BusinessMirror February 26, 2018 by BusinessMirror

‘CEMENT PRICE CAP SHOULD BE IN PLACE ALONGSIDE SAFEGUARD TAX ON IMPORTS’ By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

CONSUMER group on Monday asked the government to put in place the price cap on cement to keep manufacturers in check while a biased policy against imports is in effect. Laban Konsyumer Inc. President Victorio Mario A. Dimagiba appealed to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to publish the suggested retail price (SRP) on cement that will be used while the safeguard tax on im-

WORKERS pour cement from a mixer onto a street as part of a road reconstruction project in Makati CIty. BUSINESSMIRROR FILE PHOTO

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ports is in place. The SRP, he said, will secure prices stability under a protectionist regime on cement. “SRPs should be at all times be reasonable as the Price Act, as amended, provides as such. The prevailing prices the past three months are baseline data in determining that the SRPs are reasonable,” Dimagiba said in a statement. “This will eliminate perceptions that retail prices have gone up in anticipation of the safeguard duty now subject of the investigation,” he added. The DTI had vowed to release an

SRP for cement while the safeguard duty of P210 per metric ton on imports is in place. Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said this will also measure if the domestic supply is sufficient, as unwarranted price increases are symptoms of supply deficiency. Lopez earlier told the BusinessMirror the DTI will most likely adopt the prevailing prices of cement in December of last year as the SRP. In a document obtained by the BusinessMirror, prices of local cement in Metro Manila range from P220 per

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Tuesday, February 26, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 139

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE government is eyeing a P4.249-trillion national budget for 2020, as the Philippines continues to ramp up infrastructure spending, economic managers told Japanese business leaders.

‘Return of tariffs on some agri goods to 2012 levels automatic under EO 23’ By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

ONCESSIONA RY tar if f rates slapped on certain imported farm goods should automatically revert to their levels in 2012 once the rice trade liberalization law takes effect on March 5, a high-ranking agriculture official told the BusinessMirror. Agriculture Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Segfredo R. Serrano said the current tariffs on the Philippines’s concessions to its trade partners should go back to the 2012 levels once a law removing the country’s quantitative restriction on rice is enacted. This was stipulated in Executive Order (EO) 23 issued by President Duterte. The tariff changes shall be implemented by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and no other requirements are needed to do it, Serrano added. “That is automatic. That is already built-in in the EO of the President and the [Bureau of] Customs should implement it automatically,” he told the BusinessMirror in an interview. EO 23 extended the concessionary rates on imports of mechanically deboned meat (MDM), frozen potatoes and other concessions while the government is crafting a law that would convert the rice QR into tariffs. The rates shall apply until June 30, 2020, or until a law related to rice tariffication is enacted, whichever comes first. Once a rice tariffication law is passed, the 2012 tariff rates on the concessions must apply, according to EO 23.

The retention of the concessionary rates was made by the government to show “good faith” to its trade partners that it is undertaking the necessary measures to convert the rice QR. The government slashed the tariffs on certain agricultural imports as a concession to the country’s trade partners for allowing Manila to extend its special treatment for rice. The Philippines has been in breach of its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to convert the nontariff measure into tariffs since July 1, 2017. The waiver, which allowed the country to extend its right to impose QR from 2014 to 2017, expired last June 30, 2017. Among the concessionary rates that would revert to their 2012 levels are mechanically deboned or separated meat of chicken (HS 0207.14.91), from 5 percent to 40 percent; buttermilk (HS 0403.90.10), from 1 percent to 3 percent; butter (HS 0405.10.00), from 5 percent to 7 percent; and potatoes (HS 2004.10.00), from zero to 10 percent.

Duterte’s ‘test’

UNITED Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) President Elias Jose Inciong said reverting the concessionary rates is the “right thing to do,” amid deliberations on maintaining the 5-percent tariff on imported MDM. Inciong added that the petition to retain the 5-percent tariff on MDM imports is a test for the Duterte administration. See “Tariffs,” A8

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.0560

19.8% The ratio to GDP of the proposed national budget for year 2020. The ratio of the budget to GDP is 19.3 percent in 2019

Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said in his presentation at the Philippine Economic Briefing in Osaka on Friday that this is in

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Govt eyes ₧4.25-T budget for ’20 on infra spending hike

See “Cement price cap,” A8

line with the country’s expansionary fiscal program. “Given this, we plan to steadily increase the annual national budget from P3.757 trillion [in 2019] to P5.313 trillion in 2022. As a share of GDP, this is a rise from 19.3 percent to 20.6 percent,” Diokno said. The planned 2020 budget is equivalent to 19.8 percent of GDP. In 2021, the DBM is eyeing a P4.785-trillion national budget or 20.3 percent of GDP. Continued on A2

See “Exports,” A8

TOP view of the Philippine Economic Briefing held in Osaka, Japan, on Friday (February 22), where the country’s senior economic and infrastructure officials presented updates on and prospects for the Philippine economy before an estimated 180 Japanese investors. Among those at the panel discussion were BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo, Jetro President Yasushi Akahoshi, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Nestor Tan of BDO Unibank Inc., Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. The panel was moderated by Euben Paracuelles of Nomura. Akahoshi and Tan provided their independent views of the Philippine economy. PHOTO FROM DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

Even sans IRR, EODB law in effect, DTI chief insists

RADE Secretary Ramon M. Lopez on Monday said the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law is already in effect in spite of nonexistent rules, and told firms to file a complaint if they experience red tape in their transactions with the government. In an interview with reporters, Lopez reminded government agencies to roll out the provisions of the EODB law even without the implementing rules and regulations (IRR). This primarily involves cutting the processing time for obtaining permits, licenses and documents. “The EODB law is already being implemented, that has to be clarified. The Act is being implemented, and anyone can file a complaint against agencies who will violate its provisions,” Lopez said. “We need not wait for the IRR for the EODB law to be rolled out,” he added. Lopez was responding to statements from lawmakers and business groups calling for the immediate implementation of the EODB law. The law is banked on to cut red tape in the bureaucracy and improve Philippine competitiveness in attracting investments. It, however, has yet to see full swing, as President Duterte has yet to appoint the director general of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta), which will be the lead agency in rolling out the provisions of the law. “The only problem now is we still don’t have the director general for the Arta tasked to issue the IRR to the public. It is stated in the law that the director general is the only one authorized to officially issue the IRR,”Lopez explained. “The IRR might not yet be officially issued, but that does not mean the law is not in effect,” he clarified. Should there be delays in obtaining government documents, businessmen can file a case at the Arta, Department of Trade and Industry, Office of the Ombudsman or the Civil Service Commission, the trade chief said. The President signed the EODB law in May of last year. It pegs the transaction time for obtaining business permits, licenses and documents to three working days for simple procedures; seven working days for complex; and 20 working days for highly technical.

Elijah Felice E. Rosales

Moody’s upbeat on PHL after enactment of economic laws By Bianca Cuaresma

@BcuaresmaBM

HE laws recently enacted by the government, including the rice trade liberalization law and the measure amending the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

(BSP) charter, will be positive for the country’s economy, an international credit watcher said. In a research note published on Monday, Moody’s Investors Service lauded President Duterte for approving a number of economic laws, saying these measures are set to

“enhance the macroeconomic and financial stability” of the Philippines. On February 15, Duterte signed a number of bills into law, which include the “Act Providing for Reasonable Rates for Political Advertisements”; Republic Act (RA) 11211, or the New Central Bank Act; the

Social Security System (SSS) Rationalization Act; and RA 11203, or the rice trade liberalization law. Moody’s said two of these new laws—the rice trade liberalization law and RA 11211—are “credit positive” for the country’s economy. Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4703 n UK 67.8706 n HK 6.6342 n CHINA 7.7467 n SINGAPORE 38.4546 n AUSTRALIA 36.9546 n EU 59.0419 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.8816

Source: BSP (22 February 2019 )

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A2 Tuesday, February 26, 2019

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New ‘Comelec Control Committee’ created

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

RACING itself for the possible increase in areas of concern in the upcoming 2019 polls, the Commission on Elections has created a new committee to determine areas that will be placed under its control. The poll body said the new “Comelec Control Committee” (CCC) will be composed of at least two Comelec commissioners; and

representatives from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), as well as the Comelec’s

Project Management Office. The Comelec Law Department will serve at the secretariat of the CCC. “The CCC shall have the authority to create Special Task Force Team/s, which will act as the implementing arm with regard to the decision, order and other issuances in relation to the enforcement of Comelec control,” the Comelec en banc said in its Resolution 10501. The task force includes representatives from the Department of the Interior and Local Government; Comelec field office; regional office of PNP; either the division or brigade commander in the AFP;

and the regional election director. Prior to Resolution 10501, the Comelec would assign a commissioner-in-charge to manage the area placed under its control. The Comelec is expecting more election violence in the upcoming polls from desperate unscrupulous candidates as it clamps down on ways to manipulate the outcome of the polls. For the 2019 elections, the poll body has thus far placed Daraga town in Albay and Cotabato City under its control—the former due to a high-profile election-related killing and the latter due to a bombing incident.

80K Pantawid Pasada vouchers unclaimed–Angara

VER 80,000 jeepney franchise holders have yet to claim the nationwide fuel subsidy being provided by the Duterte government as part of mitigation measures under the tax-reform program. This prompted Sen. Juan Edgardo M. Angara to air a timely reminder over the weekend, in advance of another upward adjustment in oil prices. In a statement, Angara reminded the intended beneficiaries to claim their fuel vouchers to avail themselves of the State subsidy under the so-called Pantawid Pasada program (PPP). “We are encouraging our legitimate jeepney franchise holders who have not yet claimed their ‘Pantawid Pasada’ card to go to the nearest office of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board [LTFRB] so they can get the fuel subsidy from

government,” Angara said. The senator aired the appeal on learning from the Department of Finance about the “low turnout” in the distribution of government-issued fuel subsidy cards to qualified franchise holders of public utility jeepneys (PUJs). He noted that as of January 15, 2019, the DOF reported only 74,714 fuel vouchers were distributed out of the 155,337 available cards, or 42.43 percent of the total national target coverage for 176,085 legitimate PUJ units. Angara added that this meant 80,623 cards remain unclaimed. Based on reports obtained by his office, the senator noted the region with the lowest claim rate is Region 10, with only 28.52 percent, while the highest is Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), at 71.64 percent. Under the Pantawid Pasada program, billed as one of the

government’s f lagship social mitigation measures, fuel vouchers in the form of cash cards are given to qualified PUJ franchise holders for 2018 and 2019 “to ensure that they get timely assistance to mitigate the effects of the volatility of fuel prices in the world market,” where the fuel subsidies given to each franchise holder amount to P5,000 in 2018 and P20,514 for 2019, to be given quarterly. The steady rise of fuel prices in much of 2018 had been blamed for the record inflation and on the fact that this coincided with the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, which imposed higher excise on fuel. Angara advised the PPP beneficiaries who have yet to claim their fuel subsidy cards to proceed promptly to the nearest LTFRB regional offices or the

Land Transpor tation Off ice on East Avenue in Quezon City for those in Metro Manila, noting that these offices resumed distribution of PPP cards on January 7. The LTFRB targets to complete the distribution of the remaining cards by March this year. At the same time, he noted that starting Nov. 20, 2018, the LTFRB started accepting special power of attorneys (SPAs), along with other documents, for beneficiaries who cannot personally claim their cards. LTFRB targets to release the first quarterly payout of the fuel subsidy for 2019 by end of March. Together with the Department of Transportation and Land Bank of the Philippines, the LTFRB is set to provide the guidelines for the second tranche of fuel subsidy, as well as concerns over unclaimed PPP cards . Butch Fernandez

Govt eyeing ₧5-B revenue Moody’s upbeat on PHL from taxing Pogo workers after enactment of economic laws Continued from A8

“We have a counterproposal in the recent issuance of the Bureau of Immigration, which we would like to thresh out once we sit down with them,” BLE Director Dominique R. Tutay told the BusinessMirror in an interview. The DOLE earlier proposed limiting SWP applications to certain jobs as well as for it to be issued before the arrival of its users in the country. SWP is a document issued by the BI to foreigners who will be working in the country for less than six months. Those who will be employed in the country for more than six months must transact with the labor department. Lawmakers blamed the alleged lax regulations of BI in issuing SWPs for the surge in the number of Chinese workers in the country. From 2015 to September 2018, BI was able to issue SWPs to 205,218 Chinese nationals. During the same period the DOLE was only able to grant 85,496 alien employment permits to Chinese workers.

Duterte’s remarks

IN a related development, labor groups condemned the latest controversial remark at the weekend of President Duterte, which sounded in favor of Chinese workers, who have no permits, to stay in the country. “’Yung mga Chinese dito hayaan mo ’yan na dito magtrabaho. Hayaan mo [Those Chinese, let them stay here to work],” Duterte said in a speech last Saturday. Duterte said this was to protect the 300,000 Filipinos in China from possible deportation in case the Chinese government decides to retaliate. The statement drew the ire of Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice President Julius Cainglet, who said Duterte’s statement is irresponsible since it encourages violations of country’s laws in restricting the entry of foreign workers. “We have laws that govern the employment of foreigners and yet there he goes giving a blanket authority to just allow them to work in the country without regard for our laws,” Cainglet said. Partido Manggagawa chair Renato

Magtubo agreed with Cainglet in saying Duterte may be held liable if he allows foreigners without the necessary permits to continue to stay in the country. “Making an unfounded fear as argument for not implementing our laws on employing foreign nationals violating the same is a dereliction of duty on the part of the President and his labor secretary,” Magtubo said. For its part, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said only foreigners with the necessary permits should be allowed to work in the country to ensure their welfare is protected. “Illegal migrant workers are vulnerable to violation and exploitation of their basic rights as workers as they cannot be provided protection by our laws,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said. Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III later clarified that Duterte’s statement only covered Chinese workers.

‘Fire them’

RELATEDLY, opposition Sen. Francis N. Pangilinan prodded Duterte on Monday to sack DOLE and BI officers linked to the illegal entry of hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers into the country. “Fire DOLE and BI appointees and officials who allowed the entry of 400,000 Chinese illegals,” Pangilinan said. “File criminal cases against them. Uphold the rule of law and without fanfare deport these illegals,” Pangilinan pressed. The Duterte administration, he said, “should not be afraid of China in the face of hundreds of thousands of their citizens working here illegally.” In a statement, the opposition senator warned that what the Duterte administration should fear is “the anger of millions of our people who remain jobless, while we give special treatment to these Chinese illegals.” Pangilinan pointed out that nothing has been heard from the government in several incidents involving China, citing previous incidents—illegal drugs coming from China and China’s continuing expansion in the South China Sea. With a report by Butch Fernandez

Continued from A1

Moody’s currently rates the Philippines at Baa2 with a stable outlook. “The rice tariffication scheme, effective March 5, eliminates quantitative restrictions on rice imports, replacing them with tariffs. We expect the expected increase in the volume of rice imports will diminish the price volatility of rice, helping to insulate Filipino households’ consumption to adverse agricultural shocks,” Moody’s said in its research note. “The amendment to the BSP’s charter expands its supervisory oversight over nonbank financial institutions such as money service businesses, credit granting businesses and payment system operators, which will enhance financial stability given the linkages between the banking system and these entities,” it added.

Laudable laws

MOODY’S said RA 11203 will help alleviate local supply-demand imbalances by eliminating quantitative restrictions on rice imports, as it will now be subject to tariffs. In 2018, weather-related supply disruptions led to a decline in the growth of rice production, pushing upward domestic rice prices. As rice accounts for nearly 10 percent of the entire consumer price index (CPI) basket, higher rice prices contributed to the acceleration in overall inflation. Inflation in 2018 veered away from the BSP’s target of 2 to 4 percent for

the year. The 2018 growth of consumer prices averaged at 5.2 percent, with the peak hitting 6.7 percent in September and October last year before going down to 4.4 percent in January. The acceleration of inf lation during the period prompted the BSP to increase its rates to a total of 175 basis points. It also sparked nonmonetary policy responses from Duterte’s economic team to give the country a respite from price hikes. The BSP estimated that the implementation of RA 11203 will slash inflation by 0.6 percentage points in 2019 and 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points in 2020. Moody’s also viewed favorably the enactment of the New Central Bank Act, particularly its salient provisions, such as allowing the BSP to issue its own debt securities. The international credit watcher also welcomed the official removal of money supply and credit levels as a basis to determine monetary policy; the prohibition of any injunction or restraining order on the BSP, except by the Philippines’s two highest courts; an increase in BSP’s capitalization to P200 billion from P50 billion; and the exemption of the bulk of its activities from taxation. “The issuance of its own debt will enhance the BSP’s ability to better calibrate liquidity condition through open market operations, allowing it to rely less on its deposit facilities and reserve requirements, which at 18 percent, is one of the highest globally,” Moody’s said.

‘Project of century’: Metro Mla subway groundbreaking set

RANSPORTATION Secretary Arthur P. Tugade assured over the weekend that there will be no more roadblocks for the start of the construction of the Metro Manila Subway, as groundbreaking for the “project of the century”has been set for Wednesday. In a statement, the transportation chief said the “country’s first underground railway system is no longer a pipe dream,” noting that the first contract for the subway’s construction was with a JapaneseFilipino consortium. “Our countrymen will finally see that the dream of a railway system running underground in this country is soon becoming a reality,” he said. The subway system—awarded to the consortium of Shimizu Corp., Fujita Corp., Takenaka Civil Engineering Co. Ltd. and EEI Corp.—will span 36 kilometers, with 15 stations, crossing seven local governments, passing three of Metro Manila’s

business districts and connecting all these to Manila’s main airport in almost 30 minutes or less. The contract signed with the said consortium involved the designing and construction of the subway’s “partial operability section,” which pertains to the first three underground stations, namely, Quirino Highway, Tandang Sora and North Avenue. This portion should be opened by 2022. Its full operations is targeted for 2025. “Of course there will be some inconvenience along the way, but that is nothing compared to the long-lasting comfort this project will bring to the Filipino people,” Tugade said. He noted that in its first year of full operations alone, “the seminal underground rail system is expected to serve up to 370,000 passengers per day, with a capacity of serving up to 1.5 million passengers per day.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

DOJ summons Batuan mayor, VM over guns seized in resort raid By Joel R. San Juan

@jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) has summoned Batuan Mayor Charmax Jan Yuson and his father Batuan incumbent Vice Mayor Bodgie Yuson III to answer the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition charges filed against them after authorities seized high-powered firearms and ammunition during a raid at their private resort on February 13. The Yusons were ordered to appear and submit their counteraffidavit to the complaint filed by the Masbate head of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNPCID), Police Chief Inspector Dave Mahilum. The subpoenas issued by a DOJ panel of prosecutors, chaired by Assistant State Prosecutor Josie Christina Dugay, directed the Yusons to answer the complaint for violation of Section 28, paragraph (a) of Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunitions Regulation Act, during the preliminary hearings set for March 1 and March 12.

Dugay and the other members of the panel—Associate Prosecution Attorney II Borgy Calugay, Gino Angelo Yanga and Mary Grace Arboladura—have been tasked to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is probable cause to indict the Yusons before the trial court. “You are hereby warned that failure on your part to comply with this subpoena shall be considered as a waiver to present your defense in this preliminary investigation,” the panel said. The private resort owned by the Yusons was raided by authorities by virtue of a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Virgilio V. Macaraig of Branch 37 of the Regional Trial Court in Manila. Mahilum said the operation was conducted against the Yusons after his office received information that the respondents were in possession of unlicensed firearms. The search has resulted in the confiscation of an M16 Bushmaster rifle, two 12-gauge shotguns, a .45caliber Colt pistol, three .38-caliber revolvers without serial numbers and a hand grenade. The Yusons were not around when the raid was conducted.

Govt eyes ₧4.25-T budget for ’20 on infra spending hike Continued from A1

Meanwhile, Diokno also said the government had programmed to spend P910 billion on infrastructure for 2019, P1.222 trillion for 2020, P1.542 trillion for 2021 and P1.81 trillion for 2022. “For 2019, P910 billion has been allocated for infrastructure spending, or 4.7 percent of GDP. We plan to ramp up infrastructure spending to as much as P1.8 trillion or 7 percent of GDP by 2022. By then, we would be able to close the country’s infrastructure gap,” he said.

Cash-based budgeting THE budget chief also reiterated the need to shift from two-year obligationbased budgeting to annual cash-based budgeting. Despite the deletion of proposed provisions on cash-based budgeting in the bicameral version of the General Appropriations Bill ratified by both houses of Congress, Diokno last

week said they would stick to the new budgeting system. According to Section 36, Chapter 5, Book VI of Executive Order 292, or the Administrative Code of 1987, “an operational cash budget shall be implemented to ensure the availability of cash resources for priority development projects and to establish a sound basis for determining the level, type and timing of public borrowings.” The DBM said the shift to cash-based from obligation-based budgeting will hasten the implementation of projects. A cash budget would also reflect “more accurately” the annual outputs and outcomes of the government, according to the DBM. The proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019 has already been approved by Congress but it has yet to reach the desk of the President. Congress is targeting to submit the money measure to Malacañang on March 1.

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Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Our govt is fruit of democracy, sovereignty–Duterte

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM & Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

RESIDENT Duterte skipped the commemoration rites of the Edsa People Power Revolution for the third time on Monday since assuming office to attend to “more pressing matters of the State.” He, however, issued a message for the occasion. Millions of Filipinos gathered in Edsa 33 years ago during the civilian-backed military revolt that ousted the late strongman former President Ferdinand E. Marcos. The military, meanwhile, vowed on Monday that it will continue to take on the lessons of the Edsa revolution as it affirmed its constitutional duty as the protector of the people and of the state. “We [the Armed Forces of the Philippines] will continue to imbibe the lessons of nationalism, patriotism and, most importantly, unity,” said the military in a statement released the military’s public affairs office headed by Col. Noel Detoyato. “These are the values that make your Armed Forces a dependable institution that is always ready to protect the people and secure the sovereignty of the state,” the statement read. “That whatever challenges we faced, despite the differences in our organizations and groups, we remain united and loyal to our country and to our constitution,” the statement added. Malacañang did not specify what pressing matters had prompted Duterte to skip the event, but stressed that he has been working tirelessly, including on weekends. Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said the President had two public events in Cebu on the eve of

the Edsa People Power anniversary celebration. Even though Duterte skipped the annual celebration, he was also scheduled to attend the first National Assembly of Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas in Manila. “While the President has to attend to more pressing matters of the State and may not be physically present during the commemoration of the People Power Revolution, he will however be there in union with the celebrators, as well as in recognition and reminder to all that our government is a fruit of democracy, and sovereignty resides in the people, and all authority emanates from them,” Panelo said in a statement issued late Sunday. Nonetheless, the President urged Filipinos to remember how the historic revolution restored the power to collectively chart the future through the ballot as the entire nation prepares for the upcoming midterm elections. “May we all have a profound sense of appreciation and understanding of what we lost and what we reclaimed. I am hopeful that this occasion will inspire all of us, especially the younger generation, to deeply value the freedom and liberty, that we won in Edsa,” he said in his message. Last year, the President did not also attend the event, as he was in Davao. In 2017, he was also a noshow at the anniversary rites

Gang of 7 robbers slain in Batangas shootout; 36 packs of cocaine fished out of DavOr waters

EVEN suspected gang members of a robbery group operating in Southern Luzon were killed on Monday in a shootout with policemen in Batangas, the Philippine National Police reported. The identities of the suspects were still being ascertained, but police said they could be members of the “Baklas Bubong” robbery group that has victimized mostly feed mills, according to Batangas Provincial Police Office director Senior Supt. Edqin Quilates. Quilates said the suspects were killed during a shootout with policemen at around 4:45 a.m. in Barangay Banyaga, Agoncillo, Batangas. The policemen also recovered five firearms from the slain robbers. “From the looks of it, they are not from Batangas,” said Quilates, referring to the suspects, who have victimized a number of establishments in the province, the latest of which was a feed mill and a minimart in Taysa n, Bat a ngas, on February 23. “At the minimart, we were able to get a copy of the CCTV footage, and they were onboard a white Toyota Hi-Ace. The plate number was also taken. Their vehicle has a distinctive feature, and so it was flashed to all police units,” he added. The vehicle, with plate number TIH-344, reappeared in the town of Laurel, also in Batangas, by ignoring a police checkpoint and sped toward

Agoncillo, which prompted Quilates to alert the town’s policemen who put up a checkpoint. The suspects also breached through the checkpoint, triggering a chase, and the suspects shot it out with their pursuers. Another team of policemen, however, managed to intercept them, and that resulted in a shootout. Meanwhile, policemen recovered blocks of cocaine along the shorelines of Purok Talisay, Barangay Santiago, Caraga, Davao Oriental, on Sunday following a report from a resident. Reports received by Camp Crame said that four “bundles” of cocaine, three of which containing 10 packs of the illegal drug, were fished out at past 1 p.m. Based on the report, Emelio Bantayan, councilman of Barangay Santiago, called the Caraga police, informing them about the drugs that were found at around 11 a.m. by a resident who was swimming in the waters of Purok Talisay. The Caraga police, which conducted an inventory of the recovered drugs, said at least 36 packs of cocaine were taken. “Initial investigation conducted disclosed that the found four bundles, three of which contained 10 packs per bundle, while the other one bundle, which was already opened, contained only six packs with a total of 36 packs of suspected cocaine,” the Caraga police said. Rene Acosta

at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City when he attended the relaunch of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in Davao City.

