BusinessMirror April 16, 2015

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Opposition to perks cut mounts

GOING, GOING...

FLOWN A teacher who has come from God

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VIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

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NOVELS FOCUS ON GRITTY REALISM, ANGER, LOSS, FAMILY DYSFUNCTION »D4

BusinessMirror

Thursday, April 16, 2015

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Going, going...flown

New lifestyle rewards program offers free flights at your fingertips

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B JT N

THE newest lifestyle rewards program in the country, GetGo was recently launched to enable customers to easily earn rewards points, which they can redeem and use to book local or international flights within the Cebu Pacific network, for free.

Photo shows members of the media with GetGo General Manager Nik Laming (center), who all flew to Cebu City for the GetGo launch.

TRIP to Cebu may inch you closer to Hong Kong, while your next banking transaction may be your way to Singapore.

In line with its 19th anniversary, Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) has launched the brandspanking new lifestyle rewards program GetGo. Through it, CEB flyers, who can avail themselves of a membership at GetGo’s user-friendly web site (www. getgo.com.ph) with a one-time payment of P150, can earn redeemable reward points and use it to book local and even international flights within the CEB network, and have access to other exclusive promos and add-on services from the country’s largest carrier. Members of the airline’s previous membership program, CEB Club, are automatically made GetGo members.

“In 19 years we have been fortunate enough to develop a solid base of frequent fliers, with 1.4 million CEB Club members and 630 corporate accounts. We will be able to serve them with GetGo,” CEB President and CEO Lance Gokongwei said in a media statement.

“Now, our frequent fliers can get rewarded with more benefits and free flights.”

According to GetGo Director for Marketing Allan Florendo during the rewards program’s launch at Mövenpick Hotel Mactan Island in Cebu, there’s a huge market for the program and for CEB, which enjoyed off-the-chart numbers in 2014 by flying 17 million passengers. “Filipinos love to travel,” he said, citing that 60 percent of the 1.4 million CEB Club members in their database actively purchase tickets and average three trips a year. As for the top-tier group, he noted that frequent fliers even fly nine times a year via CEB.

Aside from this, Laming said they are aggressively closing deals with other partners to introduce more opportunities to earn points via conversion and, ultimately, offer free flights to their members.

“We’ve had healthy and positive discussions with a whole range of different potential partners with the view to really fulfill the promise that you just need to do whatever you do every day, like banking and shopping for groceries, and being able to translate all that into a free flight,” he said.

Even better, GetGo reward points don’t expire. The account will remain active as long as it has earned at least one point in the last 12 months. “Unlike some of the programs out there, we don’t give you just a year to earn them, only to take them away,” Laming said.

The new rewards program will also be featuring a plus cash-payment scheme that enables members to top their points with cash to redeem free flights. There’s also a point-pooling system that is tailored to Filipinos, who, according to Laming, “love to be together. They love to eat together, travel together. There’s a large family community here.” The pooling system enables members to organize circles of up to eight people and share points in one account. This way, earning rewards can be made faster.

‘GRATEFUL AND GENEROUS’ GETGO, which was launched in November 2013 as Cebu Pacific’s loyalty program, is founded on the brand values of “being fun and down-to-earth,” a rewards program that is both “grateful and generous.”

“We don’t want members to take a lifetime to get a small reward. We want to make it accessible as much as possible to the majority of Filipinos,” said GetGo General Manager Nik Laming, who has over 20 years of experience in the customer loyalty management industry spread across major loyalty projects in Asia, Europe and the US. Fueled by this sense of generosity, the program has set favorable mechanics for its members. The most obvious way of earning GetGo rewards points is through traveling with qualifying CEB and Tigerair flights, where one earns 1 point for every P5 spent on base fare and select add-ons.

GOING FOR SOMETHING BIG DESPITE being created by CEB, Laming said they

wanted to come out with a separate rewards brand that’s not identified with the airlines.

“The heritage of the program remains at Cebu Pacific but we are new, we are independent and we are all about making it easy for people to get free flights from doing what they do every day,” he said. “We didn’t want to call it ‘Cebu Pacific Rewards’ or anything to do with Cebu Pacific because we want this program to be used by other companies, by other partner organizations as their own and the name is very descriptive about the brand: You go out, you buy things, get things, and then you get your opportunity to go. We also want to get going right from the GetGo, so there’s a number of considerations that went behind the brand.”

He added that, more than just a frequent flyer program, GetGo’s vision

is “to be the leading lifestyle loyalty program in the country that offers a compelling value proposition in form of travel, with CEB as anchor to attract and retain customers through free flights.” Expounding, Laming said they are actually looking to be the country’s premier rewards program. “SM Advantage has 6 million members, but we flew 17 million passengers last year so there’s that big opportunity. We want to be able to overtake that,” he said. “When you talk about rewards, when you talk about travel, when you talk about free flights, we want it to be GetGo.” n

Demand for travel agents grows despite surge in web sites

THE Internet is teeming with travel web sites that can lock in the lowest airfare, find you a plane with onboard Wi-Fi and even hook you up with a travel companion.

With so many online sites to choose from, why is there a growing demand for human travel agents?

A new report from the American Society of Travel Agents found that 74 percent of its members have at least one employee or independent contractor, the highest percentage since 2010, when the rate was 77 percent.

In fact, the report said travel agent salaries are on the rise and some agents are worried they won’t find experienced agents to hire in the future.

One possible reason for the rising demand is that travelers are

overwhelmed by the online travel web site choices and are looking for a professional to make sense of it all.

“Travel agencies are seeing an influx of new customers who want a professional, vetted travel professional to cut through the Internet clutter for them,” said Zane Kerby, president of the American Society of Travel Agents.

“If you searched online for ‘hotels in the Caribbean’ or ‘European riverboat cruises,’ for example, you’d find hundreds if not thousands of entries.”

NICOLE KIDMAN CRITICIZED FOR ETIHAD AIRWAYS TIES ACTRESS Nicole Kidman is drawing fire from flight attendants for her latest role as the face of Etihad Airways, the state-owned carrier of the United Arab Emirates. But there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

Kidman, who was named a United Nations (UN) goodwill ambassador for women in 2006, is featured in a new ad for Etihad that promotes the luxury and sophistication of the carrier.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (Apfa) says her UN work is at odds with what the group says is poor

treatment of women by Etihad and the UAE, where men are allowed to physically discipline their wives.

“The Apfa must respectfully ask that you—as a leading advocate for women around the globe—not lend your voice, your image and your good name to Etihad Airways, the second-largest airline in the UAE,” the flight attendants said in an open letter to Kidman.

Only a week earlier, the union took a shot at Etihad for another reason.

The group complained that Etihad and two other Persian Gulf carriers unfairly compete with US airlines by relying heavily on subsidies from their government owners. They have urged the US government to restrict the carrier’s access to American airports.

Responding to the criticism of Kidman, Etihad said the airline treats all workers fairly and recently received a 93-percent approval rating from its employees in an independent survey.

“Our commitment to the welfare, safety and well-being of the diverse group of men and women who have worked so hard to make Etihad Airways great is one of our airline’s top priorities,” Etihad said.

LIFE

HUGO MARTIN, LOS ANGELES TIMES

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BRAVELY WORLDCLASS Show BusinessMirror

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Thursday, April 16, 2015

REELING

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ET them. T They’re ready. Knock ‘em dead!

Those were the strong, blunt words of encouragement coming from Rovilson Fernandez and Marc Nelson, the hosts of Asia’s Got Talent Talent on cable TV’s AXN channel. They were addressed to this young woman in a red sweater, black pants and red pumps.

Predictable fashion taste. What would come next was the most unpredictable performance this side of the world. The words were rough as the girl was sweet.

The young woman stood tentatively at the center of the stage. She looked like she was thinking whether to stand straight or to do a contraposto, that position made famous by ancient statues where one leg of the figure seemed ready to go forward. This prompted David Foster, one of the judges, to remark how she looked a little nervous. To this comment, the woman admitted that indeed she was—because one of her favorite artists was in the audience and in fact was one of the judges.

The Taiwanese-American judge and pop star Vanness Wu stood up with his arms spread and acknowledged what the woman just said. The woman smiled and pointed to Foster and said, “And that’s you.” The crowd roared in laughter. A connection was made.

This woman introduced herself as Gerphil Geraldine Flores, from the Philippines, in that liquid accent young Filipinos learn to cultivate to show high education.

Where did this woman come from?

The tentative gestures were only that, tentative. “The stage is yours”—that command from Foster were all this woman needed to own the stage. It was all hers.

The somber tone of the orchestral music was dirgelike. No one expected what the song was because the intro didn’t give any hint what the song would be all about. The voice came out, floated was more like it.

Molasses and marshmallow, a bit of amber and a surfeit of aroma. The voice had a scent, redolent of chamber halls and dark castles and blue mountains and horizons that spoke of hope and love. It was a voice that could not be ignored. Classical is the safest description for such a voice but that would be a simplistic reckoning of this voice and body performing a song that was otherwise all cliché and cloying. But the young woman was enunciating the words as if summoning everyone’s understanding of the song. After negotiating the text, the singer carried the words through that voice, which climbed high and plummeted to the shadows, and glided over meadows of emotions.

The story had a narrative and this woman was telling and retelling the story. Each plot and feeling were gathered in a family of notes that were remarkably different from each other. The face, initially too cute for comfort, was getting all the light. Purity was not anymore overrated. It was a cause for saints and sinners and all those in between who believe that music can

heal, save and bring one person to fame.

Flores scaled the range of the arrangement. Melanie C of the once wildly famous Spice Girls, and one of the judges, was caught by the camera with her eyes wide open in sincere admiration. Then Anggun, another judge, had her hands frozen in mid-air as she stopped an applause in order to hear more. The notes went higher once more and as the woman added passion to a pure reading of the theme song to a film about the mafia, the crowd roared. Foster pointed a finger at the singer as if saying, “You are good and you are killing us with the song.” Then the song was finished.

The best part was yet to come. The judges voted and when Melanie C said yes, the crowd erupted in a cheer. Also giving their approval were Vanness Wu and Anggun. Finally, David Foster was the only judge left to render his verdict. The crowd wanted more. The crowd, going for this unknown from the Philippines, wanted Foster to push the gold button that would make Flores go straight to semifinals. Foster kept looking at the crowd, then quickly moved his hand. The button got pushed, the stage went gold, and brilliant confetti came pouring down on the singer. The camera panned toward the singer’s mother whose hands covered her face as she wept. On cue, the song “One Moment in Time” played.

It was all schmaltz and sensation, carnival and circus.

