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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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Local Gov’t Units

IN SEARCH OF BETTER QUALITY COFFEE

By Dexter A. See

Makati Mayor Abby Binay delivers her first State of the Children Address during the Children’s Assembly held Friday at the Makati Coliseum. Before some 1,000 young residents from public schools and barangays, the mayor vowed to upgrade the city’s public education system using modern technology to develop ‘techie’ or IT-savvy citizens capable of excelling in an IT-driven workplace.

‘EACH KID IN MAKATI TO BECOME A TECHIE’

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

he city government of Makati assured Friday it will prioritize programs that will promote children’s access to modern public education system and further protect their rights and welfare.

During her first State of the Children Address at the Makati Coliseum, Mayor Abigail Binay spoke to more than 1,000 children from the city’s public schools and barangays and discussed what the city government is planning for them.

Binay said that since today’s workplaces are “IT-driven,” her administration will prioritize the upgrading of the city’s public education system and facilities using the latest innovations in technology.

“I want each Makati student to be a ‘techie’ —one who is conversant with the language of technology, and adept with the tools of technology,”

she said.

Binay also discussed a report containing significant accomplishments and plans of the city government, anchored on theTen Rights of Every Filipino Child, which were based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

She reported a further reduction in the malnutrition prevalence rate of the city, from 0.57 percent in 2015 to 0.48 percent this year.

Binay attributed this to the good nutrition program of the city and its aggressive breastfeeding advocacy in the barangays. Other factors she cited were the full immunization package given to newborns in health centers,

feeding program and micronutrient supplementation—all implemented by the Makati Health Department.

The city chief executive, however, expressed concern over the rising rate of overweight and obese children in the city. She encouraged the participants to eat more vegetables and fresh fruits, and avoid unhealthy food and beverages.

Binay also underscored the efforts of the city, through its City Civil Registration Office, to promote the right of a child to have a name and nationality. The CCRO has processed and issued hundreds of birth certificates for free to unregistered children through its Civil Registration sa Barangay Project.

Since August, children of Makati have gained more access to basic services through the Makati Lingkod Bayan Caravan, a one-stop-shop offering various frontline services in the barangays at least twice a month, according to Binay.

Services of the caravan include birth registration, medical and dental services, laboratory services, and educational activities, among others.

Citing related city ordinances, programs and activities, and facilities built by the city government over the years, Binay said her administration will continue to provide a secure and healthy environment for children in Makati.

The mayor’s report gave primary focus on the right of a child to have a good education in line with the theme for 2016, “Isulong: Kalidad ng Edukasyon Para sa Lahat ng Bata!”

Meanwhile, the audience erupted into cheers and applause when Binay announced that the city will be treating all winners of recent academic and sports competitions to a trip to the Enchanted Kingdom theme park in Laguna.

“To show our appreciation of your extraordinary achievements that have brought pride to our city, we will bring you all to Enchanted Kingdom,” she said.

BIG BUSINESS BUYS INTO QC LAND VALUE AUDIT QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista welcomed the participation of big businesses in the consultation of the proposed revised schedule of fair market values of land within the city.

He tasked the city council’s committee on ways and means to comply with the recommendation of the Commission on Audit and Department of Finance to update the city’s obsolete land and property values.

Among those who took part in last Thursday’s consultations at the city hall were SM Prime Holdings and Megaworld Corp.

“Quezon City is merely complying with the provisions of Republic Act 7160

and adjusting the schedule of the fair market values based on real-estate market realities, and to support various urban and social developmental projects of the administration,” city administrator Aldrin Cuña told the Manila Standard.

Cuna said the big businesses posed no objection to the proposed adjustment of property values.

Still, SM Prime Holdings and Megaworld Corp. urged the city government to grant tax incentives to small players or businesses with small capitals.

Fe Wong, tax officer of SM Prime Holdings, the parent company of the SM Group, said they are not objecting to the

proposed legislation.

“Yes we support it. We will submit our position paper later,” she said.

“We are definitely very supportive of this measure,” Megaworld corporate advisory and compliance division manager John Joseph Sy added.“We have always been supportive of the endeavors of the city government as long as it is beneficial to us and to the interests of our clientele, tenants, and buyers.”

Megaworld owns and developed the 17-hectare Eastwood City, the commercial and residential property in Bagumbayan area.

Trade organizations such as the

Association of Filipino Franchisers Inc. said they will look into the proposed adjustments.

“Yes, we support it. As much as we want to oppose it, we would appreciate having no increase, but the city government was able to explain that it has been a long time since the last increase,” said Rafael Canare, executive director of AFFI. Canare appealed to Bautista to provide small businesses with tax incentives since they would expect an increase in leasing fees to be imposed by property owners, such as malls and commercial buildings affected by the adjustment of real property tax. Rio N. Araja

BAGUIO CITY—A local coffee industry player pointed out the importance of quality planting materials coupled with the adoption of proper farming, storage and processing techniques to be able to produce quality coffee beans that command higher buying prices in the local and international markets.

Dr. Melvin Hipol, the founder of the Kape Ti Uma Inc., observed that coffee plantations in most parts of Benguet are not properly maintained that results in the infestation of coffee plants and poor quality coffee beans that are bought at lower prices in the market.

“We learned that there were some agencies who had been encouraging farmers to shift to coffee production, but when harvest time came, the personnel could no longer be contacted to help them market their produce,” Hipol said.

“Thus, the farmers decided to cut the planted coffee trees and replace them with cash crops that provide them periodic income.”

“We were challenged to organize ourselves into a company to help small coffee farmers in the rural areas to market their produce,” Hipol stressed.

Apart from planting quality coffee trees—around 800 to 1,000 trees per hectare for the Arabica variety and about 2,000 trees for Robusta—Hipol suggested that coffee farmers must immediately depulp the harvested coffee beans within the day, soak the same in water for 18 to 24 hours before drying them in direct sunlight for 15 to 20 days, depending on the weather.

Coffee beans must have a moisture content of 11 to 13 percent because if the moisture exceeds that, the aroma of the coffee beans and its taste will no longer be maximized, Hipol said.

If it is below 11 percent, it will be premature to roast the coffee beans.

The dried coffee beans could be stored in hermit bags for at least 2 months for Arabica and 5 months for Robusta before being roasted through full city roasting, or the border of medium and dark roast.

However, Hipol claimed small farmers could not afford the hermit bags, that is why they are advised to put the coffee beans in clean sacks and make sure that they are kept in airy portions of the house while waiting for the produce to be sold.

Hipol’s company is eyeing the grading of 8 to 10 tons of Arabica coffee beans and 20 to 30 tons of Robusta after the harvest season

by February next year to help small farmers market their produce, considering they buy the product of small farmers from the different parts of the province and sell them to interested buyers.

K ape Ti Uma will remain transparent in the grading of the coffee beans, for farmers to be aware of the quality of their produce and to encourage them to continue planting coffee in their respective places as part of promoting the industry.

The company intends to help some 150 coffee farmers in the different parts of Benguet in accessing local and international markets.

783 FARMERS FROM FIVE LEYTE TOWNS GAIN PARCELS OF LAND BARUGO, Leyte—About 783 farmers from five Leyte towns became landowners when Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano distributed 1,058 certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) recently at the Apostol Gymnasium here.

The CLOAs covered a combined area of 1,427.5 hectares of farmlands in the towns of Barugo, Alangalang, San Miguel, Carigara and Jaro.

Lolita Candaza, one of the beneficiaries,

said with the award they could now avail of the various assistances extended by the different local and international nongovernment organizations to Typhoon “Yolanda” survivors.

Marianowas assistedbyLandRegistration Authority Deputy Administrator Robert Leretana, Mayor Maria Rosario Avestruz, Department of Agrarian Reform Regional Director Sheila Enciso, DAR Assistant Regional Directors Ma. Fe Malinao and

Ismael Aya-ay, Leyte Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer Renato Badilla, and Riena Reyes, Project Coordinator of Rights Inc. an NGO that has been assisting the farmers.

According to Badilla, San Miguel has the most number of beneficiaries at 245 with 321 CLOAs covering 233 hectares.

Barugo has 222 for 398 CLOAs covering 280.1 hectares; Jaro has 147 for 230 CLOAs covering 684.6 hectares; Carigara has 123

for 102 CLOAs covering 129 hectares; and Alangalang has 46 beneficiaries of the 7 CLOAs covering 100.6 hectares.

Mariano stressed that it is DAR’s goal to free farm workers from“the bondage of the soil.”He also announced that the department is creating a national LAD (land acquisition and distribution) action team that will help strategize and hasten the land distribution process nationwide.

DAR is also reconstituting CLOAs that

were destroyed when the Registry of Deeds office in Palo burned down in the ‘90s.

Enciso thanked the LRA for cutting the requirements in the registration of CLOAs, resulting in the release of land titles pending at the ROD. For the beneficiaries to understand, Leretana explained that in the registration of an original certificate of title (OCT) as in the case of these CLOAs, tax declaration is required as proof of ownership.

LGUs

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

TAIWAN DONATES P1M TO BATANES

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE government of Taiwan has donated P1 million to Batanes to help the province recover from severe damages caused by Typhoon “Ferdie” (international name Meranti).

Citing his country’s proximity to the Philippines’ northernmost province, Dr. Gary Song-Huann Lin, Taiwanese Representative to the PH, said the donation would help rebuild houses and infrastructure damaged by the typhoon.

Taiwan’s assistance to Batanes is part of its “New Southbound Policy” where it sees the Philippines’“significant importance” as the gateway to Asean countries, Lin said.

“Batanes is not alone. Taiwan is a genuine friend and close neighbor of the Philippines. A friend in need is a friend indeed,” the Taiwanese official said in his speech during the donation ceremony.

“Taiwan wishes the best for the victims and hopes that they can return to their normal lives soon, and that the reconstruction may be carried out smoothly to regain its charm in no time.”

Taiwan also donated instant noodles to Batanes through Gov. Marilou Cayco and other provincial officials.

Lin noted an urban legend in Taiwan that says one could hear a rooster crow in the morning in Batanes from the southernmost tip of Taiwan. In addition, people in Batanes can even listen to radio programs from Taiwan.

“For a Taiwanese, it truly feels like being home when staying in Batanes,” he said, adding that Taiwan’s ships dock in Batanes to resupply during the fishing season from March to June.

“This shows that Taiwanese and Filipinos enjoy longstanding friendship.

Therefore, when Batanes needs assistance due to the wrecking of typhoon, Taiwan of course will extend a helping hand through caring disaster relief efforts without any hesitation,” Lin said.

PAGADIAN FIRST TO ‘MASA MASID’ IN REGION 9 PAGADIAN CITY—The Department of the Interior and Local Government in Region 9 (DILG-9) recently lauded the city government for being the first local government unit in the region to launch the program “Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga” (MASA MASID).

DILG-9 Regional Director Paisal O. Abutazil, in his message during the formal launch of MASA MASID at the Taclobo Stage in Plaza Luz here, congratulated city officials for “sincerely implementing” the program.

MASA MASID is a community-based anti-criminality, anti-corruption, and anti-illegal drugs program. It encourages multisectoral partnership to intensify the spirit of volunteerism at the community level.

The purpose of the campaign is to heighten community involvement by mobilizing the support of local s t a k e h o l d e r s, vo l u nte e r s, c i v i c organizations, faith-based organizations, and the private sector against illegal drugs, criminality and corruption.

A b u t a z i l c i t e d t h e n e g a t i ve consequences of illegal drugs, saying it not only affects individuals but also their families and friends.

“The government is very serious in this campaign to make the Philippines a drug-free country,” he added.

M e a nw h i l e, M ayo r R o m e o P. Pulmones also launched the “Barkada Kontra Droga,” a flagship program of the city that encourages everyone to drive out illegal drugs in their communities.

He expressed confidence that with the program, it will not only make Pagadian drug-free but also a peaceful and livable city.

The Philippine National Police also recently launched the “Kontra sa Krimen at Katiwalian” (KKK) mobile application projec t at Liga City Convention Center.

KKK will support the MASA MASID campaign, said police provincial director Senior Supt. Sofronio Elcadre.

“It is a reporting system that encourages every concerned citizen and volunteer to report to the authorities those involved in illegal drugs, criminality and corruption,” Elcadre explained.

RELIEF FOR TALITAY. Kamid Buisan, acting mayor of Talitay town in Maguindanao (in checkered polo), leads the distribution of relief packs to 900 fami-

lies displaced by law enforcement operations against town mayor Montasir M. Sabal, one of the alleged narco-politicians on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list. The ARMM Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (HEART) and the 6th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion of the Philippine Army’s 6ID command led the groups coming to Talitay’s aid. Omar Mangorsi

HYBRID RICE LEADS TO BUMPER CROP IN ILOILO

T

hanks to hybrid rice seeds, the rice harvest in Iloilo soared in this year’s wet season, with some farmers yielding over 10 metric tons per hectare, provincial agricultural officials said.

