BusinessMirror October 28, 2018

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY

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Sunday, October 28, 2018 Vol. 14 No. 17

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THE ‘RIGHT’ FORMULA

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From drilling for oil to the nuclear option, DOE pursues multipronged approach to energy security

HE Philippines is a net importer of oil products. This means that the country’s fuel supply is generally sourced from abroad, making the country vulnerable to changes, or price fluctuations, in international oil-price markets.

In view of the country’s heavy reliance on imported fuel, industry stakeholders are calling for more oil and gas exploration in the country. The nine consecutive weeks of oil-price increases from August 14 to October 9—a total of P5.85 per liter for diesel, P5.05 per liter for gasoline and P4.65 per liter for kerosene—had made it more pressing for the government to exhaust all options to mitigate rising fuel prices and taxes.

‘Drill, drill, drill’

ONE proposal strongly urges the Duterte administration to be more

aggressive in its pursuit of energy self-sufficiency by launching a “Drill, Drill, Drill” program to explore and develop the country’s untapped oil and natural gas resources. Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, made the call amid the latest round of global oil-price hikes, which, he said, is one of the primary drivers of the rising inflation rate that hit a nine-year high again in September at 6.7 percent. “The Philippines is blessed with rich natural resources throughout its exclusive economic zone and ex-

The quiet life of the greenback

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By Peter Lundgreen

HE US unemployment rate is at its lowest over the past 50 years and, of course, the American economy is robust. At the same time, the US central bank—Federal Reserve Bank (Fed)—raises interest rates every quarter. This move pushes the entire yield curve up, including the important 10-year US treasury yield.

If one looks farther around the world, the oil price has gone up together with other commodities, and investors have fled from investments in Emerging Markets. In the past six to 12 months,

there has been quite a movement in many factors that should, or at least could be able to, move the US dollar or the greenback. However, as Graphic 1 shows, the dollar against the euro fluctuated around

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 53.7370

plus/minus 2.5 percent since midMay, which underlines a surprisingly quiet life for the greenback at the moment. When the Fed constantly hiked interest rates, I had noticed more participants in the financial markets who wondered why the dollar hasn’t trended higher since May. One could argue that the Fed has communicated so well to the financial markets, that the interest rate hikes were expected, and thus were already priced in the exchange rate. However, this is rarely the market mechanism, because in determining a foreign exchange rate, it’s difficult to price in a new future cash flow. The expectations can be priced in the short-term markets, with 3-month and 6-month durations, which makes it more interesting to buy a currency ahead of

an interest rate hike. But my own experience shows that it is primarily after the increase in interest rates, and usually after more hikes, that the positive effect of a currency becomes noticeable – which is precisely the case for the dollar. Lately, some Emerging Markets countries have realized and figured out that they need to follow the American interest rate hikes to prevent capital flight and protect their own currencies against too much pressure. It means that a growing number of countries are hiking their interest rates, which I expect will intensify in some of the old western economies such as Canada, United Kingdom and Sweden. In relative terms, this partly reduces the attractiveness of higher US dollar interest rates. Continued on A2

tended continental shelf, including natural gas and oil. Unfortunately, we have been unable to tap the full potential of these energy resources. Because of this, we have no choice but to import crude oil from oil-exporting countries, even if the price has become unconscionably high,” the lawmaker said. Based on records, the Philippines has been importing 94 percent of its oil requirements, with the total import bill jumping to $9.89 billion in 2017, or a 31.2-percent increase from the $7.54-billion import bill in 2016.

$9.89B

The Philippines’s total oil-import bill in 2017, or a 31.2-percent jump from $7.54 billion in 2016

Continued on A2

Interest rate on 10-year government bonds 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 -0.50

20 13 20 08 13 0 1 20 - 11 14 - 01 20 -02 14 - 01 20 -05 14 - 0 - 1 20 08 14 0 1 20 -11 15 -01 20 02 15 -0 1 20 - 05 15 -0 1 20 0815 01 20 - 11 16 - 01 20 -02 16 - 01 20 -05 16 - 0 - 1 20 08 16 0 1 20 -11 17 -01 20 0 2 17 -0 1 20 -0 5 17 -01 20 0 817 01 20 -11 18 -0 1 20 -0 2 18 -0 1 20 -0 5 18 - 0 -0 1 801

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By Lenie Lectura

Germany

USA

Euro / U.S. dollar exchange rate 1.4200 1.3700 1.3200 1.2700 1.2200 1.1700 1.1200 1.0700 1.0200 2013-09-30

2014 -09-30

2015-09-30

2016 -09-30

2017-09-30

2018-09-30

Source: FRED, Fed St.Louis, USA

n JAPAN 0.4787 n UK 69.2240 n HK 6.8536 n CHINA 7.7407 n SINGAPORE 38.9229 n AUSTRALIA 37.9276 n EU 61.2226 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.3249

Source: BSP (October 25, 2018 )

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THE ‘RIGHT’ FORMULA Continued from A1

And yet, the country potentially has 3.5 billion barrels of oil deposits and 24.7 trillion cubic feet of gas deposits that are considered undiscovered. The Department of Energy (DOE) said only 4.6 percent or 168 million barrels of oil and 3.8 trillion cubic feet of gas had been discovered since 2016. Despite these vast reserves of untapped resources, the Philippines only has six producing service contracts, three of which are nearing depletion. “It is high time for the government to launch a Drill, Drill, Drill program, which will use these untapped oil and gas resources to pursue Philippine energy independence and pave the way for the country to become an energy-exporting powerhouse,” Gatchalian said. Consumer group advocate Laban Konsyumer Inc. said that the proposed Drill, Drill, Drill program of Gatchalian is “a good program,” albeit, “it could take years to see the results.” “A seismic study takes about two to three years. That is why the contract spans about seven years. Exploration is a good program but it’s long term. Besides, investors are worried about political instability, particularly in this sector.”

‘Challenges’

HOWEVER, the lawmaker noted

that the perceived instability in some of the country’s energy and economic policies have discouraged foreign players from conducting petroleum exploration in the Philippines. These include the Commission on Audit’s (COA) ruling on the Malampaya gas-to-power project’s income tax, the Supreme Court ruling on the validity of service contracts signed by the DOE secretary, and the looming passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law (TRAIN Phase 2), or the Trabaho bill. “Investors, particularly major foreign oil and gas companies, are looking for more certainty and stability before buying into the Philippine energy sector. The government needs to address these problem areas in order for the Drill, Drill, Drill program to move forward,” he said. The COA had overruled the Malampaya consortium’s petition that income tax was already included in the government’s 60 percent share in the Malampaya royalties. The consortium argued that the tax was deductible from the government’s share of the Malampaya earnings. However, the COA said there is no provision in the law stating that the income tax of the contractors forms part of the share of the government, the resolution of which is pending with the SC.

TRAIN 2, or the second package of the tax-reform program, meanwhile, seeks to reduce tax perks such as tax-free importation of equipment and supplies, and exemption from all taxes except income tax, among others. Petroleum Association of the Philippines (PAP) Chairman Rufino Bomasang said now is not the time to remove the incentives for the upstream petroleum industry, considering the urgency of finding indigenous petroleum. He said these incentives are needed, especially in light of the looming depletion of the Malampaya natural gas field. Bomasang said major exploration companies have all adopted a wait-and-see position and nobody was actively looking for indigenous oil or the “next Malampaya” because of “the apparent instability of government policies.” “Unfortunately, in the last four to five years, petroleum exploration in the Philippines has practically stopped with no major foreign oil and gas company coming in. This is all because of the perceived unstable policies due to the COA ruling and now with the proposed TRAIN 2,” said Bomasang.

Ready to cancel

THE DOE is eyeing to award petroleum service contracts (PSCs) soon, amid the legal obstacles. One way by which the DOE

‘I

T is high time for the government to launch a Drill, Drill, Drill program, which will use these untapped oil and gas resources to pursue Philippine energy independence and pave the way for the country to become an energy-exporting powerhouse.” —Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate Committee on Energy chairman could persuade investors who qualified in the 5th Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR) in 2014 is to cancel the service contract. For instance, DOE Undersecretary Donato Marcos said the agency may reject the bid of Colossal Petroleum Corp. in two exploration areas offered under PECR. “We wrote them a letter and met with them. We warned them that if they are not supportive, we might not push through with the awarding.... If they do not comply soon, their proposal may be disqualified,” said Marcos. Marcos added Colossal was told to abide by whatever the Supreme Court decides on the pending case between the COA and the Malampaya consortium. Israeli firm Ratio Petroleum Ltd., which won a separate exploration area under the same contracting round, agreed to carry on with the exploration activity amid the COA case pending before the SC. “We tried to untangle all those problems, including the COA issue,” commented Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi. “We cannot leave it hanging.” Last week Ratio was formally awarded the petroleum service contract for Area 4 in east Palawan basin covering 416,000 hectares for potential oil and gas resources. Area 5, which is within Philippine territory, and Area 7, which is within the disputed area with China, were the ones won by Colossal.

Unpopular options

APART from seeking petroleum reserves to lessen the country’s dependence on imported fuel, the DOE continues to seek for higher and expanded fuel discounts to public-utility vehicles, and even went to unpopular options, such as the re-introduction of Euro 2 at the pumps.

Oil firms and other sectors, however, view this move contrary to the purpose of the Clean Air Act, which mandated the sale of Euro 4 fuels for passenger and commercial vehicles in the country starting 2017. Besides, oil firms said, this was going to be a potential logistics nightmare for them. And just recently, the exploration arm of the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) said it was considering to buy cheaper diesel from Singapore. PNOC-Exploration Corp. President Pedro Aquino said his office received offers from Singapore to sell diesel to the Philippines “above $500 per metric ton,” lower than the current price of “around $725 per MT.” If the sale happened now, Aquino said motorists could buy diesel that is cheaper by as much as P5 per liter than the current pump price. PNOC-EC is contemplating on importing Euro 4 diesel from Singapore worth P1.3 billion for an initial order of 50,000 MT. Negotiations are still taking place.

Relentless

EVEN before the onset of the spike in world petroleum prices, the energy family said it has been relentless in working out ways to help the most vulnerable sectors, such as transport groups. Public-utility vehicles, for instance, are able to avail themselves of fuel discounts through the continued expanding partnership of the DOE with various oil companies. The DOE is also part of the interagency Pantawid Pasada Program being led by the Department of Transportation, where fuel subsidy cards are being distributed to

qualified franchise holders of public-utility jeepneys. Also, the DOE is not discounting the possibility of introducing nuclear power into the country’s power mix. Cusi had said that nuclear energy remains an option for the Philippines. Citing the technical assessment of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the use of nuclear energy is a possible inclusion to the country’s energy mix. Cusi said his office has submitted to the Office of the President the proposed national policy on nuclear energy. He added the policy answers whether nuclear energy is going to be an option for the country, especially since “there are provinces already that are available [and] ready to take nuclear as a power source.” Meantime, the country will continue to be heavily dependent on oil imports while industry stakeholders continue to aggressively pursue and support new players, conduct more oil exploration discoveries, and invest in other forms of renewable energy. “Together with our country’s economic management team, the DOE and your entire energy family remain unyielding in finding ways to manage the situation at hand,” Cusi said. “We will not rest from pushing vital industry reforms, including the crafting of policies that promote the exploration and development of our indigenous energy resources, the expansion of our renewable-energy capabilities, uphold the integrity of safety and resiliency standards, and bring power to unserved and underserved areas in the Philippines,” the DOE said.

The quiet life of the greenback Continued from A1

When interest rates come into play to forecast trends in the foreign exchange market, I pay big attention to the development between 10-year rates in the US and the EU, especially in Germany. Of course, the eurodollar exchange rate is not representative for the whole world, but it is still of significant importance in the global financial markets. In my view, it is still the most important foreign exchange rate in the market. The 10-year government bond yields are shown in Graphic 2, where the spread continued to expand over the course of this year. I expect the interest rate spread to increase further, and I still argue that this rising interest rate differential is the main reason for a further strengthening of the US dollar against the euro. As one can see, the widening of the spread this year has not been significant or rapid, despite three US interest rate hikes this year, and a fourth coming in December. This slow movement in the interest rate differential can partly explain the dollar’s quiet life, but I also see other reasons. The euro rose throughout 2017 on the belief that French President Emmanuel Macron could bring new movement in the Eurozone economy and even reform France. But this is difficult without any fiscal firepower, and since then, the belief in a miracle in Paris has disappeared. Instead, investors have accepted the strength of the US economy, and through the first months of this year the Fed cemented the prospect of more interest

rate hikes. This finally helped boost the greenback in April and May this year, but at the same time, the new Italian government began to make budget noise and generated uncertainty in the Eurozone, thus weakening the euro. Despite my assessment of a rising dollar in the next six months, the strength of the greenback is not convincing. France has disappointed, and Italy is again in harsh discussions with the EU headquarters in Brussels. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the US economy is strong, and interest rates are on the rise, which is a good tailwind for a currency. Despite this bunch of positive elements, there is no established upward dollar trend. I take it as a symptom of a rising market uncertainty about the American economy, and there is lack of trust that the US economy can sustain a long-term growth. As a consequence, the US 10year treasury yield has only responded to the Fed’s rate hikes, and the financial markets expect the American growth to slow down again, followed by a lower inflation. However, this will not change my view that the coming higher US interest rates will lure more investors, even if the European Central Bank begins to raise interest rates in 2019. In the past 18 months, I have maintained my argument about a stronger dollar, which at times has been wrong. As mentioned, I kept this view, though there was a change in my assessment. It concerns the strength of the greenback, which I think is decreasing. As a consequence, it may not be realis-

tic to project an appreciation of, for example, 10 percent toward the euro and other major currencies in general, where 5 percent now seems more realistic. I expect growing uncertainties due to the rising fiscal deficit in the United States, which increases my long-term concerns for the country’s economic health—and I am not the only one in the financial markets with such thoughts. Further, I see an increasing risk that when the Fed in 2020 has finished pushing the 10-year treasury yield higher through a series of interest rate hikes, then the market takes over. I argue that there is an increasing risk that investors will ventilate their concern about the credit quality, due to the increasing government debt—this scenario will send the 10-year treasury yield even higher in 2020. Should this forecast be realized, then it’s time to sell US dollar holdings in 2020. Until then, a clear upward trend for the greenback should be the case; but it’s missing, because the dollar’s strength is no longer present. Despite the many positive factors for the greenback, my view is that these factors can only push the US dollar a few percentage points in the coming months. • Peter Lundgreen is the founding CEO of Lundgreen’s Capital, the leading independent advisor to Danish municipalities and public institutions in Europe. He has a solid 30-year experience in the finance industry and has been sharing his financial and economic know-how the past decades. Although based in Denmark, Peter’s expertise transcends the European financial zone and market, as he has created a high level of proficiency and competency on major global economies and finance markets, particularly in China.

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Sunday, October 28, 2018

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US shoppers to pay high price for America’s China addiction U NITED STATES companies are scrambling to line up factories and suppliers outside of China as the trade war hikes the cost of importing everything from furniture to toilet paper. But for some products, it’s not that easy. BBQ grills, luggage and mattresses are among a long list of consumer items that China has a near stranglehold on when it comes to supplying the US. While President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs are a potential boon for manufacturing rivals from Southeast Asia to Mexico, the reality is that shifting what can often be highly specialized production and training new workers cost time and money. “People are moving out of China because they are panicked,” Rick Helfenbein, president of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, said in an interview in Hong Kong on Tuesday. But “certain things are really, really hard to move.” That has retailers from Walmart Inc. to Target Corp. anxious about tariffs announced last month on $200 billion of Chinese exports, which Trump has said will be increased from 10 percent to 25 percent in 2019. The Retail Industry

Leaders Association, which counts Apple Inc. and Home Depot Inc. as members, is seeking exemptions to the levies on a raft of products as companies warn that without a reprieve, they’re almost certain to pass on costs to US shoppers.

‘No way’

THAt hike is already being felt in the market for luggage, with Samsonite International SA notifying wholesale buyers of a 10-percent price increase even before the September tariff announcement. The company has said it will likely pass tariff costs to consumers. China makes more than 70 percent of the travel and sports bags sold in the US, making it one of the sectors most dependent on the Asian nation for supply, according to data from the US International Trade Commission (ITC), a federal agency in Washington. There is “no way” American importers and sellers of travel goods can avoid the new tariff, said Michele Marini Pittenger, president of the Travel Goods Association, which puts the industry’s total reliance on China at 84 percent. “Product is not easily moved, as other countries don’t have the capacity, or the capability, to produce what

is made in China today.” There are some products where China is even more dominant. The US imported $353 million of bikes with 25-inch-or-less wheels last year, with 92 percent of those coming from China, according to the US ITC. Some 90 percent of the world’s LED lighting comes from China, according to Morgan Stanley, and 85 percent of American imports of frozen tilapia fillets come from Chinese fish farms. Trump says US companies worried about the tariffs should move their production home, while a number—from power converter maker Vicor Corp. to climatecontrol systems company Lennox

International Inc.—are looking at shifting their supply chains elsewhere. But finding other locations to establish production of items that have been so dominated by Chinese manufacturers is difficult, according to Helfenbein. Some companies can’t move because of the challenge in finding manufacturers outside China willing to put up with the narrow margins and stringent requirements involved in producing them, he said. “You have to think of it from t he factor y perspect ive: You want to do what’s easiest, you don’t want to do what’s hardest,” said Helfenbein. “The only reason these businesses have hung

You have to think of it from the factory perspective: You want to do what’s easiest, you don’t want to do what’s hardest. The only reason these businesses have hung around is people who have been in them for years are specialists.”—Helfenbein

around is people who have been in them for years are specialists.” If Trump extends the tariff hit to cover a further $267 billion in Chinese goods, children’s shoes, baby clothes and sweaters would be among items that would be hard to shift production or source elsewhere, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Manufacturers of children’s products like cribs and swings have also weighed in, with Mattel Inc. saying they made investments in China to ensure suppliers comply with safety standards required to get their products into the US market. Large retailers, including J.C. Penney Co. and Dollar Tree Inc., warned before the September tariff hit that companies lack feasible alternatives to China-based suppliers. Rerouting decades-old supply chains could take years, they argued. Smaller businesses also lobbied the Trump administration, according to comments submitted to the US Trade Representative before the September tariffs were enacted: BH Cosmetics Inc., which imports 70 percent of its products

from China: “The cost of moving all production activity out of China would take a minimum of 18 months and cause a major, if not catastrophic, disruption to the business.” Sunbeam Products Inc., maker of Oster-brand toaster ovens:“There are no American sources for production of these models and no competitive foreign sources other than China... Ultimately, the increased prices will be passed on to the American consumer.” Dorel Juvenile Group Inc., which sells strollers and playards:“Alternative sources for the items most needed to protect babies are simply not available from domestic or other reasonable-cost sources.” While the 10-percent tariff may be manageable for many companies—even those operating on thin profit margins—the increase next year will see companies lose the flexibility to shield consumers from higher costs, said Kenneth Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. “Once you get the 25-percent tariff, that will be well beyond their prof it marg in,” Jar rett said. “ They will have no choice but to pass those costs on.” Bloomberg News

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Sunday, October 28, 2018

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Retired US general says war with China likely in 15 years

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ARSAW, Poland—The former commander of the United States Army in Europe warned on Wednesday that it’s very likely the United States will be at war with China in 15 years. Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said that European allies will have to do more to ensure their own defenses in face of a resurgent Russia because America will need to focus more attention on defending its interests in the Pacific. “The United States needs a very strong European pillar. I think in 15 years—it’s not inevitable— but it is a very strong likelihood that we will be at war with China,” Hodges told a packed room at the Warsaw Security Forum, a two-day gathering of leaders and military and political experts from central Europe. “The United States does not have the capacity to do everything it has to do in Europe and in the

Pacific to deal with the Chinese threat,” Hodges said. Hodges was US Army commander in Europe from 2014 until last year. He now is a strategic expert with the Center for European Policy Analysis, a Washington-based research institute. Despite shifting geopolitical priorities, Hodges said the US commitment to North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains “unshakable.” He said he is certain the Trump administration views Europe’s security as a key US interest even though President Donald J. Trump has sometimes questioned the Western military alliance’s usefulness. “So you’re going to see us continue to invest here in Europe,

RETIRED Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges speaks to reporters on the sidelines of the Warsaw Security Forum in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday. Hodges, who was US Army commander in Europe from 2014 to 2017, told the forum that it’s likely, but not inevitable, that the United States will be at war with China in 15 years. AP

continue to train, to practice rotational forces, as well as permanently assign forces for the eventuality that in 10 or 15 years we’re going to be having to fight in the Pacific,” Hodges said. Hodges told The Associated Press that a recent near-miss between a US Navy destroyer and a Chinese warship in the disputed South China Sea was only one of

the signs pointing to “an increasingly tense relationship and increasing competition in all the different domains.” Others, he said, are China’s “constant stealing of technology” and how China is gaining control of infrastructure by funding projects in Africa and Europe. He said that in Europe, China owns more than 10 percent of the ports. AP

Metal more common in moon rocks could transform planes and cars

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HERE’S an unexpected benefit from the boom in battery metals mining— it’s going to boost production of scandium, an obscure element whose longheld promise to transform manufacturing of planes and cars has been stalled by a lack of supply.

The silver-white metal, found in higher concentrations in moon rocks than on Earth, can be added to aluminum to make alloys that are lighter, stronger and more malleable. These can dramatically reduce the weight of parts for aircraft, cars or ships and help deliver savings on fuel costs.

“It’s the single most potent strengthening element you can add to aluminum,” said John Carr, vice president for business development and scandium marketing at Clean TeQ Holdings Ltd., an Australian developer of a mine that’ll produce the metal alongside cobalt and nickel for the battery sector. “Why

scandium is so interesting is that if you add very, very small amounts of it—it has amazing impacts.” The big problem has been a lack of supply. This is being improved by the arrival of new mines that’ll yield scandium as part of the process of producing the cobalt and nickel needed for lithium-ion batteries. Extracting all three materials from a single deposit, rather than focusing only on producing scandium, drastically improves the economics. “It more or less gets a free ride along with the cobalt and nickel,” said Carr. “The cost of production is significantly less.” A raft of industries have long been aware of the potential benefits—on a small scale. Alloys using scandium were developed in the 1960s and have been deployed in Russian MiG fighter jets to baseball bats. The material currently is mainly used in solid oxide fuel cells, used to provide uninterrupted power for hospitals or data centers, and has also been deployed for 3D printing, including for an electric motorcycle. Wider adoption has proved more difficult, with the sector stuck in a conundrum: global output of scandium had been too small to give potential users such as aerospace companies confidence there’d be a reliable, long-term supply—a factor that’s also kept prices high. Yet without certainty about demand, producers have been unable to commit to developing operations. This is changing. Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. is entering production in the Philippines, while United Co. Rusal, the Russian aluminum giant, is studying plans to add scandium output after tests last year at its Urals smelter. In Australia, Clean TeQ’s Sunrise mine is intended to be up and running in 2021, while Australian Mines Ltd. and Scandium International Mining Corp. are among others developing assets. Centennial, Colorado-based NioCorp Developments Ltd. is developing a mine in Nebraska. “As new supply comes online some of the latent demand will be unlocked,” said Will Ayre, a Londonbased consultant at CRU Group. “The aerospace industry is one of the obvious sectors where scandium consumption might increase dramatically. Tiny reductions in aircraft weight can lead to significant fuel cost reductions.” Bloomberg News

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Why Jamal Khashoggi’s killing has resonated

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HE k illing of dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has resonated internationally in an unusually powerful way. In the weeks since he disappeared, his case has become a top story and a focal point for outrage. All this attention has raised questions about why the killing of one man has set off a louder uproar than other Saudi actions— such as the war in Yemen and the humanitarian crisis it has caused there, or the roundup at home of hundreds of political rivals. The answer seems to lie partly in the nature of Khashoggi’s death and the way it came to light, amplified by his prominence. The controversy also reflects a growing discomfort with Saudi Arabia’s increased aggressiveness under the leadership of its brash young crown prince. Here are some of the reasons the killing has stirred such fascination and outrage, and why it could have political ramifications for Saudi Arabia. He was not only a well-known journalist, but a man used to rubbing shoulders with political elites. He became friends with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and had been close to Saudi royals. He spent years rising in the ranks of the Saudi media and later served as an unofficial spokesman and adviser for the royal family. But his career in Saudi Arabia came to a halt when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman barred him from writing in the kingdom as part of a widespread crackdown on dissent. Khashoggi went into self-imposed exile in the United States, becoming a prominent critic of the Saudi monarchy in regular columns for T he Washington Post. The crown prince often was the focus of his criticism, with recent columns slamming him for “peddling revisionist history,” for jailing prominent women’s rights activists and for stif ling free speech. Assassinations of any kind get attention, and they spark fear. But when the victim is as well known as Khashoggi was, it puts a face to the fear, said Michael Glennon, a professor of international law at Tufts University. “These are specific people with names and faces who are prominent, and in many cases well connected,” he said. The gruesome death gave a face, as well, to the larger-scale type of aggression being carried out by Saudi Arabia and made it feel far more tangible. The location of Khashoggi’s killing only served to add intrigue. Turkish officials identified 1 5 m e n , s o m e w it h p r o v e n links to the Saudi crown prince, who they say were involved in the killing. Saudi officials say K hashoggi ’s death was a rogue killing and deny any links to the royal family. The brazenness of a targeted killing by Saudi agents on Turkish soil not only violates international law but may also be seen by the Turks as a challenge to their authority. The 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations—which Turkey and Saudi A rabia both signed—lays out international law governing consulates and embassies and provides protections for diplomatic officials and facilities. “They kind of escape the jurisdictional grip of the receiving state,” explained Jan Wouters, professor of international law at KU Leuven in Belgium. “But that is based on a kind of understanding that these people will adhere to the law and will not abuse the freedom and space they are given under international law.” The Saudi Consulate in Istanbul

is a protected space under international law. Although it is in Turkish territory, local officials cannot enter without Saudi consent. Embassies and consulates the world over are seen as places of political refuge, and while they are subject to some local laws, the facility and the diplomatic staff working inside are shielded from law enforcement in some cases. But in cases of grave crimes, like the Khashoggi killing, that immunity can be lifted. “The fact that it occurred in a consulate just put all of this in bold relief,” said Glennon. “Embassies and consulates are supposedly safe zones. These are places where one seeks refuge, so it’s all the more brazen.” After Khashoggi’s disappearance inside the consulate on October 2, Turkish authorities began strategically leaking information to pro-government news outlets within the country. The calculated strategy assured that his case stayed in the headlines day after day, as Saudi officials initially denied any knowledge of his fate. The leaks offered grisly descriptions of audio recordings that revealed Khashoggi had been dismembered, his head and fingers cut off, incensing the international community. Accounts of a body double, hunts for remains and reports of private jets spiriting away Saudi officials only added to the drama. The leaks, some of which were confirmed by Erdogan in a speech on Tuesday, put pressure on the Saudi government to offer an explanation on Khashoggi’s whereabouts. Prince Mohammed has been ruthless in his pursuit of regional domination, and that has made him some enemies. Many have questioned his country’s war in Yemen, its apparent coercion on the Lebanese prime minister to resign and its confrontation with Qatar. Turkish and US intelligence officials say they believe the men behind Khashoggi’s killing are linked to the crown prince. While Saudi Arabia denies that, the apparent links have called the crown prince’s actions in general into further question. The death of a single man— Khashoggi—has come to encapsulate a troubling vision of Prince Mohammed’s Saudi Arabia as a nation in which the leader can act with impunity, targeting dissenters and political opponents at will. Now, Erdogan may see the Khashoggi case as a chance to check the prince’s power and limit the reach of a regional rival. The divergent narratives about Khashoggi’s death have left the United States stuck between two allies. President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals, swerving between defending Saudi Arabia and pressing for answers. Beyond the geopolitical fallout and the international implications, there is no denying that for many people, Khashoggi ’s death has hit home on an emotional level. Madawi Al-Rasheed, an expert on Saudi Arabia and a professor at the Middle East Centre of the London School of Economics, wrote in a recent column that the killing has seemed to capture Western attention in a profound way. Taken alone, she said, the circumstances around his death are enough to be “a legitimate source of outrage.” “This would be murder by a state—or the organs of a state— of an unarmed journalist, without judicial process, on diplomatic ground outside the territory of the perpetrators’ country,” AlRasheed wrote. “It is this dreadful cocktail of circumstances that explains the general outrage that it has sparked.” New York Times News Service

Faith

Sunday

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Saint Jude, apostle and martyr

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By Corazon Damo-Santiago

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NXIOUS, bewildered, crushed, disillusioned or griefstricken? When hopelessly lost, a prayer to Saint Jude, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus, may solve your predicament. Although information about Saint Jude is scarce, he is a saint called upon often for intercession. Desperate people regard him as the “Saint of Hope and the Impossible,” the patron of “lost causes.” Malcolm Day, in A Treasury of Saints, wrote that having a name that resembles Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was advantageous to Saint Jude, who “is prepared to support even the most desperate of his petitioners’ predicaments.”

Patron saint of the impossible JUDE, a brother of Saint James, is the son of Alphaeus. Clopas, his mother, is a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was born in Paneas, a town in Galilee, which was bebuilt during the Roman period and was renamed Caesaria Philippi. His original name, Judas, was changed to Jude by early writers who translated the New Testament to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. Evangelists Matthew and Mark preferred to call him Thaddeus, which means courageous in Aramaic. The “Passion of Simon and Jude,” an apocryphal document, and the New Testament are the main sources of information about the saint. Saint Jude is depicted with a flame around his head, which means the presence of Pentecost. He is also shown holding an image of Jesus Christ, known as Image of Edessa. King Abagar of Edessa, who had leprosy, was healed when he pressed his face on the cloth with Jesus’ image, which the Lord gave to Jude. Jesus inspired devotion to Saint Jude when He appeared in a vision to Saint Bridget of Sweden and said: “His surname means ‘amiable or loving, and will

show himself most willingly to give help.” The web site saintsandangels.org also said Saint Bernard “had visions from God to accept Saint Jude as the Patron Saint of the Impossible.” Because Saint Simon the Zealot was his companion in his travels, it was deduced that Jude was also a Zealot, a Jewish militant nationalist during the first century in Israel. Zealots desired a free and independent Jewish state, so they refused to pay taxes. They were also violent to fellow Jews who collaborated with foreign rulers in the administration of government. Others considered them as patriots, so Saint Luke called Simon the Zealot a patriot.

Martyr of the church

AFTER the death and resurrection of Jesus, Jude traveled to Mesopotamia (then composed of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey) for 10 years preaching and converting people. He was the author of epistle to churches of the East, particularly Jewish converts on the heresies of Simonians, Nicolailes and Gnostics, “false teachers who claim to be believers and cause divisions among the people of God.” Jude, the founder of the Church in Urfa, was beaten to death while preaching to a pagan priest. Other Christian literatures said he was clubbed to death and his head was shattered with an ax. According to tradition he was martyred with Simon in Syria about 65AD. Simon and Jude were honored by the Eastern Church and Western Christianity. Their remains are both in Saint Peter’s Basilica under the main altar of Saint Joseph. His feast day is October 28. Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

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Married Catholic priests’ issue gains traction under Francis ATICAN CITY—As the Vatican copes with the growing clergy sex-abuse scandal and declining number of priests worldwide, it is laying the groundwork to open formal debate on an issue that has long been taboo: opening up the priesthood to married men in parts of the world where clergy are scarce.

APOSTLE Jude by Anthony van Dyck WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Pope Francis has convened a meeting of South American bishops next year focusing on the plight of the church in the Amazon, a vast territory served by far too few priests. During that synod, the question of ordaining married men of proven virtue—so-called viri probati—is expected to figure on the agenda. This past week, a two-hour documentary on Italian television contributed to the conversation. The Choice: Priests and Love profiled more than a dozen men in four European countries who are either living clandestinely with women, have created their own unsanctioned church communities where married priests preside at Mass, or left the Catholic priesthood altogether to marry. The documentary, aired on Wednesday on Discovery Italia and previewed to The Associated Press (AP), made the case that many of these men would gladly return to the priesthood and offer their pastoral services. Their plight has found a sympathetic ear in Francis, who has long expressed a willingness to consider viri probati to address pastoral needs in the Amazon. He has also expressed sympathy for priests who have made the anguished choice to leave. Vocatio, an Italian association of these “married priests,” wrote Francis earlier this month pledging their solidarity as he copes with the global fallout of the sex-abuse scandal, and once again offering their services in ministry. “We would like you to take into consideration—without prejudice or pretense—the opportunity of allowing us an active presence in diocesan activity, given our experience and competence in the sacraments we have lived: ministry and matrimony,” the group wrote. The head of Vocatio, former pr iest Rosar io Mocciaro who married civilly in 1977, estimated there are about 5,000 men in Italy alone who have left the priesthood, a third of whom would seek a return to married ministry if allowed. He sa id he was hopef u l for

pro g re s s u nde r Fr a nc i s a nd some sy mpathetic Italian bishops, say i ng t he y broug ht “a new a ir a nd at mosphere” to a long-st a nd ing problem. “The possibility of having viri probati would be a great opening, a great step forward,” he told the AP, adding it would begin to sensitize the church and public opinion to the prospect of both a married and a celibate priesthood. The celibate priesthood has been a tradition of the Latin rite

Our expectation is that from this process will emerge initiatives that can contribute to the healing of those impacted by this issue.”—Owen

The ‘leap to follow Christ’

MSGR. JOSEFINO S. RAMIREZ SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

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Opening the priesthood to married men, even in limited and localized places, would open the question of providing financially for the priests’ families—an expense long cited as a key reason for the imposition of celibacy in the 11th century: The church didn’t want its assets to pass down to priests’ heirs. The issue of providing for the children of priests, however, is already on the agenda at the Vatican and in bishops conferences and religious orders around the world, given the cases of priests who violate their celibacy vows and have children secretly. An Irish psychotherapist and son of a priest, Vincent Doyle, has founded an online resource, Coping International, to offer assistance for priests’ children, who often endure depression, anxiety and other mental-health issues blamed on the silence imposed on them by the church. Doyle has successfully petitioned the pope’s Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors—his hand-picked sex-abuse advisory committee—to consider the issue of priests’ children to be part of its mandate, given some of these children are born to minors. “Our expectation is that from this process will emerge initiatives that can contribute to the healing of those impacted by this issue,” wrote commission member Neville Owen, who heads the commission’s committee on guidelines. AP

POPE Francis waves to faithful as he arrives for his weekly general audience in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican on October 24. AP/GREGORIO BORGIA

30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: ‘MARK 10:46-52’

HE gospel of today talks about Bartimeus, a blind man who learned that Jesus was passing by, and whose faith made him cry out for help and relief. The people around Bartimeus rebuked him. They discouraged him from calling on Christ. Yet Bartimeus insisted and shouted even louder. Jesus finally called for him and we are told that, in response to Jesus’ call,

Catholic Church since the 11th century; no doctrine requires it, and many eastern rite Catholic Churches allow married men to be ordained. I n ad d it ion , t he C at hol ic Church allows married Anglican clergy who convert to remain in priestly ministry. Francis has long said he appreciates the discipline of celibacy, but that it can change given it is discipline, not doctrine. History’s first Latin American pope has been particularly attentive to the argument in favor of the viri probati in the Amazon, where the mostly indigenous faithful can go months without seeing a priest, and where Protestant and evangelical churches are wooing away Catholic souls. W hile the situation is particularly grave there, overall the number of priests worldwide has dropped for another consecut ive year— dow n 687 to 414,969—while the global Catholic population has grown by 14.25 million, according to recent figures from the Vatican’s Fides missionary service.

Bartimeus “threw off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus” (Mark 10:50). Jesus later praised Bartimeus’s faith and granted him the cure he implored. For a blind man to throw off his cloak—certainly an important piece of clothing for a man in his situation—and then to “jump up,” not seeing what he was jumping into, must have required a lot of faith.

We, too, need to have more faith. At times, we may feel the impulse to follow Christ more closely. Perhaps we feel the call of God to dedicate our life to Him, and we feel the impulse of generosity. But then we hesitate after looking at other considerations—all valid but perhaps all too human. We must realize that, in the following of Christ, it is the supernatural considerations that have to prevail. We can think of a thousand and one reasons to remain in our ivory tower, to be comfortable in our little nest. Yet the needs of God and souls are stronger than these reasons. So what we need is a bit more of faith. We must trust that God will overcome all obstacles if

He is truly asking something from us. To answer the calling of God always entails a blind “ leap” into the dark, defying all human logic. And needless to say, to preserve in that calling requires a continual exercise in faith, in having a supernatural outlook to evaluate that things around us. It will help us to be generous with God to realize that we cannot outdo God in generosity. If we trust in God, we can be sure that He will overcome all the obstacles, even the very laws of nature and human prudence. Had Bartimeus doubted, he would have clung to his cloak and not have approached Jesus. Then he would still be limping and begging in the streets of Jerico.

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Science

BusinessMirror

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Sunday

Fusion of science, arts in Tawi-Tawi

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Story & photos by Stephanie Tumampos

Arts and science NRCP is the only Department of Science and Technology (DOST) council that provides funding and research for arts and humanities. According to DOST-NRCP President Dr. Ramon A. Razal, “The arts are part of the original mandate of the law that created NRCP. It is not just about the basic and applied sciences but also, the promotion of the arts.” The NRCP boasts itself as a holistic institution because it deals with people’s culture—a subject not being addressed by the other DOST councils. “They say arts is the soul of science, hence, we need an artistic point of view for us to be able to do scientific research, because this makes people more concerned with the human value of what they’re doing,” Razal told the BusinessMirror. “It is indeed important to document our culture.”

Strong connection to nature, nonviolence IN the documentation, Seven Dances of Life, that was presented by Jahuran, he told the BusinessMirror that he and Buenconsejo created the segments of the Igal dance of the Sama tribe in Tawi-Tawi and Tabawan Islands, whose music and dance are distinct, including the “finger-style dance.” Igal, which loosely translates to “dance,” is composed of the different rituals of the Sama Tabawan tribe. Buenconsejo and Jahuran categorized the rituals in the dance in the various themes they show—dance of offering, dance of the elders, courtship dance, bamboo dance and a mixed dance. The ritual dance that particularly explores celebrations is called pagjammu, which means that a person is bound to the tribe, community and what they call “the others.”

In Buenconsejo’s analysis of the music of different tribes he had visited and interacted with, he said they “have shown distinct music which are still practiced up to now.” In the video from “Nature’s Presence: Traditional Music of Indigenous Peoples in Southern Mindanao, Philippines,” he told the BusinessMirror that he “learned stories about the very old musical instruments in the Philippines, especially from the Manobo Dulangan, T’boli, Obo and the Tagakaolo communities in the south.” One is the bamboo polychoral zither togo, a stringed instrument, and whistle flute sloli, a traditional ring flute that is used to show stories connected to nature, such as a bird dance that depict the story of creation. “In the tribes around Lake Sebu, the common denominator in their music is the strong connection to nature. The stories I got was also about nature,” he said. On another video, “Sound Tenderness: Music of the Nonviolent Pala’wan Community in Southern Philippines,” Buenconsejo found out the music “was used for social and group cooperation, and relationship of men and women of the Pala’wan tribe.” He said the music of Pala’wan is very delicate and tender, and that negative emotions are not channeled through violence. “Men, women and children never hurt each other. They keep emotions to themselves and use music to express their anger.”

Positive feedback, Urian Award finalist ACCORDING to Buenconsejo, the reception of the public to their documentations was “very positive.” The tribes themselves “were surprised and immediately recognized their own culture.” There was good reception from movie critics as well. The Seven Dances of Life was nominated as one of the finalists for the Best Documentary award at the Gawad Urian Awards 2018 held on June 14 in Quezon City. “I didn’t expect it at all,” Buenconsejo shared. “It so happened that one of the judges might have seen it at the premiere in Abelardo Hall at the university of the Philippines.” He explained that the audience was primarily composed of intellectuals and professors, and that they liked the documentation. “I didn’t show music as an object. I showed it as part of human life and of society,” Buenconsejo added. His goal was to document the culture and music of the different tribes for classroom use, as an educational material for the Filipinos especially the youth. “The approach was vignette and each chapter has its own theme,” he said. Buenconsejo’s research has received P1-million funding to put the different music of the various tribes into one documentary film and record. The former dean, who has started this kind of research in the 1990s, told the BusinessMirror that the product of this research was recorded into a CD and initially distributed copies to Jahuran for educational and research purposes in Tawi-Tawi. In the forum during the symposium that was attended by teachers, professors and researchers, one participant said the documentation is very important so the people from the Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi areas can incorporate it in schools. The participant added that most of the indigenous people’s (IP) cultures studied in schools and printed in textbooks are those from the north of the country, although there is an equally

DIWATA-2 MICROSATELLITE LAUNCHING ON OCT. 29

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OLORFUL indigenous costumes; graceful dance of a woman with fingers made long by janggay; a woman singing a lilting tribal song. Watching and listening to these were a cultural delight one would rarely have. Besides, they were presented at a very apt venue—not at the Cultural Center of the Philippines— but in Tawi-Tawi, the southernmost province in the country. Tawi-Tawi is one of the most undiscovered areas in the country. If traveled by plane, one would need two connecting flights before reaching the small airport of Sanga-Sanga. However, beyond the distance, the group of islands surrounded by rich waters is a pot of cultural treasures waiting to be discovered. It is lamented that much of the country’s cultural knowledge and history have been focused on the tribes in the north and barely touched the tip of those in the south, such as the Sama tribe of Tawi-Tawi. Textbooks today could not explain the resilient culture being practiced in the region because of lack of ethnographic documentation. But Tawi-Tawi’s Sama culture is set to take the center stage with the head start done by Dr. Jose Buenconsejo, former dean of the College of Music at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and a member of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) at the Division of Humanities, and Omarjan Ibrahim Jahuran, librarian at the Office of the Governor in Tawi-Tawi. At the symposium on “Fusion of Science and Arts V.2” held at the Mindanao State University-Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU-TCTO) last week, these experts presented their researches on the music and dances of different tribal communities in the Mindanao. The symposium was led by the NRCP, the provincial government of Tawi-Tawi and MSU-TCTO.

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

HE Philippines will launch Diwata-2— its second microsatellite—into space on October 29 between 12:08 and 12:30 noon Philippine time from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan via H-IIA F40 rocket. Diwata-2 is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST ), monitored by DOST-Philippine Council for Industry and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD). It is done through the collaboration between the University of the Philippines Diliman, the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and Japan’s Hokkaido and Tohoku universities. It was planned and designed in 2016 right after Diwata-1 was released from the International Space Station (ISS) on August 27, 2016. Both Diwata-1 and Diwata-2 are Earth-observing microsatellites capable of capturing images of the Earth for environmental assessment. The Philippines’s first cube satellite, Maya-1, was deployed from the ISS on August 10.

Upgrade from its predecessor

DIWATA-2 will orbit at a higher altitude of about 620 kilometers for an increased life span and a sun-synchronous orbit, which will enable fixed revisit intervals that would

PHL’S DR. PEREZ WINS TOP PRIZE IN 2018 ASEAN-U.S. SCIENCE PRIZE FOR WOMEN

THE finger-style dance being performed by members of Sama Tabawan tribe. rich IP culture from the south. The attendee said the Filipino culture has only been passed by word of mouth. Through this method, different variations can be relayed. But with proper documentation, the teachers and professors, can relay factual data and properly represent the tribes distinctly.

Ethnoscience research THE Filipino culture has a rich history and diversity. The Philippines, being an archipelago, has more than 175 different ethnic communities. Each has a distinct culture, as shown in their rituals, dances and music and has been resilient throughout the changing times. Yet, despite the resiliency, most of the tribes have not shared nor documented in books or any medium their language, music and other practices. One of the factors that affect the lack of cultural documentation in the country is the inaccessibility of the tribes in the far-flung areas. However, the lack of researchers and resources, such as finances, is not among the constraints. According to Buenconsejo, who presented his research video documentation, Music from the Margins, which featured the music of different tribes in the Philippines, ethnoscience in the Philippines is a way of adapting to an environment through decoding different historical figures and texts. “We have a rich utilization of coconut in the environment as we can see rituals through dance and music [using coconut] since time immemorial,” he added. The Tawi-Tawi symposium highly regarded the arts and humanities in the outputs and put importance on the ethnoscientific methods in doing the researches. “Ethnographic method is part of science because we, as researchers, use qualitative research in our study,” Buenconsejo told the BusinessMirror. “I look into culture and know how I can transmit different ethnographic rituals, dances or symbols.” Buenconsejo added that doing ethnoscientific research is building the knowledge for art creation. “Our different cultures are intertwined to each other because culture can be constructed, maintained or changed through our different language. In order for us to understand this, we need this kind of [ethnographic] method,” he said. Ethnoscience, as defined in the web site iResearchNet, “is the study of what native people know about the world around them. This discipline is concerned with the cultural knowledge and classification systems in a

make repeated environmental monitoring of specific areas possible. But like Diwata-1, it will also carry a Wide Field Camera, Middle Field Camera, High Precision Telescope and Spaceborne Multispectral Imager (SMI) with Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter although with notable improvements in performance. Compared to its predecessor, Diwata-2 has deployable solar panels for increased power generation output and an Enhanced Resolution Camera, which increases the resolution of images taken by SMI. It will feature two locally made experimental modules: an Amateur Radio Unit for emergency communications, and a Satellite Orientation Module for increased pointing accuracy and future satellite development initiatives. Diwata-2 has undergone major iterations since planning began. These include a simulation model, a mechanical test model, an engineering model and, finally, the flight model. The Diwata-2 Flight Model was completed on August 29, and handed over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on the following day. These satellites are par t of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite Program that aims to build, launch and effectively utilize microsatellite technology for multispectral, high-precision Earth observation.

given society.” Its goal is to “reproduce a cultural reality as it was perceived and lived by members of a society.” “The scientific [ethnoscientific] method that we injected in this documentary process is doing field work and involvement of the community,” Jahuran said, adding that they did a participatory research through inquiry and drawing out facts from people. Buenconsejo added that ethnoscientific method is a soft version of the scientific method. “It is interpretative and that the process is intersubjective.” He told the BusinessMirror that “this is not the science done in a laboratory where observations are detached. Here, we have to include the participation of our subjects at the same time.” For Razal, this kind of scientific method is important “to validate the findings we do in the arts and humanities.” He added: “If anyone would like to do replicate what has been done, the information must also be replicable.” The ethnoscientific process, like any other scientific process, must be used to prove the credibility of the results in the investigation either in the arts and culture, or most especially in the basic and applied sciences.

Bill on Department of Culture THE NRCP is supporting bills and laws in promoting different sciences, including arts and humanities. Last year senators, led by Sen. Loren B. Legarda, filed a bill that would create a government office that would emphasize on the role of our indigenous tribes. Senate Bill 1528, or the Department of Culture Act, aims to establish the Department of Culture and put appropriating funds to function and harmonize the different agencies handling arts and culture For Buenconsejo, the bill is a good step toward the creation of a governing body overseeing the indigenous tribes and culture of the Filipinos. “It is about time that we have to establish this institution as the existing agencies that do Philippine culture are already segmented.” Buenconsejo referred to the various institutions that support indigenous and cultural projects, such as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Museum, National Library and Cultural Center of the Philippines. Buenconsejo hopes that when the Department of Culture is established, it can harmonize not just the various agencies but also the different tribes and recognize their role in shaping the society.

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HE Philippines’ Dr. Gay Jane Perez bested 45 Asean scientists by winning first place in the 2018 Asean-US Science Prize for Women. Her winning research was on satellite remote sensing for examining spatial distribution of vegetation, temperature, precipitation and soil moisture that, in turn, provide the ability to assess drought impacts. Her work also includes assessment of how drought evolves through time, which can be the basis of drought advisory and corresponding mitigation measures. Food security is a global concern. In her presentation, Perez discussed one of several studies focusing on developing tools to advise the farmers during extreme weather events such as drought. She said, “The Philippine government is investing substantially in this technology through installation of automated sensors, subscription to satellite data and even building and operating our own satellites. “Although solutions to precision agriculture appears localized and sitespecific, they actually require large-scale considerations since the idea is to optimize crop yield not just for a small town but for an entire planet. Factoring in global weather forecasts will provide advisories to the farmers to help them plan what crops to plant and provide the adequate management requirements to optimize their yield.” She said regional cooperation like the Asean-US “can promote to further precision agriculture research in the region.” She explained: “First is open data. The utilization of satellite data, together with global climate models would leapfrog the region’s capability to generate comprehensive information to maximize crop productivity. Second is capacity building that is required for new technologies. Third is collaboration that takes advantage of expertise from different countries and, finally, joint programs like the launching of satellite constellation and cloud-based data servers.” She noted: “Addressing the food security issue needs concerted effort which can leverage from close cooperation that already exist among Southeast Asian Countries and the US.” According to Perez, “Coupled with ground measurements for calibration and validation, satellite-derived products can be used to determine the health of vegetation and the location of crops affected by drought and estimate the amount of damages.” She added: “Looking at the development of drought alongside the stages of crop growth, one can recommend the appropriate intervention, such as providing added irrigation, early harvesting or choosing to plant at earlier dates.” Two finalists from the Philippines and Malaysia presented their work at the eighth Asean-US Consultation on Science and Technology in Cebu on October 18. Each year, the Department of Science

DR. GAY JANE PEREZ

and Technology nominates one of the country’s outstanding woman scientists to the prestigious award. This is the first time that a Filipino nominee won. Perez is an associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, College of Science, University of the Philippines Diliman since 2012. She has served as project leader of research and development on the utilization of satellite observations and models for environmental prediction. She is also a Project Scientist of the Philippines’s microsatellites, Diwata-1 and Diwata-2. She received her doctoral degree in Physics from the National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center. She has mentored five MS Meteorology and four MS Environmental Science graduates, and is currently advising 18 more students under the two programs. Out of the 27 she has mentored so far, nine are women scientists in the making. The United States government, in partnership with the Asean and Underwriters Laboratories, aims to strengthen Asean science and technology capacity and gender equality and improvement through an annual Asean-US Science Prize for Women (Prize). The 2018 Prize provided promising, Asean-based, early to mid-career female scientists with recognition awards from Asean and the United States government for their academic and professional achievements. The 2018 Prize emphasized the role of female scientists who use their work to better society in sustainable ways and act as role models for other women working in and pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math (Stem). This year, the Prize theme focused on precision agriculture in the Asean region. The Prize administrators awarded those working at the intersection of agriculture, digital tools, technology and data to help smallholder farmers improve and economize farming practices, increase agricultural outputs and livelihoods, create sustainability and improve environmental standards, and adapt to shocks and stressors related to farming in volatile climates.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sunday, October 28, 2018

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THE CHARM OF THIS ANCIENT IRANIAN CITY BECKONS

HALF OF THE WORLD IN ESFAHAN

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Story & photos by Joshua Berida

’VE heard good things about Esfahan from travelers I’ve met before in Iran.

As I was sitting on the bus that would take up to six hours to the city from Yazd, those stories swam in my head with no expectations; they were all just words to me. This was how I wanted to explore the country, I wanted Esfahan to surprise me.

Old and new

A PERSIAN proverb cited Esfahān nesf-e- jahān ast, meaning Esfahan is half of the world. The size, importance, and the presence of significant mosques, mansions, artworks and bridges made the previous statement true during ancient times. I was thinking of this when I arrived at the bus station. Taxi drivers went up to me and asked where I was going in broken English, I took the picture of the address in Farsi (Persian language) out and showed it to the one with the least intrusive manner. He nodded and led me to his car; we passed by high-rise buildings, fast-food restaurants, and retail outlets with the usual rubber shoes, jeans and shirts on display. I checkedin at the hotel and went on my way to the famous, Unesco Heritage-listed Naqsh-e Jahan Square. I passed through usual sites of towering buildings, local fast-food chains and stores, but this time there were vestiges of the city’s glorious past, in between and in various states of ruin, restoration and maintenance. Built between 1598 and 1629, the square was an interesting mix of old and new; young Iranians came and went to take selfies and pictures with the images of the mosques, palace and surrounding shops. Families brought rugs with them for a picnic, couples sat on the chairs far from the crowd and eager shop owners eyed potential customers. The bazaar inside the buildings at the square sells all sorts of handicrafts and distinctly Iranian products. Persian rugs and carpets lined the walls of the shops as well as pots and lamps, clocks in various

shapes (octagons, hexagons and starshaped) and sizes, handcrafted bags, jewelry and export quality nougats with pistachios just to name a few. Naqsh-e Jahan Square wasn’t the only relic of the past; the Shah or Imam Mosque serves as a reminder of the Persian Empire that rose to prominence centuries ago. The mosque displays Iranian artistry Iranians; the seven colored mosaic tiles and the inscriptions on the ceilings and walls are fine works of art. I couldn’t help but look up and get caught up in awe of the beautiful gateways with their elaborate designs and intricate tile work. As I left the Shah Mosque and the square, I can’t help but feel like I was in between two epochs; an Iran trying to regain its identity and attain modernization, and an ancient one with remnants of its former glory.

THE Naqsh-e Jahan Square lights up at night, a good spot for dining and leisurely strolls.

The heart of an artist

MOSQUES in Iran aren’t just places of worship; they are museums that tell their own story. The Unesco Heritage-listed Jameh Mosque is exactly that, a voyage through the evolution of Islamic art and architecture. The courtyard, iwans (vaulted open rooms), minarets and tile works draw influences from various epochs that span 12 centuries, from the Seljuq to the Safavid to the Abbasid. I walked in and out of the towering structures seeing something different each time. The mosques aren’t the only displays of Persian history, ingenuity and creativity. Chehel Sotoun’s interior, a former entertainment pavilion and palace of Shah Abbas II, had beautiful frescos and paintings that date back more than a century. These works of art depicted historical events such as an Uzbek King’s reception and the Battle of Chaldiran.” As day turned into night, the city lit up with neon lights of stores and restaurants enticing passersby to shop or dine out. I was look-

ALL sorts of items are on sale at bazaars showcasing Iranian craftsmanship.

INSIDE Chehel Sotoun, paintings and frescos depict important events in Iran’s history.

WHEN you step inside a mosque, you don’t only see a place of worship, but Persian and Islamic art.

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(October 22 to 30) in Busan, and the 6th OECD World Forum (November 27 to 29) in Incheon. Confirmed events will be enjoying customized support from Korea MICE Bureau, such as assistance/concierge desk at major international airports, on-site Korea Tourism and Culture Booth, and production of a mobile app to enhance delegates’ meeting experience in the country. “These conferences not only highlight Korea’s capacity to host large-scale conferences but it also magnify our excellence and pursuit for knowledge, particularly

THE blend of blues and inscriptions show the finer details of ancient Persian artworks.

THE bazaars have a variety of distinctly Iranian products.

Korea gets busy with large-scale international conferences this Q4 2018 OREA will be hosting largescale international conferences across the country this final quarter. The Korea MICE Bureau supports 45 international conferences in Korea from October until the end of this year, acquiring a total of 46,000 participants (including 18,000 overseas delegates). Some of the largest business events include the 22nd World Conference of Family Doctors (Wonca) in Seoul (October 17 to 21), Congress of the Society International Urology (SIU) in Seoul (October 22 to 30), 82nd International Electrotechnical Commission General Meeting

THE paintings and frescos inside Chehel Sotoun portray important events in Iran’s history.

in the science field,” In Sook Lee, Korea Tourism Organization-Convention team director said. She added that it is also a good opportunity to promote Korea as tourist destination to overseas delegates and encourage them to visit the country again for leisure purposes. In the meantime, Korea is continuing its efforts to promote the country as a top meeting destination. Interested parties in Korea MICE Bureau’s support for international conferences may approach the staff present at the IBTM World trade show (November 27 to 29, Booth G60).

ing for the old Khaju Bridge, one of the oldest bridges in the city. I asked around which way it was and found out that it could take 40 minutes to get there from where I was, if I walked. Luckily, a man I talked to decided to give me a ride to my destination. The bridge glowed yellow under the night sky and faint, but audible Iranian music played in the background, while people gathered to hear poets recite poems about love. They welcomed strangers, even foreigners to listen. I didn’t understand a word, but the company was a good consolation. The Safavid King, Shah Abbas II had Khaju Bridge built in 1650, not just for utility, but as a place for public meetings. Fast-forward today, it still serves a similar purpose. I could only imagine the views the King had when he looked at the city from the bridge. It could’ve been quite the same, a modernizing metropolis of its time. Esfahan is a fascinating city; it has a vibrant, old meets new atmosphere with its ancient, restored mosques such as the Jameh and Shah, lively Naqsh-e Jahan Square, bustling bazaars and artistic vibe. It has a storied history that tries to embrace modernization. What better way to plot the future than to look at the past?

DO shop at Esfahan’s bazaars for that perfect souvenir.

AirAsia launches #ToIDwithLove relief fund for Indonesia

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IRASIA launched a relief fund to provide support for Palu, which was struck by an earthquake and tsunami on September 28. The #ToIDwithLove fund will be collecting donations from now until October 31. All donations will be channelled to Yayasan Arkom Indonesia to help rebuild homes and improve disaster resilience in affected areas. Those who wish to donate may do so online via AirAsia Foundation, the airline’s philanthropic arm, at airasiafoundation.com/relieffund. AirAsia will also carry out phased onboard cash collections, beginning with AirAsia Malaysia (carried code AK), AirAsia Thailand

(FD), AirAsia Indonesia (QZ), AirAsia X Malaysia (D7), AirAsia X Thailand (XJ) and AirAsia X Indonesia (XT) flights from now until the end of the month, with more airlines in

AirAsia Group to follow. AirAsia will match the total public collection, which will be announced in January 2019. AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said, “It’s been an incredibly tough year for Indonesia, which has been beset by one deadly disaster after another. Our hearts go out to all those who have suffered unimaginable losses as a result. “As an Asean airline, we share a close bond with the communities we serve, and we want to do our part to help those in need. Through this donation drive, we hope to raise enough money to make a positive contribution to rebuilding efforts, so please give freely. Every dollar counts.”

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Sports WHITE HOUSE VISIT ‘NOT A PROBLEM’ Sunday, October 28, 2018

BusinessMirror

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

Both World Series teams have minority managers for the first time, and President Donald J. Trump has had tense relationships with many minority groups. By Ronald Blum The Associated Press

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WORLD Wrestling Entertainment Superstar Alexa Bliss is seen at the “WWE 2K18” SummerSlam Kickoff Event in New York. AP

WWE women’s movement takes hit with Saudi Arabia involvement

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ORMER World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) champ Alexa Bliss ditched her skimpy two-piece ring gear for a full bodysuit. Performing for the first time in the United Arab Emirates, where strict rules govern what women wear in public, Bliss wasn’t about to risk offending a nation set to have WWE female wrestlers fight on the same card as the men. She went hold-to-hold with Sasha Banks to make wrestling history—and fans in a country where women have had to fight for the right to drive responded with chants of “This is hope!” “The welcome was so warm,” Bliss said of fighting Banks for the WWE Raw women’s championship, a year after female stars made only promotional appearances at the event. “They were up-to-date with women’s story lines. There were little girls crying in happiness. It was just so cool because we got to have that moment with them.” The December bout was widely hailed as an empowering, key moment for the sportsentertainment giant—progress toward a stated goal to transform how women’s wrestling is promoted. WWE is taking another step this weekend with a pay-per-view card in New York featuring all female wrestlers, dubbed Evolution and headlined by former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Ronda Rousey. “It’s not just a women’s evolution in WWE,” Bliss said. “It’s an evolution all over the world.” Don’t ring the bell for the win just yet. WWE set aside its women’s movement in favor of a more lucrative statement in Saudi Arabia, an event next month titled Crown

Jewel, with female wrestlers banned from competition. The deal has prompted a public smackdown from fans, bipartisan criticism from politicians and lampooning from latenight hosts, backlash that took a turn and grew louder after writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The financials are murky, but WWE was expected to make between $20 million and $40 million from the two Saudi Arabian shows this year, as part of a 10-year deal. “WWE will say running Saudi Arabia is all about their hope of inspiring change,” wrestling journalist Jason Powell said. “It screams cash grab regardless of how they spin it. I’m happy the women are getting their own show, and they deserve it, but the company’s ongoing business relationship with the Saudis is a black cloud hanging over not just the Evolution event but the company as a whole.” There are now hints the show may not happen as planned. The wildly popular Undertaker heard boos when he talked about Crown Jewel in a promo last week on Smackdown. WWE has heavily downplayed Saudia Arabia itself in its promoting of the event. The country wasn’t mentioned as Crown Jewel’s site on recent television shows, and it doesn’t show up on advertising on its web site. WWE has said it was “monitoring the situation.” Natalya Neidhart, niece of WWE Hall of Famer Bret “Hitman” Hart, said she hoped that should WWE proceed, changes for women could happen over the course of the deal. Bliss said she believed women should get the chance to wrestle in Riyadh. AP

TOUGHT FIGHT Nina Hammer (blue) of Germany wins against Diana Mary Helen Weicker of Canada in a quarterfinal match in the women’s 53-kg category of the Wrestling World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, recently. AP

ATHLETE DOES RIGHT THING

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YDNEY—An athlete who met with Prince Harry and was featured in promotions for the Invictus Games has withdrawn from the event while facing drugs and weapons charges. Australian army veteran Tyronne Gawthorne revealed he was arrested last month on charges of possessing drugs, including cocaine and anabolic steroids and not properly securing a firearm. Harry started the sporting event for injured and sick war veterans in 2014 and attended Games-related events as part of his ongoing, 16-day royal tour of Australia and the South Pacific with his wife, Meghan. Gawthorne chatted with Harry during a reception in Sydney last Sunday. He won a powerlifting silver medal on Tuesday and had been scheduled to compete in discus, shotput and swimming. The 36-year-old former rifleman who served in Afghanistan and East Timor denied taking drugs that may have affected his performance at the Games but also said he agreed it was not appropriate for him to remain on the team. “I cannot express how sorry I am for not disclosing to the team that I had been arrested,” he said in a statement. Gawthorne was arrested in his hometown of Cairns in Australia’s far north and will face court on December 5. AP

A VENDOR sells a program outside Fenway Park for Game Two of the World Series baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers in Boston. AP

Saudi government funds won’t pay for Fifa events

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IGALI, Rwanda—Facing scrutiny over links to Saudi Arabia, Fifa says new competitions that will bring in $25 billion will not be funded directly by any nation, according to documents seen by The Associated Press (AP). Fifa Council members received the funding commitment in briefing notes sent ahead of a meeting Friday in Kigali, where President Gianni Infantino will seek their support for new tournaments. The documents were shared with the AP on condition of anonymity because they were meant to be kept private. “Fifa would not enter into a joint venture for this purpose, whether directly or indirectly, with sovereign wealth funds of individual states,” the documents state. The documents do not say anything about investment from private entities linked to nation states. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., which is part of the group seeking a joint venture

with Fifa to sell the rights to the new competitions, has received $45 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund for technology investments. Infantino’s meetings with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia in the last year raised questions about the kingdom’s involvement in the overhaul of international soccer competitions for national teams and clubs. Seven months after Infantino offered limited details of the financial proposition, Fifa council members have been told of principles that will be “fully adhered to in any potential future agreement” with investors in the Club World Cup and worldwide Nations League. Investments with Saudi Arabia have become increasingly problematic for organizations since Saudi officials have been accused of killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi at their Istanbul consulate on October 2, circumstances that are still disputed and have caused a global uproar. Many top Western

executives and officials withdrew from an investment conference this week that is the brainchild of the crown prince, who oversees the sovereign wealth fund. By explicitly disassociating itself from such state backing in the document to council members, Fifa is distancing itself from Infantino’s comment when asked at a media briefing in June whether the Saudis were backers of the project. “Whoever invests in sport generally I think is welcome provided we do the things in an appropriate way,” Infantino said. The proposals, which Infantino hoped to have approved by May, have stalled because of opposition within the council to Infantino’s secrecy over the financial backers. “Football is not for sale,” UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who is also a Fifa vice president, said in May. UEFA is opposed to the new Club World Cup proposal. AP

OSTON—Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t foresee any problems if the World Series winner is invited to visit the White House. Both World Series teams have minority managers for the first time, and President Donald J. Trump has had tense relationships with many minority groups. “I think as an institution, Major League Baseball [MLB] has always had the greatest respect for the office of the presidency,” Manfred said. “That doesn’t change, no matter who’s there. Often we’ve had situations where individuals, players, whatever, don’t agree with all of the policies of the individual that occupies the office. I think the important thing is respect for the office.” Manfred addressed a number of topics prior to Game Two of the World Series on Wednesday night, including start times and length of games. Boston’s win in the World Series opener took three hours and 52 minutes and ended at 12:03 a.m. EDT. Manfred said complaints about World Series start times reflect an East Coast prejudice. “When you start games at 5 o’clock Eastern, it’s the middle of the work day in LA. That’s not quite right either,” he said. “We’re trying to strike a balance and get the point, the window, where we can get the most people all across the country having a meaningful opportunity to watch the game.” Nine-inning games in the league playoffs averaged three hours and 35 1/2 minutes, up six minutes from the 2017 postseason and more than a half-hour longer than this year’s regular season. “I am always less concerned about it in the postseason,” Manfred said “It is human nature when the stakes go up, things slow down a little bit.” Manfred anticipates a new round of negotiations with players’ union head Tony Clark and his members over pace of play and game rules. Management had the right to unilaterally implement a pitch clock before the 2018 season but did not, and it retains the right to install pitch clocks for 2019. MLB did institute a limit on mound trips without pitching changes for 2018. “I spent a lot of time between the All-Star Game and here talking directly to Tony, trying to map out the things that we’d like to have meaningful conversation about during the offseason, putting him in a position to get prepared to do,” Manfred said. Baseball is monitoring rapid changes to the game caused by analytics, including shorter average outings for starting pitchers—and some teams going entirely with relief pitchers. “I do think that starting pitchers being on the field less presents yet another challenge for us in terms of marketing the game,” he said. “You look historically, right, some of our greatest stars are starters, and if they’re out there less, it has a predictable effect.” Tampa Bay used a so-called “opener” instead of a starter in 78 games. Oakland and Milwaukee had bullpen games during the playoffs. “I do think it can be a useful strategy for clubs in certain types of economic situations,” Manfred said. “It’s really hard to argue with that based on the early returns. We’ll see how the returns look over the long haul.” Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw expressed concern this week that teams may favor relievers over starters because they are less costly. “The market’s going to answer that question, right? We’ll see what happens in the market,” Manfred said. “I’m not sure that that trend at this point is persistent enough to have a market effect, but we’re going to have another market here in just a few weeks and we’ll see what happens.” Strikeouts exceeded hits over a season for the first time in major league history, causing worry that there are too many pitching changes based on matchups that decrease offense. “I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether analytics are a good thing or a bad thing, and the reason for that is they are a real thing,” Manfred said. “We have them. They’re going to continue to use them. There’s nothing you can do to stop people from thinking about the game, however the heck it is they want to think about the game. I think what’s incumbent upon us and what we try to do is pay attention over the course of the season...think about we’ve learned during the postseason and see whether we may need to make some change in response to what we’re seeing.”

Young programmer muses on web-site development amid tight competition

MARC REB ADINA at his work station at Sytian IT Solutions Inc. PHOTO COURTESY OF ADINA

By Oliver Samson

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Correspondent

S competition among industry players tightens, web-site developers nowadays observe stricter standards compliance and harness innovations and best practices to keep the web site quality, a programmer said. The technical teams involved in developing web sites are continuously upgraded in terms of know-how and skills in keeping relevance to the evolving industry, pointed out Marc Reb Adina, a team leader at Sytian IT Solutions Inc. In their case, three teams collaborate in developing a web site: the design team, the development team and the quality assurance team, Adina explained. The design team is in charge of devising layouts and designs, he said. The development team applies the required codes based on the approved design, which is later given a go-ahead by the client. Developing a good web site is a joint commitment between the client and the developer, Adina said. The entire idea comes from the client himself. The job of

the developer is to realize that idea within a specified period of time. “It starts by providing the client with a questionnaire wherein he stipulates his requirements,” he said. Based on the client’s response in the questionnaire, his team comes up with a mock-up design of the web site. Normally, two to three mock-up designs are submitted to the client before he greenlights the development of the web site. Soon after, the team proceeds to developing the inner pages, which include the tabs and menus, Adina explained. “Once the client approves the mock-up design, the team starts coding to meet the client’s requirements,” he said. “We need the layout approved by the client before we start coding since it’s difficult to edit the web site once finished. It’s like tearing down a newly constructed house and rebuilding it to apply the changes.” More than a dozen people are involved in developing a web site, according to Adina. He added these are divided into teams. Nonetheless, Adina said three persons can develop a basic web site. Even one person can do it if he or she has the knowledge and skills for both design and coding, he said. But, ideally, it takes more people to make one of good quality, he added. “Web-site development requires mastery,” he noted. “One team should focus on design, another on coding, and one more on quality to come up with an excellent web site.” Adina dwells on web-site development. His forte is coding.

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Developing a web site normally takes a period of 30 days on the average, he explained. The whole period starts from providing the client with the questionnaire. “But developing a web site may take longer than a month. It usually happens when the client takes too long to accomplish the questionnaire.” A web site may cost the client from P20,000 to P200,000 and even higher, Adina said. Most clients prefer theme-based web sites, which costs less. When the client chooses this option, the project bypasses the web-site design team by default and instantly gets into the hand of the development team, he said, citing Sytian’s experience. The theme is installed and modified based on the requirements of the client, he added. The web-site design takes an average of five days, while coding can take up to 20 days, Adina explained. The web site undergoes quality inspection during the remaining days of the normal period of 30 days. The development team should have met what the approved layout had asked for, he said. If the quality assurance team spots a missing element based on the approved design—like a dot, a tiny line, or a shadow--it is thrown back to the development team. Such unwanted elements sometimes escape the notice of the people in the web-site development team. The quality assurance team ensures the inputs of coders go well with what are stipulated in the layout and design, Adina explained. The web-site appearance and OCTOBER 28, 2018

its functionalities should meet the requirements set by the client. The quality assurance guys keep an eye more on the inputs of the development team than on the design team. After the web site passes quality assurance, the web site is considered complete. The client undergoes turnover training, which is more on web-site management, like posting, editing, updating and removing contents. Clients are discouraged from coding as it may result in web-site defacement and other issues, Adina said. The web site becomes vulnerable to threats, like web defacement, once its page displays an error. “It’s like unlocking the door during sleep time,” he cautioned web-site owners. Adina saw the number of industry players grew in recent years. Some were gone after a period of time due to issues like mismanagement. The quality of web sites today owes to the tightening competition among players, he said. Currently, Adina is assigned to develop and upgrade his team, in terms of technical know-how and skills, in keeping up with the emerging challenges in the industry. He came up with a more efficient method in imparting technical knowledge and skills that he acquired from his mentors and on the job. He wishes to help his juniors become more creative and dynamic by motivating them to rise above the orthodox. Aside from working on team growth, he also handles on-the-job trainees.

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OPM/ska fans, meet Zcentido “The group’s sound is recognizable, with intensely catchy soulful and melodic grooves, coupled with skanking moves, distinctive instrumentals, raw energy, as well as a forwarddriving brass section and captivating entertainment, all thrown into the mix.

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Manila goes ‘down under’ with Aussie punk bands by Rick Olivares

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PAIR of Australian punk bands caused quite a stir in the metro during the past week for their gigs that were not only frenzied but rather, more “revealing…” When two-piece band I Have A Goat took the stage for the Finite Fam production at Tomato Kick in Quezon City on October 17, one wondered if people turned up because they wanted to see whether lead singer and guitarist Simon Exley would perform au naturel (he actually did). What people didn’t expect was the main act—Exley’s compatriots from the “land down

under”—hardcore crew Stoned to Death, would follow as well. At least lead singer Jake Seymour shed all his clothing with one guest vocalist from a Filipino band. Needless to say, the pictures were infamously shared on every social media network as soon as the vocalists decided to pull individual “Iggy Pop” and “Flea” acts. (Iggy Pop was known as the “Godfather of Punk,” and was (in) famous for his nudist and sexual antics on stage; while Flea, during the heyday of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, would either perform in his underwear or with his bass guitar covering his private parts.) There was nothing of that sort, but good old punk madness with a touch of flair. That is if you listened to the songs. “I don’t know,”was all Exley could say with eyebrows raised when asked why he does so. While the home crowds were amused, the Aussies… were moved. “What happened was ‘I Have A Goat’ contacted us,” explained Seymour of how the tour of the Philippines was put together. “We don’t have a drummer. Everything wasbooked,[andwewereaskedifwewanted to go and help them.] And we lost our minds. We had no idea how amazing it would be when we got here. Our only [concerns were:] we’re called, ‘Stoned to Death,’ and what the government [here] is like…” “We are going to [write] a bunch of songs about this experience,” shared Seymour, some three hours before Stoned to Death’s version of the Terminator 2 theme opened their 30-minute set of mayhem and flesh. “Our guitarist, Daniel Bresich, came up with a song title for one, and it’s going to be titled ‘Two Red Horses. ’Yes, after your beer.” The nine shows in 12 days (from Las Piñas to Bulacan, then several nights in Manila, including stops in Cagayan de Oro, Davao, and lastly, General Santos City) when the two bands played across the Philippine islands was already an eye opener. “These are our first ever shows outside our native Australia,” admitted Seymour. “And this is an experience that we will never forget.”

Sense of community

THE gig preceding the Tomato Kick show was, in the words of Seymour, “the band’s

best show ever.” Bresich confirmed: “Dude, that was what? Over 200 people moshing to our music! They were slamming and body surfing nonstop. That it was crazy. They were spray-painting our shirts. Many didn’t know the music, but some did. Everyone was having a great time! We saw the great sense of community.” It got so intense that Seymour broke his toe, while drummer Loy Roberts hurt his ankle. But Stoned to Death never allowed that to affect their performances. “A lot of people kept saying, ‘Thank you for coming here,’ told Seymour. “I think it is us who should say, ‘Thank you.’” Aside from the music and the connection with local music fans, Seymour admitted that the “Food Not Bombs” concept of the Bulacan show really hit all of them: “Flying into this country, we knew about the political situation and what’s going on here.We feel forthe people, and it is something that had us thinking. So you can be sure this will find its way into our future songs.” While the gig in Tomato Kick was a smaller with a more sedate crowd (“Wednesday evening in the metropolis,” reasoned Finite Fam founder Karen Gonzales, “But the show must go on because of our love for underground and indie music.”), the Aussies never let up on the energy one iota.

‘Slogging through’

EXLEY was amazed when the fans in the Continued on page 5

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Ska band loves, promotes OPM by Leony R. Garcia

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CENTIDO is currently making waves online via Spotify and through various gigs, as well as radio guesting with its newly released album “Ikaw, Ako, Tayo.” The band has a vision of creating an “old school-to-new school” type of ska music that will cater to every kind of audience around the world. The seven-member band is composed of Richard P. Cruz,who is the bandleader, drummer and saxophonist from UP Diliman Conservatory of Music. He used to be sax player for Put3ska (of Manila Girl fame) and drummer of indie recording artist Twisted Halo. With him is MJ ValienteCruzas lead vocalist. Jamming with the husbandand-wife team are Patrick Blanco (trumpets, from Banda 2 Kabataan of Angono, Rizal), Jerico Garcia (trombone, from Banda 4 Malabon City—Eat Bulaga’s grand champion for “Banda Rito”), Gary Ruperto Ragay III (bass, formerly of Hagibis), Christoph Alday (guitars), and Lhord Joseph Jamorol (keyboards). The group’s sound is recognizable, with intensely catchy soulful and melodic grooves, coupled with skanking moves, distinctive instrumentals, raw energy, as well as a forwarddriving brass section and captivating entertainment, all thrown into the mix. Zcentido wants to share their original OPM compositions, including their carrier single “Ikaw Ako Tayo,” from the album of the same title, which was composed and arranged by Richard himself. The release includes the songs Your Smile (music and lyrics

Manila goes...

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QC gig spot all joined in for Collingwood Punx off their album “Have A Go Ya Mug” that was released in March. “Nothing like a sing-song to work up the crowd,” observed the jolly and redhaired singer. “Whether you have 200 or 20, it doesn’t matter,” added Bresich. “Performing live is something we look forward to. You cannot change your attitude. Everyone has rainy days when things don’t go right or something like that, but you go ahead and push through. You slog through.” The Tomato Kick show was

PHOTO BY JOHN CARLO MEDINA

by MJ) “Pag-Asa,” Dream, “Puso’t Tadhana,” “Ulan,” and Underneath The Big Oak Tree. Nikki Silvestre Cunanan, who happens to be one of the best sound engineers in the Philippines, recorded all the songs. Cruz said, “It’s time to go back to OPM. We love Filipino music. It’s full of emotion. Aside from our very own compositions, we also revive OPM songs. First on our list is ‘Mamang Sorbetero.’” He added, “Our carrier single, ‘Ikaw, Ako, Tayo,’ is our group’s story of friendship. We really love it. We enjoy being together, and we hope to

influence our countrymen, including the millennials.” Zcentido’s name came from the Spanish word “sentido,” which means “sense.” To elaborate Zcentido’s good sense in music, the band changed the letter “S” to “Z,” which stands for “Zhen,” MJ’s nickname; while “C” is for “Chard,” or “Richard,” who built the group. The band happens to be a 2018 Gawad Musika awardee as “Outstanding Ska Jazz Band” at the 38th People’s Choice Awards, jointly with the “Global Prize Awards” in March 17. Recently they were recognized “Outstanding Ska Band”

by the Global Excellence Awards Council on August 25. Zcentido’s repertoire include s60s, 70s, 80s and 90s hits. The band regularly plays in Pagcor/ Casino Filipino, Avids Restobar in Metrowalk, Tiendesitas in Pasig City, and also in several hotels around Metro Manila. The group is excited for the coming Philska Music Festival on December 1 at the Greenfield District in Mandaluyong City, where they will be performing. Follow Zcentido and their gigs through their official Facebook account.

just as intense. Stoned to Death’s bassist Michael Sneddon and Roberts laid down pulsating rhythm, while Bresich did heavy riffing. As for Seymour, he brought the house down with manic fury. “I love the underground scene here,” said Seymour said earlier. “It’s tough, but you see bands making it work. Back in Australia, we are lucky that the government has a program called ‘AMRAP’ where all musicians­— regardless whether [playing] metal, punk or rap­—pop a dollar or two for every song you write and every show you play at the end of the year. It is a great situation because it allows you to

be an artist and perfect your craft. You still have to work for it, but it’s great. And when we return, we want to...build on what we’ve experienced here.” “The most we ever played back home were two shows in a row,” threw in Bresich. “This is the biggest one we’ve done: nine shows in 14 days. We have to pick up the energy level even with the lack of sleep and rest. We’ll sleep when we return home.” “‘Food Not Bombs’ made us feel lucky to live in Australia,” summed up Seymour, after the Tomato Kick show. “[That was] a more personal and intimate show, and we’re here sitting with the fans, chilling,

talking, and having beer with them. [That was] great.” “We look forward to finish the tour and when we get back, we’re going to write about this, and hopefully do a cover song of a Filipino punk band. That would be an amazing end to this experience, where we literally got turned ‘down under.’” A pair of Australian punk bands who hit the country in the past two weeks caused a stir for their intense, rowdy, and revealing shows. But they came away, stirred and shaken. What comes next will surely be worth following.

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OCTOBER 28, 2018 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

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MUSIC ON PRINT

SoundSampler | by Tony M. Maghirang

Let’s get it on with The Dawn, Khalid, Cigarettes After Sex, One Click Straight zone, yet never out of their wits. With Ascendant, the band looks headed to the next level—whatever that is—and all true Pinoy rock fans should sign in for an exhilarating ride.

THE DAWN Ascendant

KHALID American Dream

T’S becoming increasingly difficult to put legendary Iderivative band The Dawn in context without falling into perspectives: the late Teddy Diaz looms

large in their sound, “Iisang Bangka Tayo” made them the poster band for Pinoy rock’s next generation; or they may be “retreading,” or staying on the same musical ground of their golden era. Then... boom! ”Segurista” made the rounds in various digital music sites early this year, and it’s a stunning display that the band—now a five-piece juggernaut—has tapped into a new vein of creative wellsprings. The new song bulges with the hooks and songwriting ingenuity of an ambitious young band. It’s the most revitalizing Pinoy pop-rocker you’ll hear this year, with audacious lyrics, for example: “Babaguhin, pati pangalan ko…/ Gagawin ang lahat, para mapansin mo!” like no other in the band’s canon. MerryGoRound, despite the title’s happy connotation, is a serious nod at Black Sabbath’s Iron Man, complete with wanking guitars on its second half. More grim tales ensue in the progrocking ProtoHuman; and the midtempo/hard rock, almost Gothic howler Nightracer (Kingdom of Solitude). The eight-track set concludes with the bracing rock and roll of Rock ‘Til You Drop. In Keep You, Jett Pangan sings: “I’m no hero…/ But I will try to save the rest of you…/ And the time we have left, is back to zero.” It’s obviously a love song, but Pangan invests it with a desperation that’s out of sync with the band’s back catalog. The Dawn, this time, seems out of their comfort

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ONE CLICK STRAIGHT The Midnight Emotion STRAIGHT treads the fine line between OwavesNEindieCLICK eclecticism and losing their identity in of influences and fresh ideas. They shimmy

around slow make-out music that’s not exactly original, but one that serves its core purpose— transport you out of your frenzied existence into their unhurried world of chill. It’s the unmistakable hooks and the soulful groove that do you in. And if you keep a close ear to the accomplished musical journey, you’ll discover layers of sonic embellishments: ‘80s street beat here, a cool sax break there, and vocalist Toff Marquez’s outstanding falsetto. It’s actually the combination of beautifully meandering sounds, and the silky but soaring falsetto that takes the breath away in Small Talk, Shot in the Dark and the title track. Foolish and Velvet even intimate of Shalamar on a dark trip, while Kaleidoscope hints of dream pop if only the guitars vibrated to a rock frequency. The songs are written from feelings of the heart and hazy visions from the head. It fits right into the inward-gazing, personal appeal of their music. That midnight emotion has certainly produced a signature sound for this aspiring new band.

HE debut from freshman R&B star Khalid pairs the snappy and the smooth. His keenly observed lyrics echo the fun and troubles of high school life at the juncture where soft rock melts into quiet storm. Musically, highlights are the tinkling pianos and pulsing ‘80s beat of American Teen, the steady funk of Young, Dumb & Broke and the light, easygoing lightness of Sad Love Song. Those are the first three tracks of Khalid’s first release, and they get refracted in part in subsequent lesser lights like Hopeless, Winter and Therapy. That’s just a first impression and in time, the album grows on you as a record of many different high moments. His lyrics often match the music’s upward movement. He sings: “I’m so high at the moment…/ I’m so caught up in this… /Yeah, we’re just young, dumb and broke… /But we still got love to give…” in the anthemic Young, Dumb & Broke. His singing evokes hope with: “Can you feel this energy? / This is the start of something great…/ We might... be a little late.../ But at least we’re on our way” in the upbeat with a twist, Let’s Go. Khalid’s top asset is that he communicates well, despite the sadcore trajectory of his music. As he says in Location: just send him where you are and he’ll come through with the right vibrations. Khalid goes live in Manila at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on November 2.

CIGARETTES AFTER SEX (Self-titled)

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ITH a name like that, you’d expect the band involved would be busy building the perfect sound of post-coital bliss. Fortunately, the American band from Texas Cigarettes After Sex is made of sterner, sturdier stuff. K., the first track off their latest self-titled album, explores remnants of ecstasy in ambient music that’s equal parts dense, dark, sinister and dreamy. Its hypnotic pull comes from a steady drum pulse, the textured synths and heavily reverbed guitar, plus lead vocalist Greg Gonzales’s about to break into tears singing. Sunsetz transposes the post-intimacy feeling to one of longing and in the band’s dream pop/shoegaze potpourri, it comes off being one and the same sensation. In fact, in tracks with a different lyrical viewpoint other than sex like Apocalypse and Young and Dumb, Cigarettes After Sex delivers feelings similar to uneasy contentment after casual sex. Maybe it’s Gonzales’s monochromatic vocals. Perhaps it’s the thickly swirling, yet candy-toned atmospherics of the band. Whichever, Cigarettes After Sex makes restless, shape-shifting music that function as a drug-free lysergic comedown. Karpos Live Mix 3.3 features Cigarettes After Sex on a double bill with Up Dharma Down at Vertis Tent in QC on November 8.

Rockwave at Skippy’s by John Aaron Mark Macaraeg

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N a move to encourage struggling independent musicians to be more visible in the local music scene's limelight, Skippys Gastropub will be holding Rock Wave on Saturday, November 3. The said gig will be serving different genres of music, as bands from various backgrounds will be playing. Those who will take the stage are Bonifacio Republic (poppunk), Splendio Tritus (modern rock), Isidro Project (punk), The Black Vomits (classic rock), and Calebral (alternative rock). The event will also be

the first leg of a series of gigs Skippy’s will be hosting every Saturday to help indie groups showcase their talent and art. For musicians and bands, this will be a great avenue for them to be seen and recognized by

audiences who share the same taste for music. Rockwave will take place at Skippy’s Bar and Grill, The Forum, 7th Ave corner Federacion Drive, BGC, Taguig City, with a P150-entrance fee.

Democrats agonize over whether millennials, Hispanics will vote

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UST two weeks from Election Day, Democrats are agonizing about whether two groups of infrequent and liberal-leaning voters will turn out or dash their hopes of winning control of Congress: Hispanics and young Americans.

High turnout among Latinos and millennials is “absolutely pivotal” to the party’s prospects “and it’s of major, major concern,” said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. “I worry about whether we as Democrats have invested in the infrastructure we need to really mobilize that vote in 2018.” The party and its supporters have an urgent push underway to get those voters to the polls. A digital ad campaign launched Monday by Democratic groups Senate Majority PAC and Priorities USA Action aims to mobilize those blocs. A recent video features former President Barack Obama telling people that their failure to vote empowers politicians to ignore issues they care about. Voto Latino and NextGen America, a group funded by billionaire Tom Steyer, are working to register Hispanics and young people, respectively. Polls, fundraising and independent analysts suggest that Democrats are poised to make significant gains on Novmber 6 that could give them a majority in the House. Republicans retain an advantage in the Senate as Democrats have to defend 26 of the 35 seats on the ballot in 2018, including 10 in states where Trump won in 2016.

Democratic targets BUT low Hispanic turnout could sink Democrats in some House races the party sees as part of its path to the majority. There are 31 GOP-held districts where Latinos are at least a quarter of the population, according to the Census Bureau, including those held by Republicans Steve Knight and Jeff Denham of California, Will Hurd and John Culberson of Texas and Carlos Curbelo of Florida. All are major targets for Democrats. “It’s just a really, really big question about who’s going to turn out to vote,” Lake said. “We could lose Senate seats over it. We could lose—the margin in the House could be greatly reduced. There are a good 15 seats where the millennial and Latino vote make a huge difference, could be the margin of victory.” Corey Lewandowski, a former campaign manager for Donald Trump who has kept in touch with the president, said there’s a high degree of uncertainty about who’ll turn out in two weeks.

A MAN rests beside a poster in this undated photo.

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Midterm drop off “I DON’T think anybody can predict what’s going to occur in the November election,” Lewandowski, adding that “there is always a drop-off” in midterm elections. “The question is how much of a drop-off and which places.” Trump’s rhetoric and policies against illegal immigration and attempts to cut legal immigration have stoked his Republican base and in the final weeks before the election he’s returned to the issue. He’s threatened to cut off aid to three Central American countries because of a caravan of migrants seeking asylum in the US is attempting to travel to the southern border through Mexico. While that’s angered some Hispanic activists, it’s unclear whether it will create a backlash that will drive more Hispanic and Latino voters to the polls on Election Day. Democrats see some signs of optimism. A NBC/Wall Street Journal survey released Sunday found 71 percent of Latinos registered high interest in the midterms, a jump from the 49 percent of Latinos who said that in mid-September. Among voters under 35, the poll said 51 percent expressed high interest, below the 65 percent average for all registered voters.

Historical trend BUT the uncertainty haunts Democrats. Signs of hope ahead of previous midterm elections didn’t translate at the ballot box with Latinos and young voters, who largely stayed home in 2014, 2010 and 2006. The historical trend in non-presidential elections is that voters are older, white and married, demographics that benefit

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Republicans. In 2014, Hispanics made up 25.1 percent of eligible voters but just 6.8 percent of the electorate, according to data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. In 2010, they accounted for 21.3 percent of eligible voters and 6.6 percent of the electorate. In 2006, a strong year for Democrats, they were 17.3 percent of eligible voters and just 5.6 percent of the electorate. “It’s not unusual for Latino and young voter turnout to fall disproportionately in midterms, and we’re seeing that this year,” said David Wasserman, House editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Limiting gains AS a result, “Democrats are not seeing the same magnitude of a wave” in places like south Texas, parts of the Central Valley of California and possibly South Florida, he said. “That’s part of the reason why the Arizona and Nevada Senate races are very close right now, instead of slam dunks for Democrats. So that’s limiting their gains a bit.” Many Democrats are optimistic about winning upscale suburban districts with lots of college-educated white women, who appear mobilized against the GOP. That includes seats held by Republicans like Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Peter Roskam of Illinois and Mimi Walters of California. Winning enough of those districts may carry the party into the majority. A survey conducted in September Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or Circle, found that 34 percent of Americans ages 18-24 were “extremely likely” to OCTOBER 28, 2018

vote. If they do, it would far exceed turnout levels in prior midterms.

More engaged

THE poll found other signs that young people are becoming more politically engaged. Compared to 2016, young people expressed more optimism about their power to bring about political change, and increasingly saw their friends getting politically active, which in turn made them want to do so. “We are definitely seeing some signs and signals that this is an unusual midterm year,” said Abby Kiesa, director of impact at Circle. “Young people are seeing other young people involved. There’s a culture of engagement happening, outreach happening, and people thinking about young people more.” Lake said young voters are “very, very fired up, but the question is: Are they fired up for the next protest or for the next election?” Margie Omero, a Democratic strategist and pollster, said women are at the forefront of the Democratic Party’s strength in this election, fueled by “a really wide gap among college-educated women” that favors the party. But she said there’s no historical precedent for what will happen if Democrats win women voters by a huge margin and, as polls also suggest will happen, Republicans win men narrowly. “That’s not how these patterns usually work,” Omero said. “So that would be something new. That’s another piece of the uncertainty.” Bloomberg News

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FOREST FOUNDATION

Group eyes advocates for forest protection among young Filipinos

By Alyssa Mae Clarin

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NONGOVERNMENT organization is eyeing more advocates for the protection of Philippine forest among young Filipinos. And the Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP) is staring at those in the urban center who must start at knowing first what they should be protecting.

“You cannot protect what you do not know,” FFP Executive Director Andres A. Canivel said before leading a hike at the La Mesa Eco Park. The La Mesa Eco Park, on its own, despite being located within the Metro Manila, holds a fairly diverse collection of flora with at least 520 plant species thriving within the area. The Eco Park is also home to plant species that are currently undergoing rehabilitation. The FFP, hence, deemed the La Mesa Eco Park as the most ideal place to hold the first activity of its Best Friends of the Forest (BFF) Movement. Canivel, a lawyer, told the BusinessMirror there would be more activities like this, as FFP aggressively promotes the Philippines’s biodiversity. The FFP is organizing the BFF Movement as a community of environmentalists, travel enthusiast, social entrepreneurs

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and artists who aim to encourage people to protect the forests through its established “Passion Points,” namely, conservation, social entrepreneurship, arts and culture, and ecotourism. The BFF Movement had already conducted an activity for two of its passion points: social entrepreneurship as well as arts and culture, through the movement’s first-ever BFF Talks last July. Through the hike at the La Mesa Eco Park, the BFF Movement managed to hit the remaining passion points at once. During the hourlong hike, participants were introduced to different plant species thriving within the Eco Park, their different characteristics and how each contributes to the country’s ecology. Known to be one of the world’s biodiversity hot spot, the Philippines is home to 52,177 described species and more than

OCTOBER 28, 2018

half of them are endemic to the country. Trail guides from the University of the Philippines Mountaineers also emphasized the importance of replanting these species. “Our country will benefit more on the ecological aspect if reforestation programs started using and replanting exotic trees, since endemic birds and plant species tend to flock more to trees they feel familiar with rather [than to] big trees that are foreign to them,” Canivel said. Unfortunately, most reforestation programs are focused on the economic aspect, or on what they could get from the trees they are replanting, rather than how these trees would affect our environment, he added. Through these activities, the FPP hopes Filipino youth would advocate for the reforestation of these species. “Start your trail toward sustainability and forest conservation,” Canivel said.