BusinessMirror February 04, 2020

T-BILLS BEYOND VIRUS FEARS

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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NVESTORS are apparently unfazed by the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) as the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) decided to fully award the P20 billion worth of Treasury bills (T-bills) at Monday’s auction amid strong market demand.

The auction was oversubscribed with total bids reaching P49.3 billion, nearly 2.5 times the P20-billion offering.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that they were pleased with the auction results, pointing out that the average auction rates for the 91-day and 182-day securities dipped despite higher median estimate for January headline inflation expectations by analysts.

“So we made a full award for all tenors, and

TOP view of stranded passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday, affected by the travel ban imposed by the Philippine government on all foreigners flying in from China, Hong Kong and Macau. The ban, imposed Sunday, is part of measures to stop the spread of nCoV. NONIE REYES

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also you saw that the rates moved sideways for the one-year and for the [91-day] and [182-day securities] we see a reduction in the rates. And also, we’ve seen very strong liquidity on the onshore market, following the two to three times offer than the [initial volume offered by the Treasury,” de Leon said.

“We have a very good auction for today, given the preference now of investors moving at the short of the tenor despite higher inflation median coming from analysts’ expectations, 2.7 [percent] against 2.5 [percent] last December, so we are very satisfied with the results of the auction today.”

The 91-day security worth P6 billion fetched an average auction rate of 3.187 percent, a drop by 11 basis points from previous average auction rate of 3.297 p e rce nt. Bids for the security reached P20.947 billion.

In terms of the 182-day T-bill, the average auction rate dropped by 7.4 basis points to 3.523 percent, from 3.597 percent previously. Total tenders for the security amounted to P15.799 billion, higher than the P6 billion on offer.

Meanwhile, tenders for the 364-day security was posted at P12.522 billion.

The security, which was P8 billion on offer, was capped at an average auction rate of 3.964 percent, up by 0.1 basis point from the previous average auction rate of 3.963 percent.

Asked if the nCoV had an impact on the T-bill auction, she said: “Wala. Kita mo naman volume, mataas pa [None. As you can see, volume remains high]. They are moving at the short end of the curve because their preference right now is for the shorter duration.”

See “T-bills,” A2

BusinessMirror n

Tuesday, February 4, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 117

nCoV-sparked ban strands OFWs, foreign travelers

By Samuel P. Medenilla

Gas prices cut by ₧1.60, diesel by ₧2

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OCAL pump prices will go down for the fourth consecutive week.

Oil companies said they will roll back gasoline prices by P1.60 per liter, diesel by P2 per liter and kerosene by P2.45 per liter.

Pilipinas Shell, Seaoil Philippines, Petro Gazz and Unioil said they would implement the price rollback at 6 a.m. of February 4.

Phoenix Petroleum already reduced its pump prices last Saturday.

The price of liquefied petroleum gas also went down by P2.20 per kilogram. Likewise, the price of auto LPG was reduced by P1.25 per liter.

“These reflect the international contract price of LPG for the month of February,” said Petron Corp.

The LPG and auto LPG price rollback took effect last February 1.

Last week, gasoline prices went down by P0.30 per liter, diesel by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P0.35 per liter. Lenie Lectura

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@sam_medenilla

UNDREDS of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and foreign travelers were stranded by the government’s abrupt issuance of a travel ban for China, Hong Kong and Macau during the weekend in its attempt to curb the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) within its borders.

On Sunday, President Duterte ordered the imposition of an indefinite ban on non-Filipinos coming from the three areas from traveling in the country. Exempted were returning Filipinos and permanent visa holders, but these

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were allowed entry on condition of a 14-day quarantine.

The order also stopped Filipinos from traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau.

During a media briefing in Malacañang on Monday, Bureau of

Immigration (BI) spokesman Dana Sandoval said they implemented the instructions of Duterte to the letter, effectively stranding at least 300 Chinese nationals, who are on their way home, in local ports nationwide.

“Our office is coordinating with the Chinese embassy, and they have pledged to send an aircraft to fetch their citizens who are stranded in the country,” Sandoval said.

“Maybe today or in the next few days, we will find out the details of these flights that the Chinese embassy will be arranging,” she added.

Contradicting statements

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the order also affected “hundreds of OFWs bound mostly for Hong Kong and Macau” as BI insisted that the ban covers all Filipinos regardless of their visa types.

See “OFWs,” A8

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PHL’S SOLE FACE MASK MAKER VOWS TO SUPPLY 2-M PIECES

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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HE sole producer of face masks in the Philippines has committed to provide the country about 2 million pieces per month at a time the government is struggling to find supply from overseas with stocks running out globally.

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said his agency was able to secure 100,000 pieces of face mask from Medtecs International Corp. Ltd. to be delivered this week. The Bataan-based firm also vowed to supply 400,000 pieces in the following weeks, bringing domestic sale to around 2 million pieces per month.

“Nevertheless, I have personally spoken with the owner of the lone local producer of masks, Medtecs, that is based in Bataan, and they committed to supply the government, through the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry], 100,000 pieces this week and 400,000 pieces per week thereafter,” Lopez told reporters last Sunday night. “ They can commit to supply the Philippines around 2 million pieces per month, until this quantity is needed,” he said. “While they produce on a limited capacity—80,000 pieces per day—Medtecs is now airfreighting more machines to increase their production capacity.”

According to Lopez, Medtecs expressed its commitment to support and prioritize the demand in the Philippines, proof of which was its donation of 500,000 pieces of face mask to victims of the Taal eruption in Januar y distributed through local government units.

Medtecs, operating in the Philippines since 1989, has its factories located in the Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles.

As with locators in any economic zone, Medtecs is mandated by law to export at least 70 percent of its production to qualify for registration and incentives.

At a daily output of 80,000 pieces, Medtecs has an estimated monthly production of 1.6 million face masks.

As such, it remains to be seen how the manufacturer plans to comply with its word to allocate 2 million pieces per month for domestic consumption. At the same time, it’s also a question how it will fulfill its export requirements.

The stocks to be delivered by Medtecs will be utilized for the meantime that the government is scrambling to find supply from abroad.

PITC tapped

LAST week, Lopez instructed the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) to canvass See “Face mask,” A2

SMC vows 24/7 sked to cut Skyway Stage 3 disruption

W UST, 75 YEARS AGO Former Army Sgt. Jose Quilatan (from left), considered, at age 104, as the oldest

Filipino veteran, shares a light moment with Defense Undersecretary Ricardo David Jr.; US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Yong Kim; and Rev. Fr. Jesus Jay Miranda Jr., University of Santo Tomas secretary-general, during Monday’s 75th Commemoration of the Liberation of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp at the UST in Sampaloc, Manila. UST played a critical role during WWII as the largest internment camp in the Philippines with more than 4,000 civilian internees, mostly Americans, held there from 1942 to 1945. NONIE REYES

HILE the contractor estimates that rebuilding works will take at least eight months, San Miguel Corp.

(SMC) believes that working round the clock can reduce the delay of delivering the Skyway Stage 3 to as short as three months, its chief said on Monday.

Ramon S. Ang, who sits as president at the food-to-infrastructure firm, said his group has implemented a 24/7 working time to rebuild the collapsed portion of the expressway in the hopes to open it by July, instead of the original launch in April.

“ We a re saddened by t h is unfor t unate incident ma in ly because it will delay a vital infrastructure project that would have alleviated traffic woes of our motorists sooner. But rest assured, we will work 24/7 to endeavor to complete the entire project in five months. This is just a three-month delay from the original opening target,” he said.

A portion of the Skyway Stage 3, currently being constructed, collapsed on Sunday, when a fire razed San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp.’s Manila Plastic Plant.

See “Skyway,” A2

n US 50.8550 n JAPAN 0.4687 n UK 67.0167 n HK 6.5494 n CHINA 7.3312 n SINGAPORE 37.2755 n AUSTRALIA 33.9915 n EU 56.4236 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5563 Source: BSP (3 February 2020 )

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Tuesday, February 4, 2020

News BusinessMirror

NGCP insists only ERC can order technical audit

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By Lenie Lectura @llectura, Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

HE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said on Monday that only the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is authorized to conduct an audit on its technical performance as stated in the concession agreement, amid pressure from the Department of Energy (DOE) and lawmakers for an audit based on, among others, concerns over foreign control in daily operations.

“What NGCP cannot accede to is an audit of the system operations and other facilities as demanded

by TransCo [National Transmission Corp.]. The law and the concession agreement are clear that such audit may be ordered only by the ERC based on the standards defined in the Philippine Grid Code,” NGCP President Anthony Almeda said at a Senate Energy Committee hearing.

Also invited as resource person to the hearing called by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, ERC chief Agnes Devanadera assured senators that within the first quarter of the year, the ERC can conclude the procurement for the third party that will conduct the audit and commence with the review thereafter.

NGCP is 40-percent owned by the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC), and this has fanned fears raised in some quarters that a foreign entity can remotely shut down the Philippines’s power supply. The NGCP repeatedly disputed this.

“Hindi po totoo ito [That is not true]. There is no proverbial red button that can instantly turn off the Grid. Kahit ako po hindi ko maisasara ang Grid nang magisa [Even I cannot shut it down on my own]. There are existing protocols that actually prevent the unsupervised remote access to the Grid. I am willing to discuss with the Honorable Committee these protocols, but only in executive session,” said Almeda.

At the beginning of their operations, Almeda said the Chinese had advised NGCP on technical matters, given their experience and expertise. Over the years, the Chinese side passed on their know-how, and Filipino technical staff have acquired their own experience and expertise, he added.

“The management and control of system operations are exercised exclusively by Filipino engineers. Even the specifications of technical equipment sourced from various suppliers were designed by Filipino engineers before purchase orders were made.

The fact that a number of these technical equipment were supplied by Chinese entities does not

Face mask. . .

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for the importation of 5 million pieces of face mask to beef up stockpile locally.

However, India, Pakistan, the United States and Europe indicated limited stocks, while Thailand and Vietnam have yet to send their feedback, the trade chief disclosed.

As of Saturday, information gathered by the PITC showed that suppliers from overseas are also running low in terms of

mean that SGCC now exercises control over system operations,” Almeda continued.

As such, he pointed out that there is no need to “take over” system operations from the Chinese and “turn over” the same to the Filipinos, since the control of the systems operations has always been and remains to be with NGCP. At present, Almeda said the only Chinese nationals within NGCP are the directors who were elected based on SGCC’s proportionate shareholding in NGCP.

Cybersecurity

NONETHELESS, the National Security Council (NSC) is now calling for stronger “cybersecurity” for the country’s critical infrastructure, particularly the energy sector, amid concerns it could be hijacked by foreign powers.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr. issued the statement after the National Cybersecurity Inter-Agency Committee (NCIC) completed its preliminary baseline assessment of the NGCP. The NCIC includes representatives from the NSC, Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

“It was suggested that periodic cyber-security assessments are needed to ensure that our power grids are safe from foreign manipulation,” Esperon said.

NSC held the review from December 2019 up to last month after some energy officials said at an earlier Senate hearing that the State Grid Corp. of China, which has a 40-percent stake for NGCP, could remotely access NGCP’s systems.

Esperon noted they have “taken seriously” the “allegation that the National Grid can easily be controlled by foreign entities,” thus they conducted the review.

He said they are now working with stakeholders “to reinforce the security protocols and guarantee” for the energy sector.

“With this in mind, and with stocks of face mask due to the surge in global demand, Lopez said. As an alternative, the government is in talks with manufacturers who can extend their operations to the production of face masks.

“We have also intensified engagements to match parties with core capabilities that can extend to production of masks—including foreign companies in the country that have the technology, local companies that can readily provide factories and workers, and local producers in garments and sanitary paper, or cotton-based products,” Lopez said.

the recently conducted assessment, we assure Filipinos that the administration is taking steps and precautionary measures to guarantee that the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, its facilities and infrastructures are protected with the highest security procedures,” Esperon said.

Audit pushed

THE DOE and TransCo have been pushing for the conduct of an audit of the transmission grid.

“NGCP must allow DOE and TransCo to conduct an audit based on the protocols we submitted,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

However, NGCP officials said there are certain parameters for different kinds of audit, adding that the only agency that should conduct an audit is the ERC. “The Epira [Electric Power Industry Reform Act] specifies that only the ERC can impose sanctions and penalties. But TransCo wants to do the performance audit itself—a matter of regulation reserved only to the ERC…NGCP will trust only the ERC not only because the ERC was established by law as ‘an independent quasijudicial regulatory body,’ but because TransCo has so far been far from independent or fair; but also, it has demonstrated a desire for power the law rightfully withheld from it,” said Almeda.

The ERC, for its part, admitted there was a delay on its part to conduct an audit. “We did not have funds then and ERC was only granted the necessary funds in the 2020 [budget]. The practice then was NGCP would provide the fund for the audit, [then they will] award ng contract for the third party and [then they will do the] review. So, we had to change this,” explained Devanadera to senators.

you r f ra nc h ise,” sa id Senate Energ y panel chief Gatchalian.

“I have a ver y simple deal. Talk to your board, to your management because clearly we’ve established that you violated the Constitution.”

The violation raised by Gatchalian has something to do with the appointment of two non-Filipino citizens who used to hold key positions at the NGCP. They are both Chinese.

The Constitution requires the executive and managing officers of public utilities to be Filipinos.

Monday’s hearing was called for the committee to verify whether Filipinos are in charge of its dayto-day management amid national security concerns. The committee also wanted to scrutinize the compliance of the country’s power transmission line on its mandate to safeguard the Grid, and ensure continuous supply of electricity in the country.

Senators wary

“HERE’s the ‘ deal:’ You allow the inspection of the facility or else we will proceed reviewing your franchise because clearly there’s a violation of the Constitution, which is the basis of

AT Monday’s hearing, senators took turns grilling officials amid concerns the China’s state-owned SGCC could control the Philippines’s lone power transmission facilities.

NGCP executives, however, insisted, “We have no problem in security.”

They said, “We do not object to inspection [of the Grid] but not to jeopardize the power grid,” adding that the cybersecurity in place had not encountered problems as the facility is checked everyday for “vulnerability.”

This, after Sen. Richard J. Gordon questioned the Chinese personnel’s role in the system.

Gordon and other senators questioned the presence of Chinese nationals in the executive and managerial positions at the NGCP, wondering why the primary signatories for the Luzon Substation Expansion Project contract in 2011 were Chinese “and not Filipinos.”

A copy of the contract presented by Gordon to the Gatchalian committee showed a certain Wen Bo signed as the technical officer and Zhou X iaoan as the countr y manager, while A lmeda, who was then chief administrative officer, signed “only as a witness.”

Gordon then grilled NGCP officials on the use of the NARI Transmission Control Operational Platform system, a remote monitoring and control structure located in China, in running the Grid.

Noting that the system enables the Chinese engineers to troubleshoot, operate and control the NGCP’s power transmission network, Gordon voiced concern the Grid could be shut down “from China,” a fear that NGCP officials allayed.

Gordon invoked Article 12 Section 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which, he noted, states that “all lands of the public domain, natural resources, such as waters, oils, including all forces of potential energy are owned by the State.”

The novel coronavirus first detected in Wuhan, China, has spread throughout many parts of the world, including in Southeast Asia, where there are now 19 cases in Thailand, 18 in Singapore, eight in Malaysia, six in Vietnam and one in Cambodia.

Demand for face masks, which should be worn by persons with respiratory symptoms and health workers, in turn spiked.

The Philippines has two confirmed cases—both Chinese nationals who traveled to Manila—of the coronavirus—one is dead, the first outside of China, the other is recovering.

To prevent the further spread of the respirator y illness, President D uter te last Sunday imposed a blanket ban on foreigners from China, Hong Kong and Macau. Only Filipino citizens, as well as those holding permanent resident visa issued by the government, may enter the country, but are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.

There are at least 17,389 confirmed cases and 362 recorded deaths—all but one in China—from the novel coronavirus as of Monday afternoon.

No remote access

MEANWHILE, Almeda also said that there is no truth to the insinuation that NGCP allows international remote access to the Grid through the Intercontinental Submarine Network installed

by Huawei and allegedly linked to the NGCP. “In the first place, NGCP was not the one which installed said Intercontinental Submarine Network…the software and hardware system that controls the national grid, the Scada [or the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition] system, is a stand-alone system that is not connected to the Internet or any network. The Scada is disconnected from the Virtual Private Network, or VPN, by default, rendering an unsupervised direct remote access impossible,” said Almeda.

The Senate Energy Committee told NGCP to allow the DOE and TransCo to inspect the grid operator’s facilities.

The ‘deal’ pitched by Win

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Confidential funds, internal issues lead Rio to quit DICT

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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@lorenzmarasigan

HE undersecretary for operations of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), who in his brief stay as officer in charge of the agency jump-started several projects that molded the industry to date, has resigned, citing internal issues within the young government office.

Eliseo Rio cited two main reasons for his resignation. One is the availability of confidential funds for the ICT department, and two is his exclusion from the decisionmaking processes of the agency.

“I filed my resignation, but I’m waiting for the action of President Duterte,” he said in a phone interview. “I feel like I’m wasting taxpayer’s money for being not able to work in an environment where I am excluded from the decision-making process.”

He said ever since former Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II was appointed as the permanent chief of the department, he has been cut out of the daily work in the agency. Rio said the new officials, whom Honasan appointed, do not include him in meetings and decision-making initiatives.

“I already raised this to Secretary Honasan, but he told me not to make him select between me and them. So that it’s not hard for him, I decided that I will leave,” Rio said.

“If he makes me feel that he doesn’t need me, why would I stay?”

He said that he is opposed to being awarded confidential funds by lawmakers, as this, he said, is not part of the mandate of the DICT. “My position is that I never asked for confidential funds because I don’t find the need for it. Our mandate is to secure our cyberspace from cyber threat. If there’s a breach, it becomes a cybercrime, which is under the jurisdiction of law enforcement,” he said.

The ICT department received P400 million in confidential funds last year. The House of Representatives and Senate allocated P800 million in confidential funds for the ICT department this year.

“Cybersecurity is for protection—to protect the privacy and freedom of information of citizens among others. Confidential funds are used to monitor and get information. It conflicts, because on one hand, you are protecting the citizens, and then on another you are spying,” Rio said.

Skyway. . .

Continued from A1

It affected roughly 300 meters of the ongoing construction.

Based on his group’s initial investigation, Ang said the fire “emanated from the DMCI construction yard” and “eventually spread to its nearby plastics warehouse, which at that time was in the process of being relocated out of Pandacan.”

SMC has star ted relocating its proper ties in Pandacan, in consideration of road projects. It has already relocated its oil depot from the area. “ We c o n t i n u e t o l i a i s e w i t h t h e concerned authorities to address all issues pertaining to the incident. It is fortunate

T-bills. . .

Continued from A1

On Sunday, the Department of Health announced the second case of nCoV in the country, which also turned out to be the first virus-related death outside China.

Despite this, de Leon said even the Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs) offering along with their switch tender offer were met with “overwhelming” response from investors.

She even said that they are on track

In the dark

A FORMER military man, Rio said he is also kept in the dark as to how the funds are being used.

“I’m supposed to be the undersecretary for operations, I should have some say on how to manage the funds. But I’m not part of the decision-making process,” he said.

“I don’t have direct knowledge on the confidential funds.”

Rio came out of retirement when he was appointed as an undersecretary for the ICT department in 2016, when the agency was led by then-Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima. When Salalima resigned, Rio took the helm of the DICT as officer in charge.

Under Rio’s leadership, the government was able to award the third telco franchise to Dito Telecommunity Corp. Rio also led the department in deploying free Internet connection in public places. Today, a total of 2,565 WiFi sites, covering 17 regions, 58 provinces and 394 municipalities, have been deployed, benefiting roughly 2.5 million unique users.

He was also instrumental in concretizing the national broadband plan and has secured key contracts with Facebook for a 2-terabyte backbone, as well as with the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and the National Transmission Corp. for the use of their dark fiber for Internet connectivity.

Through Rio’s leadership, the department was able to craft Vision 2020, an overarching goal for ICT development that aims to develop the industr y and bring forth digital innovations and ser vices that will greatly improve the daily lives of Filipinos.

He also led the common towers and shared infrastructure initiatives, which are geared toward improving the physical infrastructure of telcos to provide better services to end-users.

Should Duterte accept his resignation, Rio said he plans to spend more time with his family.

“I also hope that they will continue on with the projects that we started,” he said. “The President has full confidence in Secretary Honasan, and I think Secretary Honasan will do everything to make DICT work.”

The BusinessMirror sought Honasan’s side on the matter, but he has yet to respond as of writing time. that no one was harmed, and we thank everybody who took the time to help fight the fire,” Ang said.

Skyway Stage 3, which will run for about 18.3 kilometers between Buendia in Makati, and Balintawak, Quezon City, is part of the Edsa decongestion program that the government launched to cut travel time between Edsa’s end point to 30 minutes from over 2.5 hours.

When completed, travel time between Buendia and Balintawak could take about 15 minutes.

“What pains us is that we missed the opportunity to help motorists sooner with the opening of this road network. But what’s important now is that we get back to work right away and double our hard work. There will be no shortcuts, and we will put all our resources on this effort,” Ang said.

Lorenz S. Marasigan to raising as much as P255.4 billion in RTBs— the biggest issuance to date

by BTr. “Starting from the auction that we did, we have already breached the P200-billion volume, combined, switch and new money,” she said.

While de Leon said offers are still coming from both new money and the switch, she stressed that three-fourths of the volume came from new money which she said was expected.

As for the other offshore bond issuances, de Leon said they still have to watch out for market developments.

The Nation BusinessMirror

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, February 4, 2020 A3

Govt ‘arms,’ debriefs frontline personnel in face of virus scare

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By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla & Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is seeking to “arm” its frontline personnel and labor inspectors with personal protective equipment (PPE), amid the threat of the 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV, spreading in local establishments.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI), meanwhile, said it would compel around 800 of its frontline personnel to undergo stress debriefing to help them cope with the risks and hazards of their work in light of the possible spread of the deadly virus that has killed more than 300, mostly in China.

Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said he has bee informed

by BI Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina that they are planning to provide medical support to their personnel, especially at this time when the Philippines and some other countries affected by the virus.

Medina told the Department of

Justice (DOJ) that BI front liners should be given proper care since they are prone to catching the disease.

Protection gear

IN a text message, Labor Assistant Secretary Officer in Charge Dominique R. Tutay said they already advised their frontline service for their Alien Employment Permit processing to wear PPEs, such as gloves; masks; and use sanitizers to shield them from the disease.

She also said they are eyeing similar protection for their labor inspectors, especially when they are tasked to assess Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) facilities, which rely on foreign nationals for their work force.

“We are requesting assistance from DOH [Department of Health] already for our operations group since there is already a shortage of face masks,” Tutay said.

DOLE resumed its workplace

inspection last month with its issuance of Administrative Order 27-2020.

L abor A ssist a nt Sec ret a r y Benjo M. Benavidez said they are targeting to inspect 64,000 this year.

DOLE was able to inspect 57,514 firms covering 2.3 million workers last year.

Debriefings

EV ERY DAY, these BI personnel, according to Medina, face millions of travelers arriving and leav ing the countr y, not knowing if any of these passengers have been exposed to the deadly virus.

“We are preparing to have our officers for debriefings by professional psychologists, for those who are at our regular counters, and for those who are joining the voluntary homecoming or repatriation,” Medina said.

Medina added that the debriefing would be conducted by

medical practitioners and professionals from the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH), he added.

BI spokesman Dana Krizia Sandoval, on the other hand, said the agency is still finalizing the details of the program.

“Details have yet to be ironed out, but the management assures all frontline personnel that their welfare and safety are of utmost concern, given the risks of their jobs, as they have direct and face-to-face contact with the traveling public,” Sandoval explained.

The BI personnel had earlier been directed to protect themselves against the virus by wearing N95 masks.

Company-based

AS of Monday, the DOH said there is still no “community spread” of the 2019-nCoV. Currently, the two confirmed cases of the disease in the country come from FNs, who traveled from China.

Employers have appealed to the government to keep a close monitoring of POGO establishments since most of its employees are Chinese nationals, who may have returned to the country after the long Chinese New Year holiday last week.

Federat ion of Free Workers (FFW) called on the private companies to convene their Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Committee to implement measures to prevent and control the spread of the new disease among workers in the work place.

For those companies without OSH Committee, FFW urged them to put up one.

“The creation of an OSH Committee, which would ensure the enforcement of the safety and health program of the covered workplace, may be used as vehicle for education and prevention awareness on 2019 nCOV,” Takeda Workers Union FFW President Cecile Villarama said.

‘Mild’ volcanic earthquakes felt in Tagaytay, three Batangas towns

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga & Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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HE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported on Monday that Taal Volcano has continued to simmer down since its phreatic eruption on January 12.

The volcano, however, emitted more smoke, that may possibly include ashes, while magmatic activity triggered at least two mild earthquakes that were felt in nearby towns in Batangas and Tagaytay City in Cavite.

The Taal Lake Aquaculture Alliance Inc. (TLAAI), meanwhile, appealed to the national government to allow its members to feed, and harvest, healthy and marketable fish in cages in the Taal Lake.

In a news statement, the TLAAI said Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and other ranking government officials involved in Taal’s rehabilitation said around 70 percent of the fish in cages on the lake survived, and can still be harvested and sold for public consumption.

The TLAAI is requesting that their members be given window hours everyday when they will be allowed to go back to feed and harvest fish in their cages.

“Half of the surviving cages still have healthy living fish, but they need to be fed, and fattened, to maximize quality and value. We also need to repair our cages and start recovering and rebuilding whatever is left of our livelihood. These fish are our only chance to recover and

sustain our 12,000 workers and their families,” the group stressed.

Apart from this, the TLAAI also requested that a mobile office of the Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and other local government units be set up for the issuance of auxiliary invoice and local transport permits to facilitate quick and efficient fish harvest.

TLAAI requested that personnel of the BFAR and Philippine Coast Guard be present, and ready to assist their members during the window hours granted to them to enter the 7-kilometer radius around Taal Volcano.

The group also sought assistance from the government to grant credit or letters of guarantee from the BFAR to allow fisherfolk to obtain additional funds to purchase feeds.

TLAAI is also requesting that their members be included in the proposed Taal Lake Commission to provide a “wellgrounded” take on aquaculture and fishing in the area.

Before Taal’s eruption, TLAAI said daily harvest from Taal Lake range from 120 to 150 tons of bangus (milkfish) and tilapia. Total fish production from the 6,000 cages of TLAAI members reach more than 50,000 tons each year.

Of this volume, about 60 percent is consumed in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and Quezon. The remaining 40 percent is sent to Metro Manila, and sold through the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority Fish Port Complex in Navotas City.

US-trained CBRNE experts to assist repatriation ops in China­—PNP chief

T

HE Philippine National Police (PNP) is ready to deploy a team of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) experts that would help the government in repatriating Filipinos from some cities in China.

The possible deployment of the team, composed mostly of policemen with medical background, was announced by PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa on Monday in response to the orders of President Duterte mobilizing the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease.

The CBRNE-trained medical personnel from the PNP Health Service would assist “concerned agencies in the repatriation of Filipinos based in China and other countries affected by the 2019-nCoV who will wish to return to the country subject to mandatory quarantine procedure,” Gamboa said.

Currently, the PNP has a ready complement of 105 CBRNE-trained personnel from Special Action Force, Health Service, Crime Laboratory and EOD-K9 that can be mobilized to respond to CBRNE cases.

“As specifically directed by President Duterte, through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the PNP

shall actively assist the task force in implementing the presidential directive within the limits of our operational capability,” Gamboa said.

Meanwhile, the PNP chief has directed all regional and National Support Unit directors to make available individual face masks for all PNP personnel, and provision for hand sanitizers in PNP offices and facilities.

The order was issued in support to the effort of the Department of Health to control the possible spread of the Corona virus through person-to-person contact.

Gamboa said the PNP is also seriously considering the temporary lockdown of all of its training facilities, including the PNP Academy and all of its regional training schools in order to ensure the safety, and protection, of cadets and trainees in the facilities.

The PNP chief has also ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and local PNP units, to assist the Department of Trade and Industry, and local government units, in monitoring market activities to identify establishments, and traders, engaged in hoarding and profiteering of medical supplies, such as face masks and disinfectants, in order to create artificial demand and justify a hike in prices. Rene Acosta

A4 Tuesday, February 4, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DA lists ‘culprits’ behind ASF outbreak in Davao Occidental

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

D

AVAO CITY—“Backward” raising of livestock, including the absence of biosafety measures, and the practice of buying and selling even sick animals, have abetted the spread of the African swine fever (ASF), leading to a sudden wholesale deaths of pigs raised in the backyard in a town of remote Davao Occidental, the regional Department of Agriculture here said.

“Backyard farmers in the area practice group rearing [Pagalam system] of hogs from different owners, most having no proper housing pro-

visions, nor biosecurity practices,” the DA said.

It said hog-raisers “also, do not practice vaccination, vitamin supplementation and deworming.

Household butchering is common, especially with animals exhibiting weakness, or disease, and animals are sold to neighbors and relatives.”

The means of trading animals was by “viajeros” (bukag-bukag), who even purchase sick animals at low cost and transport them by motorcycle to consolidators in the nearby town of Santa Maria for distribution to several areas in Davao del Sur, the DA has found out.

When the ASF contamination became apparent in late January,

some 1,000 heads were already dead within the week in eight barangays of Don Marcelino town, and Mayor Michael Maruya ordered a lockdown in the transport of pigs and pork.

The interagency task force handling the ASF issue has yet to make a conclusion on how and why the ASF was able to contaminate Don Marcelino town swine farms.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar has directed agriculture offices to manage, contain and control the disease and stop it from spreading, while awaiting confirmation of the blood sampling by the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry laboratory in Quezon City.

The regional DA though, has al-

ready conducted an investigation on January 29, in eight affected barangays (Linadasan, North Lamidian, South Lamidian, Calian, Mabuhay, Lawa, Nueva Villa and Baluntaya).

They were assisted by the Davao Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office and the Municipal Agriculture Office of Don Marcelino conducted laboratory examinations of affected animals which “revealed similarities of lesions for classical swine fever or hog cholera and ASF,” the DA said.

The composite team also reported ASF incidence in seven barangays in the town of Malita, some 40 kilometers north of Don Marcelino. Infected hogs were reported in barangays Bito, Kidalapong, Tubalan, Felis, Mana,

Talogoy and New Argao.

Blood samples that were collected and submitted to the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Extension Region 12 animal disease diagnostic laboratory in General Santos City, on January 30 confirmed they were positive for ASF. Dar has instructed a “trace-back” and “trace-forward” investigations, particularly in areas where Don

Metro POGOs vow to enforce measures vs 2019-nCOV JUUL asks Palace

P

HILIPPINE Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) have agreed to implement measures against the 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019nCoV, after the death of a 44-year-old Chinese man from the viral disease on Saturday.

In an interview at the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) headquarters on Monday, Dr. Olga Virtucio, head of the Parañaque City Health Office, said POGOs have promised to cooperate with local health offices to establish preventive measures against the disease.

Virtucio said that the measures, which were mainly information and education on the disease and its prevention, were necessary due to the lack of trained health professionals

in such establishments.

“These are not trained personnel, not necessarily health personnel so we have to guide them accordingly at the local level,” she said.

Aside from putting up measures based on the guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH) on 2019-nCoV, Virtucio said there will also be intensified inspections to ensure compliance with local health and sanitation codes.

The health official said she will personally visit POGO establishments within Parañaque City, while POGOs in other jurisdictions will be dealt with by their respective local health officials.

“I was tasked already by our mayor to make sure that everything in terms of prevention and control will be in place, as well as support for our

personnel in terms of orientation and guidelines,” Virtucio said.

She added that hotels will also be included in their nCoV information campaign and intensified sanitation inspections to ensure the safety of these establishments.

“All of these will be put in place to make sure that our big establishments, these POGO establishments, will be properly informed. It is really information and education that will be very important at this time,” Virtucio said.

Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the number of persons under investigation for 2019-nCoV has more than doubled to 80, with 30 having tested negative, two confirmed positive, and the remaining 48 still pending. PNA

Privacy and security policies–a must!!!

Wireless networking policy

WIRELESS networks can greatly aid organizations by providing easy connectivity for workers, whether internal employees or external guests. Many users these days are familiar with configuring their devices for Wi-fi access and, thus, can enjoy the benefits of roaming throughout the building without having to utilize network cables or jacks.

However, on the flip side, wireless networking presents security concerns. Improperly configured wireless networks, or the misuse of these networks through ignorance, or malicious activity, may permit unauthorized access to confidential company resources and place the business at risk.

Only the IT department will set up and administer access points/base stations and wireless networks (with input from security if needed). Maintaining and updating this policy will remain the responsibility of the IT/security departments, or other designated individuals, and groups. No unauthorized devices will be permitted to connect to company wireless networks.

Storage security policy

By Henry J. Schumacher

W

HILE we see data breaches again and again, allow me to remind you of privacy and security policies you should have in your company.

However, having them is not enough (they can easily be downloaded); the important thing is to implement them throughout the organization, train the people in operations and monitor the implementation regularly.

Privacy policy

ENSURING the privacy of data is essential for every organization in order to safeguard employees and customers by placing confidential information only within authorized hands, or upon authorized systems to be utilized for the appropriate purposes.

It’s important to define how to handle this data, where it shall reside, and how it should be safeguarded and ultimately disposed of (if applicable). A comprehensive set of guidelines should be adhered to ensure smooth business operations, and protect the integrity and reputation of the business.

Employee privacy policy

YOUR IT equipment, services and systems are intended for business use only. However, the organization acknowledges that staff, consultants and volunteers occasionally require opportunities to make, or receive personal phone calls, access personal e-mail, utilize popular social-media sites, and visit Internet sites, as long as the aforementioned activities are not excessive in duration, or frequency, and do not violate other written organization policy prohibitions.

SAFELY retaining and securing data is an important aspect of an effective security strategy. Business demands, increased user requirements and even compliance concerns have created a need for a comprehensive Storage Security Policy.

This policy’s purpose is to preserve the organization’s critical data from damage, disaster and misuse, as well as to ensure fulfillment of compliance requirements, ensure privacy, optimize storage space, reduce the cost of data retention, and ensure that outdated records are properly destroyed.

Portable storage policy

Portable storage media, which includes USB flash drives, SD, or micro-SD cards (and the devices that contain them), and external hard drive units, allow employees to access or back up business data both inside and outside the office. However, the ease of use presented by portable storage devices can also place companies at significant risk of lost, or stolen data. Moreover, malware can infect portable storage media, which can then be inadvertently, or purposely introduced, inside an organization’s networks, jeopardizing business operations.

In conclusion, let me remind you that external individuals, such as hackers, virus writers, and ransomware peddlers, are often seen as the biggest threat to organizations. However, industry statistics consistently indicate that insiders pose a larger danger. It makes sense when you consider the damage that a single disgruntled employee (or an employee unaware of good security practices) could cause to a company, based on access privileges outsiders don’t possess. Allowing employees to access data to do their jobs is a double-edged sword. Permitting organizational staff to install and use external hard disks, flash drives, and even personal media players makes the task of stealing corporate information that much easier.

If you need assistance in reviewing your policies and their implementation across your operations, contact me at schumacher@ eitsc.com.

to loosen import rules on e-cig products

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

E

-CIGARETTE manufacturer JUUL Philippines has admitted facing importation delays following President Duterte’s pronouncement on the ban on e-cigarettes.

In a news statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) on Monday said the firm wrote a letter to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III requesting the department’s assistance to allow the firm to proceed with the importations.

Mario Zinampan, the firm’s senior director for government affairs, pointed out that Republic Act 11346, or the Tobacco Tax Law, signed by the President last year “legitimizes vapor products in the Philippines.”

“JUUL also requested to meet with Dominguez to clarify the issue,” the DOF said.

Sought for comment, Dominguez told reporters in a Viber message, “I think they [JUUL Philippines] should write the executive secretary for clarification.”

The President made the statement in November last year on the total ban on the use and importation of vape following the first reported case of an electronic cigarette, or vaping-associated lung injury, in the country.

In the same letter of JUUL Philippines to Dominguez which was sent before RA 11467, or the law increasing taxes on alcohol and e-cigarettes, the firm expressed support to the new “sin” tax reform law, which also earmarks a substantial portion of revenues to the Universal Health Care program.

“JUUL Philippines fully supports the bicameral conference committee report… on increasing excise tax for alcohol, heated tobacco products and vapor products, which is now pending the signature of President Duterte. We share the view of the government that vapor products need to be responsibly regulated, and we commit to working with all our government agencies in ensuring faithful compliance to all laws governing this category,” Zinampan said in his letter.

Moreover, Zinampan said JUUL has committed to immediately stop accepting orders from its local retail partners in the country for its JUUL pods with flavors, such as mint, mango and crème, adding the company will only accept orders for tobacco and menthol pods.

Last January 6, JUUL Philippines also informed the Food and Drug Administration of its commitment to comply with the upcoming regulation and welcomed FDA’s jurisdiction over vapor products.

JUUL products, made by JUUL Labs Inc., are battery-operated devices that look like computer flash drives and contain nicotine salts that do not produce vapor, or visible emissions, when they are used.

Under RA 11467 signed into law by the President last January 22, a tax of P37 per milliliter will be imposed on salt nicotine vapor products in the first year, and additional P5 per ml per year until the rate reaches P52 per ml in 2024.

Thereafter, the tax will be increased by 5 percent every year.

Heated tobacco products will be taxed with new rates of P25 per pack in 2020, P27.50 in 2021, P30 in 2022, P32.50 in 2023, and 5 percent yearly, thereafter.

Marcelino actively trades with like the towns of Malita, Santa Maria, Jose Abad Santos, all in Davao Occidental, and Sulop, in Davao del Sur. Regional Director Ricardo Oñate said he would hold another coordination meeting on Sunday with local officials to identify the disposal sites for culled hogs and conduct an inventory of the total swine population in affected areas.

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso

HK medical workers strike in bid to shut China border

H

ONG Kong medical professionals began a five-day strike on Monday after the government refused their demand to shut all entry points from China amid a deadly virus outbreak on the mainland.

More than a thousand medical workers had signed up to strike as of Monday morning, Winnie Yu, chairman of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, told reporters.

Talks between the union and the Hospital Authority failed after the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam decided not to attend negotiations on Sunday, Radio Television Hong Kong reported, citing Yu. Deacons Yeung, the Hospital Authority’s Director of Cluster Services, said on Monday that emergency services remained normal and authorities had activated a “major incident control center” to monitor the situation, according to RTHK. The impact on emergency services appeared limited on Monday.

The authority warned earlier that about half of all pre-booked operations at public hospitals would have to be postponed if the strike went ahead, RTHK said,

citing official Ian Cheung.

About 99 percent of the 3,000 union members who voted on Saturday backed the strike. More than 9,000 members have pledged to take part in the action, which will initially see nonemergency services suspended and then only limited emergency needs provided.

Hong Kong authorities have resisted pressure from some groups to shut all its borders with China, where the deadly outbreak has killed more than 300 people and infected more than 14,000 others. Hong Kong has 15 confirmed cases of the new strain of coronavirus. The government has extended school holidays and suspended residents of China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak is centered, from entering the city.

Measures already announced by the government “are doomed to fail when the government is adamant in refusing to address the crux of

the problem,” the union said on Saturday. “As country after country begins to announce the banning of foreigners’ entry from China, the Hong Kong government chooses to keep its doors wide open.”

Further tightening

A COMPLETE closing of the border sought by the workers is “not the right answer” and is not in line with World Health Organization guidelines, Lam said at a briefing on Friday.

Still, hours after Hong Kong medical workers voted over the weekend, the government appeared to be considering more controls on travel from the mainland.

“The government is examining the infection continuously and will explore further tightening of the management of control points,” a spokesman said. The government appealed to workers “to reconsider their decision” and keep providing services, praising them for “standing fast at their posts.”

The union, established late last year, said the decision to strike “is not an easy one.” It said Lam’s refusal to attend talks on Sunday meant they had already broken down, according to RTHK. Separately, Hong Kong Executive Council member Lam Ching-choi said that residents should avoid traveling to the mainland or risk having difficulties returning to the city,

RTHK reported on Sunday. Possible measures include shortened opening times for ports, transportation limitations and introducing laws to curb cross-border traffic, the report cited him as saying.

Restrictions on travel to and from China have widened as rising fears of the Wuhan coronavirus prompted countries to bar flights, ignoring guidance from the WHO. The US, Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and New Zealand are among countries restricting entry to noncitizens traveling from China.

Vietnam halted air travel to China, Italy banned incoming flights, and Qatar Airways became the first Middle East carrier to suspend flights to China. Airlines in Australia and the Philippines also announced similar plans on Saturday.

Efforts to fend off an outbreak of the novel coronavirus are posing a challenge to Hong Kong’s authorities, notably a citywide shortage of surgical masks that has raised concerns about the government’s preparedness to handle such a health crisis.

The union also said its members have flagged dangerous situations that have occurred due to a large number of suspected cases, including lack of personal protective equipment and designated quarters for staff handling isolated patients. Bloomberg News

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

A5

Thailand sees good result from using drug mixture on coronavirus patient

A

COCKTAIL of antiviral drugs appeared effective in treating a seriously ill coronavirus patient, a Thai health official said.

The HIV medicines lopinavir and ritonavir, which are sold by AbbVie Inc. as the product Kaletra, was used on three patients in conjunction with the anti-flu medication oseltamivir, sold by Roche Holding AG and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. as Tamiflu, Somkiat Lalitwongsa, director of the Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok told reporters on Monday.

Kaletra is already being studied in a randomized, controlled trial—the gold standard for testing new medical products—in novel coronavirus patients in Wuhan, China. The decision by Thai doctors to give the flu drug was based on research that indicated it helped some patients afflicted with the more deadly coronavirus that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome. A study by researchers in France recommended it be used in these so-called MERS patients, but discontinued if tests show they don’t have the flu.

“There’s not enough evidence to support the effectiveness just yet,” Somkiat said. “But we report to

contribute to the medical community globally. The results look good so far.”

Of three patients in Thailand on whom the unique three-drug therapy was initiated, two are continuing to receive the medications, Somkiat said. Treatment was discontinued in one patient who developed a rash. One of the two continuing to receive the medicines has tested negative to the 2019-nCoV virus, he said.

“Because there’s no standard procedure yet, we’re trying new combinations of drugs,” Somkiat said.

Thailand has 19 confirmed cases of the so-called 2019-nCoV virus. Eleven are hospitalized and the rest have returned home. The nation is also monitoring 311 people for possible infections in hospitals as of Sunday, according to a health ministry statement.

Thailand will repatriate more than 100 people from Wuhan on February 4 after they pass medical screening in China, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Chanvirakul said on Sunday. They will then be quarantined for 14 days after returning to Thailand.

Bloomberg News

Uneasy quiet in Middle East, month after Iran’s US strike

A

BOARD THE USS HARRY S TRUMAN—Nearly a month after Iran launched a rare direct military attack against United States forces in Iraq, an uneasy quiet has settled across the Mideast.

Watching fighter jets roar off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, the top US commander for the region believes he is surrounded by one of the reasons that Iran has dialed back its combat stance, at least for now.

“You’re here because we don’t want a war with Iran and nothing makes a potential adversary think twice about war than the presence of an aircraft carrier and the strike group that comes with it,” Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told the nearly 5,000 service members on board the 100,000 ton ship. “So, we achieve deterrence, which is preventing Iran from starting a war.”

Patrolling through the North Arabian Sea, the Truman was about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Iran when McKenzie and a small number of staff flew

aboard on Saturday. His overnight stay on the ship underscored his belief that the additional ships, aircraft, weapons systems and thousands of troops that the US has poured into the region in recent months deliver a message. It’s one he thinks Iran has received.

Since Iran launched a flurry of ballistic missiles at US forces in Iraq in retaliation for an American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, there has been a visible reduction in Tehran’s military posture, McKenzie said.

He said Iran brought its ballistic missile force and its air defenses back down from a heightened state of readiness. Also, the level of harassment and other activity by Iran’s naval forces around the congested Strait of Hormuz has been scaled back.

The drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the top Quds Force general, showed that the US is willing to take action, and the arrival of the Truman and the other warships had underscored that, he said. AP

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Tuesday, February 4, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Learning from crashes to save lives

M

ANY Filipinos have joined millions all over the world in mourning the death of basketball great Kobe Bryant.

The retired NBA star was traveling with his 13-year-old daughter to his youth basketball academy on January 26 when they and seven other people, including the pilot, perished in a helicopter crash.

Bryant visited the Philippines seven times over the years, and each time he was welcomed like a hero in a nation where basketball is the national sport and obsession, even if the average height of Filipinos is just 5’7”, which is perhaps why the 6’6” Bryant seemed larger than life.

The findings of investigations into the fatal crash have yet to be released, and it may take many months before the cause or causes of the accident is/are known but, so far, evidence points to inclement weather as a key factor.

When Bryant’s helicopter plunged and crashed against a steep hillside, it was flying in foggy weather considered dangerous enough that the Los Angeles Police Department grounded its own choppers that day.

In 1991, Bill Graham, an American rock music concert promoter, was killed when his helicopter crashed into a transmission tower in California—an accident that was eerily similar to Bryant’s. Graham’s pilot also struggled to fly in low visibility conditions. He was also warned of foggy weather, but was granted permission to fly under special visual flight rules.

In June last year, a helicopter crashed on the roof a 50-foot tower in midtown Manhattan in New York, killing the pilot, who was flying through rain and low clouds.

In July 2015, Archie King, the owner of the Victoria Court chain of motels, was killed in a helicopter crash near Mount Maculot in Batangas province, an accident that was also attributed to poor visibility because of bad weather.

Eight presidential aides, including Press Undersecretary Jose Capadocia, were killed in a Holy Week helicopter crash in 2009, as they went on a short ride from Baguio City to inspect an area near the Banaue Rice Terraces that then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was about to visit. Bad weather was also blamed for the crash that killed everyone onboard.

Of course, bad weather flight is not impossible for helicopters. Indeed, these million-dollar machines have even been used in search and rescue missions in the worst weather imaginable (at least certain types of helicopters have).

But it is also true that bad weather is blamed for most fatal accidents involving helicopters. If there is anything to learn from these tragedies, then perhaps more safety measures or more stringent protocols have to be enacted by aviation authorities to make sure flying in less than ideal weather conditions are truly exceptions to the rule and not the norm.

Bryant’s pilot asked for and received permission from air-traffic controllers to proceed in the fog. In his last radio transmission before the helicopter went down, the pilot reported that he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer. There is speculation that the pilot got disoriented in the clouds, a common danger for pilots.

Perhaps helicopter pilots, at least on average transport missions, must not proceed or be made to proceed if the weather looks doubtful. There should be no pressure or anything compelling them to complete flights in unsuitable weather conditions.

Indeed, in several news reports, helicopter pilot Kurt Deetz, who flew Bryant dozens of times over a two-year period ending in 2017, stressed that he never remembered Bryant or his assistants pressing him to fly in bad weather.

Weather information relayed by tower controllers should also make it clear to pilots, whether they could negotiate their flights safely without incident.

The US government’s National Transportation Safety Board also recommends a terrain awareness and warning system, a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder for helicopters, features that Bryant’s helicopter reportedly did not have.

Of course, helicopter travel is expensive. It’s not a concern for most Filipinos who live below or just above the poverty line. But it is becoming quite popular for a lot of businessmen and tourists who do not want to waste precious time getting stuck in Metro Manila’s hellish traffic.

For safety considerations, the qualifications of pilots and maintenance practices of helicopters must be strictly checked by aviation authorities, and safety records must be improved by technology, better communication, and smarter procedures and safety protocols.

Accidents and crashes will happen, but let us learn valuable lessons when they do, make sure what went wrong won’t happen again, and save lives in the future.

Since 2005

BusinessMirror A broader look at today’s business

PSE: Disaster management John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

T

HE Philippine stock market and the peso survived a massive drop in western markets last Friday, the virtual collapse of the Chinese stock markets despite a huge amount of government bailout money, and the first death from nCoV outside of China.

However, the current situation requires that we thankfully go to sleep each night and hope to wake up the next morning. Nothing is what it appears to be.

The PSEi (Philippine Stock Market Composite Index) was down 7.86 percent for the month of January. That was the worst monthly decline (8.4 percent) since November 2016. The only thing that I can remember happening back in that month was the election of US President Donald J. Trump.

But this January, there were so many “exciting” things that hap-

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was in the Philippines, selling broke the PSEi below major price support levels.

Again, I do not see this as a panic but more of “to hell with all this nonsense. I am going home.”

There is a thought process called “disaster fatigue” as “the loss of interest in donating money for relief, volunteering time to help survivors or diminishing interest in media coverage of multiple disasters.”

But the other side of that coin is when people start ignoring the “next disaster,” and for the stock market that means moving into cash, and watching and waiting. We are told that you can’t win if you don’t bet.

I much prefer “you can’t lose if you don’t bet.”

The parameters that I look at to see the trend are not nice at all.

Therefore, I am in wait and watch mode. But then again, I have been doing that for months. However, I am always invested in one or two issues. I am a total believer in putting my eggs in one basket, and then watching the basket very closely. That is my disaster management technique.

6.4% economic growth in Q4 is impressive

✝ Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Publisher

pened that, I suppose, we should be thankful the market was only down some 600 points. A question arises: Why was the decline fairly muted against both domestic and global chaos?

The answer is relatively easy and psychological. In the callcenter business, we taught customer service agents to “set expectations.” What agents said to customers had to be both realistic and doable. In other words, telling a customer that the phone company was coming over to take his phone and burn his house down unless he paid was unacceptable.

The “burn his house” part was not on the checklist of what happens next. Unrealistic. But more important—and the key to the deal—if the company did not burn the house and, therefore, meet that expectation, the customer would ignore all future promises of action.

After the US wacked Iranian Qassem Soleimani, expectations were that World War III was imminent. Certainly, a great Iranian armed response and counter response was a possibility, maybe even a high possibility.

But that scenario did not play out. Closer to home, Taal Volcano blows its top on January 12th and again correctly we are warned the “Big One” might be next. The big one did not occur at least yet. All the while, investors are leaving the stock market but not in panic.

Then a week or so later, we and the world are confronted with nCoV, and we are warned of the potential of a deadly global pandemic. And by the way, it is good to “panic” sometimes. When investors were told that the virus

T

HE 6.4-percent expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2019 is clear proof that the economy is on the right track and that our fundamentals remain strong, despite several external headwinds.

It also makes the Philippines the second-fastest growing economy in Asia, next only to Vietnam which expanded 7 percent in the fourth quarter and ahead of China which grew 6 percent.

Other economies performed poorly last year because of global challenges, such as the tension in the Middle East, the US-China trade dispute, the Hong Kong riots and the subdued global trade growth.

The World Bank estimated global growth settled at a postcrisis low of 2.4 percent in 2019 amid weakening trade and investment.

We can take solace in the fact that despite these global concerns, our economy grew at a robust pace.

If not for the blip in the first half of 2019 because of the delayed passage of the national budget, I am pretty sure we could have met the government’s 2019 growth target range of 6 percent to 6.5 percent.

The full-year growth of the Philippines settled at 5.9 percent, a tad below the target. It was the first time in eight years that we grew below 6 percent, which was understandable because of the negative factors I mentioned before.

What is encouraging is that our economy is now in the position to expand faster in the next three years.

Congress made sure of that with the timely passage of the 2020 budget, which would get major infrastructure projects going.

I will be satisfied to see the economy grow in the vicinity of 6 percent annually over the next three years to help generate more jobs and lift more people out of poverty. Remember that we achieved significant gains in job generation and poverty alleviation in the past three years.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported earlier that the full-year

2018 poverty incidence, or the proportion of poor Filipinos whose percapita income was not sufficient to meet their basic food and nonfood needs, declined to a record-low 16.6 percent from 23.3 percent in 2015.

Unemployment rate also eased from 5.1 percent in October 2018 to 4.5 percent in October 2019, the lowest figure for all October survey rounds in the last 10 years.

What these data mean is that the economic growth is now being felt by a greater number of the poor, as they benefit from the economic activities happening in several sectors, such as the construction industry which is now actually in need of more workers.

Inflation rate also moderated to 2.5 percent in 2019, or within the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), from 5.2 percent in 2018 when the Philippines experienced a rice supply problem.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) attributed the GDP growth on the demand side in the fourth quarter of 2019 to higher government spending. In fact, public construction jumped 34 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, with the completion of projects by the Department of Public Works and Highways, payment for the acquisition of right-of-way and construction of government buildings.

On the supply side, the Services sector grew 7.9 percent in the Oc-

tober-to-December quarter. The Industry sector expanded 5.4 percent, while the Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing sector posted a growth of 1.5 percent, which reflected the impact of the El Niño dry spell in the first half and the African swine fever outbreak in the second half.

There are reasons to be optimistic this year, despite the damage caused

by Taal Volcano’s unrest in the Calabarzon region on the domestic front and the persisting downward risks on the global outlook.

Several infrastructure projects are expected to be completed in Metro Manila, which will help ease the traffic. The timely implementation of the 2020 General Appropriations Act is moving projects at a swift pace.

Neda said the Philippines can also absorb manufacturing operations of multinational corporations, or MNCs, that are relocating from China amid the latter’s trade dispute with the US. This means we can receive more foreign direct investments that generate jobs.

I also believe the BSP will continue to support economic growth this year by reducing the cost of borrowing.

This will encourage more businesses to invest, and more households to spend this year.

All of these positive economic developments are possible because of the political stability under the leadership of President Duterte, and our strong and steady fundamentals.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Tax compromise

‘Heroes come and go, but legends are forever’

BusinessMirror

Manny F. Dooc

Benedicta Du-Baladad

TELLTALES

TAX LAW FOR BUSINESS

I

T is a welcome development that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is open to exercise his power to agree on a compromise on cases that are pending with the Court of Tax Appeals and the Supreme Court. Through its own initiative, the CTA has also ordered all litigants to explore, through mediation, the possibility of compromise.

The rules of the BIR mandates that when a taxpayer intends to apply for compromise, he must pay first.

Generally, the minimum compromise amount that must be paid is either 40 percent of the basic tax due if the taxpayer’s ground is doubtful validity of the tax assessment and 10 percent of the basic tax due if the taxpayer is financially incapable. What happens to the taxpayer’s payment when the compromise does not push through or is disapproved by the Commissioner? The rules of the BIR states that it will not be returned. There will be no refund. It will only be applied to the taxpayer’s liability if the case is decided against it. This rule is an impediment to any taxpayer who intends to avail of the opportunity to settle the tax court cases.

In other words, the BIR will only give a glance to a compromise application when the taxpayer has already deposited the proposed compromise amount. But if the BIR does not agree to compromise, it will hold on to the money and just offset it to the taxpayer’s liability, as may be found by the court. But what if the court finds that the taxpayer is not liable after all? What happens to the compromise amount paid?

Should the taxpayer now file a claim for refund with the court? It seems to be the case.

Just recently, the SC has ruled that when a taxpayer’s application for abatement is denied, he can directly file the claim for refund in court without filing an administrative claim first. According to the SC, the filing of an administrative claim would be an exercise in futility because the same office where the said administrative claim will be filed is the very same office which denied the taxpayer’s application for abatement. What is clear in this case is that a refund claim must be filed when an application for abatement is denied. Like an application for compromise, the taxpayer must also pay upfront before its application for abatement is processed. But in an application for abatement, the

gamble is higher—the upfront payment is 100 percent of the basic tax.

There may be a way for a taxpayer to protect itself from this one-sided BIR rule. If the taxpayer initiates the application for compromise not directly to the BIR but through the CTA’s mediation proceedings, then the amount of compromise payment must be protected. It must be returned without the need for the taxpayer to file a claim for refund.

There is no clear precedent as of now.

Hopefully, the court will make a distinction between an administrative offer of compromise and a judicial offer of compromise. If the compromise is through a mediation proceeding, which is a court proceeding, the upfront compromise payment must be returned by the BIR if the compromise negotiation is not successful. It is also better if the court will clarify in its rules that while a compromise negotiation is ongoing, the taxpayer is not mandated to pay upfront. This is to avoid scenarios where the taxpayer is put in a disadvantage.

Many more will be attracted to apply for compromise if upfront payment is not a condition for the BIR to entertain the same. Any taxpayer will hesitate to avail of this program because he has to gamble his hardearned money and there is no guarantee that his misery will end. nnn

The author is a senior partner of DuBaladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.c.nideajr@bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 330.

Hope for humanitarian trade with Iran

By Esfandyar Batmanghelidj Bloomberg Opinion

O

N Thursday, Swiss authorities announced that they had processed a pilot transaction through the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), a new payment channel that intends to ease the sale of food and medicine to Iran by Swiss companies. Work on this channel began in late 2018 following the Trump administration’s reimposition of secondary sanctions on Iran.

Expectations around the mechanism should be tempered with caution.

The Trump administration dragged its feet for over a year before supporting the mechanism, despite clear evidence that sanctions were causing humanitarian harm. Additionally, Iranians might be reluctant to use the mechanism. There are concerns that some of the conditions imposed on the SHTA by the Treasury Department could be used as a part of a “fishing expedition” for information that could be used to intefere with routine trade.

But hidden in the mechanics of SHTA’s initial €2.3-million transaction is an unprecedented provision that could help address growing

concerns that the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign will be impossible to lift even in the aftermath of new negotiations with Iran.

The relevant provision is hidden in the jargon of a statement issued last October describing Treasury’s framework for SHTA: “Provided that foreign financial institutions commit to implement stringent, enhanced duediligence steps, the framework will enable them to seek written confirmation from Treasury that the proposed financial channel will not be exposed to US sanctions.”

A press release on the SHTA released by Swiss authorities confirms that the initial transaction was processed on the basis that the Treasury Department “has given the necessary assurances to the Swiss bank involved for this specific transaction.”

Such assurances, when provided in written form, are called “letters of comfort.” This is likely the first-ever transaction in which the department addressed the concerns of a foreign financial institution by providing a letter of comfort, despite the fact that the transaction was technically sanctions exempt.

I

READ some time ago about the interesting case of the “missing taxpayers” in Great Britain. The tax base in the UK has been shrinking in recent years, thanks to the fiscal policy shared in common by the country’s two major parties—the Tory and Labour.

Even as spending rises, the number of people paying into the system has been declining. Both parties advocated that taxpayers earning less than the equivalent of $103,000 will not pay any additional income tax, although Labour has promised higher spending roughly equivalent to 4 percent of the country’s GDP. The Conservatives, however, has proposed a more modest spending rate. In short, the taxpayers are getting something for nothing—a Utopia for the working men and women who will not be burdened with higher payroll tax. This state of affairs is the result of the fiscal incentives and reforms jointly undertaken by the coalition forces of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats during the first half of this decade, which determined that the best way to go is to hike the income tax threshold, instead of enhancing the welfare benefits. The UK government has also increased the tax-free allowance, which boosted the spending money of the working class.

The UK experiment is admirable but it is succeeding only because of the bipartisan support, which the “take-people-out-of-tax” program has been getting from both sides of

the political aisle. Moreover, approximately 57 percent or 31 million of its adult population pay income tax, about 2⁄3 of them are salaried employees. About 43 percent of Britons do not have enough income to pay income tax. The highest 1 percent of its taxpayers consisting roughly of 310,000 individuals contribute 27 percent of all income tax revenues.

Among the highest taxpayer is JK Rowling, the world famous Harry Potter author, who, together with other top 50 individuals, had paid 2.5 billion pounds. Admittedly, the UK is efficient in collecting taxes.

Its self-assessment tax returns filing program is effectively working.

For instance, this year, a total of 94 percent of Self-Assessment Tax Returns were filed before midnight on January 31, 2019, with 11.5 million taxpayers beating the deadline.

It’s a source of wonder whether

Tuesday, February 4, 2020 A7

the UK can sustain its various social services with the shrinking taxpayer population. There is no doubt that its populist fiscal approach is supported widely by the taxpayers, but in the long run can it continue to adequately fund its essential public services including education, health services, infrastructure and other vital programs? The challenges of climate change and the rapidly aging population, plus the impact of Brexit, will undoubtedly exact a heavy toll on government coffers and the specter of a financial crisis which may come from geopolitical turbulence and the ongoing trade war may compel the UK government to rethink its position.

It’s always a sound fiscal policy to adopt that there is no such thing as a free lunch—everyone and, in fact, more should chip in. As the finance “maestro,” former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has said: “The best way to address a deficit, if it is to be dealt with in a politically realistic way, will have a combination of expenditure restraint tied to tax increases.” nnn

It’s amazing how a basketball player can wield such influence over millions of people around the world.

The helicopter crash on January 26 that killed basketball icon Kobe Bryant was more explosive globally than the Taal Volcano eruption. Kobe’s death drew unparalleled outpouring of grief from all countries where Kobe counts legions of followers. In Italy where he grew up and learned

his basketball fundamentals, Kobe was mourned like a lost son. His teammates posted their childhood photo in their uniform and wrote this message: “We’re proud to have been the first to see you tread the courts.

We’ll never forget you, Kobe.” In his beloved adopted City of Los Angeles, the flag was flown half-mast to show the city folks’ collective sorrow.

One adoring Chinese fan longingly tweeted: “Kobe, please don’t you passed away.” Two days before his tragic death, Kobe uploaded a short video greeting to his Chinese followers a great Lunar New Year.

He’s also very popular in Japan, where he raised funds for the victims of the tsunami and earthquake disasters that devastated the country some years ago. If he loved Japan it must be because he was named after the famous beef raised in Kobe City, Japan, which his father loves to feast on. In Manila, which Kobe visited seven times to bond with his fanatical followers and to conduct basketball clinics, a gym was built and named after him even before he died. In a statement issued last week, the Philippine Basketball Association said: “The PBA mourns the passage of a man who has touched the lives of millions.” It is even said that his jersey numbers, 8 and 24, topped the betting odds in the number games. His jerseys were also illuminated at the Staples Center, a colossus he helped build, during the Grammy Awards. There are many NBA greats but Kobe is one of a kind. In his own words, he declared: “Heroes come and go, but legends are forever.”

Xi has lots at stake as China officials point fingers over virus

S

By Bloomberg News

INCE taking power Chinese President Xi Jinping has effectively made himself “chairman of everything.” The coronavirus scare is showing all the risks involved with that strategy.

Xi last week took direct control of the response to the outbreak, showing the high stakes in a crisis that has now killed 259 people in China and spurred panic across the globe. He’s overseen extreme measures, including quarantining more than 50 million people —roughly equivalent to the population of Spain—and rapidly building two new hospitals.

While lower-ranking Communist Party officials are starting to admit they were slow to contain the virus, senior leaders very quickly realized the enormous political stakes. Last Tuesday they issued a notice calling for cadres to think of the big picture, stay united and “resolutely uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core position” in the party.

If all goes well, with a minimal hit to the world’s second-biggest economy, the benefits of Xi’s model of centralized control will be reinforced. But if the epidemic gets worse and the economic pain is deeper than expected, Xi “will deservedly take the blame,” said Scott Kennedy, an expert on China’s economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“There’s no second lieutenant to blame this on,” he said. “And so as goes the virus, so goes Xi Jinping.”

Xi has become China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong in his eight years running the country, engineering constitutional changes to make himself the “core” of the Communist Party and scrapping presidential term limits. Along the way he’s also accumulated a number of enemies, particularly through a corruption purge that resulted in jail time for several senior party officials.

In China’s top-down system of government, much of the political intrigue takes place behind closed doors—stability and control are cherished among top leaders. Worried that they may end up being scapegoats, local officials in the firing line are now publicly pointing fingers at each other.

The mayor of Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus originated, said he had to wait for “authorization” before he could release information on the outbreak to the

public. The chief epidemiologist of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the local government failed to recognize the problem from a scientific point of view, and probably had some “executive issues.”

“While no one person may be responsible for the fast spread of the coronavirus, it has resulted in a blame game within the bureaucratic system,” said Suisheng Zhao, executive director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. “The accelerated spread of the virus is also the result of political incompetence and a tightened control on ideology and information.”

In Xi’s China, lower-level officials must constantly weigh whether they are saying too much or too little. Since January 24, some 33 local officials have been dismissed or scheduled for disciplinary review for allowing informal public gatherings, repeating misinformation via official channels, and failing to provide superiors with detailed updates, Eurasia Group, a New York-based consultancy, said in a note on Friday.

Xi himself has sought to get on top of the crisis, convening what state media dubbed an “unusual” meeting of the supreme Politburo Standing Committee to discuss the outbreak on January 25, the first day of the Chinese New Year festivities. Similar emergency meetings occurred after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, 2009 street violence in Xinjiang and a 2014 earthquake in the southern Yunnan province.

The worst may still be yet to come.

Even before the outbreak, China’s economy was already slowing amid weak domestic demand, a crackdown on debt and the trade war with the Trump administration. The World Health Organization’s move to declare the coronavirus a “public health emergency of international concern” sparked fresh concern on Chinese social media about whether small and middle enterprises could survive as countries restricted travel to China.

In a containment scenario—with

a severe but short-lived impact—the virus could take China’s first-quarter gross domestic product growth down to 4.5 percent year-on-year, according to Bloomberg Economics. That’s a drop from 6 percent in the final period of 2019 and the lowest since quarterly data that begins in 1992.

Chief economist Ren Zeping of China Evergrande Group, a Shenzhenbased developer, said on Thursday that economic growth this year would slow to 5 percent due to a sharp drop in demand and production, a significant impact on investment, higher short-term unemployment and rising prices. The report by his team advised the government to provide subsidies for low-income people and “prevent social instability caused by the potential wave of unemployment.”

Disease outbreaks have a history of ending careers of party officials who dutifully sought to work their way up the ranks. In the wake of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed 800 people across Asia 17 years ago, China fired more than 100 officials, including the health minister and the mayor of Beijing, amid allegations that the health ministry suppressed information about the disease and local governments botched the response.

Heads have already started to roll this time around.

On Thursday, the health commission chief from Huanggang city in Hubei province—which has seen more than 1,000 people confirmed with coronavirus, the most cases outside of Wuhan—was removed. Hours before the official announcement, local media circulated a video of her struggling to answer when grilled on figures related to the virus. Another 336 party officials were subsequently punished for incorrectly handling the outbreak, the city’s mayor told reporters on Saturday.

Earlier in the week, a health official in the coastal city of Tianjin was fired for being “derelict” in fighting the epidemic,thefirstdismissaloverthevirus.

Outrage on Chinese social media has shifted from focusing on Wuhan’s government to China’s CDC. Internet users said a paper by researchers from the agency issued Thursday revealed human-to-human transmission—a significant escalation in the pandemic’s severity —had been noticed in early January, earlier than reported.

“I’m out of anger, I don’t know what to say,” Wang Liming, a professor at

Zhejiang University’s Life Sciences Institute, told his 480,000 followers on Weibo. “This is the first time I’ve seen clear evidence that human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus has been deliberately withheld.”

His remarks were reposted more than 60,000 times and liked more than 100,000 times before being taken down. The CDC said in a statement on Friday that the paper was based on “retrospective inference” of data from 425 cases, which had already been made public.

Other Communist Party members have acknowledged some mistakes.

Ma Guoqiang, the Communist Party’s highest ranking member in Wuhan, where the outbreak originated, told state television that he was full of guilt and regret for not acting faster.

“Because we did not do our work well and failed to make a prompt decision, this resulted in the outbreak being exported domestically and internationally,” Ma said during a CCTV interview, noting that the government could have closed roads out of Wuhan on January 12.

The crisis has also turned at least one previously little-known Communist Party member into a social-media hero.

Zhang Wenhong, a director at the Shanghai Huashan Hospital’s infectious diseases department, received praise online after he pledged to send doctors who are party members to the front lines to relieve nonparty members who had been working long shifts fighting the virus.

“I, myself, will make ward rounds at least one or two times every week,” Zhang told reporters at a briefing in Shanghai on January 29. “I don’t care why you joined the party, or whether you agree to go to front line, you have to go now without bargaining.”

That kind of appeal to duty should help Xi as he seeks to rally the party into action. What he doesn’t need is people questioning the overall system, in which all roads lead directly to him at the top.

“Beijing wants to deflect as much of the criticism as they can to local authorities,” said Kennedy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “That helps strengthen the overall system’s legitimacy by saying the main challenge is in implementation. But the main real dominant structure of China’s political system really still emanates from Beijing.”

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House panel: nCoV impact on growth will be minimal

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

& Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco Correspondent

A

S the Department of Health stepped up monitoring of at least 74 persons who had close contact with the two Chinese nationals infected by the deadly novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), experts continued to assess the expected economic losses from the spread of the fatal respiratory disease.

And, despite such expected losses, the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman said growth will remain above 6 percent this year.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda thinks economic growth this year will likely see a reduction of 0.1 to 0.4 percentage points due to the losses incurred by the tourism, trade, Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), and remittances.

This means that if growth is targeted to grow by 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year, the overall impact of the nCoV would slowdown growth to a

minimum range of 6.4 to 7.4 percent to a maximum range of 6.1 to 7.1 percent this year.

“Economically, this is a situation where the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The impact of the situation will depend squarely on how the government maintains public confidence,” Salceda said in a statement on Monday.

Salceda said the contribution of the tourism industry may decline to a range of only 2.0 to 2.2 percent of GDP from the current estimate of around 2.5 percent of GDP. This assumption is based on the impact of the SARS crisis in 2003. Salceda said the crisis lasted for nine months and if this is the same length of time, the nCoV will affect the country, the impact would be the same.

“GDP, depending on whether we can effectively come up with a catchup strategy. Chinese tourists account for around 20 percent of tourist arrivals in the country, so we can more or less write those arrivals off given the travel ban,” Salceda said.

Salceda said key mitigation measures, such as “holiday economics,”

which involves moving the dates of observance of certain holidays to better encourage recreation and relaxation, could blunt the damage.

The move was popularly used during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He also cited a need to ensure that the extent of nCoV infection is not exaggerated among foreign markets, and tourist service providers are guided on nCoV infection prevention and mitiation.

Trade MEANWHILE, on trade, Salceda said about 90 percent of imports from China are nonperishable items that can be disinfected. Food items account for around 9 percent of the value of imports from China.

Salceda said China’s economy will continue to post growth of 5 to 6 percent and this will also bode well for the growth of POGOs in the country. Gaming revenues will continue to grow even if there is a travel ban since existing POGOs will take up the slack.

“ D ue to t he BIR’s ef for t s to enforce existing ta x laws on PO GOs, and if the Salceda proposal on POGO ta xation passes, we w ill continue to see increased government revenues from POGOs,” Salceda said, referring to his advocacy of ta xing the sector.

In terms of remittances from China and its territories, Salceda said this only accounts for around 3.1 percent of all remittances. This means, he said, the impact of nCoV on remittances will be limited.

However, Salceda said financial and livelihood assistance for repatriated Filipinos will help mitigate the impact of loss of income on their families and communities.

SAN JUAN’S TANDEM San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and Mayor Francis Zamora

lead the groundbreaking ceremony of a 22-story High Rise In-city Public Housing Building located at F. Manalo Street in Barangay Batis, in San Juan City on Monday. Mayor Zamora has promised to address housing problems in the progressive city. NONOY LACZA

CEBU EXPANDS BAN ON PORK AFTER ASF HITS DAVAO OCC.

T

HOUSE Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano called on the House Committee on Tourism and House Committee on Economic Affairs to start working with the Department of Tourism (DOT) to assess the short- and medium-term effects the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on the tourism and travel industry.

While the government is intensifying measures to prevent the spread of the 2019-nCoV, the House of Representatives “wants to work with the tourism and services sector to ensure that tourism growth will not be derailed in the next few months,” said the speaker.

Cayetano also underscored the need for the countr y to be ready in case the outbreak is prolonged. “It should not be a just a wait-and-see attitude because we don’t want our tourism industry to suffer,” he said.

DOT records show that 1.63 million of the total 7.4 million international tourist arrivals from January to November of 2019 were Chinese.

The Chinese are the second-biggest tourist spenders in the Philippines next to the South Koreans, with the DOT saying Chinese tourists spent $979.4 million or around P51 billion in the country in the first half of 2019.

HE Province of Cebu has expanded its ban on the entr y of pork products to include the Davao region after the Depar tment of Agriculture’s (DA) Bureau of Animal Industr y (BAI) confirmed that African swine fever (ASF) has killed 1,000 hogs in Davao Occidental.

In an executive order issued by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia, Cebu now considers illegal the entr y of pork, boar semen, pork-related products and by-products and all other meat, chicken, fish, or any other food products that have been commingled with pork, pork-related products, and byproducts from Region 11.

The DA-BAI laborator y in Quezon City, has tested the blood samples obtained from affected hogs, par ticularly in Don Marcelino in Davao Occidental, and found them positive for ASF. “We will strictly implement the 1-7-10 protocol in Don Marcelino, and in other identified affected areas. Depopulation of hogs within the 7-kilometer radius will be observed,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement.

Dar said the DA will pay hog raisers P5,000 per head of culled pig, regardless of age. The DA will also provide SURE Aid loans worth P30,000 each to affected hog raisers.

DA said the loan will have a zero interest rate and will be payable in three years. The loan can be used to fund other livelihood or agri-fishery projects.

Apart from the indemnification funds, DA also said they welcome additional funds from

other agencies and local government units, such as those extended by Davao Occidental Gov. Claude Bautista.

OFWs. . .

Kuwait memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the protection of Filipino household service workers.

OFWs, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine Director Celia Carlos said the concerned OFWs, if they will not show symptoms of 2019-nCoV, may undergo home-based quarantine.

2019-nCoV symptoms include fever, cough and respiratory symptoms.

“So they stay at home, preferably separated from the rest of the household. If they can stay in a separate room, that’s much better. They are advised to wear masks for around 14 days, from the date of arrival until they complete the two weeks. If they have no symptoms, then that’s it,” Carlos said.

In case they show any symptoms of the 2019-nCoV, Carlos said they should go to a medical facility to undergo the necessary testing.

T he Depar tment of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) tasked barangay health emergency response teams to ensure the 14day quarantine period for the newly arrived Filipinos.

Carlos confirmed that Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, is currently being considered by the government to become a quarantine facility for repatriated Filipinos from China, Macau and Hong Kong.

“In the interagency meeting last Friday, the plan was for a team from the DOH, from Quarantine, from Immigration, DFA to visit the prospective facilities that include Fort Magsaysay. So depending on the findings, the decision will be made on where to quarantine the returning Filipinos,” Carlos said.

Contingency plan for tourism

Continued from A1

T his, despite t he pronouncement of Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana that Filipinos with work permits in China, Hong Kong and Macau will be exempted from the travel ban.

T he contradicting policy pronouncement prompted migration stakeholders and the recruitment industry to demand that the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issue the necessary Governing Board (GB) resolution to clarify the details of the travel ban.

“For starters, the POEA needs to convene its Governing Board to convert this travel ban into a temporary deployment ban, while specifying the labor destination countries to be covered. The GB resolution should also indicate the category of workers to be affected,” Blas F. Ople Policy Center Head Susan Ople said in a statement. “ This is critically important because these workers have foreign employers. They also need to be informed about our government’s decision,” she added.

In a SMS, Estrelita S. Hizon, private sector representative at the POEA GB, said they have yet to receive any draft resolution related on the matter as of Monday afternoon.

Labor Secretary and POEA GB chairman Silvestre H. Bello III is currently in Kuwait negotiating for the full implementation of the Philippine-

Government intervention UNTIL the issue is clarified, Bello ordered the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OW WA) to provide P10,000 cash assistance to each stranded OFW affected by the travel ban.

Labor Undersecretar y Renato Ebarle said the affected OFWs will be provided accommodation at the OWWA halfway house while arrangements for their travel to the provinces are being made.

In a related development, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said they are now preparing for the repatriation of 42 Filipinos in Hubei, China, who have expressed a desire to return home as of the morning of January 3.

“The government is now negotiating to send an aircraft there in the affected areas. We expect it [repatriation] to start this week,” Abella said.

He said the exact date will depend on the approved arrangement with China, which earlier implemented its own lockdown in Hubei.

Quarantine protocols UPON the arrival of the repatriated OFWs, Sandoval said they will be required to undergo the 14-day quarantine as recommended by the Department of Health (DOH).

Since the government has yet to designate the quarantine facility that will be used to house repatriated

ASF in Mindanao

IN a Facebook post, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Chairman Emmanuel F. Piñol, a former Agriculture secretary, said reports they received in a briefing with Dar in San Marcelino on Sunday, indicated that ASF has been present in Mindanao as early as 2019.

