Businessmirror September 21, 2019

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The largest open beach volleyball meet in the country, an annual event that attracts players from around the world, is the latest casualty on Boracay’s growing list of prohibited acts.

BORACAY beach, October 22, 2014. TANGDUCMINH | DREAMSTIME.COM

I

LAHAT BAWAL!

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

S it a case of going too far for the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF)?

After banning lounge chairs and tables, drinking of alcohol, weddings, and sand castles on the main white beach of this popular resort island, even beach

volleyball is now being prohibited as well.

In a stunning upset, the BIATF did not give a permit for the Boracay Beach Volleyball Open

(BBVO), which was supposed to be held from November 15 to 17.

The tournament, which is the largest open beach volleyball meet in the country, is an annual event that attracts players from around the world. It would have spiked in about P1.5 million into the local economy in terms of food, hotel bookings and incidentals, BBVO organizers told the BusinessMirror. “A total of 170 rooms were booked [for the event],” they added.

There were 16 nations who par-

ticipated in 2017, but due to the closure of Boracay in 2018, the event didn’t push through. The event has been held on the island since 2011.

According to the organizers’ post on their Facebook page, “It is with deep regret we inform you that BBVO has not been given the permission to hold this year’s event in Boracay. The BIATF headed by GM Natividad [Belarmino] has communicated this news to us only by phone and we are still awaiting Continued on A2

BORACAY night life, February 12, 2016. MIRKO VITALI | DREAMSTIME.COM

Saudi attack makes electric vehicles even more important

O

By Noah Smith | Bloomberg Opinion

N Saturday (September 14, 2019), the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group fighting against a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, took credit for a strike that knocked out two key Saudi oil-processing facilities.

At a single stroke, Saudi oil production was cut from 9.8 million barrels a day to 4.1 million, sending prices soaring. That means about 5 percent of the entire world’s oil production suddenly went offline. This is an unprecedented disruption—bigger in absolute terms than any of the famous oil shocks of previous decades.

Naturally, the Saudis are scrambling to get production up and running again, and the country’s large stockpiles of oil should cushion the blow to customers. But even though the Saudis say they have restored

some of the lost production, world supplies may be limited because other nations simply don’t have much spare capacity to fill the gap.

More fundamentally, if critical Saudi infrastructure can be taken out with a relatively cheap, lowtech drone strike, it doesn’t bode well. The war in Yemen will likely continue, and the Houthis, encouraged by this smashing success, probably will launch more such attacks. A wider war, especially if it pulled in Iran and the US, would be even more disruptive.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.2800

A MODEL stands next to a Porsche Taycan electric car at the IAA Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany, September 11, 2019. AP/MICHAEL PROBST

Thus, the world could be facing a substantial rise in oil prices.

Conventional wisdom is that big oil price spikes lead to recessions in the US. Economist James Hamilton has shown that each oil shock since the end of WW II was followed by a US downturn. Most recently, oil more than doubled in the year before the 2008 financial crisis. Thus, the Houthi militia might end up sending the US into an economic tailspin right before an important presidential election.

Such an outcome isn’t set in stone. Economists Lutz Kilian and Robert Vigfusson argue that Hamilton’s assumptions are flawed, and that oil prices play only a modest role in recessions. Meanwhile, the US’s situation has changed a lot in the past decade. Thanks to the rise of hydraulic fracturing, the US is close to being a net oil exporter: A rise in oil prices will make many fracking projects profitable that would otherwise sink into bankruptcy. That could cause a Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4841 n UK 65.4912 n HK 6.6758 n CHINA 7.3665 n SINGAPORE 37.9308 n AUSTRALIA 35.4929 n EU 57.7276 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9387

Source: BSP (September 20, 2019 )

News LAHAT BAWAL! A2 Saturday, September 21, 2019

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Continued from a1

the official response from their organization. We were informed since they don’t allow beach weddings anymore, we are therefore also not allowed to have events on the beach.”

In BBVO’s letter to Belarmino dated April 4, 2019, requesting for a permit for the event, organizer Dona Joy Santos assured: “Our setup will be minimal and will use existing structures plus utilize reusable materials like bamboo for the structures and sacks for our merchandise to ensure the least environmental impact on the island. We promise that the place will not be left in a mess and we will clear it of all litter before we leave.”

Tourism officials have yet to respond to the BusinessMirror’s queries as of press time. Sports tourism is one of the key activities being promoted by the Department of Tourism.

In a statement, Tourism Congress of the Philippines president Jose Clemente III said, “The BBVO has been an annual event on the island that has attracted not only athletes but tourists. We are curious to know why the event will not be allowed to push through this year as advised by the BIATF, considering this is one of the prime events Boracay is known for.”

This is the second international sports competition that the BIATF failed to allow on Boracay, the

BORACAY beach, March 22, 2012. SANDYBRONIMA | DREAMSTIME.COM

so-called crown jewel of Philippine tourism. Last April, the annual Boracay International Dragon Boat Festival also did not happen.

The competition annually attracts paddlers from around the world, as well as various local associations of paddlers, and dragon boat enthusiasts. In 2018 the event had over 1,000 participants, and was fortunately held just a few days before the island was closed.

For Boracay’s reopening, the BIATF ordered the clearing of the main white beach of lounge chairs and tables in keeping with the 30-meter easement ordinance of the local government. It also banned weddings on the main beach, although select resorts are allowed to do so if the beach is within their property.

Drinking of alcoholic beverages on the beach is also not allowed because government managers said it would mess up the sand if drunken tourists vomit on it.

The building of sand castles

was also prohibited because the BIATF said it disturbs the natural beach landscape. Videos of beach cops telling off children building sand castles in Boracay surfaced late last year, drawing flak from netizens. Even sand sculptors trying to earn a living from their works of art have been outlawed by government managers.

BIATF disallowed the use of fireworks last New Year’s Eve, also an annual celebration on the island, despite the fireworks usually being discharged from a boat anchored at a distance from the shore.

Ambulant peddlers, sidewalk vendors and massage therapists— all living off on the meager retail sales and tips they get from tourists—were the first to go when Boracay was reopened last October 26. Government managers said a space will be established for the vendors to restart their businesses, but that has yet to materialize.

Also, dogs were booted out

Electric vehicles…

production surge that offsets the decline elsewhere in the economy.

Most other industrialized countries won’t be so lucky. Advanced nations in Europe and Asia, as well as China and India, will see fuel costs rise, which could slow their economies and indirectly hurt the US through reduced trade. Even if oil prices are only a minor cause of recession, the current shock comes on top of a damaging trade war and declining consumer confidence.

The Houthi raid may thus serve as a reminder how dependent the world still is on cheap Middle Eastern oil and the dysfunctional regimes that keep it flowing. Despite all the effort the US has put into becoming energy independent, and despite how much other countries have diversified their energy mixes, the global economy relies too much on this single commodity.

This situation has gone on for too long. The world needs to switch to non-oil power sources for transportation as quickly as possible.

The most promising way to do this is to move to battery-powered vehicles. As things stand, with battery costs coming down, electric vehicles are forecast to outnumber their gas-powered cousins in the US in about 20 years.

from the beach, and are now viciously captured by operators of the local dog pound, as can be seen from the many videos posted online by concerned netizens.

Most of the roamers are actually owned by locals who let their pets enjoy running free on the sand and playing in the water—one of the welcoming features of the island in the past.

The BIATF is chaired by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu and co-chaired by Interior Secretary Eduardo S. Año and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat.

President Duterte ordered the closure of Boracay for six months from April 26, saying there is a need to rehabilitate the island.

Many improvements are still ongoing, such as road construction and drainage improvement. A recent typhoon resulted in flooding of the island even in places which didn’t use to flood because drainage pipes had yet to be connected.

Continued from a1

ELECTRIC scooters stand in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

This is faster than many expected, but still too slow. The US and other rich countries should attempt to make the change in half of that time.

Several policies will be needed.

First, the government should increase subsidies for vehicle batteries because producing at larger scale allows companies to figure out ways to produce things more cheaply.

Second, the government should set standards to ensure that all electric-vehicle charging stations be interoperable so that any EV can be charged from any station. This will make sure EV drivers always have a place to recharge their cars. Third,

AP/MARKUS SCHREIBER

the government should dramatically increase research funding for next-generation storage and charging technologies, as well as advanced biofuels or other oil alternatives to allow airplanes to go oil-free.

Getting off oil as fast as possible solves several problems at once. In addition to the obvious benefit of slowing climate change, it will make advanced economies less vulnerable to drone strikes by ragtag militias halfway around the world. If the Houthi attacks serve as an impetus that hastens the end of the petroleum age, then this debacle will end up having a positive outcome in the long run.

News BusinessMirror

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BSP CHIEF SAYS RATES MAY GET CUT AGAIN NEXT WEEK

T

HE Philippine Central Bank could deliver its third rate cut of the year next week as Governor Benjamin Diokno expects inflation to ease to a three-year low this month.

With inflation seen slowing to 1.4 percent in September, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its September 26 meeting, D iokno told Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin. Further reductions in the proportion of funds lenders must hold in reserve could come as early as October or November, he said.

“It’s really inflation that makes a difference in our decision next week,” Diokno said, while noting the choice is up to the bank’s seven-member Monetary Board, not the governor alone. “We have more space. We want to normalize as soon as possible” from 175 basis points of rate increases last year.

BSP must tread carefully to boost economic growth while keeping inflation in check, amid the US-China trade war and an oil-price spike from an attack on Saudi Arabian production facilities. Inflation fell below the Central Bank’s 2-percent to 4-percent goal in August, but fuel costs remain a major factor that could push them higher.

The Philippine Central Bank was among Asia’s most aggressive in tightening monetary policy last year as oil and rice drove inflation. Policy-makers have since changed course, cutting the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points so far this year as the economy grows at its slowest pace in more than four years.

Oil-slicked inflation

THE peso was almost 0.1 percent higher at 52.14 per dollar at the noon trading break in Manila, paring its weekly decline to 0.4 percent. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index was 0.2 percent lower at the midday break, set for a weekly drop.

“If the cuts come in September, that could be the end of the rate cut cycle at least for this year, unless something significant happens” such as economic growth falling below 5 percent this quarter, said Robert Dan Roces, an economist at Security Bank Corp. in Manila.

In a research note, HSBC Holdings Plc. economist Noelan Arbis said it’s now “clear as day” the bank will cut its benchmark rate before the end of the year, predicting it would come next week. The Central Bank is likely to lower it yet again in the first quarter of next year, with reductions to the reserve requirement ratio continuing beyond that, Arbis said.

The governor said Friday inflation should stay within the bank’s target range even if oil prices reach $90 per barrel.

After last month’s rate cut, Diokno flagged at least one more 25-basis-point policy rate cut before the end of the year and a 100-basis-point reduction in the reserve requirement ratio, a step designed to boost growth by pumping more money into the economy.

The RRR was lowered in stages between May and July, part of Diokno’s aim to bring the rate to single digits by the end of his term in 2023.

“This is part of the new central bank: We want to be transparent and we want to notify the industry of what we’re doing, ahead of time,” said Diokno, who took office in March.

Growth risks

FRIDAY’s inter view came a day after Diokno, at a panel discussion in Singapore, identified US President Donald Trump as the biggest risk to the world economy.

He doubled down on the comment Friday, saying it’s the general consensus among central bankers.

Diokno acknowledged that the global growth outlook and US-China trade war “could get worse,” but said he’s still “optimistic” the Philippine economy can grow at least 6 percent this year and 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent next.

Diokno expressed confidence in the countr y’s foreign-exchange reser ves, enough to cover more than seven months of imports. He also said the Central Bank’s comfort with the peso exchange rate had allowed it to avoid intervening in the foreign-exchange market for “a long, long time.” Bloomberg News

Saturday, September 21, 2019

A3

Lt. Gen. Clement, mistah of Madrigal, to succeed him as AFP chief of staff

T

By Rene Acosta

HE leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines remained firmly in the hands of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985 following the appointment of Lt. Gen. Noel Clement as the incoming chief of staff.

Clement, current commander of the Central Command based in Cebu, but has operational jurisdiction over the entire Visayas, will succeed outgoing chief of staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., with the turnover ceremony having been scheduled on Tuesday.

Both Clement and Madrigal are members of PMA Class 1985.

Madrigal’s predecessor, retired Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., the current government peace adviser, is also a member of the class.

Clement would be the AFP’s sixth chief of staff under Presi-

dent Duterte, who is halfway of his six-year term.

The incoming chief of staff welcomed his impending assumption, saying he would work in order to ensure that President Duterte’s matching orders for the military to get rid of the communist insurgency by the end of his term is attained.

“I will have to engage more sectors so that there would be more of us who would be fighting,” he said, adding this tack should hasten the defeat of communism.

