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Saturday, February 22, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 135

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By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

APPY marriages should not be threatened by the legalization of divorce, insists one of the principal authors of the proposal to institute absolute divorce and the dissolution of marriage in the Philippines.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said divorce is an exception for irremediably broken and lost marriages.

“Divorce is not for everybody.

The institution of absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage is

definitely not for couples in harmonious, happy and vibrant marital relationships, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of Filipino unions,” the lawmaker said.

“It is for the exceptional cases when the marital bond is irreme-

SKYPIXEL | DREAMSTIME.COM

‘TIL DEATH (OR DIVORCE) DO US PART’

A COMMITTEE-LEVEL APPROVAL OF A PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE IN PHL HAS ONCE AGAIN SENT HOUSE MEMBERS INTO FRENZIED DEBATES.

diably damaged because marriage is still a human institution, which could collapse and wither due to human frailty and mortal limitations,” Lagman added.

Despite the legalization of divorce, he said the state has a continuing mandate to protect marriages.

In the Philippines, no less than the 1987 Constitution recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation, the basic social unit. It mandates the government to strengthen the Filipino family’s solidarity and actively promote its total development.

“It will not destroy marriage and the family as revered institutions. A divorce law cannot undo centuries of dearly held Filipino customs and traditions honoring and celebrating marriage and the family. Marriage and the family are and will still be at the heart of the Filipino way of life. Divorce will not destroy marriages because there is no more marriage or happy union to speak of when couples reach the difficult decision to seek divorce,” Lagman said.

Women’s clamor

GABRIELA party list, for its part,

said a law legalizing divorce is needed in response to the clamor of women trapped in abusive relationships and “the need for the government to provide another option for irreparable marriages, in recognition of this reality.”

In the last Congress, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved on third and final reading a long-awaited bill legalizing divorce in the Philippines—the last remaining country, besides the Vatican, where couples do not have the right to absolute divorce.

Last week, the House Committee on Population and Family

Relations approved the consolidated bill on absolute divorce.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has already signified that although he personally does not believe divorce to be the solution to troubled marriages, he will allow free and open debate on the divorce bills and reiterated his call to House members to “act depending on our conscience.”

No quickie

LAGMAN asserted that, “drivethrough” or “quickie divorces” are prohibited because “no decree of Continued on a2

Coronavirus outcomes range from pandemic to a new flu, experts say

I

By Robert Langreth and Michelle Cortez Bloomberg News

T’S already spread wider than SARS in 2003. It may not sweep the globe as swine flu did in 2009, but is more dangerous. It doesn’t kill at anywhere near the terrifying pace of Ebola in 2014, but it can be passed through the air.

Even as the number of new coronavirus cases in China appears to ebb, experts say they’re preparing for a future with a disease that past pandemics have only hinted at.

China’s lockdown of Hubei province, where the outbreak began, gave the world several weeks to throw up its defenses, global health officials said Tuesday.

But it hasn’t stopped the virus, with new cases popping up around

the globe, potentially seeding a pandemic to come.

“Every virus is different,” said University of Michigan medical historian Howard Markel, who has studied influenza epidemics. “If anything the study of past epidemics has taught me is that anyone who predicts the future based on that is either a fool or lying because we don’t know.”

The virus has brought together elements that scare public health

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.6220

THIS undated electron microscope image made available by the US National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the US. NIAID-RML VIA AP

experts as well as average citizens. In less than three months, it’s infected tens of thousands of people. Humans have never faced it, leaving their immune systems vulnerable. And there are no vaccines to prevent 2019nCoV, as the virus is called, or to treat the disease it causes, Covid-2019.

One certainty is that new cases will continue to emerge. On Saturday, an American passenger from a cruise ship that docked in Cambodia tested positive for the virus.

It raised new worries that disembarked passengers from the boat, previously thought to be virus-free, would seed new pockets of disease.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that it will begin screening patients with flu symptoms for 2019-nCoV in five major US cities.

The effort is meant to detect whether the virus has slipped into the US despite robust travel screening and quarantines that have caught the less-than-20 American cases identified so far.

Continued on a2

n JAPAN 0.4515 n UK 65.2163 n HK 6.5067 n CHINA 7.2080 n SINGAPORE 36.1431 n AUSTRALIA 33.4865 n EU 54.6060 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4967

Source: BSP (February 21, 2020)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Saturday, February 22, 2020

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Coronavirus outcomes range from pandemic to a new flu, experts say

THIS February 18, 2020, photo shows an overview of the temporary hospital converted from an exhibition center in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province. The hospital, one of the dozen of its kind built in Wuhan, hosts Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms. CHINATOPIX VIA AP Continued from a1

The aspects the new coronavirus does share with other outbreaks are mostly human failures, not biological advantages.

In 1892, authorities in Hamburg, Germany—worried about the impact cholera would have on their thriving port—initially kept quiet about some cases, allowing the disease to spread, said Markel. More than 8,000 eventually died in the city. And the disease soon arrived in

New York. In Wuhan, local Chinese officials have been accused of minimizing the threat from the virus in the early weeks, when it could have been more easily stopped.

Willingness to endure economic disruption is another factor, said Markel. Epidemics are always enormously costly. Stopping trade and movement can slow a disease’s spread, but grind economies to a halt.

In a study published this month, the Chinese Center for

Disease Control and Prevention warned that even with new infections in decline, they could rise again as the economy restarts, after an extension of the national Lunar New Year holiday and shutdowns of workplaces and public gathering spaces.

“Huge numbers of people will soon be returning to work and school,” a group of researchers at the Chinese agency wrote in their analysis. “We need to prepare for a possible rebound of the Covid-19

epidemic in the coming weeks.”

On the virus biology side, researchers still don’t know many basic parameters. One of the most crucial unknowns is whether the virus can spread when people aren’t showing symptoms. If a large fraction of people can catch and transmit the virus before becoming seriously ill, the odds of halting it with existing measures plummet, according to computer simulations run by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

“This virus has a firm foothold,” said Steven Riley, professor of infectious disease dynamics at Imperial College London’s MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis. “There are many more people with it than there ever was with SARS. We don’t want this virus to become an established human pathogen. If it takes off in other parts of the world and remains a relatively severe virus, it would become a new kind of thing.”

The world should get a better

view of how significant the outbreak will be in the next few weeks, as additional surveillance gives clearer insights into the virus’s spread by midMarch, said Michael Osterholm, an expert on infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota.

“We are just getting started,” he said. “If this spreads around the world, this will be just south of the 1918 pandemic,” he said, referring to the pandemic flu that killed millions a century ago. “The next three weeks are going to be critical.”

’Til death (or divorce) do us part’ Continued from a1

absolute divorce shall be based upon a stipulation of facts or a confession of judgment.”

Lagman said one of the guiding principles of the bill is that “absolute divorce shall be judicially decreed after the fact of an irremediably broken marital union or a marriage vitiated from the start.”

“Except for grounds under summary judicial proceedings, the proper court shall not start the trial petition for absolute divorce before the expiration of a mandatory six-month cooling off period after the filing of the petition during which the court shall exercise all effects to reunite and reconcile the parties,” the bill read.

‘Inviolable’

FOR his part, Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza reiterated that the proposed divorce law is against the Philippine Constitution.

“It is definitely unconstitutional! It is expressly stated in Article XV on The Family, Section 2, that marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State,” he said.

“The Constitution is very clear and there is no room for misinterpretation. So how can they interpret their proposed law as constitutional? Every definition that can be found on the word ‘inviolable’ states that it is unassailable, cannot be broken, cannot be interchanged, and anything inviolable is considered hallowed, holy, sacred, sacrosanct and untouchable,” he said.

The lawmaker said the lower chamber should instead craft a law that would protect and strengthen the marriage.

Reverse course

HOUSE Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. lamented how Congress was “further weakening the ties that bind our nation’s families together.”

“I would like to believe that as leaders of this country, our goal should be finding ways to keep families together, not tear them apart. This proposed divorce law,

‘D

ivorce is not for everybody.

The institution of absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage is definitely not for couples in harmonious, happy and vibrant marital relationships, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of Filipino unions.’—Lagman

unfortunately, only serves to erode the foundations of an institution that even the Constitution says we should value and protect,” said the lawmaker as he called on his colleagues in Congress “to reverse course on this disturbing path that threatens this sacred institution.”

Abante pointed out that “the word ‘family’ is mentioned in the Constitution a dozen time; it even has a whole article devoted to it.

That by itself should serve as a guide for us tasked to draft this nation’s laws. There is even a provision that specifically says that the State is duty-bound to protect the institution of marriage.”

The lawmaker reminded his colleagues that there is already a mechanism by which marriages can be annulled.

Unnecessary

DEPUTY Speaker and CIBAC Rep. Bro. Eddie Villanueva also said the passage of a divorce bill is practically “unnecessary.”

“First, it does not address issues of high cost of litigation and slow-grinding disposition of cases, which are the real problems en-

‘W

hat we really need is to improve the annulment process and make it propoor in terms of cost and time. It may necessitate an executive action, or a legislative one, but certainly not a divorce bill.”— Villanueva

countered by those seeking relief from troubled marriages, particularly poor petitioners. Secondly and more importantly, it is a clear defiance to God and to the Constitution, because it will terribly degrade the ‘sacrosanctness’ of marriage as an inviolable institution,” he said.

“Why pass the divorce bill when it will not really solve the real issues of those wishing to get out of unfortunate wedlocks—the high costs of professional fees and the slow disposition of cases?” he said.

According to Villanueva, the divorce bills filed in Congress simply enumerate and consolidate remedies for broken marriages that already exist in current laws.

“That is why the divorce bill is unnecessary. Worse, it just makes marriage ‘cheap’ because the grounds it qualifies as bases for divorce are shallow and not in favor of the strengthening of the families—which is what the Constitution and various jurisprudence of the court decree,” he added.

“What we really need is to improve the annulment process and make it propoor in terms of cost and time. It may necessitate an executive action, or a legislative one, but certainly not a divorce bill,” said Villanueva.

www.businessmirror.com.ph · Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

PAIN FOR ASIAN BANKS JUST STARTING AS VIRUS BATTERS LOANS

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HE cost of the deadly coronavirus is star ting to add up for banks across Asia.

Lenders from HSBC Holdings Plc. to the three biggest banks in Singapore have warned that the virus and related economic slowdown will likely force them to set aside more money for soured loans this year. In China alone, S&P Global Ratings estimates the level of non-performing loans may triple, an increase of $800 billion.

“With dark clouds facing us, we need to be cautious,” Wee Ee Cheong, chief executive officer of Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Ltd., said on Friday after the bank forecast an uptick in credit costs due to the virus.

The abilit y for A sian lenders to weather the coronavirus storm has implications for the global financial system. A sia accounts for a bigger share of pretax banking profits than any other region, according to a report from McKinsey & Co. Inc. While Chinese banks will bear the brunt of the losses from the virus outbreak, foreign lenders with operations in the region also face higher loan losses and lower revenue as cases mount in countries like Japan and South Korea, and big-spending Chinese tourists stay home.

H S B C , w h i c h g e n e r ate d h a l f i t s 2019 revenue in Asia, said in the most extreme scenario, in which the virus continues into the second half of 2020, it could see $600 million in additional loan losses. Banks in Hong Kong, HSBC’s

biggest market, have temporarily shut nearly 30 percent of their branches amid the outbreak that has claimed more than 2,200 lives in China. Other foreign banks with sizable operations in Asia include Standard Chartered Plc. and Citigroup Inc. Bank of East Asia Ltd., the Hong Kong lender with the most exposure to mainland China, estimated a deterioration of 10-20 basis points in credit costs in Hong Kong because of the virus outbreak, Co-Chief Executive O fficer Adrian Li told repor ters on Wednesday. The estimates assume that the virus peaks between April and the summer, with the economy recovering as early as the second half.

“There will be some pressure on our portfolio, in particular small- and medium-sized businesses and unsecured lending, but we believe this to be manageable,” Li said. “We are confident that the bank is well-prepared to weather these short-term challenges.”

S ingapore’s three biggest banks c a u t i o n e d t h at t h e v i r u s o u t b re a k may have an impact on revenue and provisions. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. expects a 1-percent to 2-percent drop in revenue from the virus. UOB, the No. 3 bank, forecast a “slight uptick” in credit costs given “current conditions.”

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., the s e co n d - b i g g e s t l e n d e r, s a i d re ce nt improvement in its credit quality could be “partly absorbed” by costs related to the virus. Bloomberg News

News BusinessMirror

Saturday, February 22, 2020

A3

Nlex Harbor Link C3-R10 section to open in March

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

LEX Corp. is on track to open the C3 to R10 section of the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link this quarter, with a new exit ramp in Malabon now available for motorists to use.

Nemesio Castillo, the company’s v ice president, said his group w ill open in March the full 2.6 -kilometer C3-R10 section, as completion rate is now at 82 percent.

“We opened on Friday the Nlex Harbor Link Malabon Exit. Soon, we will be opening the whole C3R10 section,” he said.

Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said the whole section will help cut travel time from Nlex to the port area in Manila.

“About 30,000 motorists per day will stand to benefit from

this new road once the entire Harbor Link C3-R10 section is completed, helping reduce travel time for the traffic-weary public, providing more turnaround trips for the trucking sector, and growing businesses for merchants and local communities,” he said.

He said the Malabon exit now provides immediate relief from t he d a i ly bu mper-to -bu mper traffic in the Camanava area, especially along C3 Road.

“When we open the entire C3R10 section next month, travel

time between Nlex and the Camanava area will be reduced to 10 minutes from 60 minutes,” Villar added.

N le x Cor p. P resident Lu ig i L . Baut i st a sa id h i s g roup i s fast-track ing constr uction work s to he lp t he gover n ment i n reduc i ng t ra f f ic congest ion i n Met ro Ma n i l a.

“We are cognizant of the government’s desire to find quick solutions to the traffic problem in Metro Manila. That’s why aside from expediting the completion of the entire project, we have also rationalized our construction sequence and resource planning to accommodate the early opening of this Malabon Exit,” he said.

The 2.6-kilometer elevated Nlex Harbor Link C3-R10 section runs between the new Caloocan Interchange in C3 Road, Caloocan City to Radial Road 10, Navotas City, connecting the previously opened 5.65-kilometer Nlex

Harbor Link Segment 10 that traverses Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, Governor Pascual Avenue in Malabon City, and 5th Avenue/ C3 Road in Caloocan City.

Aside from significantly easing up the daily traffic congestion and serving as an alternate route to Dagat-Dagatan Avenue, the Malabon Exit also aims to open up development potentials in the area.

“Beyond providing safe and hassle-free daily travel, this new exit intends to further unlock the tourism and business potentials of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and neighboring cities,” Bautista said.

A4 Saturday, February 22, 2020

ExportUnlimited BusinessMirror

DTI eyes market expansion in Middle East I

N an effort to diversify markets for Filipino exporters, the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), in coordination with the Philippine Trade and Investment

Center-Middle East and Africa, is conducting an outbound business matching mission to the Middle East from February 12 to 24, 2020.

The OBMM is in conjunction with Gulfood 2020 in Dubai World Trade

Centre.

“We hope that through this OBMM, the Philippines will be able to explore business environment and possible prospects in the Middle East markets, and sustain net-

working and follow-up activities in the United Arab Emirates [UAE]…,” DTI-Trade Promotions Group (TPG) Undersecretary Abdulgani M. Macatoman said.

The OBMM also targets to develop and expand relationships with business, government, and multiplier organizations in Middle East countries, and enhance local understanding of the current economic conditions and business opportunities.

The mission is also anchored on EMB’s aspiration to engage with high-level promotion, targeted market intelligence and business matching, and focused training and capacity building for both large companies, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which also echoes the thrust of the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Act (PHEDP) and the Expo 2020 Dubai campaign.

Moreover, this project supports the Export Promotion for the Philippine food sector, which endeavors to bring local cuisine, ingredients, and beverages overseas. The program’s strategy will build on Strategy No. 3 of Philippine Export Development Plan 2018-2022, which is to design a comprehensive packages of support that will be able to mainstream Philippine food, food ingredients, and beverages sectors, and encourage innovations on major Philippine commodities and niche products.

Led by Macatoman, the business delegation is composed of representatives from 11 Philippine business companies, namely: Fitrite Inc.; Fruits of Life Inc.; HDR Foods Corp.; Jocker’s Food Industries; Magic Melt Food Inc.; Marigold Manufacturing Corp.; Marikina Food Corp.; Pinesvill Trading FZE LTE; Pixcel Transglobal; Sagrex Food, and LBC. Also included in the delegation are Phil-

ippine Commercial Attaché for the Middle East and Africa Charmaine Mignon S. Yalong, DTI-EMB’s Senior Trade and Industry Development Specialist Myrtle Faye L. Solina, and Trade and Industry Development Specialist Al-Mahdi I. Jul-Ahmad.

The featured products for this mission are food items, sauces, spices, mixes, and condiments, as well as cargo and logistics for the services.

Macatoman reiterated the need for more Philippine brands to enter the Middle East markets to cater to the demand of Filipinos living there, and, to a larger extent, to penetrate the mainstream market. This mission also endeavors to deliberately promote Philippine bananas in the Middle East market, among others.

The delegation is set to hold business-matching events, market scanning, store visits, meetings with government authorities and a visit to Gulfood 2020.

“As part of the OBMM’s activities, the Philippine exporters will be engaged in B2B [business-to-business] meetings with prospective buyers which will give them knowledge of the market requirements in terms of volume, quality and price. It will bolster and increase exports of food and nonfood products and services to GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries,” DTI-EMB Director Senen M. Perlada said.

Gulfood is the world’s largest annual food, beverage, and hospitality exhibition which attracts food and beverage professionals from all over the world to Dubai—a hub for international trade and commerce.

It is also celebrating its 24th edition this year.

From January to November 2019, the Philippines exported $720.1 million worth of goods to the Middle East and imported $3,298.8 million of goods. Among the top products exported by the country were bananas, including plantains, fresh or dried ($211.9 million); input or output units, whether or not containing storage units in the same housing ($64 million); other bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other baker’s wares, whether or not containing cocoa ($41.3 million); pineapples, fresh or dried ($38.1 million); and video projectors ($22.1 million).

On the other hand, the country’s top imported products from the Middle East in the same period were petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals; crude ($2,112.6 million); light petroleum oils and preparations thereof ($225.9 million); propane, liquified ($126.6 million); butanes, liquified ($120.9 million); and aeroplanes and other aircraft of an unladen weight not exceeding 2,000 kilograms ($72.7 million).

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SILYA: Taking care of elderly mallers things for themselves, the reality is that most senior citizens would need to practice the principle of stop-and-go when they go malling—walk around for a while, stop and take a rest, and then go again.

For many years, this was the experience of Tito Lorete Alcala, particularly when he accompanied his octogenarian parents around the mall, which prompted him to devote his life into making comfortable seats available in public spaces for the elderly. For Alcala, this was an opportunity to give back, and show gratitude and love to the elderly.

Alcala leveraged on the expertise and competency of The Artistshop Co. Inc., an advertising design agency he co-founded in 1984, and he was able to see his personal advocacy take shape through SILYA (Sa Iyo Lolo at Lola Yantok Aming Alay).

Through Alcala’s painstaking ARCH. Renee C. Bacani, VP of Ortigas Malls (left) and Tito Lorete Alcala, efforts over the years, SILYA founder of SILYA and social entrepreneur, sit on colorful rocking chairs for has become a nationwide rockthe elderly mallers. ing chair donation program,

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes wherein comfortable rocking chairs are donated for the use of the elderly T is almost always a challenge for elin public spaces. derly mall goers to go around our big Alcala found a committed and relimalls because of their physical limitaable partner in Ortigas Malls when it retions. Although they want to discover new cently partnered with SILYA to continue

I

propagating its noteworthy mission of providing comfortable rest spaces for elderly mall goers.

Alcala and Ortigas Malls recognized that age and physical limitations should not stop the elderly from being able to explore and enjoy life’s little joys, including the many offerings of big malls, that’s why these rocking chairs where the elderly can recover their energies while malling were offered.

Recently, Arch. Renee Bacani, VP of Ortigas Malls, and Alcala himself were on hand to present rocking chairs hand-painted by Artistshop for senior citizens to enjoy at Tiendesitas mall in Pasig City.

Elderly mall goers at Ortigas Malls’ Greenhills, Estancia, and Industria properties will also be able to experience the comfort of these rocking chairs within the year. These rocking chairs will be strategically placed in areas that would allow the elderly to have some quiet recovery time, away from the fast-paced crowd, but sufficiently close enough to enjoy the malls’ many offerings and conveniences.

Beyond serving elderly mall goers, SILYA also provides livelihood and business opportunities to local artisans who specialize in making rocking chairs. This is an advocacy that Ortigas Malls also deeply cares about, as it seeks to find opportunities to support Filipino artisans.

“It’s in our nature to care,” Alcala said of SILYA, reflecting the same philosophy that drives Ortigas Malls in this invaluable partnership.

Information lacking for American seniors looking for assisted living

By Lindsay J. Peterson & Kathryn Hyer | University of South Florida

S of today, the youngest of the nearly 70 million baby boomers is 55; the oldest is 74. Within the next decade, millions of them will need long-term care. Many will remain in their homes, with family or “drop-in” caregiver services lending a hand. Some will move in with relatives. Those who are most dependent on care might choose nursing homes. A diverse and expanding older population is looking for help.

For more than a decade, “assisted living” residences grew faster than any other segment of the long-term care industry. Typically more home-like than a full-care nursing facility, assisted living is often favored by people who are generally independent, but still need support with daily activities.

In general, providers offer fewer medical services, though many provide health and memory care for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

We (and our colleagues) track the everchanging circumstances of long-term care in the US. As we study policies and practices, we have observed that the expansion of assisted living is clearly a game-changer, creating new challenges in the industry.

Many states have increased assisted living regulation in recent years. Some consumer advocates have called for nursing-home style federal rules, though others oppose this, saying assisted living should remain flexible enough to serve residents with a range of needs, from personal care only to end-of-life comfort.

To better understand how consumers make choices when shopping for an assisted living residence, we conducted an examination of health service web sites in every state.

Our goal: to find out how much information the states provide to the public about assisted living.

by the federal government, the states oversee assisted living; they define what constitutes an assisted living residence, establish licensing requirements and set quality standards.

Data from the states on assisted living is provided free to the public. All licensed residences are listed. While private search services might help consumers sort through options, it’s not clear how complete—or objective—they are. Some services exist primarily for marketing purposes; they collect fees from the residences they list.

Using criteria formulated from prior research, along with information provided by some states, we examined 39 key elements of each web site. Those elements included the size of the facility, cost, license status, the insurance it accepts, and any special services offered, such as memory care. We also looked at each web site’s usability—the ease in finding critical information.

Another group of researchers conducted a similar study in 2005. In some areas, our findings showed notable improvement. In the earlier study, only about 15 percent of the websites provided reports of staterequired quality inspections. We found 70 percent now post them.

Substantial gaps remain, however. Only about one-fourth of states divulged the type of payment accepted by their residences.

Although assisted living costs vary considerably from place to place, only two states disclosed what a customer would be charged.

Knowing the accessibility of care personnel is critical but, again, just two states had any data about the availability of staff.

More than two-thirds of states didn’t say whether their residences offered memory care. That’s difficult to understand; many people with Alzheimer’s or dementia prefer assisted living to nursing homes. In those states where details were given, the facts were disconcerting: More than 20 percent of older Floridians live in rural counties with no access to memory care.

What we found

State web sites difficult to navigate

A

UNLIKE nursing homes, which are regulated

OVERALL, the web sites were not user-

friendly. Although most of the basics were relatively easy to find, extensive searching was required for details about individual residences. Sometimes, it wasn’t even clear which state agency was responsible for assisted living oversight.

Still, there were bright spots, mostly in states with significant elderly populations: California listed inspection updates. Florida itemized activities offered in each residence. Arizona posted plainlanguage summaries of inspection results, even cataloging the fines levied on the facilities for regulatory breaches. But commendable practices were exceptions.

At a minimum, more specifics are needed on quality, costs and essential services like memory care. And all state web sites should provide inspection results, including details about fines or penalties.

Granted, improving the information on the web sites might require new or revised state regulations. Some states, for instance, conduct inspections only once every two years; this limits the availability of new inspection reports. A minority of states imposes specific staffing regulations, which explains the lack of staffing data available.

But more and more people are choosing assisted living. The government is now funding many residences to provide care for low-income disabled citizens. Their needs—and vulnerability—are significant, enough for states to reassess their roles in protecting assisted living residents. Adding accurate and detailed content to their web sites would be a great first step.

True, the state web sites are better than they were 15 years ago. But they are less than what they should be. Many of the elderly, the disabled, and the families who love them require more to make appropriate choices. When navigating the Internet, the principle of “buyer beware” should not be the driver. (Article from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, February 22, 2020 A5

Aged to perfection

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

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HE title is an advertising blurb for liquor a product, and that it is supposed to project the product in a positive light. It probably alludes to the common belief that aging makes wine better tasting and smoother. But perfect? I doubt it.

There are labels that give us the number of years a certain wine has gone through in the aging process. I’m not a wine connoisseur or sommelier, the French term for a true wine expert, but from what I’ve learned, the rule of thumb is something like the longer (e.g., 12 years), the better the quality, the greater the value.

From wine, let’s now turn our focus on people like us, who are in their 60s and 70s.

Are we aging toward perfection? Do we command a high value for having aged this long?

The inconvenient truth is that many of us have not aged physically well. For example, when I met recently with my college classmates, I could see that time has not been kind to them. Some shuffle when they walk. One was hiding his bald spots by wearing a cap.

All of us have unsightly belly bulges.

To stave off Mother Time, many aged women spend time and money removing blemishes on their faces, dyeing their hair jet black and sporting a perfect set of teeth.

Always wanting to be better or the best, we live in a state of constant longing, unsatisfied with who we are and what we have, and striving to achieve an unattainable level of perfection.

I have witnessed seniors who are cantankerous and obstinate, feeling entitled, abusive, demanding and snappish. Someone coined a term for them: C.O.M. or cantankerous old men.

Is it because of our physical debility? Are we going through an internal crisis? Are we dissatisfied with our lives? These people are far from being aged to perfection.

I want to shout in their ears: Hey, it’s OK to be “present imperfect.”

There is a Japanese concept called wabi, which is an attitude of accepting your imperfections and making the most of life. Wabi is said to be defined as “rustic simplicity” or “understated elegance” with a focus on a less-is-more mentality. Wabi is translated to “taking pleasure in the imperfect.”

A great example of wabi-sabi is the old teacup worn rugged from years of tea ceremonies, a way to showcase the beauty of its age and damage rather than hide it. In his book Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, writer Leonard Koren explains: “Wabi-sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, the antithesis of our classical Western notion of beauty as something perfect, enduring and monumental.”

My wife points out the skin blemishes on my face, the wrinkles and crow’s feet around my eyes and the sagging skin. Imperfect, unfinished and mortal.

Life—the fingerprints, scars, and laugh lines—is itself perfectly imperfect, and we should embrace the beauty in that…

So, rather than focusing on aging toward perfection, focus on the richness of your life, blemishes and all.

How can we live life to its fullest?

MY wife points out the skin blemishes on my face, the wrinkles and crow’s feet around my eyes and the sagging skin. I tell her to accept me as I am: Imperfect, unfinished and mortal. I refuse to be fixed or improved on. Accepting someone else’s imperfections, blemishes, and faults, rather than taking

them on as a project to be fixed, leaves you the time and emotional energy for enjoying that person.

Wabi-sabi beauty is not about relinquishing self-care, which can be a form of attention and presence in your life. The Japanese tea masters took exquisite care of their pottery, cracked and imperfect as they were. Likewise, you can pamper your body without nipping and tucking it into submission.

“The starting point of cultivating a wabisabi beauty is to appreciate the process of aging; Try not to get caught up in wanting to stagnate in one part of your natural progression through life.”

Although it’s important to take care of our bodies, we also have to take care of our mental health by embracing the fact that there are just so many parts of us we cannot change. Rather than stressing about those wrinkles, appreciate the laughter that caused them. Instead of hiding that scar, think of it as a permanent reminder of the adventures you once had.

A balance between appreciating what you have, how you got it and taking time to understand the fleetingness of it all, wabi-sabi is a way to take a step outside the constant influx of messages telling us we should want more. Wabi-sabi is a state of mindfulness, living in the now and finding satisfaction in our lives even when it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking the opposite.

When you shine through, that’s beautiful…

So, at the last laps (or gasps) of my life, I know I have not become perfect. Maybe I am not wealthy, powerful and famous. But that’s alright. I look forward to liking myself better, that in spite of all my physical defects and blemishes—my thinning hair, wrinkles on my face, bad teeth—I believe I have become better. I would have a full heart.

In one of his columns, Fr. Jerry Orbos tells the story about a boy who asked: “Lolo, I often catch you talking to yourself. Why is that?” The grandfather smiled: “Whenever I need to listen to words of wisdom and good advice, I talk to myself.” That’s a lolo who knows how to put a premium value on himself.

So for human beings, there is no such thing as aged to perfection. The better concept is mellow aging. Just like fine wine or good liquor.

To do that, learn the art of slowing down.

Learn to appreciate the value of taking it slowly. “Slow down, you’re going too fast.

You got to make the moment last” are lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Feeling Groovy.”

Festina lente. Make haste slowly. Rather than speed reading and quickly processing complicated texts, as one ad advises: “Don’t just stand there doing something.

Sit. Be still.”

I stick to activities that give me space or room for slow absorption and reflection.

No wonder I like the films of Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson, Hsiao Chen, or Tsai Mingliang, which are slow paced and build up to a steady simmer over low fire. My children hate to watch these films with me where nothing seems to be happening.

That’s why I find myself more and more out of place in today’s world, where people want action and quick fixes and fast paced performances. Slow people have no place in this world. People want problems to be fixed right away. They want leaders who act first before thinking. No dillydallying. The mantra is Just Do It. Just kill him now.

Shrinking country: Serbia struggles with population decline

By Jovana Gec | The Associated Press

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LAGOJEV KAMEN, Serbia— Uros Trainovic remembers when his small mining village in eastern Serbia was a vibrant home to 200 families, had a school of its own, a doctor and a shop.

How times have changed. Now, 60odd years later, it’s a ghost village with just eight residents.

The transformation of Blagojev Kamen is not unique in a country that experienced years of war and sanctions in the 1990s following the breakup of Yugoslavia. In a twist of historical irony, one of the causes behind those years of war was the idea of creating a Greater Serbia out of the ashes of the former Yugoslavia.

Near-empty villages with abandoned, crumbling houses can be seen

all over Serbia—a clear symptom of a shrinking population that is raising acute questions over the economic well-being of the country. The decline is happening so fast it’s considered a national emergency and the United Nations has stepped in to help.

“This village used to be full of people, I used to go to school here,” the 71-year-old Trainovic recalls.

“It is such a pity and so sad that ev-

erybody left...now there are only few of us and there are no young people any more.”

However it’s measured, the numbers look stark.

According to the World Bank, Serbia’s population of just below 7 million is projected to fall to 5.8 million by 2050. That would represent a 25percent fall since 1990.

The Serbian government says the

Balkan country is effectively losing a town each year, and that as many as 18 municipalities have fewer than 10,000 people: “We are 103 people less each day.”

Population changes are a fact of life across Europe, but the problem is acutely different in Central and Eastern Europe where the low fertility rates that are commonplace in developed countries combine with high migra-

tion rates and low immigration more akin to developing nations.

The economic knock-on effects on a country striving to join the European Union are evident and amount to billions of dollars in the short term. In the longer run, there are also costs related to the fact that a smaller population of working age will have to contribute more to support the ranks of those of pensionable age.

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BusinessMi

Saturday, February 22, 2020 | Editor: Jun Lomibao | mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

UCI sets rules on use of gravel in road races

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HE International Cycling Union (UCI) laid down several new regulations on the use of sections of unpaved roads in races.

Road races across unpaved roads have created such intense interest in races like Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche and Tro-Bro Léon and stages of the Grand Tours that traverse similar sectors, that a whole separate genre of gravel racing has been created to reproduce these experiences for amateurs.

Unpaved sections have upped the drama in Grand Tour stages, such as the one in

the 2010 Giro d’Italia, where Cadel Evans triumphed on a stormy day over the white roads of Tuscany; the Colle delle Finestre in the 2018 Giro d’Italia where Chris Froome put in his race-winning attack; and the cobbled stages of the Tour de France, such as the one that propelled Vincenzo Nibali to his overall victory in 2014.

The UCI rules seem to seek to limit the impact of unpaved sections in sporting terms, putting into the rules requirements for race organizers to ensure “the event runs smoothly

in sporting terms and with regards to the equitable treatment of participants.”

The rules also state that the UCI must be notified that an unpaved road will be used at the time the race is registered on the calendar—typically months before organizers finalize their routes.

Last year in the Vuelta a España, Miguel Ángel López (Astana) was on the attack when he crashed on a section of gravel road that led to the finishing climb on Stage 9. He said the gravel and mud damaged his bike, and there

SAGAN DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAM PETER SAGAN is made to look like he endorses the scheme that can supposedly “make a millionaire out of anyone in three to four months.”

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ETER SAGAN has been targeted by an online cryptocurrency scam and has been forced to publicly deny his involvement in the get-rich-quick scheme.

The three-time world champion issued a public statement on Wednesday, providing a link to an article in which he is made to look like he endorses the scheme that can supposedly “make a millionaire out of anyone in three to four months.”

The article claims Sagan appeared on a television show to discuss the benefits of the cryptocurrency trading platform, and then features what it claims to be an “exclusive” interview with the Bora-Hansgrohe rider.

The article is hosted on a bogus web site made to look like a news site, where links take you to a sign-up page for a cryptocurrency platform.

“I categorically deny having any involvement, in any form, in what is mentioned in this article,” Sagan said via social media.

“I have never been in contact with any of the persons or companies mentioned and any allegation to the contrary is false.”

was no way to get support.

Luckily, López was able to limit his losses, but the new UCI rules will require organizers to provide more information to teams about the length, type of surface, difficulty and width of any unpaved sections, providing photos or videos if necessary.

The organizers will also have to ensure that unpaved sections can be traversed in any weather condition by road bicycles, ensure the safety “of the riders, spectators and race followers” on the course, and ensure follow vehicles are suitable for the section and that drivers have “the necessary skills” to pilot the vehicle over it.

The UCI says it “may refuse to register an event on the calendar and/or refuse the inclusion of an unpaved section.” Cyclingnews

Flanders Classics launches women’s cycling initiative

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There have been many scams associated with cryptocurrency in recent years, with $4 billion taken by cybercriminals in 2019 alone. A number of the scams involve luring people onto what seem like legitimate trading platforms in order to gain access to their money.

Celebrities have been used to make it look like the product has been endorsed by a popular figure in society and Sagan is the latest example.

“We are experiencing difficult economic times and this is the solution that people have been waiting for,” Sagan is quoted as saying in the article. “We have never had such an amazing opportunity in the history that ordinary people could simply take advantage of the opportunity to earn huge wealth in such a short time.”

After issuing his public denial, Sagan could sue for damages if the people behind the scam can be identified.

Sagan made his season debut at the Vuelta a San Juan before heading to Colombia for an high-altitude training camp with several teammates. He will miss Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Belgium, racing in Europe for the first time at Strade Bianche on Saturday, March 7. Cyclingnews

LANDERS Classics—organizers of the Tour of Flanders, Gent Wevelgem and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad—launched a three-year initiative to elevate women’s cycling in collaboration with KPMG Belgium.

The group presented a three-year plan called “Flanders Classics Women, closing the gap” outlining its initiatives on Tuesday.

“As Flanders Classics, we have always been trying to help move women’s cycling forward. We think it’s now time to move into a higher gear,” CEO of Flanders Classics Tomas van den Spiegel said.

“Women’s cycling is already growing at many levels but there is still a lot of potential left. We are very happy and grateful with a partner like KPMG, who want to work together with us in the development of the sport in the upcoming years.

Hopefully it also inspires other companies to invest in the sport.”

Flanders Classics organizes two current Women’s World Tour events: Tour of Flanders and Gent Wevelgem. It also puts on the women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Dwars door Vlaanderen and De Brabantse Pijl.

The three-year plan includes development of a women’s Scheldeprijs; bringing all Flanders Classics races into the Women’s World Tour or Pro Series, and ensuring that men and women have the same finish line and joint podium ceremonies.

In the longer term, Flanders Classics hopes to increase starting fees, and aim for equal prize money for both men and women’s races.

“To start with, we listened to all stakeholders and will upgrade the facilities around our women’s races.

On the sports side of things,” van den Spiegel said. “A Scheldeprijs for women to complete the list of Spring Classics is one of the things on our list. The same goes for an upgrade of our non-World Tour races to the Pro Series or World Tour, and the aim to equalize prize money.”

Flanders Classics also wants to solidify the already existing partnerships towards the future. “We have a great partnership with VRT [the Belgian national broadcaster] to produce the live broadcasts of Gent Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, and livestreams for the other races with our main partner Proximus.

It’s common sense that we also want to further develop the potential of the audiovisual product,” van den Spiegel said.

Van den Spiegel also announced the start of Dwars door Vlaanderen will move from Tielt to Waregem, De Brabantse Pijl will move from Gooik to Lennik to allow the women to finish in Overijse at the same location as the men.

Gent Wevelgem will start in Ypres where men’s and women’s teams will be presented alongside each other. Cyclingnews

A BICYCLE-PROMOTION strategy has led to concrete results in Mexico.

HALF A MIL FOR DEVELO THE World Bicycle Relief program is sustainable and has long-term impact.

As part of the education program, students and their parents enter a “study-to-own” agreement, confirming that the bicycle will be used primarily to travel to school. A key element of the agreement is that the students will own the bicycle when they successfully graduate from school.

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N the last 15 years, millions of children and adults in 20 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America have received bikes from the nonprofit organization World Bicycle Relief (WBR).

This week, WBR donated its 500,000th bicycle since it was founded in 2005.

The milestone bike was part of a distribution of 102 bicycles to students at the Bar Union Secondary School in rural Kenya. One of this week’s recipients, 15-year-old Damela Achieng’ Owuor, lives 5 kilometers from school and until now has covered the distance on foot.

“Before I was given a bike, I was arriving at school very late,” she said. “[Now] I will come to school earlier and will get home earlier to help my parents.”

As part of WBR’s education program, students, like Damela, and their parents enter a “study-to-own” agreement, confirming that the bicycle will be used primarily to travel to school. A key element of the agreement is that the students will own the bicycle when they successfully graduate from school.

“Today, we’re celebrating a huge milestone: 500,000 bicycles for people in developing nations across the world,” said Charles Kimeu, chief operations officer for WBR in Kenya. “It gives me immense joy to see how these bicycles are literally impacting people’s lives and creating new possibilities.”

Distances are often a barrier not only to education but also to healthcare and economic opportunities. WBR

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Saturday, February 22, 2020

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‘Life is very different when your 25 or 35’

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OF THE STORM LLION BICYCLES RIDERS N LOPING NATIONS

A COMPETITOR wearing a onesie with Brussels sprouts battles gale force winds during the Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships on the storm barrier Oosterscheldekering near Neeltje Jans in the Netherlands. AP

addresses this problem by also distributing the rugged, long-lasting and locally assembled bicycles to health service providers and smallbusiness owners. Consequently, their owners are able to visit more patients and reach more customers per day.

In addition, WBR has trained more than 2,300 local bicycle mechanics so users have reliable access to maintenance and spare parts.

This ensures the programs are sustainable and have long-term impact.

WINTER BIKE DAY

ICY roads, freezing wind and increased chances of rain, snow and hail—the winter months can deter all but the hardiest cyclists from riding to work or school.

Yet, with 2020 Winter Bike to Work Day falling on Valentine’s Day promised to celebrate not only love, but also winter cycling.

The climate emergency is the theme for this eighth edition of Winter Bike to Work Day, encouraging participants to “save winter” by committing to cycle more often as a climate friendly mode of transport. Under the hashtag #WinterBikeLoveStrike, anyone can pledge to cycle to work or school, registering via the dedicated web site to take part in the day.

Although there was a participant leaderboard—currently dominated by cities in the United States, Canada and Sweden—the fundamental aim of Winter Bike to Work Day is to encourage year-round cycle commuting in a spirit of friendly competition between cities.

Organizers wish to prove that cycling in the colder months is more fun than it first appears.

Different actions and incentives being organized by participating cities and community groups include pop-up kiosks with free hot drinks, giveaways (such as balaclavas), tips on how to overcome the challenges of winter riding, and workshops.

All initiatives are mapped out so people can find events closest to their home.

Winter Bike to Work Day followed the Winter Cycling Congress 2020, which was hosted in Joensuu, Finland. An appropriate place to host a congress bringing together cycling experts and advocates, Joensuu may see a dip in cycling levels during deep winter, yet year round, 20 percent of all trips in the city take place by bike, supported by a network of segregated bicycle tracks.

Many inspiring examples of cycling promotion come from Finland. In Oulu in Central Finland, despite the fact winter temperatures can plummet to -17C, 1,000 of

Cycling in Mexico: It’s possible

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ITH its population of over 21 million, people could be forgiven for assuming that trying to cycle through Mexico City must be a nightmare.

Try telling that to Iván de la Lanza.

As Active Mobility Manager at World Resources Institute (WRI) Mexico, he is one of the people behind a radical shift in the mentalities and habits of the Mexican capital’s population when it comes to transport. Together with the city’s Minister of Environment and now with the WRI he has worked on the development of a bicycle-promotion strategy that has led to concrete results.

Between 2008 and 2016, bicycle trips in the city increased by almost 500 percent thanks to the introduction of a host of policies and projects included in the city’s Bicycles Mobility Strategy, which was developed by the Mexico City Government, National Autonomus University of Mexico and Gehl Architects. Cultural and educational

projects saw the light of day as did ECOBICI, a bike share system that led to the establishment of segregated bike lanes and huge bike hubs. In its first nine years of existence, ECOBICI accumulated more than 300,000 users, registering 35,000 daily trips.

Meanwhile, Open Street programs such as “Muévete en Bici,” (Move by Bike) have encouraged people to think about how they could replace car trips with walking or cycling.

Madero Street, a main avenue that runs a kilometer through the city’s historic center, was permanently closed to cars in 2010.

Today, around 200,000 people traverse Madero each day, increasing the strip’s commercial activity by at least 30 percent and reducing criminal activity by 96 percent. It is currently one of the safest, most accessible and most valuable avenues in the country.

The efforts made in Mexico City have not gone unnoticed.

In October 2017, Mexico City

the 1,200 pupils at one of the city’s schools ride in each day, something that was virally captured via social media.

At the national level, the country prioritizes the role of active travel to work and school as a means of improving public health.

The Finnish Schools on the Move Programme in which 90 percent of municipalities are taking part—encourages physical activity and movement throughout the school day, and active travel to and from school. With the bicycle well placed to meet these active travel ambitions, having the right infrastructure in place to enable year-round travel to school by bike is appreciated by civic leaders.

Alongside cyclist willpower, city or regional support for cycling in winter can also make a huge difference—with protected bike lanes in snowy cities often proving more impactful than in their warmer counterparts.

A major civic challenge remains the clearing of snow and ice from cycling infrastructure. In Copenhagen, an International Cycling Union Bike City Label holder, the city focuses on removing snow and ice from bicycle tracks before clearing the road—sending a message that bicycle users are cared for and prioritized in the transportation mix. UCI News

EELTJE JANS, Netherlands—Call them riders in the storm.

While much of northern Europe hunkered down and hoped that Storm Ciara would blow over quickly with its hurricaneforce winds, an intrepid band of cyclists made the most of the conditions to take part in the Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships.

The ingredients were simple: A basic bicycle with no gears, no featherweight carbon race frame, no drop handlebars, strong legs, steely resolve and wind. Lots of wind.

Yet, completing the 8.5-kilometer (5.3-mile) course along the coast of Zeeland province in the southern Netherlands and across a storm water barrier as heavy winds blasted riders with sand from nearby beaches was anything but simple, even for experienced riders. Organizers provided vomit buckets at the end.

“I survived, but it’s very tough,” said 56-year-old Hans Deting, his right hand dripping with blood after he was blown off his bike.

Ultimately, the gale-force winds became too strong even for this punishing event.

Organizers brought the race to an early end after 250 of the 300 riders had finished.

While the idea of plowing headfirst into a major storm on a bicycle may sound like madness, it’s surprisingly popular in the Netherlands, where many people commute to work by bicycle despite wind or rain. Some 11,000 people expressed interest online in taking part but organizers only had a

maximum of 300 places available.

This was, organizers say, as close as you can get in the largely pancake-flat Netherlands to tackling an Alpine stage in a bike race.

“We call this the Dutch mountain,” organizer Robrecht Stoekenbroek told The Associated Press. “It’s like climbing a 10 percent slope on the worst bike you can imagine.”

With red-and-white wind socks snapping in the wind, riders hunched over their handlebars in a desperate attempt to remain as aerodynamic as possible. Many competitors wore tight Lycra cycling clothes.

One man made a bold fashion statement by wearing a onesie emblazoned with Brussels sprouts over his cycling gear.

Crossing the Oosterscheldekering storm barrier, riders weaved across the cycle path as they struggled to maintain their balance.

“There’s nowhere to hide,” Stoekenbroek said.

Many participants, who rode one-by-one against the clock, weren’t too interested in their times. It was simply about completing the event.

“This is a bucket list thing,” Edwin van Gaalen said, as he leaned, gasping for breath, on his handlebars after finishing.

He paused to further explain.

“When you’ve done it once, you want to do it twice. And more and more and more, because this is an experience you have to experience,” he said. “So I can talk a lot about this, but you have to take part of this to feel the wind, to feel the experience, to get it all.” AP

received the Global Model of Urban Renovation Award for creating mass bicycle parking in public transport terminals. The city has implemented three bicycle stations—used by both bike-sharers and bikeowners—which offer quick, accessible and easy drop-off.

Mexico City’s mobility actions also benefit people who live beyond the city boundaries. While half of ECOBICI users live outside the area of operation, 15 percent live outside the capital altogether.

Many residents now use cycling to get to public transport stations, in what is referred to as “last-mile” connectivity. Ninety percent of users combine ECOBICI with other transport systems such as metro, rapid-transit buses or suburban trains.

“Connecting these elements of the city’s transport system increases the reach of mass transit, decreases street traffic, improves local economic productivity, and provides public health benefits,” points out de la Lanza.

He is also rightly proud of the benefits arising from the shift to

cycling in Mexico City, as outlined in a 2016 report produced by the Le C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

The city saw public health and economic benefits between 2009 and 2016 amounting to an estimated $109 million.

More than 170 km of bike lanes constructed during this period resulted in a summed potential benefit of more than $65 million, a return on investment of almost six times compared to the cost of construction. During its first seven years, ECOBICI monetized benefits of $26 million in health, and replaced close to 24,000 km in automobile travel.

Additionally, 16 percent of ECOBICI users swapped their automobiles for public bicycles, representing a reduction of up to 3,900 tons of carbon dioxide over an eight-year period, equivalent to planting 9,000 trees.

De la Lanza adds that ECOBICI data revealed that the average use of the system’s bicycles represented between 31 percent and 55 percent

of the weekly amount of exercise recommended by the World Health Organization.

Despite the fantastic results achieved, de la Lanza says many more cycling projects waiting to be implemented are being held up by lack of financial and/or political support: “Investment in active mobility is still relatively minor compared to the public funds devoted to car infrastructure,” he says.

“And it’s not a challenge that is exclusive to Mexico City.

In Latin America, 60 percent of mobility investments are concentrated on projects for private vehicles.” UCI News

INCENZO NIBALI has dismissed age as “just a number,” saying he still has the same motivation and desire to race as he when he was a boy growing up in Sicily.

The Italian turned 35 in November as he closed the door on his often difficult time at Bahrain-Merida and began a new chapter of his long career with Trek-Segafredo. He pinned a race number on his red and white Trek-Segafredo jersey for the first time on Wednesday morning before the start of the Volta ao Algarve, starting the 16th season of his professional career.

Nibali has won all three Grand Tours during his career and has the Giro d’Italia, Tokyo Olympic road race and the World Championships in Switzerland as major goals for 2020.

“If I look back I can see a lot of things. I’m not a Highlander but I don’t feel old at all, age is just a number. I’m still keen to race and up for a fight, as I was as a boy. That’s why I’m still here,” Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport, keen to put the long hours of a recent altitude training camp behind him and start racing.

“Starting a new season feels like I’m back in a routine but that’s no problem. I don’t want to train anymore, I want to get racing. Racing is a lot better than training! Winter is coming to an end, I’ve clocked up a lot of kilometers, other people have already started racing, so I’m really keen to get going, too.”

Nibali will line up alongside Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos), Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) at the five-day Volta ao Algarve.

Evenepoel is just 20, van der Poel is 25 and a new generation of young riders are emerging after teams preferred to invest in young talent.

Nibali knows he is part of an older generation but believes he has found a balance between the needs of racing and his private life.

“Life is very different when your 25 or 35,” he pointed out.

“When you’re young you can focus entirely on your riding. At 35, there’s a lot more going in your life, including your family and children.

The hardest thing is finding the right balance.

I know I’ve got to take things step by step and focus on the here and now. I’m not thinking about where I’ll be in two years’ time.”

Nibali has sacrificed preseason time at home in Lugano for a training camp on Mount Teide, revealing he clocked up 1,348 kms, 48 hours in the saddle and 31,594 meters of climbing during the 12-day block.

“I think my form is pretty good, but until you click in for a race, you can never really know. I want to compare myself against everyone else because I know I’ve worked hard. I’m optimistic and relaxed,” he said.

“I feel I’ve started off the year better than last year. The team have given me the support I needed and we’ve trained in the warmth, in Sicily in December and then in Mallorca before Teide. It rarely rained in Lugano this winter and so I don’t think I’ve missed a day of training. Last year was different. I was coming back from the vertebrae injury I suffered at the 2018 Tour de France and your body needs time.

With Nibali due to target the Tokyo Olympic Games, he is naturally aware of the possible impact of the coronavirus.

“It’s slightly worrying. We’ve added some things to our medical protocol in the team, such as washing our hands more and not touching our faces. I also used a face mask when I traveled to Tenerife. I was struck by the cancellation of the Tokyo Marathon. For the Games we’ll have to see how things evolve,” he said.

Cyclingnews

VINCENZO NIBALI is still keen to race and is up for a fight, saying age is just a number.

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Saturday, February 22, 2020

Sports BusinessMirror

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

NEW 3-PT LINE: BOON OR BANE?

By John Marshall

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The Associated Press

HE NCAA moved back the threepoint line this season to create more room in the lane and cut down on the barrage of threes in college basketball.

Shooting percentages are down, historically low. Attempts also have dropped, slightly.

Clogged lanes? Depends on who you ask.

“I don’t think it’s changed a lot,” Kansas guard Marcus Garrett said. “I just feel like a lot more shots are being missed.”

He’s right.

With teams heavily relying on 3-pointers more and percentages steadily rising, the NCAA moved the arc back nearly 2 feet to 22 feet and 1 3/4 inches this season. That matches the international distance, but short of the National Basketball Association (NBA) arc at 23 feet and 9 inches.

The goal was to make the lane more available for drives, cut down on the prevalence of 3-pointers and create more offensive spacing.

The result, at least from the arc, is teams are missing at an historic rate.

Division I teams are shooting 33.3 percent so far this season, lowest since the three-point line was added to college basketball in 198687, according to KenPom. Maryland Eastern Shore, annually one of the nation’s worst three-point shooting teams, is last in Division I at 24.9 percent. Kennessaw State is right behind the Hawks at 25.1 percent.

Northern Alabama shot 29.8 percent last season, worst in the nation. This year, 25 teams are shooting at least that low.

Reigning national champion Virginia, which lost its top 3 scorers to the NBA, is 331st nationally at 29.2 percent from the arc, down from 39.5 percent last year.

The last time the NCAA moved the threepoint line back—a foot to 20 feet and 9 inches in 2009-10—shooting percentages dipped the first few years before rising again.

“If it goes by what normally happens, it’ll go down a little bit,” Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said. “But it always comes back.”

What it hasn’t done is affect the elite shooters.

With players like Golden State’s Steph Curry and Klay Thompson routinely shooting from well beyond the NBA three-point line, college players started extending their range, too, almost to half court.

Stefan Gonzalez of UC Davis leads the nation at 49 percent from the arc this season, a year after Norfolk State’s Derrick Jamerson topped Division I at 49.7 percent. For players like them or Marquette’s Markus Howard, the nation’s leading scorer at 27.3 points per game, it doesn’t really matter where the line is set.

The difference is found in the players around them.

For the post player who was able to stretch his range to the three-point line, shooting from the new arc is a bit tougher task. Same for the streaky, high-volume shooters. The shots still sometimes fall in bunches, just not as often at the new line.

This season, 32 players are shooting at least 40 percent from the 30-point arc, down

Messi demands calm after chaotic 2 months B ARCELONA, Spain—Barcelona has been hit recently by a series of setbacks on the field and conflicts inside the club.

And Lionel Messi has had enough of it.

“We have only had problem after problem since January. What we need is some calm and to think about soccer, to think about the games, and to try to improve,” Messi told Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo in an interview on Thursday. “At least we need to isolate ourselves [from the noise] because, if not, there are going to be complicated months ahead.... We must be patient and hopefully we can turn this around.”

Since the start of the year, Barcelona has lost the Spanish Super Cup, been eliminated from the Copa del Rey, and ceded the lead in the Spanish league to Real Madrid.

The run of poor results has not been stemmed by a coaching change. Quique Setién replaced Ernesto Valverde and so far the team has struggled to adapt to the physical demands of his high-pressure playing style.

Injuries have also played their part.

Striker Luis Suárez is out for several weeks and winger Ousmane Dembele for the rest of the season, forcing the club to make the curious signing of Denmark forward Martin Braithwaite to give it fit bodies in a depleted attack.

But the rest of the chaos has been created by the club.

Messi himself has been embroiled in a public spat with sports director—and former teammate—Eric Abidal, who has accused some players of not playing hard for Valverde. Messi responded on social media by demanding that Abidal name names and to take full responsibility for the firing of Valverde.

Two weeks later, Messi maintained his position that he had felt “attacked” by Abidal as a member of Barcelona’s squad and its captain.

“It bothered me that a club official, a sports director, had put the squad in middle of the firing of coach. That seemed crazy to me,” Messi said. “He takes the decisions.

That’s why I decided to clarify things.

I knew that I couldn’t let the sports director attack me like that.”

Then came the oddest of all the Barcelona maladies when earlier this week the club severed its contract with an Internet services company that made negative comments on social media about people within the club.

Reports by Spanish radio Cadena SER said those online comments included Messi, fellow player Gerard Piqué, as well as former Coach Pep Guardiola.

Messi said that he was still not sure what had happened.

“The truth is that I find it strange that something like that could happen,” the Argentine said. “But they [Cadena SER] also said there was evidence. We will have to wait to see if it is true or not.”

Messi made the call for his club to put its house in order ahead of an important stretch of matches for the defending league champions. After hosting Eibar on Saturday, Barcelona travels to Italy to face Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday. It will then visit Real Madrid on March 1 in a “clásico” that could determine who leads the league.

Messi, however, also sent a message to Barcelona’s fans that he has no plans to abandon the club that has been his home since he was 13 years old.

“I have said many times that my plan [is to finish my career at Barcelona] and as long as the club and our fans want the same thing there will never be a problem,” Messi said. “I have also said many times that I would like to be here and for all of us, the club, and our fans to be happy with the team we have and for us to be winners.”

The 32-year-old Messi is Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer with 622 goals.

He has helped it win more than 30 trophies, including four Champions Leagues and 10 Spanish league titles. AP LIONEL MESSI has had enough of it.

from 49 percent last year.

“For guys that can shoot, I think that the line moving back is not a big deal; I think they shot from there anyway,” Pittsburgh Coach Jeff Capel said. “I think for guys that are experimenting, then maybe there’s a difference. I personally don’t see a big difference.”

It hasn’t stopped teams from shooting threes.

With the success of the NBA’s Warriors, then Villanova with its two national titles, three-point dependency in college basketball rose from 32.9 percent in 2014 to an all-time high of 38.7 percent last year, according to KenPom. Coaches were unsure what impact the new line would have, so most only made minor adjustments this season.

Teams that like to shoot the three have continued to hoist from the arc at incredible rates. North Florida leads the nation with nearly 31 shots per game from the arc and Virginia Military Institute is second, putting it an average of 30 times.

Overall, three-point dependency only took a small dip with the new line, to 37.6 percent this season.

“For us coaches, it was uncharted water,” Sacramento State Coach Brian Katz said. “I didn’t want to make a bunch of adjustments of things I wasn’t really sure of. The only thing I was sure of, guys were going to shoot a multitude of threes and you better make it a priority because there’s enough good shooters out there who could burn you if you don’t guard the three-point line.”

The goal of creating more space in the lane hasn’t fully materialized.

For teams that have multiple players who can shoot from long distance, sure. Defenses have no choice to extend out to the line, which widens the gap out to the lane.

Those teams who don’t have a multitude of shooters, defenses have continued to pack it in, daring them to shoot. And, now with the deeper three-point line, they’re missing even more.

“I haven’t really seen much of a difference,” Katz said. “I believe there’s only one thing that creates space: really good shooters. You can put lines wherever you want, but if there’s four guys out there who can’t shoot, we’re not going out there beyond the line. I believe spacing is all about how guys shoot the ball, not lines on the floor.”

The difference in the new three-point line may not be fully known for a few seasons. If the shooting percentages continue to fall, coaches will adjust, possibly cutting back on the number of 3-pointers his team takes or which players take them.

Once that happens, there’s a good chance three-point shooting will rise and, maybe, the arc gets moved out again.

VIRGINIA’S Tomas Woldetensae shoots against Boston College during an NCAA college game in Charlottesville, Virginia, early this week. AP

Engineer to Olympian: Quintero ready for karate in Tokyo 2020

M

ADRID—More than five years ago, one of Spain’s most successful karate athletes was splitting his time between practice, graduate school and his day job as an aeronautical engineer.

Before training and studying at night, Damián Quintero spent hours analyzing faulty airplane parts and working on complex calculations to determine whether the parts were safe enough to go back into planes.

With little time left in his day, he couldn’t fully dedicate himself to the sport he loved.

“It was a difficult time,” the 35-year-old Quintero told The Associated Press after a recent training session in Madrid. “I was doing my masters, working and practicing. All at the same time. I looked like a walking cadaver.”

That all changed in 2015, when karate made the short list for the Tokyo Games.

“I took a leap, leaving a good job and a good salary,” said Quintero, who was born in Argentina and moved to Spain with his family when he was five years old. “When karate became an Olympic sport in 2016, it was time to start training hard.”

Now, nearly five months before the Tokyo Games, Quintero is a full-time karateka and a top contender for the gold medal in Japan.

He is set to enter karate’s inaugural Olympic tournament as the world’s No. 1-ranked athlete in the kata category, in which athletes perform solo and are evaluated on their offensive and defensive techniques.

“It will be historic. That makes me even more excited about going there and doing well,” Quintero said. “Not only for me—winning a medal would mean the greatest achievement of my career—but

for all the karatekas who will be there trying to showcase our sport to the whole world.”

A good showing will be key for karate, which made it to the Tokyo Games but is not expected to be included in the program for the 2024 Paris Games. The sport was not originally selected by French organizers, though the final decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) isn’t expected until December.

“We don’t really know what happened,” Quintero said. “Some people blame the IOC, others the Paris 2024 organizing committee. All we can do is try to put on a good show in Tokyo. Then we will look at things, like television ratings and media exposure, and if they aren’t good, we will be the first ones to look back and say that we are not meant to be in the games. But we have to wait and see.”

If the sport is dropped, it would mean a huge blow for Quintero and other karatekas around the world.

“There’s been a huge difference since the sport became part of the Olympics,” he said. “Now karate is my job, I have a sponsor, I get help from the Spanish Olympic Committee and the government. If it goes back to the way it was before, probably people again will have to start splitting time between practice and study and work if they want to keep competing at a high level.”

Before the sport’s inclusion, Quintero himself said he considered retiring so he could focus on his career as an aeronautical engineer—airplanes were always another great passion of his.

He stuck to karate, though, and by 2015 he had taken over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings. He won the world title in 2014 and became a 10-time European champion, an unprecedented feat for Spanish karate.

Quintero’s biggest competitor in Tokyo will be Japanese rival Ryo Kiyuna. The two have dueled several times in recent years, with Kiyuna beating Quintero for the world title two years ago in Madrid. AP

DAMIÁN QUINTERO takes a leap, leaving a good job and a good salary to train for karate’s debut in the Olympics. AP

BusinessMirror

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

BOSE PROFESSIONAL LAUNCHES EXPANDED PRODUCT PORTFOLIO IN PHL

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor AUDIO technology provider Bose unveiled its expanded line of products and technologies across business verticals as part of its user-centric strategy for the Philippines aimed at amplifying further its growth trajectory in the domestic market this year.

During the company’s business gala night held recently at Revel at The Palace in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Bose Professional unveiled its new offering that brings in “Installed Sound Expansion” to allow designers, consultants and integrators to create comprehensive sound systems for a variety of greater spaces across vertical target markets like corporate offices, government, education, entertainment, broadcast and hospitality sectors. Other audio solutions featured were the “DesignMax,” “PowerSoft” amplifiers and “PowerShare” fit for larger venues.

Apart from networking, the occasion also served as a celebration for the fruitful business relationship that Bose Professional has developed with Versatech International Inc. In October 2019, the former tapped the latter as the brand’s regional distribution partner.

“It’s really about celebrating the partnership,” Bose Professional Regional Manager Christian Liebenberg told BUSINESSMIRROR in a sideline interview during the event.

“We’re hoping that if we can create enough inertia from this event, that will carry a little bit of a message across to the marketplace.”

Thrilled by the turnout of support from the invited guests in attendance, Versatech Executive Vice President Stephen Yu is bullish on their partnership. He said: “We are optimistic that 2019’s positive business momentum will continue well into 2020.” Bose has been present in the Philippines for more than 40 years. Despite this, however, Liebenberg conceded that they still “don’t have the market share that we should have as a global brand.”

“The Philippines is a fast-growing market. There’s a lot of inquiries coming through in the market now and the demand is very high. So we need to partner ourselves with a company that can deliver on our committment and our strategy and look toward the future,” the top executive said.

With Versatech’s vast experience in business-tobusiness distribution of trusted technology brands in the domestic market, higher-than-expected performance to exceed the previous quarter’s sales quota, and delivering well to implement their enterprising initiatives that promote improved collaborations with the marketplace, Liebenberg is confident that their hold of the local market at an undisclosed figure will “increase very rapidly.” Leveraging on the country’s economic growth and strong market demand, he revealed they are now focused more on catering to both the house of worship and workplace given their growth potential.

“There are a few stadium or outdoor products that we’re looking to push very, very hard,” he cited of the former segment they would want to tap further, while revealing the launch of some new products under the so-called Work category meant for the corporate industry.

“It’s going to be a very interesting portfolio for us. It’s an extension to our exsiting range of loud speakers on the Installed [Sound Expansion] and the Portable sides of the business. We do see that this will, in time, be about 30 percent to 40 percent of our budget globally.”

Saturday, February 22, 2020 A9

Everybody’s crazy for ‘CLOY’ PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

L

AST weekend was all about CLOY. If you don’t know yet, CLOY is the social-media acronym for the Korean drama Crash Landing On You, which had its final episode on Netflix last weekend.

Every girl, woman and mother, along with their husbands, boyfriends and fathers were waiting for the last two episodes of CLOY. Nielsen Korea said the last episode of tvN’s drama Crash Landing on You scored an average rating of 21.683 percent based on the nationwide rating and an average viewership rating of 23.249 percent based on the Seoul metropolitan area viewers rating.

Directed by Lee Jeong-hyo, Crash Landing On You stars Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin.

At 37 years old, Hyun Bin is still a heartthrob.

Longtime Korean drama enthusiasts will remember him from My Name is Kim Sam-soon, Worlds Within, Secret Garden and Memories of the Alhambra.

He has also appeared in the films Confidential Assignment, The Swindlers, The Negotiation and Rampant.

My Name is Kim Sam-soon was such a hit worldwide that GMA Network remade it with Regine Velasquez in the title role. Hyun Bin’s role was played by Wendell Ramos.

Son Ye-jin is 38 years old and in Korea, she is considered at her peak. I just love that in Korean drama, a woman in her 30s is still considered desirable while a Filipino actress in that age range would already be playing mother roles. One of Son Yejin’s recent dramas was Something in the Rain, where she starred opposite young actor Jung Hae-in. Something in the Rain is also available on Netflix.

Son Ye-jin is a multi-awarded TV and film actress whose works, include Delicious Proposal, Lovers Concerto, The Classic and A Moment to Remember.

Anyway, Crash Landing On You tells the story of a how a South Korean heiress, by some force of nature while paragliding, crash lands into North Korean territory where she meets a North Korean military officer.

Crash Landing On You really has all the elements of a good drama—a handsome leading man, a beautiful leading lady, an intriguing plot, a strong supporting cast and a solid second love story.

I am only on the third episode of the series as I’m still watching another drama (Extraordinary You) but

CRASH Landing On You has been called the new Goblin in terms of its viewership and social-media impact.

I’m very excited to watch CLOY in its entirety.

In other news on the digital front, PLDT wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) has tapped solutions provider DelNet International Corp.

(DelNet) to make its satellite services more accessible to Filipinos in the most remote areas around the world, whether on land and at sea, where standard mobile systems are not accessible.

Since 2013, Smart has been providing the maritime industry with reliable and affordable crew-calling solutions through its Marino Phonepal offering.

Now, Smart will be able to reach more customers and expand its presence on ships of all sizes, thanks to DelNet’s far-reaching operations that have been addressing the needs of the maritime industry for 22 years. DelNet will also help Smart to provide communication systems in remote areas during emergencies and calamities when cellular service is

not available.

Present during the contract-signing between Smart and DelNet were Katrina Luna-Abelarde, president and CEO at PLDT Global Corp; Alice Ramos, vice president, International Roaming and Consumer Business at Smart; and Klaas Oreel, CEO at DelNet. “This is another milestone for our company because we believe that together with Smart, we can expand maritime communication for seafarers via satellite onboard ships,” said Oreel.

“We are confident that Smart and DelNet together can build solutions to better serve Filipino seafarers.

Beyond this and in light of seemingly increasing natural disasters affecting the most vulnerable, we are also looking toward developing awareness on the importance of satellite services during those times when communication aid can literally help save lives,” said Luna-Abelarde. ■

Europe resists mounting US pressure on Huawei 5G technology

BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press LONDON—The Trump administration is stepping up pressure on European allies to ban Chinese tech firm Huawei from supplying next-generation mobile networks, with more officials visiting this week to press the case. The diplomatic push seems to be failing, however, after Britain decided to allow Huawei as a potential supplier. Germany, another close ally, is leaning toward the same decision.

The visit to London by a United States delegation highlights how China’s involvement in new 5G networks is an increasingly important part of President Donald Trump’s battle with China over economic and technological preeminence.

Europe finds itself caught in the middle. Here is a look at key issues in the debate.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

IF Germany, one of Europe’s biggest US allies, defies Washington, it risks upsetting that alliance. US officials have threatened to cut off intelligence sharing with any countries that use Huawei gear, which they fear is a security risk. On the other hand, rejecting Huawei could have wider repercussions, especially for Germany’s relationship with China, one of its biggest trading partners.

The signs are that Germany does not intend to exclude Huawei explicitly from its 5G networks in advance, though the government has not yet finalized legislation. German government officials have said consultations should wrap up soon, without giving a timeline.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, Germany’s top security official, said his country must be protected against espionage

and sabotage. But he estimated that shutting out Chinese providers could delay the new networks by years.

“I don’t see that we can set up a 5G network in Germany in the short term without participation by Huawei,” Seehofer told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in January.

The Federal Network Agency, Germany’s telecom regulator, has already released draft guidelines for 5G equipment suppliers that tighten up security requirements but stop short of banning specific companies such as Huawei.

And a draft law reportedly includes potentially big fines for technology companies that breach security regulations.

Complicating matters, European mobile phone companies have used plenty of Huawei equipment in their 4G networks.

If they do not use Huawei equipment for the initial 5G rollout, which will run on 4G gear, it could result in higher costs and delays.

WHAT IS 5G?

FIFTH-GENERATION cellular networks are expected to usher in a wave of technological transformation. For a start, 5G promises superfast download speeds for smartphone users.

But it will be more than that—5G sensors will be embedded into countless new connected devices such as thermostats and medical sensors. It also will be used for self-driving vehicles, “smart” factories and in critical infrastructure like power grids, presenting unprecedented new security challenges.

WHAT IS THE U.S. POSITION?

FOR more than a year, the US has campaigned against Huawei over fears that China’s communist leaders can use the company to tap into communications running through the networking equipment it sells globally.

The American message was initially met with skepticism and now increasingly appears to be falling on deaf ears. That’s forcing Washington to change up its strategy, but the result has been incoherent.

Attorney General William Barr suggested earlier this month that to thwart Huawei, the US government should consider taking a “ controlling stake “ in Nokia and Ericsson either directly or through a consortium of US companies and private investors. But other officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, quickly walked back that idea, saying “private enterprise” is the way to go.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper suggested other ways the government could be involved. “We are encouraging allied and US tech companies to develop alternative 5G solutions, and we are working alongside them to test these technologies at our military bases as we speak,” Esper said Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

The anti-Huawei campaign expanded into a bipartisan effort after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, joined in during visits to Brussels and Munich, when she compared allowing Huawei into a network to having “the Chinese state police right in your pocket.”

Last week, US authorities added new criminal charges against Huawei, accusing the company of a brazen scheme to steal trade secrets from competitors in America. That’s on top of a separate federal case with similar allegations against Huawei and senior executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia, but has yet to be extradited to the US.

WHAT KIND OF COMPANY IS HUAWEI AND HOW DOES IT RESPOND? HUAWEI is the world’s No. 1 provider of telecom

infrastructure gear—antennas, base stations and other plumbing on which cellular networks run.

Mobile phone companies like Huawei because it has a reputation for cheap, quality equipment. It has few rivals, namely, Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson, a point European officials use to rebuff the US. The Chinese company has consistently denied allegations that it could facilitate spying and insists there has never been any proof that it’s behind security breaches. Huawei’s chief cyber-security officer has said that the company is just a vendor providing equipment and that mobile phone companies are the ones that operate the networks.

WHAT HAS THE U.K. DONE?

BRITAIN last month gave Huawei limited access to its 5G networks, in what was seen as a snub to the US. The British government said it would let Huawei provide 35 percent of a wireless carrier’s “radio access network” of antennas and base stations, but it would not allow “high risk vendors” into the sensitive “core”—the servers that act as a network’s control center.

Trump administration officials indicated disappointment at Britain’s decision to find a middle way. A US delegation led

by Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, is reportedly due in London on Wednesday to meet with officials from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to express their unhappiness.

UK officials are pinning their hopes on 5G and related technologies such as artificial intelligence to help boost the economy by kick-starting lagging productivity levels.

■ Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

BusinessMirror

A10 Saturday, February 22, 2020

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Apple is handcuffed to the iPhone.

Just like its customers

A

BY ALEX WEBB Bloomberg Opinion

PPLE Inc.’s earnings warning is an unfortunate reminder that, for all of its work to change investor perceptions over the past few years, it remains “the iPhone company.” For much of its six-year reign as the world’s biggest company by market capitalization through to the end of 2018, Apple was actually less valuable than Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. on one crucial measure. The smartphone maker’s shares traded at a discount to those of the advertising technology giants based on its projected earnings— meaning investors were willing to pay more for a share of its rivals’ future profit. Even in its pomp three years ago, Apple’s stock traded at just 14 times forward earnings. Alphabet and Facebook traded at 20 times and 24 times earnings, respectively.

This showed that investors were more confident in Google and Facebook maintaining, or increasing, their profits than they were in Apple doing the same. That was largely because Apple is fundamentally a hardware company: At the time it was getting almost two-thirds of its revenue from the iPhone. It has lower gross profit margins since it has to pay for all the components used to make the handsets, as well as the labor and shipping costs.

And, in order to meet its earnings targets, Apple has to convince consumers to spend another $800 on a smartphone every two years. If it ever came up with a dud iPhone, then earnings would suffer.

As software companies, Google and Facebook have much higher gross profit. And given their stranglehold on Internet advertising, they can count on regularly recurring revenue from that business.

Back in 2017, Facebook knew it could generate an average of $21 per quarter for each user from fees that brands would pay to get their ads in front of users’ eyeballs. It wasn’t dependent on any one consumer product to keep that income flowing.

Apple, unhappy about its relative discount, has spent much of the past four years working to lose it by moving beyond hardware. In 2019, iPhone sales represented 55 percent of its total revenue, down from a 2015 peak of 66 percent. In part, that’s because sales of the smartphone have declined, but Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has also invested aggressively in new services (think Apple Music, TV+, News+, Arcade and so on), as well as wearable devices such as the Apple Watch and AirPods.

This has made Apple less dependent on the iPhone. And it’s made the company’s customers more dependent on the device. Since the Apple Watch must be paired with an iPhone, for instance, it reduces the chance of customers trading in their

DR. Reynaldo Vea, president and CEO of Mapua University; and Benjamin Buenaventura Jr., Sophos senior manager for technical support, Apac.

MAPUA UNIVERSITY TAPS SOPHOS TO ENHANCE CYBER-SECURITY CURRICULUM

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES

Apple handset for a phone that runs on Android.

The handcuffs are tightened every time somebody installs a new game from Arcade or adds songs from Apple Music to their library—they’d lose them all by abandoning the company’s operating system.

Apple’s valuation has reacted commensurately.

The stock is trading at 23 times forward earnings, more than Facebook’s 21 times and just shy of Alphabet’s 24 times. That’s partly down to the adtech giants’ own regulatory troubles—brought on by their troubling use of personal data and disquiet about their online ads duopoly. But Apple has succeeded too in convincing investors that it has dependable recurring revenue. That faith will have been shaken a little on

Tuesday morning, after the company said revenue in the first three months of the year won’t hit the low end of its expected $63-billion to $67-billion range.

The stock was trading some 4 percent lower in out-of-hours trading. The new coronavirus has stifled demand from Chinese shoppers less able to leave the house, and made it harder to recruit the workers needed to make its new low-cost handset.

That stifled demand will no doubt recover once the virus abates. Nonetheless, this is a clear reminder that, for all its efforts, the iPhone is still Apple’s chief source of income.

And that it will always be vulnerable to the capricious nature of consumer demand. ■

And the malware goes to...

POPULAR films gain the attention of not only movie fans but, unfortunately, also cybercriminals. To better understand how cybercriminals try to capitalize on our interest in high-profile movies, Kaspersky researchers looked into the prevalence of such scams.

With over 20 phishing web sites and 925 malicious files detected under the guise of this year’s nominated films, the findings show that those who are looking for a nice evening in front of the screen watching the latest blockbuster need to stay on the lookout for much more action, in the form of phishing and malware.

Kaspersky found over 20 phishing web sites and Twitter accounts offering users the chance to watch nominated films for free. These phishing web sites gather users’ data and prompt them to carry out a variety of tasks in order to gain access to the desired film. These can vary from taking a survey and sharing personal details, to installing adware or even giving up credit-card details. Needless to say, that at the end of the process, the user does not get the content.

To further support the promotion of fraudulent web sites, cybercriminals also set up Twitter accounts, where they distribute links to the content. Coupled with malicious files spread via different channels, this brings them successful results.

Malicious files spread on the Internet under the guise of copies of nominated films also provide an indication of the levels of interest toward the nominees.

Kaspersky researchers compared malicious activity under the name of nominated films during the first four weeks after the public premiere of

the film. As a result, Joker took first place among films used, being the most popular film among cybercriminals with 304 malicious files named after the Gotham villain. 1917 was second in this rating with 215 malicious files and The Irishman, third with 179 files. Korean film Parasite did not have any malicious activity associated with it.

Kaspersky also looked into whether there was a significant rise in malicious files just after the public release of the film. This showed that most malicious files appeared during the third or fourth week after the public cinema release of the film, although some were distributed even before the premiere.

Kaspersky experts also analyzed whether the availability of a film on a streaming platform influences the likelihood of users searching for an illegal copy of it on the Web, by comparing malicious activity after the initial limited cinema release and actual release on Netflix streaming platform.

In the case of Marriage Story, no malware was found upon and after the initial release of the film in cinemas. However, cybercriminals started using the movie title after its release on Netflix, reflecting the interest that grew toward the film. In the case of The Irishman, even though less users were engaged in finding a copy of the movie on the Internet, they were more determined to do so—the number of detections following the initial limited release of the film on screen was higher than after its release on Netflix.

“Cybercriminals aren’t exactly tied to the dates of film premieres, as they are not really distributing any content except for malicious data. However, as

they always prey on something when it becomes a hot trend, they depend on users’ demand and actual file availability. To avoid being tricked by criminals, stick to legal streaming platforms and subscriptions to ensure you can enjoy a nice evening in front of the TV without having to worry about any threats,” says Anton Ivanov, Kaspersky malware analyst.

To avoid falling victim to malicious programs pretending to be popular films or TV shows, Kaspersky recommends taking the following steps: ■ Pay attention to the official movie release dates in theaters, on streaming services, TV, DVD, or other sources; ■ Don’t click on suspicious links, such as those promising an early view of a new film; check movie release dates in the cinema and keep track of them; ■ Look at the downloaded file extension. Even if you are going to download a video file from a source you consider trusted and legitimate, the file should have an .avi, .mkv or .mp4 extension, among other video formats, and definitely not .exe; ■ Check the web site’s authenticity. Do not visit web sites allowing you to watch a movie until you are sure that they are legitimate and start with “https.”

Confirm that the web site is genuine, by doublechecking the format of the URL or the spelling of the company name, reading reviews about it and checking the domain’s registration data before starting downloads; and ■ Use a reliable security solution, such as Kaspersky Security Cloud, for comprehensive protection from a wide range of threats.

TO enhance the students’ skills and capabilities on cyber security, Yuchengco-owned Mapua University recently formed a partnership with global cyber-security provider Sophos that will also help students into a smooth transition from college to work force.

“We are excited to partner with Sophos to align and develop our curriculum in preparing our students for the working world. As a country, we’re taking cyber security seriously, and it is important to us that our students are equipped with the right knowledge and skills to become valuable employees for businesses looking to protect against the evolving threat landscape,” Mapua University’s School of Information Technology Dean Ariel Kelly D. Balan said in a press statement.

For a start, Balan revealed Sophos will provide train the trainer-style education on XG Firewall for Mapua faculty members. Once they have attained Sophos certification, Balan pointed out Mapua professors will be equipped with the skill set to impart their new cyber-security expertise to students through a structured university curriculum. Students will be able to take on Sophos exams to obtain cybersecurity industry certification.

Sophos will also provide hardware devices and virtual machines for Mapua’s student laboratories.

Sumit Bansal, managing director for Sophos Asean, stressed the introduction of cyber security to the engineering curriculum in Philippine universities is perfect timing as the cyber-security threat is becoming more sophisticated.

“As a result, there is greater demand in the Philippines for cyber-security professionals to keep the country safe from cyber threats as it continues its digital transformation journey.

Through our partnership with Mapua, we hope to provide greater access to the right learning tools and experts in this field, so students can further optimize their employment opportunities upon graduation,” he said in a press statement.

This partnership with Mapua University complements Sophos’s investment into developing IT professionals in the Philippines as it continues to grow its team of application developers and quality assurance specialists.

Founded in 1925 by Don Tomas Mapua, an architecture graduate of Cornell University in the United States and the first registered architect of the Philippines, Mapua University is the Philippines’s premier engineering and technological university.

Mapua is a top Asian university, entering the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings for 2019. It is a QS-rated university, obtaining a three-star overall rating for excellence, and a five-star rating in the categories of employability, facilities and social responsibility. It has also been recognized by Times Higher Education for its social and economic impact, placing in the Partnership for the Goals category of the inaugural THE University Impact Rankings.

Oxford, England-based Sophos is used by more than 400,000 organizations of all sizes in more than 150 countries for their cyber-security requirements Moreover, it secures through SophosLabs endpoints (laptops, servers and mobile devices) and networks against evolving cyber criminal techniques, including ransomware, malware, exploits, data exfiltration, automated and active-adversary breaches, phishing and more.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Saturday, February 22, 2020 A11

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Facebook needs regulation to win user trust, Zuckerberg says F

BY NATALIA DROZDIAK Bloomberg News

OR years, Facebook Inc. lobbied governments against imposing tough regulations, warning in some cases that they could harm the company’s business model. Now, it’s pleading for new rules for the good of its business. In a white paper published on Monday, Facebook detailed its push for Internet regulation, calling on lawmakers to devise rules around harmful content, a different model for platforms’ legal liability and a “new type of regulator” to oversee enforcement.

“If we don’t create standards that people feel are legitimate, they won’t trust institutions or technology,” Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in an op-ed in the Financial Times on Monday. That and the publication of the white paper coincided with a visit to Brussels, home of the European Union institutions that have crafted some of the toughest rules in recent years.

Silicon Valley firms have suffered from what’s been dubbed as a “tech lash,” with users frustrated over how Web platforms profit from their data.

Facebook has borne the brunt of that disenchantment following a series of missteps, including privacy breaches and accusations, it didn’t do enough to stop election manipulation on its platform. Meanwhile, Facebook’s user growth is stagnating in the United States and Canada—its most important markets.

“I believe good regulation may hurt Facebook’s business in the near term but it will be better for everyone, including us, over the long term,” Zuckerberg said in the op-ed, echoing comments he made over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference.

In Brussels, Zuckerberg has Monday meetings with EU tech czar Margrethe Vestager and other senior officials as the bloc prepares new legislation in areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), gatekeeping tech platforms and liability for users’ posts, all of which could impact Facebook’s business.

Zuckerberg has previously called for global regulation covering election integrity, harmful content, privacy and data portability.

POLITICAL ADS, HARMFUL CONTENT

IN the op-ed, Zuckerberg said Facebook was hoping for clarity around what constitutes a political ad— especially if paid for a group not directly affiliated with a political party, such as a nongovernment organization. Companies also need clearer lines around data ownership to enable users to move their information between services, he said.

In addition, the company would look into opening up its content moderation systems for external audit to help governments design regulation in areas like hate speech, he said.

Any new rules should hold Internet companies accountable for having certain procedures in place and platforms should meet specific performance targets when it comes to handling content that

DENNIS ANTHONY UY, president and CEO, Converge ICT Solutions; and Grace Uy, chief resources officer, Converge ICT Solutions

CONVERGE ICT CITED AS PHILIPPINES’S FASTEST-GROWING FIBER INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

THE broadband services provider behind the country’s first pure end-to-end fiber Internet network, Converge ICT Solutions, has been cited as the Fastest-Growing Fiber Internet Service Provider by the International Finance Awards.

The recognition comes from London-based global business and finance magazine International Finance.

According to the publication, Converge ICT is recognized to be true to its mission to upgrade the overall digital experience of the country. The magazine also lauded the company’s growth from the grassroots to become a budding powerhouse provider of pure end-to-end fiber Internet.

Since the launch of Converge ICT’s fiber packages, the Philippines saw a steady and noticeable Internet speed improvement. According to the world-renowned digital delivery network Akamai, the Philippines’s average Internet speed in the third quarter of 2016 was only at 4.2 Mbps. Since then, the average download speed in the Philippines has increased by 135.90 percent to 18.66 Mbps, Akamai reported.

One of the most recent milestones of Converge ICT was the introduction of the country’s first 400-Gbps backbone to augment existing domestic network capacity. This allows 400 Gbps per channel at 64 channels, or the equivalent of 25.6 Tbps at capacity.

The backbone is considered a boost to major businesses and institutions, such as business-process outsourcing companies and financial institutions, which require highcapacity connectivity or bandwidth. The rollout also allowed individual subscribers and micro, small and medium enterprises to enjoy faster connection without any data cap for high bandwidth capacity.

Converge ICT received the award on January 31 at Waldorf Astoria in Bangkok, Thailand.

MARK ZUCKERBERG during the Munich Security Conference on February 15. BLOOMBERG

violates their policies, Facebook said in Monday’s white paper. Rules should also define forms of speech that should be prohibited online, even if they’re not illegal, it said. When it comes to liability for what users post on its platform, Zuckerberg said in a media roundtable in Brussels on Monday that a different regulatory system should be created— somewhere between newspaper publishers, who can be sued for what journalists write in their pages; and telecommunications companies, who aren’t liable for customer conversations. This legislation may require a new type of regulator that is proficient in data, operations and online content, the company said.

European Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a press briefing he had discussed platform regulation, market dominance and liability in a meeting with Zuckerberg this afternoon.

Breton took note of Facebook’s use of AI systems to take down more harmful content, but said “if we see that it’s not what we need regarding our own standards, then we will have to regulate.” He also warned the EU could regulate the market dominance of platforms, like Facebook.

BRUSSELS VISITS

ZUCKERBERG reiterated that companies shouldn’t be

in charge of making decisions that balance competing social values, and said he hopes that new laws will draw cleaner lines to help companies navigate those decisions—even as regulators in Europe are also investigating Facebook over its compliance with existing privacy and antitrust rules.

“People need to feel that global technology platforms answer to someone,” Zuckerberg said in the op-ed, but also stressed that the plea “isn’t about passing off responsibility.” He said that Facebook is continuing to make progress on some of the issues on its own.

The Facebook chief’s Brussels visit follows a recent trip by Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai in January, who came to discuss regulating artificial intelligence.

The EU is expected to unveil planned rules for the technology this week, when it’s also likely to flag proposed liability rules for tech platforms coming later this year.

It’s not a coincidence that the chief executives of tech firms, like Facebook and Google, are making the pitch for regulation in the EU capital. They have seen before that, when the EU sets sweeping laws on tech, like the General Data Protection Regulation, the impact can reverberate far beyond its borders. ■

JEFF BEZOS COMMITS $10 BILLION TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

NEW YORK—Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said Monday that he plans to spend $10 billion of his own fortune to help fight climate change. Bezos, the world’s richest person, said in an Instagram post that he’ll start giving grants this summer to scientists, activists and nonprofits working to protect Earth.

“I want to work alongside others, both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change,” Bezos said in the post. Amazon, the company Bezos runs, has an enormous carbon footprint.

Last year, Amazon officials said the company would work to have 100 percent of its energy use come from solar panels and other renewable energy by 2030.

The online retailer relies on fossil fuels to power planes, trucks and vans in order to ship billions of items all around the world. Amazon workers in its Seattle headquarters have been vocal in criticizing some of the company’s practices, pushing it to do more to combat climate change.

Bezos said in the post Monday that he will call his new initiative the Bezos Earth Fund. An Amazon spokesman confirmed that Bezos will be using his own money for the fund. Despite being among the richest people in the world, Bezos only recently became active in donating money to causes as other billionaires, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, have done.

In 2018, Bezos started another fund, committing $2 billion of his own money to open preschools in low-income neighborhoods and give money to nonprofits that help homeless families.

Bezos, who founded Amazon 25 years ago, has a stake in the company that is worth more than $100 billion. AP

REX: The development of content is critical to the advancement of learning TECHNOLOGY experts, bloggers and content strategists have always claimed that content remains king as far as the viewing habits of digital natives are concerned. REX Book Store, the country’s premier learning solutions provider, takes that statement one step further, and points out that content and its development is critical to the advancement of learning.

Danda Buhain, chief of external affairs of REX Group of Cos., shared her thoughts about the role that content plays in education, learning and development at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, or Frankfurt Book Fair, which was held recently at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The book fair is the world’s largest trade fair for the international publishing industry, and the five-day event gathered some 305,000 publishers, writers and technology enablers from 104 countries, including the Philippines.

Present during the book fair were

representatives from major players in the Asean publishing industry, and REX was highlighted as a leading publisher from the Philippines alongside representatives chosen by the National Book Development Board.

Buhain’s efforts to create a space for REX’s recognition in the international market began with the company’s first participation at the Frankfurt Book Fair back in 1996, as it slowly gained steady ground as the country’s prime mover of change in the Philippine publishing industry.

The topics covered during the event include the role of government in publishing; today’s reading habits; the history of Southeast Asian publishing; content licensing and rights; emerging opportunities for illustrators in the Asean market; literature for children and young adults, and publishing for the tertiary education market.

In her talk at the Asean stage, Buhain highlighted that interesting, and informative,

content on the appropriate platform is key to engaging the hearts and minds of learners, especially among millennials and the Gen Z. Buhain said, “Quality content has been the core of REX’s learning materials, even long before the emergence of the Internet. With technology, its capacity to draw in readers increases, and can become more compelling and engaging.”

REX envisions its work to be responsive to the learners of today, tomorrow and yesterday. The company believes that learning is a lifelong process and sees opportunities for learning for everyone, regardless of age and status. This is why it designs learning solutions in a manner that responds to the needs of today’s learners, with methods and approaches that they can learn and unlearn from a number of perspectives.

More information about REX’s comprehensive suite of learning solutions is available at bit. ly/2SXl4IV.

DIRECTOR General (Undersecretary) of the Senate Tax and Research Office Atty. Rodelio Dascil (from left), National Book Development Board Chairman Neni Sta. Romana, Asean Book Publishers Association President 2017 to 2019 Atty. Dominador Buhain, Editor in Chief of the Publishing Perspective Porter Anderson, REX Bookstore International General Manager Sonia “Breezy” Santiago, Chief External Affairs Officer Danda Crimelda I. Buhain, and BOI Industry Development Services Executive Director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa

BusinessMirror

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

Saturday, February 22, 2020 A12

Q4 RANKINGS: VIVO IS TOP 2 SMARTPHONE VENDOR IN THE PHILIPPINES

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THE V17 Pro with the world’s first dual selfie cameras composed of 32MP main camera and 8MP 105-degree superwide-angle camera.

SHOWING no signs of slowing down, Vivo (vivoglobal. ph) established a 25-percent total market share in Q4 of 2019 to take second spot in the local smartphone industry rankings.

Based on the latest Canalys report on the smartphone landscape of the Philippines, the leading global technology company achieved the feat behind a 159-percent year-on-year growth which may be attributed to a series of new technologies, products and marketing initiatives rolled out last year.

Focusing on innovation and novelty, Vivo introduced the V15 Pro with the world’s first 32MP elevating dual selfie camera, the V17 Pro with the world’s first dual selfie cameras composed of 32MP main camera and 8MP 105-degree super-wide-angle camera, and the NEX 3 with the world’s first Super AMOLED Waterfall FullView display and a seamless body without any notch, bezel or buttons.

Appealing to a younger generation that places emphasis on style, the brand also launched the S1 and S1 Pro handsets—both sporting a first-of-itskind diamond-shaped rear quad camera consisting of 48MP main, 8MP secondary, 2MP wide angle and 2MP macro lenses.

“We are very excited to further improve our brand performance and grow our market this year, especially with the latest technology and design innovations that we will be introducing,” said Kenny Zeng Kai, vice president of operations at Vivo Philippines.

Vivo also expanded its reach to a younger market by introducing its first-ever local brand ambassador, Maine Mendoza. As the face of Vivo in the Philippines, the TV and movie celebrity helped launch the Vivo V15 Pro, V15 Blossom Pink and V17 Pro models. She was also featured in a TV advertisement and various digital marketing materials and collaterals.

Are you a Wi-Fi parasite?

TECHNIVORE ED UY

whereiseduy@gmail.com

F

IRST there were the K-dramas—Korean TV series that were either based on historical events and figures, called “sageuk,” like Jewel in the Palace or Jumong, or contemporary ones that often center around a love story like my favorite Winter Sonata, or, more recently Hotel Del Luna, Crash Landing On You, or even Goblin, which is a combination of the two.

Then came K-pop with its infectious beats and electrifying steps. Who can forget Psy who taught us “Gangnam Style,” or the Wondergirls who made us believe there was nobody, nobody but you! Now it’s BTS, Black Pink and the other K-pop groups that rule the charts, proving that music truly is a universal language. And with Parasite becoming the big winner at the 2020 Oscars (best picture, director, original screenplay and international film), it’s obvious that even Hollywood has been swept by Hallyu, or the Korean Wave. I’ve always wanted to visit South Korea, and if we hadn’t got scammed, I would’ve probably crossed it off my bucket list. My mom says it’s still the best place she’s been to, and I’ve heard nothing but good things from friends who’ve been there.

Ironically, Parasite, which will probably become one of South Korea’s most successful film exports, shows a totally different side of this country in East Asia. Far from the scenic and romantic vistas, or the clean progressive modern city you often see on Instagram posts. Instead, the movie offers a brutal commentary on income inequality in this wealthy society. It’s not a horror movie, which many assume because of the poster, but rather a family tragicomedy/ thriller and a few bits of “nerdy” mission impossible infiltration. The plot focuses on the impoverished Kim family, who live in a roach-infested subbasement without any Wi-Fi (oh, the indignity!) and survive by folding pizza boxes for money. They get their chance to climb the social ladder by leeching off the privileged but naïve Park family.

In the opening shots of the movie, Ki-Woo is seen crouching near a window trying to find a Wi-Fi signal as their neighbor apparently changed the password.

On the advice of his father, Kim Ki-Taek, Ki-Woo holds his phone high and stick it to every corner, eventually finding a signal in the corner of their toilet. Later, after the family gets paid and sits down to eat, their father offers a toast: to “this bounteous Wi-Fi!” In South Korea, smartphone ownership and Internet usage is one of the highest in the world. It is also among the fastest, according to the SpeedTest

Global Index. As of January 2020, the country ranks 2nd in the Global Average for Mobile Internet with 31.95 mbps download and 11.32 mbps upload speeds, and 16th in Fixed Broadband with 74.32 mbps and 40.83 download and upload speed, respectively.

But as Parasite illustrated, not everyone in South Korea could can afford Internet, and there are still a lot who just leech off free Internet. And I thought “nakiki-WiFi” sa kapitbahay was just a Pinoy thing.

WI-FI PARASITES

WI-FI parasites are people who spend excessively long hours at a café, hotel lobby or any other place that has free Internet and turning it into their personal office.

While there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of something that’s free, leeching of your neighbor’s Internet when you’re at home is a bit too parasitic.

Good thing you don’t have to be a Wi-Fi parasite as PLDT dropped the price of its Home WiFi Prepaid kit while giving you double the amount of data.

I’ve been using it for the past several weeks now, and for all the convenience it brings, I think it’s a more practical option for couples, small families or students/young professionals living in condos or dormitories or those who spend most of their time in the office or school. Because it’s prepaid, you don’t have to worry about monthly bills, and you can control just how much you want to spend.

It’s relatively cheap, easily available from both online (PLDT Home web site, Lazada) and offline retailers and SM branches. It takes less than five minutes to install, not to mention that it’s powered by Smart LTE, the country’s fastest mobile data network.

PLDT Home WiFi has the widest wireless network coverage of 79.4 percent across the country based on Opensignal’s LTE availability report. That means no matter where you are, you can enjoy the benefits of having affordable blazing-fast Internet.

You can now get the PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid for just P995 or P1000 off its original price of P1,995—but only until March 31.

Out of the box, you get the latest PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid unit, a DC power adaptor, a free ethernet cable, preinstalled sim card, quick user guide, and warranty certificate. In short, it has everything you need to set up your Internet connection, wired or wireless. The PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid is a plugand-play device, which means you won’t have to reconfigure or install any software to use it. Simply use the provided power adaptor and plug it to an electrical outlet and wait for it to power on and that’s it. Once the indicator light becomes steady you can now connect your device to your PLDT Home WiFi Prepaid. It already comes with Free 10GB of Open Access Data, allowing you to visit any web site and it is valid up to seven days once the device has been activated. To personalize your unit and change the name or password, all you have to do is go to pldthomewifisettings.net using the same device that’s currently connected to your Home WiFi Prepaid. The default password is “pldthome.”

While the most logical place to put your PLDT

Home WiFi Prepaid is near an electrical outlet, it may not be the ideal spot to maximize your Internet speed.

Find a spot near the window or somewhere facing an open area. Don’t hide it in a corner or under the table.

To check which spot gives you the fastest speeds, download the SpeedTest App. In my initial test, I was surprised as I got a speed of around 20 mbps. I tried watching HD videos on YouTube and streaming sites, and it was fast. I’m pretty sure there won’t be any lag when playing online games, like “PUBG” or “Mobile Legends Bang Bang,” etc.

Make sure to download the myPLDT SMART APP from either the App Store or Google Play so you can manage your data usage and keep track of your remaining data. You can even check how many GB is used by your favorite apps like YouTube and Facebook.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be data conscious because you get double the data allocation with FamLoad. From 12GB of data for FamLoad 199 it now comes with 24GB data valid for 7 days. For FamLoad 599, it now comes with 80GB data valid for 15 days, FamLoad 999 with 130GB, and for data hogs like me there’s FamLoad 1499 which now comes with a whopping 200GB data for 30 days.

For students, that means you can do more extensive research and for gamers, even more time to level up and get victories. And of course it means more time for family bonding watching your favorite movies and TV series. You can buy load through your nearest suking tindahan or in any 7-Eleven stores nationwide or via PayMaya app.

With double the data here are some of the things you can do: 1. WATCH MORE TV SERIES AND MOVIES: What better way for everyone to bond than by watching great movies and series online? With more data, you get to stream more titles from your favorite videostreaming services, like YouTube, Netflix, iFlix, iWant and so much more.

2. FORGET TEXT AND GIFS; DO VIDEO CALLS: If you have family members abroad, this is the best way to bond and show them some love—online video call. Chat nonstop and catch up with each other via Facebook Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram, LINE, or any other messaging app.

3. GO ON A SOUNDTRIP OR LISTEN TO PODCASTS: Podcasts are my new guilty pleasure and I tend to listen to them more than music and I can stream them from Spotify or any other music streaming service.

4. PLAY ONLINE GAMES: A family that plays together, well, that family has probably more data load. Now is the time to level up or try those online games because anyone can play anything whether it’s on a console or a PC, or even just a casual mobile game on your smartphone.

5. LEARN SOMETHING NEW: With more data, you can also spend bonding moments at home by watching how-to videos and making things, whether it’s cooking, baking, arts and crafts, and so much more.

So don’t be a Wi-Fi parasite and enjoy your own fast Internet when you want it without the hassle of monthly bills. ■

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Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE NCR Regional Office located at 967 Maligaya St., Malate, Manila, within 30 days after its publication.

Please inform DOLE NCR if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR