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Undercover spy exposed in NYC was 1 of many

BUT LETHAL

Jolo blasts, May polls prompt law enforcers to tighten security around crowded spots across the country LAWYER Alaa Mahajna poses for a photo on Mount Scopus, overlooking Jerusalem, on February 9, 2019. Mahajna was one of at least half a dozen people targeted by a mysterious group of undercover operatives over the past couple of months. All of them have crossed paths, in some way, with the NSO Group, a spyware maker that Mahajna is suing in Israeli court. AP/RAPHAEL SATTER

By Raphael Satter | AP Cybersecurity Writer

ONDON—When mysterious operatives lured two cyber-security researchers to meetings at luxury hotels over the past two months, it was an apparent bid to discredit their research about an Israeli company that makes smartphone hacking technology used by some governments to spy on their citizens. The Associated Press has now learned of similar undercover efforts targeting at least four other individuals who have raised questions about the use of the Israeli firm’s spyware.

DIRECTOR General Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police, points to the diagram during a news conference on February 4, 2019, at Camp Crame in Quezon City, to announce that five suspected Abu Sayyaf militants wanted for alleged involvement in the bombing of a church in southern Philippines have surrendered to authorities. Albayalde said the five will be charged with murder for their role in the January 27 bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral in Sulu province’s Jolo town that killed 23 people and wounded about 100. The police say the suspects escorted the two suicide bombers around Jolo and to a meeting with the Abu Sayyaf commander accused of funding the attack. The police have said the two suicide bombers were Indonesians. PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE VIA AP

By Rene Acosta

OLICE and military officials are urging Filipinos to extend their patience and maintain their equanimity, as law-enforcement agencies implement stricter security measures around the country, particularly among so-called places of convergence, or in areas where people tend to gather in large volumes.

A SOLDIER is seen inside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo after two bombs exploded on January 27, 2019. WESMINCOM ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES VIA AP

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.2630

The tighter security, law enforcers say, was prompted by the election season and the threat of terrorism, exemplified by the recent twin bombings in Sulu late last month that killed 23 people and wounded 95 others. The incident at the Metro Rail Transit 3’s (MRT 3) Mandaluyong Station last week, where a lady Chinese fashion student splashed soya drink on a policeman who barred her from boarding the train because of the liquid she was carrying, characterized the level of security in the capital— and the kind of anxiety that it has spawned among people. But National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Guillermo Eleazar, who had earlier put police forces in Metro Manila under red alert in the aftermath of the bombings, said proactive measures are needed to deal with any security threat. “I am asking for the cooperation and understanding of the public on the [security] measures that we are implementing and for the enforcers that implement them, be they policemen or other law-enforcement agencies,” said Eleazar. “The point here is we are taking this for the whole good of Filipinos,” he added. The tightened security at the MRT 3 and the rest of the Metro’s commuter railway facilities, and even in other areas of public convergence, had been prompted by a bomb threat, which, although com-

mon even in other areas as noted by National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde, cannot be ignored. “Well, bomb threats are all over, but this bomb threat is not being taken for granted. All bomb threats, whether they are jokes or prank calls, we will respond to them,” he said. Officials said if bombers were able to sneak in the improvised explosive device that blasted a place of worship like the Jolo Cathedral, then there is a greater chance it can be done on a softer target unless measures are taken. Eleazar said the election campaign period and the threat of terrorism prompted them to double security in Metro Manila, a measure that has also been taken by security forces around the country. “The National Capital Region Police Office has more than 14,000 personnel deployed in Metro Manila. As the campaign starts…the next three months are going to be critical, top candidates will be active in all areas of Metro Manila as they start wooing the voters,” he said. “The start of the campaign period also triggers strict additional rules and regulations set by the Comelec [Commission on Elections],” he added, referring to the conduct of checkpoints and implementation of gun ban in the areas of peace and order and security. The regulations also include the campaign against threat Continued on A2

The four others targeted by operatives include three lawyers involved in related lawsuits in Israel and Cyprus alleging that the company, the NSO Group, sold its spyware to governments with questionable human-rights records. The fourth is a London-based journalist who has covered the litigation. Two of them—the journalist and a Cyprus-based lawyer—were secretly recorded meeting the undercover operatives; footage of them was broadcast on Israeli television just as the AP was preparing to publish this story. All six of the people who were targeted said they believe the operatives were part of a coordinated effort to discredit them. “There’s somebody who’s really interested in sabotaging the case,” said one of the targets, Mazen Masri, who teaches at City University, London, and is advising the plaintiffs’ attorney in the case in Israel. Masri said the operatives were “looking for dirt and irrelevant information about people involved.” The details of these covert efforts offer a glimpse into the sometimes shadowy world of private investigators, which includes some operatives who go beyond gathering information and instead act as provocateurs. The targets told the AP that the covert agents tried to goad them into making racist and antiIsrael remarks or revealing sensitive information about their work in connection with the lawsuits. NSO has previously said it has nothing to do with the undercover efforts “either directly or indirectly.” It did not return repeated messages asking about the new targets identified by the AP. American private equity firm Francisco Partners, which owns NSO, did not return a message from the AP seeking comment. The undercover operatives’ activities might never have been

made public had it not been for two researchers who work at Citizen Lab, an Internet watchdog group that is based out of the University of Toronto’s Munk School. In December, one of the researchers, John Scott-Railton, realized that a colleague had been tricked into meeting an operative at a Toronto hotel, then questioned about his work on NSO. When a second operative calling himself Michel Lambert approached ScottRailton to arrange a similar meeting at the Peninsula Hotel in New York, Scott-Railton devised a sting operation, inviting AP journalists to interrupt the lunch and videotape the encounter. The story drew wide attention in Israel. Within days, Israeli investigative television show Uvda and The New York Times identified Lambert as Aharon Almog-Assouline, a former Israeli security official living in the plush Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon. By then, Scott-Railton and the AP had determined the undercover efforts went well beyond Citizen Lab. Within hours of the story’s publication, Masri wrote to the AP to say that he and Alaa Mahajna, who is pursuing the lawsuit against NSO in Israel, had spent weeks parrying offers from two wealthysounding executives who had contacted them with lucrative offers of work and insistent requests to meet in London. “We were on our guard and did not take the bait,” Masri wrote. Masri’s revelation prompted a flurry of messages to others tied to litigation involving NSO. Masri and Scott-Railton say they discovered that Christiana Markou, a lawyer representing plaintiffs in a related lawsuit against NSOaffiliated companies in Cyprus, had been flown to London for a strange meeting with someone Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4729 n UK 66.8653 n HK 6.6601 n CHINA 7.7177 n SINGAPORE 38.4909 n AUSTRALIA 37.1015 n EU 59.0206 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9360

Source: BSP (February 15, 2019 )

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A2 Sunday, February 17, 2019

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Undercover spy exposed in NYC was 1 of many Continued from A1

who claimed to be a Hong Kongbased investor. Around the same time, Masri found out that a journalist who had written about NSO was also invited to a London hotel—twice—and questioned about his reporting. “Things are getting more interesting,” Masri wrote as the episodes emerged. Like Almog-Assouline, the undercover operative the AP exposed in New York, the covert agents who pursued the lawyers made a string of operational errors. The attempt to ensnare Alaa Mahajna, the lead lawyer in the Israeli suit, was a case in point. On November 26 he heard from a man who said his name was Marwan Al Haj and described himself as a partner at a Swedish wealth management firm called Lyndon Partners. Al Haj offered Mahajna an intriguing proposition. Al Haj said one of his clients, an ultra-rich individual with family ties to the Middle East, needed legal assistance recovering family land seized by Jewish settlers following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. “I believe you may be a good fit for this challenging task,” Al Haj wrote. The request made sense. As a human-rights lawyer based in Jerusalem, Mahajna has defended Palestinian activists and others at the receiving end of the Israeli government’s ire. But Mahajna

became suspicious as he tried to learn more about the case. Al Haj was cagey about his client and seemed unwilling to provide any paperwork, Mahajna told the AP. “Not even the basic stuff,” Mahajna said. “Usually people flood you with documents and stories.” Mahajna said he was unsettled when Al Haj suddenly offered him an all-expenses-paid trip to London; no one had even asked him whether the case had any hope of success. “At some point it was abundantly clear that this is not a bona fide approach,” Mahajna said. Ten days later, Masri, the legal adviser in the Israeli lawsuit, received an e-mail offering him a place on the advisory board of a Zurich-based company called APOL Consulting. Masri became skeptical after he checked out the company’s web site. Consulting firms typically trade on their employees’ intelligence and skill, so Masri expected the company’s site to prominently display the names, headshots and qualifications of its staff. “Here there wasn’t even a name of one human,” he said. When Masri turned down the position on APOL’s board, the representative who’d contacted him— a man who called himself Cristian Ortega—pressed Masri to see him in London anyway. “I would consider it a privilege to have a chance to meet you in person for a friendly chat,” Ortega

said in a January 7 e-mail. “No strings attached of course.” Masri said that by then he and Mahajna had come to believe that Ortega and Al Haj were fictions and that their companies were imaginary. But they didn’t yet know how widespread the covert operations were. The undercover agents got a little further with Christiana Markou, the lawyer who is pursuing the Cypriot case against NSO-affiliated entities. Her lawsuit, like Mahajna’s, draws heavily on reports by Citizen Lab that found that NSO spyware had been used to break into the phones of the Mexican activists and journalists who are the plaintiffs in both cases. Markou told the AP she was approached over e-mail on December 21 by a man who presented himself as Olivier Duffet, a partner at Hong Kong-based ENE Investments. Duffet was ostensibly interested in inviting Markou—a leading data protection and privacy lawyer in Cyprus—to give a lecture at a conference. Markou said she proposed discussing the lecture over Skype, but he insisted on an inperson meeting in London, eventually flying her out, putting her up in a fancy hotel and chatting for a little more than an hour. Most of the discussion revolved around the proposed lecture—but then Duffet suddenly

THIS February 8, 2019, photo shows the high-rise office building that houses Black Cube in central Tel Aviv. The private investigation firm drew international criticism for its work protecting the reputation of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. AP/RAPHAEL SATTER

pivoted to the NSO case, asking her whether she felt the lawsuit was winnable and who was funding it. Markou said she “gave either incorrect answers or expressly refused to answer” because she found his questions suspicious. Yet another target, Eyad Hamid, a London-based journalist who wrote a story about NSO, said he was also invited to a London hotel on two separate occasions to discuss his coverage of the Israeli company. The purported company used in the operation targeting him was Mertens-Giraud Partners Management, which was described as a Brussels-based wealth management firm. Neither MGP—nor any of the other companies—truly existed. The AP’s searches of the Orbis database of some 300 million companies, local corporate registries and trademark repositories turned up no trace of a Swiss firm called APOL, a Swedish company called Lyndon partners, a Belgian company called Mertens-Giraud or a Hong Kong-based firm named ENE Investments. Local phone books didn’t carry listings for a Zurichbased man named Cristian Ortega, a Hong Kong-based man named Olivier Duffet or anyone in Sweden bearing the name Marwan Al Haj. There was no hint of APOL when the AP visited its supposed office not far from Zurich’s central train station; tenants said they’d never heard of the company. It was the same story in Hong Kong; a management representative at the Central Building, where ENE Investments was supposedly located, said he didn’t know anything about the company. An AP journalist wasn’t able to speak to anyone at Mertens-Giraud’s alleged office on Brussels’s Rue des Poissoniers; the entire building was boarded up for renovations. At the modern office block in downtown Stockholm where Lyndon Partners claimed to have its headquarters, service manager Elias Broberger said he could find no trace of the wealth management firm. “It says they are located here,” Broberger said as he examined Lyn-

Faceless…

don Partners’s professional-looking web site. “But we don’t have them in any of our systems: not the booking system; not the member system. We don’t bill them; they don’t bill us. “I can’t find them.” Who hired the undercover agents remains unclear, but their operational and digital fingerprints suggest they are linked. The six operatives all began approaching their targets around the same time with individually tailored pitches. Their bogus web sites followed the same patterns; all of them were hosted on Namecheap and many were bought at auction from GoDaddy and used the Israeli web design platform Wix. The formatting of the web sites was similar; in at least two instances—MGP and Lyndon Partners—it was identical. Even the operatives’ e-mail signatures were the same—consisting of three neatly packed, colorful lines consisting of a phone number, web address and e-mail. The operatives’ LinkedIn pages were similar, too, featuring men in sunglasses shot from a distance, facing away from the camera, or at unusual angles—a tactic sometimes used to frustrate facial recognition algorithms. Despite the indications that the undercover agents are all linked, there is no conclusive evidence who they might work for. An Israeli television channel, Channel 12, broadcast a report on Saturday claiming that an Israeli private investigation firm, Black Cube, had been investigating issues around the lawsuits against NSO. The TV channel showed secretly shot footage of the Cypriot lawyer, Markou, and the London journalist, Hamid, which matched the pair’s description of their encounters with undercover agents. The TV segment was critical of the lawyers suing NSO, and quoted company cofounder Shalev Hulio accusing Markou and her colleagues of pursuing the lawsuits as a “PR exercise.” NSO has previously denied hiring Black Cube, and Black Cube in a letter sent last month to the AP said it was not involved in the ef-

fort to ensnare researchers at Citizen Lab. “Black Cube had nothing to do with these alleged events,” the letter said, adding that no one acting on the company’s behalf did either. Black Cube does have a possible tie to Almog-Assouline, the man who held the hotel meeting about NSO in New York. During a long-running Canadian legal battle between two private equity firms—Catalyst Capital and West Face Capital—one man caught up in the litigation said he recognized Almog-Assouline because he’d been approached by the same operative under a different identity several years ago. “I recognized the individual, down to the accent and the anecdotes,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. In court filings, Black Cube has acknowledged dispatching agents to meet with “various individuals” involved in the private equity firms’ feud. But it’s unclear if other investigations firms might also have done work connected to the two companies’ legal battle. Black Cube did not respond to repeated questions about whether it had ever employed Almog-Assouline. The firm previously drew international opprobrium for its unrelated work protecting the reputation of disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Almog-Assouline himself denied working for Black Cube when two AP reporters confronted him in New York last month. He has refused to answer any questions since. When an AP reporter rang the door at his penthouse in Ramat Hasharon a week ago, a woman who identified herself as his wife said he wasn’t home. When the reporter followed up with a phone call to Almog-Assouline, he said: “I have no interest in speaking to you.” Aron Heller in Ramat Hasharon, Israel; David Keyton in Stockholm, Sweden; Jamey Keaten in Zurich; Vincent Yu in Hong Kong; Sylvain Plazy in Brussels; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

Continued from A1

groups and private armed groups who threaten to undermine the elections. Albayalde said that the PNP may even adjust its projected deployment of personnel for the election duties, given that at least 701 areas around the country have been categorized as election hot spots or about 42.9 percent of the 1,634 cities and municipalities across the country.

In Mindanao, security forces are continuously operating against terrorist groups, especially in Sulu and Maguindanao, where they are running after groups aligned with the Islamic State. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said that security measures undertaken in Metro Manila, like the banning of liquid at the MRT 3, are seen by the military as good precautionary or pro-

active measures against terrorism. He noted that such measure had also been a standard operating procedure, especially at the airports. “I hope that they [the Filipinos] understand these kinds of effort,” Arevalo said. “These are all preemptive, proactive measures. I hope [they] understand why we have to do this,” he added.