O n S u n d a y, P i ñ o l s a i d , D a r a n d Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan arrived in San Marcelino, to meet with hog raisers and local officials.

“The Don Marcelino ASF outbreak is a puzzling incident to government agencies monitoring the disease in Mindanao,” Piñol said. “Reports received during the briefing in Don Marcelino yesterday said the first incident happened in a remote mountain village late last year.”

Piñol said the BAI is already investigating how and why the virus reached the remote village.

He said Don Marcelino, which is is located along the southern coast of the Davao Gulf, is only one entry and exit road. This will help in containing the ASF, and preventing it from spreading to other towns.

“The only other way out of Don Marcelino is through the sea but the Coast Guard has been alerted on the implementation of the total ban on the transport of hogs and pork products from the town,” Piñol said.

Cai U. Ordinario

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In the ad material of Notice of filing of application for Alien Employment Permits published on December 24, 2019, the company address of Messrs. Su, Zhiwen, Hu, Chunfu, He, Zhiyong, Chen, Ruiwen, Cai, Guozhang, Huang, Gaozhong, He, Yao, Ouyang, Jun, Chen, Zhiqing, Chen, Bailin, Su, Quande, Su, Bingzhi, Hong, Bingyu and Mesdames. Dong, Rui, Hu, Ma, Huanhuan, Wu, Chunqin, Luo, Yinfang, Duan, Sizhu, Yue, Lingjie under GM YI XIN INC. should have been read as GM YI XIN INC. located at 33/F, Alphaland Corporate Tower, Ayala Ave. Cor. Malugay St., Bel Air, Makati City, Metro Manila 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 NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

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FFCCCII appeals for unity, calm amid virus scare

By Roderick L. Abad

B

Contributor

@rodrik_28

USINESSMEN belonging to the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) threw their support behind the Philippine government’s call for the public to remain calm and vigilant, promote good hygiene, and uphold social peace and stability.

FFCCCII made the appeal after the World Health Organization has declared that the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a public health

emergency of global concern.

“We encourage the public to stay updated on government health advisories, cooperate with govern-

ment efforts, be socially responsible by not sharing fake news, or other unverified information, [and] avoid expressing racist defamations,” FFCCCII President Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong said in a statement.

Spreading bogus information and racist, xenophobic messages, according to him, “can be more dangerous than the virus itself, due to their negative effects of causing confusion, fears, rancor and instability.”

Since China is the “ally and age-old trade partner of the Philippines for more than 1,000 years,” Lim urged the public not to join some of those misguided in their biased racist stereotypes and xenophobic attacks against the most populous nation worldwide where nCoV originated.

Lim called on Filipinos to boost

the morale of the Chinese people in their “valiant efforts to contain this ailment.” He stated: “Instead of racist attacks by some quarters, we should commend the China government’s transparency, for their remarkable political will, and their immense sacrifices of imposing a lockdown on Wuhan City, and its neighbors which involve millions of people.”

FFCCCII, he said, plans to donate a million or more face masks for Filipinos in need of these protective gears had their supply improves and despite the World Health Organization’s affirmation that they are not required by people who are healthy sans no respiratory symptoms or not caring for someone with such manifestations.

The Chamber, through its socio

civic projects, has always given importance to public health, according to Lim. One such project is its regular “FFCCCII Libreng Gamutan” free medical and dental missions benefiting poor families nationwide.

“We at the FFCCCII want the best medical care for all people in the Philippines, because we strongly believe that public health is the foundation of a nation’s wealth and economic productivity. A healthy population creates economic prosperity,” he said.

NCoV is the latest in a slew of health risks, which include bird flu, swine flu, zika virus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome, that the world has seen in recent years.

Chinese authorities reported on New Year’s Eve the first case of the

disease in the province of Wuhan.

Since then, the new strain of the virus has spread not only in China, but also in other countries, including the United States. The first case of the disease was confirmed in the Philippines by the Department of Health (DOH) on January 30. The country was the first outside of China to record an nCoV death on February 2.

As of February 3, 362 and more than 16,000 people have been killed and infected, respectively, by the virus worldwide. In the Philippines, there are 80 individuals under investigation for nCoV, per the DOH. “Let us pray, unite, promote better health and uphold social harmony so that we may overcome the nCoV threat soonest,” the FFCCCII president said.

Razon-led firm invests in Manila Water

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ILLIONAIRE Enrique K. Razon Jr. has acquired a 25-percent stake in Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. in a deal worth about P10.7 billion, after buying shares of the water concessionaire’s capital stock.

In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Razon and Prime Metroline Holdings Inc. will incorporate Trident Water to take on the 25-percent stake in the East Zone water concessionaire after it bought 820 million common shares at P13 apiece.

Shares of the company was last traded at P12.76.

The board of Manila Water recently increased its authorized capital stock by 900 million common shares and Razon will gobble up most of these

NEW PCCI BOARD OF DIRECTORS (2020-2021) Ambassador Benedicto Yujuico (seated, center), the newly elected president of

the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) for 2020-2021, leads the new board of directors of the largest business organization in the country in championing innovation and entrepreneurship for the year. Sharing in this vision are the members of the board representing various industries/sectors: (seated, from left) Delia Jimenez, area vice president for NCR; Clarine Tobias, area vice president for South Luzon; Dr. Francis Chua, director for International Trade Affairs; Dr. Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., director for Corporate Social Responsibility and treasurer; Ambassador Yujuico; Ma. Alegria Sibal Limjoco, chairman and director for Membership and Special Projects; George Barcelon, president emeritus and chairman for Utilities and Legislative; Maria Teresa Rillo-Alegrio, area vice president for Mindanao; and Gregoria Simbulan, area vice president for North Luzon. Standing (from left) are Alfredo Yao, director for Trade and Industry; Michael Chen, director for Mineral Resources Development; Consul Samuel Chioson, area vice president for Visayas; Jeffrey Ng, director for Smart Cities; Dr. Alberto Fenix Jr., president emeritus and chairman for Human Resource Development; Edgardo Lacson, director for Capital Market Development and Corporate Governance; Apolinar Aure, director for SME; Roberto Amores, director for Agriculture and Fishery; Jose Leviste Jr., director for Environment; Menardo Jimenez, director for Banking; and Taxation and Edgar “Injap” Sia, director for Innovation and Intellectual Property. Not in photo are Dennis Uy, director for Transportation and Logistics and Arch. Felino Palafox Jr., director for Urban Development and Construction.

unissued shares.

Ayala Corp., the water firm’s parent, said the partnership with Trident Water demonstrates the conglomerate’s ability to attract sizable and longterm investments into the business group, and adds “enormous value to Manila Water as it executes on its long-term strategic direction.”

Ayala remains the biggest shareholder in Manila Water with a 38.6-percent stake.

“Across all our partnerships, Ayala values the complementary strengths and expertise that we can leverage off a team-based approach, which has been a hallmark of our many joint undertakings with

both local and international groups. Both Ayala and Razon share a deep commitment to contributing to the country’s water infrastructure development,” Ayala Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said in a statement.

“We are excited to enter into this partnership with the Ayala group. We will dedicate our efforts to further develop this unique business both here in the Philippines and abroad. We are confident that our collective experience, technical capabilities, and corporate synergies will be of great benefit to Manila Water, the people it serves, and its other stakeholders,” said Razon. VG Cabuag

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

February 3, 2020

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE SUN LIFE

53 144.5 81.75 24.95 10.98 56.05 12 31.3 53.4 20 168.6 62.7 0.85 18.3 0.53 3.6 0.375 0.75 1801

53.95 145 82 25 11 56.2 12.2 31.4 53.45 20.75 169 62.8 0.86 18.48 0.64 3.95 0.42 0.77 1887

52.15 148 82.5 25 11.02 57.45 12 31.6 53 20 177 63.5 0.86 18.2 0.64 3.9 0.375 0.77 1911

53 148 82.7 25.1 11.18 58.95 12 31.6 53.45 20.8 177.7 63.9 0.86 18.48 0.64 4 0.39 0.77 1911

52.15 142.5 81.3 24.95 10.96 56 11.98 30.8 52 19.1 168.1 62.6 0.86 18.1 0.64 3.6 0.375 0.72 1800

53 144.5 81.75 24.95 11 56.05 12 31.3 53.45 20 168.6 62.8 0.86 18.48 0.64 3.96 0.375 0.77 1887

2750 1445670 875390 455700 240200 4255650 17900 217800 4640 192800 434140 78700 18000 1600 2000 78000 230000 90000 105

143965 208843884 71624262.5 11392515 2650260 242249798.5 214700 6787590 245123.5 3850943 74164692 4949277 15480 29162 1280 296910 86800 66460 190235

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 VIVANT AGRINURTURE AXELUM CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG UNIV ROBINA VITARICH CONCRETE A 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 PANASONIC 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 COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT KEPPEL HLDG B 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 WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

-23447183 8284742 -430120 -156513406.5 -3180290 -1934281 -32705776 -773098.5 -

2.06 1.19 32 0.209 20.3 66.65 259 12.7 3.42 3.86 11.88 29.4 9.08 14.08 11.64 2.77 15 4.8 8.66 7.23 72 0.57 1.66 36.5 196 27.05 6.53 9.96 1.85 9.4 1.6 5.01 1.51 144.4 1.13 58.85 1.44 11.94 8.34 10.14 14.32 9.8 0.95 0.96 147.1 2.09 2.06 3.1 4.71 30.1 1.8 6.8 1.65 4.86 1.5 10.98

2.07 1.2 32.4 0.227 20.65 66.7 259.8 12.76 3.43 4.06 11.9 29.45 9.1 15.1 12.04 2.78 15.1 4.99 8.72 7.24 73.5 0.58 1.67 37 197 42.95 7 9.99 1.88 9.49 1.66 5.05 1.68 146.9 1.14 62.9 1.45 12.2 8.4 10.16 14.8 9.95 0.99 0.97 163.3 2.1 2.13 3.2 4.88 32.15 1.86 6.82 1.68 5.24 - 11

1.98 1.2 32.3 0.205 20.3 66.65 264 13.4 3.62 3.86 11.9 29.95 9.21 15.08 12.04 2.95 15 5 8.78 7.24 72.9 0.52 1.61 35 191.9 41.95 6.56 10.1 1.88 9.5 1.65 5.02 1.6 145 1.14 58.8 1.4 12.5 8.42 12 14.7 9.7 0.91 0.9 163.4 2.11 2.7 3.29 4.71 30.1 1.89 6.9 1.15 5.23 0.99 8.87

2.11 1.2 32.85 0.229 21 66.95 264 14.6 3.62 4.08 11.9 30 9.21 15.1 12.06 2.95 15 5 8.78 7.24 73.5 0.58 1.72 36.5 197.2 42 7.13 10.1 1.88 9.5 1.66 5.05 1.6 148 1.15 58.8 1.46 12.5 8.5 12 14.8 9.7 0.99 0.97 163.4 2.11 3.28 3.29 4.71 32.15 1.94 7.19 1.77 5.24 1.5 11

1.95 1.19 32 0.204 19.98 66.65 256 12.62 3.43 3.85 11.44 29.4 8.9 15.08 11.34 2.71 14.96 5 8.61 7.22 70.5 0.51 1.55 35 190 41.95 6.52 9.92 1.85 9.4 1.65 5 1.6 143.3 1.08 58.8 1.32 11.8 8.4 10.16 14.24 9.7 0.91 0.89 163.3 2.09 2.05 3.2 4.7 30.1 1.78 6.52 1.08 5.22 0.91 8.22

2.07 1.19 32 0.229 20.3 66.65 259 12.76 3.43 4.08 11.9 29.45 9.1 15.1 12.04 2.78 15 5 8.66 7.24 73.5 0.58 1.66 36.5 196 42 6.52 9.99 1.86 9.5 1.66 5.05 1.6 144.4 1.13 58.8 1.45 11.94 8.4 10.16 14.8 9.7 0.99 0.96 163.3 2.1 2.06 3.2 4.7 32.15 1.86 6.82 1.68 5.24 1.5 11

3218000 80000 1310900 780000 974900 186680 281420 62569600 4396000 20000 48500 92800 144900 3000 1364600 6269000 468400 17000 2337700 154900 135960 3367000 30388000 56900 426520 10200 21300 92500 81000 12700 57000 15300 5000 859370 9077000 100 12031000 98300 56200 1872900 2396300 2000 53000 2374000 860 220000 10293000 3000 15000 200 2369000 1439400 6985000 17000 12675000 20985600

6586680 95670 42165295 161320 20044561 12443544 73062030 851459332 15412420 77560 576302 2752635 1317722 45290 16357064 17835300 7024828 85000 20216159 1118400 9853025.5 1867460 50428960 2072800 83288099 428390 139332 925013 150910 120255 94220 76830 8000 124622976 10153960 5880 16763360 1189406 472416 19730578 34970422 19400 50030 2234310 140443 463110 29425760 9690 70530 6225 4379370 9798050 10900410 89015 16259230 210839371

1365379.9999 -12226855 -6061281 -480930 -23391896 69615040 -620870 -30926 -1012860 -10570 830440 -5990 6902124 11553333.9999 244754 593361 -44079.9999 -1067740 1959750 16996325 33463 -16858 -33440 9500 26400 -24737555 -50980 -1559360 33530 10626306.0003 -24552316 96100 4710 7320 3366976 -458920 1356750 3402711

0.83 10.1 716 49.8 10.52 2.48 5.98 0.66 0.88 6.12 6 12.4 3.6 0.203 665 4.1 69.5 5.5 0.48 3.69 9.73 0.54 3.19 4.7 1.11 1.12 175 974 135 0.79 170 0.203 0.195

0.84 10.46 730 49.85 10.56 2.5 6.23 0.69 0.9 6.19 6.04 12.5 3.61 0.22 666 5.1 70 6.84 0.5 3.77 9.76 0.58 3.2 5.12 1.19 1.19 188 974.5 136.6 0.82 176 0.214 0.2

0.82 10.58 727 49.3 10.8 2.55 6.01 0.66 0.89 6.08 6.14 12.9 3.61 0.209 679 5.1 70.15 5.5 0.48 3.72 9.8 0.56 3.3 4.3 1.19 1.1 184 971 139 0.79 186 0.203 0.195

0.85 10.58 742.5 51.45 10.8 2.55 6.01 0.69 0.9 6.29 6.14 12.9 3.61 0.209 700.5 5.1 71 5.5 0.5 3.78 9.9 0.58 3.36 5.14 1.19 1.22 188 983.5 139 0.82 186 0.21 0.195

0.81 10.1 711 48.05 10.5 2.48 6 0.66 0.88 6.08 5.91 12.5 3.61 0.202 665 5.1 68.5 5.5 0.475 3.69 9.65 0.55 3.19 4.3 1.15 1.1 184 955.5 132 0.79 166 0.203 0.195

0.84 10.46 716 49.8 10.52 2.5 6 0.68 0.9 6.19 6 12.5 3.61 0.203 665 5.1 69.5 5.5 0.5 3.69 9.73 0.58 3.2 5.12 1.15 1.22 188 974.5 136.6 0.82 176 0.203 0.195

4505000 29000 301150 861400 3270100 946000 40000 63000 445000 339900 6286200 184200 7000 180000 136900 2000 1281870 5800 165000 2770000 4774300 1259000 45623000 221000 28000 202000 20 127450 402960 59000 3310 1120000 50000

3741080 295970 220479850 42878120 34466616 2373500 240012 41810 393880 2083766 37860394 2341224 25270 36780 92751930 10200 89100057 31900 79495 10226350 46461390 693510 149454820 1101180 32840 222440 3720 124163560 54957830 46640 585690 227710 9750

154060 51300 2369510 -9817070 9561788 -68040 1231031 -17232339 -5169445 -972019.5 418760 -29655101 -47751200 -19347990 -24864009 -38960 1950

PROPERTY

ARTHALAND CORP 0.79 0.8 0.78 0.8 0.76 0.79 1052000 815750 ANCHOR LAND 8.75 9 8.78 9 8.78 9 200 1778 AYALA LAND 40.95 41 41.45 41.45 40 40.95 9543500 391370195 -7751205 ARANETA PROP 1.62 1.72 1.71 1.71 1.6 1.62 350000 585530 BELLE CORP 1.52 1.54 1.52 1.55 1.52 1.54 411000 628480 -15200 A BROWN 0.63 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.62 0.65 385000 242190 CITYLAND DEVT 0.78 0.8 0.79 0.8 0.78 0.8 84000 66780 35930 CROWN EQUITIES 0.179 0.186 0.177 0.187 0.177 0.186 3590000 646110 CEBU HLDG 6.41 6.66 6.42 6.66 6.41 6.66 15400 98939 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.5 4.53 4.58 4.58 4.45 4.5 160000 721470 144540 CENTURY PROP 0.475 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.47 0.48 2470000 1173250 43100 CYBER BAY 0.375 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.37 0.375 650000 242150 DOUBLEDRAGON 17 17.9 15.9 18 15.72 17.9 848100 13705618 -2568932 DM WENCESLAO 8.71 8.95 8.7 8.75 8.7 8.72 201600 1761139 -899751 EMPIRE EAST 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.4 0.39 0.4 130000 50800 EVER GOTESCO 0.101 0.11 0.101 0.101 0.1 0.1 100000 10040 FILINVEST LAND 1.42 1.43 1.46 1.47 1.42 1.43 7974000 11444160 -3782870 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.03 1.06 1.04 1.04 1.03 1.03 1497000 1553190 8990 HLDG 14.7 14.74 14.72 14.74 14.7 14.7 554700 8165162 612474 PHIL INFRADEV 1.07 1.09 1.12 1.12 1.05 1.07 1439000 1537320 -94630 MEGAWORLD 3.83 3.86 4.04 4.04 3.83 3.83 23627000 92064950 -11919300 MRC ALLIED 0.207 0.21 0.213 0.213 0.192 0.207 16040000 3227210 -94250 PHIL ESTATES 0.38 0.4 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.38 270000 102600 PRIMEX CORP 2.03 2.05 2.04 2.06 2.02 2.03 478000 970760 ROBINSONS LAND 24.25 24.5 25.25 25.3 24.25 24.25 1792600 44233075 -22332070 PHIL REALTY 0.315 0.32 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 130000 40300 ROCKWELL 2.05 2.09 2.06 2.06 2.05 2.05 136000 279810 SHANG PROP 3.06 3.18 3.18 3.18 3.18 3.18 1000 3180 STA LUCIA LAND 2.45 2.5 2.48 2.5 2.45 2.5 97000 239190 SM PRIME HLDG 38.85 38.9 39 39.05 38.75 38.9 14885000 578668260 206634100 VISTAMALLS 5.48 5.49 5.4 5.58 5.26 5.48 162400 878529 SUNTRUST HOME 1.8 1.82 1.75 1.85 1.69 1.82 6497000 11518410 VISTA LAND 6.59 6.8 7 7.15 6.51 6.59 555700 3791386 -1756034

SERVICES ABS CBN 17.1 17.46 16.5 17.8 16.5 17.46 112000 1933600 GMA NETWORK 5.28 5.29 5.26 5.31 5.22 5.29 349600 1848130 MANILA BULLETIN 0.405 0.43 0.425 0.44 0.4 0.43 1920000 784950 GLOBE TELECOM 1900 1903 1890 1900 1862 1900 20205 38280240 14106565 PLDT 1002 1004 996 1013 993 1002 152660 153331150 -27865575 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.047 0.049 0.045 0.049 0.045 0.049 1000000 47500 DFNN INC 4.9 5.19 4.91 5.1 4.9 4.9 44000 217000 ISLAND INFO 0.097 0.098 0.099 0.099 0.098 0.098 460000 45090 ISM COMM 3.28 3.3 3.21 3.35 3.17 3.3 3388000 11019030 -458970 JACKSTONES 1.74 2 2.1 2.1 2 2 143000 300100 NOW CORP 2.29 2.3 2.18 2.3 2.14 2.3 1828000 4095500 -172150 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.245 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.245 0.245 4510000 1111100 PHILWEB 3.32 3.4 3.43 3.58 3.12 3.32 7770000 25987490 -28550 2GO GROUP 9.25 9.49 9.4 9.49 9.25 9.49 12900 120540 CHELSEA 4.97 4.98 5.05 5.2 4.97 4.98 916200 4597895 -442902 CEBU AIR 73.95 74 75 75 73.9 74 572140 42356745.5 -5832726 INTL CONTAINER 127.4 128 130 130 126 128 383710 49203578 2091109 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.88 0.95 0.9 0.95 0.9 0.95 4000 3730 MACROASIA 9.83 9.84 8.84 10.48 8.82 9.84 7918700 77601446 -30182894 METROALLIANCE A 0.94 1 0.99 1 0.94 1 598000 564610 METROALLIANCE B 0.96 1.19 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.96 10000 9600 PAL HLDG 7 7.3 7.01 7.3 6.95 7.3 27300 191996 HARBOR STAR 1.16 1.18 1.16 1.24 1.04 1.18 4129000 4730680 -975979.9998 ACESITE HOTEL 1.31 1.36 1.32 1.32 1.31 1.31 27000 35420 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.8 1.99 2.01 2.01 2.01 2.01 1000 2010 GRAND PLAZA 9.8 12.7 13.46 13.46 13.46 13.46 100 1346 WATERFRONT 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.59 0.58 0.59 310000 180470 FAR EASTERN U 891 930 923 930 923 930 130 120430 IPEOPLE 7.94 9.19 7.94 7.94 7.94 7.94 15200 120688 STI HLDG 0.59 0.6 0.6 0.61 0.59 0.6 4100000 2443580 BERJAYA 2.59 2.61 2.56 2.7 2.55 2.61 224000 579940 -17290 BLOOMBERRY 9 9.01 9 9.05 8.88 9 3424700 30811220 -2020849 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.97 2.06 2.1 2.1 1.98 2.06 284000 574660 20000 LEISURE AND RES 2.2 2.22 2.28 2.28 2.2 2.22 224000 496510 MANILA JOCKEY 2.98 3.04 3.03 3.03 3.01 3.01 197000 594510 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.495 0.5 0.53 0.53 0.455 0.5 9808000 4963660 -819800 ALLHOME 9.68 9.7 10 10 9.52 9.7 2070500 20243464 2829023.9997 METRO RETAIL 1.87 1.88 1.95 1.96 1.87 1.88 1904000 3607740 -176260 PUREGOLD 38.25 38.35 38.1 38.65 38.1 38.35 816800 31458750 7053340 ROBINSONS RTL 76 76.25 76.25 77 76.25 76.25 86870 6630740 -3010540 PHIL SEVEN CORP 142.5 143 141.9 142.5 141.9 142.5 8320 1184788 1016638 SSI GROUP 2.09 2.1 2.22 2.22 2.1 2.1 2016000 4291200 41090 WILCON DEPOT 18.52 18.56 18.84 18.86 18.4 18.56 6066900 112806424 9068518 APC GROUP 0.38 0.39 0.395 0.405 0.39 0.39 2100000 824550 EASYCALL 7.7 8 7.8 8 7.75 7.8 5800 45165 GOLDEN BRIA 424.8 435 424.6 435 424.6 435 550 235082 77600 IPM HLDG 5.1 7.45 5.05 5.1 5.05 5.1 2800 14190 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.31 0.315 0.325 0.325 0.3 0.31 16610000 5119700 -375400 SBS PHIL CORP 8.75 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 55000 484000

MINING & OIL ATOK 9.91 11.4 11.76 11.76 11.76 11.76 100 1176 APEX MINING 1.04 1.06 1.1 1.1 1 1.04 3760000 4030470 -149060 ABRA MINING 0.0014 0.0016 0.0016 0.0016 0.0014 0.0015 276000000 413600 ATLAS MINING 2.31 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.31 2.31 840000 1950550 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.275 0.27 0.27 0.265 0.27 180000 48200 CENTURY PEAK 2.98 3 3.07 3.07 2.99 2.99 1813000 5455400 2741930 DIZON MINES 6.68 6.69 6.7 6.85 6.69 6.69 3600 24102 FERRONICKEL 1.42 1.43 1.43 1.45 1.4 1.43 1817000 2574520 -181270 GEOGRACE 0.2 0.205 0.207 0.207 0.2 0.205 650000 130720 LEPANTO A 0.095 0.098 0.094 0.102 0.094 0.098 5640000 558210 LEPANTO B 0.095 0.099 0.095 0.099 0.095 0.099 2700000 259300 -69300 MARCVENTURES 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.75 297000 224880 NIHAO 1 1.01 1.03 1.03 1.01 1.01 3000 3060 NICKEL ASIA 2.76 2.8 2.77 2.84 2.66 2.8 15011000 41584760 -2234740 OMICO CORP 0.435 0.465 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 10000 4400 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.68 0.7 0.69 0.7 0.69 0.7 29000 20140 PX MINING 2.83 2.85 2.85 2.85 2.82 2.83 455000 1291500 5680 SEMIRARA MINING 20.35 20.5 21.6 21.6 20.2 20.35 275600 5624755 -1646080 UNITED PARAGON 0.0054 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 4000000 22000 ACE ENEXOR 7.83 7.9 7.91 8 7.55 7.9 152400 1181686 -135580 ORNTL PETROL A 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 6500000 70300 PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.01 0.011 26700000 282100 PXP ENERGY 8.25 8.35 8.5 8.78 8.25 8.25 1290100 10861353 -184068

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 97.7 99 98.05 98.05 97.05 97.05 3100 303537.5 4900 ALCO PREF B 101 103.1 101 103.1 101 103.1 3010 304031 ALCO PREF C 103 104 103 103 103 103 2500 257500 AC PREF B2R 495 500 495 495 495 495 180 89100 CPG PREF A 100.9 101.8 102 102 102 102 1100 112200 DD PREF 100.2 101 100.2 100.2 100 100 3600 360230 SMC FB PREF 2 985 1012 1000 1000 1000 1000 900 900000 GLO PREF P 490 500 480 490 480 480 3400 1634100 4800 GTCAP PREF A 970 977 953 970 953 970 1290 1234300 GTCAP PREF B 980 999 975 977 975 977 50 48810 MWIDE PREF 99.1 100 100.1 100.1 100 100 18990 1899015 PNX PREF 3A 102.3 102.5 102.3 102.4 102.3 102.4 1100 112630 PNX PREF 3B 107 108.9 107.5 108.9 107.5 108.9 100 10806 PNX PREF 4 1031 1034 1031 1035 1031 1035 1650 1704150 PCOR PREF 3B 1060 1070 1060 1060 1060 1060 90 95400 SMC PREF 2C 76.9 78.4 77 77 77 77 15660 1205820 SMC PREF 2F 76 76.2 76 76 76 76 6800 516800 SMC PREF 2H 75.2 75.95 75.15 75.15 75.15 75.15 1000 75150 SMC PREF 2I 75.2 75.95 75.9 76 75.9 76 52600 3997300 -

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

15.3 5.13

15.4 5.34

15.56 5.15

16 5.15

15.4 5.1

15.4 5.12

146200 340700

2278810 1751116

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.1

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 3.36 KEPWEALTH 9.85 MAKATI FINANCE 2.29 XURPAS 0.81

1.13

1.1

1.1

1.01

1.1

115000

122390

-

3.47 9.92 2.46 0.83

3.4 9.82 2.3 0.81

3.51 9.92 2.3 0.83

3.32 9.51 2.3 0.78

3.48 9.92 2.3 0.81

499000 344100 3000 1183000

1708750 3356080 6900 945900

-240 -

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

107

-2078958 -1546236

107.7

109

109

107

107

41880

4531539

174770

www.businessmirror.com.ph

8990 Holdings sets aside capex of ₧12B for this year

M

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ASS housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. said it is allotting some P12 billion in capital expenditures this year, slightly higher than last year’s P10 billion.