Clement ensured the capability

FILE photo of incoming Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Lt. Gen. Noel Clement. PNA

upgrade of the military through the modernization program will continue along with the being implemented plans and schemes against terrorism.

Before heading the Central Command where he was plucked from serve as the top military chief, Clement commanded the 10th Infantry Division based in Compostela Valley, but which has operational jurisdiction over the Davao provinces, including Duterte’s home city.

As a junior officer and commander of the 56th Infantr y

Battalion based in Bulacan, he was tagged in the 2007 disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos.

Burgos, son of the late press freedom icon Joe Burgos, was snatched at a mall in Quezon City. He remains missing alt hou g h h i s f a m i ly me mb e r s have never stopped searching even up to this day.

Allegations of involvement in the kidnapping of Burgos scarred Clement’s career at least initially, but he has survived them, leading still to his rise in the military.

Edita Burgos, Jonas’s mother, said that “for as long as the military does not comply with the court order to surface Jonas, they will remain under a cloud of suspicion.”

Clement does not want to dig up the issue, or even entertain the notion, that his appointment as chief of staff will intensify cases of enforced disappearances.

“That’s a very old issue and I will not honor them by answering that. So if they want to make that an issue that’s their problem. It is up to them to prove whether there is truth to it, “ he said.

“But I will not explain to them.

I have been faithful in my service to our country and I have not been involved in any of those activities,” he added, noting there had not been “any iota of evidence” against him.

A biosketch of Clement provided by military public affairs office chief Col.Noel Detoyato showed the incoming chief of staff studied at DOLE Philippines School, Stella Maris Academy of Davao and had his first year in Bachelor of Science in Commerce at the Ateneo De Davao University, before entering the Philippine Mili-

No pork in ’20 budget measure, Salceda insists

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

E

VEN after admitting that his fellow lawmakers were given P100-million allocation each, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman and Albay Rep. Joey S. Salceda is now insisting the old pork-barrel system in Congress is gone.

Salceda, in a news statement issued on Friday, also assured the public that under the leadership of Speaker A lan Peter Cayetano, the proposed 2020 nationa l budget bil l remains free of any pork allocations and is bereft of any illegal parking of funds and insertions.

According to the lawmaker, the projects in the 2020 budget bill are all itemized in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted

by Malacañang to Congress. Before the budget was submitted, he said they have already recommended to the Executive branch, which projects require funding under the 2020 budget.

Salceda said all projects identified by representatives of congressional districts and partylist groups that were included by the Executive department in the NEP “were deemed necessar y” based on t he complete work plans and feasibi lit y stud ies that were submitted by district, provincial or regional authorities of the various department. “ The members of the House of Representatives, including local officials like mayors and gover nor’s have a lso submitted recommendations on the development projects that may be funded under the 2020 national budget depending on the needs of their respective areas,” he said.

“However, we would like to make it clear that just like senators, governors, mayors and barangay officials, members of Congress can only go as far as recommending projects for their respective areas. It is the Executive department who will vet, classify and approve which recommendations are in line with national priorities,” Salceda pointed out.

Law makers, he added, can only propose but cannot even amend the budget on the f loor because of the in line budgeting system that “we strictly adhere to ensure that ever y item in the proposed appropriations law is legal and aboveboard.”

He said his statement about each congressman supposedly getting P100 million each under the proposed budget does not mean that each member of the House would be able to identify and recommend projects worth that amount.

“Projects identified by lawmakers are allocated funding under the budget based on the need s of t hei r const it uents.

Hence, if the project identified and recommended for funding is necessary, it may be included in the budget. Since the needs of the people in each congressional district are not the same, the allocations are also not the same,” Salceda said.

2020 budget

THE lower chamber is eyeing the second reading approval of the proposed 2020 P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act, or the House Bill 4228 within Friday.

President Duterte certified as urgent the 2020 national budget in a bid to ensure its timely passage and prevent a repeat of the delay in the passage of the 2019 budget.

The 2020 national budget, which is cashbased, is 11.8 percent more than the 2019 budget and will constitute

19.4 percent of the countr y’s gross domestic product.

Social ser vices will receive the largest chunk of the budget with P1.5 trillion, or a 37.2-percent share. Followed by economic services, which will receive P1.18 trillion, or a 28.9-percent share.

Meanwhile, the general publ ic ser v ices w i l l receive P73 4. 5 bil lion, debt burden w ith P451 bi l l ion a nd defense w it h P195.6 bi l l ion.

In 2020 national budget, the government maintains a manageable deficit of 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to enable a declining debt burden.

For next year, the government will sustain the momentum of rising revenue collection by pursuing the Comprehensive Ta x Reform Program.

The government revenue collections are expected to reach P3.536 trillion in 2020, which is 12.3 percent higher than this year’s targeted level of P3.1 trillion. This will fund 83.9 percent of programmed disbursements for 2020.

Meanwhile, the total gross borrowings for 2020 amounted to P1.4 trillion. With a borrowing mix policy of 75:25 in favor of domestic sources, P1.047 trillion will be sourced locally while the remaining P353.2 billion will come from abroad.

Of the total gross borrowings, P677.6 billion will finance the deficit, which is equivalent to 3.2 percent of GDP.

Meanwhile, the top 10 agencies to get the biggest allocations next year are: Department of Education, P673 billion; Department of Public Works and Highways, P534 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government, P238 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P195 billion; Department of National Defense, P189 billion; Department of Health, P166.5 billion; Department of Transportation, P147 billion; Department of Agriculture, P56.8 billion, the Judiciary, P38.7 billion and Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P26.4 billion.

The 2020 NEP will also finance the implementation of priority measures of the administration.

A mong the critical programs of the administration are measu res to implement new l aws a nd pol ic ies t hat prov ide eco nomic a nd soc ia l assist a nce to a l l Fi l ipinos, a nd en ha nce t he sec u r it y of t he nat ion, suc h a s t he: f u l l i mplement at ion of t he Universa l Hea lt h C a re Act, institutionalization of the Pantaw id Pami lyang Pi lipino

Program, smooth transition to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, implementation of the Rice Liberalization Act, creation of the Department for Human Settlements and Urban Development, and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

The government said the UHC prog ra m h a s been a l loc ated P166.5 billion funding, while P108.8 billion for the Pantawid Pa m i ly a ng P i l ipi no P rog ra m (4Ps) Act. Pursuant to the Bangsamoro Orga nic L aw, P70.6 bi l l ion is a l located for t he Ba ngsa moro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mind a nao.

Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act, mandates the creation of the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Fol low ing t he enact ment of R A 11201, or t he Depa r tment of Hu ma n Set t lements a nd Urba n Development Act, t he 2020 budget a l locates a n a mou nt of P6 41.6 m i l l ion to suppor t t he init i a l operat ions of t he depa r t ment.

A4 Saturday, September 21, 2019

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

DTI-EMB spearheads biz mission to Dubai T

HE Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), together with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Dubai and Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem), is organizing the outbound businessmatching mission (OBMM) to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for Index Dubai 2019 from September 13 to 21, 2019.

DTI-EMB invited 14 Philippine companies to participate in the business-matching meetings and market sensing activities to be held at the Novotel Dubai World Trade Center on September 15, 2019. The companies joining the business mission are: Arden Classic, Bidibidi Enterprise, BonAce Fashion Tools, Coast Pacific Manufacturing Corp., Furniture

Doctor, Golden ABC, Kenro Boutique, More Than A Chair, Pascasio Pottery, Delco Wood Producers Manufacturing/Renditions Furniture and Accessories, Cebu Homecraft, Kit Silver, Mel+Marie and Betis Crafts.

DTI Trade Promotions Group (TPG) Undersecretary Abdulgani M. Macatoman said that bringing the Philippines’s contract furniture, furnishings, fashion and apparel sectors in Dubai will help them gain more exposure for Index Dubai 2019 and in anticipation for the country’s participation in Dubai Expo 2020 presenting a golden chance to showcase the Philippine country brand.

“The mission will promote industry capabilities directly to prospective partners in UAE,” Macatoman said.

The EMB acknowledges the opportunity for industries to be able

to sell to take advantage of all new market developments in the region.

“Middle East still remains to be largely untapped for Philippine lifestyle products but there are concrete indications of interest from buyers,” he added.

The main considerations for organizing this business mission include the inherent strength of the Philippine industries for furniture, furnishings, fashion and apparel; immense opportunity and potential demand in the UAE; and its reputation of being a fertile ground for company setup because of its commitment to sustainable development and economic diversification, progressive-minded government, and liberal corporate policies.

By tapping into the UAE market, the Philippines will benefit from key potential trends pointing to Dubai’s

current status as a retail mecca and has seen a massive transformation in the last two decades to become the biggest trader among countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

The GCC with its young and affluent population and overall prosperity presents a very positive environment for retail businesses. Dubai continues to be a lucrative apparel and fashion market with foreign brands popular in the Arab world, and fashion retailers discovering the franchise model ideally suited to Middle Eastern conditions. There is also growing niche market of fair fashion with increasing consumer awareness for sustainability, fair trade and eco compliance.

Most important, the UAE has a booming real-estate sector with rising hotel, commercial, residential

PHL animation company signs contract with Japan’s Kadokawa Contents Academy

construction and housing activity following Dubai Expo 2020. It also has the potential to access many of the 430 million consumers in the wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) market.

This EMB-led OBMM is a followup undertaking for the Philippines to promote lifestyle products in the Middle East with the initial visit undertaken in 2015. The businessmatching meetings will target retailers, distributors, real estate, hotel and resort developers, interior designers, architectural firms, real estate and construction managers, and fit-out contractors.

The EMB has identified megalifestyle show Index Dubai 2019 as the anchor event with Philippine participation being organized and led by DTI-EMB and Citem. Index Dubai 2019 vis-à-vis the Design &

Food exporters to showcase products in Moscow, Russia, from September 20 to October 1

By Kristina Noelle S. Andaya

TIDS, EMB-Knowledge Processing Division

A

KADOKAWA Contents Academy Chief Executive Officer Tetsuya Koga (front, left) and TeamApp Inc. CEO Marilyn Montano ink a contract to implement the partnership in outsourcing films and TV projects on September 4, 2019, at the Department of Trade and Industry International Building, Makati City. DTI-Export Marketing Bureau Services Division Chief Maria Teresa S. Loring, PTIC-Tokyo Commercial Counsellor Ma. Bernardita A. Mathay, KCA Coordinator Dr. Eiji Sugisaki, TeamApp Inc. Creative Director for Animation Mr. Dani Montano, DTI-EMB Director Senen M. Perlada, and DTIEMB Assistant Director Anthony Rivera served as witnesses in the contract signing.

A

S part of the Cool Japan strategy, the Philippines’s TeamApp Inc. and Japan’s Kadokawa Contents Academy (KCA) signed an outsourcing contract for animation projects—from television series to feature films—held on September 4, 2019, at the DTI International Building in Makati City.

Japan’s KCA is a subsidiary of Kadocawa Corp., Japan’s leading publisher of projects ranging from feature films, games and comics. The KCA has been appointed by Japan to handle their Cool Japan Program to teach anime across Asia and promote the Japanese culture, products and services abroad.

KCA already has schools and productions in Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia. In line with this, KCA is in constant communication with Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)—Japan for the Cool Japan Program.

In 2016, KCA approached TeamApp for the school

implementation of the program. Their discussions developed into negotiations on anime production, especially when the former learned there were already numerous anime talents in the country.

At first, TeamApp had two major actual tests for KCA and both tests passed the rigorous production tests.

This 2019, KCA has started sending outsource work with TeamApp and their contract will involve training of young animators to be sent to Japan. Also included in the program is the retraining of the Philippine talents in the animation industry.

Initially, the outsourcing contract is for one year and expandable to five years in which KCA will send animation projects from television series to films.

Part of KCA’s long-term plan is to support a school in Manila and address the needs of the animators who will work on their productions. The school will teach

2D, 3D, games assets, and comics/illustrations.

Moreover, the Department of Trade and Industry, through the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), Film Development Council of the Philippines, and Department of Information and Communications Technology, are working together to promote the animation industry and further advocate the future of the Philippines’s creative economy.

In line with this, TeamApp Inc. is one of the companies that the DTI-EMB has assisted through various info sessions on animation and outbound business missions.

TeamApp Inc. is a creative technology provider in animation, game development and mobile apps.

The company is a one-stop shop for a wide range of requirements, such as animation, game, mobile, and app development for TV commercials, animated TV series, shorts and the Internet.

Hospitality Week 2019 is the largest and most influential lifestyle exhibition in the Middle East. The show is a meeting point to: discuss options and opinions with other visitors, exhibitors, buyers and distributors; make contacts and strengthen network; or open unlimited prospects for cooperation.

