Businessmirror october 28, 2017

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A miner walks along a road stained by red nickel laterite near a mining operation in Surigao del Norte on April 9, 2017. The Philippines, which exports more nickel ore than any country in the world, is in the midst of a wide crackdown on mines accused of violating environmental protection laws. Jes Aznar/The New York Times

Ghosts of mining’s past continue to haunt industry

‘Legacy’ of the mines A

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

bandoned open-pit mines, the scars left behind by irresponsible mining, the ridgeto-reef destruction that had caused people in host communities to suffer until today, continue to haunt the country’s mining industry.

The Marcopper mines in Marinduque, the “poster boy” of irresponsible mining, continue to pose serious threats to communities, more than three decades after it was shut down and abandoned.

In Palawan, thousands of people were found to have traces of toxic mercury, which leads to lingering illness and most probably death if uncured.

There may be a lot of “horror” stories to tell , as there are 14 abandoned open-pit, or “legacy”, mines in the Philippines, none of which

had undergone rehabilitation.

They do not only pose grave danger to the communities, but have destroyed the economic potential and productivity of the area and became a perpetual liability to the government, as the mining companies that have profited from their operations have already left, escaping financial liability, as well as social and moral accountability.

Lopez factor

These were the reasons staunch antimining advocate Regina Paz L.

Lopez, then as chief steward of the country’s environment and natural resources, decided to issue Department Administrative Order 2017-10 on April 27, effectively banning prospective open-pit mining for gold, copper, silver and complex ores.

The Philippines is rich in gold, copper, nickel, zinc, iron and other mineral deposits. Still, mining’s contribution to the economy in terms of GDP remains poor and below 1 percent.

Environmental and antimin-

ing groups lament the destruction caused by large-scale mines, particularly the ones that use the open-pit mining method, threatening the country’s rich natural resources and undermining food and water security, issues that the big players in the mining industry continue to debunk with claims of spurring economic activities in areas not covered or reached by government services, including the unaccounted costs of infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, Continued on A2

Defense, military officials acknowledge foreign help in defeating IS-Maute group in Marawi

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he sustained international support that the Philippines acquired during the five-month operations against a combination of local and foreign terrorists in Marawi City spelled the difference in decisively ending the siege, defense and military officials have admitted.

In fact, without such support, especially those coming from the country’s traditional allies, the military may not have met its October deadline in ending the “misadventure” by the joint Islamic State (IS)-Maute group.

No less than Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana underscored See “Marawi,” A2

PESO exchange rates n US 51.7410

Lorenzana: “Truly, the fight against global terror cannot be addressed by one country alone, and we are very much appreciative of Australia’s support for our counterterrorism program.”

Commandos with the Philippine navy on patrol for militants trying to leave the main battle area in Marawi on September 15, 2017. Jez Aznar/The New York Times

n japan 0.4540 n UK 68.1015 n HK 6.6314 n CHINA 7.7882 n singapore 37.8556 n australia 39.6336 n EU 60.2834 n SAUDI arabia 13.7968

Source: BSP (27 October 2017 )

News ‘Legacy’ of the mines BusinessMirror

A2 Saturday, October 28, 2017

Continued from a1

schools and health-care centers; and various projects and programs under individual corporate social responsibility initiatives and the mandated social development management program, or SDMPs, like scholarship programs and livelihood projects.

Reversals

The Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), after undertaking a review sought by the mining industry’s big players under the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), has recommended the lifting of the open-pit mining ban.

Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, who expressed hope that it will be done before the end of the year, will present the recommendation for final approval by President Duterte during a meeting in Malacañang on November 6.

The COMP welcomed the MICC recommendation, viewing it as “a positive development” for the industry that went through more than 10 months of “policy storm” under Lopez as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The COMP, through its executive director, Ronald Recidoro, said they are looking forward to a meeting with Cimatu to convince the country’s top environment official to support the call to lift the moratorium on new mining projects, and open the floodgates for more mining investments.

Aside from the open-pit mines, COMP and mining companies affected by mine closure and suspension orders issued by Lopez are seeking for reversal through appeals filed before the MICC and Office of the President, which deferred action to the DENR. While under appeal, the closure and suspension orders are

held in abeyance, pending final resolution by the government.

The DENR is currently conducting the review of Lopez’s orders, the majority of which are nickel-mining operations. COMP earlier said that around 1.2 million people who directly and indirectly benefit from the operations of the mines will be affected by Lopez’s orders.

Open pits

Experts say open-pit mines are developed to extract mineral deposits near the surface, or if the surface material covering the valuable deposit is relatively thin, or the material of interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling, such as sand, cinder and gravel.

Mining companies consider open-pit mining as the fastest, safest way of extracting mineral ore deposits, although environmentalists reject this method because of its destructive nature.

Open-pit mines are expanded as mineral deposits are found around the mine, in the process, creating a bowl-like hole in an area where mountain and lush forest vegetation used to exist.

As these open pits are left idle, over the years, water accumulates, creating seemingly man-made lakes or dams. Excessive rain often triggers spilling into rivers affecting the communities, which happened in 1996 at the Marcopper mine in Marinduque, which led to the declaration of Boac River as “biologically dead”.

It took two decades before the river showed signs of recovery, but the water flowing from the mines continues to pose health hazards because of the toxic chemicals, like lead and mercury, that have been widely recorded in barangays around the mines.

‘Disgusting’

Lopez, the proponent of the openpit mining ban, criticized the MICC

and defended her decision to issue the order.

In a series of text and e-mail messages, Lopez, whose appointment to the top DENR post was rejected by the powerful Commission on Appointments in May, was resolute about the adverse impact of open-pit mines.

“All those open pits are near rivers and streams, and all of them hit water tables. In more than a hundred years, we don’t have one rehabilitated open pit [mine]. Mining companies can take care of them while they mine—and then what happens after?” Lopez lamented.

Lopez said there is no proof that open-pit mines, after mining, can be rehabilitated—unless cared for regularly.

“The question is who will take on that cost? Who takes on that risk? If the MICC says it can be rehabilitated, then rehabilitate one,” she said.

According to Lopez, the decision of the MICC to recommend setting aside her ban on open pits is “disgusting”, as “it catered to business interests” instead of safeguarding the Constitutional and God-given rights of the people to a healthful ecology. “[It’s] disgusting. I truly hope that Secretary Cimatu will do his duty and protect our people. MICC said they will strictly follow rules and regulations. Following rules does not take away the reality that these pits will be there forever, and these pits have to be neutralized forever,” she warned.

“Following rules and regulations does not take away the reality that communities are taking the risk so that people with already so much money can make more. An open pit the size of 700 football fields is going to kill the food basket of Mindanao,” she said, referring to the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project.

“It’s madness, and Philex wants to put up a $2-billion open

pit in Mindanao [Silangan Gold Project]? No matter what their plans are, it doesn’t take away the risk. Why should our communities take the risk so that they will take money?” Lopez said.

According to the former DENR chief, Philex has heavily invested in Silangan, with around 60 percent of its assets poured for the development of the mine. “There is so much money involved. The welfare of our people should take precedence; and it’s government’s responsibility to take care of our people,” she said.

Lopez vowed to seek an audience with Duterte anew, to convince the country’s top official not to lift the ban on open-pit mining.

COMP’s response

In a telephone interview, Recidoro debunked Lopez’s claim that openpit mines cannot be rehabilitated.

“It is being done now. There are two open-pit mines that are undergoing rehabilitation—TVI and Rapu-Rapu,” he said.

Recidoro was referring to the ongoing rehabilitation of open-pit mines: the TVI Resource Development Phils. Inc.’s Canatuan mine in Zamboanga del Norte, which operated between 2004 and 2014, and Lafayette Ltd. Inc.’s Rapu-Rapu mine on the Island of Rapu-Rapu.

The MICC, he said, was provided by COMP an expert resourceperson information about the ongoing rehabilitation, and said it could be the reason the MICC was convinced that rehabilitation can be done.

Recidoro described it is “unfair” for Lopez to blame responsible miners for the legacy mines.

“Legacy mines, which were closed between the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and owners can no longer be found. The owners of these mines should be the ones held liable [by the government],” he said.

Recidoro said the legacy mines

referred to by Lopez were mines done when there was still no measure mandating rehabilitation of the mines, or before the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 became a law.

Under the new mining law, he said, there are adequate measures to ensure rehabilitation, citing the establishment of a fund for the implementation of the company’s Final Mine Rehabilitation and Decommissioning Plan.

According to Recidoro, the government has several options to address Lopez’s concerns about the legacy mines that haunt the industry in particular and the mineral development sector in general.

“What the government can do is enter into a public-private partnership to develop these abandoned mines,” he said.

Although the legacy mines are already abandoned, Recidoro said, private companies that are into mining, agriculture, or even tourism, will be very much interested in partnering with the government for the development of the abandoned mines.

“There are still deposits in these areas. There are roads and they can be developed,” he said.

Recidoro said in other mining countries, open-pit mines were successfully rehabilitated and made productive anew. Some are developed for ecotourism. “There’s one open-pit mine that was converted into a golf course,” he said.

Such recommendations are up to the government to consider, although there’s no policy in place for the rehabilitation of the abandoned or legacy mines. Until such time, the legacy mines will continue to be the ghost of mining’s past, haunting not only the industry and mineral-development sector, but also the government for a very long time for its apparent failure to stop the destruction, or at the very least, rehabilitate and develop these idle economic resources.

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Marawi…

Continued from a1

the contributions of international assistance and the important role played by allies in the strategic defeat of the IS, not only in the Philippines, but in the region.

“Truly, the fight against global terror cannot be addressed by one country alone, and we are very much appreciative of Australia’s support for our counterterrorism program,” Lorenzana said during a joint news briefing with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne.

“From the start, Australia has been providing invaluable support to the AFP’s [Armed Forces of the Philippines] operations against the Maute group, particularly on increasing operational and situational awareness in the conflict area, like providing us surveillance planes to help our troops on the ground,” he added.

Other key allies

Aside from Canberra, the defense chief also acknowledged the support provided by China, the United States and its neighbors in Southeast Asia in the defeat of the terrorist group.

With Filipino troops mounting the counterterrorism operations with the backing of armored personnel carriers and planes, the rest of the battle was waged and supported by the country’s defense partners and allies.

In particular, these countries are the US, China and Australia, which provided the much-needed intelligence, surveillance and weapon requirements.

During the entire course of the operation, the US and Australia provided surveillance planes and did technical information gathering and analysis, while China provided the weapons that were used in the fighting.

‘Total victory’

President Duterte has even claimed that the sniper rifle that killed Isnilon Hapilon, the emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia, was part of the weaponry that Beijing delivered to the Philippine military.

Lorenzana said the international support aided the government in achieving the “total victory” against the terrorists.

“China gave us firearms and ammunition, sniper rifles, while the United States provided intelligence, technical intelligence,” he said, adding Australia ensured its surveillance planes were up over Marawi.

“Of course, some of the rifles were used against the terrorists so they are in the frontline, while the Americans also provided us images of the enemy; they have very sophisticated technical intelligencegathering capability,” Lorenzana added.

Regional cooperation

The destruction brought by terrorism in Marawi has prompted Southeast Asian defense chiefs to move for a closer cooperation in fighting terrorism and violent extremists, which they declared during the Asean Defense Ministers’ Meeting held in Pampanga.

They also condemned the Maute group and the IS that were behind the destruction of the city.

A joint declaration issued by the officials during the meeting condemned in the “strongest terms” the attacks carried out by violent extremists across the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, including the attack by the Maute group in Marawi, which led to casualties, destruction of properties and displacement of people, among others.

They also agreed “to work together to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, in accordance with the Asean Convention on Counterterrorism and the Asean Comprehensive Plan of Action on Counterterrorism.”

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Employment program for students costly—study

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he Special Program for the Employment of Students (Spe s) of t he D e pa r t ment of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is costly but with minimal impact on education and employability to its beneficiaries.

T h i s w a s accord i ng to a n impact-evaluation study conducted by Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a nonprofit policy research organization, to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

The SPES is an employmentbridging program of the DOLE that aims to augment the income of poor but deserving students, out-of-school youths (OSYs), or dependents of displaced workers who intend to finish education. The employment lasts for 20 to 52 working days during school break.

It is open to all qualified high school, college or vocational/ technical students, and OSYs. The Public Service Employment Offices facilitates the matching, with the DOLE providing 4 0 p erce nt w a ge subsidy to employers. In 2016 alone, the program had a budget of over P700 million and provided jobs to over 200,000 beneficiaries.

In her presentation at a recent forum organized by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Dr. Emily Beam, associate professor at Vermont University and lead researcher of the IPA study, d isc losed t hat implement ing SPES comes at a high cost for the Philippine government. She noted that although SPES costs P3,561 per beneficiary, the cost could go higher if the main objective of the program, which is to prevent students from dropping out or to encourage OSYs to re-enroll and graduate and eventually find meaningful jobs in the future, is considered.

“The DOLE spends P222,600 per student that drops out, given that 1.6 in every 100 beneficiaries of the program are prevented from dropping out of school in a given year,” she explained. She added that for every 100 SPES beneficiaries, only 3.9 are employed, at a cost of P91,318 per eventual job found.

A ccord i ng to B e a m , SPE S does not increase enrollment in schools nor improve college graduation rate because enrollment rate is already high at 95 percent. She added that SPES applicants will enroll in school regardless if they are chosen to receive SPES or not.

On the other hand, she noted that SPES increases enrollment for males, who are at a higher risk of dropping out of school. During the course of the study, it was observed that only a third of SPES beneficiaries were men.

Furthermore, Beam pointed out that lower-income students may benefit more from SPES. “Among those not enrolled, the most common reason was financial in nature. There wasn’t a case where not having benefited from SPES was the reason for dropping out,” Beam explained.

Thus, it was recommended that improving the targeting system for SPES could maximize program effectiveness.

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A3

Gridlock spurs dormitory demand to keep workers close

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yala Land Inc., which built Manila’s financial district, is expanding into workers’ dormitories, as developers target people fed up with battling some of the world’s worst traffic.

The company is investing P3 billion ($58 million) building five dormitories on four sites in the Makati and Taguig business districts, comprising 1,500 units that can house as many as 6,000 people, company President Bobby Dy said in an interview. The first dormitory will be ready next year, and has received interest from firms wanting to lease entire floors to keep workers close, he said.