8990 Chairman Mariano Martinez said at the sidelines of the company’s topping off ceremony of its Urban Deca Homes in Ortigas Avenue Extension in Pasig that most of the capex this year will be for its ongoing projects and land development activities.

As a result of the said Ortigas project, which has been delayed for years due to issues on permits, the company’s revenues may hit P20 billion this year, exceeding last year’s target of about P13.5 billion. Net income, meanwhile, may top P8 billion for the year as it continues to generate

strong sales from both horizontal and vertical projects Urban Deca Homes Ortigas consists of 22 buildings on a 13-hectare property along Ortigas Avenue Extension.

The project will have a total inventory of 19,046 two- and threebedroom units in the company’s largest condominium project in Metro Manila. It is aimed at young professionals and those starting families.

Compared to 8990’s other condominium projects, Urban Deca Homes Ortigas provides larger units, more open spaces and wider roads at a prime location in a densely populated area in Metro Manila.

Martinez said the company will start development for two condo-

minium developments in Quezon City this year—one along Commonwealth Avenue and the other in Cubao near Farmers’ Market.

The company’s capex this year will mainly be funded by the securitization of receivables from units sold on installment which currently amounts to about P22 billion, Martinez said.

The bulk of this capex is already held by the banks, or securitized, but the firm expects to generate P16 billion more in receivables this year, which it will again securitized to the banks to shore up cash.

A large portion of the receivables will be from the sale of units in the P40-billion Urban Deca Homes Ortigas.

Fruitas buys tofu stores, Kuxina stall chain

F

OOD and beverage kiosk operator Fruitas Holdings Inc. on Monday said it has acquired the owner of The Tofu Store, while its unit has bought a stall operator that offers Filipino dishes.

The company, in its disclosure, said it is acquiring SoyKingdom Inc., a privately held corporation carrying The Tofu Store brand, specializing in soybean-related products.

Meanwhile, Fruitas unit, Negril Trading Inc., operator of De Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar, is buying the assets of Kuxina, a stall concept specializing in Filipino dishes.

“Our 18th year in the kiosk business is a testament of our ability to innovate and identify suitable additions to our portfolio, unified by our vision to be woven into the fabric of daily lives of Filipinos. We will further strengthen our existing brands and seamlessly integrate our latest acquisitions, broadening our offerings to include both traditional and contemporary Filipino food and drinks,” said Fruitas President and CEO Lester Yu.

The storefronts of The Tofu Store, located in Little Baguio, San Juan, and Santa Mesa Heights, Quezon City, which offer soy milk, taho, tofu and other soybean-related products, will continue to operate, it said.

The Tofu Store has been operating since 2006 and has gained a loyal following among its patrons, which also includes restaurants.

“Fruitas believes that demand for freshly made and conveniently available soymilk, taho, tofu and other soybean-related products will further increase in the Philippines as more Filipinos discover its versatility as a stand-alone beverage or snack, and key ingredient in everyday meals,” the company said.

Negril Trading, meanwhile, will take over the operations of two owned stores of Kuxina, operating under the “Kuxina Filipino Fusion” and “Kuxina Ihaw Na!” brands, in Fruitas’s own Le Village lifestyle food park in E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City, and continue the franchise arrangements with eight other stores.

Kuxina serves Filipino food

GNPK power plant gets ERC’s approval

G

NPOWER Kauswagan Ltd. Co. (GNPK) was allowed by regulators to put up a transmission facility that will connect its 552-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant to the Mindanao grid of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP).

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), in a decision promulgated last January 24, said the development of the dedicated point-to-point limited facilities worth P66.13 million is “necessary” for GNPK to fully dispatch the power to be generated by its coal plant.

“The power plant should be connected to the grid,” it added.

The power plant is expected to help the power requirements of the Mindanao grid since this was already included in the committed power projects of the Department of Energy (DOE).

“The said project will redound to the benefit of the electricity consumers in terms of continuous, quality, reliable and efficient power supply,” said the ERC. One of the four units of the 4x150 MW power facility started its commercial operation in August last year.

GNPK also asked the ERC to

operate the facility that would be connected to the NGCP’s Kauswagan Switching Station. However, the ERC said it should be NGCP that would operate and maintain the said facility to ensure and maintain the reliability, security and integrity of the national electrical grid. The NGCP won the concession agreement to operate the country’s entire transmission grid.

At the same time, the ERC allowed GNPK to install a 69-kiloVolt (kV) connection facility worth P39.42 million on Lanao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Laneco).

GNPK and Laneco inked a 20year power-supply deal, which was approved by the ERC. The ERC took note of this, saying the connection facility with Laneco is necessary for backup power source for GNPK, should there any be failure on the part of the NGCP 230-kV switching station.

In all, the project cost of the two connection facilities are worth P105.55 million.

However, the ERC said GNPK could be sanctioned for its failure to secure prior approval of the transmission facilities before these were constructed. Lenie Lectura

dishes with a twist, such as Crispy Kare-Kare, Fried Sinigang, Crispy Dinuguan, usually in a traditional kawali or pan.

Kuxina will complement Sabroso Lechon, Heat Stroke Grill, the company’s other recent acquisition, and rice meals concepts.

The Fruitas Group has expanded

MUTUAL FUNDS

its product line by introducing new brands and acquiring the shares or assets of small companies and expanding their operations.

It expanded De Original Jamaican Pattie from around 40 locations to about 160 stores. Fruitas intends to grow its network to 2,000 stores by 2023. VG Cabuag

February 3, 2020

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

PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 234.1 -12.6% -2.41% -3.03% -7.06% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.2554 -16.8% -3.35% -5.34% -9.16% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 3.2953 -20.49% -6.47% -5.88% -10.41% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.8199 -14.26% N.A. N.A. -8.61% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.7825 -10.47% N.A. N.A. -7.87% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 4.9538 -10.94% -1.1% -3.07% -7.03% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,6 0.7846 -11.69% -5.07% N.A. -8.08% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A

97.74 -19.7% N.A. N.A. -5.41% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 47.2044 -10.34% -0.48% N.A. -7.95% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 494.17 -9.63% -1.29% -2.72% -7.25% PHILEQUITY ALPHA ONE FUND, INC. -A,D,8 0.9856 N.A. N.A. N.A. -4.32% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.1923 -9.91% -0.57% -1.77% -7.35% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 35.0717 -9.81% 0.33% -1.63% -7.46% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,1 0.9401 -9.96% N.A. N.A. -7.66% PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 4.8083 -9.53% 0.2% -0.99% -7.95% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 802.83 -9.57% 0.14% -1.12% -7.94% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.7673 -15.66% -3.33% -4.65% -9.88% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 3.8576 -10.44% -0.53% -1.88% -8.35% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 0.9214 -9.83% -0.01% N.A. -7.93% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.3921 -8.47% 1.28% -0.21% -7.15% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C 107.6976 -9.29% 0.83% -0.19% -7.91% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B

$0.9856 -0.51% 3.37% -0.21% -4.16% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.39 16.45% 9.18% N.A. 0.82% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.5156 -12.38% -4.16% -5.11% -3.02% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.067 -10.37% -3.19% -2.91% -5.23% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.5249 -4.98% 0.31% -2.84% -4.05% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN F.O.C.C.U.S. DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A,5 0.2179 N.A. N.A. N.A. -4.64% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.909 -0.2% 1.45% -0.25% -2.76% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.6327 0.02% 0.07% -1.38% -4.13% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.2647 -1.19% 0.04% -1.44% -4.1% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.0453 -5.06% -0.19% -0.42% -3.79% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.662 -4.12% 0.39% -1.23% -5.22% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,2 0.9737 N.A. N.A. N.A. -4.14% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,2 0.9343 N.A. N.A. N.A. -6.23% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,2 0.9276 N.A. N.A. N.A. -6.6% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9151 -5.37% -0.5% -2.43% -6.12% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03889 9.46% 3.42% 2% 1.73% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $1.0113 4.61% 3.44% 0.4% -2.56% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.9424 12.64% 7.31% 4.3% 0.81% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A,7 $1.138 9.05% 4.45% N.A. 0.82% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 358.21 3.86% 2.66% 2.16% 0.11% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A

1.9052 1.84% 0.37% -0.94% 0.17% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A

3.1297 4.9% 5.13% 5.17% 0.43% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.2328 4.12% 2.05% 1.63% 0.35% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.3568 5.69% 2.05% 1.18% -0.1% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 4.3733 12.06% 2.15% 1.16% 0.01% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.7733 5.74% 2.64% 0.42% -0.39% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9674 6.31% 1.17% -0.34% 0.32% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.0738 8.95% 4.02% 1.78% -0.07% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A

1.6928 7.9% 3.42% 1.1% -0.49% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $470.42 4.51% 2.74% 2.63% 0.47% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є220.35 3.09% 1.91% 1.27% 0.28% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.2114 6.32% 3.09% 2.25% 0.35% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.026 4.42% 1.59% 1.28% 0.78% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.1072 6.09% 1.63% -0.29% 1.1% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.436 10.32% 3.75% 2.53% 1.34% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0606483 5.93% 2.33% 1.79% 0.55% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $3.2392 11.5% 3.48% 2.51% 2.01% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 126.16 3.9% 2.89% 2.21% 0.3% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0294 N.A. N.A. N.A. 0.3% PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.2516 5.72% 2.95% 1.64% -0.41% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2678 3.66% 2.91% 2.41% 0.25% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0389 2.05% N.A. N.A. 0.16% 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. 0% 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."

www.businessmirror.com.ph

China cuts rates, injects liquidity as mainland markets sink

C

HINA’S central bank took its first concrete steps to cushion the economy and plunging markets from the blow of a spreading new virus, providing short-term funding to banks and cutting the interest rate it charges for the money.

The People’s Bank of China added a net 150 billion yuan ($21.4 billion) of funds on Monday using seven-day and 14-day reverse repurchase agreements. The rate for both was cut by 10 basis points, driving down the cost of the money to “ensure ample liquidity during the special period of virus control,” it said in a statement. PBOC Adviser Ma Jun indicated he expects further rate cuts later in the month.

The cash injection was part of a raft of supportive measures announced over the weekend to soften a market sell-off, and help firms affected by the disease outbreak and extended holiday. While the government said last Monday that it is confident it can minimize the economic impact of the coronavirus, the central bank and regulators may well continue to step up support as the effects of the epidemic become clearer.

“It’s a tricky moment, and the central bank needs to wait to see how it plays out,” said Nie Wen, an economist at Huabao Trust Co. in Shanghai. “It has to make sure the economy can grow steadily while leaving policy room for the future—the next week or two will be crucial for them to decide whether the economic shocks would be temporary or extend over the midterm.”

A senior Chinese official on Monday acknowledged the impact on the economy, especially on tourism, transportation, hotels, catering, movies and entertainment, adding those difficulties are “temporary.”

“Many people tend to use SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] in 2003 as a reference to gauge the economic impact. But China’s economic strength, material foundation and ability to respond to emergencies are significantly stronger than in 2003,” Lian Weiliang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission said at a news conference last Monday. “We are fully capable and confident to minimize the impact of the epidemic on the economy.”

Lian also said that while the government would work to ensure the coronavirus didn’t spread further, it would encourage major projects and enterprises in good condition to resume work and production.

Policy-makers will also roll out measures to soften the impact of the epidemic on a case-by-case basis, especially to try to help industries that have been hit hard, Lian said.

Vice Commerce Minister Wang Bingnan said at the same news conference that many exporters in China have been resuming production, and local governments have been issuing policies to help small- and medium-sized companies.

Authorities have pledged to provide abundant liquidity and there seems to be more easing measures in the pipeline. In an interview with the PBOC’s Financial News newspaper, Ma Jun said he expects the PBOC to push the interest rate for new loans lower and to also cut the rate for mediumterm funding in February if it uses that facility mid-month, as it usually does.

If that were to happen, it would be a change to a “rather strong” easing bias for the central bank, according to Peiqian Liu, China economist at Natwest Markets Plc in Singapore.

Having moved away from its historic one-year lending rate, China’s central bank now conducts policy with a range of instruments that add short and midterm funds to the market and banks at varying interest rates. The new loan prime rate—which is based on the interest rate for one-year loans that 18 banks offer their best customers—is set to be announced on February 20.

Markets plunge

CHINESE stocks, the yuan and commodity futures sank last Monday as trading restarted following the holiday break. The onshore bond and currency markets also opened Monday for the first time since January 23, with the yuan weakening through 7 per dollar. The yield on China’s most actively traded 10-year government bonds dropped the most since 2014.

After markets closed, the central bank-affiliated Financial News published a commentary saying “the sell-off in the stock markets is caused by many irrational factors, or even a panic triggered by ‘herd effects.’” The impact from the epidemic is “temporary” and “limited” and the first quarter’s contribution to full-year growth is normally small, according to the article.

“The swift response by the PBOC suggests it is very keen to support the economy by lowering the overall cost of funding,” said Becky Liu, head of China macro strategy at Standard Chartered Plc. “Cash bonds will likely continue to outperform in the near term,” with the 10-year government yield likely to drop to 2.6 percent, she said after the bank’s actions in the morning. That level would be the lowest yield since 2002. Bloomberg News

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 4, 2020 B3

GSIS asks LGUs, agencies to include ‘Acts of God’ in insuring govt assets

By Manuel T. Cayon |

D

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has appealed to executives of local governments and national agencies to expand the insurance coverage of their buildings and other properties to include all damages that might be considered “force majeure.”

INDIA TO ALLOW FOREIGN INVESTORS GREATER ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT SECURITIES

I

NDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration plans to allow foreign investors greater access to shortterm and long-term government securities in a bid to tap money being poured into passive funds operated by firms, such as BlackRock Inc. Certain categories of sovereign bonds will be fully opened to nonresident investors, apart from being available to domestic investors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech last Saturday. The government will take a decision as early as within a month, Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said in an interview last Sunday.

“Most of the bond investors now largely invest through indices,” Chakraborty said. “Recently, BlackRock, their big fund has become one of the largest funds using the passive investing route. So we shouldn’t miss that as that is a large investment.”

The move is seen as a precursor to India getting its securities included in global bond indexes. It gives foreign investors access to a high yielding market, while India can tap overseas savings as it ramps up spending to revive an economy growing at the slowest pace in a decade. BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, attracted record inflows last year that boosted its holdings to $7.4 trillion, more than two-thirds of which is in products linked to indexes.

India will decide on the plan before the borrowing schedule for the year starting April 1 is announced, Chakraborty said. The finance ministry is in discussion with the central bank on the securities to be offered.

“Both—the securities which are in demand and the ones which have longer tenure—would be opened,” Chakraborty said. Given the possibility of sudden and huge inflows, authorities will probably offer a mix of three or four bonds across tenures, he added. A portion of the budgeted borrowing for the next fiscal year would come from a planned exchangetraded fund of sovereign debt securities, Chakraborty said, adding that this is more likely in the second half of the year as the ETF needs to be structured.

India’s benchmark 10-year sovereign debt yields about 5 percentage points more than similar-maturity US Treasuries. However, foreign investors turned net sellers of Indian government debt in January for the first time in four months as expectations grew of a wider budget deficit.

Foreigners are allowed to hold upto 30 percent of the outstanding of any sovereign bond. Overseas funds hold less than 4 percent of the 60 trillion rupees of securities issued

by India, lower than the 6-percent limit on international ownership—and most of these holdings are in debt maturing within three years.

Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Barclays Indices, had announced it would help Indian authorities navigate a course to inclusion in international bond benchmarks. Bloomberg Economics estimates this inclusion could lure anywhere between $50 billion to $125 billion of new investment in the Indian economy as local savings wane.

Sitharaman on Saturday projected a fiscal shortfall of 3.8 percent of gross domestic product for the year through March instead of the 3.3 percent targeted earlier. However, market borrowings for the next year meet expectations.

Ten-year yields fell as much as 11 basis points to 6.49 percent on Monday.

“There are a couple of things the market will take heart from,” Ananth Narayan, a professor of finance and former South Asia head of financial markets at Standard Chartered Plc, told BloombergQuint. First is that the Reserve Bank of India is using unconventional policies to support bonds and can now even directly buy debt from the government, he said.

“And second, this step that has been taken in the budget to help include Indian bonds in global indices,” Narayan said.

Chakraborty said the government won’t ask the central bank to buy bonds directly. Traders and strategists had been concerned that such a move would distort prices and discourage fiscal discipline.

“We have a fairly large sized absolute borrowing program,” Chakraborty said. “So it’s important to get the money that is being saved abroad to participate in the Indian market.” Bloomberg News

“It’s adding a little premium to the mandated fire insurance,” GSIS Davao Branch Manager Deity U. Manampan said.

T h i s t i me, t he go v ernment entities “should expand the coverage to include earthquakes, typhoons and other ‘acts of God,’” Manampan added.

He said the decision shou ld be made before renewing their insurance “ because this would require a budgetary support.”

On Monday, the GSIS handed a check amounting to P42.37 million to the regional office here of

the Department of Health as settlement to the fire insurance claim when a fire hit some DOH structures on September 23, 2016.

DOH Regional Director

Annabelle P. Yumang received the insurance check on February 3.

Vilma L. Fuentes, GSIS vice president for Mindanao, said the claim was one of two big insurance settlement claims this year made by GSIS in Mindanao on damaged government properties. The other one involved P20 million for a building in Cotabato City.

Fuentes said, however, that buildings that were damaged in the series of earthquakes last year were not covered by insurance.

Under Republic Act 656, government entities were

mandated to insure their buildings and other properties. The mandated coverage was only related to fire. “ They need to insure their buildings for incidents related to acts of God,” she said.

Jason C . Teng , GSIS senior vice president for V i say a s a nd Mi nd a n ao Group, said the expanded insurance coverage has been deemed important after Supertyphoon Yoland a (i nter n at ion a l code name Haiyan) devastated Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, in 2013.

B4 Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Payday steak-cation at B Hotel Alabang

Lunch Buffet for 2 for Php 2,020!

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T’S the new year and Manila Marriott just unveiled its biggest discount all year round every Monday. You never have to enjoy buffet alone. Bring a friend or a loved one and savor a lavish lunch feast for only Php 2,020 nett—that’s slashing more than half the original lunch buffet price per person at Marriott Café!

Aside from the big discount, Marriott Café will still be serving a bountiful selection of your buffet favorites starting off with freshly baked breads, cold cuts, and artisan cheeses like soft rolls, grissini, peppered ham, brie, and gouda.

There’s also smoked mackerel, 12 kinds of salad, and antipasti. The Indian section offers

Halal-certified dishes such as the Tandoori roasted chicken and kadhai jhinga which is prawns in onion and tomato gravy. Get to indulge in fork-tender Australian beef rump at the carving station and other Western dishes with the likes of beef stew and baked Pollock in tomato coulis. There’s also the pasta station to craft one of your choice from pesto linguine to penne pasta in béchamel sauce and chef crafted soup. The Japanese section still houses everyone’s favorite Salmon sashimi, maki, tempura, and teppanyaki. Fresh and sustainable seafood from plump prawns, New Zealand and Chilean mussels, and white clams are stacked on ice at the seafood corner

that can be cooked to your liking whether baked or lightly sauced. At the Filipino corner, there’s also the local grill station for pork belly barbeque, chicken inasal, and other Pinoy favorites like sinigang and bulalo, and street foods such as kwekkwek and insarabasab. At the far corner of the buffet is the make-your-own noodle station, Chinese roasting station with char siu, soy chicken, dimsum station with pork buns, siomai, and dumplings. Never miss the chocolate fountain, halo-halo station, dessert station with truffle cake, strawberry mille feuille, and mango almond entremet.

The pandan panna cotta with macapuno and Marriott Café’s signature gelato are must tries! As you make your way out after the bountiful lunch, don’t forget to grab seasonal fruits to take home.

Marriott Café is also extending a 50% off on the regular rate for dinner buffet every Monday! Dine in for only Php 1,300 nett per person and enjoy the wide array of international dishes at the buffet.

To avail promotions, prior reservation is required. Promo cannot be availed in conjunction with other discounts and promotional offers. Children 6 yrs. old and below is complimentary.

For reservations and more information, call (02) 8988 9999 or visit www.manilamarriott.com. Follow @ manilamarriott at FB ,Twitter and IG.

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T’S never a bad idea to treat yourself for your hard work. Every 15th and 30th/31st of the month, bring some friends and head on over to B Hotel Alabang’s Prime Cafe for a well-deserved Payday Steak-cation!

From 12:00 nn to 2:00 p.m., reward yourself for a job well done by indulging in

200g of U.S. Prime Rib steak cooked just the way you like it. Dining guests also get to enjoy a salad buffet and unlimited sides and desserts, for the price of Php 950 nett per person.

For more information, visit our website at www.thebellevue.com

Shifting to plastic furniture?

A global vibe for new local markets

Representatives of local transport groups check out the Hyundai Modern Jeepney Class 1 displayed outside the newly-launched Hyundai Angeles dealership.

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YUNDAI Angeles complies with Global Dealership Space Identity (GDSI) standards, the modern design philosophy of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) that mirrors and complements its top-performing vehicles, such as the Reina, Accent, Kona, Tucson, Grand Starex, and Santa Fe. HARI hinted that the newly launched dealerships and those that are opening this year will be

housing Hyundai’s latest innovations slated for 2020.

This new dealership is part of HARI’s aggressive PC and Commercial Vehicle (CV) network expansion into the country’s high growth corridors.

On January 24, the day after the Angeles launch, HARI went on to open the first-ever Hyundai PC dealership in the Cordilleras, Hyundai Baguio City.

Last 2019, HARI sold 33,763 units (full-year figures) and generated 2.9% growth in December versus the same month in 2018, enabling it to maintain its position in the market as one of the top automotive brands in the Philippine market.

Customers can visit Hyundai Angeles along McArthur Highway, Balibago, Angeles City, Pampanga.

China Bank kicks off 100th anniversary with Chinese New Year celebration

China Bank Chairman Hans T. Sy and President William C. Whang switching on the LED lighted 100th anniversary logo at the Bank's headquarters in Makati to signal the start of the centennial celebration.

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HE year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of China Banking Corporation (China Bank). With the theme “Celebrating the Past. Embracing the Future”, China Bank is commemorating this important milestone by preserving its legacy while moving forward to better serve its stakeholders.

“We have been able to reach this milestone that few companies do, thanks to the strong foundation and timeless values laid by our founders, the continuing trust and patronage of our customers and shareholders, and the hard work and dedication of China Bankers— from the pioneering staff to our over 10,000 employees today,” said William C. Whang, China Bank president.

The festivities kicked off on January 24 with a Lion Dance at the Bank’s original head office in Binondo, Manila, which is

currently being restored to its original architectural design by German Architect Arthur Julius Niclaus Gambrel Gumbert, and retrofitted with modern technologies to make it more resilient.

The restoration of the 1920s building is the centerpiece of the Bank’s centennial celebration and a major component of Binondo’s renewal. The project will be completed in August and will be marked as a heritage site, coinciding with the launch of the China Bank Museum—both the physical museum inside the building and the mobile based app.

At the Bank’s head office in Makati City, the Bank’s Chairman Hans T. Sy, and President Whang, switched on the LED lighted logo of the Bank’s 100th anniversary mounted on the upper floor façade, facing Paseo de Roxas.

As a treat, the Bank has a year-long promo dubbed “Get the Miles, enjoy the SM-iles” that rewards customers with air travel (Mabuhay Miles or Get Go points) and shopping (SM Gift Pass) for their deposits from January 1 to December 31, 2020. Other activities are lined-up for the Bank’s year-long 100th anniversary celebration.

China Bank opened for business on August 16, 1920 in Binondo, Manila.

Since then, the Bank’s leaders have built a reputation for uncompromising integrity, service excellence, and commitment to clients’ financial success — from its incorporators and original board of directors led by Dee C. Chuan and Albino Z. SyCip and the first general managers Mr. J.W. McFarren and Eugene E. Wing; to Mr. Gilbert U. Dee, Peter S. Dee, and Ricardo R. Chua; to Sy and Whang.

China Bank’s 100th year is as much about looking ahead as remembering history. The Bank is entering the new decade with a digital transformation strategy that centers on building up digital capabilities and enhancing manpower skills and culture with agility, scalability, and resilience to better meet the fastevolving needs of customers. It is targeting to roll-out key digital and automation projects to support its wildly important goals (WIGs): business growth, customer centricity, operational excellence, and employee engagement.

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LASTIC products come in different sizes and shape but not all are the same in quality. So why do people switch from wood or metal to plastic? Here are the reasons why. The good deal is they do not easily break even when dropped from a height. Plastic furniture does not get effected from termites unlike wood furniture. No rusting they do not rust unlike iron furniture when exposed to air and moisture. No storage problem it is easy to store them when not in use by stacking them one over the other. This makes them consume less space for storage.

Plastic furniture requires less maintenance compared to wood and metal furniture.

The most desirable characteristic feature of plastic furniture is its light weight which enables it to be shifted around easily without much fuss. Plastic products are available in the market in a number of styles and molded in beautiful and user-friendly shapes with eye-catchy colors which makes it all more versatile. So, do you think it’s worth to shift?

Introducing the leading storage manufacturer in Japan, Iris Ohyama Inc. a Japanese consumer plastic and appliance manufacturer with more than 23,000 sku’s.

Based in Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture with factories in Japan, China, United states of America Netherlands, France and Korea.

The company designs and manufactures products aimed at the furniture, housewares, garden accessories, office products, pet supplies, appliance and more. IRIS plastic products are made from 100% virgin material with smooth easy pull drawers with slide rails, large compartments and no plastic smelling residue to assure customers that they are getting the best quality product.

IRIS is exclusively distributed by Continental Sales Inc. For inquiries and more information, CSI may be reached through its sales hotlines at (02) 8362-5886 / 87 and service at 8363-7193; Facebook page at @MarkesPH and website at www. lkggroup.com.ph/csi.

Battle Royale IX: Fight for #SocialGood

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HE U.P. Beta Sigma Fraternity, in partnership with SM Foundation proudly presents: Battle Royale IX: “Fight for #SocialGood”.

For nine years, The U.P. Beta Sigma Fraternity in Los Baños has brought the Mixed

Martial Arts (MMA) scene in Los Banos. This 2020, the said Fraternity will hold its 9th installment of Battle Royale on Feb 14, 2020 at Baker Hall, UPLB at 7pm.

On the evening of the Valentine’s day, 9 bouts, 18 athletes from different areas such as Metro Manila, CALABARZON, and all the way from Region II, of different weight classes will show their wits and talents inside the ring.

In line with this year’s tagline: “Fight for #SocialGood”, part of the proceeds of the event will go to the victims of the Taal volcano eruption and to the annual Operation Big Brother - a Christmas charity event organized by The U.P. Beta Sigma Fraternity for children in grassroot communities in Los Baños, Laguna.

To purchase tickets, just contact Tyrone Balaguer at 09067438231. Ticket price is at 200 php for VIP and 150 php for upper deck.

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, February 4, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

HAIL THE CHIEFS! Story »C4

DJOKOVIC, AGAIN, WINS AUSSIE OPEN

By Howard Fendrich

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The Associated Press

ELBOURNE, Australia—Novak Djokovic was looking weary and worn down. He felt dizzy and trailed Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open final—miscues mounting, deficit growing.

Djokovic did what he does, though. He refused to lose, waited for a chance to pounce and found his best tennis when absolutely necessary. Even threw in a wrinkle, serveand-volleying twice when facing break point.

Regaining his stamina and strokes, and showing some gutsy creativity, Djokovic came back to edge Thiem, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, on Sunday night for an eighth Australian Open title, second in a row, and 17th Grand Slam trophy overall.

“I was on the brink of losing the match. Dominic... disrupted my rhythm in my game at one point. He was a better player,” Djokovic said. “Probably one point—and one shot—separated us tonight.”

Nonetheless, Djokovic improved his record in semifinals and finals at Melbourne Park to 16-0 and assured himself of returning to No. 1 in the rankings, replacing Rafael Nadal.

No other man in the history of tennis has won this hardcourt tournament more than six times. Only Roger Federer, with 20, and Nadal, with 19, have won more men’s Grand Slam singles trophies than Djokovic.

“Amazing achievement. Unreal what you’re doing throughout all these years,” said the fifth-seeded Thiem, who is 0-3 in major finals. “You and also two other guys, I think you brought men’s tennis to a complete new level.”

Both finalists spoke about the devastating wildfires that have killed dozens of people and millions of animals around Australia. Djokovic also mentioned the recent deaths of National Basketball Association star Kobe Bryant and one of his daughters in a helicopter crash.

Addressing Thiem, Djokovic said: “I am sure you will definitely get one of the Grand Slam trophies. More than one.”

A little more than six months after saving a pair of championship points against Federer en route to winning a five-set Wimbledon final, Djokovic again showed that he can’t ever be counted out, coming back from two-sets-toone behind in a Grand Slam title match for the first time.

It didn’t come easily for the 32-year-old from Serbia.

He lost six games in a row in one stretch to Thiem, who plays a similar baseline game and eliminated Nadal in the quarterfinals.

Djokovic visited by a doctor and trainer in the third set and, desperate to hydrate, guzzled bottles of water and energy drink. He lectured the chair umpire about time violations.

“My energy dropped significantly,” Djokovic said at his news conference, sipping an anti-oxidant drink instead of the Champagne offered by tournament director Craig Tiley.

This was not the dominant Djokovic who made a hardto-believe total of nine unforced errors during his straightset triumph over Nadal in the final a year ago.

Djokovic eclipsed that total in the first set alone Sunday, finishing with 57.

It was a physical test offering plenty of entertaining exchanges, with 61 points lasting at least nine shots apiece.

“Very demanding,” Thiem said.

“Of course,” he said, “I just feel a lot of emptiness right now.”

At two key moments, Djokovic abandoned his usual grind-points-out script and went on the attack, rushing to the net after a serve when facing a break point— first, at 2-1 in the fourth set, then again at 2-1 in the fifth.

Paid off both times.

“Not characteristic of me,” Djokovic said. “Kind of all-ornothing.”

Making a charge as his less-experienced foe faltered, Djokovic broke to lead 5-3 in the fourth set, helped by a

sloppy volley into the net tape, a double-fault and a bad forehand by Thiem.

A break early in the fifth helped Djokovic clutch the silver Australian Open trophy he also won in 2008, 2011-13, 2015-16 and 2019.

He adds that haul to his five titles from Wimbledon, three from the US Open and one from the French Open.

Thiem, an Austrian who is 26, was the runner-up to Nadal at Roland Garros each of the past two years and was again trying to become the first man born in the 1990s to win a major singles title.

Instead, the Big Three have won 13 consecutive Slams and 56 of the last 67.

“It’s unique in sports history that the three best players—by far—are playing in the same era,” Thiem said. “That’s what makes it very, very difficult for other players to break through.”

The status quo appeared in peril in the third set, when Djokovic merely watched and shook his head as a lob by Thiem curled over him and in. Djokovic didn’t chase it.

Wasn’t entirely clear right then what the problem was, but perhaps he knew he needed to save some strength.

Heat, so often a factor in Melbourne, was not an issue. The crisp, cool conditions were pretty much ideal at the start, with a light breeze and the temperature around 70 degrees (20 Celsius).

That dropped as the natural light faded, first leaving a violet ceiling of sky before nightfall arrived, accompanied by alarmingly loud squawks from a flock of seagulls perched on steel railings atop the arena.

Not surprisingly, given his experience and expertise, Djokovic came out loose, limber and locked in. Of the initial half-dozen points lasting at least nine strokes, he won all six. Within 13 minutes, he was ahead 3-0, as a chorus of his nickname—”No-le! No-le!

No-le!”—rang out.

Undaunted, Thiem displayed praiseworthy patience, and when Djokovic’s aim and focus betrayed him, this became an

intriguing contest.

At 4-all in the second set, Djokovic was warned by chair umpire Damien Dumusois for taking too much time before a serve. A poor drop shot found the net to set up break point, and Dumusois again cited Djokovic for letting the 25-second clock expire; the penalty was a fault. A tepid 85 mph second serve followed, and Djokovic flubbed a forehand to give Thiem a 5-4 lead.

As Djokovic walked to the changeover, he tapped Dumusois on the left shoe, gave him a thumbs-up, then sat down and told him, “You made yourself famous.”

That was part of a six-game run that gave Thiem the second set—Djokovic had taken 16 in a row since the opening round—and control of the third.

Just as it seemed Thiem might be on his way, Djokovic made a stand.

“It was anybody’s game, really. I knew that very early in the fifth set, it was crucial for me to make a break,” Djokovic said. “I had that mental edge again, and that was enough to win it.”

NOVAK DJOKOVIC again shows that he can’t ever be counted out, coming back from two-sets-toone behind in a Grand Slam title match for the first time. AP

ROGER, RAFA: WATCH OUT FOR NOLE!

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DOMINIC THIEM is slow, and surely, squeezing his way to the top. AP

ELBOURNE, Australia—As Novak Djokovic conducted yet another in a long string of interviews after earning his record eighth Australian Open championship, runner-up Dominic Thiem was sliding into the front passenger seat of a white tournament courtesy van.

It was past 1:30 a.m. local time, and Djokovic was toting his large silver winner’s cup everywhere while explaining how he edged Thiem, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday night for a 17th major title. Thiem, meanwhile, had just emerged from the locker room, his media obligations long finished.

Thiem was toting a much simpler runner-up tray in his left hand. Just another thing to lug home, along with his rackets, a mesh bag filled with shoes and plastic sleeve stuffed with sweaty clothes.

It is an all-too-familiar scene nowadays when a Grand Slam tournament wraps up: a member of the Big Three holding court and holding the biggest trophy; a younger man leaving the scene to plenty of praise but not the triumph he wanted. And, increasingly, the guy with the hardware that’s the envy of all is Djokovic, more often than it is either of his rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Which, of course, is the point right now. Roger and Rafa need to watch out, because the guy whose nickname is Nole is gaining on them.

Djokovic has won five of the past seven major tournaments, a run that dates to Wimbledon in 2018.

So as the tour departs from Australia, Federer leads the men’s list with 20 Slam trophies, one ahead of Nadal and, rather suddenly, just three more than Djokovic.

“Obviously, at this stage of my career, Grand Slams are the ones I value the most. They are the ones I prioritize,” said Djokovic, who defeated Federer in the final at Wimbledon last year and the semifinals at the Australian Open this week. “Before the season starts, I try to set my form, shape, for these events, where I can be at my prime tennis, mental and physical abilities.”

Then he added: “I mean, of course, there’s a lot of history on the line.”

Everyone can decide on their own what should determine who the greatest in tennis history is. Or not—and just appreciate all three of these tremendously successful athletes.

Consider this: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have won the last 13 Grand Slam titles in a row. (Compare that with the women’s game, where 11 women have divvied up that many majors in that same span; the most recent first-time champ was 21-year-old American Sofia Kenin in Melbourne.

Take it back to 2003, and the Big Three accounts for 56 of the last 67, too.

“These guys,” said Thiem, who’s now 0-3 in major finals, all against Djokovic or Nadal, “brought tennis to a complete new level.”

Djokovic mentioned another category in which he is approaching a mark held by Federer: most weeks at No. 1 in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings.

By winning the Australian Open, while 2019 runnerup Nadal bowed out to Thiem in the quarterfinals, Djokovic regained the top spot. Nadal slides down to No. 2, with Federer still No. 3, and Thiem up a place to No. 4.

Federer holds the men’s record of 310 weeks atop the rankings, followed by Pete Sampras with 286, and Djokovic at 275.

“That’s the other big goal,” Djokovic said. “I put myself in this position that is really good at the moment. I’m super happy with the way I started the season. It kind of sets the tone for the rest of the year.”

Consider that a warning.

Djokovic is the youngest member of the trio, still just 32, while Nadal is 33, Federer 38.

For all of their great success—no one has won the French Open more than Nadal, with 12; no one has won Wimbledon more than Federer, with eight; no one has won the Australian Open more than Djokovic—here’s one tidbit that’s fascinating: Each man has one major site where he has been limited to one title.

For Nadal, it’s Melbourne Park. For Federer and Djokovic, it’s Roland Garros.

Guess what the next stop is on the Grand Slam calendar? AP

Spo

Business

C2 Tuesday, February 4, 2020

KOBE REMEMBERED AT SUPER BOWL 54 KANSAS City Chiefs’ Demarcus Robinson wears cleats honoring Kobe Bryant at the Super Bowl 54. AP

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National Football League extend our deepest condolences to the friends and families of those lost this past week.... They will never be forgotten,” was the message that blared through Hard Rock Stadium.

As that announcement was being made, two of the stadium’s four video screens showed an image of Bryant and the names of the other eight victims of the crash. The other two video screens showed an image of longtime Minnesota Vikings star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Doleman, who also died last week.

Sherman also appeared on Fox’s pregame show to read a poem called “Dear Football”— adapting most of what he said from Bryant’s “Dear Basketball” poem that he penned as a way of announcing that the 2015-16 season would be his last with the Lakers and in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

“I played through the sweat and hurt. Not because challenge called me. But because YOU called me,” Sherman read, copying Bryant’s words exactly in that particular passage. “I did everything for you. Because that’s what you do when someone makes you feel as alive as you’ve made me feel.”

During warm-ups at the Super Bowl, plenty of players wore cleats designed with various tributes to Bryant. San Francisco’s Dante Pettis had purple-and-gold ones with the words “Mamba Out”—the final two words of Bryant’s retirement speech following his 60-point farewell game in 2016—emblazoned on the sides. The 49ers’ Emmanuel Sanders wore a pair with the words “Rest In Peace” and Kansas City’s Demarcus Robinson had images of Bryant and his number 24 on his cleats.

Tributes all over other aspects of the sports world continued Sunday, exactly one week after the crash. At the Miami-Pittsburgh men’s

IAMI GARDENS, Florida—Even at the Super Bowl, they mourned Kobe Bryant.

San Francisco’s Richard Sherman showed up for the Super Bowl in a Bryant jersey, the start of numerous honors dedicated to the basketball legend on football’s biggest day. Among them: Players from the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers lined up for a moment of

silence to commemorate all nine victims of last weekend’s helicopter crash, including Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

The teams stood on their respective 24-yard lines—in tribute to Bryant’s No. 24 jersey. Some fans at the game wore Lakers jerseys, and a few even had Bryant’s Lower Merion High School jersey.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please join in a moment of silence as the 49ers, Chiefs, and

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Trump bashes Democratic foes in Super Bowl pregame show

ALM BEACH, Florida—President Donald J. Trump used a Super Bowl pregame interview to rail against Democrats, accusing them of hatred and offering schoolyard insults about his potential 2020 rivals.

“I see the hatred.... They don’t care about fairness, they don’t care about lying,” Trump said in a taped interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, which aired on Fox hours before sports’ biggest night of the year.

But Trump’s Super Bowl night may best be remembered by an errant—now deleted tweet—congratulating the state of Kansas and not mentioning Missouri, where the Chiefs play their home games at Missouri-based Arrowhead Stadium, for the Kansas City Chiefs’ win.

Trump spent his weekend in Florida as most of the political world has been focused on Iowa, where Democrats on Monday will cast their first votes to choose the party’s nominee.

Prompted by Hannity, Trump went through most of the major candidates one by one, deriding “Sleepy Joe” Biden, the former vice president, accusing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren of telling “fairy tales,”

and labeling Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a selfdescribed democratic socialist, as “a communist,” even though he’s not.

But Trump seemed most preoccupied by the candidates who has chosen to skip the earlyvoting sates: Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor who has been blanketing the airwaves with anti-Trump ads.

The president’s campaign and Bloomberg’s ran dueling, multimillion-dollar ads during Sunday night’s game, with both spending an estimated $10 million for 60 seconds of air time, which Trump used to purchase two 30-second spots.

Trump’s first featured the story of Alice Marie Johnson, a nonviolent drug offender whose life sentence Trump commuted after reality TV star Kim Kardashian West championed her case.

The ad showed footage of the emotional moment when Johnson was released from

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THE Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo drives against the Suns’ Tariq Owens. AP

ILWAUKEE—The Milwaukee Bucks have lost 28 games since the start of last season. Only once did they follow one defeat with another.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 19 rebounds, and the Bucks rebounded yet again by beating the Phoenix Suns, 129-108, Sunday— two days after a loss to Denver.

“A good response,” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Not our best, but a steady, good response.”

Antetokounmpo reached the 30-point mark for the 26th time, and fellow All-Star Khris

prison and reunited with her family.

“My heart is just bursting with gratitude,” she tells the camera. “I want to thank President Donald John Trump.

Hallelujah!”

“Thanks to President Trump, people like Alice are getting a second chance,” the ad’s text reads, adding: “Politicians talk about criminal justice reform.

President Trump got it done.”

A second Trump ad—which ran after the game had ended, instead of during the game as his campaign had said—argued that, “Under President Trump, America is stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before.”

Bloomberg, whose spot was scheduled to air during the second half of the game, also chose an emotional subject, featuring a grieving mother who lost her son to gun violence. George Kemp Jr., who dreamed of one day playing in the NFL, was only 20

college basketball game, Pitt fans tossed purple and gold confetti—Lakers colors—in the air after the Panthers scored their first basket. And before a Serie A soccer match at Olympic Stadium in Rome between Lazio and Spal, Bryant’s photo was displayed on the jumbo video screens.

At the Professional Golfers’ Association Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, the tour joined players with a 16th-hole tribute to Bryant by using his two Lakers uniform numbers to cut the finalround pin position on the stadium par 3.

The pin was placed 24 yards from the front edge and 8 yards from the left edge on the rowdy hole that holds more than 20,000 fans. The yellow flag had a 24 on one side and an 8 on the other, and large matching numbers were painted in the grass in front of the green.

On Saturday night, Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild skated in a 24 jersey—another way of paying homage to Bryant.

The National Football League also announced that it was auctioning 20 autographed helmets and footballs to benefit The Mamba Sports Foundation.

Some of those who autographed items included NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, Peyton Manning, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Ciara and Russell Wilson, Stephon Gilmore, Shaquill and Shaquem Griffin, John Harbaugh, Christian McCaffrey, Kyler Murray, Paul Rudd, Deion Sanders, Michael Thomas, and all members of 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Sherman ended his poem with “We love you, Kobe. We love you, Gianna. Love always, Richard.”

THE Longines Masters of Hong Kong show jumping leg will not take place because of the coronavirus scare.

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OMPETITIONS in equestrian and golf are the latest sporting events to be canceled due to the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

The Longines Masters of Hong Kong show jumping leg will not take place, organizers confirmed. Officials from the Ladies Professional Golf Association also said that the Blue Bay LPGA tournament on China’s Hainan Island has been called off.

More than 35,000 people were expected for the show jumping in Hong Kong, with the event the first of three Longines Masters legs on the circuit. Action was due to take place at AsiaWorld-Expo under the organization of EEM.

“The safety of our audience, athletes, visitors, exhibitors, service providers, internal teams, as well as that of the horses taking part in the Longines Masters of Hong Kong, is an absolute priority,” EEM founder and President Christophe Ameeuw said.

“Considering the uncertainty surrounding the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, and in order to guarantee the welfare of our guests, partners and stakeholders, it is without hesitation that we decided not to hold the event,” Ameeuw added.

The Blue Bay LPGA was due to take place at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course and was a leg of the LPGA Tour.

“Given the current health concerns and significant travel restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus in China, the LPGA along with

F1 will alter calendar if needed

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PRESIDENT Donald J. Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend Super Bowl 54.

when he was fatally shot in 2013.

Bloomberg is a longtime backer of what he calls commonsense gun legislation and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since his tenure as New York mayor to combat gun violence. AP

ARIS—Formula One is closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak in China and will modify its race calendar if necessary.

Amid growing concern about the spread of the virus, international sports have been postponed and Olympic qualifying tournaments in soccer, basketball and boxing have been taken elsewhere.

The latest cancellation on Thursday was equestrian’s Asia Horse Week from February 13 to 16 in Hong Kong, which is cutting rail links with mainland China as a precaution to limit the virus spreading.

The F1 race in Shanghai is scheduled for April 19 and may be at risk of being postponed or canceled.

The series’ governing body said in a statement

Thursday it “will evaluate the calendar of its forthcoming races” under the supervision of medical commission president Gérard Saillant and, if necessary, “take any action required to help protect the global motor sport community and the wider public.”

The last F1 race to be canceled was the Bahrain GP in 2011 because of an uprising and violent protests.

The first race of 2020 is the Australian GP in Melbourne on March 15, followed by the Bahrain GP in Sakhir one week later, and the inaugural Vietnam GP in Hanoi on April 5.

On Wednesday, the indoor athletics world championships in Nanjing were postponed by one year to March 2021. The first alpine ski World Cup races next month at one of the 2022 Beijing Olympics courses in Yanqing were also called off. AP

Antetokounmpo lifts Bucks over Booker-powered Suns

McDowell holds off Johnson in Saudi International golfest

Middleton had 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Brook Lopez added 17 points, and the Bucks shot 49.5 percent and made 15 of 38 from three-point range.

Devin Booker scored 32 points and spurred a third-quarter surge by Phoenix, and the deficit dropped to nine when DeAndre Ayton dropped a hook shot with 3:51 left in the quarter.

Milwaukee responded with three straight 3-pointers—including back-to-back from Donte DiVincenzo—to snuff out the rally.

“It was a game until they hit those three 3s in a row,” Phoenix Coach Monty Williams said.

“I’m proud of the way the guys competed.”

Ayton had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and the Suns shot 39 percent and made just 6 of 23 from deep.

In Toronto, Terence Davis hasn’t forgotten about being passed over for a spot in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend. Even so, the Toronto Raptors rookie is just happy he’s playing for a contender.

Davis came off the bench to score a careerhigh 31 points and the Raptors tied a team record with their 11th straight win, beating the Chicago Bulls, 129-102.

Toronto also won 11 straight in January 2016 and again from February 26 to March 16, 2018.

Pascal Siakam added 17 points, Serge Ibaka

ING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, Saudi Arabia—Graeme McDowell shot a steady even-par 70 to win the Saudi International by two strokes on Sunday for his first European Tour title since 2014.

McDowell, the 2010 US Open winner at windy Pebble Beach, protected his lead on a breezy afternoon by the Red Sea to card a 12-under 268 total, holding off late pressure by defending champion Dustin Johnson.

Johnson made an eagle on the par-five 18th by chipping in over a bunker for a three-under 67 as McDowell saved par on No. 17.

McDowell sank his 5-footer to par the 18th and secure his 16th professional win, in a 13th different country.

A first title on McDowell’s home tour since the 2014 French Open lifted him back into a top-50 world ranking, and earned a winner’s check of $583,000.

“It’s special,” the 40-year-old Northern Irishman said. “I want to be back up there one more time

had 16, Chris Boucher 15 and Kyle Lowry 14 for the reigning National Basketball Association champions. The Raptors outscored the Bulls, 69-39, in the second half to win their 12th consecutive meeting with Chicago.

Davis made a career-high 12 of his 15 field goal attempts, including six of seven from threepoint range.

“The ball was going in, so I kept shooting,” Davis said.

Davis is the sixth rookie in Raptors history to score at least 30 in a game, and the first to do it as a reserve.

“He’s reaping some of the benefits of all his hard work,” Coach Nick Nurse said.

Davis said the All-Star snub was “definitely in the back of my mind,” but insisted he’s content with the Raptors, who are second in the East.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to play in the game, because it’s a special event, but I would rather play in the playoffs,” Davis said.

An undrafted rookie from the University of Mississippi, Davis had scored 23 points twice this season, most recently against Washington on January 17. He surpassed that mark with a 13-point fourth quarter, and received a hug from Lowry when he checked out with 3:12 remaining. AP

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just to be able to play against these guys.”

Phil Mickelson fired a 67 to end in a three-way tie for third place on nine under, with Thomas Pieters (65) and Gavin Green (70).

McDowell’s partner in the final pairing, Victor Dubuisson, fell away after dropping five shots from Nos. 10-14 in a four-over 74. The Frenchman was among five players tied for sixth place on seven under, including Sergio Garcia (66).

McDowell began the day with a one-shot advantage and never fell out of at least a share of the lead at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.

Johnson made an eagle-3 on No. 4, yet carded only one more birdie until his flourish on the final hole.

Mickelson surged with a hat trick of birdies from the second to fourth holes but did not find another until the 18th to get back the shot he dropped on No. 16.

Top-ranked Brooks Koepka carded a 2-over 72, including a double bogey 6 at the ninth. He finished tied for 17th place, eight shots back. AP

orts

sMirror

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

TWO MORE SPORTS EVENTS CANCELED

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Patrombon books ‘3-peat’ in Fr. Suarez Open

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ESON PATROMBON blasted Joshua Kinaadman with his power game in the opening set then hurdled a minor bump in the second to fashion out a 6-2, 6-4 victory for a third straight Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) Fr. F. Suarez Open crown at the Villa Aurora Tennis Club in Cebu City over the weekend.

The multi-tilted Iligan City ace strung four straight games to shatter a one-all count in the opener then fought back from a pair of one-game deficits in the second by sweeping the last three games to complete the straight-set triumph in two hours and 33 minutes.

It was Patrombon’s third straight Fr. Suarez Cup trophy after dominating fellow Davis Cup veteran Johnny Arcilla in 2018 and routing doubles partner Vicente Anasta via the same score line, 6-0, 6-1, last year with the victory

coming on the heels of his gold-medal feat in the men’s doubles with Casey Alcantara in last year’s 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Winner of the Gov. Umali Cup, Brookside Open, Actifit Open and Pintaflores Open last year, Patrombon, 26, crushed Venz Alforque, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarters then eased out No. 6 Leander Lazaro, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the finals of the event presented

by Dunlop, and put up by the PPS-PEPP. “Patrombon continues to impress and dominate with his form and staying power which the young, aspiring players should emulate,” said Palawan Pawnshop President and CEO Bobby Castro, who hopes to produce more Patrombons, Arcillas, Anastas and Kinaadmans through the PPS-PEPP junior circuit.

Sharing the spotlight are Legends doubles winners Jason Benitez and Jordan Cimafranca, who whipped Jonathan Bernardo and Jerry Bernabe,

8-1, for the 30s title; Graeme Foster and Adonis Lominoque, who ripped Bernardo and Bernabe, 8-1, in the 40s finals; and Alquin Antigua and Lominoque, who blasted Mario Guillermo and Roy Tabotabo, 8-2, for the 50s trophy.

Aldrin Geluz, meanwhile, turned back Jason Benitez, 8-4, to annex the 40s men’s singles crown.

Next up is the Best of the Best Top 8 from February 6 to 11 in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. For details, call PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

Patrombon capped his big week by pocketing the doubles plum with Anasta as they toppled Arcilla and Arthur Pantino, 6-3, 6-3, to claim the top P20,000 purse in the event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-MEG.

PSC conducts National Sports Summit

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our partners in China have made the decision to cancel the 2020 Blue Bay LPGA,” an LPGA statement said.

“Any time you cancel an event, it is a difficult decision, and we appreciate how hard our title partner Blue Bay, IMG, the China LPGA and the China Golf Association have worked to host an incredible event,” the statement furthered. “The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority.”

Coronavirus has killed more than 300 people, and spread to at least 27 countries since it originated in Chinese city, Wuhan.

The World Athletics Indoor Championships, initially scheduled for March in Nanjing, is the most high-profile sporting event to be postponed

WO of the country’s influential female national athletes—Meggie Ochoa and Pauline Lopez—will share the secrets to their sports success at the 2020 National Sports Summit (NSS) set at Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on February 27 and 28.

The 29-year-old Ochoa is a veteran internationalist in jiu-jitsu who won three world championships titles and also copped the gold medal in the women’s -45 kg class at the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Ochoa is also the founder of “Fight to Protect” movement which protects children against sexual abuse through sports.

“It is a huge honor and privilege to be able to speak in such a momentous event. I do not feel worthy to speak in such an event, but given this one of a kind opportunity, I will make the most of it and do my best. Overall, I am just grateful,” Ochoa said.

Lopez, a taekwondo champion in the women’s 57-kg class also in the 30th SEA Games, will also share her experience to stakeholders.

The two champion athletes will join wellknown sports specialists and educators in the two-day lecture-workshops to be facilitated by Dr. TJ Rosandich,

because of the virus so far. It has been delayed by a year until March 2021.

The opening test event for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, an Alpine Skiing World Cup in Yanqing, was also canceled.

Other sports affected include boxing, football, wrestling, basketball, tennis, hockey, badminton, diving and biathlon.

German Olympic Sports Confederation President Alfons Hörmann described the illness as the “greatest threat” to Tokyo 2020, with Japan one of the countries with confirmed cases.

This year’s SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit in Beijing, scheduled for between April 19 and 24, is also at risk.

LADY RED SPIKERS SNAP 3-GAME SKID

Insidethegames

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China postpones domestic soccer league

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EIJING—The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has announced that all domestic matches of the 2020 season will be postponed in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus that has now claimed more than 200 lives.

The Super League was due to run from February 22 to October 31. A starting date for the new season has not yet been announced.

“In order to cooperate with the nationwide prevention to curb the virus and to ensure the health of all football related people, the CFA decided to delay all levels of domestic football matches in 2020 season

from now on,” read a statement from Chinese football’s governing body.

In addition, the Asian Football Confederation confirmed that all four Chinese clubs will first play three away games in the Asian Champions League group stage.

The world athletics indoor championships, scheduled to be held from March 13 to 15 in Nanjing, have been postponed for 12 months.

Also, the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour has canceled the Blue Bay tournament scheduled for March 5 to 8 on Hainan Island, due to the virus. AP

‘The Only Way Is Through’

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NDER Armour embarked with a new campaign— The Only Way Is Through—putting together in Baltimore athletes, trainers, teammates and media a two-day immersion into the next year of the brand’s innovation.

The platform launch included a 90-second anthem. It will be supported with additional content throughout the year—including spotlight pieces telling the stories of all types of athletes and exploring their “through” moments.

As Under Armour and its athletes bring to life its vision for 2020 and beyond, The Only Way Is Through becomes a rallying cry for the brand in an effort to motivate and inspire athletes around the world to put in the work and get better.

The anthem content features a wide array of athletes and teams, including Stephen Curry, DK Metcalf, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kelley O’Hara, Georgia Ellenwood, Zhu Ting, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Kyle Dietz and Adinda Sukardi.

The platform is representative of the next frontier for Under Armour—the opportunity of 2020 and beyond.

The campaign brings to life the real value of momentum—how momentum through work helps athletes push themselves to be better than what they thought possible and how Under Armour technology is supporting those athletes constantly in search of incremental change in an effort to get better.

UNDER Armour introduces its 2020 global brand platform.

president and CEO of the United States Sports Academy (USSA) who will share his expertise from a First World Perspective.

Dr. Celso Dayrit, chairman of the Southeast Asian Games executive committee, will discuss Philippine Sports and Olympic Movement, Education Undersecretary Atty. Revsee Escobedo will lecture on the status of sports in schools along with Davao del Norte Youth and Sports Development Head Giovanni Gulanes, who will discuss regional sports program.

The other presenters are Philippine Sports Commission Deputy Executive Director Atty.

Guillermo Iroy, Prof. Tessa Jasmines of the University of the Philippines Diliman and House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who will be the keynote speaker during the opening ceremony on February 27.

Representatives from the Philippine Olympic Committee, DepEd, Commission on Higher Education and the Department of the Interior and Local Government are also the other lecturers.

Around 400 participants from different government agencies, private sector, stakeholders, and other PSC partners are expected at the summit.

BORNOK IN MAITUM

National motocross champion Rhowell Matias “Bornok” Mangosong wows the crowd in the recent sixth National Invitational Motocross Competition that was part of the 13th Bangsi Festival in Maitum, Sarangani.

AN Beda University snapped a two-match skid by disposing of cellar-dweller Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), 25-15, 25-16, 2725, on Monday in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 women’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Lady Red Spikers’ team captain Francesca Racraquin had another stellar performance of 18 points, three aces, 16 excellent digs and seven excellent receptions, while Maria Viray added 13 points, and Lynne Matias made 19 excellent sets.

San Beda improved to 4-2 won-lost for fourth spot in the standings.

“I told my seniors, especially the graduating ones, that we have to work hard in our succeeding games,” San Beda Coach Nemesio

Gavino said. “The challenge is to continue until the end of the season.”

Up next for San Beda is powerhouse University of Perptual Help and according to Gavino—who experimented in the third set by fielding various combinations of his platers—it would take more than having a solid mindset to hurdle the Lady Altas.

“I just tried if they [second stringers] could be able to contribute,” he said. “Against Perpetual, I think they need to be prepared first before they come in because they will repeat the same mistakes that they’ve done in the past games.”

Catherine Almazan finished with 10 points and 12 excellent digs, Kristine Tesara and Dhariane Gallardez chipped six points each for EAC which dropped further to a 0-6 record.

Jose Rizal University (JRU) defeated Mapua University, 25-18, 25-18, 31-19, to fan its playoff hopes with its second straight win.

Dolly Verzosa led the Lady Bombers with 15 points and two aces, Syndey Negros added 10 points and three blocks, Angel Baustista finished with 14 excellent digs and Renesa Melgar had seven excellent sets for JRU, which hiked its record to 3-4.

Jorina Fernandez was the only double-digit scorer for the Lady Cardinals with 10 points. Lorraine Barias added six points and 11 excellent digs, and Alissa Magallanes had 14 excellent digs.

Ryniel Berlanga

NCC hosts student-athletes in Central Luzon regionals

A COLORFUL opening ceremony is staged at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium.

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UNDREDS of student-athletes from Central Luzon schools gathered at the New Clark City for the opening ceremony of the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) III Olympics recently.

Participants from 13 schools paraded at the

Athletics Stadium on Sunday with officials from the local government of Capas and host school Tarlac State University leading the ceremony.

The SCUAA III Olympics will run for six days with the athletics and swimming events to be held at the 20,000-seat Athletics Stadium and

2,000-seat Aquatics Center.

New Clark City, a flagship project of the Duterte Administration, was the main hub during the 30th South East Asian Games successfully hosted by the Philippines in December.

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS

VINCENT JUICO

@VJuico Instagram vpjp_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

24 and 8 I WOKE up at 4:26 a.m. January 28, 2020, to check my phone and I saw a post from Sports Illustrated about Kobe and Gianna Bryant getting killed in a helicopter crash along with seven other souls.

With my eyes wide open and me wide awake, I had to make sure what I’m reading wasn’t a cruel joke. I couldn’t sleep anymore. I tuned to CNN and read articles from ESPN all the while still hoping that all of it was a bad dream.

I’m not a “Kobe Bryant” die hard. In fact, I only started appreciating him during the twilight of his career. I had a ton of respect for the guy though, he was the second coming of Michael Jordan, the closest thing this generation has to Jordan.

I know his beginnings from Italy and Lower Merion High School just outside of Philadelphia.

He once said that had he gone to college, he would’ve chosen to play for Coach K at Duke. I know his accomplishments and achievements in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The businesses he established and invested in after his playing days were over.

He was a die-hard fan of European football clubs AC Milan and Barcelona. Did you know that he had his Nike basketball shoes adjusted to increase his reaction time to .01 seconds? Did you know that he read through the NBA Referees’ manual to get any advantage on the officials, to commit “love taps,” shoves and elbows while the referee wasn’t looking?

Kobe’s journey through life wasn’t all peaches and cream. In 2003, he was charged with rape in Colorado, but his accuser withdrew the charges which resulted in an undisclosed settlement. He went through a plethora of injuries from sprains to a torn rotator cuff which forced him to play left handed to shoulder injuries to knee injuries and finally, a torn Achilles’ tendon, a painful injury but despite the pain, Bryant knocked down two free throws in a game against Memphis.

We all know the stories from his teammates and opponents about his iconic and legendary work ethic which borders on insanity.

We all know his impact both on teammates and opponents alike. Tributes to him from all over the world.

The death of Kobe gives us a different perspective. His love for his daughter Gigi gives us another perspective.

“It’s been decades that the country didn’t have a world-class sports facility for our athletes.

Now that we have one such facility, it should be made available to Filipinos, especially the youth,” Bases Conversion and Development Authority President and CEO Vince Dizon said.

The participating schools are the Tarlac State University, Aurora State College of Technology, Bataan Peninsula State University, Bulacan Agricultural State College, Bulacan State University, Central Luzon State University, Don Honorio Ventura State University, Nueva Ejica University of Science and Technology, Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, Pampanga State Agricultural University, Philippine State College of Aeronautics, President Ramon Magsaysay State University, and the Tarlac Agricultural University.

Competitions will be in 18 sports—arnis, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, baseball, beach volleyball, boxing, chess, football, futsal, karatedo, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis and volleyball.

The winners of the Region 3 competitions will advance to the SCUAA nationals set in March.

Sports

TRIP TO END ZONE ESPECIALLY LONG

BusinessMirror

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IAMI GARDENS, Florida—For Damien Williams, the trip to the Super Bowl end zone was especially long.

Undrafted out of college, he made the National Football League (NFL) as a special teamer. Now, five years later, he was crossing the goal line while holding the ball aloft, which made him look like the exclamation point he was to the game.

Williams’s 38-yard touchdown run— his second score in the final 2:44— punctuated the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-20 comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

“You dream of this moment,” Williams said. “It doesn’t feel real yet.”

Williams finished with 104 yards rushing on 17 carries, and added 29 yards on four receptions. The performance came in the stadium of Miami Dolphins, his team in his first four NFL seasons.

Miami signed Williams as an undrafted free agent in 2014, and decided not to resign him after the 2017 season.

No hard feelings, Williams said.

“I still have a lot of relationships here,” he said. “They’re a great organization. You think about the Super Bowl, and for it to be where I started my career, it means a lot.”

Still, Williams acknowledged playing the game with a chip on his shoulder, as always.

“I entered the league undrafted,” he said. “I had to fight my way in. The Chiefs told me I had to work to make the team.

Hearing the doubt, I bring a lot of attitude to this game.”

Williams joined the Chiefs in 2018, and was a big factor in this year’s postseason run to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title since 1970.

He scored six touchdowns in three games, and helped Kansas City overcome a double-digit deficit in each win.

“He’s one of the hardest-working guys in the business,” teammate Travis Kelce said. “Doesn’t complain about a thing. He puts in the work, and when we hand him the ball we know he’s getting it in the end zone like he did today.”

Williams’s performance helped compensate for Patrick Mahomes’s first two career postseason interceptions.

The 100-yard rushing effort was the fifth of Williams’s career, and his second in postseason play.

“He came out with his hair on fire,” Chiefs tackle Eric Fisher said. “There is nothing better than blocking for a guy like that. He was running over people.”

Williams caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to put the Chiefs ahead, 24-20, with 2:44 left.

After the 49ers lost the ball on downs, Williams sealed the win. He took a handoff, veered to the outside and sprinted to the end zone untouched.

He waved the ball at the crowd, and then skipped happily toward his teammates to celebrate.

Afterward, Williams’s cap, T-shirt and smile said he was a Super Bowl champion. AP

C4

| Tuesday, February 4, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

SUPER RALLY NETS FOR the 24-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, they never lost faith when it mattered most. AP

CHIEFS SUPER BOWL

By Barry Wilner

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The Associated Press

IAMI GARDENS, Florida—Patrick Mahomes needed just the waning minutes of Super Bowl LIV to end a whole lot of frustration.

A championship 50 years in the making for the Kansas City Chiefs.

A two-decade wait for a National Football League (NFL) title for Coach Andy Reid.

All it took was falling behind by double digits in the postseason, again. Then Mahomes found his mojo. The 24-year-old quarterback who was selected Super Bowl MVP, led the Chiefs to 21 straight points in the final 6:13 for a 31-20 victory Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers.

“We never lost faith,” Mahomes said. “That’s the biggest thing. Everybody on this team, no one had their head down. We believed in each other. That’s what we preached all year long.”

The Chiefs (15-4) trailed 24-0 and 17-7 in their previous playoff games, both in the first half. In the big

KANSAS City Chiefs’ Damien Williams runs away from San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmie Ward on his way to the winning touchdown. AP

game, they nearly didn’t have time for a comeback.

Kansas City’s fans in the crowd of 62,417 at Hard Rock Stadium got little opportunity to chant and do the tomahawk chop as KC fell behind 20-10 in the third quarter. Mahomes even threw his second interception of the night after they fell behind.

But the vaunted 49ers defense wilted late, and Mahomes brought the magic that makes him special.

He completed passes of 44 yards to Tyreek Hill and 38 yards to Sammy Watkins. The touchdowns came on short throws to Travis Kelce to cut the deficit to three and to Damien Williams for the lead. The first NFL title in Chiefs coach’s two-decade career was clinched by Williams’s 38-yard TD run, sending red-clad Chiefs fans into chants of “Andy!” Andy!”

Reid, 61, won a Super Bowl ring with the 1996 Packers while in charge of tight ends. He’s been seeking one as a head coach since being hired by Philadelphia in 1999. The Eagles lost in their only trip to the big game under Reid after the 2004 season.

“This is what it’s all about,” Reid said as confetti fell and the Chiefs celebrated the climax of the NFL’s 100th season. “What a great team, great coaches. Appreciate every bit of it.”

Mahomes found Hill, whose bobble led to the second San Francisco pick, for 44 yards on a thirdand-15—the first long pass completed by Kansas City.

A 20-yard pass interference call on Tarvarius Moore, who had that earlier pick, put the ball at the 1 and Kelce was wide open for the score.

The Chiefs defense, confounded by the Niners’ misdirection much of the game, got stingy and forced a three-and-out. Mahomes soon hit Watkins down the right sideline behind Richard Sherman for a 38-yard gain, leading to Williams’s first score.

San Francisco (15-4) had nothing left in the fourth quarter, and its coach, Kyle Shanahan saw yet another late-game meltdown by his team.

Three years ago, as offensive coordinator in Atlanta, he was part of the Falcons’ Super Bowl collapse and loss in overtime to New England.

“We’ll lick our wounds, and we’ll get over this,” Shanahan said.

Kansas City, an original American Football League franchise, won the final Super Bowl before the full merger, beating Minnesota in 1970. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt even coined the phrase Super Bowl.

Now, the Hunt family can add a Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Lamar Hunt Trophy earned with the American Football Conference crown.

“It’s a beautiful trophy,” Chiefs part-owner Clark Hunt said. “I’m so happy for our players, coaches and fans. And especially Andy Reid. Nobody deserves this trophy more than Andy Reid.”

San Francisco went 4-12 in 2018, and Shanahan was on something of a hot seat this season. He came close to a ring once again, but down the stretch the Niners couldn’t slow the no-huddle attack at which Mahomes, Hill, Kelce, Williams and all the other Chiefs excel.

“We have heart,” Mahomes said. “We never give up and those guys around us, the leaders on the team, have that mindset that we never give up.”

The fourth-quarter fireworks by the Chiefs were along

the lines of the expected offensive explosion. Earlier, there were some strong drives but not a lot of huge plays.

The 49ers used up nearly six minutes on their opening drive, yet got only Robbie Gould’s 38-yard field goal. Kansas City took up 7:26 for its next march, including a fourth-and-1 run by Williams on a direct snap to the 49ers, 1. All four Chiefs in the backfield spun around before the snap.

Mahomes took it in to end the 15-play series on a run option.

The 7-3 deficit was the first for San Francisco since Game 15. It soon became 10-3 after Jimmy Garoppolo’s ill-advised lob under pressure was intercepted by Bashaud Breeland.

Another fourth-down gamble paid off for KC, with Williams gaining three on a

pitchout. But the Chiefs stalled and Harrison Butker kicked a 31-yard field goal.

San Francisco needed a spark and, as it often has this season, the running game provided it. Gouging the Chiefs in the trenches, the 49ers gained 53 yards on five straight rushes before Garoppolo hit on a pair of passes. The second completion, over the middle to Kyle Juszczyk, saw the fullback look like anything but with a nifty open-field move past safety Daniel Sorensen—perhaps Kansas City’s best tackle. Juszczyk surged into the end zone for a 15yard TD to tie it at 10.

Once more, Garoppolo was brilliant on a drive after being picked off. He improved 39 for 42 for 461 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions with a 136.2 rating on such series after the TD. Gould’s 42-yarder gave the Niners their first lead, capping the opening drive of the second half. Again, their misdirection plays kept the Chiefs off-balance on defense.

As Garoppolo did in the first half, Mahomes then threw into heavy coverage trying to hit Hill and was picked by Fred Warner. It was the first interception of Mahomes in five postseason games.

And it paid off with another efficient series for the Niners, keyed by a 26-yard completion to Kendrick Bourne on third down. Raheem Mostert, the star of the NFC title game, surged in from the 1 for a 20-10 edge.

Hardly unfamiliar territory for Kansas City.

“We have an ability as a team not just on offense, as team, to figure out what the other team is doing and put our foot in the ground and say enough is enough,” Kelce said. “It’s special.”

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Trust

EAR God, great is our trust in You, oh Lord. We proclaim it every day! “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass,” Psalms 37: 3-5. Our praise is unending and utmost devotion to thy name, oh God. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life

CIRCLES: FROM THE SPIRITUAL TO THE MUSICAL TO THE VISUAL D4

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

D1

Because the home deserves a little something extra V ALENTINE’S Day is just around the corner, but who wants to be the person who settles on typical gifts to express their love? For the most important people in your life—be it lovers, friends, or family—a gift without a shelf life is a testament to the solidity of your relationship. So what are some of the things you can give to loved ones?

Home accessories are a good start. They assume a permanent place in the life of a person, convey your appreciation for them, and add a nice touch to the place they live in.

At Home Studio (www.homestudioinc.com), owned by home living curator Grant Lim, you can find exclusive and top quality pieces perfect for the people in your life who deserve a little something extra. These aren’t your regular home pieces; they’re unique and singular, meaning that they won’t be easily matched by parties competing for the recipient’s affections. n A LETTER KIT PERFECT FOR A STYLISH DESK. This handsome desk kit is outfitted in marble, making for a lovely addition to a study. There’s a letter opener, pen holder, and tray, so users can do their business

in style. “This desk kit is from the Italian brand Salvatori,” says Grant. “It uses Carrara marble, the same luxury marble Michelangelo used to carve the Statue of David. They’re little accessories that showcase decades’ worth of craftsmanship.” n A PRETTY STAND TO HANG COATS OR DISPLAY PLANTS. These sleek wood carvings double as coat or plant stands. But in the tropics, they’re better off as the latter, complementing the lush green of house plants with top quality wood. “These stands are from one of my favorite brands, Porada,” Grant says.

“It’s a legacy Italian brand that’s been owned and operated by the same family for over 70 years. Until now, they make sure everything is produced with the utmost attention. You can’t find these in your regular furniture store.” n A PRICELESS GLASS SCULPTURE FROM ARTISANS IN SWEDEN. With a piece from the renowned Swedish glassworks house Målerås, any home, office, or space will look like a private art museum. “This sculpture was shipped all the way from Sweden to be sold at Home Studio only,” says Grant. “It’s designed by Mats Jonasson. This piece was made from crystal, painted

by hand in Sweden, and signed by the artist. Only 299 pieces of this specific sculpture exist in the world.” n A BEVERAGE TROLLEY PERFECT FOR ENTERTAINING. No house party with overflowing drinks and cocktails is ever complete without a fanciful trolley that can be rolled around to guests. This trolley is from Porada and is another example of the brand’s internationally renowned expertise with wood. n BATHROOM ACCESSORIES FOR THAT ULTRA LUXE RESORT FEEL. It’s in little details like trays and toothbrush holders that give a bathroom a luxury resort allure. This Salvatori plateau might seem like a small touch but “a little accessory might be all it takes to elevate a space.” n A LAMP MADE OF EXQUISITE ARTISAN MARBLE. This Urano lamp from Salvatori is currently one of Grant’s favorite pieces. “Salvatori is where natural stone is given a designer’s treatment,” he says.

“This lamp is stunning because it’s a sphere completely made of marble, but the end is cut so finely that the light actually shines through it. It’s a unique and beautiful addition to even the most sophisticated home.” n

Classic Blue is Pantone Color Institute’s color of the year

By Leanne Italie The Associated Press NEW YORK—In these uneasy times, as we move along on this new decade, the Pantone Color Institute has reached back in time to calming, confident Classic Blue as its color of the year for 2020.

The color is an anchor offering stability, constancy and connection, said Laurie Pressman, vice president of the global purveyors of color consulting, trendspotting and analysis.

“It’s a reassuring presence,” she told The Associated Press. Akin to maritime blue—not indigo and brighter than navy—Classic Blue evokes a feeling of vast expanse, Pressman said of the shade also known as Pantone 19-4052.

Pressman and her team scoured the worlds of art, fashion and home décor, along with commercial, graphic and industrial design, to come up with the pick, as they have since Cerulean became the inaugural color of the year for the milestone 2000.

But Classic Blue isn’t just about nostalgia, she said.

Creators around the globe are putting out modern takes for runways, mobile phones, kitchen appliances and the paint of pricey, forward-looking cars and motorcycles. Pressman insisted the color was in no way a nod to the hue associated with the Democratic Party, though she knew the question would surface.

“This was not a political move for us. This is global.

We do not look at color through a political lens. We look at our life through a colorful lens,” she told AP.

Pantone chose Living Coral for 2019 and Ultra Violet the year before that.

Whether as throwback or harbinger of things to come, Classic Blue harkens back to when things “seemed simpler, seemed more comfortable, but at the same time not suggesting that it be done in a way that it was then,” Pressman said.

Cerulean, which heralded the new millennium, is the color of the daytime sky, while Classic Blue is the sky at dusk as the new decade commences.

“It has depth to it, but it’s a color of anticipation because we’re looking ahead,” Pressman said. “The day is over. We’re looking forward to the evening.

What’s going to come?”

Classic Blue is a vibrant yet nonaggressive and easily relatable color, she said. It’s also among nature’s anthocyanin pigments possessing antioxidant and other health-fostering benefits.

Think blueberries.

“Many of us feel stressed, completely overloaded,” Pressman said. “We live these 24/7 lifestyles. We’re anxious. There’s so much uncertainty and unrest, no matter where you are. With that we’ve seen this whole increased focus on wellness and self-care.”

The timeless color is also gender neutral and seasonless, mixing well with other shades throughout the spectrum yet making a strong statement on its own. It also works well in a range of textures.

“It’s a color that can take on different appearances through different applications, finishes and textures,” Pressman said, lending itself to everything from lustrous sheens to sparkly sequins.

The anointed blue also plays into the sustainability movement. “We have all this focus on buy less, buy good, so people aren’t throwing things into a landfill,” Pressman said. “You read about buying things to last and this is a timeless blue shade. It’s always there and you’re comfortable with it, like blue jeans.”

For offices, it offers an air of security, she said. For kitchens, it’s a top accent color in appliances and walls.

Classic Blue is a mainstay color in stemware, dishes and other tabletop staples as a trusted expression of elegance, she said.

“Everybody’s comfortable with blue,” Pressman said. “We know it. We like it.”

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Survival takes many forms in ‘The Poison Garden’

By Oline H. Cogdill The Associated Press

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URVIVAL takes many forms in The Poison Garden (Penguin), Alex Marwood’s gripping, creepy fourth psychological thriller, this time revolving around the demise of a doomsday cult in North Wales.

Those who lived at the remote Ark commune were willing to put up with its stringent rules, loss of their identity and sexual intimidation because they were kept “safe” from the evils of the outside world. But then the cult’s patriarch, Lucien Blake, ordered a mass suicide with converts taking a cocktail of natural poisons they cultivated on their land.

The only adult survivor of the Ark is 21-year-old Romy, who is viewed by the local authorities first as a suspect and, finally, as a victim of the Ark. Her transition to the outside world isn’t easy, intensifying her feelings of being a stranger that began when her mother, Somer, brought her to the Ark when she was a child. Not being born at the Ark, Romy was never fully accepted by the other converts. She is even more at odds with the outside

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world, which she was taught would soon end.

Although she appears to assimilate, Romy has other plans—to hide her pregnancy for fear her baby will be taken away from her, and to find her two half-siblings who are now living with her mother’s sister, the newly divorced Sarah Bryne. Romy has no qualms about what she has to do in order to survive.

The Poison Garden smoothly explores Romy’s life among “the Dead,” as the Ark called those who live in the outside world, and her memories of the commune, why Somer settled there and Sarah’s inability to move past the influence of her deceased controlling parents.

Marwood’s extreme sense of place makes both contemporary Britain and the Ark seem both appealing and appalling sites to live. Both places can easily be considered a poison garden, depending on a person’s perception, as Marwood parallels life at the Ark and the stifling, unforgiving home rules by religious fervor in which Sarah and Somer had been raised.

An Edgar winner for her The Wicked Girls, Marwood again shows a mastery at creating new worlds. n

RONAN FARROW

allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Weinstein, is a finalist in autobiography.

Critics also nominated Chanel Miller’s Know My Name, the acclaimed memoir by the woman sexually assaulted by Stanford University student Brock Turner.

The NBCC announced five nominees in each of six competitive categories, from fiction to poetry to criticism. Winners will be announced March 12.

Other finalists include Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys and Edwidge Danticat’s Everything Inside in fiction; Lydia Davis’s Essays One for criticism; and George Packer’s Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century for biography.

The NBCC announced three additional prizes. Sarah Broom’s memoir The Yellow House, winner of a National Book Award for nonfiction last fall, received the John Leonard Prize for best first book. The New Yorker’s Katy Waldman was awarded the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, and the poet-novelist Naomi Shihab Nye was given the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.

Founded in 1974, the NBCC has more than 700 members from around the country. AP

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Oscar de la Hoya, 47; Gabrielle Anwar, 50; Clint Black, 58; Alice Cooper, 72.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Show how innovative you can be this year. Try something new; take a unique approach to handling both personal and professional responsibilities. A change will do you good and help you develop new skills. Nurture important relationships, and put more time, and effort, into mental and physical improvements. Evaluate your goals, interests and your concerns. Romance is highlighted. Your lucky numbers are 7, 15, 24, 26, 32, 41, 48.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Refuse to get bogged down with tedious details. Be open to suggestions, but do what feels right. A physical change will turn out better than anticipated. Go somewhere you’ve never been, and it will encourage you to do something unique. HHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Consider what’s worked for you in the past, and rearrange your day to ensure you don’t fall behind. Dedication and loyalty will make a difference to the outcome of an important deal. HH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Pour everything you’ve got into getting ahead, pumping up your reputation and connecting with people who have something to contribute that will help you reach your goal. A change made to a contract or joint endeavor appears to be beneficial. HHHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t let what others do influence you. Aim to stabilize your life, not disrupt it. Concentrate on the things and the people you enjoy most. Learn from mistakes, and keep what’s important to you moving along at a steady pace. HHH

e f

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You need a change. Consider what stimulates you mentally and physically, and head in that direction. Love and romance will enhance your life, and lead to new and exciting opportunities. HHH

Ronan Farrow among nominees for book critic prizes NEW YORK—Ronan Farrow has already won a Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award for his reporting on Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement. Now he’s up for a literary honor, a National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Award.

Farrow was among the nominees announced by the NBCC. His Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, which tracks his reporting on

Today’s Horoscope

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Settle into a routine that makes you feel at ease.

Knowing what’s expected of you and how best to use your skills, and experiences to come out on top will enable you to outmaneuver any competition you meet along the way. HHH

New Al Sharpton book looks at America’s political crossroads NEW YORK—The Rev. Al Sharpton is working on a book that will address what he calls an urgent moment in American history.

The longtime civil-rights activist’s Rise Up: Confronting a Country at the Crossroads is coming out September 15, less than two months before the 2020 election, Hanover Square Press announced Monday. Sharpton will look back at the Obama administration, the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the transformation of the Republican Party during Trump’s presidency.

Sharpton said in a statement that he wanted to “get people to understand the gravity of where we are as a nation; whether we will choose to continue the path of progress toward human rights and to value all people, or whether we will choose the path of returning to a value system of where might is right and wealth is the measure of human value.”

Sharpton’s previous books include

Al on America, The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership and the memoir Go and Tell Pharaoh.

Hanover Square Press is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. AP

g h

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Socialize, network and keep busy doing the things you do best. Spend time with people who share your interests. A suggestion someone makes will help you bring about a positive financial change. HHHHH SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll be torn between what you should do and what you want to do. Get organized, take care of your responsibilities and move on to the things you enjoy most. HH

i j

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Trust will be difficult when dealing with someone using emotional blackmail. Don’t believe everything you hear. Look at every angle, and let your gut feeling lead you in the right direction. HHHH CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Don’t make a move because someone else does and prompts you to follow suit. Being a friendly observer will serve you well, and offer insight into the changes needed to ensure you are successful. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Check the online job market, or consider offering your skills and services to organizations you’d like to work for. Someone you have collaborated with in the past will offer information that will encourage you to try something new. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Put more time and effort into the way you do things. Details will make the difference when you present what you have to offer. Someone who owes you a favor will offer good advice and hands-on help if you ask.

HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are outgoing, innovative and flexible.

You are friendly and helpful.

‘the critters’ BY MIKE BUCKLEY The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Swedish supergroup 5 Bulletproof material 11 Fruit often pollinated by tiny wasps 14 It may hide the bride 15 Long, cold period 16 Hulk portrayer Ferrigno 17 Dairy mascot with an honorary Doctor of Bovinity 19 Eyelet-punching tool 20 Brazil’s capital before Brasilia, informally 21 Positioned upon 22 Beyond exurban 24 Law group?

26 Pulitzer or Nobel 28 “Gr-r-reat!” cereal icon 33 Watch surreptitiously 36 Scary and weird 37 Ocean State school 38 “Jabberwocky” is one 39 Laudatory song 40 Make a tiny cut 41 Start for “carte” 42 Poles on boats 43 Lightens, as a load

4 Tabby in 9Lives commercials 4 47 Like a dryer screen 48 Soul icon Franklin 52 Tolerate 54 Toward the sunrise 56 It has a + or - charge 57 Game of Thrones character Snow 58 Piano-playing muppet 62 Gemini Man director Lee 63 “20 Questions” category 64 Shell (out) 65 Marks on ballots 66 The Raven woman 67 It dissolved in 1991 DOWN 1 States confidently 2 Contradict 3 Yellowstone grazer 4 Baba who said “Open sesame” 5 Baby Burmese 6 E, to NATO 7 Julia Louis-Dreyfus political satire show 8 Fond du ___ 9 Before now 10 Change, as copy

1 Castaways’ flash sources 1 12 State between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers 13 Coastal bird 18 Use as a dining surface 23 Rapper Lil ___ Vert 25 C or O, in carbon monoxide 26 Sentence part 27 It can pull a bit 29 Having potential to rise 30 Cogs on a gear 31 New York canal 32 Jeans tears 33 E-mail from a Nigerian prince, most likely 34 Sport with a “water” variety 35 Young horses 39 Tense of “tensed” 40 Stuff to the max 42 20 Questions category 43 First of the eight planets, alphabetically 45 Free (of) 46 Princess’s home 49 Motions caused by the moon 50 Barn sounds

1 Irk 5 52 Powder cleanser brand 53 What a chow chow chews 54 Saint for sailors 55 Quite some distance off 59 ___-hit wonder 60 Get the Oscar 61 Chick incubated by its father Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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SAM MENDES

JOAQUIN PHOENIX

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

RENEE ZELLWEGER

BONG JOON-HO

Best picture ‘1917’ is big winner at British Academy Awards

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By Jill Lawless The Associated Press

ONDON—Gut-wrenching World War I epic 1917 was the big winner at Sunday’s British Academy Film Awards, winning seven prizes including best picture and best director.

Sam Mendes’s drama about one of the most devastating conflicts in British history bested hotly tipped American contenders, including Joker, The Irishman and Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood at a glitzy London event that was overshadowed by criticism of the nominees’ lack of diversity—even from some of the nominees themselves.

Director Mendes based 1917 on his grandfather’s wartime experiences. Shot in sinuous long takes that immerse viewers in the action, it follows two British soldiers on a perilous mission across No Man’s Land to try to avert a suicidal offensive.

1917 was also named best British film and won the cinematography prize—Roger Deakins’s fifth win in that category. It also took trophies for production design, sound and visual effects.

Joaquin Phoenix was named best actor for superhero story Joker, which charts the origins of Batman’s ginning nemesis. Renee Zellweger won the best actress prize for the Judy Garland biopic Judy.

Joker took three awards—best actor, casting and score—from 11 nominations. Martin Scorsese’s mob drama The Irishman had 10 nominations but went home empty-handed.

Victory at the British awards, known as BAFTAs,

is often a good predictor of success at Hollywood’s Academy Awards, being held this year on February 9.

Like the Oscars, the British awards have struggled to become less male and white.

No women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running, and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.

Phoenix slammed the lack of diversity in his acceptance speech, saying it sent “a very clear message to people of color that ‘You’re not welcome here.’”

Awards organizers called it “disappointing” that there were no performers of color among the acting nominees, who are chosen by 6,500 academy members who work in the UK and international film industry. The rising star award—the one trophy decided by the public—went to black British actor Micheal Ward.

British star Cynthia Erivo, who is Oscarnominated for her performance as abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet but was snubbed by Britain’s Academy, declined an invitation to perform at Sunday’s award ceremony in protest.

The British Academy has promised to review its voting procedures.

BAFTA Chairman Pippa Harris said the problem was “an industry-wide issue.”

“It takes everyone to look at what they’re doing,” she said. “Awards are right at the end of a whole process, and so we need to look at the types of films being made, the opportunities that people are getting, how the films are being promoted. All of these things play a part.”

Presenting the best director award, Australian actress Rebel Wilson quipped that she could never achieve what the nominees did: “I just don’t have the balls.”

Scarlett Johansson, a best actress nominee for Marriage Story, said the lack of recognition for female directors was disappointing.

“So many women made great films this year,” she said. “And I think it just goes to show you that there is a systemic problem that is very prevalent.”

Hours before the event and several miles away, three people were wounded and a knifeman shot dead by police in what police called a terrorismrelated attack. The BBC canceled plans to broadcast interviews from the red carpet on its news channel as a result.

Brad Pitt was named best supporting actor for Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s bloody fairy tale of 1960s Los Angeles.

He didn’t attend, but sent a jokey acceptance speech, read out by his costar Margot Robbie. “Hey Britain—heard you just became single. Welcome to the club,” he said—one of several references during the ceremony to the UK’s exit from the European Union, which became official on Friday.

Pitt also referenced recent tumult in Britain’s royal family, saying he was going to name the trophy Harry, “because he’s really excited about bringing it back to the States with him.”

Laura Dern was named best supporting actress for playing a take-no-prisoners divorce lawyer in Marriage Story. She noted that her mother, Dianne

Ladd, had won the exact same prize in 1975, when Dern was six, for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

Bong Joon-ho’s Korean-language drama Parasite was named best foreign language film and also took the prize for best original screenplay.

Organizers set out to make the awards ceremony carbon neutral for the first time. The red carpet was made from recycled fibers. Instead of the goody bags of past years, guests will receive a “gifting wallet” made from recycled plastic and containing vouchers.

The post-awards dinner featured sustainably sourced food, including a vegan option. Stars walking the red carpet were encouraged to make “sustainable” fashion choices by wearing an outfit they already owned or renting one for the occasion.

Prince William—the British Academy’s president—and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, were the guests of honor at Sunday’s ceremony. William presented a BAFTA Fellowship, the academy’s top honor, to Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy.

The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes star Andy Serkis—the maestro of motion-capture acting—was handed a prize for outstanding British contribution to cinema.

Falling two days after Britain left the European Union, the evening couldn’t avoid the subject of Brexit.

“We know it’s been a hard week for you guys and it’s very nice to take a little bit of your gold, back home—where it belongs,” joked New Zealand director Taika Waititi as he collected the best adapted screenplay prize for Jojo Rabbit. n

CALL FOR ‘Bad Boys’ tops box office for third straight week LITERARY CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CCP’S ‘ANI’ 41 THE Cultural Center of the Philippines Intertextual Division is now accepting literary contributions for the 41st edition of ANI, the official literary journal of CCP. With the theme “Paglalakbay: Lakad, Layag, Lipad,” the latest volume will contain essays, poems, short fiction and other literary genres that focus on the tales of Filipinos on their travel experiences and their insights on culture, arts and the human condition.

Submissions may be in Filipino, English and local languages of the Philippines, accompanied with a translation in either Filipino or English. Entries must be unpublished and must be submitted in Arial font (12 pts), double-spaced in 8 1/2” x 11” paper size, with a short bionote of at least three to five sentences, photo, home address, contact details, and tax identification number of the author.

The deadline of submissions is on May 30. Literary contributions must be e-mailed to anijournal@yahoo.com.

More information is available at the Intertextual Division at 8551-5959; 8832-1125, local 1706, or 0998-3959270.

By Jonathan Landrum Jr. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES—Bad Boys for Life went for a three-peat at the box office during Super Bowl weekend.

The Sony Pictures’s film starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence brought in $17.6 million to claim the No. 1 spot for the third straight week. The studio said the third installment became the highest-grossing film in the franchise with $148 million, eclipsing Bad Boys II. The earning for Bad Boys is the best box office turnout compared to other No. 1 titles (Glass, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Split) during the NFL

championship weekend over the past four years.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, said box office numbers are typically lower during football’s championship weekend. But he said Hollywood is banking on Super Bowl commercials of films to help boost numbers moving forward.

“It’s a longer-term benefit for Hollywood to have trailers presented to a massive worldwide audience,” Dergarabedian said.

“Studios bet big during the telecast by dropping trailers, which they’re doing for the first time. They are hoping to build media buzz and get people talking.”

The World War I tale 1917 notched second as the film continues to build momentum as an Oscars contender. It has been an impressive feat for the Sam Mendes-directed war movie after going from 11 screens in its first week to nearly 4,000.

Each week, 1917 has been holding on strong since receiving 10 Oscar nominations including best picture. Dergarabedian called the war film’s surge a “dream scenario.”

“It’s a winner all day long,” he said. “It’s had this picture-perfect platform release on its road to the Oscar telecast.”

It was a bumpy start for newcomers Gretel & Hansel and The Rhythm Section, which barely cracked the top 10. After Dolittle placed third, the reimagined ancient

fairy tale Gretel & Hansel opened at No. 4 with $6.1 million, but received mixed reviews including a “C-” from CinemaScore.

The Rhythm Section, an action drama starring Blake Lively, pulled in $2.8 million barely notched Knives Out. “It does get increasingly difficult for films that don’t over-perform on Super Bowl weekend to build any head of steam going forward,” Dergarabedian said. “Particularly if they don’t have good reviews.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

1. Bad Boys for Life, $17.6 million, ($30.8 million international).

2. 1917, $9.6 million, ($20.9 million international) 3. Dolittle, $7.7 million, ($17.7 million international) 4. Gretel & Hansel, $6.1 million, ($1.4 million international) 5. The Gentlemen, $6.01 million, ($3.9 million international) 6. Jumanji: The Next Level, $6 million, ($5.3 million international) 7. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, $3.1 million, ($3.2 million international) 8. The Turning, $3.05 million, ($1 million international) 9. Little Women, $3.01 million, ($7.5 million international) 10. The Rhythm Section, $2.8 million.

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IN his latest solo exhibition at Arte Bettina, titled Magnificat Opus, abstract expressionist Edwin Wilwayco enters the church of liturgical art. Among the featured pieces are Magnificat Opus 5 (from left), Magnificat Opus 7 and Magnificat Opus 1.

From the spiritual to the musical to the visual CIRCLES JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

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ILIPINO master abstractionist Edwin Wilwayco provided a measured response when asked if he considers himself religious.

“I think so,” the global artist said, before further qualifying the question and offering a more illuminating answer. “Well, I cannot paint without praying first.”

The question stems from Wilwayco’s chosen premise for his latest solo exhibition. Opening at Arte Bettina in Greenbelt 5 this Saturday, February 8, is Magnificat Opus, where the artist renders in his masterful brand of abstract expressionism the musical setting of J.S. Bach on the biblical canticle “Song of Mary.”

Bach (1685-1750), of course, is the German composer and musician of the Baroque period who’s generally regarded as one of the all-time greats. In 1723, he was appointed as the Director of Music and Organist at a church in Leipzig, Germany. Wanting to introduce himself with a composition that would showcase his brilliant potential, Bach cut the length and difficulty of church music with something short and stunning.

The noted musician lifted the Latin text of the

story of the Virgin Mary as told in the Gospel of Saint Luke. The result is Bach’s “Magnificat”, written in E-flat major and to be performed during Vespers, the evening prayer. The song is set in twelve movements/ verses that last just half an hour.

The show-off piece highlights the singers’ technical mastery, with Bach treating each movement like pictures in a gallery.

That original visual approach resonates with Wilwayco, who listens to the piece and sees an expansive field, where people are moving in one direction as if to welcome someone.

“There are valleys and mountains. There’s a scene,” the artist said. “But, of course, when I do my interpretation of it, I try to avoid painting the trees.”

As with Wilwayco’s distinct body of work— marked by forcefulness of ideas through gestural strokes and layered color field exploration, a style inspired by the likes of Rothko, De Kooning and Pollock—his paintings on Bach’s “Magnificat” are devoid of figures or even traces of recognizable objects. What’s left in the compositions, therefore, is the message consumed by one man, and yet invites the interpretation of all—for what is abstract act but an interaction between the artist and his art, and his art and the audience?

Wilwayco admits to listening to Bach’s music for hours on end while creating the pieces for the show, where brush strokes paced with the rhythm of the songs. Each work showcases diverse line quality that is inspired by the music’s polyphonic personality, including lyrical lines from the artist for the composer’s preferred legatos.

That said, presented in Wilwayco’s Magnificat Opus are not mere visual translations of music, but artistic renditions of a narrative, as Bach, himself, did with

the canticle “Song of Mary.”

Such venture is nothing new to Wilwayco, who started taking inspiration from classical music for his art in 2006 with the show Homage to Vivaldi, staged in New York. Since then, he has turned to the creations of Christoph Gluck and Erik Satie in exhibits mounted in the United States and here.

What’s different in the new show on Bach, however, is it marks the artist’s first foray into liturgical art. But his entry to the field has less to do with his faith, and more with his goal at this point of his artistic career.

Wilwayco, 67, has had more than 30 solo exhibitions around the world. He started drawing at the age of five when his father, a machinist, asked him to copy his sketches of people.

The younger Wilwayco obeyed and immediately found his touch. Since then, he never stopped drawing—from sketching on the sides of his test papers in elementary that prompted his teacher to confront his parents, to painting on the side of a three-decade-plus career in advertising.

Wilwayco wanted to pursue arts in college, but agreed instead to a “comprise” with his father. He entered the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Fine Arts, with only a minor in painting and majoring in advertising.

It was not a hard decision, the artist said, saying he believed he can always paint.

Nonetheless, Wilwayco made the most of his time in UP and took additional subjects in painting to learn from the country’s art titans, including Constancio Bernardo, Rod Paras-Perez and Jose Joya. Under their tutelage, Wilwayco learned, among countless lessons, how to correct rather than erase, and how no color is unpleasant.

“I saw them mix colors without fear,” he said. “Para bang ’yung kulay, parang pancit na niluluto. Walang tapon.”

Wilwayco’s art career, however, didn’t have the smoothest of starts. He was eventually advised to apply for a British Council Scholar for Painting and ended up studying at the West Surrey College of Art and Design in England for six months. There, he received a career-altering suggestion to focus his art on Philippine peculiarities, and he chose to go with the jeepney.

That’s how Wilwayco’s Jeepney Fantasia Series in 1989 got in motion, which towed his career to a path of redemption. From then on, he mounted one solo exhibit after another, along with countless group exhibitions—all the while working in advertising.

Wilwayco maintains that after everything he’s been through, with all the things he has achieved, the very thing he still chases in painting to this day is the feeling that made him fall in love in the first place.

“Painting is discovery,” he said. “It always is every time I hold a brush and spread on the color— whether on the first or third stroke, the joy of seeing something there that I didn’t notice before, that sense of excitement, that sense of discovery.”

He likened the rush from his days exploring the forest as a child, parting bushes and never knowing what tree or what rock awaited from the cleared view.

It’s a feeling that makes him dream of visiting the Amazon one day, which is one of his many goals, including a plan to present his 1979 The Flag Series in a new light one of the days, the same way how he revisited his breakthrough Jeepney series two years ago.

For now, Wilwayco is simply thankful for the present and wishes one thing for the future: “I’m just grateful that I’m still alive and I hope I can still paint.” n

ALT Philippines 2020 unfolds at SM Aura Premier WEST Gallery and Vinyl on Vinyl reframe the art show with contemporary visions at ALT Philippines 2020 from February 14 to 16 at the SMX Convention Center at SM Aura Premier.

Established by 10 of the country’s leading galleries, ALT Philippines 2020 offers visitors a rare opportunity to view a thoughtfully curated selection of work in an immersive and engaging format. Together with West Gallery and Vinyl on Vinyl, the ALT Philippines founding collective also includes: Artinformal, Blanc, Finale Art File, Galleria Duemila, MO_Space, The Drawing Room, Underground and 1335Mabini.

Visitors will get a chance to engage with art in new, and exciting, ways with each gallery’s in-depth and thoughtful presentations highlighting their distinct contemporary visions, outstanding roster of artists, and their commitment to championing artists as a way to explore and broaden ideas on art.

West Gallery features a range of veteran talent and promising young artists whose diverse visions reflect the pulse of Philippine contemporary art.

These include Louie Cordero, Jigger Cruz, Mariano Ching, Yasmin SisonChing, Mark Andy Garcia, Kawayan de Guia, Geraldine Javier, Luis Lorenzana,

Raffy T. Napay, Elaine Roberto Navas, Carina Santos, Isabel Santos, Luis Antonio Santos, Mona Santos, Kaloy Sanchez, Nicole Tee, Manok Ventura and Olan Ventura.

For ALT Philippines 2020, the gallery invited these artists to freely explore their own practices—part of its aim in encouraging visitors to continually educate themselves on the growing and evolving local art scene.

Established in 1989, West Gallery was conceived to provide an art space for promising, young artists to explore and hone their skills further, and this remains its primary purpose and vision. Through many different iterations, as well as a number of offshoot satellite galleries, the main site for the gallery has stayed in its Quezon City location, with a newly renovated space with four rooms that aim to highlight the artists’ work.

Vinyl on Vinyl will showcase artists who explore beyond conventional art forms. Their works revolve around pop surrealism, after-modernism, postInternet, kinetic art, underground and street art, along with other emerging and unexplored genres. The gallery’s space in ALT Philippines 2020 includes several immersive installations alongside works that invite discussion on social commentary and experimental

THE Wind Passeth, Mark Andy Garcia, oil on canvas, 48x49 inches 2018

techniques.

The exhibiting artists include Reen Barrera, Dennis Bato, Anton Belardo, Anjo Bolarda, Miguel Paulo Borja, Teo Esguerra, Doktor Karayom, Martin Honasan, Iyan de Jesus, Archie Oclos, Wyndelle Remonde, Roberto Sanchez, Tekla Tamoria, Tyang Karyel, Gabriel Tiongson, Pinky Urmaza and Chalk Zaldivar.

BEGINNINGS and Endings (Happy Days), Geraldine Javier, 6x6, acrylic on canvas, 2017

The gallery was established in 2009, borne out of the desire to bring greater awareness of and appreciation for what was then an underground culture. Its mission was to bring local artists to international shows, and to locally exhibit peripheral art forms often rejected by the mainstream. Its name recalls its beginnings, dealing vinyl records and art toys, and today still aims to

STAND and Growth, Raffy Napay, 4x3, thread, acrylic, textile cloth, 2018

periodically celebrate its musical history by presenting sound art within its programming.

ALT Philippines 2020 is a pioneering art project founded by a collective of the country’s most dynamic galleries committed to exploring creative new ways of presenting and experiencing art to meet the evolving needs of the country’s dynamic art landscape.