This was an audition but the ending was more that of a boxing bout, the invisible enemy of false artistry and lack of openness to all kinds of musical forms as well as ignorance were all TKOd. Foster satisfies the metaphor by climbing up the ring and hugging the winner. Foster raised the arm of Flores.

A story was told. A great artist was born. The obsession that Filipinos can be world-class is validated in good taste and not through a paranoia of nationalism and ethnic pride.

There is a back story to the victory of Gerphil Geraldine Flores. She was in the first season of Pilipinas Got Talent T on ABS-CBN, the one won by Jovit Baldovino. From the start, the talent and persona of Flores was not really taken seriously by the hosts, Luis Manzano and Billy Joe Crawford. Part of the problem, with due respect to the Philippine edition, was her packaging. She carried the name “Fame,” which became the butt of the limited humor of the two hosts. Then again, “Fame” as a name should not have been a problem in our culture, where people could be called “Lucky” and “Billy Joe.” The first time Flores sang, Manzano at the wing turned to the mother of the singer and asked if Flores was undergoing a crisis (“ (“May pinagdadaanan ba siya?”). The judges, Kris Aquino and Ai-ai de las Alas, except Freddie Garcia, could not seem to accept the presence of a classical singer in their midst. The audience, however, appeared to like the “unusual” style of Flores. With due respect to the Philippine edition, the repertoire decided upon by the then-19-year-old singer called for dramatizations that looked out of place in an

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GERPHIL GERALDINE FLORES sings her heart out on Asia's Got Talent.

otherwise accessible field of acrobats and copycats.

There is another problem though that needs to be addressed by this kind of reality show—a set of judges that has a wide range of tastes and knowledge not only of musical forms but of other artistic modes, be these of the so-called high or popular culture.

One cannot stop by talking of a lack of accessibility.

The duty of the judges, given their onerous responsibility to give not assessment but judgment, is to enable the audience as well to learn new things. To bring them to a level where their spirit can be buoyed by the power of art. There is a word for this that can work for all of us: level up. One cannot go wrong when one levels up, so why opt for a leveling down.

Then, there was a concept bandied about by the Pilipinas Got Talent T judges regarding songs that are age-appropriate. This concept was not applicable to

which caught the attention of various international media organizations around the world.

Besides TV5 stars, the station ID features various iconic locations where Filipinos usually celebrate and nurture happiness during the summer season—from the historic parks of Luneta and Quezon Memorial Circle to the pristine beaches of Subic. The three-minute station ID is aired during signs-on and -off TV5’s programming.

SHOW

DEREK RAMSAY

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FUTURE

“Please step back,” he gently asked one gentlemen during one chaotic hole on Sunday. “Thank you.”

All this and afterward, during his acceptance speech, he may have become the first Masters winner who said he wanted to “thank the food-and-beverage workers.”

His parents say that these sorts of actions, not the golf, are what make them so proud. This sort of perspective was the gist of his father Shawn’s pregame talk with Jordan on Sunday morning. They spoke at the house the entire family shared.

Where else would Jordan stay this week?

“I wanted him to know what I thought was important,” Shawn said. “I told him, ‘You know, you’re going to face some adversity out here...and this is the Masters...but it’s still just a game.’”

It is a game that Spieth has been dominating seemingly since he mowed a circle of grass into a sort-of putting green in his front yard as a kid. Check out the online video clip of the 14-year-old Spieth saying, “My ultimate goal, I want to win the Masters.”

After he won two US Junior Amateur championships and led the University of Texas to a national title, it was a game that brought him to his knocking knees last spring when he blew a two-stroke lead in the final round of the Masters, losing to veteran Bubba Watson.

“It stings right now, but the only thing I’m thinking about is, when am I getting back next year? That’s what’s on my mind,” Spieth said during last year’s postmatch interview.

Sure enough, he showed up here with a vengeance, grabbing the first-round lead and ignoring the constant charges from players he once only dreamed of meeting.

“Since he was 15, everybody was always saying that he would be the next Tiger Woods, but, like, whatever,” said his friend Hickok.

“We never actually thought it would happen this fast. This is nuts.”

What was nuts, according to all the golf experts, was that second shot on the 13th hole that resulted in a birdie that gave him a five-stroke lead and the confidence to finish it.

“When you’re watching it in the air, it felt like an eternity, you’ve seen so many things go wrong here,” Geller said.

“Thankfully,ww he yelled at it just enough and it covered.”

You see? While everyone has been joking about Jordan Spieth talking to his ball, it turns out the ball has actually been listening, during a week when the voice of golf’s future became the voice of a champion.

Cool is one word for it. Dominant is another. Spieth is the first golfer to lead this tournament from start to finish in 39 years. He is only the second golfer in the Masters’ 79-year history to lead by as many as three strokes after the first round and never allow anyone to get any closer.

“How easy he’s making it look, yeah, absolutely I’m surprised,” Rose said.

Surprised is one word for it. Crazy is another. While Spieth might not officially be the youngest to win here—Tiger Woods was younger in 1997—he certainly acts the youngest.

He is surely the first Masters winner who spent Saturday night preparing for his final round by playing ping-pong with hometown buddies who were holed up in a nearby Motel 6. After putting away the paddles, he watched the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

“It was on TV, that’s why,” he said. “And it’s one of the greatest movies in the world.”

He is also surely one of the few Masters winners who walked off the 18th green with his arms wrapped around his mother and father, who joined most of his family to cheer his final putt. This group included his grandfather Donald, who insisted on climbing out of his motorized scooter and walking unsteadily toward the green to hug his grandson. It was his win, too. On Friday Spieth and his grandfather had prepared for the weekend by playing cards.

“I know he’s now the Masters champion and all that, but let me tell you, he’s still just 21,” said Carter Hickok, a Dallasarea hometown friend.

When Spieth took off his cap in public for the first time in four days on Sunday, his thinning hair and weary eyes made him look much older. But during the week, with a golf club in his hands, he was joyfully all kid. He constantly talked to his ball. He casually debated his caddie Greller, a former sixthgrade math and science teacher who says this job is easier because he only has to deal with one kid.

“A lot of things I used as a teacher, believe me, I use out here with Jordan,” Greller said.

Spieth refreshingly congratulated his playing partners on good shots, most notably smiling and giving a thumbs up to Rose on Sunday after a nice approach out of the rough. Spieth is also politely aware of fans, never saying anything worse than “Dang!” and always using his manners when asking them to move.

B B P Los Angeles Times

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UGUSTA, Georgia—They came at the kid in waves, the world’s best golfers grabbing and clutching for four sweltering days, swarming him with green jackets and Claret Jugs and Wanamaker Trophies and glares.

Jordan Spieth took their punches, all of them, sticking out his 21-year-old chin from the top of the Masters leaderboard and absorbing every bit of Tiger’s teeth, Rory’s resilience, Lefty’s left.

Finally, under the cloudiest of skies on Augusta National’s 13th hole late Sunday afternoon, the kid cemented his place in golf history by punching back.

It was his second shot on a long par-five. He was more than 200 yards from a green surrounded by sand and woods and a tributary of Rae’s Creek. He was leading the tournament by five strokes. He should have laid up in front of the water. He should have played it safe.

He didn’t. He took a chance. He went for the knockout. He swung from his heels and screamed.

“Go hard! Go hard! Go hard!” he cried, as the ball sailed through a cool breeze. “Go!” The ball went. It carried the tributary, landed within 14 feet of the flag, and made the statement that resounded for the rest of the tournament.

“He’s fiery,” his caddie Michael Greller said later. “He’s got that killer instinct.”

And today Jordan Spieth has that oversized, old man’s green jacket draped around his shoulders after becoming the second-youngest person to win the Masters, with a tournament record-tying 18-under-par 270, four shots ahead of major winners Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose.

The debutante ball that began on Thursday ended in a Sunday night waltz for the ages. He wore white pants that didn’t get dirty. He wore a boyish expression that never changed. He was Tiger without the bleeps. He was Rory without the fold.

The golf world now has its future on Spieth dial. This new era will be played by Jordan Rules. On the same weekend Ben Crenshaw retired, the sport has a new Texas two-putter who is equally gentle, but quietly tough.

“All in all,” Spieth said, “it’s really cool.”

The golf world now has its future on Jordan Spieth dial. This new era will be played by Jordan Rules.

On the same weekend Ben Crenshaw retired, the sport has a new Texas two-putter who is equally gentle, but quietly tough.

from Dallas—seniors at Texas, TCU and LSU. They became what Spieth described as “white noise” during the evening when he wanted to take his mind off golf.

“It felt like we were back home on a random weekend,” Spieth said. “I couldn’t partake in what they were doing. But it was fun to watch.”

His father played baseball at Lehigh. His mother played basketball at Moravian College in Pennsylvania.

His younger brother, Steven, is a 6-foot-6 shooting guard at Brown. And then there’s Ellie, his 14-year-old sister with neurological issues that place her on the autism spectrum. Ellie reminds Spieth and the rest of the family what matters in life.

She was at the TPC Boston last year with the whole clan, bragging about her big brothers, having a ball. Players have to take a shuttle through the woods to the eighth tee. When Spieth spotted Ellie in the gallery, he called to her. She ran to the cart and sat on his lap for the ride, and it was hard to tell who was having more fun. AP

A rising star grounded in normalcy

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UGUSTA, Georgia—The green jacket is all Jordan Spieth needs for an identity. He is the Masters champion.

It’s just not going to help him get rid of a nickname he picked up late last year from a few Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour players that goes against the way he was raised and irritates him more than a three-putt bogey.

Golden child.

“It was either Colt Knost or Robert Garrigus.... I’m not sure who started with the nickname,” Spieth said on Tuesday during a break in his New York media tour.

“But it’s not nice what I say to them when they say it to me. I’ve been working on trying to keep it quiet. And this week isn’t going to help.”

It surfaced again even before he teed off in his record-setting win at Augusta National.

Brooks Koepka was talking about a Tuesday practice round in which Spieth could do no wrong.

They were walking off the 13th tee when they looked over at James Hahn hitting his tee shot to the par-3 12th. As the ball was in the air, Spieth told his group, “This is going to be a hole-in-one.” And it was.

On the 17th, Spieth hit a shot that was an inch from rolling down to the bottom of the green. It stayed up, and he rolled in a 30-footer to close their match.

If that wasn’t enough, he has a game with caddie Michael Greller in which they toss a ball on the green toward the cup. Spieth made it on the first try.

Koepka finished the story, smiled and said, “He’s the golden child.”

No doubt, Spieth has done some extraordinary things for a 21-year-old.

The stories have been told countless times, yet they are no less amazing.