“It caters to a segment of the market who would want to stay close to their place of work to improve their productivity and their quality of life,” Dy said. “There’s really a need for this kind of product if you look at the commute times in the last couple of years.”

Metro Manila was voted the world’s worst city to drive in, according to Waze Inc.’s 2015 driver-satisfaction index, and congestion costs the economy about P2.4 billion a day. President Duterte’s administration is embarking on a $170 -billion infrastr ucture program that will include adding 1,900 kilometers of railway in a bid to ease traffic gridlock.

The move into dormitories could also help Ayala Land meet its target to get half of revenue f rom re c u r r i n g e a r n i n g s b y 2020. The builder is leaning on its track record of developing high-end properties to compete w it h SM Invest ments Cor p., which has already moved into developing dormitories.

Ayala Land will likely look to build dormitories in other cities

where the company has estates, Dy said.

“The first mover in dormitories will capture the biggest share of a growing and promising market,” said Rachelle Cruz, analyst at AP Securities Inc. “It’s a new strategic area for property companies seeking recurring income.”

In this August 11, 2015, file photo, a motorcycle travels through lanes of vehicles during rushhour traffic along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in the financial district of Makati City.

Dormitory venture

SM Investments, owned by billionaire Henry Sy, has bought a majority stake in Philippine Urban Living Solutions Inc., which in 2016 opened its largest dormitory project called MyTown New York with 653 beds. The dormitory builder, whose initial shareholders include Franklin Templeton Investments, is expected to have 12 dormitories operating in the next 12 months, up from three now.

Dor mitor y-st yle accommodation, or so-called coliving, is also taking off in other Asian cities such as Hong Kong, where stratospheric housing costs are pricing young people out of the property market.

“Dormitories could generate the same return as an office building,” said Jan Paul Custodio, senior director at property consultant Santos Knight Frank. “It’s like a budget hotel with year-round occupancy and charging by the head.” Ayala is on track to more than double its mall space to 3 million square meters by 2020, from 1.2 million at the end of 2013, Dy said in the interview. Office space is

BSP’s new rules on multilateral bank lending to subsidiaries to benefit PHL infra upgrade

By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

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he Ba ng ko Sent ra l ng Pilipinas (BSP) relaxed its rules on intercountry bank lending to subsidiaries and affiliates—a move aimed to benefit big-ticket, high-priority projects in the country, such as in infrastructure development.

On Friday the Monetary Board announced that it approved the exclusion of all loans guaranteed by multilateral financial institutions, where the Philippine government is a member or shareholder, from the regulatory limits on banks’ loans to their subsidiaries and affiliates.

Under existing regulations, loans guaranteed by multilateral financial institutions are excluded from the Single Borrower’s Limit (SBL) and ceilings on a Director, Officer, Stockholder and their Related Interests (Dosri). The amended reg-

ulations extend this exclusion to banks’ loans to subsidiaries and affiliates.

Central Bank Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. told reporters the relaxed rules will enable concerned banks to increase their loan budget available for highpriority projects, like in the infrastructure sector, that attract guarantees from multilateral financial institutions.

“For the purpose of determining compliance with this policy, the BSP considers the International Financial Corp., the Asian Development Bank [ADB] and the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility as multilateral financial institutions,” the Central Bank said in its statement on Friday.

The current administration vowed to focus on overhauling the state of infrastructure in the country—both in the nation’s capital as well as those in the countryside. Several multilateral financial institutions have since

pledged to help in the financing of the government’s “Build, Build, Build ” infrastructure program through loans.

Earlier this year, for example, reports showed that the ADB will provide up to $3.8 billion worth of loans to the country—most of which will be spent on infrastructure development, among other high-priority projects.

The BSP said the policy amendment will also promote a level playing field for bank borrowers through consistent application of regulatory limits on credit. “ The rationalization of prudential measures is expected to result in greater f lexibilities in financing the country’s largescale projects for developmental purposes. In addition, the credit-risk mitigant offered by multilateral financial institutions will provide added cushion for the credit-risk exposures of the banking system,” the Central Bank said.

Financial markets open during Asean holidays ocal financial-market managers are looking to keep the Philippine financial markets up and running during the upcoming special nonworking days as declared by the Palace to give way to the Asean Summit.

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. told reporters on Friday that the Central Bank will “definitely operate” the Philippine Payments and Settlements System (PhilPaSS), as well as the BSP cash-servicing unity during the

coming Asean holidays. The PhilPaSS is the country’s system where both processing and final settlement of fund-transfer instructions take place in real time.

Espenilla also said the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is seen to also

be “determined” to keep the equity market open, while the government securities market and the foreignexchange market stakeholders are still discussing whether to hold normal operations during the three-day holiday period.

on target to triple to 1.5 million sq m and hotel rooms to 6,000, he said.

Shares of Ayala Land have risen 34 percent this year, outpacing the 21 percent gain in the Philippines’s benchmark stock index.

This year, the company has also ventured into serviced offices or coworking spaces for freelancers and start-up ventures to help boost recurring earnings.

“As the Philippines enters a demographic sweet spot, there will be increased urbanization,” Dy said. “There’s going to be more workers and that will continue to make cities attractive. The demand for this kind of product will not disappear even with an improvement in infrastructure.”

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US accuses N. Korea of threatening ‘catastrophe’

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S Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused North Korea on Friday of building a nuclear arsenal to “threaten others with catastrophe” and said the Trump administration remains committed to compelling the North to accept complete nuclear disarmament.

Calling the North a threat to global order, Mattis stood inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas and pledged solidarity with the South.

“We stand should to shoulder with you and the Korean people in confronting the threats posed by the Kim Jong Un regime,” Mattis said, as South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo looked on. Mattis called the North “an oppressive regime that shackles its people, denying their freedom, their welfare and their human dignity in pursuit of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery in order to threaten others with catastrophe.”

Making time to visit a US-South Korean military observation post to peer into the North, Mattis was also briefed on conditions along the border created after a truce halted the Korean War in 1953.

Mattis arrived in South Korea earlier Friday to meet with t he nat ion’s top defense of ficials and American militar y commanders on the front line

in cou nter ing Nor t h Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Mattis is emphasizing the Tr ump administration’s push for a diplomatic solution to the problem. But he also has said the US is prepared to take military action if the North does not halt its development of missiles that could strike the entirety of the United States, potentially with a nuclear warhead.

On his second trip as defense secretary to the US ally, Mattis will meet with South Korean officials as part of an annual consultation on defense issues on the Korean peninsula. He’ll be joined in Seoul by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford. President Donald J. Trump is scheduled to visit the city next month.

Two other developments on Thursday showed the US intention to continue building diplomatic and economic pressure on Pyongyang. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on 10 North Korean officials and organizations

over human-rights abuses and censorship, including a diplomat in China accused of forcing North Korean asylum-seekers home.

Meanwhile, a rare militar y exercise involving three of the US Navy’s aircraft carrier strike groups was being planned for next month in the Asia Pacific, a US official said. The likely exercise would happen around the time that Trump travels to the region.

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through United Nations Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn’t budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the US mainland.

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the US with a nuclear attack, something will have to give—either a negotiated tempering of the North’s ambitions or a US acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.

The other alternative would be US military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North’s nuclear assets—a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the US. Michael Swaine, an Asia defense analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sees little chance the North will cave in to international pressure and give up its nuclear weapons.

“I just think the United States is far away from coming to grips with this problem in North Korea,” Swaine said in an interview last week.

T he US h a s about 28, 50 0 troops based in South Korea and has maintained a military presence there since the Korean War ended.

The sanctions aimed at North Korean officials and organizations was announced in conjunction with a new State Department report on dire human rights conditions in the isolated nation said to include extrajudicial killings, forced labor, torture, prolonged arbitrary detention and rape. The report, required by Congress, highlights abuses the US says underwrite the North’s nuclear weapons program, including revenues it derives from overseas laborers. Thousands of North Koreans are sent abroad every year to work in “slave-like” conditions, it says.

Among the seven officials and three entities put on the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklist on Thursday were the commander of the Military Security Command, Jo Kyong-Chol; minister of labor, Jong Yong Su; and director of the external construction bureau, Kim Kang Jin. The bureau is the government agency that manages the construction firms that send laborers overseas. Also sanctioned was Chol Hyun Construction, a North Korean company that exports workers, primarily to Gulf states and Africa.

“We aim to send a signal to all

DPRK government officials, particularly prison camp managers and mid-level officials, that we can and we will expose human rights abuses and censorship in the DPRK and that these individuals will suffer consequences for such actions,” said Scott Busby, a senior official in the department’s human-r ights bureau.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.

Those designated are blocked from holding any US assets, and people in the US are prohibited from having dealings with them. Busby could not confirm whether any of the designees have significant US assets.

During a Pentagon briefing on Thursday, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, raised the prospect of the three carriers operating together at some point, but he provided no details. A United States official confirmed the plans for an exercise, but wasn’t able to discuss the matter publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Three Navy aircraft carriers and the ships that accompany them are currently thousands of miles apart in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. But they are moving through the region and could be closer together in weeks.

The exercise plan has not been publicly announced, and officials would not say exactly where or when it would take place. McKenzie said the last time three carriers operated together was in 2007. At that time, it was for a naval exercise off Guam.

Mattis met with Song earlier this week when the two attended a conference of Southeast Asian defense chiefs in the Philippines.

Song told reporters there that going to war with the North must be viewed as a last resort.

In the Philippines the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations declared their “grave concerns” over growing tensions on the Korean peninsula. They cited North Korea’s testing and launching of intercontinentalrange ballistic missiles, as well as its September test of a nuclear device the North claimed was a hydrogen bomb.

Mattis pointed to the Asean ministers’ statement as evidence of a broad consensus in Asia that North Korea is isolated and in violation of international norms.

US government officials for decades have confidently but mistakenly predicted the approaching collapse of North Korea.

Twent y years ago Mattis’s predecessor five times removed, William Cohen, said as he peered into North Korea from inside the Demilitarized Zone at the two Koreas’ border that Pyongyang’s communist system was “decaying and dying.” His view was widely shared in Washington.

Like others, Cohen underestimated the resilience of North K ore a’s r u l i ng dy n a st y t h at started with Kim Il Sung. Kim Jong Un, the current ruler, assumed control of the country shortly after his father, K im Jong Il died in 2011, and has accelerated the country’s nuclear and missile programs. AP

jfk files, though incomplete, are a treasure trove for answer seekers

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resident Donald J. Trump ordered the long-awaited release on Thursday of more than 2,800 documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but bowed to pressure from the CIA and FBI by withholding thousands of additional papers pending six more months of review.

While incomplete, the documents represented a treasure trove for investigators, historians and conspiracy theorists who have spent half a century searching for clues to what really happened in Dallas on that fateful day in 1963. They included tantalizing talk of mobsters and Cubans and spies, Kremlin suspicions that President Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the killing and fear among authorities that the public would not accept the official version of events.

Paging through the documents online on Thursday night was a little like exploring a box of random papers found in an attic. There were fuzzy images of CIA surveillance photos from the early1960s; a log from December 1963 of visitors, including a CIA officer, coming and going from Johnson’s ranch in Texas; and a report that Lee Harvey Oswald obtained ammunition from a right-wing militia group.

Some of the documents convey some of the drama and chaos of the days immediately after the murder of the president. Among them is a memo apparently dictated by J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director, on November 24, 1963, shortly after Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being moved from police headquarters to a local jail.

“There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead,” the memo begins laconically, before reciting the day’s events.

Trump, who has indulged in his own wild speculation about the sensational killing, had expressed eagerness to finally open the last of the government files, only to run into a last-minute campaign by intelligence agencies to redact certain documents. Grudgingly, he gave the agencies until April 26 to go through the remaining papers again and make their case.

“I am ordering today that the veil finally be lifted,” Trump said in a memo to the agencies. Given their objections, he said, “I have no choice—today—but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our nation’s

security.” But he ordered the agencies to “be extremely circumspect,” noting that the rationale for secrecy has only “grown weaker with the passage of time.”

For conspiracy theorists, the Kennedy assassination has been the holy grail, one that has produced an endless string of books, reports, lectures, articles, websites, documentaries and big-screen Hollywood movies. It was the first murder of an American president in the television age, touching off a wave of global grief for a charismatic young leader while also spawning a cottage industry of skeptical questioning of the official version of events.

Every government authority that has examined the investigation of his death, from the Warren Commission to congressional investigators, concluded

President John F. Kennedy in Washington in 1962. With permission from President Donald Trump, the federal government on October 27, started releasing the final documents on the 1963 assassination of Kennedy.

George Tames/The New York Times

that Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, who fired three shots with a mail-order rifle from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository when the presidential motorcade passed by on November 22, 1963. But that has never satisfied the doubters, and polls have consistently shown that most Americans still believe that someone other than Oswald must have been involved.

While the Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone, the House Select Committee on Assassinations said in a 1979 report that Kennedy “was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy” but did not identify who those conspirators might have been. It ruled out the Soviet and Cuban governments, organized Cubans opposing Fidel Castro, the Mafia, the FBI, CIA and

the Secret Service, although it said it could not preclude that individuals affiliated with some of those groups might have been involved.

Among the doubters have been Trump, who last year said that the father of his Republican rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, was somehow involved in the assassination. The president’s longtime friend and adviser, Roger J. Stone Jr., wrote a book accusing Johnson of being responsible for the shooting that elevated him to the presidency.

As it happened, Trump’s deferral to the CIA and FBI invariably will lead to suspicions that the government is still protecting sensational secrets about the case. Administration officials said there was no cover-up, just an effort to avoid compromising national security, law enforcement or intelligence gathering methods.

The CIA, which has borne the brunt of suspicions from amateur assassination theorists for years, went out of its way on Thursday to try to dispel concerns that it was hiding important evidence.

The agency issued a statement noting that the vast majority of assassinationrelated records have been released, and that redactions were intended “to protect information in the collection whose disclosure would harm national security—including the names of CIA assets and current and former CIA officers, as well as specific intelligence methods and partnerships that remain viable to protecting the nation today.”

The release of the documents owes as much to the moviemaker Oliver Stone as anyone else. After his 1991 conspiracy theory movie, JFK, renewed interest, Congress passed the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which was signed

by President George H.W. Bush on October 26, 1992. The act mandated that all records be released no later than 25 years from that date, which was Thursday, unless the president authorized further withholding for national security reasons.

In the years since the law was passed, the National Archives and Records Administration has released 88 percent of those documents in full and an additional 11 percent with portions redacted.

Until Thursday, just 1 percent had been withheld in full. The New York Times

Sports BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, October 28, 2017

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PSC secures partnership with US Sports Academy

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HE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and United States Sports Academy (USSA) sealed its partnership through the signing of Protocol for Cooperation (POC) recently at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.

USSA President and CEO Dr. Thomas J. Rosandich cited the Academy’s mission statement to serve as resource for development of sports for the US and the world. He also said that USSA focuses on education, research and service.

“We have taught programs to over 65 countries. This partnership is part of our mission,” Rosandich said.

PSC Chairman William Ramirez thanked Rosandich for gracing the 2017 International Conference on Physical Education, Recreation, Fitness and Sports Science that opened at The Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Ramirez said the linkage with USSA will help the PSC’s Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) strengthen its elite sports and grassroots sports programs.

According to the Protocol of Cooperation, USSA will work with government entities and organizations designated by PSC to contribute to the development of national sports effort and utilize its expertise to review and submit recommendations with respect to the education and training employed by the PSC and its affiliates, such as the PSI in the conduct of national sport initiatives.

It will provide the education and training programs to individuals and groups that the PSC will identify in consultation with the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Philippine Olympic Committee, Department of the Interior and Local Government and national sports associations.

The USSA will also assess and submit recommendations to sports-program support; work with designated PSC or government entity to develop programs of sports related to cultural exchanges and will assist the PSC in the implementation of strategies of cooperation.

“The ball is with us...the journey was difficult, rough and bumpy. But I can see that at the end of the term of the president we can answer his mantra in making sports accessible to the periphery,” Ramirez said.

BEST Center enrollment deadline set

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ODAY will be the last day of enrollment for the Saturday-only classes of the pioneering Basketball Efficiency Scientific Training (BEST) Center basketball clinics.

Student applicants will still be accepted at the Ateneo College Covered Courts from 8 to 11 a.m. for Preparatory Level and Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The clinics sponsored by Milo will then shift to Xavier School from 1 to 4:30 p.m. for Preparatory Level and Levels 1, 2 and 3.

The BEST Center—supported by Rain or Shine, Chris Sports and SKLZ—lists among its top graduates Thirdy Ravena, Michael and Matt Nieto, Anton Asistio and Aaron Black.

FOUR-TIME and defending champion Dallas Seavey mushes during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska, in March. AP

EVEN DOGS ARE DOPED

By Rachel D’oro & Mark Thiessen

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The Associated Press

NCHORAGE, Alaska—Cycling.

Baseball. Track. Horse racing. Now dogsledding has become the latest professional sport to be engulfed in a doping scandal, this one involving the huskies that dash across the frozen landscape in Alaska’s grueling, 1,000-mile Iditarod.

The governing board of the world’s most famous sled dog race disclosed that four dogs belonging to four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey tested positive for a banned substance, the opioid painkiller tramadol, after his secondplace finish in March.

It was the first time since the race instituted drug testing in 1994 that a test came back positive.

Seavey strongly denied giving any banned substances to his dogs, suggesting instead that he may have been the victim of sabotage by another musher or an animal-rights activist. He accused the Iditarod of lax security at dog-food drop-off points and other spots.

Race officials said he will not be punished because they were unable to prove he acted intentionally. That means he will keep his titles and his $59,000 in winnings this year.

But the finding was another blow to the Iditarod, which has seen the loss of major sponsors, numerous dog deaths, attacks on competitors and pressure from animal-rights

activists, who say huskies are run to death or left with severe infections and bloody paws.

Jeanne Olson, an Alaska veterinarian who treats sled dogs, sees no benefit in administering tramadol during a race because it causes drowsiness. Olson, who was the head veterinarian in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race in the 1990s, prescribes it mostly for profound pain relief.

“But I also caution that the dogs are going to become sedated from it,” she said. “So, when I first heard...that it was tramadol as the drug, I thought, ‘Well, that’s surprising. Why would anybody use that?’”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) seized on the scandal on Tuesday, saying, it’s “further proof that this race needs to end.”

Fern Levitt, director of the documentary Sled Dogs, an expose on the treatment of the huskies, said, “The race is all about winning and getting to the finish line despite the inhumane treatment toward the dogs.”

Frank Teasley, founder and executive director of Wyoming’s Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, said the controversy is a shame, but he doesn’t believe it will be a permanent stain on the sport. Teasley has participated in eight Iditarods and knows many of the top contenders, including Seavey, saying he believes the musher was sabotaged.

“When you’re dealing with animals, doping anything is not acceptable. But I do not believe that Dallas did this,” he said. “I’ve known him since he was, like, 8 years old. It’s not in his nature.”

Iditarod CEO Stan Hooley acknowledged the race is in its darkest time as it grapples with the fallout from the scandal.

“I’m quite confident that, at some point, we’ll emerge from this storm and move on,” he said. “But for now, we’re dealing with some unpleasantness that needs to be dealt with.”

Asked about Seavey’s sabotage claims, Hooley said, “Is it possible? I suppose so. Is it likely? I wouldn’t think so.”

Still, he said discussions are underway to increase security at the dog lot in Nome and at various checkpoints.

Seavey won the annual Anchorage-to-Nome trek in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 and has had nine straight top 10 finishes. He finished second this year to his father, Mitch, who collected a first-place prize of $71,250.

Dogs are subject to random testing before and during the race, and the first 20 teams to cross the finish line are all automatically tested.

“I did not give a drug to my dog. I’ve never used a banned substance in the race,” the 30-year-old Seavey said in an interview.

He said tramadol is not used at his kennel, and it is “incredibly unlikely” it was accidentally administered by anyone on his team.

Instead, he complained of inadequate security at checkpoints along the route where dog food is dropped off weeks ahead of time and at the dog lot in Nome, where thousands of huskies are kept after the race before they are flown home.

“Unfortunately I do think another musher is an option,” he said.

Seavey added: “There are also people who are not fans of mushing as a whole. They are numerous videos out that are trying to say mushing is a bad thing. And I can see somebody doing this to promote their agenda.”

Seavey said whoever gave the drug to the dogs knew it would cause a positive test, and “that should make me and my people the least likely suspect.”

Earlier this year the Iditarod lost a major corporate backer, Wells Fargo bank. Race officials accused animal-rights organizations of pressuring the bank and other sponsors with “manipulative information” about the treatment of the dogs.

Five dogs connected to this year’s race died, bringing total deaths to more than 150 in the Iditarod’s 44-year history, according to Peta’s count. Last year two mushers were attacked by a drunken man on a snowmobile in separate assaults near a remote village. One dog was killed and others were injured.

Seavey said he has withdrawn from next

COACH BO AIRS FRUSTRATION OVER LACKLUSTER MAROONS

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DIVING LIBERO Petron’s

libero Yuri Fukuda dives as she tries to retrieve the ball during the Blaze Spikers’ 27-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-14 victory over the Santa Lucia Realty Lady Realtors in the Chooks to GoPhilippine Superliga Grand Prix last Thursday night at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. Petron remains unbeaten in two matches, while Santa Lucia drops to 0-2.

Manila, Las Piñas, MMDA, Pateros make MBT semis

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GRAND KNIGHTS’ CUP

San Miguel Beer Assistant Coach Dayong Mendoza leads the ceremonial toss during the Third Grand Knight’s Cup held recently at the Knights of Columbus Manila Council 1000 in Intramuros, Manila. The event is led by Grand Knight Orlando Gonzaga and Deputy Grand Knight Reynaldo Valencia. Tournament director is Joey Balerite Lat.

year’s race in protest and expects the Iditarod Trail Committee to ban him anyway for speaking out. Mushers are prohibited from criticizing the race or sponsors.

Iditarod Spokesman Chas St. George said a ban would be up to the committee’s board of directors.

The committee decided to release Seavey’s name after scores of competitors demanded it. Race officials initially refused, saying it was unlikely they could prove the competitor acted intentionally.

During this year’s race, the rules on doping essentially said that, to punish a musher, race officials had to provide proof of intent. The rules have since been changed to hold mushers liable for any positive drug test unless they can show something beyond their control happened.

Wade Marrs, president of the Iditarod Official Finishers Club, said he doesn’t believe Seavey intentionally administered the drugs. He said he believes the musher has too much integrity and intelligence to do such a thing.

“I don’t really know what to think at the moment,” Marrs said. “It’s a very touchy situation.”

ANILA caught the last bus to the semifinals in the North Division, while Las Piñas, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Pateros made it in the South in the 2017 Metro Basketball Tournament (MBT) seniors competition at the San Andrea Sports Complex in Malate recenty.

No. 3 Manila routed No. 7 Caloocan, 91-74, in their knockout match to arrange a semifinal showdown against No. 2 San Juan in the North.

The other North semfinals match will pit top seed and outright semifinalist Quezon City, which finished with a 5-1 won-lost record in the classification round, and No. 5 Navotas, which upset 16-under champion Marikina.

In the South Division, No. 2 Las Piñas outsteadied No. 7 Taguig, 79-74, and No. 5 Pateros shocked No.4 Parañaque, 90-86, to set up a semis duel in this tournament that has Mobile App ng Bayan Barangay 143 as presentor, My|Phone “Bida ang Pinoy” as official mobile phone and Spalding as official ball.

No. 3 MMDA, led by Dan Anthony Natividad’s 34 points, eliminated No. 6 Makati, 95-91, to also advance to the South semis against

classification round topnotcher and outright semifinalist Mandaluyong.

Manila relied on a balanced scoring to beat Caloocan in the lone North Division match.

Alladin Francisco scored 16 points and seven rebounds, while Aljeric Ramirez added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Stars.

Ryan Ricasio led the Supremos with 26 points, followed by John Patrick Reyes with 14 points and 13 rebounds. In the South, Pateros posted the biggest reversal by eliminating Parañaque behind the efforts of Jovito Tabasan (22 points), Rickson Gerero (20) and Eron Go (18 points).

Lawrence Paulo Castro carried the fight for the Green Berets with 29 points, followed

by John Lawrence Uduba with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Lordy Joshua Geronimo with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The exit of Marikina in the North and Parañaque in the South meant both No. 4 seeds failed to advance further in this 24-under tourney sponsored

by Synergy 88, San Miguel Corp., World Balance and Higer Bus. The semifinals are set on November 7.

NIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) Head Coach Bo Perasol is pumping up his players for the remainer of the Season 80 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.

The Fighting Maroons started the season with a bang and won three of their first four games they highlighted with a monumental upset of the defending champion De La Salle, 98-87, in the first round.

But the team’s biggest win in UAAP in over a decade, which could have been a big boost, turned futile after the Maroons lost five of their last six games to fall to fifth place with a 4-6 win-loss card.

The Maroons try to recover and keep their Final Four hopes on track as they battle the fourthrunning Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws today at 4 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Unscathed leader Ateneo de Manila, meanwhile, guns for win No. 11 against a back-against-the-wall University of the East (UE) at 2 p.m. The Red Warriors have a slim chance of advancing to the semifinals with a 3-8 card.

Perasol could not hide his frustrations on what has happened to his team for the past games and has lost his patience after their disappointing 64-73 setback to UE last week.

He was heard shouting at his players at the locker room of the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

“I’m sick and tired that when you lose but then you don’t get accountable for it,” Perasol said.

“I wanted the players to feel that when you lose a game, you have to be accountable about it. You have to own up to the chances that were given to you. That’s the point of the character building that I wanted to share with my players.”

Despite his frustration, Perasol said he believes that his players could recover and be potent for the semifinals.

“I want them to think that, if you don’t deliver now, you fight back the next time,” he said.

The UP coach hopes that he gets everybody on board and work as one unit when they clash with the dangerous FEU side, which holds a 5-5 record.

Lance Agcaoili

BusinessMi

A6 Saturday, October 28, 2017 | Editor: Jun Lomibao

Reducing to 8 riders won’t make Tour de France more attractive

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EAM Sky’s Nicolas Portal praised ASO for the 2018 Tour de France route after it was unveiled in Paris on Tuesday, but voiced his opinion that cycling’s decision to move from nine to eight riders in Grand Tours wouldn’t necessarily improve the racing as a spectacle.

All teams will comply with the new rules governing rider numbers in 2018, which have been brought in to appease concerns over safety. One line of thought is that the reduced numbers would make racing more open with fewer teammates able to potentially control a race when put under pressure.

“I started to think about this a bit during the Tour and the Vuelta, but to be honest it’s going to be the same for everyone,” Portal told Cyclingnews.

The Frenchman has been a mainstay at Team Sky since 2010. He spent that season as rider before retiring from the sport and becoming part of the management structure.

He has been instrumental in the team’s success and this year has been forced to address questions in the media when other members of Team Sky’s entourage, such as Dave Brailsford, have been less willing to talk.

“In 2013 we finished the Tour de France

with seven and a half riders because [Geraint] Thomas had a fractured pelvis. We only finished with a full team two years ago but with one guy less, you know that the eight will have to ride more kilometers and work longer. But again, that’s the same for everyone. They’ve tried to make the race more attractive, but I don’t think that cutting one or two riders does that.”

For Portal, the racing improves when the route provides the terrain on which riders can express themselves. Next year’s route contains an action-packed first week but Portal pointed to the explosive 65-kilometer stage finishing atop the Col de Portet in the third week.

According to the Frenchman, strength in numbers matter little over such a parcours.

“What makes it a lot harder is when you have short stage and then it’s harder to control. You could have 10 riders then on each team, but the pace is so fast that it’s almost impossible to control.”

“I quite like the route actually,” he said, “and there’s a little bit of everything. It’s going to make the first week quite interesting with the cobblestones, and the team time trial. If there are some crosswinds too, then I think that it’s the perfect week, for the spectator.

“The second week is pretty tough with three hard days in the mountains right after the rest day with the final one having 5,000 meters of climbing. I heard about the rumours of the time trial at Espelette and it’s pretty hard. There are also some new climbs, and for us it’s quite good. It suits Froome and the team quite, well and looking at things, now I’m pretty confident.”

Team Sky have made a habit of controlling the race at the Tour de France over the last few years. This year they relinquished the yellow jersey for a few days when Fabio Aru (Astana) took the lead, but they used their numbers and power in the mountains to effectively nullify a number of rivals before Froome sealed a fourth title in the final time trial. Whether or not Team Sky will look to implement a similar strategy in 2018 remains unclear.

“It always depends on what other teams do and their plans. This year it was hard to control. We were juggling with a few seconds here and there, but with next year’s route I think that you’re already going to have some gaps after the team time trial and the cobblestones. That might make it easier to control but I honestly have no idea.”

Cyclingnews

Nibali tops tough Taiwan KOM Challenge

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VICENZO NIBALI rules the 106-kilometer event that starts at sea level and finishes at an altitude of 3,275 meters.

David Lappartient has the elimination of mechanical doping one of the cornerstones of his manifesto when he ran for president of the International Cycling Union.

UCI HEAD WANTS TO TOTALLY ELIMINATE MEDICAL DOPING

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NTERNATIONAL Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient has pledged to restore cycling’s credibility in relation to the issue of mechanical doping. Only one elite rider has been caught using a motor since test were first introduced in 2016, but question marks remain over the robustness of the current testing protocol and the UCI’s previous determination to handle the matter.

Lappartient, who was elected president last September, made the elimination of mechanical doping, one of the cornerstones of his manifesto. He has promised to outline his plans for the future by the end of the year before rolling out a new program to detect motors from the start of 2018.

“I want to say that I hope that [ed. mechanical doping] is not something that we have today in the professional peloton, but I need to be sure. I really want to be sure,” Lappartient told Cyclingnews.

“We need to avoid any suspicion that we have it in our sport. It’s really bad for our image, and people are asking ‘are they using this technology or not?’ I want us to be sure, and I want people to trust the credibility of the UCI, and I want people to know that we’re doing our best, and checking in the most professional way.

I want people to trust in the results of racing. This is what we have to deliver.”

Lappartient was speaking at the presentation of the 2018 Tour de France route in Paris recently. It was one of his first public appearances since beating Brian Cookson in the UCI election by a vote of 37-8.

Less than a month after the election, a French amateur rider was caught using a motor in his bike at a local race. The episode highlighted that mechanical doping had spread to all levels of racing. Lappartient has suggested that testing at events and races will become more robust in 2018, with heat guns working

alongside the criticized UCI tablets.

“The scale of this is really big. The UCI concentrates on the top level, but we have to understand that we can have the same problem at all levels, even at mass participation events.

It’s a disaster to see a guy at this low level using this kind of technology just to get his name in the newspaper.

“I said during my campaign that it was a major point for the UCI, and today. Mr. Prudhomme, organizer of the Tour de France, asked the UCI to work on this, and the credibility as we strive against technological fraud. As I said, we’ll be ready for the next season and during the winter we’ll make some announcement on this, probably at the beginning of December.”

Since winning the presidential election Lappartient has spent the majority of his time at the UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland. The Frenchman has used that time to organize his new regime but has not made any large-scale changes as he continues to find his feet.

“It’s gone quite well but I know that I need to be involved in everything,” he said.

“Being the president is not the same as being the vice president. I spent the first four weeks at the headquarters of the UCI because the idea was that I wouldn’t travel that much at the start. I wanted to be involved in the everyday business and really understand the way it works.

“I made some changes, but we’ve a good staff at the UCI. The plan isn’t to remove and change completely. Before changing things, it’s important to understand how things work from the inside and then use my own judgment. A lot of people have come to me and said, ‘you’ve got to change this, you’ve got to change that,’ but sorry, I want to have my own points of view and then make the right decisions.” Cyclingnews

ICENZO NIBALI (BahrainMerida) ended his 2017 season with victory at the Taiwan KOM Challenge, finishing more than a minute ahead of Spain’s Oscar Pujol and John Ebsen.

Nibali reportedly set a new record for the event with a time of 3:19:54.

The 106-kilometer event starts at sea level and finishes at an altitude of 3,275 meters atop the Wuling Pass, Taiwan’s highest road.

Former Cannondale rider Phil Gaimon finished sixth, 10 minutes back, with 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans 10th.

Britain’s Emma Pooley won the women’s race.

The Taiwan KOM Challenge brought down the curtain on Nibali’s 2017 season. He raced for a total of 81 days, finishing third at Giro d’Italia, second to Chris Froome at the Vuelta a Espana and winning Il Lombardia for a second time.

“It was a hard race because we went from sea level up to 3,275 meters. I’ve never ridden such a long and hard climb before in my entire life,” Nibali said after posing on the winner’s podium.

“I waited until the final 10 kilometres to attack when I saw the other riders tired and suffering. It was my last race of the season, and so now its finally time for some holidays.”

A total of 600 riders took part in the event. Nibali and Pooley each collect a prize of 500,000 Taiwan dollars—close to €14,000—for victory.

Nibali took part with his brother Antonio, and Bahrain-Merida teammate Chun Kai Feng and team manager Brent Copeland.

New chapter for trials at Che Urban Cycling World Champio T

RIALS was one of the first off-road cycling disciplines to have its own International Cycling Union (UCI) World Championships.

First held in 1984, the annual UCI World Championships dedicated uniquely to trials continued until 1999. Trials joined the Mountain Bike Championships from 2000 to 2016, and now becomes one of three cycling disciplines at the first UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, to take place in Chengdu, China, from November 8 to 12.

The sport originated in Spain, and grew out of motorcycle trials. Originally, the sport

was practiced on 20-inch wheel bikes for Elite and Junior Men. A competition for bikes with 26-inch wheels was introduced for the two Men’s category in 1995, with a separate Women’s competition added in 2001. Nations also compete in the team event, which includes riders from each category.

Trials requires riders to demonstrate their bike handling skills, balance, strength and speed over obstacle courses, known as sections. A new race format will be introduced for these first UCI Urban Cycling World Championships in which the goal is to collect the maximum number of points in the allowed time across the five sections.

The concept is simple: cross the gates without setting either foot or part of the bike—except the tires—on the ground or any of the obstacles. Ten points are collected at every gate crossed “clean”. The best score possible per section is 60 points. The rider with the highest score after every section has been completed by all competitors is the winner.

In the original 20-inch Men’s category, Spain has dominated like no other nation, winning an incredible 23 of 31 world titles, and 53 out of 93 medals awarded. Spain has won every title in the past decade.

In recent years it has been a battle between

PHL’S FINE TOUGH CH T

Cyclingnews

THE Philippines’s Sienna Elaine Fines is training at the World Cycling Center in Aigle, hoping to make it to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

HE BMX Supercross track at the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cycling Center (WCC) has been swarming with talent this week as potential Olympians from the world over vie for a place on the center’s high-level training program.

The aim: the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

At ease on a BMX bike, and happiest when flying through the air, the 27 young athletes from 17 countries are part of the current talent identification camp thanks to their aptitude in the Olympic discipline of BMX. But they need to demonstrate more than talent to make the selected few who will be based at the UCI World Cycling Center for the next three years.

“It’s not enough to have ability,” warned UCI WCC High Performance Manager Belinda Tarling. “We’re also looking for athletes with that fighting spirit, a desire to surpass themselves, and a focused approach to achieving their goals. We want athletes who are open to training techniques that may be unfamiliar to them, who are thirsty to train and who are never late for a session.”

The final selection will be made between participants of three camps held at the UCI WCC

in the last year.

Representing the continents of Europe, Africa, America and Asia, the group currently at the UCI WCC is following an intense programme including individual assessments, track technique, gym training, sprint sessions and classroom theory.

“It’s challenging but that’s what I’m here for,” enthused first-year Elite Sienna Elaine Fines, from the Philippines. “I didn’t get much coaching as a development rider, and I’ve never been on a big track like this before. I have learned a lot here already, especially bike skills, and there is still so much room for improvement.

“My goal is to be invited back and to be a top contender in the UCI World Cups and Continental Championships. And of course, Tokyo! But I also want to help the sport develop in the Philippines, to take ‘this’ to ‘there.’”

At 20 years of age, Belgian Mathijis Verhoeven is one of the more experienced athletes on the talent ID camp. But the 2015 Junior European Champion and reigning Belgian Champion was not going to pass up the opportunity to train in Aigle.

“For sure, riding here in Switzerland on a new track and with new coaches is motivating,” said the young rider who is aiming for top-16 placings

irror CYCLING

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph | Saturday, October 28, 2017 A7

THE trials is one of the first offroad cycling disciplines to have its own International Cycling Union World Championships.

Cycling draws crowds at United Nations Day

THESE are just one of the attractions at the United Nations Office Geneva Open Day.

Tragedy hits race in New Caledonia

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hengdu onships two Spanish riders—Benito Ros (eight titles since 2003) and Abel Mustieles (five titles in the last six years, including the last two UCI World Championships).

The new generation is pushing hard with riders such as Lucien Leiser from Switzerland (silver medal in 2015), the Austrian rider Thomas Pechhacker or the German rider Dominik Oswald, who finished third, fourth and fifth in the 2017 UCI World Cup .

France has dominated the Men’s 26-inch in the same way Spain has the 20-inch, with 16 world titles out of 22 awarded, and 42 of the 66 medals awarded in total. French riders Vincent

Hermance and Gilles Coustellier have won five of the last six titles between them, although Great Britain’s Jack Carthy is the defending UCI World Champion.

These three took the top three spots in the 2017 UCI Trials World Cup (Coustellier/Carthy/ Hermance), so expect a battle in Chengdu. Not to be overlooked either is the double Junior UCI World Champion Nicolas Vallée (France), who won the third round of this year’s UCI World Cup or the experienced Kenny Belaey: the Belgian has finished on the podium for the last 13 years with four gold medals, two silver and seven bronze.

The women’s competition was dominated until 2011 by Switzerland’s Karin Moor, who won nine titles in the first 11 years before retiring. Since then, there have been four riders in the past five years to don the rainbow jersey, with the favourite for Chengdu being defending champion Nina Reichenbach of Germany, who won four of five rounds in the UCI Trials World Cup this season. Her biggest challenger is the young, up-and-coming Manon Basseville (France), the only other rider to win a World Cup round this season.

But don’t rule out Australia’s Janine Jungfels, UCI World Champion in 2015. UCI News

ES FACES HALLENGE in rounds of next year’s UCI World Cup and UEC European Championships.

“I don’t know if I am capable of that yet but I will give my all. The transition from Junior to Elite was really hard,” she said. “When you’re a Junior you think you are so good, and then you find yourself at the start next to your idols...and the racing is aggressive and fast.”

Three coaches are putting the athletes through their paces: Cycling Ireland Performance Coach Jeremy Hayes and Swiss Cycling’s head of BMX and development Didier David, both supported by accomplished British athlete and Olympian Kyle Evans, whose role in Aigle is to demonstrate, motivate and advise.

“I’ve seen some of the riders before at races so they have a familiar face and can ask me questions,” explained Evans. “At the same time, I can also talk to the coaches from the athletes’s point of view.

“Some of the younger riders especially are quite intimidated coming to the UCI and training full time. They remind me so much of me at 17 and my first training camps. You have to grow up overnight.

“If someone is struggling, I help out, but I also push them. You can see which riders want to be

pushed and which ones bury their head in the sand. BMX is a short career. Some people make it and some people don’t, so you need to push and grab every opportunity with both hands.

David confirms that the young athletes are indeed giving their all. He said many had never trained at such an intense level before, and they also had to adapt to the track.

“Most are in very good physical condition, but some still have work to do as far as technique goes. Improving technique becomes difficult after 15 years of age, but they are motivated. There is also a very good team spirit, with some of the older ones acting as leaders in the group.”

A similar camp held in Aigle one year ago, saw some of the participants invited back for a longer, three-month camp from May to July this year to prepare for the 2017 UCI BMX World Championships. The preparation proved successful, with two of the riders making the podium: Latvians Vineta Petersone and Mikus Strazdins won bronze in the Junior Women’s and Junior Men’s competitions, respectively.

Of the 11 UCI WCC trainees, all Juniors, who attended this camp, four went through to the quarter-finals and three to the finals.

UCI News

TOM DUMOULIN is believed to have the qualities to match those of three-time champion Chris Froome.

RENCH rider Mathieu Riebel has died following a crash with a vehicle during Stage 9 of the Tour de Nouvelle Caladonie.

The 20-year-old Riebel was helping his Shell Pacific teammate Erwan Brenterch back to the peloton after he had suffered a mechanical problem when the crash occurred on the descent of the Col de la Pirogue.

Brenterch broke his leg in the accident.

“Riders, teams, companions, participants in Au Tour d’Elles, journalists, everyone has learned with shock and great sadness of the tragic accident that occurred during the descent of the Col de la Pirogue, which cost Mathieu Riebel his life and seriously injured Erwan Brenterch, both of the Shell Pacific team,” a statement on the race’s Facebook page posted on Friday read.

“Mathieu was doing his best to bring his leader back into the peloton after mechanical trouble. It was on the high-speed descent of the pass that the collision with a vehicle occurred. The whole organization sends its deepest condolences to Mathieu’s family.”

Reports in the French press have said that Riebel hit the windscreen of an ambulance that was coming in the other direction. Traffic was reportedly delayed but not completely blocked from the road on which the race was taking place. According to the Agence France Press and L’Equippe, Gérard Salaun, president of the regional cycling committee of New Caledonia, said that Riebel had taken a corner at around 80 kilometer per hour as he tried to bring Brenterch back.

The stage was immediately cancelled following the accident, and organizers have offered psychological support for all in the race caravan. The final stage has been neutralized and will be reduced to one ride up the Mont Dore, rather than the two originally planned.

The overall classification will be taken from the results of Stage 8, making Leo Danes (Opt) the overall winner with Brenterch third in the standings. Stage 10 was ridden as a tribute to Riebel. Cyclingnews

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OM DUMOULIN was absent from the Tour de France presentation recently, but many in Paris felt he should set the Grand Boucle as his major goal for 2018, including race director Christian Prudhomme.

Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) is currently enjoying an end-of-season holiday in the United States after winning the Giro d’Italia in May and then taking the world time trial title in Bergen, where he beat Chris Froome by more than a minute.

He has so far pushed back on confirming he will target the Tour de France in 2018, insisting that the routes of the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia will be the

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HE slowest wins...maybe not your typical bike race, but it drew the crowds at the United Nations Office Geneva Open Day recently.

The slow bike race was just one of the attractions at a stand devoted to the bicycle, which also included a quiz and coloring fun for children.

Hundreds of people visited the stand at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where some tried out their bike handling skills in the slow riding competition, children undertook the not-so-easy task of drawing a bicycle, and still more visitors tested their knowledge on how cycling contributes to sustainable development.

How many bikes are there in the Netherlands? How many extra patients can a community health worker in Zambia visit with a bicycle rather than on foot? How many grams of carbon dioxide are saved by cycling one kilometer rather than driving 1 kilometer?

The brain teasers led to some animated discussions, which was one of the aims of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and its coorganizers of the stand: the European Cyclists’ Federation, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, International Telecommunication Union and Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Geneva.

“We wanted to highlight the potential of the bicycle and raise people’s awareness of the benefits of cycling to their health, and to sustainable development,” UCI Campaigns Manager Isabella Burczak said.

She said that cycling could play a significant role in the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, to guide sustainable and inclusive global development in all countries on earth: rich and poor.

The ambition of the 17 global goals

contained in the Sustainable Development Agenda is to ensure that by 2030, the world is on a development path that is environmentally sustainable and benefits all people.

With 169 targets and 232 indicators, the 17 goals are to be reached by the 193 member states of the United Nations. So far, they have been included in regional agendas, and national and local development plans.

Cycling, as a mode of transport and healthy everyday activity has already been contributing to the SDGs and can go further. The World Cycling Alliance has calculated that cycling is directly linked to delivering 11 of the Global Goals.

Be it contributing to ending poverty in all its forms everywhere (Goal 1) by opening access to markets, education and jobs; achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls (Goal 5) by providing them access to water, schools, markets and jobs; taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (Goal 13) by being a symbol for decarbonizing transport and societies—the potential is evident.

The UCI Cycling for All Manifesto, contains a call for world leaders to put cycling at the center of their policies on sustainable development. We are working to meet the SDG targets of achieving a 50-percent reduction in road traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2020, and safe, affordable transport for all by 2030.

To do this, the UCI works with National Federations, governments and partners from the public and private arenas to promote cycling in all forms, whether for transport, recreation or sport.

The bicycle remains a low cost, emissionsfree, healthy mode of transport, and the UCI welcomes potential partners to work with us as we encourage its use as a tool for sustainable development. UCI News

‘COME TO THE TOUR, TOM’ decisive factor when he sits down with Team Sunweb management post-vacation to plan his 2018 season.

“If I go to the Tour I want to fight for victory, but there’s a lot of guys and you have to beat them all to win. It’s not a clash of the titans between me and Froome,” Dumoulin told Cyclingnews recently in a special podcast interview.

“I’d rather win the Giro than be on the podium of the Tour. So it pretty much depends on the routes.”

Prudhomme seems keen to have Dumoulin at the 2018 Tour de France. Like many, he sees him as a real rival to Froome and called on him to ride the Tour.

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf asked, “Will this be Tom’s Tour?” while L’Equipe newspaper specifically compared Froome’s and Dumoulin’s chances.

“Come to the Tour, Tom. You’ve got a great chance to compete against a rider with the same qualities as you: Chris Froome,” Prudhomme said an interview with Dutch national television channel NOS. “Another reason is that the Tour of France

is the biggest race in the world. You also have a French name, you are a Dutchman. The first rider I saw win the Tour de France was Jan Janssen.

Come to the Tour from July 7 to 29.”

Dumoulin has yet to share his ideas on the route of the 2018 Tour de France, but the testing first week, the cobble stage to Roubaix and the final time trial could all tempt him.

However, the steep climbs and lack of a flat time trial could also be a turn off and convince him to target a second Giro d’Italia victory and only focus on the overall classification at the Tour de France in 2019.

Dumoulin rode the 2016 Tour de France as preparation for the Rio Olympics, winning a road stage to Andorra and the time trial ahead of Froome, but quit the race after stage 18.

Team Sunweb coach Aike Visbeek was in Paris for the Tour de France presentation but warned that the team and Dumoulin would only decide their goal for 2018 after the presentation of the Giro d’Italia on November 29.

“We had hoped for more time-trial kilometres. It could be good for Dumoulin but is not perfect,” Visbeek told NOS. “The first week suits the all-rounders, and that is an advantage for Tom. He can position himself well and that is important in Brittany and on the cobbles. It is not yet certain whether the Tour will be on Tom’s program.

We’ll wait for the Giro presentation before deciding.” Cyclingnews

OurTime

A8 Saturday, October 28, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PGH introduces osteoporosis-management models

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HE Department of Orthopedics of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), along with the UP-PGH Alumni Association last Friday led the launch of its Orthogeriatric Multidisciplinary Fracture Management Model and Fracture Liaison Service for management of fractures among the Filipino elderly.

The launch was part of UP-PGH’s osteoporosis-awareness campaign in celebration of the World Osteoporosis Day on October 20 to bring light to the pressing issues about osteoporosis, including the global burden, nutritional facts, diagnosis, fracture and fall-risk prevention and the role of the family in the management of the disease.

A symposium about Osteoporosis and Fracture Prevention, and a fitness activity called Sayaw at Ehersisyo were also simultaneously done in the launch and offered free to the public.

At the same time, UP-PGH alumni orthopedic doctors at the Chong Hua Hospital Cebu, Davao Doctors Hospital and General Santos Medical Center also held similar activities.

PGH director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi said millions are at risk for osteoporosis, yet many Filipinos are unaware that the quality of their bones are gradually worsening over time until they suffer from osteoporosisrelated fractures.

Legaspi added that, at present, it is not uncommon for many elderly and post-menopausal individuals who have sustained fragility fractures to not receive appropriate diagnosis or treatment for osteoporosis, leading to disease progression and exposure to more fractures and serious health risks.

“This disease that weakens bone density and bone tissue is a major cause of debilitating and sometimes fatal fractures in the elderly,” he said. PNA

Baguio City honors outstanding senior citizens

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AGUIO CITY—Twelve senior citizens from various sectors were honored here on October 25 for their continuing contribution to the development of the community.

The city government of Baguio awarded the prestigious “GintongTala Luminary Award” for exemplary leadership and extraordinary services to the city’s community development to Jamal Makarangkat for spiritual and religious service; Councilor Elaine Sembrano for government service—legislative department; retired City General Services Officer Romeo Concio for government service—executive department; Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Mia Joy OallaresCawed for government service—judiciary; ophthalmologist Ronaldo Paraan for health and medicine; and University of the Cordilleras Officer in Charge (OIC) President Ray Dean Salvosa for education.

They were joined by Baguio Museum OIC Executive Director Stela de Guia for tourism and culture; businesswoman Nancy Alabanza for business and trade; retired Philippine National Police Gen. Villamor Bumanglag for military service; Office of the City Social Welfare and Development (OCSWADO) Officer Betty Fangasan for fraternal social and civic service; retired Radyo ng Bayan station manager Roger Mercado for journalism; and former City Councilor Rufino Panagan for sports.

The 12 awardees were recognized and cited for their individual exemplary leadership, performance and achievement in their respective profession, vocation or career and for their outstanding participation in civic-social or environmental- development activities for a better Baguio either as a club member, officer or as an individual volunteer, said City Information Office Head Aileen Refuerzo.

Refuerzo said the awarding was led by the OCSWD in partnership with the senior-citizen organization.

The awards were presented by Mayor Mauricio Domogan, Rep. Marquez O. Go of the Lone District of Baguio City and Councilor Lilia Fariñas at the Baguio Convention Center.

The members of the awards committee were Office of Senior Citizens Affairs Head Isaias Barongan; Blessed Association of Retired Persons Foundation Inc. chairman Federico Balanag; Federation of Baguio Senior Citizen Associations’s Edita Ibarra; Philippine Information Agency-Cordillera Regional Director Helen Tibaldo and Joseph Zambrano; and the Public Information Office of the City Mayor’s Office.

During the program, the Lakan and Lakambini elderly were presented and did the ceremonial walk while being serenaded. PNA

Ilocos Norte calls for monitoring of elderly during calamities

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AOAG CITY—The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office is currently completing a list of all its senior citizens to ensure their safety during natural calamities.

Based on previous typhoon experiences, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) noted that some senior citizens living alone in their old houses become the most vulnerable during heavy rains and strong winds brought about by typhoons.

While others opt to evacuate to safer ground during flash floods, these elders prefer to stay in their own houses despite risks of being swept away, and it may already be too late for first responders to rescue them.

Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Lillian Rin said last week that they are now coordinating with the city and municipal social-welfare officers from the 21 towns and two

cities of Ilocos Norte to make a list of all senior citizens, where they reside and what number to contact in case of emergency.

Once the monitoring for the “Lolo and Lola’s watch” is completed, Rin said they will also request all assigned barangay health workers and barangay councilors to regularly visit the senior citizens in their areas.

Rin said similar monitoring should also apply to persons with disabilities, particularly those living in highly vulnerable areas.

As part of achieving Ilocos Norte’s vision as a sustainable, resilient and livable province, the provincial government, through the PDRRMC, aims for zero casualties during natural disasters.

Of the P68-million calamity fund of Ilocos Norte, about 70 percent has been allocated to disaster preparedness, prevention and mitigation measures, while the remaining 30 percent will be spent for quick response. PNA

For older gays in Australia who might reenter the closet, a ball invites them out

M SOLD WITH A SMILE An ambulant vendor of both highland and lowland crops sells near a jeepney terminal and eagerly awaits home-bound buyers

in Baguio City. MAU VICTA

911 calls from nursing home where residents died: Oh, my God! This is crazy!

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T was 3 a.m. when a nurse at a Hollywood, Florida, nursing home called 911, one day last month.

“There’s a patient who’s in cardiac arrest,” she told the operator. “Code Blue. Respiratory failure.”

It was September 13, four days after Hurricane Irma ravaged the state, knocking out electrical lines.

The nursing home’s air-conditioning systems had no power, and the heat inside had risen dramatically.

“I saw her slouch over,” the nurse said of Betty Hibbard, 84, who had been seated in the hallway on the second floor. “I realized that she’s not breathing, so I checked on her.”

The nurse told the 911 operator the area around Hibbard’s mouth and fingers were turning blue.

“We’re doing CPR on her now,” she said.

It was only the first of six emergency calls that day made by nursing- home staff members over threeand-a-half hours. By the final call, multiple paramedics were on the scene, as well as staff members who had walked over from Memorial Regional Hospital, a short distance away, and were alarmed by the conditions of the patients who had begun to arrive into their emergency room with heat stroke and fevers upward of 109 degrees.

The audio of the emergency calls, released by the Hollywood Police Department on Monday last week, gave a sense of the growing crisis that unfolded that morning at the nursing home, Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills. Eight residents, including Hibbard, died that day, and six more died in the days and weeks that followed.

More than 100 people were evacuated

to hospitals and other nursing homes.

The callers, sometimes nurses or nursing assistants, attempted to remain calm, but often sounded pressured, exhausted and overwhelmed as they answered questions about the conditions of the patients. All were reported to be having severe difficulty breathing.

“Oh my God, this is crazy,” a woman making the fourth call said at around 6:15 a.m. as she struggled to find a patient’s age in the nursing home’s computer system, which had a separate power source.

“We are initiating CPR at this moment,” she said. Then, sounding flustered, she gave the phone to another woman.

“They have a crash cart there, they’re working on her now as we speak,” the second woman said, referring to the wheeled supply cart used for resuscitations.

Gov. Rick Scott has criticized the nursing home for failing to call 911 on behalf of its residents, and the deaths remain under police investigation.

The newly released audio demonstrates that the nursing home staff did indeed call 911 for patients that Wednesday morning, as well as for two patients the previous two days.

But, by the time the calls were made, the residents were suffering respiratory distress and, in some cases dying.

According to information provided by the police, a call was made on Monday, September 11, a day after Hurricane Irma made “Investigators have now completed witness interviews related to the 911 calls and have determined that the audio can be released without jeopardizing the

ongoing investigation,” the police said in a news release.

Several families of residents who died have sued the home. The governor, through the state’s health agency, moved to shut down the nursing home.

The home has filed a legal challenge.

Hollywood Hills, one of many nursing homes in South Florida that lost power after the hurricane, noted that state officials and the power company were repeatedly called for help in restoring electricity to the air conditioning. In one of the 911 calls made on September 13, a worker at the Broward County emergency-operations center noted that, the day before, a psychiatric facility that shared the same building as the nursing home, and also had no air conditioning, had called the county for assistance.

On Monday Geoffrey D. Smith, a lawyer for the nursing home, said the home could not comment on the 911 calls because it had not yet heard them.

“We have been asking for these records since the incidents occurred,” he said in an e-mail. “To date, we have not had access to the 911 calls and are still waiting for responses to our multiple public-record requests.”

After the deaths, the governor released an emergency rule that will require all nursing homes and assistedliving facilities, by November 15, to have generators and enough fuel to keep their facilities at safe temperatures. In the past, nursing homes have resisted similar measures, citing cost, and several industry groups have filed legal challenges to the new rule. Last week, the state’s health-care agency said that homes could request extensions “under extreme circumstances.”

New York Times News Service

ELBOURNE, Australia— As hundreds of guests ascended a rainbow-lit staircase at Melbourne’s Town Hall, Tristan Meecham dashed around the foyer—embracing a woman who arrived in a gold mask; kissing a stooped, tuxedoed gentleman on the cheek; and occasionally sending a “whoop!” across the room.

He fanned himself vigorously. He was doing it all in 6-inch stilettos.

The soiree, held one Saturday evening in October, was the inaugural Coming Back Out Ball, an event intended to honor older gay, transgender and intersex people and dreamed up by Meecham, 34.

Guests arrived from across the country. Some came with partners of more than 30 years, and others had only just come out in their 70s or 80s.

The ball came at an important moment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Australia, as the country awaits the results of a postal survey on whether same-sex marriage should be legalized.

Meecham, the artistic director of the performance company All the Queens Men, said the event was a gift to those who had paved the way.

The ball, he said, was also an effort to spotlight an issue rarely discussed: the tendency of LGBT people to hide that part of their identities when they enter nursing homes or receive at-home care.

“We need to be thinking about what equality means, beyond just marriage equality,” Meecham said.

Many older LGBT Australians have endured decades of discrimination, sexual and physical violence and forced medical or psychological treatment. Some still have criminal records for homosexuality. (Australia’s final laws against sodomy were repealed in 1997.)

Older gay and transgender people are used to hiding their bodily or sexual differences to protect themselves, said Catherine Barrett, an elder-care researcher and activist. For some older gays, she said, their last experience with the health system may have been a forced visit to an institution decades ago. Those experiences can make it hard for them to feel safe, she said.

At the ball, the guests settled in to watch a night of cabaret, drag and opera over a three-course dinner.

Many were fabulously dressed, such as a man outfitted like Liberace, but Brian Day, 77, said he preferred to wear his “new trackiedaks,” or sweatpants. On his flannel shirt was pinned his Order of Australia medal, awarded for his services during the AIDS crisis and to the gay-rights movement. When the dancing started, he watched and shuffled his feet.

His body, he said, showed the residual grief of older gay men, particularly the trauma of the AIDS epidemic.

“We have lived through 25 years of having our friends die, die, die, die, die, die, die....” he trailed off.

“How will people take me, like with me crying then?”

Later in the evening, Jean Taylor, 73, a writer and activist since the 1970s, took in the night air on a bench outside the hall, watching pedestrians on busy Swanston Street with her companion, Ardy Tibby, 76. Taylor said she thought that lesbians would always be “cautious” about coming out, but that they needed to “be a little brave” and not “buy into the assumption that all nursing homes are unsafe.”

Taylor, a self-labeled “housewife and mother of two turned radical lesbian feminist,” said the ball was a nice celebration, but she voiced disappointment that much of the local lesbian-feminist history had been “lost.”

“People don’t even know or care enough to find out what we did,” she said. After the dinner plates were cleared, Meecham addressed the crowd.

“To the LGBTI elders who have led the way, who have shaped our community, who have fought for my right to wear these 6-inch heels and gold nail polish: To you, I say thank you. I bow down to you.”

Meecham then leapt off the stage with the microphone and pulled guests out of their seats one by one, inviting them to share their stories.

“I always say that closets are for clothes and mothballs, and that’s it,” said Gordon Wilson, a gay man in his 80s. New York Times News Service

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Millennials BusinessMirror

Saturday, October 28, 2017

A9

Huskee Digital’s young boss has entrepreneurship DNA

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

school fairs.”

In May 2015 he formed “Platoph” with his cousin. It is an app-based business in the mold of AirBnB for chefs.

“You can book a chef to cook for you for a certain function,” Azurin said of the mobile application.

(SMEs) and start-ups. He pointed out the company’s biggest value is not the service engine but the youthful enthusiasm and energy of the team.

“If somebody hires us, we will not be on a transactional mode but provide relational value,” Azurin said.

“We will help you embrace digital marketing. Our goal is to be the goto agency of SMEs and start-ups.”

He added going digital complemented by proper approach and technique in the current environment is advantageous for SMEs because they can now compete in a more level playing field.

Other ventures

Blaming Ateneo

EING an entrepreneur was written in the stars, so to speak, for Julio Miguel P. Azurin.

After an internship with an information and communications technology conglomerate, the 24-yearold CEO of Huskee Digital realized he was not cut out to be an employee.

“I had this deep sense of awareness that working as an employee is not my line. At first, I applied at fast-moving consumer goods [FMCG] companies, banks and multinational companies,” Azurin told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview in Makati City.

“Later, I contemplated on my options and decided to pursue my path to entrepreneurship.”

His parents were initially surprised by the leap of faith undertaken by Azurin, considering he was a tyro in entrepreneurial field.

Nevertheless, his passion on entrepreneurship cannot be denied because his father Jorge is a famous technopreneur in the country.

“I guess being an entrepreneur is in my DNA,” Azurin said. “Back in high school in Ateneo [de Manila University], I was active in buying and selling products during

IN August last year he stepped down from the business to pursue other ventures.

“I was suddenly left with nothing to do,” he quipped.

Azurin embarked on freelancing as a marketing consultant. To attract clients, he dangled free service for a month for interested clients. He had a great start as a dozen people availed his services.

“It came from a wide variety of businesses and age groups. Out of the original 12, three clients decided to continue the consultancy services for three months.

On April this year Azurin decided to raise the bar of his entrepreneurial goal by forming his own

This undated photo courtesy of Huskee Digital Inc. shows Julio Miguel P. Azurin (middle) with Huskee Digital’s staff (from left) Mikee Fernando, Kerwin Yaolim, Ysa Tabian and Bianca Felipe during the team’s first day in Acceler8 Coworking space. Huskee Digital Inc.

marketing consulting company called Huskee Digital.

“We named it after the Siberian Husky; they’re very intuitive and agile,” he said. “That’s how we want to work. They’re also very energetic and full of life—also the values we want to exhibit in our work.”

To get started, he hired four people— Ysa Tabian, Mikee Fernando, Kerwin Yaolim and Bianca Felipe.

Huskee Digital offers services, such as audit and playbook, content creation, social-media engagement and

Don’t get too comfortable at that desk

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IRST there were individual offices. Then cubicles and open floor plans. Now, there is a “palette of places.”

New office designs are coming to a workplace near you, with layouts meant to cater to the variety of tasks required of modern white-collar workers. Put another way, it means people don’t sit in just one place.

It’s partly a backlash against the one-sizefits-all mind-set, not to mention the corporate penny-pinching, embodied in the move toward pure open floor plans that packed more workers into less and less space. That idea was supposed to drive collaboration, but many experts agree it often went too far, with row upon row of desks and workbench-style seating more likely to generate ennui than efficiency.

“When used as a generic answer for workspace design, it’s terrible,” said David Lathrop, a researcher at Steelcase, an office-furniture maker.

The new model is largely open, but not entirely.

Under the revised thinking, breaking down walls to bring people together is good, but so are “team spaces” and standing tables, comfortable couches and movable walls.

Privacy is also good, particularly for tasks that require intense concentration, the thinking goes. That doesn’t mean a return to the glory days of private offices, but it does mean workers have more space and more places to seek solitude than in the neo-Dickensian workbench settings.

The new designs often include “isolation rooms,” soundproof phone booths and even lounges where technology is forbidden.

Changing needs

THIS is meant to be tweaked as needs change.

“This continues to be iterated,” said Frank Cuevas, who is working on a major redesign at IBM—and whose use of the word “iterated” hints at the kind of start-up mentality the changes are intended to evoke.

“It’s not something we’re going stop and say, ‘This is it,’” he said.

The corporations setting the new standard are not young Silicon Valley companies known for free food, slides and foosball tables at work—or for carefree spending, as at Apple, whose new corporate mother ship cost a reported $5 billion. Nor are the designs one-of-a-kind projects that veer toward eccentricity. Salesforce’s new skyscraper campus in San Francisco, for example, has areas on every floor for meditation, partly inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk.

Instead, the companies behind the emerging new norm in workplace design are a lineup of more staid organizations across a range of industries, and they may spend heavily but also systematically. They include Microsoft, IBM and General Electric (GE). Certain workspace innovations may surface first at Google or Facebook, but the older stalwarts are combining and refining them for mainstream businesses.

training and workshops. Furthermore, it is also offer search engine optimization, high-quality technology marketing service, blogging, Web design and product shooting.

Acceler8 aid

BEING a doting parent, the older Azurin gives his son some tips on mentorship.

“I appreciate the way he works,” Azurin’s father said.

To boost their market visibility, Azurin got a coworking space in AcAmerica. But that trend is reversing, as companies recognize that offices can be creative clusters. IBM, for example, recently called 5,000 of its at-home employees back to offices, although 1 in 5 workers in North America still work from home full time, the company said.

IBM spends

Tim Moore, a Microsoft software architect, talks with a colleague in a renovated ground floor open space on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington, on Septenber 7. Since 2014 the company has opened 10 buildings renovated to replace traditional offices with open designs that cater more to collaboration. Stuart Isett/The New York Times

“These workplace ideas are beginning to be adopted across all industries,” said Arlyn Vogelmann, a principal at Gensler, an architecture and design firm whose clients include Facebook and GE.

suffered. Too much openness can cause workers to “do a turtle,” researchers say, and retrench and communicate less—colleagues who retreat into their headphones all day, for example.

Internet era

Sweet spot

THE new designs are not about looks.

They are an attempt to adapt to the spread of Internet-era digital technology—and its hurry-up ways—in every industry. Space drives behavior, experts say, and the goal of the new designs is to hasten the pace of sharing ideas, making decisions and creating products. They are also meant to appeal to millennial recruits, many of whom are more comfortable working in a Starbucks than in a traditional office.

The new model eschews the common dogmas of work life: Everybody gets an office, or everyone gets a cubicle, or everybody gets a seat on a workbench. A diversity of spaces, experts say, is more productive, and the new concept is called activitybased workplace design, tailoring spaces for the kind of work done.

“Office geography matters, and it can be a key managerial lever to increase communication and the cross-fertilization of ideas,” said Christopher Liu, an assistant professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

New wave

ONE of the most aggressive makeovers is happening at Microsoft, a change forced by business necessity.

The company faces a new wave of technology, as the market has shifted to software delivered and constantly updated as a service over the Internet cloud, as opposed to being loaded onto individual computers, with the code often stored on compact discs and sold as a product every few years.

“You have to collaborate more,” said Michael Ford, Microsoft’s general manager of global real estate. “We absolutely have to change.”

For decades, the company, based outside Seattle, housed its software engineers in secluded offices, thinking that the privacy helped employees focus while writing computer code. But in 2010 Microsoft started testing open designs with a quarter of a floor, and then expanded. Since 2014 it has opened 10 renovated buildings without offices, including four this year.

Microsoft, Ford said, has taken a test-and-learn approach. It learned, for example, that its early designs were too open plan, with 16 to 24 engineers in team-based spaces. Engineers found those spaces noisy and distracting, and concentration

TODAY, there are more private spaces, and the team areas hold only eight to 12 engineers.

“That’s the sweet spot for Microsoft,” Ford said.

The company thinks it is working. Microsoft’s Azure cloud software business has surged in the past few years, as has the company’s stock price.

Ford added about 20 percent of the workplaces had been redone on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington, and the surrounding area.

Within five years, he said, the renovated share could reach 80 percent.

Offices, he added, will not disappear entirely, but they will be reserved mainly for people who regularly have confidential conversations, such as lawyers and top executives.

Companies renovating their workspaces often tap into a growing body of research on building design and worker well-being and productivity.

Research at the University of Oregon concluded that exposure to sunlight and outdoor views correlated to about 6 percent fewer sick days than those without. Research done by Craig Knight, a British organizational psychologist, concluded that “empowered offices”—in which workers can choose their conditions—can increase productivity by at least 25 percent.

And at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, scientists found that well-ventilated offices can significantly improve a person’s ability to perform challenging tasks, such as developing strategy or responding to a crisis.

Saving money

COMPANIES can also save money by using a little less space than conventional offices do.

Worker space is now about 150 square feet per person, down from 225 square feet in 2010, estimates Tim Venable, senior vice president for research at CoreNet Global, a commercial real-estate association. But the hybrid design saves less than entirely open designs, which usually have workbench settings, and in which the amount of space can drop to as little as 60 square feet per worker.

“There can be huge value to people coming together, but the real reason a lot of corporations have gone to bench seating is money falling to the bottom line,” Lathrop of Steelcase said.

Another space saver has been getting people to work from home, a trend for years in corporate

celer8 in the space provider’s Paseo de Roxas branch. He said Acceler8 served as their connection to get their first few clients.

“They also gave us an opportunity to do their digital marketing.

They continuously provide us with support in many aspects— through events, networking and connecting us with the right people,” he said.

Huskee Digital will leverage its familiarity with digital technology to push their business, especially on the small and medium enterprises

BEING exposed to social media for the past decade, Azurin believes he and his team can articulate and expound on the value of digital marketing to their clients. Belonging to the millennials and Generation Z, the group can promote the significance and impact of digital marketing to their audience, he said.

Aside from running Huskee Digital, Azurin is also a lecturer on “Cross Culture” for undergraduate students at the Admu campus in Quezon City.

This is his version of paying it forward to serve other people.

“I blame Ateneo for being service oriented,” he said. “It gives you high satisfaction when you made a difference.”

Talking to the dead Vernon Velasco

millennial universe

last year, we were asked to light up a candle after each one then erect it on different areas around the house.

I was tasked to light one for my cousin Oliver, who died just four years ago. Oliver and I had never been up close and personal; exchanging pleasantries was as far as it went.

If anything, the only time we had a chance to talk was also just four years ago, by an inflated pool and over bottles of beer shortly after we buried his mother.

It was only then I realized that my cousin was a limited man, who spewed out words of advice, perhaps, to make up for chance conversations we never but could have had for all these years. It was like talking to a new friend, who cuts you off time and again by saying, “I really think we had met before.” He toped and blew smoke between truncated lines and asked in a slurred voice if I wanted a cigarette.

I since had not heard of the name until I was asked to do my commemoration. Instead of lighting a candle, I lit a cigarette, settled against a wall and took long contemplative draws.

There was hardly a need to say something. But I knew he knew whatever it is that I had to say.

SINCE 2014 IBM has spent $380 million renovating its workspaces in the United States, which now bear all the hallmarks of the new hybrid design—open spaces, whiteboard walls, no offices, sit-or-stand desks, huddle rooms and phone rooms.

IBM, said Cuevas, vice president of real-estate strategy and operations, offers employees as many as 10 different space configurations. In January the company also remade its headquarters in Armonk, New York, with senior executives departing woodpaneled offices for smaller, side-by-side glass ones without doors.

While GE executives wait for the company’s new headquarters to be built in Boston, they are working in temporary offices nearby, designed according to the new principles. The contrast with the cavernous offices and silent hallways of the old headquarters in suburban Connecticut could scarcely be more striking—open spaces, sit-orstand desks and no parking spaces. (Workers are urged to take public transportation.)

Face-to-face conversations have replaced endless e-mail chains, so decisions are made faster, said Ann Klee, vice president for the Boston development and operations. Still, openness has its limits. Sometimes, she concedes, you do have to ask colleagues to use their “indoor voices.” More quiet rooms are being added to the new headquarters design.

F

New space

Millennials spark new volunteerism

THE Boston Consulting Group has also adopted the new design, with two goals in mind: Prompt people to come to the office rather than avoid it, and encourage more “casual collisions” that might spur workers to trade ideas and build relationships.

Its old midtown Manhattan office was a traditional space.

“Lots of doors, lots of pillars, nowhere to really hang out, and people had lunch delivered to their desks,” said Ross Love, a senior partner in New York.

The new space, in the Hudson Yards development on the far west side of Manhattan, is a hybrid open design. Since the firm moved last November, most consultants have been coming into the office substantially more often than they did to the old building. To measure informal interactions, Boston Consulting hired a start-up in the emerging field of workplace analytics, Humanyze, a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab. It monitored workers’ physical movements, meetings and patterns of communication.

Two tests were conducted of about 100 employees, before and after the move. In the new space, workers spent an additional four to five hours a week in short, unplanned interactions. And they spent less time in formal meetings.

In surveys, the company’s workers say they are getting more done, faster in the new space. But the payoff, Love concedes, is difficult to measure so far.

“It’s like increasing the clock speed of a computer,” he said. “If you rev things up, you ought to be able to do more.” New York Times News Service

OLLOWING the law of matter, I’ve been trying to figure whether souls are solid, liquid or gas. But since not everyone can see them, I surmise they most closely are gas, mixed with the air we ingest by eating too fast and sometimes come out as a fart.

This, as I also try to explain to myself why on All Saints’ Day, we don’t visit the graves of our dead relatives. Instead, we are accustomed to lighting up a candle representing each family dead so that they wouldn’t be sad.

Apparently, swinging by at the grave to say howdy is like talking to what little remains of what used to be breaded pork chop—what unrecognizable little bones and tendons that had been refused to be eaten by the family dog. So, lighting up a candle will do. There was hardly a need to talk; the smoke is supposed to deliver whatever the message—gas to gas. They are, after all, everywhere.

We do this on assignment and,

H

EEDING the call for rebuilding war-torn Marawi City and the lives of its displaced people, some 300 youth leaders and college students from Marawi’s neighboring locale, the city of Iligan and other parts of Northern Mindanao came forward to leverage volunteerism to complement the extensive rehabilitation efforts that the Maranaos need.

The youth forum dubbed “MAD Talks: Nagmahal, Nasaktan, Nagvolunteer” was held recently at the Doña Juana Actub Lluch Memorial Central School in Iligan City, about 37 kilometers away from the war zone. was spearheaded by the non-governmental group I am Making a Difference Inc. (I am Mad). The group, which is a 2016 Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (Tayo) awardee, is composed of millennials committed to spread the gospel of active volunteerism and selflessness through its collective passion and nationwide advocacy to mobilize local youth.

The MAD Talks presented resource speakers and successful volunteers who shared their insights and personal life experiences to inspire the Mindanaoan youth to continue to make a difference through their respective organizations and not to get tired of helping others despite challenges.

“It is high time to focus on the youth in this region in light of the Marawi siege,” I am Mad Cofounder Christian Marx Rivero said. “We hope that with [this forum], our youth leaders in the country will be moved by real-life results brought about by

volunteerism that will promote more participation, development and peace.”

Personal experience

I am MAD volunteer Wino de la Cruz encouraged fellow youths to create “a community with shared compassion, charity and care.”

The part-time volunteer and full-time communication exec from Antipolo City added, “There may be war, chaos and other forms of distresses in our lives, but we can always turn our pain into purpose and our brokenness into blessing.” De la Cruz also prodded youth leaders to “always choose to love no matter what, and experience that rare joy, renewed love of life through volunteerism.”

After the series of inspirational talks, the attendees lighted candles and formed the letters MAD symbolizing their commitment to be like candles, to give light and be the light to the many, especially during dark times.

I am MAD vowed to continuously monitor and coordinate the youth leaders’ progress in the region.

The group donated school supplies and snacks for evacuees from Marawi who are currently adopted as students at the school.

The Iligan activity was the group’s 38th edition since its inception in 2009 that gathered 21 volunteers from across the country. The recent MAD Talks was the 20th youth event the volunteer group had organized in the country.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, October 28, 2017

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CHERRY Mobile’s Flare S6 Selfie

When mobile-phone photography can be more UNDERSTANDING the importance of a selfie-centric smartphone to the Filipino market, Cherry Mobile (www. cherrymobile.com.ph) has developed and produced the sixth and newest generation of their Flare series with revolutionary mobile-camera functions. Dubbed as the Flare S6 series, the latest pride of the leading local mobile-phone brand in the country is crafted with top-notch mobile-photography features. It also comes with exceptional lenses, which allow users to fully capture every moment in life.

For those who want to upgrade their smartphone to something that offers superior camera functionality for just P3,999 SRP, check out the Cherry Mobile Flare S6.

With its zooming 13MP front and back cameras, one can capture more exciting and candid moments together with friends, family and peers. The shooters of the device are also equipped with a variety of filters and other camera upgrades that make selfie or groufie moments comparable to that of smartphones with hefty price points.

The Cherry Mobile Flare S6 runs on Android Nougat 7.0 and is equipped with 2GB RAM and 16GB built-in memory, which can be supplemented by up to 64GB via the microSD slot. The device is also LTE 700MHz-ready, uses USB Type-C for faster charging and file-transfer experience, and is crafted with a fingerprint sensor for easy unlocking and extra security. One’s selfie moments get truly remarkable with Cherry Mobile’s ultimate selfie smartphone, the Flare S6 Selfie. Priced at P7,999 SRP, this device aims to impress and delight everyone who loves to capture more of themselves at their best angle. Its 16MP front and back cameras will not fall behind one’s expectations, as it can take flattering selfies even in low-light environments.

More than its superb camera features, the Flare S6 Selfie sports a 5.2” full-HD screen for a more enhanced and defined mobile viewing, and is powered by a 1.5-GHz octa-core processor and 3GB RAM, while the 16GB on-board storage can be supplemented by a 128GB microSD card.

Meanwhile, there’s the Cherry Mobile Flare S6 Plus, the flagship in the series which sports a quad-camera setup (16MP+5MP main and 16MP+5MP front shooters) that can capture everything from scenic views to crowd photos to everyday happenings.

For one’s viewing pleasure, the Flare S6 Plus display measures at to 5.7” with an 18:9 aspect ratio, complemented with a TRUEVIEW display to ensure rich mobile viewing.

Priced at P9,999 SRP, it is powered by a 1.5G-Hz octa-core and 4GB RAM for seamless multitasking, and packs 64GB of internal memory that can be doubled up to 128GB via the microSD slot.

It is also 700-MHz LTE-ready and supports HiFi Audio.

THE panel during the #IAmDifferent launch: Cesca Litton (from left), who hosted the program; Victoria Herrera; Cheyenne de la Fuente; Anne Labayoga; and Penshoppe creative director Jeff Bascon

Being different should be celebrated PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

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F you talk to 10 people, chances are eight of them have experienced some form of bullying.

And this makes you think: Is bullying the new normal?

“Bullying is so common that it’s become almost normal,” said Victoria Herrera, cofounder of She Talks Asia. I remember how you could be bullied back in grade school just because the brand of your trainers was different from everyone else’s.

Being different, something that should be celebrated, is actually a cause for bullying.

Social media has made it very easy for bullies to target and harass their victims.

“A 2016 study has shown that cases of bullying have increased by 71 percent,” child behavior expert Cheyenne de la Fuente said.

“Social media can be a vicious platform,” said TV host Cesca Litton. Bullying can take on many forms. Herrera, for instance, cited that taking a screenshot of someone to a chat group and discussing what that person is wearing is a form of bullying.

“Sometimes, there are children who are scared to go to school because they know that they will be bullied once they get there,” said educator Anne

Labayoga of Teach for the Philippines.

Herrera, Litton, de la Fuente and Labayoga were guests at Penshoppe’s launch of its CSR campaign #IAmDifferent. With the campaign and the help of its Filipino and international endorsers and influencers, Penshoppe brings to focus the issue of bullying among the youth. A study has showed that one out of two Filipino students have experienced or witnessed bullying in their schools.

At the core of the campaign is Penshoppe’s collection of shirts and caps with the statements “I Am Different” and “Different is Good.” Each t-shirt is different, with a unique serial number.

“We hope this campaign will start a movement, and educate and encourage Filipinos to do their part against bullying,” Penshoppe creative director Jeff Bascon said. Proceeds from the sales will go to the development of a module that discourages bullying and encourages acceptance. The module, which will be used in public schools, is in partnership with Teach for the Philippines. Teach for the Philippines is an organization that enlists some of the country’s most promising youth leaders to teach for two years in Philippine public schools.

Penshoppe’s international brand ambassadors Bella Hadid, Lucky Blue Smith, Kaia Gerber, Sandara Park and others have spoken for the campaign.

ClubPenshoppePH members Loisa Andalio, Ronnie Alonte, Sofia Andres, Tanner Mata, Maria Fabiana and Emilio Perez also support the campaign.

Alab Pilipinas Head Coach Jimmy Alapag has also expressed his support for #IAmDifferent.

Disclaimer: I wrote this column before I learned that a certain personality, who I consider to be a bully, was at the launch of the campaign. I attended the morning session and I didn’t see this person. I have

VICTORIA HERRERA wears the shirt.

great respect and admiration for the people who sat on the panel. I’m just sorry that this person was at the launch and even wore the t-shirt. I will not name this person because it is all over social media anyway. But I admire Penshoppe’s sincerity in putting forward this initiative. ■

Greenpeace faults many tech giants for environment impact

BY YOUKYUNG LEE The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea—The environmental group Greenpeace issued a report on Tuesday giving technology titans, including Samsung Electronics, Amazon and Huawei, low marks for their environmental impact.

Many of the biggest technology companies failed to deliver on commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and are still reluctant to commit fully to renewable energy, according to Greenpeace USA’s Guide to Greener Electronics. The report, which assessed 17 top global tech companies in three areas, also faulted many of them for failing to use more recycled materials in their products and slow progress in phasing out use of toxic materials.

“Tech companies claim to be at the forefront of innovation, but their supply chains are stuck in the Industrial Age,” Gary Cook, a campaigner at Greenpeace USA, said in a statement.

The report details the hidden cost behind what may be the most sought-after and celebrated consumer products in the 21st century: mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablet computers. Since 2011 Greenpeace has urged global tech companies to transition to renewable energy, prompting some of them to switch to environmentally friendly power sources for their data centers. The group is urging the industry to tackle energy issues in manufacturing and supply chains, design longer-lasting products to reduce electronics waste and urging an overall rethink of its “take-makewaste” business model.

The report highlighted that tech companies’ manufacturing processes are not as environmentally friendly as their innovative images might suggest.

While the energy consumption in the tech industry rose rapidly to fuel the supply chains and the manufacturing of these products, as well as the data centers where social media, cloud computing and other applications run, so have the greenhouse-gas

emissions. Samsung Electronics received a grade of D in its use of renewable energy, which accounted for just 1 percent of its manufacturing process, compared with Apple, which relied on renewable energy for 96 percent of its operation.

Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones and key component suppliers of many of the tech companies featured in the report, saw its greenhouse-gas emissions rise by 24 percent in 2016 from two years ago. It also received low marks on its efforts to reduce and disclose hazardous chemicals at workplaces and to design long-lasting products.

Samsung Electronics and other companies mentioned in the report did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

Chinese smartphone makers Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have gained a significant share of the market in the last few years. They scored below average in all categories and lacked transparency and commitment in renewable energy, the report said.

Amazon was the only United States company

that received the lowest mark, an F, in its overall environmental performance, along with the Chinese phone makers. Greenpeace said Amazon was among the least transparent companies and did not report the greenhouse-gas footprint of its own operations.

Among the 17 companies, Amsterdam-based Fairphone and Apple were said to be doing better in various areas.

Greenpeace urged the companies to use more renewable energy, switching energy sources that power their supply chains. It also urged the tech companies to remove hazardous chemicals and other materials from their products and workplaces, and design longer-lasting devices to help reduce waste.

If the tech industry does not change to renewable energy, the world won’t be able to tackle climate change, said Greenpeace campaigner Lee Insung.

“In the next three to five years, the use of renewable energy and how well the companies cope with climate change will determine their core competitiveness,” Lee said.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, October 28, 2017 A11

Who owns a tweet?

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Starmobile expands retail channels FILIPINO tech company Star Telecom Alliance Resources Inc. (STAR Inc.), the group behind Starmobile, announced that it is expanding its retail distribution to include sari-sari stores and loading stations. For its initial phase starting in the second half of October, Starmobile (www.starmobile.com. ph) feature phones will be available in over 20 sarisari stores and loading stations in Metro Manila, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga, providing the brand both urban and rural settings to pilot this pioneering initiative.

This business strategy will extend the company’s sales touch points beyond branded stores and kiosks, multibrand vendors, its own online shop, partner e-commerce web sites, and even convenience stores.

“In 2014 Starmobile became the first phone brand to enter into convenience store distribution when it forged a partnership with 7-Eleven. Now, Starmobile devices are available in many of their branches, whether over the counter, through their multichannel CLIQQ store on Google Play and the Apple App Store, or their electronic kiosks and catalogs instores,” said Gerardo Balderrama, sales and marketing head of Starmobile. “This year we continue to reach new frontiers in retail as we enter into sari-sari store distribution, again becoming the first tech brand to explore this channel in the Philippines.”

With over a million sari-sari stores in neighborhoods all over the Philippines, this innovative move will allow the company to penetrate underserved markets, especially in the provinces. Just as important, it also aligns with Starmobile’s objective of democratizing technology.

Even with its objective of democratizing technology, Starmobile still pursues the highest standards in the production of its mobile products.

Under its “Star Standards” initiative, the company ensured that its full product lineup will have components, suppliers and processes that are fully compliant with international industry certifications.

Starmobile’s world-class standards apply even to its feature phones assembled in its factory in Calamba, Laguna. “Even though we are a local player, we are proud to say that Starmobile can stand toe-to-toe with products from international brands in terms of performance and durability,” Balderrama added.

Consumers interested in getting top performing and durable Starmobile products can also win additional exciting prizes as part of the company’s STAR-Tagal campaign. Until December 31, customers who purchase any Starmobile product can get a chance to win over P4 million worth of prizes, taxfree. These include hundreds of new Starmobile devices, home appliances, eight Honda motorcycles, two brand-new Toyota cars, or P1 million in cash.

BY VALERIYA SAFRONOVA New York Times News Service

EW YORK—Frank Ocean gave a rare, intimate performance at Panorama Music Festival in late July that enraptured his fans—and had some unexpected consequences that went far beyond music.

Since then, the event has raised questions around the issue of copyright in an era of viral sharing and what happens to a young, creative business when placed in the spotlight.

But in the beginning everyone was just excited about his T-shirt.

Simple and white, the shirt asked, in black capital letters: “Why be racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic when you could just be quiet?”

Twitter quickly discovered that it was produced by Green Box Shop, an online operation founded last year

by Kayla Robinson, 18. In the two days after the show, the web site received 5,500 orders overall (Robinson did not share specific figures for the T-shirt Ocean wore), compared with the 100 it would usually see. It seemed like a Cinderella story.

“My business started in a really small apartment,” Robinson said. “I was living with my mom. It was infested with roaches. I started by myself, and later I hired some friends.” She moved to a warehouse in South Florida recently, and Ocean’s endorsement has been her business’s biggest unintended marketing coup to date. “It was so surreal,” she said. “I did not believe it until I saw photographic evidence.”

And that wasn’t even the first time the shirt— which is made of organic cotton and costs $18.99—had gone viral on social media. In January a user who goes by the handle @lustdad posted an image of himself in the T-shirt, garnering more than 87,000 retweets and more than 191,000 likes.

Yet, criticism was brewing as well. It turned out the quotation on the shirt originated from a tweet sent out in August 2015 by Brandon Male, 18, a student from North Syracuse, New York. Male was frustrated that he had not been properly paid or credited for Green Box Shop’s use of his quotation.

Male said the first time he saw the shirt, earlier this year, he contacted Green Box Shop and was met with mostly dismissal. “They told me I needed to calm down and said they credited me on Instagram one time,” he said. “I ended up letting it slide after that.”

Robinson said she did not handle her company’s social media until recently and was not aware of Male’s requests or that he had written the quote. In fall 2016 “someone direct messaged us and said you should put this quote on a shirt,” she said. “They didn’t send me a screenshot or anything.”

Although other famous figures like Zendaya and Jessica Williams have endorsed Robinson’s designs, she said, “Frank Ocean was the biggest response in terms of sales.”

The response also inspired Male to start speaking up again about his original Twitter post. “I started tweeting about it, and a lot of my followers came to my defense,” he said. “And people who don’t follow me came to my defense, too.”

Christine E. Weller, an associate at Griesing Law who specializes in intellectual property and technology, said: “People will often take images they find online and reproduce them because they think they have the right to. But that’s not the case. It’s generally not permitted without the permission of the copyholder.” Copyright is an opt-out system, she said, which means your intellectual property is yours unless you specifically allow others to use it (through the Creative Commons license, for example).

But there are fair-use exceptions that allow

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AWARDWINNING singer Frank Ocean with the statement T-shirt that raised questions around the issue of copyright in an era of viral sharing

people to appropriate content for purposes like commentary, criticism or scholarship. If the result could be reasonably considered transformative, the appropriator is within his or her legal rights. Weller pointed to lawsuits that have been brought against artist Richard Prince for his use of other artists’ work in a 2014 installation. Various courts have offered mixed judgments on the cases.

If someone uses another’s work for commercial purposes, however, it becomes much easier for the owner of the content to file a cease-and-desist order or to argue that compensation is necessary. Still, Weller added, “There’s an open question about whether a short, pithy tweet falls under copyright protection.”

Her suggestion: When in doubt, reach out.

The day after Ocean’s concert, Robinson did—kind of. She sent $100 to Male on Venmo. He said, “They threw me $100 and told me to go away.” He calculated

that $100 was less than 1 percent of the revenue Green Box Shop had pulled in over two days. Green Box Shop also added a link to his tweet on the product page.

“It was an impulsive decision,” she said. “I hadn’t looked at the number of sales, and I wasn’t thinking about it portion-wise. It does look like I was just throwing money at him to keep him quiet.”

Robinson said she called Male to apologize and set up a time to discuss numbers.

“Moving forward, when people message me with shirt ideas, I should do more investigating,” she added.

“It would be pretty irresponsible of me to just take it.

Being a creator myself, people have copied my shirts before, I totally understand Brandon. Even if it’s a tweet, I have to respect that.” And given the music industry’s history of questions regarding intellectual property and copyright, Ocean would probably understand, as well. ■

Kaspersky to open security code, but will it restore trust?

BY MATT O’BRIEN The Associated Press MOSCOW-BASED cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, battered by suspicion of Russian government influence, wants to reassure customers by opening up its software’s underlying code for outside review. But security experts and some United States politicians say the move is mostly meaningless.

In September the US government barred federal agencies from using Kaspersky’s antivirus products because of concerns about its ties to the Kremlin and Russian spy operations. News reports have since linked Kaspersky software to an alleged theft of cybersecurity information from the US National Security Agency (NSA). The company has repeatedly

denied the allegations and says it’s been dragged into the middle of a “geopolitical fight.”

Now Kaspersky says it will provide the source code of its software—including software updates and threat-detection rules updates—for independent review and assessment. Outside experts, however, say such a review can only reveal so much, and thus would do little to address concerns of customers and the US government. “They’re trying to salvage their reputation,” said Blake Darche, a former worker who is now chief security officer for security firm Area 1. “I don’t see how it addresses the allegations against them in any meaningful way.”

“This review is a red herring that doesn’t address any of the fundamental underlying concerns with Kaspersky products, most significantly, that

Russian law enables the Kremlin to monitor data transmissions, including Kaspersky’s,” US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat and regular Kaspersky critic, said in a statement on Monday.

The suspicion has taken a toll on Kaspersky.

Shortly after the federal ban, retailers such as Best Buy and Office Depot also stopped selling its consumer security software. Then news broke in early-October that hackers allegedly working for the Kremlin used Kaspersky’s software to steal information from an NSA contractor about how the US infiltrates foreign networks and defends against cyberattacks. The company denied involvement.

CEO Eugene Kaspersky said on Twitter on Monday that’s he’s evaluating contractors who can conduct an independent code review.

By 2020, the company says it plans to open three centers in Europe, Asia and the US where it says customers, government agencies and concerned organizations will also be able to review its code.

Security researcher Chris Wysopal said he welcomed multiple, independent reviewers, but cautioned that such analyses can provide only a snapshot of how the software works at a given moment in time. Like phone apps and other programs, security software is frequently updated.

“Even with this transparency, there’s still a level of trust you have to give the company,” said Wysopal, the chief technology officer of Vericode, a part of CA Technologies. “But this is a world we live in. There’s a supply chain. We live in a world of dynamic software, constantly updating.”

When mobile phone photography can be more A10

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

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MYLA PILAO, director of Trend Labs Research, Trend Micro; Ian Felipe, country sales director, Trend Micro Philippines; and Richard Sieng, senior director, Alliance and Strategic Channels.

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SOLENN HEUSSAFF and Nico Bolzico show how to make the most out of data plans.

BusinessMirror

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Asia-Pacific region most vulnerable to cyber attacks

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BY RIZAL RAOUL REYES

HE Asia-Pacific (Apac) region remains the biggest target in attacks from cyber-criminals across multiple threat categories spanning from ransomware to malicious software (malware) to online-banking attacks, according to cloud-security solutions major Trend Micro.

In its Mid-Year Security Roundup, the company reported that from January to June this year, Apac accounted for 35.7 percent of all ransomware detections. Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) came at a far second with 25.24 percent, followed by Latin America (22.66 percent) and North America (15.71 percent).

“Apac was targeted by threats and cyber attacks disproportionately in the first half of the year.

Companies in the region need to better understand cyber attacks and prioritize funds accordingly for effective security,” said Richard Sheng, senior director of Alliances and Strategic Channels, Trend Micro Asia Pacific and Middle East Africa, in a recent news briefing held in Makati City.

Sheng said Apac has been a top magnet for several reasons, such as unpatched or un-updated legacy systems, as well as computing habits that allow the transfer of malware. Being a major hub of multinational companies, Sheng said Apac is often used as a springboard by cybercriminals to attack other targets. Apac also took the lead in onlinebanking malware detected and blocked at 118,193, and 47 million malicious online mobile apps were downloaded by Apac users.

The impact of cybercrimes has wrought havoc to financial markets around the world. Trend Micro reported that global businesses bled as much as $4 billion in financial and economic losses from WannaCry alone, a ransomware attack that infected over 300,000 machines worldwide.

Petya, another ransomware, delivered crucial blows to businesses and organizations that were still reeling a month later, making estimated financial losses much higher.

Trend Micro detected and blocked 82 million ransomware threats for the first half of 2017. The company also noted 436 million malware detections, which were notably high in Japan, Australia and Taiwan. The security company also reported that other cyber attacks from the first half of the year came from Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, where e-mails may be infected with malware or used by cybercriminals to dupe recipients into a con.

The company also noted the rise in the use of cyber propaganda to sway public opinion and perception.

According to their research, Trend Micro found out that Chinese, Russian, Middle Eastern and Englishbased underground markets now offer tools for creating content, boosting social-media reach or even influencing online polls with vote-buying. Fake news is one of the glaring examples of cyber propaganda.

“Based on the insights we gather, our team has been continually constructing a comprehensive threat intelligence database and innovating new products that can respond to the growing threats. That’s why we have started incorporating machine learningbased smart detection technology into all our solutions and gleaned good results,” Sheng added.

In her media presentation, Myla Pilao, director of Trend Labs Research of Trend Micro, identified that malware, malicious mobile apps, exploit kits and

SENNHEISER HE 1 Headphone

Latest in German audio tech now in the Philippines

online mobile-banking malware were the biggest security threats in the first half of 2017.

Pilao said malware infections became a serious threat due to unsecured systems, particularly those with unpatched vulnerabilities. She said malicious mobile fake apps have lured users by using popular titles to entice users.

The availability of exploit kits, also known as hacking toolkits, has made lifer easier for cybercriminals to use these in their various nefarious infection campaigns. Meanwhile, online-banking malware has been creating havoc by delivering banking-related threats that target user credentials. Pilao said tackling ransomware is more challenging these days because it is hardhitting, diverse and targeted. “The increasing abuse of legitimate system components and remote administration tools, going fileless and its wormlike propagation like WannaCry and Petya are the big elements to hurdle when you are tackling ransomware,” she said.

“Every organization, regardless of size, is an attractive to threat actors and cybercriminals

#COUPLEGOALS SOLENN AND NICO TAKE ON DATA-USAGE EDUCATION FIND yourself having excess data from your monthly plan? How about needing more for your usual mobile binging? Or would you just want to find out which mobile-data plan is perfect for you?

Let power couple Solenn Heussaff and Nico Bolzico take you through Globe Data Drills, the latest video series showing how easy it is to make the most out of your mobile-data plan.

Data Drills is a multipart video series tackling the most common concerns on data usage, including finding the right data plan, what to do with leftover data with Data Rollover, or how to get additional data allocation with AddSURF—all fueled by the charm and humor of the #Sosbolz couple.

Globe Senior Vice President for Consumer Mobile Business Issa Cabreira shares her excitement to partner with Solenn and Nico for the data-education campaign. “We always want to make sure our customers understand their data needs better, and know how to make the most of it in an easy-tounderstand and entertaining way. This is why we collaborated with Solenn and Nico to bring Data Drills,” Cabreira said.

“Their natural chemistry as a couple and their funny antics make it all the more fun to watch and learn from,” Cabreira added.

To catch all Data Drills videos, visit www.globe.com. ph/DataDrills or watch them on YouTube.com/globeph.

because of the information—customer information, proprietary information [crown jewels], etc.—that may be obtained from them. These threat actors then look for entry points, such as vulnerable/unpatched customer-facing web properties or through social engineering tactics targeting employees,” Pilao added.

She said there were 2.3 million detections of DocDrop DOWNAD and WannaCry in the Philippines, and noted that 6.6 million of malicious mobile apps were downloaded by users in the Philippines. Malicious apps leverage mobile games’ popularity (e.g., Pokémon Go, Super Mario Run, and other fake apps). She said there’s a need to craft a new concept in defense to handle the new challenges in the threat landscape.

Meanwhile, the company has released Trend XGe security, its latest class of security software to address the full range of digital threats. With over 1,000 researchers and engineers around the world and the cloud-based global threat intelligence of the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, the company remains committed to enabling faster and better protection against cyber threats. ■

LEADING German audio specialist Sennheiser is shaping the future of audio in the country by relaunching locally its latest campaign, Sennheiser Sound Heroes, and introducing a full suite of new audio solutions—including high-end audio headphones, amplifiers, portable music and entertainment wireless headphones, DJ headphones, gaming headsets, as well as mobile recording microphones for smartphones.

Highlights in the brand’s collection include the highly acclaimed HE 1 headphones (a P3-million pair of audiophile headphones), as well as 3D audio recording devices under the brand’s AMBEO initiative, a framework that develops various 3D audio hardware, software and workflows.

Sennheiser Sound Heroes is an initiative spearheaded by Sennheiser in Asia, particularly in Korea, Singapore and now the Philippines. The project will follow 12 local creative personalities on a journey to discover new audio experiences with Sennheiser products, culminating with a trip to Sennheiser’s headquarters and flagship stores in Germany. These 12 personalities include singers/actors Khalil Ramos and Jay Gonzaga; radio DJs Dannie Farmer and Jazmin Reyes; influencers/bloggers Cha Ocampo, Rhea Bue, Issa Pressman, Deegee Razon, Ira Denise Oyco; vlogger Maqui Castelo; party emcee Marga Bermudez; and concert photographer Magic Liwanag.

As part of the campaign, Sennheiser is also raffling off a chance to join the Sennheiser Sound Heroes in Germany. To join the raffle, purchase a Sennheiser product from participating authorized retailers from November 1 to February 28, 2018. More details can be found at goo.gl/SnGryW. “The Philippines is home to a large music-loving community. The demand for high-fidelity sound reproduction continues to rise, whether for movies, music, or games,” Sennheiser Asia Managing Director Martin Low said.

“The Sennheiser Sound Heroes project is a unique brainchild of Sennheiser’s to keep in tune with this ever-growing, discerning community.”