BusinessMirror October 30, 2018

PHL MICROSAT DIWATA-2 SETS OFF IN JAPAN

By Lyn Resurreccion | Science Editor

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ANEGASHIMA Space Center, Kagoshima, Japan—The Philippines reaffirms its entry into the “space revolution” with the launching on Monday (October 29) of its second microsatellite (microsat)—the Diwata-2—in the space center in Tanegashima Island in the south of Kyushu.

Diwata-2 zoomed into space via the H-IIA F40 rocket of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), bringing with it the highest hopes of Filipino scientists who predict that the images it will provide will find even more applications for development in various sectors than its precursor, Diwata-1, did.

Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña

THE Philippine contingent to the launching of Diwata-2 microsatellite poses for posterity. The group is led by Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, Philippine Deputy Chief of Mission to Japan Eduardo M.R. Meñez, University of the Philippines Chancellor Michael Tan and PHL-Microsat head Joel Marciano. With them is Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa. LYN RESURRECCION

led the launching of the microsat, together with University of the Philippines (UP) Chancellor Michael Tan, Philippine Deputy Chief of Mission in Japan Eduardo M.R. Meñez and officials of Jaxa. It was also graced by former Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.

De la Peña told the BusinessMirror that the historic event proved the Philippines’s earnestness in its space program. He said space technology will help the country in its work for development because the data that will be taken from the satellites would be used by different sectors—in agriculture, natural resources, environment and industry, among others.

He expressed hope that the next satellite would be made in the Philippines as the country is already preparing experts for the project. “We are introducing space en-

gineering in UP as part of our engineering courses,” he said.

10-year program AT the meeting with Jaxa President Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa a few minutes before the satellite launching, de la Peña said a 10-year national space program was proposed to the Cabinet.

He said the creation of a space agency is No. 1 on the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) legislative agenda.

Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr., program leader of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite Program (PHLMicrosat), said this is just the start of a long journey for the country’s space program.

See “Diwata-2,” A2

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Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Vol. 14 No. 20

China FM: PHL economy high on Xi’s November visit

By Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CITY—The Philippine economy is high on the agenda of the historic visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in November this year, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.

At the same time, the Philippines’s handling of its claim in the South China Sea territories may provide an example to other claimant nations, Wang added,

stressing Beijing’s interest in furthering maritime cooperation and in proposals for joint development of oil and gas in the resource-rich area.

At a joint press briefing with his counterpart, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., Wang said, “A peaceful and stable South China Sea means

$44.8B Total trade in 2017 between the Philippines and China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, according to DOF data. It was $33.5 billion from January to August this year

a shared interest among regional countries and our shared responsibility in the development of the region, and China is ready to work with the other regional countries to be our partners to further consolidate the region.”

Continued on A2

Arrivals spike from China: Tourists, or Pogo workers?

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HINESE tourists continue to arrive in droves, pushing the total foreign arrivals from January to September 2018 to 5.36 million, up 8.32 percent from the same period last year.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) showed arrivals from China expanded by some 35 percent to 972,550 in the nine-month period this year, accounting for 18.14 percent of the total tourist arrivals market. This puts China firmly in second place in the top source markets for tourists of the country.

However, DOT Spokesman and Undersecretar y for Tourism De velopment Plan ning B enito C. Bengzon Jr. failed to respond to BusinessM irror ’s query whether the arrivals from China were actual tourists who return to their country after their holiday, and not workers in Philippine online gambling operations (Pogo) in Manila, Taguig, Pampanga and other destinations.

Gaming analysts estimate Chinese workers in Pogo at some 300,000, and yet the Department of Labor and Employment has said it issued only 25,000 work permits to Chinese citizens this year. “This can only mean the rest are here on tourist visas,” said one analyst.

See “Arrivals,” A2

A better Boracay Manny B. Villar

THE ENTREPRENEUR

B

ORACAY reopened to the public as a more beautiful and muchimproved island destination on October 26, or six months after President Rodrigo Duterte decided to bring order to the island that he described as a “cesspool.”

This strong political resolve, with the support of everyone, including residents, resort owners and employees, restored the grandeur of Boracay. When all the infrastructure projects are completed on the 1,000-hectare island, it will be able to better cope with the influx of tourists and withstand the threat of natural disasters.

Continued on A6

Inflation won’t tame PHL appetite for US agri goods–report

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@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

NEW Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. (right) and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands during the latter’s courtesy call in Davao City on Monday. Wang is in the country for talks with Philippine officials and to prepare for next month’s state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. AP/MANMAN DEJETO

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

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strong consumer spending kept sales of US agricultural exports to the Philippines close to $2.6 billion in 2017, the same level as the previous year,” it read.

“Sales are up 13 percent from January to July 2018 and forecast to reach a record $2.9 billion by the end of the year as traders stock up goods for the holiday season,” it added.

The GAIN report noted that the top agricultural exports of the US to the Philippines last year were soybeans and soybean meal valued at $840 million, followed by wheat worth $555 million.

The Philippines also imported US dairy products worth $243 million and red meat valued at $168 million.

“The US continues to be the Philippines’s largest supplier of agricultural products, and the Philippines is its 10th-largest global market,” the report read.

@jearcalas

ESPITE higher inflation, the country’s agricultural imports from the United States could rise by 12.4 percent to a record high of $2.9 billion this year, from $2.58 billion last year, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report.

The GAIN report published by the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural in Manila recently noted that the improvement in the purchasing power of Filipinos due to a growing economy would drive higher consumption of farm goods from the US. It added that the expected increase in demand for consumer goods during the holiday season would boost purchases of American farm products.

“Despite inflation, a weak Philippine peso and trade restrictions,

See “Inflation,” A4

‘Silent giant’ strangling small businesses in PHL, closures feared

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

M

@alyasjah

ICRO, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are feeling the pang of inflation, as the surging prices of goods and services swelled the cost of doing business.

Germaine Marko Pascual, owner of Wood Inspirations Crafts, said he had to increase the prices of his

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 53.7320

products, which are mostly fashion accessories. This is to cope, he explained, with the rising prices of raw materials, cost of logistics and salaries of workers—all of which he attributed to inflation.

“Actually, the effect on us of inflation is really huge, [like it’s] a silent giant. For us who are comfortable in our lifestyle and have our own businesses, we do not feel it much [at first] until it just creeps to you [and

For us who are comfortable in our lifestyle and have our own businesses, we do not feel it much [at first] until it just creeps to you [and you] realize your costs of gasoline are rising [and] suppliers request for higher prices.”—Pascual

you] realize your costs of gasoline are rising [and] suppliers request for higher prices,” Pascual said.

In spite of this, he is bullish his family’s enterprise will grow this year, particularly in the local market. He

admitted, though, that exports are slow in picking up.

I n f l at ion — or t he ge ne r a l increase in commod it y pr ices—rose 6.7 percent, the highest in almost 10 years, in September, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The acceleration was primarily caused by food and nonalcoholic beverages, the prices of See “Silent giant,” A4

n JAPAN 0.4803 n UK 68.9167 n HK 6.8535 n CHINA 7.7370 n SINGAPORE 38.9334 n AUSTRALIA 38.1067 n EU 61.2222 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.3251

Source: BSP (29 October 2018 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, October 30, 2018

With Diwata-2 launch, will PHL see own space agency?

By Stephanie Tumampos

A

@sbtumampos_BM

S Filipinos waited for the launch of Japan’s H-IIA F40 rocket to set off the vastly improved Philippine microsatellite Diwata-2 into space on Monday, hopes ran high that the historic event will give lawmakers a sense of urgency to pass the Philippine Space Act that will set up the country’s space agency and boost the current microsatellite program.

Students, professors and other spectators went to different venues in the country to watch the live streaming of the launching where Diwata-2 is secondary payload piggybacked on the rocket together with the rest of the other satellites set for deployment.

At around 12:08 p.m., the crowd at the GT-Toyota Asian Center in Quezon City stood up and raised the Philippine flag in excitement to support the country’s own microsatellite journey in space. While not streamed live, Diwata-2 was successfully deployed in orbit at 621 kilometers altitude in space several minutes after the launch. It is now on standby mode as verified by the PHL-Microsat team.

Various locations of the live streaming were also held at Bicol University, Cebu Technical University and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Office in Iloilo. Others also watched the live streaming on YouTube provided by the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (Jaxa).

One student who watched the live streaming at Quezon City told the BusinessMirror that “it is an exciting time ahead for them as [high school] students who want to be in the astronomy and space engineering field.”

Another spectator, Jianne Libunao, who is currently a graduating architecture student from the University of Santo Tomas, told the

“The collaboration between the universities is good for the future of the younger generation for both countries, so I hope this development, including the deployment of Diwata-2, will be successful and continue and even develop in the future.”—Kuwabara

BusinessMirror that she learned about the launch through her sudden interest in space due to her thesis, which is focused on designing the Philippine Space Agency.

“My hobby was just looking at the stars and here we are, looking forward to the future,” Libunao said. She added, “even though we can’t contribute scientifically, we as future architects can contribute and provide a space and design to build the space agency.”

Atsushi Kuwabara, minister and consul general at the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines who was also at the live streaming in Quezon City, enthused right after the program about the robust cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, calling it “very productive.”

According to him, “the collaboration between the universities is good for the future of the younger generation for both countries, so I hope this development, including the deployment of Diwata-2, will

be successful and continue and even develop in the future.”

DOST Undersec ret a r y Ro wena Guevara emphasized that the launching of the microsatellites is not just for display. She stressed the Philippines is capable of launching these technologies in space but, “we would like to develop human resource needed in order for us to put up a Philippine Space Agency and for the Filipinos who will benefit from the data received from the satellites.”

Currently, the PHL-Microsat program has over 50 scientists and engineers who have obtained and will soon obtain their training and postgraduate studies, both masteral and doctoral degrees from various partner universities in Japan.

This group will then train the next batch of space science and technology engineers for the subsequent satellite and space program, and implement localization to build Philippine satellites in our own laboratories in the country.

On the Philippine Space Agency issue, Guevara strongly urged legislators to approve the Philippine Space Act. She prefers that the law be passed this year. The agency is seen to be built on a proposed 30-hectare lot at Clark Green City in Pampanga. “If it gets approved this year, we can start building the whole agency and the program itself,” she told the BusinessMirror.

China FM: PHL economy high on Xi’s November visit Continued from A1

Wang said China was ready to tap the Philippines and other regional states in the area of maritime cooperation and environmental protection, “to help in the standing cooperation in research, fishery, and we are ready to discuss with the Philippines about joint development of oil and gas.”

Meanwhile, alluding to his leader’s November journey to Manila, Wang said he would be interested in following the Philippine preparations and how China could help “to ensure that the visit of President Xi would be fully successful” for both countries.

Locsin said Xi’s visit would be the first by a Chinese president in 30 years and only the eighth by a high-ranking Chinese official since diplomatic ties were signed 43 years ago.

Wang’s visit here on Monday, aside from resulting in the signing of three bilateral agreements, also tackled details of economic cooperation agreements expected to be signed during President Xi visit, the Department of Finance said.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who led the Philippine side during the meeting, described it as a “productive dialogue” that he hoped will help to “continue expanding the mutually beneficial economic, trade and investment cooperation” between the two countries.

Robust ties

“WE are preparing for the upcoming historic visit of President Xi and, of course, the economy is a very important field,” Wang said in the opening statement shortly before the signing of the bilateral documents.

In remarks before the start of the meeting, Wang underscored the importance of economic cooperation in strengthening bilateral relations between the Philippines and China and its impact on the well-being of the people of both countries.

Wang cited the significant growth of two-way trade between the Philippines and China, as well as of Chinese investments in the Philippines, which, he said, increased “by more than 500 percent” in the first six months of 2018.

Last year, the growth in level of investment was 67 percent.

Before the meeting, Dominguez said that “China, including Taiwan,

Hong Kong and Macau, is now the Philippines’s biggest trading partner with total trade amounting to $44.8 billion in 2017 and $33.5 billion from January to August this year.”

The DOF said the meeting here focused on the status of the economic cooperation agreements and documents, particularly those covering Chinese funding support for the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program. These were expected to be signed at Xi’s state visit in November.

5 accords for Xi visit THE Philippines and China are expected to sign at least five agreements: loan and guarantee accords, economic and technical cooperation, support for the feasibility studies on the Philippines’s infrastructure projects, and promoting cooperation on key Build, Build, Build projects in Mindanao.

Aside from Dominguez, the Philippine side also included Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar, and Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade; Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana; Vivencio Dizon, president-CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA); and Assistant Secretary Roderick Planta on behalf of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia.

The DOF said the Davao dialogue “follows the very successful high-level bilateral meeting between the two countries held last August in Beijing, where both our governments expressed full commitment to our shared goals of implementing the important consensus reached between our leaders, as well as bringing our bilateral relations to a higher level through enhanced cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges.”

Dominguez said that following the August meeting in Beijing, the DOF, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), BCDA and officials of the Philippine Embassy and Chinese Embassy have set up a technical working group to orient Philippine officials on the organizational structure, procedures and financing terms of the newly formed China International Development Cooperation Agency (Cidca).

Signed documents THE bilateral documents inked after the meeting held at the Marco Polo Hotel here on Monday were: ■ The Exchange of Letters for the Feasibility Study of the Davao River Bridge (Bucana) Project, signed by Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana; ■ The RMB50-million grant for the Supply of Law Enforcement-Related Materials/ Equipment to the Philippines, signed also by Sta. Romana; and ■ The $1-million grant assistance for the victims of Typhoon Vinta in 2017, signed by Defense Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad.

The three documents were all signed

by Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua on behalf of China.

Xi, Duterte initiative IN two of only four questions from Filipino and Chinese reporters covering Wang’s visit here, the foreign minister admitted that the conflicting claims in the South China Sea have been a key issue in his previous visits to the Philippines.

However, he said he has noted a sharp difference now in the way Filipinos were looking at the issue,“thanks to the guidance of the Chinese President and President Rodrigo Duterte.”

In a short quip in between his responses and those of Locsin, Wang said that “whether or not [the code of conduct drafted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] is a document signed, that [signatories] must abide and implement.”

“Under the guidance of the President of China and the Philippines, the situation in the South China Sea is improving and the countries are resorting to dialogue to find solutions rather than confrontation. Together with the claimant countries, China is upholding the peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Wang said in a question that wanted to clarify if the code of conduct was legally binding for all state-signatories.

Wang said China and the Philippines had a successful meeting, along with other countries in the Asean, during the recent meeting of heads of Asean held in Bali, Indonesia.

Oil, gas

BEIJING’S foreign affairs chief said the

Philippines, for instance, has broached the idea of joint development on oil and gas. Wang said it “would be good to have joint development without prejudice to the each other’s sovereign claim.”

This way, he said, the Philippines may find a solution to its energy problem. Besides, he added, “it would also provide a practical way for China and the Philippines to rekindle relations and to set an example for China and other countries to do the same.”

“We will work together to improve management of the South China Sea,” he said. He disclosed that the Philippines and China already established a hot line and “they are talking to each other” to address management and to air concerns.

Wang said China was also willing and ready to establish the same communication hot line with other countries.

“We will speed up consultation.

China’s position is clear: to speed up consultation and hope to conclude the consultation during the term of the Philippines as the country coordinator of the Asean-China relation to ensure stability in the region,” he said.

With such designation in the Asean, he said the Philippines has placed an important role in promoting dialogue than conflict.

Locsin said that while there has been a turnaround in the PhilippineChina relation, the Philippine move was merely “a resumption of our own long friendship, and it should be looked at that way.”

He said that while the Asean code of conduct may not be legally binding for all, “it should be looked at as how people, countries will behave towards each other, for which we honor never with aggression.”

Besides, Locsin said, the South China Sea “is not an exclusive issue between China and the Philippines. It is a hot issue, a burning issue between the Philippine archipelago, the Indonesian archipelago and the littoral states of Southeast Asia.”

“The differences are there, perhaps the differences will go away, perhaps they will be resolved, perhaps they will abide. But there has been no reason why these differences can stand in the way, or should stand between cooperation for their mutual benefit. There is absolutely, no reason,’” he said.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

New wage float from labor: P100 to P334

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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RGANIZED labor said on Monday they are ready to be more flexible in their wage hike demand to get a better deal during the ongoing deliberations of the regional wage board in Metro Manila.

In a phone interview, Associated Labor Unions (ALU) Spokesman Alan Tanjusay said they are willing to negotiate a wage hike from P100 to P334.

“This was our counteroffer when the employers withdrew their P20 proposal. This will change depending on the negotiations tomorrow [October 30],” Tanjusay said.

ALU is an affiliate group of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), which filed the P334 wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Tanjusay said they opted to consider a P100 wage demand based on the recommendation of the labor representative at the Regional Tripartite

Diwata-2. . .

Continued from A1

Marciano, also the director of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the DOST, said they are preparing the needed human resources for the future success the program.

Eight universities are already involved in the program. Manpower is deemed important in sustaining the program. “Actually, a laboratory building has already been built” for space engineers.

The Jaxa president said they are in the process of preparing a memorandum of understanding for the close cooperation of DOST and Jaxa in space projects. UP’s Chancellor Tan said “what is important for us is to build a new horizon for our young people.”

Meñez, over dinner hosted by Jaxa on the eve of Diwata-2’s launching, said the event will bring inspiration to children just like “when the first man on the moon brought a sense of wonder in the minds of children” in 1969.

For the Philippine delegation who will experience a satellite launching, “this would be very memorable,” Meñez said.

Made in the Philippines

AT the same dinner, Tan said the UP community is hoping that the next Maya cube nanosatellite will be made in the Philippines.” Maya-1 was deployed into space in August 2018.

The science community in the country and abroad had been looking forward to the launching of Diwata-2, which has“incrementally improved in almost all of its aspects” compared to its predecessor, Diwata 1, which was deployed into space in April 2016.

Mark Edwin Tupas, project leader of PHLMicrosatellite, explained to the BusinessMirror that Diwata-2 has a higher altitude from the Earth at 620 kilometers, while Diwata-1 has only 400 km to 420 km. This would give Diwata-2 a longer lifespan of five years, or even 10 to 15 years.

“The higher from the Earth, or gravity, the longer the lifespan,” he explained, adding

Arrivals. . .

Continued from A1

Bengzon attributed the surge in Chinese tourists to “the flourishing relations between China and the Philippines, and the DOT’s aggressive promotional efforts and facilitation of VUA [visa upon arrival]...recognizing the Philippines as one of the best destinations in Asia, especially in the sun and beach category.”

The Beijing government has promised to send 1 million tourists a year to the Philippines, with the warming of its ties with Malacañang.

He added the increase in arrivals from China can also be due to increased air seats to the Philippines’s secondary gateways.

He also said: “The number of port of calls, with some cruise giants even home-porting in the country, is also a factor. From January to September 2018, the Philippines welcomed a total of 149,272 cruise passengers, of which 60.14 percent, or 89,775 of the visitors were from China.”

Meanwhile, South Korea continues to dominate the list of top source markets for tourists with a 22-percent market share at some 1.18 million. This was lower by 1.2 percent, however, from the same nine-month period in 2017. Its market share last year was also higher at 24.1 percent.

As previously reported, the continued month-on-month downtrend of arrivals from South Korea will likely result in the in DOT

Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR).

Tanjusay said, however, that anything less than P100 would prompt them to dissent against the new wage order.

The RTWPB-NCR is scheduled to hold another closed-door deliberation on Tuesday after failing to come out with a new wage order in its meeting last Friday.

Tanjusay said they expect that, without the intervention of President Duterte, the approved wage hike in NCR will be below their original demand.

“We see no hope of a substantial wage increase in the hands of the majority,” Tanjusay said, noting that employers and government officials dominate the NCR wage board.

“Our only hope for an acceptable and substantial wage increase is [for] President Duterte [to] take the matter into his hands by deciding what he thinks is acceptable for workers and business,” he added.

that having a lower altitude gives Diwata-1 an atmospheric drag and makes it decay faster.

“It is estimated that starting April 2019 it [Diwata-1] will start its decay in orbit because its altitude is getting lower,” Tupas said.

He noted that despite its higher altitude that will produce images with lower resolution, Diwata-2’s camera will have improved quality that can produce better images.

Besides these, Diwata-2’s deployable solar panels will provide it increased power generation output, and 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. Another important development in Diwata-2 is that its components are locally made by engineers at UP. Also, the manpower that built the microsat is “three times larger than those [nine] in Diwata-1.”

Use of microsat images

TUPAS indicated some of the uses of the Diwata1’s images to researches—in land classification, captured land vegetation like in agriculture and forestry, detecting the water quality of Laguna de Bay, detecting the presence of fish pens, and many others.

He acknowledged that with the microsats being used for research, a number of government agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture, Forest Management Bureau and Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology, and research students have availed themselves of the images gathered by Diwata-1.

He explained that the growth of the country’s space program is like the development of a cell phone which started with an analogue, with new phones released from time to time until the iPhone was invented.

The PHL-Microsat program is being funded by the DOST, UP and in collaboration with Japan’s Hokkaido and Tohoku universities. It is being monitored by the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry and Emerging Technology Research and Development. missing its 7.4-million target arrivals for 2018.

(See, “South Korea visitor market, tops for tourism, softens,” in the B usiness M irror , October 24, 2018.)

The United States sat on third place with 774,657 arrivals, accounting for a 14.5-percent market share. Tourists from said market increased by 7.94 percent from the same period last year.

Japanese tourists rose 7.3 percent to 485,121 in the nine months to September 2018, but the market share remained stagnant at 9.05 percent, comparable to the 9.13 percent share in 2017.

Similarly, while arrivals from Australia rose by 6.6 percent to 99, 201 this year, its market share was 3.71 percent to total tourists. Last year’s market share was higher at some 3.77 percent.

Other top markets were Taiwan at 185,278 (up 0.38 percent); Canada at 162,658 (up 12.07 percent); the United Kingdom at 148,301 (up 9.15 percent); Singapore at 130,674 (up 4.17 percent); Malaysia at 109,486 (up 2.6 percent); Hong Kong at 94,356 (up 12.76 percent); and India at 92,589 (up 14.63 percent).

For September 2018 alone, substantial growth rates were registered by the Chinese market at some 29 percent to 102,373 from September 2017; Japan, up 14.6 percent to 53,342; Taiwan, up 29.5 percent 22,152; and Malaysia, up 14.5 percent to 13,211. Decreases were noted in arrivals from Hong Kong, by 19.3 percent to 7,411; Singapore by 5.7 percent to 13,182; and South Korea by 3.5 percent to 119,456.

Total foreign arrivals for September 2018 stood at 512,240, an increase of some 6.8 percent.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Nation BusinessMirror

D.E.N.R. RAKES IN P43 MILLION FROM BORACAY ‘POLLUTERS’

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

A

TOTAL of 219 business establishments in Boracay were slapped with fines for violation of various environmental laws, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

The aggregate amount of fine for the various violations reached a whopping P43 million, according to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) of the DENR. Some establishments were found to have more than one violation.

A quasi-judicial body charged with adjudicating cases brought

by DENR’s regional offices against violators of environmental laws and regulations, the PAB slapped the erring establishments with fines ranging from P10,000 to as high as a million pesos depending on the length of time and gravity of offenses.

In a news statement, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu pushed for “continuing vigilance” in the monitoring of pollution violations and swift adjudication of cases brought before the board.

For his part, DENR Undersecretary Rodolfo Garcia, PAB’s presiding officer, said penalty notices had already been sent to the business owners, who are under obligation to pay the fines.

“We at the DENR believe that anyone who pollutes or destroys the environment must pay the cost for that destruction,” Garcia said.

He added that only those who settled the penalties will be allowed to process their permits to operate provided they have not committed other violations.

“The DENR, together with other concerned government agencies, is firm in its resolve to clean not

only the waters and air of Boracay and to manage its solid waste. It also wants to clear Boracay of irresponsible and greedy business people who have placed care for the environment their least priority,” Garcia said.

The rehabilitation efforts, he added, will continue even after Boracay has reopened to tourists. “We will continue to monitor all establishments and impose the necessary penalties should they be found breaking laws,” he stressed.

Of the 219 establishments fined, 110 were found to have violated Section 1, Rule 19 of RA 8749, which requires a permit to operate all sources of air pollution from the EMB. Their imposed fines totaled P1.5 million.

Another 72 establishments were fined a total of P2 million for operating facilities that discharge regulated water pollutants without a valid discharge permit, which is required under Section 27(c) of RA 9275.

Five establishments were fined P39 million for discharging untreated wastewater that exceeds effluent standards under the clean water law.

For violating some provisions of both RAs 8749 and 9275, some 22 establishments were fined a total of P900,000.

A l l er r i ng est abl i sh ment s were issued notices of violation by the EMB Region 6 soon after Boracay was closed to tourists in April for a six-month-long rehabilitation from serious environmental damage.

The PAB is mandated to assess fines and issue cease-and-desist orders to polluting establishments and specify compliance with the standards violated. DENR regional offices are responsible for implementing PAB’s orders.

Police file multiple murder raps vs 7 suspects in Sagay massacre

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

P

OLICEMEN in Western Visayas have filed multiple murder charges against seven suspects allegedly involved in the massacre of nine sugarcane workers at the Hacienda Nene in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, more than a week ago.

The filing of charges against the suspects—two of whom had been identified while the five others are yet to be identified—was disclosed

by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde on Monday.

“Western Visayas police has already filed a multiple murder case against two identified members of Negros Federation of Sugar Workers [NFSW] and five John Does who are believed to be either direct participants or principals by indispensable cooperation in the shooting to death of nine Sagay sugarcane workers,” Albayalde said at a news briefing.

“Likewise, the father of the lone witness, who is a 14-year-old minor, is mulling over the filing of kidnapping charges against some members of Karapatan who took custody of the minor and his mother without his consent,” he added.

The military earlier claimed that the nine victims were recruited by the NFSW and were brought to the hacienda by federation officials just two days before the carnage.

“In fact, they were recruited, after paying P500 for 1 hectare of land, less than two days before the incident,” Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said at a news briefing last week.

Albayalde said policemen were in the process of identifying the five unidentified suspects in the mass killing, which it said “ has been solved,” although the PNP would still continue its deeper investigation.

“The two suspects were identified, they were the ones who directly recruited them [the victims] and were the ones who took them to the area. They were even the ones who took custody of the cell phones of the victims,” Albayalde said. “The five are also included, but they could not still be identified. Their names could not be ascertained as of yet,” he added.

Albayalde maintained that “the NFSW is a legal front of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army,” as it was allegedly founded by communist leaders Luis Jalandoni and Fidel Agcaoili.

Duterte told: Cut the theatrics, curb drug smuggling at the ports

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By Butch Fernandez

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sector, and firms maintain their competitiveness in the face of global trade uncertainty.

Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba said the BOI wants to hear from business leaders themselves how the agency can help address the concerns of the private sector. She added they can voice their policy and reform proposals to the government through the TID Talks.

“We are here to have a dialogue, to have a conversation, to talk and to listen to each other. These TID

@butchfBM

N opposition senator on Monday slammed government “theatrics” in the Duterte administration’s efforts to carry out reforms at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in the wake of a raging scandal triggered by the P11-billion shabu illegal-drug shipment that was allowed to pass through Customs inspection.

“Placing the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] in charge of the BOC may appear decisive and daring, but what we need are no-nonsense solutions, not theatrics,” said Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan.

This, even as Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr. prodded beleaguered BOC officials to “learn from history,” suggesting the need for the revenue-raising bureau to “establish a focused counterintelligence system to curb corruption, and prioritize leadership by example.”

“These can help the Bureau of Customs curb corruption without having to tap officers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Lacson, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1971, said recalling a lesson from the 1960s, showing the use of idealistic AFP officers to run the BOC did not work, “after the smuggling rings used women to sway them.”

In a post on his twitter account, Lacson recalled that “some young, idealistic AFP officers were put in charge of BOC operations. They learned fast, they couldn’t be bribed or intimidated. The smugglers used equally young, beautiful women to influence them. The rest is history we don’t want to remember.”

In a separate statement, Pangilinan pointed out that placing a revenue-generating agency under the AFP is “of doubtful legality.”

“What does AFP know about collecting taxes and tariffs? The bureaucracy is becoming militarized. What’s next? BIR? Immigration? Not all military officials are effective managers like inept Capt. [Nicanor E.] Faeldon and Gen. [Iisdro S.] Lapeña of BOC and Jason Aquino of NFA [National Food Authority],” Pangilinan said.

The opposition senator added: “Regardless of who manages the Bureau of Customs, if Malacañang itself tolerates and does not punish Faeldon and Lapeña and doesn’t show any teeth and outrage against drug lords, nothing will come of AFP’s transfer because it will only follow Malacañang’s orders.”

Pang i l inan sug gested t hat the solution is not in the transfer of any agency but in “showing that incompetent officials and the syndicates they are in connivance with, all big fish, are punished and held to account.”

For his part, Lacson stressed that smuggling syndicates, especially those smuggling illegal drugs, will “employ all tricks to pursue their nefarious activities.”

Instead, the senator stressed the need for a sophisticated counterintelligence mechanism in the BOC. “I can only suggest that a continuous, dedicated, focused, highly classified and sophisticated counterintelligence operations should be put in place to watch the watchdogs, so to speak,” he said.

Lacson added: “More important... those in charge should apply the principle of leadership by example, not in words, but in practice.”

Lacson recalled that he pract iced leadersh ip by e x a mple when he headed the Philippine Nat ion a l Pol ice ( PN P) f rom 1999 to 2001. Under his watch, Lacson said, the PNP became disciplined and efficient. This, in turn, earned Lacson and the PNP’s high approval marks from the public. “It is second to none.

There is no substitute to it [principle of leadership by example] that I know of,” Lacson stressed.

Meanwhile, National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde has ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management to ensure the availability of six dismissed and active policemen in connection with the ongoing investigation into the alleged shabu smuggling at the BOC. Albayalde said he had also instructed the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to immediately conduct an investigation to determine whether there is probable cause to file administrative cases against the active policemen.

The policemen were identified as

Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto, Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan, Supt. Lorenzo Bacia, Insp. Lito Pirote, Insp. Conrado Caragdag and SPO4 Alejandro Gerardo Liwanag.

Except for Acierto, who had been dismissed from the service by the Office of the Ombudsman, all the other policemen are on active-duty status.

Acierto and the five policemen were earlier named in a report released by President Duterte to be possibly involved in the operation of illegal drugs in the country.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said the BOC will be placed under military control “until the President is satisfied that everything is in order.”

The President was “disgusted” with what had recently transpired and forced the President to ask the AFP to take over the “graft-ridden” bureau.

“The people he has placed at the top are men of integrity and that he trust completely but somehow because of rotten system, it just slipped past. So in other words, the problem is with those at the bottom and not the ones he appointed so precisely, he is getting people from AFP to help [in the cleansing of the bureau],” Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said in a briefing with Palace reporters on Monday.

Sacked Deputy Customs Collector Lourdes Mangaoang has also said in a television interview that putting BOC under military control would not be the “perfect solution”, citing that the agency’s previous experience with military men did not also turn out well.

With Bernadette D. Nicolas and Rene Acosta

Placing the AFP in charge of the BOC may appear decisive and daring, but what we need are nononsense solutions, not theatrics.”

—Pangilinan

BI tightens watch on human traffickers amid holiday travel frenzy

By Recto Mercene @rectomercene

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HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) hoisted the “red alert” status on Monday following reports that human-trafficking syndicates are set to take advantage of the long All Souls’ and AllSaints’Dayholidaybreaktospirittheir victims either in or out of the country.

The BI coordinated with Manila International Airport (Miaa) head Ed V. Monreal to implement the alert level at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said their move is in compliance with Justice Secretary Menardo J. Guevarra’s directive to all airport terminal heads and supervisors to immediately implement strict the security measure as part of “Oplan Undas,” which will last until November 4.

“We have received intelligence reports that human traffickers and illegal recruiters will be sending many of their victims to travel abroad this week. They are mistaken if they think we will lower our guard during the peak season,” Medina said.

B.O.I. lines up TID Talks with local industries HEBoardofInvestments(BOI)haslinedupaseries of discussions with the different domestic industries to enhance their global competitiveness at a time the multilateral trading system is put to a test.

The Trade and Industry Development (TID) Talks is a series of discussions organized by the BOI to serve as an avenue for the government and local industries to exchange views on policies, programs, issues and initiatives. This is to ensure the government remains responsive to the needs of the private

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, October 30, 2018 A3

Talks serve as a platform through which the BOI can reach out to the private sector to discuss trade and industry development initiatives and have a discussion on how we can remain steadfast in responding to the needs of our local industries,” Aldaba said.

Local industries are facing disruptive challenges internally and globally. It is at this time the government and the private sector should collaborate more to weather the disruptions, Aldaba stated. Elijah Felice E. Rosales

According to Medina, members of the bureau’s newly reshuffled Travel Control and Enforcement Unit were instructed to conduct secondary inspection on all departing Filipinos “with doubtful purpose of travel.”

“Most of the time, trafficking victims are instructed by their recruiters to disguise themselves as tourists while leaving the country. I have ordered our immigration officers to conduct strict departure formalities,” he said, adding the BI is mandated to protect fellow Filipinos from being victimized by unscrupulous individuals.

At the same time, Medina said he has directed immigration officers to be doubly strict in clearing foreigners to make sure that their visas and other travel documents are valid and genuine.

He observed that there are a number of foreigners that have been apprehended this month, presenting bogus passports and visas. He said foreign syndicates might take advantage of the influx of tourists and attempt to sneak in illegal aliens pretending to be legitimate tourists.

“Illegal aliens with fake documents will definitely be arrested. Our im-

migration officers are highly trained to detect fraud, plus we have stateof-the-art equipment to ensure the protection of our borders,” he added.

Medina, meanwhile, announced that some 100 members of the bureau’s Border Control and Intelligence Unit (BCIU) at the Naia were also reshuffled as part of measures to prevent corruption at the airport.

The BCIU is composed of BI intelligence officers and agents whose main task is to monitor and keep a close watch on all arriving and departing passengers, apprehend suspected illegal aliens and trafficking victims, and enhance border security.

Meanwhile, Monreal and Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Chairman Carmelo Arcilla went on an inspection tour of the Terminals 3 and 4 of the premier gateway on Monday morning.

“We want to ensure that every passenger is properly guided prior to their departure for their respective provinces to celebrate the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day,” Monreal said.

“So far, so good, except for some check-in counters which are not properly manned by airline personnel.

There are long, long lines of travelers,” he observed.

Monreal said, so far, they have received very few complaints from departing passengers.

“Those who come forward for some complaints were attended immediately,” he said, adding the airport has put up clean drinking water at the predeparture lounge so that passengers will no longer have to buy bottled water.

Monreal said, airline supervisors were requested to replace immediately outgoing personnel so as not to hamper operations, while others were asked to render overtime.

“As far as I can see, I am happy the way the facilities are working, the security personnel, doctors and nurses are in their respective places of assignment, ” he added. The airport chief reminded air travelers to obey airport rules, particularly removing shoes and metallic contents of their pockets at the final security check.

“This is to avoid misunderstanding, as the Office of Transportation Security manning the initial and final security checkpoints are doing their jobs for our own protection.”

Natl research contest seeks ‘best’ solutions to community problems

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SCENDENS Asia Group Singapore and Philippine partners are inviting students and other researchers to submit abstracts of their studies on practical and innovative solutions to the most pressing problems facing their local communities in the First National Competition on Research Poster Presentations to be held in March 2019.

The project, Research Advocacy

for Community Empowerment (RACE), seeks to generate 20,000 research outputs, mainly from public and private academic institutions from junior high school to postgraduate levels. The most outstanding researchers will get the opportunity to present their research posters to interested companies, organizations, financial partners and the general public at the national

RACE competitions.

The RACE competition and exhibition is a five-month search for the top 10 research papers conducted at various public and private schools in all regions of the country. Researchers will be invited to make a poster-based presentation on the subject of their research and how it will help solve the problems of their local communities.

A4 Tuesday, October 30, 2018 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Cabcom okays four new projects worth P56.48B

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@cuo_bm

HE interagency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) Cabinet Committee (Cabcom) has approved P56.48 billion worth of projects, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a news statement, the Neda said the cost covered four new projects, the largest of which is the P33.097 billion Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project (PMRCIP) Phase 4.

The project will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and to be undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Executed by the DPWH, that will put in place flood-management infrastructure [i.e., dikes, revetments, floodgates] along the 8-kilometer [km] stretch of the Lower/Middle Marikina River, and the construction of the Marikina Control Gate Structure,” the Neda said.

Other projects approved by Neda are the P13.42-billion Road Network Development Project (RNDP) in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao; P6.52-billion Rehabilitation and Development Plan (RDP) for a Greater Marawi—Stage 2; and P3.45- billion Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program (BMCRRP).

The RNDP in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao aims to construct, rehabilitate and improve the 178.43-km road network in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Min-

danao and its neighboring regions.

The Neda said the DPWH aims to complete the project by 2024 through official development assistance (ODA) from Jica.

The RDP, meanwhile, will be completed by 2022. It has two primary components. the construction of two-lane Marawi Transcendental Road, Phase 3 (23.90 km) and the construction of two-lane Malabang Viaduct (1.6 km).

“The RDP for Greater Marawi provides a viable solution for the rebuilding of Marawi City by fully utilizing the capability of various infrastructure projects as catalysts of redevelopment,” the Neda said.

T he other project that was approved was the P3.45-billion BMCR R P. The five subprojects under the BMCRRP are the construction of a Main Outlet Drainage System; rehabilitation/improvement of Beyaba Damag Open Channel; and construction of Slope Protection Works along Marawi-Bito Road.

The subprojects of the BMCRRP also include the construction of Main Drainage Outlet BangonLuksadatu Lake Lanao, Phase II and the construction of Permanent Rorogagus Bridge.

“These include programs and projects in land-resource management, social services, physical infrastructure, livelihood and business development implemented by the national government or is in support of local governmentimplemented projects, and the construction of classrooms for permanent resettlement sites, in view of land-related issues arising from the Marawi siege,” the Neda said.

Meanwhile, the ICC-Cabcom also approved an increase in cost for the third phase of PasigMarikina River Channel Improvement Project (PMRCIP).

The ICC-Cabcom approved the increase in cost for the project to P9.03 billion, from the initial estimate of P7.55 billion, due to necessary additional civil works, including dredging works, to implement the project.

The project covers the 5.4-km stretch of the Lower Marikina River, as well as the 9.9-km remaining sections between the Delpan Bridge and Napindan Channel covered under the second phase of the PMRCIP. The ICC-Cabcom also approved in principle the New Clark City High Performance Gymnasium and Sports Museum Project of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

The project will cost an approximate P1.6 billion and will be funded through a grant from the People’s Republic of China.

The project will feature five floors of indoor and outdoor facilities for sports medicine and sports science that will complement the internationally certified sports facilities built at the Phase 1 of the National Government Administrative Center.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Integrity begins at the top

By Henry J. Schumacher

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T its core, a company’s leadership bears the ultimate responsibility for upholding integrity and banishing corruption from its corporate culture. And as experience in the now low-corruption countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong have shown, the top is the most effective starting point for cultivating a culture of integrity, accepting the fact that clean business is good business.

Hong Kong’s famed corruption fighter, Tony Kwok, emphasized that any anticorruption campaign starts with ethical leadership.

“The chief executive should publicly pledge their commitment to adopt institutional integrity by issuing a public statement on business ethics, values and zero tolerance,” Kwok pointed out.

Kwok, an anticorruption consultant and former head of operations, Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), spoke some time ago before the Integrity Initiative about his firsthand experience in battling corruption at the highest levels. Kwok urged the Philippines’s business sector to fight against corruption by taking the “Integrity Pledge” developed by the Integrity Initiative and living up to the commitments outlined in the Pledge.

Beginning with the preamble, “We will prohibit bribery in any form in all activities under our control...,” the Integrity Pledge consists of a list of commitments aimed at fostering ethical, clean and transparent business transactions throughout the Philip-

pines. It commits signatories to support fair market conditions, transparency in business transactions and ensure good corporate governance.

The Integrity Initiative Inc., being a multisectoral organization, seeks to institutionalize integrity standards among various sectors of society: business, national and local government, the Judiciary, academe, youth, civil society, church and media. While corruption tops the agenda, the Integrity Initiative also addresses issues like “longterm sustainability over shortterm gain, paying the right taxes, no smuggling and respecting labor laws” and the environment.

The Integrity Initiative aims to sign up as many reputable corporations as possible and collectively agree on a “Unified Code of Conduct” and on control measures to ensure integrity and transparency in business transactions. While we succeeded until now to obtain about 3,000 signatories, it must be added that our aim until the end of 2019 is 10,000!

Given this challenge, let’s focus a bit more about the successful vision of Mr. Kwok: He clearly outlined that the vision for change in fighting corruption is a necessity.

Kwok focused in his talk on the role of senior managers in fighting cor-

ruption. “The most critical success factor for combating corruption is top corporate will,” he emphasized.

Companies must lead in the fight against corruption because there has been a change in the complexion of corruption in high places. He proposed that companies operating in the Philippines develop an “Institutional Integrity Action Plan” based on four pillars: Ethical Leadership, Staff Integrity, Systems Integrity, and Monitoring and Deterrence.

Of these four, ethical leadership beginning at the very top remains paramount. Kwok described ethical leadership as one having integrity; one with a respect for human rights; one that treats employees equally and one that adheres to the rule of law.

In Kwok’s definition, integrity is honesty; selflessness (in the sense that a decision is based on public/institution interest and not on private interest); objectivity (a decision is based on merit); transparency (no under-thetable deals) and accountability (those who break the law must pay the price).

Ultimately, the Integrity Initiative hopes to build trust in the government, a more equitable society and fair market conditions.

This will result in improved competitiveness and increased business confidence, which will be evident with the increase in domestic and foreign investments, and more employment generated for Filipinos.

It will provide better services and products to every Filipino.

In order to succeed, more sectors of society have to get involved, such as the court system, academe, civil society and— above all—the youth.

Trusting that companies that have not yet signed the Integrity Pledge want to do that now, contact me under Schumacher@eitsc.com and I will send it to you immediately.

No hitch in selection of 3rd With limited funds, PSA scales back national ID 2019 target to just 6M telco player on Nov. 7–DICT

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

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HE chief of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) over the weekend assured the government will name the third telecommunications (telco) firm that submitted the highest committed level of service among all bidders in the next nine days.

As soon as all the sealed bids are opened and placed side by side on November 7, DICT Secretary Eliseo M. Rio Jr. said the government can provisionally name the firm that submitted the highest committed level of service among all bidders, adding the the highly anticipated bidding will proceed “as scheduled without any hitches.”

“Wala na po kaming nakikitang balakid [We see no major hitch in opening the bids],” the DICT chief said on the possibility of encountering another delay in the bidding process, which the government put together for a year to consult all stakeholders to come up with reasonable terms of reference.

“In fact, on November 7 at 10 in the morning we will open all the bidding documents and we will know who will be our provisional third telco provider,” Rio added.

He explained that the terms of reference (TOR) bind the winning bidder to the quality of service it committed in its pitch to become the third telco operator. With more competition in the market, the official anticipates the existing players will likewise step up their efforts to retain their subscribers, Rio said.

“We will be monitoring their commitment because it is through their service that the third telco can build their subscriber base. The only way for them to get subscribers is to give better service and lower subscription cost than the existing

players,” he pointed out.

“Of course, market forces will be in play, resulting to better service and lower costs, which the public will benefit overall,” he added.

The TOR also include a performance bond, which the government could forfeit if the winning bidder failed to maintain their committed level of service to its subscribers, according to Rio. He said the bond is “at least P14 billion.”

The bond is among the issues assailed by NOW Telecom when it sought a temporary restraining order on October 8 against portions of the terms of reference.

The court denied the petition of the firm, saying “there is practically nothing to enjoin that will warrant the grant of obtaining such injunctive relief from this court at this time.”

For his part, Rio maintained that the TOR had been put together that way to ensure that only serious bidders with sufficient capital can participate in the bidding process. The third telco is projected to spend P40 billion in the first year and P240 billion in the succeeding five years, DICT estimates showed.

Besides, the government was also wary of firms who bid for frequencies—which are awarded by Congress and approved by the President—and sell these eventually to another company, according to Rio. He cited the case of Altimax Broadcasting Co. Inc, which had been granted a congressional franchise in 1999, but sold its majority stake to a subsidiary of Globe Telecom in 2009 rather than use it.

The sale of Altimax, which is owned by NOW Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Mel Velarde, included frequencies awarded to them by the National Telecommunications Commission, which the firm did not utilize it, according to Rio.

@BNicolasBM

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HE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is now targeting only 6 million registrants for 2019 for the Philippine National ID System (PhilSys) since the agency was not given the funds under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to meet the previous target of 25 million.

The Department of Budget and Management only approved P2 billion under the NEP. “We were not given in NEP 2019 the budget we need to enroll 25M,” PSA National Statistician Lisa Grace S. Bersales told the BusinessMirror in a message.

To be able to fund the registration of 25 million, the PSA had previously said it needs an additional P4.2 billion.

Although they were not able to get the budget that they want under NEP for 2019, she said they are still expecting to enroll 106 million Filipinos by 2023.

From 2020 to 2023, Bersales said they will be asking for about P7 billion per year to enroll 25 million individuals annually.

Starting January next year, the PSA will be conducting the test for the proof of concept with Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) during the registration of 1 million households under the unconditional cash transfer scheme program of Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“This is to test the system and the processes that we have already crafted for the Philippine Identification System. This proof of concept, we say is end to end, which is, we will [conduct the] test, registration, validation, all the processes in between up to the issuance of the PhilID, the national ID card,” she said, adding that they are partnering with PhilPost since it has actually been doing registration for the members of the Social Security System for the Unified Multi-Purpose Identification System.

Next week, Bersales also an-

Silent giant. . . continued from a1 which went up 9.7 percent. Average inflation now stands at 5 percent, way beyond the Central Bank’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

Carmelita Pascasio, owner of Pascasio Pottery and General Merchandise, claimed her business is experiencing a decline in the number of buyers, who she supposed are prioritizing basic needs over other consumer items. “This just happens now, although last year sales started declining,” she said.

Jocelyn Reyes, president of the Joyful Garden Farm Organic Farmers Association Inc., lamented that logistic costs are more expensive nowadays given the higher prices of fuel. She said this is hurting her business, which relies on delivery services.

“We cannot meet even the demand of the local market alone. We need to expand more [and] educate the local farmers to produce organic products,” Reyes added.

nounced that they will be inviting bids for the proof of concept.

They will also be expanding the coverage of proof of concept to other regions.

This is different from what the PSA announced before. It said earlier it will limit the registration of 1 million unconditional cash transfer beneficiaries for the proof of concept to just three regions, namely, Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon and the National Capital Region.

“After the proof of concept is tested for about six months, we will learn from what happened and adjust any—or make any adjustments on the technical specifications and other processes for PhilSys, then next year we will do the procurement of the full PhilSys system learning from the proof of concept,” she said.

The procurement process for the full system of PhilSys is expected to start by February 2019 and end by July.

By September next year, they are targeting to start the full-scale registration of 5 million registrants.

Edelyn Sitchon Cañero, owner and general manager of Edelyn’s Homemade Nuts, said her enterprises’ sales are better, but admitted prices of raw materials are higher the previous months. She is hoping that demand for pasalubong and snacks will improve this holiday season.

Owners of sari-sari stores have also complained that the increasing prices of commodities could compel them to shutter their business. They said the introduction of new taxes early this year and higher inflation make it doubly hard for them to survive, as they saw their sales decline by as much as 50 percent.

“In the past few weeks, we have seen price increases of commodities, including the items we sell at our small stores because of the impact of the TRAIN law,” said Victoria Aguinaldo, president of the Philippine Association of Stores and Carinderia Owners (Pasco), in a statement.

By 2020, the registration of overseas Filipino workers, in coordination with the Department Foreign Affairs, will also start.

The PhilID is expected to expedite applications for the availment of government services and benefits and tax-related transactions, opening of bank accounts and transactions for employment purposes, among others.

Under the law, the PhilID will contain the registrant’s biometric information, along with seven demographic data, such as full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, blood type, address, nationality and three optional information, specifically, marital status, mobile number and e-mail address.

The PSA has since ensured that they will keep the privacy of citizens secure. Bersales said they will be doing a privacy impact assessment every year.

“So through these evaluation measures, we will know if there is a need to do some changes to the ID specification,” she said.

Inflation. . . continued from a1

The Gain report noted that consumer-oriented food and beverage (F&B) products would remain as one of the most lucrative commodities for US exporters.

The report projected that the Philippines would import F&B products worth $1.1 billion this year, 14.11 percent over last year’s $964 million.

“Traders expect sales of US food and beverage products to the Philippines will surpass the $1-billion mark by the end of 2018, as it did in 2014,” the report read. “Consumer-oriented food and beverage products remain the best prospects for future export growth fueled by consumer confidence in the quality of American products and the steady expansion of the country’s retail, food service and food processing sectors,” it added.

The Philippines’s top 10 consumer-oriented F&B product prospects are beef, pork, cheese and cheese products, frozen and powdered eggs, fresh vegetables, apples, infant food preparations, frozen potatoes, wines, and pet food, according to the GAIN report.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Tuesday, October 30, 2018 A5

Indonesia Lion Air flight with 189 on board crashes after takeoff

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AKARTA, Indonesia—A Lion Air plane with 189 people on board crashed into the sea just minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Monday in a blow to the country’s aviation-safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and the United States.

Indonesia’s disaster agency posted photos online of a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels that have converged on the area.

Lion Air said the brand-new aircraft, on a one-hour-and-10minute flight to Pangkal Pinang on an island chain off Sumatra, was carrying 181 passengers, including one child and two babies, and eight crewmembers.

Indonesian TV broadcast pictures of a fuel slick and debris field.

Distraught friends and relatives prayed and hugged each other as they waited at Pangkal Pinang’s airport.

The National Search and Rescue Agency’s deputy chief, Nugroho Budi Wiryanto, said some 300 people, including soldiers, police and local fishermen, are involved in the search and that so far it has recovered no bodies—only ID cards, personal belongings and aircraft debris.

At the agency’s headquarters in Jakarta, family members turned up, hoping desperately for news.

Feni, who uses a single name, said her soon-to-be-married sister was on the flight, planning to

meet relatives in Pangkal Pinang.

“We are here to find any information about my younger sister, her fiancé, her in-law to be and a friend of them,” said Feni.

“We don’t have any information,” she said, as her father wiped tears from reddened eyes. “No one provided us with any information that we need. We’re confused. We hope that our family is still alive,” she said.

Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani also arrived at the agency and met with its chief, seeking information about 20 finance ministry staff who were on the flight after attending a ministry event in Jakarta.

The search and rescue agency said the flight ended in waters off West Java that are 30 to 35 meters (98 to 115 feet) deep.

The agency’s chief Muhammad Syaugi told a news conference that divers are trying to locate the wreckage.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was delivered to Lion Air in mid-August and put in use within days, according to aviation website Flightradar24. Malindo Air, a Malaysian subsidiary of Jakarta-based Lion Air, was the first airline to use the 737 MA X 8 last year. The

RELATIVES of passengers comfort each other as they wait for news on a Lion Air plane that crashed off Java Island at Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia, on Monday. Indonesia disaster agency said the Lion Air Boeing 737-MAX 8 plane crashed into sea shortly after it left Indonesia’s capital on Monday morning. AP PHOTO

Max 8 replaced the similar 800 in the Chicago-based planemaker’s product line.

Boeing spokesman Paul Lewis says Boeing is “closely monitoring the situation,” but did not provide details on the aircraft in question.

The pilot of Flight 610 had more than 6,000 f lying hours while the copilot had more than 5,000 hours.

Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said the plane took off from Ja k ar ta about 6:20 a.m. and crashed just 13 minutes later. Data

Brazil elects far-right president S

AO PAULO—In some of his first words to the nation as president-elect, far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro promised to defend the constitution and unite a bitterly divided populace.

His left-wing rival immediately vowed to mount a vigorous opposition, while rights groups warned against a rollback of civil liberties.

That juxtaposition underscored the reality that the end of the election was not the end of acrimony and that myriad challenges lay ahead for Latin America’s largest nation.

Bolsonaro appeared to try to allay those concerns on Sunday night, saying he would “pacify” Brazil following a race that revealed deep divisions and was repeatedly marred by violence. The candidate himself was stabbed and almost died while campaigning in early-September, and there were numerous reports of politically motivated violence, especially directed at gay people.

“This country belongs to all of us, Brazilians by birth or by heart, a Brazil of diverse opinions, colors and orientations,” he said, reading off a sheet of paper in a live television address.

His victory moved Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest democracy, sharply to the right after four consecutive elections in which candidates from the left-leaning Workers’ Party won.

Like other right-leaning leaders who have risen to power around the globe, Bolsonaro built his popularity on a mixture of tough talk and hardline positions. And, like many, he is sure to face stiff pushback from groups concerned that his strong views will lead to policies that threaten democratic institutions.

Bolsonaro spent much of the campaign exploiting divisions, taking to Twitter to lambaste the rival Workers’ Party as unethical and dangerous. In recent weeks, Brazilians were bombarded with WhatsApp messages that condemned Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad, often making outrageous claims.

Ultimately, Bolsonaro’s messages resonated with Brazilians hungry for change: He got just over 55 percent of the votes on Sunday, compared to right under 45 percent for Haddad.

Haddad promised a fight while saying he would respect the country’s institutions.

“We have the responsibility to mount an opposition, putting national interests, the interests of the entire Brazilian people, above everything,” Haddad said in a speech to supporters. “Brazil has possibly never needed the exercise of citizenship more than right now.”

In a sign of how tense the race got, Haddad did not congratulate Bolsonaro, whom he had accused of spreading lies about him and his family.

Amid the celebrations by Bolsonaro’s supporters, there were also reports of some clashes between his backers and opponents.

The rise of Bolsonaro, who cast himself as a political outsider despite a largely lackluster 27-year career in Congress, parallels the emergence of hard-right leaders in many countries. But his extreme messages were rendered more palatable by a perfect storm in Brazil: widespread anger at the political class after years of corruption, an economy that has struggled to recover from a punishing recession and a surge in violence.

In particular, many Brazilians were furious with the Workers’ Party for its role in the graft scheme revealed by the “Operation Car Wash” investigation, which uncovered billions of dollars in bribes paid to politicians via inflated construction contracts.

Haddad struggled to build momentum with his promises of a return to the boom times by investing in health and education and reducing poverty. It didn’t help that the man who appointed Haddad as the party’s candidate, former President Luiz Inacio da Silva, is serving a 12-year sentence for a corruption conviction.

Bolsonaro’s candidacy raised serious concerns that he would roll back civil rights and weaken institutions in what remains a young democracy. He has frequently disparaged women, gays and blacks, and said he would name military men to his Cabinet.

Within minutes of his victory being declared, international civil rights groups expressed concerns.

Human Rights Watch called on Brazil’s judiciary and other institutions to “resist any attempt to undermine human rights, the rule of law and democracy under Jair Bolsonaro’s government.”

Steve Schwartzman of the Environmental Defense Fund warned that Bolsonaro’s promises about the environment would be “dangerous to the planet.”

Bolsonaro has repeatedly said he would pull Brazil from the Paris agreement on climate change, though last week he backed off on that. He has also promised to cut environmental regulations and make Brazil friendlier to international investors. AP

from FlightAware showed it had reached an altitude of only 5,200 feet (1,580 meters).

The transport ministry said crisis centers have been set up in Pangkal Pinang’s airport and Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport.

The crash is the worst airline disaster in Indonesia since an AirAsia flight from Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea in December 2014, killing all 162 on board.

Indonesian airlines were barred in 2007 from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, though

several were allowed to resume services in the following decade.

The ban was completely lifted in June this year. The US lifted a decadelong ban in 2016.

Lion Air, a discount carrier, is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.

In 2013 one of its Boeing 737800 jets missed the runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board. AP

Wait times for US citizenship applications stretch to 2 years

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OS ANGELES—More than 700,000 immigrants are waiting on applications to become US citizens, a process that once typically took about six months but has stretched to more than two years in some places under the administration of President Donald J. Trump.

The long wait times have prompted some immigrant advocates to ask whether the delays are aimed at keeping anti-Trump voters from casting ballots in elections.

“People are motivated to participate, and they’re being frustrated from being able to participate in the elections they’re excited about,” said Manuel Pastor, director of the University of Southern California’s Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration.

The number of immigrants aspiring to become US citizens surged during 2016, jumping 27 percent from a year earlier as Trump made cracking down on immigration a central theme of his presidential campaign. At first, the federal government kept up with the applications, but then the wait grew.

Backlogs are nothing new in the US immigration system. It often takes years to receive asylum or to be deported. But naturalization— the final step to become an American citizen, obtain a US passport and receive voting rights—had not been subject to such delays in recent years.

Now the average wait time for officials to decide on applications is more than 10 months. It takes up to 22 months in Atlanta and as long as 26 months in parts of Texas, according to official estimates.

Trump tweeted on Thursday that Central American migrants headed

north in a US-bound caravan should return home and can apply for American citizenship if they wish.

“Go back to your Country and if you want, apply for citizenship like millions of others are doing!” he posted as thousands continued their trek through Mexico.

But immigrants generally must be legal permanent residents of the United States to apply for citizenship, and getting a green card can take years—if a person even qualifies for one.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the longer waits to naturalize are because of the surge in applications, not slower processing. The agency decided 850,000 cases in 2017, up 8 percent from a year before.

Despite “a record and unprecedented” spike in applications, the agency is operating more efficiently and effectively and “outperforming itself,” spokesman Michael Bars said in a statement.

To become an American citizen, immigrants must hold green cards for at least three years, demonstrate good moral character and pass English and civics tests.

Citizenship applications typically rise before an increase in filing fees and during presidential election years as immigrants get excited about the prospect of voting and advocacy groups conduct widespread outreach to try to get more eligible voters to the polls.

Enrique Robles, 32, said he applied to naturalize as soon as he was eligible after living in the US most of his life. When he didn’t hear about the status of his application, Robles, who is originally from Mexico, started to worry. AP

Oil trades below $68 as investors assess mixed supply outlook

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IL traded below $68 a barrel as traders assessed mixed supply signals from producers.

Futures in New York dropped as much as 0.5 percent after falling 2.2 percent last week.

Russia suggested on Saturday the country may keep its output at the current level above the Soviet-era record or raise production further, and warned of a potential supply shortage.

That’s just days after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies signaled they could cut output in 2019.

Oil has slumped about 12 percent from a four-year high earlier this month as a rout in global equity markets raised concerns about economic growth and energy demand at a time of growing US crude inventories. With renewed American sanctions on Iran going into full effect in just a week, traders are looking for signs whether Opec and its partners are able—and willing —to increase production to fill any potential supply gap.

“I expect investors will take a wait-and-see stance this week before the return of sanctions on Iran and US midterm elections,” Makiko Tsugata, a senior analyst at Mizuho Securities Co., said by phone from Tokyo.

Despite a potential decline in Iranian exports, “if both Saudi Arabia and Russia boost output and US production continues to rise, we could have a supply glut.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery declined as much as 32 cents to $67.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $67.36 a barrel at 3:38 p.m. in Tokyo.

The contract rose 26 cents to $67.59 on Friday. Total volume traded was about 14 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for December settlement fell 29 cents to $77.33 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The contract climbed 73 cents to $77.62 on Friday. The global benchmark crude traded at a $9.99 premium to WTI. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Istanbul he sees no grounds for reducing output and that there are risks of a deficit in oil markets.

The nation’s oil production in September rose by almost 150,000 barrels a day to 11.356 million, a post-Soviet high, from a month earlier. The country suggested its output rose further in October.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia said last week the kingdom can further increase its production to ease supply shortfalls even as it has already boosted output to 10.7 million barrels a day, near an all-time high. Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Opec and its allies are in “produce as much as you can mode” to meet demand and replace any shortages.

In contrast, a committee of oil producers including Russia and Saudi Arabia highlighted on Thursday the need to prepare “options” for how much crude they should pump next year to prevent the market slipping back into imbalance. The group said the rise in stockpiles, coupled with fears about an economic slowdown “may require changing course” after they have agreed in June to boost production. Bloomberg News

A6 Tuesday, October 30, 2018 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

When I’m 56

P

RESIDENTIAL Decree 1650, issued by President Marcos in 1979, provides that, “upon attaining 56 years of age or upon accumulation of 30 years of satisfactory active service, whichever is later, an officer or enlisted man shall be compulsorily retired.”

But there are bills filed in both houses of Congress seeking to extend the mandatory retirement age for all uniformed personnel and officers of both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), as well as those of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), to 60 years old or after 35 years of active service.

When President Duterte attended the graduation of the Philippine National Police Academy early this year, he said he even wants to raise the retirement age of uniformed personnel to 75, arguing that the government would be shortchanged if security officials are allowed to leave the service early.

Senate Bill 1436 (titled Adjusting the Compulsory Retirement Age of Uniformed Services) says the retirement age of 56 of the AFP, PNP, PCG, BFP and BJMP sets them apart from civilian government employees who are compulsorily retired at 65 years old.

“At the age of 56, they can still fulfill the physical, mental and psychological demands and rigors of their position. They can still maximize their years of experience and wealth of knowledge, harness their leadership skills and lend their professional competence until the age of 60 or even 65,” said its author, former Sen. Alan Peter S. Cayetano.

The same rationale is given by Quezon Third District Rep. Danilo E. Suarez, who authored House Bill 5027 to maximize the productive years of soldiers and policemen and give the government, who financed their education and training, a better return on its investment. Note, however, that the House measure only seeks to extend the retirement age of the PNP and AFP, not the other uniformed services.

We do believe that a job is performed based on competence, not age; and that there are many jobs, not only in the uniformed services, for which older workers are more qualified, if not just as qualified. Having lived longer is always a plus. It should never be a negative or limiting factor. Older workers who have the skills, knowledge and experience to do certain jobs should not be denied the opportunity to do them just because they have a few more digits in their lives.

Nevertheless, the support for measures extending the retirement age of the police and military is not unanimous, not even among their ranks. There are many who think that the current retirement age is just right.

As regular cadets in their early 20s who graduated from their respective military and police academies, many uniformed personnel are actually looking forward to retiring early, after having done their national duty, with all the risks of injury and even death, and the constant relocation and other hazards that come with the job.

With 20 plus years in the service, they can opt for early retirement, and immediately receive a pension for the rest of their lives (or lump sum if they choose to), on top of health coverage. Even if they are not high-ranking officials, this pension can be enough to live on if they live frugally. In fact, their pensions are much better than most civilians.

At 56, or even choosing early retirement somewhere in their 40s, these soldiers can use their pensions and pursue other less stressful, less hazardous and less dangerous means of livelihood. They can go back to their provinces, engage in farming, for instance, or go into business and other ventures. They can live in peace and watch their children and grandchildren grow.

When a person is in his or her 40s and 50s, signs and symptoms of chronic diseases tend to appear. At 45, most adults are taking medications for diabetes, hypertension and other diseases. The average lifespan of baby boomers ranges from 65 to 70 years old. Retiring early can perhaps even help them manage their health conditions, live longer and better.

Of course, if you are an armchair general with a cushy job, fat paycheck and all the perks, you’d want to remain in your post longer. We hope that legislators seeking support for measures meant to raise the retirement age of the uniformed services would also consider the benefits of retiring early.

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A better Boracay Manny B. Villar

THE ENTREPRENEUR Continued from A1

T

HE way it was redesigned makes Boracay an ideal model for other beach destinations. The standards implemented on the island should be followed and replicated in other places such as Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro, Panglao in Bohol or Coron in Palawan.

A wider and cleaner White Beach greeted tourists on October 26.

While it is no longer a festive and chaotic party destination like before, the 4-kilometer beach regained its natural and wonderful charm that cannot be found elsewhere.

This became possible after the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources cleared the beach of nearly 200 illegal structures during the sixmonth cleanup, paving the way for an uninterrupted 30-meter shoreline

easement that makes for amazing photographs.

The sewerage system was rehabilitated to ensure water from the island is treated before it goes out to the Sibuyan Sea where people swim.

The 4.1-kilometer Circumferential Road—the main street—is being widened to 12 meters, complete with two-meter sidewalks and even a bicycle lane.

Bolabog Beach, on the other side of Boracay, now has a wide promenade area where people can walk leisurely.

My weekend in Davao

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Y son Chris, my wife Ada and I spent a marvelous weekend in Davao, and Chris and I had the pleasure of speaking to members and guests of the JCI—Junior Chamber International—of Davao about stock-market investing.

The seminar was in support of their fund-raising efforts for the Tebow CURE Hospital, offering orthopedic surgery and services to the neediest children of their community. My great thanks goes to Alvin Ang and Kristopher Young of JCI—among many others—who showered us with the hospitality for which Davaoeños are famous. And, of course, our baggage allowance was used bringing back Pomelo.

It is important to get out of the National Capital Region to remember that “MLA” is not “PHL.” A friend in Davao mentioned that he only comes to Manila a few times a year to accompany his father for specialized medical treatment—which is a story itself. It might also only be a few times a year that we get accurate information about the “provinces.”

Here are some of my impressions based on stories over a few beers.

Since I last visited Davao, the area is experiencing a property-development boom. In my travels I am seeing the same situation around the country, with the stage of the “boom” depending on the size of the area.

Larger Davao is farther along than, say, smaller Bacolod but, nationally, residential and commercial building is far from over.

Here are some things I learned from people that have no other agenda than seeing their community prosper and making a few bucks while that happens.

One individual who has been active in the real-estate business for several years is marketing a project, which will include several residential towers. He told me that the first

After the massive cleanup and the continuous infrastructure buildup, Boracay will be a highly walkable island, which should be the case for all tourist destinations. By rallying the residents, tourists and motorists to respect the road perimeters, the experience of walking on the island will be greatly enhanced.

As the government fixes the infrastructure on the island, tourists must do their share by respecting the environment. All industry stakeholders—from boat operators and vendors to tour guides and hotel owners—should adopt a code of conduct that will create a beautiful impression about Boracay, and the Philippines as a whole.

I share the optimism of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima Romulo Puyat, who sees Boracay’s reopening as something that will spawn a “culture of sustainable tourism” in the country.

President Duterte, whose “cesspool” branding of Boracay quickly started the rehabilitation campaign, now wants the Department of the Interior and Local Government to deal with other beach destinations across the country to preserve the

environment and ensure that the growth of tourism in these areas is sustainable.

Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año said his agency would review local ordinances and land-use plans, as well as the sewage-treatment facilities in these areas.

Boracay, often considered as one of the world’s most idyllic resorts, accommodated over 2 million tourists in 2017, making it the tourism industry’s crown jewel. Creating 10 more well-planned island destinations in the mold of Boracay will substantially increase our tourism revenues and generate thousands of jobs across the country.

With the reopening of Boracay, I believe that its success can be replicated across the archipelago.

This will require the cooperation of everyone, which is now possible because we have a beautiful model to follow.

I believe that the Filipino people are prepared and willing to make sacrifices and embrace discipline for the sake of a noble cause like sustainable growth.

I was also somewhat shocked to learn that developers are “importing” construction workers from Manila and paying Manila wages because there is a labor shortage.

Another friend said that a reconstruction and renovation on a building that he owns was supposed to be finished about three months ago. Now he is hoping for a yearend completion.

and qualified masons in Davao. Like I have always told my sons: Learn to weld, repair diesel engines or cook, and you will always find a paying job.

Speaking to the administrator at Tebow CURE Hospital, he is telling me that finding qualified medical personnel that will stay on the job is difficult. After a few months, they are off to Manila for greener pastures. Patients in Davao find it cheaper and often better to come to Manila for health care.

While St. Luke’s Medical Center and the United Davao Specialists Hospital and Medical Center Inc. will come on-line by 2020, for Metro Davao with about 2.5 million people, the city’s medical facilities are behind the population curve. But it is not Davao’s “fault.”

When I travel around the nation—to Bacolod, the “great wastelands” of Northern Luzon, or “poor” Samar Island, which actually has limited but great roads, I see how much catching up the Philippines needs to do to bring all the people into the 21st century. It is an old cliché but absolutely true. With great challenges come even greater opportunities.

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tower is completely sold, with virtually all the units purchased by “Manileños.” Locals are buying the second tower. Buyers are doing their own version of “land banking” and investing with confidence in the country’s economic future, regardless of what the “gloom-and-doomers” might preach. Of course, I am thinking how the local stock market would double in value if half that money was going into stocks.

I was also somewhat shocked to learn that developers are “importing” construction workers from Manila and paying Manila wages because there is a labor shortage. Another friend said that a reconstruction and renovation on a building that he owns was supposed to be finished about three months ago. Now he is hoping for a year-end completion. The reason is that his contractor cannot find skilled tradesmen like welders

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2018 A7

Oman’s sultan puts himself Martial law, human rights and other stark issues back in driver’s seat

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By Bobby Ghosh | Bloomberg Opinion

COULDN’T be in Oman this weekend for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s groundbreaking visit, but I was in the next best place: in Manama, Bahrain, at a regional security conference hosted by the International Institute of Strategic Studies. With hundreds of top government officials and military brass in attendance—representing almost every Arab nation, and most of the major Western countries—it was the perfect place to gauge reactions to the surprising events in Muscat.

The astonishment was palpable in the conference center, where the news quickly dominated discussions on the sidelines, even overtaking speculation about the price Saudi Arabia would pay for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. By happy coincidence, Oman’s minister in charge of foreign affairs, Yousef bin Alawi, was due to participate in a panel discussion, and eyebrows climbed even higher when he offered the once-heretical view that Arab states ought to treat Israel like any other nation in the Middle East.

Arab delegates were divided over the official explanation for Netanyahu’s visit: that he wanted to discuss a peace deal for the Palestinians. Ahmed Abo El Gheith, secretary-general of the League of Arab States, said it was “too soon” after the latest Israeli bombing in Gaza for Oman to show Netanyahu such hospitality. Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa, Bahrain’s minister of foreign affairs, was more diplomatic: “We must never, ever question the wisdom and far-sightedness” of longtime Omani leader Sultan Qaboos bin Saad.

In private conversations, some delegates complained that Oman should have forced Netanyahu to make at least a symbolic concession to the Palestinians before agreeing to host him. Others shrugged it off as a small step forward from the 2008 visit by Tzipi Livni, then Israel’s foreign minister. One official from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) grumbled good-naturedly that Netanyahu’s Muscat trip overshadowed a visit to Abu Dhabi by Israel’s culture minister, Miri Regev. “The Omanis have stolen our thunder,” he joked.

Among the non-Arab delegates, the consensus was that the visit was a welcome development, part of what David Petraeus, former head of US Central Command and director of the CIA, described as a “general realignment” in a region where the perceived threat from Iran is changing some Arab perceptions of Israel.

(Iran, not represented in Manama, condemned the visit as an attempt to “create rifts among the Islamic countries.”)

Opinion is mixed on whether the visit will actually move the needle on Middle East peace; the Omani minister said he expected the United States to do the heavy lifting, citing the Trump administration’s promise of a “deal of the century.” But there seemed to be a general consensus that Netanyahu’s trip marked a return to the Arab

The welcome given to Netanyahu is a timely reminder that Qaboos has a seat at the high table, where he has often played a subtler game than the young princes, keeping his country outside the Gulf Arab consensus.

He maintains contact with Iran, and he continues to do business with Qatar, defying the blockade imposed on the tiny emirate by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and some other Arab nations. center stage for Oman. As Petraeus told me, “The Sultan’s put himself back in the mix.”

The sultanate has been sidelined by a series of events in recent years, from President Donald J. Trump’s rescinding of the Iran nuclear deal (Oman had been a go-between for early negotiations between Barack Obama’s administration and the regime in Tehran), to the Saudiled war in Yemen (Oman refused to join the coalition). The sultan, who has ruled since 1970, is thought to be gravely ill, leading to speculation about paralyzing succession intrigues. The Omani economy has weakened, shrinking for the first time in 2017. As a result, Oman has been notably absent from discussions of Arab affairs, recently dominated by two crown princes, Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE, known as MBS and MBZ. But the welcome given to Netanyahu is a timely reminder that Qaboos has a seat at the high table, where he has often played a subtler game than the young princes, keeping his country outside the Gulf Arab consensus. He maintains contact with Iran, as Netanyahu is surely aware. And he continues to do business with Qatar, defying the blockade imposed on the tiny emirate by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and some other Arab nations.

When time comes to end the embargo, MBS and MBZ may well need Qaboos to play the go-between. Because Oman also remains in contact with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the sultan could be a key figure in any future deal to end the quagmire the crown princes have created for themselves there.

Qaboos is, as Petraeus put it, “in the mix” of some of the region’s key power plays. If the Arab elite had forgotten that, Netanyahu just jogged their collective memory.

Cecilio T. Arillo

DATABASE Part 11

President Aquino’s gruesome human-rights violations

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FTER the Edsa mutiny, Cory Aquino and her inveterate Yellow disciples have derided repeatedly the Marcos regime for its serious human-rights violations in a relentless effort to demonize it.

She issued on December 22, 1987, a reassuring statement that “she will never tolerate any violations, much less any gross and systematic violation of human rights.”

But unknown to the general public, her regime, by contrast, presented a gruesome picture of the humanrights situation from March 1, 1986, to December 1991 with the number of warrantless arrests and detention reaching an alarming level of 15,999 and extrajudicial executions of 1,733 cases, including 189 that occurred in 1990 alone.

The records in Congress, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFD) for the same period showed 335 cases of disappearances and 146 cases of massacres, which happened between March 1, 1986 and 1989, including the infamous Mendiola carnage that claimed the lives of 12 farmers who protested against the takeover of Hacienda Luisita and her defective agrarianreform policy in front of the presidential palace’s main gate on Mendiola.

In reaction to the Mendiola carnage, Philippine Human Rights Commissioners JBL Reyes, Jose Diokno,

Zenaida Avacena and Mariani Dimaranan all resigned.

President Aquino’s human-rights records also revealed that, from 1986 to 1990, a total of 71,111 families, 23,424 individuals, 229 barangays, and 207 sitios (small villages) were affected by 464 cases of forced evacuations; 20 cases of hamletting, which affected 2,306 individuals and 1,675 families; and 23 cases of economic and food blockades, affecting 8,925 families in 36 barangays in the countryside. Of the 8,925 families affected, 4,024 were victimized in 1990.

In addition, 34 journalists who had exposed graft and corruption and other venalities in her government were murdered, and many others were persecuted while in the legitimate pursuit of their profession. In President Ramos’s six-year in office, 18 journalists were slain, for a total of 52 post-Edsa casualties.

Of the 52, six were killed in Metro Manila, including two who were caught in the crossfire of the 1987 coup attempt; 22 were slain in Mindanao; five in Cotabato City; three each in the cities of Zamboanga, Davao and Iligan; two each in Surigao and General Santos Cities; and one each in

Bloomberg Opinion

I

S President Donald J. Trump responsible, in some sense, for the mailing of bombs to Hillary Clinton and other Democratic leaders? Is he responsible, in some sense, for the slaughter at the Pittsburgh synagogue?

If we are speaking in terms of causation, the most reasonable answer to both questions, and the safest, is: We don’t really know. More specifically, we don’t know whether these particular crimes would have occurred in the absence of Trump’s hateful and vicious rhetoric (including his enthusiasm for the despicable cry, “Lock her up!”).

But it’s also safe, and plenty reasonable, to insist that across the

American population, hateful and vicious rhetoric from the president of the United States is bound to increase risks of violence. Because of that rhetoric, the likelihood of this kind of violence is greater than it would otherwise be. The president is responsible for elevating the risk that people will try to kill Democrats and others seen by some of his followers as “enemies of the people” (including journalists and Jews). To see why, we should investigate one of the most striking findings in modern social psychology that has been replicated on dozens of occasions. It goes by the name of “group polarization.”

The basic idea is that, when people are listening and talking to one another, they tend to end up in a more extreme position in the same direction of the views with which they

Dipolog, Ozamis, Basilan and Davao del Norte; 13 in Luzon (outside Metro Manila); three in Laguna, two each in Cagayan, Pangasinan, Isabela, Cavite and Lucena City; and 11 in the Visayas, including three in Cebu City, two in Iloilo and one in Tacloban.

Before my books went to press, only a few of these killings had been solved and, ironically, none of the cause-oriented groups that accused Marcos, and later Presidents Ramos and Joseph Estrada, of stifling freedom of the press and of violating human rights, had registered even just a whimper of protest.

Only the late journalist Renato Constantino, the late Louie Beltran of the Philippine Star, Melinda Liu of Newsweek, Catherine Manegold and Luisa Torregosa of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bill Branigin of the Washington Post, Tom Breen of the Washington Times, Seth Mydans of the New York Times, Rigoberto Tiglao then of Far East Economic Review, Luis Teodoro of The Manila Times and this writer have extensively written articles on the Aquino human-rights violations.

Many media men either turned a blind eye or obfuscated the issue in favor of the Aquino regime.

The figures on human-rights violations could be more as other incidents committed by the military, the communists and the Moro secessionists were not documented at all.

In Marcos’s nine years of martial rule, by comparison, only 32 journalists were killed in the line of duty.

TFD, a nongovernment organization composed mainly of dedicated nuns and laymen, reported to Congress that, between 1977 and before the Edsa mutiny in 1986, there were a total of 21,893 warrantless arrests, 2,658 cases of extrajudicial executions and 791 disappearances.

The TFD considered as humanrights violations those acts which were violative of certain rights defined by international norms (e.g., arbitrary killing, taking one’s property, etc.) which were committed due to political motives by government authorities or by any persons acting in their behalf.

Reflecting the sentiment of the military, the organization that was often blamed on human-rights violations, retired Maj. Gen. Maria Jose Solguillo, then-chief of the Southern Luzon Command, said in a dialogue with HRC officials: “When the military hit and arrest communist guerrillas, it was human-rights violations; when the guerrillas hit and ambushed the soldiers, it was all right.”

Solguillo told this writer in an interview that the investigation of human-rights violations by the HRC, the agency created by President Aquino, was always lopsided against the military as if human rights were not also the concern of soldiers, their wives and their orphans.

To be continued To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

IBM and Red Hat will be much better together

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By Shira Ovide | Bloomberg Opinion

BM just made the cloud-computing war far more interesting.

International Business Machines Corp. announced on Sunday that it’s buying Red Hat Inc., one of the most successful pioneers of a software movement known as open source, which allows programming instructions to be accessible to anyone to view and alter.

Red Hat’s version of the Linux open-source software became widely used in companies’ computer servers, contributing to a shift in corporate technology standards away from the hulking mainframe computers sold

by IBM and others. More recently, Red Hat became a major proponent of cloud computing, offering an alternative to tech giants, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp., that want to pitch customers on their own proprietary cloud-computing technologies.

On their own, IBM and Red Hat were destined to be perpetual laggards in the computing industry. IBM has been too tethered to its past to chart the future of technology. Red Hat was too small to compete with titans. But together, with this $33-

billion deal, the duo may be able to plot a new course. While IBM is paying a rich price in the acquisition, the combined company can—assuming it is managed properly—be a serious threat to Amazon, Microsoft and others that are reshaping the $2-trillion corporate computing industry.

The acquisition price reflects how hungry IBM is to change its standing as a company that’s having trouble growing and whose strategic direction is muddled. IBM is paying $190 a share for Red Hat, a premium of more than 60 percent to Red Hat’s most recent stock price. IBM’s offer values Red Hat at an eye-popping 51 times its estimated adjusted earnings for the next year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s a richer valuation than all but a tiny

Trump’s hateful speech raises risks of violence

By Cass Sunstein

Only the late journalist Renato Constantino, the late Louie Beltran of the Philippine Star, Melinda Liu of Newsweek, Catherine Manegold and Luisa Torregosa of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bill Branigin of the Washington Post, Tom Breen of the Washington Times, Seth Mydan of the New York Times, Rigoberto Tiglao then of Far East Economic Review, Luis Teodoro of The Manila Times and this writer have extensively written articles on the Aquino human-rights violations.

Let’s assume (in my view wrongly) that some Democrats have been equally willing to speak in an incendiary way. So what? This is not some kind of competition.

The question is not who started it or who’s worse. The question is whether the president of the United States has been elevating the risk of murder. The answer is clear: Absolutely.

began. Groups of like-minded people can become radicalized.

A little over a decade ago, I was involved in a study of group polarization in politics. We asked left-ofcenter groups to deliberate about three issues: same-sex unions, climate change and affirmative action.

We asked right-of-center groups to

do the same thing.

The results were straightforward.

On all three issues, the left-wing groups ended up marching to the left, and the right-wing groups ended up marching to the right.

Trump is a one-man group polarization machine. At his speeches and online, he convenes like-minded people and gets them enraged. Those who criticize him are not critics; they are enemies.

If the president says that Hillary Clinton committed a crime, it is only natural for members of his audience, listening and talking with one another, to conclude that she should be locked up. And if “Lock her up!” becomes a standard cry, it is inevitable that some will progress to, “Kill her.”

Indeed they have, not only privately but also in public. For ex-

It’s not an easy sell, but IBM and Red Hat certainly make a more compelling cloud-computing alternative as a combined force than they ever could on their own. Linking arms and fighting the tech giants together may be their best bet.

handful of fast-growing software companies.

The cash purchase price of more than $33 billion represents about two-and-a-half years of IBM’s free cash flow at current levels. Yes, buying Red Hat does give IBM an asset with growing revenue and free cash flow, but it’s a big splurge for IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. Strategically, though, rolling the dice might be Rometty’s best play. On its own, IBM is destined to shrink in both revenue and technology relevance, despite the steady stream of company-generated hogwash about how much it is transforming into a technology leader. It is not.

Red Hat is in a strategically tough spot, too. It is too small to compete on the same level as Amazon, Microsoft,

Google, Oracle Corp. and other tech empires, and it has been considered too big to be an easy acquisition target for any of those powerhouses.

In a news release about the acquisition, IBM and Red Hat stressed that they’ll press a technology approach known as “hybrid” cloud, or a method that melds companies’ computerized data in their own data centers with those managed by cloud-computing providers. It’s an open question whether hybrid cloud computing will prove to be a lasting technology, or merely a way station on the road to a near-complete outsourcing of corporate computing tasks to the powerful clouds controlled by Amazon and others. A combined IBM and Red Hat will need to make a strong case for why companies should bet on them rather than place their trust in Microsoft, Oracle or others also pressing the hybrid cloud approach.

It’s not an easy sell, but IBM and Red Hat certainly make a more compelling cloud-computing alternative as a combined force than they ever could on their own. Linking arms and fighting the tech giants together may be their best bet.

ample, New Hampshire State Representative Al Baldasaro, a Trump supporter, said in a radio interview that “Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.” Roger Stone, a Trump adviser, tweeted, “Hillary must be brought to justice—arrested, tried and executed for murder.”

If people are talking that way, there is an elevated risk that, sooner or later, someone is actually going to try to kill her—and others whom the president treats as enemies of the people.

The problem is compounded by the contrast between the president’s demeanor in two different situations: when he is speaking of national unity and when he is on the attack against his supposed enemies.

When he speaks of unity, he seems

scripted and insincere. He reads from a text. He is working. When he is on the attack, he is in his element. He needs no text. He is having fun. Everyone can see that.

Responding to the possible connection between Trump’s despicable rhetoric and the recent crimes, some Republicans have been engaging in a form of “whataboutism,” pointing to what they see as abhorrent words and actions from Democrats. Let’s assume (in my view wrongly) that some Democrats have been equally willing to speak in an incendiary way.

So what? This is not some kind of competition. The question is not who started it or who’s worse. The question is whether the president of the United States has been elevating the risk of murder. The answer is clear: Absolutely.

Companies BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

B1

Meralco net income up 14% to ₧18.21B in Jan-Sept

S

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

TRONGER sales during the first nine months of the year helped boost the revenue and profit of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

On Monday the utility firm reported a 9-percent increase in core profit to P16.68 billion, from P15.37 billion in the same period a year ago. Net income was up by 14 percent to P18.21 billion at end-September this year, from P15.92 billion in the same period last year.

Revenue increased by 6 percent during the nine months of the year to P227.41 billion, from P214.38 billion.

It reported a 5-percent increase in en-

ergy sales during the period, with 32,921 gigawatt-hours of energy sold, compared with the same period last year.

Meralco customers stood at 6.5 million at end-September this year.

Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the utility firm may end the year “with financial results marginally above 2017.” The company reported a net income of P20.4 billion last year.

When asked if Meralco will do better

Cebu Landmasters, Cebu Archdiocese partner to redevelop Patria de Cebu estate

By Roderick L. Abad

@rodrik_28

Contributor

R

EAL-ESTATE developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) said on Monday it has signed a lease agreement with the Archdiocese of Cebu for a P900-million redevelopment of the Patria de Cebu property in downtown Cebu City, dubbed the Philippines’s Queen City of the South.

“We envision the new Patria de Cebu to be a center of culture that will celebrate Cebu’s history and heritage,” said Jose Soberano III, president and CEO of CLI. The 6,670-square-meter estate now offers budget-friendly accommodations. With CLI’s partnership with the Cebu Archdiocese, it will be transformed into a mixed-use development, featuring integrated retail, office and hotel structures with a Rome-inspired plaza. Also included in the approved master plan are the streetscape and pedestrian improvements for the revitalization of the surrounding areas.

Completion of this project is expected by 2021 to serve as a centerpiece of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in Cebu. Groundbreaking is set in the first quarter of 2019.

The site, owned by the Archdiocese of Cebu, fronts the historic Metropolitan Cathedral Church. It is walking distance to the Basilica del Santo Niño, Magellan’s Cross and Colon Street. The place is also near to the Port of Cebu.

“Cebu Landmasters operates on Christcentered values and principles. The company sees the Patria redevelopment as a gracefilled opportunity to be of greater service to the Church and the people of Cebu,” he added.

As agreed upon by both parties, the listed real-estate company will develop and operate the new Patria de Cebu property for 40 years. This development is seen to provide additional support to the archdiocese and its various parishes in the coming years.

“The impact of this project will not only benefit the archdiocese, but also every Cebuano. The new Patria de Cebu will uplift the

downtown area that is in need of a masterplanned development that connects well to the city’s history while creating new practical functions to serve the community,” Soberano said.

Originally used as a youth recreation hub, the property has been utilized as a convent for nuns, and finally as a budget-friendly hostel for travelers.

Established in 2003, CLI now has 52 projects in different stages of development across eight cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.

On June 2, 2017, CLI was listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, and has since transformed from a small local developer into a pioneering industry player.

CLI registered a 30-percent net income growth to P826 million in the first half of 2018 compared to P633 million posted in the same period in 2017.

During the first six months of the year, consolidated revenue of the company reached P2.6 billion from P1.807 billion, representing a 45-percent increase year-on-year.

MVP: Partnership with Dennis Uy on LNG plant ‘logical’

B

USINESSMAN Manuel V. Pangilinan on Monday said the proposed partnership with Davao City-based businessman Dennis A. Uy in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector is a “logical step” to do, given the latter’s “established connection” with the Chinese state power firm.

“We thought that given Dennis’s signifying intention and desire to be part of PXP Energy in respect with SC 72, partnership would be a logical step for us to coinvest with him on the gas terminal and gas plant but there is no commitment at this stage. It is basically an option for us to take 49 percent of what he might own eventually of the terminal or gas plant,” Pangilinan said.

Last week Pangilinan-led PXP Energy Corp. said a deal was forged with Uy’s holding firm Dennison Holdings Corp., allowing the former to acquire up to 49 percent in Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Corp.’s joint venture with China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) for LNG development in exchange for shares.

PXP Energy said it signed a subscription agreement with Dennison Holdings for 340 million shares priced at P11.85 per share.

Pangilinan said part of the reason his

group wanted to partner with Uy was that “it looks like Dennis has established connections with CNOOC. With respect to the gas terminal and gas plants, we thought it might be good to bring Dennis as well, if he knows CNOOC fairly well enough.”

Pangilinan is the chairman of PXP Energy, which holds a 78.98-percent interest in UK-based Forum Energy Plc. which, in turn, has a 70-percent stake in SC 72, an oil- and gas-exploration permit covering the Sampaguita natural-gas prospect in the Reed Bank, to the west of Palawan.

PXP and CNOOC used to discuss a possible joint exploration of SC 72 to develop a part of the Reed Bank. However, the Philippine government has declared force majeure on the license in 2015 due to a territorial dispute with China.

The Philippines eventually won an arbitration case against China over the South China Sea. In particular, the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea and that China’s nine-dash line is invalid, according to the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal.

Pangilinan had said his company sent

feelers to CNOOC last year to explore the possibility of both parties going back to the negotiating table.

“We’d like to renew our conversation with them in respect to SC 72,” Pangilinan said on Monday. “I suspect that will not happen until a bilateral agreement has happened between the Philippine government and Chinese government.”

Phoenix Petroleum and CNOOC had already submitted their joint LNG project proposal to the government. They are eyeing the construction, development, and operation of an LNG terminal and gas-fired power plant in the Philippines.

“The way of the stage of the PhoenixCNOOC proposal to the government is really at the very basement of the process.

We were told that CNOOC is undertaking a feasibility study for a gas terminal and possibly a new gas plant in Batangas. They’ve submitted a proposal to the government and from what we gathered there are many likely proponents with a similar or different proposal. It is basically an option for us to take 49 percent of what he might own eventually of the terminal or gas plant,” Pangilinan said. Lenie Lectura

CPG ‘green’ tower in Taguig to contribute ₧468 million in annual recurring income

By VG Cabuag

P

@villygc

ROPERTY developer Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) on Monday said it will open its P1-billion green office building in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig by the end of the year.

The 21-story Asian Century Center was developed in partnership with Asian Carmakers and is expected to contribute an additional 26,913 square meters of leasable space and about P468 million in annual revenues to CPG’s leasing portfolio once fully leased out.

Asian Century Center is located at 27th Street on the Third and Fourth Avenues of BGC, close to Bonifacio High Street, Shangri La Fort and the Mind Museum. It is accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and follows the core and

shell rating system of the US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a recognized green-building certification system in the world. The project is a pre-certified LEED building.

“CPG is consciously improving its developments to not only conform with modern specifications, but also green and sustainable design. Asian Century Center is CPG’s proud addition to its office leasing portfolio as it provides great value to its locators through its superior features, Peza accreditation and LEED compliance,” company’s COO Marco R. Antonio said.

The real-estate brokerage services firm Leechiu Property Consultants is the appointed exclusive leasing manager for the tower. In September CPG also signed with Leechiu to market 58,618 square meters (sq m) of net leasable space in Century

Diamond Tower, a 35-story premium office building the company is developing in partnership with Mitsubishi Corp. The building will contribute P844 million in annual revenues to the company.

CPG is diversifying its portfolio by adding to its high-rise condominium projects other segments such as affordable horizontal housing, leisure and tourism developments, and for-lease properties to create a solid fourplatform business. Its recurring income has increased at a double-digit growth rate as CPG moves toward its goal to quadruple its leasing assets. From its current completed gross floor area of about 133,000 sq m, the portfolio will increase to a gross floor area of about 300,000 sq m by 2020 once its leasing projects are completed.

Aside from Asian Century Center, Century Diamond Tower is slated to open in 2019.

this year compared with last year, Pangilinan said the utility firm’s full-year results is “looking good based on ninemonth results.” For the third quarter of the year, Meralco’s net income stood at P6.23 billion, while core profit reached P5.83 billion. Revenue for the third quarter stood at P76.86 billion.

Meralco President Oscar Reyes said energy sales were strong during the first five months of the year. However, the

utility firm experienced a slowdown in electricity sales from June to September this year. He attributed this to increasing inflation and weather disturbances.

Inflation has been rising since the beginning of the year, with the highest level for the year at 6.7 percent registered in September this year. Real-feel temperature for the first nine months of 2018 was lower by 0.05 degree Centigrade, compared with the same period in 2017.

CSCLR to develop Ceza into premier economic hub in North Luzon

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

Contributor

T

HE Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CSCLR to draft a master plan and in the future, develop together the economic zone as one of the major economic hubs in northern Philippines.

“The plan is to develop the region into a vibrant, livable, sustainable, advanced and educated city,” said Vincent Lim, director of LongRunn Capital Pte. Ltd. in an interview with the media on the sidelines of the signing held in the Ceza office in Mandaluyong City.

“Long-term sustainable commitment supported infrastructure development will be the strong foundation of developing CSEZFP,” added James Li, chairman of LongRunn Capital, during the interview.

Li said they are looking toward working with the Ceza to develop a project that offers growth.

“We hope to create a totally new concept of liveable and sustainable city for Cagayan.

Ceza allows us a clean-sheet project to provide the Philippines an area to leap-frog ahead and be the closest special economic zone facing Northern Asia and promoting enhanced business between the people and the businesses of North Asia and the Philippines,” he said.

With CSCLR’s extensive network and background, Li said they are the ideal partner

to execute and drive this forward. He said CSCLR can provide Ceza a one-stop solution in urban master planning and infrastructure development.

Li said the master plan aims to bring out the special quality of each area in Cagayan and maximize their development.

“Once the plan is approved, we can commence with the infrastructure plan and we can later determine the investment to build roads, railways and ports,” Li said.

Li said the plan calls for the development of agricultural, commercial, tourism and fintech zones to develop the zone’s integrated services.

“The infrastructure projects will be the foundation or building blocks of the business.

They will bring in the volume that will drive growth,” Li said.

Under the MOU, Ceza and CSCLR aim to collaborate to design, create and transform the Cagayan Economic Zone and Freeport (CEZFP) into a vibrant, liveable, sustainable and advanced integrated city based on the green, sustainable and high livability experience of Singapore combined with the massive and efficient infrastructure (railways, airports, ports, toll roads built in China).

CSCLR intends to leverage on its combined experience and expertise in city planning and urban development, large-scale development and construction.

The China State Construction Overseas Development Co. Ltd. is a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd., a state-owned enterprise and the world’s largest investment and construction group.

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Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

October 29, 2018

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

ASIA UNITED 58.75 59 59 59 57.25 59 23290 1373868.5 1267926.5 BDO UNIBANK 118.3 119 116.2 119.8 116.1 118.3 950430 112411687 -28137683 BANK PH ISLANDS 81.15 81.95 82 82.5 81.05 81.95 458610 37567086 -4467977.5 CHINABANK 28.05 28.3 28 28.45 28 28.05 35700 1004320 246840 EAST WEST BANK 11.34 11.36 11.56 11.56 11.36 11.36 272400 3102342 -503606 METROBANK 64.95 65 64.9 65.55 64.5 65 915460 59532218.5 -37858371.5 PHIL NATL BANK 40.65 40.7 40.65 41.3 40.65 40.7 22600 921780 -240400 PSBANK 71.05 78.35 78.4 78.4 78.35 78.35 480 37621.5 RCBC 29.3 29.4 28.5 29.3 28.5 29.3 38300 1106805 SECURITY BANK 141.8 142 140.8 146 140.7 142 795200 113324647 -63864291 UNION BANK 65.85 66.95 66 67 66 66.95 6990 467740 229012.5 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.34 1.4 1.34 1.34 1.34 1.34 17000 22780 BDO LEASING 2.34 2.47 2.49 2.49 2.49 2.49 1000 2490 COL FINANCIAL 15.48 15.5 15.76 15.76 15.2 15.5 21000 323900 FERRONOUX HLDG 3.75 3.98 3.97 4.09 3.7 3.98 176000 676200 IREMIT 1.51 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 4000 6400 NTL REINSURANCE 0.91 0.92 0.9 0.92 0.9 0.91 124000 113700 PHIL STOCK EXCH 185.1 187 185 187 185 187 80 14880

INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.26 1.29 1.25 1.3 1.25 1.3 111000 138900 ABOITIZ POWER 32.3 32.35 32.5 33.45 32.3 32.35 2233800 72441355 -19759555 BASIC ENERGY 0.211 0.22 0.21 0.223 0.21 0.22 480000 103620 ENERGY DEVT 7 7.5 7.5 7.75 7.5 7.5 120800 906225 82525 FIRST GEN 15.94 15.96 16.12 16.12 15.84 15.96 249600 3983280 370880 FIRST PHIL HLDG 63.9 64.1 64.1 64.1 63.9 63.9 349520 22373454 -15618798.5 PHIL H2O 4.52 4.64 4.51 4.68 4.4 4.4 90000 400670 MERALCO 359 360 358 361.6 355 360 223310 80277888 12485948 MANILA WATER 25 25.25 25 26 25 25 1202700 30118850 2695675 PETRON 8.12 8.16 8.15 8.25 8.12 8.12 182500 1487946 -675413 PETROENERGY 4.05 4.07 4.08 4.08 4.06 4.06 18000 73290 PHINMA ENERGY 0.95 0.97 0.95 0.97 0.95 0.97 106000 100760 PHX PETROLEUM 10.72 10.84 10.7 10.92 10.7 10.72 53900 583362 -137814 PILIPINAS SHELL 48.35 48.4 49.35 49.35 48.4 48.4 402500 19503910 -17885565 SPC POWER 5.19 5.21 5.2 5.21 5.18 5.2 134300 698595 AGRINURTURE 17.78 17.8 18.08 18.1 17.8 17.8 416500 7486968 -922766.0001 CNTRL AZUCARERA 16.14 16.5 16.2 16.2 16.14 16.14 2000 32364 CENTURY FOOD 13.04 13.3 13.2 13.3 13.1 13.3 2044800 26991580 26915530 DEL MONTE 6.7 7 7 7 7 7 100 700 DNL INDUS 10.98 11 10.84 11.2 10.72 11 7253800 79409410 -4115550 EMPERADOR 6.98 6.99 7 7 6.95 6.99 1177100 8203939 -5804947 SMC FOODANDBEV 84.5 84.55 84.9 84.9 84.05 84.5 1748260 147720350.5 1149575 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.93 0.94 0.95 0.95 0.92 0.93 1459000 1354720 -4700 GINEBRA 24.3 24.5 24.5 25.5 24.5 24.5 41200 1009600 JOLLIBEE 267.4 270 268 271 263.8 270 366380 98066140 2538398 LIBERTY FLOUR 42.1 54 59 59 52 52 160 8390 MAXS GROUP 11.14 11.44 11.6 11.6 11.12 11.12 49500 559318 -56458 PEPSI COLA 1.65 1.7 1.66 1.7 1.65 1.7 312000 529760 -513200 SHAKEYS PIZZA 10.32 10.38 10.64 10.66 10.38 10.38 142400 1499462 -1246790 ROXAS AND CO 2.2 2.25 2.24 2.25 2.24 2.25 19000 42580 RFM CORP 4.79 4.8 4.79 4.79 4.79 4.79 1000 4790 ROXAS HLDG 2.84 3.02 2.85 2.85 2.84 2.84 4000 11380 UNIV ROBINA 132.2 133.8 130 134 130 133.8 816610 108085696 -11341443 VITARICH 1.52 1.53 1.51 1.53 1.5 1.52 737000 1112200 CEMEX HLDG 2.12 2.14 2.13 2.14 2.08 2.13 3415000 7265870 -3733010 DAVINCI CAPITAL 4.83 5.28 4.8 5.4 4.8 5.35 47000 241170 EAGLE CEMENT 14.72 14.84 14.72 14.86 14.72 14.86 7400 108998 -13248 EEI CORP 9.01 9.07 9.1 9.12 9.01 9.01 29800 269070 HOLCIM 6.16 6.45 6.44 6.44 6.44 6.44 2000 12880 MEGAWIDE 17.58 17.68 17.58 17.68 17.4 17.68 4132800 72,508,150( 23,236,253.9997) PHINMA 9 9.01 9 9 8.98 9 18600 167328 TKC METALS 0.89 0.9 0.93 0.97 0.88 0.9 168000 151150 VULCAN INDL 2.6 2.61 2.55 2.71 2.55 2.61 20292000 53688710 -226690 CROWN ASIA 1.55 1.59 1.57 1.6 1.55 1.59 479000 749300 LMG CHEMICALS 4.79 4.98 4.81 4.81 4.8 4.8 250000 1200950 PRYCE CORP 5.45 5.5 5.48 5.9 5.48 5.5 1516900 8313094 -88590 CONCEPCION 36.8 38 38 38 38 38 700 26600 -26600 INTEGRATED MICR 10.74 10.78 11 11 10.7 10.78 833700 8995178 4020630 IONICS 1.64 1.65 1.67 1.69 1.65 1.65 125000 209000 PANASONIC 6.1 6.37 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.1 1500 9150 SFA SEMICON 1.49 1.54 1.49 1.55 1.49 1.55 14000 20920 CIRTEK HLDG 36.4 36.5 36.2 37.5 36.2 36.5 338300 12367660 2095460

HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.465 0.47 0.465 0.475 0.465 0.47 10320000 4833800 13800 ASIABEST GROUP 25.05 25.3 25.3 25.45 25 25.3 22700 570390 -20120 AYALA CORP 910 915 906 920 906 915 121760 111332540 -45107180 ABOITIZ EQUITY 46.05 46.1 45.15 46.1 44.7 46.1 530400 24151500 -4003925 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 11.54 11.6 11.58 11.7 11.5 11.6 1085200 12585046 -2067472 ANSCOR 6.2 6.21 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 89000 551800 551800 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.79 0.86 0.88 0.88 0.87 0.87 5000 4360 ATN HLDG A 1.22 1.23 1.21 1.23 1.2 1.23 1399000 1699540 ATN HLDG B 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.24 1.21 1.21 459000 559370 -30250 COSCO CAPITAL 7 7.02 7.1 7.12 6.95 7 3417300 23933422 -20015985 DMCI HLDG 12.28 12.4 12 12.7 11.96 12.4 7000400 86924546 26465774 FILINVEST DEV 7.08 7.23 7.22 7.23 7.22 7.23 12500 90275 FORUM PACIFIC 0.189 0.228 0.193 0.23 0.188 0.23 1640000 338850 GT CAPITAL 771 778.5 785 785 765 778.5 80900 63000920 11318680 HOUSE OF INV 5.82 6.01 6.01 6.01 5.81 5.81 6700 39761 -30365 JG SUMMIT 47.6 48.45 47.6 48.5 47.6 48.45 751800 36429530 27563445 LODESTAR 0.51 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.51 0.54 502000 256410 LOPEZ HLDG 4.35 4.4 4.44 4.44 4.39 4.4 1003000 4415220 -2827280 LT GROUP 14.56 14.6 14.78 14.88 14.58 14.6 1218800 17889108 -1537858 MABUHAY HLDG 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.56 0.55 0.56 795000 441930 METRO PAC INV 4.78 4.8 4.79 4.8 4.77 4.8 13281000 63633690 -19876390 PACIFICA 0.037 0.038 0.038 0.038 0.037 0.037 2300000 85400 PRIME ORION 2.26 2.27 2.3 2.33 2.27 2.27 290000 663910 -294159.9999 PRIME MEDIA 1.16 1.2 1.15 1.16 1.15 1.16 246000 284260 SOLID GROUP 1.35 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.35 1.35 184000 248570 SYNERGY GRID 300.2 409.8 435 435 409.8 409.8 50 21246 SM INVESTMENTS 884 900 893 900 870 900 170530 152572675 51743990 SAN MIGUEL CORP 168 168.1 164.5 168.6 164.5 168.1 704000 117930965 77844214 TOP FRONTIER 263.8 280 270 280 262.2 280 4140 1133626 -538800 WELLEX INDUS 0.229 0.233 0.222 0.236 0.222 0.229 920000 215170

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.61 0.63 0.62 0.64 0.61 0.61 744000 457090 AYALA LAND 38.4 38.7 38.75 38.9 38.2 38.7 5718300 219745065 -72331245 ARANETA PROP 1.93 1.94 1.93 1.94 1.93 1.94 20000 38790 BELLE CORP 2.39 2.44 2.4 2.42 2.39 2.39 1153000 2757670 -353200 A BROWN 0.77 0.78 0.76 0.79 0.76 0.78 943000 732290 -780 CITYLAND DEVT 0.89 0.91 0.9 0.91 0.9 0.91 11000 9910 CROWN EQUITIES 0.211 0.219 0.21 0.222 0.21 0.22 3270000 690350 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.35 4.36 4.39 4.39 4.36 4.36 40000 175220 CENTURY PROP 0.41 0.42 0.4 0.415 0.4 0.415 1630000 668450 DOUBLEDRAGON 19.26 19.34 19.32 19.68 19.28 19.34 278700 5382570 -4091940 DM WENCESLAO 7.87 7.9 7.8 8 7.8 7.9 949200 7541129 EMPIRE EAST 0.51 0.53 0.54 0.54 0.53 0.53 2000 1070 FILINVEST LAND 1.42 1.43 1.43 1.44 1.42 1.42 4658000 6646050 -600530 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.04 1.05 1.08 1.08 1.04 1.04 11243000 12107820 8990 HLDG 6.9 7 7.02 7.02 6.9 7 119200 832359 -7010 IRC PROP 2.8 2.81 2.87 2.9 2.75 2.8 24588000 68812080 80300 CITY AND LAND 0.91 0.96 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.91 1000 910 MEGAWORLD 4.4 4.41 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.4 3912000 17109640 -3868770 MRC ALLIED 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 0.55 0.56 14135000 7921650 -6630 PHIL ESTATES 0.405 0.415 0.405 0.41 0.4 0.405 1890000 758900 88000 PRIMEX CORP 3.32 3.37 3.36 3.41 3.32 3.37 781000 2624440 10890 ROBINSONS LAND 20.1 20.2 20.55 20.95 20.1 20.1 3540300 72016140 -29442110 PHIL REALTY 0.4 0.425 0.395 0.43 0.395 0.43 240000 98650 ROCKWELL 1.95 1.96 1.94 1.95 1.94 1.95 449000 874890 SHANG PROP 3.15 3.17 3.17 3.17 3.17 3.17 6000 19020 -19020 STA LUCIA LAND 1.1 1.12 1.15 1.15 1.11 1.11 352000 394170 SM PRIME HLDG 34.2 34.4 34.5 34.5 34.1 34.4 4273500 146599050 -26050610 STARMALLS 6.6 6.66 6.5 6.86 6.45 6.66 602300 4024377 SUNTRUST HOME 0.7 0.72 0.74 0.74 0.7 0.7 171000 120560 VISTA LAND 5.12 5.15 5.24 5.27 5.12 5.12 4502600 23132565 -13244828

SERVICES ABS CBN 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.5 21.3 21.3 19900 425520 GMA NETWORK 5.07 5.08 5.1 5.1 5.08 5.08 88400 449646 MANILA BULLETIN 0.37 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 100000 41000 GLOBE TELECOM 2036 2052 2050 2052 2000 2052 30710 62869970 738330 PLDT 1386 1400 1370 1409 1355 1400 55075 76601215 2380060 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.039 0.04 0.039 0.04 0.038 0.039 5400000 210600 ISLAND INFO 0.105 0.106 0.105 0.108 0.105 0.106 730000 77300 5250 ISM COMM 3.28 3.29 3.4 3.42 3.24 3.29 14871000 49389790 -6835250 JACKSTONES 3 3.24 3.27 3.27 2.96 3.25 10000 30230 NOW CORP 4.49 4.5 4.7 4.82 4.38 4.5 3450000 15785420 -798350 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.5 0.51 0.53 0.53 0.5 0.51 23163000 11702730 -6395030 PHILWEB 3.49 3.5 3.45 3.5 3.3 3.5 548000 1879760 -138870 2GO GROUP 10.58 10.6 10.88 10.88 10.5 10.6 6800 72062 9450 ASIAN TERMINALS 13.2 13.4 13.2 13.42 13.2 13.2 1700 22622 CEBU AIR 66.3 66.4 66.4 66.5 66.2 66.4 35340 2345343.5 -184293.5 CHELSEA 6.21 6.25 6.03 6.4 5.97 6.21 3642800 22764728 -246777 INTL CONTAINER 90.9 92 88.3 92 88.3 91 1233870 112219469 -87521055.5 LBC EXPRESS 13.72 14 13.72 13.72 13.72 13.72 500 6860 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.77 0.78 0.8 0.8 0.76 0.78 525000 411850 MACROASIA 17.28 17.32 17.12 17.4 17.06 17.32 575500 9966216 -1083338 METROALLIANCE A 1.23 1.35 1.31 1.35 1.31 1.35 2000 2660 PAL HLDG 7.67 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 8.4 200 1680 HARBOR STAR 2.82 2.83 2.79 2.87 2.79 2.83 1038000 2945830 -297330 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.1 2.12 2.12 2.12 2.12 2.12 2000 4240 WATERFRONT 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.56 0.58 1025000 585620 CENTRO ESCOLAR 7.8 7.98 7.8 8 7.8 7.8 25300 197665 STI HLDG 0.74 0.75 0.74 0.75 0.72 0.74 940000 688270 1720 BERJAYA 1.64 1.65 1.63 1.66 1.62 1.65 1053000 1721170 -26520 BLOOMBERRY 8.16 8.18 8.13 8.27 8.11 8.16 24678800 201107484 -40828871 LEISURE AND RES 3.39 3.4 3.45 3.53 3.38 3.39 298000 1016530 -262100 MANILA JOCKEY 5.35 5.38 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.35 100200 535978 MELCO RESORTS 7.09 7.1 7.07 7.1 7.06 7.09 7509100 53215360 -31506744 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.77 0.75 0.76 2017000 1533350 -27180 TRAVELLERS 5.16 5.19 5.19 5.19 5.16 5.17 1138300 5884567 -4730519 METRO RETAIL 2.21 2.22 2.22 2.27 2.21 2.22 725000 1614580 -26820 PUREGOLD 41.15 41.6 42 42 41 41.6 30200 1253850 -551740 ROBINSONS RTL 77.4 78.5 78 79 78 78.5 1570240 123419748.5 35616133.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 105 105.5 106 106 106 106 20 2120 SSI GROUP 2.59 2.6 2.52 2.64 2.51 2.6 10752000 27858300 7202620 WILCON DEPOT 11.44 11.5 11.02 11.5 11.02 11.5 1360100 15535434 2202664 APC GROUP 0.435 0.445 0.445 0.445 0.43 0.435 290000 128650 EASYCALL 10.02 10.1 10.8 11 9.8 10.1 132600 1374706 3006 GOLDEN BRIA 308 320 317 320 308 320 3220 1017034 IPM HLDG 7.6 7.65 7.7 7.7 7.65 7.65 10000 76675 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.345 0.355 0.34 0.355 0.335 0.355 800000 277250 SBS PHIL CORP 6.78 7.17 7.17 7.17 7.17 7.17 200 1434

MINING & OIL ATOK 14 14.98 15 15.3 13.9 14.98 62200 917628 APEX MINING 1.77 1.79 1.81 1.88 1.7 1.79 33559000 60610120 4781450 ABRA MINING 0.0022 0.0023 0.0022 0.0023 0.0022 0.0023 63000000 144700 ATLAS MINING 2.69 2.94 2.69 2.98 2.69 2.98 7000 19380 CENTURY PEAK 1.89 1.9 1.92 1.95 1.88 1.88 1075000 2043430 104250 DIZON MINES 7.18 7.19 7.29 7.36 7.19 7.19 5800 41927 FERRONICKEL 1.82 1.83 1.83 1.83 1.8 1.82 923000 1675890 -627870 GEOGRACE 0.206 0.211 0.209 0.21 0.205 0.21 1130000 234150 LEPANTO A 0.107 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.107 0.107 420000 45000 MANILA MINING A 0.0068 0.0071 0.0069 0.0069 0.0068 0.0068 2000000 13700 MARCVENTURES 1.21 1.25 1.3 1.3 1.22 1.25 236000 295160 NIHAO 1 1.03 1.04 1.04 1 1.03 17000 17190 NICKEL ASIA 2.6 2.64 2.65 2.65 2.6 2.6 14458000 37596140 -28790 OMICO CORP 0.58 0.61 0.57 0.62 0.57 0.58 140000 82000 -46400 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.95 0.96 0.94 0.96 0.92 0.95 382000 357610 PX MINING 3.53 3.54 3.63 3.75 3.5 3.54 5456000 19855740 2792230 SEMIRARA MINING 27.2 27.55 27.1 27.65 27 27.2 356100 9708285 5209100 UNITED PARAGON 0.0059 0.0065 0.0058 0.006 0.0058 0.006 4000000 23800 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 8400000 107100 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 53700000 644400 PHINMA PETRO 4.03 4.1 4.17 4.17 4.03 4.03 55000 223010 PXP ENERGY 17.7 17.8 18.4 18.96 16.7 17.8 18292100 325532652 18895924

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 GLO PREF P LR PREF MWIDE PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

95.7 460 486 99.25 95.5 972 470 1.01 99.85 75.05 76.2 72.55 75 73.5 72.25 73.6

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR

21.2

98.95 465 494 100 96 1000 489 1.03 102 75.9 76.95 74.4 75.1 74.5 74 74.45

96.8 460 489 100 97 1000 470 1.03 100 75.8 76.95 72.55 75 74 72.75 74.45

96.8 460 489 100 97 1000 470 1.03 100 75.9 76.95 74.4 75 74.5 74 74.45

95.65 460 489 100 96 970 470 1.03 100 75.8 76.95 72.55 75 73.5 72.1 74

95.65 460 489 100 96 1000 470 1.03 100 75.9 76.95 74.4 75 74.5 74 74.45

300 470 540 1400 2780 3635 2200 1000 10500 790 350 17500 3280 7950 12210 351600

28711 216200 264060 140000 267000 3620830 1034000 1030 1050000 59889 26932.5 1270550 246000 585700 888819 26176170

-

21.45

21.2

21.45

21.2

21.45

500

10650

-

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

2.31

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.51 XURPAS 1.45

2.38

2.31

2.39

2.29

2.39

166000

382820

-

4.52 1.5

4.66 1.44

4.66 1.56

4.5 1.42

4.52 1.45

151000 13952000

687420 20792140

-5286450

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

106.4

106.5

105.8

106.5

105.8

106.5

9920

1052637

-

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

ATI, 1st PHL intl port to be ISO 45001:2018 certified

S

USTAINING its safety leadership in the ports industry, listed Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) was recently certified as ISO 45001:2018 compliant, becoming the first international port operator in the Philippines to secure the upgraded global standard in occupational health and safety.

Independent audit body TUV Rheinland Philippines conferred ATI’s compliance to the top-tier management system, incidentally making ATI its first auditee to successfully transition from OHSES 18001 to ISO 45001, well ahead of the new standard’s adoption deadline in 2021.

Aside from this feat, ATI was

recertified for its global standards on Environment Management (ISO 14001:2005), Quality Management (ISO 9001:2015) and Supply Chain Security Management (ISO 28000:2007) by the same audit firm.

These standards form part of ATI’s Integrated Management System which underpins the compa-

Philrealty income rises to ₧44.5M in Q3

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H I L I PPI N E R e a lt y a nd Holdings Corp. on Monday said its income rose to P44.5 million during the first nine months of the year, a jump of more than 17 times from last year's P2.5 million.

Gross revenues reached P1 billion, higher than the P647.4 million recorded in the same period last year on strong sales of real estate and higher rent income.

“We are very hopeful the awareness and the momentum generated by our sales group will spill over to the fourth quarter. Since our real-estate inventory is of the truly premium variety, our market is not affected by increases in interest rates. On the contrary, the currently high inflation rates tend to induce high-end property purchases as we have seen in our property sales. Given that bank deposits now are lower than the inflation rate, premium properties become a good hedge against inflation,” Philrealty’s CFO and Treasurer Edmundo Medrano said.

Real-estate sales grew 56 percent for the first three quarters of the year compared with last year.

The top-selling projects for the period were the company’s residential developments, including SkyVillas and SkyLine Towers in Quezon City and the Icon Plaza

in Bonifacio Global City.

R ent a l i ncome more t h a n tripled to P68.1 million for the period ending September 2018.

The company said its current ratio has been improving over time.

“They are at very healthy and comfortable levels, peaking at almost 8:1 as of September 30, 2018,” it said.

The company said its debtto-equity ratio was at 0.58:1. It improved to 0.45:1 as of end-December 2017. Asset-to-equity ratio, meanwhile, was at 1.41:1 as of end September, from 1.58:1 as of end-September 2017, and 1.45:1 as of year-end 2017.

“The decreasing debt-to-equity ratios and asset-to-equity ratios of the company clearly demonstrate the company’s realestate business is currently being financed in a very conservative manner, with a large proportion of investor or shareholder funding and a small amount of debt,” it said.

“We are happy with how our basic products are selling at this point.

However, we are bound to surprise the market with the exciting projects we will be doing in the next few months and years,”company president and CEO Alfredo del Rosario said. VG Cabuag

Convention marks 40 years of PHL Environmental Impact Statement System

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NATIONAL convention on the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System will take place from November 5 to 7 at The Manila Hotel in Intramuros, Manila.

The event is spearheaded by the Committee on Ecology of the House of Representatives and in collaboration with the Philippine Center for Environment, Climate Studies and Sustainable Development (PCE-CSSD) Inc. EIA@40 National Convention is a follow-through to the First National Convention on the Philippine EIS System conducted five

years ago in June 2013. Over 500 professionals from government and private sectors are expected to participate in the event. This year’s convention is accredited by the Professional Regulation Commission to grant CPD points to licensed foresters, geologist and environmental planners.

The national convention will witness a discussion between professionals such as environmental assessment administrators, practitioners and researchers to create a sustainable solutions and explore opportunities in the field of impact assessment in the country.

ny’s robust risk-management strategy, anchored on promoting a safe, healthy, secure and eco-friendly port environment for workers and stakeholders alike.

“We are very pleased to be the first international terminal operator in the Philippines to have secured the ISO 45001:2018 and be recertified for our Integrated Management System. These achievements further attest that ATI’s processes are on a par with world-best practices,” ATI EVP William Khoury said.

“As a responsible port organization, it is our conscious commitment to implement the highest standards on health, safety, quality, security and environment, which collectively contribute to safer, better and more efficient port services for the Philippine supply chain,” Khoury added.

Safety has always been ATI’s

MUTUAL FUNDS

No. 1 priority. This same corporate culture has paved the way for pioneering innovations now being implemented or soon up for adoption in other terminals across DP World, ATI’s foreign shareholder par tner and t he world ’s leading trade enabler.

These include ATI’s homegrown solar-powered twist-lock pinning stations, fall arrest system, edge protector prototypes, general cargo handling procedures, among other ideas originating from ATI’s frontline dockworkers and safety professionals.

ATI was also the first Philippine company to have achieved an ISO 28000:2007 certification, further complementing the ISPS Code instituted by the International Maritime Organization, to which the Manila South Harbor and Batangas Port operator is also compliant with.

October 29, 2018

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC * 241.15 -15.35% -2.34% -0.07% -17.75% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 1.3711 -13.18% 1.82% 1.41% -14.13% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC.* 3.7436 -15.58% -1.74% -0.98% -18.49% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP.* 0.8558 -14.93% N.A. N.A. -15.85% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. * ********* 0.7949 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC.* 4.9746 -14.09% -3.94% -0.9% -17.27% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. * ****** 109.83 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC.* 0.7958 -17.88% N.A. N.A. -19.83% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC.* 46.7166 -14.33% -1.61% N.A. -17.16% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC.* 486.61 -15.04% -2.84% -1.09% -17.31% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC.* 1.2051 -11.73% -0.66% N.A. -14.19% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC.* 35.0784 -11.66% -0.37% 1.91% -14.64% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC.* 4.6975 -14.39% -0.94% 1.81% -17.21% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP.* 784.26 -14.31% -1.22% 1.48% -17.07% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. * 0.8159 -13.42% -3.29% N.A. -15.63% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC.* 3.8797 -12.55% -1.22% 0.24% -15.29% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC.* 0.9044 -14.54% -1.1% N.A. -17.28% UNITED FUND, INC.* 3.3438 -10.66% 0.09% 0.24% -14.13% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC.* *** 104.8661 -13.86% -0.07% N.A. -16.74% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC.** $0.9212 -14.37% 0.04% -1.29% -16.88% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC.* $1.1876 -2.48% N.A. N.A. -6.13% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC.* 1.6082 -11.91% -3.83% -2.44% -13.7% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC.* 2.152 -10.76% -1.47% -0.31% -12.41% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC.* 2.4415 -10.08% -4.62% -3.18% -11.86% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION* **** 1.2717 -11.53% N.A. N.A. -12.59% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC* 1.7913 -8.15% -0.84% -0.34% -10.1% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC.* 3.3773 -12.5% -2.99% -1.54% -13.8% PHILAM FUND, INC.* 15.2442 -12.06% -2.79% -1.5% -13.18% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC.* ******** 2.0031 -9.59% -0.97% 1.13% -10.66% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC.* 3.5408 -9.47% -1.62% -0.57% -11.4% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC.* 0.8963 -9.69% -2.1% N.A. -12.15% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC.* $0.03468 -3.91% -0.65% 1.32% -3.93% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC.* $0.9169 -11.04% -0.21% -2.31% -12.43% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC.* $3.4662 -2.28% 3.23% 1.91% -5.1% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC.* $1.0366 -5.35% N.A. N.A. -6.8% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 341.38 1.37% 1.75% 1.6% 1.27% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC.* ******* 1.8586 -2.27% -1.2% -0.62% -1.78% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC.* 2.9462 5.46% 5.31% 5.25% 4.4% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC.* 2.119 -0.11% 0.95% 0.87% 0.8% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC.* 2.2117 -0.29% -0.15% 0.37% -0.2% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP.* P 1.5717 -2.57% -1.57% -1.48% -2.35% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC.* 3.7977 -7.18% -2.19% -1.32% -6.23% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC.* 3.4612 -1.07% -0.63% -0.39% -1.24% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. * 0.876 -5.91% -2.23% N.A. -5.11% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC.* 2.7526 -0.89% -0.11% 0.06% -0.88% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC.* 1.5298 -1.36% -0.64% -0.28% -1.28% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. * $446.09 0.36% 2.11% 2.88% 0.03% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. * Є213.24 0.32% 1.23% 1.63% -0.22% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.** $1.1206 -1.16% 0.66% 1.47% -1.19% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $0.0248 -0.8% 0.54% N.A. -0.8% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP.* $1.6901 -4.51% -0.71% 0.84% -4.59% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC* $1.0234 -5.16% -1.58% -3.03% -4.67% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC.* $2.1302 -4.74% -0.13% 1.93% -5.37% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC.* $0.0568969 -1.01% 0.81% 1.74% -0.53% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC.* $2.8783 -4.2% 0.32% 1.38% -4.46% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 120.04 2.35% 1.7% 1.46% 2.07% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC.* 1.1734 1.65% 0.33% 0.36% 1.38% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC.* 1.2113 2.45% 2.16% 1.43% 2.18% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC.* ***** $1.0125 N.A. N.A. N.A. 1.38%

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

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

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

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

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PHL seeks $811.5-M WB loans, grants for 7 projects

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By Cai U. Ordinario @cuo_bm

HE Philippines is seeking $811.5 million in World Bank loans and grants for seven projects included in the pipeline as of October 2018.

Data posted by the World Bank showed the largest commitment amount of $450 million is allocated for the Improving Fiscal Management project. The project will be financed by a loan from the Washington-based lender.

The project aims to support the government in its efforts to improve fiscal management particularly in increasing revenue potential and economic efficiency in tax policy; improve the budget planning and efficiency of spend-

The Philippines is seeking $150 million from the World Bank for the Customs Modernization Project. The project aims to modernize the systems, procedures and operation of the Bureau of Customs to improve the country’s trade competitiveness.

For the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project, the country is seeking $100 million. The project aims to increase agricultural productivity and integration in agricultural value chains of smallholder farmers and fisherfolk in targeted areas in Mindanao.

The country is asking for $100 million from the World Bank for the teacher effectiveness and competencies enhancement project.

However, no information was yet made available by the Washingtonbased lender for the project.

Meanwhile, the list also includes smaller projects such as Integrated Water Quality Management Project where the country is seeking financing worth $7.4 million; Philippines Stage II HCFC Phase-out, $2.75 million; and Philippines Health Financing Strengthening, $1.35 million.

As of press time, the World Bank has not yet provided details about the Integrated Water Quality Management Project, beyond saying only that it will be involved in sectors, such as water, sanitation and waste management.

The Philippines Stage II HCFC Phase-out project aims to phase

out Hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which are ozone-depleting substances. This will help the country meet its 2020 obligations under the Montreal Protocol and initial requirements under the Kigali Amendment.

In terms of the Health Financing Strengthening project, the World Bank said the objective is to strengthen the country’s Health Insurance Corp. capacity for strategic purchasing with special focus on performance monitoring and payment methods.

In 2017 the National Economic and Development Authority reported that the World Bank is the country’s second-largest source of loans, accounting for $3.02 billion or 25 percent of the total loan portfolio.

BTr awards all tenors in T-bills auction

Yin and yang of personal finance

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

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N the world of martial arts, especially kung fu, the basis is the symbol of the yin and yang. The most famous advocate of this principle is the greatest martial expert to have lived, the late Bruce Lee. Proof of this is in the The Tao of Gung Fu by John Little.

In the West, it is common to mistake yin and yang as being one the opposite of the other, but in the Tao they are seen as complementary. One cannot exist without the other.

Bruce Lee explains yin and yang like this: “They are conceived of as essentially one, or as two coexisting forces of one indivisible whole.

They are not cause and effect but should be looked at as sound and echo, or light and shadow. If this “oneness” is viewed as two separate entities, realization of the ultimate reality of kung fu won’t be achieved.”

“Yin” represents negativity, passiveness, gentleness, internal, insubstantiality, femaleness, moon, darkness, night, etc.

“Yang” represents positivity, activeness, firmness, external, substantiality, maleness, sun, brightness, day, etc.

Joined together, yin and yang illustrate the balance that is necessary and inherent; nothing can survive long by going to either extreme, being pure yin or pure yang.

From the said book, Bruce also quoted, “Extreme heat kills as do extreme cold. No violent extremes endure. Nothing lasts but sober moderation. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo survives by bending with the wind. Firmness without pliancy is like a barrel without water, and pliancy without firmness is like water without a barrel.”

Another great example of this is riding a bicycle. It is impossible to move forward without simultaneously pushing down on one pedal (yang) and releasing the other (yin). Both seemingly “opposite” motions are needed to go forward. This yin and yang action results in the bike moving forward. Note that neither extreme will get you anywhere on its own…if you simultaneously push down on both pedals at the same time or “release” them both at the same time, you will most likely fall over.

In the world of personal finance, yin and yang is also applicable. There is a need to be balanced in the choice of instruments to meet our financial goals. Getting just one type for all objectives will mean a disastrous financial plan. As an actual example, there was once a question to me about an inquiry on how to build a fund intended for

ing and strengthen financial risk management of public assets.

“The Bank’s knowledge services [analytical work and technical assistance] are being extensively used in each of the reform areas of the DPL [Development Policy Loan] to build the evidence base for reforms, e.g., the potential revenue impact, and to provide inputs into the design and implementation of reforms,” the World Bank said in a project information document.

Apart from this project, the Philippines is seeking financial support for the Philippines Customs Moder nization Project; Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project; and Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project.

Edmund Lao

PERSONAL FINANCE the down payment of a real estate two years into the future. I was informed that an insurance agent suggested VUL for that purpose.

The agent is not balanced in his suggestion. This is just similar to asking for a yin and getting a yang response.

Just like Bruce Lee, he applied the yin/yang principle and made his martial art method balanced by being a multidimensional fighter. He studied and exchanged ideas with masters of different disciplines and used whatever is useful during an actual fight. The result is an almost perfect form of martial art, where he is almost unbeatable. Knowing either one of these in the absence of the other will absolutely ensure failure just as a one-dimensional fighter is sure to lose to Bruce no matter how hard he trains.

The same follows for a student of personal finance. He has to learn the different types of investment vehicles so that he personally knows what will be the best for him and at the same time not be misguided by those pretending to be real financial advisors whose goal is just to sell. Instead of becoming an ally, these types of financial advisors are enemies of your financial freedom. Choose the right people who can help you grow financially the way Bruce chose Taky Kimura and Dan Inosanto to help him grow his school. Having the right people around you can help much in balancing your financial decision and reduce the risk of getting wrong advice.

Knowing the industry and the instruments combined with strategies obtained from different experts is crucial to your financial success, just like the yin and yang.

Finally, here is a final word of wisdom that you can apply: “Kung fu is a way of life as well as a mode of self-defense.

It is based on yin [negative] and yang [positive], where everything is a complement. Examples are softness with firmness, night with day and man with woman.

It is a quiet awareness of one’s opponent’s strength and plans, and how to complement them.”

—Bruce Lee, The Warrior Within Edmund Lao is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 73rd program this November 2018.

To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-9689774.

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HE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has awarded all tenors in its latest Treasury bill (T-bill) auction on Monday with a total of P15 billion, with the Treasury viewing bid rates to have stabilized in line with investors seeing inflation already tapering off.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that market investors may see that inflation would taper off in the coming months due to the measures that the government is putting in place, among them the passage of the rice tariffication act as well as the suspension of the fuel excise tax increase by 2019.

“We saw the bids more or less, hopefully, have stabilized coming from where they were before of [at least] the 30- to 50-basis-point increase in the auction submissions.

[This also] coming from the statement that more or less inflation has stabilized last September and then all these measures adopted to be able to address the supply side constraints also, with the rice tariffication and possible deferment of the P2 excise tax rate increase for fuel in January, and also [to] anchor inflationary expectations,” de Leon said.

The 91-day T-bill was awarded the full P4 billion with bids reaching P5.946 billion. The average annual rate for the IOU settled at 4.979 percent coming from a previous rate of 4.952 percent, showing an uptick of 2.7 basis points.

Bids for the 181-day tenor amounted to P7.534 billion, with the auction committee awarding the P5 billion in the end. The aver-

FILE PHOTO

age annual rate of 6.195 percent, from the previous rate of 6.059 percent, showed an expansion of 10 basis points.

The 364-day IOU was awarded the full P6 billion on offer with bids for the security amounting to P13.515 billion. The average annual rate for the security settled at 6.410 percent, which contracted by 7.9 basis points, compared to the previous auction rate of 6.489 percent.

“And [the Central Bank] governor also made a statement that if necessary, [a] possible very modest rate hike, if the data would call for that action coming from the Monetary Board. So we hope that this is it, that we will now see more or less the rates already stabilizing and hopefully try to go on

a downward trajectory already in the coming auctions,” she added.

De Leon further explained that market investors may see inflation settling within the government’s range of 3 to 4 percent in 2019, thus the healthy bids. The inflation level for 2019 is seen to hit an average of 4.3 percent but would likely further decrease once the rice tariffication act is passed into law.

“Going into next year, they [investors] see that possible inflation is going to be 4.3 [percent] and then, if ever, the rice tariffication is approved it can shave another 0.7 percentage points from the 4.3 [percent] so that would really bring inflation within the band or the target,” she said.

The BTr last week reported that the outstanding debt of the nation-

al government totaled P7.159 trillion as of end-September, showing a 0.80-percent increase from the previous month’s level of P7.103 trillion.

Year-on-year, the government’s outstanding debt is 11.1 percent higher compared to the September 2017 level of P6.444 trillion.

Of the total stock, 35.92 percent were sourced externally while 64.08 percent were borrowed domestically.

The government’s domestic debt amounted to P4.587 trillion, 0.3 percent higher compared to the end-August 2018 level of P4.572 trillion. External debt amounted to P2.572 trillion, which is 1.6 percent higher compared to the end-August 2018 level of P2.530 trillion.

Rupee worries India’s top bond underwriter more than deficit

By Subhadip Sircar Bloomberg

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NE of India’s largest debt underwriters says the rupee, Asia’s worst-performing currency this year, is a bigger worry for the $730-billion sovereign bond market than a miss by the government on its budget deficit target.

With the US Federal Reserve expected to continue its tightening cycle and key elections due in India later this year and next, global funds may not be keen to put money to work in the nation’s assets, Shailendra Jhingan, chief executive at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, said in an interview.

“A pick up in foreign outflows in equity and debt markets amid a strong dollar in October is a worrying sign,” he said. “A further down move in yields could accentuate these outflows, given the uncertain global environment and the Fed expected to further tighten its policy.”

A global risk aversion has seen

foreigners pull $3.1 billion from local shares this month, the most since January 2008 amid the global financial crisis, and $1.5 billion from debt. Relentless withdrawals led to the rupee sinking to a record 74.4825 per dollar on October 11.

While the currency has since recovered to advance in two of the past three weeks amid declines in oil prices, ING Bank NV has lowered its year-end forecast to 76.50—the most bearish in a Bloomberg survey—citing political uncertainty ahead of state elections in December. The forecast compares with a survey median of 73.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is gearing up for a big test, with elections in five states over the next two months before the national vote in 2019.

Some opinion polls are already predicting a win for the main opposition Congress party in the key state of Rajasthan, and a close contest in Madhya Pradesh.

Sovereign bond yields, too, have cooled 20 basis points this

month after climbing to a fouryear high in September, as the central bank bought debt to replenish liquidity. The drop may dull the appeal of rupee assets for foreigners, according to Jhingan.

“Lower yields could impact our ability to attract capital flows at a time when the current account deficit is expected to widen to 2.5 to 2.8 percent of GDP and global interest rates led by the US are moving up,” he said.

Back home, the Reserve Bank of India may tighten policy in February when the base effect of inflation starts wearing off and more clarity emerges on the next fiscal year’s inflation path, Jhingan said. June quarter could see another hike, which would take the repo rate to 7 percent, he said.

The RBI kept interest rates unchanged earlier this month, pausing after back-to-back hikes since June. But its intervention in the currency market in recent weeks to support the rupee has added to a seasonal cash crunch in the banking system, which could lead to a further 1 trillion rupees

of debt purchases to replenish liquidity, Jhingan said.

The central bank has done 560 billion rupees of purchases so far in the second half of the fiscal year that began in September. On Friday the authority said it would buy 400 billion rupees of bonds via open-market operations in November.

Some other views Jhingan expressed during the interview: Expects 10-year yield to trade in a 7.75 to 8 percent range for the quarter with yields heading lower if OMOs sustain. The yield fell 6 basis points to 7.82 percent on Monday after RBI’s OMO announcement for November.

To achieve neutrality in core liquidity, the OMO amount would have to be closer to 2 trillion rupees, but such a large size does not look feasible given the market depth.

Short-end bonds likely to perform better as RBI’s debt purchases have been more in that segment, with supply pressure higher on the long end. ­W ith assistance by Kartik Goyal

B4 Tuesday, October 30, 2018

PAG-IBIG FUND GRANTS 19,000 SOCIALIZED HOUSING LOANS IN NINE MONTHS

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HE Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) has increased its socialized housing-loan portfolio this year by funding in the last nine months the acquisition of 19,189 affordable homes worth over P7.440 billion.

The number of socialized homes financed from January to September this year is 15 percent higher than the 16,505 homes funded in the same period last year. The amount disbursed for socialized housing is also 24 percent higher than the P6.017 billion released in January to September 2017.

By the end of 2018 Pag-IBIG Fund aims to finance 26,709 units worth P8.873 billion under socialized housing.

Socialized housing loans make up 31 percent of all homes financed by Pag-IBIG Fund since January. The program benefits minimum- and low-wage workers who are

usually shunned by banks. “[The] socialized housing [loan] is designed especially for the minimumand low-wage workers. President Duterte directed that there be government programs catering to this marginalized sector, hence, we have this housing program that caters to their financial capacity. This is the essence of Balai Filipino [Building Adequate, Livable, Affordable and Inclusive Filipino Communities]—a decent shelter for every Filipino family,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees.

Socialized housing loans are up to P580,000 for a 32-square-meter residential unit in a horizontal housing project. Under its affordable housing

program, Pag-IBIG Fund now offers the lowest interest rate of 3 percent per annum, which is 33 percent lower than the previous 4.5 percent per annum.

The Pag-IBIG Fund subsidizes these low-interest rates through its tax savings, being a tax-exempt agency, as specified under Republic Act 9679.

“Our charter allows Pag-IBIG Fund to offer the lowest rates for minimum- and low-wage workers. And because of the fund’s better-than-expected financial performance, we see no reason to increase the 3 percent per annum subsidized rate in the near future. Unlike other institutions, we have a 100-percent loan-to-value ratio in socialized housing program, wherein borrowers don’t have to pay for equity when they apply for a socialized housing loan with Pag-IBIG Fund,” said Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti.

FRANCHISING GURU UNFOLDS 6TH BOOK

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S your heart driving you toward running a business? Be equipped as franchising guru Armando Bartolome launches a book titled An Entrepreneur’s Journey.

Absorb his expertise as he generously shares his 26 years of experience in coaching of running and growing a business.

Getting to know the gur, Armando O. Bartolome is the founder and president of

GMB Franchise Developers established in 1993. GMB is one of the leading franchise consulting firms in the Philippines and have helped numerous companies find huge success in franchising. He has conducted 650 seminars on “How to Franchise” and “How to Identify the Right Franchise Opportunities” locally and internationally.

This is his sixth book to be published. One

of the books, titled Is Franchising For You?, was awarded as the Book of the Year 2012 (professions category) by the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle.

The book is available in softbound print with 146 pages and recommendable for new startups, existing entrepreneurs, students and OFWs.

JUST FOR ‘AN HOUR’ The Children’s Hour Philippines Foundation Inc. board of trustees pose for posterity at a recent meeting, flashing “The One” sign to signify the organization’s One Hour campaign. In photo are (seated, from left) retired General Efren Abu, Dr. Carmencita Reodica, Corazon Alma de Leon, chairman Emily Abrera, Ma. Elena Aquino-Cruz, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Evangeline Mayuga, executive director Geenette Garcia, (standing, from left) Bernido Liu, Armando Salvador, lawyer Renan Osero, Marianne Quebral, Lucy Lazo, Susana Madrigal, Dr. Conchita Manabat, Victoria Garchitorena, vice chairman Michael Toledo, Roberto de Ocampo, Gary Teves and Guillermo Luz.

SITEL EXPANDS OPERATIONS IN CHINA

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ITEL Group, one of the largest customer experience (CX) management companies in the world, launches business process outsourcing (BPO) operations in China through the group’s BPO subsidiary Sitel. The operations are live in a Kunshan, China, CX office with 800 over teleservices.

Sitel China’s agents are delivering CX through both voice and WeChat to support clients in the Asian market with simplified Chinese.

“We are thrilled to expand Sitel Group’s global presence in the Chinese market,” said Laurent Uberti, president, chief executive officer and founding partner of the Sitel Group. “This

opportunity allows us to further support our global clients in delivering exceptional experiences for their customers in China.

As a leader in the CX industry, this expanded multicultural footprint and growth in the Asian market is a continuation of that journey for our group.”

Since 2016 Sitel Group’s learning and development offering the Learning Tribes has operated in China. Sitel Group’s expansion in the Chinese market for BPO services represents a strategic approach that supports the growth of existing client programs and potential for new partnerships, with key global players seeking to operate and expand in China.

BELMONT HOTEL MARKS 3 YEARS OF AIRPORT COMFORT

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ELMONT Hotel Manila, named the country’s Airport Hotel of the Year in 2018 by the prestigious Londonbased Travel and Hospitality Awards, is celebrating its third anniversary with a bevy of irresistible promos for family or leisure travelers.

As part of its third anniversary treat this October, the hotel is offering the East Meets West, a dinner-buffet feast of mixed Asian and western spread, which includes braised bone in pork loin, bacon-wrapped chicken, and streusels every Friday and Saturday for only P1,100 net per person.

It also has a P3,333 and P3,999 net superior room promo—without and with buffet breakfast for two, respectively—and includes a Bailey Bear stuff toy, and a 33-percent discount on food and beverage regular offers.

The hotel is also positioning itself as a cozy watering hole with its nightly bottomless Heineken Draught beer promo with a complimentary grub of choice for P1,200 net per person at Rooftop 11. It also has a monthlong barbecue and Drink All You Can promo with a live poolside entertainment every Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m., for P1,100 net per person.

For power lunches, guests can choose from an array of themed executive lunch—brunch buffet on Tuesday, healthy buffet on Thursday, and Mongolian Spread on Sunday for P500 net per person.

For regular dining, Café Belmont is a getaway for a

culinary journey with its wide array of delectable cuisine of all-time Filipino favorites and international delights. Guests can sink their teeth on the hotel’s specialty dishes—Blueberry Burger of 100-percent pure US Angus beef patty, chicken pesto lasagna, and crunchy crispy pata, to name a few.

Located at Newport City’s integrated leisure complex, the 470-room, 4-star hotel is a leisure destination in the southern Metropolis with first-class amenities and superb location, even for those who don’t fly.

Connected to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 by the Runway Manila overhead walkway, the cozy business hotel has become an urban oasis for its features worthy of a staycation. The 10-story hotel sports a contemporary architectural design and a tropically landscaped atrium, which provides an overlooking view of the Resorts World Manila township of gaming, recreational and lifestyle establishments.

It boasts of a podium garden, a 24-hour fitness center and workout area, lap pool with an in-water lounge, sunbathing lounge, massage deck and seating area, pool spa, and steam and sauna rooms.

Guests can enjoy the 360-degree panoramic view of the south, as well as landings and takeoffs of airplanes while they dip in the roofdeck pool or outdoor jacuzzi. It also has an arcade at the ground level with coffee shops, convenience stores, dining and retail outlets for guests’ convenience.

As part of its continuing quest for excellence, Belmont forged an agreement with Geneva-based SGS, the global leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, on its hospitalityexperience certification program, which was designed to provide solutions to issues in the industry.

Belmont is the world’s first hotel to undergo such new stringent certification, which consists of four modules—risk, sustainability, corporate social responsibility and quality of service experience. The process is expected to be completed before the end of the year and is envisioned to be another feather in the cap of the three-year-old hotel, which goes beyond airport comfort.

MULTI-AWARDED SCREENWRITER RICKY LEE SUPPORTS ‘MGA BATANG POZ’

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ESPECTED scriptwriter Ricky Lee endorses Mga Batang Poz written by Segundo Matias Jr., which had a book launch at the Lampara Books Publishing Building in Quezon City. Matias is one of the early participants of the Ricky Lee Scriptwriting Workshop, which started in 1982 and is free of charge since then.

Almost all writer-graduates of the scriptwriting

workshop go to write for movies, television or the theater.

But Jun opted to pursue his writing career for the books, which sees fruition over the years by coming out with the successful brand called Precious Hearts Romance (pocketbook novels).

Mga Batang Poz (short for HIV-positive), sends a timely positive as the HIV poses health concerns, especially among the young nowadays. According to available data by the Department of Health (DOH), while the disease easily spreads, it is treated nowadays because medicines are now available unlike before.

Still according to the DOH, patients need just to be compliant, and families with afflicted member should be supportive as it is already a treatable disease. It should not cause a stigma to the patients, as well as to their families.

“HIV is a serious concern and urgent issue,” said Matias, who had personal immersion in the community of HIV patients while he was writing the book.

“Even though masakit sa dibdib na basahin ang libro, kasi, ’yung katotohanan niya ay tumitimo, sumasaksak sa loob mo, eh enjoy pa rin [itong] basahin, kasi buhay na buhay ’yung mga characters. Apektadong-apektado ka sa kanila,” Lee said about the book.

Mga Batang Poz is available in National Bookstores and at the Lampara Publishing headquarters fronting Angelicum College Quezon City.

TEAM OF THE CENTURY! A FRUSTRATED franchise during decades of despair before ending an 86-year championship drought in 2004, the Red Sox have become baseball’s team of the century with four titles in 15 seasons. AP

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By Ronald Blum The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—Chris Sale’s final pitch for this Boston juggernaut triggered a celebration on the Dodger Stadium infield, among thousands of fans who made their way to California—and even outside Fenway Park back home.

The quest is complete. Yes, these 2018 Red Sox really are that great.

A team to remember from top to bottom. A season to savor from start to finish.

David Price proved his postseason mettle, Steve Pearce homered twice and Boston beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, on Sunday to finish off a one-sided World Series in five games.

A frustrated franchise during decades of despair before ending an 86-year championship drought in 2004, the Red Sox have become baseball’s team of the century with four titles in 15 seasons.

“Seeing all these grown men over there, just acting like kids, that’s what it’s all about,” Price said after pitching threehit ball into the eighth inning on short rest. “This is why I came to Boston.”

After losing on opening day, Alex Cora’s team romped to a 17-2 start and a club-record 108 wins, then went 11-3 in the postseason, dispatching the 100-win New York Yankees and the 103-victory and defending champion Houston Astros in the playoffs. Cora, a player on Boston’s 2007 champions, became the first manager from Puerto Rico to win a title and just the fifth rookie skipper overall.

“I don’t know where we stand in history and all that,” said Dave Dombrowski, the club’s president of baseball operations. “If somebody would say you’re going to win 119 games and lose 57, we’d never, ever fathom that.”

Pearce hit a two-run homer on Clayton Kershaw’s sixth pitch. Solo homers by Mookie Betts in the sixth inning and J.D. Martinez in the seventh quieted the Los Angeles crowd.

Pearce added a solo drive off Pedro Baez in the eighth, then was selected the Series MVP after the game.

“Best feeling in my life,” Pearce said.

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| Tuesday, October 30, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

A June acquisition from Toronto, Pearce had three homers and seven RBIs in the final two games. Thousands of Boston fans remained on the first-base side of the stadium long after the final out, chanting “Let’s go Red Sox!” and singing “Sweet Caroline.”

Of course, they let loose a few choice words about the rival Yankees, too.

“I never knew there were so many Red Sox fans here,” Martinez said.

Players’ families, many dressed in red, congregated on the field to join the celebration, some holding babies, some watching children run across the outfield in glee.

“This is the greatest Red Sox team in history,” owner John Henry proclaimed after receiving the Series trophy.

After losing to Houston in Game Seven last year by the same 5-1 score, the Dodgers became the first team ousted on its home field in consecutive World Series since the New York Giants by the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds in 1936 and 1937. Los Angeles remains without a championship since 1988.

“Ran up against a very good ballclub—and just a little bit too much for us,” said manager Dave Roberts, who played for Boston’s 2004 champions.

Boston outscored the Dodgers, 28-16, and had only a slightly better batting average at .222 to .180. But the Red Sox got timely hitting and won their ninth title, tying the Athletics for third-most behind the Yankees (27) and Cardinals (11).

All that stood between the Red Sox and a sweep was an 18-inning loss in Game Three, the longest World Series game ever. They trailed 4-0 in the seventh inning of Game Four when Sale rose from the dugout bench for a fiery, profane, motivational rant, and his teammates woke up in time to rally for a 9-6 win.

Boston never trailed in Game Five.

“I didn’t say anything that anyone didn’t know,” Sale explained. “Just rallying the troops and letting them know — we’re the best team on the planet, and to start playing like it.”

The 33-year-old Price, a Cy Young Award winner in 2012, long pitched under an October shadow cast by his regular-season success. He had been 0-9 in 11 postseason starts before defeating Astros ace Justin Verlander in the

clinching Game Five of the AL Championship Series. The lefthander won his third straight start on Sunday and became the first pitcher to beat Cy Young winners in the finale of an LCS and the World Series in the same year.

“I’ve been through a lot in three years since I came here, but this is why I came,” said Price, who like Kershaw can opt out of his contract in the coming days and become a free agent.

After allowing two runs over six innings to win Game Two last Wednesday, Price got two outs in the ninth inning of Friday’s

marathon game. He became the first to pitch into the eighth inning of a Series game on one day of rest since the Yankees’ Bob Turley in 1957.

“All the haters, it’s time to be quiet and show the guy some respect,” Martinez said.

Price gave up a home run to David Freese on his first pitch, then allowed just two more hits—the last a triple to Freese that Martinez lost in the third-inning twilight and allowed to

Rookie manager leads Red Sox to World Series L OS ANGELES—Hard to believe now, all these wins later, but the Alex Cora era in Boston began with a loss. A brutal one, in fact.

Opening day at Tropicana Field in late March, none of his late moves worked out as the bullpen blew a big lead in a 6-4 setback.

No fan in New England would admit it now—still, chances are some had already started to wonder whether he was the right guy for the Red Sox. “It’s baseball,” Cora reassured that afternoon. “We know it’s going to happen.... I guess get it out of the way right away.”

Yep, guess so.

A calming presence in a boiling sports cauldron, Cora capped off one of the greatest runs by a firstyear skipper in leading Boston to the World Series championship.

His Cora-nation came on Sunday night, when the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-1, in Game Five.

The victory set off celebrations all over.

While throngs of Red Sox fans chanted “Cor-a! Cor-a!” from the seats and so many more reveled across the country, all of Puerto Rico certainly cheered its native son from Caguas.

Cora became the first manager from the island to guide a team to a championship. It came more than a year after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico—when Cora negotiated his contract last October, he asked the Red Sox to help his people with relief efforts, and the team eagerly pitched in.

Moments after hoisting the championship trophy, Cora made one more request.

“Next thing I’m going to ask ownership is if we can take the trophy to my island,” he said. “That would be great.”

Cora again turned

Dodger Stadium into his personal party room. A year ago, he celebrated at the park as Houston’s bench coach after the Astros beat Los Angeles in Game Seven.

This time, he was front and center when Boston lifted the shiny gold trophy.

“It’s funny, because when they announced it, we were flying to LA last year between the Championship Series and the World Series, and ironic enough we win it here. So it goes full circle,” he said.

Cora became the fifth manager to win the crown in his first season, joining Bob Brenly (Arizona, 2001), Ralph Houk (Yankees, 1961), Eddie Dyer (Cardinals, 1946) and Bucky Harris (Washington

drop behind him on the right field warning track. Price struck out five and walked two, retiring 14 in a row before a leadoff walk to Chris Taylor in the eighth ended his night after 89 pitches. He tapped his heart several times to Red Sox fans behind the first base dugout while walking to the bench.

Joe Kelly struck out three straight pinch hitters and Sale, originally scheduled to start Game Five, fanned three more in the ninth. Sale ended by throwing a slider past a falling Manny Machado, a meager 4 for 22 (.182) in the Series, and raised both arms. Boston catcher Christian Vazquez ran out to jump on him with glee, and teammates from the dugout and bullpens followed.

While Price rewrote his own October legacy, Kershaw was unable to do the same as he fell to 1-4 with a 6.06 ERA in postseason elimination games. Plagued at times by an aching back, the 30-year-old lefty no longer is the dominant pitcher who won three Cy Young Awards, his famous 12-to-6 breaking ball now more 10 to 4:30.

Kershaw allowed four runs and seven hits—three of them homers—in seven innings. He is 9-10 with a 4.32 ERA in 30 postseason appearances, a huge drop from his 153-69 record and 2.39 ERA during the regular season.

“It just hurts worse when you make it all the way and get second place,” he said.

Kershaw began aggressively, throwing strikes on his first six pitches, and the Red Sox were ready.

Andrew Benintendi hit a one-out single and Pearce pulled a fastball over the middle of the plate and sent it 405 feet into the left-field pavilion.

While the crowd of 54,367 was stunned, Freese woke up fans in the bottom half. He drove Price’s first pitch 402 feet to the opposite field and into the right field pavilion.

Betts homered on a slider that stayed in the strike zone after going 0 for 13 in Los Angeles this weekend, the first postseason home run of his career coming in his 87th at-bat. Martinez homered in the seventh, driving a fastball to straightway center.

By then, fans had started planning for the April 9 home opener against Toronto, when the championship flag will be raised over Fenway after Boston opens with an 11-game trip out West.

“It wasn’t as easy as what people think,” Cora said.

Senators, 1924).

Called AC by his players, Cora has an unassuming presence. He often wears a gray hoodie in the dugout—the one he wore for Game Five is headed to the Hall of Fame—and he doesn’t raise his voice. Except to yell at umpires, that is.

Shouting at his own team?

“No, no, I don’t,” he said before Game Five. “I talk to them and I try to stay in tune with them. If I have something to tell them, I just sit with them. Very casual.

Very casual.”

“I try to do it that way. It feels right. It feels right,” he said. “I never had a manager that was like rah, rah, screaming at guys. They always had good conversations, and I learned from them and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

The result, said shortstop Xander Bogaerts, is Cora’s influence is “all positive, no negative stuff going on.” AP

BOSTON Red Sox Manager Alex Cora hugs his daughter Camilla after Game Five of the World Series on Sunday. AP

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MAGICAL WEEK

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ASEL, Switzerland—Roger Federer won his 99th career Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour title on Sunday, beating qualifier Marius Copil, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in the Swiss Indoors final.

A ninth title at Federer’s hometown event in Basel, where he was once a ball boy, matched the nine he has won at the Halle grass-court event in Germany. He closed the gap on the all-time singles titles list to Jimmy Connors, who leads with 109.

Federer blew kisses to a 12,000 crowd in the renovated Saint Jakobshalle, which now gives Basel’s local hero a bigger main stage.

“It’s been a magical week. It was dream run for me,” Federer said in his on-court acceptance speech, before his fans’ ovation brought tears welling in his eyes.

“To come through and win again here in my hometown, never knowing if this might be your last time...it obviously means a lot to me and it becomes very emotional,” he said later.

The top-seeded Swiss rallied from trailing by a service break in each set against the 93rd-ranked Romanian, whose serve was measured at 243 kph (151 mph)

in his opening service game.

Federer clinched minutes after saving a break point, taking his first match-point chance when Copil sent a backhand into the net.

The title was the 37-year-old Federer’s first in more than four months since winning on grass at Stuttgart in June.

Federer’s 151st singles final on the ATP tour shaped as one of his biggest mismatches by ranking. He has never lost a final to an opponent ranked below No. 87.

Their first meeting came after Federer amassed 20 Grand Slam singles titles, while Copil has just one career match win at a Grand Slam—in the 2015 Australian Open first round.

The 28-year-old Copil came to Basel with career prize money—$1.67 million— significantly less than Federer earned just for winning the Australian Open in January. His second career runner-up finish, both this season, earned almost €210,000 ($239,000).

Copil, currently ranked No. 93, will rise to a career-best ranking of No. 60 when the new list is published Monday.

Schauffele, US bets dominate

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HANGHAI—Xander Schauffele gave the Americans a sweep of the World Golf Championships and quickly put a winless sophomore season behind him.

Schauffele made birdie on his final three holes on Sunday, the last one a two-putt birdie from about 30 feet on the par-five 18th hole to beat Tony Finau in a sudden-death playoff and win the HSBC Champions.

“When I was signing my card, I was like, ‘Oh, wow.

I actually went birdie-birdie to get in the playoff,” Schauffele said. “I was just in my own world out there.”

He began the tournament by celebrating his 25th birthday. He ended it with one clutch shot after another in the closing stretch at Sheshan International for a four-under 68, the lowest score of the final round, and his first victory in 13 months.

Schauffele won twice in his first year on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour to win rookie of the year. Last season featured high finishes, but only one good chance at winning when he was a runner-up in the British Open at Carnoustie.

Now he has three victories, the last two at the Tour Championship to end the 2017 season and now a World Golf Championship.

Finau, who started the final round with a three-shot lead in his bid for a second PGA Toursanctioned victory, was ahead by one shot until Schauffele made an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, only the fourth player to make birdie on that hole on Sunday.

Defending champion Justin Rose missed a 10foot birdie chance on the 17th and went to the final hole two shots behind. Trying to make eagle, he went from the bunker to the rough to over the green and into the water, making a bogey for a 72 to finish four shots behind.

That meant Brooks Koepka, who closed with a 69 and tied for 16th, stayed at No. 1 in the world for at least another week. AP

“I would love for it to be the beginning of my career at this level,” said Copil, who played his first tour-level match in 2009.

The first-set tiebreaker was likely to be crucial given Copil’s career record of 8-52 when losing the opening set in top-tier matches.

Federer got a mini-break in the seventh point, being rewarded for solid defense from the baseline when Copil netted an attempted drop shot.

After Copil saved two set points with big serves, Federer took the first on his own serve when his opponent sent a forehand long. Federer celebrated with a shout and a pump of his right fist.

In the second set, Copil again quickly broke serve and this time held the key fifth game when Federer had two break points.

It was a brief respite until Federer broke in Copil’s next service game despite the Romanian ending one long rally with a backhand lob for a winner. AP ROGER FEDERER wins his 99th career Association of Tennis Professionals tour title on Sunday. AP

Nadal shows emotional side after deadly floods

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ARIS—His eyes saddened and his voice marked with pain, Rafael Nadal spoke about the devastation caused by the deadly flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

A torrential rainstorm on October 9 caused flash flooding that left a trail of piled vehicles and damaged infrastructure from surges of water and mud, and killed 13 people. A vehicle carrying a 5-year-old boy and his mother was dragged away by a river of water and mud, claiming both of their lives.

Nadal, who is from Mallorca, knew some of the victims.

“The mother and the son, I know them.

They are cousins of one of my best friends. So I lived the situation from very inside and I really saw the drama of all these people looking for the kid,” Nadal said on Sunday in Paris, his words measured and his voice tinged with grief. “That’s

part of this life and is a very unlucky situation that is almost impossible to recover from.”

Some parts of the island received up to 23 centimeters (9 inches) of rainfall in around four hours, more than one-third of the area’s average annual amount.

“The disaster has been just like 6 kilometers away from where I live. I was at home and the rain never stopped,” Nadal said. “It was terrible all the things that happened in the village next to my house, and not only one, a few villages—but especially Sant Llorenc.”

A strong current of water and mud buried cars and pulled up trees on its way through the streets of the town of 8,000. Swamped streets and piles of overturned cars, some of them along the guardrails of a major road, were a common sight in Sant Llorenc. There were also victims in Arta, a nearby town, and

in the coastal village of S’illot.

Nadal described the huge sense of loss felt within the close-knit community.

“If you were not there, you can’t imagine how the things were inside that village. I have a lot of family there in the village,” Nadal said. “The family from my mother, my grandmother, sisters and all the family from that side are from there. So I have a big connection with all of them.”

Nadal helped residents to clear mud from their houses in Sant Llorenc and his tennis academy on the island offered shelter to people affected by the floods. He wants to continue offering his support. Nadal, who is making his comeback from a knee injury to play at the Paris Masters, said an exhibition event will be held in Mallorca in December to help the people of Sant Llorenc. AP

Zobel girls one win shy of WBL sweep MEMBERS of Big Boss Idol poses with commissioner Allan Caidic.

BIG BOSS IDOL TOPS 3X3 TILT

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IG Boss Idol defeated Dasma Ballers 2, 21-16, to capture the 3x3 Golden League Manila 2018 crown on Sunday at the Ayala Circuit Mall in Makati City.

The team of Cedrick Ablaza, Rhoy Cayanan, Jhapz Bautista and Bhabap Sta. Maria took home $3,000 for winning the championship, while also earning the right to represent the Philippines in the Sina 3x3 International Elite League set from November 13 to 17 in Beijing, China.

The Dasma Ballers went home with $2,000 for finishing first runner-up, while Metro Star Realty took second runner-

up honors for a $1,000 cash prize in the tournament that has Allan Caidic as commissioner and Mediapro Asia and Sina as organizers.

Big Boss Idol reached the finals after beating guest team Aba Prefecture of Tibet, 21-13, to arrange a championship match against Dasma Ballers 2, which defeated Metro Star Realty, 20-11, in the other semifinal.

League organizers are now looking forward to staging another edition of the tournament with plans to also bring the event in major cities outside Manila.

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E LA SALLE-ZOBEL (DLS-Z) logged back-toback victories over the weekend to move a win away from sweeping the 13-Under category of the 31st Women’s Basketball League (WBL) at the Xavier School Gym. The still-undefeated DLS-Z swamped Saint Stephen’s High School (0-1), 84-9, on Saturday then came back on Sunday for a 52-28 rout of Miriam College for its third straight win in the five-team group.

It was a disappointing loss for Miriam College, which earlier drubbed St. Pedro Poveda College (02), 58-31, for a 1-1 card.

DLS-Z’s 18-Under squad also crushed Miriam College (0-2), 58-34, to lead Group B undefeated with three wins.

Chiang Kai Shek College also remained clean on top of Group A of the tournament sponsored by Milo when it smothered University of Perpetual Help (0-2), 52-28.

The WBL is organized by the Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Center.

Marquez, Sabalo grab natl crown

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ICHAEL ANGELO MARQUEZ and Stephanie Sabalo captured the Grade A Latin title of the 22nd DanceSports Council of the Philippines Inc. (DSCPI) National DanceSports Championships recently at the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig City.

Marquez and Sabalo, both from Manila, shoved Cebu’s Andrew Ysla and Noelyn Mie Pedrano to second place and Visayas’s Elmar Dizon and Rachael Sun to third in the competition organized by DSCPI President Becky Garcia.

Sean Mischa Aranar and Ana Leonila Nualla topped the Grade A Standard class with Mark Jayson Gayon and Mary Joy Renigen finishing second and Tristan John Ducay and Aileen Patrice de Lara winding up third.

The other winners were Joemari Rios and Israela Joana Aliermo (Grade B Standard), Shaquille Jay Hanz Basan and Cindy Jaz Basan (Grade B Latin), Malvin Jamali and Charlene Mernilo (Grade C Standard) and Roderick Pascua and Christine Jane Tabirao (Grade C Latin).

Also in the honor roll were Malvin Jamali and Charlene Mernilo (Grade D Standard), Ruden Estillore and Krisia de Jesus (Grade D Latin), Nigel John Angel and Shadelle Niña Hernandez (Juvenile 2A Standard) and Kharl Michael Miñoza and Sofia Isabella Maree Quilaton (Juvenile 2A Latin).

HOPE Christian High School players pose with chief backer Dr. Cecilio Kwok Pedro of Hapee Toothpaste and team coordinator Bernard Yang and Athletic Coordinator Steve Tiu during the team’s celebration last Sunday.

Hope Christian High dribblers triumph

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OPE Christian High School finally ended six years of futility by stunning multi-titled Chiang Kai Shek College (CKSC), 57-44, to win the Filipino Chinese Amateur Athletics Championship (FCAAF) at the Chiang Kai Shek College gym in Tondo, Manila, recently.

Led by Christian Pauco and Harvey Pagsanjan, the Hope Christian dribblers outscored the Blue Dragons, 17-10, in the payoff period to end their rivals’ reign in the country’s premier Fil-Chinese tournament.

Hope Christian’s title was its fifth since 1992.

It also won in 1993, 2011 and 2012.

Dr. Cecilio Kwok Pedro, owner of Hapee Toothpaste and school’s chief backer, is

hoping the school’s victory over CKSC could be the start of something good for the team as it vies in the prestigious PSSBC Tournament of Champions in December.

Hope Christian coordinator Bernard Yang said the team is hoping to become the first twotime champion of the PSSBC, having won the inaugural tournament seven years ago.

Pauco led Hope Christian with 18 points to emerge as the Final Most Valuable Player (MVP), while Pagsanjan, who added 16 points and grabbed a game-high 17 boards, emerged as the tournament’s MVP. Hope Christian and Chiang Kai Shek will represent FCAAF in the Tournament of Champions.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2018

YOUNG GUNS EYE SUMMIT K KOREAN youngsters Micah Shin (right) and Kim Joohyung are back in the Philippine Golf Tour Asia hunt.

OREANS Micah Shin and Kim Joohyung rejoin the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Asia in Batangas, firming up the already formidable field slugging it out in the $100,000 Summit Point World 18 Challenge beginning on Wednesday at the Summit Point Golf Club in Lipa City.

Shin, 21, and Kim, 16, skipped the CAT Open leg of the region’s newest circuit at Luisita last week but they are coming into the Summit event brimming with confidence, bringing in games honed up by stints in the local circuit and abroad.

The Davao-based Shin, who edged Miguel Tabuena to become the first non-Filipino to win The Country Club Invitational last February to add to his Asian Tour victory late last year,

CARGO MOVERS START BID

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2 LOGISTICS kicks off its long journey back to the throne in an explosive triple-header for the opening salvo of the Philippine Superliga (PSL) All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Cargo Movers are dead serious in asserting their dominance as they open their bid against a solid Cignal side in the 7 p.m. featured battle of the women’s club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu, Sogo, Senoh, Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, UCPB Gen and Bizooku.

Reigning champion Petron, meanwhile, clashes with Cocolife at 4:15 p.m. following the 2 p.m. encounter between Smart and Sta. Lucia of the league that was named as one of the 10 finalists for the Best Women’s Sports Event category of the prestigious SPIA Asia Awards.

The league will formally open at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City on Saturday starting with a pair of clashes in the Collegiate Grand Slam, the league’s newest endeavor that features six of the best college teams in the country.

But in the All-Filipino of the twin tourneys that also has ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners, all eyes will surely be on F2 Logistics.

Since joining the league in 2016, this conference has been the Cargo Movers’ turf, thanks to their intact core of Aby Marano, Cha Cruz, Majoy Baron, Ara Galang, Dawn Macandili,

Kianna Dy, Kim Fajardo and other former and current De La Salle University players.

But they lost the crown to the Blaze Spikers last year, prompting them to storm back and clinch the Grand Prix title a few months later with Venezuelan MJ Perez and American Kennedy Bryan as reinforcements.

This year, F2 Logistics is all set to regain the trophy.

“We are ready to do everything to win the crown,” said Assistant Coach Noel Orcollo, noting that Petron isn’t the only team to beat as other squads have also beefed up their respective rosters.

“This conference is probably the most difficult conference to win. This is not an easy conference as all teams prepared well. Every team is a team-to-beat. But our owners didn’t spend a huge amount for us to slack off. We will give other teams a very good fight.”

Also seeing action for the Cargo Movers are Mae Luna, Tin Tiamzon, Fritz Gallenero, CJ Saga, Aduke Ogunsanya, Michelle Cobb and Desiree Cheng.

Cruz, the seasoned spiker who is in her best form after being part of the national squad that campaigned in the Asian Games and Asian Women’s Cup the past couple of months, said they had a serious buildup in preparation for this tourney.

“We know that this is a major tournament so we really trained hard to prepare,” said the open hitter, who is tipped to spark the offense

placed fifth in PGT Asia Southwoods ruled

by Jay Bayron in June before campaigning in other regional tours.

Kim, on the other hand, scored his maiden triumph at PGT Pueblo de Oro in July and finished tied for sixth in his last PGT Asia event in the Aboitiz Invitational at Southwoods last month. The Riviera-based shotmaker, who has dominated the country’s amateur circuit to move up to the pro ranks last year, also vied in a couple of tournaments abroad and is among those tipped to contend in the seventh leg of the circuit put up by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. at the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed layout which features replicas of 18 of the famous golf holes across the world.

But they are just two of a host of fancied

together with the healthy Galang and Dy. “We’ve been together for few years already since our college days, but we still worked on our chemistry, knowing that this would be our biggest advantage against other teams.”

F2 Logistics, however, won’t have an easy time plucking its first win.

The HD Spikers are marching with a loaded roster after acquiring hard-hitting spiker Royse Tubino, Luth Malaluan and Roselyn Doria to join an already powerhouse squad led by national team member Mylene Paat and skipper Rachel Anne Daquis.

Also in the fold are Janine Navarro, Rialen Sante, Jheck Dionela, Acy Masangkay, Cherry Vivas, Cindy Amutan, Mae Macatuno, Rap Aguilar and Shirley Salamagos.

“We like our chances. All our needs were addressed both on offense and on defense,” Head Coach Edgar Barroga said.

Ateneo-Motolite brings down fancied Creamline in PVL wars

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FULL-BODIED Ateneo-Motolite stopped fancied Creamline on its tracks with solid hitting and blocking—and sheer guts—scoring a vengeful 25-18, 25-20, 15-25, 23-25, 15-12 victory to grab the solo lead in the Premier Volleyball League Season 2 Open Conference at the Batangas City Coliseum late Sunday night.

Driven by their desire to prove their worth against a team headed by the very player who has long been considered the face of the sport, the Lady Eagles put on one big hit after the other in the decider which they complemented with solid blocking that saw them rally from 10-12 down to pound out the thrilling victory.

The Lady Eagles actually took the first two sets, faltered in the face of the Cool Smashers’ strong comeback but surprised their fancied rivals with a gritty stand in the fifth to pull off the win that more than made up for their shutout loss to the same team last week sans three of their top players.

But with Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag and Ponggay Gaston back in the fold, the Lady Eagles battled it out with the Cool Smashers and pulled through in the nervewracking stage behind Tolentino, Gaston, Madayag, Bea de Leon and rookie Vanessa Gandler and their superb blocking aided by

Valdez’s two attack errors.

“Creamline is such a veteran team with great players so I commend my players for stepping up under pressure,” Ateneo Coach Oliver Almadro said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to learn. As I’ve been saying, every game is a learning experience for us. Slowly, we’re getting to where we want to be.”

On top of the heap at 7-2 won-lost, Ateneo indeed is on a cherished spot with the Lady Eagles hoping to firm up its hold of the lead when they take on the Tacloban Fighting Warays on Saturday, back at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

“We knew how good is Ate Ly [Alyssa Valdez]. She’s really great in her own right and we respect her. But we want to prove that we can do it and that what motivates us,” de Leon said.

The first enabled Ateneo to force a tie at 12 and after Tolentino punched in another hit after a long rally, Valdez yielded another point off an attack that sailed long but appeared to have grazed a finger of an Ateneo defender.

Then Gandler capped the Lady Eagles’ amazing victory with a block off Valdez, clinching the match for the Katipunanbased squad which wrested solo control before a huge crowd and 35,000 more viewers on YouTube.

BEA DE LEON and the Lady Eagles book a vengeful victory.

Wushu athletes guests in forum

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HE Philippine wushu team that clinched a gold, silver and bronze medals in the Sanda World Cup in Hangzhou, China, will be the special guest in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Tapa King Restaurant in Farmers Plaza in Cubao.

Gold medal winner Arnel Mandal will be gracing the public sports program along with fellow medalists Francisco Solis and Divine Wally a day after arriving from the ninth edition of the quadrennial meet.

They will be accompanied by Wushu Federation of the Philippines SecretaryGeneral Julian Camacho in the session presented by San Miguel Beer, Tapa King, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

players in pursuit of the top $17,500 purse in the 72-hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. with last week’s CAT Open winner James Ryan Lam also confident of making it two-in-row after winning the PGT Asia CAT Open last week.

Other local aces expected to figure in early contention are PGT Asia Forest Hills leg winner Jhonnel Ababa, Riviera titlist Jobim Carlos and Bayron, along with Luisita Invitational champion Clyde Mondilla, Elmer Salvador, Michael Bibat, Justin Quiban, Joenard Rates, Tony Lascuña and Orlan Sumcad.

But they will be up against a crack roster of foreign challengers, including Americans John Michael O’Toole, Nicolas Paez, Brett Munson and Lexus Keoninh, Thais Pasavee Lertvilai and Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij, Koreans Hwang Myung-chal and Park Jun-sung and Macedonian Peter Stojanovski.

Meanwhile, the pros test the challenging layout one last time in Tuesday’s pro-am tournament with amateur partners and guests of the event’s chief backers, including ICTSI, Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and MY Shokai Technology Inc.

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Jr Blazers take on Red Robins in finals

A SALLE-GREENHILLS and Mapua arranged a Finals rematch as they walloped separate opponents in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 juniors basketball tournament on Monday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The Junior Blazers were first to book a Finals ticket when they brought down the Jose Rizal University Light Bombers, 97-71, while the Red Robins responded with their own 75-67 thrashing of the San Beda Red Cubs.

It will be the second consecutive season that the two squads will meet in the Finals. The best-of-three championship starts on November 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Inand Fornillos scattered 22 points

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and hauled down 11 rebounds to lead La Salle Greenhills’ attack, while Joel Cagulangan also stepped on the pedal with his 19 points and six rebounds.

Mapua’s Paolo Hernandez scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Jonnel Policarpio was as impressive with his 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Unlike their senior counterparts who had an easy route to the Finals, the Junior Blazers and Red Robins were pushed to the limit. The Light Bombers and Red Cubs forced winner-take-all showdowns when they scored 81-78 and 84-71 victories over the top squads last Friday.

The Junior Blazers narrowly escaped with a 75-74 win over Mapua to win the title in Game Three last season. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Rookie Tiger delivers big numbers for UST

OOKIE sensation CJ Cansino of Universtiy of Santo Tomas (UST) is continuing to take the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 men’s basketball tournament by storm.

In the Growling Tigers’ 79-68 romp over the University of the East Red Warriors that saw them eclipse their accumulated record in the past two seasons and grab solo fourth in the standings, Cansino came through with a historic performance.

The Rookie of the Year candidate emerged as the first freshman to chalk up a triple-double since 2003, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

The exceptional feat was more than enough to earn him his second Collegiate Sports Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week award.

First-year UST Head Coach Aldin Ayo was the least surprised with his prized rookie’s effort.

“I know that ever since I got CJ, my goal is to

draw out his full potentials,” Ayo said.

“CJ is full of potentials. I hope he continues improving. The good thing about CJ is that he always responds to whatever we ask him to do,” he added.

But Cansino deflected credit to Ayo’s system.

“I’m happy because I got the triple-double, but I only followed the system,” Cansino said.

The former UAAP Juniors Most Valuable Player, who celebrated his birthday last Saturday, dedicated the milestone to his coaches and the UST community.

“I was inspired on my birthday, and to everyone who sacrifices so much for the team— the UST community and my coaches,” he said.

Cansino bested teammate Marvin Lee, Thirdy Ravena of Ateneo de Manila University, Brandon Bates of De La Salle University and Jerrick Ahanmisi of Adamson University for the weekly award given by print and online writers covering the beat.

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EICESTER, England—Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha achieved what seemed impossible in modern soccer: Gaining promotion with a modest club and winning the English Premier League title within two years.

Bankrolling Leicester City but without the lavish spending of the bigger clubs, the Thai billionaire oversaw one of the greatest underdog successes in sports when the 5,000-1 outsiders won soccer’s richest competition in 2016.

In an era of often-absentee foreign owners in the Premier League, Vichai also broke the mold by forging close ties with supporters and the local community.

While Vichai did not seek the limelight and was far from flamboyant, the wealthy entrepreneur’s grandiose mode of transport from the King Power stadium named after his duty-free empire became symbolic of the club’s newfound status in the game. A helicopter would land on the field after matches and whisk away the owner.

Saturday night was the last journey for Vichai.

Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was seen weeping as he stared at a fireball in a carpark outside the stadium around an hour after a 1-1 draw with West Ham. Moments earlier, the AgustaWestland AW169 had risen from the center circle and cleared the stadium roof before it spiraled out of control and plummeted into an adjacent carpark in flames.

The 60-year-old Vichai and the four other people on board did not survive the inferno, Leicester announced on Sunday.

“I am so totally devastated. I just cannot believe what I saw last night,” Schmeichel said. In an emotional tribute to Vichai, the seven-year veteran of the club said: “You changed football. Forever. You gave hope to everyone that the impossible was possible, not just to our fans but to fans all over the world in any sport.”

On the spot where fans danced into the night after the improbable title victory two years ago, people gathered through the day to mourn. Hours before the Sunday night confirmation that Vichai did not survive the crash, scarves, jerseys and flowers were laid in an ever-expanding memorial in front of the stadium.

“Without you,” read one message on a club flag, “the dream wouldn’t have become reality.”

Leicester’s next game, which had been scheduled for Tuesday against Southampton in the League Cup, has been postponed.

“We now have a responsibility as a club, as players and fans to honor you,” Schmeichel said.

Two members of Vichai’s staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, also died along with pilot Eric Swaffer and passenger Izabela Roza Lechowicz. Fears that family members were on board were allayed through the day, with his Vichai’s son, Aiyawatt, now in line to step up from his role as vice chairman.

“The world has lost a great man,” the Leicester club said in a statement. “A man of kindness, of generosity and a man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led.”

Vichai, who started with one shop and grew Thailand’s massive King Power duty-free chain, bought Leicester for £39 million ($50 million) in 2010 when it was in the secondtier competition. Avoiding relegation in its first season back in the Premier League was remarkable enough in 2015 after spending much time in last place. But that was eclipsed in 2016 by the team winning the top-flight title for the first

LAST JOURNEY NBA RESULTS

Golden State 120, Brooklyn 114

Oklahoma City 117, Phoenix 110 Utah 113, Dallas 104 LA Clippers 136, Washington 104

Will big numbers in NBA continue?

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Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, October 30, 2018 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

IN an era of often-absentee foreign owners in the Premier League, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha breaks the mold by forging close ties with supporters and the local community. AP

time since being founded in 1884.

“I always believed in the power of our spirit,” Vichai said at the time. “It drove us to reach the Premier League, it gave us the strength to stay in the Premier League and now it has inspired us to win the Premier League.

“It is a spirit that has spread beyond Leicester, taking our story to the hearts of the world. Our spirit exists because of the love we share for each other and the energy it helps to create, both on and off the pitch, and in the years to come, it will continue to be our greatest asset.”

Vichai was ridiculed for hiring the manager who masterminded the title success. Claudio Ranieri had been out of work since being fired by the weak Greece national team and his only job in the Premier League at Chelsea ended 11 years earlier. But it proved to be an inspired recruitment, helping to turn a humdrum group of journeymen and modestly purchased signings into a lineup that overpowered the mega-rich giants of the Premier League.

“That was a dream,” life-long supporter Ian Hubber said outside the stadium on Sunday. “This is a nightmare.” AP

PHL POLO MOURNS THAI VICHAI’S DEATH

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ILIPINO sportsmen and polo enthusiasts mourned the loss of billionaire Thai sportsman and businessman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Rep. Mikee L. Romero of 1-Pacman party-list said he lost a big brother following the tragic death of the Thai duty-free billionaire Srivaddhanaprabha.

“I lost a great brother, I was that close to him,” said Romero in a text message following the confirmed report that Srivaddhanaprabha died after his helicopter crashed outside Leicester City’s stadium on Saturday.

While the enigmatic Thai billionaire was into football and Romero is into basketball, both share one passion—love for polo.

Romero recalled that he played several times with Srivaddhanaprabha (who owns VR Polo Club) and his sons Aiyawatt and Apichet in Bangkok (King Power), and was touched with how they treated him.

“I felt like I was also a royalty during the times I played there,” Romero said.

“Polo and football players all over the world are mourning the death of one the sport’s pillars.”

“We in the polo community were ecstatic following his success of Vichai in the Premier League,” Romero said. “That was huge.”

LAKE GRIFFIN had this season’s highest-scoring game for all of about 24 hours before Stephen Curry bettered it—in just three quarters.

Then in Golden State’s next game after Curry poured in 51 points in a rout of Washington, Kevin Durant scored 25 in the fourth quarter, the best total of his career, and finished with 41 in a victory at New York.

With the Warriors teammates’ big nights and Griffin’s 50-point outburst for Detroit coming in just a four-night span, it continued a torrid start for scorers that Curry said made it seem like “everybody’s clicking at the same time.”

But count Curry among those who aren’t sure the offensive onslaughts being seen now are will still be seen in a few months.

“Those are just great players just making plays, having great nights. That’s not any different than any other year,” he said after Durant’s big night.

“We’re six games in. We’ll see how it goes.”

Damian Lillard has already had a pair of 40-point nights, and Kemba Walker is one point shy of doing the same. That comes after there were 13 50-point performances last season, with Most Valuable Player and league scoring champion James Harden doing it four times, including a 60-point night.

The increased emphasis on the three-point shot and the league’s focus on allowing freedom of movement on the perimeter have opened up the offenses. Players who aren’t known as scorers can have big nights, and guys who were think they would have been unstoppable. ”I’d average easily 35-40 points a game. Easily,” two-time scoring champion Tracy McGrady said in a quote tweeted by the Orlando Magic. “I mean, I averaged 32 without even shooting that many threes.”

Curry has made at least five three-pointers in every game, but even guys who don’t stray outside the arc are benefiting from it.

“I know the uptick isn’t that great, but what goes with the teams shooting so many threes is it spreads your defense out,” Nets Coach Kenny Atkinson said. “So now you’re chasing those guys out to four-point land, and now that opens up driving.”

That’s usually how a guy like Griffin has traditionally gotten his points, but as he showed Philadelphia in his big night, his game also extends now into three-point territory.

Of course, so do Curry’s and Durant’s, and both are averaging more than 30 points.

Can they both keep that up for an entire season?

“Why not? Curry said. “We’ll see.”

Curry set another National Basketball Association (NBA) record by making seven three-pointers and finished with 35 points as the Golden State Warriors held on to beat the Brooklyn Nets, 120-114, on Sunday.

Kevin Durant added 34 for the Warriors, who appeared on their way to another easy win before the Nets made it close with some sizzling three-point shooting.

Curry finally turned them back when his final three-pointer made it 115-108 with 1:07 to play. He has made at least five threes in all seven games, breaking George McCloud’s record of six games in a row during the 1995-1996 season.

But Klay Thompson continued to struggle behind the arc, going 1 for 5 and falling to 5 for 36 this season. He finished with 18 points and still hasn’t had a 20-point outing this season.

D’Angelo Russell scored 25 points, and Caris LeVert had 23 for the Nets, who made 20 three-pointers in 42 attempts. AP STEPHEN CURRY sets another National Basketball Association record by making seven three-pointers and finishes with 35 points against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. AP

PRECIOUS F1 MOMENT M EXICO CITY—Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel hugged in a gesture of mutual respect between two drivers with nine Formula One (F1) championships between them.

Then Hamilton talked about winning the 2018 season title, his place in history and the tough fight with Vettel to earn a fifth career championship that tied him with Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio for second-most in F1 history.

“This is a precious moment for me,” Hamilton said after securing the title on Sunday at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Vettel cradled his head in his hands and wiped his brow, bracing for hard questions about how a title chase he once led had once again slipped away. The defeat may have been expected, but it was still painful.

“It’s a horrible moment,” said Vettel, a four-time champion who has finished second two years in a row and three times in his career.

“You put in a lot of work...you hang in there

as long as you can. I’ve had three times now in my life that sort of disappointment,” Vettel said.

Hamilton came into the race with a lead so big that Vettel had to win and Hamilton had to finish lower than seventh just to push the championship to the next race in Brazil.

Vettel made a fight of it, finishing second to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton finished fourth, sparking a championship celebration in the high altitude of Mexico City for the second consecutive year.

The 2018 season has been defined by the battle between Hamilton and Vettel and their Mercedes and Ferrari teams.

In a year Hamilton admits he often hasn’t had the strongest car, he ranks his fifth career championship among his best and hardest. Their teams are still battling for the constructor’s championship.

“We have not had the fastest car in the majority of races, but we won races,” Hamilton said. “I’ve had some of the best races of my career.”

Vettel stormed into 2018 by winning in

Australia and Bahrain to put the pressure on Hamilton, who didn’t win until the fourth race. Vettel’s season came undone with a series of driver and team mistakes. None was bigger than Vettel crashing out of the lead in a rainy German Grand Prix to let Hamilton win.

That Ferrari calamity started a streak of six wins in seven races for Hamilton, who hit his usual second-half stride. Vettel hasn’t won since the Belgian Grand Prix in August.

“I can’t be too hard on myself [with what I did in Germany]. It was the most costly one, but it’s part of racing,” Vettel said. “We just didn’t have the pace to keep up with Mercedes for a couple of races.”

But a Ferrari resurgence of late only worsens the frustration of a championship lost.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen won the US Grand Prix. Vettel might have won if not for a threespot starting grid penalty for driving too fast under a red flag in practice.

And Mercedes has seemed to slip back the last two weeks. Hamilton was third in Texas and struggled with his car all weekend in Mexico City. A strong start on Sunday was followed by a clunky race just to ensure a fourth for the championship.

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God of the poor

OD of the poor, teach us Your justice and heed our prayer: God in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Support efforts to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions and just policies for workers. Provide kind and generous employers for laborers. Imbue judges juries, elected officials to be good servant leaders with compassion, fairness and sincere concern for the common good. Give lasting peace to those who die in violence and comfort their families and loved ones with assurance of Your love. May God bless us, show us mercy and grant us salvation, through Christ, crucified and risen. Amen.

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

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

THE great room of Mia Sara and Brian Henson’s Los Angeles home, designed

by Kristen Becker PHOTOS:

TREVOR TONDRO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

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BOX OFFICE: ‘HALLOWEEN’ CARVES UP ANOTHER $32 MILLION TO TOP BOX OFFICE D3

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Comforts, but few creatures (unless you count the dog) By fRAnCes AnDeRTon New York Times News Service

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VISIT to the new home of Mia Sara and Brian Henson requires a wavy excursion through the Hollywood Hills and down to a promontory.

There you find, perched at the land’s edge, a garage displaying the elegant rear ends of two Teslas, a Model S (his) and a Model 3 (hers).

When a visitor is buzzed in, a gate slides open. Steps descend to a wood and steel bridge that leads over a pocket garden to a bronze Brombal door in a cedar-clad wall.

These are the curtain-raisers on a house in the Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, built by Henson, scion of the Henson Muppet empire and director of the R-rated puppet film The Happytime Murders, and Sara, an actress and poet.

The house was designed by Kristen Becker of Mutuus Studio while she was an associate at Olson Kundig in Seattle. That architectural firm is known for its embrace of natural settings and materials, artisanship and “kinetics”: industrial-scale, movable building elements, like hand-cranked skylights on chunky hinges.

Becker had previously remodeled the couple’s loft in Tribeca and easily grasped her clients’ shared aesthetic, which Sara, 51, called “archaic” and Henson called “contemporary medieval.”

Just over the threshold, stairs lined with Stick Sconce lights—a modern variant of antique metal sconces—led to a very spacious room. A kitchen area—dark with blackened steel and walnut veneered cabinets—is at the back, dining is in the middle and living at the sunny end. Light pours from blackframed and mullioned Brombal windows and clerestories on three sides. The far wall is all glass and looks south onto a stunning panorama of Los Angeles.

The room is filled with idiosyncratic objects—Henson’s cast from a childhood bone break, covered in cartoons by his father, Jim, and displayed in a case, like a relic; a Willy Daro bronze table; African masks chosen by Sara’s father, Jerome Sarapochiello, a former photographer, onetime draftsman for George Nelson and now, as Sara described him, “picker extraordinaire.”

THE home steps down and hugs the hillside, and its windows offer a stunning panorama of the city

Over coffee at a Finn Juhl teak dining table, under a chandelier made of bicycle chains, with Casper the longhaired dog underfoot, the couple explained why this room, about 900 square feet and 13 feet high, is the heart of the house.

“Mia loves to cook,” Henson, 54, said.

“We also just felt like the whole grandroom lifestyle for a family really keeps you all connected, particularly today when everybody vanishes to different corners of the house.” The couple took cues from an Irish medieval tower keep called Bunratty Castle they had once visited. It wasn’t the dour architecture they wanted to emulate, clarified Sara, who worked closely with Becker on the design: “I didn’t want to do some oldy-worldy, strange medieval-looking thing in the middle of Los Angeles. But I liked the feeling because there are certain very elemental things like a central hearth and one big room with a sort of great hall.”

And, this being Los Angeles, the “great hall” has an indoor-outdoor aspect as evocative of case study houses as castle keeps.

Henson revealed this when he leapt up to turn the wheel of a heavy metal gear-andchain contraption at the side of the west window. The window pivots like a garage door, opening up the room to a terrace for outdoor dining and to a zigzag pathway down to the pool and guest rooms. The house, in other words, is both steampunk and greentech, Arthurian and Manhattanite, sumptuous and earthy.

Becker, who was mentored by Tom Kundig, a principal of Olson Kundig, through the design process, mixed blackened steel, a hallmark of the firm, with brass and copper.

Floors and stair treads are antique fumed oak; the master bath and bedroom upstairs are separated by a sliding screen made of woven copper strips.

The building, composed of intersecting volumes that step down and hug the hillside, has walls that are cast-in-place concrete or clad in stained cedar siding.And where, you may wonder, are Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog? You won’t find them. With the exception of a mound of stuffed Muppets in the room of their 14-year-old daughter, Millie, and two stone stools on the deck with monster feet, the

house does not scream goofy creatures.

Growing up, “we always owned workshops and those places are where you would find all the creatures and that feeling. But home was always home,” Henson said.

If the Henson empire is a looming nonpresence, so too is Ferris Bueller’s Day O�f, the cult 1986 movie directed by John Hughes and starring Sara as Sloane Peterson, Ferris’ luscious girlfriend. The topic comes up during a visit to the garage, which has two slender vertical windows (one for each Tesla) offering a sneak peek of the view.

Becker joked that she and her clients considered installing a large pane of glass in a “kind of a nod” to the window crashed through by a Ferrari that belonged to the father of one of Ferris’ friends. However, they did not want to tempt the couple’s children into reckless behavior (Sara’s son, Dash, from her marriage to Jason Connery, is now 21). “So we maintained this view, but it’s just now a little bit more modest.”

Solar panels carpet the roof of the garage, but fall just short of fully powering the house—ironically because the two e-cars chug too much electricity.

Nonetheless, the building, which also has a gray-water system, delivers a “super luxurious lifestyle” while being “environmental without being weird,” Henson said. “Weird,” he explained, describes “the people who can never turn their air-conditioners on,” even “when it’s really, really hot.”

That lifestyle is also about occupying a reasonable amount of space. The house, with its garage and mechanical systems, takes up about 4,200 square feet, on an almost 12,000-square-foot site. The family uses about 3,000 square feet, down from 5,000 in their previous home, and an area they believe is just right.

“Particularly in LA, everybody just goes big,” Henson noted.

“We don’t plan on ever selling the house,” he explained. “So the way I approached it was, how much less wealthy am I comfortable being to have a house that I will have forever and I’ll never get a return on the money?”

He likes to think the house sets an example for a certain class of owner: “I think this is the way wealthy people should live,” he said. n

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Joshua Cohen’s ‘Attention’ demands your whole focus

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By Rob Merrill The Associated Press

F curiosity is a writer’s greatest innate gift, Joshua Cohen may be America’s greatest living writer. Or maybe just the most focused.

His first collection of nonfiction, emblazoned with the word “Attention” four times in bold font like crime scene tape on the cover, is dazzling in its scope, but, oh the irony, it’s also very hard to get through.

There are 46 pieces here, about everything from the Ringling Bros. circus to Bernie Sanders. And those are just a couple recognizable topics.

Throw in deep dives about Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, 1936 German Olympian Helene Mayer, and 29 pages about the author’s journey to Azerbaijan in search of wisdom from the “Mountain Jews” living in the Caucasus mountains, and what you have is a hodgepodge of writing that makes your head spin.

Digested in very small doses—an essay per night before bed, say, or a short one on the john—Attention: Dispatches from a Land of Distraction (Random House) will still take you weeks to reach the end of this book.

And when you get there, you’ll probably have forgotten how Hrabal redeemed Socialist Realism.

Still, writing like this does deserve some praise. Cohen truly commits to his subjects, dropping knowledge and literary criticism all over the place. On Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa’s juxtaposition of natives and conquerors: “He has always believed that one tradition can, and does, reinforce the other, but it seems that his belief gutters out when the indigenous becomes the popular.”

The whole book is like that, filled with topics that will be foreign to most readers, forcing them to really engage if they want to comprehend any of it. Despite the author’s disdain for our modern society of distraction, it also helps to have Google close at hand.

Some context before each piece may have helped. When and why did Cohen write this? Was it published somewhere or scribbled in a journal?

The best bits, for this reviewer, are the “From the Diaries” pages between pieces. Here’s one of my favorites, titled “Why I’ve Never Had Sex in Hungary: Mom calls me in Budapest”: “Bring me back that paprika paste the kind in the squeeze tube. Aren’t all the women beautiful? Don’t they all look like me?”

If you enjoyed Cohen’s singular novel Book of Numbers, you’ll find essays here to love, too. You’ll just have to work at it. n

‘TEAR ME APART’ BY J.T. ELLISON IS GUT-WRENCHING THRILLER

By Jeff Ayers The Associated Press TEAR Me Apart (Mira), J.T. Ellison’s latest gut-wrenching thriller, asks the question: How far would a parent go to save the life of a child?

Mindy Wright has a shot at being a top skier. During a critical race, she hits a spot near a flag incorrectly and ends up face down in the snow with a broken leg. Doctors insert a pin in the leg but discover something far worse when performing the surgery: she has leukemia and needs a stemcell transplant. Her parents take the test, but data shows they have no genetic markers that match with her.

The revelation that they have been hiding the truth hurts Mindy almost as much as her fractured leg. And to stay alive, she needs to find her

birth parents to determine if they can provide the stem cells she needs. Of course, it isn’t as simple as tracking down the people who organized the adoption or looking up names on the Internet. Lauren, who considers herself Mindy’s mother, had her reasons for keeping the truth from Mindy. Exposing the facts behind the deception might save her daughter’s life, but at what cost?

The author crafts a compelling mystery that slowly unravels like a spool of frazzled yarn, leaving both the characters and readers emotionally spent. A quarter of the way into the story, a new character is introduced that throws everything into turmoil in a significant way.

Dark secrets and how they can destroy a loving family carry this tale to a startling ending.

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Matthew Morrison, 40; Gavin Rossdale, 53; Harry Hamlin, 67; Henry Winkler, 73.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Dreams can lead to reality. Set your sights high; make plans that will help you achieve your goals. Let your imagination lead the way and your ideas will flow. A creative direction will gain intensity as you experience what life has to offer. Have an open mind, and everything will fall into place. Make this a year to remember. Your lucky numbers are 6, 14, 23, 28, 32, 37, 45.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Look for an investment that will grow over time. Making a move that will help bring greater stability to your life is encouraged. Personal or physical changes will help you feel more confident and secure. Being proactive will pay off. HH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Alter your life for the right reason. Don’t let an emotional situation turn into a costly mistake.

Partnerships are worth fighting for. Stubbornness will keep you from getting what you want. Put your grievances aside, and consider workable solutions. HH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Less talk and more action will help keep you out of trouble. Live up to your promises, and don’t leave anything unfinished. Refuse to let the changes others make bother you. HHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Sharing can make a difference. An unexpected change may affect you emotionally, but it shouldn’t be allowed to consume you. If you stay calm and look over your options, you will come up with a workable solution.

Don’t overreact. HHHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Consider your choices, but when it comes to making a physical change, take a moment to evaluate your motives. If emotions are your driving force, reconsider making a move. HHH

Villains are vile and disturbing in ‘The Forbidden Door’ JANE HAWK returns and learns that her enemies are beginning to close in with plans to eliminate her as a threat in Dean Koontz’s latest thriller, The Forbidden Door (Bantam).

Hawk was a well-respected FBI agent who lost her husband to a supposed suicide, but she knows better. Now she lives on the run, trying to destroy the organization that uses mind-control technology to achieve its goals. At this point, Jane is the only roadblock to the organization’s domination. She has hidden her child from the group, but its reach exceeds that of the police and government and it quickly takes out the child’s guardians.

Jane has a backup plan, but she knows it’s only a matter of time before the organization finds her son’s new hiding place. The organization wants to force Jane out into the open and decides not only to continue to pursue her son but also to capture her husband’s parents. The cat-and-mouse game continues. Koontz takes the antagonists and moves them to the forefront of this story. The villains are vile and disturbing and their methods and goals are horrifying. When Jane or one of the cabal’s targets gains the upper hand, it will elicit cheers in the reader’s mind. Unfortunately, those moments don’t last for long. Can Jane overcome such impossible odds and

defeat an organization seemingly more powerful than any world government or enforcement agency?

Koontz continues the incredible saga of the robust character of Jane Hawk, and it’s as terrific as the others in the series. There is more to tell in her story, and it’s a bit frustrating with the novel ending without resolution.

At this point, her story is so developed that starting with this book would be a bit confusing to newcomers.

Start with The Silent Corner, so his latest can be fully appreciated. AP

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s payback time. Don’t hesitate to ask someone you’ve helped in the past to pitch in or contribute to something that means a lot to you. So much can be accomplished if you are willing to accept help and input. HHHH

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Look and you will see through what someone is trying to do. Emotional meddling will leave you at a loss. Stand up for your rights, and refuse to let anyone bully you. Don’t make excuses. HH

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Communication and short trips will be eye-opening. Let your mind wander and your intentions and plans for the future will become clear. A partnership looks promising. What you learn by collaborating with someone unique will motivate you to make a change. HHHHH

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Get your facts straight before you act. Secrets are meant to be kept. Divulging information that can be damaging to someone will make you look bad. Stick to the truth, and question anyone prone to exaggeration. HHH

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Pull out all the stops and head for the finish line. Change should be acknowledged and embraced. Share your thoughts and intentions, and let your feelings be known. HHH

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Keep your life simple and your conversations limited.

Don’t feel you have to get involved in what others are doing if it isn’t your thing or you don’t want to spend the money. HHH

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Networking events will pay off. The people you encounter will have plenty of information to share that will help you make an important decision. A personal change will come from something someone has or does. HHHHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are influential, thoughtful and entertaining.

You are charming and imaginative.

‘ride sharing’ BY TIMOTHY E. PARKER The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Attempt 5 Leading 10 Impact sound 14 Iolcos-launched ship 15 Type of cup 16 Big? Yes, but more 17 “Scaled-down” number from a doctor?

20 The Avengers dude 21 Singing Etheridge 22 Food fish, quite a few 25 Arrow relative 26 Dude or chap relative 29 Vegas bullets 31 Hit with stones 35 Menu words 36 Horned zoo creature 38 Eagle variety 39 One way to walk alongside 43 Skirt heater 44 Agave family member 45 Cruise or Sizemore 46 Loire city

9 Ex-lax?

4 50 Skinniest twins?

51 Peron and Gabor 53 Luxurious resorts 55 Ballet legend Rudolf 58 Japanese comics 62 What aliases do 65 29-Across, sometimes 66 Hot wine concoction 67 Prefix for the opposition 68 Love craft of classic TV 69 Catch on to 70 US rocket letters DOWN 1 What Simon does 2 Pony gait 3 Symptom with a big chill 4 Causes yawning 5 Put things together 6 Take off in a hurry 7 Course concluder, often 8 Was sick 9 Wattle relative 10 Painter of his mother

1 Embraces 1 12 Turkish title 13 Was introduced to 18 Driver’s license, e.g.

19 Ireland, in Ireland 23 Sore feeling 24 Make godlike 26 Sink 27 Prefix for extremists 28 Certain aristocrat 30 Beak relative 32 Original as a 48-Down? No 33 Words with “a high note” 34 Forms opinions 37 Some whales 40 Bank award?

41 A food fish 42 Japanese floor cover 47 Word before “after” 48 “Just ___” (“just my thoughts”) 52 Exodus commemoration 54 The Devil 55 Double negative 56 Colored eye part

7 Bygone Chevy 5 59 1492 vessel 60 Acquires 61 Atlas section 62 Corn remains 63 Some fraternity characters 64 1/6 of an ounce (Abbr.)

Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ILLUSIONS AND ICE ACROBATICS THIS CHRISTMAS AT THE SMART ARANETA COLISEUM SMART Araneta Coliseum brings to Manila a worldrenowned ice skating illusion spectacular that has never been seen here before. From December 25 to January 1, 2019, witness Magic on Ice, an extravagant show that combines circus, figure skating, magic and grand illusion.

Created by Steve Wheeler, Magic on Ice is a new genre of entertainment featuring the elegance and beauty of ice skating, the world of grand illusions, and the intrigue of magic. With its innovative designs and breathtaking performances, this is the family entertainment kids and kids-at-heart will surely love.

Magic on Ice has already captivated millions of its viewers across the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and has entertained audiences in over 200 cities around the world, including Las Vegas, New York, Germany, Mexico, Korea and Abu Dhabi.

Make your Christmas merry and white as frozen snow as the Big Dome welcomes the return of an ice extravaganza to its hallowed halls. MasterCard users can avail themselves of the 20 percent advanced selling discount if they buy tickets online via the Ticketnet web site on or before November 2.

Regular ticket selling from P190 (General Admission) to P2,335 begins on November 3 via Ticketnet counters and online. More information is available at 911-5555 or www.ticketnet.com.ph.

Robert De Niro, target of pipe bomb, calls on people to vote NEW YORK—Robert De Niro is calling on people to vote in light of the series of bombs addressed to targets of right-wing anger.

In a statement released by his publicist on Friday, the actor says, “There’s something more powerful than bombs, and that’s your vote. People must vote!”

A suspicious package containing what authorities described as a crude pipe bomb was discovered at De Niro’s New York City office on Thursday.

De Niro says he is thankful no one was hurt. He also thanked “the brave and resourceful security and law enforcement people for protecting us.” The Oscarwinner has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics, dropping an expletive insult at Trump at this year’s Tony Awards and also apologizing to Canadians for the “idiotic behavior of my president.” AP

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

‘Halloween’ carves up another $32 million to top box office

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WITH Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode, the reboot of John Carpenter’s 1978 original is already one of the highestgrossing slasher films ever, with $126.7 million in ticket sales (plus another $45.6 million international) on just a $10-million budget.

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

EW YORK—Michael Meyers—or is it Jamie Lee Curtis?—can’t be stopped.

Halloween dominated the North American box office for the second straight weekend, carving up an estimated $32 million in ticket sales.

The top 4 films were all unchanged at the North American box office, according to Sunday estimates, as Hollywood left Halloween to dominate the pre-trickor-treating weekend.

The sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 original, starring the 59-year-old Curtis as Laurie Strode, last week notched the biggest opening ever for a film with a female lead older than 55.

The Blumhouse Productions film, distributed

by Universal Pictures, is already one of the highestgrossing slasher films ever, with $126.7 million in ticket sales (plus another $45.6 million international) on just a $10-million budget.

Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green, slid a relatively modest 58 percent—especially good for a horror release—after setting a record for an October debut last weekend.

Bradley Cooper’s lauded A Star Is Born remained in second place with $14 million in its fourth weekend.

The film, starring Cooper and Lady Gaga, has thus far grossed $148.7 million domestically, while proving an equally strong seller overseas for Warner Bros. It’s made $104.6 million internationally.

Sony’s superhero spinoff Venom also stuck in third with $10.8 million in its fourth weekend. The comicbook adaptation, starring Tom Hardy, has grossed $504.8 million worldwide.

That trio of Halloween, Venom and A Star Is Born has driven the October box office to a new high. With a few days to go, monthly ticket sales have already surpassed the record of $757.1 million from 2014, according to comScore, with $789.9 million in sales in October—traditionally a fairly sleepy month in movie theaters. The submarine thriller Hunter Killer, was deep-sixed with $6.7 million.

The Lionsgate release and Millennium production, stars Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman and Common. Like previous Butler-led action films like Den of Thieves, Geostorm, London Has Fallen and Gods of Egypt, Hunter

Killer received poor reviews (36 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes). But those films also fared far better abroad than in the US, something Hunter Killer will hope to repeat.

Other films in nationwide release also struggled to come anywhere close to the strong holdovers.

After a promising limited release last weekend, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, the coming-of-age skateboarding drama Mid90s, took in a mediocre $3 million 1,206 theaters for A24. Pure Flix’s Christian war film drama Indivisible took in $1.6 million on 830 screens. Johnny English Strikes Again, the third film in the 15-year-old Rowan Atkinson comedy franchise, opened with a mere $1.6 million, though it, too, was designed with more of an international focus. (It’s already earned $107.7 million overseas.)

One new bright spot was Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the horror classic Suspiria. Opening in just two theaters, it debuted with a very strong per-screen

average of $89,903 for Amazon Studios, a good start for Guadagnino’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Call Me By Your Name.

His Suspiria has been somewhat divisive among critics (69 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes).

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday also are included.

1. Halloween, $32 million 2. A Star Is Born, $14.1 million 3. Venom, $10.8 million 4. Goosebumps 2, $7.5 million 4. Hunter Killer, $6.7 million 6. The Hate U Give, $5.1 million 7. First Man, $4.9 million 8. Smallfoot, $4.8 million 9. Night School, $3.3 million 10. Mid90s, $3 million. n

JESSICA SANCHEZ

Believing that Filipino talent knows no impossibilities, Solaire’s Director for Entertainment Audie Gemora shares what’s special about this concert: “We were all witness to how Jessica rose above every challenge she had to face in the cutthroat Hollywood scene. Although she has found her footing in the United States, this concert will represent her rediscovering her Filipino roots and bringing her beloved Filipino fans with her in that journey. The night’s performances will speak of every Filipino artist’s hustle that each must go through to make it in the music industry, and, more importantly, the potential to become a global sensation.”

Now 23, Jessica has kept the momentum going— but at her own pace: “These past years have been filled with traveling internationally for events, concerts and recordings, but I’ve also taken some time to step back and find myself as an artist.”

Her upcoming concert will show her evolution and versatility as an artist with songs that are deemed as Filipino favorites, such as “I Will Always Love You,” “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” and “I Have Nothing,” which are among her Idol performance repertoire. This night will also see a new Jessica that’s bolder and grittier as she sings R&B songs alike that speak of her edge and vibrancy.

For tickets to the Jessica Sanchez with Special Guest Martin Nievera concert, call TicketWorld at 891-9999.

Talent that knows no impossibilities A BIG voice in her own right, Jessica Sanchez is back to perform with an edgier look and a sound that is her own. Catch up with the powerhouse voice on November 10 in her eponymous concert with special guest Martin Nievera, happening at The Theatre at Solaire.

Sanchez’s story is one that begins when a shy 16-year-old girl dominated the stage with a voice that can go head-to-head with some of music’s icons. It may seem like she was dealt a lucky card, but behind the curtains, it couldn’t be anywhere near the truth. “I was so young when American Idol [AI] happened,” she says. “I learned so much from the show, the people, and the experience afterward. It prepared me for what was to come, the constant hustle and hard work.”

Born from immigrant parents who have established their lives in the US and being in one of the world’s most-watched singing competitions, one would hear many Filipinos say Jessica Sanchez was living the American dream.

Some argued, however, that she was too American to be celebrated by Filipinos, adding the fact that she has never set foot in the Philippines prior her AI stint.

But it was this opportunity that helped her touch base with a part of her identity that she has yet to fully discover.

“My first time being in the Philippines was for the Idol tour. I was so excited for my first trip to my mom’s homeland. It all happened so fast, but I remember

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it being full of amazing food, amazing people and amazing moments,” Jessica recalls.

The impact of the memories has not evaded her.

In the years that followed, the Philippines saw Jessica perform on local television programs, radio shows, and held a concert for her freshman album. Her constant appearance has prompted most to wonder whether she will be back again, or maybe stay for good. Although with no certainty just yet, Jessica shares, “I try to visit at least once a year. I’m halfFilipino so I’m always wanting to learn and experience more of the culture.”

Contrary to stated prejudices, Jessica is more Filipino than meets the eye. Just like other Filipinos who quest for greener pastures under the starspangled flag, she also fell prey to the unforgiving eyes of those who saw her as an outsider, sticking out amid fair skin, corn-hued hair and colored sights.

Despite the fragility that her youth has handed, her voice set her apart—a voice that commands and resists to be contained.

And just as what her Pinoy compatriots do best, she persisted with an awakened innate resiliency—a Filipino quality that ultimately shaped her. She says that times have changed, and minds are more open, especially in the business of entertainment.

“It’s been harder in the past for Asian Americans to make a name in the industry, but I feel that now it isn’t impossible.”

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Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Malacañang recognizes Mindanaoan women weavers as Manlilikha ng Bayan YAKAN weaver Ambalang Ausalin, Blaan ikat (tiedye fabric) weaver Yabing Masalon Dulo and Blaan mat weaver Estelita Tumandan Bantilan were recognized as new awardees for the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (Gamaba) in a ceremony on October 24 at the Rizal Hall, Malacañang Palace, Malacañang Complex, San Miguel, Manila.

Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, or the National Living Treasures Award, is the highest Presidential recognition given to individuals who excel in various indigenous arts, customs and traditional practices, which may include, but are not limited to, folk architecture, maritime transport, weaving, carving, performing arts, literature, graphic and plastic art, ornament, textile and fiber art, pottery and other artistic expressions of traditional culture.

Chosen after a rigorous selection process administrated by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the Gamaba Committee and an Ad Hoc Panel of Experts, the three Mindanaoan women weavers were officially declared Gamaba by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 126 signed on January 6, 2017.

The three weavers were selected based primarily on the excellence of their crafts and their ability to transfer the skills in their varying mediums to younger members of their communities.

Ambalang Ausalin, a renowned magtetenun (weaver) from Lamitan, Basilan, was selected for her unparalleled craft. Ausalin is respected in the community having served two generations of the royal family, weaving and creating traditional attires and costumes for them and the community.

One of the two Blaan weavers on the list, Estelita Bantilan had been weaving igem (mats) since she was six years old. By 15, she had developed mastery of the art of mat-making using the romblon plant.

The other recognized Blaan weaver is Yabing Masalon Dulo, called Fu Yabing. She is respected among the Blaans residing on the foothills of Mount Matutum, Polomolok, South Cotabato. Fu Yabing started weaving at the age of 14, and has created two masterpieces of tabih, a Blaan term for handwoven dyed abaka or ikat, which are still both in good condition. She keeps one as family heirloom, while the other is on display at the National Museum.

The three weavers were selected for the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan as recommended for recognition by the NCCA, led by Chairman and National Artist Virgilio S. Almario, together with Executive Director Rico S. Pableo Jr. and Deputy Executive Director Marichu G. Tellano.

NCCA is responsible for the facilitation of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan by virtue of Republic Act 7355.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Christie’s, trying to be relevant, puts AI art on the block

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By Gabe Cohn New York Times News Service

EW YORK—With their eyes trained on a gilded frame containing a smeared, half-formed image of a distinguished gentleman, a small group of potential bidders gathered on Friday night over cocktails at Christie’s New York and heard the pitch: here was the first portrait generated by an algorithm to come up for auction. The portrait, produced by artificial intelligence, hung on the wall opposite an Andy Warhol print and just to the right of a bronze work by Roy Lichtenstein.

There were some smiles and at least one frown.

Two people snapped cell-phone pictures of the work, which looked as if someone had taken a sponge to a 17th-century oil portrait. The arrival of what some call the infant stages of the next great art movement at one of the world’s leading auction houses was greeted nonchalantly, with a nod of understanding and a sip of mezcal margarita.

Christie’s is hoping for a more explosive reaction on Thursday, when the gavel comes down on Edmond de Belamy, from La Famille de Belamy, formally testing the art market’s interest in AI art. The work— estimated at $7,000-$10,000—was a collaboration by the members of Obvious, a French trio composed of a student of machine learning and two business school graduates, none of whom have a background in art. There was no paint or brushes involved, just an algorithm that learns to imitate sets of images fed by humans—in this case, thousands of portraits spanning the 14th century to the 20th.

But is it art? Frédérique Baumgartner, an art historian at Columbia University, said the AI work raised questions about “intention and authorship,” but so, too, did artists from the past, including Marcel Duchamp (who famously made art out of a urinal).

She went on to compare the portrait’s contrasting tones, coupled with the subject’s sober dress, with the old master of the Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt van Rijn—though she quickly added, “That’s if I look halfclosing my eyes.”

The unusual sale shows the challenge traditional auction houses face staying relevant in a culture that moves at Wi-Fi-enabled speeds. Christie’s—which shattered auction-house records in 2017 when it sold a $450-million Leonardo da Vinci painting—reached out directly to Obvious this year, rather than working through a seller. (It is the only AI work in Thursday’s sale of 363 lots.)

Surprisingly, the loudest criticism has come not from the art establishment but from the small but passionate community of artists who work with AI, many of whom say that what Christie’s and Obvious suggested was groundbreaking was in fact effectively AI Art 101. Ahmed Elgammal, director of the Art and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Rutgers University, said that the technology used to create the work, Generative Adversarial Networks, or GANs, had been used by artists since around 2015. “This group was totally irrelevant,” he scoffed. Mario Klingemann, a German artist known for his work with GANs, put it bluntly. “When I saw that announcement” of the auction, he said, “my reaction was ‘You can’t be serious.’” He compared the portrait by Obvious “to a connect-the-dots children’s painting.”

Richard Lloyd, the International Head of the Prints & Multiples department at Christie’s, who brought

EDMOND de Belamy, from La Famille de Belamy, a print on canvas produced by the French collective Obvious, working with artificial intelligence

the work in, acknowledged that he hadn’t made an exhaustive search of the small but very active field of AI art. “I just responded to it and thought it’d be cool,” he said. He added of AI art: “It’s just a personal sort of interest I’ve had for quite a few years.” He said he had been inspired by a report earlier this year that Nicolas Laugero Lasserre, a French collector, had privately purchased a portrait from Obvious, for about €10,000, or about $11,400.

What struck Lloyd most, he said, was the work’s resemblance to European portraiture. “It looks like something you’d expect Christie’s to sell,” he explained. “We’re the people who sold the Leonardo for $450 million.”

He thought that the work Obvious was doing would be a good way to ease potential buyers at Christie’s into work made with AI. “I like the fact that it didn’t at first blush look different,” he said.

Many artists and researchers who specialize in artistic applications of AI technology, while generally glad of the potential exposure the sale could bring, say that the portrait chosen by Christie’s is derivative.

Codes written to produce the kind of images Obvious has made are also shared freely online among enthusiasts, raising questions of originality.

For its part, Obvious acknowledges that the technology it used was gleaned from others. “It’s open source,” explained Pierre Fautrel, one of the group’s members, in an interview in New York last week. “We took a lot of different parts from different people.”

The biggest difference between the Obvious portrait and their predecessors’ is the fact that Obvious had theirs printed on canvas and “signed” in the bottom right corner with a mathematical function used to produce it. They also had it extravagantly

framed. “We’re introducing it to people who do not necessarily know what a GAN algorithm is,” Lloyd explained, speaking to the presentation. “It has to be, all things being equal, comparatively simple.” n

PIERRE FAUTREL, one of the three members of the group Obvious

Global Art Philippines announces winners of 2018 national competition SMX Aura in Taguig was filled with the students of Global Art Philippines (philippines.globalart.world) who competed at the recent 2018 Global Art National Competition, an annual contest among students of the art school.

The artworks featured creative interpretations of the meaning of “celebration,” this year’s theme, expressed through drawing, painting, coloring and composing visual elements.

“This year’s competition is special for us because it is Global Art Philippines’s 10th anniversary.

Through this event, we celebrated with and showed our appreciation to our students, franchisees and art teachers who have been part of Global Art’s growth during the past decade,” said Yenny Saw, manager of Global Art & Creative Philippines.

Students from Ortigas, San Juan del Monte, Makati, Serendra, Alabang, Binondo, Katipunan Avenue, New Manila, Ycaza Street, Manila; Fun Ranch-Pasig, Pampanga, Cebu, General Santos City and Davao competed in two main categories according to the medium or techniques used: Creative Drawing and Acrylic Painting.

For Creative Drawing, the winners are: Category A (four to six years old) Grand Champion Tomoki Isohata from Global Art Serendra; first runner-up Samantha Cristobal from Global Art Ortigas; second runner-up Leoni Natividad from Global Art Manila; Category B (seven to nine years old) Grand Champion Albyn Santino Lucernas from Cebu; first runner-up Zachary

SHOWN during the competition are Terry Lim (from left), representative from Global Art Malaysia, chief marketing officer; Yenny Saw, country manager of Global Art Philippines; Maria Francesca Sunga, grand champion, Acrylic Painting Category 1; Maria Lisette Sunga, grand champion, Acrylic Painting Category 2; Dominique Kiersten Lim, grand champion, Acrylic Painting Category 3; Tomoki Isohata, grand champion, Creative Drawing Category A; Albyn Santino Lucernas, grand champion, Creative Drawing, Category B; James Clark Amantillo, grand champion, Creative Drawing, Category C; Julianne Chuah, grand champion, Creative Drawing, Category D; Globbie Global Art mascot; and Dexter Saw, Global Art Philippines CEO.

Isberto from Global Art Makati; second runner-up: Janna Louise Ventanilla from Global Art Makati; Category C (10 to 12 years old) Grand Champion James Clark Amantillo from Global Art General Santos; first runner-up Alcina Tan from Global Art Davao; second runner-up JayC Ang from Global Art Ortigas; Catergory D (13 years old and above) Grand Champion Julianne Chuah from Global Art Manila; first runnerup Angeli Domini Lim from Global Art Davao; and second runner-up Marco Luis Gonzalez from Global Art Makati.

Meanwhile, the following were adjudged winners in Acrylic Painting: Category 1 (seven to nine years old) Grand Champion Maria Francesca Sunga from Global Art Pampanga; first runner-up Julia Gabrielle San Juan from Global Art Makati; second runner-up Aubrey Janel Lua from Global Art Del Monte; Category 2 (10 to 12 years old) Grand Champion Maria Lisette Sunga from Global Art Pampanga; first runner-up Raissa Ysabelle Chua from Global Art Manila; second runnerup Gwyneth Garcia from Global Art Pampanga; Category 3 (13 years old and above) Grand Champion

Dominique Kiersten Lim from Global Art Makati; first runner-up Angelica Faith Chu from Global Art Davao; and second runner-up Jaymie Alexandria Wong from Global Art Del Monte.

All winners are qualified to represent Global Art Philippines at the Global Art International Level Competition at Yangon, Myanmar, on December 2.

They also received trophies and back packs from Robbit Rabbit, one of the sponsors. The grand champions each received 2,000 Globbie Points which they can redeem at their Global Art Centers.