Index Dubai 2019 is colocated with other seven brands of shows— Index, The Hotel Show, Workspace, The Leisure Show, Surface Design, FIM and Index Home. Addressing every aspect of the lifestyle market, Index Dubai 2019 will showcase leading companies including the Philippines’s lifestyle sector that are shaping and presenting business development opportunities in all things design, lifestyle and hospitality in the UAE and across the globe.

S part of the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau’s approach in expanding Philippine exports, the Philippines will participate in an outbound businessmatching mission (OBMM) to Moscow, Russia, from September 20 to October 1, 2019.

The mission is in collaboration with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center-Moscow and the Department of Agriculture. The OBMM is just in time for the WorldFood Moscow 2019 that will be held from September 24 to 27, 2019, at the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Center, Moscow, Russia.

The delegation will be composed of 14 Philippine food companies who will feature tropical fruits and juices, artisanal chocolates, banana chips, crackers and biscuits, virgin coconut oils and other coconut products, noodles, condiments, and fishery products.

There will be business-matching sessions and market scanning. The delegates will also have a briefing with the Eurasian Economic Commission to inform them on the preferential tariffs provided to beneficiary countries, including the Philippines. The EAEC is an economic union composed of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia with a consumer base of over 170 million.

The OBMM will also provide opportunities for exporters of fishery products which were recently

accredited by Russia to promote their products.

“We are now looking at Russia as an emerging market for Philippine exports as we take advantage of the improving trade relations of both countries,” DTI-Trade Promotions Group Undersecretary Abdulgani M. Macatoman said.

WorldFood Moscow is a recognized international food and drink exhibition in Russia which could be an entry point for international manufacturers who aim to penetrate the Russian market. The event connects thousands of businesses from around the world with Russia’s key food and drink buyers, including retail representatives from Russia’s leading supermarket chains, wholesalers, hotel-restaurant-café sector, and food manufacturers.

In 2018, Russia was the Philippines’s 21st trading partner with a total bilateral trade valued at $1.36 billion, or 0.74 percent of total Philippine trade with the world, valued at $182.15 billion.

It is the 33rd export market valued at $86.07 million or 0.12-percent share of the total Philippine exports to the world valued at $69.31 billion, and 19th import source accounting for $1.27 billion or 1.13-percent share of the total Philippine imports from the world valued at $112.84 billion.

Moreover, the exports of food products is valued at $17.12 million in 2018. The top 3 Philippine food exports to Russia were desiccated coconuts, other fruits, nuts, and bananas, including plantains, fresh or dried.

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www.businessmirror.com.ph

ASA Philippines gives new life to elderly entrepreneurs

(FROM left) Julema Ebale, Naida Parang, Airia Obeso and Kumalah Awang are grateful senior entrepreneurs.

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

VEN if they are in their 60s, Julema Ebale, Naida Parang, Kumalah Awang and Airia Obeso are still productive members of society, engaged in entrepreneurial activities like managing their respective small businesses. These senior entrepreneurs said ASA Philippines gave them a new lease of life.

“ASA Philippines gave us hope and an opportunity to pursue our livelihood by offering microfinance services with easy payment modes and rates that are fair to us,” Ebale said.

ASA Philippines is a nonprofit, nonstock corporation specializing in microfinance. The first branch that the foundation established was in Camarin, Caloocan, in August 2004. Currently, the foundation has already expanded its operations nationwide. The foundation caters to more than 1.8 million micro entrepreneurs. Senior members of ASA Philippines can avail themselves of its services until

they reach 70 years old.

ASA Philippines Foundation was conceptualized by Kamrul H. Tarafder, who started work in the microfinance industry with ASA Bangladesh. In 1998, he began working jointly with ASA Bangladesh and the United Nations Development Program teaching the ASA methodology to more than 20 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Philippines.

In August 2003, Tarafder met with Ambassador Howard Q. Dee (former ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See and Malta) to discuss the social and economic benefits received by the poor from microfinance opera-

tions. Soon after, in 2004, with donations from the Assisi Development Foundation and the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, ASA Philippines Foundation was born.

In November 2007, PLDT-Smart Foundation joined as a third benefactor. Since then, ASA Philippines has not obtained any grant and, unlike other foundations, it pledges not to source any more. With its excellent performance in the field, ASA Philippines has become one of the best performing MFIs in the country.

Awang, who is a fruit seller, is grateful that ASA Philippines is also helping her son to finish his criminology degree. “I borrowed money to help my son’s education and buy two bancas for my business,” said the 67-year-old Awang.

“Now, I am planning to get financing from ASA Philippines to renovate my house,” she added.

Currently, she said her customers are increasing and she continues to deliver fruits to them.

Obeso, 62, started selling dry goods, such as bulad and charcoal.

She buys them in bulk and repacks them to sell to her customers.

When she enrolled at ASA Philippines, Obeso diversified into dry goods and batik coming from Zamboanga.

At the same time, Obeso is working

Manila taps PayMaya for allowances of seniors, PWDs, solo parents

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HE Manila City government on Tuesday inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with PayMaya to provide citizen benefits card for the elderly, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and solo parents in Manila.

Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and top officials of PayMaya signed the MOA, which mandates PayMaya to issue ID cards to beneficiaries where they would receive their monthly allowances. They would not have to go to Manila City Hall or other government offices.

Beneficiaries can also use the company’s other financial services once they link their ID cards to the PayMaya app.

“There are no rich, middle class, poor. What is the key? PayMaya is the key. All these were accomplished through talks. No money was spent,” Domagoso said.

“If the government wants to help, it should help without asking anything in return,” he added.

Earlier, Domagoso signed Ordinance 8565, which grants a P500

with the Davao City government as an anti-littering enforcer. Now on her 18th cycle, Obeso is the most senior among her group members.

“I like ASA Philippines’s policy of teaching financial management to individual members because as a borrower, I become responsible for my own loan.

Obeso also teaches the Pangalay, the Tausug traditional dance, to young students in Davao. In fact, she went to New York and Malaysia to perform the Pangalay under the auspices of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Obeso is a seven-time champion of the Pangalay in Davao and the Kalinangan Festival in General Santos.

Meanwhile, Ebale (63) and Parang (65), who are both engaged in selling gravel and sand, said business is doing well especially when there are major construction activities.

They plan to buy additional banca for the delivery of their products.

“We have to be diligent in our collection from our customers so that we can regularly settle our obligations to ASA Philippines,” they said.

Aside from providing them financial loans, ASA Philippines also provides a P200 daily allowance when they get sick. Furthermore, ASA Philippines allocates rice, canned goods and other items when they become victims of natural disasters.

Ebale is thankful that she and her family have been able to carve a better life in Davao after she joined the Islamic Financing program of ASA Philippines Foundation.

Earlier, Parang adopted a wait and see attitude on ASA Philippines.

Then she learned from her friends that ASA Philippines has helped a lot of members not only in microfinancing but also through their programs like disaster recovery assistance, scholarships, solar power systems donations to the poorest barangays, and KasilyASAn, among others. Under the KasilyASAn program, Ebale said a lot of clients were able to build toilets for their houses.

ASA Philippines helps a lot of poor people. I have been a member for more than a year, and I made good progress in my business since I got my first loan release of P8,000, Ebale said. For the second cycle, they gave me P20,000 and P50,000 on the third time.

“It is really hard to run a business if you don’t have capital, especially if natural disaster strikes. We are blessed that ASA Philippines came into our lives,” the senior members chorused.

Duterte wants release of inmates aged 70 and older

P MAYOR Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and top officials of PayMaya sign a memorandum of agreement which mandates PayMaya to issue ID cards to beneficiaries where they will receive their monthly allowances so they would not have to go to Manila City Hall or other government offices. PHOTO COURTESY OF MANILA PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

monthly allowance to senior citizens, PWDs and solo parents who are residents of Manila. It will be implemented in January next year.

To receive the monthly stipends, beneficiaries must be residents and registered voters of the city.

For senior citizens, the beneficiary must be included in the master list of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs. Meanwhile, PWDs and solo parents must be included in the master list of the Manila Department of Social Welfare. PNA

RESIDENT Duterte on Tuesday said he wanted senior inmates 70 years old and up considered for parole.

“Ako I’ll ask the administration, whoever will take over or the secretary of Justice to fast-track cases of those who are ill and old. I would set 70 years old or 75,” he said during a press briefing.

Duterte said due to old age or illnesses, these inmates can no longer run nor commit a crime. “Wala na ’yan eh. Lalo na ’yung mga 80s. What’s the—what’s the use of keeping them there?” he said.

His statement was in response to questions whether he would consider the release of elderly inmates at the New Bilibid Prison amid the issue on the early release of some heinous crimes convicts under the good conduct time allowance law (GCTA).

Duterte earlier set an ultimatum for some 2,000 heinous crime convicts, who were released under the GCTA law, to surrender. PNA

Saturday, September 21, 2019 A5

Closure

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

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EMEMBER the time you left home for an out-of-town trip and then the thought hits you that you may not have closed the glass window in your living room, or shut down the computer or you may not have locked the kitchen door or you forgot to restart the ref you had earlier put on defrost mode? But by then it was too late to turn back. So the whole time you were in that resort, you could not enjoy your vacation.

At this stage in our senior lives, there is that opportunity for us to go back to the past to close some “windows” and “doors” left open all these years. Think of incidents, confrontations, altercations that have been left to fester without resolution.

I am reminded of one of my favorite movies, which is Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries. The film depicts the story of an old professor who takes a road trip through the countryside in order to receive an honorary award for his lifelong academic achievements. But it is really a visit to the past to tie up some loose ends, for there were incidents in the past that never had a closure. In his ailing health, the old man is troubled by regrets, guilt, unresolved matters of the past and the creeping fear of mortality.

There are ghosts that cannot rest until you go back and confront them and make amends or clarify things to reach a satisfactory understanding and achieve peace of mind and soul.

Consider the case of a priest who, until now, continues to do penance for what happened in the past. When he was around six or seven years old, his long-suffering cancer-stricken father asked him to get his coat from the closet. He did so. When he was out of the room, a loud bang was heard. The father, shot himself probably to release himself from the pain. The son had no inkling that in the coat pocket was a gun. He felt so guilty that when he grew up, he decided to become a priest, apparently to save the soul of his father, as well as to expiate the guilt he felt for aiding the father (although inadvertently) in committing suicide.

Even now, he carries that guilt in his heart and is still struggling to have a sense of closure.

There is one incident that happened in the past that I regret. In my college days, I composed a long poem about my hometown, which consisted of a series of vignettes about the characters in the town, tropes like the priest who seduces women, a lazy man who dissipates money on whores and so on. My mistake was innocently using the names of actual persons in our neighborhood. One of them happened to be a next-door neighbor.

The poem was published in an obscure college organ. It so happened that the particular issue got to our neighbor together with old newspapers used for wrapping for goods bought in their small sari-sari store.

As chance would have it, his wife read the poem. Naturally, she pestered her clueless husband about it. Later I learned from another neighbor that the husband harbored resentment against me because of that. I learned my lesson as a writer that day. Never base your characters’ names on acquaintances or people you know.

My regret is I never got the chance to explain to my neighbor that “any similarity to real persons was not intentional” and that the character in my poem was not based on his person. When I learned about my “offense” he was already dead from

a terminal disease, which, according to those who knew him, he got from drinking too much.

But here’s another closure story that is hard to believe, as told to me by my artist-friend Del. It involves a pastor. Years back, their house was invaded by strangers who not only robbed them but also raped their daughter.

The intruders were eventually arrested and lo, the said pastor and family went to see them and instead of heaping hate and retaliating with physical violence as expected, chose instead to forgive them. Today, as the pastor of a well-attended church, he can talk about forgiveness from personal experience. His daughter who went through the harrowing experience has found a way to heal herself and is now gladly serving in his church.

What about someone I know who died unexpectedly of a heart attack, leaving behind two families? He had left his first family to live with his second family and it caused a wide-open breach between him and his legal wife and children. He had wanted to bridge the gap but he found it difficult because the wounds were still raw.

His wife and children never forgave him for leaving them. His sudden death left things hanging.

On the other hand, there’s another philandering husband who decided to go back to his legal wife after suffering a stroke. The aggrieved wife, seeing him in his wretched condition, took pity on him until his death from a second stroke. There in between, the couple achieved some sort of closure, but legal and financial issues have been left hanging and continue to pester and haunt the wife, leaving all of them to work through the many feelings they have toward the deceased.

Why the need for closure?

FINDING closure implies a complete acceptance of what has happened and clearing the air so both involved parties can breathe freely again. It is important because it gives you an opportunity to explain to the one aggrieved your part in the incident. You get to apologize and wish each other well. It helps one to close the door and move forward in a healthy way.

Someone said that when your life ends without a proper closure, it is like dying with an unfinished business. Any unfinished business means leaving some things unsaid or undone to our everlasting regret. There’s no peace for your soul. So, rather than leaving them until it may be too late, it is worth saying or doing them now.

