care professionals from different fields sometimes work together to address the patient’s needs for pain management.”

Understanding each patient’s needs, as well as the capacity of their loved ones to care for them, is crucial for doctors to recommend a course of treatment that will ultimately manage pain and improve the quality of life of the patient.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Tet Andolong

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

E1

DBP GRANTS P4.5-B LOAN

FOR 2 CEBU BUILDING PROJECTS

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

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Contributor

TATE-OWNED Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) recently announced it has granted a total of P4.5-billion funding for two huge building projects in Cebu, which aims to boost the delivery of basic government services and the competitiveness of the local economy.

DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia C. Borromeo said the bank signed a P1.5-billion loan deal with the Cebu provincial government for the construction of a modern 20-story office building and granted a P3-billion loan to a local developer who will put up a mixed-use development tower in Mandaue City.

“These projects illustrate how DBP is assisting local government units in improving their service delivery and partnering with the private sector to stimulate economic activity in the region,” Borromeo said.

With approximately 3 million inhabitants, Cebu province is the most populous province in the Visayas region. Moreover, the province is cited by the Commission on Audit as the richest province in the country, while the capital city is the center of economic activity in the entire Visayas region.

She said that the new 20-story

edifice will rise inside the Cebu capitol compound and house most of the provincial offices. The building will serve as a “one-stop shop” and provide comfort and convenience to the transacting public while providing income to the local government through the lease of the commercial spaces in the property.

Positioned as a sustainable-centric structure, the proposed structure is designed to efficiently use energy, reduce wastage, minimize pollution and provide adequate ventilation. It will be loaded with solar panels and an in-house waste and sewage management facility.

“One floor will be allotted for the Emergency Operation Center of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and its command center which will house state-of-the-art equipment for province-wide monitoring and early warning system for natural calamities,” Borromeo said.

Borromeo pointed out that the

AN artist’s perspective of the proposed 20-story building that will rise inside the Cebu provincial capitol

DBP Chairman Alberto G. Romulo (seated, third from left) and DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia C. Borromeo (seated, second from left) pose for posterity after a P3-billion loan agreement signing with the Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI). Also in photo are (seated, from left): DBP Executive Vice President Anthony Robles; CLI Chairman, President and CEO Jose Soberano III; CLI Director and Executive Vice President Ma. Rosario Soberano; CLI Director and Chief Operating Officer Jose Franco Soberano; and CLI Senior Vice President Stephen Tan. Standing at the back are officers from DBP and CLI.

DBP approved the P3-billion loan to Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) to partially finance the construction of its Astra Centre, as well as to support the company’s working capital requirements.

“Strategically located at A. S. Fortuna Street in Mandaue City, the Astra Centre shall have a mall, office spaces, condominium units and shall also house the first Radisson Red Hotel in Asia,” she said.

Cebu-based CLI is a major developer in Cebu with a growing mix of residential, commercial, industrial and mixed-use product offerings. It is also developing the Davao Business Park in Matina, Davao City.

Step into Erwan and Nico’s cool office

A

By Rodel Ambas Jr.

LONG Chino Roces Avenue in Makati is an unassuming building that houses perhaps one of the most unusual offices in the city. Dubbed Hectare One, this office might not be as massive as Googleplex or as futuristic as Apple

Park (the corporate headquarters of two of the world’s most renowned tech companies), but what it lacks in square footage is definitely more than what makes up for in sheer coolness.

It is also no coincidence that Hectare One is the office of entrepreneurs Erwan Heussaff and Nico Bolzico,

more commonly known as the other halves of celebrities Anne Curtis and Solenn Heussaff, respectively. And it is so named as it best represents the businesses of these two gentlemen.

“Most of the businesses that operate here are agricultural or based around food. So we thought, ‘Food or agriculture is talked about having hectares in mind.’ That is why it is called Hectare One, the first hectare,” explained Erwan.

Hectare One’s overall design is industrial, but it is deliberately devoid of that cold, almost forlorn feel the design principle is most associated with. Instead, it exudes a casual, warm and not overtly opulent interior that makes it more akin to a cool millennial hangout than an office.

According to both Erwan and Nico, the principle behind Hectare One is simple and logical: The

FIRST-FLOOR entrance of Hectare One, where guests are greeted by a wooden signage

HECTARE One’s pantry

NICO BOLZICO’S office

40-hour workweek is inevitable, so rather than clocking in at strictly 40 hours a week, why not make those 40 hours as enjoyable as possible, so that work actually becomes fun.

“I think it is a case in point. We bring our dogs here and we spend maybe too much time at the office, way more than we would in our respective houses,” shared Erwan. “So we wanted to create a space where we can feel comfortable working and also comfortable socializing in.”

In fact, Hectare One’s communal spaces look more like modern living rooms than office lounge areas, while the open-layout work areas are work conducive and feature walnutcolored desks, lots of greens, and colorful rugs and chairs. The office also houses Erwan kitchen studio, where episodes for his very popular blog “The Fat Kid Inside” are filmed.

As with any significant endeavor, building Hectare One was no easy task, which is why Erwan and Nico are grateful that they partnered with Mundo Design + Build. Getting solid professional advice from a builder and contractor is very important, something that Erwan was very appreciative of. He said that every time he and Nico came around with suggestions, it was always met by the guys at Mundo with “Yes, but,” which to them was very important.

“I hate working with people who just say yes to everything I want and then at the end of the day you realize that’s not really going to work. You need

BROTHERS-IN-LAW and entrepreneurs Erwan Heussaff and Nico Bolzico

professionals to keep you in check.”

In the end, Hectare One was well worth the hard work. “We have been here now for eight months. Both of us have felt an incremental jolt in our businesses [and] our everyday work habits. We are always very excited to come to work,” said Erwan.

Nico added, “We are extremely satisfied I think, for both of us it was a game changer in our business. The moment we had Hectare One all our vision became more real.”

A design firm and general con-

tractor that specializes in the fit-out phase of design and construction, Makati-based Mundo Design + Build was founded in 2009, and in a very short time earned a reputation for completing projects with the highest degree of professionalism. The firm was the contractor and/or designer of some of the trendiest spaces in Metro Manila, including the 2GO Group offices in Pasay, the Microsoft headquarters in 6750 Ayala Avenue and Linde Philippines in Cyber Sigma in Pasig, to name just a few.

Business

E2 Wednesday, October 10, 2018

F.D.R.E.2019: FUTURISM, DISRUPTION, RESILIENCE AND EMERGENCE

Amor Maclang

FIRST DIBS IN REAL ESTATE

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HIS year marks the fifth anniversary of my column, First Dibs in Real Estate, and as a continued service to this industry I love. For our fifth anniversary and in sync with the thrust of my mother publication, the BusinessMirror, we enjoin all the players in the industry to look into the future with us.

For the “First Dibs in Real Estate 2019,” we’ll focus on resilience of areas at risk; emergence of new growth areas; the nascent technologies that would shake and change us; and the shared economy that will shape demand.

I am going to give you a teaser of our forthcoming special-cumindustry report coming out in the BusinessMirror at the end of the month and a REfuturism Forum on November 20 in Spaces, Bonifacio Global City. Moreover, the industry

players will be coming together to honor each other’s advocacies and work in the industries with the first ever REAdvocates2018.

We have nine interesting breakout sessions 1. Creating and designing emerging cities; 2. Inclusion and women in real estate; 3. Teching up the real-estate industry;

4. Working and living in a shared economy; 5. The master builders, designers, architects who shape the industry; 6. Sustainable offices of the future; 7. Real estate and the new retail experience; 8. Su st a i n abi l it y a nd rea l estate; and 9. Financing in real estate, REIT, ICOs, tokenized estate/real estate and capital markets.

We start today with a series of future-looking companies and segments in the industry that are most vulnerable to disruption.

I spoke to my good friend Lars Wittig, who for many months now has been keeping this special product under wraps.

Spaces is considered to be a creative working environment with a unique entrepreneurial spirit.

What have you applied to Spaces in World Plaza to make this vision a reality? In terms of the overall design and architecture of the space, what kind of vibe do you anticipate Spaces to have?

First of all, the entire aim is different. It originated from Amsterdam, and the entire design is northern European. From the best coffee available to the great vibe of the community, they provide the best possible setting for coworking. They allocate the best area for the coworking facilities, which means we maximize the light that comes into the room. We minimize the priority of the offices and put the effort into the community that is wider than anywhere else. There are baby boomers warning neckties, mixing and matching, interacting with millennials with jeans and t-shirts.

How exactly does Spaces tie Filipino heritage with the unique European design?

Things that really bring the

place together are the aspects of the Philippines that play more into Spaces than any other country. The Philippines has the entrepreneurial spirit. Very few populations have the vibe as much as the Philippines. Coworking is very much expected by millennials.

The average age is 23 to 25. Filipinos love to be social and love to interact. The coworking area is a community. That’s where we interact. As much as Filipinos love to share almost anything about their lives, Filipinos don’t usually like to volunteer that, unless there is an opportunity or a mutual genuine interest where they can interact.

Considering the variety of events we have, we create the natural setting and opportunity to facilitate the openness of interaction and exchange of information, and exchange of ideas. The key words here are community, synergy and sharing.

There are several other coworking/ flexible spaces being launched or operated in the Philippines. In what way does it differ from existing flexible spaces?

For a major coworking facility, the location is absolutely pivotal.

We need to be in an area called “ground zero.” There is a lot of foot traffic, an area where people like to walk around even on weekends.

You must be on top of Bonifacio High Street, or near Greenbelt (where the second location will be). When we decide on where we like to open Spaces in a city or a municipality, we look at a secret indication: car dealers. Car dealers are good at finding out exactly who passes where and how much is the traffic. Spaces in World Plaza is near Ferrari and Maserati! I personally own a Toyota myself, but if you could choose, of course you choose Ferrari!

A flexible working space can be open to a wide variety of talented individuals. What kind of community do you envision Spaces to be known for?

This is where we differentiate ourselves. We have a very wide audience and a wide group of members. Entrepreneurs, millennials, start-ups along with the multinationals and Fortune 500s. That’s why there is an emphasis on ambiance, a fantastic and cool ambiance to it. Everybody can very much feel at home, regardless of what kind of industry you represent. This is reflected from the type of events.

For example, we have an SME partner for events. We are partnered with women in business under the European Chamber of commerce.

We are partnered with artists and artrepreneurs. We have such a variety. They have only been open for two weeks and have exceeded 1,000 visitors. We have 815 square meters of just coworking space and a total of 3,200 sq m for the community. Not to mention in a very premium location, that nobody else can open. If you don’t have the location you won’t get the traffic. That is a requirement because it’s the buzz.

Setting aside Spaces from the conventionalworkspace,howdoyou ensure that this becomes a learning space more than just a workspace?

What type of community-building activities do you hold? What are existing community-building and learning programs are in your pipeline coming up where interested professionals, from entrepreneurs, multinational companies and even start-ups can participate in to learn and network?

The event schedules are being updated. Contact Spaces for events that might be of special interest. We work with the biggest and the smallest companies. For instance, every month we promote one SME. They put up a dis-

play for a full month in the coworking area where they can talk about it and present in the community. In Spaces, you learn from people you interact with. That’s important. Millennials who are successful are successful because of these kinds of connections.

This is what Spaces wants to be able to offer. Here, Baby boomers and millennials can benefit from each other. Today, if you are a Fortune 500 company, you can remain one of those for barely 10 years. That’s nothing! Things are moving so fast they don’t have the luxury of learning about changes in the industry because there are limited sources. You can’t learn this in a classroom anymore. We have to learn by experience, via the community where we belong in and are part of.”

How does this tie to the overall positioning of Regus and also of IWG? IWG is the largest provider in the world by far of what we refer to as flexible working. But different companies and different people have different preferences. We go for different styles just like with hotels and resorts. At the end of the day, they are offering a room with a bed. But each has its own preferences.

I personally like boutique hotels, and some people some like hotels that are the same all over the world.

Regus is about work style, network that has more than 3,000 locations.

They look the same and have the same vibe, we have business lounges.

What’s different is that there is no jam-packed event schedule available for each business lounge.

Spaces is about lifestyle and community. The great thing is, there is a different vibe of community based on location—a network within an area.

There is flexibility with Spaces. The primary motivation for Spaces is the community and coworking element.

This is a lifestyle. Our slogan is “Welcome home!—er, I mean, welcome to work!”

Lamudi welcomes future leaders with open house L

AMUDI Philippines gathered newly minted graduates from top universities and colleges in the country in an open house held at Spaces World Plaza.

Lamudi CEO Bhavna Suresh greeted the attendees by sharing a snapshot of the opportunities present in a start-up company. “The speeds at which we work are a lot more. A lot of people came in as juniors, and now they are leading large teams. Responsibility at such a young age teaches you so much more, so imagine at 26 or 27, you’re already responsible for handling your own team. This just doesn’t happen to ev-

eryone, and the decisions you make are not yours alone; they impact the whole team. That’s an added learning that you can get at a high-growth company,” she said.

Learning the ropes

TO give the attendees a deeper look into what it’s like to be a part of Lamudi, representatives from various departments like Operations, Marketing, Sales and IT talked about their personal and professional journey with the company. They also had their respective booths where they entertained questions from the attendees and shared more about their

experiences in Lamudi.

Putting in the work

THE attendees also participated in LEGO Serious Play as facilitated by a Certified LEGO Serious Play facilitator. The activity was designed to test and reveal their creativity, leadership, collaboration and drive—some of the skills the company is looking for in selecting successful candidates. They also had the opportunity to network with other aspiring Lamudi Future Leaders.

Aside from giving a new breed of professionals a good takeoff point for their careers, Lamudi also believes the program will benefit the company. “As Lamudi grows quickly, we understand that it’s important to put in the kind of work force where young people are working together; and it takes a certain kind of people to run at this speed. We’re a special kind of team, and that’s why Lamudi Future Leaders Program happened,” said Suresh.

Lamudi is still accepting applicants for the Lamudi Future Leaders Program. To learn more about the program, visit www.lamudi.com.ph/futureleadersprogram.

Taal Vista undergoes renovation T

AAL Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City’s premier heritage hotel, is undergoing a room renovation program.

As part of its commitment to providing excellent facilities, as well as to stay ahead of the changing market trends, the project is scheduled to be fully completed by the end of 2018.

The hotel renovation will be undertaken in two phases encompassing the original Ridge Rooms, as well as the rest of the Mountain Wing Rooms. Once completed, the new Mountain Wing will be a contemporary haven of elegance that blends

modern design with the legendary Filipino hospitality.

“As part of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp’s announced developments and expansion projects, we’re embarking on the guest rooms renovation with both style and comfort in mind, combining timeless design with modern facilities to be able to continue providing our guests with an unmatched experience,” said SMHCC President Elizabeth Sy. “During the renovation period, the hotel will continue to operate while ensuring the guest stay experience remains seamless.”

Renowned for its unrivaled view of the Taal Lake and Volcano, Taal Vista Hotel has been a favorite Tagaytay destination since its opening in 1939. With its rich history, shared by generations of hotel guests, the English Tudor Mansion-style Hotel has become part of the Filipino heritage.

The hotel has played host to important international gatherings, including Madrid Fusion, Asean and Apec. Recently, it was accorded with the “Pillar of Tourism” award by the Department of Tourism. www.taalvistahotel.com

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Wednesday, October 10, 2018 E3

Oriental Hotel embarks on an expansion binge

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By Bernanrd L. Supetran

HERE is good news brewing in the property and hospitality sectors as homegrown brand The Oriental Hotels and Resorts is embarking on an expansion binge in some of the country’s top tourist destinations.

The hotel chain, which is part of the LKY Group of Cos., is embracing the concept of renewal and innovation in this venture, evident in the revival and redevelopment of onceabandoned properties into star-rated accommodations.

According to Rebecca Marie Abigail Lee, president and chief executive officer of the Oriental group, the expansion highlights the thrust of the family-run business in giving a new on lease on life to old hotel buildings which have been part of the history of the localities.

The millennial executive, who assumed the hotel’s top post in the middle of the year, said that the chain is setting its sights on key locations, such as Baguio City, Banaue, Alaminos City and Sorsogon to cater the growing number of visitors looking for middle to high-end accommodation.

She said that for Baguio, the chain is eyeing the revival of the Diplomat Hotel at Dominican Hill, one of the highest and most secluded points with a very panoramic view of the City of Pines.

For Banaue, Lee revealed that they are about to consummate the deal for the lease of Banaue Hotel owned by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), the biggest and most sought-after lodg-

ing at the Ifugao Rice Terraces area.

Meanwhile, the renovation for the Alaminos City hotel, another Tiezaowned property is in the works and is expected to be completed next year.

Located at the Lucap Wharf, the entry point to the Hundred Islands National Park.

Also about to open late this year is The Oriental Albay, a reboot of a wellknown boutique business hotel in downtown Legazpi City in the 1990s.

It is also exploring options for another one property in Pagsanjan, Laguna, which is known for the world-famous Pagsanjan Falls.

“The thrust of Oriental Hotels and Resorts is to preserve heritage, evident in the type of buildings we have been acquiring for renovation,” the young hotelier beams.

She said that these new developments will boost its current inventory of five properties in Legazpi City, Leyte, Bataan, Tagaytay and Ermita.

Virtually an unknown player in the industry, the hotel chain made its presence felt with the opening of its first project in Legazpi City, Albay, in 2011. At a hilly part of the city which offers a panoramic of Mayon Volcano, the four-star lodging was an instant success being among the best in the Bicol region.

THE Oriental Legazpi

The 115-room facility is the second reincarnation of the once-iconic Mayon Imperial Hotel in the 1980s and later became Mayon International Hotel in the mid-1990s.

Another notable property is beach resort-themed Oriental Leyte, beside MacArthur Landing Memorial Park in Palo, which was rebuilt after being totally destroyed by Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013. Situated in the outskirts of Tacloban City, it stands

THE Oriental Leyte

at a long-neglected called McArthur Park Resort, another former Tieza property.

Its other properties are the Oriental Luxury Suites in Tagaytay City, a seven-room special events place overlooking Taal Lake and Volcano; The Oriental Hotel Bataan inside the Freeport Area in Bataan in Mariveles town, which has an adventure camp for team-building activities; and the Australian-inspired

Swagman Hotel in Ermita, Manila.

The latter is a mid-priced accommodation which is trying to make a name as a dining destination in the former tourist belt trying to revive its glory days.

And true to its name, the brand attempts to be faithful in espousing the spirit of Asia in every facet of operations—the character and architecture of the properties, the cuisine it offers, the service and

hospitality extended by its staff, and even down to the attire of its frontline personnel.

Lee concluded, “Even as we go on an expansion binge, we continue to advocate the promotion of indigenous culture and patronage of local products. This is part of our corporate philosophy which is reflected in the products we are using or selling, and in the details that can be found in the various hotels.”

dining area with a 7.4-meter ceiling height, and a roof terrace that features a private pool, relaxation deck and a grilling garden. The living rooms in the penthouse suites each also feature a skylight ceiling for natural lighting.

The two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites in the lower floors, on the other hand, will also have their private keycard-operated elevators that open directly to the resident’s foyer, spacious bedrooms with walk-in closets, and toilet and bathrooms with personal bathtubs for the master’s bedroom.

As for The Albany’s amenities, the

two-tower development will have a twolevel amenity deck that features a wellness spa, sauna, fitness center, entertainment and game room, infinity pool with submerged lounge deck, kids’ play park, cabanas, function halls and complimentary Wi-fi connectivity.

The tower will also have four levels of parking exclusive for the residents.

Inspired by the ultra-luxury apartments in London’s posh neighborhoods around Hyde Park, The Albany will form part of McKinley West’s “billionaires“ row along the township’s Chateau Road in Fort Bonifacio.

THE Oriental Luxury Suites Tagaytay

The future is now at The Albany I

MAGINE how convenient and more gratifying everyday life could be if you had the power to control virtually everything inside your home—from your lighting systems, to your televisions, down to your heating and air-conditioning systems—wherever you may be with just a few clicks and scrolls on your smartphone.

Indeed, the future of urban living has come upon us with the advent of the smart home—a booming trend among ultra-luxury homes around the world today. The advancement of artificial intelligence has paved the way for today’s homeowners to finally enjoy the luxury of a seamless and connected lifestyle to match the pace of a fast-changing world.

Taking its course to adapt to global standards, award-winning property giant Megaworld constantly elevates its innovative “smart” solutions as it incorporates digital technology, world-class design and connectivity into its com-

munities via its “iTownships” campaign.

The Albany, one of the company’s ultra-high-end properties in Fort Bonifacio, attests to this innovative thrust as it transcends the elite cosmopolitan lifestyle at McKinley West by integrating smart home technology into its very core.

Each unit in the two-clustered residential estate will feature full home automation system, activated via a smart home display panel at the entrance and through a mobile app. With a touch of a button, residents at The Albany can open or close and even adjust the lighting setup in various parts of their house.

The technology also allows adjusting the thermostat to control your ventilation and air-conditioning systems even while you are still on the road on your way home.

“This is part of our vision to integrate smart technology into all our developments. With this, we are not just able to provide a place where people can live and thrive, but we also empower future

residents in our developments to enjoy other things that matter to them,” said Rachelle Peñaflorida, vice president for sales and marketing, Megaworld.

Smart tech in every corner

APART from making spaces much more enjoyable to live in, these automated accessories also contribute to improved energy efficiency and privacy.

Residents will have their own private key card that grant them access to an elevator that opens directly to their private foyer. The unit also has its own built-in video intercom that connects to the lobby area just in case residents are expecting guests.

Ultra-high-end urban living

DESIGNED by United Kingdom-based architectural firm Broadway Malyan, The Albany flaunts all the right components of an ultra-high-end condominium by furnishing all residential suites with

prestigious global brands. This includes LEICHT of Germany for kitchen systems; Bosch and Gaggenau of Germany for kitchen and cooking tops; Duravit’s Philippe Starck Collection for toilet and bathroom fixtures; and Hansgrohe Axor Starck and Grohe for the luxurious toilet and bath.

The Albany is a low-density, low-rise residential tower composed of only 64 spacious units, each having its own private balconies, ranging from twobedroom (123 square meter) to fourbedroom suites (up to 349 sq m). The tower will be strategically beside the upscale neighborhoods of Forbes Park and McKinley West Village.

The Albany will also feature three-level penthouse suites that have four spacious bedrooms in the first two levels, a maids’ room with its own toilets and bath, a total of five toilet and bathrooms including the master’s bedrooms with its own bathtubs, a powder room, walk-in closets, expansive

Entrepreneur BusinessMirror

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sarifa Alonto-Younes stamps her mark as 2018 top Fil-AusMumpreneur awardee in Melbourne

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

he businesses she had established are now complementing Australia’s educational and training system for future teachers, while creating jobs for immigrants like her who find difficulty in landing a decent work.

But before Filipino immigrant in Australia Sarifa Alonto-Younes, the first prize winner of the the 2018 AusMumpreneur Awards in the Multicultural Business Excellence category, could reap the reward of her hard work, she bravely faced numerous challenges of living in a foreign land.

And so she worked doubly hard to realize her full potential in the pursuit of her dreams.

“It’s not easy to get a job when I came to Australia, that’s why I decided to create jobs for those people who couldn’t get jobs like me,” she said in an e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror.

A psychologist and early-childhood learning expert with a 15year experience in the field, Younes decided to establish Arndell Early Childhood Learning Centre, a preschool, child care and kindergarten school in Melbourne in 2004. It is licensed to accommodate four-weekold babies to five-year-old children up to kindergarten.

From 2007 to 2017, Younes es-

tablished three travel agencies—the first was Anaysah Travel Agency in Hoppers Crossing in Melbourne, followed by Harvey World Travel Agency in Werribee, Victoria. The last one was Hello World Travel Agency in Point Cook, Victoria.

Five years ago Younes put up the International Academy of Marawi, which offers K to 12 programs.

In 2015 she established the Registered Training Organization, Training College of Australia, which offers certificates and diploma courses in early childhood, business management and first-aid courses in Melbourne. As a Filipino immigrant in the land Down Under, Younes is proud of her accolade and sees this as an opportunity to encourage other Filipino immigrants to work hard to achieve their goals in life.

Younes recalled living overseas is not a bed of roses, as she and her family had to hurdle obstacles that came along the way. But she remained positive despite the odds.

Although she experienced a challenging life in Australia, Younes

Alonto-Younes

didn’t give up. Instead, she strived to work harder. An optimist, she remained unfazed in the face of these challenges. “I am very sincere and committed in whatever I do in life.

I take every step one at a time and stay focus to complete whatever project I start to ensure it is completed,” she said.

“However, those obstacles are the pathways and vehicles to our strength and triumph, provided we face up with those challenges and don’t just give in. I [deal with] my

obstacles [and] why [then] I would say I’m the living example of triumph and success,” she said.

Younes stressed she will not rest on her laurels, as she plans to continue to push her advocacy while she has the energy and capability to serve the community and contribute both to Australian and Filipino communities.

“I want to encourage and inspire those people who are victims of circumstances to realize their potential as they could do so much if they keep trying their best,” she pointed out.

The awards rites were held at the White Night Receptions in Melbourne, where over 450 talented moms in business from all over the country gathered to support and encourage other Australian “mumpreneurs.” Coming from a migrant background and entering into a male-dominated industry, her success is further credited to her hardworking mentality and commitment to succeed.

Now on its ninth year, the AusMumpreneur Awards, according to the organizers, have seen the increase in the number of mothers looking for opportunities to join the ranks of small business entrepreneurs to find more flexibility, financial freedom and family time.

It’s not easy to get a job when I came to Australia, that’s why I decided to create jobs for those people who couldn’t get jobs like me.”

—Alonto-Younes

Asian cities challenge American dominance in venture capital

By Sarah McBride Bloomberg News

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he US is losing its edge as the world’s foremost destination for venture capital investment, a new study shows, with US start-ups capturing a rapidly declining share of global dollars invested, and Chinese companies grabbing more of the total.

Because start-ups play a critical role in economic dynamism, the study bodes well for the global economy as a whole, its authors say, even as it points to an erosion of US dominance.

Over the past three years through 2017, San Francisco start-ups won the most investment dollars, $81.8 billion. But Beijing area start-ups came close behind at $72.8 billion. New York ranked a distant third with $33.8 billion, followed by San Jose, California; Boston; and Shanghai, all of which attracted close to $25 billion.

“The rest of the world, they’re playing a bigger role,” said economist Ian Hathaway, who coauthored the study with urban theorist Richard Florida.“It’s going to be a great boon for wealth creation in those countries.” The US still accounts for a large and fast-growing pile of venture cash—about half of the $171 billion invested globally in 2017, according to the study, “Rise of the Global Startup City.” But that is down from two-thirds five years earlier and more than 95 percent in the early 1990s.

Beijing tops the list of cities that in the last half decade have shown the biggest increases in attracting venture dollars, accounting for 21 percent of venture capital investment growth. San Francisco accounted for 16 percent of

the growth, and New York 7 percent.

“The notion that successful startups must launch and scale in Silicon Valley or another leading American city no longer holds true,” Hathaway and Florida wrote in their study, compiled for the Center for American Entrepreneurship, a Washington-based research group. “Increasingly, the world’s hightech entrepreneurs are able to stay in their home city or nation and raise venture capital.” But there are limits to how much the landscape is shifting. Companies based in smaller US cities often raise considerably smaller rounds and generally do not grow as big compared to start-ups in bigger US cities, making it hard to create start-up centers outside major metropolises.

The report indicated that pattern repeats globally. Just 24 cities account for three-quarters of venture capital investment, the report found, with the top six bringing in more than half.

In Asia, much of the activity stemmed from a handful of companies raising extremely large rounds of venture capital, indicating the start-up scene lacks the same broad foundation seen in the US. For example, late last year Beijing-based Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing service, raised $4 billion from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital.

“Is China for real?” asked Hathaway, asking what’s become an increasingly familiar question to global VCs faced with the country’s huge growth. “It seems like they’re taking a top-down approach to entrepreneurship,”he said, referring to the relatively small portion of companies that end up with a large share of total investment.

After more than 6 decades, Rex Book Store continues to flourish in a competitive business landscape

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n 1955 Jovita Buhain’s Rex Book Store, which was then engaged in the importation, distribution and retail of books, stood across Juanito Fontelera’s New Republic Bookstore that sold secondhand books, along the old Azcarraga Street, now Claro M. Recto Street, in the University Belt area in Manila.

Buhain and Fontelera shared the passion for books, wit and entrepreneurial skills that eventually led to their marriage and gave birth to the present-day Rex Book Store Inc. that specializes in the publication of law books.

Today, after more than six decades in business against several odds and challenges, and now being managed by the third-generation member of the founders, Rex Book Store Inc. continues to thrive in a country that has a low appreciation for reading, and the onset of the digital age.

Jeanne Marie Fontellera-Tordesillas, managing director for office of the strategy management, business development and marketing for Rex Book Store, told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview that the business has become sustainable because it has put premium on children’s education. “If you go deeper in the business, you will know why we are here. It is because of the children,” she pointed out.

The company’s mission-vision is aptly stated in their slogan “Kapit bisig

para sa mga bata sa bayan,” which was developed by an executive committee composed of veteran and young executives. Tordesillas said the total development of the child is anchored on the concept developed by ASCD, or Association for Supervision and Curriculun Development, that ensures all children are healthy, safe, engaged in learning, supported by caring adults and academically challenged.

Founded in 1943, ASCD is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents more than 114,000 educators from more than 127 countries, including 57 affiliate organizations. For Rex Book Store, the goal is to mold the children and the youth to be learned and relevant so they will be able to contribute to the growth of their families, community and the nation. When Rex Book Store celebrated its 60th anniversary three years ago, the management realized they have to revisit the mission-vision statement “We had a series of soul-searching sessions because we agreed that we cannot go another 60 years of existence asking why we are doing this. It is now the turn of the third and succeeding generations, hopefully, to carry on the tasks,” Tordesillas said. “It is also unfair to our founders if we haven’t done some innovations for Rex Book Store,” she added.

In a fiercely competitive world, Tordesillas said, Rex Book Store Learn-

ing Solutions wants to help Filipinos to develop and build their skills to enhance their competitiveness and be on a par with their global counterparts.

In a Third World country like the Philippines, Rex Book Store Learning Solutions has a special role to play in developing the welfare and education of the children, providing tools for students, such as materials in mathematics, science and English. “It is about the product the learner needs to survive, to be able to compete in a fast-changing world,” she said.

From law books to textbooks

Rex started in the business with the traditional textbooks. Lawyer Dominador Buhain became Rex Book Store’s first officer in charge and sales agent, together with Chino Febre. It was in the 1960s when Rex Book Store started to expand its market. From law books, it began to venture into elementary and high-school textbooks.

The Fonteleras continued to expand the market for Rex Book Store and, at the same time, traveled overseas to bring in new wisdom, ideas, and views to develop the business. The closing of the 1960s, however, turned into tragedy when their store was razed by fire.

Nevertheless, the Fonteleras managed to gather their will to stand up and move on after finding a single unblem-

Fontellera-Tordesillas ished book left by the fire: a book entitled Jesus, Save Me. Despite the challenges such as the declaration of martial law and several labor strikes that the company faced, Rex Book Store continued to thrive.

Facilities were expanded and modernized. And in just over 30 years and two generations, Rex Book Store spread its wings and went nationwide.

Iluminada Meru’s book, entitled Sanayang-Aklat Para sa Paghahanda sa Pagbasa sa Kindergarten, was among the books published in the same decade.

Legal Forms, Annotated by Sulpicio Guevara was one of the first law books produced by Rex Book Store Inc. Unlike other form books published before, it was flexible and suitable for any given

case or situation. It was written to guide law practitioners, students and business executives on how to write different legal forms. It was their guide and aligned with the vision of the company because the essence of Rex Book Store’s existence was the learner. It should start and end with the child.

Rex Book Store Learning Solutions recognizes the impact of e-books and digital technology in the current learning environment. Nevertheless, Tordesillas will not just join the bandwagon for the sake of keeping up with the trend.

“We produce materials for the benefit of the learner. Rex produces e-books because the learner is dynamic,” she said.

The 1990s saw the expansion of Rex Book Store. Led by Don Timothy Buhain, chief operating officer and a member of the third generation of the family, and supported by Director for Publishing Danda Buhain-Garcia, the company expanded, not only in business but also with the advocacies they supported.

In 1994 the Rex Oasis of Arts and Culture Foundation was formed. This time around, the people behind Rex Book Store advocated the preservation of Filipino cultural heritage and support for artistically gifted Filipinos. With a global culture emerging, this would be the only way that Filipinos could offer something truly unique to the world.

To be on a par with the competition

and continue to be relevant, Rex Book Store entered the digital age with the presence of Rex Interactive and Rex Publishing online. Moreover, Rex Book Store International was incorporated in 2005 to respond to international business ventures. Rex Book Store became the sole distributor of Teacher Created Materials—a trusted resource from kinder to Grade 12 educators in over 92 countries.

Diversified titles from different product lines were also produced at the start of the 21st century. In this decade, Roger John Fontelera and Tordesillas joined Rex Book Store to head Finance and Marketing, respectively.

In light of technological advances and the prevalent use of the Internet, Rex Digital was established in 2012. Rex Digital enhances student learning by providing better engagement, stronger collaboration, simplified instruction, and unified communication between educators and students. Three years later, in 2015, the Resource for Educators and Academic Professionals was launched.

As a center for learning, REAP provides educator trainings and has a training center that can be rented by the public.

A year later, in 2016, the Rex Institute for Student Excellence was established to assist educational institutions and teachers in using assessment and research toward the achievement of students’ learning goals. Rizal Raoul Reyes