Spieth started his first year as a pro with no status on any tour and ended it playing alongside Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the Presidents

Cup. The first time he played with Mickelson, he closed birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle for a 62. Playing with Woods for the first time in a practice round at the Presidents Cup, he made a hole-in-one. In his Masters debut, he played in the final group at age 20.

And now a green jacket for the golden child.

“He’ll be fabulous for the game,” Graeme McDowell said.

Most appealing about Spieth is the simplicity of his life and the toughness in his game. He is 21 and old school.

Spieth has had the same swing coach since he was 12 and his father took him to see Cameron McCormick at Brook Hollow in Dallas. He uses social media, instead of being consumed by it. Spieth has the same girlfriend he met in high school, Anne Verret, who graduated from Texas Tech last December and now works on fundraising projects for a youth golf program in Dallas.

He spent last week with three of his best friends

JORDAN SPIETH cements his place in golf history by punching back. AP

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| THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

BusinessMirror

Sports

FUTURE IS NOW!

IS NOW!

SPORTS

OREIGN businessmen in the country continue to speak out against proposed measures to streamline the incentives granted by the investment-promotion agencies (IPAs) currently being vigorously pushed by the Department of Finance (DOF) to plug revenue leakages. tax (CIT) to the existing incentives menu that includes income tax holiday (ITH) of up to eight years.

“When the idea came up of having a ‘15 for 15’ reduced CIT, that can only be considered as an addition, because we have to be pragmatic to the needs of the companies,” said C  A

CHINA’S ‘SELFIMPOSED’ SLUMP CONTINUED IN Q1

Flores and her choice of spiritual songs, in the same way we can’t question the bristling imitation done with aplomb by Jovit Baldovino of Queen’s “Too Much Love Will Kill You.” The concept is too 1970s.

With six-year old girls—and boys—belting “Let It Go” as if Frozen were an ice-cream brand, this ageappropriate concept is a dud. Reality shows are for extreme realities. Take it or leave it.

But all that is gone—a bad dream, a certified nightmare. Witness the scenes via YouTube postings and be part of a parochial attitude common to our TV presentations.

What matters now—packaging or not—is that Gerphil Geraldie Flores is on top of the world, insofar as Asia having talent is concerned. There are other lessons to be learned as well—and one is that one can only go global if the judges are only, truly global. n

Derek Ramsay leads summer fun on TV5 CALLING itself the Philippines’s Happy Network, TV5 is making waves among television viewers and netizens with its Summer Station ID, which was launched on Sunday.

Dubbed as “Happy Ka Dito This Summer,” TV5’s Summer Station ID encapsulates what the network stands for—creating happy meaningful connections among the TV public with a different kind of viewing experience that is central to the lives of Filipinos.

Said TV5 President and CEO Noel C. Lorenzana, “The station ID is carried over from our ‘Happy Ka Dito’ campaign launched last year which signaled our decision to veer away from the norm and focus on producing a mix of light and meaningful entertainment programs, world-class and actionpacked sports programs that bring Filipinos together as one nation.”

The summer station ID features TV5 stars led by Derek Ramsay and other prominent TV5 personalities who have come together to further intensify the network’s goal of spreading cheer and happiness to every Filipino in time for the summer season. The fun unfolds to the tune of “Sama-Sama sa Ligaya” performed by Urbandub’s Gab Alipe and multiawarded Filipino-American hip-hop duo Q-York. The same song became the anthem of TV5’s “Happy Sa 2015: Philippine New Year Countdown,”

B C N. P

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) echoed the call of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) to expand the list of fiscal perks, instead of limiting them.

In particular, the ECCP supported AmCham’s proposal to include the planned reduced corporate income

Bravely world-class... and with a vengeance TITO GENOVA VALIENTE

P.  |     | 7 DAYS A WEEK

FOREIGN CHAMBERS ONE IN SAYING INCENTIVES MENU SHOULD BE EXPANDED NOT NARROWED

INSIDE

EAR Jesus, You were still at the beginning of Your apostolic life and have already been making a tremendous impact on people, particularly because of the miracles You have been performing. The interest You have aroused was not limited to the simple people. Even the religious authorities, including the Sanhedrin, though shocked by You driving the traders out of the temple, realized that You are “a teacher who has come from God” (John 3:22 ). One of them, Nicodemus, went personally to see You secretly at night to try to know more about Your teaching and identity. Amen.

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HINA’S economic slump deepened, as manufacturing and retail sales cooled in the first quarter of this year, stepping up pressure for Beijing to keep the world’s second-largest economy on track.

Growth declined to 7 percent, from the previous quarter’s 7.3 percent, official data showed on Wednesday. It was China’s weakest performance since the global financial crisis, when growth tumbled to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

Much of China’s decline has been self-imposed, as communist leaders try to steer the economy to more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption, instead of trade and investment.

But an unexpectedly sharp downturn over the past year has

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 44.6340

fueled fears of job losses and social tensions.

Beijing has cut interest rates twice since November and launched targeted measures to help exporters and other industries. Economists note that China still depends on governmentled spending on construction to drive growth.

“We still are relying on a traditional growth engine, and that is declining,” said a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, Sheng Laiyun, at a news conference. “We are in transition between the old and the new growth models.”

On Tuesday the country’s top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, warned at a meeting with businesspeople and economists that China faces “downward S “C ,” A

BEATING THE DEADLINE Taxpayers rush to the Bureau of Internal Revenue Regional Office in Quezon City to beat the last day for the filing of income tax returns. NONOY LACZA

Remittances shift to recovery mode after 4.2% growth in Feb B B C

C

ASH sent by Filipino migrant workers slightly rebounded from its six-year-low slump in January this year—but remained below expectations in February this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Wednesday.

Overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) cash remittances that coursed through banks summed up to $1.88 billion in February 2015, 4.2 percent higher than the $1.8-billion remittances sent

by OFWs in February last year.

This pushed the two-month total of remittances at $3.69 billion this year, growing at merely 2.4 percent from last year’s $3.604 billion— about $2.8 billion of these were from

MAPA: “In the past few months, we’ve seen a strong US dollar against major currencies, like the euro and GBP [British pound]. ”

land-based workers, while $900 million were from sea-based workers.

While the month’s growth is a rebound from the disappointing 0.5percent growth in January, it is still slower than the 5.9-percent growth rate seen in February last year.

The two-month cumulative

growth of 2.4 percent is also slower from the same two-month cumulative growth in 2014 at 6 percent. It is also below the government’s annual remittance growth assumption at 5.5 percent and below market expectations during the period.

In previous research notes to its clients, Singapore based DBS Bank said remittances will likely return to about 5 percent in February, while Standard Chartered Bank forecasted a 4.5-percent growth to its clients.

The BSP said the slowdown of remittance growth in recent months could be due to the base effect, as remittances last year were relatively high because OFWs sent money intended for the rehabilitation and C  A

n JAPAN 0.3737 n UK 65.9601 n HK 5.7583 n CHINA 7.1854 n SINGAPORE 32.8288 n AUSTRALIA 34.1134 n EU 47.5531 n SAUDI ARABIA 11.9014 Source: BSP (15 April 2015)

A2

News

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Thursday, April 16, 2015

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Opposition to perks cut mounts Continued from A1

Henry Schumacher, vice president for External Affairs of the ECCP. The DOF has been doggedly pursuing the measure, going head to head with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the process.

The DOF views the rationalization of fiscal incentives as a way of plugging what it sees as substantial revenue drain from tax perks doled out by the numerous IPAs. Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo had said he is nearing a compromise with the DOF on the move to eliminate or cut various fiscal perks granted by IPAs, such as the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).

The two departments have already agreed to withdraw the ITH for companies that will register with the BOI. This will be replaced by a reduced CIT of 15 percent for 15 years.

For Peza, which mostly attracts foreign investments, various incentive packages are being looked at, including an option to replace the sought-after ITH with the same “15

for 15” reduced income tax.

Stakeholders in the business community have already expressed that they should have an option between the existing ITH scheme that applies for six to eight years and the 15 for 15—instead of replacing one with the other—depending on the nature of the businesses.

Industries that only begin to profit several years into their operations—like power-generating firms—stand to benefit from a drawn out incentive scheme, such as the 15 for 15.

However, for sectors that are able to realize the recovery of capital quickly—such as the information technology—business-process outsourcing (IT-BPO), the ITH scheme is still a better choice, according to businesses.

Keeping the existing incentive scheme is significant, as foreign and local business groups alike have said these serve as a crutch to compensate for the country’s many drawbacks, such as high electricity rates and relatively high labor costs.

“The option has come up for 15 for 15; that should be in addition

to what we already have,” said John Forbes, senior adviser to AmCham.

The DTI has been struggling to keep the investment climate competitive by maintaining various fiscal and nonfiscal perks, while the DOF is making sure revenue collection will not continue to suffer.

The DTI, however, recently buckled. It has announced a proposal to do away with the ITH for BOIregistered firms, with the reduced CIT—from the normal 30 percent to 15 percent—for 15 years taking its place.

The BOI grants ITH of up to eight years. A registered pioneer enterprise with pioneer incentives is entitled to six years ITH and additional two-year bonus ITH. A nonpioneer enterprise is allowed up to four-year ITH and additional two-year bonus. For Peza firms, the existing scheme may be replaced with either of these two incentive packages: one inclusive of an ITH, and another without an ITH. For the package that includes an ITH, the period would be capped from the existing six to eight years to just four, but will be paired with ei-

ther a 5-percent tax on gross income earned (GIE), except value-added tax (VAT) and real-property tax (RPT) for 11 years, or 15-percent reduced CIT, in lieu of local and national taxes, except VAT and RPT for 11 years.

If the ITH is not granted, registered firms may either be allowed to pay a 5-percent tax on GIE in lieu of local and national taxes, except VAT and RPT for 15 years, or 15-percent reduced CIT, in lieu of local and national taxes, except VAT and RPT for 15 years. The AmCham previously said it prefers the reduced CIT of 15 for 15 over the limited ITH since most businesses hardly profit in the first years of operation and essentially waste tax holiday. However, it is now suggesting that the reduced CIT be made an option in addition to the current scheme. “Cutting the ITH is essentially capping job creation; [the government] should offer 15 for 15 but keep the status quo, and see what people will choose,” Forbes said. “The point of the finance department is to have more revenue, but without investments, how can you have revenue?”

Forbes said streamlining incen-

tives by limiting the mandatory list of permanent perks given to various industries, as enshrined in over 50 laws, would be a better move for the DOF, and, yet, it has focused on dismantling the current incentive structure of IPAs. The bills operationalizing the change in fiscal and nonfiscal perks have been languishing at the committee level in both the Senate and House of Representatives, due to the continued disagreement between the DOF and DTI. With the 2016 elections fast approaching and a consolidated bill yet to take form, it would seem the measure is already dead in the water.

This may be welcome news, however, for Peza, which has long maintained that the incentive packages should not be changed in any shape or form, or the country will risk losing the confidence of existing and incoming investors.

In a previous interview, Japanese Chamber of Commerce Vice President Nobuo Fujii also thumbed down the incentives-rationalization move, foreseeing less investments in the future from Japanese firms.

Remittances shift to recovery mode after 4.2% growth in Feb. . . rebuilding efforts in Eastern Visayas due to the damage caused by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan). Sought for a comment from the private sector, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa said the slower growth may also be caused by the recent developments in the

global exchange rates.

“In the past few months, we’ve seen a strong US Dollar against major currencies like the euro and GBP [British pound]. As such, an overseas Filipino worker based in Europe may be sending home a fixed amount of euro or GBP, which would translate into a smaller US Dollar amount,” Mapa said.

The remittance data of the Philippines is expressed in US dollars.

“However, since the peso has also been weakening against the US dollar, albeit at a lesser extent, the beneficiary is still able to enjoy a healthy peso-purchasing power to help drive consumption and investment in the country,” Mapa further said.

The BSP said the bulk of cash remittances came from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Canada.

The central bank lauded the steady deployment of OFWs and the continued efforts of financial institutions to expand their market

Continued from A1

coverage to the sustained inflow of remittances to the country.

The BSP cited preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration which showed that approved job orders reached 164,525 for the first two months of the year. About a quarter of this were intended for service,

China. . .

Continued from A1

pressure,” according to a report on the Cabinet’s web site. Li called for regulatory changes to nurture new industries, improve efficiency and generate jobs, the report said. It made no mention of possible short-term stimulus measures.

“Slower growth should not be viewed as bad news if it means the economy is adjusting to a more sustainable path,” said Andrew Colquhun of Fitch Ratings in a statement.

“But the adjustment needs support from consumption, while the economy adapts to slower investment. It’s sobering that the economy has become so reliant on construction and real estate to generate jobs.”

The country’s leaders have repeatedly affirmed their commitment to a “new normal” of slower growth and say their priority is to make the economy more efficient and productive.

Still, the latest performance has been unexpectedly weak, prompting expectations Beijing will be compelled to boost government spending or ease bank lending.

Total trade in the first quarter contracted by 6.3 percent from a year ago, making it unlikely the ruling Communist Party can meet its target of 6 percent growth for the year. March exports fell 15 percent. AP

production and professional, technical and related workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Personal remittances —or all current transfers of Filipino migrant workers whether in cash or in kind—hit $2.078 billion in February to push the two-month total to $4.09 billion. This is 2.1 percent larger than the same two-month personal remittances last year.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Thursday, April 16, 2015 A3

Binay camp wants SC probe on Trillanes bribery claim

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By Joel R. San Juan

AGUIO CITY—Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court (SC) to conduct its own separate investigation on allegations that he bribed two members of the Court of Appeals (CA) into issuing an injunction stopping the implementation of the six-month suspension order issued by the Ombudsman in connection with the graft charges filed against the mayor.

During an interview with reporters, lawyer Claro Certeza said the Court is the proper venue to investigate allegations of corruption in the judiciary.

“Of course, because being involved in this I know 100 percent that such thing did not happen,” Certeza said when asked if Binay’s camp would recommend an investigation by the SC on the issue.

Certeza added that they would

even participate if the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) pushes through its own investigation.

“If we will be summoned [by the IBP], we are ready to participate. That is what I’m trying to say, there should be a proper venue,” Certeza added.

He was reacting to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV’s accusation that CA Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Francisco Acosta received P25 million in exchange of issu-

ing a temporary restraining order (TRO) and, subsequently, a preliminary injunction that indefinitely enjoins the Ombudsman from implementing Binay’s suspension order.

Trillanes has passed a resolution seeking a Senate inquiry into allegations of corruption in the judiciary.

But, Certeza said, Trillanes’s resolution to investigate corruption in the judiciary is misplaced.

“The judiciary is an independent body. The judiciary cannot be investigated by another institution,” he said.

Binay has filed a libel complaint against the senator before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office.

Certeza said Trillanes opened himself to a libel suit when he filed a resolution to investigate corruption in the judiciary only after he publicly accused the two justices of receiving bribe money.

“Immunity only covers official actions. Iyong paninira hindi covered ng immunity,” Certeza said.

He added that there is also a SC ruling, which states that even parliamentary immunity must not be allowed to be used as vehicle “to ridicule, demean and destroy the reputation of the court and its magistrates, nor as armor for personal wrath and disgust.”

But, SC Spokesman Theodore Te acknowledged that the Court maintains its position that proofs and witnesses are necessary in order for it to act on corruption allegations against any of the members of the judiciary.

House of Representatives Deputy Majority Leader Mar-Len Abigail Binay on Wednesday said Trillanes should apologize to the CA for his “nasty and irresponsible accusation” that justices supposedly received payoffs to keep Makati City Mayor Erwin Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr. in his post.

“Senator Trillanes clearly risks facing contempt charges. Since he has already confessed that he has no evidence to support his reckless allegation, other than purported ‘raw intelligence reports’s, or hearsay, then the right thing for him to do is promptly say sorry to the court,” Representative Binay, the mayor’s sister, said in a statement.

“Better yet, the senator should resign his seat. Frankly, he is a big embarrassment to the Senate,” she said.

Contempt of court is the offense of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies authority, justice and dig-

b.i. warns public vs telephone scams

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned the public against telephone scams where Filipinos are the usual victims.

Immigration Commissioner Siegfred B. Mison urged Filipinos to be cautious in dealing with foreigners who want to befriend them.

“We advise our kababayan to exercise vigilance with their Internet acquaintances to avoid being victimized by scammers,” he said in a statement.

Mison issued the warning after exposing the illegal activities involving foreigners who seek acquaintances through the Internet.

One modus operandi involves a supposed foreigner befriending a Filipino and arranging for a meeting by making it appear that they are arriving in the Philippines at a given date.

The victim will then receives a call from someone who claims to be an officer from the BI and demands money to “release” the foreigner from custody.

Unsuspecting of the scam, the Filipino will remit money but never see the foreigner. PNA

SEN. Ralph Recto has donated a P100,000 to a reward pool for the arrest of the killers of former Philippine Daily Inquirer correspondent Melinda “Mei” Magsino in Batangas.

“I am donating P100,000 to a reward pool, which I urge the government to create, for any information that will lead to the apprehension of Mei’s murderers,” Recto, a lawmaker from Batangas, said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Magsino was reportedly shot at close range by a gunman about 50 meters away from her apartment in Barangay Balagtas in Batangas City on Monday.

The reports also said the killer approached Magsino from back and escaped on board a black and white Honda motorcycle driven by another man after shooting at high noon. ”I strongly condemn the murder of Mei Magsino who gave Batangueños an image of what a crusading and courageous journalist should be,” Recto said. PNA

budsman to Binay Jr., who is also under investigation in the alleged overpricing of Makati City Hall Building II. T he court barred the Ombudsman and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II from enforcing the Ombudsman’s March 10 order suspending Binay for six months.

The CA also directed the respondents “to preserve and respect the status quo before the issuance of the [Ombudsman’s preventive suspension] order.”

According to Congresswoman Binay, Trillanes is counting on a Liberal Party-Nacionalista Party (LP-NP) coalition to draft him as the vice presidential running mate of Roxas, the presumed LP standard-bearer in next year’s polls.

“Senator Trillanes has been desperately trying to sell himself to voters and, more important, to Roxas. This is why the senator has been leading the charge against the Vice President, who remains the biggest obstruction to Roxas’s own aspiration to become president,” she said.

Surveys have shown that, if the presidential elections were held today, Vice President Binay would still be the runaway winner, despite the decline in his approval ratings.

With PNA

US sending advanced air, naval support–DFA

briefs

reward for arrest of reporter’s killers

nity of the court.

“We all have to exercise selfrestraint before accusing members of t he jud ic i a r y of a ny wrongdoing. Otherwise, we risk unnecessarily harming the institution,” said Binay, whose father, Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, has become the target of a longdrawn-out Senate inquiry into the alleged overpricing of Makati City Hall Building II. “ The problem with Senator Trillanes is that he wants only resorts to wild guesswork first, then tries to gather evidence to support his claim. Sorry if he fails to present any proof,” Representative Binay said.

“Senator Trillanes has thrown all standards of objectivity and fairness out the window in his bid to destroy the Vice President and everybody else that gets in his [Trillanes’s] way,” she added.

When Pulse Asia Inc. recently reported that the Vice President’s ratings improved despite the political mudslinging in the Senate inquiry, Binay said Trillanes was also quick to accuse the survey firm of taking bribes.

The CA has issued an extended stay order for an indefinite period against the preventive suspension meted out by the Om-

By Recto Mercene

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DEMOLITION WOES

Laiya Aplaya, San Juan, Batangas, fishermen and members of their families protest the demolition of their community at the Department of Justice office in Manila. The protesters said they lost their homes and livelihood as a result of the demolition. KEVIN DELA CRUZ

HE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said the US is sending its most advance air and naval support facilities to the Philippines in the face of the growing assertiveness of China, that is reclaiming shoals and islets within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario said the equipment would be manned by US personnel but did not elaborate what kind of equipment the US is planning to send over.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last week said the US would deploy its “best weapons” in Asia to counter the threat posed by China specifically in the South and East China Seas.

Del Rosario said he is set to fly to the US in two weeks to meet with members of the US Congress and possibly, Carter and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Del Rosario quoted Carter as saying the US is looking at deploying to the Philippines various advanced air force, naval, and maritime domain equipment.

Since 2013 the Philippines has been protesting China’s reclamation activities in several shoals and islets on the South China Sea.

The latest satellite images shows China has advanced its reclamation works on Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef) off Palawan and is considered by the Philippines to be within its EEZ. Del Rosario said the Chinese reclamation activities must stop as these are threats to other coastal claimants in the disputed waters, aside from destroying the marine environment at great costs. “‘They are out to control the South China Sea and that’s obvious for various reasons. They need to feed their people from the resources. There are hydrocarbon resources there. They need to fuel their economy and also it is strategic militarily to able to control the South China Sea,” he said.

It was not made clear by del Rosario whether the latest American foray in the country is part of the US rebalancing or “pivot” in the Asia-Pacific region that President Barack Obama revealed during his first term in office.

Critics of Obama’s foreign policy said that for the pivot to “to have bite, the US must take a stand and make clear that national security extends to international waters such as the ongoing disputes on the South China Sea. Del Rosario said the Philippines opted to involve the United Nations and the international community in the issue as dealing with China on a bilateral basis was futile.

Intl group warns govt against online trafficking of children

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

A

N international children’s rights organization has warned the government against online child-sex abusers as these criminals are increasing worldwide.

Hans Guyt, project manager of the Terre des Hommes of the Netherlands, in a news conference, said that thousands of children are victims of online sexual abuse worldwide.

“According to official estimates, at any given moment, there are more than 750,000 predators on the Internet looking to engage children in sexual activities in over 40,000 public chatrooms,” he said,

adding, “Following this, we are calling on the Philippine government to join us in urging the international community to act against these abusers.”

Guyt said to address the problem the group will launch on Thursday in The Hague the “Sweetie 2.0 Stop Webcam Sex with Children.” This is a chat robot that seeks to trace online child-sex abusers.

“The Dutch children’s rights organization Terre des Hommes in close cooperation with international specialists has develop advanced software [Sweetie 2.0 robot] to tackle online sexual abuse of children worldwide,” he said.

“Recognizing and warning potential predators is technically

feasible, practically achievable and urgently required to deal with this rapidly growing phenomenon in an effective and efficient manner,” Guyt said.

In 2013 the group already unmasked more than 1,000 individuals who were looking for webcam sex with children through a virtual character “Sweetie.”

“Through Sweetie their details were handed over to the police authorities. The project received worldwide attention, firmly putting the subject of online sexual exploitation of children on national and international political agenda’s. Several arrests have taken place and thus far individual predators have been convicted in

Australia and more recently in Belgium,” the group said.

“With the Sweetie project Terre des Hommes highlighted the scale and nature of this relatively new phenomenon and demonstrated that a proactive approach is most effective in preventing these crimes,” it added.

Liberal Party Rep. Alfredo D. Vargas III of Quezon City, member of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation, has backed the Sweetie project, saying it is too easy to engage children in sexual activities in the Internet.

He said with the assistance of national and international experts, the authorities will combat webcam sex with children.

Vargas added that the project will recognize and deter millions of perpetrators looking for online sex with minors.

Meanwhile, Terre des Hommes Country Director Alwin de Leon said the Philippine authorities should be applauded for their efforts to tackle cybersex with children.

“Numerous raids have already taken place, criminals arrested and children set free. However, if nothing is being done by the international community to deal with the enormous and ever-growing demand side, this phenomenon will only get worse and the Philippine police will unfortunately be fighting an uphill battle,” he added.

Economy

A4 Thursday, April 16, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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Apec energy experts eye to double RE projects by 2030

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AOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte— Energy experts have raised the need to share successful renewable-energy (RE) development experiences among membereconomies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) to attain the goal of doubling RE projects by 2030.

Director Mario Marasigan of the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energ y Management Bureau, who also cochairs the Apec Expert Group on New and Renewable Energy Technologies (EGNRET), said it is important for member-economies to share their RE road map so they could learn

from one another’s experiences.

The expert group began its 44th meeting on Monday at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel here with an overview of the Philippines’s RE program.

Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific Energy Research Center (Aperc) presented an outlook in doubling RE

targets by 2030.

Chrisnawan Anditya of Aperc estimated that RE share in total installed capacity to increase from 22 percent in 2012 to 33 percent in 2030 and 38 percent in 2040.

He said RE capacity is growing at 4.2 percent, with solar and wind power increasing annually at 11.11 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

China is said to provide the largest share in total Apec RE capacity with 45 percent in 2012. The figure is expected to increase to 63 percent in 2030 and 68 percent in 2040.

The Aperc data also showed that the Philippines is among the top 5 economies—along with the US, Indonesia, New Zealand and Mexico—with total installed capacity of geothermal power by 2030.

For wind development, China (9.3 percent), the US (3.6 percent),

Korea (25.3 percent) and Australia (9.7 percent) are set to add capacity for wind power by 2030.

Attending the four-day meeting are representatives of Apec member-economies of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the US and the Philippines.

Discussions on Tuesday inc luded the status of cur rent EGNRET projects; the development of project proposals for funding, and the trend of RE under low oil-price circumstances.

A workshop on capacity building for Installers and System Designers for Solar PV Rooftop Installations will be held on the meeting’s third day on Wednesday, while a site visit to RE facilities in the towns of Burgos and Bangui has been scheduled on the fourth day on Thursday. PNA

DTI-EMB mission seeks business tie-ups with Indonesian companies

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HE Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is spearheading a weeklong Outbound Business Matching Mission to Jakarta and Manado, Indonesia, that ends on April 18.

“The mission aims to realize business opportunities under the Asean Economic Community , in support of one of the subregion’s strategic pillars, which is to have a single market and production base,” said Senen M. Perlada, EMB director who also leads the business mission.

The Philippines and Indonesia could now take

advantage of the Asean regional integration, where most products are traded at zero tariffs to improve bilateral trade relations.

“Indonesia is the biggest consumer market in Asean and it behooves Philippine exporters to learn more about the country, engage their business counterparts and develop strategic partnerships and alliances,” Perlada said.

The business mission in Manado also aims to take advantage of the planned launch of the General Santos-Bitung roll-on/roll-off service, which is expected to boost trade, tourism, investments

and people-to-people exchanges between Mindanao and the North Sulawesi region.

The Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Jakarta, led by Commercial Attaché Alma Argayoso, has made strategic business arrangements for the mission.

Joining the mission are renowned and reputable Philippine companies in the food and cosmetics industries, including Aficionado Germany Perfume (perfume);DealoKoffeeKlatchLucban(breads,pastries, biscuits, sugar flowers); Goldilocks Bakeshop Inc.(cakes,breads,pastries,polvoronorindividually

wrapped oblong-shaped sweetened powdered milk, Filipino delicacies); MFP Home of Quality Food Corp. (polvoron or powdered-milk candies); Magic Melt Foods (breads, pastries, biscuits); Markenburg International Foods Corp. (marshmallows, confectionery); Natural Quality Corp. (food supplements); Waffle Time Inc. (waffle); and YSA Skin Care Corp. (skin-care products).

Also in the mission are Land Bank of the Philippines; the Philippine Franchise Association, the Philippines’s pioneer and largest franchise association; and the Philippine International Trading Corp., a full-service, state-owned international trading company with over 40 years of experience in the export and import of a wide range of Philippine-made consumer goods and commodities.

Business-matching sessions in Jakarta and Manado include briefings on “Doing Business in the Philippines and Indonesia” for both exporters and importers.

MGI plant to hike power-generation capacity to 31 MW

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ATA NG A S — A m id pro jections of further economic growth in Luzon, the Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI) is currently testing its two geothermal wells, which are expected to raise the plant’s current output from 20 megawatts (MW) to 31 MW. “We drilled two new wells, which could increase the capacity of the power plant to 31 MW that’s good for the next 25 years.... Looks like we’re going to hit the projection of economic growth in the next years…,” MGI President Francisco Delfin Jr. told reporters during the Maibarara plant tour on Wednesday, adding that MGI is targetting to start the commercial operations of the power plant in July 2017.

The planned expansion is promising since MGI has an excess capacity of 7 MW, while another well is expected to be fully opened next week, which will finalize the actual capacity boost of MGI 2.

He said the project expansion will cost from P1.1 billion to P1.3 billion, with an expected financing of 70 percent from debt and 30 percent through equity. It is also expected to have its financial closing by August 2015.

Petroenergy Resources Corp., a partner in MGI, disclosed on Monday that the company will offer stocks amounting to a total of P600 million

for future projects.

Delfin said the expansion has already secured needed permits, noting that MGI initially applied for a 40-MW permit with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines and the Department of Env ironment and Natura l Resources.

MGI, a joint venture mainly by Petroenergy Resources Corp. and Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., is still considering to whom to sell the output of the increased capacity.

T he pl a nt , w h ic h s t a r t e d commercial operations on Februar y 8, is currently selling its output to the W holesale Electricity Spot Market.

The first 20-MW phase cost $2.4 billion, including the steamfield, power station and transmission line.

EEI Corp. constructed the plant, while Japan’s Fuji Electric supplied the plant’s main equipment.

The service contract for the area was awarded to MGI by the Department of Energy through the Open and Competitive Selection Process.

MGI is comprised of PetroGreen Energy Corp. at 65 percent, TransAsia Oil and Energy Development Corp. at 25 percent and Philippine National Oil Co.-Renewables Corp. at 10 percent. PNA

Lowland tourists visit Baguio City

Tourists from the lowlands embark on a market tour-cum-shopping at the Baguio City Public Market to buy the best products the summer capital has to offer before heading back home. NORIEL DE GUZMAN

briefs

solon proposes ict hub to improve Internet speed, access IN an effort to boost the country’s Internet speed and access, Sen. Bam Aquino has filed a bill seeking to create an Online Network Establishment (ONE) that will build and develop basic information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure throughout the country.

“The ONE Philippines Act is a concrete step to build and develop basic ICT infrastructure through the solidarity of both public and private agencies,” Aquino said in Senate Bill 2698 he filed on March 15.

The proposed bill calls for the establishment of ICT hubs in every legislative district, which will improve the country’s Internet speed and give more Filipinos access to the Web. “Being a nation with over 7,000 islands and with an estimated 10 million Filipinos living abroad, it is important that we establish quality access to the Internet, and other means of communications across the country,” Aquino stressed. PNA

cbcp exec traces root of hiv/aids rise in phl

“Let’s all go back to the basics: family values and prayer.”

This was the message of an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) as he linked the booming cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Acquired ImmuneDeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the country with the “less than ideal” domestic setup prevailing in many Filipino homes, lamenting many “persons living with HIV-AIDs” come from “broken families.”

“Too bad, many of our people have neglected their prayer lives. They are only reminded to pray when they are suffering from illness. That’s the time most of them run to the Lord,” Fr. Dan Vicente Cancino, MI, executive secretary of CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Health Care (ECHC), said in an article posted on the CBCP web site.

In an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas, he said, “Many young people these days have a distorted concept of sexuality due to the lack of what we call family values formation.”

“Because of this, they were deprived of a deep parentchild relationship. The familial ties have been damaged. It is no wonder that many of our patients would come from broken families on dysfunctional families,” he said.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Economy BusinessMirror

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Visayas, Mindanao power situation ‘critical’–NGCP

By Lenie Lectura

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he power situation in the Visayas and Mindanao remains critical as of Wednesday due to lack of power-generation capacity.

Based on National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) outlook for Thursday, the Visayas and Mindanao’s available capacity are likely to reach 1,559 megawatts (MW) and 1,397 MW, respectively.

The available capacity, however, will not be able to serve an anticipated peak demand of 1,570 MW in the Visayas and 1,398 MW in Mindanao. Hence, there’s a gross reserve of negative 11 MW and negative 1 MW in the Visayas and Mindanao, respectively.

A short power shortage occurred in some parts of Antique on Wednesday due to line tripping of the 69-kilovolt (kV) Santa Barbara-Miag-aoSibalom line. The NGCP reenergized the transmission line at 2:31 p.m.

“In Mindanao, there are areas having rotational brownouts due to power-supply contracting deficiency by distribution utilities and low outputs from hydropower plants,” Department of Energy (DOE) Director Myleen Capongcol said in a text message.

Meanwhile, Luzon’s gross reserve is anticipated to reach 1,301 MW on Thursday after the grid recorded this year’s highest peak demand at 8,271 MW on Tuesday.

Based on the projection, an increase in demand is expected in the coming months, particularly in May. The DOE, in a news statement, urged the public to continue practicing energy efficiency and conservation measures, following the resumption of gas supply from the Malampaya gas field. “The service contract operator has reported the completion of the Malampaya turnaround activities on schedule and has started natural gas deliveries for Santa Rita, San Lorenzo and Ilijan,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla said.

With the official start of the summer earlier this month, the agency said it will closely coordinate with energy stakeholders to ensure the stable supply of electricity.

Still, Petilla stressed the need for the public to be responsible energy users and to practice energy-efficiency measures.

Thursday, April 16, 2015 A5

3 groups prequalify for P122.8-B Laguna Lakeshore deal–PPP Center

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By Cai U. Ordinario

he Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center disclosed on Wednesday that two consortiums and one firm prequalified to bid for the P122.8-billion-worth Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike (LLED) project.

The prequalified bidders are Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp. or “Team Trident”; AlloyPAVI Hanshin LLED Consortium; and San Miguel Holdings Corp.

“After thorough evaluation of the submitted PQ [prequalifica-

tion] documents, the Department of Public Works and Highways [DPWH] Prequalification Bids and Awards Committee has prequalified only three bidders that will submit actual technical and financial proposals for the project,” the

PPP Center said.

Team Trident is the consortium formed by Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Megaworld Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. The Alloy-PAVI Hanshin LLED Consortium, meanwhile, is the consortium formed by Malaysia’s MTD Group, Prime Asset Venture Inc. of the Villar Group, Korean Hanshin Construction Corp. and Korea Rural Corp.

San Miguel Holdings, on the other hand, is the lone firm that prequalified to bid for the LLED. It has undertaken other PPP projects, such as the 88.5-kilometer, twolane Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, as well as the Skyway Stage 3 project, a 14.8-km, six-lane elevated expressway from Buendia to Balintawak.

The PPP Center said the pre-qualified bidders are set to submit their proposals on July 6, the indicative submission date.

Based on the project details, the private-sector partner will be tasked to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the 47-km flood-control dike with a six-lane expressway toll road on top of the dike.

This includes the construction of interchanges, bridges, floodgates and pumps, from Taguig City to Los Baños, Laguna. The private proponent will also undertake the reclamation of 700 hectares located west of and abutting the expressway-dike and separated from the shoreline by a 100- to 150-meter channel, in Taguig to Muntinlupa.

The LLED PPP project has a cooperation period of 37 years inclusive

briefs doe visayas exec: defer preventive maintenance of power plants

Banana kingdom

A vendor at the fruit section of Libertad Market in Pasay City puts up an attractive display of bananas of diverse varieties. The vendor says bananas remain to be a top fruit choice of Filipino market goers owing to its affordability and health benefits from eating the fruit. Nonie Reyes

CEBU CITY—An official of the Department of Energy (DOE) Visayas has advised all power plants not to undergo preventive maintenance until May to prevent power shortage.

Antonio Labios, DOE Visayas director, said the Visayas grid is suffering from dwindling power reserve.

He said the Visayas grid was on yellow alert on Tuesday, which means that power reserve is less than to the equivalent of the biggest power plant, which is 100 megawatts (MW).

“The Visayas grid has enough power supply. However, we have a little power reserve. That's why the grid is on yellow alert,” Labios said.

Based on the power situation outlook for April 14, the Visayas grid has a gross reserve of 87 MW in the morning, 75 MW in the afternoon and 43 MW in the evening.

The Visayas grid situation, however, is much better, compared to the Mindanao grid, which has zero power reserve for the entire day. PNA

of a seven-year construction time.

“Motorists, commuters and residents in the area will highly benefit from this PPP project since its major goal is to mitigate flooding in the western coastal communities along Laguna Lake, from Bicutan, Taguig, in Metro Manila through Calamba to Bay in Laguna,” the PPP Center said.

Once completed, the project will help ease traffic flow by providing motorists an alternate route in going to and from Laguna, avoiding the highly congested Calamba-Los Baños route.

This will shorten travel time and improve commuter’s land travel. The project will also enhance the economic development of Laguna with greater access to tourism spots— Southern Tagalog region provinces.

another petition vs k to 12 program filed before supreme court PROFESSORS from various universities and colleges along with several other groups on Wednesday filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to enjoin the implementation of new college curriculum under Republic Act 10533, otherwise known as the K to12 Law, which added two years in the country’s secondary education, for being unconstitutional.

The petitioners that include student and union leaders, writers, cultural workers and concerned citizens branded the K to 12 Program as “anti-Filipino.”

Among the petitioners were National Artist for Literature and University of the Philippines Professor Emeritus Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera and Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio “Tonchi” Tinio, Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Fernando “Ka Pando” Hicap and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon.

The petitioners are specifically asking the Court to stop the implementation of the new college curriculum—which abolishes mandatory subjects in the current curriculum. Joel R. San Juan

Commissioning of Unit 2 of Aboitiz coal plant moved back by 10 months 16 firms interested to bid

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herma South Inc. (TSI), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power, said on Tuesday it would have to delay the commissioning of Unit 2 of its 300-megawatt (MW) coal power plant in southern Davao City by 10 months because the facility was damaged during the Mindanao-wide blackout that occurred on April 5.

“Initial findings show that the disruption unfortunately caused damage to the auxiliary components to the boiler of Unit 2. Affected areas and components include the air-preheater, as well as the electrostatic precipitator, which is part of the power plant’s pollution control system,” TSI said.

The property damage will delay the commercial operations of Unit 2 by approximately 10 months or until February 2016. Unit 1 and Unit 2 of the power plant have yet to be turned over to TSI by its contractors.

TSI President Benjie Cariaso Jr. assured the public that the status of Unit 2 will not affect the commissioning of Unit 1, which remains on schedule and should reach commercial operation by the end of June 2015.

TSI is also working with its contractors and suppliers to make the necessary repairs to resume the commissioning of Unit 2. The repairs will be made as expeditiously as possible to shorten the time before both units operate commercially, providing power to Mindanao.

A more detailed assessment of the extent of the repairs needed is being conducted. TSI also intends to

conduct a full review to determine all contributing factors that led to the plant incident to ensure appropriate measures are taken. “We will update all stakeholders of further developments. We remain committed to doing everything we can to support Mindanao with its power needs,” Cariaso added.

TSI was scheduled to synchronize Unit 2 with the Mindanao grid last week. Full commercial operations was supposed to happen a month after.

More than 20 distribution utilities and electric cooperatives have signed up to receive capacity from TSI. The company had earlier announced the expansion of the power plant to 645 MW. Early this month, Mindanao suffered a seven-hour power outage. Officials reported that there was a grid disturbance that was caused by a detached conductor that hit the capacitor voltage transformer (CVT). The conductor connects the CVT, a metering equipment, to the Agus switchyard, which, in turn, is connected to the Agus-Pulangi hydroelectric power complex in Lanao del Sur. The energy department has ruled out sabotage in the Mindanao gridwide blackout. “There was no indication of sabotage. There was no indication when it was going to fail. This equipment was already 40 years old but its lifespan is 50. This was already replaced by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines,” said Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla. Lenie Lectura

for ULGPP, Mindanao Coal power-supply contracts

By Lenie Lectura

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Fishing by the bay A boy raises a netful of tilapia, which, he says, he caught by using

a spear gun at the polluted waters of Manila Bay along Roxas boulevard. The entire catch, which he sells for P250, drew interest from passersby. Kevin dela Cruz

HE sale of supply contracts for the output of the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant (ULGPP) and the 200-megawatt (MW) Mindanao Coal power plant drew strong interest from 16 firms.

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. is bidding out the selection and appointment of an independent power producer administrator (IPPA) for ULGPP’s bulk output and for the contracted capacity of the Steag plant in Mindanao.

For the ULGPP bulk privatization, PSALM President and CEO Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. said in a text message that six companies have expressed their interest to participate in the bidding process.

“However, out of the figure, only four prospective bidders paid for participation fee and executed confidentiality agreement and undertaking,” Ledesma said.

Meanwhile, there were 12 companies that expressed interest to participate in the Mindanao Coal privatization.

“All 12 prospective bidders paid the participation fee and executed confidentiality agreement and undertaking,” the PSALM official added.

The identities of the 16 firms were not revealed.

ULGPP consists of the 125 MW Upper Mahiao, 232.5MW Malitbog, 180-MW Mahanagdong and 51-MW Optimization plants.

A prebid conference, which primarily discusses PSALM’s bidding procedures, will be on May 6 for the Mindanao coal privatization. The bidding for the Mindanao Coal IPPA is on September 23.

Located in Misamis Oriental, the Mindanao Coal plant was constructed in 2006 under a 25-year BuildOperate-Transfer-power purchase agreement scheme.

The cooperation period with the operator, Steag State Power Inc., officially ends in 2031.

The plant supplies about a fifth of Mindanao’s power needs. It has an installed capacity of 210 MW but the government’s contracted capacity is only 200 MW.

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Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

Two important milestones

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URING the last few years we all have become acutely aware of the necessity and importance of accurate, reliable and timely weather forecasting. This task rests on the shoulders of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

The agency itself was established by virtue of a presidential decree in 1972. The organization was founded to provide flood and typhoon warnings, weather forecasts, and other astronomical and climatological advisories. In other words, these are the people who tell us when we need to carry an umbrella.

However, as we have seen, the hard truth is that Pagasa is critical in saving lives from frequent and dangerous storms.

We celebrate the 150th founding anniversary of Pagasa’s predecessor, the Manila Observatory, created by the Jesuit Order in 1865. The Manila Observatory was the first weather-forecasting service in the Philippines with its first public weather outlook made in 1885. It was right; it rained.

Pagasa has come a long way from simply predicting the rain. The newest addition to the decades-long list of accomplishments is the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project Noah). It began in 2011 and is credited with saving lives by disseminating flood warnings and storm-surge information even through the Project Noah’s smartphone app.

Accurate weather information is of little use if the people who need the information do not have access. Project Noah has brought real-time warnings to the entire nation. We congratulate the dedicated and professional forecasters at Pagasa who work 24 hours a day to keep 100 million Filipinos across the archipelago safe from the fury of nature.

Another anniversary today is closer to home. We celebrate the third anniversary of the Pilipino Mirror newspaper, the sister publication of the BusinessMirror. Pilipino Mirror is a daily tabloid published by the Filipino Mirror Media Group, a division of the ALC Group of Companies.

The Pilipino Mirror is the nation’s first “Taglish” tabloid. While we think of tabloids as something for sensational stories about mostly unimportant subjects, its motto is Salamin ng Katotohanan (“The Mirror of Truth”).

The newspaper was conceived and mandated by its founder, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, to provide legitimate news and commentary to the average Filipino who is more comfortable using the vernacular than English. Pilipino Mirror provides a valuable public service to the community. A well-informed citizen makes better personal decisions and better choices for the country.

To assume that only those proficient in English want to know about the important issues is elitist and detrimental to the future of the Philippines.

We congratulate the staff and contributors of Pilipino Mirror for their dedication and continuing efforts to make the ambassador’s vision a daily reality.

Financial analysis or showbiz gossip John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

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INANCIAL markets run on commentary the same way that show business runs on gossip. What passes for market “analysis” is about the same as showbiz analysis. “Mr. A is supposed to be going steady with Ms. B. But he was seen in a very private conversation with Ms. C. Oh, what will happen next?”

The two bits of analysis that have dominated the financial commentary in the last months are the potential collapse of the US dollar and the so-called bubbles in hard asset prices such as the stock markets.

Perhaps the most confusing and misguided is the talk of a dollar collapse. It is not that the value of the dollar might collapse. It well may. But the question is, what will the impact be on you and the Philippines?

First of all, currency “prices”— that is exchange rates—is a zero-sum game. Did you know that on January 15, the price of gold collapsed by nearly 15 percent in one day? You might have thought that would have been on the front page of every business section in the Philippines. It was not. Further, not a single Filipino was able to take advantage of that move and become an instant millionaire.

Actually there might have been one: a Filipino desk clerk working at a fivestar hotel in Zurich, Switzerland.

The price of gold fell 13 percent on that fateful day last January because the value of the Swiss franc increased by 15.6 percent against the US dollar on that same day. The gold price was virtually unchanged as denominated in US dollars but against the Swiss franc, gold collapsed. Someone living in Switzerland could have bought gold at the low Swiss franc price and then sold the gold for dollars.

They would have made a small profit but no more than simply changing their francs for dollars at the new rate.

All currencies cannot drop in value against all other currencies. They can drop in value against hard assets like gold or crude oil. We have seen that happen with crude oil becoming “cheaper” in every currency. But

assume for a moment that the dollar exchange rate went to P20 to $1.

Your next vacation to US would be much cheaper as your pesos would buy more dollars. But then again you would have to ask your Fil-Am balikbayan relatives for more dollars to pay for their anak-anak’s school tuition.

Remittances from the Middle East might stay the same or even become more valuable.

The call-center companies might be hurt. But since the dollar would be less valuable around the world, these companies would probably just raise rates to their US customers for the customer service calls to the Philippines.

If the US dollar “collapses,” it would probably mean that the value of the Philippine peso would go higher. That is the zero-sum.

One nation’s stock market has increased by 100 percent in the last 12 months, but not a single “bubbler” has mentioned it. The index has gone from 2,472 in April 2014 to 5,074 in April 2015. So why is this not a bubble?

The Venezuelan currency, the bolivar, has gone from 25 to the current black market exchange rate of 160 to the dollar. A hard asset price bubble is only a bubble if the price goes higher in all currencies. While a holder of Venezuelan bolivars doubled their money, in dollar terms, the Venezuelan stock market is down over 65 percent. Further, even the 100 per-

Hong Kong’s peg to instability William Pesek

BLOOMBERG VIEW

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OR years, any call for Hong Kong to scrap its peg to the US dollar was deflected with a single word: stability. The city’s monetary authority has consistently treated the 32-year-old link as the linchpin to the economy’s international credibility.

But with Chinese money now swamping the city, the opposite may be true.

China this week announced limits on mainland visitors to Hong Kong, who have been a longstanding source of tension in the city. But the flow of money from the mainland shows no sign of slowing. Politically connected Chinese tycoons, who have a longstanding habit of squirreling their money abroad (the better to hide it from authorities in Beijing), are increasingly turning to Hong Kong’s stock and property markets.

As Louis-Vincent Gave of fund manager GaveKal puts it: “In its troubled marriage with China, it looks very much as if Hong Kong is about to get more money and less mainlanders.”

And this is likely only to increase tensions in Hong Kong. Although last

year’s enormous protests in the city were presented in the international press as a call for democracy, they were as much about income inequality fueled by money from the mainland. As of 2011, Hong Kong’s Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality, was 0.537. That was the highest since record-keeping began in 1971 and puts Hong Kong well above the 0.4 level analysts associate with social unrest.

It’s no coincidence that record protests flared up at the same time as residential home prices surged by 13 percent. By the start of 2015, prices had more than doubled since 2009, spurred in part by money flowing in from China.

To their credit, locals officials tightened rules in February to keep homeownership from rising further out of the reach of local residents. But those efforts will likely soon be overwhelmed by tidal waves of mainland cash. It’s safe to expect higher living costs in a city already plagued by a scandalous rich-poor divide.

If Hong Kong authorities want to cool down their overheating economy, they should start by addressing its undervalued currency. That’s a key reason Hong Kong’s inflation is growing 4.6 percent compared with 1.4 percent in China and 0.4 percent in South Korea. It has also forced the Hong Kong Monetary Authority into an increasingly uncomfortable position. Since August, it has been forced to defend its conversation rate to the US currency by selling off massive amounts of Hong Kong dollars.

But those efforts have allowed mainlanders to get a cheaper conversion rate than if the Hong Kong dollar traded freely. Unsurprisingly, they’ve been rushing to take advantage of it, by pouring more money into the city.

Hong Kong’s peg, in other words, has outlived its usefulness. But Hong Kong authorities have been reluctant

cent the Venezuelan investor made has been eaten up by the country’s 270-percent annual inflation.

The increase in the nominal price of an asset does not create a price bubble but the bubblers never mention that fact. The reasons the economic experts are wrong more often than they are right—and they are— is because they start with a premise and look to find information that supports the premise. As my good friend Ben Kritz (of another newspaper) says, “Economics is an excellent tool for predicting the past.”

The same applies to financial market analysis as I have said many times before. Yesterday, the Philippine stock exchange index closed at 7,906 after starting the week at 8,127. Market players want stock prices to go higher. That is only natural. I told my subscribers on Sunday and publically on Monday that a move to 7,900 was probable.

In order to forecasts the financial markets, you have to understand the how and why of price movement in a completely objective way. Anything else is showbiz gossip.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

to scrap the peg, because they see it as the source of their credibility with western investors. Chinese President Xi Jinping—who has ultimate authority over Hong Kong—might have his own reasons for feeling risk-averse, given the magnitude of economic challenges facing China at the moment.

But there are options available to Hong Kong short of a sudden abandonment of the dollar peg. The city could shift to a basket of currencies, like Singapore. Even better, it could begin laying the groundwork for a peg to the Chinese yuan.

There would be important prerequisites, including China making the yuan more freely convertible. But if China is serious about its bid to internationalize the yuan, its economy will eventually need to become far more transparent anyway; a Hong Kong-yuan peg could spur that process along.

Hong Kong, for its part, would be far more stable if its peg to the dollar weren’t acting as a transmission device for China’s imbalances.

Local residents may greet the news that there will be fewer mainland tourists in the years ahead, but they would do better to worry about the mainland money that’s been visiting their shores.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Cows suck up more water than almonds

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Opinion BusinessMirror

In the breaking of the bread

By Justin Fox | Bloomberg View

LMOND growers have been catching a lot of flak lately for snarfing up so much of California’s water.

This isn’t entirely unfair—almonds have been the state’s big agricultural growth story during the past couple of decades, and they are thirsty little drupes. Still, it isn’t the whole story. Last week Philip Bump of the Washington Post and Alissa Walker of Gizmodo both offered defenses of the almond-industrial complex that I would recommend reading if you’re interested in that kind of stuff (I clearly am). Meanwhile, I figured I’d try to offer a little context.

Here are the top 10 water users among California’s crops, compiled using the most recent California Department of Water Resources (DWR) data I could get my hands on. I averaged data from one year of below-average precipitation, 2009, and one year of above-average precipitation, 2010.

One thing that stands out is how low many iconic and important California crops are on the list. Strawberries, for example, are part of that 10th-place “lettuce, broccoli” category—the DWR calls it “other truck”—which also includes other berries, artichokes, asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, celery, peas, spinach, flowers and nursery products. Tomatoes come in 12th place, onions and garlic 14th, melons, squash and cucumbers 16th.

Meanwhile, stuff that cows eat ranks pretty high on the list. There’s alfalfa and pasture, of course. But also destined for livestock forage, according to this presentation by University of California-Davis irrigation specialist Blaine Hanson, is most of the corn, some of the flax and hops category (officially it’s “other field crops,” and includes sorghum, millet and sunflowers), plus a lot of the grains (which rank 11th in water use). In California the livestock are overwhelmingly bovine, so put it all together and growing things to feed cattle use more than 10 million acre-feet of water in California in an average year.

All the people in California used 8.6 million acre-feet a year in the two years in question. So that’s interesting.

Now, the cattle themselves don’t consume much water—direct water use by livestock farmers in California seems to be quite modest. Also, I’ve already written a whole column about how comparing agricultural water use with urban water use can be misleading. People eat things that take lots of water to grow. People also eat cattle, and drink their milk. Still, it does seem important to understand that raising cattle takes up more of California’s water than any other activity.

Then again, selling cattle and their milk is a big-money business in California:

Note that selling hay (a.k.a. alfalfa) is a big-money business, too. Alfalfa exports to China from California and other Western states are booming, which strikes a lot of people as perverse.

Another phenomenon that strikes a lot of people as perverse is growing rice in California, much of it for export to Japan. As seen in the above charts, rice ranks No. 4 in agricultural water use in Calfornia, but rice doesn’t even crack the top 10 in terms of revenue (it’s No. 14, with $790 million in sales in 2013). Producing this rice requires leaving fields covered in 5 inches of water for the entire growing season. It also requires dropping seeds onto those fields from airplanes traveling at 100 miles per hour, which sounds totally cool. But I digress.

There are also legions of people who think raising animals and eating them is perverse, immoral and wasteful. It is pretty clear that if we just ate lettuce and broccoli and tomatoes, some beans or nuts for protein, and the occasional bowl of millet porridge just to live it up, California would have more than enough water to go around and the average American would have a body mass index of 19. So many problems solved!

But that’s not the way things work in a market economy. I think one of the things that drives many California farmers crazy is that they see themselves as business people just trying to produce something that somebody else may be willing to buy, yet are often judged in the news media along moral dimensions that are seldom brought up with regard to other businesses.

Then again, other businesses don’t require such massive amounts of water to produce their products, and in California the allocation of water is laughably far from being a market economy. It’s not that farmers are cavorting under their sprinklers while urbanites are urged to skip showers, as several comments and e-mails I’ve received over the past week or so seem to intimate. Well, maybe a few are (sounds fun!), but lots of other farmers aren’t getting any water at all this year from California’s rivers and reservoirs. This is the result of the state’s twisted system of water rights—which is a topic for another day.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

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NTREATING God to protect him like before and listen to his prayer, the supplicant begs that the light of the divine countenance shine on him (Psalm 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9). And mystery of the resurrection of Jesus begins to be fathomed by the disciples in His breaking of the bread with them (Luke 24:35-48).

You put gladness into my heart OPPRESSED from all sides, the person praying the psalm appeals to God to answer him and have pity on him. His confidence that God will hear him and relieve him is based, first of all, on the fact that his God is just and therefore will see that the cause of the supplicant is just and his accusers and enemies unjust and untruthful. Also, God has regularly been coming to his assistance in the past instances of distress in his life.

The psalmist simply affirms that God has a special relationship with one who is faithful to the covenant with Him, implying that he, the psalmist, is such a faithful one and therefore God will surely do wonders for him this time again.

With a note of praise, the psalmist appreciates the fact that there is happiness only when God’s countenance smiles upon us. As it is said in the priestly prayer: “May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face shine

upon you, and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:25-26). The light of the divine countenance brings delight and puts gladness into one’s heart (Psalm 44:5), even as it means one is cast off when it seems God is hiding His face from anyone (Psalm 88:14).

To give the measure of the psalmist’s trust in God, he says: “As soon as I lie down to sleep, I fall peacefully asleep.”

Such is his trust in the security that the Lord alone gives and which the psalmist enjoys.

Touch Me and see

THE emotional effect of the appearance of the risen Jesus on His disciples is variedly described as “startled and terrified,” “troubled,” with “questions” in their hearts, “incredulous for joy,” “amazed.” They thought they were seeing a ghost.

The initial incredulity of the disciples dispels the suggestion that

the resurrection was fabricated by Jesus’ own followers. The risen and glorified Jesus is certainly different from the earthly one, although it is a principal intention of the gospel accounts regarding the appearances to show the continuity between the earthly Jesus and the risen Christ.

That the one standing there before them, the risen one, is the one who was crucified and died on the cross and was buried, Jesus invited them to look at His hands and feet and find out for themselves that it is He. He asked them to touch Him and see for themselves that He is not a ghost because He has a body of flesh and bone.

Luke offers another physical proof to establish that Jesus is real. Jesus asked for food, which He ate in their presence. As in the Emmaus account where it was the climax at the end of the narration, here Jesus ate cooked fish in the presence of His disciples as climax of His proof that it was really He before them in corporeal reality.

In the Emmaus narrative, the disciples recognized Jesus “in the breaking of the bread,” and at the first sentence of the gospel reading it is repeated that it was “in the breaking of the bread” that two disciples recognized Jesus. The emphasis by repetition points to the meaning and context of the breaking of the bread as unveiling the significance of the resurrection.

He opened their minds to understand the scriptures

IN the Emmaus incident Jesus

Apple Watch demand: Sizzle or fizzle?

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By Katie Benner | Bloomberg View

NYONE skimming the news on April 13 would think the Apple Watch, which officially goes on sale on April 24, is a runaway hit.

“Apple Watch [nearly] sold out in 30 minutes,” wrote Fortune. “All models of the Apple Watch appear to be sold out,” reported the Washington Post.

The $17,000 model did sell out in China in under an hour. Every model, at every price point, was snapped up by eager shoppers and shipping dates were pushed out well beyond April 24 into May and even June.

But if you poke beneath the numbers, a different story emerges. My Bloomberg colleague Tim Higgins notes that customers were able to try on the watch in select Apple stores on Monday, yet they didn’t line up in droves to get their hands on the product. At the company’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, the line was about 10 minutes long.

The same was true in London, Paris and Beijing.

Last September hundreds of people lined up for the iPhone 6 at the Fifth Avenue store, wrapping around a city block. So what explains the discrepancy between consumer

behavior around the watch online and offline?

One answer is that Apple’s rollout of the watch—including the sold-out models and the perceived scarcity— had the effect of creating an aura of heavy demand. The resulting buzz, the company hopes, could generate sales for a gadget that even the most glowing reviews concede needs more iterations. I don’t say this to imply that Apple is doing anything wrong. The company has never been a watchmaker or even dabbled in the world of high-end fashion. Now it’s trying to do both and its marketing strategy reflects that reality.

Scarcity is an essential characteristic of what makes something a luxury good. It keeps prices high and makes the difference between, say, a luxury handbag and another that costs tens of thousands of dollars less. It’s not unusual for very trendy items to be perpetually on a waiting list. It’s why counterfeits are such a problem for the high-end fashion industry.

Scarcity is an essential characteristic of what makes something a luxury good. It keeps prices high and makes the difference between, say, a luxury handbag and another that costs tens of thousands of dollars less.

It’s not unusual for very trendy items to be perpetually on a waiting list. It’s why counterfeits are such a problem for the highend fashion industry.

Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s head of retail and online sales and the former chief executive officer of Burberry, is no stranger to the marketing psychology needed to move luxury goods. So it comes as little surprise that Apple is shifting its sales strategy around the watch, which ranges in price between $349 and $17,000.

Under Ahrendts, the watch is available for sale online only, which means that buyers can look, try it on and learn about it—and then must wait weeks or even months for their order to arrive. It’s the same strategy that helped make the Hermes Birkin bag a must-have, even at the astronomical price of several

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interprets to the two disciples what referred to Him in all the scriptures beginning with Moses and all the prophets, to show that the Messiah should suffer and enter into His glory (Luke 24:26-27).

Now He reminds His gathered followers that while He was still with them He already told them that everything written about Him in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled, that is, “the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.”

The Last Supper’s bread broken and given, His body for them, and the cup of the new covenant in His blood, “which will be shed for you” (Luke 22:19-20), have now accomplished their goals: the people have been saved from sin by His passion and restored to a new covenant with God by His resurrection. The risen Lord is recognized “in the breaking of the bread,”—His death and resurrection as the fulfilment of scripture.

Alálaong bagá, in Jesus Christ’s mission of salvation to the world, it is in the breaking of the bread and in the breaking open of the word that we experience communion with Him. And before the countenance of the risen Lord, we live renewed lives witnessing to the victory over sin and death.

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio-streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

thousand dollars.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says it’s hard to tell if Apple’s watches sold out because there was tons of demand or because the company strategically used scarcity to create an online frenzy for them. He wrote: “We view this as an indication of solid demand paired with very limited supply, with supply being the most significant limiting factor.”

Even as shoppers grow impatient to get their watches, demand could be relatively low. Munster estimates that there will be 300,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours and that 1 million watches could be sold during the opening weekend. By comparison, Apple had 4 million pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and sold more than 10 million of them during opening weekend.

Apple’s strategy could drum up enough interest to keep sales steady in coming months. (The fact that celebrities like Katy Perry and Drake already have theirs could help with demand, too.)

Is any of this bad? Of course not.

The Apple Watch could someday be a blockbuster product, but first Apple has to make us want one, despite the fact that we know we can live without it.

Artists group backs proposed law on ‘positive discipline’ of children MAIL

Please e-mail your letters to the editor to opinion@businessmirror.com.ph.

Letters chosen for publication in this section are edited for brevity and clarity.

T

HANK you for taking interest in taking the issue of disciplining children as your Editorial on March 25.

Indeed, it is interesting to note that the BusinessMirror, a newspaper specializing in business news, has come up with your opinion on the House Bill 4907 correctly titled as “An Act Promoting Positive and Nonviolent Discipline of Children and

Appropriating Funds Therefor.”

While I do respect your paper’s opinion, I am urged to write to you and make the following clarifications: 1. HB 4907 is not simply an “antispanking” bill. It is an “anti-corporal punishment” bill.

Corporal punishment, as defined in Section 3, b, is “an act or acts which involve physical force and humiliating or degrading acts imposed upon a child as punishment for an alleged or actual offense inflicted by an adult or by another child, who has been given or has assumed authority or responsibility for punishment or discipline. It includes physical, humiliating or degrading forms of punishment.”

To mean that the bill does not speak only about spanking, which essentially is a physical act but also verbal, mental, psychological punishment in the name of discipline.

2. The premise that physical and/ or verbal discipline bordering to

abuse is “erroneous.”

Any form of physical and/or verbal discipline defined as corporal punishment is a violation of the Right of the Child to Protection.

Republic Act 7610, or “The Special Protection For a Child Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act,” is silent on the issue of corporal punishment. (1) Thus, most parents, just like the father who submerged his daughter’s head off the sea on Roxas Boulevard and declared that he is doing it to “discipline” his daughter walks away free without any accountability to speak of.

This is the whole point of HB 4907 authored by Rep. Susan Yap and supported by various I/NGOs, including the Child Right Network (CRN).

3. It would have been more appropriate to craft a bill that offers extensive parenthood programs for parents having difficulty rearing their child.

It is quite surprising that you

ended your editorial with this statement. This is exactly what HB 4907 is proposing.

Section 7 of the bill lays down various interventions, namely: “(1) undergo seminars on positive discipline, anger management and children’s rights; (2) undergo counseling or therapy; and, (3) be directed to avail of other rehabilitative services if necessary.”

I do hope that you have carefully read the HB 4907 before you can readily say that indeed it merits a “good spanking.”

Before I end, this is to offer a creative seminar-workshop on positive discipline and the HB 4907 free of charge to all BusinessMirror employees, staff and supervisors, who are parents. In this way, may we all have a united and positive view of disciplining our children.

Marichu Belarmino-Carino Project Director Peta Arts Zone Project