Aresearchconductedamongaged people reveals that the more people feel that they have done everything they could have done, that they have completed something to the fullest, and that all loose ends are tied up, the less they are plagued by regrets, and more likely to have achieved a satisfying sense of closure, a feeling of completeness. Such that they feel they could die today without regrets, having left nothing unsaid or undone. They have what one researcher called a “well-rounded ending.”

To achieve a well-rounded ending, we can learn from the book The Four Things That Matter Most, written by Dr. Ira Byock. His simple advice: seek and ask for forgiveness from those we have hurt; offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us; and, lastly but equally important, forgive ourselves.

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Saturday, September 21, 2019 | Editor: Mike Besa

HOIANA SHORES GC TO OPEN ITS DOORS IN SEPTEMBER H

OI AN, Vietnam—Hoiana Shores Golf Club (GC) will welcome its first players starting on September 23, 2019, to preview the completed, 18-hole design from Arch. Robert Trent Jones II. The golf course will be the first facility within the new Hoiana Integrated Resort to welcome the public.

The 985-hectare, $4-billion Hoiana complex is the most ambitious resort development ever undertaken in Vietnam. Its first operational phase, which is nearing completion, will eventually integrate more than 1,000 rooms, suites and villas (managed by Rosewood Hotel Group), 4 kilometers of pristine beach, a suite of beachside pools and restaurants, a stand-alone beach club, an entertainment facility managed by Suncity Group, and a wide array of retail partners.

“Hoiana Shores Golf Club will indeed be the first component of this larger development welcoming both domestic and international tourism to our shores,” said Steve Wolstenholme, group COO at Hoiana. “As a group we intend to showcase the vibrancy and economic potential of not only Hoi An and Central Vietnam but this region in general.”

“It all starts with the golf,” said Ben Styles, vice president of golf for Hoiana. “And so we are particularly excited to announce that Hoiana Shores Golf Club will welcome its first golfers on September 23. The Grand Opening event will occur in early 2020, in concert with the unveiling of other Hoiana Phase 1 facilities.”

Until that time, the newest (and the most anticipated) golf course in Vietnam—arguably the most active course development market in the world—will be available for limited “preview play,” whereby all proceeds from visiting golfers will be donated to local charities.

“It’s our intention to further highlight the ability of golf and tourism to benefit a community,” Styles explained. “Starting September 23, those proceeds will benefit our local community directly.

“Golf occupies a very exciting place in Vietnam right now and I’m so proud and honored to be a small part of the development and evolution of the game here. What we have tried to achieve at Hoiana Shores GC—with help from the design team at Robert Trent Jones II—is something specific and nuanced: a traditional links that proudly builds on local traditions, which, if we are honest, is what all great golf courses do.”

Come September, visiting golfers will notice no flags flapping in the ever-present, seaside breeze at Hoiana Shores GC. The pins will instead be adorned with red lanterns, the likes of which illuminate Hoi An’s famous Old Town at night. “There’s a reason why it’s called The City of Lanterns,” Styles noted.

Hoiana Shores GC began construction since late 2017, under direction of experienced, Hong Kong-based course

builder Linksshape, led by Australian, Stuart Stone. “It’s been an amazing experience to be entrusted with this extraordinary piece of land,” Stone said, “almost the dictionary definition of what ‘linksland’ should be.”

Hoiana Shores GC has also been developed in full accordance with strict sustainability principles laid out by the United Kingdom-based GEO Foundation. “In Southeast Asia, there are no other golf developments at this stage of construction that are going through this program,” said GEO Executive Director Sam Thomas. “All others are in the planning or design stage. I think it’s fair to say that, if they continue on this path, Hoiana Shores will be first past the post, the market leader in this regard.”

While the greens at Hoiana Shores are grassed with tif-eagle bermuda, all the fairways and tees at feature the zeon zoysia, a relatively new, drought-tolerant turfgrass strain specially developed to provide firm, fast conditions in equatorial regions like this one. This choice was both sustainable and strategic: Many “tropical links”are built entirely on sand; several more feature the flamboyant contour associated with links golf—but few if any have delivered the requisite bounce and roll that links design requires. Zeon zoysia will, which is something of a game changer.

“It’s an upright grower where you can cut back on water and get it right—firm and fast,” explained Rob Weiks, golf course superintendent at Hoiana Shores GC. “It’s less grainy than bermuda, way less than the paspalum. It frankly freed up the architects and shapers to manufacture some wonderful shapes and contours—a lot of created architecture that could not be rushed. It is a great luxury to pile the sand up, shape it, then let the wind shape it again. It’s one reason the landforms out here are so compelling.”

“Let me give you and example of how that process worked, because it’s pretty unique and required real patience,” Stone added. “On holes 16 and 17, for example, where the wind is coming right off the sea, our fine shapers carved out the shapes, and then we let Mother Nature further shape it. Then the team came back, refined it and finalized it.

Ultimately, we created truly windswept areas there that were quite different from the original shapes.”

Six of the 18 holes at Hoiana Shores come into direct contact with the beach. According to Styles, this illustrates both Hoiana’s vision and ambition.

“It speaks volumes about our ownership group—to allow so much interaction with the shoreline. That’s a rarity. The beachfront could have been, otherwise, developed,” he said. “But this decision will ultimately pay off, as this part of the course is uniquely unforgettable.... There is nothing quite like playing those holes—playing shots from the beach itself! It is proof you are playing a proper links. There aren’t many courses in Asia that serve up that type of experience.”

Golfers looking to make a booking in this period may contact Hoiana Shores GC at reservations@hoianashores.com.

HOIANA 11 aerial green wide

PXG 0811 GEN 2 DRIVERS

Bringing the unobtainable to the masses P

By Mike Besa

XG has been somewhat of a unicorn here.

Although representatives of the company visit the country from time to time, you had to know someone who knew how to touch base with them to arrange a fitting appointment. Then there was the inconvenience of having to pay in foreign currency and, the wait for your club to be built and shipped to you. Not the easiest transaction.

All that changed earlier this year when J-Ten Sports, country distributors of Srixon, Cobra, Cleveland and a host of other brands, won the right to distribute PXG in the country. Now, arranging a fitting is as simple as walking into one of the numerous Srixon Proshops.

The timing was great for the Philippines as PXG’s formal entry into our market coincides with the introduction of the PXG Gen 2 line of clubs. This is a significant event since PXG has committed itself to not release new product until it is significantly better than what’s currently on the shelves. And, if you follow this section, you’ll know the Gen 1 clubs were very, very good.

As an introduction to PXG’s Gen 2 line, we managed to spend some range and course time with the 0811 X Gen 2 driver. As with most distributors these days, PXG carries two functionally different drivers; the X is the low spin monster and the XF is the more forgiving, easier to hit model. You can get almost any shaft on the planet in your 0811 driver, many premium shafts are available at no extra cost. But it’s what you’d expect for a driver that will set you back a tad over 50-grand.

To improve on the Gen 1 drivers, PXG drew inspiration from something really fast and unmistakably American—the hot rod. The obvious difference between the generations is apparent at address; there’s a bulge on the crown of the Gen 2 drivers reminiscent of the bulge on the hood of one of the straight-line monsters that inhabit American freeways.

On any high-performance piece of equipment, with wheels or without, nothing is added that doesn’t provide a performance benefit. The bulge on the crown creates a reinforcing structure that limits deformation of the clubhead on impact. This transfers more energy back to the golf ball and should result in an increase in clubhead speed.

One of the design goals for the Gen 2 drivers was to improve how they felt at impact. It was a complaint voiced by existing PXG customers, and PXG listened. Gen2 drivers again feature PXG’s proprietary Thermoplastic Elastomer honeycomb insert. The TPE sole insert dampens vibrations and enhances feel, as well as the drivers’ acoustics. It takes a different form in the soles of the 0811 X and 0811 XF drivers, with the X having more TPE toward the face of the club. It creates a very unique feel; it’s slightly muted but very solid. It does feel somewhat like a persimmon wood

head but with a distinctly metallic note.

The 0811 X features a very low CG that falls. One hundred sixty below the axis line and even farther forward, which in turn reduces spin (which has always been the key criticism of the Gen 1, i.e., that it spun too much) and enhances launch conditions. This is well below other current drivers, which should make the 0811 X one of the lowest spinning drivers on the market.

Both drivers include precision-weighting technology. The weights are larger and heavier than those in the 0811 models but offer players the same ability to adjust based on a draw/fade bias and alter launch angle and spin. More specifically, the 0811 X has three 4.1-gram silver tungsten weights and six 0.8-gram black titanium weights. The XF has three of the silver weights and two of the black.

This allows quite a bit of adjustment for the 0811 X driver. PXG claims an increase of 400 MOI from 4400 to 4800 by moving the heavier screws to the back of the clubhead. Not the most forgiving of the low spin drivers but far better than most of its competition.

We are intimately familiar with other drivers in this niche, especially the class-leading Callaway Epic Flash Subzero. Hit back-to-back on the driving range and on the golf course with identical shafts, both clubs produced very similar results. We didn’t have the benefit of a launch monitor, but the golf balls hit by either driver finished within a few yards of each other.

We tried two Graphite Design Tour AD shafts (TP and VR) in both Epic Flash SZ and 0811 X, and the shafts both felt more pliant in the PXG. The 0811 heads weigh in at 206 grams each, 11 grams more than the Epic Flash Subzero, which accounts for the discrepancy in feel. It didn’t seem to affect performance at all.

While we did not have a launch monitor at our disposal for a detailed comparison, the field tests showed that the PXG is more than a match for the Epic Flash Subzero or any other driver in the segment. If the same holds true with the 0811 XF, it should be one of the most forgiving drivers in the market.

Then there’s the elephant in the room; the price.

Either of the 0811 Gen 2 drivers will set you back a cool P53,000. To put that in perspective, that’s P11,000 more than the Epic Flash Subzero, but roughly 30-percent less than the old 0811 Gen 1.

Although still high, PXG’s prices no longer seem unreasonable. The performance is there waiting to be unlocked. The 0811 drivers are available with a variety of Graphite Design Tour AD shafts for the stronger golfers and Mitsubishi Chemical’s ubiquitous Bassara in weights as low as 40 grams for those that need more assistance.

Are the PXG drivers worth the premium?

That depends entirely on you. The performance benefits are undisputable and there is the unmistakable cool of having something in your bag that few others do. If you admire Bob Parsons’s renegade spirit and some of the coolest clubs on the planet, then you need to give PXG serious consideration.

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, September 21, 2019

A7

Schauffele’s rising success includes Asian touch F

XANDER SCHAUFFELE

By Chuah Choo Chiang

OR all the early success that Xander Schauffele has achieved in his burgeoning career, the 25-year-old American has kept his feet firmly on the ground and hands on the same old steering wheel of a Japanese-made car which he hopes will keep him on the right side of the road to stardom.

Schauffele, who is of mixed Asian and German heritage, is among a new breed of rising stars making a name for himself in the world golf order, proving he can win on the biggest stage where three of his four PGA Tour titles were against stacked fields at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta, Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and World Golf Championships (WGC)-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, a title he will defend in October.

Throw in three top-3 finishes in six recent major championships appearances, plus a career-high second-place finish in the FedEx Cup recently, the San Diego resident has shown he truly belongs in the elite club of golfers.

With nearly $14 million in prize winnings accumulated since his breakout season in 2017,

Schauffele shuns from the limelight and puts full focus on his golf and family life. And unlike other sporting stars who may reward or spoil themselves with fancy cars and fancy boys’ toys, he has kept his old faithful Japanese automobile parked in his home garage as a reminder of where he had come from.

“It reminds me of my roots,” said Schauffele of his choice of transportation.

“I had it when I was on the Web.com Tour [now Korn Ferry Tour] and I have not gotten around to getting a nicer car. I bought it for 13 grand, so I figured that’s a smart move.

I know I’ll have a nicer car in the future but for now, it seems to be working.”

What has worked particularly well in the meteoric rise of Schauffele and Team X, an identity coined by father and Coach Stefan, is an in-built work ethic, discipline and determination that characterize his approach to life and the game. It short, it epitomizes his family cultural heritage.

His father, Stefan, is a German-French immigrant who had aspired to be an Olympic decathlete before a car accident shattered his dreams. The name “Schauffele” literally translates to “man with a small shovel” and Xander has shown he is not afraid of hard work to get to the top of the hill. Mother, Ping Yi, was born in Chinese Taipei, grew up in Japan and met Stefan during college in the United States She provides the stability in the family which includes older brother Nico, says Xander.

“Dad is a disciplinarian,” said Schauffele, who is part of

How to free your mind and play your best golf

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By David MacKenzie

EING “in the present” is so important in golf. It frees up your mind, allowing you to access to your best skills. The challenge we have today, is that nobody is ever truly present—we are constantly distracted by our mobile devices, and this doesn’t help us on the golf course.

The ancient practice of meditation and mindfulness is all about improving a person’s ability to access the present moment and be accepting of how they feel in that moment without trying to change it. This creates the freedom in your mind and give you access to your best skills.

I advice all my students to start a daily practice of meditation and mindfulness, as it has so many benefits

(beyond golf). With this practice you will become more able to clearly focus on the things that are most important, and reduce the noise from those things that are not.

Samurai warriors adopted Zen Buddhism and meditation because it allowed them to fight with an “empty mind.” For these swordsman, having an empty mind was vital in the midst of combat as it freed them from doubt, fear and focus on technique. Of course, they trained technique, but when combat began, all thinking departed and the purity of the action took over.

Being in the present, is when your attention (focus) isn’t on what’s happened or what will happen (consequences), only on what’s happening now, e.g., your pre-shot routine or your walk in between shots.

In between shots, direct your focus of attention to your breathing and what you see and feel (the trees, sky, surrounding landscape, the wind, the ground beneath your feet, etc.). This will bring you to the present—you are alert and aware but not thinking.

It’s also a perfect way at any time to come out of negative emotions, regret, anger, anxiety—fear is always “future.” Excitement suggests thinking about results, regret suggests past mistakes, instead, just keep playing the shot in hand until they run out.

Here’s an exercise for you...

Ask yourself “I wonder what my next thought will be?” and “notice” how long it is before a thought comes in. Keep practicing until you can extend that time to several seconds

the Tiger Woods-led US Team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, Australia, in December. “He showed me that hard work is the ultimate key. If you want to do anything, you have to work your ass off. Mom [Ping Yi] is the calming influence.”

As a child, Schauffele’s first sporting involvement was football, or soccer as it is called in America, before Stefan taught his youngest son how to play golf when he was nine.

The boy gave up football as he did not like leaving the fate of matches in the hands of his teammates. He then started dreaming of becoming a PGA Tour professional.

He developed into a decent amateur golfer, accumulating a collegiate record of three wins, four second-place finishes and 19 top 25s. He was top 10 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking before turning professional in 2015, where he got into the Korn Ferry Tour, the pathway to the PGA Tour.

While he is sneaky long with his driver—Schauffele has consistently ranked in the top 20 in driving distance—he often beats others by using his brains. “I always felt like I was mentally tougher than the others,” said Schauffele, who graduated from San Diego State University.

“I was never one who was noticed as I wasn’t winning a whole lot. I was kind of solid. Getting onto the Web.com Tour was a big confidence booster and once I won the Greenbrier in 2017 [for his first PGA Tour win], I knew I was good enough to be out here.”

His four career wins, thus, far have been come-from-behind victories, a fact not lost on Schauffele who still regards himself

as an underdog in the game. When he won the WGC-HSBC Champions, he came from three back to beat Tony Finau in a playoff and in Hawaii, he shot a stunning final-round 11-under 62 to overturn a five-shot deficit for his success.

“The playoff with Tony, that was the biggest memory.

Just the excitement of being in a playoff, the fans, and the celebration was incredible on the 18th green,” he said.

“Winning is the ultimate satisfaction on the PGA Tour. You work at your craft and winning is the ultimate prize. Winning from behind is interesting. It fits my character, fits my junior career, my college career, even my early pro career. I’ve always come from behind and something I’ve always been comfortable in that position,” he said.

“I still feel like an underdog although mentally, it’s slowly changing. I’m top 10 in the world because I’ve stacked up some good events recently. This is all still new to me, there are so many big names out there. I don’t think my name, even personally, is there yet, you know I don’t think I’ve done enough yet to be considered a top dog.”

Asian fans will likely see plenty of Schauffele during the PGA Tour’s Asian swing in October which comprises THE CJ CUP at Nine Bridges in Korea, Zozo Championship in Japan and WGC-HSBC Champions in China. At the time of writing, he has committed to his title defense in Shanghai.

n Note: Chuah Choo Chiang is senior director, communications of the PGA Tour and is based in Kuala Lumpur.

or more. Talk here about how it used to be easy to say in the present—nobody is without their device any more.

If it’s easier, focus on something, a glass, a golf ball, your breath, etc. (be very specific e.g., the light sparkling off one dimple of the golf ball). Now hold your attention and see how long it is before a thought comes in, then notice if your mind drifts, and if it does, gently bring it back. Practice, daily at first, then often to maintain the skill.

happening now. One day you’ll catch yourself smiling at this inner voice!

With practice you’ll be able to play with less emotion and more focus on what’s going to help you most.

If you’re truly present you won’t be evaluating how you’re playing or keep a running total or be thinking “if only.” Instead, you’ll be quietening your mind and accessing the “Golf State of Mind.” How to meditate and be more mindful is covered in a section in my Ultimate Mental Game Training System but you can make a simple start on it today by spending some time away from your mobile device.

BEING ‘MINDFUL’ OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS EMOTIONS come from thoughts. When your mind is quiet, you can become better at observing your thoughts and emotions, without reacting to them and giving them more power. It’s the resisting and reacting that causes performance-limiting anxiety.

With practice, your inner voice can be listened to impartially, without judgement and reaction— you just gently bring your attention back to what’s

n David MacKenzie is a mental coach and the founder of

Golf State of Mind. He currently works with golfers on the PGA Tour, Web.com Tour, European Tour, Challenge Tour, LPGA and LET, along with many elite juniors and amateur golfers of all levels.

Sports BusinessMirror

A8 Saturday, September 21, 2019

ABABA PADS D AVAO’S Jhonnel Ababa doubled up his overnight two-stroke lead with a third straight 67 but the vaunted Del Monte boys launched their fiery, albeit late charge in another day of torrid scoring in the third round of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Del Monte Championship in Bukidnon on Friday.

Ababa bucked a wobbly stint on the mound with superb iron game and solid putting, overcoming a bogey mishap on No. 5 with a cluster of birdies, including four in the last eight holes for a 35-32 card that hiked his 36 -hole lead of two over Zanieboy Gialon to four heading to the final 18 holes of the P2.5million championship serving as the seventh leg of the 10th season of the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT).

“I hit it most to the left with my driver but made up for the struggle with good iron play and putting,” said Ababa, whose third straight five-under card gave him a 54-hole total of 15-under 201 and closer to a first PGT crown since ruling the rain-shortened Cebu stop of last year’s circuit sponsored by ICTSI. But Clyde Mondilla and Reymon Jaraula, two of the best players to emerge from talent-rich host province after the eminent Frankie Miñoza, put on a pair of low rounds to move into conten-

PVL BRINGS ACT TO MALOLOS WITH ARMY VS. BALIPURE DUEL

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HE Premier Volleyball Leagues (PVL) holds the first of three out-of-town games in the Open Conference in Bulacan on Saturday with PacificTown Army seeking a crucial victory over BaliPure and Choco Mucho out to halt a horrid slump against Chef’s Classics at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center.

The Lady Troopers dispatched the Red Spikers in three last Wednesday to improve to 5-4 to wrest provisional fourth with the PetroGazz Angels ready to pounce with a 5-2 card and the Air Force Jet Spikers surging with four straight victories for a 4-5 slate.

That makes PacificTown Army’s 4 p.m. clash with BaliPure doubly important with the Water Defenders, with only two wins to show in 10 games, also itching not only to get back at their first round tormentors but also revive their slim semifinal chances heading to the last phase of the double-round eliminations in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision.

Iloilo will host the next PVL provincial sortie on October 5 with PetroGazz clashing with PacificTown Army and Creamline facing off with sister team Choco Mucho. The Lady Troopers are also set to play the BanKo-Perlas Spikers in Bacolod on October 13 with the Cool Smashers and the Angels colliding in the other match of the explosive twin bill.

Focus will also be on the young Choco Mucho side, which showed a lot of promise with a 2-1 start on its maiden campaign but lost its last five games, including three in five-set fashions, thus earning the tag as the league’s heartbreak kids.

But the Flying Titans are ready to soar again as they take on the winless Red Spikers in the 2 p.m. opener with Kat Tolentino, now the league’s leading scorer with a couple of 30-point games, expected to lead their charge again.

JHONNEL ABABA’S third straight five-under card gives him a 54-hole total of 15-under 201. ROY DOMINGO

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

LEAD TO 4 Jaraula also pressed his bid for back-to-back title run following a breakthrough at Pueblo de Oro last weekend as he sizzled with an eagle-spiked, bogey-free, tournament-best eight-under 64.

At joint fourth at 207 with Elmer Salvador and Dutch Guido van der Valk, who fired 66 and 68, respectively, Jaraula still stood six strokes behind Ababa but the rising Del Monte star remained hopeful of completing another stirring win.

“My driving was a bit wild in the first round and played safe in the next. Today [yesterday], I finally got my rhythm and touch back and hopefully, I sustain it tomorrow [today],” said Jaraula, who humbled veteran and multititled Tony Lascuña on the second playoff hole at Pueblo to end a six-year search for a PGT diadem.

His 64, however, fell a stroke off Miñoza’s record 63 in winning the ICTSI Del Monte crown in 2013 although Del Monte old hands said the two-time Philippine Open champion had shot a 62 in the final round of a leg of the defunct Philip Morris Golf Tour in early 1990s.

Noel Langamin, another Del Monte bet, shot a second straight 68 for solo seventh at 208 while u n he r a ld e d Fr a nc i s Mor i l l a struck with a 67 to tie Keanu Jahns (71), Lascuña (72) and Alido (72) at eighth at 209.

Juv ic Pagunsan rebounded from a second round 73 with a second 69 but virtually kissed his bid for a record fifth PGT win this year with a 211 aggregate, 10 shots off Ababa in a tie with Japanese Takahashi Keisuke (68) and Johvanie Abaño (72) behind Elmer Saban, who fumbled with a 73 for a 210.

tion after straying off the leaderboard in the first two days with mediocre games.

Mondilla broke a birdie-parbogey start with four straight birdies to close out his frontside stint then kept his birdiebinge going by sinking putts inside 7 feet to add three more at the back for a 65, thus catching Gialon, who carded a 69, at second at 205.

“I struggled on the greens in the first two days but finally I got my touch back,” said the long-hitting Mondilla, who joined the elite roster of Philippine Open winners by humbling a stellar international field in severe conditions at The Country Club last April.

“Actually, I have the edge here… just need short irons for my second shots. I’m very familiar with the course, I know where to land my shots to get good birdie chances,” added the 2017 PGT Order of Merit, who promised to play in the second PGT Asia event abroad in Taiwan next week if he pulls off a win here.

MAROONS TAKE ON DANGEROUS RED WARRIORS

By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

U

NIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) guns for its fourth win when it meets giant-slayer University of the East (UE) in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.

The game is set at 2 p.m. with SOLOMON PADIZ JR. books a singles victory for National University, which beat Ateneo, 4-1, to kick off its title defense on a high note in men’s badminton action on Friday at the Centro Atletico Badminton Center.

the Fighting Maroons (3-1) taking on the Red Warriors (1-3) to preserve their grip of the No.2 position behind the idle Ateneo Blue Eagles (4-0).

Adamson University (3-2), meanwhile, tries to stay close to the leaders as it faces De La Salle at 4 p.m.

UP is coming off consecutive one-point victories with the most recent against National University, 80-79, last Wednesday.

Kobe Paras remained consistent with another big production of 25 points and six rebounds for UP. Bright Akhuetie had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Javi Gomez de Liaño added 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

Still finding cohesion, Coach Bo Perasol reminded his team to stay vigilant against the lowly UE. “It’s the same thing—to put value into the couple of wins that we had in the last week. We need to go out strong against UE. That’s a very dangerous team,” Perasol said.

The Red Warriors are coming from a huge win over the Green Archers last week. Rey Suerte hit five triples, including the gamewinner with 3.2 seconds left.

Beermen eye final slot

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ACAO—After slamming the door on the defending champion, San Miguel Beer tries to get the top title contender out of the way next.

The Beermen battle title favorite Liaoning Flying Leopards in one of the semifinal pairings of the East Asia League Terrific 12 on Saturday, eyeing a win over a team that features former National Basketball Association players Lance Stephenson and Salah Mejri for a berth in the winner-take-all final.

The champion teams of the Philippine Basketball Association and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) clash in the 7 p.m. main game at the Tap Seac Multisport

Pavilion.

The first semifinals game between Group A top-notcher Seoul SK Knights and Group C leader Zhejiang Guangsha Lions is set at 5 p.m.

Two CBA teams and one each from the PBA and Korea Basketball League comprised this year’s Final Four cast.

The Beermen made the semifinals after topping Group B unbeaten in two games by ousting last year’s champion Ryukyu Golden Kings, 101-92, on Thursday behind the 42-point explosion of import Dezmine Wells.

The Flying Leopards also posted a 2-0 record to emerge as top qualifier in Group D that set up their showdown with the Beermen.

NU kids prevail

J

HAZEL AEROL PAGUILUGAN beat the buzzer—his only basket in the game—to lift Nazareth School of National University (NSNU) past De La Salle-Greenhills, 5957, and into the Passerelle Division championship of the Basketball Efficiency Scientific Training (BEST) Center’s twin basketball tournaments over the weekend.

Paguilugan’s feat put him abreast of his top-scoring teammates Kim Aaron Tamayo (14 points) and Mark Rainier de Leon (12) as they secured the crown for NSNU in this two-division

tournament sponsored by Milo and backed by Rain or Shine, Chris Sports and SKLZ. San Beda University demolished La Salle-Zobel, 81-49, for third place.

La Salle-Greenhills-A made up for its sister-team’s Passerelle defeat by clinching the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) crown at the expense of College of San Benildo-Rizal, 76-54.

Janeil Sebastian Peralta scored 13 points and was backed by Bryan Andrei Hachuela, who contributed 11 points for LSGH. La Salle-Zobel Green crushed LSGH-B, 79-57, for third place.

BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, September 21, 2019 A9

BUMBLE BIZZ LAUNCHES APAC WIDE PITCH COMPETITION FOR WOMEN-LED BUSINESSES THE woman-first social networking app that empowers women to make the first move in dating, friendship and professional networking, Bumble, has announced its first Bumble Bizz pitch competition in the Asia Pacific. The competition will award women-led businesses across the region $5,000 grants to help them establish their companies.

The competition will run in the Philippines, Australia, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and Singapore, the six Apac markets in which Bumble currently operates, with one winner chosen from each country.

The announcement comes following Bumble’s launch into the Philippine market in March 2019. Since its launch, Bumble has amassed over 70 million registered users in more than 150 countries. This has led to over 1.2 billion women-led first moves and over 4 billion messages sent worldwide.

“In awarding the grants, we’ll be looking for businesses that have a clear mission and aim to solve a real-world problem. We’ll be asking applicants to show why their business exists, how it is currently funded, and how the grant will support further growth. For us at Bumble, this is about providing opportunities for women entrepreneurs and opening up more pathways to success for them, while also encouraging them to make the first move with their business ventures,” said Bumble Apac Marketing Director Michelle Battersby.

The grant receipts will be flown to Sydney to participate in the inaugural Apac Bumble Bizz Summit, featuring some of the world’s most inspiring women, including Martine Ho, founder of Sunnies.

The inaugural Apac Bumble Bizz Summit will take place in Sydney on October 10 and will be free to attend for Bumble users. Speakers include Elle Ferguson (founder of the Elle Effect tanning range, Australia), Lana Wilkinson (celebrity stylist, Australia), Lindsay Jang (founder of Missbish and Yardbird, Hong Kong), Liv Lo Golding (TV presenter and founder of FitSphere, Singapore), Maggie Marilyn (fashion designer, New Zealand), Malini Agarwal (founder of MissMalini Entertainment), and Roxy Jacenko (founder and director of Sweaty Betty PR and Ministry of Talent, Australia).

Applications for the Bumble Bizz pitch competition are ongoing and will close at 12 pm AEST on September 27 (10 am Philippine time).

Bumble is the first app of its kind to bring dating, friend-finding, and career-building to a single platform via Bumble Date, Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz. Bumble is rooted in encouraging empowering connections, respectful conversations and meaningful interactions.

Rei Germar on being herself and what she loves PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

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EI GERMAR is one of those pretty, thin, young and rich girls we see a lot on Instagram. But we sat down with the 23-year-old, who has over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and over 700,000 on Instagram, and came out with a different impression.

As Rei tells it, she created a YouTube channel because she likes talking to people about her day.

“I’m very passionate about sharing things when I come home from school, I’m so excited to tell my mom how my day went. I’ve been watching YouTube since I was in high school and I loved Isha Borromeo, Kris Lumagui and Anna Cano. I thought I could have my own channel and share with people my love for shopping, my love for makeup and, eventually, lifestyle and travel.”

Rei’s journey from aspirant to YouTube superstar hasn’t been difficult, she acknowledges. This gratefulness is one thing I noticed about this girl.

I’m so used to seeing jaded 20-year-olds that it is refreshing to see someone talk about what she does with passion.

“I was actually overwhelmed that I already had—if my memory serves me right—100,000 followers after a year. I didn’t expect it.”

She sees YouTube as a platform for her to share things about herself and inspire people. Of course, with the fame came the haters and bashers. Once again, Rei’s attitude about this impressed me.

“I realized that no matter what you do, they will have something to say about you. At first I would reply, but I don’t anymore. I realized that as long as I don’t step on other people, wala na, dedma na [I don’t mind it]. Mental health is very important. I don’t think I could keep on doing this if I wasn’t in the right mindset. I need to protect my mental health.”

Rei doesn’t mind attacks on her physical appearance, or on her being privileged (example: “All you do is shop”). What she objects to is when people assume things about her and put words into her mouth. One of the things Rei loves about being a content creator and online personality is being able to connect with people.

“It’s being actually able to inspire people. In the

beginning, messages like ‘You inspire me’ didn’t really affect me. It was when I started knowing their stories and getting messages that they wanted to give up but watching my videos made them feel like they could go on. This was what made me realize that I had a purpose. That’s when I started being vocal about my advocacies. I want them to fall in love with themselves. I know that it is not easy but I am hoping that in my own way, I can help.”

We talked to Rei during a shoot for Pandora’s latest campaign, for which she is one of the muses. There is a pink wall emblazoned with the question “What Do You Love?”

The centerpiece of the campaign is the Pandora O pendant, which takes on charms just like the bracelet did, but can be worn in a variety of different ways.

Pandora is banking on muses like Rei to introduce the brand to new kinds of customers.

Rei wears her O pendant with three charms that include a leaf, which to her represents a family tree.

“I’m very close to my family. When I am with them, I try not to be on social media because they’re really not into it,” said Rei, who is the third of four siblings.

The other muses of the campaign are Bettina Jose, Janina Manipol, Christiana Collings, Kaila Estrada, Jess Connelly, Valerie Chua, DJ Kat, Issa Pressman, Janeena Chan, Aryanna Epperson and Gabs Gibbs. ■

Facebook to name first oversight panel members by year-end

BY FRANK BAJAK The Associated Press BOSTON—Facebook said Tuesday that it expects to name the first members of a new quasi-independent oversight board by year-end.

The oversight panel is intended to rule on thorny content issues, such as when Facebook or Instagram posts constitute hate speech. It will be empowered to make binding rulings on whether posts or ads violate the company’s standards. Any other findings it makes will be considered “guidance”

by Facebook.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to establish the board last November after Facebook came under intense scrutiny for failures to protect user privacy and for its inability to quickly and effectively remove disinformation, hate speech and malign influence campaigns on its platform.

“Facebook should not make so many important decisions about free expression and safety on our own,” he wrote at the time.

Critics call the oversight board a bid by Facebook to forestall regulation or even an eventual breakup. The

company faces antitrust investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, Congress and a group of state attorneys general.

“Facebook is attempting to normalize an approach to containing hate speech internally,” said Dipayan Ghosh, a former Facebook policy adviser and a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

“If it can illustrate that this approach can work, it can pacify the public itch to regulate the business model behind Facebook.”

Luigi Zingales, a University of Chicago professor of finance, called the board’s creation “a clever move” that’s more about appearance than substance.

“It’s hard to imagine that this board will not be completely captured by Facebook,” said Zingales, who cochaired a committee of more than two dozen prominent academics that published a report Tuesday on how to rein in digital platforms. To avoid that, at least some of its members would need to be chosen by outsiders, he said.

The multinational board will eventually comprise 40 members, who will collectively decide a few dozen cases a year, company executives told reporters in a conference call. It will at first hear only cases initiated

by Facebook but will begin hearing appeals initiated by users in the first half of 2020, the company said. It will get to work as soon as 11 members are named.

Priority cases will involve content that “threatens someone else’s voice, safety, privacy, dignity or equality” and affects a large number of people, Facebook said in a blog post Tuesday.

Experts say the panel will have a limited range for decision-making, however. Local laws or directives from repressive governments might clash with its rulings, and Facebook might heed them for business reasons.

“How to deal with authoritarian regimes is a deep issue for the platform, and for the world really,” said Harvard law student Evelyn Douek, an Australian expert on content moderation.

Douek says the group’s charter, also released Tuesday, should insulate board members from public pressure and Facebook’s commercial imperatives. But she believes the conditions under which members could be removed are still too vague.

The first few board members will be directly chosen by Facebook; they will then choose additional members. Facebook will also name the administrators

of the trust that manages the Oversight Board and pays its members’ salaries.

Brent Harris, Facebook’s director of governance, told reporters the company had not yet decided how much board members would be paid. He did not respond when asked how many hours a week would be expected of them in the part-time job. Facebook expects panelists will include former judges, editors, publishers and journalists, he said.

The board members’ access to Facebook data will also be limited. “The board will have access to data that’s pertinent to the case but no more,” said Harris.

Oversight board members are to serve three-year terms with a maximum of three terms.

They can be removed by trustees for violations of a code of conduct that has yet to be drawn up. Panels of five will convene to review individual cases and decisions will be public, though data and privacy restrictions could apply. Harris said the board will have a staff that will initially consist of Facebook employees seconded from their jobs.

It’s unclear where the permanent staff will eventually be located and how often oversight board members would meet in person to decide cases.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, September 21, 2019

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SOCCER star Eniola “Eni” Aluko is condemning Amazon for not removing racist reviews of her memoir posted on the online retailer’s web site.

Of the 31 reviews on Amazon, 27 gave They Don’t Teach This, which details the discrimination Aluko faced during her England career, a one-star rating.

Readers have used the platform to call the book “fiction,” “anti-white racist drivel” and accuse the Juventus forward of choosing to “play the race card” and “coming across as a racist herself.” AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Amazon criticized over racist reviews of soccer star’s book

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BY ROB HARRIS The Associated Press

ONDON—English soccer’s antidiscrimination organization and players’ union have criticized Amazon for not removing racist reviews of soccer star Eniola “Eni” Aluko’s memoir that were posted on the online retailer’s web site.

Of the 31 reviews on Amazon’s United Kingdom site, 27 gave They Don’t Teach This a one-star rating. The book details the discrimination Aluko faced during her England career.

Customers have used the platform to call the book “anti-white racist drivel” and “fiction,” and accuse the Juventus forward of choosing to “play the race card” and “coming across as a racist herself.”

Aluko, who is black, and her publishers have been in contact with Amazon about the reviews, but they remain on the site. Amazon told The Associated Press it does not suppress reviews based on star ratings but does use investigators and automated technology to prevent and detect inauthentic comments.

Aluko raised her concerns about the Amazon reviews in a column about online abuse for The Guardian, saying they were “clearly motivated by tribalism, bitterness and hatred” and that “sometimes the law is the only solution.”

Penguin Random House, the publishers of the book, told the AP that “we’re working with our author, Eni, on this issue and are in contact with Amazon.”

The players’ union in England and anti-racism activists have denounced Amazon, whose CEO is Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, for not emoving the posts.

“Amazon, just like social-media platforms, have a responsibility to tackle any racist or discriminatory abuse on their web site,” Kick It Out, English soccer’s anti-discrimination body, told the AP. “We’re angered by the racial abuse directed at Eni Aluko just for telling her story and we fully support her as one of the leading voices in football shining a light on key issues that the game must address.”

The use of online reviews to abuse players has opened up a new front to be tackled by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), which met recently with Twitter, Facebook and Amazon after a spate of racist posts directed at its members.

“We have been proud of Eni for standing up against injustice in the past and we applaud her for her brave stance in this instance,” PFA Head of Equalities Simone Pound said. “As a prominent female player and role model, Eni is at the forefront of challenging abuse where and when it happens.

“We are increasingly seeing our members being abused and harassed as they are fulfilling workplace

SHARON YU ONG

Sharon Yu Ong breaking the glass ceiling of experiential event technology

BY ANNE SY

commitments both on and off the field. As a member, Eni will continue to have the full support of the PFA.” The book went on sale on August 29 on Amazon.

“Some of what has been written about myself and my book is defamatory,” Aluko wrote in The Guardian. “It is intended to put people off buying my book, and I intend to make sure they understand the consequences of such hatred.”

Aluko capped 102 times for England and is a lawyer. She spent two years trying to convince the English Football Association to believe Mark Sampson as national team manager made offensive comments in 2014, about whether her relatives coming from Nigeria for a game were infected with Ebola.

Pressure from Aluko led to a new FA investigation after allegations of wrongdoing had been initially dismissed. The FA apologized to Aluko in 2017 after

a review established she and a teammate had been racially discriminated against by Sampson but that the coach was not racist.