With 10,000 hectares now “organically grown” on hybrid rice, the yield average of 12 farmers using SL-8H seeds rose to 10.71 metric tons per hectare, they added.

Despite the severe El Niño drought, Iloilo remains a rice surplus province, especially as farmers ventured into SL-8H hybrid rice that sent their yield average to 4.09 MT per hectare.

This is an overall increase of nearly one MT (0.86) per hectare compared to the 2015 average of 3.23 per hectare, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data, for the entire Iloilo, according to Assistant Provincial Agriculturist Elias V. Sandig Jr. The trend to plant hybrid rice in Iloilo rose as a farmer registered a high yield last year.

“In 2015, Marilyn Duco of Patlad, Dumangas obtained an average yield equivalent to 14.51 MT per hectare from SL-8H hybrid seeds at 14 percent moisture content,” said Sandig.

Iloilo farmers have also adopted what is realized now as a superior fertilization technique—Crop Stand Fertilizer Management.

“An honest to goodness campaign was made to accept SL-8H with instruction to adopt Crop Stand Fertilizer Management. A total of 10,000 hectares (of hybrid area) was realized,” said Sandig.

Applying fertilizer based on crop stand means

that fertilizer is applied in reduced amounts. It is applied only when the color of rice plant is light yellow, signifying a need for fertilizer.

“To date, the 12 top SL-8H farmers had an average production of 10.71 MT per hectare equivalent to 9.713 MT per hectare at 14 percent moisture content,“ said Sandig.

Iloilo farmer Teresita S. Setiar of Leganes reaped the highest yield equivalent 17.921 MT per hectare at 14 percent moisture content. She used organic fertilizers with reduced artificial fertilizer, Sandig added.

“Suffice to say that it is only in Iloilo where hybrid rice is grown organically,” he said.

With the hybrid rice, those who were able to plant only once a year are now able to harvest twice as much. “Some areas are just rainfed, so farmers don’t plant during the dry season. But with their high yield—double from hybrid rice—it’s as good as they would have planted two times a year,” said Rich Recoter, SLAC hybrid rice specialist.

From his rain-fed 6,000-square meter farm, Andres Corras Jr. got this last wet season an equivalent of an average of 9.68 MT per hectare.

Allan Tabefranca got a yield of 8.5 tons per hectare from 8,000 square meters. He is in an irrigated area and even used direct seeding, which means he had lesser cost than if he transplanted seeds.

“Our campaign is that using the same technology of rice planting, you just change the seed, but your expense is the same. The seed is for free, so they get a higher income. Because of this, they have been convinced to go into hybrid,” said Iloilo Provincial Agriculturist Ildefonso T. Toledo.

With proper fertilization management, hybrid rice in irrigated areas in Iloilo as of October 2016 produced 4.77 MT per hectare. This is higher by

1.28 MT compared to the July to September 2016 inbred average yield of 3.491 MT per hectare.

Farmers have traditionally avoided the use of hybrid rice in the wet season due to bacterial leaf blight infestation or BLB. But fertilization based on crop stand has apparently eliminated this problem.

“It’s the first time for many farmers to plant hybrid in the wet season,” said Geron E. Magbanua, also of the Iloilo provincial agriculture office. ”And (impressively), there are farmers who harvested 10 tons (per hectare) as shown by the contest (Palayabangan introduced by the Philippine Rice Research Institute).”

One Ilonggo farmer, Ramon Dagohoy Jr. got 13.95 MT per hectare from his irrigated, transplanted SL-8H. “From his 2.2-hectare area, he got a total of 615 cavans at 47 kilos per bag summing up to 279 bags (13.95MT) per hectare,” said Magbanua.

Despite these increased yields, Iloilo’s rice production is expected to reach only 700,000 MT for 2016 owing to the impact of El Niño during the first semester of the year.

Without hybrid rice, production would have been even lower for Iloilo. Hybrid rice area in Iloilo in 2015 was just at 4,500 hectares.

Based on the Philippine Statistics Authority, Iloilo produced 877,076 MT of rice in 2015 with an average of 3.23 MT per hectare. It ranks fifth in rice production, after Nueva Ecija (1.580,620 MT), Isabela (1,256,390 MT), Pangasinan (1,081,157 MT) and Cagayan (884,334 MT).

The province has a total of 135,964 hectares of ricelands consisting of 48,860 hectares of irrigated ricelands, 85,779 hectares of rainfed ricelands and 1,325 uplands devoted to rice, tilled by 110,000 farmers.

WOMEN IN VISAYAS FISHING GET TRAINING

Elsa Chavez of BFAR Central Office (second from left) receives her certificate of appreciation as a resource person from WINFISH president Dr. Marieta B. Sumagaysay, IARRD-PCAARRD director Dr. Dalisay DG. Fernandez, and BFAR 7 GAD focal person Ana C. Belga (from left).

SEVERAL government agencies led by the Department of Science and Technology banded together in a forum to enhance entrepreneurial skills of women in micro, small, and medium enterprises at the Central Visayas Multispecies Nursery Demonstration and Training Center in Bentig, Calape, Bohol.

The forum was titled “Fisheries Wo m e n E n t r e p r e n e u r s Fo r u m : Developing the Entrepreneurial Skills of SMEs for Enhanced Export Market of Fresh and Dried Seaweeds.”

The Inland Aquatic Resources Research Division of the DOST ’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, the National Network on Women in Fisheries in the Philippines Inc. or WINFISH, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Regional Office 7, and BFAR Central Office teamed up for the event.

It was the second in a series of fora for women entrepreneurs in the fisheries industry held throughout the country.

Previously, women entrepreneurs in Pampanga were trained on the export of live and frozen shrimp and shrimp products at the EPHATHA Development Center, SACOP, Maimpis in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The forum became a venue for industry representatives from Regions

6, 7, and 8 to share their personal experiences and successes on the production and marketing of fresh and dried seaweeds.

Areas of concern and science and technology intervention needs for the development and improvement of seaweeds per region were discussed during the workshop.

Challenges in the industry, which include unstable prices due to supply and demand, absence of pr ice standardization, DTI registration, lack of facilities and equipment, quality of products, market, and packaging and labeling, were identified.

A Memorandum of Understanding between an expor ter and five processors was signed at the end of the forum.

A total of 75 participants attended the two-day event, consisting of representatives from IARRD-PCAARRD, WINFISH officials and staff, BFAR 7 (Cebu) Gender and Development (GAD) and Secretariat, BFAR CO in Quezon City staff, BFAR 6 (Iloilo) and 8 (Tacloban) officials and staff, and exporters or processors of seaweeds from Regions 6 to 8.

Dr. Dalisay DG. Fernandez, IARRDPCAARRD director, was the proponent of the project funded by the BFAR Central Office.

Gadgets & Games

IT TAKES A FEW SECONDS TO STEAL PHONE DATA

Leeor Ben-Peretz, the Executive Vice President of the Israeli firm Cellebrite's technology, shows devices and explains the technology developed by his company in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva. It only takes a few seconds for an employee of Cellebrite's technology, one of the world's leading hacking companies, to take a locked smartphone and pull the data from it. AFP

P

ETAH TIKVA, ISRAEL—It only takes a few seconds for an employee of one of the world’s leading hacking companies to take a locked smartphone and pull the data from it.

Israeli firm Cellebrite’s technology provides a glimpse of a world of possibilities accessible to security agencies globally that worry privacy advocates.

The company has contracts in more than 115 countries, many with governments, and it shot to global prominence in March when it was reported the FBI used its technology to crack the iPhone of one of the jihadist-inspired killers in San Bernardino, California.

There have since been reports that Cellebrite was in fact not involved, and the company itself refuses to comment.

Regardless, it is recognised as one of the world’s leaders in such technology.

It can reportedly take a wide range of information off devices: from the content of text messages to potentially details of where a person was at any given moment.

Even messages deleted years before can be potentially retrieved.

“There are many devices that we are the only player in the world that can unlock,”Leeor Ben-Peretz, one of the company’s top executives, told AFP in English.

But privacy and rights activists worry such powerful technology can wind up in the wrong hands, leading to abuses.

‘Cat and mouse’

Cellebrite’s technology is not online hacking. It only works when the phone is physically connected to one of the firm’s devices.

The company recently demonstrated its capabilities for an AFP journalist.

The password on a phone was disabled and newly taken photos appeared on a computer screen, complete with the exact location and time they were taken.

The phone in the demonstration, an LG G4 run on Google’s Android operating system, is a model Cellebrite had already cracked, so the extraction did not take long.

The real challenge, Ben-Peretz agrees, is staying in the lead in a race where phone manufacturers constantly launch new models and update software with ever more complicated security.

In the firm’s lab they have 15,000 phones— with around 150-200 new models added each month.

When a new phone is launched, Ben-Peretz said, their 250-person research team races against competitors to find a chink in its armour, a process that can range from a few days to months. iPhones present a particular challenge be-

cause, unlike many firms, Apple designs everything from the device’s hardware to software, making its technology particularly difficult to hack, explained Yong Wang, a professor at Dakota State University in the United States.

Ben-Peretz remains confident his company can crack even the newest iPhones. “iOS devices have strong security mechanisms that give us a challenge, but if anyone can address this challenge and provide a solution to law enforcement, it is Cellebrite,” he said, referring to Apple’s operating system.

E-COMMERCE continues to gain ground in the Philippines permeating the traditional consumer journey towards purchase.

Merchants on the other end of the consumer purchase spectrum have also reshaped how they do business, and for good reason.

Online sales is a different animal.

Where once merchants enjoyed reigning over a proximate region, today e-commerce makes everyone and anyone accessible, anytime and anywhere, allowing for SMEs to proliferate rapidly.

SMEs contribute about 99% of economic growth in the Philippines yet access to finance still remains to be the biggest hurdle for them. The age-old issue is the impetus behind why First Circle was built. The growthfinance company aims to give small businesses the chance to compete, enabling them by providing easy access to finance.

The length of time saved means giving these businesses an avenue to, for example, but not limited to, win purchase orders which they would otherwise miss. This business model is replicated to a huge volume of online retailers, with Lazada being one of the strongest partners of First Circle.

Catering to varied industries online, the growth-finance company provides a solution-suite based on business need, size and type ensuring bespoke business needs are provided with bespoke business solutions.

The nature of the business solutionsuite of First Circle is highly agile, recognizing that one of the pain-points of SME growth was a speedy delivery of operations.

“We realized what we needed to do in order to empower small businesses was to reduce the amount of time it takes to open an account with us and also reduce the time it takes for them to avail of finance,” said Patrick Lynch, President & CEO of First Circle declares when asked how First Circle was built.

Legitimate means?

Eastern Communications product management and development head Mike Soriano

the transformation of business.

Mike Soriano, Eastern Communications product management and development head, echoed this challenge in his talk on connectivity and digital transformation, asking his audience to “begin with the end in mind”, citing author Steven Covey. He said it is through this clear objective that they can

FIRST CIRCLE FUELLING E-COMMERCE

According to Ben-Peretz, there is no phone on the market that is impossible to crack.

“Yes it is getting harder, it is getting more complex,” he said. “But we still deliver results and they are results on the latest devices and latest operating systems.”

Among the data the firm claims to be able to access are text messages deleted years previously.

“In some devices even if you would format the device and you would believe the data is deleted, still a significant portion of it exists,” Ben-Peretz added.

The company sells its products largely to police and law enforcement agencies across the globe, though also increasingly to private firms doing corporate investigations.

It has seen particularly high growth in Asia, multiple times the 15 percent global growth rate, Ben-Peretz said without providing specific numbers. AFP

GETTING READY FOR PH'S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION THE country’s top information technology agents came together during the CIO Summit 2016 to vouch for digital transformation in business.

Executive Networks Media and IDC Philippines, together with lead partner, Eastern Communications, organized the whole-day affair for chief information officers and senior IT officials from all over Asia.

The team opened the floor for discussion on the importance of investing in technology and hosted the exchanges on groundbreaking topics such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, business optimization, and other technological disruptions unfolding in the Philippines.

Sudev Bangah, IDC country manager for Indonesia and Philippines, opened the summit by presenting the foremost challenge for the country’s digitalization today: the top-level struggle between CIOs and chief executive officers, and reconciling their visions for technology and business.

“Digitalization means creating new business models, opening new opportunities, and generating ROIs never had before.

While most of the CIOs in this country are extremely talented, having that understanding of business is key to realizing these advantages,” Bangah said.

“Philippine CEOs are aggressive, 60% of them want to help you and get involved in the digital transformation,” Bangah added as he invited his audience of CIOs to lead

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

identify the opportunities taking form in the country today.

Reaching the cloud for business

The CIO attendees weighed on the feasibility and challenges of digitally-transformed business during the breakout discussions.

Panelist-experts from IT companies and service providers offered solutions to the top executives, sharing technology hindrances and opportunities.

LBC Inc. senior vice president and head of IT Alfie Deato and Eastern Communications marketing head Alfredo Solis also talked about cloud computing as they engaged the daring proposition and addressed the infrastructure gap noted by the table of IT executives from the academia, industry, and government sectors.

Deato shared LBC’s business model of nationwide delivery systems, while Solis explained the technologies out in the market. The survey on cloud computing highlighted the crucial role of developing reliable, customized internet connections in delivering outcomes for growth, as the roundtable audience shared the intent to move further into the digital world.

IDC Philippines operations head Jubert Alberto affirms this trend as he noted that, even with some CEOs still keeping to their established methods of success and having reservations on investing heavily in technology, more are recognizing its inevitability.

Alberto explained that there is a general consensus on the cost of lagging behind innovations, “The CEOs have to imagine themselves as their customers.

If they don’t ride technology’s wave of change, then they lose so much of the market and, of course, the business.”

Officials of First Circle at their PH headquarters—Tony Ennis, CTO; Patrick Lynch, president and CEO, and Timothy Glynn, CFO

First Circle’s cornerstones are built on its promise to enable SMEs by providing them access to financing in the most convenient way.

“The full end-to-end solution from the moment a consumer engages with us is done online. There is no paper exchanged. This also allows us to have great control in the customer journey” added Ly. In contrast, what takes 14 hours on average to complete for manual applications to traditional institutions takes only 2-3 minutes with First Circle’s proprietary-built secured system.

The development of this financial technology leapfrogs decades of struggles of SMEs to find access to finance.

“Building a wonderful technology stack has been geared towards improving availability of finance to small businesses” said Tony Ennis, Chief Technology Officer for First Circle.

First Circle points to the fact that the Philippine economy is growing at a 6% annual rate. With a 95% return rate for its customers and loan offers returned in under 24 hours for approved applicants, it surely is making huge strides in reshaping how small businesses in the Philippines can expand their wings. Randy Caluag

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 Riera U. Mallari, Editor rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

Gadgets & Games

FOCAL OUT TO CONQUER LOCAL AUDIO INDUSTRY

The Sphear, Spirit One S, Spirit Classic and Spirit Professional are the result of a risky challenge: to offer an audio experience worthy of the brand’s high-fidelity loudspeakers through these line of premium headphones.

Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

A

byword in the home and automotive audio industry, Focal of France recently unveiled its latest line of earphones, headphones and home audio systems at the Edsa Shangri-La. Johann Tiu of Focal Multimedia said that the earphones and headphones reflect the company’s core values that combine technological innovation, audio excellence and quality that have made the brand the benchmark in the audio industry.

With production based in Focal’s high technology lab in Saint-Etienne, France, the Sphear, Spirit One S, Spirit Classic and Spirit Professional are the result of a risky challenge: to offer an audio experience worthy of the brand’s high-fidelity loudspeakers through these line of premium headphones.

Focal design and audio engineers crafted the line of new audio products to individually meet the requirements of the target market.

The Focal Sphear breaks with conventions and proves that high-fidelity, in-ear headphones can be

used for hours on end without the slightest discomfort!

Sphear is faithful to Focal’s historic acoustic signature, the“Spirit of Sound,” with a particularly rich mid-range, which is never muffled, accurate and with clear sound. It is extremely faithful to the original work, and offers harmonic richness, from the low end to the high end, for true listening pleasure.

Thanks to their unbeatable performance in this price category, Sphear is the most accomplished in-ear headphones to date, the most comfortable and the most generous for getting the most out of your music, wherever you are.

Spirit One S was developed to take full advantage of Focal’s technological advancements and the company’s expertise.

I t is destined for all those who are searching for more than just

Focal Sphear

Spirit Professional

a stylish product, but also for real acoustic equipment.

For the discerning audiophile, Focal’s Spirit Classic headphones offer a warm sound combined with the dynamics of the drivers, enabling one to find the pleasure of listening to music with all the wonderful details.

Spirit Classic’s sound tuning is perfect for listening at home: extended low end, a detailed mid-range and linear top end for a lighter, open sound--just what you would expect from Focal. Spirit Classic gives its best when the user is at home in a relatively quiet background. There is no need to mask the surrounding noise to enjoy a faithful listening session. Its frequency response curve has been sculpted accordingly: flat in low frequencies as Spirit Classic has around 3dB less bass in comparison to Spirit One. For the professional, who demands the absolute best, Focal’s Spirit Professional headphones have been specifically designed to meet the expectations and requirements of Recording Studios, Home Studios and

Broadcasting Studios.

The extreme care paid to the design of the Mylar-Titanium alloy driver enables it to combine rigidity, lightness and high damping properties to preserve the dynamics of the audio signal and provide remarkably neutral sound without any distortion.

The highly accurate reproduction of bass frequencies will reveal the smallest defects in the mix, while avoiding acoustic constraints of the workspace.

Spirit Professional offers excellent acoustic insulation to address the constraints of the often noisy environments specific to Broadcasting and Home Studios.

Estimated prices for the Focal earphones and headphones start at P7,500 for the Sphear, Spirit One S at P12,000; Spirit Professional at P17,500 and the Spirit Classic at P20,250.

For details on how to experience audio nirvana, contact Focal Multimedia Philippines at 721-9742 or 0917-5754812 or e-mail at Waido. info@gmail.com

LENOVO GIVING AWAY TRAVEL VOUCHERS TO celebrate the coming holiday season, Lenovo, the company that brought the groundbreaking Yoga Book to the Philippines, will be giving away travel vouchers for every purchase of participating Lenovo products.

From now to Dec. 31, buyers of participating Lenovo products with Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors will be rewarded with P1,000 to P2,000 worth of travel vouchers, depending on the purchased product. The vouchers can be used to pay for domestic and international flights, baggage allowance, as well as in-flight meals with Lenovo’s partner airline.

Travel vouchers also await those who purchase the Lenovo PHAB 2 PLUS until Dec. 31.

“The year 2016 has been an unprecedented year for Lenovo as we launched two revolutionary products, the Yoga Book and Yoga 900. These two products perfectly embody our customers’ identity of being bold, energetic, and progressive,” said Lenovo Philippines Country General Manager Michael Ngan. “Just like our products, this holiday campaign is suited for our consumers who never stand still in the pursuit of continuous improvement and innovation.”

For every purchase of participating Intel Core i3 products, consumers will be given a travel voucher worth P1,000, while P1,500 and P2,000 worth of travel vouchers await those who purchase participating Intel Core i5 and i7 products, respectively.

P1,000 worth of travel vouchers goes to the buyers of the Lenovo PHAB 2 PLUS. All vouchers may be claimed at the designated claiming centers in Metro Manila, and for those who shopped in the provinces, the vouchers will be sent via courier.

Some of the participating products include the popular Lenovo Yoga series, such as the Lenovo Yoga 510-15 and Lenovo Yoga 900-13 which can get a buyer 2,000 pesos worth of travel voucher for each purchase, and the IdeaPad 500 and 510 series.

Desktop PCs are also part of the promo such as the Lenovo IdeaCentre 300S. “Aside from giving them a free getaway, through this holiday promo we also hope to impart to our loyal customers Lenovo’s ‘Never Stand Still’ mindset which is ingrained into all our products—the attitude of constantly seeking new experiences and consistent progress by always moving forward,” added Ngan.

For a full list of Lenovo’s participating stores, please visit Lenovo Philippines on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

POWER MAC CENTER WELCOMES IPHONE 7

Power Mac Center brand ambassador Marc Nelson (third from left) leads the unboxing of the new iPhone 7 as his co-ambassadors Jay Contreras, Champ Lui Pio, and Cesca Litton look on.

PREMIER Apple partner Power Mac Center staged the highly anticipated launch of the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Apple Watch Series 2 at midnight of Nov. 11.

The event, which was held at Power Mac Center Greenbelt 3 in Makati City and graced by celebrity brand ambassadors, saw people lining up as early as 11 a.m. on Nov. 10 to be among the first to get their hands on the new devices.

The first 22 customers who bought the iPhone 7 during the special midnight shopping event

also took home up to P15,000 worth of freebies including PAL Mabuhay Miles credits, Adam Elements iKlips iOS storage, Urban Armor Gear rugged case, thecoopidea™ lightning cable, Whoosh cleaning kit, Belkin screen protector, and Bobino cable organizer. The rest of the midnight buyers also received a PhP 500-worth gift card from Power Mac Center. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus SRPs at Power Mac Center: iPhone 7 32GB – P37,990; iPhone 7 128GB – P43,990; iPhone 7 256GB – P49,990;

iPhone 7 Plus 32GB – P44,990; iPhone 7 Plus 128GB – P50,990; iPhone 7 Plus 256GB – P56,990.

Flexible payment terms are also available for: BPI and PNB

credit cardholders can get them at 0% interest for up to 24 months.

For other major credit cards: available at 0% interest for up to 3 months only.