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India terror attack may prompt a ‘knee-jerk’ market reaction

HE most serious attack to occur since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 will add to the political uncertainty ahead of national elections this year and may cause at least a temporary reaction in the markets. At least 40 security personnel died in the attack, which Modi described as “despicable” in a tweet on Thursday evening. Jaish-eMohammed, a United Nations-listed terror organization, claimed responsibility, according to Asian News International. India’s relatively strong economic growth, supportive central bank and tame inflation are likely to keep investors calm over the long term unless the situation escalates significantly, analysts said. Also, they said, investors are familiar enough with the long-running dispute in Kashmir that they are unlikely to panic. India’s NSE Nifty 50 stock index is down 1.5 percent so far this year, and in recent days has fallen below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The currency has weakened over the same time amid potential for more rate cuts, moving from under 70 per dollar to 71.165/USD as of about 10 a.m. Hong Kong time on Friday. Here is what analysts are saying about the terror attack’s potential market impact:

Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. (Tetsuji Sano)

“THE attack in Kashmir could temporarily lift credit-default swaps and possibly put selling pressure on the rupee to push toward 72 in the near term, but the impact may not last too long as underlying economic fundamentals in India remain strong.” “The latest attack in Kashmir isn’t seen hurting its fundamentals or increasing political risk in the country.”

AMP Capital Investors Ltd. (Shane Oliver)

“EXPECT a short-term knee-jerk negative reaction. Then the market will move on because they rarely have a significant macroeconomic impact.”

“For Modi—it depends how he handles it. But such disasters are normally positive for incumbent leaders.”

Rakuten Securities Inc. (Nick Twidale)

“THIS attack makes Modi’s political situation more precarious, there will be calls to deal with this in a variety of different ways. I think we’ll see a decent depreciation in the rupee today—the move should see it regain levels near 71.80 and then it’s clean air all the way back to 74” against the US dollar. “And with the always difficult political situation between India and Pakistan a major factor, we will only get further uncertainty across the markets, which could see that attraction of India’s markets fall sharply in the global community.” “The usual first reaction will be a rally in bonds, however this may be short-lived. We could see counter strikes, etc., then further volatility across all markets is virtually guaranteed—this could sharply depreciate foreign investment appetite.”

Target Investing (Sameer Kalra)

THE attack would have a “slight impact” and thus it won’t alter the bull case. “It will create another upside in when the reply actually gets executed by the government. Stronger reply to such attacks is rewarded by the markets.”

Continuum Economics (Charu Chanana)

“I DON’T expect to see a big impact on markets—whether it’s currency, bonds or stocks—from this story. It is big but the focus for investors have been more on the central bank and inflation, monetary policy, and I don’t see that changing much for now.” “Kashmir has always been a contentious region and it’s not the first time attacks have happened. Investors are aware of this so unless the scale of incidents become significantly higher, I don’t expect to see a major impact on markets or outflows.” Bloomberg News

SHOCK DROP IN U.S. RETAIL SALES DRAWS SKEPTICISM OVER DATA

O much for a merry Christmas. That is, if you trust the numbers. Commerce Depar tment figures released on Thursday show US retail sales fell 1.2 percent in December from the previous month, the most since 2009, rather than the slight increase economists had forecast. Even more confusing: There was a pullback in a measure based largely on Internet sales, which had been expected to be the retailing industry’s saving grace this holiday season. Some analysts reacted not just with surprise but with an unusually large dose of skepticism. Jim O’Sullivan of High Frequency Economics Ltd. said the figures were so much weaker than expected “that the data lose credibility,” while Stephen Stanley of Amherst Pierpont Securities Llc. said the report “seems seriously out of whack” given mostly upbeat comments from retailers about the Christmas season. The report was delayed about a month by the federal closure. “I’m actually wondering whether the government shutdown created issues for them in terms of data collection and quality,” said Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research Llc. The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said in Thursday’s report that while data collection was delayed by the shutdown, “processing and data quality were monitored throughout and response rates were at or above-normal levels for this release.” The bureau didn’t reply to a request for comment on the numbers. The report showed non-store retailers— which includes online stores—fell 3.9 percent month on month, the most since November 2008. They rose just 3.1 percent on an unadjusted yearover-year basis, even as Amazon.com Inc. alone saw its net sales in North America grow about 18 percent in the fourth quarter. “Almost everyone seems to be dismissing the out-sized decline and writing it off as noise,” Omair Sharif, senior US economist at Société Générale SA, wrote in a note on Thursday. “It’s certainly possible that we see an upward revision when the January report is released, but it’s not clear to me that we should dismiss this report altogether, and none of what I’ve seen/heard about why

today’s report is ‘wrong’ holds much water.”

Possible undercounting

CR AIG JOHNSON, president of retail researcher firm Customer Growth Partners Llc., said those Internet shopping figures seem particularly low, suggesting some transactions were missed. “There seems to be a significant undercount problem in the Internet sales,’’ Johnson said in a phone interview. “This is a real head fake.” The official numbers tend to be volatile on a month-to-month basis, and it’s not unusual for the reported increase or decrease in sales to be outside of the range projected by analysts. They also are subject to revisions, which over the past year have ranged from zero to about 0.4 percentage point for the second reading of the monthly change. Not everyone dismissed the data. Michelle Meyer, head of US economics at Bank of America Corp., said the figures are “likely to remain quite negative” even with possible revisions. In addition, the bank’s customer creditcard and debit-card data show that “January looks pretty soft as well, so our forward-looking indicator suggests some of this softness might actually continue into the start of the new year,” Meyer said on Bloomberg Television. The National Retail Federation said on Thursday that it estimates US holiday retail sales in the final two months of the year grew 2.9 percent from a year earlier to $707.5 billion— less than the 4.3-percent to 4.8-percent growth it was expecting. By NRF’s count, online and other non-store sales rose 11.5 percent in the two-month holiday season. “Worries over the trade war and turmoil in the stock markets impacted consumer behavior more than we expected,” NRF President Matthew Shay said. “There’s also a question of whether the government shutdown and resulting delay in collecting data might have made the results less reliable. It’s very disappointing that clearly avoidable actions by the government influenced consumer confidence and unnecessarily depressed December retail sales.” Bloomberg News

Sunday, February 17, 2019

IMF chief: EU faces defining moment as economy wobbles

UROPEAN Union (EU) leaders need to redouble their efforts to lift living standards across the continent as populist movements question the merits of integration, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. More than a quarter century after it was founded, the EU has largely delivered on its promise of peace and broadly shared prosperity, Lagarde said on Thursday in the prepared remarks of a speech to be delivered in Munich. Still, poorer southern countries in the economic union haven’t caught up to their richer northern peers, a gap that has worsened since the global financial crisis, she said. Between 2008 and 2017, average annual growth in real income per person was negative in the five southern members of the euro zone hit hardest by the crisis, she noted. “Europe is once again facing a

Pilot shortage seen crippling Asia’s biggest budget airline

NDIGO, an Indian budget carrier, is canceling dozens of flights every day over the next two months as it struggles to find enough skilled pilots following an aggressive expansion binge, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Pilots at Asia’s biggest low-cost airline by market value have exhausted their annual limit on flying hours earlier than expected, leading to the chaos, the people said, asking not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media. IndiGo declined to comment on pilot shortage. The airline, which controls more than 40 percent of the domestic market in India, scrapped as many as 49 flights on Wednesday, and said it will cancel 30 flights a day until the end of the month. Those disruptions will continue through March, as the airline adjusts its crew rosters, IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., said in a statement, citing weather conditions and restrictions at various airports that “resulted in extended duty times” for crew, forcing a re-roster. The problems at IndiGo, the biggest customer for Airbus SE’s A320neo jets, follow chaos at China Airlines Ltd. last week, when cockpit crew went on a strike complaining of overwork, leaving thousands of passengers stranded during a peak travel season in the region. India needs 17,000 new pilots in the next decade, according to Kapil Kaul, New Delhi-based chief executive officer at consultancy CAPA India. The cancellations started late last week when New Delhi and its surroundings were lashed by a hailstorm, sending airline schedules haywire. A planned runway closure in the southern city of Bengaluru and commercial capital Mumbai added to the mess. IndiGo, which inducted 19 Airbus A320-family aircraft in the past four months, is aggressively adding capacity as carriers rush to cash in on a travel boom in India, the world’s fastest-growing aviation market. More aircraft also mean having to hire more pilots, typically at least 12 for every narrow-body jet, adding to costs. “Their over-ambitious aircraft growth without planning ahead with crew numbers will cost them,” said Mohan Ranganathan, a former commercial pilot and an aviation consultant based in Chennai. Bloomberg News

defining moment,” said Lagarde. “Our goal should be clear: Restarting convergence and ensuring the fruits of economic growth

LAGARDE

are shared broadly across the EU. This will help restore faith in the European project.” She urged EU countries to reform their labor markets so firms

Europe is once again facing a defining moment. Our goal should be clear: Restarting convergence and ensuring the fruits of economic growth are shared broadly across the EU. This will help restore faith in the European project.”—LAgarde

have more flexibility in hiring and firing workers, make their business climate more welcoming to investment and increase spending on research and development. Lagarde’s remarks come amid a turbulent debate over Britain’s exit from the EU, as well as signs of sputtering growth in the world’s biggest economic bloc. The IMF partly blamed softening demand across Europe in cutting its 2019 forecast for global growth for the second time in three months. Among major economies, the deepest revision was for Germany, which the IMF now sees expanding 1.3 percent this year, down 0.6 percentage point from the fund’s forecast in October. The IMF also cut its outlook for Italy and France. British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered another embarrassing defeat on Thursday as parliament voted against her mission to rewrite the government’s Brexit deal. The loss throws more uncertainty on Britain’s plan to leave the EU on March 29. Lagarde, a former French finance minister, is viewed by some as a possible successor to European Commission President JeanClaude Juncker, whose five-year term ends in October. Bloomberg News

Sunday, February 17, 2019

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The AI that can write a fake news story from a few words

PENAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) research group cofounded by billionaire Elon Musk, has demonstrated a piece of software that can produce authenticlooking fake news articles after being given just a few pieces of information. In an example published on Thursday by OpenAI, the system was given some sample text: “A train carriage containing controlled nuclear materials was stolen in Cincinnati today. Its whereabout are unknown.” From this, the software was able to generate a convincing sevenparagraph news story, including quotes from government officials, with the only caveat being that it was entirely untrue. “The texts that they are able to generate from prompts are fairly stunning,” said Sam Bowman, a computer scientist at New York University who specializes in natural language processing and who was not involved in the OpenAI project, but was briefed on it. “It’s able to do things that are qualitatively much more sophisticated than anything we’ve seen before.” OpenAI is aware of the concerns around fake news, said Jack Clark, the organization’s policy director. “One of the not-so-good purposes would be disinformation because it can produce things that sound coherent but which are not accurate,” he said. As a precaution, OpenAI decided not to publish or release the most sophisticated versions of its software. It has, however, created a tool that lets policymakers, journalists, writers and artists experiment with the algorithm to see what kind of text it can generate and what other sorts of tasks it can perform. The potential for software to be able to near-instantly create fake news articles comes during global concerns over technology’s role in the spread of disinformation. European regulators

have threatened action if tech firms don’t do more to prevent their products helping sway voters, and Facebook has been working since the 2016 US election to try and contain disinformation on its platform. Clark and Bowman both said that, for now, the system’s abilities are not consistent enough to pose an immediate threat. “This is not a shovel-ready technology today, and that’s a good thing,” Clark said. Unveiled in a paper and a blog post on Thursday, OpenAI’s creation is trained for a task known as language modeling, which involves predicting the next word of a piece of text based on knowledge of all previous words, similar to how auto-complete works when typing an e-mail on a mobile phone. It can also be used for translation, and openended question answering. One potential use is helping creative writers generate ideas or dialogue, Jeff Wu, a researcher at OpenAI who worked on the project, said. Others include checking for grammatical errors in texts, or hunting for bugs in software code. The system could be fine-tuned to summarize text for corporate or government decision-makers further in the future, he said. In the past year, researchers have made a number of sudden leaps in language processing. In November, Alphabet Inc.’s Google unveiled a similarly multitalented algorithm called BERT that can understand and answer questions. Earlier, the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a research lab in Seattle, achieved landmark results in natural language processing with an algorithm called Elmo. Bowman said BERT and Elmo were “the most impactful development” in the field in the past five years. By contrast, he said OpenAI’s new algorithm was “significant” but not as revolutionary as BERT. Bloomberg News

Ghosn beefs up defense with lawyer famous for acquittals

Embattled Maduro reveals secret meetings with US envoy T

ARACAS, Venezuela—President Nicolas Maduro said in an Associated Press interview on Thursday that his foreign minister recently held secret talks in New York with the US special envoy to Venezuela, even as the Trump administration was publicly backing an effort to unseat the Venezuelan president. While harshly criticizing Donald J. Trump’s confrontational stance toward his socialist government, Maduro said he holds out hope of meeting the US president soon to resolve a crisis over America’s recognition of opponent Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful leader. Maduro said that while in New York, his foreign minister invited the Washington, D.C.-based envoy, Elliott Abrams, to come to Venezuela “privately, publicly or secretly.” “If he wants to meet, just tell me when, where and how and I’ll be there,” Maduro said without providing more details. He said both New York meetings lasted several hours. A senior administration official in Washington who was not authorized to speak publicly said US officials were willing to meet with “former Venezuela officials, including Maduro himself, to discuss their exit plans.” Venezuela is plunging deeper into a political chaos triggered by the US demand that Maduro step down a month into a second term

that the US and its allies in Latin America consider illegitimate. His opponent, the 35-year-old Guaido, burst onto the political stage in January in the first viable challenge in years to Maduro’s hold on power. As head of the Congress, Guaido declared himself interim president on January 23, saying he had a constitutional right to assume presidential powers from the “tyrant” Maduro. He has since garnered broad support, calling massive street protests and winning recognition from the US and dozens of nations in Latin America and Europe who share his goal of removing Maduro. The escalating crisis is taking place against a backdrop of economic and social turmoil that has led to severe shortages of food and medicine that have forced millions to flee the once-prosperous Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries member-nation. Two senior Venezuelan officials who were not authorized to discuss the meetings publicly said the two

encounters between Abrams and Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza came at the request of the US. The first one on January 26 they described as hostile, with the US envoy threatening Venezuela with the deployment of troops and chastising the Venezuelan government for allegedly being in league with Cuba, Russia and Hezbollah. W hen they met again this week, the atmosphere was less tense, even though the February 11 encounter came four days after Abrams said the “time for dialogue with Maduro had long passed.” During that meeting, Abrams insisted that severe US sanctions would oust Maduro even if Venezuela’s military stuck by him. Abrams gave no indication the US was prepared to ease demands Maduro step down. Still, the Venezuelans saw the meetings as a sign there is room for discussion with the Americans despite the tough public rhetoric coming from Washington. At turns conciliatory and combative, Maduro said all Venezuela needs to rebound is for Trump to remove his “infected hand” from the country that sits atop the world’s largest petroleum reserves. He said US sanctions on the oil industry are to blame for mounting hardships even though shortages and hy perinf lation that economists say topped 1 million percent long predates Trump’s recent action. “The infected hand of Donald Trump is hurting Venezuela,” Maduro said. The sanctions effectively ban all

oil purchases by the US, which had been Venezuela’s biggest oil buyer until now. Maduro said he will make up for the sudden drop in revenue by targeting markets in Asia, especially India, where the head of state-run oil giant PDVSA was this week negotiating new oil sales. “We’ve been building a path to Asia for many years,” he said. “It’s a successful route, every year they are buying larger volumes and amounts of oil.” Maduro also cited the continued support of China and especially Russia, which has been a major supplier of loans, weapons and oil investment over the years. He said that backing from Russian President Vladimir Putin runs the risk of converting the current crisis into a high-risk geopolitical fight between the US and Russia that recalls some of the most-dangerous brinkmanship of the Cold War. Amid the mounting pressure at home and abroad, Maduro said he won’t give up power as a way to defuse the standoff. He called boxes of US-supplied humanitarian aid sitting in a warehouse on the border in Colombia mere “crumbs” after the US administration froze billions of dollars in the nation’s oil revenue and overseas assets. “They hang us, steal our money and then say ‘here, grab these crumbs’ and make a global show out of it,” said Maduro. “With dignity we say ‘No to the global show.’ Whoever wants to help Venezuela is welcome, but we have enough capacity to pay for everything that we need.” AP

OKYO—Former Renault-Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn has beefed up his defense team ahead of his trial in Japan by hiring Junichiro Hironaka, a star lawyer with a strong track record for winning rare acquittals in a country where the conviction rate is 99 percent. Another new attorney on his team, Hiroshi Kawatsu, is an expert on judicial reform who has studied and done research in the US. Ghosn, arrested last November 19, and charged with falsifying financial reports and breach of trust, says he is innocent. Some of prominent cases Hironaka has won are: Ichiro Ozawa: An influential lawmaker known as the “shadow shogun” for his backroom dealings, Ozawa was charged with false financial reports on political funding, linked to a 2004 land deal. He was acquitted in 2012, while three aides got suspended sentences. Ozawa’s defense argued he was innocent as he had no knowledge of the deal. Kazuyoshi Miura: The Japanese businessman was suspected of involvement in the shooting death of his wife in Los Angeles in 1981. Miura was shot in the leg while his wife was shot in the head. Miura’s 1994 conviction was overturned by two higher courts, including a 2003 Supreme Court ruling. Hironaka led the defense in both.

Arrested in Saipan, Miura was extradited to the US in 2008 on conspiracy charges since murder charges would have amounted to double jeopardy. He was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting arraignment. The coroner ruled it a suicide. Atsuko Muraki: A welfare ministry official, Muraki was arrested in 2009 on suspicion of falsely approving a group to qualify for mail discounts. She asserted her innocence, saying she knew nothing about such a group. She was acquitted in 2010. One of the first women to rise in Japan’s government bureaucratic ranks, she has written books criticizing the Japanese criminal system, drawing on her roughly five months of detention. Takeshi Abe: The head of a government AIDS research team, in 1996 Abe was charged with professional negligence resulting in death, in a major scandal over the sale of HIV-tainted blood products from 1983 to 1985 that caused 2,000 Japanese, mostly hemophiliacs, to contract the AIDS virus. The blood had not been heattreated to kill the virus, a procedure that was used in the US but not approved for use in Japan until 1985. Abe denied wrongdoing, saying he didn’t know the products would lead to infection. He was acquitted in 2001 after a four-year trial and died in 2004, while facing an appeal.

Bloomberg News

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Editor: Tet Andolong

Sunday, February 17, 2019

‘ONE PINE DAY’ I

Story & photos by Bernard L. Supetran

T’S the time of the year once more when travel bugs troop to the City of Pines as the mercury drops, the flowers bloom and colors explode in the much-anticipated Panagbenga Festival, the top tourist event in the north.

FOREST Bathing Trail

A SLICE of Giverny, France at Le Monet Garden

PAINTBALL Republic Extreme Outdoor Adventure Park

The two-month-long extravaganza is an activity-packed celebration, which runs till March 10, which is expected to bring Baguio traffic to a gridlock, is also an opportune time to rediscover the artistic soul of the city away from the madding crowd. Baguio definitely still provides an allure for those longing for the serenity of the good old mountain resort, the scent of pine at the Camp John Hay, the city’s watershed and last patch of greenery. A

LE Monet Hotel’s artsy foyer

former American military reservation, the enclave is like a “city with within a city,” and a haven for the arts, culture, cuisine, heritage and recreation, which adds color to its being the archipelago’s Summer Capital. This artistic soul is reflected in the city’s character, which stakeholders have taken to heart ever since Baguio was inducted to the elite Creative Cities Network by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organiza-

tion last year. With this accolade, Baguio joined 63 cities from 44 countries, which are members of the prestigious group that promotes creative industries and integrates culture into sustainable urban policies. One establishment that exudes this artistic aura inside out is Le Monet Hotel in the heart of Camp John Hay, which is inspired by the legendary French impressionist Claude Monet. It is a virtual gallery, as guests are instantly greeted by the masterpieces of National Artists Jose Joya, H.R. Ocampo, Ang Kiukok, Eduardo Castrillo and Federico Alcuaz, at its artsy foyer. An oil painting by Bataan-born contemporary master Melencio Sapnu proudly hangs at the lobby café and overlooks diners as they sink their teeth

on artisanal dishes prepared by its grizzled chefs. The boutique lodging, which turns seven years old this month, espouses “life imitating art” by infusing bits and pieces of art in every conceivable space. Its rooms evoke a French country feel with a veranda that opens up with the sight “one pine day,” which is a largerthan-life divine art canvas drawn by God Himself. At the hotel’s rear is the Le Monet Garden, a miniature recreation of Giverny, Monet’s hometown in northern France whose iconic images are its bridge, lotus pond and water lilies, which provided sparks of inspiration to his remarkable body of works. The landscaped greenery is wellmanicured or curated with native-

themed gazebos for intimate dinners, and a garden for flowers and organic vegetables, where the hotel sources its ingredients. Couples can seal their pledge of love at the Love Lock Corner, which is inspired by a bridge in Paris riddled with thousands of love locks. For some active recreation, discover the cowboy in you, and explore John Hay on horse-back at the adjacent Kabadjo stable. Level up the action at the Paintball Republic Extreme Outdoor Adventure Park, which has a paintball field, outdoor wall for rapelling and a zip line. Le Monet also takes pride in its artisanal cuisine composed of classic Filipino fare, Western staples and international favorites, most notably its porterhouse steak and almond-crusted salmon. There are

ALMOND-CRUSTED salmon and porterhouse steak at Le Monet

also weekly Japanese and Oriental buffets, and themed offerings for all sorts of special occasions. Guests can stay in tip-top shape at the fitness gym or get pampered at its Vida Verde Spa and thermal pool. A short ride away from the hotel are the must-see places— the Butterfly Sanctuary, Tree Top Adventure, the Cemetery of Negativism and The Bell House, a de facto museum, which served as the residence of American general J. Franklin Bell, who helped develop Camp John Hay into what it is now. Golfers can bask in the worldclass 18-hole Championship Golf Course and Driving Range, with its visually appealing fairway and perpetual cool breeze. Aside from gazing at lazing at the mesmerizing pine formation, guests can now indulge in an exciting activity called forest bathing, a Japanese practice of venturing to the forest to commune with the environment to improve one’s health and well-being. In line with this, the country’s first-ever Forest Bathing Trail was recently opened to provide a unique opportunity to reconnect with nature by absorbing the energy of the trees, sky and the earth. The span is a trek along a 4-kilometer trail that cuts through a forest floor covered with thick and soft pine needles, canopies and rich foliage, with eight stations for rest and meditation, each with its own massive bamboo wind-chime installation by homegrown composer and artist Edgar Banasan. The confluence of the chime’s relaxing melodies, the cool crisp breeze and the scenic mountain view create a calming effect. Forest bathing can also help lower blood pressure, improve mood, accelerate recuperation from surgery or illness, increase energy level and improve sleep. Forest plants have phytoncides, which are an active substance with antimicrobial properties that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria, microscopic fungi and protozoa. Yoga practitioners will be delighted with the trail, as this would provide a very con ducive natural se tting for meditation. People doing the trail are encouraged to pause occasionally to touch and hug a tree, feel the earth beneath their bare feet, feel the wind and inhale the pine scent. A brainchild of Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Chief Operating Officer Marie Venus Tan, the Forest Bathing Trail is the first of its kind in the country, which is geared at encouraging guests to appreciate the climate more, stop to smell the flowers by the wayside and, ultimately, stay a little longer. An initiative of the TPB and the Department of Tourism-CAR and government and private stakeholders at Camp John Hay, the new activity aims to relive Baguio’s raison d’etre—being the lowlanders’ escapade for one pine day...and beyond.

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THE EARTH PIG ARRIVES AT MARCO POLO ORTIGAS MANILA

HE new beginnings and new opportunities arise as Marco Polo Ortigas Manila welcomed the coming of the Earth Pig during the Lunar New Year. As the award-winning hotel celebrates the New Year with its guests, this year’s festivities commenced on February 5, 2019, with the guidance of Feng Shui Master Chau Kam Shing, who led the Taoist Ritual Blessing Ceremony. Guests and members of the Hotel’s executive team gathered around at the ground-floor lobby of the hotel for this special gathering. This was followed by the traditional eye-dotting of the lions and dragons, led by General Manager Frank Reichenbach, and hotel owners Mr. Samuel Po and Mr. Victor Co. “We welcome the Year of the Earth Pig with optimism and motivation to make 2019 even more meaningful for our guests. On be-

half of our associate team at the Marco Polo Ortigas Manila, we thank Master Chau for his guidance in paving the way toward a more prosperous year ahead,” said Reichenbach. For more information about ongoing promotions at Lung Hin and the hotel’s other dining destinations, please call (02)720-7720 or e-mail restaurant.mnl@marcopolohotels.com. For more information about Marco Polo Ortigas, contact (632)720-7777 or visit www.marcopolohotels.com. Subscribe to updates via social-media through the hotel’s official social media accounts: facebook.com/MarcoPoloOrtigasManila and @MarcoPoloManila on Twitter and Instagram.

RESTAURANTS, Bar and Events Director Stuart Stancombe, Resident Manager Roel Constantino, Hotel Owners Mr. Victor Co and Mr. Samuel Po, Feng Shui Master Joseph Chau, General Manager Frank Reichenbach and Feng Shui Master Vittorio Chau

So Sorsogon M

ENTION Sorsogon and the butanding (whale shark), the world’s biggest fish immediately comes into mind. The sought-after “gentle giant” of the sea found in Donsol Bay has been one of the country’s must-do wildlife experiences for the past two decades. But beyond this iconic sea creature, the province is a proverbial best-kept secret with its bevy of natural wonders from mountain top to beneath the sea. This peninsular province at Luzon’s southernmost tip has 14 towns, each with a unique characteristic and treasure trove of tourism gems. Sorsogon City, the provincial capital, is the transport and tourism hub and the logical starting point in exploring the province. In the heart of the city is Rompeolas (Baywalk), a scenic promenade with a view of the mountains and Pinaculan Island, which is being developed by the provincial government as a tourist zone. The seat of government is the postcard-pretty Provincial Capitol built in the classical Graeco-Roman architecture, and has a Museum and Heritage Center, which chronicles Sorsogon’s checkered history. Beach lovers can bask at the resort colony in Bacon District, which is known for Tolong Gapo and Pagol beaches, and the crater-like Paguriran Rock Island, which has a shallow lagoon enclosed by a craggy rock wall. For a cozy sight-seeing, guests can have lunch in style at the Buhatan River Cruise, a raft tour along the city’s lush mangrove forest and estuaries. Another must-see is the 3,215-hectare Abang Mangrove Reserve in

BUENAVISTA Surfing Site in Gubat.

Prieto Diaz, an award-winning wetland, which is a habitat to around 30 bird species. Also within the town is Nagsurok Cave, which has an underground river that snakes through its half-mile length. An emerging tourist hot spot is the Pacific coastal town of Gubat, which is frequented for the powdery beige sand and turquoise water of Rizal Beach, and Buenavista Beach, Bicol’s surfing mecca whose waves are ideal even for beginners. Lola Sayong Eco-Surf Camp offers surfing lessons at rock-bottom rates where one can get initiated to the sport and help send local youths to school. An old-time poster image is the 3,673-hectare Bulusan Volcano Natural Park, a lush rainforest and wildlife sanctuary reserve. Its core is Bulusan Lake, a quiet retreat where you can go around its 16-hectare surface on board kayaks and pedal boats, get a massage on a raft or commune in the stillness of nature. A few minutes away is Balay Buhay sa Uma, an agritourism resort noted for its bee farm, freshwater ponds, cold spring pool and indigenous greens, surrounded by cool springs emanating from Bulusan Volcano. Neighboring Irosin town has a number of sulfuric hot springs, which are believed to be therapeutic for common ailments, and is a soothing way to rinse after venturing out into the sea scuba diving Heritage buffs can Marvel at the circa-1875 Saint Joseph Church in Barcelona, which has a coral-rock baroque dome-like structure and bell tower, with the remnants of the old municipal hall, fortress and school building nearby.

GCASH CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER BAGS 14TH MANSMITH YMMA AWARD

SUBIC beach

Juban is regarded as the heritage town because of its well-preserved houses built in the traditional bahay na bato architecture. A noteworthy house is Casa Feliz, which has found new life as a pension house, and a “living museum” because of its heirloom showcase. Gibalon Shrine in Magallanes is an interesting historical tidbit, being the site of Luzon's first Catholic Mass held in 1569. This merry mix of culture and nature meets adventure as the province hosts the 19th Philippine Hobie Challenge, the country’s premier extreme regatta, which takes on a week of island hopping across rough waters. Organized by the Philippine Inter Island Sailing Federation, grizzled veteran sailors from all over the world take part in this fun race to put the spotlight on the lesser known coastal areas of the archipelago. This year’s edition fires off on February 18 in Donsol, and sails to Subic Beach in Matnog, which is popular for its pinkish powdery

sand and crystalline water. Participants will extend outreach programs by donating useful materials to the host communities as part of the group’s social responsibility. From Matnog, the Hobie fleet sails to remote islands in Masbate, Leyte and Cebu, and winds up in Sicogon Island, Iloilo, with leisure yachts cruising with them on a joy ride across stunning islets. It has hosted the prestigious sailing event in 2003 and 2008 in the so-called Luzviminda Regatta, which cut across the entire length of the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao coasts. According to Gov. Robert Lee Rodrigueza, the choice of the province by the Hobie Challenge is a recognition of its rich marine resources and storied maritime heritage dating back to the Spanish period, being the route of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade. The local chief executive noted that the tourney will boost the initiatives to position the province as a hub for water-based recreation under its “So Sorsogon” tourism branding, which tags it as “so breathtaking, so precious, so gifted, so mesmerizing and so gastronomic,” etc. He added that accessing vital traveler information has become easy with the SoSorsogon Smart App it recently unveiled online, in line with their thrust to attract more quality tourists and worldclass events. Supported by its social-media platforms and music videos penned and directed by Rodrigueza himself, the province hopes to make it a consumate alternative destination. With nature, culture and adventure coming into play, one can only describe it with the superlative “So Sorsogon.”

AKATI City—The annual Mansmith Young Marketing Masters Award was held on February 12, 2019, at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza. The Mansmith YMMA is a prestigious awarding body that has started over a decade ago to give recognition to young branding professionals who continuously excel in their craft. At the heart of the award is the commitment to inspire marketing professionals even at their young age in aspiring to build their brands through innovation. The award targets practitioners in the field of sales, marketing, entrepreneurship and the like who have shown their expertise and creativity in delivering worthy messages and products to the public at the early years of their career. YMMA recipients are deemed to have conceived revolutionary strategies in their fields, which have created impact to the business environment of their industries. Being a recipient of this award tags the professional and the brand he carries a believer of innovation as an integral part in doing business. Among the recipients of the YMMA is GCash’s very own Chris Manguera, chief marketing officer and head of Growth. In effect of his function, he was able to ponder on the challenges of creating brand identity for a newly emerging product, GCash, the country’s leading mobile payment app. The campaigns and marketing strategies

GCash has launched were deemed to be effective, refreshing and innovative to the industry where he belongs. Bearing in mind that fintech is a newly emerging business venture, GCash has maximized the arena of the digitized era. Among the remarkable campaigns launched were the Shake Shake campaign where he put an interactive twist in using the GCash app during the holiday season in 2018. GCash launched the technology enabling subscribers to use the app through the Messenger app, an inclusive way of reaching most of the Filipinos given that almost half of the Filipino population are on the Facebook network. Under his CMO-ship, GCash was able to craft marketing strategies that have been effectively translated into models and campaigns, which have put forward the cause of GCash’s existence: inclusivity through fast, secure and convenient cashless transactions. The achievement of GCash’s CMO is also a breakthrough in the fintech industry. Being the only recipient of the award from fintech, this recognition has opened the gates for the industry to strive and deliver products and services to the public in a more creative, innovative and relevant manner. A competitive set of standards in communicating to every Filipino what the industry can offer to them as their partner in their daily financial needs and how fintech can advocate for financial inclusion to the nation.

CHRIS MANGUERA, GCash chief marketing officer, receives his YMMA Award under Marketing Management category.

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Sunday, February 17, 2019 A7

A glimpse of beauty at Twin Lakes Hotel

HE first and only hotel in the Philippines with an actual grape-growing vineyard in its backyard opens its doors in Laurel, Batangas, near Tagaytay. Escaping the dizzying buzz of the city often requires finding solitude somewhere you are surrounded by the soothing ambiance of nature. For those wanting to unwind and reinvigorate their senses to start the year on the right note, there’s a charming new hotel destination near Tagaytay that just might take your breath away. Another milestone offering by Megaworld subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (Geri) is the new Twin Lakes Hotel, which recently opened inside the 1,200-hectare Twin Lakes development in Laurel, Batangas, near Tagaytay. It will be operated by Megaworld Hotels, which also handles the company’s other homegrown Richmonde, Belmont and Savoy Hotel brands. Inspired by Old European architecture, the hotel offers a total of 122

rooms, each having its own balcony where guests can enjoy the fresh air and the charming views of the Taal Lake and Volcano, as well as its own grape-growing vineyard. It is also envisioned as the perfect venue for weddings and celebrations as it offers panoramic views of its lush surroundings. Just recently, Twin Lakes Hotel was awarded as the Country Winner for the Best Hotel Development in Asia category at the 2018 Asia Property Awards held in Bangkok, Thailand. Earlier this year, the hotel was also recognized for its exemplary design, location and huge potential for tourism by winning the Best Hotel Development at the 2018 Philippines Property Awards. “Twin Lakes Hotel stands out as the only hotel in the country that has an actual grape-growing vineyard in its backyard,” says Jun R. Jimenez,

TWIN Lakes hotel room

TWIN Lakes Hotel façade

general manager, Twin Lakes Hotel. A leisurely walk near the hotel sits the Twin Lakes Shopping Village, where you can find the “most beautiful Starbucks in the Philippines,” dubbed as such for its calming interi-

ors and breathtaking views. The hotel’s rooms are categorized as Superior (up to 34 sq m, Deluxe (up to 38 sq m), Executive (up to 38 sq m), and the two-bedroom Family Suites and Presidential Suites (up to 86 sq

TWIN Lakes Café

m), which both come with its own living areas. The hotel also offers a business center, boardroom and meeting rooms, game room, pool deck, kiddie pool, and an outdoor lounge.

There’s also the Twin Lakes Café, an all-day dining restaurant facing the vineyard and Taal Lake that offers the hotel’s signature dishes, such as Spaghetti Vongole, Pollo Veronica, Lengua Financiera, and the hotel’s very own iteration of a famed Tagaytay favorite, the bulalo. Other amenities include an inhouse Wellness Spa, a heated infinity pool and a grand ballroom with a banquet capacity of up to 500 people, which can also be divided into smaller banquet rooms. Guests will surely enjoy the best of Twin Lakes Hotel a lot more with Club Access, an exclusive membership privilege card packed with exciting perks and discounts from some of the finest local hotel brands nationwide. Also within the 1,200-hectare property of Twin Lakes, Geri’s largest development to date, are residential condominiums, residential villages, and other leisure and commercial properties. Discover more about Twin Lakes Hotel by visiting their official web site at http://www.twinlakeshotel.com.ph. You can also visit their social-media pages by looking up “twinlakeshotel” on Facebook and Instagram. You may also book a room by sending an e-mail to reservations@twinlakeshotel.com. ph or sales.reservation@twinlakeshotel.com.ph, or calling 0917-8461389 and 0917-8537468.

HEATED pool

Volkswagen PHL holds 2019 Metro Manila mall tours from February to May

S Cathay Pacific International holds Chinese New Year parade

RGANIZED by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and title-sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airways, the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade was held on the first day of Chinese New Year (February 5) in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of the most popular tourist districts in Hong Kong. The annual mega event to celebrate the start of the Lunar New Year featured world-champion troupes and world-record holders, who provided challenging performances and dynamic entertainment for the audience. In addition, visitors who came to watch the parade along the parade route had the opportunity to win a wealth of gifts, including an auspicious golden pig. The total prize value was over HK$1 million. The Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade started at 8 p.m. on the first day of Chinese New Year. This year’s event continued the theme “Best Fortune. World Party,” and showcased nine

floats, and 13 international and 12 local performing troupes. In addition to the international carnival performing teams and world-record holders, other world-renowned performing teams were featured in the parade, including: n Hiplet Ballerinas: The dancers, which have over 100 million views on their social-media videos, presented a trend-setting modern dance that combines “hip-hop x ballet”; n Junior New System: This Filipino all-male performing group, which gained fame on American talent show America’s Got Talent, wore their signature stilts to dance and flip; n Face Team Acrobatic Korfball: This team from Hungary, which debuted on Britain’s Got Talent and holds 10 Guinness World Records, staged various fancy slam-dunk tricks; and n The Freaks Acrobatic Show: This award-winning Austrian Acrobatic Troupe entertained the audience with challenging per-

formances. Around 18 performing groups started at about 6 p.m. along the parade route to warm up and interact with the crowd with diverse roving performances, including dance, magic shows, costumed characters interacting with the spectators and busking. They also handed out festive gift packs. To bring the festive atmosphere to all corners of the city, a public display of the floats followed the Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade, on the second day of Chinese New Year (February 6) in Tai Po Lam Tsuen. On February 6 and 7, various performing groups graced the venues of Tai Po Lam Tsuen and Temple Mall North in Wong Tai Sin with their entertaining shows. For details about the recently held 2019 Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade, please visit the HKTB web site: DiscoverHongKong.com/ChineseNewYear.

TARTING as early as Valentine’s Day this February, up to Labor Day in May, Volkswagen Philippines brings its roster of Germanengineered and designed vehicles closer to the Filipino public when it holds tours and exhibits in major malls in Metro Manila. These mall tours represent the efforts of Volkswagen Philippines to bring that unique motoring lifestyle of the brand within reach of more hardworking Filipino motorists and their families. The Volkswagen mall tours, with the theme “German Technology Within Your Reach,” will be held in four strategic locations. The display booths will also provide up-to-date information about all things Volkswagen and an on-site online browsing on smart TVs for visitors. The first exhibit of the mall tour series will be held from Valentine’s Day, February 14 to 20, at the Fashion Hall of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. From March 21 to 31, the tour moves to the Luxury Lane of the Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City. The tour jumps to the south of Metro Manila from April 9 to 15 at SM Southmall in Las Piñas City, then culminates at the SM Mall of Asia Main Mall Activity Area in Pasay City from April 25 to Labor Day, May 1. Mallgoers and motoring enthusiasts visiting the displays on those days will get to see up close the roster of vehicles from Volkswagen Philippines: the Santana, Santana GTS, Lavida, Tiguan and Lamando. The Santana MPI MT is powered by a 1.4-liter Multi-Point Injection (MPI) 4-cylinder petrol engine mated to a 5-speed manual transmission, with maximum power output of 90 Ps at 5,500 rpm and maximum torque of 132 N-m at 3,800 rpm. On the other hand, the Santana 180 MPI AT S and SE variants and the Santana GTS 180 MPI AT SE offer more power with its 1.5-liter, 4-cylinder, in-line petrol engine with BlueMotion Technology mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission generating maximum power output of 110 Ps at 6,000 rpm and maximum torque of 150 N-m at 4,000 rpm. For ride comfort and stability, the Santana variants and the Santana GTS feature electronic power steering, front McPherson Independent Suspension, safety cage (front and rear crumple

zones), and rear composite torsion beam semiindependent suspension. Safety highlights include standard ISOFIX anchorage points (mounting fixture for two child seats on rear seat bench), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), immobilizer and front dual airbags. The Santana AT standard features are 15” alloy wheels, Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP), while the SE variant added amenities are rain sensing wiper, cruise control, rear Park Distance Control (PDC), multifunction steering wheel and front side air bag. The retail prices of the Santana variants are P686,000 for MT, P898,000 for S AT and P962,000 for SE AT, while variants with the Blaupunkt infotainment system are available at P929,000 for S AT and P993,000 for SE AT. The Santana GTS 180 SE AT offers features such as ESP, sunroof, cruise control, rear PDC, multi-information display, front side air bag, roof rail and 372 liters of trunk space. The Santana GTS is priced at P998,000 and P1,029,000 with the Blaupunkt infotainment system. The Lavida 230 TSI DSG SE is equipped with a 1.4-liter, 4-cylinder Turbo Fuel-Injected petrol engine with BlueMotion Technology mated to a 7-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) transmission, capable of 130 Ps of power at 5,000 rpm and 225 N-m of torque at 1,400 to 3,500 rpm. The interior features and comfort amenities include leather seat material, cruise control, Climatronic air-conditioning, Push Start and sunroof. Safety highlights include the ESP with Brake Assist, Electronic Differential Lock, Anti Slip Regulation (ASR), hill hold control, and front and rear PDC. The Lavida is priced at P1,171,000. The Tiguan 280 TSI DSG SE, has a 1.4-liter 4-cylinder Turbo Fuel-Injected petrol engine with BlueMotion Technology mated to a 6-speed DSG transmission. Maximum power output is 150 Ps at 5,000 rpm, while maximum torque is at 250 N-m at 1,750 to 3,000 rpm. Its interior features and comfort amenities include “Vienna” leather seat material, 2-zone Climatronic air-conditioning, Panoramic sunroof, eight speakers, and driver power 12-way seat adjustment. Safety systems include ISOFIX anchorage points, ESP, ASR, EDS, EDTC, hill hold control and rear PDC with acous-

tic warning signal. The Tiguan variants retail at P1,648,000 and P1,679,000 with the Blaupunkt infotainment system. The Lamando 280 TSI DSG SE and SEL is powered by the 1.4-liter 4-cylinder, in-line, Turbo Fuel-Injected petrol engine with BlueMotion Technology that generates maximum power of 150 Ps at 5,000 rpm and maximum torque of 250 N-m at 1,750 to 3,000 rpm. The Lamando variants are priced at P1,569,000 for SE and P1,703,000 for SEL. The warranty coverage for all these models are comprehensive. Aside from the three years or 100,000-km general warranty, whichever comes first, Volkswagen Philippines also offers a threeyear warranty for paint and another three-year warranty for through-corrosion of the main steel body structure. The periodic maintenance service (PMS) interval schedule for these new models is also structured for its owners’ convenience. The PMS interval is once a year, or every 10,000 km, whichever comes first. This is more convenient and more cost-efficient compared to the industry-standard 5,000-km PMS interval. Already priced well within reach of hardworking Filipinos, the Volkswagen vehicle lineup on display during these mall tours will be accorded with special financing offers. Premium Volkswagen items, as well as fuel cards worth P5,000, will also be given away to customers who will purchase units on exhibit days. Make 2019 your year—the year you reap the fruits of your hard work, the year when you live the premium motoring lifestyle. This is the year that, in your own Volkswagen, “Your Drive Just Got Better.” Metro Manila dealership locations are Volkswagen BGC at 938 28th Street City Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City; Volkswagen Quezon Avenue at 1229 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City; Volkswagen Alabang at Caltex along AlabangZapote Road, Madrigal Business Park, Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City; and Volkswagen Greenfield District Service Center at 833 Sheridan Street, Barangay Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City. For more information about Volkswagen Philippines and its lineup of vehicles, log on to www.volkswagen.com.ph.

Journey BusinessMirror

»life on the go

BusinessMirror

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Editor: Tet Andolong

MOTHER OF THE BANGSAMORO

SHOWS US ITS HEART

THE Bai Walk along the Tamontaka River, your perfect spot for sunset-watching.

is also the second-largest mosque in Southeast Asia after the Istiqlal Mosque of Indonesia. An annual Bangsamoro Festival will be celebrated in the Grand Mosque, which will showcase the Bangsamoro culture and religion. It will also be the site of a yearly pilgrimage of Muslims from the Asean region, which will also be open to tourists from different countries who want to observe the Islamic rituals.

What the future holds

n Halal Economic Zone—THe global markets are ready for halal products patronized by both Muslim and non-Muslim countries in Europe, North America and Asia. With a huge existing market, the potential for a global halal trade is growing slowly but surely, and the Philippines aims to be at the forefront of halal propagation in Southeast Asia. There is a proposed measure in the Philippine House of Representatives to create a Halal Economic Zone and Free Port in Cotabato City. This aims to promote and develop the halal industry in partnership with private or public groups, and investors both local and foreign.

THE TOURISM ADVOCATE

S everyone’s talking about love, let me share with you the one place that I have so much love for—Mindanao.

THE Mindanao River, also known as the Rio Grande of Mindanao, is the major waterway in Mindanao used for trading and transporting seafoods and other products to nearby provinces.

And with my recent visits lately, Cotabato or Kutawato has easily and effortlessly charmed itself into my heart. There is so much to love about Cotabato that I hope people would know. With the recent passing of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), I feel that it has become inevitable to share my secret love, Cotabato, to the rest of the Philippines and to the rest of the world. What can love and peace bring to a place, a region, a country should it thrive and really given a chance? First District of Maguindanao Rep. Bai Sandra Sema, one of the main proponents of the BOL, recently led a Philippine delegation to Saudi Arabia, with them is the sheer hope that through their presentation they (the businessmen), too, would realize that there is more to BARMM than

meets the eye. After two days, they were able to get investment pledges for Cotabato City and other Bangsamoro provinces from these businessmen. I never tire of going to Cotabato. Every visit still feels like the first time. Bodies of water and land merge to form unique natural scenic spots perfect for ecotourism. The land also thrives in excellent strategic spaces perfect for commerce. And now that the BOL has been passed, peace is imminent, which completes the environment to becoming an Asean City whose reach is no longer merely local but regional.

The beauty within n The Bai Walk at the Tomantaka River—The Bai Walk is fast-becoming

the hangout place of many Cotabato

THE Grand Mosque

folk and is fast evolving into a tourist destination. Perfect for that lazy long walks or an afternoon tea during balmy afternoons and a perfect spot, as well, for al fresco dinner. Soon, it will house restaurants, coffee shops, souvenir shops and retail stores. Your perfect spot beside the tranquil waters while watching the sunset. At the heart of the river is a small islet called the Bongo Island that will showcase a mini mosque or a replica of the golden Grand Mosque, which will become the main tourist draw of a river cruise. n Timako Hill—Stands along the coast in Barangay Kalanganan II fronting the majestic Sultan Haji Hassanal Masjid. One of only two elevated areas in Cotabato City where trees are preserved and protected, home to several species of monkeys, birds, bats and other flora and fauna, this is a perfect ecotourism destination for nature lovers. Sports enthusiasts like mountain climbers, trekkers and adventureseekers can also enjoy the hill because of its natural trail that zigzags along springs, rock formations and towering trees. Nothing short of the ocean experience, Cotabato boasts of the Amaya Beach Resort, approximately 30 minutes away from Cotabato City. Groomed to be a prime tourist destination, it offers room accommodation, cottages or tent for options, kayaking, fly fishing, banana boat and a must-try experience—a 20-foot diving board and other fun beach activities. At the back of the resort is the panoramic view of majestic Mount

BANGSAMORO Organic Law champion, Congresswoman Bai Sandra Sema, representative of the First District of Maguindanao and Cotabato City

Minandar and Mount Bilalaan. This place is perfect getaway from the city. And, of course, the center of

the Muslim religion and culture is the Grand Mosque—the largest mosque in the Philippines and

n Cotabato air and sea ports— The airport will be able to handle direct flights from other countries, as well as domestic flights. Like its counterparts in the country, a dutyfree mall will be built and made available for both local and international tourists, also included are other retail stores of a mix of local and global brands. Beside the airport, a modern airport hotel will rise and will cater to business travelers and tourists alike. The new seaport will be the trade center for Bangsamoro. There will be a world-class halal fisher’s market area. An aquaculture park that features the 33 rivers of Maguindanao that converge in the area, making the aquaculture very unique, will also be built nearby. Tourists will have a chance to see fishes and other sea creatures that are endemic to Cotabato City. There will also be guided river cruise tours in the aquaculture park. So, what does love and peace can do to a place, a region, a country? Progress, economic growth and the lasting peace where love thrives and humanity can be one with each other. In my next trip to Cotabato it would again be a different picture of the region. One of love, peace and progress, all thanks to the people, the movement, the advocacies that is BOL—Bangsamoro of Love!

Faith www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: ‘LUKE 6:17, 20-26’

PROCLAIMING SACRIFICE MSGR. JOSEFINO S. RAMIREZ SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

HE gospel of today is about the beatitudes—those formulations beginning with the word “blessed,” by which Christ summarizes the demands of the Christian spirit. The beatitudes are like paradoxes. It calls blessed what people normally consider as “cursed.” Poverty, hunger, tears and persecutions are considered reasons for rejoicing. “Rejoice on that day and exult, for beholds your reward is great in heaven.” ( Luke 6:23 ) N o w a d a y s, t h e re i s a t e n d e n c y t o deliberately silence this aspect of the Christian message. At times, this is done with the excuse that the “sacrificial aspect” of Christianity is a vestige of a “medieval mentality” and is therefore irrelevant at present. It is very true that the Christian message is a message of joy and happiness. That the Paschal Mystery culminates with the glorious Resurrec tion of Christ. But the joy and happiness of the resurrection is only possible with the renunciation and sacrifice of the cross. To deliberately silence this aspect of the Christian life in favor of a “sweetened” and mitigated Christianity would be to fall into the trap of our consumeristic society. The effectiveness of the Christian message can precisely be seen when it clashes with

worldly values. Ancient Rome was a decadent society that thrived on “bread and circuses.” There was rampant immorality at all levels of society—not only among the Roman aristocracy, but all the way down to the common people. The early Christians gradually gained converts among them, not by conforming to the materialism and selfishness all around them, but by being firm in their way of life. Their lives made a striking contrast with the dissipation all around them. At t i m e s p e o p l e re p re s e n te d t h e i r presence—it could have been like a sting on their consciences. They were accused of all sorts of fabricated crimes. Yet their lives served as a witness that gradually ended up converting the whole Roman empire. We must admit that nowadays, we are engulfed in a culture of hedonism. Personal pleasure, satisfac tion and gratification hold sway. Love, the most Christian of all virtues, is often depic ted falsely and identified with selfishness and egotism. Sacrifice and suffering are the new taboos. Now, more than ever, this aspect of the Christian message is especially relevant. Let us not fall into the easy temptation of silencing it.

Jacinta Marto, youngest non-martyr saint By Corazon Damo-Santiago HEN the Lady opened her hands, light from it penetrated the earth. Lucia de Jesus dos Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, saw a sea of fire. Devils and souls with human forms emerged; “transparent black or bronze embers floating in the fire”...“amidst wailing and cries of pain and despair that horrified and shook the children with terror.” The Lady explained: “You have seen Hell—where souls of poor sinners go.” The vision of hell changed playful Jacinta into a prayerful child. She made a resolve to save as many souls from going to hell by living a life pleasing to God, acts of sufferings and mortifications.

and Jacinta was too sick to attend his funeral. When asked by the Lady if she was willing to suffer more, she said yes. Since then, she never allowed “one moment of suffering go to waste. One twinge of pain was of more value to her than all the gold in the world,” wrote John de Marchi, IMC, in the True Story of Fatima. In June, she was brought in Qurem, a distant hospital from home, and alone among strangers. She had pneumonia, tuberculosis, pleurisy, a large open wound on her chest and fever all the time. Her condition was not improving, so the doctors sent her home in August. Back home, she prevailed upon the family that she attended daily Masses, despite her illnesses. Jacinta knew she would again be confined in Lisbon, suffer more and die alone. The Lady said so.

Lovable child

So loved by the Lady

JACINTA walked on the holy grounds of Cova da Iria. She saw and spoke to the Angel of Peace thrice in the fields of Casa Velha, and with the Blessed Virgin Mary six times in the holm tree of Cova da Iria. She witnessed the miracle of the Sun in Fatima on October 13, 1917. The youngest among the seven children of Manuel Pedro Ti Marto and Olympia Jesus dos Santos, Jacinta was born on March 11, 1910, in the village of Aljustrel near Fatima in Portugal. She was pretty with a round face, bright clear eyes, small mouth, thin lips and smooth skin. Playful and energetic, she had a sweet singing voice. When her brother Francisco started to play the flute, she added to the joyful moments by dancing. Despite her happy disposition, so determined was she to save souls from the fires of hell. She seized all opportunities to suffer and redeem souls. She would go thirsty under the burning heat of the sun, drink foul water, offer her share of luscious grapes to poor children, skip meals and go hungry, give up her desire for figs, tie sheep ropes around her arm, encircle her waist tightly with ropes at night and pray rosaries with Francisco and Lucia. The thought of hell and many souls going there puzzled her, and she would often ask Lucia for reasons. Since many people ask the children many questions, Jacinta would keep quiet to “avoid lying because it is a sin.” She never got tired saying: “My God I love you, and Sweet Heart of Mary be my salvation, because it seems that I have fire in my heart,” she explained in a conversation about prayers with a saintly old priest, Fr. Cruz.

Victim of love

WHILE many people believed the apparition about the Lady, others ridiculed the children. The chief magistrate of Qurem, Arthur Oliveira Santos, had them kidnapped, incarcerated and threatened to be thrown in boiling oil. They were set free although they refused to share the secrets. Jacinta’s sufferings intensified after the entire Marto family was stricken with influenza in October 1918. The Blessed Mother told Jacinta she would take Francisco soon. He died on April 4, 1919,

I N Januar y 1920, Fr. Formigao with Dr. Enrico Lisboa and his wife, who wanted to be informed about the events in Fatima, visited Jacinta. The doctor’s decision prevailed. She was accompanied by her mother on February 2 to Lisbon. She stayed in the Orphanage of Our Lady of Miracles. Jacinta spent every possible time in the chapel, and shared many revelations with the superior, Mother Maria de Purificacion Godinho. Mother Godinho attested that she would see her radiantly beautiful but was requested to leave because Jacinta is expecting a visitor. The superior would sometimes see a globe of light. In the hospital, two ribs of Jacinta were removed. She suffered intensely because of the open fist-sized wound on her breast. But she never complained. Once, only a moan was heard, and she whispered: “Now you can convert many sinners, for I suffer a great deal my Jesus.” On February 20, she requested for Extreme Unction, had her confession and requested, too, for the Eucharist. But the priest was not alarmed and came the next day to give her communion. However, Jacinta expired that evening. In 1920, a law was still reinforced in Lisbon not to ring bell towers, so they were locked. But the bells in the Church of Angels, when she was brought home, rang on their own. On the 24th, her body was accompanied by Mother Godinho, which enabled her to visit Fatima as Jacinta has predicted. Jacinta was buried in quicklime to avoid the spread of influenza and hasten decomposition of the body. On September 12, 1935, the bishop of Leiria commanded that the body be transferred to the cemetery to be placed together with her brother Francisco. Jacinta’s body was found uncorrupted. On May 13, 2017, the first Centennial celebration of the Miracle in Fatima, she was canonized by Pope Francis. Her feast day is February 20.

Damo-Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

Sunday

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Marawi folk waiting for iconic Grand Mosque to rise again By Edd K. Usman | Special to the BusinessMirror

ARAWI CITY in Lanao del Sur suffered immense destruction in 2017 like in a theater of war in World War II.

In the aftermath of the five months of Marawi siege, 3,153 buildings were totally destroyed and 2,145 were partially or heavily damaged, news sources said. Destroyed and damaged buildings on ground zero included houses, schools—22 of 69 were tota l ly destroyed—hospita ls, business structures and places of worship, such as a cathedral and more than a score of mosques. The scene of the main battle came, called ground zero, was where the combined contingents of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Police fought against some 1,000 pro-Islamic State (IS) tandem of Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups, who sought to establish a foothold for their supposed “caliphate” in southern Philippines. With such destruction, many believe Marawi City will never be the same again.

Grand Mosque and 24 mosques destroyed, damaged

IN ground zero alone, 25 mosques—the biggest of which i s t he Gr a nd Mosque — were destroyed or damaged during the conf lict. Perhaps what hits most the hearts and minds, the soul, that is, of the “People of the Lake”—as the Maranaws are referred to—was the destruction of mosques, which in Islam and among Muslims, is the center of life of every community. It is where followers of the messenger of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, pray. It is where they hold mushawara (meeting). It is where they discuss even their political life, for in Islam, after all, has no separation of Church and State. In the past, whenever foreign ministers and ambassadors from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation visited the city, part of their itinerary included the Grand Mosque, giving it more prominence as a historical landmark. Marawi, the Philippines’s only Islamic City, has a population of 177,391 people based on a 2015 government census. It is called Islamic City owing to the number of mosques dotting the area. The city has 96 barangays, 24 barangays of which, with a combined area of 250 hectares, are in ground zero.

New Grand Mosque is best option

DATU Omar M. Pangarungan

Datu Omar M. Pangarungan, vice president for External Affairs of the Jameo Mindanao Al-Islamie Islamic Center of Marawi, which manages the Grand Mosque, quoted Jean-Jacques Rousseau: “The heart has a reason which reason does not know.”

Clan’s properties destroyed

PART of ground zero, now called Most Affected Area, is the Pangarungan Village, where the various branches and households of the clan have been living for decades. The clan’s property spans 24 hectares at the heart of Marawi City’s commercial district. Datu Omar, who was on an official mission to the Middle East when the siege took place, told the BusinessMirror that he “couldn’t believe until now what happened to Marawi.” He returned to the city on January 22 “to enter ground zero to make an assessment to the damage to the clan’s properties.” He said the clan’s 93 commercial and residential houses were flattened to the ground. These include the Grand Mosque, the Pangarungan College buildings, the P45-million Shell gasoline station, the newly built four-story and soon-to-be-opened P50mil lion-wor th May rasna Magayoong-Pangarungan Hospital

“IN the heart of the city stands the Grand Mosque, which [was able to] accommodate around 5,0 0 0 worshipers before t he siege,” Datu Omar said. Nestled on an area of 7,500 square meters, the mosque, with an area of 2,500 sq m, has three floors for 5,000 worshipers. Its lower ground houses the Arabic Department consisting of 15 classrooms and a staff room for teacher. “ The Islamic School of the Grand Mosque aims to teach Islamic knowledge based on the Koran and the Sunnah [sayings] of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Allaihi Salam,” Datu Omar said. He added that it is no longer being used even after the government took the mosque back from the Filipino pro-IS militants, who used it as their base, posting machine guns and snipers in the minaret. The militants used mosques in their fight, perhaps capitalizing on their being religious structures and the government forces’ reluctance to attack places of worship. When the government forces moved to retake the Grand Mosque, they did not use air bombardments or mortar rounds because, as the AFP said, they wanted to preserve the religious structure. AFP Spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said after the retaking of the historic mosque that they did not launch a head-on attack even if international protocols permitted because of President Duterte’s strong guidance to not destroy any place of worship. And preserved it was. However,

In the heart of the city stands the Grand Mosque, which [was able to] accommodate around 5,000 worshipers before the siege.” —Pangarungan

Donating 2 hectares of land

MEMBERS of the rich and poor families of Maranaw clans suffered deaths, injuries and destroyed or damaged properties, and personal treasures and money lost. One of the prominent clans in Marawi City that suffered the most—over P1 billion—is the Pangarungan clan. So, it must be a surprise to other Filipinos that the children of the late Sultan Salic and Hadja Mohmina Pangarungan, in response to President Duterte’s call to help the displaced residents, are donating 2 hectares of land. The property will be apportioned from the clan’s 19 hectares a few miles from the Pangarungan Village. It will be used by the government to establish a vocational school and a hospital for the internally displaced Marawi children, both Christians and Muslims. When asked about the generous donation despite the clan’s losses,

owned by Dr. Maimona Magayoong and daughter Dr. Mayrasna M a gayoong-Pa nga r u nga n , a nd si x r ice m i l l s i n d i f ferent loc at ion s i n t he v i l l a ge. Besides the gasoline station that she owns, Hadja Jawhara Nora Pangarungan-Dianalan lost over P100 million in personal properties, including expensive jewelry, cash collections from the gasoline station, delivery cars and family heirlooms. The Magadapa Pangarungan couple also lost their P8 million to P10 million worth of eight-door commercial building.

THE bullet-riddled domes of the Grand Mosque in Marawi City

the Grand Mosque still suffered so much that it is not anymore practical to use because of the risks to worshipers as local government executives have declared. Rehabilitating the house of worship is, obviously, not an option anymore. So a new Grand Mosque would be the next best option. Actually, Datu Omar said that, even before the Marawi siege, there were already foreign groups, which expressed their interest in renovating the Grand Mosque. Now that this is no longer possible. He said that on record, the first phase of the Grand Mosque was laid in the early 1950s through the efforts of the landowner, his grandfather Datu Pangarungan Desalongan. Datu Omar, besides being vice president of the Islamic Center, is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Pangarungan and Sons Enterprises, the umbrella business entity of the clan. He said funding came from voluntary contributions of local Muslims (private sector) and some foreign individuals. “With the support and contributions of the Muslim community in the region and abroad, the construction of the first phase of the Grand Mosque was completed in 1970,” he said. With ground zero still to be opened to the public as demolition of government properties are still ongoing, the Maranaws—especially the displaced residents and those whose properties were either destroyed or damaged in the conflict— and civil society organizations are hoping the government can assist the owners of the mosques in looking for funds for their reconstruction or building of new ones. The Pangarungan scion clarified that no funds will come from the Philippine government for the mosques because of the separation of Church and State. However, he added: “The role of the government is to assist the owners of mosques for the sourcing of funds for the reconstruction/building of the mosques.” He also revealed that, after the Marawi siege, some countries have expressed their interest to participate in rebuilding the mosques on ground zero, subject to the guidelines of the Philippine government, which they have to undertake. Usman is a freelance journalist who writes about science, information technology, current events, etc. He won the “Best Science Feature Story” in the first University of the Philippines Science Journalism Award 2018 on February 17, and the DOST-PCIEERD “Kabalikat Award” for Print Media on June 27, 2014.

Science

A10 Sunday, February 17, 2019

BusinessMirror

Sunday

Diwata-1 images help monitor, sustain Manila Bay rehab

FIGURE 1. A portion of Manila Bay as captured by Diwata-1 at 3:24 p.m. Pht using its Spaceborne Multispectral Imager

FIGURE 2. Turbidity map (February 2018) of Manila Bay using Diwata-1

FIGURE 3. Turbidity map (February 2016) of Manila Bay using Landsat-8 data

FIGURE 4. Turbidity map (February 2017) of Manila Bay using Landsat-8 data

FTER the massive cleanup and rehabilitation efforts on world-renowned Boracay last year, all eyes are on Manila Bay as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources began rehabilitation operations on January 26.

Heavy metal pollution—bad for ecosystem, humans

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu started the campaign with the cleaning of the iconic bay’s coastlines and esteros, followed by a crackdown on establishments around the area that would be identified as sources of pollution and wastewater.

Not just trash collection

More than just a trash-collection initiative, the multiagency effort by the Philippine government to improve the environment of Manila Bay is meant to restore and maintain the bay’s water-quality level to make it suitable for swimming and other recreational activities. On February 19, 2018, nearly a year before the rehabilitation project, Diwata-1 was able to capture an image of Manila Bay using its Spaceborne Multispectral Imager (SMI). Satellite data in the form of images yielded by the microsatellite can help track changes in water quality. An analysis of turbidity, using the Formazin Nephelometric Unit (FNU) to measure water clarity, shows unmistakably turbid murky waters at the mouth of Pasig River appearing to flow out from the river. Using a baseline of less than 5 FNU based from Figure 2, which generally indicates clear waters, more than 25 FNU units are shown to move out from the mouth of the river even extending inside the river. Figure 2 shows that the extent of water pollution extends inland, which may point to the built-up areas inside the river as source of pollutants. This means that residential and industrial runoffs, such as wastewater from factories, are dumped onto the river.

Long-term rehab

IT is important to note that for the successful long-term rehabilitation of Manila Bay, the sources of pollution that enter the river, as well as other river systems that drain to the bay, should be identified and regulated, as well. Figure 2 also helps in identifying that turbid waters are also present at the shores of Bulacan and Pampanga. These turbid waters have originated from aquaculture.

Impact on food supply

IN the figure, the environmental impact of the growing demand for food to supply the growing Philippine population could be seen. To keep up with supply, masses of aquaculture farms have to be set up for intensive fish farming, which is an activity commonly associated with using fish feed and fertilizers. Unfortunately, unregulated usage of fish feed and fertilizers contaminate water, resulting in the milky blue waters at the area as shown in Figure 1. These also contaminate the waters of Manila Bay. Diversif y ing and promoting alternative ways for aquaculture should be explored, as limiting aquaculture activities in this area— a possible effect of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Project—may lead to a food-supply crisis. Overall, Figure 2 showed the multitude of sources of the bay’s pollution. Restoring the natural environment of the bay will require efforts to reduce waste material from sources. These sources can be easily identified by satellite images, such as those provided by the Diwata microsatellites.

WHAT exactly are the effects of water pollution in Manila Bay? For one, there is evidence of bioaccumulation of lead in fish muscles, as well as deterioration in muscle fibers of the fish captured from the bay. Mamon, et al. (2016) found growth impairments to green mussel, a bioindicator of water quality, due to pollution in Manila Bay. Heavy metal pollution is bad for both the ecosystem and humans, as these metals are transferable when eaten. Manila Bay is one of the sources of food for many individuals who live in the area, and their health may be impaired from consumption of contaminated fish captured by fishermen.

High turbidity

INTERESTINGLY, applying the analysis to earlier images obtained through other satellites (Landsat) showed that high turbidity reaching above baseline levels occurred at the same general areas at same month. Figures 3 and 4 show that turbidity is not a unique event captured by Diwata-1. It is most likely have been part of the bay for a long time. The use of satellite images gives more dimension to the gravity of the rehabilitation project aimed to improve the coexistence of the environment and humans.

Sat images: Invaluable tools for rehab

SATELLITE images, such as those provided by Diwata-1, and their capability to provide timely and periodic information are invaluable tools to help the rehabilitation project. In ideal conditions, satellite images can help track the temporal changes of turbidity within Manila Bay helping the efforts of the government to rehabilitate the bay. With Diwata-2’s revisit capability, it could better monitor certain highpriority areas—such as Manila Bay— to compare water-quality changes over time. Also, remote sensing is a cost-effective way to conduct large-scale assessments of water quality at the bay, as both Diwata-1 and Diwata-2 can

capture a large area of the bay to be used for water-quality assessments. Diwata-1 is a Philippine microsatellite deployed into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS) on April 27, 2016. It is the first 50-kilograms satellite of the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) Program, a three-year research and development program funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) of the Philippines. The program is a collaboration between the University of the Philippines, the DOST-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-Asti) and Japan’s Tohoku University and Hokkaido University. Diwata-1 has since captured over 36,000 images around the world and over 21,000 images of the Philippines data as of February 6.

PHL-Microsat and Stamina4Space Programs

THE PHL-Microsat program is the country’s first initiative in developing the country’s capacity in space science and technology. In its four years of implementation, it had successfully launched two microsatellites: Diwata-1 and Diwata-2; and a nanosatellite, Maya-1. It is funded by the DOST, monitored by DOST-Philippine Council for Industry and Emerging Technology Research and Development and done through the collaboration between the University of the Philippines Diliman, the DOST-Asti, Hokkaido University and Tohoku University. The PHL-Microsat Program is succeeded by the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement (Stamina4Space) Program. Stamina4Space is aimed at further developing deep expertise that enable and sustain the growth of a local scientific-industrial base in space technology and applications in the Philippines. Through science-based policies and programs supported by innovations in space technology, Stamina4Space intends to contribute to building a resilient Filipino society and a productive, knowledge-based economy.

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Bicam OKs scientists’ no limit on honoraria, delay in retirement By Cai U. Ordinario

ILIPINO scientists in government will no longer have any limitations on the additional amount of honoraria they can receive and will have the option to delay their retirement under the ratified bill amending the benefits of science and technology (S&T) personnel. In a statement, the House of Representatives said it has approved the bicameral conference committee report reconciling the House and Senate bills on the benefits of S&T personnel. The reconciled measure seeks to amend Republic Act 8439, or the “Magna Carta for Scientists, Engineers, Researchers and Other Science & Technology Personnel in the Government,” which aims to empower Filipino scientists and expand the country’s pool of S&T experts and motivate them to continue working for the country. “S&T personnel not employed by the Department of Science and Technology [DOST] but are involved in science and technology activities may also avail [themselves] of the benefits of the measure upon certification of the head of their agency that they are involved in research and development or other scientific and technological activities,” the Office of the Speaker said. The House of Representatives said the ratified bill states that the government shall not impose a limit on the amount of additional honoraria that may be received by S&T personnel from externally funded grants. The bill also stated that services of a scientist due for compulsory retirement may be extended for a maximum

of five years provided that he or she has mental and physical fitness. The extension of the term of service should also be for a research project that is included among the priority research and development programs of the DOST. Rep. Alfredo Vargas III of the Fifth District of Quezon City said in the explanatory note of House Bill 1833, one of the bills eventually consolidated into HB 8734, that the developments in S&T have contributed significantly to the country’s development because they advance the economy and improve health systems, education and infrastructure. As such, the state must invest in the human resources of those in the S&T field to promote technological advancement in the country. For his part, Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr the Second District of Camarines Sur observed that the lack of support for and unnecessary restrictions to the scientific community has led to many Filipino scientists seeking greener pastures elsewhere. “Hence, there is an ample need to support scientists, researchers, engineers and the like. The government must incentivize their position within civil service to better the scientific sector in the country,” he said in the explanatory note of HB 6670, which was also consolidated into HB 8734. T he repor t consolidates HB 8734, which was principally authored by Reps. Vargas; Michael Romero (1-Pacman); Enrico Pineda (1-Pacman); and Villafuerte, with its counterpart Senate Bill 1534 principally authored by Sen. Loren Legarda.

LAWYERS FAVOR AGRI-BIOTECH IN FOOD AND MEDICINES

ILIPINO lawyers favor the application of agri-biotech in food and medicines, a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños-College of Development Communication (UPLB-CDC) found. Results of the study, “Legal Discourse on Agri-Biotechnology: Implications to Lawyers’ Engagement in Biotechnology in the Philippines,” were presented to scientists and experts, as well as representatives from academe, national and international agencies/institutions, and partners from the biotech community during a recent lecture at the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca). Dr. Cleofe S. Torres, professor at the UPLBCDC Department of Science Communication, and Atty. Damcelle T. Cortes, assistant professor at the Institute for Governance and Rural Development of the UPLB College of Public Affairs and Development, shared some of the research findings in their ADSS lecture on “Engaging Lawyers in Agri-biotechnology: Challenges and Prospects.” The study focused on analyzing the Philippine lawyers’ understanding and attitude toward agri-biotechnology and how these may serve as basis for defining their engagement in agri-biotech development. Torres said results showed that despite having a low level of familiarity with key terms such as genes, viruses, golden rice, genetically

modified (GM) organism contamination, processes and the existence of agri-biotech regulations in the country, lawyers still favor the application of agri-biotech in food and medicine provided that proper precautions are taken. She said precautions include educating the public on its pros and cons, addressing risks of the technology and having a structured regulatory process. According to Torres, the study also revealed that while lawyers perceive agri-biotech as an interesting topic, they do not yet see it as a lucrative area of legal practice. Nevertheless, she said lawyers were found to be open to expanding their knowledge on the subject, collaborating with scientists and actively participating in regulating agribiotech products in the country. Furthermore, Cortes said the study also analyzed the content of legal documents related to the Bt eggplant case. She said the study found that there is a need to improve the level of science literacy among the Judiciary based on the legal arguments raised during the trial. Cortes explained that such lack of understanding on the nature of GM crops had implications on their decision to stop the Bt eggplant field testing in the Philippines in 2015, which was overturned the following year. The study was commissioned by the Searca Biotechnology Information Center.

PHL, Asean experts merge timber info to make trade efficient

RADING of timber in Southeast Asia will soon be more efficient as experts in the region are consolidating the database of timber species being traded in the region. Two researchers from the Department of Agriculture-Forest Products Research and Development Institute—Fernando C. Pitargue Jr. and For. Glenn B. Estudillo— were the Philippine representatives to the recent Forest Research Institute Malaysialed project. Titled “Equivalent Timber Names in Asean,” the project hopes to gather information—such as trade names, common names and locations— of various timber species in the region. “Those involved in timber trading will be guided as to the equivalent woods from each

Asean member-state. The database will help them know the prevailing prices and sources of timber, making the import-export market system among Asean countries more efficient.” explained Pitargue. In line with the project, the two attended workshops in November 2018 and in January in Malaysia to collate and finalize the data. The output will be presented during the 2019 Asean Senior Officials on Forestry meeting and will be published into a book. Funded by the Japan-Asean Integration Fund, the project involves delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Apple Jean C. Martin-de Leon/S&T Media Service

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sunday, February 17, 2019 A11

A SAILING WE WILL GO

PARAW Regatta by King Erlano

By Bernard L. Supetran

N archipelago of 7,641 islands with a 36,289-kilometer coastline, you can easily conclude that water sports is the hands-down national recreation in the Philippines.

Subic Bay Around Verde Island Passage Race

HOBIE Cats at the Philippine Hobie Challenge

But despite centuries of maritime heritage and a coast longer than that of the United States, the sport of sailing has been relegated to the background and dismissed as an elitist activity. Thanks to a select breed of aficionados, this ancient skill is being revived in various parts of the country—from the do-it-yourself dinghy, the good old paraw, the amazing Hobie Cats, to the yachts which cruise the open sea. To the uninitiated, one can hie off to Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC) in Talisay, dubbed by Lonely Planet as the country’s “sailing mecca” because of ideal winds the whole-year round. More like a no-frills lakeshore resort, it is not as snobbish as its name sounds as it welcomes everyone who wants to get their feet wet in the sport. Here, every Tom, Dick and Harry can easily learn to sail using the Oz Goose wooden boat which is easy to

maneuver, or build at a cost cheaper than the latest iPhone. For the past few years, the club has been hosting Family Boatbuilding Weekends of the Philippine Homebuilders Yacht Club to offer an out-of-the box getaway for people of all ages. The group also holds regattas to give joiners their baptism of fire in competitive sailing. Just recently, the club held the first Talisay Fiesta Regatta as part of the patronal feast to encourage the villagers to engage in the sport right in their own natural backyard. TLYC is also the home to the country’s biggest fleet of Hobie Cat 16s, a sleek, 16-foot, twin-hull, fiberglass wind-powered boat, a standard aquasport equipment in luxury resorts. Every second Sunday, these colorful boats slice the placid lake in friendly races, and in preparation for major tourneys such as the Round Taal Volcano in November, the Ho-

bie Nationals and the Philippine Hobie Challenge, which are both held in February to take advantage of the amihan winds. The challenge, now on its 19th edition, is the country’s most extreme water-sports adventure as it takes on a week of island-hopping across rough waters. Organized by the Philippine Inter Island Sailing Federation, the regatta is attended by grizzled veterans from all over the world to put the spotlight on lesser known coastal areas through sports tourism. This year’s contest takes place from February 16 to 23, kicking off in Donsol, Sorsogon, and sails to remote islands in Masbate, Leyte, and Cebu, where participants will also do outreach programs to the host communities. Winding up at the posh Huni Resort and Balay Kogon in Sicogon Island, Iloilo, they will be joined by a fleet of yachts that will be cruising on a joy ride to see the archipelago’s stunning islets. Another sailing haven is Subic Bay, home to the Subic Sailing Club, which has been key player in trans-

forming the former US naval base into a water sports playground. Formerly known as the Saturday Afternoon Gentleman Sailors, the group will hold on February 22 to 24, the second Standard Insurance Subic Bay Around Verde Island Passage Race, a 200-nautical mile offshore race around the world’s “center of the center of marine biodiversity”. This will be followed by the World Sailing Federation-sanctioned Subic Bay Cup Regatta from February 24 to 28, and the One-Design Fleet Racing on March 1 and 2. Both events will serve as “practices races” in the run-up to the 30th Southeast Asian Games to be held here in November. The club will also spearhead the inaugural of the Chairman’s Cup Regatta on April 25 to 30, as a tribute to SBMA leaders who helped make the freeport a global sports tourism hub for grand prix keelboats, fostering camaraderie among sailors. Taking the place of Commodore’s Cup, the race will have dinghies, keelboats and windsurfs to enable young and beginner sailors to compete. Organizers say the event envi-

Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay invites families to a rejuvenating beachfront break

ÖVENPICK Resort & Spa Boracay is inviting guests to start the New Year in the best possible way, with a rejuvenating beachfront break including soothing spa treatments and an array of activities for all ages. Nestled directly on the soft sands of Punta Bunga Cove, on Boracay’s exclusive northwest tip, Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay is a haven of tropical tranquillity with extensive wellness and children’s facilities. Sagay Spa, features a full menu of treatments designed to “refresh,” “restore,” “rejuvenate” and “regain.” Guests can tailor therapies to suit their own specific wellness needs, with a wide range of massages, body scrubs, facials and beauty treatments. Locally inspired spa therapies include the signature 90-minute Sagay Regenerating Ritual, which uses seashells from the Visayan Sea, a 90-minute Hilot Ritual, which takes advantage of the ancient healing properties of warm tuba-tuba leaves, and even state-of-the-art Winback therapies, which harness radio-

frequency currents to stimulate the body’s natural healing response, rejuvenating the body at a cellular level. While parents are embarking on their “New Year, New Me” philosophy, kids can enjoy a fun-filled start to 2019 with a series of dedicated activities. At the Little Birds Club, children can learn new skills such

February concludes with the country’s Bamboo Organ Festival

as hair braiding, cupcake baking or kite making, while also discovering a full schedule of healthy outdoor activities. Under the Mövenpick Family program, parents can rest assured that their children’s needs are taken care of, with baby cots and children’s bathroom amenities available free of charge upon request.

“At Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay, we want to ensure that all guests—young and old—are able to start 2019 in the best possible way. The New Year is a wonderful opportunity for families to reconnect and make moments together. Parents can recharge their batteries after a stressful festive period and children can have fun learning new skills and making new friends. Our aim, as always, is to create magical guest experiences that will live in the memory for many years to come,” commented André Brulhart, general manager, Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay. Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay attracts couples and families alike for revitalizing and relaxing breaks by the sea. On a spectacular 200-meter-long stretch of sandy beach, this idyllic upscale resort features a magnificent 3,300-squaremeter, multilevel swimming pool, water sports, a fitness center and yoga classes, plus the Sagay Spa, Little Birds Club and a choice of seven exceptional F&B outlets.

sions to be the paragon of the development of sailing to encourage Filipinos to embrace the sport, and rediscover the country’s checkered maritime heritage in the process. On a typical day, leisure cruises around Subic Bay are offered by The Lighthouse Marina Resort, a nautical-themed boutique hotel inspired by sailing and operated by sailors. It offers basic sailing lessons aboard dinghies. Down south, the indigenous paraw made an appearance at the 47th Iloilo-Guimaras Paraw Regatta Panay (February 9 to 17), one of the country’s longest-running sailing contests. The iconic outrigger boat of Panay, the paraw is also a sought-after floating artwork with its beautifully painted sail depicting local culture, and has become a permanent fixture in Boracay’s seascape. With the thrill that sailing brings, it is perhaps time drop our collective fetish for basketball and set our sights to this age-old sport which will help us rediscover our seafaring character, and help us win the elusive Olympic gold medal.

N February 21, the 44th International Bamboo Organ Festival will open this year with a gala concert for the sustaining members of the Bamboo Organ Foundation and major sponsors of the festival. The same performance will be offered to the general public from February 22 and 24. On the program is “Magnificat” by J.S. Bach and other works of the baroque period (Telemann, Charpentier and Buxtehude), performed by Johann Trummer (organ, Austria), Manu Mellaerts (trumpet, Belgium), soloists Stefanie Quintin, Sherla Najera, Michelle Mariposa, James Conde, Ervin Lumauag, Christopher Arceo, Mark Abesia, the Villancico Vocal Ensemble and the Manila Baroque Ensemble, conducted by Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng. Other events are the open-air concert with organist Mauro Goia (Italy) together with trumpeter Manu Mellaerts (Belgium) on February 23 with OPM artists Klarisse de Guzman and Nyoy Volante; the organ recital by Viviane Loriaut (France) on February 25, the Philippine-Korean Friendship Night with organists Dong-ill Shin and Yanghee Yun, Hyo-young Kim (saenghwang), and Rachel Gerodias-Park (soprano) on February 26, and the closing concert on February 27 with the Las Piñas Boys Choir celebrating its 50th anniversary, to be held at the San Ezekiel Moreno Oratory, Villar Sipag Compound along C-5 Extension. The venue is the 200-year-old parish church of Saint Joseph in Las Piñas, constructed by Fr. Diego Cera and completed in 1819. The church has been restored and renovated between 1972 and 1974 by National Artist Francisco “Bobby” Mañosa, and is one of his earliest projects making use of native Filipino material. Tickets are priced at P600, P400, and P200 for February 22, 24, 25 and 26. Tickets for February 23 are at P600 and P400, and for February 27 tickets are at P200. Tickets are available at SM Tickets and TicketNet Online. For reservations, please call the Bamboo Organ Foundation office at 825-7190 or 820-0795.

Duty Free PHL to open more stores in 2019

UTY Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Vicente Pelagio Angala announced the agency’s plan to open new stores at the international airports of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and Panglao, Bohol, this year. With this expansion, the state-owned retail company is giving speed to its target of reaching 15 percent of the international traveler by 2027. “We are in coordination with the Department of Transportation [DOTr] and definitely it will happen this year,” said Angala. Speaking with the media, Angala also revealed that DFPC’s total sales reached $217 million in 2018, a 2-percent growth from 2017. Filipino tourists, Balikbayan’s and overseas Filipino workers remain the DFPC’s top source market with $59.9 million total of transactions, followed by the Americans ($4.9 million), Chinese ($1.5 million), and Canadians ($1.1 million). While the top 5 best-selling categories are confectionary, liquors and spirits, perfume

and cosmetics, fashion and supermarket. “One of the factors that contributed to this growth is our partnerships with thirdparty online payments solutions such as Alipay and WeChat,” said Angala. “Our collaboration also with the Department of Trade and Industry’s Go Lokal program has steadily grown to this day and we expected to continue to grow in the coming years,” he added. In line with the thrust of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat to promote proudly Pinoy-made products, DFPC in close coordination with the Department of Tourism in adding homegrown products through the Philippines’s Finest Kiosk. These plans and programs bode well for the DFPC’s higher target of $220 million for 2019. “With the challenges and hurdles the industry is facing, The DFPC will stay committed to its mandate to boost the country’s tourism industry by providing Filipino travelers with an extensive range of gifts to bring home to their loved ones,” said Angala.

Sports BusinessMirror

A12 Sunday, February 17, 2019

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

CASTER SEMENYA’S case has been championed by United Nations human-rights experts and women’s sport activists. AP

The two-time Olympic 800-meter champion from South Africa is looking to overturn eligibility rules for hyperandrogenic athletes proposed by track and field’s governing body.

IN MOURNING A woman holds a poster with images of the 10 teenage players killed by a fire at the Flamengo training center last Friday at the Maracana Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP

Young innovator sees clear messaging, site quality to boost digital marketing By Oliver Samson Correspondent

UR favorite Carl Ocab is no longer 13 and the @kidblogger: he is himself. And he wants to share the lessons he learned. Ocab was a first-year high-school student when he started his business at the age of 13. As the number of clients grew, he hired people after he graduated from college in 2015. Today, he employs a team of web designers, a team of web-site developers and a team of content writers. A self-taught computer programmer who had been making money already for years before he set foot in college, he took and finished Psychology at San Beda College Alabang. Cited by Forbes as one of the top young innovators and leaders in Asia in 2017, Ocab pointed to clear messaging and quality web-site performance as the main factors that helped his online marketing business to grow.

Direction clarity

AN enterprise’s web site should offer the customer an eye-catching, clear and easily executable direction right on the homepage, said Ocab, who made it to Forbes magazine’s top 30 young leaders in the region in the magazine’s “media, marketing and advertising” category. “If you are a coffee shop, the customers expect to see your location, contact details, products and sometimes the prices once they arrive at your web site,” he said. Based on his years of experience, Ocab said that some enterprises offer no clear message and direction on their homepage. Usually, the customer does not know what to do. “Without a clear direction, the customer cannot move further after arriving at your web site,” he said. “In a way, you have to be a shepherd for your web site’s visitors.” The customer should instantly be provided an idea about what are being offered; otherwise, he may get bored and leave the web site unhappy, he added. The message and purpose should be clearly established first prior to designing and developing the web site, Ocab noted. The design and user interface should follow said message and purpose. A good web site can be easily navigated by all ages under different circumstances. “Your web site should be foolproof, so that even a fool can use it,” he said. The web site should be result-driven, not just looks, he added.

CARL OCAB, founder of Carl Ocab Digital Marketing, during an interview in Alabang Hills. OLIVER SAMSON

Identifying industry PEOPLE are more impatient when dealing with an enterprise online than when in an eye-to-eye situation due to many available options, Ocab pointed out. The 23-year-old digital marketing services provider also attributed strong online marketing to quality web-site performance. Customers are not happy about a web site that loads pages at a snail’s pace, which is disastrous for a business, Ocab said. People usually choose to abort from accessing the web site after three seconds when the page is slowly loading: “They hit the back button.” Ocab raises the fingers on his left hand to tick off the basics of digital marketing: clear message, fast-loading, right design and the usability of the web site. “The web site should also be mobile device-friendly.” About 60 percent of customers today use smartphones in accessing web sites to look for products and services, he added. But web-site visitors depend on the industry of the enterprise, he explained. Most people use the smartphone when looking for a place to eat or have coffee. According to Ocab, desktop computers are

2 BusinessMirror

still used by people in the offices. “It pays to know which industry you are. But your web site should work with all devices: desktop computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets.”

Getting updated

SINCE technology is updated every now and then, sometimes in a blink of an eye, enterprises should update their web site regularly to keep it relevant, he explained. Ocab had clients before whose existing web site was not optimized for mobile devices and accessible to users of computers only. “Ten years ago, there were no smartphones yet,” he said. “People use computers to access the Internet during that time.” Some of his clients’ web sites had obsolete web designs, which was bad for the reputation of the enterprise, he pointed out. “Your web site reflects your image, especially if you are a tech company,” Ocab said, adding the site should be updated every two or three years. An “un-updated” web site may also load its pages slowly due to an old code, he added. “Code, like design, should be updated regularly due to new technology and fresh programming languages.”

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

He added the server should be fixed, if not optimized, for the web site, noting that an un-updated web site is attractive to hackers. Threat actors may put on the pages a content that is not from the site owner. “Usually, hackers post on compromised web sites casino and pornographic site links,” he said. Linking a web site to many other web sites can rank that web site higher on search engine results, he explained. “An old web site is like an old operating system, which is susceptible to viruses.” The web site is updated for security reasons, aside from functionality and looks, Ocab said.

Importance of SEO

SEARCH engine optimization (SEO) is a way of manipulating the search engine results, Ocab explained. SEO could serve for an enterprise’s advantage or for the disadvantage of its competitors, he noted. But manipulating search engine results to rank the competitors down is not a good idea, Ocab said. “It’s referred to as negative SEO.” An enterprise can rank itself high on Continued on Page 7

BusinessMirror

MUSIC

PHOTO FROM ESREMBORAK FB PAGE

READY OR NOT,

HERE’S ESREMBORAK

by Rick Olivares

ET ready for Esremborak. This five-piece ukulele rock band will charm your way into your heart and tickle your fancy, the way Yano and Parokya Ni Edgar did with their funny, biting, and witty songs. However, they aren’t copycats. For one, they have a two-

ukulele lineup. You read it right: The instrument is not just something of a novelty for them. And two, their songs are the sort that will put a smile on one’s face, or even solicit laughter. Esremborak just launched their extended play CD on February 11 at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)’s College of Communication in Sta. Mesa.

The entire band—singer Mc Mislan, bassist Mike Tamayo, Leo Requejo and Nathaniel Panganiban on ukulele, as well as Mary Paredes on drums—are all PUP alums. And get this: They are all into the noble vocation of teaching. Mislan and Requejo propagate Filipino in their alma mater. Paredes also handles the same subject, as well as Performing

Arts in Far Eastern University (FEU), while Panganiban is a Filipino professor at STI. Tamayo is finishing his academic requirements before he too gets into molding young minds.

About life in general

THEY got their group’s name after Barangay East Rembo in Makati Continued on Page 4

Sound BusinessMirror

FEBRUARY 17, 2019 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

MUS

THE AUTHOR AND THE MEMBERS DURING THEIR ALBUM LAUNCH. PHOTO BY RICK OLIVAREZ

Hard Rock...

from page 3

City, where Tamayo hails from and the band frequently hangs out. Together as Esremborak, they sing about the plights of the broken-hearted, ugly people, going unnoticed by their crushes on social media, their friends and, well, life in general. The band released their fivesong debut EP “Basura Songs” (from independent label Sevas Tra Records) to a crowd of nearly 300 people who packed the Tanghalang PUP, clapped and sang their way through the songs. School-based poets and performers Rian Cabatingan, Toni Panagu, Arlan Camba,

Federico Rivera, Christo Rey Albason and Marvin Lobos opened for Esremborak. “Malaking bagay na dito sa aming alma mater kami nakapag-launch,” said Requejo, who said the band is fully supported by the school’s faculty and administration. “Dito rin sa Tanghalang PUP kami nagstart,” added Paredes, who also related that all the members came from different bands before uniting to form Esremborak. Even this early, the band is enjoying the status of local heroes of sorts for the faculty and students. (PUP isn’t known as a hotbed

for bands. A product of the institution that somehow made a name for itself was Bandido.)

Big break

ESREMBORAK got a semblance of a break when they took part in that ill-fated Pepe Smith Rockfest last year, and where someone from Sevas Tra Records spotted them. “Pangarap lang namin gumawa ng kanta and tumugtog,” bared Mislan, who is the chief songwriter. “Hindi namin akalain na may makakagusto sa mga kanta namin.” The vocalist admitted that he is always writing songs. Even in mundane activities such as

walking to school, or strolling in Cubao, his mind is ablaze with ideas and phrases that eventually end up as songs. He claimed, “Siyempre, ang pinakamadali ay real life—yung mga kilala mo.” Marielle Gonzales, a senior high-school student of PUP, shared that the launch was her first time to watch a band, and Esremborak for that matter. “First time ko sila nakita mag-perform at manood ng banda,” she said. “Sobrang ganda ng mga kanta nila kaya bumili ako ng CD nila.” Esremborak has started to make the gig, mall and festival circuits, as they have played in Laguna, Maginhawa Street in Teacher’s Village, Quezon City, Ali Mall in Cubao, and many others. They are scheduled for an EP launch in Panganiban’s school at STI in Sta. Maria, Bulacan this coming February 22. There are also plans to perform in the near future in FEU, just to complete the rounds of the three schools where all the band members teach. Their Spotify account and first music video will be launched very soon as well. Esremborak’s “Basura Songs” is available on the band’s Facebook page as well as Happy Music store in Ali X at the second level of Ali Mall. The EP sells for P200.

d trip

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | FEBRUARY 17, 2019

SIC ON PRINT

Famed Brazilian artist paints Valley of Chrome album artwork by Rick Olivares

was the most striking one.

N the history of recorded music, there are those revered cover artists whose work has adorned some of the most popular, if not landmark, records of our time. There’s Hipgnosis that has done cover art for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, as well as Peter Gabriel, among others. Abstract designs of Peter Saville have adorned albums by Joy Division, New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Pulp, among others. Painter Roger Dean has his fantastical art in the albums of progressive rock bands Yes and Asia. And then, there’s Marcelo Vasco. The Brazilian painter is known for his extreme art that gives the metal and extreme music scene arresting images. Vasco’s work can be found on Slayer’s “Repentless,” Soulfly’s “Enslaved,” Hatebreed’s “The Concrete Confession,” Kreator’s “Gods of Violence” and Machinehead’s “Bloodstone & Diamonds,” to name a very few. Slayer’s “Final Tour” poster also featured Vasco’s work. And now, his work can be found in Philippine metal band Valley of Chrome’s fourth album “Victorious” that will initially be launched on compact disc this month, and on vinyl this April.

Three different designs

VALLEY OF CHROME manager Jeff Keenan related that his vision is to help raise the level of his band’s music to international standards.

Awesome experience SAID Vasco of his collaboration with Valley of Chrome, “Doing this artwork…was an awesome experience. They are my very first Asian band in my client list.” He went further to state, “I was excited to do this. I think people have this impression that I only do work for major bands, and that isn’t true. While working with these “Performing in the Hammersonic Festival in Indonesia last year was a gamechanger for us,” he related. Keenan added, “We want to get our music out there beyond our shores. We want to also improve, and we can see that now in our live performances by being even more technical and conscious of the sound.” “And one other thing was to get someone like Marcelo to paint the band’s album cover.” The band manager bared that as a fan of metal music, he has come across Vasco’s work. He reached out and didn’t expect much of a reply. “I was wondering if he’d want to work with a band from the Philippines, considering he works with big bands. I was really surprised when he replied and was amenable to do the cover.” For the Brazilian’s part, he asked many questions about the band so those insights could find their way into the work. Then he listened to the music. “Actually, Marcelo provided us with three different designs,” added Keenan. “All three were very impressive. But the one with the skeleton king riding on what seems to be the four horses of the apocalypse

big bands constitutes a big part of my body of work, it is important for me to work with bands and artists from around the globe.” Regarding Valley of Chrome, Vasco had this to say about their music: “They are a talented band and I am happy to have my work as a part of this release. It works both ways: Their music will reach new audiences, while my artwork will also do the same. And that is fantastic.”

FEBRUARY 17, 2019 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

Sound trip BusinessMirror

MUSIC ON PRINT

OPM: Rising thru streaming O

RIGINAL Pilipino Music (OPM) is on the rise: As of January 1, 2019, close to 10 billion streams of OPM content have been consumed globally. And they are not slowing down... The music genre not only celebrates local Filipino culture and music, but it plays a significant role in today’s mainstream music here in the Philippines.

2016 hits including “Hiling” by Mark Carpio,“Dahil Sa’Yo” by Iñigo Pascual,and“Again”by Leanne & Naara. The hub also includes multiple tiers of content featuring playlists for every moment of your day. Some of the flagship playlists found within the OPM hub include “Tatak Pinoy,”“OPM Favorites,”“OPM Rising”and “Pinoy Covers.”

Spotify’s OPM Hub

Streaming habits

SINCE its launch in 2015, the OPM hub has broken down barriers while simultaneously building bridges of cultural understanding by passing the microphone to the most important voices in the Filipino music industry. “It is our aim to be a platform of discovery for both artists and music lovers,” says Spotify Southeast Asia Shows & Editorial Team Lead Eve Tan.“Apart from that, we also aim to uncover every layer of this rhythmic musical culture which is an important component of today’s mainstream, modern music. We are extremely excited to see this genre continue to grow and achieve milestones that many thought was not possible.” The OPM hub, which includes everything from the latest OPM pop hits to favorite OPM hip hop, drove the number of streams and sharing of OPM music, leading to breakthrough

TODAY, with the OPM hub now an established part of the Spotify experience, Spotify users are able to stream seamlessly, allowing for local content to be celebrated. Since 2015 more OPM content has hit the number one spot of the country’s top 50 charts on Spotify. IV of Spades, Ben&Ben, Juan Karlos and Moira de la Torre are some of the artists that have been and are dominating the local charts. Based on Spotify’s internal streaming data, Filipinos love original sound tracks (OSTs). For example, after the film Kita Kita came out, many fans came on to Spotify to stream KZ Tandingan’s “Two Less Lonely People in the World.”The track peaked at number 2 of the Philippines Top 50 chart. The same was seen for Darren Espanto’s “Dying Inside To Hold You,” which is an OST for the movie All Of

You. Share your favorite OPM track using #TatakPinoy.

Celebrating OPM love songs

AS Spotify celebrates another year in the Philippines, the music streaming platform also celebrates OPM with the launch of the Spotify Jams: OPM Love Songs. The campaign is designed specifically for Pinoy music lovers. Celebrating all things OPM, the campaign revolves around today’s top artists covering the biggest OPM love songs of the past. IV of Spades, Ben&Ben, Juan Karlos, Moira de la Torre, Sarah Geronimo and Silent Sanctuary were given the opportunity to cover their favorite OPM love songs based on their interpretation of the song.The outcome: a masterpiece. This effort is truly a canvas for these artists to showcase their celebration of love to OPM and for their fans. Fans are encouraged to take this journey with the artists and understand their inspiration. All recordings will be made available on Spotify OPM’s flagship playlist Tatak Pinoy. The release schedule of the covers are as follows: February 8-Moira Dela Torre and Juan Karlos; February 14-Sarah Geronimo and Silent Sanctuary; February 22-Ben&Ben and IV of Spades.

Says Spotify Southeast Asia Head of Artist and Label Marketing Chee Meng, Tan: “At Spotify, we realize that helping you discover new music wasn’t enough; we wanted to have a hand in celebrating OPM content of the past and the present. For the launch of this campaign, we wanted to work with some of the top OPM artists of today and get them to cover their favorite OPM love song of the past. We understand the importance of OPM here in the Philippines. And we want to celebrate this beautiful genre with our fans.” SPOTIFY AND THE PHILIPPINES Number of years in the Philippines: 5 Streaming habits in the Philippines: Filipinos spend at least 2 hours a day on Spotify. Filipino users put music at the center of their lives and soundtrack their day to the music they listen to. Most streams happen between 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., and between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Since its launch, users have streamed over 2.5 billion hours of content on Spotify. OPM is one of the most streamed genres in the Philippines. Popular Spotify search terms in the Philippines: Love, OPM, and Pinoy.

Life coach believes success starts from brokenness

E could be anybody’s favorite son; but Michael P. Celis wasn’t before. Hence, he believes millennials also need life coaching. “Being a millennial myself who has experienced brokenness—I was not the favorite child even if I was the youngest in the brood of two, my friends and business partners have turned their backs on me in the past, etc.,” Celis said. “Our young people are [handling] so many challenges today. And with the rise on issues of mental health, I think today is the best time to deal with our youngsters, as well.” Today, Celis runs four highly successful businesses: PerCX Advertising, Events and Casting Agency; Smell Chic—a premium home and body care line with its flagship kiosk at SM City North Edsa; The Hair Lounge Salon, a high-end salon; and Family Favorites Kitchen, a cozy café serving comfort food and delectable pastries in Mandaluyong. “My passion inspires and my light is my message,” Celis said. “I am an advocate of becoming one’s #bestmeever because I believe [and I’ve experienced it myself]

CELIS: “I am an advocate of becoming one’s #bestmeever because I believe that one’s brokenness is not a hindrance to succeed; in fact, it’s just a starting point to becoming whole, as you allow your inner greatness to shine through those cracks. That is your very own #bestmeever.”

that one’s brokenness is not a hindrance to succeed; in fact, it’s just a starting point to becoming whole, as you allow your inner greatness to shine through those cracks. That is your very own #bestmeever.” This proud graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman (BA Broadcast

Communications and MA Media Studies) is the first-ever Filipino certified life coach to penetrate TEDx, a global movement devoted to bringing “Ideas Worth Spreading” to local communities around the globe through independently organized TED-like events.

As a life coach, he “inspires people.” “I help them discover the greatness within, allowing them to recognize their potential and turn it into reality,” Celis said. “A life coach helps individuals discover their own skills so they can maximize them.” He added that “a life coach also asks powerful questions to make people realize the solutions to their problems.” “Everything comes from the person,” Celis said. “It’s all about taking responsibility and not blaming everyone around us when something goes wrong. After all, it’s not about the people around you, but how you react toward everything.” Celis added he spreads good vibes and positivity through his official web site. When not busy inspiring others, Celis said he finds time to work out, travel and see what the rest of the world has to offer. His speaking engagements in the coming weeks include: TEdxUCSI in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 23; TEDxYouth in Lucena City on April 8; and TEDxAkitaIntlU in Akita, Japan, on May 19. Other schedules include the Sun Life Financial SelfBranding Workshop on March 2, at Bamboo NBO in Makati City; Talk Sales and Marketing Institute International at FEU Manila on March 9; and on March 30, the Freedom Summit Asia. Leony R. Garcia

Young innovator sees clear messaging, site quality to boost digital marketing Continued from Page 2

Google in an acceptable way by using onpage SEO and off-page SEO, he explained. “The on-page SEO is basically how you optimize your code,” Ocab said. “So, your code is not only optimized to load your pages fast, but also for Google to consume your content well.” Google does not see what are on the pages, he added. What Google sees is the code. The off-page SEO is basically building links pointing to an enterprise’s web site, Ocab mentioned. “Google gets the idea that a web site is authoritative by counting the number and quality of links pointing to it,” he said. “Not only the number, but the quality of web sites.” When Forbes and other well-known and respected web sites link a web site, the latter’s ranking climbs, he added. Wikipedia, for one, is an authoritative web site for being linked and cited by many other web sites as their source, Ocab said. “When your web site is linked by many other and quality web sites, you rank higher on Google.”

Targeting consumers PEOPLE who visit a web site are looking for a product or a service that has already interested them, he added. Unlike in socialmedia marketing, ads are posted for a general audience who are either interested in the product or not. SEO laser-targets the consumers, while social-media marketing hits both consumers and non-consumers, Ocab explained. When people search for a coffee shop on Google, it means they are already interested in coffee, or lovers of it, he said. So, the website visitors will potentially generate sale. Once an enterprise ranks high on Google, it requires minimal effort to stay at the top yet still gets a lot of visitors for that particular keyword, Ocab said. He cited as example his own company, which settles itself on the first page of Google search engine when one keywords “SEO Philippines.” “Keyword research is one of the important aspects in SEO.” There’s a tool for determining the number of people searching for a particular keyword per month, he noted. An enterprise has potentially high ROI

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when it is at the top on Google, he noted. The right keyword is the way.

Attaining growth

CARL OCAB Digital Marketing’s first clients were based overseas since Ocab started to offer digital marketing services in 2008, when e-commerce in the country was still in its infancy stage. He was 13 years old at the time and his clients overseas were mostly small businesses. Today, his clients are both based abroad and in the Philippines. Most of his local clients are small and medium enterprises. Some are established, others are start-ups. Some of Ocab’s clients overseas, on the other hand, are also digital marketing agencies, like his company. His company is outsourced by its counterparts abroad since the costs for web-site development and other services related to digital marketing in the Philippines are relatively lower, he said. His company began to provide digital marketing services to Philippine-based enterprises just three years ago, when local businesses started to venture in e-com-

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

merce, Ocab said.

Lazada example BUT when an enterprise wishes to quickly reach people and a broader audience, socialmedia marketing can do the job, especially when the product is not one that people are looking for, he explained. “It especially works when you are marketing a new product,” he said. When one has visited a web site, Lazada, for example, he could be pixel targeted on social media, Ocab pointed out. When the Lazada web-site visitors view his Facebook page afterward, a Lazada ad is already posted on his wall. Social-media marketing has the capability to track accurate demographics of the target market, he noted. “We create the ads and do the targeting,” Ocab said. Ads on social media are sometimes attacked by trolls, he added. As a service provider, they quickly act for the client to manage the trolls. Social-media marketing is one of the services offered by Ocab’s company.

Ralph Lauren’s plan to lure younger shoppers is simple: hype

ALPH Lauren isn’t just about plain polo shirts and peacoats anymore. It’s about the hype. Looking for some buzz, the 52-year-old fashion house using tactics straight from the “hypebeast” playbook—industry slang for shoppers who obsess about clothes that get extensive publicity. Similar to Apple fanatics who camp out in advance of a new iPhone release, these devoted buyers are willing to stand in line for hours to get their hands on the latest drop of sneakers or Tshirts from brands such as Supreme or A Bathing Ape. “We’re in the brand-building business,” Ralph Lauren Chief Executive Officer Patrice Louvet said in an interview Tuesday. That comes at a cost. The company increased its marketing investment 18 percent in fiscal 2019 compared to the year prior. Louvet plans to increase that budget to 5 percent of total sales—which would be more than $300 million—to court younger buyers. “We do want to make sure we have competitive marketing support” in order to lure new shoppers to the brand, he said. That cash will be spent largely on social and digital as the brand moves away from traditional print ads. The company has brought on a new cohort of younger celebri-

A SHOPPER carries Ralph Lauren Corp. retail bags in the SoHo neighborhood of New York. SARAH BLESENER/BLOOMBERG ties to sell its goods, such as Taylor Hill, the face of its Romance fragrance. The 22-yearold supermodel walks in the world’s biggest fashion shows and has 12.3 million followers on Instagram. A holiday gift campaign included social-media savvy stars Rachel Zoe, Cameron Dallas and Olivia Palermo. So far, the boosted marketing budget has been a successful piece of Ralph Lauren’s revitalization plan, along with a cutback on discounts and inventory. Last quarter, it reversed a streak of same-store sales declines going back to 2015. On Tuesday, the company reported rosy earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates and said its

marketing during the crucial holiday season paid off, sending shares up the most in eight months. In recent years, Europe’s luxury houses have concluded that streetwear cannot be ignored if they’re to win over millennials and Gen-Z. Last May, Louis Vuitton hired Virgil Abloh, the designer behind the OffWhite streetwear label, to lead men’s design. That same month, Supreme had its high-fashion moment at a $1-million auction in Paris. Yet few of America’s oldest fashion brands have fully embraced the skater-friendly clothes that have become a cultural phenomenon.

Ralph Lauren, however, is starting to learn the playbook. When the brand released its Winter Stadium collection last fall, it partnered with streetwear mainstays Opening Ceremony and e-commerce site HBX. In November, Ralph Lauren released a collaboration with British streetwear label Palace. Rather than sell the items in limited quantities across all its stores, the clothes were sold in a few select Ralph Lauren locations and specialty boutiques such as Dover Street Market, a Commes des Garçons store in South Korea and online through the Polo app. The strategy is right out of the classic sneaker drop playbook: Create scarcity and borrow the credibility of a partner label. Upon release, the Ralph Lauren web site struggled to keep up with demand and Palace items are now selling for much more than their retail prices on the secondary market, as limited-edition goods often do. A Palace x Ralph Lauren sweater with a preppy bear on a skateboard that retailed for $475 is going for about $800 on popular streetwear reselling site StockX. Seventy-five percent of shoppers who bought items from the collaboration were new customers, Louvet said. Those buyers were about 10 years younger on average than the usual Ralph Lauren shopper, according to company data. The label must be careful not to overdo these splashy collections, Louvet said. Otherwise, the hype train might run out of steam. Bloomberg News

MILLENNIALS UNIVERSE

The Body Party: The difference between making love and sex

By Trish Perez

S love month enters, our feeds are filled with articles and tips on where to go, what to wear, cheap-

est ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day or VDay, or the most lavish gifts or DIYS that you can give your date when you celebrate V-Day, and so on and so forth. We even encounter advertisements on motels, hotels or contraceptives—even articles on positions that you can try or how to elevate your experience when you get intimate with your partner—while we scroll the day away in social media. But what is intimacy? Is it merely intertwined bodies experimenting on positions? Is it bodies fulfilling carnal needs? The answer varies per person or per perspective, but there is a distinction between sex and lovemaking. The world’s youth gets more open minded and more accepting of sexuality by the generation, but do they, even adults, understand the distinction in the intertwining of bodies? Let’s first explore sex, it may come in a form that we now call as “f_cking”. Familiar with the exchange of electricity between the both of you when you first laid eyes on

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each other? Of how the fire in you spreads throughout your body, the closer he or she gets to you? Of how each tick of the second arm in your wristwatch, the sexual tension between the two of you rises? Until finally everybody has had too much to drink and you guys find yourselves in a room, alone, with the lights off, naked and in bed. And as both your hands travel, discovering every inch of each other, you look in their eyes and you see fire, you see desire, that makes you want to give your 150 percent to make that good impression and it feels good when, in return, they do the same. You focus on the joy that every thrust, every rub, every finger that runs down your body until you can’t no more and surrender to the release. Now, let’s talk about lovemaking. Have you found yourselves in a tickle war just laughing and wondering who will pee their pants first? But suddenly you lock lips and start kissing; the type of kiss that builds, and builds and builds until you find yourselves slowly undressing. Every caress

FEBRUARY 17, 2019

sends electric shocks that vibrate from your head to toe; something inside you just unravels, ready to be marveled at. Your hands intertwine as you go at it with a pace that appreciates, that savors the experience and you look into their eyes and you see their bare soul. You marvel at their beauty, you see love and you lean in to kiss again and again and again until your chest overflows and the pleasure peaks to your release. You see, in making love, it’s not just bodies that connect—its hearts and souls too. Sex is focused on satisfaction of physical and carnal needs; it revolves on touch and on being touched. The greatest distinction is love and connection. Trisha Perez is a 22-year-old public-relations professional, event host and freelance artist and model. She is a graduate of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication, major in Public Relations.