In 2016, Duterte was criticized for his controversial decision to allow the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani despite opposition

from certain quarters. He has since defended his decision, saying he was just following the law since the former President was a soldier.

Former soldiers are allowed to be buried there, according to the guidelines of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

A4 Tuesday, February 26, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Davao-GenSan-Bitung Roro route set for revival in Q1–MinDa official

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

FTER more than a year in hiatus, the Davao-GenSan-Bitung shipping route originally conceived to be the country’s first roll-on, roll-off (Roro) link with Indonesia would soon be revived, likely within this quarter. This, after senior officials from the Philippines led by Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and neighboring country Indonesia have agreed to restart the shipping route following the submission of a formal intent by a new shipping player to serve the route. MinDa Deputy Executive Director and Head of Investments Promotion Romeo “Yo” M. Montenegro told the BusinessMirror that Reefer Express

Lines presented its plan to service the route during a bilateral meeting in Malaysia on February 14. “Reefer Express Lines presented its existing shipping operations, which also covers the Philippines-Indonesia route and all the way to the Middle East. It also presented its plan to serve the Davao-GenSan-Bitung route, with additional calls to other ports in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam

en route to Singapore,” Montenegro said in a message. At the same time, the MinDa official also revealed that Aboitiz Equity Ventures also expressed its commitment to use the route to transport its products. “Aboitiz Equity Ventures [stated] that it has remained committed to use the route for its export of Pilmico flour to the North Sulawesi area, but is [also] looking for possible export of feeds, especially after Aboitiz acquired Gold Coin Company last year,” he said. This development was welcomed by Indonesia as they have shown support to restart the route by the new shipping player, he said. Moreover, Montenegro said Indonesia expressed its interest to source Philippine bananas and onions from Mindanao. He added, Mindanao may also source out corn from North Sulawesi during lean season as inputs to animal feed processing and some construction inputs, such as cement. Aside from Aboitiz, Reefer Lines can also take Philippine loads from those

that earlier expressed interest in the route, such as Motolite (batteries) and Republic Chemicals (roof sealant). Asked why were the operations temporarily stopped, the MinDa official said, “It’s sort of a chicken and egg situation.” “[Either the] vessel is too big for the load, or [the] load [is] too small for the vessel. That’s why efforts are exerted to figure out a feasible scenario this time of either consolidating a bigger load or tapping a new viable size vessel,” he said, noting that what was previously deployed by Asia Marine Transport was a 500 twenty-foot equivalent unit Roro vessel for the Davao-GenSan-Bitung route. The new shipping player, he added, was able to present a viable alternative with just the “right-sized” vessel with 100 to 120 twenty-foot equivalent unit capacity and routes that can span beyond Bitung port in Indonesia. Nonetheless, Montenegro said Asia Marine Transport can still serve the route when the volume becomes commercially viable, given its vessel size. T he route w a s originally launched by President Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in April 2017.

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‘DHSUD mandated to take idle govt lands for housing projects’

HE recent enactment of Republic Act (RA) 11201 that paved the way for the creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), had vested the new housing agency with the power to take and administer government lands that have been idle for 10 years and utilize these for urban development. Under the law, DHSUD will be empowered to own and administer government-owned lands, which have not been used for the purpose for which they have been originally reserved or acquired for at least 10 years and identified by the department as suitable for urban development. The law said these included lands owned by the national government, or any of its subdivisions, instrumentalities, or agencies, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and their subsidiaries, provided that the lands held in trust by the GOCC for and on behalf of their members shall be excluded from the coverage. House Committee on Housing and Urban Development chairman Alfredo Benitez, principal author of the law, said the new agency may also identify idle governments lands that may be developed for in-city housing. Earlier, Benitez said 2,185 hectares of public lands remain idle and are ready for housing programs. According to Benitez, the housing needs of Filipinos could balloon to 6.8 million before President Duterte’s term ends in 2022. Meanwhile, the Partido ng Bayan ang Bida (PBB) party-list, which advocates affordable housing said, that RA 11201 is the first step towards ensuring affordable and decent housing for Filipinos. PBB party-list nominee lawyer Imelda Cruz said the signing of RA 11201 had, in effect, built a stronger pillar toward ensuring affordable and decent housing for every Filipino. “It is the dream of everyone to have access to affordable, decent and safe housing. With the recent enactment of RA 11201, leading to the creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, we are a step closer in making this Filipino dream of having a house that they can call their own become a reality,” Cruz said. The same party-list group, however, called on the public on be on guard on the new law’s effective implementation in order that a truly comprehensive socialized housing program will be finally made available for the benefit of all. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

Anti-corruption, data protection and compliance technology

By Henry J. Schumacher

T’S hard to read media without running into a new story about different kinds of corruption, collusion and rule breaking. Whether or not the stories we read are true, organizations caught up in them often lose credibility. Reputation isn’t the only thing to take a hit, but the cost of litigation also. With increased sensitivity to corruption and compliance violations, it’s never been more important for companies to protect themselves with the latest in compliance technology. I like to add that the implementation of the Data Privacy Act (DPA) through the National Privacy Commission forces organizations to employ Data Protection Officers (DPOs) and have Compliance Technology in place. The explosion in digital data, a hardly available talent pool of compliance professionals and DPOs to draw from, and a more complex risk ecosystem are presenting serious cost, resource and efficiency challenges for compliance. As businesses go global, many are confronted with complexities of international regulations and distinct cultures. As a result, new technologies are emerging to help consolidate compliance functionality. In order to help realize a more transparent and fair business climate, companies and tech innovators will need to work closely together to change their industries. They can do so by investing in new technologies that make corruption more visible and easier to address. One of the best ways to avoid these sorts of controversial mistakes is by evaluating where other companies, brands and organizations have gone wrong in order to develop measures to

prevent your company from doing the same. In the past, reviewing compliance and corruption blunders was more difficult, but as we all know, with the advance of digital media and research tools, understanding the complexities of existing cases has never been easier. Many important legal and regulatory documents are still on paper or hosted locally on one person’s hard drive. In order to upgrade the accessibility of crucial documents, processes and best practices, companies will need to adopt platforms that can streamline their compliance processes. In order for companies to modernize their compliance strategy, they’ll need to make their approach more agile. Streamlining corporate compliance efforts could eventually prevent organizations from becoming entangled in costly lawsuits and public scandals. As these technologies make solutions more accessible to all kinds of organizations, the desire for better solutions grows. Accenture recently asked executives to list the top 3 compliance challenges they think will have the highest impact on their business, to which “respondents most often cited fraud and financial crime risk [cited by 48 percent of respondents], business risk [47 percent] and cyber risk [45 percent].” It seems clear that there is much work to do not only in taking corporate ethics and compliance to the next level but also in raising the moral consciousness of societies. The goal of compliance is to enable organizations to streamline their critical compliance data. If they do so, we can expect to see an increase in transparency, which will hopefully lead to less cases of corruption and save companies the costs that are associated with regulatory errors. The complexity of compliance management and understanding that the safe journey into data protection needs automation inspired me to create a cooperation with Straits Interactive, a company in Singapore that has developed the online Data Protection Management System, to equip professionals, managers and executives with the competencies to perform their jobs in data protection. The DPMS is not only assisting in the compliance with the Philippine DPA but also with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. If you need more information on DPMS, let me know. Feedback is welcome; e-mail me at Schumacher@ eitsc.com.

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US tariffs hike delay draws cautious welcome in China

EIJING—President Donald Trump’s decision to extend a deadline to escalate tariffs on Chinese imports raised cautious optimism in China on Monday and sent shares soaring. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 5.5 percent to its highest level since last summer after Trump said “substantial progress” was made in weekend talks between the two countries regarding their dispute over China’s technology policies. Trump said, “I will be delaying the US increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1.” He also said that if negotiations progress, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort to finalize an agreement. The vice president of the US-China Business Council, Jake Parker, said Trump’s decision was a “positive signal.” “The announcement...that the tariffs will not be increased seems to indicate that there’s enough forward momentum, that they believe they don’t need to raise tariffs now,” Parker said. Many of the issues under discussion are so complex they cannot be resolved in the 90-day time that Trump and Xi agreed to in early December, he said, “so finding a way where the two sides can come to some kind of agreement and then put these more challenging issues into a longer-term negotiating framework should have a very positive impact on the overall relationship.” Trump had warned he would escalate the tariffs he has imposed on $200 billion in Chinese imports,

from 10 to 25 percent, if the two sides failed to reach a deal. The increase was scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. EST on March 2. The world’s two biggest economies have been locked in a conflict over US allegations that China steals technology and forces foreign companies to hand over trade secrets in an aggressive push to challenge American technological dominance. The trade war has been rattling financial markets, and news of a reprieve on another increase in US tariffs sent shares moderately higher across Asia. But shares already had risen in recent weeks, anticipating that Trump would postpone the tariff hike. The US is still imposing extra tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese products, slowing trade, raising costs for manufacturers and prompting changes in supply chains. Speaking to governors gathered at the White House for an annual black-tie ball on Sunday, Trump said he was doing “very well” with China. “If all works well we’re

Expectations low as Trump looks for win in North Korea summit

ASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will head into his second meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un having reframed what would make a successful summit, lowering expectations for Pyongyang’s denuclearization while eager to declare a flashy victory to offset the political turmoil he faces at home. Trump was the driving force behind this week’s Vietnam summit, aiming to recreate the global spectacle of his first meeting with Kim, although that initial summit yielded few concrete results and the months that followed have produced little optimism about what will be achieved in the sequel. He once warned that North Korea’s arsenal posed such a threat to humanity that he may have no choice but to rain “fire and fury” on the rogue nation, yet on Sunday he declared that he was in no hurry for Pyongyang to prove it was abandoning its weapons. “I’m not in a rush. I don’t want to rush anybody, I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” Trump told a gathering of governors at the White House. Hours earlier, he ended a tweet about the summit by posing the key question that looms over their meeting in Vietnam: “Denuclearization?” He did not provide an answer. Though worries abound across world capitals about what Trump might be willing to give up in the name of a win, the president was ready to write himself into the history books before he and Kim even shake hands in Hanoi. “If I were not elected president, you would have been in a war with North Korea,” Trump said last week. “We now have a situation where the relationships are good—where there has been no nuclear testing, no missiles, no rockets.” Whatever the North Koreans have done so far, the survival of the Kim regime is always the primary concern. Kim inherited a nascent, incomplete nuclear program from his father, and after years of accelerated effort and fighting through crippling sanctions, he built an arsenal that demonstrates the potential capability to deliver a thermonuclear weapon to the mainland United States. That is the fundamental reason Washington now sits at the negotiating table. Kim, his world standing elevated after receiving an audience with a US president, has yet to show a convincing sign that he is willing to deal away an arsenal that might provide a stronger guarantee of survival than whatever security assurance the United States could provide. The North Koreans have largely eschewed staff-level talks, pushing for discussions between Trump and Kim. Trump will arrive in Hanoi on Tuesday on Air Force One, while his counterpart, lacking a modern aircraft fleet, travels via armored train. Though details of the summit remain closely held, the two leaders are expected to meet at some point one-on-one, joined only by translators. AP

going to have some very big news over the next week or two,” he said, though he took care to add that “we still have a little ways to go.” Chinese negotiators said the talks made progress on technology transfer, protection of intellectual property rights and nontariff barriers, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It cautioned there are “still some differences that need more time to be ironed out.” On Twitter, Trump said the two sides had made headway on issues, including protection of trade secrets, forced technology transfer and US agricultural sales to China. But the administration did not immediately provide details. “Trump clearly wants a deal, and so do the Chinese, which certainly raises the probability that the two sides will come to some sort of negotiated agree-

ment, even if it is a partial one, in the coming weeks,” said Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad, former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division. Business groups and lawmakers in Congress want to see a comprehensive deal that forces the Chinese to change their behavior, and that can be enforced. The US has accused China of failing to meet past commitments to reform its economic policies. In China, some are viewing the latest flare-up in trade tensions with a dose of skepticism. “We won’t really fight, right? A trade war, by its nature, is nothing more than a war of words, isn’t it?” said Geng Yanhua, an Internet company worker. “Playing up the tariffs issue only won’t really hurt us. It will be fine as long as no one wages a war,” Geng said. AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Tuesday, February 26, 2019 A5

Oil holds near 3-month high as US extends truce with China

IL held gains above $57 a barrel as a US move to extend a trade truce with China raised hopes that the world’s two biggest economies would soon resolve their differences. Futures in New York were little changed after rising 0.5 percent to a three-month high on Friday. President Donald Trump said in a tweet that he’ll delay a tariff increase on Chinese imports that was set for March 1 after “substantial progress” in negotiations. Meanwhile, American drillers reduced the number of working oil rigs for the first time in three weeks. Oil has rallied about 26 percent this year as production curbs by the Opec and its allies eased concerns over a supply glut. Prices are set to rally further as the output cuts and American sanctions on Iran and Venezuela have caused a shortage of heavy crudes refiners rely on, said Russell Hardy, chief executive officer of Vitol Group, the world’s largest energy trader. Still, record US shale flows threaten to cap gains. “Oil markets are supported by progress in US-China trade negotiations, which eased demand concerns,” said Makiko Tsugata, a senior analyst

at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Even as the rig count fell, US production is rising with shale-oil drilling becoming more efficient.” West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery fell 7 cents to $57.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 8:05 a.m. London time. The contract added 30 cents to $57.26 on Friday, the highest close since November 12. Brent for April settlement was down 16 cents at $66.96 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract rose 5 cents to $67.12 on Friday. The global benchmark crude was at a $9.82 premium to WTI. Asian stocks and currencies climbed on Monday after Trump said on Sunday on Twitter that “the US has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues.” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that a leaders’ meeting is being tentatively planned for late March. Bloomberg News

A6 Tuesday, February 26, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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We need solons who support the FOI bill

AN we count on Congress to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill before the end of President Duterte’s term in 2022?

We certainly hope so. Indeed, we are urging voters to support candidates who openly commit to the passage of this measure. In July 2016, President Duterte signed Executive Order 2, which allows the public to request for documents and records from the government, but this only covers the executive branch, and there are several exceptions that can be cited to deny requests, like executive privilege, national security and documents or records deemed confidential by government agencies. It is not enough. We still need the FOI law. Presidents and legislators have come and gone. They all talk the talk. They keep saying they support freedom of information, but Congress never approved the bill. Former President Benigno S. Aquino III, for instance, gave his imprimatur to the FOI measure. The Senate then had ratified the committee report on the FOI bill only to find their House colleagues less than enthusiastic. The House never ratified it. There were even some accusations of sabotage, like the disappearance of copies of the bicameral committee report meant for distribution to House members, or the mysterious lack of quorum on the last day of session. Everybody talks about transparency but they seem to practice subterfuge, leading one to believe conspiracy theories about derailing a measure that seeks to ensure full disclosure of government transactions and documents. Transparency and accountability are core issues for good governance. As Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro said in his position paper urging lawmakers to ratify the FOI bill, “transparency becomes the core issue of the Filipinos’ struggle for good governance, which is precisely what the FOI bill is all about.” Ledesma said, “without freedom of information, including access to documents, there is no accountability, and without accountability there can be no true democracy.” What is so difficult about passing a law that grants citizens access to official government information and public documents? Government officials will say they are for the full disclosure of public records. But just try getting, for instance, their Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and you will see how clever they are. Under new rules adopted by the House of Representative, the SALN Review and Compliance Committee would evaluate requests for the release of congressmen’s SALNs. But the plenary has the last say on whether to grant or reject these requests. Requests need majority approval at the plenary before a SALN of a House member is released. Under the resolution, the requesting party must also pay P300 for each member’s SALN, or a total of P87,300 for the SALNs of all 291 House members. The SALN is a public document all civil servants, elected or otherwise, are required to submit every year. There should be no trouble getting one. But ask people, including journalists, who have tried to get the SALN of public officials, and they’ll tell you they are often given the runaround. If they manage to get the SALN successfully it is often less than truthful, riddled with non-declarations and under-declarations that it is impossible to know the true state of the public official’s finances based on the document alone. Strictly implemented, the Civil Service Law and Rules provide several ways to suspend, remove and prosecute misbehaving public servants. Catching them falsifying SALNs is one of them, since it is a violation of Republic Act 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which can get government people fired and even jailed. This is why full disclosure of SALNs is very important. But the process of getting one is tedious, as we pointed out. Just look at what Congress did. They even made it harder. This is precisely what the FOI bill seeks to solve.

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RESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s higher approval rating in December 2018 is a clear affirmation of his mandate to govern the country and implement policies to improve the lot of the Filipinos and the overall economy. I think the President is in an ideal situation. With key indicators, especially inflation and the exchange rate, starting to stabilize, Mr. Duterte can better focus on the agenda at hand, create more jobs through “Build, Build, Build,” and significantly reduce the country’s poverty incidence. President Duterte emerged as the most trusted government official in the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia in December 2018. The President’s trust rating was at 76 percent, a 4-percentage-point increase from his previous 72 percent in September 2018. His approval rating, according to the survey, stood at 81 percent, up by 6 percentage points from his previous mark of 75 percent in September 2018. Nearly halfway through his sixyear term, President Duterte is still solidly popular among Filipinos. I think the confidence of the people on President Duterte is reaching near all-time high. He received a

96 percent approval rating and a 91 percent trust rating in Mindanao; an 86 percent approval rating and 82 percent trust rating in Visayas; and a 74 percent approval rating and 69 percent trust rating in Luzon. The survey shows that the Filipino people, as noted by the President’s spokesman Salvador Panelo, fully believe in the way the President is running the bureaucracy and the nation. The Pulse Asia survey is, therefore, another repudiation of the critics and detractors [of the President], Panelo says. “Their loud hysterical harping and assaulting the administration with their accusations and condemnation are in sharp contrast to the clamor of the Filipinos for genuine and transparent change,” he adds. I believe President Duterte achieved the higher trust and approval rating because of, among other things, the way he and his economic managers handled the temporary imbalances in the local economy.

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World oil prices in the fourth quarter of the year were surging, while the inflation rate was at a nine-year high of 6.7 percent in October, mainly because of the rice supply shortfall. The exchange rate, meanwhile, hovered below 54 against the US dollar in October 2018. But things quickly changed for the better toward the close of 2018. The inflation rate eased to 6 percent and 5.1 percent in November and December, respectively, after President Duterte ordered the importation of more rice to address the supply shortage. The peso has settled to 52 against the greenback since then, and even the stock market is recovering with the Philippine Stock Exchange Index closing above 8,000 points. It is safe to say that the Philippine economy survived the brewing worldwide economic crisis in 2018 that was precipitated by the tit-fortat tariff impositions of the United States and China, surging oil prices and the political and economic turmoils in Turkey and Argentina. With a resilient economy, I believe the Philippines will perform much better this year. For one, the inflation rate will likely go down further this year after the signing into law of the Rice Tariffication bill. Lower inflation rate bolsters the spending power of the consumers. Increased household consumption, in turn, spurs demand and production. President Duterte’s increasing trust and approval rating,

Warren Buffett shifts his analysis

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Duterte’s popularity a boon to economy

OUTSIDE THE BOX

USSIAN President Vladimir Putin said, “Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.” Allow me to add a similar quotation: “Whoever invests and ignores the financials of a company has no heart. Whoever trades the financials of a company has no head.”

In 2013 the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to Eugene F. Fama, Robert J. Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen. Hansen is not material to this discussion. Fama and Shiller gained the award for their contribution to the “empirical analysis of asset prices.” It was also stated that Fama and Shiller “were recognized for their independent but complementary research on the variability of asset prices and on the underlying rationality [or irrationality] of financial markets.” Usually, awards like this are given to someone who either offers a new unique theory to explain something

or proves a previous theory. In 2013 the award to Fama and Shiller was like giving the prize to one who said the glass is half full and to another who said the glass is half empty. Fama is the “creator” and proponent of the “efficient market theory” that says that “stocks always trade at their fair value on stock exchanges, making it impossible for investors to either purchase undervalued stocks or sell stocks for inflated prices.” Shiller believes in the “inefficient market theory” that says that “an asset’s market price do not always accurately reflect its true value nor do they quickly move to match a

security’s ‘true value’ as it changes.” If you believe Fama’s theory, then all you need to do is look at a company’s financials and the accompanying ratios to determine the “fair market value.” You can determine if a stock price is too high or too low and know that it will quickly snap back to “fair value.” If you follow Shiller, you must react to the price movement for a given period or you may be caught on the wrong side and lose a bundle. Conversely, you may be on the right side and make a fortune. The “Oracle of Omaha”—Warren Buffett—brings the final word on the stock market to many local investors. His pearls of wisdom are dutifully posted on their computer monitors as they navigate the Philippine Stock Exchange. His holding company—Berkshire Hathaway—just took a $26-billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2018. The company’s largest holding— Apple Computer—was down 30 percent. Net income was down 91 percent in the year from 2017. In his letter to shareholders, Buffet says, “The conglomerate’s stock price will over time ‘provide the best measure of business performance.’” In conjunction with that, he plans

meanwhile, reflects a stable political environment that investors prefer. I am confident more investments will come in this year given the impressive economic scorecard of the Duterte administration and the country’s growth story. Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp., made the same upbeat forecast. It saw the Philippine economy rebounding with a growth of 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter from a sluggish 6.1 percent expansion in the third quarter because of strong private consumption. Moody’s said in a report the fourth-quarter figure would bring the 2018 gross domestic product growth to 6.5 percent, representing the lower end of the government’s target range of 6.5 percent to 6.9 percent for the year. “GDP growth in the Philippines likely hit 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, after slowing to 6.1 percent in the third. Improvement is expected in private consumption after a slump in the third quarter on higher food prices squashing discretionary spending,” Moody’s said. I am deeply saddened with the passing of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. Since his appointment in May 2017, Espenilla has provided expertise, calmness, and stability to our monetary and economic policy. Our condolences to his family. May his soul rest in peace. For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

to deemphasize book value, measuring assets minus liabilities, saying changes at Berkshire and the vagaries of accounting rules mean that gauge has “lost the relevance it once had.” For the past 30 years, Buffett has always maintained that investors should not pay so much attention to what its stock price is doing. It is the “fundamentals” that count. Buffett has always led his shareholder letters with a discussion of book value. Perhaps part of the reason is that “Berkshire will likely buy back ‘significant’ amounts of stock in future years, causing book value to fall.” The share price is down about 10 percent from the November 2018 high. The significance of Buffett’s slight but continuing shift in thinking is that the old ways of assuming efficient pricing may not apply any more. “The book-value scorecard has become increasingly out of touch with economic reality.” If book-value is not in touch with reality, what will be next to fall in the fundamental analysis playbook? E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stockmarket information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.

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Ghosn’s epic downfall spooks foreign executives about Japan

Edsa revisited: How Mrs. Aquino wrecked the entire govt Cecilio T. Arillo

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By Bruce Einhorn, Lisa Du & Ma Jie Bloomberg Opinion

HE stunning arrest, indictments and long incarceration of former Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn have given pause to foreign executives considering taking on senior jobs at Japanese companies. As Ghosn enters his fourth month in jail and awaits a trial still several months away, the imprisonment of the Japanese business world’s most high-profile foreigner may stymie the nation’s efforts to diversify its corporate ranks with overseas talent, according to management experts. Foreign executives may think twice about accepting positions until they see how his case plays out and whether it leads to stricter compliance rules. “It’s having a chilling effect,” said Yumiko Ohta, a partner in Tokyo with the law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe who advises clients on corporate governance. “It’s going to be much more difficult to recruit foreign executives into Japan.” The inability of such a prominent business leader to win his release while awaiting trial could scare some foreigners—no matter how law-abiding—from accepting Japan postings and also make international companies more reluctant to post them there, said Johan Uittenbogaard, managing partner with recruiting company Odgers Berndtson in Tokyo. “There’s another layer of risk,” he said. “You start thinking about it: Even if you haven’t done anything wrong, you can get put in jail for three months.” Even Ghosn’s defense lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, raised the issue during a press conference last week in which he said his client is the victim of a conspiracy by his Nissan underlings. Ghosn hired Hironaka this month after his previous legal team twice failed to win bail. “It’s bizarre to me how this became such an incident,” Hironaka said. Ghosn, 64, remains in a Tokyo jail, accused of aggravated breach of trust and filing false statements to regulators regarding $80 million in deferred income. He was arrested last November 19 and faces as many as 10 years in prison if convicted. He denies all charges, calling the accusations “merit-less and unsubstantiated” during a courtroom appearance last month. “This will become a big problem for Japan and its business,” Hironaka said. “Nissan should have solved this problem internally.” Japan has a limited history with foreign CEOs. The most high-profile in recent years include Ghosn, Howard Stringer at Sony Corp., Christophe Weber at Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Sarah Casanova at McDonald’s Holdings Co. Japan. A study published in 2015 found only about a dozen examples of foreign CEOs in Japan, said coauthor Sheela Pandey, an assistant professor of management at the Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg. Those “extremely rare” executives typically encounter culture clashes and opposition from Japanese subordinates, and the handling of Ghosn’s case throws up another red flag, she said. “Foreign CEOs will be reluctant to work in Japan,” Pandey said in an e-mail. “This does not help with becoming more international.” To be sure, there are still many foreigners who want to work in Japan and won’t be deterred by Ghosn’s case, said Anne Raphael, Paris-based managing partner at Boyden France who helps luxurygoods companies do executive searches. Foreign executives seeking to work in Japan likely have a special fondness for the country, Raphael said.

A study published in 2015 found only about a dozen examples of foreign CEOs in Japan, said coauthor Sheela Pandey, an assistant professor of management at the Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg. Those “extremely rare’’ executives typically encounter culture clashes and opposition from Japanese subordinates, and the handling of Ghosn’s case throws up another red flag, she said. “Personal tastes play an important part in foreign executives choosing to work in Japan,” she said. Still, the concern triggered by Ghosn’s arrest is hindering efforts to hire executives from abroad, said Casey Abel, managing director in Tokyo at recruiter HCCR K.K., which works with clients in the auto industry. Recently, two foreign candidates for executive positions decided to wait and see how the Ghosn case plays out before accepting offers, Abel said. He wouldn’t disclose the companies or any details about the clients except to say they were vice president-level engineering experts. “It’s creating trepidation,” Abel said. “I’ve got, right now, 15 people that we’re talking to at an executive level for automotive clients in Japan, and I’ll say two-thirds of them have very pragmatically, directly brought this up as a concern.” Ghosn’s case also comes at a time of increased demand at many Japanese companies for foreigners to join their boards of directors, said Nobuyuki Tsuji, who manages the Tokyo office for recruitment firm Spencer Stuart. His responsibilities include working with technology, media and industrial companies. The Tokyo Stock Exchange last year revised its corporate governance code, calling on members to improve the diversity of their boards in terms of “gender and international experience.” About 8 percent of publicly traded companies surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had at least one foreigner on the board, according to a May 2018 report. “Even very good executives might have concerns that if something happened—even not because of wrongdoing by him or her—there might be a possibility that they would get arrested and not get out,” Tsuji said. Japanese companies already faced significant obstacles trying to recruit outsiders. Japan ranked 29th out of 63 economies—behind Cyprus and Estonia—in terms of its ability to attract and develop talent, according to a survey published in November by IMD World Competitiveness Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. Asian economies ranking higher than Japan were Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan. In terms of its appeal to overseas talent, Japan ranked 28th last year, compared with 10th in 2014, according to the survey. “Japan needs foreign executives,” said Seth Sulkin, chief executive officer of Pacifica Capital, a real-estate developer in Tokyo. “There really are only two major growth industries in Japan, and that’s inbound tourism-related business, and exports, and you need foreign executives for both.”

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 A7

UTGOING Prime Minister Cesar Virata, obviously oblivious of what was happening in Malacañang, formally turned over to Vice President Salvador “Doy” Laurel the Office of the Prime Minister in a simple ceremony at the Executive House at 1 p.m. on March 25, 1986. Two hours after the symbolic turnover, President Corazon C. Aquino invited Laurel, Juan Ponce Enrile and other Cabinet members to attend a press conference in Malacañang. Suddenly, Aquino proceeded to read Proclamation 3, abolishing the 1973 Constitution, the Parliament, the Supreme Court, the office of the Prime Minister and all national and local positions. Laurel, Enrile and the rest of the officials present could not believe it. President Aquino and her advisers had unilaterally set up a Revolutionary Government! Furious and feeling betrayed, Laurel recalled later: “It was not only politically reckless but economically disastrous.”

Enrile, Laurel, the rebel officers, as well as the Unido leaders had played a very important role in the ouster of Marcos. They gambled with their lives and gave up so much of their time to bring the new government to power. Any decision involving no less than the abolition of the Constitution should have at least been discussed and debated with them. Yet, they were not even consulted. They felt betrayed and it was too late to complain. “History,” Laurel said later, “might have taken a different course if President Aquino had not abolished the 1973 Constitution, and if her avowed objective was to achieve political stability at the earliest possible

date, she should have repealed only the objectionable Marcos Amendments, particularly Amendment No. 6, which had clothed himself with legislative powers and perpetuated military rule. “It was like burning a whole house just to kill a rat!” Laurel was right because when she demolished the infrastructure of the Marcos government, she wrecked the entire political structure and, thus, derailed the application of much needed solutions to the country’s worsening political, social and economic problems. Besides, there would have been no need now to debate the wisdom, or the lack of it, of going back to a parliamentary form of government or a federal system of government. Or wasting time and taxpayers’ money arguing whether to amend or revise the Constitution. Said Laurel: “We could have saved precious years and the billions of pesos spent in running the country under a Revolutionary Government, in framing a new but flawed Constitution and in holding expensive local and national elections. “We could have avoided bitter partisan resentments caused by the arbitrary replacement of elected local officials by favored officers in charge.

“We could have addressed the urgent national problems sooner and gained political stability earlier.” As for Laurel and the other leaders, the worst was yet to come. During the 100-day honeymoon period, Laurel and Enrile, in particular, were systematically eased out of Malacañang’s inner circle. Barely a month after Aquino’s oath taking, they became less and less privy to the decision-making process of the palace and more and more reduced to being outsiders, whose access to the presidency was being substantially sabotaged by a cordon sanitaire. Laurel and Enrile were no longer invited to Malacañang except for Cabinet meetings. Military intelligence reports that they used to receive every week stopped reaching them. Something was indeed cooking in Malacañang. “And stoking the fires,” Laurel recalled, “was the intense power struggle between two camps: one group was a left-leaning clique bereft of experience in statecraft that hated Enrile and the reformist officers, and the other was a group just as inexperienced but allied with big businesses and the powerful Catholic Church. To reach the writer, e-mail cecilio.arillo@ gmail.com.

What’s driving iron ore’s latest price spike?

By David Fickling | Bloomberg Opinion

HERE’S nothing worse than things going crazy at the office while you’re away on holiday. That’s what happened to Chinese iron ore traders over the past fortnight, after Vale SA’s Brumadinho dam disaster prompted fears that as much as 40 million metric tons of metal could be taken off the market while the Brazilian miner closed similar facilities. As mainland traders tucked into their dumplings with their families last week, down in Singapore iron ore futures jumped 8.4 percent on deepening concerns of a supply shortage. The main global contract traded in Dalian, to the southeast of Beijing, rushed to catch up on Monday—putting in a 4.9-percent gain—after going dark throughout the Lunar New Year holiday. That’s the highest close in nearly two years. It’s increasingly rare for Singapore’s contracts to get the feeling of leading the Dalian market. Chinese iron ore is vastly more liquid, with typically two to three contracts outstanding for every one in the citystate, and nearly 2 million changing hands daily compared with 10,000 or so on the Singapore Exchange. That exaggerates the difference somewhat, since Dalian doublecounts its buy and sell orders as

separate trades and Singapore has some over-the-counter trades, as well. Even so, bid-ask spreads (the best way of measuring liquidity) tend to be below 10 basis points, less than a third of what you see in Singapore. That mainland dominance has only grown in the past year. In 2018, the Shanghai Futures Exchange established a new oil benchmark to challenge West Texas Intermediate and Brent, and opened it to foreign investors. Dalian later did the same with iron ore. In many ways, the Dalian market has been more successful: While Shanghai’s medium sour grade has failed to really make a dent in the far more established New York and London-traded benchmarks, offshore iron ore investors appear to have moved en masse to participate in the mainland option.

You can see this in the spread between the Dalian and Singapore contracts. Chinese-traded iron ore used to revert toward a level at least 17 percent above the offshore product, in line with the value-added tax that Beijing imposed on metal imports. Since last May, however, offshore traders have been able to participate in the iron-ore futures market tax-free as long as physical delivery of the product took place within bonded Chinese stockyards. As a result, the premium has vanished, or even gone negative. That’s not entirely bad news for Singapore. The Dalian contract is physically settled, meaning that those holding long positions at the end of each month have to be able to take delivery of hundreds of tons of rust. In the city-state it’s cash-settled, so traders will instead simply see debits or credits in their Singapore Exchange Ltd. accounts. In most commodity markets, the cash-settled contracts are more liquid. So it’s possible that with a tighter linkage to the physical market in mainland China, Singapore can become a place for global commodity traders to make speculative cash bets in sufficient volumes to drive improved price discovery. That might particularly be the

case given the city-state’s lightertouch regulation of new products, such as options (an indispensable risk-management tool for most commodity traders that’s barely tolerated in mainland China) and cash-settled futures, such as SGX’s new high-ironcontent 65 percent contracts which started trading in December. Still, as we’ve seen in contracts ranging from apples and cotton to, yes, iron ore, the mass of retail investors who keep things so lively in mainland Chinese futures markets are often strikingly good at predicting the long-run direction of prices. As a result, it’s not clear the world needs an offshore cash-settled market. Given the signs of rapid weakening in the demand side of the iron ore market, the best bet is still that the current price spike is a shortterm squeeze prompted by worries of a Brazilian supply shortage. Still, pricing of futures contracts in Singapore didn’t touch $80 a metric ton at any point just two weeks ago; now, thanks to the rapid rise at the front of the forward curve, it doesn’t drop below that level until 2020. Dalian’s refusal to repudiate the past week’s price action in Southeast Asia should give iron ore bears (including this columnist) pause for thought.

Higher inflation target won’t help the Fed By Mohamed A. El-Erian Bloomberg Opinion

S promised by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, US central bankers have embarked on a comprehensive review aimed at making monetary policy more effective. They will draw on both internal and external inputs and, according to a report over the weekend in the Wall Street Journal, consider “whether to allow inflation to rise above their 2 percent target more often as they grapple with the likelihood that interest rates are likely to remain much lower than in the past.” They could make this happen directly by changing the inflation target and/or adding both backward-looking and expectation components, or indirectly by opting for a price-level target. This basic question pertains to inflation, one of the two components of the Fed’s dual mandate. It would be a lot easier to answer if the central bank’s policy making was taking place in (or near) a “first best”—that is, if it was fully supported by other parts of the government with economic policy-making capabilities. But this has not been the case for the last 10 years or so as political polarization on Capitol Hill has frustrated the deployment of a full set of policy responses that targets more dynamic productivity and higher

inclusive growth. As such, central banks have had to carry an excessive policy burden. While the situation has gotten better for the Fed (though not for the European Central Bank, for example) with the adoption of some pro-growth policies in the last few years, it’s still living in a world of second best in terms of policy and the economy. That reality is likely to continue for now, and the review of the inflation target raises two fundamental questions that assume even greater relevance in the context of today’s fluid world and remaining structural impediments to high and inclusive growth. Will the Fed be able to meet a higher inflation target if it already struggles to meet its current one on a consistent basis; and how does the balance of benefits-costs-risk evolve if the central bank pursues a higher inflation target? Having endured the global financial crisis and overcome disruptions in the critical payments and settlement process, the Fed was forced in 2010 to rely on using the “asset channel” to deliver macroeconomic outcomes. By keeping interest rates at zero and injecting liquidity through large-scale asset-purchase programs (successive rounds of quantitative easing), the Fed was hoping to activate nominal gross domestic product using the wealth effect and animal spirits to

help it meet its dual mandate of maximum employment and stable inflation. What the Fed has learned (as detailed in my recent book The Only Game in Town) is that this kind of intervention is not sufficient, even if it’s deemed necessary. Moreover, the economic and financial linkages that work in the transmission mechanism seem to become less effective the longer the Fed relies on unconventional measures. Meanwhile, the risks to future financial stability rise, as does exposure to political interference, credibility and reputation challenges. Simply put, there is a limit to how much the US Central Bank can decouple asset prices from underlying economic and corporate fundamentals, let alone avoid the risk of encouraging liquidity mismatches and asset misallocations. The adoption of pro-growth measures in the form of deregulation and tax cuts has reduced some of the Fed’s policy burden but, as highlighted by last month’s dramatic policy pivot, has not eliminated the tricky codependence with markets. The Fed has made significant progress on both its employment and inflation objectives, and it’s far from obvious that it needs to turbocharge its policy framework further if the goal is just to meet its current mandate. The economy is already close to or at full employment. At the same time, inflation is approach-

ing the 2 percent target and measures of inflationary expectations, while inevitably noisy, have not shown a tendency to persistently trend away from the bank’s goal. But there is an argument for letting this happen in order to build greater flexibility in the Fed’s tool kit for responding to the possibility—some would say, the likelihood—of a significant growth downturn down the road. For that to make sense, the Fed would need to be confident that the potential benefits justify the costs and risks. One of the biggest concerns is the risk of future financial instability. That threat will increase if, in the next year, Congress and the administration fail to agree on new pro-growth initiatives (an infrastructure program, for example). To adapt an image from the world of magic, the Fed is examining whether it can pull another rabbit out of an overused (some would say abused) hat. Realistically, the best it can hope for is to again redirect attention in a way that allows the asset channel to replicate some of the outcomes that more genuine and targeted policy approaches would deliver; and to do so in a way that limits economy wide distortions. The risk is that neither of these two issues materialize, leaving the central bank even more vulnerable to reputational risk and political interference.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Govt eyeing ₧5-B revenue from taxing Pogo workers

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

T least P5 billion in additional monthly revenues are expected to be generated by the government from taxing foreign workers of the so-called Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) sector. At the 33rd Edsa People Power Revolution Anniversary job and trade fair on Monday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said this is part of their targets in their looming inspection of Pogo firms nationwide. Last week, it was announced the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will be joining the government composite team tasked to inspect Pogo firms. Some lawmakers had earlier expressed alarm over the reported rise in the number of Chinese workers in the country last year. The majority of them are said to be working in Pogo companies without the necessary permits. “Many of them [foreign workers] are not reported. So we expect to get a big revenue for them [once they are registered],” Lopez said. The inspections are initially scheduled to start in the first quarter of the year once the list of foreign workers from government agencies and privates firms are “cleansed”

and “consolidated.” In a Senate hearing last week, it was revealed there were inconsistencies in the records of foreign workers from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and other government agencies.

Additional safeguards

THE DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) said the creation of a master list of foreign workers will be threshed out during the scheduled interagency meeting on Friday. Other matters to be discussed at the meeting are the additional safeguards for the BI in issuing Special Work Permits (SWP). Despite BI’s pronouncements earlier this month that it has imposed additional requirements for SWP applications, BLE said the new adjustment was still not stringent enough.

Foreigners reminded of Mar. 1 deadline to file annual report

HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday reminded foreigners registered with them that they have only four days left to accomplish and file their annual reports. BI Commissioner Jaime Morente noted that foreigners can report to any of the BI’s designated field, satellite and extension offices nationwide, the list of which can be accessed via the bureau’s web site. He reiterated that the annual reporting period is non-extendible and warned that noncompliant aliens may be fined or prosecuted for violating the 1951 Alien Registration Act, which obliges all BI-registered aliens, who are holders of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, to make the annual report within the first 60 days of a calendar year. The annual reporting period started in January and will run until March 1. Lawyer Jose Carlitos Licas, BI Alien Registration Division chief, said a foreigner shall bring and present his alien certificate of registration identity card (ACR I-Card) and pay a P300 annual report fee and P10 legal research fee to the government. “For those who are currently abroad, they shall make the report within 30 days from the date of their return to the country, provided they have valid reentry permits,” he said in a statement. In the case of alien minors aged 14 years and below, it shall be the duty of their parents or guardians to make the report on their behalf. Application forms, guidelines and information on the conduct of the 2019 annual report can be downloaded from the BI web site. PNA

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PHL needs 200K skilled workers for construction

HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday said the country needs at least a steady pool of

200,000 skilled workers to address the labor shortage in the construction industry. In an interview, the DOLE’s Bureau

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING THE WHOLE COUNTRY as of 4:00 pm - February 25, 2019

of Local Employment (BLE) Director Dominique R. Tutay disclosed this is the minimum number of skilled workers to ensure the nor-

mal pace of current operations in both public and private local construction projects. “If we will include the demand [of Filipino construction workers] abroad, this will be higher,” Tutay told reporters. She explained that from 2016 to 2018, the average annual labor demand of the construction sector rose by 380,000. Meanwhile, the Technical Skills Development Authority (Tesda) was only able to certify an average of 158,000 people in constructionrelated skills on the same period. “This means we should have a stock of 200,000 [construction workers] at any given time,” Tutay said. She said the trend could worsen with the full implementation of the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” projects. No less the President Duterte earlier admitted that the country’s mass infrastructure projects are being hampered by a lack of construction workers. Without the availability of the necessary supply of skilled workers, Tutay said some construction firms may eventually be forced to tap unskilled or untrained workers. “It would cause issues on occupational safety and health and lead to possible accidents, which would mean more man hours lost and would cost millions for the part of the employers,” Tutay said. The Department of Trade and Industry, which now has jurisdiction over Tesda, has instructed the latter to increase the number of its trainees in technicalvocational education and training related to construction. Despite the shortage, the government, however, assured it will not resort to hiring more foreign workers, especially for its construction projects. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez assured that Filipinos will still be prioritized for construction jobs. “We would only tap foreigners if the job is related to supervisory or in need of specific skills [not locally available],” Lopez said. Samuel P. Medenilla

www.businessmirror.com.ph

3rd price hike for Feb pushes up gas, diesel prices by ₧1.45 a liter By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

IL firms on Monday announced a hefty price increase starting on Tuesday morning. In separate announcements, they said gasoline prices will go up by P1.45 per liter, diesel by P1.45 per liter and kerosene by P1.35 per liter. Pilipinas Shell announced its price adjustment on Monday afternoon, followed by Petro Gazz, Seaoil, Total Philippines, Caltex and Eastern Petroleum. This is the third price increase for the month. Other oil firms will follow suit. Most local oil firms adjust their prices every Tuesday morning. This week’s price hike reflects movements in the international oil market, particularly that of the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) and foreign-exchange rate. The Department of Energ y (DOE) is appealing to the public for the deliberate and prudent use of energy, as the upward movement of oil prices in the world market has again raised the prices of petroleum products in the country. Based on its international monitoring, the DOE said the surplus in oil production in 2018 was a result of the anticipated US-led economic sanctions on Iran, which led members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and nonmembers to ramp up production to make up for an expected shortage of oil. To the surprise of many, the sanctions were not imposed and instead a six-month waiver was implemented, causing

Tariffs. . .

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“That should be the proper thing to do [revert the tariffs on MDM to 40 percent]. We all know there are other efforts to stop that but it is the right thing to do,” he told the BusinessMirror. “And we will see how the Duterte administration will act on [the petition to retain the 5-percent MDM tariff]. I hope they listen to the studies of BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] and DA [Department of Agriculture],”he added. Serrano earlier disclosed to the BusinessMirror that the Cabinet-level Committee on Tariff and Related Matters (CTRM) decided to retain the 5-percent tariff on MDM of chicken despite the opposition of poultry growers and the DA. He explained that the Tariff Commission found that reverting tariffs on MDM imports to its 2012 level of 40 percent would not have

“We are imploring the public to be conscious of their energy and fuel usage, especially during these times, as world oil prices are steadily climbing to high levels due to economic and geopolitical factors, which we are bound to experience as an oil-importing country.”—Cusi

excess supply in the market. This accounted for lower prices. To correct the surplus supply, oil-producing countries have agreed to cut back on production in order to bring both oil supply and prices to normal which have been observed. However, recent political events in Venezuela, along with the waiving on the sanctions on Iran expiring in April, caused prices to steadily increase affecting the local market. “We are imploring the public to be conscious of their energy and fuel usage, especially during these times, as world oil prices are steadily climbing to high levels due to economic and geopolitical factors, which we are bound to experience as an oil-importing country. But even if oil prices go down, it is imperative that we embrace the efficient way of using our energy resources,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi. He added: “We would like to remind fellow Filipinos that we are responsible for our individual actions. If we come together with the common goal of energy conservation through energy efficiency, we can achieve a lot in terms of immediate in-pocket savings and energy sustainability in the long term.” a “substantial” economic impact. The DA official added that the BSP has already factored in the 40-percent tariff on MDM in its inflation forecast. Citing the BSP’s study, he said the government would still achieve its inflation targets even if the tariff level on MDM imports would go back to its 2012 level. “Why would agriculture have to pay just so they could get few more basis points [off ] the inflation rate? There is no substantial reason to maintain [the 5-percent tariff ],” Serrano said. He added that maintaining the 5-percent tariff on MDM imports beyond the period of concession would prolong the prejudice against the poultry subsector. “It was a concession made at a cost to a sector so that [injured] sector should get relief,” he said. “The protection should be reinstated. Now they want to continue the prejudice against the sector.”

Cement price cap. . . 40-kilogram bag to P225 per bag last December. Holcim-Excel, Republic and Mayon were priced at P225 per bag, while Rizal and Advanced Eagle were sold at P220 per bag in Metro Manila. Prices, however, were lower in Cebu and Davao, but higher in La Union. December per-bag prices of Apo were at P203 in Cebu and P205 in Davao; Holcim-Excel at P245 in La Union, P195 in Cebu and P220 in Davao; Republic at P235 in La Union, P185 in Cebu and P212 in Davao; Northern at P245 in La Union; and Mindanao at P165 in Cebu. Dimagiba urged the DTI to complete its promise of safeguard for consumers while the Tariff Commission conducts its own investigation on whether to keep the import tax for long. “The government should do everything within its power to ensure consumer welfare. The issue of cement prices is yet another issue

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that must be tackled and taken into consideration,” Dimagiba said. “We wish that the SRP be issued and published immediately in compliance with the DTI determination related to the safeguard duty on cement,” he added. Lopez decided to place a price cap on cement to see how supply will respond to the implementation of a safeguard duty. He said unreasonable price increases are indications of supply shortages. The DTI slapped a provisional tax on imported cement after the domestic industry supposedly got injured from the surge in imports from 2013 to 2017. Market share of imports rose to 15 percent in 2017, from 0.02 percent in 2013, according to figures from the DTI. Further, sales of the local industry reportedly fell 12 percent, or P11.1 billion, in 2017, as manufacturers were compelled to reduce prices by almost 10 percent to compete with imports.

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

SEC stops religious group’s ‘Ponzi’ investment scheme

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

HE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered KAPA Community Ministry International Inc. (KAPA), an independent religious corporation, to stop soliciting investments from the public without the necessary license and in a manner resembling a Ponzi scheme. The SEC issued a “cease and desist order” against KAPA, which also operates as KAPA Kabus Padatuon (Enrich the Poor), KAPA/KAPPA (Kabus Padutoon), KAPA-Co Convenience Store and General Merchandise and KAPA Worldwide Ministry, after finding evidence that it has been offering and selling securities in the form of investment contracts without the necessary license. The order—which covers the religious firm’s partners, officers, directors, agents and representatives— also directed KAPA to cease from promoting its investment scheme

through the Internet and remove promotional presentations online. The SEC also barred KAPA, its affiliates and subsidiaries, including its directors and officers, representatives and the persons acting for and in their behalf from disposing of their remaining properties and other assets for the benefit of the investors. KAPA is a registered corporation but its certificate of incorporation dated March 3, 2017, explicitly said that it is not authorized to undertake business activities requiring a secondary license, such as acting as broker or dealer in securities, invest-

ment house and close-end or openend investment company. Despite its lack of authority to offer and sell securities, KAPA recruited and encouraged members to “donate” any amount in exchange for a 30 percent monthly return. They were given a certificate of membership with deed of donation upon joining. An investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation in Caraga showed KAPA collected P7 million from hundreds of investors at some point. The religious firm mostly targeted teachers in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur, according to complaints received by the SEC’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD). On October 3, 2018, the SEC advised the public that KAPA is registered as a non-stock corporation but it does not have a license to solicit investments. The SEC, however, said it continued to receive reports about the intensified recruitment and solicitation activities of KAPA through social media. The company’s president and cofounder, Joel A. Apolinario, was featured in several videos posted on YouTube and Facebook discussing the

investment scheme and inviting the public to sign up. Apolinario, better known as the pastor or minister of KAPA, had been charged with syndicated estafa in relation to the investment scheme, but the case was dismissed for lack of interest of the parties to pursue the complaint. “The petitioner EIPD adduced sufficient evidence to support its allegations that KAPA is engaged in offering for sale securities to the public through indiscriminate or random offering online via videos promoting its investment scheme to potential investors without prior registration,” the cease and desist order said. The SEC said the investment scheme of KAPA has the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme as it promises an exorbitant rate of return with little or no risk at all to investors. “Otherwise, to allow KAPA to continue soliciting investments and/ or selling or offering for sale securities to the public without the necessary license or permit will operate as a fraud on investors or is likely to cause grave or irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public,” the agency said.

Microsoft boosts HoloLens performance, seeking corporate users

ICROSOFT Corp. is introducing an improved version of its HoloLens augmented-reality goggles and lowering the price, as it tries to develop a bigger business selling the devices to corporate customers. At $3,500, the HoloLens 2 with a wider field of view and easier controls than the original is still an expensive piece of gear, but it’s less than the $5,000 cost to commercial users for the first version. The company is also selling the device, which lets users view, move, speak to and interact with 3D holograms, via a monthly subscription, along with a related software app. Microsoft is pitching the goggles as a tool for workers rather than consumers, envisioning it for tasks, such as visually guiding factory workers, as they learn new jobs or helping architects design buildings. Education company Pearson Plc. and Koninklijke Philips NV, a health technology provider, are testing the new devic-

es, and the US Army in November awarded Microsoft a $480-million contract to supply HoloLens prototypes. About 50 Microsoft employees on Friday demanded the company abandon the Army contract, saying in a letter to company executives that they “did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used.” Philips has been working with Microsoft to coordinate HoloLens with the health company’s Azurion system for guiding surgeons during minimally invasive procedures. Philips makes machines that help surgeons move tools through the body as they make tiny incisions to remove tumors, for example. HoloLens might be used to do things like provide a three-dimensional view of blood vessels, give each member of the surgical team a personalized data screen in their field of view and control the Azurion machine with voice commands. Bloomberg News

NY state budget director calls Amazon HQ loss ‘tremendous’

HE ruckus over Amazon’s Big Apple fail isn’t going away. New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica made sure of that. In an open letter on Sunday, Mujica penned 1,600 words critiquing the company’s decision not to bring its second headquarters to New York State. “Make no mistake, at the end of the day we lost $27 billion, 25,000-40,000 jobs and a blow to our reputation of being ‘open for business,’” he wrote. He said in his 23 years in the state capitol and three as budget director, Amazon.com Inc. was the greatest economic development opportunity the state had had. He laid out three

reasons why the deal failed: “First, some labor unions attempted to exploit Amazon’s New York entry.” “Second, some Queens politicians catered to minor, but vocal local political forces in opposition to the Amazon government incentives as ‘corporate welfare.’ Third, in retrospect, the State and the City could have done more to communicate the facts of the project and more aggressively correct the distortions.” On the third point, he said opponents of the project claimed Amazon was getting $3 billion in government subsidies that could have been better spent on housing or transportation. Bloomberg News

MUTUAL FUNDS

February 22, 2019

NAV ONE YEAR THREE YEAR FIVE YEAR Y-T-D PER SHARE RETURN* RETURN STOCK FUNDS ALFM GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 265.74 -9.07% 3.43% 2.62% 5.36% ATRAM ALPHA OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 1.5905 -1.44% 13.27% 4.38% 10.39% ATRAM PHILIPPINE EQUITY OPPORTUNITY FUND, INC. -A 4.121 -10.57% 4.72% 1.2% 5.59% CLIMBS SHARE CAPITAL EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND CORP. -A 0.9502 -4.44% N.A. N.A. 6.7% FIRST METRO CONSUMER FUND ON MSCI PHILS. IMI, INC. -A 0.8601 N.A. N.A. N.A. 4.8% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN EQUITY FUND,INC. -A 5.5231 -7.1% 3.39% 2.05% 4.78% MBG EQUITY INVESTMENT FUND, INC. -A 123.96 4.7% N.A. N.A. 6.44% ONE WEALTHY NATION FUND, INC. -A 0.8787 -10.45% -3.47% N.A. 5.56% PAMI EQUITY INDEX FUND, INC. -A 52.1166 -7.97% 4.49% N.A. 5.92% PHILAM STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 545.21 -7.55% 3.37% 2.14% 5.92% PHILEQUITY DIVIDEND YIELD FUND, INC. -A 1.3126 -6.03% 4.67% 5.14% 4.67% PHILEQUITY FUND, INC. -A 38.684 -6.21% 5.71% 4.57% 5.6% PHILEQUITY MSCI PHILIPPINE INDEX FUND, INC. -A,3 1.0329 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILEQUITY PSE INDEX FUND INC. -A 5.2689 -7.62% 5.41% 4.56% 6.25% PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND CORP. -A 879.39 -7.48% 5.18% 4.51% 6.14% SOLDIVO STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND, INC. -A 0.9039 -6.73% 2.9% N.A. 4.96% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE EQUITY FUND, INC. -A 4.3083 -6.47% 5.21% 3.36% 6.14% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY PHILIPPINE STOCK INDEX FUND, INC. -A 1.0117 -7.87% 5.1% N.A. 6.01% UNITED FUND, INC. -A 3.6852 -4.58% 6.8% 3.97% 5.26% EXCHANGE TRADED FUND FIRST METRO PHIL. EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, INC. -A,C,2 117.552 -7.24% 6.31% 5.6% 6.14% ATRAM ASIAPLUS EQUITY FUND, INC. -B $1.0027 -10.8% 8.56% 1.34% 7.92% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY WORLD VOYAGER FUND, INC. -A $1.241 -4.15% N.A. N.A. 12.3% BALANCED FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ATRAM DYNAMIC ALLOCATION FUND, INC. -A 1.7213 -6.53% 0.63% -0.66% 4.25% ATRAM PHILIPPINE BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 2.2963 -6.26% 2.69% 1.21% 3.94% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN BALANCED FUND INC. -A 2.6391 -4.7% 1.04% -0.76% 3.75% GREPALIFE BALANCED FUND CORPORATION -A 1.356 -6.95% N.A. N.A. 3.96% NCM MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILS., INC. -A 1.9082 -3.84% 2.48% 2.01% 3.53% PAMI HORIZON FUND, INC. -A 3.6368 -6.55% 1.11% 0.98% 3.05% PHILAM FUND, INC. -A 16.4556 -5.7% 1.36% 1.1% 3.44% SOLIDARITAS FUND, INC. -A 2.1452 -4.39% 2.72% 2.88% 3.52% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BALANCED FUND, INC. -A 3.8259 -4.84% 2.64% 2.13% 4.78% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2028, INC. -A,D,4 0.9902 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2038, INC. -A,D,4 0.9868 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY ACHIEVER FUND 2048, INC. -A,D,4 0.9861 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DYNAMIC FUND, INC. -A 0.9698 -4.76% 2.22% N.A. 5.22% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES COCOLIFE DOLLAR FUND BUILDER, INC. -A $0.03571 1.74% 0.29% 1.68% 1.3% PAMI ASIA BALANCED FUND, INC. -A $0.9821 -8.15% 5.14% -0.24% 4.9% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ADVANTAGE FUND, INC. -A $3.5989 -2.96% 6.91% 2.18% 8.78% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR WELLSPRING FUND, INC. -A $1.0671 -4.66% N.A. N.A. 5.65% BOND FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 345.59 2.45% 2.1% 2.16% 0.64% ATRAM CORPORATE BOND FUND, INC. -A, 1 1.8621 -0.57% -0.34% -0.3% 0.16% COCOLIFE FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 2.9919 5.45% 5.28% 5.28% 0.71% EKKLESIA MUTUAL FUND INC. -A 2.1476 2.02% 1.66% 1.89% 0.8% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN FIXED INCOME FUND,INC. -A 2.2274 0.72% 0.27% 0.7% 0.82% GREPALIFE FIXED INCOME FUND CORP. -A P 1.5948 -1.11% -0.3% 0.33% 1.94% PHILAM BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.9221 -1.45% -0.75% 0.45% 0.06% PHILEQUITY PESO BOND FUND, INC. -A 3.5764 2.41% 1.23% 1.17% 1.69% SOLDIVO BOND FUND, INC. -A 0.9096 -0.21% -0.57% N.A. 1.9% SUN LIFE OF CANADA PROSPERITY BOND FUND, INC. -A 2.8319 1.59% 1.47% 1.56% 2.39% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY GS FUND, INC. -A 1.5727 1.24% 1.09% 1.05% 2.13% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES ALFM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $451.21 2.04% 2.12% 2.99% 0.65% ALFM EURO BOND FUND, INC. -A Є214.64 0.92% 1.39% 1.56% 0.94% ATRAM TOTAL RETURN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -B $1.1503 2.84% 1.45% 2.25% 2.18% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $0.025 1.21% 0.81% N.A. 0.81% GREPALIFE DOLLAR BOND FUND CORP. -A $1.6986 -1.83% -0.99% 0.97% 0.5% MAA PRIVILEGE DOLLAR FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. MAA PRIVILEGE EURO FIXED INCOME FUND, INC. ЄN.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI GLOBAL BOND FUND, INC -A $1.0512 0.47% -1.03% -2.36% 1.31% PHILAM DOLLAR BOND FUND, INC. -A $2.2219 1.96% 0.79% 2.82% 2.34% PHILEQUITY DOLLAR INCOME FUND INC. -A $0.0574906 1.25% 1.03% 1.8% 0.89% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR ABUNDANCE FUND, INC. -A $2.9324 - 0.44% 0.11% 1.99% 2.1% MONEY MARKET FUNDS PRIMARILY INVESTED IN PESO SECURITIES ALFM MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 121.76 3.32% 2.11% 1.7% 0.76% FIRST METRO SAVE AND LEARN MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A,5 1.0024 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. PHILAM MANAGED INCOME FUND, INC. -A 1.1866 2.22% 0.86% 0.61% 0.4% SUN LIFE PROSPERITY MONEY MARKET FUND, INC. -A 1.2258 2.9% 2.38% 1.71% 0.56% PRIMARILY INVESTED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY SECURITIES SUN LIFE PROSPERITY DOLLAR STARTER FUND, INC. -A $1.0195 1.97% N.A. N.A. 0.35% * - NAVPS AS OF THE PREVIOUS BANKING DAY ** - NAVPS AS OF TWO BANKING DAYS AGO *** - LISTED IN THE PSE. **** - RE-CLASSIFIED INTO A BALANCED FUND STARTING JANUARY 1, 2017 (FORMERLY GREPALIFE BOND FUND CORP.). ***** - LAUNCH DATE IS NOVEMBER 6, 2017 ****** - LAUNCH DATE IS JANUARY 08, 2018 ******** - RENAMING OF THE FUND WAS APPROVED BY THE SEC LAST APRIL 13, 2018. ********* - BECAME A MEMBER SINCE APRIL 20, 2018. ******* - ADJUSTED DUE TO CASH DIVIDEND ISSUANCE LAST JANUARY 29, 2018

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

February 22, 2019

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

ASIA UNITED 59.25 59.35 59.25 59.35 58.2 59.35 12100 713897 BDO UNIBANK 129.4 129.5 128.5 130.2 128.3 129.5 4292250 555870820 BANK PH ISLANDS 89.75 89.85 89.55 89.95 89.55 89.75 1763870 158300326 CHINABANK 27.6 27.65 27.65 27.7 27.65 27.65 126200 3494565 EAST WEST BANK 12.64 12.7 12.74 12.74 12.5 12.64 488900 6179244 METROBANK 81.9 82 81.5 82 80.6 81.9 2596810 211175914.5 PB BANK 13.64 14 13.98 14 13.98 13.98 40900 572368 PHIL NATL BANK 47.05 47.1 47.65 48.4 47.1 47.1 90600 4317455 PSBANK 58.85 58.9 59 59.1 58.55 58.9 6690 394467.5 RCBC 26.75 26.8 26.8 26.8 26.6 26.75 91100 2434580 SECURITY BANK 171.4 173 170.4 174 170 173 174850 30224392 UNION BANK 61.5 62 63 63 61.5 61.8 7600 468764 BDO LEASING 2.23 2.28 2.23 2.28 2.23 2.28 34000 75920 COL FINANCIAL 17.8 17.88 17.6 17.9 17.6 17.88 31800 567472 FERRONOUX HLDG 4.46 4.49 4.49 4.5 4.42 4.49 80000 355590 IREMIT 1.45 1.54 1.49 1.5 1.49 1.5 14000 20960 MEDCO HLDG 0.46 0.47 0.465 0.465 0.465 0.465 10000 4650 MANULIFE 800 810 800 800 800 800 130 104000 NTL REINSURANCE 1.15 1.16 1.2 1.21 1.15 1.15 804000 941860 PHIL STOCK EXCH 185.2 185.9 185.2 185.2 185.2 185.2 10 1852 SUN LIFE 1800 1850 1800 1800 1800 1800 670 1206000 VANTAGE 1.14 1.16 1.14 1.14 1.14 1.14 98000 111720 INDUSTRIAL ALSONS CONS 1.54 1.56 1.54 1.56 1.52 1.54 707000 1087980 ABOITIZ POWER 35.85 35.9 35.1 36.3 35.1 35.9 1310400 47105390 BASIC ENERGY 0.245 0.249 0.25 0.255 0.242 0.245 1090000 269720 FIRST GEN 20.7 20.9 20.4 20.9 20.25 20.9 1132200 23347690 FIRST PHIL HLDG 72.6 72.9 73.1 73.2 72.65 72.65 269240 19591985 MERALCO 370.4 372 359.4 373 359.2 372 290100 107507596 MANILA WATER 26.95 27.05 27.1 27.15 26.9 27 346000 9345035 PETRON 7.09 7.1 6.86 7.1 6.86 7.1 20483300 143897447 PETROENERGY 3.71 3.79 3.78 3.78 3.78 3.78 50000 189000 PHINMA ENERGY 1.31 1.32 1.3 1.33 1.3 1.32 13257000 17428290 PHX PETROLEUM 11.72 11.8 11.7 12.14 11.7 11.8 121100 1437834 PILIPINAS SHELL 48.1 48.2 47.65 48.35 47.5 48.1 204200 9816340 SPC POWER 6.31 6.35 6.35 6.37 6.31 6.31 35700 226311 VIVANT 16 16.96 16.02 16.02 16 16 2100 33612 AGRINURTURE 16.64 16.76 16.6 16.76 16.32 16.76 552900 9226924 CNTRL AZUCARERA 16.82 17.42 17.68 17.68 16.8 16.82 31900 542010 CENTURY FOOD 15.88 16 15.62 16 15.62 15.88 3445400 54875930 DEL MONTE 6.45 6.5 6.4 6.5 6.4 6.5 16900 109766 DNL INDUS 11.48 11.56 11.52 11.56 11.5 11.56 1519000 17521668 EMPERADOR 7.62 7.69 7.61 7.7 7.61 7.62 47200 361209 SMC FOODANDBEV 99.45 99.9 97.95 100 97.95 99.45 1110000 110118321 ALLIANCE SELECT 1.03 1.04 1.02 1.04 1.02 1.04 1263000 1298520 GINEBRA 26.75 27 26.75 27 26.75 27 555200 14990350 JOLLIBEE 310.2 310.4 311 313 309 310.4 972260 301912662 LIBERTY FLOUR 50.1 59.25 50.05 59.25 50.05 59.25 2700 153356.5 MACAY HLDG 12.08 12.14 11.74 13.32 11.52 12.14 146300 1795314 MAXS GROUP 12.66 12.7 12.9 12.9 12.7 12.7 124600 1586246 MG HLDG 0.203 0.217 0.201 0.226 0.201 0.204 4000000 841920 PEPSI COLA 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.39 1.35 1.37 3018000 4098330 SHAKEYS PIZZA 12.7 12.8 12.6 12.7 12.6 12.7 15500 195450 ROXAS AND CO 1.84 1.88 1.88 1.91 1.83 1.88 412000 760750 RFM CORP 4.7 4.74 4.71 4.74 4.7 4.74 14000 65940 ROXAS HLDG 2.78 2.86 2.81 2.81 2.78 2.78 23000 64130 SWIFT FOODS 0.131 0.137 0.13 0.137 0.13 0.137 160000 21640 UNIV ROBINA 145 146.5 140.5 147.9 140.5 146.5 931300 136463577 VITARICH 1.69 1.7 1.7 1.72 1.68 1.69 3052000 5195170 VICTORIAS 2.73 2.84 2.71 2.73 2.66 2.73 107000 287840 CEMEX HLDG 2.25 2.26 2.22 2.27 2.19 2.25 14202000 31685740 DAVINCI CAPITAL 6.15 6.43 6.41 6.45 6.41 6.45 2500 16045 EAGLE CEMENT 15.86 15.88 15.84 15.98 15.84 15.88 33000 523384 EEI CORP 8.1 8.12 8.1 8.1 8.03 8.1 95500 769649 HOLCIM 9.5 9.54 9.45 9.6 9.38 9.5 1941000 18439161 MEGAWIDE 18.98 19 18.64 19.26 18.58 19 10163300 192991864 PHINMA 8.84 9.37 8.91 8.95 8.84 8.84 49100 436299 TKC METALS 1.1 1.13 1.18 1.18 1.07 1.1 518000 577940 VULCAN INDL 1.36 1.38 1.37 1.39 1.36 1.38 788000 1079040 CHEMPHIL 120.1 128 127.8 128 127.8 128 310 39676 CROWN ASIA 1.87 1.88 1.88 1.92 1.87 1.88 56000 105880 EUROMED 1.59 1.74 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 1000 1750 MABUHAY VINYL 3.51 3.68 3.69 3.69 3.51 3.68 9000 31980 PRYCE CORP 6.06 6.13 6.13 6.13 6.13 6.13 20300 124439 CONCEPCION 40.3 40.9 41.05 41.05 40.2 40.9 144800 5896720 GREENERGY 3.24 3.25 3.23 3.26 3.17 3.25 8363000 26952760 INTEGRATED MICR 12.58 12.6 12.24 12.6 12.24 12.58 379200 4742832 IONICS 1.75 1.77 1.7 1.78 1.66 1.77 266000 459560 PANASONIC 5.9 6.15 6.15 6.15 6.15 6.15 200 1230 SFA SEMICON 1.37 1.4 1.39 1.4 1.37 1.4 96000 133080 CIRTEK HLDG 29.1 30 28.55 30 28.3 30 97800 2896725 HOLDING & FRIMS ABACORE CAPITAL 0.68 0.7 0.73 0.73 0.68 0.68 13980000 9690020 ASIABEST GROUP 23.6 23.65 22.85 23.65 22.8 23.6 55500 1283615 AYALA CORP 942.5 944 943 947.5 935 944 469450 442835360 ABOITIZ EQUITY 64.4 64.5 62.2 65.15 62.2 64.5 862880 55413494.5 ALLIANCE GLOBAL 14.16 14.2 13.9 14.28 13.9 14.2 10395700 147026434 ANSCOR 6.5 6.59 6.51 6.51 6.5 6.5 8000 52050 ANGLO PHIL HLDG 0.81 0.83 0.8 0.84 0.79 0.84 182000 147110 ATN HLDG A 1.38 1.39 1.38 1.39 1.36 1.38 3755000 5173540 ATN HLDG B 1.4 1.42 1.47 1.47 1.39 1.42 88000 122910 COSCO CAPITAL 7.69 7.7 7.5 7.76 7.5 7.7 2517500 19311006 DMCI HLDG 12.44 12.68 12.32 12.72 12.32 12.68 7383500 93508996 FILINVEST DEV 13.76 13.78 14.1 14.18 13.6 13.76 292500 4049256 FORUM PACIFIC 0.235 0.245 0.232 0.249 0.232 0.245 100000 24490 GT CAPITAL 1016 1019 1000 1025 1000 1019 83140 84534070 HOUSE OF INV 6.08 6.14 6.14 6.14 6.08 6.08 11400 69764 JG SUMMIT 66.4 66.7 66.4 66.7 65.7 66.7 1777630 118381971.5 LODESTAR 0.59 0.61 0.62 0.62 0.6 0.61 30000 18170 LOPEZ HLDG 5.16 5.26 5.17 5.29 5.15 5.16 472900 2447003 LT GROUP 15.4 15.42 15.06 15.42 15.06 15.42 2958300 45266946 MABUHAY HLDG 0.56 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.57 0.57 97000 55640 METRO PAC INV 4.76 4.79 4.75 4.81 4.72 4.76 13683000 65283580 PACIFICA 0.041 0.042 0.041 0.043 0.04 0.042 23500000 969800 PRIME ORION 2.88 2.9 3 3.03 2.84 2.88 4657000 13626080 PRIME MEDIA 1.17 1.2 1.17 1.17 1.17 1.17 264000 308880 REPUBLIC GLASS 2.66 2.88 3 3.3 2.6 2.87 74000 214970 SOLID GROUP 1.35 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1000 1380 SYNERGY GRID 455 465 465 465 465 465 160 74400 SM INVESTMENTS 975 980 969 986 968 980 208590 203898800 SAN MIGUEL CORP 174.5 174.7 173.1 175.4 173.1 174.7 842140 147313240 SOC RESOURCES 0.78 0.8 0.78 0.78 0.78 0.78 56000 43680 SEAFRONT RES 2.36 2.49 2.36 2.36 2.36 2.36 16000 37760 TOP FRONTIER 276.2 283.8 286.6 286.6 270.2 283.8 22600 6369772 WELLEX INDUS 0.25 0.26 0.255 0.26 0.25 0.26 1560000 394700 ZEUS HLDG 0.32 0.325 0.315 0.325 0.31 0.325 15850000 5056850 PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.88 0.9 0.89 0.91 0.88 0.9 1827000 1616960 ANCHOR LAND 10.54 10.92 10.92 10.92 10.92 10.92 100 1092 AYALA LAND 43.55 43.9 43.1 43.9 43.1 43.9 12209300 531941110 ARANETA PROP 1.84 1.88 1.86 1.95 1.82 1.88 518000 959420 BELLE CORP 2.53 2.54 2.53 2.56 2.52 2.53 1229000 3117560 A BROWN 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.79 0.79 217000 173370 CITYLAND DEVT 0.9 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.9 0.92 67000 60620 CROWN EQUITIES 0.25 0.255 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 4680000 1170000 CEBU HLDG 6.2 6.43 6.47 6.47 6.1 6.43 34200 218443 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.19 4.3 4.18 4.3 4.18 4.3 4902000 20658790 CENTURY PROP 0.49 0.495 0.495 0.5 0.49 0.495 3630000 1799800 CYBER BAY 0.415 0.425 0.415 0.425 0.41 0.415 150000 62100 DOUBLEDRAGON 22.8 22.9 23 23.15 22.8 22.8 258200 5918595 DM WENCESLAO 10.28 10.3 10.24 10.36 10.02 10.28 1216200 12393780 EMPIRE EAST 0.52 0.55 0.53 0.55 0.52 0.54 310000 164250 EVER GOTESCO 0.136 0.14 0.14 0.141 0.136 0.137 1430000 195480 FILINVEST LAND 1.5 1.51 1.51 1.53 1.5 1.5 6435000 9712720 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.22 1.24 1.25 1.25 1.2 1.22 4185000 5135460 8990 HLDG 11.94 12 11.9 12.08 11.82 12 529500 6353152 PHIL INFRADEV 2.16 2.17 2.13 2.18 2.1 2.16 2524000 5408390 KEPPEL PROP 3.65 4.49 3.65 3.65 3.65 3.65 3000 10950 CITY AND LAND 0.83 0.85 0.83 0.85 0.83 0.85 17000 14150 MEGAWORLD 5.3 5.32 5.31 5.34 5.24 5.32 21608700 114579756 MRC ALLIED 0.44 0.445 0.44 0.445 0.435 0.445 8050000 3546150 PHIL ESTATES 0.46 0.475 0.465 0.47 0.46 0.46 510000 236300 PRIMEX CORP 2.85 2.9 2.96 2.96 2.81 2.9 308000 892860 ROBINSONS LAND 23.5 23.55 24 24 23.15 23.5 7897900 184610875 PHIL REALTY 0.47 0.485 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.47 170000 79900 ROCKWELL 2 2.01 2.02 2.02 2 2.01 190000 381860 SHANG PROP 3.12 3.15 3.14 3.15 3.11 3.15 124000 386150 STA LUCIA LAND 1.42 1.43 1.4 1.44 1.4 1.43 2698000 3796900 SM PRIME HLDG 38.55 38.9 38.25 38.9 37.95 38.9 8428400 325585095 STARMALLS 6.45 6.49 6.98 6.98 6.4 6.49 1142900 7527920 SUNTRUST HOME 0.78 0.82 0.78 0.79 0.78 0.79 167000 130970 VISTA LAND 7.05 7.28 7.32 7.48 6.89 7.28 64340400 461747534 SERVICES ABS CBN 22.15 22.25 22.55 22.8 22.1 22.3 181700 4068250 GMA NETWORK 5.72 5.73 5.74 5.75 5.72 5.73 270000 1548526 MANILA BULLETIN 0.74 0.75 0.69 0.78 0.69 0.74 24999000 18575290 GLOBE TELECOM 1866 1880 1860 1905 1855 1866 68195 128366560 PLDT 1070 1100 1107 1140 1070 1070 322095 353866420 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.045 0.046 0.045 0.046 0.045 0.045 20400000 919400 DFNN INC 7.21 7.35 7.21 7.35 7.21 7.35 300 2177 IMPERIAL 1.99 2.07 2.03 2.03 1.99 1.99 105000 210820 ISLAND INFO 0.131 0.134 0.13 0.131 0.128 0.131 7480000 960610 ISM COMM 6.03 6.04 5.98 6.1 5.96 6.03 2145800 12878705 JACKSTONES 3.08 3.24 3.13 3.31 3.1 3.26 83000 259300 NOW CORP 3.03 3.04 3.02 3.06 3.02 3.03 639000 1937930 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.44 0.45 0.445 0.45 0.44 0.44 8060000 3581650 PHILWEB 3.09 3.11 3.05 3.14 3.04 3.09 421000 1301910 2GO GROUP 12.84 12.86 13.1 13.1 12.8 12.84 135400 1751074 ASIAN TERMINALS 15.22 15.76 15.76 15.76 15.22 15.22 19300 302926 CEBU AIR 84 84.2 84.5 84.7 84 84 60650 5111236.5 CHELSEA 6.2 6.21 6.12 6.28 6.09 6.2 437800 2701978 INTL CONTAINER 118.1 119 116 121 116 119 4166690 498653682 LBC EXPRESS 15.22 15.9 15.14 16 15.12 15.9 20700 323602 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.89 0.91 0.92 0.92 0.89 0.91 118000 105650 MACROASIA 19.64 19.84 19.98 20 19.6 19.64 157100 3100988 METROALLIANCE A 2.06 2.07 2.06 2.1 2 2.06 444000 901690 METROALLIANCE B 2 2.25 2.09 2.09 2 2 34000 69500 PAL HLDG 11.4 11.5 10.9 11.64 10.9 11.5 137800 1563104 HARBOR STAR 2.96 2.97 2.82 2.97 2.81 2.97 3835000 11237840 ACESITE HOTEL 1.3 1.35 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 3000 3900 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.065 0.066 0.066 0.067 0.065 0.065 9370000 614270 GRAND PLAZA 10.44 11.64 11.04 11.04 10.2 10.4 10500 110246 WATERFRONT 0.7 0.71 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.71 1471000 1036340 FAR EASTERN U 891 900 891 891 891 891 10 8910 IPEOPLE 10.88 11 10.88 10.9 10.88 10.88 26200 285092 STI HLDG 0.72 0.73 0.75 0.75 0.72 0.72 4096000 3003790 BERJAYA 2.96 3 3.05 3.05 2.94 3 277000 821280 BLOOMBERRY 12.38 12.4 12.56 12.56 12.4 12.4 4255300 52991102 LEISURE AND RES 3.26 3.32 3.25 3.28 3.24 3.27 263000 857480 MANILA JOCKEY 4.73 4.84 4.73 4.84 4.73 4.84 101000 477840 PH RESORTS GRP 5.17 5.19 5 5.19 4.96 5.17 139400 709249 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.94 0.95 0.94 0.97 0.93 0.94 7876000 7481340 TRAVELLERS 5.56 5.6 5.52 5.56 5.52 5.56 186800 1036030 METRO RETAIL 3.01 3.02 2.95 3.04 2.85 3.01 1878000 5524540 PUREGOLD 47.75 48 48 48.15 47.05 48 3543300 169748995 ROBINSONS RTL 87.9 88 86.75 88.95 86.75 88 833370 73394992.5 PHIL SEVEN CORP 133.1 134 131 134 129 134 67350 8960898 SSI GROUP 2.23 2.24 2.17 2.24 2.16 2.24 5789000 12778890 WILCON DEPOT 14.24 14.4 14.6 14.6 14.24 14.24 2985500 42759438 APC GROUP 0.445 0.45 0.44 0.45 0.435 0.45 1210000 535650 EASYCALL 15.12 15.2 15.38 15.4 15 15.2 92900 1398596 GOLDEN BRIA 358 360 360 360 350.6 360 260 93026 IPM HLDG 7.18 7.24 7.2 7.2 7.15 7.15 800 5745 PAXYS 3.21 3.35 3.23 3.3 3.23 3.3 13000 42200 PRMIERE HORIZON 1.42 1.43 1.32 1.43 1.3 1.42 48793000 67504090 SBS PHIL CORP 8.58 8.79 8.94 8.94 8.56 8.56 6300 54750 MINING & OIL ATOK 13.04 13.46 13 13.6 13 13.4 1600 21290 APEX MINING 1.54 1.56 1.54 1.61 1.53 1.57 3945000 6215380 ABRA MINING 0.0021 0.0022 0.0022 0.0022 0.002 0.0022 819000000 1722600 ATLAS MINING 3.01 3.04 2.96 3.06 2.95 3.01 100000 297020 BENGUET A 1.3 1.47 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1000 1300 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.3 0.315 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 210000 63000 CENTURY PEAK 2.17 2.18 2.23 2.23 2.17 2.17 360000 785010 DIZON MINES 7.94 8.1 8 8.1 7.95 8.1 1400 11195 FERRONICKEL 1.48 1.49 1.54 1.54 1.48 1.48 4578000 6885440 GEOGRACE 0.28 0.29 0.28 0.29 0.28 0.285 1680000 475650 LEPANTO A 0.13 0.133 0.13 0.133 0.13 0.133 2650000 348780 LEPANTO B 0.131 0.135 0.132 0.132 0.13 0.13 190000 24720 MANILA MINING A 0.0092 0.0096 0.0092 0.0092 0.0092 0.0092 4000000 36800 MANILA MINING B 0.0093 0.0099 0.0093 0.0093 0.0093 0.0093 13000000 120900 MARCVENTURES 1.11 1.14 1.15 1.15 1.1 1.14 35000 39750 NIHAO 1.07 1.08 1.13 1.13 1.08 1.12 4000 4410 NICKEL ASIA 2.79 2.8 2.73 2.82 2.72 2.79 2903000 8109650 OMICO CORP 0.65 0.67 0.7 0.7 0.65 0.67 572000 377620 ORNTL PENINSULA 1 1.01 1.03 1.03 1 1 273000 278370 PX MINING 4.32 4.33 4.22 4.35 4.22 4.32 4584000 19737430 SEMIRARA MINING 22.55 22.6 22.5 22.95 22.5 22.6 628000 14238395 UNITED PARAGON 0.0081 0.0083 0.008 0.0083 0.008 0.0083 3000000 24600 ORNTL PETROL A 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 8600000 109700 PHILODRILL 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 0.012 0.013 2700000 33300 PHINMA PETRO 3.25 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.25 3.4 17000 55890 PXP ENERGY 14.68 14.72 14.5 14.76 14.24 14.72 1374300 20049778

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 FGEN PREF G FPH PREF C GTCAP PREF B LR PREF PNX PREF 3A SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

465.2 96.8 966 102 450.2 899 1 100 1.76 75.1 76.2 73.8 74.9 73.5 72.1 72.35

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

20 5.56 1.93

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.85 XURPAS 1.43

118

203000 -8259425 7408323 14574674 19500 1363552 13141862 2208286 44654545 -7794850 -516316 1731446 -5999590 354220 -60450 -25487525 -13965076 -4187228 -73000 44000 -109658110 -677879.9997 185468 -42080 104975 5059168 -5233510 740460 -1985144 -6480 52057353.0001 105624385 -23500 9360 6339910 541115 -139024993 4160340 -92181955 -116100 -743785 -118410 262550 9180 20770 -230894 6130 235983256 -110900 133622 -4560 -471590 205400 -3040 -3328056 35760 80870 -161421 -79820 86638190 32076947 399355 2732880 -22583360 61600 -3096 -32300 -2278750 1712 6320 361200 88800 12040 2329320 640680.0001 -3219975 -865994

475.2 97 990 103.5 450.2 900 1 101 1.8 75.05 76.5 73.9 75 74 73.95 73.45

475.2 97 990 103.5 450.2 900 1.01 101 1.8 75.05 76.5 73.9 75.05 74 73.95 73.45

475.2 97 990 103 450 899 1 101 1.76 75.05 76.15 73.85 75 74 73.95 73

475.2 97 990 103 450.2 900 1.01 101 1.76 75.05 76.5 73.85 75 74 73.95 73

10 1360 10 20530 120 2010 91000 100 27000 160 21720 2510 88400 600 65000 14140

4752 131920 9900 2120960 54016 1808970 91100 10100 47760 12008 1657361 185488.5 6630055 44400 4806750 1036642.5

780290 -10800 -

20.65 5.78

20.55 5.8

20 5.79

119900 14000

2424525 81064

-12000 81064

1.96

1.97

1.96

82000

160750

4.89 1.44

4.93 1.48

4.97 1.52

4.78 1.39

4.85 1.43

646000 34121000

3142830 48939390

19500 -15405750

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

-154030 6090785 5996235.0003 -5413559 26505834 423580 29092342 -2554290 1470664 -193180 226806 -12674434 151725 30121866 -44314824 128331.5 4698 806382 512990 99540 3720 4100 30246488 1667590 -8544430 258511 9944801.0003 105301496 200 88400 15310 9808 8055 -695870 815592 -529770

475.2 97 990 103 455 900 1.01 101 1.8 75.4 76.5 73.85 75 74.5 73.95 73

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

589238 -187687515 -41984788 177360 -642788 -41140292 -82965 -100901 -628490 6026949 183964 80000 28999.9999 -

118.5

117.2

118

117.2

118

4330

508542

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

SEC stops religious group’s ‘Ponzi’ investment scheme

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

Microsoft boosts HoloLens performance, seeking corporate users

NY state budget director calls Amazon HQ loss ‘tremendous’

MUTUAL FUNDS

February 22, 2019

Editor: Efleda P. Campos

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

February 22, 2019

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

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 FGEN PREF G FPH PREF C GTCAP PREF B LR PREF PNX PREF 3A SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

465.2 96.8 966 102 450.2 899 1 100 1.76 75.1 76.2 73.8 74.9 73.5 72.1 72.35

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

20 5.56 1.93

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ITALPINAS 4.85 XURPAS 1.43

118

475.2 97 990 103.5 450.2 900 1 101 1.8 75.05 76.5 73.9 75 74 73.95 73.45

475.2 97 990 103.5 450.2 900 1.01 101 1.8 75.05 76.5 73.9 75.05 74 73.95 73.45

475.2 97 990 103 450 899 1 101 1.76 75.05 76.15 73.85 75 74 73.95 73

475.2 97 990 103 450.2 900 1.01 101 1.76 75.05 76.5 73.85 75 74 73.95 73

10 1360 10 20530 120 2010 91000 100 27000 160 21720 2510 88400 600 65000 14140

4752 131920 9900 2120960 54016 1808970 91100 10100 47760 12008 1657361 185488.5 6630055 44400 4806750 1036642.5

780290 -10800 -

20.65 5.78

20.55 5.8

20 5.79

119900 14000

2424525 81064

-12000 81064

1.96

1.97

1.96

82000

160750

4.89 1.44

4.93 1.48

4.97 1.52

4.78 1.39

4.85 1.43

646000 34121000

3142830 48939390

19500 -15405750

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

475.2 97 990 103 455 900 1.01 101 1.8 75.4 76.5 73.85 75 74.5 73.95 73

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

589238 -187687515 -41984788 177360 -642788 -41140292 -82965 -100901 -628490 6026949 183964 80000 28999.9999 -

118.5

117.2

118

117.2

118

4330

508542

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

DOF joins health officials’ lobby for higher tax on tobacco, alcohol products

HE Department of Finance (DOF) said it is joining a lobby by the Department of Health (DOH), as well as supports the proposal of a boxer-solon to increase excise tax on cigarettes. A DOF statement said this position is based on results of simulations it developed jointly with the DOH and the World Health Organization. The DOF said results reveal smoking prevalence in the country could go down by an estimated 17 percent if the excise tax on cigarettes is increased to P60 per pack, as proposed by Sen. Emmanuel D. Pacquiao. The DOF said Pacquiao’s proposal, if followed, will bring down cigarette consumption and lead to 3.2 million adults quitting smoking. At the hearing of the Senate Ways and Means Committee recently, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said simulations show that the threshold in which the cigarette consumption would prove elastic is to tax it “above P73 per pack.” “This means that incremental revenue begins to fall if the excise tax rate is beyond P73 per pack,” Chua said. “But [Sen.] Pacquiao’s proposal of P60 per pack would also be beneficial because it would prompt the youth, the poor and other price-sensitive cigarette users to stop smoking.” Senate Bill 1599, authored by Pacquiao, aims to increase the excise tax on cigarettes, regardless of brand or price, to P60 per pack in the first year of implementation and an additional 9 percent per year thereafter. “This rate will also bring down smoking prevalence to 16.8 percent and help reach our noncommunicable disease target,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.

The proposed additional increase in cigarette excise tax falls under the DOF’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program specifically under Package 2 Plus. A provision on the excise tax increase for the product was earlier included in the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law. On top of cigarettes, the DOF and DOH are also asking lawmakers to increase the excise taxes on alcohol and impose a unitary tax system on fermented liquors, which make up the bulk of consumption. Chua and Duque, backed by several health advocacy groups, are urging the Senate to approve Pacquiao’s bill, which is estimated to raise incremental revenues of P30.1 billion from cigarette excise taxes to help fund the Universal Health Care (UHC) program. “The total difference [between the Houseapproved version and the DOF-DOH proposal] is P244 billion if computations are done up to 2022, which might undermine the effective implementation of the UHC,” Chua said. The DOH has said that a number of tobacco-control interventions, particularly tobacco taxation, has led to a significant drop in current smokers in the country to 15.9 million in 2015, from 17 million in 2009. This shows that around 1 million Filipinos have quit smoking during the six-year period. Based on the 2015 Philippines’s Global Adult Tobacco Survey, around 15.9 million Filipino adults smoke tobacco products. “The DOH and the DOF have worked toward developing a proposal that would achieve the twin objectives of protecting the public’s health and, at the same time, raising sufficient revenues for the implementation of the Universal Health Care,” Duque said. Rea Cu

Association seeks policy change for shrinking rural bank industry

ULAG, Leyte—The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) is seeking amendments of the law regulating countryside banking, citing unfair policies that triggered closures of several branches in the past decade. In a press briefing here last Monday, RBAP President Armando B. Bonifacio said 139 banks have shut down its operations since 2009, where 22 of which are the only banks in their areas, adding up to the list of unbanked areas in the country. Since the 1950s, when rural banks started to flourish, Bonifacio said there were about 1,800 banks in the country. Today, the number dropped to around 460. In Eastern Visayas alone, 70 percent of towns have no banks. “Rural banks are at the forefront because they are serving countryside, but we found out that there are some revisions in the Banking Act that are not implemented,” Bonifacio told reporters in a meeting in this town. Key RBAP officials had a dialogue with Leyte Second District Rep. Henry C. Ong, chairman of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, to present the proposed revision in the Rural Bank Act of 1992. Rural bankers seek to promote comprehensive rural development, financial inclusion, and formulation of necessary rules and regulations. “Stringent regulations imposed on big banks are also applied to rural banks. In

most cases, the BSP closes a rural bank due to mismanagement,” Bonifacio said. “Under the law, if there are irregularities, the BSP should step in until a new set of board of directors is called.”

TWG

ONG said he will create a technical working group to come up with a draft House resolution amending some provisions of bank law enacted into the appeal of the rural bank sector. “We need to study the issue of our rural banks and attune it to their needs, especially that countryside development starts with them,” Ong added. “The economy in the countryside is affected if there are no rural banks since people just spend their money instead of keeping it in banks.” This is the first dialogue by rural bankers with a lawmaker initiated by Leyte-Samar-Biliran Federation of Rural Bankers President Anacleta Aboyme. The group also asked other federation presidents to seek support from their respective district representatives. Rural banks are the more popular type of banks in rural communities. Their role is to promote and expand the rural economy in an orderly and effective manner by providing the people in rural communities with basic financial services. These banks help farmers through the stages of production, from buying seedlings to marketing of their produce, according to BSP. PNA

Security Bank Corp. mourns passing of BSP Gov. Espenilla

ECURIT Y Bank Corp. issued a statement on February 25 saying it mourns the passing of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., “whose impeccable leadership and dedication strengthened public confidence to the Philippine banking industry.” “As a public servant, Espenilla led the banking industry into the unchartered waters of technological innovation and transformation,” the bank said in a statement. “His 40-year experience as a central

banker brought confidence from the industry to be unafraid in innovating itself for the unbanked and the general public.” “The banking industry will always remember the legacy left by the late BSP Governor despite his brief yet substantial tenure,” the bank said. “Indeed, Espenilla fought the good fight and finished the race in completing his vision to the banking industry.” Security Bank Corp. said it will “continue to support the BSP in its goal to fulfill his vision.”

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

SSS begins move to invest overseas

By Rea Cu

@ReaCuBM

HE Social Security System (SSS) is looking to place its funds abroad, as a new law allows the pension fund manager to invest in foreigncurrency deposits or investment-grade foreign currency-denominated debts not exceeding 15 percent of its investment reserve fund. “We have a plan on investing abroad because the asset allocation for foreign investment has been doubled from 7.5 to 15 percent,” SSS President and CEO Emmanuel F. Dooc told reporters. “We have not been doing that because of lack of expertise. So we will be engaging hopefully fund managers and advisers.” Dooc said they are eyeing such move this year after the creation of a study group, which will determine the timing of the investment, as well as evaluate markets abroad.

“That is one thing that we have to do in order to diversify and also to get higher yield. I will constitute a study group to do that and we’ll be engaging consultants and experts—many are offering their services,” he explained. “So what we will do is to accredit or bid it out.” Republic Act 11199 provides that “as part of its investment operations, the SSS may appoint local or, in the absence thereof, foreign fund managers to manage the investment reserve fund, as it may deem appropriate.”

Dooc said that the 15-percent allowable investment for foreign-currency securities translates to increasing the allowed investment of the pension fund to P75 billion, as opposed to the P37.5 billion when the rate was still at 7.5 percent. RA 11199, or the Social Security Act of 2018, was signed into law by President Duterte last week. It is expected to help the pension fund increase its viability by 13 years to 2045 from 2032. Dooc said the fund’s extension until 2045 is projected on the back of the implementation of the contribution increase and adjustment in minimum and maximum salary credits (MSC) under the newly signed law. Under the law, the SSS will implement a gradual increase in monthly contributions by 1 percentage point starting on the year of implementation until it reaches 15 percent in 2025. The current monthly contribution rate is at 11 percent. Dooc believes such provision has given the SSS flexibility that would help expand a number of its loan programs and ensure the actuarial solvency of the pension fund. Rea Cu

B4 Tuesday, February 26, 2019

FORTUNE LIFE TO HOLD 2019 ANNUAL AWARDS NIGHT

ORTUNE Life Insurance Co. will hold its 34th annual awards ceremony at the Citystate Tower Hotel on March 13, to honor top insurance specialists and sales managers for their outstanding sales performance. The awarding rites to be led by Fortune Life President D. Arnold A. Cabangon,

Executive Vice President and general manager Evelyn T. Carada, and Senior Vice President/assistant general manager and officer in charge for marketing and sales Emma M. Abad will be the highlight of the evening. Awardees will be enjoying their foreign trip as part of their reward from the company.

MAKE SHOPPING A LOT LIGHTER WITH DUTY FREE’S TRAVELITE PROGRAM

UTY Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC), the country’s only duty and tax-free travel retailer, gives travelers the convenience to shop through its Shop Now, Pick Later program. The DFPC’s travelite program allows regular Filipino travelers and foreign international travelers to shop before they depart and claim the merchandise upon return, making shopping a lot lighter. The program also comes with a 7-percent discount on major items. According to DFPC Chief Operating Officer Vicente Pelagio A. Angala, travelers who have a confirmed departure ticket for an international flight and returning to the

country within 30 days are allowed to avail of the program. “By ‘lite’ we mean no more extra baggage on the trip and no more excess baggage fees to pay, plus we give you a 7-percent discount,” Angala added. “The purchases made are packed, at most, three days, before expected date of return,” Angala added. To avail of the program, international travelers need to show their return ticket information at participating DFPC departure outlets at Ninoy Aquino International Aiporort Terminals 1, 2, 3, and Mactan Cebu International Airport Predeparture and Departure Area.

TELUS INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES WINS SILVER ANVIL FOR CSR INITIATIVE

BPI COMMUNICATION INITIATIVES FOR OFWs RECOGNIZED WITH ANVIL

HE Public Relations Society of t he Ph i l ippi nes ( PR SP) conferred an Anvil award on BPI’s overseas f i lipino f inancia l wel l ness prog ra m, for engag ing overseas Filipino workers through various initiatives to communicate the importance of financial planning, and educate them about saving and investing for retirement. Ritche Fariñas, head of the BPI Overseas Filipino Seg ment, says that this is an affirmation of the commitment of BPI to provide value to overseas Filipino customers. “It serves as an inspiration for us to strive even better in creating relevant programs for them.” “The recognition validates that we are on the right track in our efforts to reach out to and communicate with our many overseas Filipinos who work hard to provide a better life for their families. Effective communications is critical to enable our modern-day heroes to become more financially stable and secure,” says Owen Cammayo, BPI Corporate Affairs and Communications head. Under its overseas filipino financial wellness program, BPI created several f i n a nc i a l modu les t h at i nc lude financial-literacy talks with tips on managing remittances from their loved ones abroad. BPI also launched new products and services, such as Pamana Padala and Padala Moneyger that cater

to the needs of both overseas Filipinos and their beneficiaries. Meanwhile, BPI a lso received another Anvil for its 2017 annual report in recognition of its comprehensive nar rative, high lighting how BPI cultivates long-lasting relationships with clients and how its sustainability strategy framework resulted in positive financial benefits. With the central theme “Enriching Relationships”, BPI’s 2017 annual report shifted from being purely a financial report to one that integrated bank’s sustainability report. Through a succinct and clear writing style, BPI’s integrated report focuses not only on the bank’s financial achievements, but also on why and how BPI remains an important and empowering presence in the lives of Filipinos. Chinky Lukban, head of BPI Strategic Corporate Planning Division, says the

annual report was a result of the “hard work of an entire team—the working team and representatives from each business unit. The award encourages us to do even better.” BPI receives two Silver Anvil trophies at the 54th Anvil Awards. In photo are (from left) Stella Aro, Institutional Brand Management and Digital; Arlene Mendoza and Edelyn Sagales, Overseas Filipino segment; Kathy Hofileña, and Janelle Monsanto, Sustainability Office; Fariñas; Maricris San Diego, BPI Foundationexecutivedirector;Cammayo; D’artagnan Aguilar, Institutional Brand Management and Digital head; Athena Balleza, OF Segment; Majo Lopez and Louie Gaela, Institutional Brand Management and Digital; Don Sevilla, Compliance; CJ Arribay and Ana Jose, OF Segment; and Rachelle Dangin and Kristabel Penafuerte, Corporate Affairs and Communications.

‘BM’ GROUP SUPPORTS WORLD HEMOPHILIA DAY 2019

T F

OR successfully implementing outstanding and sustainable corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, leading business-process outsourcing and information-technology solutions provider Telus International Philippines recently bagged a Silver Anvil for its Days of Giving program. Organized by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), the annual Anvil Awards is considered one of the most prestigious award-giving bodies in the country’s public relations industry. The Days of Giving is Telus International Philippines’s most impactful CSR program. It involves annual and weekly CSR activities where thousands of team members (employees) and leaders from across its five sites work hand-in-hand to build houses, revamp elementary schools, visit orphanages or homes for the elderly, and engage in other charities. “We are thrilled to share this recognition with our team members. They’re the ones who willingly commit their time, effort and

hearts to serve our communities, and we are able to make our CSR programs sustainable and impactful because of their support,” said Carlos Giammattei, Telus International Philippines director for brand, marketing and culture. The company was able to organize volunteer activities for 49 out of the 52 weekends of 2018. During those 49 weekends, over 6,450 Telus International Philippines team members actively participated in those volunteer events, and all in all they were able to spend over 31,000 volunteer hours to benefit more than 7,600 beneficiaries. Activities were focused on creating positive impact in the communities, in the areas of education, environment and health. “We are fully committed to giving back to our communities, and Telus’s Days of Giving has been a great program to develop volunteerism among our team members. Volunteerism enables our team members to find more meaning in the work that they do and gives them an active role in benefiting others,” Giammattei said.

FPPF HOLDS PHOTO COURSES AT FORT SANTIAGO

HE Federation of Philippine Photographers Federation (FPPF) will be holding photo course seminars at the Fort Santiago in Intramuros. Eduviges Y. Huang, chairman of the FPPF, said that, for beginners, there is a lesson plan that will enable them to acquire basic skills to operate a camera and take good photos in five days. She said there is an even shorter time to teach corporate employees how to operate the camera and come up with nicely composed pictures. The modules are now packaged for corporations as they now realize the value of good photography in communication. With trained photo staff, companies enjoy better presentations and find their communication better understood because of values. Better

pictures are also indispensable to effective social networking. Enrollees in the basic photo courses were not only students and out-of-school youths, but also professionals, as well as showbusiness personalities, adventurers, priests and nuns, and also government officials. The five Saturday basic photo course starts on March 16, while the five-day weekday starts on May 13. The FPPF also offers wedding photography on March 2 and 3, cruise-ship photography on March 16, advancedworkshop on March 23, 24, 30 and 31, and videography on April 7 and 14. For further details, contact Kim Salvador or Mae Murphy at 524-7576/528-0371 or visit www. photoworldmanila.com.

HE BusinessMir ror (BM) Group of Publications inked a deal as media partner of Hemophilia Advocates Philippines (H A P) for t he upcom i ng World Hemophilia Day celebration to be held at the Glorietta Activity Center on April 14. This is the third year that the BM group has supported HAP in raising awareness on hemophilia and bleeding-related disorders. The deal was signed by Marvin Estigoy, BM vice president for Advertising Sales; and Andrea Trinidad, HAP president. The event is co-organized with the Philippine Children’s Medical Center. This year’s global theme is “Reaching Out: The first step to care”. Globally, it is spearheaded by the World Federation of Hemoph i l i a ( W FH) ba sed i n Montreal, Canada. Trinidad said there are around 10,000 Filipinos with hemophilia and approximately 1 million others with bleeding-related disorders, such as von Willebrand disease. However, figures from the 2017 WFH Global Report showed only a dismal 1,500 Filipinos have, so far, been registered. Globally, a total of 315,423 were registered in 2017. Hemophilia and inherited bleeding disorders are a group of medical conditions where the blood does not

clot. Its symptoms include frequent nosebleeds, gum bleeds, unexplained and excessive bleeding from cuts or injuries or after surgery or dental work ; l a rge or deep br u ises; or unusual bleeding after vaccinations. Women with bleeding disorders may ex per ience prolonged and heav y menstruation. H A P sought the filing of the Bleeding Disorders Standards of Care Act of 2017, which aims to establish hemophilia treatment centers in key areas all over the Philippines, and better access to treatment for

persons with hemophilia and related bleeding disorders. T he upcom i ng e vent i s a l so supported by Glorietta. In photo are (seated, from left) Ann Angala, HAP executive director; Trinidad; Estigoy; Dennis Guevarra, Philip p ine s G ra p hic a d v e r t i s i n g sales manager ; Cris Galit, Pilipino Mirror advertising sales manager; (standing, from left) Jane Nacional, Health&Fitness account manager; Charmine Arquibel, Philippines Graphic account manager; and Cha Esteban, Pilipino Mirror account manager.

MARCO POLO ORTIGAS MAKES HISTORY WITH THIRD CONSECUTIVE 5-STAR HOTEL AWARD FROM FORBES TRAVEL GUIDE

ORBES Travel Guide unveiled its annual Star Rating list, naming Marco Polo Ortigas Manila as a Forbes Travel Guide 5-star hotel for the third consecutive year. Part of Wharf Hotels, the Philippines’s first sky hotel will be showcased with all of the Star Rating recipients on ForbesTravelGuide.com. Marco Polo Ortigas Manila holds the distinct honor of being the only Philippine nongaming hotel to receive the highly esteemed 5-Star Award from Forbes Travel Guide for three straight years. Located along Meralco Avenue

and Sapphire Road in Pasig’s Ortigas Center, the sky hotel champions excellence in the country’s hospitality industry, having consistently met Forbes Travel Gu ide’s over 8 0 0 exacting standards since 2017. “Receiving this coveted global recognition is a testament to the commitment of all our associates at the Marco Polo Ortigas Manila to make each guest encounter more meaningful than the last,” said general manager Frank Reichenbach. Since 1958 Forbes Travel Guide has released its annual luxury travel

ratings that are considered the gold standard in the hospitality industry. “We are delighted to celebrate the 2019 Star Rating winners, an outstanding collection of hotels, restaurants and spas that demonstrates a strong culture of service,” said Filip Boyen, chief executive officer of Forbes Travel Guide. “Our objective, data-driven Star Rating list features properties that achieved an impeccable standard of excellence in hospitality. We congratulate everyone associated w it h t he prest ig iou s proper t ies recognized today.”

Sports BusinessMirror

| Tuesday, February 26, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

BLOOMFIELD High School transgender athlete Terry Miller (second from left) wins the final of the 55-meter dash over fellow transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood (left) and other runners in the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut, early this month. AP

‘IT’S NOT GENDER, IT’S TESTOSTERONE’ N

By Pat Eaton-Robb The Associated Press

EW HAVEN, Connecticut—Andraya Yearwood hears the comments, usually from adults and usually not to her face. She shouldn’t be running, they say, not against girls. Yearwood, a 17-year-old junior at Cromwell High School, is one of two transgender high-school sprinters in Connecticut, transitioning to female. She recently finished second in the 55-meter dash at the state open indoor track championships. The winner, Terry Miller of Bloomfield High, is also transgender and set a girls state indoor record of 6.95 seconds. Yearwood finished in 7.01 seconds and the third-place competitor, who is not transgender, finished in 7.23 seconds. Miller and Yearwood also topped the 100-meter state outdoor championships last year, and Miller won the 300 indoors this season. Critics say their gender identity amounts to an unfair advantage, expressing a familiar argument in a complex debate for transgender athletes as they break barriers across sports around the world from high school to the pros. “I have learned a lot about myself and about other people through this transition. I always try to focus most on all of the positive encouragement that I have received from family, friends and supporters,” Yearwood said. “I use the negativity to fuel myself to run faster.” Connecticut is one of 17 states that allow transgender high-school athletes to compete without restrictions, according to Transathlete.com, which tracks state policies in high-school sports across the country. Seven states have restrictions that make it difficult for transgender athletes to compete while in school, like requiring athletes to compete under the gender on their birth certificate, or allowing them to participate only after going through sex-reassignment procedures or hormone therapies. The other states either have no policy or handle the issue on a case-by-case basis. Yearwood acknowledges she is stronger than many of her cisgender competitors, but says girls who are not transgender may have other advantages. “One high jumper could be taller and have longer legs than another, but the other could have perfect form, and then do better,” she said. “One sprinter could have parents who spend so much money on personal training for their child, which in turn, would cause that child to run faster.” Miller, who declined to be interviewed for this story, has said that if she felt a competitor had an unfair advantage, it would simply push her to try to improve. One of their competitors, Selina Soule, says the issue is about fairness on the track with wider implications. The Glastonbury High School junior finished eighth in the 55, missing out on qualifying for the New England regionals by two spots. Soule believes that had Miller and Yearwood not run, she would be on her way to race in Boston in front of more college coaches. “We all know the outcome of the race before it even starts; it’s demoralizing,” she said. “I fully support and am happy for these athletes for being true to themselves. They should have the right to express themselves in school, but athletics have always had extra

COMPETITORS take aim in the air rifle competition of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in New Delhi.

India in hot water for denying visas to Pakistani shooters

HE International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to “suspend all discussions” with India regarding applications to host future events after two Pakistani athletes were refused visas for the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi. The denial of visas to the Pakistani shooters, Ghulam Mustafa Bashir and Khalil Ahmed, came in the wake of a Pakistani militant group claiming responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing in Pulwama in Kashmir on February 14, which killed 40 members of the Indian police force. Following the attack, Pakistan’s National Rifle Shooting Federation claimed its athletes had not received visas to travel and their president, Razi Ahmed, was quoted by India’s largest news agency, the Press Trust of India, as saying the trip would not be happening. Both Bashir, Pakistan’s flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and Ahmed were due to take part in the 25 meters rapid fire pistol event at the ISSF World Cup, which is ongoing. The IOC said two spots at next year’s Olympics in Tokyo that had been up for grabs in that competition had been revoked. This, the body states, happened in the interest of the other 500 athletes from 61 countries participating in the other events who are already in India for the competition.

“Since becoming aware of the issue, and in spite of intense last-minute joint efforts by the IOC, the ISSF and the Indian NOC, and discussions with the Indian Government authorities, no solution has been found to allow the Pakistani delegation to enter India in time to compete,” an IOC statement reads. “This situation goes against the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter, in particular the principles of nondiscrimination, as well as the IOC’s and the Olympic Movement’s position, reiterated on many occasions over the past few years, that equal treatment must be guaranteed for all participating athletes and sporting delegations at international sports events, without any form of discrimination or political interference from the host country. “As a result, the IOC Executive Board also decided to suspend all discussions with the Indian NOC and government regarding the potential applications for hosting future sports and Olympic-related events in India, until clear written guarantees are obtained from the Indian government to ensure the entry of all participants in such events in full compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter—and to recommend that the IFs neither award to nor hold sports events in India until the abovementioned guarantees are obtained. “The ISSF was asked to make a proposal on how the two available Olympic quota places will now be otherwise reassigned.” The decision came as a major blow to the Indian

Olympic Association (IOA), which submitted a formal expression of interest to bid for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in December with the view to approaching the government for support. IOA President Narinder Batra claimed in April that India would bid for the event, as well as the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games and the 2030 Asian Games. He made the revelation at a joint press conference with IOC President Thomas Bach during the German’s visit to India. “It’s a big setback for sports in the country,” IOA Secretary-General Rajeev Mehta told the wires. “We’ve been in constant touch with the government, trying to explain to them and convince them to grant visas to the Pakistani shooters. “This is really unfortunate.” In November, the International Boxing Association claimed it will reconsider India’s hosting of the 2021 Men’s World Championships after Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku was denied a visa to enter the country for the women’s event. Sadiku had been due to compete in the women’s 60 kilograms lightweight division at the Women’s World Championships in New Delhi. The Kosovan Olympic Committee initially stated her participation was in doubt because of the Indian government not issuing visas, despite hopes she could travel using an Albanian passport. Insidethegames

rules to keep the competition fair.” The Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high-school sports in Connecticut, says its policy follows a state antidiscrimination law that says students must be treated in school by the gender with which they identify. “This is about someone’s right to compete,” Executive Director Glenn Lungarini said. “I don’t think this is that different from other classes of people, who, in the not too distant past, were not allowed to compete. I think it’s going to take education and understanding to get to that point on this issue.” Joanna Harper, a medical physicist and transgender runner from Portland, Oregon, says the issue isn’t that simple. She believes there needs to be a standard based on hormone levels. Until hormone therapies begin to work, genetic males have a distinct advantage over genetic females, she said. Most transgender teens don’t begin hormone therapy until after puberty. Younger teens can be on puberty-blocking drugs, but puberty is very individualized and testosterone levels can vary greatly from one transgender girl to another, she said. “The gender identity doesn’t matter, it’s the testosterone levels,” said Harper, who studies transgender athletes. “Trans girls should have the right to compete in sports. But cisgender girls should have the right to compete and succeed, too. How do you balance that? That’s the question.” Yearwood is hoping to qualify for this year’s National Scholastic Athletics Foundation national championships in March. The group recently adopted new rules allowing pre-pubescent girls to participate with their affirmed gender, though no ages are specified. Post-pubescent transgender girls must have completed sex-reassignment surgery and “a sufficient amount of time must have passed” after the operation or hormone therapy “to minimize gender-related competitive advantages.” Transgender girls who are not taking hormone treatments related to gender transition may not compete in female competitions, the organization said. Jon Forrest, whose daughter is teammates with Soule, is among a group of parents seeking a similar change to Connecticut’s state policy. He said they’d like to see the state adopt a hormone standard or allow transgender girls to run with other girls but have their results placed in a separate exhibition category. “The facts show Glastonbury would be the state champion based on cisgender girls competing against cisgender girls,” he said. “You don’t realize it until you see it in person, the disparity in the ability to perform.” Lungarini said the state organization is not in a position to perform hormone testing of athletes and simply relies on the schools to tell them who identifies as male or female. Yearwood’s coach, Brian Calhoun, said his runner also matters. As Yearwood kneeled behind a teammate, braiding her hair between races at another recent meet, Calhoun said the track team and community have provided the runner with a safe, welcoming place to be. “There’s never been an issue in our town,” he said. “These kids, many of them have known Andraya since elementary school. They know who she is. So when she signed up, the attitude was: ‘OK, Andraya is running with the girl’s team. Here we go.’”

Spo

Business

C2 Tuesday, February 26, 2019

SPORTS STARS NIGHT T

HE top achievers of 2018 gather on one special night to share the spotlight in the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards at the Centennial Hall of the historic Manila Hotel on Tuesday. Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, skateboarder Margielyn Didal and the golf trio of Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go are the stars of the two-hour affair presented by Milo, Cignal TV and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) as they share the coveted Athlete of the Year honor traditionally handed out by the country’s oldest media organization. All five ladies accounted for the four gold medals the country won in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia last year. This marks the second time the 28-yearold Diaz, a silver medalist in the 2016 Rio de

Janeiro Olympics, will be the recipient of the highest honor being given by the Philippine sportswriting fraternity, while Didal, Saso, Pagdanganan and Go are first-time winners. Top sports officials, led by PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Ricky Vargas, join the PSA, under President Eduardo “Dodo” Catacutan of SPIN.ph., in paying tribute to the personalities and entities who did the country proud in 2018. Olympian and multititled gymnast and taekwondo jin Bea Lucero-Lhuillier serves as the special guest of honor and speaker during the gala night also backed by Philippine Basketball Association, Mighty Sports, Rain or Shine, Chooks To Go, NorthPort, Tapa King and SM Prime Holdings. Bowling great Olivia “Bong” Coo and cycling legend Paquito Rivas are the year’s recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award, the National

Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) is the choice as the National Sports Association of the Year, Enrique Razon Jr. of International Container Terminal Services Inc. gets the Executive of the Year Award, while undefeated reigning University Athletic Assocaition of the Philippines women’s basketball champion National University Lady Bulldogs will get the prestigious President’s Award. Special Awards will also be given out, such as the Mighty Sports Mr. Basketball (June Mar Fajardo), Mr. and Ms. Volleyball (Marck Espejo and Jaja Santiago), and Mr. Football (Neil Etheridge), as well as Mr. Fan Favorite “Manok Ng Bayan”

Award (Kai Sotto) and a Special Recognition on Sports Journalism (Lito Tacujan). Alexandra Eala and Daniel Quizon are the Milo Male and Female Athletes of the Year, while the Tony Siddayao Awardees include Jessel Lumapas, Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh, Marc Bryan Dula and Czerrine Ramos. To be given out, too, are major awards and citations in various sports, while a prayer will be offered to those who passed away in 2018.

TAIWANESE JOIN TCC INVITATIONAL F

IVE of the top 15 players in the current Ladies Professional Golf Association of Taiwan (TLPGA) ranking are vying in the first The Country Club Ladies Invitational, boosting the elite international cast chasing the crown in the biggest, richest event on the six-year Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT). No. 4 Babe Liu headlines the 29-player strong crew from Chinese-Taipei, including three amateurs in Yu Chiang Hou, Tzu Yi Chang and Yi Ting Chou. Liu placed second to amateur Chia Yen Yu in the Party Golfer Ladies Open, but pocketed the top purse in the first LPGT cosanctioned event in Taiwan last October. Also looming large in the 54-hole

championship, featuring world No. 2 Park Sunghyun of South Korea and the country’s top guns, are No. 8 Hsin Lee, ninth ranked Tzu Chi Lin, No. 12 Chia Pei Lee and No. 15 Yu Ning Huang. Ching Huang, who bested the fancied Thai troika of Renuka Suksukont, Pannapa Polnamin and Supamas Sangchan in last year’s LGPT-TLPGA Champion Tour at Tagaytay Midlands, is also in the fold, looking for another shot at a local crown in the $100,000 event, also serving as the third leg of TLPGA. So do the likes of Yu Chiang Hou, Meng Chu Chen, Jessica Peng, Yu Ling Hsieh, Yi Ching Wu, Hanna Chen, Hsin En Tsai, Ching Ling Chang, Pen

Girl from Negros Occidental snatches 1st Visayas leg gold

Wen Huang, Chia Wen Tai and Yi Ting Chou. This marks the fifth year that the TLPGA is cosanctioning an LPGT event with the local circuit serving as another platform for the Taiwanese to hone their talent and skills for its level of play and prize money. “The LPGA of Taiwan is constantly working on to provide more opportunities for everyone and let our players train and challenge themselves to raise their respective games to a new level. At the same time, we always see to it to enhance Taiwan’s visibility in the international community, to reach out into the world and put Taiwan golf on the world stage,” TLPGA Chairman Mei-Chi Cheng said.

LIKA SALMORIN of Negros Occidental ruled the girls’ 2,000-meter walk to emerge the first gold medal winner in the Visayas Leg of the 2019 Philippine National Youth Games-Batang Pinoy at the

WORLD No. 15 Yu Ning Huang is one of the ladies to watch.

Iloilo Sports Complex on Monday in Iloilo City. Salmorin, 14, needed to just beat Rhyza Vaflor of Escalante, Negros Occidental, by clocking 14 minutes and 16.08 seconds to claim the weeklong event’s first gold and a spot in the National Finals set in October in either Ormoc City or Tagbilaran, Bohol. Vaflor timed in 14:36.48 to end up with a silver. The Grade 9 Romanito Maravilla Sr. National High School student later dedicated the win to his epileptic 25-year-old brother Eduardo. “This is for him [Eduardo]. Whatever amount I get from here, I will spend it for his medicines,” Salmorin said in Filipino. Cebu Province struck hard in centerpiece athletics, thanks to golden efforts by Gio Baguna, who reigned supreme in boys’ discus throw in 36.79 meters, and Donalita Torres, who ruled the girls high jump in 1.35 meters. Bago City’s Kate Julienne Martinez (girls’ shotput) and New Washington, Aklan’s Din Wel Barrosa (boys’ long jump) were the other winners in the track and field’s morning events. Over at the pool, Ormoc and Negros Occidental

went neck and neck as each harvested four golds. Coby Marcus Rivilla and Maria Angela Cimafranca spearheaded Ormoc’s charge with triumphs in the boys’ 12-and-under 200-meter individual medley (IM) in 2:44.67 and girls 13 to 15 years old 200-meter IM in 2:44.68, respectively. Rex de la Cruz Jr. copped the 50m backstroke gold for boys 12-and-under in 35.93 and Martina Anele Estrella snared the 50m backstroke mint for girls 12-and-under in 37.68 to account for Ormoc’s other mints. The 11-year-old Rivilla, an Ormoc Immaculate School Foundation fifth-grader, had a chance to pocket a second gold in the 100m freestyle, but he lost to eventual winner Troy Castor of Negros Occidental and settled for the gold. Castor checked in at 1:07.94 to deliver one of Negros Occidental’s four swim victories. Alexie Kouzenye Cabayaran emerged the first double-gold medal winner after she topped the girls’ 13 to 15 100m free in 1:02.36 and 50m back in 32.01. Jay-R Punzalan topped the 50m back for 13 to 15 boys in 30.61 for Negros Occidental only other gold.

ELIKA SALMORIN dedicates her gold medal to her epileptic brother.

A KAT ABOVE THE REST K

KAT TOLENTINO bags the Player of the Week honors.

AT TOLENTINO’S firepower could not be quenched as it proved crucial in the Ateneo Lady Eagles’s back-to-back wins in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament this week. The tournament’s leading scorer unloaded a combined output of 41 points from Ateneo’s games against University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Far Eastern University (FEU) that merited her the UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week honors. Tolentino fired 22 points over UST to lead the Lady Eagles in bouncing back from their opening game loss to La Salle. From tallying just 2 points in the first two sets

Focus on Cignal, Stalzer in PSL

OCUS will be on Cignal when it shoots for its third straight win in the Philippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. The HD Spikers collide with struggling Generika-Ayala at 7 p.m., following the encounter between Foton and PLDT Home Fibr at 4:30 p.m. Former Most Valuable Player Lindsay Stalzer,

meanwhile, will finally suit up for F2 Logistics when it clashes with United VC in the 2 p.m. match. Despite Stalzer’s absence, the Cargo Movers started hot with back-to-back victories to occupy second spot in the eightteam field behind bitter rival Petron, which is playing splendid volleyball and has yet to drop a set in its first three matches.

against FEU, the opposite spiker erupted for 19 points as the Ateneo offense opened up to down the Lady Tamaraws. As Ateneo admits its struggles on defense, it’s not going to stop Tolentino from doing her best to make up for it with her lethal attacks. “For me I realized that I can’t just stand there and tip the ball or hit it light. I have to go all out. I have to spike with power and how I normally do it,” the Fil-Canadian spiker said. Tolentino and rest of the Ateneo spikers will be greatly tested against the University of the East’s floor defense led by Season 80 best digger and best receiver Kath Arado on Sunday 2 p.m., at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cignal is at the third spot with a 2-1 win-loss card after posting impressive wins over PLDT and Sta. Lucia last week. Cignal Coach Edgar Barroga said their locals Rachel Anne Daquis, Mylene Paat and setter Acy Masangkay are starting to jell with their imports, American Erica Wilson and Azerbaijani Anastasia Artemeva. In their 23-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-23 triumph over the Lady Realtors, Wilson and Artemeva played well at the open spiker position while Paat moved to the opposite spot to give Barroga additional combination.

orts

sMirror

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

GILAS PILIPINAS

IN WORLD CUP! T

EAM Pilipinas needed relentless firepower from its American reinforcement and a South Korea side that played spoiler’s role to Lebanon to secure a ticket to this August’s China Fiba World Cup—Gilas Pilipinas’ second straight appearance on the global stage. Naturalized player Andray Blatche was at his peak and scattered 41 points to lift the Filipinos to a 93-75 rout of Kazakhstan in its final game in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Sunday at the Republican Velodrome Saryaka in Astana. But lopsided or not, the win over the Kazakhs couldn’t have mattered if the Koreans didn’t rally to beat the Lebanese, 84-72, on the same night in Lebanon. The Lebanese bombed out with a 5-7 record. The Philippines wound up with a 7-5 won-lost card in Group F to emerge as the best fourth-place team and will join in the World Cup Australia (10-2), Japan (8-4) and Iran (8-4), as well as Group E’s New Zealand (10-2), Korea (102), Jordan (7-5) and World Cup host China. A total of 32 countries will see action in

the World Cup, which China is hosting in eight cities from August 31 to September 15. The Filipinos entered the game targeting a win to sweep their last two matches—they routed Qatar, 84-46, in Doha on Friday dawn. “It was an emotional game for us. We knew what was at stake,” said the 6-foot-11 Blatche, who hit five triples and hauled 14 rebounds with four steals and two blocks. Jayson Castro scattered 15 points to be the only other double-digit scorer for Team Pilipinas. After playing limited minutes because of the flu in Doha, June Mar Fajardo joined the act and had nine points and seven rebounds. “Andray was on fire,” national team Head Coach Yeng Guiao said. “I was kind of worried that the guys were going to overrely on him, but in the second half, the rest of the guys stepped up.” Guiao has all the sweet words for the big man. “He just took over the game, and that’s what he did for us,” Guaio said. “If it weren’t for Andray, we would have been behind 15 points, and it could have been very hard for us

THE Philippines is in the World Cup for the second consecutive time.

AIBA DRAWS ‘UNWAVERING’ SUPPORT FROM EURO BODY I

NTERNATIONAL Boxing Association (Aiba) President Gafur Rakhimov has welcomed the “unwavering” support received for the crisis-hit body from Europe. It comes after the European Boxing Confederation’s (EUBC) newly elected Executive Committee unanimously approved a motion to “reaffirm” backing for Aiba at their Annual General Assembly in Moscow. Aiba is currently battling to remain part of the Olympic program after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) froze all planning for the sport at Tokyo 2020 and set up an Inquiry Committee to probe the governing body. This was due to ongoing issues with Aiba’s governance, financial management and the integrity of its competitions. Chief among the IOC’s stumbling blocks is the permanent election of Rakhimov as Aiba President in November, despite him being described as “one of Uzbekistan’s leading criminals” by the United States Treasury Department. Rakhimov has denied any wrongdoing while Aiba has insisted that it is

making progress in various areas. The support of the EUBC, led by Franco Falcinelli, has been seen as a U-turn as the Italian initially lobbied against Rakhimov in favor of his presidential election rival Serik Konakbayev. He was temporarily suspended for “misconduct” after calling for members to back the Kazakh challenger, a move he said was to “protect boxing’s place on the Olympic program.” This sanction was lifted when he changed tact to back Rakhimov, however, and he was later confirmed as an Aiba vice president. “We are very happy to welcome this demonstration of support,” Rakhimov said. “The EUBC can count on Aiba to continue driving the development of our sport and of its vision for the future, fulfilling its responsibilities as the governing body of Olympic boxing.” The EUBC resolution says Aiba is “the one and only governing body of Olympic boxing.” They have vowed “to support the democratically elected Aiba leadership, as well as the mission and goals of Aiba” and have called

on the IOC to “continue recognizing Aiba as the only governing body of Olympic boxing and to start working with Aiba for an approval of the qualification system established by Aiba for the Tokyo Olympic Games”. The IOC have pledged to hold a boxing tournament at Tokyo 2020, but this could take place without Aiba, which has claimed the continued uncertainty has affected fighters who do not yet know how to qualify. An Aiba investigation has been launched after what it described as “a rogue group of individuals” from Kazakhstan reportedly approached the IOC offering to organize the Tokyo tournament. Further drama has seen Konakbayev accused of destroying evidence from his time as Asian Boxing Confederation president, while Falcinelli was accused of breaching statues at the EUBC Congress in Moscow. According to some of the countries present at the congress, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the official came under fire for his failure to present the full audited accounts of the continental body. Insidethegames

PLDT, Smart, together with Free Bee, show solid support by providing Smart Travel Wi-Fi kits to the members of the Gilas Pilipinas who booked a ticket to the Fiba World Cup following their victories over Qatar and Kazakhstan. Alice Ramos, VP and Department head of International Roaming & Carrier Business at Smart, leads the simple ceremony with the players, along with PLDT Global Head of International Retail Business Jojo Quiamas and AVP and Head of Community Development and Partnerships at Smart Gabby Cui.

By Rick Olivares

INNING the last two matches on the road. Lebanon losing. The Philippines returns to the Fiba World Cup. How huge is all of this? Almost dead in the water and an incredible bounce back. It repays Kazakhstan for the heartache they inflicted in the fourth window. This guarantees three consecutive trips to the premier Fiba event (including the 2023 hosting). The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the national team sorely needed this. This is a huge step forward in keeping the faith of the program that was built more than a decade ago. For one, it is consistency THAT is what you want. I don’t want to be a downer here, but that 2013 win over Korea was . We haven’t beaten them since. For you to really say you are over the hump is to repeat the feat over and over. So, this is what this World Cup trip is all about—consistency and going back to the Big Dance. The belief in the program will gain a lot more solid footing. Furthermore, this win is worth celebrating because of the recent black eyes to national team hoops that began with the infamous brawl with Australia and the two losses in the last home stand. In between there was that Asian Games good finish

that was not expected given the lack of preparation. There are hits and misses, but the important thing is there are finishes that can be pointed out as significant inroads. What we can also infer is the luck of the draw IT isn’t always everyday where you play two teams eliminated from qualification for the last window. While there is pride in defending one’s home court, there is a different motivation to advancing to the next stage. If anything, it added some drama. And if this is what you want, you win your way in. The impact of the Big Fella AND speaking of luck, the naturalization of Andray Blatche will go down in the Philippine basketball history as one of the biggest moves. With him in uniform, we’ve seen home huge wins (and galling losses, too). But make no mistake, we don’t go anywhere without the Big Fella who is a legit NBA player and a major talent. He is a huge reason we are back in the Fiba World Cup. He tallied 41 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the win. Of course, there was support from the locals, but Blatche was the big difference. Now, the

VINCENT JUICO

@VJuico Instagram vpjp_j, vince.juico@gmail.com

IKE AYONAYON of the San Juan Knights and Allan Mangahas of the Muntinlupa Cagers emerged as topnotchers in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League All-Star poll and were inserted in the starting unit by fans. The All-Star Game will be held on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena. Ayonayon, the high-leaping guard who was also entered in the slam-dunk contest, received the most votes at 2,086, earning him a spot in the starting unit of the North All-Stars where he will join veteran Gary David of the Bataan Risers in the backcourt. Also included in the first five were Mac Andaya of the Pasig Pirates at center spot and Aris Dionisio of the Manila Stars, and Cedric Ablaza of the Makati Super Crunch. The head coach of the North All-Stars is Jojo Lastimosa of the Bataan Risers. A 10-time Philippine Basketball Association All-Star, Lastimosa then selected the eight players to complete his team. Named as reserves were veteran guards Paolo Hubalde of the Valenzuela Classic and Almond Vosotros of the Caloocan Supremos, frontliners Jay Collado of the Quezon City

next task is to learn from the previous mistakes from the last World Cup stint, and to build a team to really compete and get out of the first stage of the Fiba World Cup. And that is going to be interesting...the attempt to get into unchartered waters.

SPORTS WITHOUT BORDERS

Ayonayon, Mangahas lead polls BayLayn 2019 Capitals and Gian Abrigo of the Mandaluyong El Tigre, forward Jaypee Belencion of the Pasay Voyagers, burly undersized but hardworking center JR Taganas of the Bulacan Kuyas, Levy Hernandez of the Pampanga Lanterns and Marlon Gomez of the Navotas Clutch. Over at the South side, Mangahas led the poll and will join forces with celebrity baller Gerald Anderson of the Marikina Shoemasters. Mark Yee of the Davao Occidental Tigers and Gab Banal of the Bacoor Strikers will be the starters in the forward positions, while Jhaymo Eguilos of the Batangas City Athletics will be the starting center. Dulay, who once participated in the ThreePoint Shootout of the PBA All-Star festivities, selected Cebu Sharks gunner Patrick Cabahug, Basilan Steel guard Jojo Tangkay, underrated stretched four forward Marco Balagtas of the Rizal Crusaders, shooting guard Reed Juntilla of the Zamboanga-Family’s Brand Sardines, spitfire guard Ian Melencio of the Imus Bandera, highly physical big man Michael Mabulac of the Laguna Heroes, and guards Paolo Castro of the Parañaque Patriots and Chris Masaglang of the General Santos City Warriors.

Magic ends Raptors’ winning streak at 7

Gilas: Winning our way in

to come back.” The Filipinos played in -10 degrees weather outside the arena that is primarily a cycling velodrome. But the cold never bothered the team. “We don’t have snow in the Philippines, so we’re just enjoying the cold weather,” Guiao said. “But I don’t think we’re going to last a few more days [here]. It’s a good thing we’re going back to the tropical weather, but for the time we were here, we were just enjoying the weather. It was different.” Blatche’s output tied the second-highest scoring total by a player in the Asian Qualifiers, making him only one of three players to top 40 points. The Philippines also punched a ticket to the 2014 World Cup in Spain after finishing with the silver medal behind Iran in the Asian championships. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

ORONTO—Terrence Ross scored 28 points against his former team, Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and 12 rebounds and the Orlando Magic beat the Raptors, 113-98, on Sunday, ending Toronto’s winning streak at seven. Jonathan Isaac scored 16 points, and DJ Augustin added 12 to help the Magic win for the sixth time in seven games. Orlando had won a season-best five straight before losing at home to Chicago on Friday night, its first game following the All-Star break. Kyle Lowry had 19 points and 10 assists for the Raptors. Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard sat out to rest. In Denver, Nikola Jokic had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Paul Millsap had 21 points and 16 rebounds, and Denver breezed past cold-shooting Los Angeles, 123-96, for its fourth consecutive victory. TERRENCE ROSS beats his former team. AP

The Nuggets improved to 26-4 at home and, at 41-18 overall, pulled within a game of Western Conference-leading Golden State. Lou Williams scored 24 points for the Clippers. Damyean Dotson scored 27 points and New York beat San Antonio, 130-118, to snap its franchise-record home losing streak at 18 games. Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith Jr. and Emmanuel Mudiay all had 19 points in the Knicks’ first home victory since December 1 against Milwaukee. DeMar DeRozan had 32 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs. They fell to 1-6 on their trip that ends Monday night in Brooklyn. AP

LAST Saturday I conducted a learning session through lecture and discussion on “Student Athletes having Sports Agents” at the BayLayn 2019 event organized by the Ang Pahayagang Plaridel (The Plaridel Newspaper) at the campus of De La Salle University. Each speaker had a classroom where they were to lecture and discuss in Filipino about a subject matter. Mine was “Balitang Pampalakasan” (Sports News). I chose “Student Athletes having Sports Agents.” I was given sufficient time to discuss and lecture, then conduct the open forum for 36 highschool and college students, several of whom are sportswriters for the Ang Pahayagang Plaridel. Questions ranked from writing style to sources of information, then after all the asking and answering, I instructed the students to write an article or an essay about what was taught. At the end of the 90-minute time limit, they submitted their papers, and I had the unenviable task of choosing the top 3 pieces of work. The winning piece came from Maria Princess Anne Curioso of Gumaca National High School. Her work is entitled in Filipino—“Bigwas: Laban para sa pera? O Laban para sa pangarap?” I thought Anne’s work stood out because I think she absorbed most if not everything I taught. The others just absorbed as well, but her work was more comprehensive. She used the phrases “full-time student, full-time athlete” to describe just two of the plethora of responsibilities a student athlete must perform. Nothing satisfies and pleases a teacher or a professor more than his or her student absorbing information like a sponge. Para sa Bayan at Lasalyano (BayLayn) 2019 is an inter high school press conference open to students from the different parts of Luzon. The Ang Pahayagang Plaridel has organized BayLayn every year since 2004. The Ang Pahayagang Plaridel once again staged BayLayn with the theme “Active and Intelligent Reporting for Progress and Change.” For the last 34 years, the Ang Pahayagang Plaridel have been serving as the official publication of the students of De La Salle University under the Student Media Office. Presently, the Ang Pahayagang Plaridel has 76 young men and women writers in its fold. THE author talks to campus journalists. Instagram @vpjpj_j

Sports BusinessMirror

| Tuesday, February 26, 2019

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

OVER 72 holes, only two were worse than par and no one got closer than two shots to Dustin Johnson all weekend. AP

JOHNSON WAXES HOT IN MEXICO By Doug Ferguson

SEE THE SYMMETRY? P

ARIS—It seemed like soccer symmetry when Kylian Mbappe made French league history on the same day Lionel Messi reached another incredible milestone. Arguably the best player in the world, and the one strongly tipped to become the next one, achieved their feats just one hour apart. After Barcelona star Messi scored the 50th hat trick of his astonishing career at Sevilla on Saturday, Mbappe became the youngest player to reach 50 goals in the French league when he struck twice for Paris Saint-Germain in a 3-0 win against Nimes. Mbappe only turned 20 in December, but he seems to have been around for years. Probably because, like Messi, he shares the same precocious ability to make the difficult appear easy. They both have a gift for producing incredible moments with routine-like regularity. Mbappe has been breaking records since he burst onto the scene during former club Monaco’s run to the league title and Champions League semifinals two years ago. At the age of 18 years and four months, he was the youngest to reach 15 league goals in Europe’s top five leagues since former Golden Ball winner Michael Owen for Liverpool in 1998; the youngest to net five goals in the Champions League; and the first to score in each

of the first four Champions League knockout rounds he played in. Messi is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner who has won the Champions League four times, as well as nine Spanish titles and the Golden Shoe as the European leagues’ top scorer five times. The 31-year-old Argentine leads scoring again this season with 25 league goals, and he could even reach 600 goals overall for Barca by the end of it. Mbappe’s 27 goals in 31 games this season take him to 75 so far in 135 club games, and he’s still rising. Mbappe was fourth in last year’s Golden Ball voting after helping France win the World Cup in Russia. Aged 19, he became the youngest player since Brazil’s Pelé to score in a World Cup final when he netted in the 4-2 win against Croatia. Messi’s glittering résumé is still missing a World Cup title.

because they watched all my matches and I played all the time in the night so they didn’t sleep I don’t think,” Albot said. “I think it’s pretty difficult to explain with words how this feels.” The 82nd-ranked Albot won in his first career final when Evans double-faulted on the final point. The Moldovan saved three match points earlier in the tiebreaker.

EXICO CITY—Dustin Johnson arrived in Mexico trying to figure out what was wrong with his swing. He left Sunday night with his 20th career Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour victory, his sixth World Golf Championship and now wonders how far that will take him. Over 72 holes, only two were worse than par. No one got closer than two shots to him all weekend. Johnson overcame a sloppy start, caught a good break from behind a tree and made the rest look easy, just

AFTER Barcelona star Lionel Messi scores the 50th hat trick of his astonishing career at Sevilla on Saturday, Kylian Mbappe becomes the youngest player to reach 50 goals in the French league when he struck twice for Paris Saint-Germain in a 3-0 win against Nimes. AP

Given the way Mbappe is playing for PSG this season, with a league-leading 22 goals in just 20 games, he seems destined to finish higher in the next Ballon d’Or vote. “I go by the principle that one day someone will come along and do better,” he said. “You should always try to go as far as you can, otherwise, one day or another, someone will overtake you,” he said.

LEADING THE LINE

KYLIAN MBAPPE has been sharper and more focused recently in a center forward’s role, and in the absence of Neymar. He’s been playing through the middle as a pure striker, rather than out wide, because Edinson Cavani and Neymar are injured. In the four games since both have

Albot becomes first Moldovan to capture ATP tour-level title ELRAY BEACH, Florida—Radu Albot became the first Moldovan to win an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour-level title on Sunday, beating English qualifier Daniel Evans, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7), in the Delray Beach Open. “I think a lot of people were watching, especially my parents and my friends, and I want to say ‘Hi’ to my parents

The Associated Press

“It’s easy to say I didn’t take those match points but I think he played great when he needed to play great,” Evans said. “He played some really great tennis at the end when he needed it. I left it all out there.” Albot was taken to three sets in his last four matches this week, and won his last three matches from a one-set deficit.

been out, Mbappe has scored five goals and led the line with great maturity. When Neymar plays, Mbappe systematically looks to pass to him, which often slows down PSG’s approach play. Although ambitious PSG spent a world-record €222 million ($252 million) to buy Neymar from Barcelona two years ago, the uncomfortable truth for PSG may be that Mbappe is more effective than the injury-prone Brazil star. Still, PSG Coach Thomas Tuchel should give Mbappe a rest on Tuesday night for the visit of struggling Dijon in the French Cup quarterfinals. In the past four games Mbappe has played the full 90 minutes. Even with his high fitness levels, that is pushing it. It’s time for Mbappe to put his feet up for once. AP “It was not in the plan, losing the first set and coming back,” Albot said. “It worked how pretty good this week. When you lose a set it’s not losing the match because you have to win two sets.” Albot led 2-1 in the third set with a service break when the match was stalled by a 56-minute rain delay. The first Moldovan in the top 100, Albot should move up to the low 50s in Monday’s ranking. It was the second final of Evans’s career. He lost to Gilles Muller in the 2017 Sydney final. AP

like when he was on top of his game two years ago. He closed with a five-under 66 for a five-shot victory over Rory McIlroy in the Mexico Championship. “This is a big one for me, and it gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year,” Johnson said. “I feel like the game is in good form right now.” Johnson becomes the 38th player in PGA Tour history with 20 victories, which makes him a lifetime member when he puts in 15 years. He won on both sides of a four-week journey, which started with his victory in the Saudi International, and he will return to No. 1 in the world next week. McIlroy did all he could, making six birdies in a sevenhole stretch on the back nine, and closed with a 67. “I was making birdies and going nowhere,” McIlroy said. “He just played great this week. Hats off to him. He’s arguably the best player in the world. And he’s got two wins already this year, and he has been one of the best players for a long time.” Johnson won the Mexico Championship for the second time in three years. It was in 2017 when he was playing the best golf of his life, with three straight victories against the strongest fields, only to suffer a back injury when he slipped down the stairs in his rental house on the eve of the Masters. “It’s the closest I’ve felt to that since I got hurt two years ago,” Johnson said. “I finally feel like everything is getting very close to where I was then.... If I know I’m hitting it well and driving it good, it’s going to give me a lot of confidence.” The only drama came early. Johnson had to make an 18-foot par on No. 2 to avoid a two-shot swing. He had to make a 6-foot putt to salvage bogey on the next hole to keep his lead at two. McIlroy made bogey on the next hole, and then the tournament turned on two holes and two trees. Johnson hit iron off the tee to the right at No. 5 and his ball settled right behind a tree. He called for a ruling, and showed the official that with a shot slightly behind toward the fairway, his right heel was on the curb of a cart path. He was given free relief, carved a punch 6-iron under the tree limbs and twoputted from 50 feet for an unlikely par. “I got a fortunate break there on No. 5 and ended up making a nice par,” he said. “Sometimes the rules work to your advantage.” On the par-5 sixth, McIlroy went left and his ball settled behind a tree. He asked for relief and was denied. McIlroy said he wanted to chip away from the fairway to an open area, and when he showed European Tour official Mike Stewart his intended shot, his right foot was on the path. However, to play at that angle, a 4-inch nob on the trunk blocked the path of his club, meaning McIlroy wouldn’t be able to make contact. To play out left-handed, McIlroy would have had to stretch his foot to reach the path. In both cases, relief was denied. Stewart said he asked McIlroy if he wanted a second opinion, and McIlroy declined. He punched out left-handed, and his third shot went into the water, leading to a bogey. Johnson made an 8-foot birdie, the lead was up to five shots and he was on his way. “I could definitely see where Mike was coming from,” McIlroy said. “I was taking a stance that was hitting it one way, and my foot was on it. But I could sort of see his point, as well. That’s why I didn’t call for a second opinion. It wasn’t going to make much of a difference anyway. I was looking left, and I didn’t have much of a shot from there, either.” Johnson finished at 21-under 263, the lowest score by five shots in the three years at Chapultepec. McIlroy continue his solid run. This was his fourth consecutive finish in the top five, the longest such streak of his career. Tiger Woods got his first top 10 of the year, but it wasn’t all that inspiring. He again struggled on the poa greens of Chapultepec. Over the last two rounds, Woods hit 31 out of 36 greens in regulation and only had scores of 70 and 69 to show for it. For the second straight day, he declined to speak to reporters and gave comments only to a PGA Tour official. The best round belonged to Justin Thomas, who closed with a 62 before heading off to the Honda Classic to defend his title. Even so, this day was all about Johnson. He is off for two weeks before returning at The Players Championship, the Dell Match Play and the Masters. He’s not about to relax now. “There’s too many important tournaments coming up,” Johnson said. “I want to keep my game as sharp as I can.”

Holy God

EAR Holy God, You are near to those who call on You from their hearts. In faith we pray: Save us, Oh God. Bestow Your grace on servant world leaders, diplomats, as they negotiate healing and peace all over the world. Uphold efforts to protect the rain forest and endangered ecosystems from depletion and harm. Assist efforts to end gun violence, and stop training of the young to use war weapons. May God watch over our coming and our going and keep us in love, now and always. Amen! GIVE US THIS DAY, SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL

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Life

IN AN UPSET, ‘GREEN BOOK’ WINS BEST PICTURE AT OSCARS D3

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 26, 2019 D1

Broken pottery becomes more beautiful, precious Story & photos by Linda Lombardi

The Associated Press

F you search online for kintsugi, most of what you’ll find in English is self-help advice that uses this Japanese craft as a jumping-off point. The idea of repairing broken pottery in a way that makes it more beautiful than it was before is apparently an irresistible metaphor for recovering from life’s trials and tribulations. When I tried kintsugi for myself at a workshop in Tokyo recently, I couldn’t help wondering how many of those writers based their simile on hands-on experience. The craft was a lot more tedious than I’d expected—but maybe that made the metaphor all the more true? The usual goal when repairing something is to make the fix unnoticeable, restoring an object as closely as possible to its original appearance. Kintsugi takes the opposite approach: Chips and cracks are outlined and filled in with gold, creating a new design and adding a material that looks precious. The craft is said to go back to the 15th century, and I was disappointed at first to learn from instructor Yoshiko Kuge that we would not be using traditional materials. The reasons soon became obvious, though. Of course it makes sense that beginners wouldn’t be using real gold—the usual replacement is a powder made of copper and brass—but, in addition, the ancient method took literally months to complete. Kuge demonstrated the old technique by mixing a little sticky plant resin with clay powder, and then dripping a drop of it onto a chip on the lip of a cup. That was it for today: Now, you’d have to wait a month for that thin layer to dry, then repeat the process until enough layers had been built up to fill the gap. Instead, we would use an epoxy putty that dries in a few minutes—an obvious improvement as far as speed, especially for a two-hour class. It’s also not as toxic as the old-fashioned materials, which can cause allergic reactions. The workshop had many beautiful examples on display of pottery broken into several pieces and reassembled with lines of gold, as well as some with decorative additions incorporated, like pieces of sea glass. We, however, started small, each choosing a cup that was intact except for a small chip on its rim. We each filled in the chip with a lump of putty that extended beyond the gap in all directions. After the putty dried, the next step was filing down the lump using a metal file that’s flat on one side and curved on the other—flat for the outside of the cup, curved for the inside. The gold of a finished kintsugi piece is textured, so we students were a bit surprised as we kept showing our pieces to the instructors and being told we weren’t done yet. Turns out the texture is completely due to the gold added later—we really needed to file the filler down till it was completely level with the original surfaces, a process that took quite some time. Then, when it looked like it was finally perfectly smooth, we had to make it even smoother with wet sandpaper so fine you can’t feel any roughness with your fingertip. At this point, the piece would normally be left to dry overnight, but so the workshop could be finished in one afternoon, Kuge effected a little time-travel with the use of a hair dryer. Once the piece cooled off, finally we got to

EXAMPLE of kintsugi at the Kuge Crafts workshop in Tokyo. Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese method of repairing broken pottery with gold that creates a new work of art. PHOTOS: AP

what we came for: the gold. In a tiny tray, the gold powder (made of brass and copper) is mixed with a resin; this is made from cashew nuts and is apparently less toxic than the traditional kind. We dipped a fine-tipped brush into some thinner and then into the gold mixture and used it to first outline our chip, then fill it in. (This is harder on the inside of the cup, where it’s hard to get a good angle.) Next we got to indulge in a tiny bit of artistic license: When you paint the

fine crack that extends from the bottom of the chip, no one’s going to know if you make it a little longer than it really was. A more experienced craftsperson can also add designs to flat areas; Kuge showed us examples covered with tiny dots and with traditional patterns of nested half-circles. Finally, with a larger brush, we took more of the dry powder and dusted it onto everything we’d just painted. At first, we needed to be careful not to touch the wet

surface, but once it was covered with powder, it was safe to brush off the extra. Although this didn’t take the months of waiting that it did in earlier centuries, we still were not quite done: After two days we’d need to wash the extra gold powder off with soapy water and a sponge, and then wait two weeks for the piece to dry completely. If you want to try kintsugi, you can buy Japanesemade kits with all the materials. These will cost over $100

if you wait to go home to the United States and order them online, but even if you’re shopping in Japan they’re pricier than buying the components separately. Kuge provides students with a shopping list (with photos, for the Japanese-impaired). The shopping list was a nice gesture, but for my part, what I learned about this craft is that I’m going to leave it to the experts, as least for pottery. As far as the life metaphor, I’ll have to think on it.

Filipino design manufacturers conquer world’s leading consumer goods fair

HAMILO COAST FREIA SHOWROOM LAUNCH HAMILO Coast (www.hamilocoast.com), SM Prime’s sustainable beach resort township in Nasugbu, Batangas, has opened its showroom at Pico de Loro Cove, highlighting its latest leisure residential project, Freia. A premier beachfront condo development, Freia offers stunning sea and mountain views in Pico de Loro Cove. The showroom features two model units, one of which was exquisitely designed by Budji+Royal—a two-bedroom unit with views of the West Philippine Sea.

The ceremonial ribbon-cutting (photo) was led by SM Prime Executive Vice President Shirley Ong (center), together with other SMPHI and Costa del Hamilo Inc. executives and project consultants: (from left) AVP/Marketing Mabe de Goitia, VP/Project Development Imee Francisco, AVP JM Garcia, Crearis’ Arch. Mike Espiritu, Budji+Royal’s Roslu Kaufmann, Pico de Loro Beach and Country Club General Manager Maggie Garcia, GF & Partners’ Arch. Arlie Cruz, and SAVP/Sales & Projects Alexis Ortiga.

THE biggest in its four straight years of participation since 2016, the Philippines once again conquer the international stage as it generated export sales in Ambiente, a leading international fair held in Germany. Twentyfour Philippine exhibitors from various sectors, such as furniture and lighting, home décor and houseware, and gifts and seasonal décors exhibited alongside the world’s top manufacturers in Messe Frankfurt in Germany from February 8 to 12. “The trend now is gearing toward natural with soft but colorful hues, and we are proud to say we have already started that direction in the Manila FAME October 2018 editon,” said Tony Gonzales, designer and overall curator of the Philippine participation in Ambiente. After a 15-year hiatus from curating the Philippine delegation in the largest B2B trade show in the world, Gonzales returned last year and led the country once again with a successful participation. The 2018 Philippine participation in Ambiente exceeded targets as it generated $2.3-millon export sales. “We are already ahead of the game as we have been developing products since last year for Manila FAME. We used this time to really

refine the products that we brought in Germany. The Filipinos are already known for their design sensibilities, but we wanted to bring products that are not just design-centric but also saleable,” Gonzales noted as he delved deeper on the business of design. With a theme “Sustainability Through Design,” LifestylePhilippines championed ecological sustainability by harnessing the different natural resources abundant in the Philippines, such as mother of pearl, abaca (Manila hemp), raffia, rattan, buri and other plant fibers. These renewable resources were transformed into unique, functional products that reflect the exquisite Filipino design sustainability. For a more extensive presentation of the Philippine product design sectors, join or visit the Manila FAME, one of the longest-running trade shows in the Asia-Pacific region. Also organized by DTI-Citem, Manila FAME is the only trade event in the Philippines approved by the Union des Foires Internationales, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry. It is held biannually every April and October. The next show is slated from April 25 to 27, 2019, at the World Trade Center, Pasay City, Philippines.

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BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

‘The Widows’ is intriguing debut by Jess Montgomery By Oline H. Cogdill

are capable of standing up to men who routinely dismiss women. Marvena’s union activism has long set her apart. But Lily, appointed acting sheriff by men who think they can manage her, shows her mettle by taking her new position very seriously. This often puts her at odds with Daniel’s nasty half brother, Luther, and the Pinkertons he hired to control, with violence if necessary, the mine workers. Montgomery skillfully explores the residents whose lives are ruled by the coal corporation that keeps them bound to their dangerous jobs and in poverty because of the high rent of the company-owned housing and rules about using the company store for all supplies. Many of the coal miners were World War I veterans, returning home only to find few opportunities and a homegrown war between the miners and the coal company. Lily and Marvena are just two of the widows who have lost their husbands to the mines, violence or disease; there’s a reason why one mine is nicknamed The Widowmaker. The Widows also shows how class differences influence how the residents deal with each other—manifested in Lily, who came from a well-off family, and Marvena, whose family was poor—and how this is overcome. Lily is based on the life of Maude Collins, Ohio’s first female sheriff. While Marvena is based on activist Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, though Montgomery takes a more fictional approach with that character. Montgomery’s storytelling skills and historical research in The Widows make this new series one to look forward to.

The Associated Press

HE atmosphere of an oldfashioned Western permeates this intriguing debut that mixes workers’ rights, corruption, Prohibition and women’s rights set in the harshly stark Appalachian Ohio coal-mining country during 1925. Beautifully plotted and filled with believable characters, The Widows (Minotaur) explores an era and an area struggling to be a part of the modern 20th century, yet constantly pulled backward to its unsettled past. Jess Montgomery, executive director of the Antioch Writers’ Workshop, draws on actual historical incidents that richly explore the people behind events in the launch of this series that shows much potential. “The Widows” are Lily Ross, married to Bronwyn County Sheriff Daniel Ross and pregnant with her third child, and Marvena Whitcomb, a moonshiner and union organizer whose common-law husband John was killed trying to rescue trapped miners. On the surface, the two women have nothing in common, but a connection is revealed after Daniel is killed when escorting a prisoner who was a miner. The women meet when Marvena, trying to find Daniel and unaware of the situation, shows up at his funeral to ask if Daniel has found her wayward daughter, Eula, or her brother, Tom. Reluctantly, Lily and Marvena begin an uneasy alliance, spurred on by their mutual grief over Daniel. Both women prove their strength and intelligence, and that they

Sales for Jill Abramson book sluggish during first week NEW YORK—Days of relentless publicity, much of it unwanted, did not lead to many sales for Jill Abramson’s Merchants of Truth. The former New York Times executive editor’s media critique sold just over 2,800 copies through its first week of publication, according to numbers released on February

14 by NPD BookScan, which tracks around 85 percent of the print market. The book came out on February 5, and throughout the week Abramson addressed allegations of lifting outside material without proper credit, starting with several passages noted in a tweet by Vice News

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Several publishers had bid on Merchants of Truth, which Simon & Schuster acquired in 2015, a year after Abramson was fired by the Times after a contentious run as executive editor. When she took the position in 2011, she became the first woman in the paper’s history to hold that title. Merchants of Truth focuses on the Times and The Washington Post, along with Vice and fellow digital company BuzzFeed. AP

correspondent Michael C. Moynihan. Abramson promised to amend the text in future editions but has been widely criticized for making errors that someone of her standing should not have committed, especially in a book evaluating journalistic standards.

‘The Uninhabitable Earth’ explores climate doomsday By Kevin Begos The Associated Press

THE science is clear: Massive fossil fuel use by humans is raising temperatures in the oceans and air, the seas are rising, and we aren’t building nearly enough green energy to slow the process. But does preaching global doom inspire change, or just resignation? The worth of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (Tim Duggan Books) by David WallaceWells hinges on that question. The Uninhabitable Earth originated as a long essay for New York magazine in 2017, and the book repeats the same formula. Wallace-Wells argues that it is past time to be very afraid about the devastation that humans and ecosystems will suffer. Some scientists criticized the extreme tone of the magazine piece, but David Archer, a respected climate expert at the University of Chicago, said then

that Wallace-Wells “is not wrong, wildly misleading, or out of bounds of the discussion we should be having about climate change.” But if the book is justified in discussing worst-case scenarios, Wallace-Wells repeatedly confuses the message by bouncing between alarm and caution. There’s the title, yet soon we’re told that “it is unlikely that climate change will render the planet truly uninhabitable.” He writes that the Syrian civil war was “inflamed by climate change and drought,” but later adds that scientists say it is “not exactly fair to say the conflict is the result of warming.” Books should also have deeper narratives than magazine pieces, and The Uninhabitable Earth doesn’t. WallaceWells speculates about climate doomsday from every possible angle, but says little about the tremendous global progress in reducing wind or solar power costs. A single wonky chapter on the benefits,

Today’s Horoscope By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Corinne Bailey Rae, 40; Erykah Badu, 48; Mark Dacascos, 55; Michael Bolton, 66. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Keep your goals in perspective. Refuse to let emotional matters deter you from using your time and talents properly. Focus on the positive, and keep your distance from troublemakers or those trying to coerce you into situations that aren’t emotionally sound. Moderation and simplicity will lead to achievement and financial stability, and peace and love will bring you happiness. Your lucky numbers are 8, 15, 22, 26, 31, 34, 40.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your desire for change should not overrule making a wise choice. Consider the consequence of your actions before taking part in something that lacks enough facts, verifications or consistency to ensure the risk isn’t too great. Play it safe. «««««

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Listen and follow through with questions if something seems too good to be true. You can make a deal, but it has to be on your terms and for the right reason. Experience should shed light on a dubious situation. «««

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t let emotions interfere when making a decision. Look at the logistics of whatever situation you face and act accordingly. A problem with someone you are collaborating with or working alongside will develop if you or the other person exaggerates. «««

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Look at the possibilities and take action. Don’t worry too much about what others do. Follow the path that is most conducive to reaching your goal. A unique idea will excite you, but before you proceed, consider the cost involved. «««

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Participate in events that will help you find alternatives to the way you are using your skills, experience and knowledge. An opportunity someone offers may not be as lucrative as you are led to believe. Get what you want in writing. «««««

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Get out with people who share your opinions and are trying to achieve similar goals. Sharing information and spending time developing ideas will help alleviate mistakes. Relationships and emotional problems should be handled with care. Truth matters. ««

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Question the expense of any proposal someone makes. A change may be in order, but how you go about it will determine your success. Moderation should be enforced to avoid loss or being taken advantage of. ««««

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Expand your interests, use your skills and creative talent and discuss your options with someone you like to collaborate with. You will come up with an idea and form a partnership that can lead to positive results. «««

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Emotional matters will escalate if you let someone interfere in your business. You’ll be given the wrong impression about someone. Don’t make assumptions, and take action when closer scrutiny should be taken. Gather facts before reacting. «««

costs and challenges of bringing a green energy revolution to New York City would have been welcome—and timely. Generals motivate troops by searching for ways to win, not by telling everyone they are doomed to die. The book suffers from unnecessary hyperbole, too. Wallace-Wells loses credibility with claims that “global warming has improbably compressed into two generations the entire story of human civilization” and that three or more degrees of warming “would unleash suffering beyond anything that humans have ever experienced through many millennia.” One wonders where Wallace-Wells places the Bubonic plague and deaths from malaria, typhoid, AIDS, starvation, war, the Holocaust and the like. Yet the time to slow climate change is running out, so perhaps the tone of The Uninhabitable Earth is a necessary response. If the book inspires a new generation of climate activists, more power to Wallace-Wells.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Your help will be solicited by someone trying to take advantage of you. Look at every angle before you step into a situation that can make you look bad or end up costing you emotionally, financially or physically. «««

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look at your options and sign up wherever you will make the most use of your time and your skills. An opportunity should be considered carefully, and what’s offered should be put in writing before you agree. ««««

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Listen to what others have to say, but don’t get into an emotional spat with someone who is taking out his or her frustrations on you. Separate the good from the bad when dealing with others to avoid negativity and setbacks. «« BIRTHDAY BABY: You are emotional, imaginative and ambitious. You are charming and popular.

‘i’m no mathematician’ BY PAM AMICK KLAWITTER The Universal Crossword/Edited by Timothy E. Parker

ACROSS 1 Line on a jacket 4 Yellow Monopoly bills 8 Doing a hen’s job 14 Tribute poem 15 “Got it!” 16 Maine national park 17 Labyrinth beast 19 “And how!” 20 Certain vodka’s worth? 22 Donut topping 23 Fictional journalist Skeeter 24 Core workout target 27 Tot’s choosing word 28 Filled shell 29 Girl Scout’s favorite island nation? 31 Swiss cheese measures? 33 Belgrade’s country 37 Comes to an end 38 Demolition derby pileup? 42 Still ___ (Julianne Moore film) 43 Skater Lipinski 44 Disney transport

8 Calligraphy tool 4 49 Buffalo lake 50 “I Got a Name” singer Jim 51 Paths around Times and Trafalgar? 54 Read eagerly 57 Restrained, as a dog 58 Martin Sheen’s eldest 59 Kinky? 60 “Suit and ___” (2013 hit) 61 Broad neck scarves 62 Rubs the wrong way 63 Aliens, for short DOWN 1 Tribute 2 Safe for consumption 3 One of the elite 2 percent 4 Line on a jacket 5 Isaac’s eldest 6 Not picking sides 7 Smile accompanier, at times 8 Boxing great Ali 9 Rights-defending org. 10 Bulldogs’ school

1 Bar cards, briefly 1 12 Actress Long or Peeples 13 The “G” of LGBT 18 Like slime 21 Gobs and gobs 24 Iowa college town 25 Tedious person 26 Rebellious teen’s talk 28 Perfectly 29 Neverland sidekick 30 Attorneys’ grp. 31 Trail trek 32 USC archrival 33 Make a trade 34 Author ___ Stanley Gardner 35 Jockey’s strap 36 E-mail field letters 39 Razor choice 40 Kenya’s capital 41 Less ready to pick 44 T, on a test 45 Photo editing option 46 Nails every answer

7 Comes together perfectly 4 49 French coins 50 Indianapolis NFL team 51 Play by oneself? 52 Give up 53 File’s partner 54 Raider’s org. 55 Long dashes 56 Crown ___ (informal Ford) Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

Show BusinessMirror

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

In an upset, ‘Green Book’ wins best picture at Oscars By Jake Coyle

The Associated Press

OS ANGELES—The segregation-era road-trip drama Green Book was crowned best picture at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Hollywood’s top award to a film seen as a feel-good throwback by some and ridiculed as an outdated inversion of Driving Miss Daisy by others. In a year where Hollywood could have made history by bestowing best-picture on Netflix (Roma) or Marvel (Black Panther) for the first time, the motion picture academy instead threw its fullest support behind a traditional interracial buddy tale that proved as popular as it was divisive. But Peter Farrelly’s Green Book weathered criticism that it was retrograde and inauthentic to triumph over more acclaimed films and bigger box-office successes. It was an unexpected finale to a brisk, hostless ceremony awash in historic wins for diversity, including Spike Lee’s first competitive Oscar. Lee, whose Do the Right Thing came out the same year that Driving Miss Daisy won best picture, was among those most visibly upset by the award handed to Green Book. After presenter Julia Roberts announced it, Lee stood up, waved his hands in disgust and started pacing up and down the aisles. Green Book also won best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali and best original screenplay. “The whole story is about love,” said Farrelly, a comedy veteran of broad comedies like Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. ‘’It’s about loving each other despite the differences and find out the truth about who we are. We’re the same people.” The Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles otherwise spread awards around for Ryan Coogler’s superhero sensation Black Panther, Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white personal epic Roma, and the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Lee’s win for best adapted screenplay for his white supremacist drama BlacKkKlansman, an award he shared with three cowriters, gave the Dolby Theatre ceremony on Sunday its signature moment. The crowd rose in a standing ovation, Lee leapt into the arms of presenter Samuel L. Jackson and even the backstage press room burst into applause. Lee, whose film including footage of President Donald J. Trump following the violent white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, urged mobilization for the upcoming election. “Let’s be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love and hate,” said Lee, who was given an honorary Oscar in 2015. “Let’s do the right thing! You knew I had to get that in there.” One of the biggest surprises of the night was in the best actress category. Olivia Colman won for her Queen Anne in the royal romp The Favourite, denying Glenn Close her first Oscar. Close remains the most-nominated living actor never to win, with seven nominations. “Ooo. It’s genuinely quite stressful,” said a staggered Colman, who later turned to Close to say she was her idol, “And this is not how I wanted it to be.” Bohemian Rhapsody, which kicked off the ABC telecast with a performance by Queen, won four awards despite pans from many critics and sexual assault allegations against its director, Bryan Singer, who was fired in mid-production. Its star, Rami Malek, won best actor for his full-bodied and prosthetic teeth-aided performance, and the film was honored for editing, sound mixing and sound editing. “We made a film about a gay man, an immigrant who lived his life unapologetically himself,” said Malek. “We’re longing for stories like this. I am the son of immigrants from Egypt. I’m a first-generation American, and part of my story is being written right now.” The lush, big-budget craft of Black Panther won for Ruth Carter’s costume design, Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart’s production design, and Ludwig Göransson’s score. Beachler had been the first African-American to ever be nominated in the category. Beachler and Carter became just the second and third black women to win nonacting Oscars. “It just means that we’ve opened the door,” Carter, a veteran costume designer, said backstage. “Finally, the door is wide open.” Two years after winning for his role in Moonlight, Mahershala Ali won again for his supporting performance in Green Book—a role many said was really a lead. Ali is the second black actor to win two Oscars following Denzel Washington, who won for Glory and Training Day. Ali dedicated the award to his grandmother. The night’s colead nominee Roma won best director and best cinematography for Cuaron, whose film also notched Mexico’s first foreign language film Oscar. Cuaron and his “Three Amigos” countrymen—Alejandro Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro, who presented Cuaron with best picture—will have had a stranglehold on category, winning five of the last six years. Cuaron, who becoming the first director to ever win for serving as his own director of photography, referenced an especially international crop of nominees in one of his three acceptance speeches. “When asked about the New Wave, Claude Chabrol said there are no waves, there is only the ocean,” said Cuaron, referring to the French filmmaker. “The nominees tonight have proven that we are a part of the same ocean.” The wins for Roma gave Netflix its most significant awards yet, but Green Book denied the streaming giant the best picture win it dearly sought. Netflix remains to some a contentious force in Hollywood, since it largely bypasses theaters. Queen launched on Sunday’s ceremony with a medley of hits that gave the awards a

MULTIAWARDED GMA News anchor and host Jessica Soho

LEADING Philippine broadcast company GMA continues to make a mark in the global scene with three representatives being invited to the 2019 New York Festivals’ Grand Jury, namely Senior Vice President for News and Public Affairs Marissa Flores, First Vice President for Public Affairs Nessa Valdellon, and multiawarded anchor and host Jessica Soho. In addition to being a Grand Jury member, Flores will also again be part of the NYF’s Advisory Board. Flores, who concurrently serves as GMA News Online’s executive vice president for Editorial, has been credited for the comprehensive growth of the network’s News and Public Affairs organization that currently airs more than 30 regular programs, as well as numerous public affairs specials. Under her leadership, the department has earned the distinction of being the most awarded broadcast news organization in the country. Valdellon, meanwhile, has worked in television for more than two decades as a producer, executive producer, and program manager of documentaries, public affairs, reality TV and drama programs. In 2011,

Peter Farrelly with the Best Picture Oscar for his film Green Book.

OLIVIA

COLEMAN wins as Best Actress for The Favourite.

RAMI

MALEK with the Best Actor plum for his work on Bohemian Rhapsody.

REGINA

KING wins the Best Supporting Actress plum for her turn in If Beale Street Could Talk.

ALFONSO CUARON wins as Best Director for Roma, the Netflix film which also won as Best Foreign Language Film.

distinctly Grammy-like flavor, as Hollywood’s most prestigious ceremony sought to prove that it’s still “champion of the world” after last year’s record-low ratings. To compensate for a lack of host, the motion picture academy leaned on its presenters, including an ornately outfitted Melissa McCarthy and David Tyree Henry and a KeeganMichael Key who floated down like Mary Poppins. Following Queen, Tina Fey—alongside Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph—welcomed the Dolby Theatre audience to “the onemillionth Academy Awards.” Rudolph summarized a rocky Oscar preamble that featured numerous missteps and backtracks by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: “There is no host, there won’t be a popular movie category and Mexico is not paying for the wall.” The trio then presented best supporting actress to Regina King for her pained matriarch

in Barry Jenkins’s James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk. The crowd gave King a standing ovation for her first Oscar. “To be standing here representing one of the greatest artist of our time, James Baldwin, is a little surreal,” said King. “James Baldwin birthed this baby.” The inclusivity of the winners on Sunday stood in stark contrast to the #OscarsSoWhite backlash that marked the 2016 and 2015 Oscars. Since then, the academy has worked to diversify its largely white and male membership, adding several thousand new members and opening the academy up internationally. n Associated Press writers Kristin M. Hall, Andrew Dalton and Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report.

‘Love Inclusively’ benefit concert for children with special needs Jessica Soho, GMA News and Public Affairs execs join New York Festivals Grand Jury

DIRECTOR

GMA Senior Vice President for News and Public Affairs Marissa Flores

GMA First Vice President for Public Affairs Nessa Valdellon

she spearheaded the launch of GMA News TV, which is now regarded as the leading local news channel. She was creator of the social realist series Bayan Ko and Titser and will soon be launching the online newscast Stand for Truth, winner of an innovation funding grant from YouTube. As the country’s most awarded broadcast journalist, Soho marked another milestone in Philippine broadcast history last year after becoming the very first Filipino news anchor to become a finalist at the New York Festivals Television and Film Awards, taking home the Bronze Medal in the Best News Anchor category for GMA News TV’s flagship newscast State of the Nation with Jessica Soho (SONA). She is also a two-time recipient of the highly prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. The three join award-winning directors, producers, writers, actors and various other creative media professionals from across the globe in recognizing TV programs and films from all over 50 countries. To ensure impartiality, all NYF judges are prohibited from judging entries from their own companies.

THE Center for Possibilities Foundation, an nongovernment organization dedicated specifically to addressing the plight of indigent children with special needs, will be staging Love Inclusively, a benefit concert featuring the Manila Symphony Orchestra, and performances from exceptional individuals Henry Munarriz, Samantha Kaspar and Juno Santos. One of the concert’s highlights will be the special participation of Ogie Alcasid, who has graciously offered his time and renowned talent to this cause. The concert is aimed at raising funds for the special education for indigent children with special needs at the foundations SPED (special education) center in Sagada, Mountain Province, and its soon-to-beopened SPED center in Norzagaray, Bulacan. The education of differentially abled individuals is a greatly under-addressed need in developing countries, and even more so in far-flung rural areas, such as Sagada and Norzagaray. This is why the proceeds of the concert will be used to fund neuropsychological evaluations (P15,000 per child), assessments by developmental professionals (P10,000 per child), and therapy sessions for exceptional individuals that may include physical, occupational and speech therapy (P2,000 per session). Sending a single child to school for a month costs P20,000, and day-to-day operations of each center amount to P50,000 per month. Preceding the concert will be the exhibit Art Exceptional, a collection of never-before-seen works of exceptional individuals Juno Santos, Samantha Kaspar, Juno Santos and Vico Cham. Kaspar will also be launching her personally designed fragrances named “Aware,” “Inspire” and “Embrace.” Love Inclusively goes onstage on March 2 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of the RCBC Plaza, Makati City. Donations will be accepted at the entrance.

D4 Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Art

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Conrad Manila serves a bountiful exhibit in line with National Arts Month JUST THAT JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

N abundant spread of contemporary Filipino paintings, sculptures and photographs fill up the hallway exhibition space Gallery C at Conrad Manila in the seventh installment of its periodic Of Art and Wine series. Featuring 32 local artists and 64 for-sale pieces of different mediums, the hotel’s largest exhibition to date is titled Art Harvest at Gallery C, inspired by the theme of this year’s National Arts Month, “Ani ng Sining, Alab ng Dangal”. The annual celebration is observed every February since 1991 through Presidential Proclamation No. 683, which aims to highlight the artistic brilliance of Filipinos. “Art is part of our DNA,” said Laurent Boisdron, Conrad Manila general manager at the recent launch of the ongoing show. “We celebrate National Arts Month every year since we launched in June 2016. Together with our owners, SM, through the SM Foundation, we care about arts and culture, as does our global hospitality group, Hilton.” Among the pieces in the packed show are two Joe Datuin pieces: a 2019 stainless steel work titled Mother and Child and a 2017 mixed-media piece tagged Homage to Elseworth Kelly, both priced at P500,000-plus. Also featured are Ferdinand Cacnio sculptures (P380,000-plus), Lenore R.S. Lim mixed-media works (P300,000-plus) and Fil dela Cruz paintings (P208,000-plus), together with Dopy Doplon digital archival print pieces (P45,000) and Pinggot Zulueta mixed media creations (P130,000). The idea behind the harvest-inspired exhibit was conceptualized, fittingly, over food. Boisdron invited artist/curator Ross Capili for a lunch meeting to discuss his solo show at Gallery C this October. Capili quipped that he came in for the great food, but over the course of their conversation, he was served with a task that became the “main course” of their meal. Boisdron asked Capili for a preview show this February. The artist, however, declined, citing a separate show he’s preparing for in March. Instead, MOONLIGHT, 3x3ft, 2018

ART Harvest at Gallery C is Conrad Manila’s largest art exhibit to date with 64 pieces from 32 contemporary Filipino visual artists.

he was asked to organize a show featuring different artists that can be tied with the celebration with the National Arts Month. He agreed, but only had two weeks to prepare for the exhibit. “One challenge was I didn’t have artists and artworks ready,” Capili said. He blasted invitations to 38 artists with simple guidelines: “Basta hindi basa ang paint,” and they needed to reply within four hours. All but six artists responded, and Conrad Manila’s biggest exhibit was born. Capili has years of curatorial experience, having

started in 1993 at Gallery Lafayette in Paris. For Art Harvest, he had to make sure that all the pieces complemented each other, regardless of medium. “With paintings, sculptures and photographs, dapat hindi yan nag-aaway,” Capili said. ‘Yan din kasi ang gusto ko i-portray dito sa Art Harvest, that it’s a bounty.” The curator also has two pieces to his name: Nature’s Melody II (P260,000-plus) and Song at Dusk (P290,000-plus), both acrylic-on-canvas. He described his work of layered paintings as a celebration and interplay on nature—a memoir of

Rijksmuseum shows off its Rembrandts in blockbuster show By Mike Corder The Associated Press

ANXIETY 2, 4x5ft, 2019

Norberto Carating’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ NORBERTO CARATING’S exhibition Moonlight Sonata is on view until March 23 at the Mezzanine of the Makati Shangri-la Manila. In the words of Professor Ruben DF Defeo, “Carating is back to nature. The natural world bursts in a technicolor explosion that is very happy and very positive. The paintings are layers of personal experience of going back to essentials—where each moment is highly nuanced, each memory is heavily glossed with patina and each emotion is laden with both fun and fury.” Carating is one artist who is always in search of materials to enhance, if not improve, his texturing techniques. When he chanced upon this coarse pumice in an art store, he thought of playing with the possibilities of the tectonic material in his art making. The results are highly spontaneous and gestural eruptions in his works. The exhibit is organized by the Hiraya Gallery (www.hiraya.com).

the costs of urban decay, such as the memory of a butterfly, or a rose. Aside from ensuring harmony between the pieces, another focus of Capili was to engage the viewer with the artwork by stripping the labels of the pieces’ details and using numeric codes for identification instead. “I don’t want the artwork’s title to save them,” he said. “I want the viewer to interpret the pieces by themselves, especially the abstracts.” Art Harvest at Gallery C runs until March 9 at Conrad Manila.

AMSTERDAM—For the first time, and likely the last, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is showing off most of its works by Rembrandt van Rijn in a single exhibition. From imposing portraits to intimate sketches and prints that usually lie cocooned in the darkness of climate-controlled storage, the Amsterdam museum is exhibiting 22 paintings, 60 drawings and some 300 of its best etchings in the blockbuster show that turns visitors into flies on the walls of the Dutch master’s life. “I think the exhibition wonderfully explains who Rembrandt was as a person,” said Pieter Roelofs, the museum’s head of paintings and sculpture. “So we really are brought into his private world and on the other hand, it gives a wonderful overview of Rembrandt as one of the most experimental and innovative artists in Western art history.” Museum Director Taco Dibbits said on Wednesday such a show is unlikely to be repeated. “This will never happen again because the works on paper are incredibly fragile,” he said. The museum actually owns 1,300 prints, but is showing only the best in the exhibition, “All the Rembrandts,” which opened on February 15. It is part of a raft of shows at museums across

DETAIL of Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait as the Apostle Paul (oil on canvas, 1661) with his signature seen left, close to the frame. AP

the Netherlands this year to mark the 350th anniversary of the artist’s death. The former Dutch queen, Princess Beatrix, formally opened festivities last month at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, home to another important collection of works by Rembrandt, including The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and a poignant self-portrait from 1669, the year Rembrandt died. The Mauritshuis is hoping it might finish the year with a couple more of his works. It is planning to conduct tests to see if it can conclusively attribute

two more of its paintings to Rembrandt—Study of an Old Man and Tronie of an Old Man. The Rijksmuseum show gives an unprecedented overview of Rembrandt’s progression from precocious young artist to the master of the Golden Age, who was one of the first to depict his subjects warts and all. “Rembrandt is the artist of human beings and he never idealizes so he really portrays people; how they are in their strengths and weaknesses,” Roelofs said. The one painting not in the special exhibition wing is the iconic Night Watch, which remains in pride of place in the museum’s Honor Gallery. The exhibition includes dozens of selfportraits that show how Rembrandt used what are effectively 17th century selfies to practice portraying emotions that later reappear in his bigger works; there is an intimate sketch of his wife Saskia lying ill in bed shortly before she died at the age of just 29, and etchings and drawings he made while wandering the streets and lanes of Leiden and Amsterdam. “I often say he’s the first Instagram and that’s not trying to be a popular,” Dibbits said. “But Rembrandt was decisive in the way that we look at today because he was the first artist who depicted the world around him. Otherwise we would still be making images of gods and goddesses. Rembrandt is the first to paint us as the human beings as we are.”

‘Considerata’ group exhibition at the Alliance Française de Manille ALLIANCE Française de Manille presents the exhibition, titled Considerata, a group show featuring the artists: Assemblage 1, Mark Bautista, Ninel Constantino, Benjie Cabangis, Cesar Caballero, Fitz Herrera, Chachu Lascano, Rico Lascano, Lenore Lim, Dan Matutina, Abe Orobia, Paul Quiano, Jay Ragma, Cid Reyes, Mitzi Reyes, Eghai Roxas and Tof Zapanta. The exhibition will run from March 2 to 30 at the Alliance Française de Manille Gallery. Inspired by the famous poem of Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, which seeks to suggest a way of life that uplifts us to noblest and most transformative possibilities, Maria Isabel Garcia, a woman of science who is the Curator of the Mind Museum and serves as managing director of the Bonifacio Art Foundation, has authored a series of poems, titled Considerata I to VII. Using the language of science, these poems call attention to our place in the universe. It visualizes our physical insignificance in the awesome entirety of space, and yet convinces us of the quintessential effect

humankind can initiate, if we but harness the unlimited potential of the human spirit. The message is most relevant and meaningful in these times where the noise of technology has numbed and derailed us from finding the authenticity of our inner selves. The exhibit will be a

spiritual communion of science and art, a visual exercise towards reawakening our essence, a wakeup call to find our true significance in the still ongoing cycle of Creation. Alliance Française de Manille Gallery is located at 209 Nicanor Garcia Street, Bel-Air II, Makati City.