“Accusing someone of racism isn’t something I would ever do lightly,” Aluko wrote in her book.

“It certainly hasn’t been a pleasant experience. I’m willing to bet that no one ever cried racism for fun, or for power, and yet, so many people of color don’t share their experiences because they would be shouted down, in the hideous phrase, for ‘using the race card.’”

The autobiography covers identity and race issues, footballing successes that have seen Aluko win league titles with Chelsea and Juventus, and her career as a lawyer. “I love being a black woman, I wouldn’t change it,” Aluko wrote. “It has always been a cause for celebration and empowerment, never a crutch or an excuse.” ■

‘Nakasabot ko!’ Cebuano added to Google Translate feature

BY JT NISAY ONE of the Philippines’s major languages is now recognized by Word Lens, the augmented reality translation feature of Google Translate.

Cebuano is among the newly expanded 88 source languages that can now be translated to over 100 languages using World Lens. The instant camera translation feature of the Google Translate app works by aiming the device’s camera at a text, whether a street sign or a restaurant menu, then World Lens instantly overlays the desired translation on the screen.

Google Philippines Marketing Head Gabby Roxas said the company translates more than 140 billion words every day, with 1 billion estimated active users monthly around the world. He added that the service is mostly used by travelers who want to navigate their way around a foreign country.

Aside from the source language expansion, Google Translate has been updated with better translation quality

through AI. Neural Machine Translation technology is now built into instant camera translations, producing more accurate and natural translations with 55 percent to 85 percent error reduction in certain language pairs. The update also allows translation pairs outside the English language.

Translations can now be from Cebuano to Japanese, Marathi to Thai, or Greek to Vietnamese, among others.

The addition of Cebuano to Word Lens, Roxas said, is part of Google’s efforts to honor the Filipino language at the conclusion of the celebration of National Language Month, or Buwan ng Wika, in August.

Part of Google’s initiatives was the addition of some of the Philippines’s unique indigenous writing systems on Gboard, a keyboard app in messaging applications and devices that let users type with more speed and accuracy. Among the added writing systems are Buhid, Hanunuo, Tagbanwa and Baybayin.

“At Google, we are committed to helping preserve the country’s local languages

and scripts through relevant technology,” Roxas said. “It is important that we try to continue using indigenous languages to keep them alive. Today, where typing on our smartphones is a common behavior, making

more native scripts available on Gboard will play a vital role in helping preserve them.”

Gboard and Google Translate are available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

RECENT years have been a testament that the local events industry has taken a giant step forward. Event gimmicks now demand more interactive, immersive, engaging digital experiences. There’s an events tech company which has been answering the call since 2011, turning interactive event ideas to reality, redefining event experiences year after year with disruptive innovations.

Waveplay Interactive is the secret sauce that brings to life brands and event organizers’ wish list of interactive ideas.

Showcasing well over 30 experiential technologies and counting—motion and sound games, interactive displays— Waveplay Interactive was the first in introducing the local events industry to the possibilities of digital Instagrammables, such as the 360 Selfie, Holo Foto, GlamShot Infinity, Runway Studio and Copycam. These event products and services have been awarded by E! Channel Asia, GMA Kapuso CoLab and Best of Manila. The company’s international clientele spans Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore, to name a few.

Working on her thesis for De La Salle University years ago, Sharon Yu Ong, founder of Waveplay Interactive, shares how she had been toying with the idea of a group motion gaming concept, which eventually became a reality in her first job, playing in three major theaters, and paving the way for innovations in cinema advertising. From there, with fellow forward-thinking innovators, Sharon founded Waveplay Interactive. She shares: “I’ve always been fond of guerrilla marketing that get consumers to enjoyably interact with the brand. So I thought, ‘Why not create interactive games custom-made to tell the brand’s message, which they can then use to educate their consumers in a fun way?’”

Sharon says that when Waveplay Interactive was starting, the market didn’t embrace the idea of experiential technologies right away. Their big break came from, perhaps, an unexpected source—the longest-running noontime variety show on TV known for its own innovations evidenced by its 40-year-old mark. She recalls, “When we presented the group motion gaming concept to Eat Bulaga, they came on board immediately because the idea tied in with their bayanihan culture advocacy, where crowds work together toward a common goal.”

Acknowledging that the demand to innovate never stops, Sharon recounts how constantly answering the question “What’s next?” keeps her up at night. Her enduring secret is to keep inventing—and to take breaks, “Before you introduce an idea, it has to be well-thought out, a game changer. After we launch, I give myself a breather for a while, then begin to pipeline the next game-changing concept that won’t pale in comparison to the previous ones. I have to admit, though, that there have been times when I thought, ‘I don’t think we can top this.’ But so far, even we surprise ourselves.”

With Sharon’s go-getter, never-say-die attitude, Waveplay Interactive now has over 30 customizable concepts, with the company targeting at least five more to be introduced every year. Waveplay also produces super custom interactives that may not be found in their roster of services.

Asked how it’s like to be a woman in an industry dominated by men, she says, “In my experience, being a woman has never been an issue with my work. It’s a matter of offering something valuable to the industry, being a reliable partner, and treating the clients’ projects as your own.”

As far as what she would like to impart to other women about to embark on their own business journeys, Sharon says, “Creating a successful business is not easy. It’s true that passion ignites an idea, but not all great ideas can become great businesses. It’s still numbers that will keep you alive. Compute costs and profits, the market potential, then evaluate if it’s worth your time and investment. Ask yourself: What don’t I know? What don’t I see? Don’t be afraid to get the opinion of those more experienced, those who will be honest with you and help guide you.”

BusinessMirror

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LENOVO Philippines’s Joey Nocom (from left), consumer product manager for Yoga and IdeaPad; Tristan Gonzales, consumer product manager for Legion and IdeaCentre; Michael Ngan, country general manager; Megan Young, brand ambassador; Sally Yu, consumer segment lead; Anna Abola, marketing communications manager; Mutya Syling, operations lead

MISS WORLD MEGAN YOUNG NOW THE FACE OF LENOVO ACTRESS, model, and Miss World 2013 Megan Young has just been named the official brand ambassador of global technology leader Lenovo. Known as a techie and online game streamer, Young will get to treat her fans to exclusive content and special appearances at Lenovo’s events.

Used to the limelight by now, Young will be gracing Lenovo events and supporting the company’s advocacies.

She’ll be giving fans sneak peeks of current and upcoming Lenovo products and devices, and engaging them with exclusive content. At present, Young has 2.4 million followers on Instagram and her official Facebook page has 2.1 million likes, which she leverages for her Beauty With A Purpose projects and personal advocacies.

“We’re very excited to have Megan Young represent Lenovo at this moment in our history when we are solidifying all efforts to maintain our position as the world’s No. 1 PC maker. She embodies Lenovo with her sophistication, elegance, style and, more important, vibrant personality and flexibility, allowing her to adjust to any situation or role—key qualities we are integrating into our consumer devices. With her influence and large social-media following, Megan can help bring our products closer to consumers,” said Lenovo Philippines Country General Manager Michael Ngan.

While more popularly known for her TV and film stints, Young is into technology, revealing she herself as a gamer at the Miss World Philippines 2013 pageant. She says technology played an important part of her life growing up, and continues to do so with her various commitments.

“I’m what you can call as a simple techie. I may not be as into it as others who research and compare specifications of various products, but I approach it as an art and what I look for the most is performance and programs. I actually grew up being involved with technology. I didn’t go out that much when I was young and I was on my computer instead playing games. My computer was my outlet when my parents were out working, and during the moments when Dad was home, he even taught me coding in HTML. As a matter of fact, when I won Miss World, my gift to myself was a laptop,” Young said.

A self-confessed casual gamer, Young shares her gaming experience to the public via online streaming. Her latest gameplay to date, which saw her playing Stardew Valley, has been viewed by at least 57,000 times on Facebook. Last year, she was able to display her skills in League of Legends by taking part in a celebrity showmatch held at Conquerors Manila sponsored by Lenovo and Globe. The match was able to raise P134,000 for charity.

“I’m delighted with my partnership with Lenovo because it will definitely help elevate my streaming experience. I started streaming around February and that was also the time when Lenovo first approached me. The situation is timely for me since I’m starting to really get into PC games,” said Young.

Asked what she likes the most about Lenovo’s products, Young said it’s how the devices are able to combine power, performance and a premium look and feel into one. Her Legion Y740, for example, fits well at meetings and in coffee shops because of its sleek, business aesthetics. Another of Young’s favorites is the Yoga S940, with its impressive nearly bezel-free display.

These products are part of Lenovo’s consumer lineups which recently underwent a premium refresh. Previously bulky and rugged-looking, the latest IdeaPad, Yoga and Legion laptops are now sleeker, thinner and lighter.

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Facing US ban, Huawei emerging as stronger tech competitor S

BY JOE MCDONALD The Associated Press

HENZHEN, China—Long before President Donald J. Trump threatened to cut off Huawei’s access to US technology, the Chinese telecom equipment maker was pouring money into research that reduces its need for American suppliers.

Huawei’s founder says instead of crippling the company, the export curbs are making it a tougher competitor by forcing managers to focus resources on their most important products.

Little-known to Americans, Huawei Technologies Ltd. is the No. 2 smartphone brand worldwide and the biggest maker of switching gear at the heart of phone networks. Its equipment is used by 45 of the 50 biggest global phone carriers.

Huawei is a pioneer in the emerging field of nextgeneration, or 5G, telecoms. It promises not just faster Internet but support for self-driving cars and other futuristic applications. That fuels Western security concerns and makes 5G politically sensitive. The US claims the company might aid Chinese spying, though Huawei denies that and American officials have provided no evidence.

Huawei needs some American innovations, especially Google services available on Android phones, but industry experts say the company is increasingly self-sufficient after spending 485 billion yuan ($65 billion) on research and development over the past decade.

“They have a strategy to become completely independent from US technology. And in many areas they have become independent,” said Bengt Nordstrom of North Stream, a research firm in Stockholm.

Ren Zhengfei, who founded the company in 1987, acknowledged in an interview that phone sales will suffer if access to technology, including Google services for smartphones, is disrupted by the addition of Huawei to a US Commerce Department “entity list” that requires it to get government permission to buy American technology. Phone sales could be $20 billion to $30 billion less than forecast over the next two years, Ren and other executives said, but the company will survive.

“When the entity list came out, they hoped Huawei would die,” Ren said. “Not only did Huawei not die, it is doing even better.”

The company was added to the entity list on May 16 but already has been granted two 90-day extensions after American suppliers of processor chips and other technology warned they stand to lose billions.

Intel Corp. and other vendors that industry analysts say were paid a total of some $12 billion last year by Huawei have asked the Trump administration for permission to continue sales.

The biggest potential American blow to Huawei would be the loss of Google services that are standard features on Android-based phones. Huawei could use Android, which is open-source, but would lose Google’s music, maps and other applications, making it harder to compete with Samsung, the No. 1 smartphone brand.

“Nobody is going to spend money to buy a premium Huawei phone if it doesn’t have maps, YouTube, Google Play,” said Samm Sacks, an expert in Chinese digital policy at the New America think tank.

Ren said he wants to keep using Android and

working with American suppliers. But as a fallback, the company unveiled its HarmonyOS operating system in August and said Android phones can be switched to the new system in days if necessary.

Huawei, with $107 billion in 2018 sales, spent 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) on research and development last year, more than Apple or Microsoft. It has 76,000 engineers and other researchers at its sprawling, leafy headquarters campus in southern China and in Silicon Valley, Russia, India’s Bangalore and other industry centers.

Huawei is “rapidly building up strength” in R&D, Forrester analyst Charlie Dai said.

In the AP interview, Ren made a sales pitch to Washington: To ease security fears, Huawei will license 5G technology to American developers.

“I am open to the possibility of a paid transfer of 5G technology and production techniques to US companies,” Ren said.

That is a long shot, given Washington’s pressure on phone carriers to shun Huawei. But it would increase the company’s presence in 5G and generate license fees and demand for its products.

Huawei is on a global charm offensive, trying to convince European and other governments there is no truth to US claims it is a security risk.

Washington has been lobbying European governments to exclude Huawei from 5G networks but Germany, France and Ireland say they have no plans to ban any supplier.

Early on, Huawei faced complaints it copied technology from industry leaders. It temporarily pulled out of the United States in 2003 after admitting it copied Cisco software in routers.

But the company is catching up with Western developers, industry experts say. Huawei says it has collected $1.4 billion since 2015 in license fees from

other companies that use its technology.

Huawei is, along with Ericsson and Nokia, a leader in developing network equipment to support 5G. The company says it has invested $4 billion in that since 2009, produces its own equipment and uses no US technology.

“It’s almost all our own components,” Ren said.

Huawei also is among hundreds of companies that are creating 5G phones and other devices, making it the only competitor to straddle the two markets.

“They are very well positioned to develop 5G—at least the same level as their competitors,” Nordstrom said. 5G is meant to vastly expand telecom networks to support self-driving cars, factory robots, nuclear power plants, medical equipment and other applications.

That, plus growing use of networks to link fighter planes and other military hardware, raises the potential cost of security failures and the political sensitivity of 5G. Huawei bills its Mate 20 X smartphone, which went on sale in China in August, as the first with 5G capability.

It uses Kirin 980 and Balong 5000 chips from Huawei’s HiSilicon subsidiary instead of chips from Qualcomm or Intel. HiSilicon also makes Kirin chips for lower-end phones and Kunpeng chips for servers.

Huawei launched its Ascend line of processor chips in October for artificial intelligence. The 310 for selfdriving cars and the more powerful 910 are based on architecture from British chip designer Arm Ltd. Arm said in July it might be forced to cut ties with Huawei because it does some research in the United States. That highlighted the challenge of finding suppliers with no US links.

Arm said in an e-mail it is “actively communicating” with the US Commerce Department about the relationship. ■

AI surveillance is expanding worldwide

BY MATT O’BRIEN The Associated Press A GROWING number of countries are following China’s lead in deploying artificial intelligence to track citizens, according to a research group’s report published on Tuesday.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says at least 75 countries are actively using AI tools such as facial recognition for surveillance.

The index of countries where some form

of AI surveillance is used, includes liberal democracies, such as the United States and France, as well as more autocratic regimes.

Relying on a survey of public records and media reports, the report says Chinese tech companies led by Huawei and Hikvision are supplying much of the AI surveillance technology to countries around the world. Other companies such as Japan’s NEC and USbased IBM, Palantir and Cisco are also major international providers of AI surveillance tools.

Hikvision declined comment Tuesday. The

other companies mentioned in the report didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

The report encompasses a broad range of AI tools that have some public safety component.

The group’s index doesn’t distinguish between legitimate public safety tools and unlawful or harmful uses such as spying on political opponents.

“I hope citizens will ask tougher questions about how this type of technology is used and what type of impacts it will have,” said the report’s author, Steven Feldstein, a Carnegie

Endowment fellow and associate professor at Boise State University.

Many of the projects cited in Feldstein’s report are “smart city” systems in which a municipal government installs an array of sensors, cameras and other Internet-connected devices to gather information and communicate with one another. Huawei is a lead provider of such platforms, which can be used to manage traffic or save energy, but which are increasingly also used for public surveillance and security, Feldstein said.

Feldstein said he was surprised by how many democratic governments in Europe and elsewhere are racing ahead to install AI surveillance such as facial recognition, automated border controls and algorithmic tools to predict when crimes might occur. The index shows that just over half of the world’s advanced democracies deploy AI surveillance systems either at the national or local level.

“I thought it would be most centered in the Gulf States or countries in China’s orbit,” Feldstein said.

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A HUAWEI research engineer holds up a coated screw designed to reduce signal interference at the Huawei Materials lab in Dongguan in Southern China’s Guangdong province. Facing a ban on access to US technology, the Chinese telecom equipment maker is showing it increasingly can do without American components and compete with Western industry leaders in pioneering research. AP

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

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ACER Philippines Sales, Product and Marketing Director Sue Ong-Lim

ACER Philippines Managing Director Manuel Lim

ACER Philippines Senior Marketing Manager Princess Laosantos

PREDATOR Brand Ambassador Alodia Gosiengfiao

The As Team TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

A

FEW months ago, Samsung did something I never thought would happen again—and that was create a good phone not named “S” or “Note,” one that made me actually want to switch.

I guess Sammy finally decided to pay attention on how the market has changed with the entry of Chinese brands Huawei, Honor, Oppo, Realme and Xiaomi ditching the mediocre Galaxy J series. The “J” by the way ironically stood for Joy. Reorganizing their smartphone lineup, Samsung replaced the Galaxy J series and extended the mid-range Galaxy A series and added the Galaxy M series of budget of phones. The Galaxy M10 and M20 launched in January 2019, shortly followed by the Galaxy A10, A30 and A50 the following month.

In our review, we called the Samsung Galaxy A50 as the brand’s “best mid-ranger in years” that “isn’t just easy to recommend, but something I’d want to use,” which I did until it was time to return it.

I was looking forward to how the brand could further improve on it next year, but as it turns out I didn’t have to wait long as Samsung launched the “S” versions of its “A” series smartphones. Yup, it kind of reminds you of Apple’s “S” years, but in Samsung’s case you only have to wait six months as they released their “As” team—the A50s, A30s, A20s and A10s. The new smartphones bring a few iterative improvements in design, performance, storage and cameras but if you’ve been eyeing the A50 before, now might be an even better time to get one.

Built for the “Era of Live” has been the battle cry of the A series, calling out to Generation Z’s love of producing content and sharing it with their friends and followers online—not tomorrow but as it happens. The brand gives these digital natives the chance to further boost their experiences with the refresh of the new Samsung Galaxy A50s.

Starting with the design, the A50s now has a glasstic back with a prism-like gradient finish and comes in prism crush black, prism crush white, prism crush violet and prism crush green. To provide a more boosted smartphone experience to its users, the Galaxy A50s is equipped with a slightly higher

Exynos 9611 processor with a clock speed of up to 2.3GHz. This makes it a very good choice for browsing and streaming and gaming since it has an AI-based Game Booster that analyzes the type of game being processed, while optimizing the device’s performance for an improved gaming experience.

The Galaxy A50s also employs the Frame Booster that adds virtual images in-between frames to compensate for the dropped images caused by AP performance for better viewing experience.

Furthermore, it is equipped with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which means users can download as many games as they want and not worry about lags.

The A50s also comes with an improved camera system, with its main camera boosted to 48MP from 25MP. The smartphone’s 48MP main lens can record bright and clear photos, even at night. The 8MP ultra-wide camera with a 123-degree field of vision resembling the human eye, and it is also equipped with the Super Steady feature that will let content creators shoot smooth, flawless videos, even for action-packed adventures.

Last, the 5MP depth camera adds an artistic touch with its background blur.

The selfie cam is now up to 32MP compared to the previous 25MP with Selfie Focus and Smart Beauty for enhancing your photos.

What good is a device if you can’t use it the entire day? The A50s can keep up with the Gen Z’s busy day with its 4,000mAh battery supported by a fast charging mechanism capable of up to 15W via a USB Type-C port. The Galaxy A50s also highlights a Power Optimization feature so they can record, share and stream content without having to worry about battery life. The Samsung Galaxy A50s is priced at P18,990 and if you preorder until September 27, you also get a Free Galaxy Fit E. If the A50s is a bit too much for you, Samsung still has several “As” you can choose from that can still give you a boosted experience without busting your budget. First is the Galaxy A30s that also features a triple rear camera and a 4,000mAh battery life.

It also has a 6.4-inch HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity V-Display, rear triple camera 25MP (F1.7) + 5MP (Live Focus) + 8MP (Ultra Wide) and 16MP (F2.0) front camera. It is powered by the Exynos 7904 Octa Core 1.8GHz with 4GB RAM and an expandable 64GB storage. Other features include On Screen Fingerprint, Face Recognition, Dolby Atmos, USB Type-C, fast charging, and will retail for P12,990.

Also in the market are the Samsung Galaxy A20s at 9,990, and the slightly smaller Samsung Galaxy A10s for just P6,990.

September is turning out to be a crazy, crazy month for tech writers with a barrage of smartphones being released every week—starting with the

PREDATOR LEAGUE 2020 PREPARES STAGE FOR MOST COMPETITIVE TEAMS

Huawei Nova 5T, Mi 9T Pro, and now the Samsung Galaxy As series.

Huawei will be showing off its Mate 30 series in Germany, while Vivo has just revealed the NEX 3 with dual pop-up front camera.

Realme will also be launching the successor to the realme 3, while Oppo has started pre-orders for the Oppo A9 2020. We will try to review all of them to help you choose the phone that will satisfy the hunger of your inner technivore!

WEBNOVEL’s 10-MILLION PESO SPIRITY AWARDS LAST week at the Manila International Book Fair, Webnovel announced its P10-million reward and writer recruitment campaign, called the Webnovel Spirity Awards.

Webnovel provides an opportunity for everyone from any background or profession to become a millionaire writer. With over 40 million total visits globally, and around 60,000 original novels published, Webnovel has become an ideal stage for aspiring writers to showcase their work and earn money to reward the effort.

In 2018, Webnovel invested P260-million ($5 million) remuneration to its pool of writers. It has been doubled for 2019. Two famous local writers were invited to share their Webnovel journeys on the stage next to Webnovel booths (No. 2-74 to 2-76) last September 13. Both writers started on Webnovel for less than a half year and now have reached an income of millions of pesos.

TheBlips is a 26-year-old-housewife who now considers writing on Webnovel as her dream job.

Popular works from TheBlips include The Ceo’s Woman with 12 million page views and The Villain’s Wife with 3 million page views. The other writer, Kazzenlx, is a primary school teacher who used to feel depressed for years before she started writing on Webnovel. Now, she encounters readers publicly confessing their love to her and her book.

Writing helped Kazzenlx imagining funny and romantic scenes and as a result, she’s filled with hope and happiness. Kazzenlx’s famous novel I Love You Monster received 14 million page views.

Currently, nearly 40,000 writers have published their work on the platform. All regular Webnovel contracted writers, are guaranteed with a minimum of $200 per month for the first four months when their revenue is below the standard; while top contractors receive one-on-one editing, one-on-one counseling and personal branding plus other support.

Webnovel Spirity Awards’ Write to Win 10 Million reward encourages more promising writers to produce good work on Webnovel for its readers. More information is available at www.webnovel.com. ■

READY to demolish the competitors? Sharpen your skills and polish your strategy because Predator League 2020 (www. facebook.com/PredatorGamingPhilippines) wants to see what you’ve got as it stages the tournament in the Philippines.

Predator has always been the brand of choice of professional and hard-core gamers. It boasts of the most complete gaming devices line ranging from laptop, desktop, monitor, tablet and projector. Powered by the latest technology innovations, gaming hardware and electronics brand Predator has proved to be the most reliable ally of these gaming warriors.

Gamers across the Philippines will have to fight it out to claim the rightful title of champions and collect the local prize pool of a whopping P780,000 in Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2) by Valve and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds by PUBG Corp.

The tournament is held annually to give veteran and newbie gamers the fighting chance to the coveted prize.

It is also Predator’s way of showing its commitment to making the gaming industry thrive and flourish allowing new talents to rise and aim high, and who always have their eyes on the prize.

In Predator League 2020, fierce and lucky gamers have been facing off in regional qualifiers at TNC Cafes nationwide.

The Philippine Grand Finals will be held on November 30 and December 1 to determine the best team that will represent the country at the regional Apac Predator League 2020 finals happening here.

In 2018, Predator League was launched as an Apac eSports tournament with the hopes of discovering new highly skilled gamers who are willing to go pro. The Philippines produced some of the most dedicated and exceptionally skilled gamers who would be able to represent the country in the Grand Championship of Predator League in Indonesia.

The Philippine team showed the world what it’s made of when TNC Predator seized the championship title for Dota 2 at Predator League 2019 held in Thailand.

This year, Predator is the official title sponsor of TNC Dota 2 Pro Team and ArkAngel PUBG Pro Team. Each team was provided with the exceptional tools and devices that they used to step up their game and perform to the best of their ability without having to question their equipment.

Team ArkAngel Predator has now become a household name for PUBG and, perhaps, the youngest team to gain recognition in the Philippine gaming community. Meanwhile, TNC Predator put the Philippines in the eSports map by bagging the championship title for Dota 2 at the World Electronic Sports Games in Chongqing, China.

Both teams proved their worth by winning game after game pocketing not only the pool money but also the respect of other gamers in the field.

Predator League is the most anticipated professional gaming tournament as it is the largest brand-initiated tournament in the Asia-Pacific region.

Gamers in the Philippines are jockeying for position to be able to participate in this tournament not only for the prize money, but also because of the prestige it adds to the professional gaming teams.

Holding the tournament in the Philippines is a nod that the country is teeming with skilled gamers who are always ready to compete on the world stage. This also allows those aspiring to master the game and polish their skills until they reach a world-class level.

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In the ad material of Notice of filing of Application for Alien Employment Permits published on September 3, 2019, the Company name and address of Mr. Lu, Zheng and Mr. Hu, Gang should have been read as CHINA CONSTRUCTION FRONT GENERAL DEVT. CORPORATION Located at Unit1007, Atlanta Centre 31 Annapolis St., Brgy. Greenhills, San Juan 2, San Juan City, Metro Manila and not as published. While in the ad material published on September 18, 2019, the name of Mr. Wong, Chiao Jiat should have been read as Mr. Wong Chow Jiat and not as published.

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

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR