BusinessMirror December 24, 2019 by BusinessMirror

LTFRB, POE WEIGH IN ON ‘ANGKAS’ CASE By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

& Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

D Passengers cram the Araneta Center Provincial Bus Terminal in Quezon City two days before Christmas, in a scene that typifies the annual rush home to the provinces. Amid the demand for transportation in the holidays, meanwhile, regulators are under fire for capping the number of bikers for the popular ride-hailing service Angkas, which people describe as the poor man’s taxi in trafficchallenged times. NONOY LACZA

ESPITE the protest against a hard cap on supply per operator, the technical working group (TWG) tasked to review the viability of motorcycle taxis will continue to force Angkas to displace 17,000 of its drivers to meet its new rules. Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) member Antonio Gardiola, who chairs the working group, said the government remains firm in its decision to place a controversial supply cap on the ride-hailing industry. This means that 17,000 drivers will

essentially be disfranchised, and will be forced to choose a new operator. “They need to choose on who they will participate with. They can apply with the other operators. This is not about livelihoods, we are studying the viability of the service,” Gardiola said. He explained the move is meant to effectively evaluate the said service, which regulators initially opposed owing to the absence of laws allowing motorcycles for hire, but eventually relented and allowed a six-month trial amid overwhelming support from the riding public desperate for alternative means to commute quickly and cheaply. “The cap was imposed for us to be able to monitor fairly—and not just base our

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 75

@BNicolasBM

VEN as the remaining packages of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) have yet to be passed by Congress, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III still considers 2019 a year of “great” achievements in the area of fiscal reform.

The Department of Finance (DOF) had hoped to secure the approval of Congress for all the remaining CTRP packages before the end of the year. Of the remaining packages, Package 1B on tax

amnesty with line veto, was signed into law by President Duterte this year. Also, the President signed in law in July the tobacco tax hike bill. The increase in excise taxes will

fund the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law. In his speech during the yearend party of the DOF, Dominguez also cited the collection of taxes from errant Philippine online

gaming operators and their foreign employees. He urged DOF employees to “remain firm in the tasks that they have to accomplish next year as they continue to push for the remaining CTRP packages,” stressing the reforms they seek “require resilience, endurance and persistence.” See “Fiscal reforms,” A2

@joveemarie

See “GAB,” A2

PESO exchange rates n

SPIDER-MAN OR TOM CRUISE? Building maintenance workers clean the glass façade of the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City a few days before Christmas, a job that, for all the seeming movie-star glamor, requires skills in using harnesses properly and lots of courage. ROY DOMINGO

Japan to assist govt in crafting Subic Bay devt plan By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

HE Philippine government has tapped the expertise of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) in modifying the master plan for the development of the Subic Bay and the areas within and around its periphery. Finance Secretary Carlos G.

Dominguez III relayed this information through Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara during the plenary discussions on the proposed finance office budget for next year. Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, had sponsored the agency’s funding at the Senate floor. Upon learning about it, Angara relayed the information to Sen. Richard Gordon. Gordon asked

See “Angkas,” A8

Record 6-yr high in labor displacements reported By Samuel P. Medenilla

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Currently, Angkas has 27,000 bikers in

“The task of bringing forth change is a long and painful one. We will have to deal with the vagaries of our politics, the inertia of the bureaucracy, and the resistance of those who would rather have things stay as they are.”—Dominguez

Non-signing of GAB by end-Dec not an issue HE leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday said there would be no economic implications if the proposed General Appropriations Bill for 2020 is not signed into law before the year ends. In a press conference, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano confirmed that President Duterte will not be able to sign the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 this month. “[But] I am still hoping that it could be signed into law before January 1. But even if it is signed on January 6, there is no delay that will occur. The [programs] would still continue,” Cayetano said. According to Cayetano, Congress has already sent copies of the proposed budget to Malacañang. “Malacañang just received the copy today because of the printing. We rushed it so that they could receive at least 25 copies,” he said. Meanwhile, Cayetano said the President can always use his veto power if he finds any questionable provision in the 2020 proposed budget.

Angkas bikers displaced

P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 24 pages |

DOF: 2019 was great year for fiscal reforms By Bernadette D. Nicolas

decision on one provider being studied,” Gardiola said, referring to Angkas, which was the only one that participated in the six-month trial that ends December 26. He added: “For us, we want to distribute the cap to three players so that we will come up with a good study because the data is not onerous.” Under the new rules imposed by the new TWG, two new players—Joy Ride and Move It—will be introduced in the market to test the viability of the market. Each operator is allowed to onboard a maximum of 10,000 riders.

about the government’s plan for the development of the Subic Bay located in the lawmaker’s home province of Zambales. Gordon was former mayor of Olongapo City, which is adjacent to the former United States naval base. He was also the first administrator and chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). See “Subic Bay,” A2

@sam_medenilla

LMOST 80,000 workers lost their job in January to October this year due mainly to layoffs in the manufacturing sector, according to preliminary data released by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). In its preliminary job displacement figure for 2019, the DOLE data indicated that a total of 79,693 workers lost their jobs in the 10-month period, the highest in six years. Of the total job displacement figure, 72,710 workers were retrenched due to reduction of work force (RWF), while the remaining 6,983 lost their job because of permanently closed/shutdown operations (PCL). The latest figure is 56.2 percent higher than the 51,032 displaced workers recorded last year. Displacement figures in previous years were much lower: 50,089 in 2017; 45,589 in 2016; 43,556 in 2015; and 27,487 in 2014.

Hanjin closure

Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) Director Dominique R. Tutay said in an interview that the job losses recorded during the period were in the manufacturing sector and included those retrenched by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co.-Philippines (HHICC-Phil) Inc. HHICC-Phil. was forced to lay off over 11,000 employees in its shipyard in Zambales due to the decline in orders. Data showed that of

79,693 The number of workers who lost their jobs in the 10-month period, per the DOLE’s preliminary job displacement figure for 2019

the registered 38,396 job losses in the manufacturing sector, 18,649 came from Central Luzon, including Zambales province. Tutay also said the impact of the trade tiff between the United States and China may have also caused the displacement of workers in the manufacturing sector.

Natural disasters

The BLE official said the job displacement figure this year could still breach the 80,000 mark since it does not yet include those displaced by the strong earthquakes in Mindanao and Typhoon Tisoy (international code name Kammuri) which ravaged parts of Luzon. Tutay said the bureau has yet to receive displacement reports from their regional offices in the affected areas, which are still reeling from the impact of natural disasters. “In the past, it [displacement figure] would fall in the range of 30,000 to 50,000. This is the first time it hit 79,000 under the current administration so we could say we are almost in the crisis level,” she said. See “Labor displacements,” A8

US 50.7360 n japan 0.4636 n UK 65.9568 n HK 6.5086 n CHINA 7.2413 n singapore 37.4491 n australia 34.9926 n EU 56.2358 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5256

Source: BSP (23 December 2019 )

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BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, December 24, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

US move in De Lima case angers DOJ chief J

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573 & Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

USTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra was indignant over the decision of United States President Donald Trump to approve the 2020 US budget with a controversial rider introduced by several senators: a ban on the entry of personalities involved in the detention of opposition Sen. Leila de Lima.

Pa l ace of f ic i a l s, howe ver, shrugged off the US government’s move, saying the law that Trump signed calls on the Secretary of State to first ascertain if there is credible information against a certain Philippine officials seeking to enter America. “I will leave it up to our foreign affairs secretary to comment on this development. This issue is much bigger than the prosecution of Senator de Lima on drug charges

under Philippine laws. This involves issues of sovereignty and non-interference among coequal nations. As for me, I don’t give a damn s _ _ _ if I’m included in the US list. I’m not the one who has to answer to my conscience,” Guevarra said. Trump signed the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill 2020 last Friday, December 20, which was part of $1.4-trillion na-

tional budget of the US government. According to the provision on “Prohibition on Entry,” “Secretary of State shall apply subsection to foreign government officials about whom the Secretary has credible information have been involved in the wrongful imprisonment of: [1] Mustafa Kassem, an American citizen imprisoned by the Government of Egypt and whose health is failing; and [2] Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017.” Guevarra said the issue is no longer about de Lima but about a foreign government interfering in the country’s judicial affairs. “One thing sure though, I meant what I said, as a Filipino like you. I feel so offended,” the DOJ secretary added. The provision in the US 2020 budget was introduced by US Senators Richard Durbin and Democratic Patrick Leahy last September 27 and adopted at the committee level.

“This issue is much bigger than the prosecution of Senator De Lima on drug charges under Philippine laws. This involves issues of sovereignty and noninterference among coequal nations.” — Guevarra

De Lima earlier cited the initial list of personalities whom she recalled have contributed in her illegal arrest and unjust detention, including President Duterte, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, former Presidential Communications Operations Office official Mocha Uson, Sass Rogando Sasot, and RJ Nieto, former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Solicitor General Jose Calida, Public Attorneys Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta, former jueteng whistle-blower now charity sweepstakes executive Sandra Cam, anticrime crusader Dante Jimenez,

SC won’t act yet on bid to evict Ver partner Camcam from Forbes home

HE Supreme Court has refused to step in yet on the controversial Forbes mansion property, the subject of an ownership dispute between a doctor-developer and Edna Camcam, the longtime partner of the late Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Fabian Ver. In a two-page resolution, the Court’s Second Division denied the petition for certiorari filed by Dr. Daniel Vasquez seeking immediate SC intervention to expel Camcam from the property in line with the ruling of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati and the Court of Appeals declaring him the real owner of the mansion. “After a judicious study of the case, the Court resolves to dismiss instant petition filed by petitioner Dr. Daniel E. Vasquez for violation of the doctrine of hierarchy of court,” the Court declared. While, the SC, the Court of Appeals and the RTC have concurrence of jurisdiction to issue writs of certiorari, the SC pointed out that Vasquez cannot choose which among the courts

should his certiorari petition be filed. “Instead, a becoming regard for judicial hierarchy dictates that petitions for the issuance of writs of certiorari against first-level court should be filed with the RTC, and those against the latter, with the CA, before resort may be filed before this Court,” the SC explained. This is in consonance, according to the Court, with Section 4, Rules 65 of the Rules of Court. “A direct invocation of the Court’s original jurisdiction to issue writs of certiorari should be allowed only when there are special and important reasons, therefore, clearly and specifically set out in the petition, which are absent in this case,” the SC resolution read. The SC upheld the trial court’s decision to deny Vasquez’s motion to transmit records of the case for being premature. The RTC cannot transmit the records of the case to it, said the SC, considering that Camcam timely filed a motion for partial reconsideration and it is still pending before the CA.

“Settled is the rule that if a motion for reconsideration [including a partial motion for reconsideration] is timely filed by the proper party, the execution of the CA’s judgment or final resolution shall be stayed,” the SC said. Thus, the SC said the pendency of Camcam’s motion for reconsideration stayed the February 24, 2017 decision of the CA. In the said decision, the CA set aside the decision issued by the RTC Court Branch 66 of Makati City on February 10, 2014, which declared Vasquez the rightful possessor of the subject property. The appellate court said it is the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) which has jurisdiction over the property being an unlawful detainer case, thus, the RTC should not have decided on the merits of the case. The CA also directed that the case be remanded to the MeTC for further proceedings. Prior to the controversy, Vasquez claimed that Ver asked him to provide Camcam and her children a

Fiscal reforms. . .

Cease-fire. . .

“The task of bringing forth change is a long and painful one. We will have to deal with the vagaries of our politics, the inertia of the bureaucracy and the resistance of those who would rather have things stay as they are,” said Dominguez. The remaining CTRP packages awaiting the approval of Congress are Package 1B on Motor Vehicle Users Charge, Package 2 on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives, Package 2 Plus on Mining Taxes, Package 3 on Real Property Valuation and Package 4 on Passive Income and Financial Taxes. Calling DOF workers “warriors for reform,” the top finance official went on to encourage them to return after the holiday break “with refreshed spirits and renewed vigor to win the war for reforms.” He said, “We are all warriors for reform. The sage tells us we must be smart to win. We must prepare well and move decisively. I encourage you to continuously build yourselves, and sharpen your weapons for the war we have before us.” Dominguez said the rollout of reforms has allowed the government to build an “inclusive economy.” He noted that the Duterte administration is on track to slashing poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022 as the latest poverty incidence dropped to 16.6 percent in 2018, from 23.3 percent in 2015. He also cited as an achievement the passage of the rice trade liberalization law nearly three decades after the Philippines acceded to the World Trade Organization, and which required Manila to convert quantitative restrictions on other agricultural products into tariffs. Dominguez noted that the government had embarked on tax reform without being compelled by a looming fiscal crisis, and significantly increased investments in infrastructure from a mere 2.5 percent of the GDP for over 50 years, to above 5 percent of GDP with “dramatic” results. By 2022, Dominguez said the government will invest 7 percent of GDP in modernizing the country’s logistics backbone, which will enable the Philippines to catch up with the rest of the region and further sharpen its global competitiveness.

“The communist rebels will always want this government to fall; that is precisely the purpose by which this organization has been conceived from the very beginning. So it is not far-fetched that they want to eliminate all the officials running this government. But we are prepared for that,” he said. The defense department and the military earlier said they were not keen on a holiday truce with the communists, arguing that the rebels used previous suspensions to launch attacks. But Panelo allayed these concerns and stood firm that the government is prepared for this

Continued from A1

Continued from A8

BIFF, NPA. . .

Continued from A8

“Following the President and Commanderin-Chief’s directive, a unilateral and reciprocal cease-fire with the CPP-NPA-NDF will be in effect from 12 a.m. of 23 December 2019 until 07 January 2020, 11:59 p.m.,” Lorenzana said in a statement issued through Spokesman Arsenio Andolong. “The appropriate directive has already been properly communicated and disseminated to all AFP units,” he added. The same order was issued by Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano to the Philippine National Police (PNP) . “I have already directed the Philippine National Police to comply and to issue appropriate orders to all units in the field,” Año said. “While we remain vigilant and take a strong defensive stance, this will also give an opportunity for our policemen and soldiers in the field to spend a meaningful celebration of

home as they were returning to the Philippines from exile. Being Ver’s longtime friend, Vasquez offered the Forbes Park mansion which was acquired from the United Coconut Planters Bank through Benjamin Bitanga. On September 27, 1994, Bitanga executed a Sale with Right of Repurchase over the property in favor of Vasquez. Camcan on the same day issued the guaranty declaring Vasquez as the owner. In their quest to wrest control of the property, Camcam and Bitanga questioned the original sale of the property from UCPB to Bitanga and then to Vasquez. They said the real intention was to enter into a loan transaction and not a sale. The trial court did not buy the argument and said the two did not even bother to annul the document, taking cognizance of Camcam’s claim that she was a veteran banker and an expert in mortgage transactions.

Joel R. San Juan

eventuality. “As I said, any attack on their part will destroy the presumption of sincerity on this particular group,” he said.

GRP panel

Besides the Pa lace announcement on the cease-fire, the President ordered the reconstitution of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GR P) Negotiating Panel, naming Executive Secretar y Salvador C. Medialdea among its members. GRP Chief Negotiator and Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III earlier said the peace negotiation, stopped in 2017 upon the orders of Duterte, is expected to start by the first quarter of 2020. Christmas with their families,” he added. In Iloilo, the PNP said alleged rebels also attacked a team of policemen with a land mine, wounding two policemen at around 9:20 a.m. on Monday. Citing an initial report, the PNP said members of the First Provincial Mobile Force Company and Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 were on their way to Barangay Singon, Tubungan, Iloilo, on board a patrol vehicle when they were reportedly ambushed by rebels. Pat. Eric Galve and Staff Sgt. Ian John Lindo were wounded and their vehicle was damaged.

BIFF attack

On Sunday night, suspected members of the BIFF lobbed a hand grenade into a military truck at the corner of Sinsuat and Quezon Avenue near the Cotabato cathedral in Cotabato City, wounding eight soldiers and four civilians. Several minutes later, an explosion, still blamed on the BIFF, also rocked Libungan in North Cotabato, wounding five civilians. Military officials said a third explosion also occurred some minutes later, but no one was hurt.

and Representatives Reynaldo Umali and Rudy Fariñas. The provision also included a ban on Egypt government officials involved in the imprisonment of Mustafa Kassem, a sickly American citizen.

Palace unfazed

Malacañang is unfazed by Trump’s signing of the US 2020 budget with the rider barring the entry of Philippine government officials involved in de Lima’s case. Sought for reaction, Panelo said they are “not bothered” by the provision banning the entry of Philippine officials since this cannot just be imposed without credible information. “We are not bothered by it. First, it’s their process; we cannot intrude, in the same way that we react when they intrude into our processes. Number two, the very provision says there must be credible information before they ban any official in the Philippines,”

Panelo told reporters in a Palace briefing on Monday. “If the information is not credible, then the US Secretary of State will not impose such sanction,” he added. Moreover, he again argued that there is no wrongful detention because the senator went through due process. “In the first place, it’s not a wrongful imprisonment, as we have repeatedly explained that. So, I suppose the Secretary of State, unlike the two senators who introduced that amendment, is better informed and educated on the internal judicial process of this country and would necessarily follow his informed judgment,” he said. Panelo was among those cited by De Lima as responsible for her arrest and detention. Since February 2017, de Lima has been detained for her alleged involvement in illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prisons during her stint as Justice secretary under the Aquino administration.

SSS ready to give calamity loans to Tisoy-hit members

HE Social Security System (SSS) on Monday announced it is now ready to provide calamity loans to its 68,000 members affected by Typhoon Tisoy earlier this year. In a statement, President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said they already allocated P614.52 million for their Calamity Assistance Package (CAP) for typhoon victims in Southern Luzon and parts of the Visayas. Of the amount, P601.60 million will be used for possible loan exposure and the remaining P12.97 million for possible disbursements for the advanced three-month pension. Ignacio said CAP will be made available to SSS members and pensioners residing in areas declared by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) under a state of calamity. Currently, NDRRMC has placed these areas under a state of calamity: Batangas City; Mabitac, Laguna; Provinces of Quezon, Cavite, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque; Corcuera, Romblon and San Fernando in Romblon; and Province of Northern Samar. Qualified C AP beneficiaries may apply for a calamity loan, direct house repair and improvement loan and advance their three-month pension from SSS.

GAB. . .

Continued from A1

“We already gave our double assurance because the one responsible [for executing] the budget is the Executive branch. First check is to look if there is anything very disagreeable they can veto,” he said. Earlier, Acting Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said the 2020 budget is now scheduled to be signed by the President by the first week of January. Asked if the pushback in schedule of the signing of the 2020 national budget had something to do with the alleged last-minute insertions as claimed earlier by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Avisado said “Not really. It’s really the process that has to be undertaken [where a review is to be done].”

Subic Bay. . . Continued from A1

The Philippines and Japan this December signed a memorandum of cooperation signifying the latter’s commitment to provide technical support to the government’s formulation of a regional development master plan designed to maximize the economic potentials of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas. The Department of Finance (DOF) earlier relayed to Japan its appreciation for its commitment to provide technical assistance in crafting a master plan for the regional development of Subic Bay and the areas within and surrounding it.

Under the calamity loan, SSS members may borrow up to P40,000 depending on their average last 12-monthly salary credit. It will be payable in two years in equal monthly installments with an annual interest rate of 10 percent and 1 percent monthly penalty for late payments. The direct house repair and improvement loans with six months’ moratorium in amortization and interest payments will allow qualified SSS members to borrow up to a maximum of P1 million under this program. It will run until 20 December 2020. “Members who would like to avail themselves of the Calamity Assistance Package are required to be registered in the My.SSS application to facilitate their billing requirements in the future,” Ignacio said. Iganacio noted the following are barred from accessing CAP: those with outstanding loans under the Loan Restructuring Program (LRP) and previous CAPs; those receiving pensions for total permanent disability and retirement; those who have availed of the Pension Loan Program (PLP). SSS estimated more than 679,000 of its paying members and 40,000 of its pensioners were affected by Typhoon Tisoy. Samuel P. Medenilla

To avert another scenario of a reenacted budget, both Houses of Congress ratified last December 11 the final version of the P4.1trillion national budget bill for 2020. Section 5 (7), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution reads: “If by the end of any fiscal year, Congress failed to pass the General Appropriations Bill [GAB] for the ensuing year, the General Appropriations Act [GAA] for the preceding year shall be deemed reenacted, and shall remain in force and in effect until the GAB is passed by Congress.” This year, the government was forced to operate on a reenacted budget for nearly four months since the passage of the 2019 national budget got delayed due to a number of issues, including alleged last-minute insertions and realignments by lawmakers. The President was only able to sign the budget on April 15 this year. According to the DOF, the proposed master plan will outline possible projects in Subic Bay and its surrounding areas in the fields of road network development, logistics terminal development, disaster risk management and other public utilities development. Ten loan agreements providing Japanese funding support for several big-ticket infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program have been signed between Manila and Tokyo since 2016. Japan is still the largest provider of official development assistance loans and grants to the Philippines, totaling $8.26 billion, accounting for 46 percent of the country’s total ODA loan portfolio as of December 2018.

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BusinessMirror

A4 Tuesday, December 24, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Metro Manila producing more garbage every year–DENR By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

ETRO Manila’s estimated 12 million plus population is producing more garbage every year. This year, it is again expected to exceed its thrash annual output. The National Capital Region produced over 66,000 cubic meters of waste in the first half of 2019 alone, exceeding its year ago level of 58,112.31 cubic meters of waste, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Hence, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu again called on the public to practice proper solid-waste management through the so-called 3Rs, or reduce, reuse and recycle, especially during the Christmas season.

In a news statement, Cimatu said the holiday season produces the biggest volume of garbage in the country, especially in Metro Manila. The baseline target for the year, he noted, had already been surpassed as early as June. “Because of this, we really need to cut back on our consumption and waste and get back to basics to make life easier and to help the environment in the process,” he added. In this season of giving, Cimatu recommended the use of eco-friendly wrapping papers and gift bags, such as those made from bamboo, rattan, abaca and buri leaves, as these can be reused. “The best way to reduce wrapping waste is to wrap a gift in something that’s part of the gift like a reusable

tote bag,” Cimatu pointed out. Since many gifts end up lost, broken or forgotten, Cimatu suggested giving the gift of memory or experience like going to nature parks, or visiting an orphanage, or home for the elderly or hospice. “Well thought presents, such as those that a family member actually needs or has always wanted are also more meaningful and don’t go to waste,” he also pointed out. In hosting gatherings and parties, Cimatu advised people to use washable dinnerware and cutlery instead of paper plates and plastic cups, spoons and forks. To avoid food wastage, Cimatu urged the public not to buy extra, cook just enough for everyone and make sure to have more

vegetables than meat. Cimatu noted that meat products have larger carbon footprints per calorie than grains, or vegetable products. He said studies have shown that animal agriculture puts a heavy strain on the Earth’s finite resources, such as land, water and energy, thus causing deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water and air pollution. The Philippines, with its estimated population of over 100 million, produces around 40,000 tons of garbage every day or 14.6 million tons of garbage annually. Metro Manila produces slightly less than a quarter of that figure with around 9,000 tons every day. The Philippines has been implementing Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act for more than 25 years.

LandBank, CDA ink pact for FIT-Coop Program

HE Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) recently signed an agreement to provide financial literacy trainings to unbanked and underserved micro and small cooperatives (MSC) in the country. In a news statement following the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with CDA, LandBank President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia C. Borromeo said the Financial Inclusion Through Cooperatives (FIT-Coop) Program is an initiative that will provide capacity-building support to MSCs nationwide.

Through the FIT-Coop Program, Borromeo said a total of 220 cooperatives with more than 31,000 members from 92 unbanked municipalities all over the country will undergo financial literacy trainings that would better prepare them to access formal credit assistance. She said the FIT-Coop Program is also a clear display of the LandBank’s continuous commitment to reach the smallest cooperatives in the most far-flung areas and empower them to become catalysts for inclusive growth in the countryside. “LandBank is no stranger to cooperativism. We know that a lot more can

be done if we collaborate with them. Communities have transformed into very progressive local economies because of cooperatives. The crucial thing is we strengthen the weak micro and small cooperatives so that they can grow and access formal lending programs,” added Borromeo. Under the FIT-Coop Program, assessment tools from both CDA and LandBank were utilized to develop the Cooperative Assessment Tool— an instrument which will measure a cooperative’s maturity level and readiness for different support services. In addition, an Environmental Mapping or Scanning Tool was like-

It’s time to act against corruption private accounts, or wasted on vanity projects that benefit the few rather than the many. This year the International Anti-Corruption Day fell in the middle of the world’s most important climate conference, the COP25, which was held in Madrid, Spain. Our minds do not often make the link between climate and corruption, but unfortunately the two are deeply interlinked.

Corruption risks and undue influence in key sectors

By Henry J. Schumacher

FEW days ago was the International Anti-Corruption Day of 2019 and we should ask ourselves whether we really made progress in fighting corruption and achieving a political and business environment where corruption is disappearing. If you want my view, while we raised the need to fight corruption throughout the year, and while we lived up to the commitment not to bribe after we signed the Integrity Pledge of the Integrity Initiative, we have to admit that we did not make real progress both on the political side and the private-sector side to stop corruption. We also need to realize that we can’t tackle the climate crisis without tackling corruption. International funding for climate adaptation and mitigation measures like renewable energy, sustainable transport and flood shelters is set to reach over $100 billion per year by 2020. Even more, around $600 billion annually will be spent from national budgets. These funds are in danger of being lost to corruption as countries that are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change often have higher levels of public-sector corruption. Instead of improving peoples’ lives, climate funds might be siphoned off to

THE world needs to take crucial steps toward a greener future, including protecting forests, improving sustainable transportation and developing renewable-energy sources. These all involve industries with particularly high-corruption risks, like construction, forestry and energy. This is a massive obstacle for effective climate action. The World Bank estimates that 20 percent to 40 percent of water sector finances are lost to corrupt practices. Similar rates apply for the transport and energy sectors. In some sectors, this is exacerbated by criminal activities. Between 15 percent to 30 percent of global logging activities are illegal. In key countries that produce tropical timber, this rate can be as high as 50 percent to 90 percent of the volume of all forestry. Undue influence from vested interests also prevents measures being taken to solve the climate crisis.

Environmental defenders at risk

WHERE corruption thrives and the rule of law is weak, those standing up against environmental crimes are risking their lives. Death rates among environmental activists have been rising steadily over the past 15 years. Since 2002, over 1,500 people—farmers, NGO workers, lawyers and journalists—have been killed for defending their environment and lands, including the Philippines. When it is dangerous for people to stand up to powerful interests, it becomes more difficult for everyone to hold the powerful to account and speak out against corruption.

What needs to be done

FOR action against corruption, we urgently need to step up efforts toward transparency, accountability and integrity. We must make good governance the cornerstone of the fight against corruption. I hope you find these suggestions useful! If you want specific details on how to make any of these ideas a reality, I will be glad to assist you with advice. If you have more suggestions that are not already on this list, I would love to hear from you! Let me conclude with a note of caution. There is risk in exposing people involved in corruption. Work in a group rather than alone. You can contact me at Schumacher@eitsc.com

wise devised to identify necessary but missing facilities in the community, which hamper the cooperative’s growth and development. The CDA and LandBank will then refer the data collected from these tools to relevant government agencies to further help cooperatives through possible developmental interventions. For his part, CDA Chairman Orlando Ravanera said the aforementioned agreement also be a great leap forward for CDA to fulfill its mandate to promote the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments of social justice and economic development. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Stiffer penalty for counterfeit, infected seed dealers sought

O curb the proliferation of illicit seed lots, the chairman of the House Committee on Economic Affairs has called on the leadership of the lower chamber to amend the two-decade Seed Industry Development Act or Republic Act 7308. In a news statement, AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin echoed the lament of private seed distributors on the proliferation of counterfeit seeds that harms the interest of farmers and the Philippine seed industry. By definition, unlawful seed lots are those infested with pests, or infected with diseases, sold by dealers/producers with false documents. In the amended penal provision of the bill, any person, corporation, partnership, firm, establishment, association, or any juridical identity to be found guilty of violating the law shall be punished with a fine, not more than P50,000. The current law mandates a fine of only P10,000 which is considered very low due to inflation. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

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Lawmaker pushes passage of bill for Metro Iloilo Special Economic Zone and Freeport By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

O bring more investors to Iloilo City, a member of the House Committee on Economic Affairs is pushing for the passage of a measure seeking to create the first Metro Iloilo Special Economic Zone and Freeport. In House Bill 5794, or the proposed Metro Iloilo Special Economic Zone and Free Port Act of 2019, Iloilo City Rep. Jam Baronda said her proposal seeks to create a special economic zone and free port, and an authority to manage and direct its affairs in Iloilo City. She said the proposed economic zone and free port will be the first in Western Visayas and the entire Visayas. It will include the Iloilo International Port located in Barangay Loboc, La Paz and such available public; including, reclaimed lands in Barangays Bitoon and Balabago in Jaro District; and Barangays Hinactacan, San Isidro, Ingore and Loboc, located in Lapaz District, Iloilo City. According to Baronda, the proposed Metro Iloilo Special Economic Zone and Freeport is a “critical and vital economic hub that will bring in positive change for City of Iloilo and for the entire Western Visayas though jobs generation and investments.” “This vital piece of legislation is a major program under my HOPE [Health, Obra, Peace & Order, and Education] platform,” she added. “I am committed to ensure the further economic development of Iloilo City. I am committed to bring more investors to Iloilo City. And I am committed to create more employment opportunities for Iloilo City. I made these commitments in the last elections,” Baronda added. The bill, if enacted into law, the lawmaker said, will be a super economic booster for Iloilo City, for Western Visayas and even for the entire Visayas region. “Our economy is doing good and we want to further boost it,” she said. “I want Iloilo City to be the Silicon Valley of the Philippines and I want Iloilo to attract investments in information technology. I also want [to] invite investments, among others, in medical tourism, retirement villages, manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries processing, energy, service and export enterprises,” she added. Baronda said that the Metro Iloilo Economic Zone and Freeport complements the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. “It intends to place regional development at the center of our socio-

economic development strategy. By creating more jobs, improving social services, encouraging innovation and connecting the countryside to growth centers, we will reduce poverty and accelerate development in rural areas,” she said. “We have been dependent on the agriculture and services sectors all this time. Now, we want to expand and we want to diversify. We will welcome investors. We will offer them one of the best investment climates the Philippines can offer. The centerpiece of all that is the ecozone. And they can rely on the hardworking and intelligent Ilonggos, as others elsewhere in the Philippines and abroad had relied, and continue to do so,” she added. Under the bill, a tax rate of 5 percent on gross income earned will be collected from the locators with no other local or national taxes to be imposed. The enterprises to be registered with the economic zone authority may enjoy the income tax holiday or the net operating loss carry over prior to the availment of the GIE. All fiscal incentives under the proposed law will be terminated after a cumulative period of 20 years from the date of registration, or the start of operation. According to National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Western Visayas 2018 Socioeconomic Report, the employment rate in the region remained high in 2018 at 94.7 percent, with the unemployment rate slightly decreasing by 1.85 percent. The number of underemployed persons or employed persons, however, “who expressed desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have additional job or to have a new job with longer working hours increased by 11.38 percent.” The same report underscored that “the BPO industry, considered as one of the job generators for Western Visayas, employed 21,500 workers in Iloilo City. However, there is still a need to attract more investors especially along manufacturing areas in order to generate more employment opportunities and ultimately decrease the 18.6 percent unemployment rate.” Baronda said Western Visayas registered slower growth in all sectors in 2018 with Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry decreased by 1.4 percent from 8.8 percent in 2017; Service decreased from 8.5 percent to 7.5 percent; Industry 8.7 percent in 2017, to 8.6 percent in 2018; although Manufacturing increased minimally from 4.1 percent to 4.7 percent, showed the Neda West Visayas 2018 Socioeconomic Report.

LGUs pledge P2.5M to protect and conserve Palawan mountain

HE protection and conservation of Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape (MMPL) in Palawan province will be getting the much-needed boost from local government units (LGUs). The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said five municipalities in southern Palawan have pledged a total of P2.5 million for the protection and conservation of what can be considered the largest protected area of the province. The MMPL is a protected area by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 1815 dated June 23, 2009. It is included in the tentative list of Unesco World Heritage Sites and is vying to be inscribed as such for its exceptional biodiversity and endemism. Like all other biodiversity-rich areas, the MMPL faces various threats, including illegal logging, mining and plantation expansion, including slash- and -burn farming. The enforcement of environmental laws remains a major challenge because of insufficient number of forest protection officers currently deployed in the area. The local government units of Brooke’s Point, Quezon, Rizal, So-

fronio Española and Bataraza each committed to allot P500,000 from their respective funds to support forest protection activities and stricter enforcement of environmental laws in the main protected area and its buffer zone during the 15th en banc meeting of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) of MMPL held in Puerto Princesa City, on December 16. T he meeting was attended by other members of the PAMB, which include the punong barangays, representatives from the academe, nongovernment organizations, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Philippine National Police, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and other indigenous peoples groups. The commitment was made by the five LGUs after the Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring System report highlighted the urgency to step up forest protection efforts in MMPL, which include procurement of equipment, supplies and materials, and augmentation of monitoring and patrol personnel. Currently, there are only three park rangers under the Protected Area Management Office protect-

ing the MMPL which covers a total of 120,457 hectares. “Ideally, it should be one forest ranger per 500 hectares. For MMPL, we are in need of 240 more rangers to cover the entire area,” Protected Area Superintendent Mildred Suza explained. The financial support coming from the LGUs will help address the limited number of forest protectors, as well as the grant of other benefits to boost the morale of the forest protection officers or bantay gubat volunteers. DENR Mimaropa Regional Executive Director Henry Adornado said besides regular compensation, the allocated funds could also provide the forest guards medical and accidental insurance should unfortunate incidents happen while they are on patrol. “The rangers’ job to protect Mount Mantalingahan against poachers and other violators expose them to serious threats and danger. They are constantly risking their lives every time they monitor the mountains. It’s about time we take action to ensure their safety and protection,” Adornado, who is the concurrent chairman of the PAMB of the MMPL. JonathanL.Mayuga

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

China seen introducing market competition in key industries

EIJING—China’s government promised on Monday to open its oil, telecom and power markets wider to private competitors as the ruling Communist Party tries to shore up growth in the slowing, statedominated economy. The Cabinet also promised to give private companies equal treatment with stateowned enterprises in more

industries. The statement gave no indication whether the changes apply equally to foreign companies. The promise adds to a string of market-opening measures and tariff cuts meant to help revive economic growth that slowed to a three-decade low of 6 percent in the latest quarter. It comes amid a tariff war with Washington over Beijing’s technology

ambitions and trade surplus. The statement promised to “introduce market competition” in key industries including power, telecoms, railways, oil and natural gas. It said private enterprises would be allowed for the first time to carry out basic telecoms services, and invest in power generation and distribution. The announcement gave no details of ownership limits, or other possible

restrictions on private companies or whether foreign investors would be allowed. It said a timetable was being developed. Beijing has ended restrictions on full foreign ownership in electric car manufacturing, and says that will extend to the whole auto industry by 2021. Regulators have promised to allow full foreign ownership in banking, insurance and other

finance businesses. Also on Monday, the Ministry of Finance announced tariff cuts effective January 1 on frozen pork, asthma and diabetes medications, integrated circuit boards and some 850 other products. “The step is intended to promote the coordinated development of trade and environment,” the official of Xinhua News Agency said. AP

Japan, South Korea, China meet over trade and regional disputes

EIJING—The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea are holding a trilateral summit in China this week amid feuds over trade, military maneuverings and historical animosities. Most striking has been a complex dispute between Seoul and Tokyo, while Beijing has recently sought to tone down its disagreements with its two neighbors. Economic cooperation and the North Korean nuclear threat are the main issues binding the Northeast Asian troika. While no major breakthroughs are expected at the meetings, the opportunity for faceto-face discussions between the sometimes-mutual antagonists is alone considered significant. Below is a look at the current state of relations among the three.

Japan-South Korea

Tensions rooted in South Korea n resent ment over Japa n’s 20t h-centur y colonia l occupat ion spi ked t h is yea r to a level unseen in decades as they traded blows over wartime histor y, trade and militar y-to-militar y cooperat ion. T he countr ies managed to strike a fragile truce in November after intervention by the United States, which was concerned about the growing rift between its two key Asian allies. Seoul then walked back a declaration to terminate a bilateral military intelligencesharing agreement with Tokyo, an important symbol of their three-way security cooperation driven by the nuclear threat from

North Korea and China’s growing regional clout. Tokyo, in turn, agreed to resume discussions with Seoul on their dispute over Japan’s tightened controls on exports of key chemicals used by major South Korean companies to make computer chips and smartphone displays. Japan’s controls were widely seen as retaliation for South Korean court rulings that called for Japanese companies to offer reparations to aging South Korean plaintiffs for their World War II forced labor. Last Friday, Japan announced that it will ease export restrictions on one of the chemicals. Sout h Korea n President Moon Jae -in a nd Japa nese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold a one-on-one meeting on Christmas Eve on the sidelines of the trilateral summit. “Considering the recent difficulties in bilateral relations, holding the meeting itself has a large meaning,” Kim Hyun-chong, deputy chief of South Korea’s presidential National Security Office, said in a briefing in Seoul. “We hope that...the meeting will help keep the momentum of dialogue alive, and provide an opportunity for improvement in South KoreaJapan relations.”

China-South Korea

South Korea’s relations with China, its biggest trading partner, have been strained over Seoul’s decision to host a US antimissile system that Beijing perceives as a security threat.

China says the real purpose of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system placed in southern South Korea is to peer deep into its territory, rather than to warn of North Korean missile launches. China retaliated by restricting Chinese tour group visits to South Korea, boycotting South Korean television shows and other cultural products, and wrecking the Chinese business operations of major South Korean retailer Lotte, which provided the land for the missile system. While Beijing’s fury appears to have subsided, there’s also uneasiness in Seoul over increasing Chinese and Russia air patrols over waters between South Korea and Japan. Experts say those are designed to test the strength of security cooperation between the US allies. South Korea has been eager to arrange a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping next year. Han Jung-woo, a spokesman for Moon, said the president plans to use his one-on-one meeting with Xi in China on Monday to “discuss ways to develop South Korea-China ties, and facilitate bilateral exchanges and cooperation, and also exchange deep views over the political situation of the Korean Peninsula.”

Japan-China

China’s relations with Japan had been more acrimonious than with any other foreign state, but have in recent years undergone a remarkable transformation, partly as a

Oil extends losses as Kuwait nears deal with Saudis on output

il extended losses after the biggest decline in three weeks as Kuwait signaled a deal with Saudi Arabia to renew crude output along their border and as US shale explorers increased drilling. February futures dropped 0.4 percent in New York after falling 1.2 percent on Friday, the most since November 29. The shared neutral zone, which has been shut for at least four years due to disputes between the two countries, can produce as much as 500,000 barrels a day. US explorers last week boosted drilling by the most in almost two years, according to data from Baker Hughes Co. on Friday. Oil is up about 9 percent this month after the US and China struck a preliminary trade pact, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies

agreed to deepen output cuts. Hedge funds increased bullish bets in the week ended December 17 to the highest level in more than seven months on rising crude prices, according to data released on Friday. “Oil prices will continue to benefit from positive developments in the US-China trade,” Stephen Innes, a market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note. “The seasonal demand slowdown in the first quarter could be an issue for this bullish view.” West Texas Intermediate for February delivery fell 21 cents to $60.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 7:34 a.m. London time. The contract declined 74 cents to settle at $60.44 on Friday. Brent for February settlement fell 14 cents, or 0.2 percent, to

$66 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The contract fell 40 cents to close at $66.14 on Friday. The global benchmark crude traded at a $5.78 premium to WTI. Resuming output at the Wafra and Khafji oilfields in the neutral zone depends on a political decision and a final agreement, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel said on Sunday. Even if production resumes, the area wouldn’t add oil to global markets because both nations adhere to Opec supply limits, a person familiar with Saudi thinking said in October. Working oil rigs in the US increased by 18 last week to 685. In the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, drillers deployed 15 additional rigs, wiping out several weeks of the declines. Bloomberg News

result of the US-China tariff war. Planning is under way for a state visit by Xi to Japan in the spring, made possible by the temporary shelving of contentious political issues and Beijing’s desire to exploit regional dissatisfaction with Washington over its trade policies. “At this juncture, it is common sense for China to improve relations with its neighbors Ja-

pan and South Korea,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Beijing’s Renmin University. However, some in Japan oppose X i coming at a time when more than a dozen Japanese citizens have been arrested on spying allegations in China, and Chinese naval and coast guard ships routinely violate Japanese waters around disputed East

China Sea islands. Japan also considers China’s growing maritime activity in regional seas and the upgrading of its military as a threat, along with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs. Tokyo has responded by upgrading its own defense capabilities and working with Chinese rival India, as well as with Southeast Asian countries and Australia. AP

A6 Tuesday, December 24, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

The Belen

N his homily at the Manila Cathedral during Simbang Gabi (Dawn Mass), Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle noted that some Filipino families have already lost the tradition of having a Belen, or Nativity scene, and instead display gifts under their Christmas trees.

He reminded the faithful that the true essence of Christmas will be lost without Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about decorations, gifts and money, he said, but the love of God. “Are the others excited for Jesus this Christmas? It seems not to be the case. What they are excited about is the bonus. Even if there’s no Jesus, as long as there’s a bonus,” Tagle said. “They know where to shop [Christmas] sales, but the Gospel seems to be not important.” The apostolic letter of Pope Francis—signed on the first Sunday of Advent, during an afternoon visit to Greccio, Italy, where Saint Francis of Assisi set up the first Nativity scene in 1223— also stressed the meaning and importance of setting up a Belen. “With this letter, I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the Nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares,” the pope wrote in the letter, which was read aloud to the faithful gathered inside the small, stone church in Greccio. The Belen is a simple reminder of something astonishing: God became human to reveal the greatness of His love, Pope Francis said. As such, indeed, it should always be the first of all the Christmas decorations we put up in our homes and everywhere else. “Wherever it is, and whatever form it takes, the Christmas crèche speaks to us of the love of God, the God who became a child in order to make us know how close He is to every man, woman and child, regardless of their condition,” the pope wrote. “It is my hope that this custom will never be lost and that, wherever it has fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and revived.” May our celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ be defined by the essence of the Belen, by frugality and simplicity, not excessive commercialism and materialism, especially considering we have thousands of fellow Filipinos suffering during this holiday season with whom we can share a portion of our blessings, like the victims of recent earthquakes in Mindanao and those devastated by Typhoon Tisoy. While we worry about money for festivities and gifts, the victims worry about surviving. Spending less, and giving and sharing more can bring us in solidarity with those who have nothing this Christmas. The Belen reminds us that Jesus was born in a manger because there was no place for him anywhere else. His parents were peasants who lived under an oppressive regime. They lived simply, but they were happy. They carried their burdens, and remained faithful to God throughout their ordeals. It was incredible that God chose to be incarnated in the humblest of ways. It is a message that should not be lost on us as we celebrate Christmas. Since 2005

Where have all the money gone? John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T is the Christmas season, and perhaps we should only be thinking about peace and goodwill to all men. But it is also the most intense season of consumer spending, as almost all retail businesses make or break their profit picture for the year.

Let me say first that the American consumer is probably the most ignorant and, therefore, foolish when it comes to money and spending. For example, a study made a couple of months ago showed that the majority of Americans had not yet paid off their debt—primarily credit card—from last year’s Christmas shopping and will, therefore, be carrying more debt when the calendar turns to 2020. Granted that credit cards are part of everyday life in every economy where the citizens do not cover their private parts with banana leaves.

Living conditions getting better in PHL

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

Manny B. Villar

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However, there are also many economies—the Philippines included— where people spend only the cash that they have. The average American has more than one credit card, while less than 10 percent of Filipinos even have a credit card. And when it comes to “financial literacy,” Americans score poorly. Twenty percent in the US still believe their currency is backed by “something.” The majority think that the money that they deposit in a bank is still owned by the depositor despite the courts ruling repeatedly that is not true.

Nonetheless, there are much larger information gaps that involve us all. Enough “American bashing” for now. In 2016, for the first time in history, the physical amount of $100 denomination bills surpassed the number of $1 bills. This is a big deal when you consider that as of 1998, the number of the smaller denominated bills was twice the number of $100 bills. Note that this happened during a time when the use of all forms of electronic transactions increased significantly, and the governments were discouraging the use of cash. Further, almost $1.5 trillion of the world’s physical cash, with $100 bills making up the vast majority, is unaccounted for. Where is that $1.5 trillion of physical money? The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimates that 80 percent of all $100 bills last year were actually in circulation in foreign countries. We know that in unstable economies people keep some of their wealth in dollars if they can, like in Venezuela. However, it is not just a “dollar thing.” The Bundesbank calculates

E have something to cheer in this Christmas season! More Filipinos are being pulled out of the poverty level and more have found jobs, thanks to the government’s massive infrastructure program and serious efforts to improve the lot of the people. Latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) confirm that the Philippines has achieved substantial economic gains over the past four years, despite the criticisms hurled by several sectors against the administration of President Duterte. More than the gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the poverty incidence and the unemployment rate are probably the better gauge of economic performance of a country. In the United States, the jobs report, particularly on nonfarm payrolls, is closely monitored by both the stock market and the Federal Reserve as a crucial indicator of economic performance. In many developing countries, the poverty incidence level reflects how a government delivers on its promise to lift the people out of indigence. This is why the results of two recent surveys by the PSA are considered relevant, with timely and

meaningful consequence on the lives of the Filipino people. The PSA on December 6 said the full-year 2018 poverty incidence, or the proportion of poor Filipinos whose per-capita income was not sufficient to meet their basic food and nonfood needs, declined to 16.6 percent from 23.3 percent in 2015. This means some 5.9 million people have been lifted out of poverty as of 2018. The country registered a poverty reduction rate of 2.23 percentage points a year, in line with the government’s target to cut poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022. Such employment data show significant progress not just in terms of increasing overall income, but also in terms of reducing inequality, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). Poverty gap—or the ratio by which the average income of the poor falls below the poverty line— decreased to 2.6 percent from 4.5

percent, while the severity of poverty was reduced to 0.9 percent from 1.7 percent. These indicators signify that incomes of the poor are increasing, according to Neda. The economic planning agency attributed the significant reduction in poverty to the improved labor market conditions that increased the salaries and wages of the poor. With a vibrant economy that continues to generate good jobs, the mean salaries and wages of the population rose 22.8 percent to P156,114 in 2018, from P127,122 in 2015. In fact, results of the Labor Force Survey released by the PSA on December 5 show that the unemployment rate eased to 4.5 percent as of October 2019, from 5.1 percent a year ago. Neda said this was the lowest overall unemployment rate for all October survey rounds in the last 10 years. All major sectors of the economy —such as agriculture, industry and services—posted employment gains with a total net employment generation of 1.8 million over a 12-month period ending October 2019. Underemployment rate—the proportion of those already employed, but still wanting more work—also declined to 13 percent during the month from 13.3 percent in October 2018. With the GDP growth now back on track at 6 percent to 7 percent and inflation rate returning to the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent, we can see further improvement in these two vital indicators in the

that more than €150 billion are being hoarded in Germany. Australia’s central bank says its best guess is that as much as 10 percent of its currency is “missing.” New Zealand started printing a new bank note in May 2016—circulating along with its “old” bank notes—and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand says 75 percent of the new currency bills are unaccounted for. The Royal Bank of Australia’s governor said: “The biggest use of cash as a store of wealth is in safes, under beds and at the back of cupboards, both here in Australia and elsewhere around the world”. The significance of this is that people hoard physical cash when they are worried about the future. In the Philippines, about 14 percent of physical pesos are “unaccounted” for. This is probably not due to hoarding, but the fact that bank account penetration is low. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

coming years. Both the GDP growth and inflation rate saw a brilliant recovery, no less, in the third quarter this year, which I think would continue through the fourth quarter at the peak of the holiday season. Even the level of the peso at around 50 against the US dollar reflects the confidence of businesses and consumers on the economy. Other indicators are very stable, as well. With everything falling into place, I believe that we will continue to make significant gains in terms of poverty reduction and employment generation over the next three years as the Duterte administration sustains its “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program and Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. The implementation of recently passed reforms, such as the Rice Tariffication Act, the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act, and the Revised Corporation Code will also help sustain these gains. It is the people who will decide if these indicators are accurate, or if the noise generated by critics as the next election approaches is justifiable. However, I believe that no amount of criticism should derail the government’s campaign to make a meaningful impact on the lives of the Filipino people. Let us, instead, cheer the positive gains of the economy. Merry Christmas to all! For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Tuesday, December 24, 2019 A7

The city of London starts Santa in the form of an honorable RTC magistrate to crack over Brexit

By Elisa Martinuzzi | Bloomberg Opinion

oris Johnson’s triumphant UK election victory makes Brexit a near certainty next month. For the City of London, Britain’s split from its biggest trading partner is a huge leap into the unknown; one that will test its cohesion like never before. Banks, insurers and asset managers have spent billions preparing for their departure from the European Union and have moved as much as £1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) in assets overseas since the Brexit referendum in 2016. The threat of a disorderly departure from the bloc encouraged the UK finance industry to speak largely with one voice to try to avoid—or at least prepare for— that cataclysmic outcome. But now that the no-deal Brexit threat has abated there are signs that this unity is cracking. Some in the City would like Britain to take advantage of the split and forge its own regulatory path; others want it to hew closer to the EU to make the transition as smooth as possible. With the Brexit process entering its most critical phase, the UK-EU trade deal, it’s far from ideal that divisions are starting to appear. About one-quarter of UK financial services’ £200 billion of yearly revenue comes from EU-related business, according to government reports. So there’s a vast amount at stake here. At the core of the debate is whether the UK will continue to conform to EU standards. Under Johnson’s current agreement with Brussels, British financiers will in 2021 lose their so-called EU “passporting” rights (which allow them to work anywhere in the bloc). The UK and the EU have agreed instead on the principle of “equivalence,” which will give the City access to the EU for many financial services as long as Britain adheres to Brussels rules. The problem for some British financiers is that the EU can revoke equivalence any time, leaving it with the whip hand. It has used this as a weapon to try to bring Switzerland into line on broader agreements around immigration and the like. Given the systemic importance of London’s financial markets, Brussels will demand even closer regulatory alignment than it asks of other trading partners. That’s why many in the City would prefer to break entirely from the continent’s regulation, severing almost

About one-quarter of UK financial services’ £200 billion of yearly revenue comes from EU-related business, according to government reports. So there’s a vast amount at stake here. At the core of the debate is whether the UK will continue to conform to EU standards. five decades of integration, a move that would see a low-tax, low-regulation Britain become a competitor to the single market. They point to London’s global strength as a reason not to fear an EU rupture: In one example, the UK’s share of foreignexchange trading—which turns over $6.6 trillion a day—has risen by 6 percentage points to 43 percent in three years, data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements show. And that’s despite Brexit. The Investment Association, representing the UK’s £9-trillion asset management and hedge fund industry favors an overhaul of the regulatory framework to prioritize the competitiveness of the UK over keeping the EU onside. But not all of the industry’s leaders agree. Many British insurers would also rather jettison EU-friendly capital rules, which they say penalize their businesses. Meanwhile, Wall Street banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. provide lucrative services to the continent and have so far championed regulatory alignment. But if they have to operate two hubs in the UK and EU after Brexit anyway, then they too might be persuaded of the advantages of an unchained City of London. While Johnson finally has a government team that’s united on Brexit, the same cannot be said for the City. Some disagreements on which way to go are happening within firms, too. The danger is that this splintering means London might come away from the crucial trade negotiations with much less than it bargained for.

Court rules British MI5 agents can murder, kidnap and torture By Jonathan Browning Bloomberg Opinion

ritain’s domestic intelligence service MI5 can authorize its agents to engage in criminal activities, potentially including murder, kidnap and torture, a London court ruled, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new government prepares to overhaul espionage laws. Judges on the Investigatory Powers Tribunal declared in a majority decision that MI5 has the power to permit informants to operate in criminal groups, even if the policy itself confers no legal immunity. The case focused on powers that were only disclosed last year by thenPrime Minister Theresa May. “The case raises one of the most profound issues which can face a democratic society governed by the rule of law,” Judge Rabinder Singh said in the ruling. The decision comes as Johnson seeks to update laws to bring them in line with the US in a crackdown on spies, saboteurs and hackers working for foreign states such as Russia, North Korea and Iran. Preventing MI5 from running agents in

criminal organizations “would strike at the core activities of the Security Service,” the judges said. The tribunal cited the agency’s own guidelines to agents and handlers that said the authorization “will be the service’s explanation and justification of its decision,” if the agent’s activities were to be scrutinized by police or other prosecution authorities. Human rights campaigning groups including Reprieve had asked the court to grant an injunction “restraining further unlawful conduct.” The request was dismissed in a 3-2 decision, which was also the first time a dissenting opinion has ever been published in the tribunal’s 20year history, Reprieve said. “The IPT’s knife-edge judgment, with unprecedented published dissenting opinions, shows just how dubious the government’s secret policy is,” Maya Foa, Reprieve’s director, said in a statement. She said the groups planned to seek permission to appeal. “The use of covert agents is an essential tool for MI5 as it carries out its job of keeping the country safe,” a spokesman for the Home Office said in a statement.

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

recent study shows that marijuana vaping among American teenagers has sharply increased and now displaced drinking, drug use and cigarette smoking. Of the 12th grade students surveyed by Monitoring the Future, the number of subjects surveyed who had vaped marijuana almost doubled from 7.5 percent to 14 percent reported a year ago. What is further troubling is that the study also revealed that a significant number of 12th graders now indulge in daily use of vaping. “This is a very, very worrisome trend,” according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Interestingly, alcohol, cigarette and drug use dropped, and public health authorities attributed this to young people’s misconception that marijuana vaping is less harmful and less risky. Some experts though claimed that youngsters are encouraged to use vaping because of the glamor of the “sleek electronic devices that deliver nicotine and marijuana.” The same allure attracts Filipino youth into vaping of marijuana, which many consider as a class act. Moreover, the legalization of the use of marijuana due to unverified claim that it has medicinal value also results to its higher use. We should not lose sight of the fact that vaping of marijuana had caused lung infection to over 2,000 people in the US, where 52 deaths were also recorded across the country which triggered

a public health crisis. Marijuana use in any form should be prevented since it is deleterious not only to the young but even to adults who have not overcome their addiction to marijuana use. nnn

IN the annals of election-related violence, nothing beats the atrocity and brazenness of the Maguindanao massacre. In our country’s storied election events sensationalized by the unmitigated use of guns, goons and gold, we thought we had seen it all until the carnage that occurred on November 23, 2009, in the sleepy town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao jolted us. A convoy of six vehicles carrying relatives and lawyers of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, accompanied by 32 journalists, were on its way to Shariff Aguak to file Mangudadatu’s Certificate of Candidacy for Governor of Maguindanao. Along the way, the

convoy was stopped by a hundred armed men who abducted and killed all of them. Some female victims were reportedly raped before they were killed and they were shot in their genitals, including the sister and aunt of Mangudadatu who were both pregnant. It was found that graves were dug a couple of days before the incident to bury the victims and the vehicles so as to remove any trace of the crime. A backhoe owned by the provincial government was found near the place of the killings, which was obviously used for the purpose. The police reported that 58 people, including 32 journalists, perished in the massacre although one body was missing. The massacre characterized the state of lawlessness in Mindanao and some elective officials’ wanton disrespect for our laws and utter disregard for human lives. As the Filipino artist Romulo Galicano has depicted in his work to commemorate the 58 massacre victims, the mass killing is “The Modern Holocaust.” On the other hand, the Committee to Protect Journalists has labeled the Maguindanao massacre as “the single deadliest event for journalists in history,” which only affirmed that the Philippines is the second most dangerous country for journalists after Iraq. It took one gutsy lady judge to accept the case and try it in her sala, which others had understandably declined for fear of any embroilment or reprisal. With nearly 200 defendants and over 300 witnesses, the late Sen. Joker Arroyo had remarked that it could take 200 years

If Donald Trump’s impeached, then why can’t a Senate trial start now? Noah Feldman

BLOOMBERG

all me old fashioned or naïve, but I think my job is to explain what the US Constitution actually means, no matter who likes it or doesn’t. That led me to explain recently that under the Constitution as it was understood by the framers and as it still should be understood today, impeachment isn’t complete when the House of Representatives votes to impeach.

Constitutionally, impeachment becomes official when the House sends word of that impeachment to the Senate, triggering a Senate trial. Impeachment was originally understood to take place when someone from the House formally impeached the president “at the bar of the Senate,” which meant a member of the House formally stated to the Senate that the president (or judge, or other officer) was impeached. That practice lasted from the late middle ages until 1912. Since then, the House has instead sent a written message to the Senate stating that the House “has impeached” the defendant, a message that triggers the trial procedures in the Senate. Both versions, old and new, depend on the House officially communicating the fact of impeachment to the Senate. That communication has always taken place in short order after the House voted to impeach. The reason lies in the core element of what impeachment is by its very nature: a prosecution by the House that takes place before the Senate. If the message is not sent and the trial is not prosecuted, there is no genuine impeachment in the constitutional sense of the term. Until a few weeks ago, no one, to my knowledge, has ever suggested that impeachment could be complete even if there is no communication to the Senate. And no historic example of this new idea has been brought forward in the current discussion. This issue isn’t merely theoretical or “academic” in the pejorative sense. It has major political implications for the current stand-off between

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. According to the longstanding understanding of impeachment, Pelosi has some modest leverage over the Senate trial. With the authority the House has given to her, she can control when impeachment officially occurs. Constitutionally, the Senate can’t try Trump until she triggers the trial by sending a message about impeachment to the Senate. The Constitution gives the House the “sole power” of impeachment; and impeachment means the power to initiate and conduct a prosecution in the Senate. But if Trump has already been impeached by the House vote, then Pelosi has zero leverage, because the Senate can start the trial right away, without waiting for the House to initiate or conduct the prosecution. After all, the House only has the power to impeach. If it has already executed that power, then the ball is already in the Senate’s court. The Senate has the sole power to try the impeachment. Sure, the Senate’s rules say the trial starts “when the managers of an impeachment shall be introduced at the bar of the Senate.” But that’s because the Senate rules understand impeachment in the traditional sense, to require communication from the House and commencement of a trial. If the brand-new theory is right, however, the Senate can just amend its rules and start the trial now. McConnell, not Pelosi, would then control the trial’s timing. Evidence that official impeachment entails communication to the

Senate can be found in every single historical source that discusses impeachment. Here’s Thomas Jefferson describing impeachment in England in the manual he created for the House of Representatives: “The general course is to pass a resolution containing a criminal charge against the supposed delinquent, and then to direct some member to impeach him by oral accusation, at the bar of the House of Lords, in the name of the Commons.” And here’s the updated House guidance contained in the manual as of now: “The House may vote the impeachment and, after having notified the Senate by message, may direct the impeachment to be presented at the bar of the Senate by a single member, or by two, or five, or nine, or 13.” The form of words used by the House (“is impeached”) doesn’t redefine impeachment to make communication to the Senate unnecessary. Impeachment is now and always has been, by definition, a House-led prosecution in the Senate. Whether in the old days or now, impeachment happens when the Senate is presented with the act of impeachment—which triggers the trial, as the Senate rules say. Anything else would make no sense, because it would allow the Senate to start the trial without the House managers there to prosecute it. The Florida Supreme Court actually addressed this issue in 1868, after the governor was impeached and claimed he hadn’t been because there was no quorum in the Senate. Florida law doesn’t control, of course, but the Florida court went through all the sources (tip of the hat to Prof. Keith Whittington of Princeton University for unearthing it). It concluded: It thus appears by ample precedent and authority, that an impeachment is not simply the adoption of a resolution declaring that a party be impeached, but that it is the actual announcement and declaration of impeachment by the House through its committee at the bar of the Senate, to the Senate, that it does thereby impeach the officer accused, which proceeding is at once recognized by the Senate. And as Whittington also points out, the Oklahoma Supreme

to conclude the trial. It actually took a decade to have the case decided amid allegations of bribery to government prosecutors, which the Department of Justice vehemently denied, non-appearance of witnesses, withdrawal of defense counsels and other maneuvers, legal or otherwise, which only delayed the disposition of the case. Finally, the landmark decision was promulgated on December 19, 2019, exactly 10 years and 26 days after the gruesome massacre. Regional Trial Court Branch 221 of Quezon City, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes rendered her decision finding the principal accused, particularly the Ampatuan brothers, Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy Ampatuan, guilty of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua without parole. This prompted Sen. Richard Gordon to stress that they would not be entitled to any good conduct allowance, otherwise we would be making a mockery of our laws again. The guilty verdict may not ease the pains and sufferings of the victims’ family. The tears may no longer be there but the sorrow will remain forever. This year, Santa came in the form of an honorable RTC magistrate. The Filipino people salutes you, Honorable Judge Reyes. You truly symbolize Lady Justice with your eyes blindfolded yet clearly saw the grave injustice foisted by the evils that the power of your sword had slain to secure the moral balance in our society. Yes, there is still Christmas and you delivered us the best gift ever. Merry Christmas to all.

Court held in 1923 that impeachment is official “when articles of impeachment are duly filed with the Senate and duly accepted and filed by the Senate.” The key to both cases is communication. That can happen the old way, at the bar of the Senate, or the new way, by sending over notice of articles of impeachment. The argument in support of the new definition seems to be that since the House’s modern impeachment resolutions, like the one on Trump, say that the defendant “is impeached,” impeachment is somehow complete after the House vote. That mistakes a new use of the verb “is” for a new conception of impeachment as somehow already complete after the vote. Yet that conception has never existed constitutionally, because the House has never withheld its impeachment message from the Senate. It should be pretty obvious that the new theory makes no sense when followed to its logical constitutional conclusion. Everyone agrees that House impeachment triggers a Senate trial. If the House vote alone counted as impeachment, then the Senate would necessarily have the constitutional power to start a trial without the House. That would rob the House of its power to prosecute the trial in the Senate, which is the essence of all impeachment, old and modern alike. The result would be to squander the central value of impeachment. The Senate could distort or ignore the House’s case. What’s more, if the House had the power to re-define what “impeachment” means, then the Senate would logically have the power to re-define “trial” to mean something that is not a trial at all. That would similarly rob the House of the power of impeachment, which is the power to prosecute the president in a genuine trial before the Senate. Those who invented and advocated this made-up theory have done Pelosi a great disservice. Far from giving the Speaker greater leverage, their theory would allow the Senate to change its rules and hold a trial now, without the House. The resulting absurdity would do a still greater disservice to the nation, and to the key constitutional procedure of impeachment.

A8 Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Cease-fire on, Duterte mobilizes peace panel

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

ESPITE the objections by defense and other senior security officials to any ceasefire with communist rebels, President Duterte pushed through with the declaration to create a conducive environment for peace talks.

Malacañang announced late Sunday night that the President directed the declaration of a unilateral and reciprocal cease-fire with the coalition of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The nationwide cease-fire is currently in effect until 11:59 p.m. of January 7, 2020. In a Palace briefing on Monday, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said they hope the declaration would pave the way for

“As I said, any attack on their part will destroy the presumption of sincerity on this particular group.” —Panelo

lasting peace—a tough endeavor given that the communist insurgency has lasted half a century. “This grant is precisely to generate an atmosphere that will lead to preliminary talks and then formal

talks for a peaceful negotiation on the present conflict between the two sides,” Panelo said.

Hit list?

The announcement also came after reports quoting National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon that the President is included in a hit list of the communist rebels. Esperon is also the vice chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. Citing the claim of communist leader Jose Maria Sison, Panelo on

Monday belied the report, adding that Esperon was “fed false information.” “First, that report is a false news; that’s been denied by Jose Maria Sison himself. So how can we respond to false news,” he said. Last week, Sison also reportedly branded as “psy war” Esperon’s claim that the President is on the hit list of the communists. Nonetheless, the Palace assured the public that they are “ready” for these kinds of threats, including assassination of people in government. See “Cease-fire,” A2

BIFF, NPA blamed for hits on govt Prices of By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

T least 25 people, including 16 soldiers and policemen, were wounded in a series of attacks in Mindanao and in Luzon which the military has blamed on the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the New People’s Army (NPA). Military officials said the attacks that were allegedly carried out by communist rebels in Bicol region and in Iloilo, which also killed one soldier, happened hours after President Duterte and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) declared a cease-fire. The cease-fire, which took effect

past midnight on Sunday and will run up to January 7, 2020 was a confidence-building measure to the resumption of peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Major Antonio Aguilar, spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, said rebels attacked a team of soldiers in Camarines Norte, while it was being pulled out from a security operation in deference to the cease-fire declared by Duterte and the CPP.

Soldiers attacked

Citing a report, Aguilar said a platoon of soldiers from the 92nd Division Reconnaissance Company

TROPICAL STORM "URSULA" 695 KM EAST OF SURIGAO CITY, SURIGAO DEL NORTE as of 4:00 am - December 23, 2019

was moving back to Barangay Baay in the town at around 9 a.m. on Monday when rebels allegedly fired on it and detonated an improvised explosive device (IED), killing one soldier and wounding six others. Aguilar said Joint Task Force Bicolandia (JTFB) commander Major Gen. Fernando Trinidad condemned the act, which he called a “gross violation of the cease-fire” and a “clear manifestation” of the NPA’s “deceptive and ill motives.” The ambush took place just as Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana ordered the military to observe the cease-fire as ordered by Duterte. See “BIFF, NPA,” A2

CAAP-RUN AIRPORTS kerosene, ON HOLIDAYS ALERT diesel up; gas stays T

By Recto Mercene

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

IL companies on Monday announced price hikes of over P1 per liter in diesel and kerosene. In separate announcements, they said diesel price will go up by P1.15 per liter while kerosene price will increase by P1.05 per liter. Gasoline pr ices remain unchanged. The oil price adjustment will be carried out by Seaoil Philippines, Petro Gazz, Pilipinas Shell and PTT Philippines starting 6 a.m. of December 24. Other oil firms are expected to follow suit. Last week, diesel prices went up by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P0.60 per liter. There was no price adjustment for gasoline.

Angkas. . .

Continued from A1

its platform. With the new rules of the pilot run, 17,000 drivers of Angkas will essentially lose their jobs. “In the spirit of Christmas, we will be giving gradual displacement up to the first week of January, and for the two new operators to meet the cap,” Gardiola said. He explained that the displaced drivers may move to the two other ride-hailing apps, noting that the two have yet to ramp up their fleets. Gardiola noted that JoyRide currently has 6,500 drivers in its system, while Move It has 1,000 riders. This means that the two can accommodate 12,500 more riders in their systems, still short of the number of displaced riders. Drivers are also not allowed to be on board two different apps, unlike those that are under four-wheel transport network companies (TNCs) like Grab. “Let us not commercialize this study,” Gardiola, a former military man, said. “This is not a job fair.”

‘Anti-competition’ Angkas Spokesman George Royeca noted that any form of displacement will still rob riders of their livelihoods. “It’s still displacement and it is ‘anti-competitive.’ It’s also unsafe because it took us three years to build our infrastructure of drivers with a

HE 14 “active” airports operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) were placed on heightened alert in anticipation of the expected surge of passengers during the Christmas and New Year season. This is in compliance with the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) directives under “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Pasko 2019,” effective December 16, 2019, to January 5, 2020. The directive calls for added security measures and maximum deployment of service and security personnel. This is now being observed by the Caap to ensure safe, reliable and convenient airport operations as Filipinos and tourists travel for the holiday season. In line with this, all 12 area centers handling the 40 Caapmanaged commercial airports nationwide are also implementing a “no-leave and day-off” policy

99.97-percent safety rating, and they are essentially introducing new riders that are yet to be tested,” he said in a phone interview. He added that Angkas is now studying the legal recourses available to correct this “irregularity.” “For us, we will exhaust all possibility. We are also calling on Congress and Senate to check on what happened with the TWG. Transparency is the public’s defense,” Royeca said.

Poe airs misgivings

This developed as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services aired misgivings over the hasty implementation of regulators’ restrictions on the popular public motorbike ride-sharing service imposing a cap on Angkas drivers. Sen. Grace Poe, citing reports that at least 17,000 Angkas motorcycle drivers will be adversely affected by the order, aired concerns over its negative impact on both motorbike drivers and passengers particularly during the Christmas season. While she acknowledged the Duterte administration’s desire to address the needs of commuters in launching their pilot program, Poe pointed out the new rules should not have been rushed with a too short transition period. “Well, first of all we see the government desire to truly understand the people’s transportation needs that’s why they have a pilot program. That

Labor displacements. . . During a crisis, she said the job displacement figure would be at 80,000 to 100,000.

Interventions

Despite the significant hike in job losses during the period, Tutay said the Philippines will still be able to end the year with a net

@rectomercene

Continued from A1

employment of 1.2 million. She noted that the booming construction sector and the strong services sector have helped generate additional employment opportunities this year. The unemployment insurance benefit of the Social Security System and the DOLE’s existing emergency employment and livelihood programs

during the period of heightened security. Agencies operating at the airports, including the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) and the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-Avsegroup), will also deploy personnel to areas of concern to ensure smooth passenger flow. The Caap has also coordinated with concerned airlines for the efficient processing of passengers, especially at check-in counters. Travelers are also reminded not to bring prohibited items to the airport and to stow all belongings in one’s carry-on baggage for faster processing at the screening checkpoints. The Caap has regularly prepared for the expected increase —usually at 8 percent—in passengers during the holidays. From December 1 to 31 in 2018, Caap-run airports welcomed 2.4 million domestic and international passengers, and a total of 24.9 million passengers. is good,” Poe said in a mix of English and Filipino, but added: “What is not good is that they gave their decision compelling the reduction of riders only on December 20, but the reduction is effective December 23.” Obviously, added Poe, “that is too short transition period.” Moreover, the Senator acknowledged that Angkas riders have shown their safety record, adding in Filipino, “we’ve seen how well they strove to maintain a good safety record, managing their riders well. It seems this was not considered when LTFRB handed down its decision.” The Senate Public Services chief noted the bad timing, noting that “it’s during the Christmas season when demand for public transportation is so high.” Besides, she said, any people need jobs these days, and displacing the Angkas bikers just like that does not make sense. Poe said the Public Services Committee favors competition, but noted that two other transport groups JoyRide and Move It are mulling over partnership to provide competition. The Senator aired hopes that the final TWG consultations led by Gardiola were fair. “The consultations that led to the decision to give parties barely two days to comply should have been fair.” At a time when there are huge gaps to fill in “our mass public transport system, we need all kinds of transportation modes to ferry our people,” Poe said.

had also allowed displaced workers to immediately find new employment, according to Tutay. The BLE official said the government has coordinated with the Institute of Labor Studies to further improve the Job Displacement Monitoring System being used by the DOLE’s regional offices as natural and man-made calamities that strike the Philippines are becoming more frequent. This is expected to enable the government to quickly identify and help displaced workers.

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Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE NCR Regional Office located at 967 Maligaya St., Malate, Manila, within 30 days after its publication. Please inform DOLE NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

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In the ad material of Notice of filing of application for Alien Employment Permits published on December 13, 2019, the position of Mr. Lin, Shih-Ming under CIPEC CONSTRUCTION, INC. should have been read as Field Specialist and not as published. Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE NCR Regional Office located at 967 Maligaya St., Malate, Manila, within 30 days after its publication. Please inform DOLE NCRif you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

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Companies BusinessMirror

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 23, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

53.1 156 86.5 24.95 7.95 12.14 66.3 12.7 20.5 34.1 57.2 116 185.4 58 0.84 18.1 3.81 7.02 0.78 172 1,825

53.25 157 87.5 25 8.49 12.24 66.6 12.8 20.8 34.65 57.4 120 186.6 58.2 0.91 18.3 4 8.49 0.82 172.1 1,840

53.5 157.8 86.4 25 8.1 12.32 67.9 12.7 20.45 34.6 57.4 115 181.9 58.5 0.85 18.1 4.04 7.02 0.78 173 1825

53.5 159.8 87.5 25 8.49 12.32 67.9 12.7 20.5 34.7 57.4 115 187.7 58.5 0.85 18.38 4.04 7.02 0.82 173 1,825

53.25 153.1 86 24.9 8.1 12 66.2 12.7 20.45 34.1 57.4 115 181.9 58 0.85 18.1 3.84 7.02 0.78 172.1 1,825

53.25 157 87.5 24.95 8.49 12.24 66.6 12.7 20.5 34.1 57.4 115 186.6 58 0.85 18.1 4 7.02 0.82 172.1 1,825

2,510 133,907.5 1,874,640 293,818,243 1,674,260 145,604,768 18,900 471,960 1,200 9,759 195,000 2,370,004 2,037,080 135,695,825.5 ( 5,000 63,500 4,200 85,950 244,200 8,399,600 590 33,866 20 2,300 1,913,760 353,275,388 7,050 409,795 38,000 32,300 10,000 181,028 16,000 62,040 300 2,106 51,000 39,820 1,770 306,075 150 273,750

INDUSTRIAL

AC ENERGY ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER AGRINURTURE AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA EUROMED MABUHAY VINYL PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

HOLDING & FRIMS

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER ZEUS HLDG

(107,157.5) (17,509,954) 30,106,761.5 898,276 37,899,759.5) (5,396,290) (33,866) (61,556,266) (299,295) 39,820 36,330 -

2.27 1.23 33.2 0.239 23.75 67 299.8 8.57 3.85 4 11.4 33.2 8.21 13.1 2.55 16.5 15.2 4.99 9.5 7.21 85.2 0.51 1.18 40 219.2 6.16 11.9 1.91 9.96 2.14 5.21 1.75 0.115 147 1.17 2.44 64.45 66.65 2 14.14 9.65 13.58 16.42 9.8 0.98 0.88 162.5 2.14 1.6 3.12 5 28 1.86 7.8 1.22 0.83 3.95

2.28 1.27 33.5 0.243 24 68.15 300 8.6 3.87 4.1 11.8 33.45 8.27 13.4 2.58 17.52 15.3 5.03 9.55 7.24 85.5 0.53 1.19 40.45 220 6.29 12.12 1.92 10 2.15 5.28 1.79 0.12 151.9 1.18 2.57 72.95 72.8 2.03 14.74 9.73 13.88 16.6 10 1.01 0.89 169.9 2.15 1.61 3.46 5.05 28.9 1.9 7.89 1.33 0.87 4

2.31 1.23 34 0.239 22.9 68.2 290.4 7.5 3.86 3.9 11.48 33.1 8.28 13.3 2.55 17 15.5 5.03 9.32 7.2 85.2 0.52 1.07 40.05 213 6.21 12.16 1.91 9.85 2.14 5.27 1.77 0.113 144 1.14 2.57 64.45 73.9 1.96 14.06 9.99 13.58 16.5 9.98 1.03 0.89 162.2 2.19 1.6 3.5 5 28 1.89 7.88 1.33 0.82 3.82

2.34 1.28 34 0.245 23.75 68.25 300 8.73 3.96 4.09 11.8 33.4 8.28 13.4 2.67 17.52 15.5 5.03 9.65 7.25 86.4 0.53 1.18 40.05 220 6.29 12.36 1.92 10.06 2.18 5.35 1.8 0.12 151.9 1.17 2.57 64.5 73.9 2.03 14.8 9.99 13.88 16.72 10 1.03 0.89 169.9 2.21 1.6 3.5 5.08 28 1.93 7.89 1.33 0.87 4.05

2.26 1.23 33.2 0.239 22.9 66.6 290.4 7.46 3.84 3.9 11.48 33.05 8.2 13 2.54 16.5 15.1 5.01 9.32 7.19 85.15 0.5 1.06 39 213 6.13 11.7 1.91 9.85 2.1 5.2 1.76 0.113 140.3 1.13 2.57 64.45 66.65 1.94 14.06 9.5 13.56 16.38 9.97 0.97 0.87 162.2 2.14 1.6 3.5 5 28 1.86 7.81 1.31 0.77 3.82

2.27 1.28 33.5 0.243 23.75 67 299.8 8.57 3.85 4.09 11.8 33.2 8.21 13.4 2.58 17.52 15.3 5.01 9.5 7.21 85.2 0.51 1.18 40 220 6.29 12.12 1.91 10 2.15 5.28 1.8 0.12 151.9 1.17 2.57 64.45 72.95 2.03 14.14 9.65 13.88 16.6 10 1.02 0.88 169.9 2.14 1.6 3.5 5 28 1.9 7.89 1.33 0.87 4

2,658,000 11,000 1,883,000 2,160,000 1,055,400 69,500 395,320 37,346,000 717,000 15,000 150,000 16,400 48,700 341,200 8,049,000 2,000 962,500 5,700 4,543,300 50,800 144,570 3,389,000 33,570,000 95,600 394,710 25,500 339,400 1,949,000 355,000 1,211,000 47,100 24,000 220,000 555,750 47,454,000 1,000 960 260 1,807,000 14,400 335,200 21,800 586,000 5,105,700 40,000 216,000 510 347,000 12,000 1,000 902,200 400 3,498,000 1,034,800 41,000 238,000 164,000

6,076,650 13,580 63,080,915 520,410 24,670,365 4,668,338 116,515,476 308,678,383 2,772,020 60,330 1,765,370 545,405 401,821 4,532,050 20,999,200 34,418 14,624,054 28,657 43,184,001 366,000 12,328,048 1,723,700 38,180,350 3,817,140 86,248,724 158,287 4,098,148 3,722,690 3,545,911 2,605,660 246,643 42,330 25,000 82,125,159 54,157,290 2,570 61,876 18,050.5 3,567,990 211,638 3,239,557 302,180 9,701,230 50,935,856 39,150 188,960 84,724 758,390 19,200 3,500 4,511,090 11,200 6,664,050 8,153,951 54,430 188,360 648,900

(9,240) (6,532,085) (3,274,580) (2,368,841.5) 8,473,688 (21,812,413) (830,110) (1,113,730) (33,055) (4,150,450) 4,763,000 (1,610,028) (1,005,023) (83,468) (1,273,235) 30,100 904,930 3,056,070 (4,148,430) (1,665,642) (920,620) (3,324,389) 19,300 12,020 1,200 20,424,362 (61,350.0002) (1,021,590) (149,936) (1,573,575) (109,590) (8,478,216) (49,890,000) (4,350,000) (2,800) (80,560) 8,054,667 (116,180)

0.86 10.42 775.5 51.45 11.46 2.99 6.32 0.68 0.93 0.94 6.7 6.4 13 0.203 837 5.24 81.1 5.3 5.18 0.485 3.7 11.5 0.54 3.42 4.01 1.15 1.22 175.1 1,070 155.4 0.75 207.6 0.19

0.87 10.8 779 52 11.5 3 6.42 0.69 0.94 0.97 6.74 6.41 13.4 0.224 854 5.26 81.7 5.5 5.79 0.5 3.75 11.62 0.57 3.43 4.46 1.21 1.24 188 1,078 160 0.79 211.4 0.202

0.83 10.82 779.5 51.65 11.5 2.96 6.42 0.71 0.93 0.94 6.75 6.38 13.2 0.212 838 5.26 80.9 5.89 5.18 0.485 3.72 12 0.55 3.3 4.22 1.21 1.22 189.9 1056 157 0.74 214 0.192

0.87 10.82 780 52 11.54 3 6.42 0.71 0.94 0.97 6.75 6.51 13.4 0.212 855 5.26 82 5.89 5.18 0.5 3.75 12 0.57 3.48 4.4 1.21 1.23 189.9 1,080 160 0.79 214 0.192

0.83 10.42 768.5 50.15 11.42 2.95 6.42 0.65 0.92 0.94 6.65 6.34 13.2 0.202 824.5 5.24 80.5 5.89 5.18 0.485 3.7 11.5 0.54 3.3 4.22 1.21 1.22 188 1,056 155 0.74 206.8 0.19

0.87 10.82 779 52 11.46 2.99 6.42 0.69 0.94 0.97 6.7 6.4 13.3 0.202 854 5.24 81.7 5.89 5.18 0.5 3.7 11.5 0.57 3.42 4.4 1.21 1.22 188 1,078 160 0.79 211.6 0.19

21,304,000 6,400 401,280 1,811,520 1,768,900 252,000 10,000 471,000 1,124,000 303,000 2,638,100 16,924,600 314,700 100,000 105,950 103,600 1,276,310 1,000 1,100 2,000 478,000 2,043,700 126,000 41,111,000 3,000 50,000 17,000 190 214,485 191,100 2,000 2,890 200,000

18,166,510 67,134 311,082,675 93,264,459.5 20,275,714 753,660 64,200 315,410 1,044,050 284,910 17,661,146 108,441,810 4,178,404 20,490 89,665,465 544,460 104,273,137.5 5,890 5,698 985 1,775,630 23,698,370 68,440 140,304,550 12,840 60,500 20,750 35,905 230,744,565 30,154,937 1,530 615,866 38,040

(113,000) 34,516,690 2,343,670.5 (7,498,700) (104,840) 282,000 (12,662,421) 14,383,069 (12,717,865) (157,500) 35,093,299.5 5,890 (1,493,790) (17,322,866) (51,275,190) 20,662,235 2,635,930 (226,576) 13,300

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.8 499,000 395,910 47.15 47.25 45.1 47.25 45.1 47.25 9,842,900 455,105,990 23,956,900 AYALA LAND 1.28 1.36 1.42 1.42 1.28 1.36 64,000 83,140 ARANETA PROP 1.97 1.98 1.97 1.98 1.97 1.97 109,000 214,900 (108,350) BELLE CORP 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.71 0.7 0.71 600,000 421,770 A BROWN 0.81 0.87 0.81 0.86 0.81 0.86 3,000 2,480 CITYLAND DEVT 0.178 0.18 0.179 0.179 0.179 0.179 30,000 5,370 CROWN EQUITIES 6.35 6.98 6.47 6.98 6.47 6.98 357,200 2,412,507 2,234,888 CEBU HLDG 4.65 4.75 4.79 4.8 4.73 4.75 792,000 3,784,310 52,250 CEB LANDMASTERS 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.54 0.55 8,844,000 4,794,780 248,400 CENTURY PROP 0.385 0.395 0.385 0.385 0.38 0.385 400,000 153,500 CYBER BAY 19 19.08 19.06 19.1 18.9 19 360,000 6,852,836 1 ,601,092.0003 DOUBLEDRAGON 9.94 9.97 10 10 9.95 9.97 441,900 4,405,992 2,238,696 DM WENCESLAO 0.41 0.415 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 50,000 20,500 EMPIRE EAST 1.51 1.52 1.51 1.52 1.49 1.51 4,514,000 6,844,320 4,981,260 FILINVEST LAND 1.16 1.19 1.16 1.19 1.16 1.19 17,000 19,750 GLOBAL ESTATE 14.76 14.78 14.76 14.78 14.72 14.76 6,016,300 88,800,574 (118,048) 8990 HLDG 1.24 1.27 1.24 1.29 1.24 1.27 196,000 245,420 PHIL INFRADEV 0.76 0.77 0.76 0.76 0.76 0.76 2,000 1,520 CITY AND LAND 4.03 4.04 4.04 4.11 4.03 4.03 21,733,000 88,032,140 26,997,860 MEGAWORLD 0.191 0.192 0.193 0.193 0.19 0.192 4,150,000 795,060 MRC ALLIED 0.4 0.43 0.425 0.425 0.425 0.425 120,000 51,000 PHIL ESTATES 2.1 2.12 2.07 2.13 2.07 2.12 1,126,000 2,335,010 PRIMEX CORP 27.5 27.8 27.4 28.75 27.3 27.8 2,860,800 79,990,545 (637,360) ROBINSONS LAND 0.3 0.31 0.3 0.32 0.3 0.31 310,000 96,000 PHIL REALTY 2.09 2.11 2.09 2.12 2.08 2.12 74,000 155,930 ROCKWELL 3.06 3.23 3.1 3.1 3.03 3.06 351,000 1,074,830 (922,320) SHANG PROP 2.39 2.46 2.39 2.46 2.39 2.46 104,000 252,350 STA LUCIA LAND 41.45 41.95 41.1 41.95 40.9 41.95 6,651,400 275,479,825 89,394,265 SM PRIME HLDG 5.4 5.6 5.49 5.6 5.45 5.6 149,300 828,260 VISTAMALLS 1.19 1.2 1.17 1.2 1.15 1.2 23,424,000 27,669,200 SUNTRUST HOME 45 49.95 45 45 45 45 2,000 90,000 PTFC REDEV CORP 7.3 7.35 7.3 7.35 7.26 7.35 2,634,800 19,329,512 (5,946,071) VISTA LAND SERVICES ABS CBN 15.8 15.82 15.84 15.84 15.68 15.8 50,200 792,962 5.26 5.27 5.25 5.27 5.25 5.26 158,100 831,689 GMA NETWORK 0.345 0.39 0.37 0.37 0.335 0.335 200,000 71,800 MANILA BULLETIN 2,008 2,012 2012 2,030 1,996 2,012 31,625 63,590,755 7,264,785 GLOBE TELECOM 1,018 1,020 1000 1,020 999.5 1,020 91,005 92,170,647.5 8,072,950 PLDT 0.042 0.043 0.042 0.042 0.042 0.042 900,000 37,800 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.095 0.097 0.097 0.098 0.092 0.095 390,000 37,050 25,650 ISLAND INFO 3.1 3.11 2.93 3.1 2.87 3.1 3,235,000 9,676,230 671,160 ISM COMM 1.92 2.25 2.05 2.25 2.05 2.25 2,000 4,300 JACKSTONES 2.34 2.35 2.34 2.37 2.33 2.34 2,457,000 5,775,880 158,440 NOW CORP 0.27 0.275 0.275 0.275 0.27 0.275 910,000 247,050 TRANSPACIFIC BR 2.4 2.44 2.43 2.45 2.35 2.4 373,000 881,120 (23,630) PHILWEB 9.5 9.78 9.5 9.78 9.5 9.78 8,800 84,580 (7,600) 2GO GROUP 5.05 5.06 4.91 5.06 4.91 5.06 728,000 3,639,810 CHELSEA 88.9 90 90.4 92 88.9 88.9 316,170 28,297,805 (5,780,144.5) CEBU AIR 128.1 128.3 126.6 129.9 126.6 128.3 2,567,870 329,646,494 (23,781,981) INTL CONTAINER 0.85 0.87 0.89 0.9 0.83 0.85 315,000 277,600 LORENZO SHIPPNG 16.4 16.6 16.52 16.6 16.4 16.6 251,600 4,159,544 (1,588,076) MACROASIA 7.2 7.5 7.2 7.5 7.2 7.5 3,200 23,370 PAL HLDG 1.03 1.04 1.02 1.04 1 1.03 525,000 538,300 HARBOR STAR 1.39 1.54 1.49 1.49 1.49 1.49 10,000 14,900 ACESITE HOTEL 1.66 2.02 2.03 2.03 2.03 2.03 1,000 2,030 DISCOVERY WORLD 9.53 10.68 10.66 10.66 10.66 10.66 100 1,066 GRAND PLAZA 0.6 0.61 0.6 0.61 0.57 0.61 242,000 138,870 4,200 WATERFRONT 890.5 891 890.5 890.5 890.5 890.5 1,120 997,360 FAR EASTERN U 9.49 9.5 9.49 9.49 9.49 9.49 1,400 13,286 IPEOPLE 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.63 0.59 0.62 9,154,000 5,662,000 (5,285,210) STI HLDG 4.49 4.58 4.47 4.7 4.34 4.58 2,622,000 11,891,100 5,360 BERJAYA 11.06 11.1 11.04 11.2 10.9 11.1 1,161,300 12,866,046 3,046,170 BLOOMBERRY 2.46 2.48 2.5 2.5 2.46 2.46 38,000 94,190 (71,870) PACIFIC ONLINE 2.42 2.44 2.44 2.44 2.42 2.44 243,000 592,700 2,440 LEISURE AND RES 3.35 3.4 3.35 3.4 3.35 3.4 39,000 131,550 MANILA JOCKEY 4.41 5 5 5 5 5 5,000 25,000 PH RESORTS GRP 0.57 0.58 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.57 907,000 513,840 (197,170) PREMIUM LEISURE 7.61 8.99 8.7 8.99 8.7 8.99 300 2,668 PHIL RACING 11.44 11.5 11.46 11.5 11.42 11.5 1,535,700 17,647,610 (3,079,524) ALLHOME 2.09 2.13 2.15 2.15 2.05 2.13 180,000 374,000 METRO RETAIL 39.4 39.95 39.5 39.95 39 39.95 586,200 23,291,235(7, 747,865.0003) PUREGOLD 74.9 77 75.75 77 74.9 77 123,020 9,443,072.5 (5,893,310.5) ROBINSONS RTL 135 144 147 148 145.5 145.5 150 22,065 PHIL SEVEN CORP 2.75 2.76 2.68 2.76 2.61 2.75 1,191,000 3,232,500 2,209,880 SSI GROUP 17.68 17.7 17.84 17.84 17.2 17.7 4,100,600 72,383,496 28 ,137,160.0004 WILCON DEPOT 0.39 0.395 0.39 0.395 0.385 0.395 160,000 62,450 (11,600) APC GROUP 7.75 7.85 7.75 7.85 7.75 7.85 7,000 54,930 EASYCALL 425 436 436 436 435 436 170 73,980 GOLDEN BRIA 6.3 6.5 6.2 6.5 6.2 6.5 11,900 76,420 3,400 IPM HLDG 0.33 0.335 0.32 0.335 0.31 0.33 16,090,000 5,218,900 64,400 PRMIERE HORIZON 8.74 9.04 8.74 9.05 8.74 9.05 1,533,200 13,400,623 SBS PHIL CORP MINING & OIL ATOK 10.08 10.96 10.96 10.96 10.96 10.96 200 2,192 0.91 0.93 0.91 0.92 0.91 0.92 115,000 104,830 3,680 APEX MINING 0.0014 0.0015 0 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 13,000,000 19,500 ABRA MINING 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 150,000 40,500 COAL ASIA HLDG 2.69 2.7 2.69 2.7 2.68 2.7 334,000 898,730 CENTURY PEAK 6.91 7.32 6.91 7.32 6.91 6.92 1,000,400 6,912,846 DIZON MINES 1.8 1.81 1.73 1.83 1.73 1.8 6,319,000 11,284,100 (776,150) FERRONICKEL 0.198 0.204 0.2 0.204 0.198 0.204 170,000 33,890 GEOGRACE 0.091 0.093 0.093 0.093 0.091 0.091 930,000 85,190 LEPANTO A 0.0074 0.0078 0 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074 0.0074 3,000,000 22,200 MANILA MINING A 0.87 0.89 0.87 0.89 0.84 0.89 818,000 713,070 MARCVENTURES 0.97 1 0.99 1 0.97 1 18,000 17,640 NIHAO 3.19 3.2 3.01 3.28 3.01 3.2 13,620,000 43,006,020 9,363,830 NICKEL ASIA 0.72 0.76 0.73 0.76 0.7 0.75 302,000 217,840 (1,860) ORNTL PENINSULA 2.68 2.7 2.69 2.75 2.69 2.7 123,000 332,470 2,710 PX MINING 21.8 21.85 21.6 21.9 21.6 21.8 1,129,800 24,611,865 5 ,056,940.0003 SEMIRARA MINING 0.0052 0.0057 0 0.0053 0.0053 0.0053 0.0053 3,000,000 15,900 UNITED PARAGON 7.1 7.18 7.33 7.33 7 7.15 180,100 1,288,588 4,682 ACE ENEXOR 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 100,000 1,200 ORNTL PETROL B 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 400,000 4,100 2,000 PHILODRILL 8.4 8.5 8.13 8.64 8.13 8.4 286,300 2,355,350 PXP ENERGY 156,503 PREFFERED AC PREF B1 499 510 510 510 510 510 10 5,100 101.3 103.3 102.5 103.3 102.5 103.3 3,090 319,037 (20,500) ALCO PREF B 505 510 505 510 505 510 2,800 1,420,200 (50,500) AC PREF B2R 100 101 101 101 100 100 390 39,219 DD PREF 108 111.9 108.1 108.1 108 108 2,260 244,188 FGEN PREF G 980 995 995 995 995 995 50 49,750 GTCAP PREF A 100.5 101 101 101 101 101 510 51,510 50,500 MWIDE PREF 100.6 102.3 102.3 102.3 102.3 102.3 710 72,633 51,150 PNX PREF 3A 106.8 108.9 109 109 109 109 100 10,900 PNX PREF 3B 1,031 1,032 1028 1,031 1,028 1,031 4,530 4,668,360 PNX PREF 4 1,022 1,049 1023 1,023 1,023 1,023 50 51,150 PCOR PREF 2B 1,050 1,051 1048 1,050 1,048 1,050 3,045 3,195,240 PCOR PREF 3A 1,055 1,057 1057 1,057 1,055 1,057 25,515 26,952,345 PCOR PREF 3B 1.36 1.72 1.36 1.36 1.36 1.36 1,000 1,360 SFI PREF 77.8 77.9 77.8 77.8 77.8 77.8 700 54,460 54,460 SMC PREF 2C 75.2 75.5 75.2 75.2 75.2 75.2 870,000 65,424,000 SMC PREF 2D 74.5 76.5 77 77 77 77 10 770 SMC PREF 2E 75.75 76.85 76.9 76.9 75.55 75.55 1,400 105,833.5 SMC PREF 2F 75 75.95 75.95 75.95 75.95 75.95 600,010 45,570,759.5 SMC PREF 2G 75.2 77 75.2 75.2 75.2 75.2 805,590 60,580,368 SMC PREF 2I PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

15 5.17

17 5.3

14.7 5.19

15.1 5.3

14.7 5.19

15 5.3

107,000 217,000

1,606,700 1,142,959

WARRANTS

LR WARRANT 1.21 1.36 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 11,000 13,200

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ITALPINAS 3.52 10.08 KEPWEALTH 0.76 XURPAS

3.59 10.1 0.77

3.6 9.84 0.77

3.69 10.14 0.78

3.51 9.8 0.76

3.6 10.1 0.77

288,000 231,400 995,000

1,032,800 2,310,848 767,860

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

117

117.4

116.4

117.4

115.6

117.4

7,240

843,151

(1,606,700) 1,033,239 172,820 (2,984) 35,023

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 B1

PricewaterhouseCoopers tapped for NPC complex redevt project By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

TATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) issued on Monday a notice to award multinational service firm PricewaterhouseCoopers the consultancy work on the redevelopment of the National Power Corp. (NPC) complex. “The Notice of Award was issued because we had to complete first the post-qualification process,” said PSALM President Irene Joy Garcia in a text message. PSALM earlier said its 5.195-hectare property in Diliman, Quezon City, will be converted into a commercial center with high-rise mixed-use

development, offering both office spaces and retail spaces. “We were able to do the first step which is the design contest,” Garcia said, referring to the architectural conceptual design submitted by WTA Design Studio. “The next step is for PWC to secure the performance bond, and upon

submission to us, PSALM will then issue the Notice to Process and sign the contract,” added Garcia. She said the performance bond may cost about P300,000, representing 5 percent of the contract price, if payment will be via check or bank guarantee. If via surety bond, Garcia said PWC must secure an amount of P1,799,403.78, or 30 percent of the contract. The PSALM official earlier said that PWC has 180 days “to complete everything” including the conduct of a feasibility study, reportedly costing P5.98 million. “After we do the feasibility study, then we can already come up with the privatization action plan for the NPC complex,” she added. WTA Design Studio’s conceptual design, entitled “The East Grid,” was selected for its multidimensional, people-oriented concept of developing a new environment-friendly business center that integrates energy-efficient systems, and innovative

and sustainable design ideas. This design entry assimilates pedestrian-friendly spaces, interactive installations, bike trails, green promenades, alfresco spaces and play areas into a development that will ensure a net leasable space of about 400,000 square meters. Garcia said this architectural conceptual design competition is a critical component of the company’s privatization program. An outright sale of the land is much easier but less advantageous for the government than purposefully developing it in accordance with its best use, and eventually ensuring a substantial income stream and steady cash flow that the government can enjoy, the official explained. “The objective is to fully maximize the utilization of the Quezon City property, study carefully the possible highest and best use for it and ensure that the government can strategically take advantage of the property’s full potentials,” Garcia said.

IPOPHL ties up with Big Bad Wolf Books in copyright drive By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

HE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is partnering with the world’s largest book sale holder in promoting copyright understanding in the country. Last week IPOPHL Director General Josephine R. Santiago signed a memorandum of understanding with Big Bad Wolf Books Executive Director Jacqueline Ng. The MOU links the IPOPHL and BBW in launching programs and projects that raise awareness and appreciation of the copyright system among authors, publishers and readers, cultivating in the process a culture of reading among Filipinos. In implementing this, the IPOPHL will hold seminars on copyright in the next BBW Book Sale in the Philippines in February, in a bid to enlighten authors on how to maximize and protect the intellectual property of their works. The speakers in those talks will stress the need to respect the copyright and related rights of all creators of copyright materials. The IPOPHL will have a booth for copyright creators to deposit their works. “One of our main goals is to create programs to grow the local publishing industry by providing them with the tools and knowledge to jump-start their businesses. One of the main stumbling blocks for local authors

in the Philippines is that they don’t know where to start,” Santiago said in a statement on Monday. The IPOPHL chief shared the significance of the partnership, especially with a brand like BBW Books with which it has intertwining objectives. “The Big Bad Wolf Books is on a worldwide mission to change the world one book at a time by creating the platform to inspire people and empower them with knowledge. Besides providing books at affordable prices, we also always work with local authors selling their books or organizing a book signing ceremony,” BBW’s Ng said. “Meanwhile, IPOPHL is the Philippines’s lead government agency that is tasked to promote and protect the implementation of intellectual-property rights. With this partnership, we are able to spread awareness of intellectual-property rights for aspiring authors and providing them the right direction in terms of methods to publish their books,” she added. BBW Books is known to host the world’s largest book sales. It provides readers with a wide selection of books at the lowest possible prices, with discount rates going as high as 50 percent to 90 percent. It sales events are held annually in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and Pampanga, but with the partnership with the IPOPHL the book sale organizer is eyeing to spread its presence to other cities in the Philippines.

ICTSI’s Aussie unit gets port mgt award

HE Australian unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) was recognized for excellence in port management and infrastructure at the recently concluded Asia Pacific Awards 2019. In a statement, ICTSI said the recognition given by Lloyd’s List to Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) was born out of its significant investments in the port. The company developed the port, located at the Webb Dock East, as Australia’s first fully automated container terminal, adding over 1-million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) annual capacity in just two years.

“ICTSI has taken this project from vision, through development and implementation, positioning VICT as one of the most advanced container terminals in the world. We are extremely pleased by this Lloyd’s List Award to VICT—our efforts to deliver a product on the world stage that is truly sophisticated and the best of its kind is being recognized,” said Andrew Dawes, ICTSI senior vice president and regional head of Asia-Pacific. Aside from expanding the terminal, ICTSI also “committed to deliver safer, consistent, predictable and accurate operations.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

Megawide says PITx ready for holiday passenger surge

EGAWIDE Construction Corp., one of the lead investors in the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx), said on Monday that it is ready to accommodate the expected spike in passenger traffic this holiday season. PITx Corporate Affairs Manager Jason Salvador said this as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issued special permits for additional PITx routes this holiday season. With this development, the land port is

now serving origin/destination to 73 units of provincial buses that will operate special routes to/from Bicol, Mindanao, Northern Luzon and Visayas areas. The permits are effective until January 3, 2020. “These permits issued by LTFRB supplement our existing operations in terms of availability of public transportation. Aside from the additional bus units, the special routes to key areas will be very beneficial to our dear passengers traveling for the holidays,” Salvador said. Lorenz S. Marasigan

mutual funds

December 23, 2019

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 251.39 -1.59% 2.74% -0.56% -0.32% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.3602 -4.89% 1.32% -3.62% -5.59% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.6307 -7.95% -0.77% -3.51% -6.98% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.8887 -1.54% n.a. n.a. -1.37% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.8439 1.39% n.a. n.a. 2.83% -0.78% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 5.2937 -0.31% 3.65% 0.39% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.8499 0.63% -0.38% n.a. 1.58% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 102.18 -15.1% n.a. n.a. -12.04% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 51.0441 2.36% 5.28% n.a. 3.7% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 530.38 1.93% 3.8% -0.19% 3.04% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,8 1.0018 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.2814 1% 4.25% 0.53% 2.19% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 37.7348 1.83% 5.22% 0.49% 3.01% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.0132 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 5.198 3.44% 6.02% 1.78% 4.82% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 867.53 3.35% 5.92% 1.73% 4.72% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.8413 -3.21% 2.33% n.a. -2.17% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 4.1872 1.93% 4.99% 0.79% 3.16% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.9958 2.99% 5.66% n.a. 4.35% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.6397 2.9% 6.78% 2.47% 3.97% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 116.2954 3.64% 6.64% 2.69% 5.01% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $1.0204 12.32% 6.88% 0.94% 9.83% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3629 19.99% 9.42% n.a. 23.32% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5532 -6.6% -1.67% -4.11% -5.94% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1713 -2.05% 0.02% -1.4% -1.72% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6196 2.69% 3.58% -1.11% 3.01% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.2272 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Grepalife Balanced Fund Corporation -a 1.3289 1.21% n.a. n.a. 1.89% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9557 5.54% 3.7% 1.2% 6.11% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.7747 6.14% 3.09% 0.37% 6.95% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.9017 5.62% 3.02% 0.3% 6.25% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.1224 1.69% 2.8% 1.02% 2.57% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.845 4.54% 4.04% 0.67% 5.3% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 1.0118 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9906 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9877 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.9685 4.07% 3.49% -0.33% 5.08% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03822 8.61% 3.19% 2.03% 8.27% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $1.031 10.37% 5.51% 1.16% 12.84% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.8785 14.77% 7.53% 3.98% 17.22% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.1228 10.62% 4.51% n.a. 11.72% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 357.57 4.18% 2.76% 2.31% 4.11% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9009 2.37% 0.13% -0.5% 2.24% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1123 4.9% 5.18% 5.19% 4.58% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2204 4.24% 2.26% 1.93% 4.28% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3562 6.71% 2.29% 1.55% 6.85% Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. -a P 1.6068 2.75% 0.76% -0.13% 2.71% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.3639 11.4% 2.59% 1.74% 11.33% 7.86% 3% 1.41% 7.35% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.7757 Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9619 7.85% 1.4% n.a. 7.93% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.0659 10.94% 4.6% 2.61% 10.85% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.6964 10.29% 4.12% 2.15% 10.16% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $467.93 4.44% 2.73% 2.77% 4.36% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.75 3.31% 1.65% 1.31% 3.33% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2059 7.22% 3.25% 2.57% 7.12% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0258 3.61% 1.46% 1.29% 4.03% Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. -a $1.7088 1.19% -0.03% 0.13% 1.1% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.0931 5.69% 1.54% -0.8% 5.48% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.3998 10.57% 3.67% 2.95% 10.55% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0603072 5.85% 2.3% 1.97% 5.8% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1693 10.51% 3.05% 2.56% 10.35% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 125.7 4.12% 2.84% 2.17% 3.99% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0312 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.2553 6.34% 3.02% 1.7% 6.21% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2635 3.76% 2.87% 2.33% 3.63% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0368 2.11% n.a. n.a. 2.06% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $0.99 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU). 1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 Launch date is November 15, 2019. 5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 8 - Launch date is December 09, 2019. "While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

Spo

Business

Tuesday, December 24, 2019 By Ian Harrison The Associated Press

ORONTO—Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors used a huge fourth quarter to pull off the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) biggest comeback in a decade. Lowry had 32 points and 10 assists, Chris Boucher scored a career-high 21 points and the Raptors overturned a 30-point deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks, 110-107, on Sunday. Lowry had one fewer point in the fourth (20) than the Mavericks managed as a team (21). “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Coach Nick Nurse said of Lowry’s explosive finish. It was the biggest comeback in Raptors history, and the NBA’s first 30-point comeback since Sacramento beat Chicago on December 21, 2009, according to Elias. Players from both sides found the outcome tough to comprehend. “I’m definitely going to go watch the game again, just to see how exciting this game was and how the fans helped us so much,” Boucher said. Dallas forward Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t interested in a second viewing after making five of 15 shots. “Tonight was a weird game, honestly,” Porzingis said. “I still can’t process what happened.” Even Lowry wasn’t sure he wanted another look at the first three quarters.

BIG, BIG RALLY LIFT RAPTORS “I probably won’t enjoy it till later on, fourth quarter,” Lowry joked. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 18 points and Fred VanVleet had 10 as the short-handed Raptors won their fifth straight and improved to 13-3 at home, ending the Mavericks’ seven-game road winning streak. Porzingis had 19 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Brunson scored 21 points as Dallas dropped to 2-2 without guard Luka Doncic, who sat for the fourth straight game because of a sprained right ankle. Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said his team didn’t maintain its aggression after the Raptors started fighting back. “When you get hit with that kind of force, you’ve got to respond with equal or greater force, and we just didn’t do it soon enough,” Carlisle said. Toronto trailed 83-53 with 2:55 remaining in the third, but used a swarming defense and hot shooting from Lowry to tie the score at 95 with five-and-a-half minutes to go in the fourth. “They were just taking it to us,”

Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said. “Before you knew it, they cut the lead to 10, and then cut the lead to five.” Hollis-Jefferson made a pair of free throws with 4:31 remaining to put the Raptors up 98-97, their first lead of the second half. Lowry hit a three on Toronto’s next possession, making it a four-point game. A three-point play by Brunson with 1:14 left cut it to 106-105, and Porzingis made a pair from the line with 32 seconds remaining, putting Dallas up one. Lowry fed Boucher for a go-ahead dunk and, after a Dallas timeout, Brunson missed a jumper that would have given the Mavs the lead. Boucher was fouled as he grabbed the rebound and made both free throws, putting Toronto up by three with 1.6 seconds left. Porzingis launched a game-tying shot from his own side of half before the buzzer, but it fell short. The Raptors made four of 23 attempts from three-point range through the first three quarters, then made six of 11 shots from distance in the fourth, four of them

from Lowry. Dallas missed 11 straight field goal attempts to begin the game, and didn’t

score until Porzingis hit the second of two free throws with 6:43 left in the opening quarter. Dorian FinneySmith made a three with 6:19 left in the first to halt the shooting slump. The Mavericks had more turnovers (seven) than made baskets (five) in the first, but Toronto couldn’t take advantage and led 20-17 after one. Dallas used a 16-2 run in the second to lead 51-42 at halftime. The Mavericks led 86-63 through three quarters before matching the biggest blown lead in franchise history.

Nuggets beat LeBron-less Lakers for 6th win in row

OS ANGELES—Buoyed by a perfect fivegame homestand, the Denver Nuggets hit the road and kept on winning. Paul Millsap scored 21 points and the Nuggets dominated the second half in defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, who were without LeBron James, 128-104, on Sunday night for their sixth win in a row. “Our last homestand gave us confidence to come on the road and win,” Millsap said. “We have so many weapons.” The Nuggets had six players in double figures. Gary Harris added 19 points; Nikola Jokic had 18 points; Malik Beasley had 16 points; and Will Barton III had 14 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds for the Nuggets, who pulled away to a 23-point lead early in the fourth. “It feels good to get a win in LA, even if LeBron wasn’t playing,” Jokic said. James missed his first game of the season because of a thoracic muscle strain. That left the Lakers without his 25.8 point average and 10.6 assists.

“It’s kind of hard to next-man up LeBron,” said Kyle Kuzma, the only other Laker in double figures with 16 points. “He does so much. Shots come easier when he’s on the floor because everyone just looks at him.” With James looking on in street clothes, Anthony Davis did his best to make up for it with 32 points and 11 rebounds. He scored 11 points playing all 12 minutes of the first quarter. “It’s tough when he’s out, but we still got to find ways to win,” Davis said. “We lost our energy defensively. We got to continue to defend, and once we get that edge back we’ll be fine.” Davis slipped and tweaked his right leg in the third quarter, but felt good enough to play 7 1/2 minutes in the fourth. “Hopefully nothing significant happens,” he said. The Lakers can’t afford to have Davis go down at the same time as James with a Christmas game against the Clippers looming. The Western Conference-leading Lakers have lost three in a row since winning seven straight.

Kuzma returned after missing five games with a sprained left ankle. “This is probably the healthiest I’ve been all season,” he said. “Just got to get my legs back a little bit.” Millsap was questionable to play because of a left knee contusion, but he consistently scored with Davis and Kuzma in the lineup late in the second quarter. His 3-pointer put the Nuggets up 55-53 at the break. Denver scored 73 points in the second half, while holding the Lakers to 51 points. “It was the best game we’ve had from start to finish this season,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said. “Our starters played well, and our second unit played outstanding. When we do that we are hard to beat.” The Lakers successfully challenged a goaltending call against Davis midway through the third that took a basket away from the Nuggets. But, Denver responded with a 23-11 run to take a 91-78 lead into the fourth. Seven players scored during the spurt, led by Millsap with seven. AP

TORONTO’S Kyle Lowry (7) and Rondae HollisJefferson celebrate their come-from-behind victory over Dallas. AP

Russia accuses whistle-blower of modifying key data

ussia is blaming the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) star witness for modifying key laboratory data. His lawyer says that’s nonsense. The Russian Investigative Committee (IC), a major law enforcement agency, alleges that former Moscow anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov remotely changed test results from abroad after fleeing to the United States in 2015. “All the evidence obtained by the investigation shows that Rodchenkov and unidentified persons intentionally made changes in the electronic database to distort the parameters and indicators of Russian athletes’ doping samples,” Russian IC Spokesman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement Saturday. Since leaving Russia, Rodchenkov has become a key witness for Wada, which ruled this month that the doping data—known as the LIMS database—was doctored to protect Russian

athletes who failed drug tests, while the data was in the custody of the IC. Handing over the files in January was meant to be a Russian peace offering, which could uncover past doping offenses involving star Russian athletes. It’s turned into another legal battleground in the saga nearly six years on from Russia hosting the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Rodchenkov’s lawyer told the Associated Press that the new allegation against his client is a “farce.” “Rodchenkov could not and did not log into the LIMS database,” Jim Walden told The AP. “We are not aware of anyone else that logged in. The point is that this is all a charade.” Wada this month banned Russia from next year’s Tokyo Olympics over the data manipulation, though Russian athletes can still compete as neutrals. The IC alleges the data was edited from abroad

in 2015 and 2016, but hasn’t fully explained Wada’s allegation that there were thousands of changes made in the weeks before Russia handed over the data archive in January 2019. Wada says the changes were aimed at removing incriminating evidence against Russia. The IC’s Petrenko said that “access to this data by laboratory staff could not have been restricted due to the ongoing operation of the laboratory.” Her statement also doesn’t address another key Wada claim, that false messages implicating Rodchenkov in corruption were spliced into the data archive. Before the handover, Wada had its own copy of the database for comparison, provided in secret by an unnamed whistleblower. Russia says the source was Rodchenkov, something his lawyer denies. Petrenko protested that “foreign partners” hadn’t made Rodchenkov available for questioning. AP

PHL Ladies Open to draw huge intl cast

The 10th edition of the survey finds Barcelona atop the list with an average basic salary of a first team player of $12.8 million. AP

BARCA TOPS SURVEY ON SPORTS SALARIES

YDNEY—Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, and Italy’s Juventus are the best-paid teams in world sports, according to the 2019 Global Sports Salaries Survey conducted by the web site sportingintelligence.com. The 10th edition of the survey finds Barcelona atop the list, with an average basic salary of a first team player of $12.8 million. That figure is down on last year when Barcelona was also first with an average of $13.7 million, swelled by the basic paycheck of Lionel Messi, which exceeds $65 million. Real Madrid retains second place, with an average of $11.6 million, and Juventus, ninth on the list last year, is up to third with $10.54

million. The other soccer teams in the top 20 are PSG at No. 12 and Manchester City at No. 13. The figures used in the survey represent basic annual pay, and do not include signing bonuses, performance bonuses and other extras. Teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) fill the remaining seven spots in the top 10, and take 15 of the top 20 places. In 2017, the top 3 teams in the survey were the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, while in 2018 three NBA teams broke the average pay ceiling of $10 million per player. This year, the Portland Trail Blazers are in fourth place at just over $10.4 million, Golden State fifth at $10.28 million and Oklahoma City

has fallen to sixth at $9.83 million. Among teams ranked 21 to 30 this year, nine are from the NBA, joined by soccer’s Bayern Munich at No. 22. Juventus was ranked No. 32 in 2017, but leapt to 10th place last year with the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo and other high-priced players. The biggest risers in the latest survey were the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, who climbed 60 places from No. 152 to No. 92, and the Atlanta Falcons, up 59 spots from No. 123 to No. 64. Four of the five biggest falls were recorded by Major League Baseball teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays, who are down 123 places to No. 172. The New York Yankees were the top-ranked team in the inaugural survey in 2012. AP

HE Philippine Ladies Open (PLO) braces for another explosive staging next year with a stellar international cast tipped to clash for top honors from February 18 to 20 at the Manila Golf Club in Forbes Park in Makati City. Top and rising players from Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Japan and the United States are expected to crowd the country’s leading shotmakers in the 54-hole championship, eager to end the locals’ domination of the event organized and conducted by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines. After the Thais posted an imposing 1-2 finish through Pimnipa Panthong and Kanyalak Preedasutthjit in the 2015 PLO at Wack Wack, the Filipina aces ruled the next four editions with Princess Superal winning in 2016 at Tagaytay Midlands, Bianca Pagdanganan scoring a record win in 2017, also at Wack Wack, before Yuka Saso swept the last two at Orchard and Manila Golf Club. Meanwhile, registration is ongoing with fee pegged at P10,000 for local participants and $300 for foreign entries, inclusive of one practice round with organizers also targeting to draw Class A and B players. For details/reservations, e-mail to Kathy_uy@yahoo.com or secretariat@ wgap-golf.com. Entry forms can also be downloaded at www.wgap-golf.com.

Saso and Pagdanganan, along with Lois Kaye Go, won the team gold in the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018—with Saso bagging the individual crown, a first in PLO history with the event serving as a venue for the young Filipina players to compete with other top golfers from across Asia and elsewhere. Pagdanganan also won the individual gold in the recent SEA Games, and led the squad of Go and Abby Arevalo to the team championship, besting the country’s perennial rival Thailand. But Superal has since moved to the pros, while Pagdanganan and Saso are set to launch their pro debuts next year in different circuits abroad—leaving the likes of Junia Gabasa and young Rianne Malixi and Eagle Ace Superal as the likely spearheads of the host nation in the upcoming PLO.

Patafa’s Ch

Vincent Juico @VJuico, Instagram vpjp_

SPORTS WITHO 11-8-8, that’s eleven gold, eight silver and three bronze medals. According to various reports, the last time the Philippines won 11 gold medals in athletics was in the 1983 Southeast Asian Games, when the likes of Lydia de Vega was reigning

orts

sMirror

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

DUTERTE: P100M FOR TOKYO BID By Ramon Rafael Bonilla

HE quest for the country’s first Olympic gold medal has become more intense as ever with President Duterte giving the go signal for a P100-million fund for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Overwhelmed by the success of the country’s hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Duterte has instructed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), chaired by Andrea Domingo, to earmark P100 million to fund the training and preparation of the country’s bets to the July 24 to August 9, Tokyo Olympics. There are so far only two Filipinos who have qualified for Tokyo 2020—pole vaulter EJ Obiena and gymnast Carlos Yulo. Still seeking Olympic qualification are athletes in weightlifting, boxing, taekwondo, swimming, cycling, judo and athletics. “We expect the funds to come in after the holidays and that’s where the ball really gets rolling,” Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William Ramirez said. Sports has gone atop Duterte’s priorities that for the SEA Games hosting, he agreed to allot P6.5 billion from general appropriations. “I’m very strict about money. I should be accounted for up to the last centavo,” Duterte said when the SEA Games medalists received their incentives in Malacañang last week. Obiena was the first Filipino to qualify for the quadrennial event and is currently ranked 10th in the world with his season-best and national record of 5.81 meters. Yulo, on the other hand, remains the best medal hope following his floor exercise gold medal at the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, and his two-gold swing in the SEA Games, where he also bagged five silvers. The country is expecting weightlifter and Rio

BSU, CSB studes top PBA scribes’ sportswriting tilt

PRESIDENT Duterte is as serious as everyone else on the quest for that elusive Olympic gold medal.

Olympic Hidilyn Diaz, boxer and world champion Nesthy Petecio and Asian Games skateboarding gold medalist Margielyn Didal to also make the grade for Tokyo 2020. A huge reward will go to the Filipino gold-medal winner in the Olympics—a P10-million cash incentive that would be followed by a surge of bonuses from the Office of the President, Philippine Olympic Committee, Senate and House

of Representatives and private companies.

DISCOUNTS FOR ATHLETES IN 2020

DELAYS in processing of pertinent documents, meanwhile, stalled the immediate implementation of athletes’ benefits outside of their financial incentives. But the PSC assured of a full enforcement of the reenacted law next year.

Under Section 4 and 5 of the Republic Act 10699, or the Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001, national athletes and coaches are entitled of 20-percent discounts in public transportation, hotels, restaurants and recreation centers, and medicine and sports equipment all over the country. It also includes full scholarships in state colleges and universities for national athletes who are regular winners in

TEAM SIBOL GETS WINDFALL OF INCENTIVES FOR SEAG STINT

ULACAN State University (BSU) copped the top 2 places of the revived Philippine Basketball Association Press Corps (PBAPC) Sportswriting Contest. Justin Mhar de Jesus was declared champion of the one-day event held last November 22, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, besting schoolmate Eriell G. Estrada for the top plum worth P10,000. Estrada received P7,000. Kyle Janrey Bustos of College of Saint Benilde (CSB) topped the special photo contest held as part of the PBAPC’s 25th year anniversary celebration presented by the PBA, San Miguel Corp., NorthPort and Sony Philippines. Bustos received P10,000. The formal announcement and awarding of winners were held at halftime of Game Four of the Governors Cup semifinals series between Barangay Ginebra and NorthPort, with League Commissioner Willie Marcial personally handing out the prizes and certificates. Placing third in the writing contest was Gillene Gustine C. Garcia of Saint Dominic College of Asia, followed by Ron Jeric Faustino of Marcelo H. Del Pilar National High School and Axell Swen Lumiguen of Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Settling for runner-up honors in the photo contest were John Edward Gaspar of Marcelo H. Del Pilar High School and Lucky de la Rosa of University of the Philippines-Diliman. The Philippine Star sports editor Nelson Beltran, Tempo sports editor Rey Virgilio Lachica and Malaya assistant sports editor Noli Cortez served as judges in the writing contest, while the photo tilt was judged by SPIN.ph and Sony Philippines ambassador Jerome Ascano, and award-winning and veteran lensmen August de la Cruz of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Ernie Sarmiento of ESPN5.

PLAYER TURNED BUSINESSMAN

Former Philippine Basketball Association player Mike Advani (left) of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel together with partnercousins Anil and Ravi Sehwani recently open their newest Shakey’s branch at Tiendesitas along C-5, where former San Beda and now Assistant PBA Coach Borgie Hermida (second from right) is one of the special guests.

hristmas gift

_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

OUT BORDERS “Fastest woman in Asia.” Our athletics team also broke five SEA Games and five national records. Patafa, or the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, is the national sports association with the most number of gold-

PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan (center), together with Cignal TV and TV5 President and CEO Jane Basas (sixth from right), along with Julie Carceller (seventh from right), chief of staff, chief revenue office, PLDT; and Lloyd Manaloto, VP and chief of staff, TV5 turn over cash incentives to Team Sibol.

LDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications (Smart) recently awarded cash incentives to the 30th Southeast Asian Games eSports medalists from Team Sibol, the Philippines’s first national eSports team. Team Sibol bagged five medals in the SEA Games. According to PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, the cash award for the eSports athletes is a tribute to their commendable performance. “We are very proud of how well you represented the Philippines in the SEA Games, especially since it’s the first time that eSports has been included in a prestigious sporting event,” Pangilinan said. “While it may not be as physical as basketball, eSports requires a lot of physical and mental effort, and dedication for our young people to excel in this sport,” Pangilinan added. Cignal TV and TV5 President and CEO Jane Basas also acknowledged that eSports is one medals won. There are reports that the 1983 athletics team won 24 medals whereas this year’s team won 27 medals. According to Dr. Philip Juico, president of Patafa, “I’m very encouraged by the results. It validates and justifies our approach to focused, full time, four months of training in Lingayen, Pangasinan, and three months in New Clark City; the strict discipline we imposed on each other, the constant monitoring; the motivation given to our coaches and athletes; the continuous availability of food; the rigorous selection of international competitions; practical criteria on which athlete have the best chance of winning medals and those who have

of the fastest-growing sports today. “Many years ago, including eSports in an International Olympic Committee-accredited event was just a dream, and now, it actually happened, thanks to our partners; the athletes, coaches and management; and of course, to sponsors like Smart,” Basas said. “It’s a milestone in the history of eSports that we were been able to put it in an international event like this and broadcast to many homes, not just in the Philippines but to the rest of Southeast Asia,” she added. With his team conquering the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) competition, Angelo Arcangel shared that they play eight to 10 hours a day as part of their training. Also known as Pheww among his teammates, he said all of their hard work has borne fruit after clinching the gold medal. Smart provided the connectivity and other equipment in the training grounds of Team Sibol. “The huge support really makes me happy. If not for sponsors like Smart, the team would reasonable prospects of winning.” “I understand we matched the standing record of 11 gold medals captured by the athletics team in the 1983 SEA Games in Singapore. I’m not sure but I think overall, we had 27 medals, 11-8-8 while the 1983 team had 24. We have the momentum and we intend to build on it,” he added. There’s a lot of momentum after the games going into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2021 Asian Games. As a result of the games, we have the infrastructure and as a result of the success in winning the overall championship, the private sector can and should come in for support. We must make hay while the sun shines and strike while the iron is hot.

have not been formed. It is not like we can train individually. The sponsors have really helped us,” Arcangel said. And as the whole country celebrated this victory, Mobile Legends team manager Jab Escutin noted that this was just the beginning and hoped that the momentum would be sustained. “I’m pretty sure that since we got an actual gold medal, it’s a signal that [eSports] can be an actual career that people can take seriously,” Escutin said. “There’s a big backing for it. There are a lot more career options for everybody, especially since we are in the digital age.” Pangilinan and Basas personally greeted and congratulated Team Sibol in awarding the cash incentives. The gold medalists for team events (MLBB and Dota 2) were awarded P2 million. Individual event gold medalist for StarCraft II Caviar “EnDerr” Acampado was awarded P1 million. Tekken 7 silver medalist Alexandre “AK” Laverez and bronze medalist Andreij “Douijin” Albar were awarded P500,000 and P250,000 respectively. According to Rohsaan Griffin, one of the coaches, “It was an amazing unpredicted, unprecedented feat, definitely above the expectations we set for ourselves.” We have at least two more Olympic hopefuls in track and field in Kristina Knott and Zion Corrales-Nelson. If we are to sustain the momentum of the success of the SEA Games then the formula that Juico explained earlier must be replicated. Before I end, I’d like to wish my readers the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years. May the new year bring more success, achievements and accomplishments by our hardworking athletes supported by our coaches.

major tournaments. But majority of private establishments are not honoring the expanded law that was revised in 2015, and athletes have voiced out their frustrations. One of them, Agatha Wong—doublegold winner in wushu of the recent SEA Games—expressed her dismay over the unfair treatment to the athletes on discounts that they should be enjoying. “Can we make RA 10699 on the national athletes’ discount [and] benefits an imposed and required law to abide by,” Wong wrote on her Twitter account. “Gets quite annoying to keep having to explain to managers that this kind of benefit actually exists and some are even doubtful. You think I’m a liar,” she added. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has yet to finalize the implementing rules and regulations covering athletes’ benefits on discounts. Since last February, the PSC has been in constant communication with the BIR and the Department of Finance. “We know this is long overdue but rest assured we are doing what we can, coordinating with the concerned government agencies to effect the full implementation,” Ramirez said. “We hope for the full implementation by first quarter of 2020 so our athletes could swiftly avail themselves of the benefits,” he added.

B4 Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Issy & Co. celebrates success with Alex Gonzaga

Xia Vigor is Save the Children Philippines’ first Child Ambassador

AVE the Children Philippines welcomes child actress Xia Vigor as the First Child Ambassador who will help in promoting children’s rights to grow up healthy, educated, and protected from all harm. Xia, 10, who stars in the upcoming movie “Miracle in Cell no.7,” an entry in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), said she is determined to bring positive change for every child. She also aims to inspire children, especially in marginalized situations to never give up their dreams. As her first activity, Xia led a feeding program for children in a community in Navotas City. Save the Children Philippines implements Project NURTURE (Nutrition among Urban Poor Through Unified Response) to reduce the number of deaths of children under 5 years old in identified areas in Navotas City by implementing a nutrition-specific intervention focusing on the first 1,000 days of life. “Whenever I meet other children, I always tell them to work hard to attain their dreams. I hope I can help them make those dreams become a reality with my new role as a Save the Children Child Ambassador,” said Xia Vigor during her visit to Save the Children Philippines

office in Quezon City. Xia learned the importance of sharing her blessings at age 6 when she started joining her mother in outreach activities in the Mindoro provinces to distribute slippers and school supplies to children of Mangyan families. She was moved to see young children go to school barefoot and without school supplies. Xia has also been active in campaigning for environmental protection and has joined tree planting and coastal clean-up activities.

Atty. Alberto Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Philippines said Xia fits the role of Child Ambassador because she is very smart, articulate, and has the empathy to children living in deprived situations. “Children around the world are speaking of their rights, and Save the Children supports the realization of their right to be listened to, by providing a platform so they can speak up on matters that affect them,” said Muyot.

N emerging make-up and self-care brand in the Philippines is currently making waves due to its promise of quality yet affordable and socially relevant, wearable products that help young Filipinos achieve their beauty goals effortlessly. Issy & Co. first resonated with the “woke” Filennials or Filipino Millennials with its claim of manufacturing make-up products that are proudly vegan, cruelty-free, parabenfree, and gluten-free; and has now captured the imagination of the beauty-conscious consumers looking for an affordable yet quality make-up brand. Jasmine Ang, President of Issy & Co. said, “When we began Issy & Co. last month, we were very pleased to introduce a product that the market embraced. This continuing success, and the support of the Filipinos have made us more daring, and more confident to introduce an ever-evolving line of products that will remain true to who we are. We made sure that Issy & Co self-care products adhere to highest quality standards and are in fact dermatologically tested and produced in Taiwan in a GMP and ISO cerfied manufacturing lab.” Staying true to its promise of “beauty made easy,” many sasfied customers embraced Issy & Co. products for its affordability, highly pigmented formulation and ease of applications. In addition to the brand’s expanding branding efforts, Alex Gonzaga, one of the country’s top social media personalities are now joining the Issy & Co. family as it's brand ambassador.

“People know me as a no-frills kind of girl. I am not one to take hours to put on make-up. But as a celebrity, I have to make sure that I always look my best 24/7 and thanks to Issy & Co., my beauty routine can be made easy,” said Alex Gonzaga on her Press Launch speech. Issy & Co. products are available in Shopee, Lazada and Beauty Manila PH For more information about the brand, visit and like their page: hps://www.facebook. com/issyandcompany/

Double the fun of welcoming 2020 at Midas Hotel

Procter & Gamble Philippines brings the comforts of home to Filipinos through hygiene products and water purifier packets

P&G SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH PCUP, FORM LEFT: Vicky Canafranca, OIC – Administrative and Finance Division, Alvin Feliciano, PCUP Chairman, Anna Legarda-Locsin, P&G Communications Head, Charm Banzuelo, P&G Corporate Communications Manager)

HROUGH the company’s Health, Hygiene and Home programs, leading consumer goods company Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines has committed over P4.3 million worth of health and hygiene products to Filipinos as they strengthen their thrust to become a force for good and a force for growth. With this commitment, P&G recently signed an agreement with the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) to help improve the lives of urban poor Filipino communities. Under the partnership, P&G will donate over P1.2 million worth of products such as Downy, Pantene and Whisper through the PCUP Caravan.

The PCUP Caravan travels across the country to provide urban poor communities with services such as free business consultation and registration, free medical and dental check-ups, job fairs and other basic assistance. “As we continue to be a force for good and a force for growth through our brands and programs, our partnership with the Presidential Commission for the urban poor allows us to give back to communities nationwide, improving the lives of many Filipinos,” says P&G Communications Head, Anna Legarda-Locsin The partnership is part of a longstanding commitment by P&G Philippines

to continuously improve the lives of thousands of Filipinos, particularly through health and hygiene whether through its flagship Linis Lusog program or hygiene product donations. Aside from hygiene product donations, providing clean water especially in times of disaster continues to be a P&G global priority through its Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Established in 2004, it aims to give 25 billion liters of clean drinking water by 2025, enabling families and children all over the world to build healthier and better lives. The program operates in 92 countries worldwide, providing displaced families the P&G Purifier of Water powder packets that filters 10 liters of dirty, potentially deadly water into clean drinking water in 30 minutes with only a bucket, a spoon and a cloth. The portable, highly effective, and low-cost innovative product was developed in collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Acting on quick response to the recent earthquakes in Mindanao, P&G donated 1,300 boxes of the purifier to Kidapawan City and the municipality of Tulanan through its partner World Vision. Over 1,000 families were given access to safe, clean and potable water during times of immense need.

Victory Liner taps Globe Business to enable free WiFi on buses

HE Christmas season is already upon each and every one of us and one of the biggest social events of the year that shouldn’t be missed is only a few nights away: the New Year Countdown Party. To Filipinos and foreign visitors near the Pasay area, Midas Hotel is the place to be to welcome the New Year and say ‘Hello!’ to 2020. To maximize your December 31st, start off with a satisfying lunch at Midas Café or Yanagi for only Php1,200 per head. Then, book a Deluxe Room for only Php10,499 or Executive Room for only Php12,499 so you can get some much-needed rest and relaxation with family or friends. Come night time, dine in at Midas Café or Yanagi for a special New Year’s Eve

dinner buffet for only Php1,800 per head. Finally, head on to the 2702 Lobby Lounge before the New Year Countdown Party starts and enjoy drinks along with tasty canapés and various scrumptious pica-pica while listening to dynamic tunes of a live band. As the clock strikes midnight, celebrate the New Year as Midas Hotel hands out surprise prizes and giveaways! Tickets are available at the Front Desk. Buy five (5) New Year’s Eve Buffet Dinner and New Year Countdown Party tickets for only Php 2,800 and get one (1) for free to double up your fun in 2020! For more details, visit Midas Hotel’s Facebook page or visit midashotelandcasino.com.

Hi-Precision Diagnostics opens its first branch inside SM Supermalls

LOBE Business, the enterprise arm of Globe Telecom, and Victory Liner, one of the country’s most recognized names in the transport industry, have partnered to further boost bus services with connectivity solutions. Victory Liner has signed up for Globe Business’ Boost Data Plan, which allows the bus company to power 1044 bus units with WiFi and offers its customers fast and reliable internet access supported by a robust and broad domestic network. “We continuously improve our operations to achieve a level of excellence that is comparable across the transport industry,” said Marivic del Pilar, Victory Liner Vice President for Finance and Marketing. “We know how important comfort and value for money is for our customers, thus we put our trust in Globe Business to help us deliver a differentiated and one-of-a-kind travel experience.” Globe Business Senior Vice President Peter Maquera, on the other hand, said: “We are thrilled and privileged to have been chosen by Victory Liner as their partner

(L-R) Victory Liner Vice President for Finance and Marketing Marivic del Pilar and Globe Business Vice President for Sales Meanne Quiambao showcase a Globe Business WiFi-enabled Victory Liner bus.

for their digital transformation journey. We are very excited about the partnership and we look forward to the different ways Globe Business can help grow their business through the services that they availed from us.” Victory Liner, Inc. is one of the most recognized bus companies in the Philippines. As the company celebrates 75 years of service and breakthroughs in transportation and energy sources, Victory Liner continues to live its vision of being

“the transport company of choice” and to “move people better and safer by providing quality transport service.” Globe Business continues to redefine how businesses work—which goes beyond functions, numbers, and performance. It likewise enables its clients and partners to catapult their enterprises to success by providing the right technology, infrastructure, and know-how to create a positive impact and transform people’s lives.

I-PRECISION Diagnostics (HPD), the country’s leading medical laboratory, launched its first branch inside SM Supermalls last December 13, 2019. Located at SM Aura Premier in Bonifacio Global City, HPD Plus brings its outstanding brand of laboratory services and patient care closer to clients in the Taguig area. HPD Plus SM Aura offers laboratory tests, ECG, ultrasound, online results, home service, and mobile on-site services. Soon, drug testing, digital x-ray, 2D echo, and treadmill tests will also be available. With clinic hours from Monday to Saturday at 7:00am to 4:00pm, HPD Plus can be found at 364-365 Level 3 SM Aura

Premier, McKinley Parkway, Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Contact numbers are (mobile phones) 0923088-4864 | 0917-714-3942 and (landline) (02) 8294-0015. At the HPD Plus SM Aura launch (from left): Hi-Precision Diagnostics' Melissa Lee; Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines’ President - Willy Ong; SM Prime’s Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee - Hans Sy with wife Carol Sy; President of SM Engineering, Design and Development Chico Sy; Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines’ VP for Sales and Operations - Justin Ongsue, and Hi-Precision Diagnostics' Vannessa Tan Ongsue.

Liberating God

IBERATING God, in You, all find justice. Awaken our hearts to Your living Word as we pray: Teach us Your ways, oh God. You delight in Your people, help us to show love and appreciation to our elders especially to our grandparents. You adorn the poor with salvation; inspire us to greater love and action for those without adequate shelter, heat or food. You shepherd Your flock; strengthen parents, guardians, and teachers in love, tenderness and wisdom. May the God of all grace bless us and lead us along paths of truth and peace through Christ our Shepherd. Amen! GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

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CIRCLES: ‘PATIKIM’ GROUP SHOW PLATES FILIPINO FOOD ON CANVAS C4

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

CELEBRATE brighter Christmas mornings with these holiday mugs available at Miniso.

SAUDER’S armless Cooper sofa, a good option for a tight space where you want furniture with a smaller footprint and room to get around. SAUDER VIA AP

ANTHROPOLOGIE’S Atelier chesterfield, a chic option with a rich mulberry hue, velvet upholstery and a deep comfy structure. ANTHROPOLOGIE VIA AP

Choosing the perfect sofa for your space

BY KIM COOK The Associated Press

SK interior designers what the most important element in a room is and many will say that—after wall color—it’s the sofa. So how do you choose this crucial piece of furniture? Should you go for one big sofa or two love seats? What about materials, arm styles and the all-important question of how to position the sofa in the space? Start by thinking about the shape of the room, says Elaine Griffin, who helms design offices in Manhattan and Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia. “In a long, narrow room, place the sofa along the shorter wall farther from the door,” she advises. “This seems counterintuitive, but sitting it at the far end of the room on the shorter wall allows for way more furniture to go in front of it.” If your space is small, she suggests a 72-inch, apartment-size sofa with narrower arms. Pair it with slipper chairs, narrow armchairs or nice dining chairs. Show off the proportions of a square room by floating the sofa, and other furniture away from walls, Griffin says. She suggests dividing a room into “zones” when you’re uncertain about furniture placement, especially in an open plan. Imagine drawing an X from corner to corner in the room, and then a cross from the walls’ midpoints horizontally and vertically. “Your sofa or sofas will sit either on or parallel to one of those lines,” she says.

Need to seat a large number of people comfortably? “Sectionals deliver like nobody’s business,” she notes. In small spaces, they can seat enough people to avoid the need for extra chairs. In large spaces, they can fill space without looking awkward. And in awkward spaces, you can install a sectional with an interesting shape, like one with a curvy back. Christie Leu , a designer in Chevy Chase, Maryland, also likes sectionals. “They aren’t all L-shaped,” she points out. “You can get a pair of armless sofas and put a low table in the corner, or you can have a ‘bumper sectional’ in a narrow room that will still provide seating but not impede a view or weigh down a room with a heavy arm on one side.” In choosing a sofa, consider how you will use the room, Leu says. Maybe you want to be able to converse easily, read and play games. She’s a fan of single-bench cushions, so no one has to sit on a seam. And buy the best quality you can afford. “As the price goes up, you’ll feel the difference between cushions and construction,” she says. “A cushion with good, hand-tied, coil springs and highdensity foam will last longer than all-foam, which will flatten in time.” Leu doesn’t care for all-down seats “because no one has time to fluff them as often as they need it.” Some other hallmarks of a well-built sofa: hard, solid woods and joints integrated into the frame. For sofas that will see hard use, choose a hardy fabric, says Courtney Thomas , based in La Canada

Flintridge, California. “We use lots of polyester and chenille blends for sofas where large families put them to the test,” she says. “Generally, synthetics endure hardship better than natural fabrics, which don’t hold up, as well.” She says her firm often Teflon-coats fabrics for extra protection against stains and spills. She also likes Sunbrella upholstery; the outdoor-fabric technology has advanced so textiles are softer, and now well-suited for indoor use too. Alison Pickart , an interior designer from Larkspur, California, advises against huge sofas. “I don’t think you should ever have a sofa over 8 feet,” she says. “Very rarely will more than two people occupy a single piece of furniture. Plus, if your sofa is too big, the opportunity for other beautiful and interesting accent chairs, ottomans, poufs and small tables diminishes.” To facilitate conversation, Pickart says, furniture should be arranged so that people are at 45 degree angles from each other. “So the best living rooms are ones in which occasional seating can be comfortably placed at both ends of the sofa,” she says. She also likes armless sofas in narrow rooms; using one or two center components of a sectional can be an option. And don’t forget accessories, says Houston-based designer Margaret Naeve. “I love to style sofas with oddly shaped pillows and a colorful throw to add something unexpected that also ties into other elements in the space,” she says. ■

Grohe Dual Tech honors first internationally certified students LEADING global bathroom and kitchen solutions brand Grohe recently awarded its first batch of students who have completed the International Certification module at the Grohe Dual Tech, a training facility made possible through the partnership between the brand and Don Bosco Youth Center. A total of 42 graduating students passed the International Certificate on Grohe Standards assessment exams, validating their technical competence in plumbing. The brand also inaugurated the newly constructed public restroom in Saint John Bosco Parish Tondo. Photo shows the first batch of

internationally certified students with: (top row, center, from left) Grohe Vice President for Training and Management Development Timo Kurz, Grohe Management Board Member Michael Mager, and Global Product Manager Manfred Kuehn; Don Bosco Tondo Rector Rev. Fr. Gaudencio Carandang Jr., SDB; Don Bosco Mondo e.V Deputy Director Corporate Cooperation Dr. Susanne Franke, Lixil Philippines General Manager Alpha Ang, Technical and Vocational Education and Training Director Rev. Fr. Manuel H. Nicolas, SDB; (second row, center, from left) German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dual

Training and Education Director Tobias Petersen and Steag State Power Inc. CEO Bodo Goerlich; (third row, center, from left) Wilcon Depot Senior Executive and Vice President Rosemarie Ong, PCCI President Bing Limjoco, Salesian Society of Saint John Bosco-FIN Province Planning and Development Officer Rona Aurea Palma, (bottom row, outer left) Lixil Philippines Marketing Manager Emily Besavilla; (bottom row, center, from left) K+12 Project Coordinator Andreas Dernbach, Lixil Philippines Assistant Country Manager Joralyn Ong; and (bottom row, outer right) Grohe Brand Manager Arian Zaragoza.

YOUR favorite “We Bear Bears” are now dressed in their Christmas holiday costumes.

MINISO OPENS 100TH BRANCH AT ESTANCIA MALL JAPANESE fast-fashion brand Miniso recently marked a milestone when it opened its 100th store in the Philippines at the lower ground floor of Estancia Mall. The store opened with a Kagami Biraki ceremony with celebrities Rayver Cruz and Andrea Torres as special guests. Miniso President Michael Hong led the ceremonies together with Miniso AVP for Franchising John Agner, AVP for Merchandising Melody Hao and Country Manager Hu An. Also gracing the ceremony were SM Retail Director Ricky Lim joined by PLDTSmart First Vice President Precy Katigbak and PLDTSmart Head of Sales Alex Caeg. Shoppers of Estancia Mall can now enjoy Miniso’s wide selection of creative and low-priced products ranging from Creative Home Necessities, Health & Beauty, Fashion Accessories, Stylistic Gifts, Office Supplies, Stationery Gifts, Seasonal Products, Boutique Package Decoration, Digital Accessories and Food and Drink. Just in time for the Christmas holidays, Miniso also has adorable gift ideas. Perfect for your Secret Santa, there are fluffy plush toys in Yuletide-inspired symbols like the Christmas tree, Santa, Santa socks, reindeer and gingerbread. Holiday mugs, pastel colored pouches and tumblers are also ideal gifts for family and friends this Christmas season. Headquartered in Toyko, Japan, Miniso was jointly founded by its Chief Designer Miyake Junya and Young Chinese Entrepreneur Jacky Ye with their three core values: Quality, Idea and Low Price. Miniso continues to bring its creative and quality way of life to customers in soon-to-open stores at SM City Tarlac and SM City Santa Mesa.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

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Jeff Lindsay has an entertaining new thriller

ILEY WOLFE gets his kicks executing spectacular robberies that no one else would even contemplate. His victims are always the super-rich, whom he despises as “smug, donothing, self-loving leeches.” This antihero makes his debut in Just Watch Me (Dutton), a supremely entertaining new thriller by Jeff Lindsay that promises to be the first of a series. The plot combines the intricacies of caper movies, such as The Thomas Crown Affair and To Catch a Thief with the creepy sensibility of the hit TV show Dexter. The latter is no surprise, since the show was inspired by Lindsay’s eight novels featuring Dexter Morgan, a serial killer who preyed only upon other serial killers. Unlike Dexter, Wolfe takes no pleasure in murder, but he displays no qualms about dispassionately dispatching anyone who gets in his way. The opening of the story finds Wolfe taking no satisfaction from his spectacular heist of a 12-ton sculpture, swiped in broad daylight at its dedication ceremony. For him, the spectacular has become ordinary, and it bores him. He craves a caper that is “beyond impossible, something ridiculous, unthinkable.” He finds it when the government in Tehran, hoping to thaw its relations with the United States, lends the Iranian crown jewels to a New York City museum. There, the multibilliondollar treasure is guarded by the latest in high-tech security systems, and by both American-trained mercenaries and a “trigger-happy” contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Meanwhile, Wolfe is being tracked

roots in Wolfe’s upbringing. So Delgado crisscrosses the eastern half of the United States, digging into Wolfe’s long-buried family history. Readers who know how caper stories usually work will have little doubt who is going to win this cat-and-mouse game, but the agent’s fine detective work succeeds in unearthing the influences that turned Wolfe into the man he has become. Just Watch Me, then, is both an exciting crime story and a revealing exploration of the psychology of a master criminal. The writing is tight and vivid, the characters are convincingly portrayed and the action is nonstop. AP

AUTHOR MAKES READERS CARE ON BOYS ABOUT TO BECOME MEN

by Frank Delgado, a clever FBI agent who has been after him for years, always a step or two behind. Now,

the agent has decided that the only way to catch Wolfe is to uncover his weakness—one that must have its

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF US EFFORT TO TAKE SNOWDEN BOOK MONEY By Jonathan Drew The Associated Press FORMER National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden violated secrecy agreements with the US government that allow it to claim proceeds from a memoir he published earlier this year, a judge ruled Tuesday. US District Judge Liam O’Grady in Alexandria, Virginia, ruled that Snowden is liable for breach of contract with the government because he published Permanent Record, without submitting it for a prepublication review, in violation agreements he signed with both the NSA and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In the book, Snowden explains how he viewed himself as a whistleblower by revealing details about the government’s mass collection of e-mails, phone calls and Internet

activity in the name of national security. Snowden was charged under the US Espionage Act. He now lives in Russia in order to avoid arrest. O’Grady wrote that under the agreements, Snowden was required to allow the government to review anything he planned to publish “containing any mention of intelligence data or activities, or any other information or material which is...known to be classified.” “The terms of the CIA secrecy agreements further provide that Snowden forfeits any proceeds from disclosures that breach the agreements. These terms continue to apply to Snowden,” the judge wrote. The Washington Post first reported on the judge’s ruling. Snowden’s lawyers had argued that the government had already broken the secrecy agreements by indicating that it wouldn’t give his

book a fair prepublication review. His lawyers have also said that the book contains no material that hadn’t previously been made public. Brett Max Kaufman, an attorney with the ACLU’s Center for Democracy and lawyer for Snowden, said that the legal team disagrees with the ruling and is reviewing its options. “It’s farfetched to believe that the government would have reviewed Mr. Snowden’s book, or anything else he submitted in good faith,” Kaufman said in a statement. “For that reason, Mr. Snowden preferred to risk his future royalties than to subject his experiences to improper government censorship.” The federal government’s lawsuit didn’t attempt to limit the book’s distribution, but asked the judge to allow the government to collect all the proceeds from the book.

NOTHING is more dangerous, says one character quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., than “sheer ignorance.” That danger can be extended to hatred, bigotry, uncontrolled anger and family ties as Allen Eskens’ sixth novel poignantly shows. Nothing More Dangerous (Mulholland) works well as a mystery, a dissection of hatred and racial prejudice, and a comingof-age novel. Positioned as a memory novel set in 1976, Nothing More Dangerous follows 15-year-old Boady Sanden, who dreams of leaving his small town of Jessup, Missouri, where he lives with his single mother in a small house. Boady feels out of place, especially at his Catholic school where he is constantly bullied by three mean boys or ignored by the rest of his classmates. But Boady’s life changes when he becomes friends with Thomas Elgin, a black boy whose family moves in across the road. The boys don’t exactly hit it off—Boady accidently knocks Thomas into a pond and then carelessly uses a racial epithet, a phrase he doesn’t think is offensive because everyone uses it. Eventually, the two become real friends, and through fishing, camping and talking, they find out how similar they are. This friendship will force Boady to reevaluate the “us versus them” attitude of local whites against blacks. This is especially brought home when he sees how the Elgins are treated. Thomas’s father, Charles, was transferred to Jessup to take over Ryke Manufacturing, which molds plastic and is the town’s largest employer. Charles is charged with finding out what happened to Lida Poe, an African-American woman who worked in the purchasing department and who is missing, along with $160,000 of the plant’s money. The resentment over a black man being in charge, and demoting a local resident, has violent ramifications. In Nothing More Dangerous, Boady also will learn life lessons about tolerance, his community and how his mother has coped since his father died. Eskens gracefully moves the novel through the little moments that help to shape people and see the world with a different attitude. Although the ending is predictable, Eskens makes us care deeply about these boys on the verge of becoming men. AP

Today’s Horoscope By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Ryan Seacrest, 45; Stephenie Meyer, 46; Ricky Martin, 48; Diedrich Bader, 53. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Keep your life simple, moderate, and geared toward making subtle and positive changes this year. The less fuss you make, the easier it will be to get what you want to be done in a timely fashion. Plan your actions carefully, leaving no room for error. Precision and detail will be your tickets to success and personal freedom. Don’t take physical risks. Your lucky numbers are 8, 14, 20, 24, 35, 39, 44.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Put your best foot forward. Let others pull out the best in you, not the worst. Show compassion and understanding, and you will be admired for your patience and tolerance. Let someone close to you know how much you care. HHHHH

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A short trip will be worth your while. The company you keep and the close bond you form with someone you don’t get to see often will help you make a decision that can influence the changes you want to make. HHH

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A physical gesture you make will be well-received. Romance is on the rise, and spending time with someone you want to get to know better will lift your spirits. Someone you least expect will reveal a hidden opportunity. HHH

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t complain about a change of plans. In the end, it will turn out to be in your favor. The suggestions you make and the help you offer will result in a close bond with someone you find remarkable. Take action. HHH

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Sharing can lead to an unexpected change in your life. Think twice, choose your words carefully and consider the consequence of your response. A romantic gesture, or affectionate response will bring far better results than criticism or complaints. HHHHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s what you do to help that will make a difference. Share information about family traditions, and encourage others to do the same. An offer someone makes will give you something to think about. HH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You don’t have to overspend to have fun or impress someone. It’s the little gestures that will encourage a better relationship and open discussions about plans. Making a lifestyle change that will give you greater freedom is favored. HHHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Time out with friends or relatives will spur new ideas and plans for you to launch next year. Change is prevalent; moving forward and embracing what life has to offer will make the adjustments easier to process. Take better care of yourself. HHH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Emotions will surface when faced with someone who doesn’t share your opinion. Let bygones be bygones in order to avoid any sort of unnecessary altercation. Embrace the spirit of the season, and offer kindness and consideration. HHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Time spent with loved ones will bring about positive change. Observation will confirm a suspicion you have harbored. If you want honesty to prevail, you will have to be direct when asking questions. HHH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Spend more time taking care of your needs. A change someone makes will influence your lifestyle. Use your intelligence, and you’ll come up with a backup plan. HHHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): An emotional situation will escalate, if you have been hiding the truth or haven’t been upfront with someone regarding the way you feel. Reevaluate your life, the changes you want to make and how best to move forward. HH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are outgoing, playful and colorful. You are flexible and ambitious.

‘hack job’ BY MARYELLEN UTHLAUT The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Many a University of Aberdeen student 5 Complete a course? 8 Where charity begins 14 “Howdy, sailor!” 15 Do damage to 16 Very annoyed 17 Cold tomato soup 19 Cutting back 20 Anastasia ___ (lead role in Fifty Shades of Grey) 21 Like sour grapes 23 Directly, directionally 24 Cheerleader’s energy 26 No longer outstanding 28 Tennis contest 32 They see the glass half full 37 One receiving many calls at work 39 Soldier on guard 40 A melon grows on one 41 Dolphin relative 43 Composer Satie 44 Amount consumed 46 Individually distinct

48 Self-absorbed sort 50 They may be vain 51 John Candy’s old show, familiarly 52 Archie Manning’s youngest 54 Go gray 57 “Howdy!” 59 Ancient prophet 64 Entree with a filling 66 Quickly, or what rows 3, 6 and 10 do? 68 Michelle or Barack, for Malia 69 Like chili peppers 70 Zebra’s mother 71 “...in a one-horse open ___” 72 Positive reply 73 Buffalo’s lake DOWN 1 Hangs loose 2 Informal talk 3 Flow like molasses 4 Key in 5 Host 6 “That feels good!” 7 Pace slower than a canter 8 Estimates a price for

9 Late afternoon break 10 She/___ pronouns 11 “Ars Amatoria” poet 12 Food list 13 Cutting part 18 Word before “female” or “ray” 22 Well-put 25 Bear with a “hunny” pot 27 Money, slangily 28 “Forrest Gump,” e.g. 29 Copying 30 50 minutes past the hour 31 Beats together, as butter and sugar 33 The Devil Wears ___ 34 Throat ailment 35 No longer fresh 36 Comedian Wanda 38 Century when boomers were babies 42 Easily spread parasites 45 Cash register sound 47 Part of a cricket song 49 It climbs the walls 53 Plunders 54 DoorDash and TikTok 55 Soccer commentator’s shout

6 To be, in France 5 58 Feeling sore 60 Pinnacle 61 Burn slightly 62 Greiner of Shark Tank 63 Blunted sword 65 Late Chinese-American architect 67 Soil loosener Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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TAYLOR SWIFT, SPIKE LEE MAKE YEAR’S TOP ENTERTAINMENT PHOTOS

A MOVIE commonly replayed this time of year is 2005’s The Family Stone, which portrays the clashes of a mostly average family but shows viewers that quarrels can be worked through and harmony is possible.

TAYLOR SWIFT performing at the American Music Awards, the fabulous reaction Phoebe Waller-Bridge gave when winning a trophy at the Emmy Awards and the time Spike Lee gleefully jumped into the arms of Samuel L. Jackson at the Oscars are among the top entertainment moments of 2019. The list includes the emotional moments when Ali Stroker won a Tony Award and when Kane Brown broke down as he accepted the Artist of the Year Award at the CMT Awards. Other images that made an impression include Jennifer Lopez strutting down a runway in Milan, Elle Fanning posing at the Cannes film festival and a dynamic shot of Maggie Rogers performing at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival. Other musicians who were captured include Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, the Jonas Brothers, Kacey Musgraves and Lizzo. AP

MEMBERS of Dulaang UP perform an excerpt from the play Fuente Ovejuna. PHOTO BY KIKO CABUENA

CCP presents its 2020 performance season THE Cultural Center of the Philippines, through vice president and artistic director Chris Millado, unveiled its 2020 performance season. CCP welcomes the new year with forthcoming productions from its resident companies: the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater, Tanghalang Pilipino, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Bayanihan Dance Company, UST Symphony Orchestra, National Music Competitions for Young Artists, and the Philippine Madrigal Singers. Local and international outreach performance tours are, likewise, set for some of the resident companies throughout the year. A University Theater Season is set in 2020 wherein select university-based theater groups take to the CCP venues to showcase next-generation talent in their productions of original Filipino works, adaptations of classics and experimental work. The season of university theater productions ramps up to the 13th International University Theater Association’s (IUTA) Congress and Festival to be held in August. International Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu leads a stellar international cast from Italy and Manila in the staging of the opera Lucia Di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti, the Italianlanguage libretto written by Salvadore Cammarano based upon Sir Walter Scott’s historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor. Ternocon II, a unique competition involving the young designers in a mentoring atelier workshop with established designers in a process that engages the history, technique, and construction of the classic Filipino terno, culminating in a grand fashion concert where the winners are announced. More information about these and other offerings from the CCP’s 2020 performance season can be found at www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.

What makes Christmas movies so popular I

By S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate Hamilton College

F you are one of those people who will settle in this evening with a hot cup of apple cider to watch a holiday movie, you are not alone. Holiday movies have become firmly embedded in Americans’ winter celebrations. The New York Times reports a massive increase in new holiday movies this year. Disney, Netflix, Lifetime and Hallmark are now in direct competition for viewers’ attention, with both new releases and reruns of the classics. Holiday movies are so popular not simply because they are “escapes,” as my research on the relation between religion and cinema argues. Rather, these films offer viewers a glimpse into the world as it is could be. CHRISTMAS MOVIES AS REFLECTION THIS is particularly true with Christmas movies. In his 2016 book Christmas as Religion, the religious studies scholar Christopher Deacy states that Christmas movies act as a “barometer of how we might want to live and how we might see and measure ourselves.” These movies offer a variety of portraits of everyday life while affirming ethical values and social mores along the way. The 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life—about a man who longs to travel but remains stuck in his childhood town—represents visions of a community in which every citizen is a vital component. Another movie commonly replayed this time of year is 2005’s The Family Stone, which portrays the clashes of a mostly average family but shows viewers that quarrels can be worked through and harmony is possible. The 2003 British holiday film Love Actually, which follows the lives of eight couples in London, brings to viewers the perennial theme of romance and the trials of relationships. MOVIE WATCHING AS RITUAL PRACTICE AS holiday movies bring viewers into a fictional

world, people are able to work through their own fears and desires about self-worth and relationships. Such movies can provide solace, reaffirmation and sometimes even courage to continue working through difficult situations. The movies offer hope in believing it all might turn out alright in the end. When people see some part of their own lives unfold on screen, the act of viewing operates in a fashion that’s strikingly similar to how a religious ritual works. As anthropologist Bobby Alexander explains, rituals are actions that transform people’s everyday lives. Rituals can open up “ordinary life to ultimate reality or some transcendent being or force,” he writes in the collection Anthropology of Religion. For example, for Jews and Christians, ritually observing the Sabbath day by sharing meals with family and not working connects them with the creation of the world. Prayer rituals in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions connect those praying with their God, as well as with their fellow believers. Holiday movies do something similar, except that the “transcendent force” they make viewers feel is not about God or another supreme being. Instead, this force is more secular: It’s the power of family, true love, the meaning of home or the reconciliation of relationships.

it, quickly became etched in the holiday consciousness of many Americans, and a 1954 film called White Christmas became better known. As historian Penne Restad puts it in her 1995 book Christmas in America, Crosby’s crooning offers the “quintessential expression” of the holidays, a world which “has no dark side”—one in which “war is forgotten.” In subsequent Christmas movies, the main plots have not been set in the context of war, yet there is nonetheless often a battle: that of overcoming a materialistic, gift-buying and gift-giving kind of holiday. Movies like Jingle all the Way, Deck the Halls and How the Grinch Stole Christmas center around the idea that the true meaning of Christmas is not in rampant consumerism but in goodwill and family love. Dr. Seuss’s famously grouchy Grinch thinks he can ruin Christmas by taking all the gifts away. But as the people gather together, giftless, they join hands and sing while the narrator tells viewers, “Christmas came anyway.”

MOVIES CREATE AN IDEALIZED WORLD TAKE the case of the 1942 musical Holiday Inn. It was one of the first movies—after the silent era’s various versions of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol— where the plot used Christmas as a backdrop, telling the story of a group of entertainers who have gathered at a country inn. In reality, it was a deeply secular film about romantic interests, couched in a desire to sing and dance. When it was released, the United States had been fully involved in the World War II for a year and national spirits were not high. The movie hasn’t endured as a classic. But Bing Crosby’s song “White Christmas,” which appeared in

‘ALL’S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD’ THOUGH Christmas is a Christian holiday, most holiday films are not religious in the traditional sense. There is hardly ever a mention of Jesus or the biblical setting of His birth. As media studies scholar John Mundy writes in a 2008 essay, “Christmas and the Movies,” “Hollywood movies continue to construct Christmas as an alternative reality.” These movies create onscreen worlds that kindle positive emotions while offering a few laughs. A Christmas Story, from 1983, waxes nostalgic for childhood holidays when life seemed simpler and the desire for a Red Ryder air rifle was the most important thing in the world. The plot of 2003’s Elf centers on the quest to reunite with a lost father. In the end, as the narrator says late in A Christmas Story—after the family has overcome a serious of risible mishaps, the presents have been unwrapped and they’ve gathered for Christmas goose—these are times when “all’s right with the world.” n

romantic-drama Isa Pa, With Feelings opposite Carlo Aquino. While Maine displayed her dramatic acting prowess in her previous project, her role as Donna is more packed with adrenaline and spice as seen in her fabulous action sequences. Weaving the story of this adrenaline-pumping movie is Mike Tuviera, who expertly put all the elements of a fantastic action-adventure movie together while cleverly injecting Filipino values and sensitivities to the film. “The movie is jam-packed with positive Filipino values,” says Tuviera. “There is a lesson to learned here—that good will always be rewarded and justice will always be served to the innocent. At the end of the movie, people will also discover that the most important things this Christmas season are family, forgiveness and love.” Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity begins showing in cinemas nationwide starting December 25.

VIC SOTTO

Gear up for Vic Sotto’s ‘Mission Unstapabol’ BUCKLE up for the biggest action-adventure family movie this Christmas season as Vic Sotto teams up with a solid ensemble cast headed by Pokwang, Jake Cuenca, Wally Bayola, Jose Manalo, and Maine Mendoza in APT Entertainment Inc.’s and MZET Productions’ official entry to the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity. Directed by ace action-adventure director Mike Tuviera, and with a script written by the inimitable trio of Don Santella Michelle Ngu and Aloy Adlawan, Mission Unstapabol is an action-packed, edge-of-yourseat and high-octane heist movie for all ages. Mission Unstapabol is centered on master strategist Don Robert Fortun (Sotto) who assembles a motley crew of experts collectively known as “The Dons,” which consists of magician Suzetta (Pokwang), wrestler Johnson (Cuenca), car racer Kikong (Jelson Bay), and the mysterious master computer hacker

Donna (Mendoza). The Dons, under the leadership of Don Robert, will pull off the biggest plan to obtain the famed and heavily guarded Pearl of the Orient (Perlas ng Silangan) from the hands of Don Robert’s scheming brother, Benjamin “Benjie” Fortun (Manalo), and to vindicate his name from a heinous crime he did not commit. It should be noted that Mission Unstapabol’s Don Robert is the most thrilling role ever portrayed by Vic Sotto to date in his illustrious history of consistent participation in the annual MMFF. “Don Robert will do everything to vindicate himself for a crime he did commit,” says Sotto. “He will be in a relentless quest for truth and justice. It’s both interesting and exciting to see how his character will evolve in the film.” Mission Unstapabol also offers a lot of other firsts that moviegoers could look forward to. For one, this is the very first full-length mainstream movie of Maine Mendoza after appearing in the critically acclaimed

Art

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Martha Atienza’s ‘Equation of State’ exhibition SILVERLENS concludes the year with Martha Atienza’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, titled Equation of State, ongoing until January 11, 2020, at Silverlens, Manila. Since winning the Baloise Prize in Art Basel Statements in 2017, Atienza has been extensively participating in international exhibitions, among which include the 2018 Asia Project: How Little You Know About Me, MMCA, Korea; No Man’s Land, MUDAM, Luxembourg (2018); Fair Isles, solo exhibition, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Center for Contemporary Art, Germany (2018); and Honolulu Biennial: To Make Wrong/Right /Now, Honolulu, Hawaii (2019). Featuring new videos and kinetic mangrove plant baths, Equation of State finds Atienza back at Bantayan Island in Cebu, Philippines, documenting how climate change is affecting the island and its inhabitants. “In Equation of State, Martha Atienza examines the interaction between humans and the environment, documenting both their decline and resiliency. It is a tense relationship, expressed in the material and immaterial,” according to the exhibit notes. “Through the documentation of Bantayan Island’s coastal conditions, both human and environmental, and the recontextualizing of mangrove plants, Equation of State creates an experience which asks us to question environmental management and socioeconomic development.”

MANUEL BALDEMOR’S Kusina

THE depiction of Ronnel Cainto’s sinigang ingredients to be cooked in a palayok, or earthen pot

‘Patikim!’ group show plates Filipino food on canvas CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

RT Circle Gallery Curator Sarah Alcantara had only one guideline. In the group show that was to bring to the fore the Filipino food, along with the correlated concepts of agriculture and hospitality, the subject of participating artists must be local dishes. What seemed like a simple request was as open to interpretation as it could get for creatives, and the results proved just that. While there were a number of paintings that depicted your sinigangs and adobos to an exquisite, almost multisensory degree, others expectedly dared to go outside the

plate, if you will. One was Manuel Baldemor, a renowned painter who renders folk art in geometric forms. He opted to portray the vibrant life of a Filipino kitchen with a tableful of colorful ingredients. There’s a rainbow of vegetables resting on the left side of his piece, simply titled Kusina, with a transparent pile of fishes beside a tray of plates and utensils on the right. Painter Ronnel Cainto also went for an image of ingredients, rather than of a finished dish. He focused on the items needed to cook sinigang, wherein laid out on a red table are a pair of bangus, talong, kamatis and batuan, or a souring ingredients commonly used by Ilonngos on their dishes, such as cansi and KBL (kadyos, baboy, langka). Some artists even went further and interpreted the theme of Filipino food with political commentary on the state of farmers, while others presented mothers who are off to the market with their child on one hand and a basket on the other. This wide-ranging spread of quality illustrations made the group show, titled Patikim! The Art of Filipino Hospitality, more of a delectable salo-salo. The exhibit ran for 10 days until last week at Art Center in SM

Megamall. Organized by Art Circle Gallery in partnership with the Mama Sita Foundation, the social arm of the international Filipino food brand Mama Sita’s, Patikim! was served to raise awareness on Filipino culinary heritage through art, as well as to cater to a scholarship program for aspiring chefs. Proceeds from the show were dedicated to the tuition of wouldbe Filipino-American chefs from the Academy of Culinary Education in California. Aside from the celebration of food and art, the exhibit opening also saw a forum that tackled the challenges in the Filipino food industry, particularly the implications of the Republic Act 8172, or the nationwide salt iodization law. Mama Sita Foundation President Clara ReyesLapus gave a short talk about the sorry state of local salt makers, who find it difficult to export their products since the law requires all salt made in the Philippines should be iodized. The salt law was passed in 1995 to fight iodine deficiency. The forum, however, questioned the relevance of the salt law in the current health, economic, and food landscape. ■

FROM THE 7TH NAKANOJO BIENNALE TO THE CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) unveils the work of visual artists Mervy Pueblo and Atsuko Yamagata from the recently concluded seventh international art festival, called the Nakanojo Biennale, in Japan. The CCP invites visitors to look into the insights of the artists in this exhibition who address historical, contemporary and societal specters. Pueblo and Yamagata, visual artists based in Manila, met, created and exhibited their works at the biennial that was held in Japan last September 2019. Working both individually during their artistin-residency of the biennale, Pueblo and Yamagata realized projects that respond to the physical and nonphysical realm. Pueblo’s installation is interjected with coded references, creating socially charged mysterious draperies that function as a portrait of our contemporary reality. Yamagata playfully explores animist processes, and presents materialistic definitions of the immaterial just like how one’s journey is recorded by one’s own footprint. The exhibition will run until February 9, 2020. Exhibit viewing days and hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. Hours are extended until 10 pm on days with evening performances at the CCP Main Theater. More information is available at www. culturalcenter.gov.ph.

SM Prime Holdings Executive Committee Chairman Hans Sy (right) and Keppel Philippines Properties President Oh Lock Soon at the “Under the Tree: The Holiday Sale,” presented by The Podium in partnership with Salcedo Auctions’ Gavel&Block.

PARTNERS during the holiday preview: Salcedo Auctions’ Karen Kua-Lerma, vice chair and chief financial officer (from left), and Richie Lerma, chairman and chief specialist; SM SVP for Marketing Millie Dizon; Salcedo Auctions Managing Director Victor Silvino; Ça Va Creperie & Floral Atelier Co-owner Emi Jorge; and Escuella Taller OIC Arch. Jeffrey Cobilla.

MAURO MALANG SANTOS’S Untitled, 2000, oil on canvas, sold for P1,518,400, three times higher than its original pre-sale estimate.

Gavel&Block presents country’s first auction in a mall at The Podium MALLGOERS recently experienced the drama and excitement of a live auction as The Podium, in partnership with Gavel&Block, presented “Under the Tree: The Holiday Sale,” the country’s first-ever auction in a mall. Just in time for Christmas, the auction—curated by the country’s premier auction house Salcedo Auctions and its subsidiary Gavel&Block—featured an exceptional range of over 350 lots ranging from fine art, original prints, exquisite jewelry and timepieces, design collectibles and historic memorabilia. Salcedo Auctions Chairman and

Chief Specialist Richie Lerma led the auction at The Podium’s West Tower into record-breaking territory for a number of Filipino artists. These included Mauro Malang Santos’s Untitled, 2000, oil on canvas, which sold to applause for P1,518,400, three times higher than its original estimate. The Malang is the highest-selling piece by the artist for its size of just 12 x 10 inches. A bidding battle for Poklong Anading’s Untitled, oil on canvas, ended in the final sale price of P700,800, eclipsing its original

estimate by 17 times. Anading’s painting is the highest-selling work by the artist at auction. The “Under the Tree: The Holiday Sale” was preceded by a weeklong preview, giving mallgoers an exclusive opportunity to view the lots on offer before going under the hammer. The preview’s launch was attended by Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap and wife Carol; Salcedo Auction founders Richie and Karen KuaLerma, and Managing Director Victor Silvino; Escuela Taller Chairman of the Board Jun Capistrano and Executive Director Architect

Tina Bulaong; and host Stephanie Zubiri-Crespi. In time for the season of sharing, Salcedo Auctions also launched the innovative online donation platform, Bid for the Future, at The Podium. Conceptualized by Joaquin Lerma, a 16-year-old Grade 2 student at the International School Manila, Bid for the Future will help support the cultural heritage preservation projects of Escuela Taller, an NGO that educates, and trains, underprivileged youth to gain the skills necessary to preserve and restore the country’s built cultural heritage.