BusinessMirror January 02, 2020

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Thursday, January 2, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 84

‘PHL failed to use Jpepa to expand market access’

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By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

FTER a decade, Manila has still failed to fully utilize the JapanPhilippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) to expand its market access to Tokyo, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

This was part of the discussion paper, titled “Jpepa, a Decade After: Evaluating the Effects in Philippine Exports using the Synthetic Control Method [SCM]” authored

by PIDS Research Associate Mark Anthony A. Barral and Senior

Research Fellow Francis Mark A. Quimba.

The study showed that sectors such as machinery and mechanical appliances even suffered from the trade pact while agricultural products, plastic and rubber, textiles,

electrical machinery and others did not see immediate improvements in exports to Japan under Jpepa.

“The results also imply that tariffs are not the only determinants of Philippine exports to Japan.

$8.89B The delays in the improvement of exports imply there are other factors influencing the market access of Philippine exports to Japan,” the authors said. “It is recommended that the Philippines focus more on the nontariff barriers to the Japanese market using the mechanisms available in Jpepa.”

The authors said domestic issues must also be addressed. These See “Jpepa,” A8

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laborem exercens

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resident Duterte continues to berate the two giant water companies—Manila Water and Maynilad. He fumes as to why these companies are able to treat water, a natural resource, as a commodity and as an object of endless profit-making exercises, made possible by onerous or one-sided water concession contracts forged by the water twins under the Ramos and Macapagal-Arroyo administrations.

We agree with him that water, a natural resource, should not be treated as another commodity. It is part of the national “commons” that should be equitably shared and enjoyed by all. The commons include land, forests, seas, culture and other resources, including the digital commons that form part of our national patrimony.

They should be developed and managed in a sustainable way to meet the needs of both the present and future generations.

BSP expands basis to disqualify officers of banks, quasi-banks

@joveemarie

See “Ursula,” A2

Rene E. Ofreneo

Continued on A6

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

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De-commodifying natural resources: Resurrecting the public sector

The country’s total exports to Japan in the January-to-October period in 2019, representing growth of only 1.9 percent from $8.72 billion in 2018

DA to rush aid to farmers, fisherfolk hit

by Ursula HE Department of Agriculture has vowed to fast-track the delivery of interventions to Typhoon Ursula-stricken farmers and fisherfolk as the damage and losses in the agriculture sector has now reached P1.35 billion.

In a bulletin report released on Tuesday, December 31, DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (DADRRM OpCen) said the damage and losses brought by Typhoon Ursula (international code name Phanfone) has risen to P1.35 billion from the previously reported P999.40 million.

With this, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said concerned DARegional Field Office are crafting their respective rehabilitation and recovery plans for typhoon-affected areas, which will be consolidated and finalized this month.

According to DA-DRRM OpCen, the updated reports from Bicol region and Eastern Visayas, particularly for rice, corn and high-value crops, livestock, agri-infrastructure facilities and irrigation, caused the increase in the total damage and losses.

It said the volume of production loss on rice, corn, high-value crops,

P25.00 nationwide | 4 sections 32 pages |

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FIERY START Some 300 families lost their homes to fire in Santa Ana district in Manila just hours after the New Year, as hospital emergency rooms were coping with the victims of firecracker explosions. This photo of the Santa Ana fire aftermath shows residents of the area salvaging what they can.The Bureau of Fire Protection is still investigating the cause of the fire. NONIE REYES

DOLE warns public against fake e-mail solicitation

By Samuel P. Medenilla

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@sam_medenilla

EWARE of bogus solicitation letters being circulated online purportedly coming from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), according to Labor Secretary Silvestre H.

Bello III. Bello issued the warning on Wednesday after getting reports that a spurious solicitation e-mail was sent to the DOLE’s regional offices and attached agencies on December 26, 2019.

The sender of the e-mail tried to make it appear the letter came from

DOLE’s administrative services using the e-mail address: administrativeservice@gmail.corn (corn, not .com).

It requested for a donation of at least $100 supposedly for leukemia patients and orphans. “This e-mail is fake and completely bogus. We Continued on A2

HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has expanded the grounds for disqualification of directors and officers of banks and quasi-banks in the country, it said on Wednesday.

New rules on the disqualification of bank and quasi-bank officers and directors were aimed at further strengthening the quality of governance in the financial services industry.

“The policy clarifies that persons who caused undue injury, material loss or damage to the bank or those who exposed the bank to higher risk or danger shall be disqualified from becoming a director or officer in other BSP-supervised financial institutions [BSFIs],” the Central Bank said.

In addition, the inclusion of dismissal from any government institution, conviction for offenses under the amended charter of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), and delinquency or unwillingness to settle obligations were also included among the grounds for disqualification.

“In order to promote transparency and ensure that persons concerned are accorded with due process, the revised policy sets out the disqualification procedures that will be followed,” the BSP said.

The Central Bank added that the new procedures provide a window for the person concerned to explain his side and present evidence to support his position.

“Once a person is disqualified, his name will be included in a watch list database and he can no longer be connected in any BSFIs unless his name is removed from the said list,” the BSP said.

The issuance complements the rules for directors and trustees and officers of banks which contain enhanced corporate governance standards for the board of directors and officers. “[The rules] set forth [directors’ and officers’] key roles and responsibilities consistent with the principle that the tone of good governance should come from the top,” the BSP said. Bianca Cuaresma

US 50.7440 n japan 0.4629 n UK 65.9926 n HK 6.5162 n CHINA 7.2512 n singapore 37.4909 n australia 35.2569 n EU 56.3512 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5238

Source: BSP (27 December 2019 )

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Islamic banking OK seen to boost biz in South

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By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

ITH the signing of new Islamic banking rules, lawmakers said investments are expected to surge in Mindanao this 2020.

Rep. Lawrence Fortun of Agusan del Norte made this forecast as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) approved the initial regulations implementing the new Islamic Banking Law, or Republic Act 11439.

According to Fortun, the new Islamic banking rules will encourage

foreign and local investors to invest in Mindanao.

“Foreign and local investors eyeing new investments in Islamic banking and finance now have the go-signal to move forward with their plans for Mindanao and cities where there are concentrations of

Filipino Muslims and Muslim expatriates,” said Fortun, a member of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries.

“With the new law and rules, the Islamic banks can soon reach out to the millions of ‘unbanked’ Filipinos. Most of the unbanked towns are in Mindanao,” said the Mindanaoan solon.

RA 11439 was signed into law by President Duterte last August 22.

Fortun said the RA 11439 is one significant legislative accomplishment for inclusive economy of the 17th Congress.

“The BSP was swift and wise to approve the Islamic banking rules

11439 will attract more investments in the country’s banking sector and complement the Bangsamoro Organic law (BOL).

The law refers to an Islamic bank as a business whose objectives and operations do not involve interest (riba), which is prohibited by the Shari’ah and which conducts its business transactions in accordance to Shari’ah principles.

Sangcopan said this will help Filipino Muslim businessmen gain access to banking and financial services that are attuned to the principles of Shari’ah or Islamic law.

“With the [implementation of this] law, Laos will be the remaining

“With the new law and rules, the Islamic banks can soon reach out to the millions of ‘unbanked’ Filipinos. Most of the unbanked towns are in Mindanao.”—Fortun

before year-end,” he said.

“Due credit goes to the late BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. for initiating the measure and lobbying for its passage by the 17th Congress,” Fortun said. For her part, Anak Mindanao (AMIN) Party-list Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan said RA

DOLE warns public against fake e-mail solicitation

Gordon: Marshal service will protect judges

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HE proposed Philippine Marshal Service will prevent cases where judges are prevented from holding trial in their assigned salas through intimidation, as what is happening in some areas in the country, according to Sen. Richard J. Gordon, who is pushing for early passage of the bill.

“There have occasions, for example, and I’m sure both my colleagues here who were in the police [know this]—I remember many judges would not stay in Sulu or in Basilan.

They would hold court in Zamboanga, and even the mayors did that.

Also, there have been occasions where we have had to move courts or cases and be brought to Manila because we are not so confident about the protection that will be availed of the judges,” noted Gordon, chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Gordon cited a judge in Basilan

Pinay’s death. . .

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a life for a life,” Locsin recalled telling the envoy his official Twitter account.

According to reports, Villavende, from Norala, South Cotabato, died after the wife of her employer banged her head during a severe beating. The male employer, who reportedly works at Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior, eventually brought her to the hospital, where she died.

Reacting to this circumstance, former Labor Undersecretary and now Migrant Workers Advocate Susan Ople said on Wednesday: “The male employer works for the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait. He should have been the first to protect Jeanelyn from the abusive behavior of his wife. By the time he brought the badly beaten OFW to Al Sabah Hospital, it was already too late. If even government personnel behave this way, then how can we expect better and more humane treatment for our OFWs in Kuwait?”

Ople: Congress must probe

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center which she heads also urged the Senate and House committees on labor, as well as OFW affairs to conduct a joint hearing on the Villavende case, particularly on the capacity of both the government and private sectors to effectively monitor

who carried an AK-47 because he was not sure that he was going to get the protection he needed, and the Maguindanao massacre case that killed 58 people, for which a Quezon City judge recently issued a promulgation after a trial that lasted 10 years. This, amid numerous threats that Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes endured. Before her, two other judges backed out of the case, for security reasons.

“So we are coming from that direction. We are coming from a direction that will allow the Supreme Court to protect our judges. Under the Constitution, they are in control of the Judiciary, and I think they should be allowed to make sure that we can protect our judges, especially those in remote areas. Once we have a marshal service, protective services, I’d suppose those who want to threaten or kill judges would think twice or thrice,” he said in a mix of

the conditions of domestic workers overseas.

She said the culpability of both the local and Kuwait-based recruitment agencies must also be established. “Was there a time when the family sought help from the licensed agency in Jeanelyn’s behalf?

This we need to know as part of the legislative probe,” she added.

“How does a recruitment agency monitor each and every domestic worker it deploys to the Middle East? How can a labor attaché be expected to keep track of all OFWs on-site given the volume of workers he or she need to cater to? What are the duties and obligations of foreign recruitment agencies in monitoring our workers on-site? We owe it to Jeanelyn and other victims of abuse to establish the answers to these questions,” Ople said.

The former labor undersecretary noted that the average number of runaway domestic workers in Kuwait exceeds 200 workers a month, surpassing even the number of welfare cases in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia —an alarming study of contrasts, considering the relative sizes of the OFWs deployed to tiny Kuwait and to the much larger Saudi Kingdom.

“We have at least 280 wards staying in the embassy shelter in Kuwait due to various complaints of contract violations and maltreatment. The situation clearly calls for reforms and a thorough review of preventive and protective mecha-

Ursula. . .

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livestock, and fisheries is now at 36,389 metric tons, affecting 29,056 hectares and 79,752 farmers and fisherfolk.

“There are also reported damages and losses on agri-infrastructure and irrigation facilities,” the agriculture chief said.

Moreover, Dar, who recently visited Capiz, ordered the immediate distribution of planting materials, poultry and livestock, fingerlings, fiberglass fishing boats and fishing paraphernalia to affected farmers and fisherfolk.

English and Filipino.

Gordon’s pitch for the marshal service comes two days after Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta said among his priorities for his two-year tenure is to finally end the string of assassinations against members of the Bar and Bench.

The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights is hearing bills proposing the creation of a Philippine Marshal Service that would ensure security and protection of the members of the Bench. The bills include Gordon’s Senate Bill 118, Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s SB 1209 and Sen. Ronald de la Rosa’s SB 1237. Lacson and de la Rosa are the two former National Police chiefs referred to by Gordon.

In his bill, Gordon proposes the creation of a Philippine Marshal Service under the Supreme Court, through the Office of the Court Administrator which shall be tasked:

nisms,” Ople said.

“The continuing incidents of violence and abuse of Filipino domestic workers in Kuwait violates the spirit of the agreement signed in May 2018 that seeks to promote and protect their welfare,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement late on Monday, December 30.

“The case is a clear violation of the agreement signed by both Kuwait and the Philippines in 2018 that seeks to uphold and promote the protection of the rights and welfare of our workers in the Gulf state,” DOLE said.

On Wednesday, Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said the DFA is closely monitoring the case as the government looks forward to its resolution to render justice to the late overseas Filipino worker.

“We consider Jeanelyn’s tragic death a clear disregard of the agreement signed by both our country and Kuwait in 2018 which seeks to uphold and promote the protection of the rights and welfare of our workers in Kuwait,” he added.

Legal aid law

In a related development, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development on Wednesday pressed for early passage by Congress of an awaited remedial legislation expanding the Legal Assistance Fund for OFWs.

Dar also instructed the DA’s RFO VI Research Outreach Station in Capiz to produce planting materials for distribution, and cultivation, in upland and unutilized areas, as well as to establish a 20-hectare demo farm for agroforestry planted with fruit trees and high-value crops.

In addition, he said palay and onion seeds have been distributed to affected farmers in Occidental Mindoro, while additional packs of onion seeds will be distributed next week to cover farmers whose damage and losses were validated and reported in the municipalities of Magsaysay and San Jose.

Mla Bay. . .

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to protect, defend, safeguard, watch over, provide security and ensure the safety of justice, judges, court officials and personnel, and halls of justice, courthouses, and other court buildings and properties; conduct threat assessments and undertake investigations of crimes and other offenses committed, including potential security threats, against the same.

The marshals will also assist in the execution and implementation of court orders; assist in the protection of witnesses and in the security in the transportation of accused or witnesses necessary in the continuation of court proceedings; seize, freeze, manage and dispose of assets seized, frozen or forfeited by the courts nationwide; and make arrests of fugitives, searches and seizures in accordance with the Constitution, existing laws, jurisprudence and rules, among others.

Sen. Joel Villanueva asked lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives to frontload approval of a bill he earlier crafted to address OFWs’ legal concerns while working abroad.

“The death of our OFW in Kuwait highlights the need to pursue a key measure that will help our distressed compatriots abroad,” Villanueva said, and affirmed that “we are committed to shepherd the passage of Senate Bill 1233, which seeks to further strengthen and expand the Legal Assistance Fund.”

SB 1233, now under consideration for approval on second reading, “will strengthen the legal assistance provided for our kababayan abroad, and ensure that justice is pursued for our OFWs and overseasbased Filipinos,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva voiced hopes the DOLE would continue to make representations with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Labor and work on a system to educate employers on the rights of their household service workers.

Pattern of abuse

There has been a series of violence and abuse committed against Filipino workers in Kuwait. The most horrible was the discovery of Joanna Demafelis’s body stuffed in the freezer of her employer. The incident plunged the two countries in diplomatic crisis. Manila banned the deployment of Filipino workers in the Gulf state, while Kuwait

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The agency also intensified its information and education campaign (IEC) on the importance of rehabilitating Manila Bay by conducting over 120 seminars, training, and activities participated in by more than 8,100 individuals. The DENR also came out with 3,574 printed materials, such as on the ongoing rehabilitation, as well as nine information campaigns and 43 updates posted on various social-media platforms.

Cimatu said the interventions related to IEC will further increase as the rehabilitation progresses. “We hope that communities will imbibe the knowledge that was handed to them in ensuring the cleanliness in areas they live in,” he said. The DENR also reactivated its coordination with 12 other government agencies covered by the 2008 Supreme Court continuing mandamus for the cleanup, rehabilitation, and preservation of Manila Bay. Jonathan L. Mayuga

country in the Asean region which has no Islamic banking system,” said Sangcopan. The law seeks to regulate and organize Islamic banks by mandating the BSP to supervise, license and regulate the operations of Islamic banks. It provides that the Monetary Board may authorize the establishment of Islamic banks.

It may also authorize conventional banks to engage in Islamic banking arrangements, including structures and transactions, through a designated Islamic banking unit within the bank, provided that the Islamic banking unit is separate from its conventional banking transactions.

encourage everyone to be vigilant and to report similar incidents to us so that we can conduct our own investigation,” Bello said in a memorandum addressed to all of the DOLE’s offices and attached agencies.

The Labor chief urged the public to report to DOLE if they receive similar requests. Bello said the DOLE is now tracing the people behind the fake e-mail message.

Prior to this, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in August 2019 had also dealt with a similar scheme using its name to invest in a security that promises high return.

“The PSE received information that an unauthorized investment solicitation supposedly from the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. is being circulated through e-mail,” PSE COO Roel Refran said.

Refran added that the unauthor-

ized investment solicitation requires an initial investment of P29,500 up to P135,500 and guarantees a return of 62 percent. The e-mail solicitation states that payment may be made at any PSE office or through remittance to their official brokers. The offices mentioned are the PSE Tower in Taguig, and the former address of PSE’s satellite office in Cebu.

“For the information of the public, no such investment solicitation was issued by the PSE nor does it solicit investments from individuals,” Refran said.

According to the United States Department of Justice, unsolicited e-mails are often the initial means for criminals, such as operators of fraudulent schemes, to contact and solicit prospective victims for money, or to commit identity theft by deceiving them into sharing bank and financial account information.

ordered the Philippine ambassador to leave the country and recalled its own envoy.

After tough negotiations, the Philippines and Kuwait signed a memorandum of agreement to protect the more than 250,000 Filipino workers in Kuwait, resuming the deployment amid calls for consideration by thousands of skilled Filipino workers who said their employment should not be jeopardized since the abuses almost always involve HSWs. In May 2019, however, migrants’ rights advocates called on Manila to review the agreement with Kuwait following the murder of Filipino worker Constancia Dayag by her employer.

The call for such review was repeated this week. In a statement, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) President Sonny Matula blamed the insufficient provisions of the MOA for the tragic fate of Villavende.

“Despite the Philippine-Kuwait bilateral agreement in 2018, we have compelling reason of the lack or inadequacy of protection of our household workers in Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries, and as part of its duty, the Duterte administration has urgent responsibility to review our bilateral agreement with Kuwait,” Matula said.

Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos agreed with Matula in criticizing the MOA, which still leaves Filipino HSWs in Kuwait vulnerable to abuses.

“With the tragic loss of another innocent life, it means that our OFWs are not protected, their rights are not promoted and their lives are always in constant danger.

So it is just and proper that our DFA should review the said May 2018 agreement,” Santos said.

Both Matula and Santos said they will back proposals for the deployment ban for Kuwait, but they differed on who should be covered by it.

Matula said the indefinite deployment ban should only cover HSWs, while Santos said it should be for all OFWs bound for Kuwait.

Ecop. . .

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Prior to his current presidency of Ecop, Ortiz-Luis served as head of the organization between 2007 and 2009.

Aside from leading Ecop, he is president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. and is a founding director of the International Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

His business affiliations include being director of Philippine Foundation Inc., Waterfront Philippines, Manila

2018 accord

Among the salient features of the MOA include making it mandatory for employers to allow their OFWs to keep their passports and cell phones, setting their meal and rest time, and banning their relocation without authorization from the Philippine posts.

But even with the MOA, reports of Filipino HSWs, who were abused in Kuwait, continued. Among them was Constancia, who was also purportedly killed by her employer. Villavende’s is now the third most serious case of abuse in Kuwait.

In August 2019, DOLE admitted the Kuwaiti government has yet to include the provisions of the MOA to the employment contract of HSWs bound for Kuwait. Butch Fernandez, Recto L. Mercene, Samuel P. Medenilla and Bernadette D. Nicolas

Exposition Complex Inc., Lasaltech Academy, BA Securities, Rural Bank of Baguio, Acesite Hotel Philippines Inc., and Forum Pacific Inc. Ecop is the country’s recognized representative and organization of employers. Established 45 years ago, its objective is “to unify employers and employers’ organizations in order to safeguard and enhance employers’ interests in all areas of labor-management relations, including social and economic policy matters affecting such relationship, and to promote industrial harmony, social justice, and national growth.” Elijah Felice E. Rosales

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Duterte orders quick reconstruction of quake-ravaged towns in Mindanao

By Manuel T. Cayon

@awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

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AVAO CIT Y—President Duterte on Monday ordered the speedy reconstruction of damaged shelters and infrastructures in the areas ravaged by the series of strong earthquakes in southern part of Mindanao.

The order came as he handed over P10 million to the Davao del Sur provincial government to rebuild the communities affected by earthquakes.

“I gave marching orders to hasten the repair and rehabilitation efforts so that we may help those affected resume their normal lives and bring them renewed hope in the coming year,” Duterte said during the 60th founding anniversary of Cor Jesu College, where he studied in high school.

He also turned over checks for earthquake survivors.

“Let me take this occasion to e x tend ou r a ssi st a nce i n the rebuilding of Mindanao. It pains me to hear that more than 80,000 families were devastated by the recent earthquakes that struck Matanao, Davao del Sur,” he added.

The President said his administration was “working conscientiously to foster a safer and more resilient Philippines.”

“Let us all look forward to the new year with renewed optimism and vigor as we all work together to guarantee an equitable and prosperous future for the Filipino people,” he added.

Davao del Sur Gov. Douglas Cagas expressed his gratitude to President Duterte for the financial assistance, saying the money would be used to acquire land and build homes for the earthquake survivors in the province.

Earlier in the day, the President extended similar assistance to families affected by earthquakes in M’lang, Cotabato. He cut short

“I gave marching orders to hasten the repair and rehabilitation efforts so that we may help those affected resume their normal lives and bring them renewed hope in the coming year.”

—Duterte

his scheduled plan over lack of time to visit the municipalities of Malalag and Padada in Davao del Sur, which also sustained damages from the earthquakes.

Meanwhile, the President congratulated his alma mater, Cor Jesu College, in celebrating its 60th founding anniversary, and said the institution has produced outstanding graduates “who went on to become distinguished leaders and innovators in their respective fields and professions.”

“More importantly, it has imbued upon its alumni the wisdom, faith and values, that have enabled us to become productive, and upright and well-rounded Filipinos,” President Duterte said.

The administration’s foremost priority was to allocate the biggest part of the government’s budget to ensure that all Filipino students would receive quality and accessible education to meet the needs of the present time, according to the President.

He expressed optimism that Cor Jesu College would continue to support this thrust by uplifting the standards of its academic instruction and by pursuing relevant research in response to the growing needs of the people and the economy.

“As you begin another chapter in the school’s history, may this celebration unite and inspire my fellow alumni to actively engage in noteworthy causes for the improved welfare of the community,” he added.

Migration and low passing rate in board exam push dentists, eye doctors on ‘aging’ list–PIDS study

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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OW passing rate in board exam and migration to foreign lands have placed Filipino dentists, optometrists and opticians on the so-called aging list, according to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

This was part of the findings of a discussion paper, titled “Who Are the Health Workers and Where Are They? Revealed Preferences in Location Decision among Health Care Professionals in the Philippines,” by PIDS Senior Research Fellow Michael R.M. Abrigo and former Research Associate Danica Aisa P. Ortiz.

In 1990, the PIDS said the median age of dentists, optometrists and opticians in the country were 31- and 33-years, respectively. These have increased to 44- and 45-years, respectively, by 2015. “ This may be a direct consequence of the observed rates of entry and exit among these cadres,” the authors said. “The number of board passers has been declining among dentists, while the number of new-hire optometrists for international employment outpaces the number of new board passers.”

This has also contributed to the decline in the overall availability of health-care professionals in the country.

The study stated that while the number of health professionals have increased in the past 25

years, some areas of the country may be experiencing a dearth in health-care professionals.

The authors said this is because the density of health human resource (HHR) for professions like nutritionist-dieticians, optometrists and opticians, and physiotherapists are declining.

“New out-migration of healthcare workers are increasing in proportion to new health-care professionals. This emerging concern may prove to be critical in the longer term,” PIDS said.

In order to cope, PIDS said the government could study the possibility of supporting private health-care practice through the country’s social health insurance system, or a similar voucher scheme, to encourage health-care workers to practice in underserved areas.

The authors also urged the need for a change in mind-set. They said “altruistic motives” to offer healthcare services in rural areas may not be enough to make the practice sustainable.

Given the difficulties of providing health-care services to far-flung cities and municipalities, the government may need to resort to alternative ways to deliver health care such as technological solutions.

“There may also be a role for certification of some primary health-care skills that may be done by other cadres of health-care professionals, instead of relying on the limited supply of physicians,” the authors said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Thursday, January 2, 2020 A3

DOH reports sharp drop in fireworks injury as PNP declares zero deaths from stray bullets

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By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent

HE Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported a sharp 35-percent decline in the number of injuries due to fireworks from December 21, 2019, to January 1, 2020, even as the Philippine National Police (PNP) declared a “record- breaking” New Year’s Eve revelry with no recorded deaths and injuries from stray bullets and illegal discharge of firearms.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said the total number of injuries nationwide has been placed at 164, lower than the 251 cases reported last year.

PN P S p o k e s m a n B e r n a rd Banac, for his part, said, “It should be noteworthy that the 324 incidents recorded in 2019 pales in comparison with the 798 recorded in 2018.”

The PNP official attributed the decrease to the successful information drive and awareness campaign on the adverse effects of the use of prohibited firecrackers. “As of the first working hour of New Year’s Day, the PNP recorded only 81 firecracker-related injuries, mostly self-injuries by violators of the firecracker ban,” Banac said.

Most of the cases, according to

the DOH, were from the National Capital Region (NCR) with 84, followed by Calabarzon with 14, Ilocos region with 12, Central Luzon with 11, Cagayan Valley and Western Visayas with 10 each.

The figure, Duque said is “indeed a welcome development.” “...But we will not stop until we achieve zero firework-related injuries. We will build on this gains this year to ensure that the next holidays will be safer for every Filipino,” Duque said.

The health chief said that NCR registered 16-percent decrease in the number of injuries as compared to the previous year. Manila has the highest number of cases with 27, followed by Quezon City with 19, Mandaluyong with nine, while Marikina and Las Piñas have seven each.

The DOH said that the top firecrackers, which caused injuries were kwitis with 33 cases, luces with 19, fountain with 18 and the prohibited firecracker piccolo with 13.

Duque also encouraged those injured to go to the nearest health facility immediately for proper treatment.

Likewise, the health chief urged the public to remain vigilant.

“I urge everyone to remain vigilant of their surroundings to avoid fireworks-related injuries.

Safely clean up firework debris and dispose of them properly,” he said.

Duque also warned the public to refrain from picking and lighting undischarged fireworks.

“Let us stay vigilant and safe these days,” he said.

‘Record breaking’

THE PNP, meanwhile, reported that the recent New Year’s Eve revelry is record breaking, as there were no recorded deaths and injuries from stray bullets and illegal discharge of firearms.

PNP Spokesman Banac thanked the Filipino people for the generally peaceful and orderly observance of the traditional holiday season that ushered in the year 2020.

“We are grateful that the people heeded our call to shun the age-old tradition of welcoming the new year with dangerous firecrackers and gunfire that has resulted in death and injuries in previous years,” Banac said in a news statement sent to reporters.

“Based on PNP records, 2019 probably goes down in history as the safest and most uneventful observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays that posted zero death,” he stressed.

A lthough there were three reported stray bullet incidents, these did not result in injuries, while seven persons were reported injured in 21 separate cases of illegal discharge of firearms, he noted.

Banac said the PNP arrested 21 persons for illegal discharge of firearms and 44 others for firecrackerrelated offenses.

Among those arrested for firing guns during the season was Chinese national Kimy Chan who was arrested on Christmas Day in front of a music bar along Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City.

Of the 21 arrested for firing guns, 14 were civilians, one PNP personnel, two AFP personnel, one Cafgu militiaman and three security guards.

Banac said those arrested will face the stiffest criminal and administrative sanctions applicable.

For civilian violators, they will be slapped with criminal charges before the court.

For government employees that include policemen and soldiers, additional administrative charges will be filed wherein the maximum penalty is dismissal from the service.

The PNP also vowed to continue the relentless campaign against all forms of criminalities to ensure the safety of the people. With PNA

Royal order hastens homecoming of 2 Filipino minors from Bahrain

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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WO undocumented Filipino children from Bahrain, who have been awaiting repatriation, have finally returned home to Manila in time for New Year’s Day on Tuesday.

Accompanied by officials from the Office of the President and the Department of Foreign Affairs, the four-year-old girl and a oneand-a-half-year-old boy arrived in Manila from Manama, Bahrain, onboard a commercial flight, according to a statement released

by Presidential Communications Operations Office.

This, after Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ordered Bahraini officials to expedite the processing of the repatriation of the children before the new year.

The instruction was issued by the King to relevant officials during a courtesy call on Christmas Day by Chief of Presidential Protocol and Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs Robert EA Borje.

“His Majesty the King’s response was one of immediate concern and action. Clearly, His Majesty the King’s instructions to Bahraini officials showed the wisdom and benevolence of His Majesty the King. It was also timely message of hope for the children and their families who are given the opportunity to begin life anew in the Philippines,” Borje was quoted as saying upon his return to Manila with the two minors.

The two children are among the 50 undocumented Filipino children born in Bahrain identified by the Philippine Embassy in Manama under its Oplan Kabataan program for repatriation.

The children, who were accompanied by three adults, went home with

PREPARING FOR ‘TRASLACIÓN’ 2020

Organizers and devotees are in the thick of preparations at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo district, Manila, for Traslación 2020 set on Thursday, January 9, 2020, where hundreds of thousands are expected to take part.

Borje and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.

Borje embarked on a three-nation mission covering the Middle East and North Africa.

Borje, who was appointed special envoy, also delivered a sealed letter to the King from President Duterte in which he conveyed appreciation for the King’s personal care and concern for Filipinos in Bahrain and for his benevolence toward Filipinos in distress.

During the Royal Audience, Borje also conveyed President Duterte’s keen interest to work closely with the Bahraini government to address issues involving distressed Filipinos, particularly the most vulnerable such as undocumented Filipino children.

Apart from ordering expedited assistance for repatriating undocu-

mented Filipino children, the King also vowed to address the issue of processing applications for flexivisa, which would regularize the stay of some 100 Filipino workers in the Kingdom.

“These are important actions that show how friendship between the leaders of the Philippines and Bahrain and partnership between our two governments can be harnessed to advance shared goals,” Borje said.

“With best practices, extensive experience and deep expertise as sending and receiving states for migrant workers, continued and intensified cooperation between the Philippines and Bahrain can provide valuable lessons other governments can learn from,” Borje added.

Meanwhile, the King also welcomed President Duterte’s invitation

ROY DOMINGO

to visit the Philippines.

Borje said it was the best time to visit the Philippines as the country experiences “tremendous economic growth.” The country’s economy grew by 6.2 percent in the third quarter after two quarters of deceleration, bringing the year-to-date GDP growth at 5.8 percent.

Recalling President Duterte’s visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2017, the King said the trip was very successful, adding important collaborations should continue.

He also recognized the contributions of Filipinos to Bahrain’s development.

There are around 58,000 Filipinos in Bahrain with around 18,000 working as household workers.

Filipino professionals are comprised of engineers, teachers, nurses, and architects. Others are engaged in Bahrain’s service sector.

A4

TheBroa

Business

Thursday, January 2, 2020

PHL journey to reforming budget p C

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

HANGE is coming, indeed.

But this has been slow in the democratization of the budgeting process of the country.

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno

Quantitatively, the 2020 national budget has surpassed the P3 trillion of the Aquino administration.

However, in terms of qualitative change, there are still steps policymakers and government officials must undertake, according to experts, to ensure that every peso counts.

Even after the controversies on the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Development Assistance Fund that hounded the administration of Benigno S. Aquino III, allegations of pork barrel being infused into the national budget still surface every year up to the present.

Still, Ateneo de Manila University School of Government Dean Ronald U. Mendoza told the BusinessMirror the budgeting system remains strong in some aspects.

“It has begun to improve overtime but obviously there is still work to be done. And what is the present situation of the budget right now? I think there has been some slippage in past progress and it is showing in a process that appears to be quite divisive and at times quite abrasive,” Mendoza said in an interview with BusinessMirror.

“What we would like to see is a restoration of stronger mechanisms of governance in the budget process,” he added.

Nonetheless, Mendoza emphasized there is now some degree of transparency in the budget process. He explained there is now more engagement from journalists and by some leaders in both the Senate and the Lower House.

Budget transparency

IN the 2017 Open Budget Survey (OBS) conducted by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), the Philippines ranked first in Asia for budget transparency and 19th worldwide in the Open Budget Index (OBI).

With an OBI score of 67 out of 100, the Philippines is said to be providing “substantial” budget information, making it the top country in Asia to be so. The archipelago is followed by Indonesia, which scored an OBI score of 64 out of 100, Jordan (63), Japan (60) and South Korea (60). The country’s latest score is also three points higher than its mark in 2015.

This, even as the same survey results showed a modest decline from 45 in 2015 to 43 in 2017 (out of a possible 100) in average global budget transparency scores after a decade of steady progress by countries.

According to the Washington, DC-based IBP, this means that many governments around the world are making less information available about how they raise and spend public money.

The nonprofit group said it is basing the countries’ budget transparency scores on the availability and comprehensiveness of the budget documents. These documents include the following: pre-budget statement, executive branch’s budget proposal, enacted budget, citizen’s budget, in-year reports, mid-year review, year-end report and audit report.

The OBS is a biennial survey assessing budget transparency based on the amount and timeliness of the budget information that a government makes available to the public. The OBS uses 109 equally weighted indicators to measure budget transparency.

In this sixth round of this biennial assessment, the 2017 survey evaluated 115 countries across six continents. Thirteen new countries were added to the survey since the last round in 2015.

Although transparency is vital in the budgeting system, the IBP also evaluates the degree of public participation and the extent of oversight in the budget process of each country.

Actual system

MENDOZA said the Philippines’s showing in the OBS shows the government’s budgeting system has strong points. However, he said there is still room for improvement to make the process more efficient and to make sure that the budget goes to the right priorities of the government.

Mendoza laments the shelving of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (Gifmis) given the concerns on the scale and limited time-frame for its rollout across the bureaucracy.

He emphasized that, with the shelving of the Gifmis, the country has yet to have a fully integrated information system that can provide real-time and online data to monitor the budget usage as well as project implementation.

“There is another reform but it was not really continued,” Mendoza explained. “It’s the effort to actually create an information system around the budget, which would allow us to have faster data capture of the process so you get much more effectively exercise the oversight role over the budget.”

Based on the 2016 Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment (Pefa), the government has for years been dealing with processing financial transactions manually. On the other hand, fiscal agencies utilize numerous stand-alone systems to generate financial information.

The Pefa revealed this resulted in lack of budget credibility, lack of funding predictability, weak cash management system and the absence of a common budgetary and accounting classification.

According to Mendoza, the country is “not yet there [efficient budgeting system] because we still manually get data.”

So, he added, “the reality is, even if some of our fiscalizers are doing a good job, it could be much much more effective with this information system.”

He continued: “And, of course, with the information system, you have a bureaucracy that functions better because you are now talking of things that you can monitor.”

DBM efforts

AFTER the Gifmis was discontinued, the government decided to proceed with the Budget and Treasury Management System (BTMS), which is said to be a “scaled-down” financial management information system (FMIS). The BTMS is seen to evolve into a broader FMIS in the future.

According to Undersecretary Laura B. Pascua of the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Budget Policy and Strategy Group, the department still continues to implement the BTMS, which will pave the way for an integrated FMIS. Pascua said the BTMS will help provide a more accurate and transparent picture of government

financial performance as well as improve the management of public funds.

To steer the rollout of the BTMS, Pascua said the DBM had issued a circular in January 2019 institutionalizing the adoption and use of the BTMS for budget utilization by July of the same year.

The DBM also launched in May 2019 an electronic-learning system to aid the training of 15,000 BTMS users in a very short period of time. Pascua said it would have taken six years if the training used conventional classroom teaching methods.

The DBM has also been conducting capacity-building activities to prepare the national government agencies to adopt and utilize the BTMS. These include the following: briefing sessions, “deep dive” workshops, security access matrix workshops, handson training and data migration.

As of November last year, the DBM also reported that 11 national government agencies are already implementing the “Budget Utilization Module,” or BUM, of the BTMS while the other agencies are seen to follow suit in implementing the said system until early 2020.

Enabling tools

TO complement the BUM, the DBM will also be fully rolling out a “Budget Management Module,” or BMM, to establish budgetary control levels and additional higher controls as appropriate to the government budget and management module.

The BMM went live last November 4, 2019. Under this parallel go-live run, all budget management oversight transactions from November 4, 2019, onward should have been entered into the BTMS, in parallel with entries in the eBudget system.

Aside from BTMS, the DBM also embarked on a project together with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) which the agencies dubbed Project DIME, to stand for “Digital Imaging for Monitoring and Evaluation.” This project was meant to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of the big-ticket infrastructure projects through the use of data and images.

This comes at a time that the government is rolling out the “golden age of infrastructure” through its “Build, Build, Build” program.

Project DIME was used to monitor big-ticket programs and projects through generating data

and images.

Project DIME was also committed as one of the “Open Government Partnership” programs of the country in the 2019 to 2021 National Action Plan agreed upon by both government and nongovernment stakeholders.

In line with this, key infrastructure programs will soon be subjected to public monitoring and feedback through an online platform that the DBM calls the “Dime Transparency Website.”

According to documents provided by the DBM, datasets like satellite images and geotagged photos will also be uploaded to this website.

With up-to-date infographics that will be made available on the website, citizens will be able to make informed decisions.

Moreover, a rating system will also be introduced to capture the general performance of the programs being monitored.

The rating system will be based on a set of criteria like fund utilization rate, physical completion of projects and timeliness of project execution.

No go

AMONG the many reforms that

aderLook

sMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace | Thursday, January 2, 2020

A5

process slow, but remains on track OBI scores

TO further improve the country’s budget oversight performance, Diokno said the oversight committee in Congress must have a strong independent staff equipped with resources to fully exercise its oversight function just like the one in the United States.

“It should not be dependent on who the speaker is. For example in the US, there is a Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, headed by an economist,” he said. “And [this CBO] is consulted by both [the Lower] House and the Senate. So the resources are focused on the CBO.” For its part, the IBP recommended ensuring the legislature holds a debate on budget policy prior to the tabling of the Executive branch’s budget proposal and approval of recommendations for the upcoming budget. In addition, the IBP suggested making sure that the legislative committee examines reports on inyear budget implementation and publishes its recommendations online; and ensuring that audit processes are reviewed by an independent agency.

And since the IBP is just a few months away from publishing the results of the 2019 OBS, Pascua said the DBM is still optimistic that it would be able to achieve its “fearless forecast” for the Philippines to get an OBI score of at least 70.

That is higher than the score of 67 in the 2017 round and higher than the 2019 target of 67 under the “Philippine Development Plan 2017 to 2022.”

By 2021, the government is also hoping to get a higher OBI score than 71.

OGNJEN STEVANOVIC | DREAMSTIME.COM

Legislative push

the Philippine budgeting system has gone through, Mendoza said he would like to see the revival of the Bottom-Up Budgeting (BuB) system that was undertaken by the Aquino administration.

The BuB tack aimed to take into account inputs from government units from local government units, barangays, municipalities and civil-society organizations when crafting the overall budget for the fiscal year.

“What you are trying to build is the [political] muscle of our citizens to engage their leaders and hold them accountable. That’s what [BuB] was supposed to do,” Mendoza said. “It’s [BuB] actually a very, very small fraction of the budget, right? But it is still very important because it opened up spaces to grow [a] citizen’s arm that will now engage [government in the budgeting process].”

While the Philippines scored higher than the global average of 12 out of 100 for public participation in the 2017 survey, its score of 41 out of 100 meant that the country still provides “limited opportunities” for public engagement, according to the IBP. Thus, the IBP recommended that the Philippines prioritize

active engagement with individuals or civil society organizations representing vulnerable and underrepresented communities during the formulation and monitoring of the implementation of the national budget. It also suggested that government hold legislative hearings on the formulation of the annual budget during which members of the public or civil society organizations can testify.

Infra lack

HOWEVER, while the survey results showed that the Philippine government got a lower score in the public participation category compared to its 2015 mark of 67 out of 100, the stand of two-time DBM chief and now Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno on the BuB remains unchanged.

The BuB was dropped as a system since Diokno took over DBM’s reins in 2016, because he believed it was just being used as a “political tool” by the previous administration.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Diokno explained he decided not to implement BuB anymore during

his term because he saw no benefits from it at all. Diokno added he doesn’t see the need to give additional money to local government units when they already have their share from the Internal Revenue Allotment.

He also argued that the country’s performance in the public participation category is still better compared to other countries.

“You will only waste your money there because, number one, we still lack infrastructure.

For the projects, when you do [BuB], you fritter away resources to small projects,” Diokno said.

“You build barangay roads here or some projects there. But we need large-scale projects that would interconnect the country.”

Congressional oversight

IN terms of budget oversight, the IBP gave a score of 65 over 100 for the Philippines as the IBP said the legislature and supreme audit institution in the country generally provide “adequate” oversight.

Still, the IBP also pointed that it is during the implementation stage of the budget cycle that the legislature provides “limited oversight.”

Mendoza noted that, currently, there are only few lawmakers who fulfill their oversight function.

“Yes [oversight is still being exercised right now] but one would hope it becomes a little stronger also,” he said. “Oversight, I think, is coming now from the Senate.”

He said the Senate usually has a “greater degree of independence” compared to the House of Representatives since senators “are like leaders-at-large unlike congressmen who are tied to their local jurisdiction.”

Asked for his assessment on the country’s budget oversight, Diokno said the oversight committee in Congress has always been there but it is not being convened.

“The budget process is when we submit the budget; they can actually scrutinize that for the next six months, approve the budget,” he explained.

“And then the oversight means the whole round of activity of their involvement in the budget process. They can call the Executive to explain what is happening. But Congress has no stamina to [do it]. Will they spend so much time? They have a lot of hearings, right?”

IN a bid to institutionalize budget reforms and to achieve the ambition of being one of the top 10 budget institutions in the world, the DBM under Diokno pushed for the passage of the Budget Reform Bill (BRB).

The BRB seeks to institutionalize the country’s shift to cash-based budgeting system, among other reforms.

As opposed to the obligationbased budgeting system, which allows the delivery of contracts beyond the fiscal year, the “revolutionary” shift to cash-based budgeting system is meant to shorten the time it takes for the implementation and disbursement of the national budget to just one year. Doing so would hasten the delivery of services to the public, the BRB advocates believe.

Diokno has since said that quicker implementation of programs and projects actively promotes growth and development in the economy and the country.

However, the BRB failed to hurdle the 17th Congress, as the shift to the new cash-based budgeting system from the old obligation-based budgeting system faced strong opposition from lawmakers. The opposition to the shift to cash-based budgeting, along with other issues on alleged budget insertions, also caused the delay in the passage of the 2019 national budget. The delay led to the country clocking slower economic growth rates in the first quarter and second quarter of 2019.

Even with a new secretary at its helm, the DBM is still determined to push for the modernization of the Philippine Financial Management System through the passage of BRB. According to Pascua, the bill has been refiled by Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City, 2nd District) under House Bill 2807.

She said the DBM intends to refile a more streamlined version of the bill this year “to facilitate enactment.”

Nonetheless, Pascua said that while the government is still in

a transition stage to cash-based budgeting system until 2022, she remains optimistic.

“The cash-based budgeting system is aimed to reduce underspending by setting a deadline for obligations and implementation of programs by departments,” she said.

Addressing weaknesses

PASCUA said they have seen a significant improvement in the budget utilization rate of agencies due to the shift to one-year obligation validity of appropriations in 2017 and 2018.

From 85 percent in 2015 to 2016, the agencies’ budget utilization rate improved to 93 percent to 96 percent in 2017 and 2018, she said.

Should the cashbased budgeting system be institutionalized, Pascua said this will address weak strategic and operational planning in agencies, including procurement planning which accounted for 50 percent of underspending in 2014.

Agencies will also now be focused on implementing one budget at a time compared to the previous system wherein they are implementing two budgets given the continuing appropriations.

“This also produces complications in our still manual accounting for expenditures, not to mention unpredictability in budget and cash management,” she said.

Pascua admits, though, that there are still agencies that need to adjust their systems on planning, procurement and budget execution in line with the cashbased budgeting system. Still, she said the DBM has been relentless in conducting training, including regional consultations on the new budgeting system since 2017.

Despite some politicians and contractors expressing concern about the repercussions of the shift to cash-based budgeting system such as being pressured to implement and complete the projects faster, Mendoza still supports the Executive’s move. “[It’s a] good idea with some risks and some benefits, but it needs to be properly executed to bring out what we really want,” he said. “The main challenge with cash-based budgeting is really that some of the politicians who are used to [the old] method, they really want the present method.

They don’t want to be pressured into [really delivering on the project].”

Sustaining reforms

REFORMS in the Philippine budgeting system have been applied through the years.

However, changes appear to have been inconsistent, even for Diokno.

As the budget chief for two administrations, Diokno admitted that reforms, including some of those he spearheaded, were either forgotten or were not continued.

Recalling several personal experiences that he had in the past, he said it is not easy to push for reforms as there will always be some form of resistance.

“You have to be persistent. You have to persevere. It’s difficult to reform,” he said.

“Many will resist the reform you are pushing but you also need a champion. You need a president because if not, your reform would not push through,” he added.

For Mendoza, the budget system is a multi-administration reform project, noting that the political cycle in the country is only six years—which leads to technically three years to four years of reform.

“The best way to do is, to look at it from a continuous reform perspective,” he said. “So it’s better to build a constituency around it because politicians come and go but their constituency around a particular reform, they’re the ones who are supposed to understand.”

A6 Thursday, January 2, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

This technology will change humanity

T

he gene-editing tool known as CRISPR enabled three Chinese researchers to make the world’s first genetically edited babies—twin girls born in November 2018. In a study carried out in utmost secrecy, the Chinese researchers reportedly edited human embryos to remove a gene called CCR5, which they said would make the children resistant to HIV. This development sparked a global debate over the ethics of gene editing. It also prompted Feng Zhang, one of the inventors of CRISPR, to call for a global moratorium on using the technology to create gene-edited babies.

“Given the current state of the technology, I am in favor of a moratorium on implantation of edited embryos,” Zhang said in a statement provided to MIT Technology Review, explaining that the risks of the experiment outweigh the benefits. Zhang said he was “deeply concerned” that the Chinese project was undertaken in secrecy.

On December 30, Xinhua News Agency announced that China has convicted the three researchers involved in the controversial births of genetically edited babies. The report said lead researcher He Jiankui was sentenced to three years and fined 3 million yuan ($430,000). An associate, Zhang Renli, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 1 million yuan, while the third reseacher, Qin Jinzhou, received an 18-month sentence, but with a two-year reprieve and a 500,000-yuan fine. He was reportedly also involved in the birth of a third gene-edited baby.

In his article, “The Dangers of Human Gene Editing,” Ulson Gunnar said that gene editing has never been easier with the advent of the CRISPR-Cas system, which opens the door to never-before-possible applications. The writer said: “Gene editing, or ‘gene therapy,’ performed on children or adults changes the genetic makeup of targeted cells after which and upon dividing, impart this new genetic material on each subsequent new cell. This is why treatments for diseases using gene therapy often are successful with only a single shot. The “treatment” self-replicates perpetually within the patient’s body. Everything, from leukemia to congenial genetic defects, have been overcome in clinical trials using this method.”

Gunnar said that discussions on gene editing usually revolves around its use to treat diseases and produce super-crops and livestock to “save the world.” But as history has shown us, he added, any technology is, but, a double-edged sword.

Whatever good it is capable of, it is proportionally capable of just as much bad.

Gunnar warned: “The first and foremost danger of human gene editing, in particular, is its use in weaponized vaccines. Such fears are founded upon what was revealed by the United Nations during the apartheid government in South Africa where a government program, named “Project Coast,” actually endeavored to produce vaccines that were race-specific in hopes of sterilizing or killing off its black population.”

Gunnar feared that the advent of improved gene editing may lead to biological warfare that can target specific genotypes. He said: “While many may suspect profit alone drives large pharmaceutical corporations to push vaccines on the global population, in reality, what it may also represent is an attempt by these very conspirators to create a well-established globalized medium through which [they can] administer their targeted bioweapons, yet another reason why the matter of human health care and biotechnology [and, specifically, vaccines] is a matter of not just business, but of national security, as well.”

While gene editing is poised to change our world, it is imperative for Philippine national leaders to understand that biotechnology represents the next big revolution, with its concomitant benefits and dangers. This should prompt us to develop our own Philippine biotechnology initiative, especially in agriculture, as a matter of both national security and progress.

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De-commodifying natural resources: Resurrecting the public sector Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS Continued from A1

T

he commons also cover the essential public services, such as education, social protection, health, electricity and other basic amenities that the Constitution says should be developed by the State for the benefit of all citizens.

In the development of the foregoing natural resources and public services, the government naturally plays a central visioning, organizing and managing role. A strong public sector is needed. Go to China, go to Singapore, go to Scandinavia and so on, and see the pivotal role of the government in ensuring that all citizens are able to enjoy efficient, affordable and accessible public services.

The problem is that, in the case of the Philippines, these natural resources and public services have become a special target of the narrow privatization program promoted (imposed is a more accurate word) by the IMF-World Bank tandem. This

privatization program was an integral part of the so-called structural adjustment program that the twins devised for the country in the 1980s to 1990s. The Philippines was one of the original guinea pigs for the SAP program that is now widely denounced in Latin America and other heavily indebted developing countries, as well as by a number of World Bank researchers, past and present (e.g., former WB Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz).

The country’s problem has been compounded by the neoliberal attitude of the Filipino economic technocrats who embraced the privatization program in full because they, apparently, believe that everything, such

as the water distribution business, can be reduced to a market issue. In addition, they can avoid doing the difficult task of attending to all the details of planning, budgeting and implementing the delivery of a public service, such as water or power distribution. Let the big corporations do the job. And let the different household consumers, big and small, pay the “right-water tariffs” if they want water to continue flowing in their faucets. In short, let the public service become another tradable commodity, subject to the supply-demand dynamics in a market economy.

Clearly missing in the foregoing commodification/privatization framework is the central role of the government, both at the national and regional/local levels, as a visionary development leader and as a “balancer” of competing development goals. In the case of the water public service, these goals include the following: affordable and accessible water for all; equitable social and economic development in all areas served and to be covered; sustainable water generation and environmental management; wellbeing of communities along the water generation-distribution value chain; and consultation/participation of the consumers and concerned communities in the water business.

The last means the citizens from the developed and underserved communities should have a say in the formulation and implementation of a holistic and people-focused water development program, from generation to infra development and distribution. There is none in the present system. There are no consumer and civil society representatives (not even Rotarians) in the boardrooms of the water companies.

The Local Water Utilities Administration are also silent on why the big water companies (Prime Water, FilCapital Water, Manila Water and so on) are competing with one another in “privatizing” the more developed water districts. The LWUA has also not issued any statement on the numerous complaints by consumers of “privatized” water districts over rising water tariffs and declining water service.

It appears that under the water privatization program, the government’s role is reduced to that of a passive onlooker, unable even to tame or regulate the insatiable desire of the water companies for more and more profits. The regulators have been captured by the industry players.

So can the Duterte administration reverse the commodification/ privatization program in the water See “Ofreneo,” A7

Vivendi shareholders finally hear a sweet tune

V

By Shira Ovide | Bloomberg Opinion

ivendi SA investors should be sighing with relief.

The French media conglomerate announced on Tuesday that it plans to sell 10 percent of its Universal Music Group record label to a group led by Tencent Holdings Ltd., the Chinese Internet giant. The €3-billion purchase ($3.4 billion) implies an equity valuation of €30 billion for all of UMG, as the music business is known. As my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Alex Webb wrote in August, Vivendi should gain strategic and financial advantage from the alliance with Tencent.

Shareholders of Vivendi should be smiling that a deal got done at all. Vivendi first announced in mid2018 plans to sell as much as half of UMG, which is home to musicians, such as Drake and Lady Gaga. The process didn’t move quickly, or in a straight line.

Earlier this year, private equity investors, and sovereign wealth funds, became annoyed over what some potential suitors saw as a pricey deal and the slow pace of negotiations.

That left fewer potential investors for UMG. Rich technology companies with an interest in music, including Google and Amazon.com Inc., were unlikely investors for UMG. When it announced the Tencent deal on Tuesday, Vivendi said it would look to sell a further minority stake

at the price agreed to by Tencent or higher. The Tencent-led group has the option to buy up to 10 percent more of UMG in the next year at the same price. Vivendi, in short, has now set a floor on the value of UMG, and by extrapolation for Vivendi at large.

Vivendi shares in Paris inched up slightly after the announced investment. Vivendi’s total market capitalization of about €30.6 billion implies that assets accounting for about 55 percent of Vivendi’s revenue—including the Canal+ broadcast group, the Havas advertising agency and a collection of publishing companies— are essentially valued at almost zero.

The conglomerate discount on Vivendi and its mercurial controlling shareholder Vincent Bollore is likely to persist.

UMG and the rest of the Big Three music labels — Warner Music Group Corp. and Sony Music Entertainment—remain in an odd spot. Technology changes that wrecked their business models have now helped revive them, but there is much more potentially wrenching change to come in the industry.

Paid streaming music services, such as Spotify, and others have helped global record label revenue grow significantly for the first time since the 1990s, but industry revenue remains lower than it was at the peak of CD popularity more than 15 years ago. The record labels remain in a constant tug-of-war with technology companies that want to license music for apps, such as TikTok, and for Internet services that are both expressly devoted to music and those that are not, including YouTube, which by some measure is the most popular music-listening spot in the world.

Meanwhile, Spotify and other young streaming companies are trying slowly to cut out the record labels and strike deals directly with musicians. Streaming music companies constantly want to lower the fees they pay record labels for the rights of songs; the music majors are constantly fighting for higher rates.

Those strategic challenges won’t go away, nor will the imperative for the music industry to structurally change a business model still built in many way for the old mode of artist discovery, promotion and publishing. But Vivendi’s new partner can be a useful ally for a UMG’s expansion in China, a lucrative, but tricky, market for foreign music companies.

Asia represented just 13 percent of UMG’s 2018 sales.

Among Tencent’s large roster of investments is the separately listed streaming music service Tencent Music Entertainment. US-listed depository receipts of that company rose 3 percent in early market trading on Tuesday. Tencent Music is part of the consortium that is buying the stake in UMG and will have an option to buy a minority stake in UMG’s China business.

The big price tag for UMG is a testament to the improving fortunes of the music industry. Once written off as has-beens, the music majors are in a better position than they have been for years. The question now for Vivendi investors is whether the Tencent deal will mark a new lucrative phase for UMG and other music industry powers, or if it’s a sign of a peak.

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wages are based more on productivity, less on exploitation

Mary, the Mother of God

‘W

W

Msgr. Sabino A. Vengco Jr.

Alálaong Bagá

By Michael R. Strain | Bloomberg Opinion

orkers are delivering more, and they’re getting a lot less,” argued former Vice President Joe Biden in a speech at the Brookings Institution this summer.

“There’s no correlation now between productivity and wages.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic presidential rival, agrees.

Her campaign web site states that “wages have largely stagnated,” even though “worker productivity has risen steadily.”

The claim that productivity no longer drives wages is common enough on both the political left, as well as the right. Proponents of this view argue that workers aren’t getting what they deserve based on their contributions to employers’ bottom lines.

Income inequality—the gap between the incomes of the rich and everyone else—supposedly demonstrates that the economy’s rewards are flowing, undeservedly, to those at the top. Populists take that conclusion even further, arguing that capitalism is fundamentally broken.

If that is what’s happening, it refutes textbook economics, which argues that wages are determined by productivity—by the amount of revenue workers generate for their employers. If a company paid a worker less than her productivity suggests she should be making, then she would go down the street and get a job that would pay her what she’s worth. Employers compete for workers, ensuring that workers’ wages are in line with their productivity.

This theory leaves out a lot, of course. Pay and productivity can diverge for any number of reasons not included in the standard economic model. Workers may not know how much revenue they create, or what other employment options are available to them. And changing jobs has its own costs, which in the real world gives employers some power over wages.

For critics of the current system, “some power” is a drastic understatement. In their telling, the decline of labor unions; erosion of the minimum wage; rise of noncompete and no-poaching agreements; inadequate enforcement of workplace standards; and the like, have dramatically reduced the bargaining power of workers. This has allowed businesses to drive down wages to the bare minimum job applicants and current workers will accept, pushing their pay below what their productivity suggests it should be.

Which view is correct? The latest piece of evidence on this question comes from Stanford University economist Edward P. Lazear, who analyzed data from advanced economies and confirms a strong link between pay and productivity.

Like several previous studies, Lazear’s research finds that low-, middle- and high-wage workers all benefit from growth in average productivity. This suggests that improvements in overall economic efficiency help all workers, not just the rich.

But Lazear argues, correctly, that a relevant issue is not whether workers benefit from changes in average productivity. Instead, if you want to know whether workers are being paid for their productivity, you should look at whether changes in the productivity of, say, lowwage workers affect the pay of that specific group.

It is infeasible to measure the productivity of individual workers.

(How much revenue per hour of work do I generate for Bloomberg?)

So Lazear examines productivity at the industry level, and compares industries that employ highly skilled workers with those that employ lesser-skilled ones.

Using data on the US from 1989 through 2017, Lazear finds that productivity in industries dominated by higher-skilled workers increased by

Fortunately, the system doesn’t seem to be broken. It does need to be fine-tuned, however, with the goal of increasing the productivity of the lesser skilled. And we should be confident that if their productivity increases, so will their wages. (roughly) 34 percent in that period.

The wages of those workers grew by 26 percent. For industries requiring lesser skills, productivity increased by 20 percent, while wages grew by 24 percent.

In other words, pay increased faster than productivity in industries with lesser-skilled workers, and slower than productivity in industries with higher-skilled workers. Another striking implication of this finding is that “productivity inequality”— the gap in productivity between workers—may have grown faster than wage inequality over this period. While wage differences have increased over time, differences in productivity between groups of workers have increased even more.

The upshot: Slower wage growth for lesser-skilled workers is not prima facie evidence that employers have significant power over wages or that productivity doesn’t determine wages. Instead, Lazear concludes that productivity growth for highskilled workers has increased rapidly enough (actually, more than enough) to account for growing inequality.

What caused this? Lazear points to two familiar explanations. Technological change disproportionately benefits the highly skilled, increasing their wages and productivity.

And the globalization-led shift to a services economy has reduced the productivity of goods-producing, lesser-skilled workers.

Lazear also suggests that colleges may have improved more than high schools in their ability to impart skills to graduates. If so, industries dominated by college graduates would be expected to have had faster productivity growth over the last three decades.

This would have caused both a wider dispersion in productivity across industries and in wages across groups of workers.

Such research doesn’t settle the debate, of course. Yet, it does strengthen my view that wages are heavily influenced by market forces, even if they are not entirely determined by them. While productivity sets the baseline for wages, deviations from that baseline occur.

So contrary to what Biden, Warren and (many) others say—market forces, not power dynamics—are the principal driver of inequality.

This gets at the heart of the moral properties of the market economy. Capitalism produces unequal outcomes: The wages for some grow faster than for others.

Those disparities are palatable if they are caused by differences in risk-taking, work effort and skills. They are tolerable if people are getting, in some sense, what they deserve. But if wages aren’t determined by productivity—if hard work doesn’t pay off and if workers aren’t receiving just returns—then something has gone badly wrong with the system.

Fortunately, the system doesn’t seem to be broken. It does need to be fine-tuned, however, with the goal of increasing the productivity of the lesser skilled. And we should be confident that if their productivity increases, so will their wages.

ithin the octave of Christmas, we celebrate the solemnity of the Holy Family and see in Joseph and Mary according to the account of Matthew, the appropriate human response of total compliance to the divine plan and instructions pertaining to the child Jesus. Thereafter, and still within the Christmas season and into the New Year, Mary the Mother of God is presented to us according to the account of Luke as our model in Christian discipleship (Luke 2:16-21).

A Mother’s heart The Nativity scene by Luke distinctly presents the reactions of three different participants. The prominent characters of the birth scene are the shepherds who went in haste to Bethlehem and found the angelic sign verified: the infant Messiah wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. They glorified and praised God for all they have seen and heard (2:17, 20), symbolizing that portion of Israel that at last recognizes Jesus as the Christ. Second, the group of hearers who were astonished, but merely astonished, at what the shepherds reported angels told them regarding the Child (2:18). In their normal astonishment which does not lead to faith, these hearers resemble those in the Lucan parable of

the seed who “hear the word, receive it with joy but have no root” (8:13).

The third participant in the scene is no other than Mary who “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (2:19).

In the Parable of the Seed, Mary exemplifies those “who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart” (8:15).

Keeping events in one’s heart with concern means attempting to interpret and to discover the hidden meaning of marvelous happenings.

Mary, as the only one in Luke’s infancy narrative who would last into the public ministry of Jesus and even into the life of the early Church on Pentecost, must have sought to interpret the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Pondering and

Thursday, January 2, 2020 A7

treasuring these events in her heart (2:51), she would become the model for believers. Jesus, Himself would later laudably refer to faith like hers (8:21; 11:28), hearing God’s word and acting according to it. As a disciple, Mary bridges the gap between Israel and the Church. She is the inspiration of all to constantly reflect on the truths of our faith and to have fidelity to the practices of our faith.

In the name of her Son

The gospel text, after giving fleeting attention to the circumcision of Jesus, focuses on His naming. The circumcision of the child on the eight day is prescribed by the Law in the preamble to the “purification” of the mother which was to take place after 33 days (Leviticus 12:3-4). Jesus is given the name announced by the angel even before Mary conceived him in her womb. The name tells who he is, what his mission is and his power is the power of salvation. “God saves” through Jesus.

In His Name, His disciples would later be sent out to expel demons and work miracles (10:17). Even some who were not among His disciples would do, likewise, and Jesus insisted that they not be deterred (9:49-50). To say “Jesus” is to be open to salvation, as experienced by the man condemned to death who said, “Jesus, remember me when You enter upon Your reign,” and who received from Jesus the reply, “I

assure you: this day, you will be with Me in paradise” (23:39-43).

Like any mother, Mary must have wondered what her Son would become, although she knew that He would be great, be called Son of the Most High, that the Lord would give Him the throne of David his father, that he would reign over the house of Jacob forever, and that his reign would be without end (1:32-33).

How? She was not told. She was content to be His mother, saying “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say” (1:38). Elizabeth’s exclamation expresses all that we can say to the Mother of God, “Blest are you among women” (1:42). The humble servant of the Lord elevated by the grace of God to an incomparable majesty because she brought into the world the one called Jesus, “God saves”, the bringer of peace.

Alalaong baga, in the New Year, our prayers resonate with the angels’ wish “on Earth peace to those on whom His favor rests” (1:14), for peace is our inheritance in Jesus borne of Mary in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Mother of God holding all things in her heart inspires us to a clearer focus on God’s presence in our human affairs, willing to be a new creation on the pathways of charity, justice and peace.

Join me in meditating on the Word of God every

Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.

Giant Israel gas field brings energy security, health fears

By Gwen Ackerman & Yaacov Benmeleh

Ofreneo. . .

continued from A6

and other public services? What is the government’s game plan? As it is, the water consuming public in Metro Manila is mesmerized by the capacity of the government to threaten the water giants with the possible filing of plunder cases and possible imprisonment of the multibillionaire owners of Manila Water and Maynilad? But are there programs then to reverse privatization? To stop the ongoing privatization of the most developed water districts by the big corporations?

If the government economic

Gas exports

The Israeli government and companies in the Leviathan partnership— Texas-based Noble Energy Inc., Delek Group Ltd. and Ratio Oil Exploration 1992 LP—insist operations are safe, though documents they submitted to the Environment ministry indicate pollution may be in higher concentration during the initial phase when flaring can’t be used. The worst-case scenario is that during the two separate days of starting up four wells, the emission level will be similar to that expected in an entire year of normal operations.

Still, the partnership says that in reality, there will, likely, be only one or two hours of emissions of methane, a major contributor to global warming, and of the known carcinogen benzene, whose level in the air will remain well below limits set by Israel’s Clean Air Act. “The only environmental impact this platform will have on the shore is a positive one when the natural gas we supply displaces coal in Hadera and Ashkelon, and Israel’s citizens benefit from improved air quality and better health,” said Bini Zomer, Noble Energy’s vice president for regional affairs.

Delek Drilling shares rose as much as 7.9 percent, while Ratio Oil gained as much as 8.1 percent, the most since October.

Environment Minister Zeev Elkin has tried to placate mayors of seven of the towns most likely to be affected by platform pollution. “There is no truth to the irresponsible calls for residents to evacuate when the platform commissioning starts,” he told them earlier this month. However, the ministry afterward delayed the start of operations by a week, saying strict pollution monitoring conditions hadn’t been met.

Pollution levels weren’t outside the norm, Elkin said in a statement on Tuesday after the day’s operations ended.

Gas began flowing from Leviathan into the transmission system, and from there to Israeli consumers, starting at 4 p.m. local time, according to the Energy ministry.

Monitoring equipment was installed on the platform to alert any risk of high pollution, but the Israeli Homeland Guards went ahead with their protest, saying they needed to see how scrupulously it will be used before giving their seal of approval.

planners are thinking along this line, they can educate themselves on the studies conducted by the Public Sector International and Transnational Institute. In Reclaiming Public Services (2017), the PSI and TNI reported that there have been at least 835 examples of “remunicipalization,” or de-privatization, involving more than 1,600 cities and 45 countries worldwide.

One notable case documented by the book is the success of the city government of Grenoble, France, and its citizens in putting “an end to a corrupt contract with water multinational Suez” in the early 2000s.

Grenoble, a pioneer in Europe on water privatization, has become a pioneer in de-privatization. The city

created a new public water operator that provides better quality water at lesser cost, and includes citizen participation in the running of the public service.

A nother notable case that should excite the lawyers of the Duterte administration is the remunicipalization of the centralized heating system of Vilnius, Lithuania. The city government decided against the renewal of a 15-year contract with the French energ y mu ltinationa l Veolia, which was charged by the city government for price gouging and generating “unlawful excess profit of €24.3 million between 2012 and 2014.” Veolia brought the case for international arbitration under

the France-Lithuania Bilateral Investment Treaty, demanding a retention of the contract and payment of €100 million in damages.

The city government stood firm, and took over the management of the heating system even if the arbitration case was still pending (as of 2017).

Clearly, political will is central in any program to bring back sanity in a privatization program that has become highly commercialized and inimical to the consumers and the nation. Will the Duterte administration be able to summon the same political will in altering the four-decade-old SAP and privatization program in support of the people’s interests?

A

decade after its discovery was lauded as a guarantor of Israel’s energy security, the giant Leviathan natural-gas field started production on Tuesday. But instead of anticipating a coal-free future, residents living near the gas platform have abandoned their homes for a day.

They fear the gas production facility built just 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) from shore will release pollutants just as toxic, or more so, than those released by coal, especially as the wells come on line in the current start-up stage. Shares in Leviathan partners surged on the production launch.

A convoy of 250 cars headed to Tel Aviv for a demonstration outside a government compound, said a spokesman for the protesters, Lior Zivan. The protest was organized by the grassroots Israeli Homeland Guards, supported by Greenpeace Israel and at least three other Israeli environmentalist groups.

“We don’t want to play Russian roulette with our children’s health,” said Shlomit Valensi, a Homeland Guards member who lives in Dor, a beachfront community adjoining a nature reserve about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Haifa. Zivan said thousands of people left their homes.

Some demonstrators wore masks.

Others dressed like pirates and brought signs demanding that gas production be stopped, linking it to cancer.

“We are afraid to breathe the air,” said Rachel Toaff-Rosenstein, 37, a veterinarian from Zichron Yaakov who was accompanied by her husband and children. “This is some-

Israel and Turkey ended a yearslong diplomatic dispute in 2016 in part due to a mutual interest in gas deals. More recently, Israel has announced contracts with neighboring Jordan and Egypt.

The Israeli Homeland Guards say they back development of the country’s gas industry, but want to ensure public health isn’t compromised.

Ever since the 2009 discovery of the two natural-gas fields Leviathan and Tamar—the latter started operations in March 2013—Israel has looked toward not just energy independence and cleaner domestic sources, but a broader regional influence.

Israel and Turkey ended a yearslong diplomatic dispute in 2016 in part due to a mutual interest in gas deals. More recently, Israel has announced contracts with neighboring Jordan and Egypt.

The Israeli Homeland Guards say they backed up the development of the country’s gas industry, but want to ensure public health isn’t compromised. The group cites local- and world-renowned experts whose models show the platform’s proximity to shore may be reason for concern.

The former head of Israel’s National Cancer Registry, who thinks that under normal operations the gas platform is safe, said in an opinion commissioned by the movement that the start-up stage may expose the public to a dangerous amount of carcinogens.

Gas and oil companies have clashed with regulators over pollution in the past. In 2015, Noble settled with the US Environment Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and the state of Colorado over violations relating to emissions from its oil and gas operations.

Israel’s environment minister isn’t worried, and has promised to monitor air quality closely. The platform will be shut down if there’s “an increase in air pollution that is endangering the population,” Elkin said.

Bloomberg Opinion

thing that’s going to change the rest of our lives.”

‘Positive’ impact

A8 Thursday, January 2, 2020

Govt weighs options in Pinay’s death in Kuwait

E

VEN as the Philippine government is demanding stronger action from Kuwait in the latest killing of a household service worker (HSW) at the hands of an abusive employer, authorities are also focusing attention on human traffickers.

And, if the remarks emanating from the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are any indication, calls from labor groups to reinstate the deployment ban on the tiny oil-rich kingdom appear to have the ear of officials. Meanwhile, labor groups sought a congressional probe and the review of a May 2018 agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait which resulted in the lifting of the ban.

Expressing outrage over the brutal killing of housemaid Jeanelyn Padernal Villavende, 26, Foreign

Ecop chiefs keep posts for 2020

T

HE Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) will keep its highest officials in power for this year after its members voted to maintain Edgardo G. Lacson as chairman and Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. as president.

In a statement last week, Ecop announced Lacson and Ortiz-Luis received fresh mandates as chairman and president, respectively, of the organization. Ecop members voted to maintain the two as their heads for 2020, in a meeting last December.

Earlier, Lacson and Ortiz-Luis were reelected for another two-year term as governors of Ecop, along with Antonio H. Abad Jr., Renato B. Almeda, Roberto C. Amores, Oscar

S. Reyes and Alfonso G. Siy. They will serve as governors of the employers’ group from 2020 to 2021. Joining them are George T. Barcelon, Francis C. Chua, Federico R. Marquez Jr., Ranulfo P. Payos, Diana Pardo-Aguilar, Ancheta K. Tan and Jesus B. Varela, whose terms are set to expire on December 2020.

Lacson and Ortiz-Luis were the leaders of Ecop at the time it was opposing the passage of the Security of Tenure (SOT) bill, which was one of President Duterte’s campaign promises.

In 2019, the SOT bill hurdled the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, the President, in an unprecedented move, vetoed the

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING NORTHERN LUZON EASTERLIES AFFECTING REST OF THE COUNTRY as of 4:00 am - January 1, 2019

measure that would have provided workers protection from different forms of contractual employment.

Lacson is currently director of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), and was formerly president and honorary chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He was also previously president of Ecop from 2010 to 2016, before transferring the leadership to the late Donald G. Dee, who was succeeded by Ortiz-Luis. Lacson’s business interests is mostly in maritime services, serving as president of MIS Maritime Corp., Safe Seas Shipping Agency, Marine Industrial Supply Corp. and EML Realty.

See “Ecop,” A2

“We have at least 280 wards staying in the embassy shelter in Kuwait due to various complaints of contract violations and maltreatment. The situation clearly calls for reforms and a thorough review of preventive and protective mechanisms.”—Ople

Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., had earlier summoned Kuwait’s ambassador to Manila and said the victim’s employer must be brought

DOLE wants better work conditions for guards

By Samuel P. Medenilla

S

@sam_medenilla

ECURITY guards could expect better working conditions this year following the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) release of a new issuance requiring private security agencies (PSA) and their principals to provide the mandatory employment benefits.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III issued on December 27 Labor Advisory (LA) 15, Series of 2019, which aims to improve the compliance of PSAs and their principal with government requirements for their operations.

“This labor advisory is hereby issued to ensure compliance with mandatory employment benefits for security guards, and other private security personnel in the private security industry,” said Bello.

The two-page advisory made several clarifications on the provision of the Department Order (DO) 150, Series of 2016, governing the employment and working conditions of security guards, and other private security personnel.

It reminded labor inspectors to ensure that the service agreement (SA) between the principal and the PSA will stipulate that the administrative fee for security services should not be less than 20 percent of the total contract cost.

“Any stipulation to the contrary shall be deemed a violation of Section 4 [b] of DOLE DO 150, Series 2016,” said Bello.

LA 15 also said the wage provisions of the SA should be automatically adjusted appropriately, whenever a new wage order is issued by the regional wage boards. It indicated that the wage adjustment is “primarily borne by the principal.”

Bello also said PSAs are not required to submit proof of actual remittance of employers’ share and employees’ contributions to the Social Security System, Employees’ Compensation Commission, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Home Development Mutual Fund as a precondition for the payment of contract cost.

However, he said the principals are not precluded from verifying the compliance of PSAs with the remittance of their share and employees’ contributions.

The labor chief also said that while there is no prescribed schedule of payment of contract cost by principal to PSAs, it should be done within a time frame, which will not affect the payment of wages and wage-related benefits of security guards, and private security personnel.

In case there is a delay or underpayment of the said benefits to these workers, the PSA and its corresponding principal will be made to go through conciliation-mediation through DOLE’s Single Entry Approach program due to the principle of joint and several liability.

to justice. But he also decried the porous border control of the sending and receiving countries, hinting of so much money changing hands to facilitate the desperate job-seekers’ departures from our major ports and airports, and their easy entry at destinations.

“I beg you give her justice,” Locsin told Kuwaiti Ambassador to Manila, Musaed Saleh Ahmad AlThwaikh on Tuesday, expressing the government’s “outrage over the seeming lack of protection” offered to Filipino workers in the Gulf state,

despite an earlier deployment ban and a subsequent labor agreement between the two countries.

“We will go after the Filipino recruiters and government officials who put her in harm’s way,” Locsin told the ambassador.

“The friendship between your country which gives our people the jobs they cannot find at home and our people whose faithful service make the life of your people easier depends on justice being done the murdered maid. An eye for an eye, See “Pinay’s death,” A2

CIMATU: MLA BAY REHAB ‘TOP PRIORITY’ TILL 2022

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

D

@jonlmayuga

ETERMINED to make Manila Bay’s waters fit for swimming by the time President Duterte steps down in 2022, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is gearing up to sustain the gains of the “Battle for Manila Bay.” The rehabilitation of Manila Bay, which followed the successful campaign in Boracay and continuing efforts in several popular beaches-cum tourism areas in the country, topped the DENR’s year-end accomplishment report to Malacañang this year.

In a statement, Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said the rehabilitation of Manila Bay will remain the DENR’s top priority in the next three years.

While rehabilitating a heavily polluted body of water is proving to be an extremely difficult task, the official said he is more determined than ever to win the battle to restore the historic bay’s water to its pristine state.

Cimatu, who chairs the Manila Bay Task Force (MBTF), reported that while much has been achieved since the Manila Bay rehabilitation kicked off with the launch of the Battle for Manila Bay on January 26, “much more needs to be done” to achieve the ultimate goal of making it fit again for swimming, and other forms of contact recreation.

“Our effort to restore Manila Bay is now in full swing and we hope to sustain the momentum of restoring it to its former glory in the coming years,” the country’s chief steward for the environment and natural resources said.

The ongoing rehabilitation is currently in its first phase or the cleanup and water quality

Jpepa. . .

Continued from A1

include providing additional support for industries that were not doing well under Jpepa.

Support includes reducing logistics and doing business costs that make sending and receiving goods expensive, as well as streamlining business permits and licensing, particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The authors also supported MSMEs participation in the Access of Small Enterprises to Sound Lending Opportunities (Asenso) Program which seeks to lower financing costs and easing requirements.

The study also echoed the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) recommendation for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to pursue targeted

monitoring phase.

The next two phases will involve the massive relocation of informal settlers in addition to more rehabilitation works plus the all-important education, protection and sustainment aspect of the campaign.

The MBTF has identified 44,125 informal settler families living within the Manila Bay region. A total of 51 families— specifically situated along Estero de San Antonio de Abad—were already relocated to Tala, Caloocan City, ahead of the target date of the massive relocation.

In line with this, 547 kilometers of easements have been delineated in NCR and Central Luzon.

In 2019, the ambitious rehabilitation program kept DENR officials and employees, including that of its attached agencies, bureaus and services on their toes.

As of September 26, the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) inspected 9,708 commercial establishments around Manila Bay. Of this number, 2,478 were issued notices of violations and 107 were slapped with cease-and-desist orders.

Since the rehabilitation started in January, close to 70,000 volunteers from the NCR, Central Luzon and Calabarzon have collected over 2.3 million kg of waste through cleanups, trash boats and garbage traps.

A total of 70 stations were monitored in the Manila Bay region—31 bathing beaches, 18 river mouths, 16 drainage outfalls, and five rivers.

To improve the ecosystem in the area, the DENR led the planting of native and fruit-bearing tree seedlings, and mangrove propagules.

See “Mla Bay,” A2

and time-bound initiatives to reduce business costs.

“The results show the potential of Philippine manufactured goods export to penetrate the Japanese market through Jpepa. It is important that the Philippines sustains this advantage by providing further support to these key sectors,” the authors said.

The country’s total exports to Japan only grew 1.9 percent to $8.89 billion in the January-to-October period in 2019, from $8.72 billion in 2018. In October, exports increased 4.5 percent to $971.68 million in 2019, from $930.23 million in 2018.

Japan was the country’s secondlargest export market in October and the January-to-October period. Manila’s export earnings from Tokyo is second only to revenues coming from shipments sent to Washington.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

December 27, 2019

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

BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK PHILTRUST SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE BDO LEASING COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS FERRONOUX HLDG IREMIT MEDCO HLDG NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

354223145 195154222 9175310 33547 766302 130811156 8201970 27025 159350 36417772 190029 4440 330160 2005578 336630 899670 10500 30000 59850 204630 109500

-103363751 55023362 63268 -55845414 -4663920 -10958980 -109137 16160 1033200 -6200 -54750

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 2.23 2.25 2.28 2.28 2.23 2.23 3099000 6962930 1.21 1.28 1.23 1.23 1.21 1.21 71000 86190 ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER 33.55 34.2 33.85 34.8 33.55 34.2 798800 27261925 0.231 0.243 0.239 0.245 0.23 0.245 5100000 1232980 BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN 23.9 24.15 23.85 24.6 23.3 24.15 3151100 75567255 FIRST PHIL HLDG 68.95 69 68.2 70 68.2 68.95 40920 2804704 313.6 317 305 317 304 317 190120 59419560 MERALCO MANILA WATER 10.34 10.36 10.04 11.38 9.48 10.36 79907100 831706562 3.86 3.88 3.89 3.92 3.84 3.86 1481000 5744380 PETRON PETROENERGY 3.95 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 1000 4100 PHX PETROLEUM 11.48 11.94 11.5 11.94 11.4 11.94 330500 3897144 32.8 32.85 32.9 33.4 32.6 32.8 1043400 34250320 PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER 8.19 8.2 8.48 8.48 8 8.19 113000 922447 14.02 15.12 15.12 15.12 15.12 15.12 3000 45360 VIVANT AGRINURTURE 13 13.2 13.38 13.5 13 13.5 423000 5660486 AXELUM 2.61 2.66 2.76 2.78 2.61 2.61 4775000 12660970 15.18 15.28 15.12 15.28 15.08 15.18 308400 4681796 CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE 4.85 5.05 5.05 5.05 4.85 4.85 6000 29500 9.48 9.5 9.44 9.5 9.43 9.5 1887000 17892788 DNL INDUS EMPERADOR 7.2 7.21 7.22 7.22 7.2 7.21 488600 3521861 SMC FOODANDBEV 84.95 85 85 85.3 84.9 85 239460 20356623.5 0.5 0.52 0.5 0.52 0.49 0.51 219000 110190 ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG 1.2 1.21 1.25 1.26 1.2 1.21 18722000 22856990 37.5 38 38.25 39 37 38 149000 5615820 GINEBRA JOLLIBEE 215.4 216 216.2 217 214.6 216 302990 65345474 MACAY HLDG 6.1 6.19 6.2 6.2 5.9 6.19 68700 413176 11.72 12.4 11.94 12.4 11.7 12.4 182800 2228768 MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA 1.92 1.93 1.92 1.93 1.92 1.92 12747000 24481550 9.9 10.12 9.9 10.08 9.9 9.9 1790000 17744749 SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO 2.17 2.2 2.19 2.2 2.15 2.17 1273000 2744190 RFM CORP 5.29 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.25 5.3 10900 57577 1.79 1.93 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 5000 9000 ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS 0.117 0.119 0.115 0.117 0.115 0.117 220000 25500 145 148.9 147.8 149.9 145 145 631700 93104458 UNIV ROBINA VITARICH 1.19 1.2 1.17 1.2 1.14 1.2 8016000 9511550 VICTORIAS 2.44 2.57 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.6 1000 2600 65 67 64.45 67 64.45 65 2220 144370 CONCRETE A CONCRETE B 66.6 71.9 71.95 71.95 71.9 71.9 2390 171848.5 2.01 2.04 2.08 2.08 2.01 2.01 1949000 3,984,150( CEMEX HLDG EAGLE CEMENT 14.3 14.86 14.5 14.9 14.3 14.86 19200 279946 EEI CORP 9.8 9.85 9.78 9.8 9.46 9.8 334900 3278663 13.52 13.6 13.7 13.7 13.5 13.6 1281500 17422828 HOLCIM MEGAWIDE 16.36 16.38 16.38 16.44 16.32 16.38 2842500 46598230 9.85 10.06 10 10.08 10 10.06 3004300 30083148 PHINMA TKC METALS 0.99 1.02 1.02 1.02 0.99 1.02 89000 89490 VULCAN INDL 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.85 0.86 1352000 1165030 165 170 170 170 161.8 170 230 38854 CHEMPHIL CROWN ASIA 2.15 2.17 2.16 2.17 2.14 2.15 435000 941150 4.61 4.86 4.6 4.86 4.6 4.86 11000 50860 LMG CHEMICALS PRYCE CORP 4.94 5.06 5.06 5.06 5.06 5.06 1000 5060 CONCEPCION 27.05 30 27 30 27 30 54800 1522830 1.86 1.87 1.87 1.89 1.8 1.87 9898000 18124090 GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR 7.72 7.89 7.91 7.91 7.6 7.89 66700 516122 1.29 1.3 1.26 1.3 1.26 1.3 77000 99300 IONICS PANASONIC 4.62 5.42 4.54 5.43 4.54 5.43 10200 46442 SFA SEMICON 0.85 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.85 0.85 28000 23900 4.05 4.07 4 4.78 4 4.07 2856000 12395740 CIRTEK HLDG

6830330 -26239490 -1497943.5 29707428 -48073396 -1966200 -37014 -16584265 -22680 -2988386 21310 2231708 4903047 -621953 8825461.5 -138010 1441000 -28251350 24800 -1202052 -2544190 -4541195 -39202 -46045675 135930 1,707,370.0001) -87882 -1123673 -16846038 -35479036 -30050000 81950 -5400 10874880 134341 -64200 199610

HOLDING & FRIMS

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

157.9 87.9 25 8.48 12.04 66.25 34.5 57.35 118 195 57.6 0.85 1.85 18 0.54 3.82 1.15 0.365 0.82 174 1820

0.85 10.18 785.5 51.45 11.64 2.99 6.33 0.68 0.92 0.94 6.83 6.61 13 3.83 847 5.2 80.55 6 5.2 0.485 3.71 11.92 3.47 4.55 1.14 2.81 1.22 190.5 1042 163.1 0.75 206.6 0.202 0.191

158 87.95 25.05 8.49 12.06 66.3 35 57.5 130 196 57.7 1.06 1.88 18.42 0.69 3.83 1.22 0.375 0.83 175 1825

0.86 10.46 790 51.5 11.66 3 6.59 0.69 0.93 0.96 6.84 6.63 13.38 3.99 856.5 5.24 80.8 6.65 5.79 0.5 3.8 11.98 3.48 4.7 1.2 2.96 1.24 195 1043 164 0.79 214 0.217 0.2

157.4 88 25.05 8.49 12 67 34.5 57.5 118.5 192 58.2 1.11 2.02 18 0.6 3.9 1.16 0.375 0.79 173 1825

0.87 10.24 800 52 11.54 3.02 6.42 0.67 0.91 0.96 6.67 6.87 13.38 4.2 845 5.25 79.2 5.89 5.86 0.485 3.72 11.9 3.58 4.6 1.2 2.9 1.22 214 1068 161 0.77 206 0.218 0.19

158 88 25.15 8.49 12.18 67 35.8 57.5 130 197 58.25 1.11 2.02 18.42 0.72 3.95 1.22 0.375 0.83 175 1825

0.88 10.48 808 52.5 11.76 3.02 6.42 0.69 0.93 0.96 6.9 6.93 13.4 4.2 881 5.25 81 6.65 5.86 0.5 3.73 12 3.59 4.78 1.2 2.95 1.22 214 1080 165 0.79 214 0.22 0.202

155.3 86.7 24.9 6.23 11.9 66.2 34.45 57.5 118.5 190 57.7 1.11 1.84 18 0.6 3.81 1.16 0.375 0.78 173 1825

0.85 10.2 785.5 51.5 11.54 2.99 6.42 0.66 0.9 0.96 6.67 6.61 13 3.78 845 5.2 79.2 5.89 5.79 0.485 3.71 11.68 3.46 4.6 1.13 2.9 1.22 190 1039 157.5 0.74 206 0.202 0.19

158 87.9 25.05 8.49 12.06 66.3 34.5 57.5 130 195 57.7 1.11 1.87 18.42 0.72 3.83 1.16 0.375 0.83 175 1825

0.86 10.46 785.5 51.5 11.66 2.99 6.42 0.69 0.93 0.96 6.84 6.61 13 3.99 847 5.2 80.8 6.65 5.79 0.5 3.71 11.98 3.48 4.75 1.2 2.95 1.22 195 1043 164 0.79 214 0.202 0.2

2245820 2222540 366300 4300 64000 1972480 235900 470 1250 186470 3280 4000 176000 111400 500000 235000 9000 80000 74000 1170 60

15101000 11200 448810 1103790 17493800 1783000 6200 69000 692000 203000 272700 19598000 222000 12000 197790 62100 1719870 382000 200200 2000 163000 1645800 60319000 14000 61000 255000 135000 1130 428450 101610 39000 165480 1180000 6830000

13098160 114442 356100685 57127455 204259208 5343320 39804 45930 635670 194880 1855111 132357921 2898420 48710 170793930 325055 138894595 2428676 1173165 985 605060 19700732 212074230 66230 69910 752000 164700 216310 449582840 16629465 29220 35377140 258610 1365850

524000 -57401710 -7484613 -1406634 -733100 7704 222403 -24445337 -66366620 -210000 7331079.5 377557 1172586 -3730 -8811258 -127525430 12200 -120820290 -4839307 -2380 -220000 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.8 0.81 0.8 0.81 0.78 0.81 630000 499830 45.5 46 46.3 46.55 45.5 45.5 10432800 479698750 -214708815 AYALA LAND ARANETA PROP 1.32 1.44 1.47 1.47 1.47 1.47 6000 8820 1.98 1.99 2 2 1.98 1.99 119000 236880 -11910 BELLE CORP A BROWN 0.7 0.71 0.71 0.72 0.7 0.71 142000 99960 CITYLAND DEVT 0.81 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 6000 5100 0.182 0.188 0.18 0.189 0.18 0.188 1110000 203630 CROWN EQUITIES CEBU HLDG 6.63 6.8 6.9 6.95 6.5 6.8 6000 41165 4.69 4.83 4.76 4.83 4.67 4.83 1478000 7105280 -502320 CEB LANDMASTERS CENTURY PROP 0.53 0.55 0.54 0.55 0.53 0.55 13021000 7014670 -221900 CYBER BAY 0.385 0.395 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.38 10000 3800 18.88 18.9 18.9 19.4 18.88 18.9 1052900 20003218 -3172578 DOUBLEDRAGON DM WENCESLAO 9.67 9.9 9.98 9.98 9.65 9.9 97200 960630 -668305 0.41 0.43 0.415 0.43 0.415 0.43 150000 62800 EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND 1.5 1.51 1.52 1.52 1.5 1.5 2737000 4129670 322890 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.15 1.18 1.16 1.2 1.15 1.2 356000 410720 14.72 14.74 14.76 14.78 14.72 14.74 359000 5296126 -229970 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV 1.23 1.25 1.25 1.27 1.22 1.25 1267000 1570560 4.01 4.08 4.14 4.18 4.01 4.01 27824000 114129640 8003770.0001 MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED 0.19 0.191 0.192 0.194 0.189 0.191 10230000 1947040 57060 PRIMEX CORP 2.05 2.12 2.1 2.1 2.03 2.09 1900000 3901790 -240.0001 27.55 27.8 27.2 28.15 27.2 27.55 2038200 56837455 2270850 ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY 0.3 0.305 0.31 0.31 0.3 0.3 510000 153550 2.04 2.11 2.11 2.12 2.03 2.04 63000 130490 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 3.19 3.2 3.2 3.21 3.1 3.2 24000 76430 STA LUCIA LAND 2.39 2.47 2.36 2.48 2.36 2.48 500000 1206980 41.95 42.1 41.5 42.1 41.4 42.1 14600500 613844805 228459150 SM PRIME HLDG VISTAMALLS 5.47 5.66 5.55 5.66 5.46 5.66 1832600 10045330 1.23 1.24 1.18 1.24 1.18 1.23 8235000 10066700 SUNTRUST HOME PTFC REDEV CORP 40.05 49.95 49.95 49.95 49.95 49.95 100 4995 VISTA LAND 7.37 7.73 7.38 7.73 7.32 7.73 8337900 63078293 -37595813

SERVICES ABS CBN 15.76 15.8 15.8 15.82 15.3 15.8 60600 953926 5.31 5.33 5.31 5.37 5.31 5.33 545500 2907261 GMA NETWORK MANILA BULLETIN 0.355 0.38 0.385 0.385 0.385 0.385 20000 7700 2000 2020 1998 2030 1998 2020 35090 70702720 20243890 GLOBE TELECOM PLDT 988 996 999.5 1003 988 988 124630 124310925 -37777760 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.042 0.043 0.042 0.043 0.042 0.043 1700000 72500 4.82 4.88 4.88 4.9 4.51 4.88 866000 4222840 DFNN INC ISLAND INFO 0.1 0.103 0.1 0.104 0.1 0.104 130000 13040 3.44 3.45 3.4 3.46 3.31 3.44 10071000 34466430 -201440 ISM COMM JACKSTONES 2.01 2.17 1.9 2.19 1.9 2 34000 68210 NOW CORP 2.48 2.49 2.43 2.6 2.4 2.49 3058000 7594830 -560580 0.27 0.275 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.27 1130000 310300 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2.59 2.61 2.56 2.61 2.54 2.61 2093000 5400730 -28150 10.02 10.5 9.89 10.5 9.51 10.5 128300 1295194 2GO GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS 18 18.5 18 18.5 18 18.5 250700 4520100 4242600 CHELSEA 5.47 5.5 5.4 5.5 5.3 5.5 1053100 5716814 40565 89.45 89.5 89.85 89.85 89.45 89.5 141270 12648324 -8162953 CEBU AIR INTL CONTAINER 128.6 129.2 129 131.3 127.1 128.6 1669580 215210196 -62802719 0.85 0.86 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 75000 63750 LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA 16.4 16.5 17 17 16.5 16.5 331600 5,493,932( 2,430,543.9997) PAL HLDG 7.5 7.85 7.85 7.85 7.1 7.85 4800 34505 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.05 1.07 700000 747590 107670 HARBOR STAR ACESITE HOTEL 1.4 1.54 1.42 1.42 1.4 1.4 88000 123660 0.6 0.61 0.57 0.61 0.57 0.6 121000 72600 WATERFRONT STI HLDG 0.6 0.62 0.61 0.62 0.6 0.6 4238000 2546310 -2151600 BERJAYA 5.14 5.2 4.95 5.2 4.76 5.2 4445000 22583050 -238200 11.3 11.32 11 11.34 11 11.3 1918200 21661494 -3377236 BLOOMBERRY PACIFIC ONLINE 2.25 2.5 2.57 2.57 2.45 2.5 26000 64820 -54750 2.39 2.4 2.39 2.4 2.38 2.4 832000 1988040 LEISURE AND RES MANILA JOCKEY 3.33 3.35 3.35 3.35 3.35 3.35 5000 16750 PH RESORTS GRP 4.4 5 5 5.2 5 5.2 50000 253706 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.59 0.56 0.57 14396000 8095570 -613569.9997 PREMIUM LEISURE PHIL RACING 8.84 8.85 8.88 8.88 8.85 8.85 200 1773 11.6 11.64 11.56 11.64 11.52 11.64 2868200 33309926 -4254076 ALLHOME METRO RETAIL 2.09 2.12 2.12 2.12 2.09 2.11 433000 911040 -172200 PUREGOLD 39.7 39.75 40.3 40.3 39.75 39.75 1336600 53323565 568135.0004 77 80 77.95 80 76 80 839780 65672083 -15872737 ROBINSONS RTL PHIL SEVEN CORP 140 142 136.2 142 136.2 142 1530 216004 71364 2.73 2.78 2.77 2.78 2.71 2.78 2051000 5655760 -869480 SSI GROUP WILCON DEPOT 17.84 18 17.8 18 17.78 18 182900 3279610 428332 APC GROUP 0.385 0.39 0.38 0.39 0.37 0.39 1480000 562050 7.77 7.79 7.79 7.79 7.76 7.79 169700 1321701 EASYCALL GOLDEN BRIA 436 436.4 425 436.4 425 436 310 134068 7 7.94 6.5 7 6.45 7 68900 455900 130580 IPM HLDG PRMIERE HORIZON 0.335 0.34 0.34 0.35 0.32 0.34 28370000 9628700 -8250 SBS PHIL CORP 9.2 9.26 8.69 9.26 8.64 9.26 236000 2121789

MINING & OIL ATOK 10.5 10.92 10.96 10.96 10.5 10.96 500 5388 0.98 0.99 0.96 1 0.96 0.99 4248000 4203230 APEX MINING ABRA MINING 0.0015 0.0016 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 3000000 4500 2.41 2.5 2.49 2.5 2.49 2.5 55000 137460 ATLAS MINING BENGUET A 1.05 1.13 1.13 1.13 1.13 1.13 1000 1130 CENTURY PEAK 2.87 2.88 2.81 2.89 2.81 2.88 2314000 6598990 111000 6.92 6.93 7.3 7.3 6.93 6.93 600 4195 DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL 1.78 1.79 1.79 1.81 1.76 1.79 1225000 2184450 257060 0.197 0.202 0.203 0.203 0.197 0.202 80000 15940 GEOGRACE LEPANTO A 0.091 0.092 0.092 0.097 0.091 0.091 680000 62070 MARCVENTURES 0.98 1 0.89 0.98 0.89 0.98 485000 465020 0.98 1.01 1.01 1.02 1.01 1.02 2000 2030 NIHAO NICKEL ASIA 3.33 3.39 3.38 3.39 3.24 3.39 7033000 23532070 -3809430 0.45 0.49 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.47 30000 14100 OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA 0.75 0.76 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.75 264000 197850 -18000 PX MINING 2.81 2.83 2.76 2.83 2.76 2.83 370000 1041790 22 22.05 22 22.6 21.6 22 2253400 49725465 -3360585 SEMIRARA MINING ACE ENEXOR 7.32 7.38 7.46 7.56 7.3 7.32 447300 3308503 53465 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 8500000 93500 1100 ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 15000000 165000 PXP ENERGY 8.58 8.64 8.62 8.64 8.52 8.64 549900 4735194 68300.9999

PREFFERED

AC PREF B1 499 505 499 499 499 499 50 24950 101.3 103.3 101.3 101.3 98.25 101.3 510 51632.5 -50650 ALCO PREF B AC PREF B2R 505 509.5 505 505 505 505 3000 1515000 100.1 101 100.6 100.6 100.5 100.5 5240 526784 DD PREF SMC FB PREF 2 997 998.5 998.5 998.5 997 997 80 79775 FGEN PREF G 108 111.9 111.9 111.9 111.9 111.9 10 1119 498 507 500 500 500 500 200 100000 GLO PREF P MWIDE PREF 100.2 101 100.5 100.5 100.3 100.3 4770 478447 1022 1030 1031 1035 1022 1022 4290 4419400 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 3A 1031 1051 1031 1031 1031 1031 3000 3093000 PCOR PREF 3B 1050 1055 1051 1055 1050 1055 800 843025 76 77.5 77.5 77.7 77.5 77.5 10840 842208 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D 75 75.5 75 75 75 75 13400 1005000 75.8 76.9 75.75 76 75.75 75.8 1513530 114724905 SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I 75.2 76.5 76.95 76.95 75.2 75.2 9440 710105.5 PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

15.4 5.07

15.7 5.3

15.4 5.3

15.4 5.3

15.02 5.3

15.4 5.3

21100 28200

324812 149460

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.2

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ITALPINAS 3.7 KEPWEALTH 9.7 0.77 XURPAS

1.29

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.29

38000

46720

-

3.79 9.72 0.78

4 10.08 0.76

4.01 10.08 0.78

3.64 9.51 0.76

3.79 9.7 0.77

671000 346500 1611000

2625440 3346331 1241220

1953730 28344 -

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

116.7

306498 -

117.4

117.3

117.9

116.5

117.4

45500

5314164

-318951

Thursday, January 2, 2020

B1

PLDT selling assets to fund capital expenditures for 2020

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

P

LDT Inc. is selling a few assets which will allow the firm to rake in “several billions of pesos” to fund its capital expenditures for 2020, its chairman said.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs the telco titan, said his group has already received bids for Smart Tower in Ayala, and is also putting up for sale three other properties, all of which he did not name.

The company is also selling its remaining shares in German tech company Rocket Internet, in which it has about 2-million shares left.

“We have the bids in already for

Smart Tower. We are selling three other minor properties. We also need to sell all of our shares in the German company Rocket [Internet],” he said in a recent interview.

For Smart Tower, a property along Ayala Avenue in Makati, the company expects to rake in “at least” P5 billion.

Pangilinan noted that the proceeds of the asset sale will be used to bankroll its capex for 2020, which is “slightly bigger than 2019.”

L a st yea r, t he compa ny ’s planned capital outlays amounted to P78.4 billion.

PLDT is ramping up its capex to develop its network. It is gearing toward deploying 4G radio

antennas in all of its cell sites, and is planning to introduce the country’s first 5G mobile service this quarter.

For 2020, the company will take a more aggressive stance to regain its title as the country’s top mobile provider through Smart Communications Inc. “We need to make our customers happy, and give them better services. That’s the only way you can compete—have the better service in the market,” said Smart President Alfredo S. Panlilio.

PLDT posted a 2-percent decline in net income to P16 billion in January to September 2019, despite a 2-percent increase in revenues to P124.43 billion.

PSE bats for reforms in brokerage industry

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

T

he Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is pushing for reforms in equity brokerage firms in the country to weed out smaller ones that cannot afford to hire the right number of employees.

PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said one of the changes that can be implemented is to increase the broker’s market capitalization to P100 million from the current P30 million.

“We’d like to increase the capitalization of brokers to make sure that they can afford the right numbers of employees to make the proper segregation of task. That’s what happened with R and L Investments Inc.,” said Monzon.

“R and L had one employee doing several functions. I think it [R and L’s problem] is only a function of them not being able to afford of

having the right number of employees. That’s one of them,” he added.

The stock brokerage collapsed allegedly due to unauthorized transfers of proprietary and client shares worth more than P700 million to an account with another brokerage.

“We’ve actually streamlined the brokers already from 180 plus to 130. We canceled the trading rights of more than 50 inactive brokers as part of streamlining. We’re also now looking into having some reforms in the brokers industry,” he said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has already ordered Capital Markets Integrity Corp.— the independent audit, surveillance and compliance arm of the PSE—to take over the operations of R and L Investments.

In its 2018 audited financial statements, R and L Investments booked client securities worth

PAL’s 2019 highlights: New management, intl awards

By Recto Mercene

F

@rectomercene

lag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) harvested international awards and teamed up its first foreign airline partner in 2019, even as Asia’s oldest airline transitioned to a new management team that is focused on profitability while maintaining top-notch customer service.

PAL took in its first foreign airline partner—All Nippon Airways, through its parent company ANA Holdings, in February 2019.

This prompted the election of an ANA representative, Ryuhei Maeda, to the PAL Board of Directors.

Other changes in the board include the appointment of Vivienne K. Tan, the daughter of Chairman Lucio C. Tan, as director. She concurrently serves as PAL executive vice president/ treasurer, representing the Tan family’s new leadership generation.

The family mourned the untimely passing of namesake Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., who had been appointed head of parent company, PAL Holdings, prior to his demise.

Business-process outsourcing expert Gilbert Santa Maria was anointed as PAL’s new president in July 2019, following the retirement of longtime head Jaime J. Bautista. Santa Maria is currently leading a digital transformation initiative to ensure that the airline’s needs are met by the most ideal technology solutions.

After re-certifying the airline’s four-Star rating earlier in the year, ratings giant Skytrax announced that PAL won top honors as the World’s Most Improved Airline of 2019 based on a global survey of more than a million passengers. The US-based Airline Passenger Experience association also rated PAL a 4-Star Major Airline for 2020, based on customer votes.

In September 2019, PAL Express was included in the list of Asia’s Top 100 Best Employers

for its employee engagement efforts, while PAL’s 2018 Christmas video “Regalo” bested eight other finalists to win two awards at the YouTube Ads Awards Philippines.

PAL was also named as a “Talent Accelerator” for its trendsetting virtual reality training for cabin crew at the 3rd Annual IDC Digital Transformation Awards. New aircraft were delivered in 2019: the last two Airbus A350-900s (dubbed Love Bus)—completing the long-range fleet—and a new 195-seat variant of the A321neo.

With a fleet of 97 aircraft, PAL was able to open regular flights to the capitals of Cambodia and Vietnam—five times a week to Phnom Penh and four times a week to Hanoi—as well as new domestic routes: Cebu-Zamboanga, Cebu-Dipolog and Zamboanga-Tawi Tawi.

Among the product and service enhancements launched in 2019 was an upgraded Premium Economy experience available on A350 and selected A330 aircraft—so passengers can choose to sit in an intermediate private cabin between regular Economy and Business Class.

PAL introduced a new automated passenger service system—Altea Suite by Amadeus—to enhance the process of booking, buying tickets, checking-in and boarding flights.

In June 2019, the PAL Foundation facilitated the transport of two Philippine eagles hatched at the Philippine Eagle Foundation sanctuary in Davao by flying them to Singapore as part of a joint international project to conserve the endangered national bird. The two eagles are now safe in their new home at Singapore’s Jurong Bird Park.

PAL capped the year as a major sponsor of the recent 30th Southeast Asian Games hosted by the Philippines. The flag carrier flew in technical officials from participating countries.

The legacy carrier will celebrate its 79th anniversary in March.

P738.89 million. The business partner report provided by the Philippine Depositary and Trust Corp., however, showed the brokerage’s client portfolio only amounted to P132.22 million.

The audited financial statements also showed that R and L Investments had a total net assets of P46.81 million The number of missing securities, if absorbed

mutual funds

by the company, will result in net negative equity of P559.82 million.

R and L Investments nominee Lucy Linda D. Lee first reported the discovery of the discrepancy to the PSE on October 31, 2019, supposedly after the nominee of another brokerage flagged numerous error transactions made by settlement officer Marlon Moron on several trading days.

December 27, 2019

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 253.04 0.62% 3.07% -0.43% 0.33% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.3784 -2.68% 2.04% -3.36% -4.33% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.6956 -4.94% 0.05% -3.17% -5.31% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.9029 1.2% n.a. n.a.

0.21% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.8531 4.21% n.a. n.a.

3.95% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 5.3449 1.92% 4.23% -0.59% 1.36% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.8567 3.07% 0.06% n.a.

2.39% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 103.41 -12.8% n.a. n.a. -10.98% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 51.4767 4.79% 5.79% n.a.

4.58% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 534.98 4.26% 4.32% -0.01% 3.93% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,8 1.0263 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.2919 3.22% 4.69% 0.7% 3.02% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 38.0502 4.1% 5.64% 0.66% 3.87% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.0218 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

6.43% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 5.2426 5.93% 1.95% 5.72% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

875.11 5.85% 6.34% 1.9% 5.63% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.8548 -0.33% 3.07% n.a.

-0.6% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 4.2296 4.48% 5.45% 0.99% 4.21% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 1.0044 5.46% 6.07% n.a.

5.25% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.671 5.07% 7.37% 2.65% 4.86% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 117.3442 6.18% 7.07% 2.88% 5.96% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0235 11.7% 7.4% 1% 10.16% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3711 25.73% 9.76% n.a.

24.06% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5669 -5.04% -1.39% -3.95% -5.11% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1866 -0.58% 0.28% -1.26% -1.02% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6364 4.11% 3.95% -0.99% 3.67% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.2303 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Grepalife Balanced Fund Corporation -a 1.3294 2.04% n.a. n.a.

1.92% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.7982 7.65% 3.5% 0.5% 7.62% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 17.0014 7.06% 3.39% 0.42% 6.88% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.1349 3.24% 2.98% 1.14% 3.18% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.8745 6.36% 4.44% 0.82% 6.11% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 1.0181 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9987 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9957 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.9787 6.28% 3.95% -0.12% 6.18% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03817 8.38% 3.09% 2.01% 8.13% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $1.0326 -0.14% 5.71% 1.19% 13.01% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.8945 18.15% 7.76% 4.06% 17.71% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.1248 12.38% 4.61% n.a.

11.92% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 357.83 4.21% 2.83% 2.33% 4.18% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.9014 2.32% 0.02% -0.5% 2.27% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1141 4.88% 5.21% 5.21% 4.64% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2237 4.35% 2.46% 1.96% 4.44% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3589 6.81% 2.39% 1.58% 6.97% Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. -a P 1.6065 2.8% 0.99% -0.13% 2.69% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.3722 11.54% 2.85% 1.77% 11.54% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.7767 7.75% 2.99% 1.42% 7.38% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9639 8.01% 1.52% n.a.

8.16% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.075 11.35% 4.9% 2.67% 11.18% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.7011 10.63% 4.45% 2.21% 10.47% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $468.02 4.43% 2.72% 2.77% 4.38% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.71 3.34% 1.65% 1.31% 3.31% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2063 7.24% 3.24% 2.58% 7.16% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0258 3.61% 1.46% 1.29% 4.03% Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. -a $1.7091 1.09% -0.03% 0.13% 1.12% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.093 17.84% 1.54% -0.8% 5.47% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.402 10.63% 3.7% 2.97% 10.65% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0603476 5.89% 2.31% 1.99% 5.87% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1717 10.41% 3.06% 2.58% 10.43% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 125.77 4.11% 2.86% 2.18% 4.05% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0299 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.2563 6.35% 3.04% 1.71% 6.29% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2641 3.74% 2.88% 2.34% 3.68% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0371 2.11% n.a. n.a.

2.09% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $0.99 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is November 15, 2019.

5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.).

7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. 8 - Launch date is December 09, 2019.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa. com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

B2 Thursday, January 2, 2020

World Companies BusinessMirror

Turkish Airlines says Boeing agrees to compensation over Max grounding

In this December 11, 2019, file photo, a United Airlines Boeing 737 Max airplane takes off in the rain at Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Washington. Turkish Airlines said on Tuesday that it has reached a partial agreement with Boeing over compensation for damages caused by the grounding of the airline’s Boeing 737 Max jets. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

T

urkish Airlines said on Tuesday that it has reached a partial agreement with Boeing over compensation for damages caused by the grounding of the airline’s Boeing 737 Max jets.

airline’s media representatives did not respond to requests for information. Boeing declined to comment on private discussions with a customer.

Reports in Turkish media put Boeing’s payment in cash, training expenses and repair parts anywhere between $120 million and $225 million. The reports could not be verified.

C h ic ago -ba sed Boei ng h a s estimated that it will pay $5.6 billion over the next few years to compensate airlines for their losses from canceling thousands of flights. Boeing is seeking to limit the amount of compensation paid out in cash by also offering discounts and services.

Boeing has been upd ating flight-control software and computers in a bid to get the Max back in the air, but the company’s expectations for a relatively short turnaround have been dashed repeatedly.

The Federal Aviation Administration is unlikely to approve Boeing’s changes until late February or March at the earliest, and regulators in other countries are expected to take even longer before letting the plane fly again.

Shares of Boeing slipped 60 cents to $325.80. They ended the year up 1 percent but fell 27 percent from their peak in March, just before the second Max crash. AP

The airline did not disclose financial terms of the agreement.

Between 2013 and 2015, Turkish Airlines ordered 75 Max jets.

It received only 12 before Boeing halted deliveries in March after regulators around the world grounded the plane following two

crashes that killed 346 people.

In a regulatory filing, the airline said the agreement covered “certain portion of the losses” related to the Max. It was not c lea r wh at w a s covered a nd whether the airline is seeking additional compensation. The

Fatal Tesla crash near Los Angeles being investigated

by NHTSA unit

Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn joins ranks of big-time white-collar fugitives

T

he Nat ion a l Highway Traf f ic Safet y Ad ministration (NHTSA) will open an inquiry into a collision on Sunday near Los Angeles, involving a 2019 Tesla Model S that collided with another vehicle, the agency said late Tuesday.

Two people died and two others were injured when a Tesla exited a freeway, ran a red light and slammed into a Honda Civic, an NBC News affiliate in Los Angeles reported on Sunday, citing law enforcement. A NHTSA spokesman confirmed the agency was investigating the crash.

The inquiry, a crash scene and vehicle inspection, is the latest by the NHTSA’s Special Crash Investigations unit involving a Tesla vehicle. It has begun 13 probes into Tesla vehicle crashes believed to involve the use of the company’s automated driver-assist features marketed as Autopilot, which enables a Tesla car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane.

A NHTSA spokesman declined to comment on whether Autopilot was a factor in the Sunday crash in Gardena, California.

The NHTSA earlier in December said investigators would look into a Connecticut crash in which a Tesla rear-ended a parked police cruiser while the vehicle was operating on Autopilot.

Tesl a representat ives d id not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Bloomberg News

C

arlos Ghosn’s stunning escape from Japan makes him one of the most famous white-collar fugitives in recent years, joining the likes of Malaysian businessman Jho Low and Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya.

The former head of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, who was facing trial for financial crimes, defended his move to Lebanon by saying in a statement he’ll “no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system.”

It’s unclear how Ghosn escaped as he’s been under house arrest and close surveillance since being granted bail in April following his initial arrest in November 2018. He’s a citizen of Lebanon, which doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Japan, and is held in high esteem there. He also holds Brazilian and French citizenship. Ghosn’s Lawyer Junichiro Hironaka said his legal team has all of his passports, adding that it’s likely he entered his ancestral home country using a different name.

Here’s a look at some highprofile fugitives from the business world in recent years.

Jho Low Malaysia is still trying to bring in Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, the alleged mastermind behind the siphoning of billions of dollars from stateowned investment fund 1MDB. The scandal led to Prime Minister Najib Razak losing a 2018

election, ending 61 years of his party’s rule, and has entangled individuals and businesses far and wide, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Jho has denied wrongdoing that he wouldn’t get a fair trial in Malaysia.

Malaysian authorities last week complained about a lack of cooperation from other countries in their search for Jho. In September, Inspector-General Abdul Hamid Bador said the financier was in a jurisdiction that has an extradition treaty with Malaysia, and talks were being held with a party suspected of protecting him.

ton pardoned Rich, who repeatedly maintained his innocence.

Rich died in 2013.

The entrepreneur died in Majorca in 2001, a decade after fleeing Australia as his media and hotel empire Qintex Australia Ltd. collapsed. The businesses included Seven Network Australia Ltd., the country’s second-largest television network.

Skase successfully fought bids to extradite him to Australia. An order to expel him was in place but suspended by the Spanish government a month before he died of cancer at the age of 52.

Marc Rich

Vijay Mallya

The commodities trader fled to Switzerland hours before being indicted in 1983, on more than 50 counts of wire fraud, racketeering, trading with Iran during an embargo, and evading more than $48 million in US income taxes. The charges stemmed from a multimilliondollar chain of US crude-oil deals that roiled the global petroleum industry in the early 1980s.

The businessman was celebrated for inventing the spotoil market before becoming one of the most wanted white-collar fugitives in American history for 17 years. After leaving the US, he founded a commodities trading company that became the forerunner of today’s Glencore Plc. On the last day of his presidency in January 2001, Bill Clin-

The so-called King of Good Times has been subject to extradition efforts by Indian authorities for years. Mallya is based in London, where this month he was taken to court by a dozen state-owned Indian banks petitioning for him to be declared bankrupt over £1.15 billion ($1.5 billion) in unpaid debts.

Mallya’s business interests stretched from liquor to motor racing to airlines. He was the founder of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.

Christopher Skase

Nirav Modi The celebrity jeweler was arrested in London, in March, for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank of $2 billion. He was denied bail due to “substantial risks” he’d flee the country to avoid extradition to India.

Bloomberg News

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Nasdaq caps $7-trillion decade with its best rally in 10 years

I

n a decade of extreme wealth creation in markets, few assets did more to enrich investors than stocks in the Nasdaq 100 Index. Their combined value jumped by more than $7 trillion, ending with the best year since the bull run began.

Powered by a near-doubling in Apple Inc. and gains exceeding 50 percent in Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc., the tech-heavy gauge surged 38 percent over the past 12 months, the biggest increase since 2009.

Technology companies needed 15 years to recover from the dot-com crash, coming full circle in 2015. Since then, they’ve doubled again. But for all the rampant appreciation, the stocks still trade below their bubble-era highs relative to earnings. While today’s valuation of 27 times annual profits isn’t cheap, it’s a long way from the triple-digit ratios in place when the dot-com rally crumbled.

“I told myself we’ll never see those valuations again in my lifetime and I still think that’s true,” said Doug Ramsey, Leuthold Group’s chief investment officer.

“We’ve gotten closer than I would have expected, which I think is pretty remarkable only 20 years later.”

Leuthold keeps a study plotting earnings, dividends, cash flow, and other measures to compare then and now, a kind of Internetbubble calendar that shows where the market is today relative to the 1990s. (It uses the S&P 500 as its benchmark, not the Nasdaq 100.)

Going by that, it’s still only January 1998— two years before the bubble burst.

Not that any two eras are likely to follow identical routes. Leuthold keeps the calendar mainly to show how crazy things got 20 years ago. But even if a crash isn’t imminent, the data isn’t an all-clear signal to keep buying, said Ramsey.

“If we’re going to match the greatest valuation extremes ever seen on large cap in history, there’s probably another 30-percent upside,” he said. “It’s certainly not my expectation.”

Tech stocks have been able to rally to records even as they were beset by bad news.

Regulatory scrutiny is bearing down on the sector, with Democratic presidential candidates and President Donald J. Trump, himself, stepping up criticisms of technology firms.

Plagued by scandals, tech firms saw sentiment turn against them in the late 2010s—though not in the stock market.

Users became more leery of their smartphone providers and social-media mainstays. Today, consumer advocates and some antitrust enforcers are calling for the breakup of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google, among others.

But compared with the dot-com runup, the fundamentals of today’s tech giants are much sturdier than they were back then, said Bokeh Capital’s Kim Forrest.

“In 1999, there was a lot of hope in the product because there was no revenue in a lot of those companies, or very little,” said the Pittsburgh firm’s chief investment officer. “A lot of the high-fliers like Uber and these consumer-orientated tech stocks, they still are unprofitable, but the difference is they have some revenue.”

In public markets, while earnings are better established, growth is getting harder to come by. Profits are likely to fall for many tech companies in 2019.

Semiconductor stocks, for instance, are forecast to see a 15.4-percent drop, and hardware and equipment firms are projected for a 6.8-percent retreat. In 2020, the sector is set for a rebound, with earnings growth predicted to come in above 10 percent, according to Bloomberg data.

“Tech stocks have more wiggle room from a balance sheet perspective to plug issues whether it be too much debt or if they have a shortcoming in earnings,” said Matt Miskin, a market strategist at John Hancock Investments. “But at the end of the day they are growth stocks, and growth stocks typically trade on earnings and investors want growth.”

Bloomberg News

Exxon Mobil wins US suit over $2 million Ukraine-sanctions fine

E

xxon Mobil Corp. won a lawsuit challenging a $2-million fine levied against it

by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin after the company allegedly violated Ukraine-related sanctions with a series oil and gas deals in Russia.

Exxon wasn’t given sufficient notice that the 2014 contracts with a powerful ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin would violate restrictions put in place after Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine, US District Judge Jane Boyle said in a ruling on Tuesday in Dallas.

The dispute over the 2017 fine by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control stemmed from Exxon’s deals with Moscow-based Rosneft PJSC while

Rosneft’s Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin was on Treasury’s list of sanctioned Russians.

Exxon argued in the lawsuit that it was being wrongfully penalized for doing business with Rosneft, which wasn’t under sanction, simply because Sechin signed the deals.

The company said the agency’s interpretation of a 2014 executive order by former President Barack Obama violated the Administrative Procedure Act because it was “arbitrary and capricious.”

“ExxonMobil acknowledges the court’s decision, which confirms we complied with the applicable sanction,” Exxon said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Treasury Department didn’t respond to a message seeking comment. Bloomberg News

GE’s 2019 gain the best since the early days of Jack Welch

L

arry Culp is bringing some Jack Welch mojo back to General Electric Co.’s stock.

The beaten-down shares soared 53 percent in 2019, Culp’s first full year as chief executive officer.

With the close of trading on Tuesday, the annual performance was GE’s best since the beginning of Welch’s CEO tenure almost four decades ago.

It’s a sharp turnaround for the company, which has been rocked by several years of management turmoil, deteriorating cash flow and f lagging demand for key products. Since taking the helm in October 2018, Culp has sought to bolster the balance sheet and regain investor confidence.

The shares closed on Tuesday at $11.16 after ending 2018 at

$7.28. The one-year gain was the best since 1982, when GE rose 65 percent.

To be sure, the stock was poised for a big bounce after starting 2019 well below recent highs.

It’s recovered only a portion of the $214 billion in market cap losses accumulated during 2017 and 2018.

Nonetheless, GE managed a mostly steady year that avoided the missteps of the recent past.

Culp made changes to the company’s portfolio in 2019, while tackling debt and cash flow concerns. He also navigated a bumpy few weeks after financial investigator Harry Markopolos accused the company of fraud—accusations the company has denied.

Bloomberg News

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Thursday, January 2, 2020

B3

Trump says he’ll sign first-step China trade deal on January 15

W

EST PALM BEACH, Florida— The first phase of a US-China trade agreement will be inked at the White House in mid-January, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, adding that he will visit Beijing at a later date to open another round of talks aimed at resolving other sticking points in the relationship.

President Donald J. Trump gives a thumbs-up after arriving for Christmas Eve dinner at Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, December 24, 2019. Donald Trump Jr., the son of President Trump, is pictured in foreground. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

The so-called Phase One agreement is smaller than the comprehensive deal Trump had hoped for and leaves many of the thorniest issues between the two countries for future talks. Few economists expect any resolution of “Phase Two” before the presidential election in 2020.

And the two sides have yet to release detailed documentation of the pact, making it difficult to evaluate.

Trump said high-level Chinese

government officials will attend the signing on January 15 of “our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China.”

“At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!” Trump said in his tweet. He did not announce a date for the visit.

China has agreed to boost its US goods imports by $200 billion over two years, the US Trade Representative said on December 13 when the deal was announced.

That includes increased purchases of soybeans and other farm goods that would reach $40 billion a year.

China has also agreed to stop forcing US companies to hand over technology and trade secrets as a condition for gaining access to China’s vast market, demands that had frustrated many US businesses.

In return, the Trump administration dropped plans to impose tariffs on $160 billion of Chinese goods, including many consumer items such as smartphones, toys and clothes. The US also cut tariffs on another $112 billion of Chinese goods from 15 percent to 7.5 percent.

Many analysts argue that the results are fairly limited given the costs of the administration’s 17-month trade war against China.

US farm exports to China fell in 2018 to about one-third of the peak reached six years earlier, though they have since started to recover.

Import taxes remain on about half of what the US buys from China, or about $250 billion of imports. Those tariffs have raised the cost of chemicals, electrical components and other inputs for US companies. American firms have cut back on investment in machinery and other equipment, slowing the economy’s growth this year.

A study last week by economists at the Federal Reserve found that all of the Trump administration’s tariffs, including those on steel and aluminum as well as on Chinese imports, have cost manufacturers jobs and raised their costs.

That’s mostly because of retaliatory tariffs imposed by China and other trading partners.

Many experts in both the US and China are skeptical that US farm exports can reach $40 billion.

The most the US has ever exported to China before has been $26 billion. China has not confirmed the $40 billion figure.

Still, the agreement has helped calm concerns in financial markets and among many US businesses that the trade war with China would escalate and potentially lead to a recession. The approval by the Democratic-led House of the Trump administration’s revamp of the NAFTA agreement has also reduced uncertainty around global trade.

Since the US-China pact was first announced in October, the stock market has risen steadily and is on track to finish the year with its biggest gain since 2013.

Most analysts now forecast that the economy will grow at a steady if modest pace in 2020, extending the current record-long expansion.

The Phase 1 deal has left some major issues unresolved, notably complaints that Beijing unfairly subsidizes its own companies to give them a competitive advantage in world markets.

T he Trump administration argues—and independent analysts agree—that China uses the subsidies in an effort to gain an advantage in cutting-edge fields, such as driver-less cars, robotics and artificial intelligence.

Another sticking point in future talks will likely involve rules around data flows, with China looking to require more foreign companies to keep data they use in China as opposed to stored overseas.

“It’s a very toxic brew and I don’t know that we’re really going to see much progress on it,” said Mary Lovely, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. AP

Australia sending aid by sea to towns cut off by wildfires

P

ERTH, Australia— Australia deployed military ships and aircraft on Wednesday to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that destroyed homes and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline.

Navy ships and military aircraft were bringing water, food and fuel to towns where supplies were depleted and roads were cut off by the fires. Since Monday, seven people have died as destructive wildfires tore through communities in New South Wales and Victoria states on Australia’s southeast coast.

On Tuesday morning, 4,000 people in the coastal town of Mallacoota fled to the shore as winds pushed a fire toward their homes under a sky darkened by smoke and turned blood-red by flames. Stranded residents and vacationers slept in their cars, and gas stations and surf clubs transformed into evacuation areas. Dozens of homes burned before winds changed direction late Tuesday, sparing the rest of the town.

Victoria Emergency Commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters the Australian Defence Force was moving naval assets to Mallacoota on a supply mission that would

last two weeks and helicopters would also fly in more firefighters since roads were inaccessible.

Conditions cooled on Wednesday, but the fire danger remained very high across the state, where four people are missing.

“We have three months of hot weather to come. We do have a dynamic and a dangerous fire situation across the state,” Crisp said.

In the New South Wales town of Conjola Park, 50 properties were confirmed destroyed and cars were melted by Tuesday’s fires. More than 100 fires were still burning in the state Wednesday, though none were at an emergency level. Seven people have died this week, including a volunteer firefighter, a man found in a burnt-out car and a father and son who died in their house.

Two people in New South Wales are missing.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said firefighting crews would take advantage of easing conditions on Wednesday to restore power to critical infrastructure and conduct some back burning.

The early and devastating start to Australia’s summer wildfires has led authorities to rate this season the worst on record and reignited debate about whether Prime

Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government has taken enough action on climate change. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, but Morrison rejected calls last month to downsize Australia’s lucrative coal industry.

Morrison won a surprise third term in May. Among his government’s pledges was

In this photo provided by the Australian Department of Defense, HMAS Choules departs from a fleet base in Sydney on Wednesday, January 1, 2020. Australia is deploying military ships to help communities ravaged by wildfires that destroyed homes and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline. ABIS Benjamin Ricketts/ADF via AP

Kim vows to show new North Korean weapon

S

EOUL, South Korea—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accused the Trump administration of dragging its feet in nuclear negotiations and warned that his country will soon show a new strategic weapon to the world as it bolsters its nuclear deterrent in the face of “gangster-like” US pressure.

In a key ruling party conference, Kim also threatened “shocking” action and said North Korea would no longer be obligated to maintain a self-imposed suspension on the testing of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, which President Donald Trump has touted as a major diplomatic accomplishment. But Kim gave no clear indication that the restarting of such tests was imminent and seemed to leave the door open for eventual negotiations.

Kim’s comments during a four-day ple-

nary meeting of the Workers’ Party’s Central Committee, which were published by state media on Wednesday, come as talks falter between Washington and Pyongyang over disagreements involving disarmament steps and the removal of sanctions imposed on North Korea.

The prolonged standstill has dimmed hopes for achieving a full and verifiable denuclearization of the country through diplomacy. Kim during the party meeting declared that the North will never give up its security for economic benefits in the face of what he described as increasing US hostility and nuclear threats, the Korean Central News Agency said. “[Kim] said that we will never allow the impudent US to abuse the DPRK-US dialogue for meeting its sordid aim but will shift to

to reduce greenhousegas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by 2030—a modest figure compared to the center-left opposition Labor party’s pledge of 45 percent.

The leader of the minor Australian Greens party, Richard Di Natale, demanded a royal commission, the nation’s highest form of inquiry, on the wildfire crisis. AP

a shocking actual action to make it pay for the pains sustained by our people so far and for the development so far restrained,” the agency said, referring to the North by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim added that “if the US persists in its hostile policy toward the DPRK, there will never be the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and the DPRK will steadily develop necessary and prerequisite strategic weapons for the security of the state until the US rolls back its hostile policy,” KCNA said. “[Kim] confirmed that the world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future, declaring that we cannot give up the security of our future just for the visible economic results and happiness and comfort in reality now

that hostile acts and nuclear threat against us are increasing,” the report said.

In an interview with CBS News, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it would be “deeply disappointing” if Kim reneges on his commitment to pause nuclear and long-range missile tests.

“He made those commitments to President Trump in exchange for President Trump agreeing not to conduct large-scale military exercises,” Pompeo said. “We’ve lived up to our commitments. We continue to hold out hope that he’ll live up to his as well.”

When asked about his diplomacy with North Korea as he walked into a New Year’s party Tuesday night, Trump urged Kim to stick to his alleged commitment to denuclearize. The leaders after their first summit in Singapore in June 2018 issued a vague aspirational goal on a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without when and how it would occur. AP

Protesters burn property in front of the US Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, December 31, 2019. Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire. AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed

Trump deploys more U.S. troops to Mideast after embassy attack

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ASHINGTON—Charging that Iran was “fully responsible” for an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq, President Donald Trump ordered about 750 US soldiers deployed to the Middle East as about 3,000 more prepared for possible deployment in the next several days.

No US casualties or evacuations were reported after the attack on Tuesday by dozens of Iran-supported militiamen. US Marines were sent from Kuwait to reinforce the compound.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday night that “in response to recent events” in Iraq, and at Trump’s direction, he authorized the immediate deployment of the infantry battalion from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

He did not specify the soldiers’ destination, but a US official familiar with the decision said they will go to Kuwait.

“This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against US personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today,” Esper said in a written statement.

Additional soldiers from the 82nd Airborne’s quick-deployment brigade, known officially as its Immediate Response Force, were prepared to deploy, Esper said. The US official, who provided unreleased details on condition of anonymity, said the full brigade of about 4,000 soldiers may deploy.

The 750 soldiers deploying immediately were in addition to 14,000 US troops deployed

to the Gulf region since May in response to concerns about Iranian aggression, including its alleged sabotage of commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf. At the time of the attack the US had about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mainly to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.

The breach of the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday was a stark demonstration that Iran can still strike at American interests despite Trump’s economic pressure campaign.

It also revealed growing strains between Washington and Baghdad, raising questions about the future of the US military mission there.

“They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday afternoon, though it was unclear whether his “threat” meant military retaliation. He thanked top Iraqi government leaders for their “rapid response upon request.”

American air strikes on Sunday killed 25 fighters of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The US said those strikes were in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor and the wounding of American and Iraqi troops in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the US blamed on the militia. The American strikes angered the Iraqi government, which called them an unjustified violation of its sovereignty.

While blaming Iran for the embassy breach, Trump also called on Iraq to protect the diplomatic mission. AP

Taiwan president defends anti-infiltration law aimed at China

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AIPEI, Taiwan—China has been relentless in its attempts to influence and infiltrate Taiwan’s politics and society but the island’s new ban on political interference should have no effect on normal exchanges between the sides, Taiwan’s president said in her New Year’s address.

The Anti-Subversion Law that obtained a third and final approval in Taiwan’s legislature on Wednesday aims to prevent illegal campaign contributions, staging of political events, the spread of misinformation and other acts by foreigners that could affect Taiwan’s elections or the work of government.

It was denounced by the opposition and by China’s Cabinet as overly broad and an attack of exchanges between the sides, but President Tsai Ing-wen defended it as having no effect on normal interactions.

The law’s passage “won’t have any effect on freedom or violate human rights and won’t influence normal commercial exchanges. It will simply provide greater guarantees from Taiwan’s freedom and democracy,” Tsai said.

Given China’s similar actions in other countries, Taiwan’s failure to prevent interference could give the impression it is untroubled

by Beijing’s actions, Tsai said.

“Under Chinese pressure and with the constant Chinese infiltration and interference, we really needed this law to make Taiwan a safer place and to prevent social divisions arising from infiltration and interference,” she said.

Tsai cited the continuing protests in Hong Kong as proof its governing framework, which Beijing proposes for Taiwan, is untenable.

“China’s goal is very clear and that is to compel Taiwan to make concessions on the question of sovereignty under duress,” Tsai said. “Yet in Hong Kong, where ‘one country, two systems’ is in effect, the situation has just gotten worse and worse. Democracy and authoritarianism...cannot coexist in the same country.”

Tsai said Taiwan would emphasize in the coming year that China’s policies cause instability in the Taiwan Strait, and that Taiwan

would not exchange sovereignty for shortterm economic gains. China has repeatedly offered benefits to Taiwanese who choose to work and study on the mainland and hundreds of thousands are believed to have taken advantage of the lower costs and greater opportunities in the Chinese market.

That poses the prospect of a “brain drain” of talented Taiwanese to the advantage of China’s economy while furthering Beijing’s goal of breaking down resistance to the possibility of future political unification between the sides. Recent surveys show around 80 percent of Taiwanese reject the idea of political union with China, with most backing the island’s current status of de facto independence.

Tsai is favored to win a second term during elections for president and the legislature on January 11.

China cut contacts with Tsai’s government shortly after her 2016 election and her potential reelection raises the possibility Beijing will intensify its campaign of economic, military and diplomatic pressure over her refusal to agree to Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a piece of Chinese territory that must be reclaimed. China threatens to use force to annex the island if peaceful means fail.

In Beijing, the head of the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Liu Jieyi, warned of “serious damage” to Taiwanese interests if the island’s government did not fall in line with China’s demands. AP

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STADA Philippines acquires GlaxoSmithKline’s skin care brand

Everything is set to be Squisito with the week of Italian Cuisine in the World

Attending the Italian Cuisine celebration were, from left: Ailene Co, Alessio Ferraresso, Ambassador Giorgio Guglielmino of Italy and Eugeniu Rotaru.

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HERE’S more to Italian cuisine than pizza and pasta, and for Italian Ambassador to the Philippines, Giorgio Guglielmino, the “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” is the best way to showcase Italian cooking. Last November 27, the celebration was held at the Italian restaurant Finestra in Solaire Resorts Hotel. The week was conceived by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote the excellence of Italian cuisine.

This year, Ambassador Giorgio Guglielmino treated 120 guests at one of the top restaurants in Manila. The menu was

created by two Italian chefs: Alan Marchetti, Chef of Finestra, and Carla Brigliadori, Chef of Casa Artusi. Incidentally, Casa Artusi’s dishes are made from recipes handed down from the teachings of Pellegrino Artusi, author of what is considered to be the “Bible” of Italian cuisine.

Chef Marchetti and Chef Brigliadori were chosen to highlight the spectacular way Italian cuisine can coexist with each other.

Regardless of region or particular palate taste, Italian cooking is filling for the stomach and soul. On one hand, you have the traditionalist,

Chef Brigliadori, and on the other, you have the innovator of culinary research, Chef Marchetti. Tasting dishes from either demonstrates the fact that even in the kitchen no progress can be made without relying on solid traditional foundations.

As an example, guests will be treated to an octopus carpaccio accompanied by a fresh burrata as an appetizer. This is an excellent way to combine the new with tradition.

The menu will also be accompanied by various Italian wines.

"As I have often mentioned, I am interested in presenting the most innovative aspects of today's Italy,” says Ambassador Guglielmino. “From art to design and in this case also to the art of cooking.”

The guests, including many ambassadors (India, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, just to name a few) appreciated the elegant but relaxed atmosphere that is exactly what is needed to enjoy Italian cuisine to the fullest.

A special mention was made to Chef Margarita Fores, present at the evening, whose episodes on his most recent culinary journey in Italy have just been aired with great success under the title "My Italy with Margarita Fores" (all visible on YouTube).

Already, Ambassador Guglielmino is planning for next year’s event, saying that it could be presented for the first time in Cebu.

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TADA, a leading manufacturer of high-quality pharmaceutical products, formally announced its acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) skincare brand -Oilatum.

Stada says the acquisition has two strategic goals: increasing its presence in skincare category and to expand its ability to provide high-quality skincare products to the Philippines and the rest of the Asia Pacific.

“This venture is one of many initiatives developed to further strengthen our presence in Asia Pacific in the coming years with the aim to continually deliver quality healthcare products to enrich the lives of our customers,” said Mr. Gary Clark, Managing Director for Asia Pacific,” Oilatum is one of the key players in skin-care brands in the Philippines which is designed to provide a daily treatment regimen to reduce the occurrence of dry skin and eczema by soothing, softening and hydrating the skin in children.

One of its best-known products is the Oilatum Soap Bar. It is an emollient cleanser suitable for everyday cleansing for dry and sensitive skin In addition to Oilatum, STADA has acquired Eurax, Savlon Antiseptic Cream, Ceridal, Tixylix and Polytar (Tarmed) in a

number of specific geographic territories, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

All of which have a strong brand heritage and great followings not only in Europe but all over the world.

STADA is one of the top five generic players in Europe which continues to grow as a partner of choice for generics and consumer health products not only in Europe but also in emerging markets worldwide including the Philippines.

According to STADA Philippines General Manager Sharmaine Abarientos, the company envisions to launch consumer brands in the Philippines and this is part of the strategic priorities in the next three years.

Backed with more than 120 years of experience, STADA is present in over 130 countries with 10,400 plus employees in about 50 well-recognized subsidiaries.

In 2008, STADA Arzneimittel AG assumed ownership of Croma Medic, Inc. in the Philippines. Croma changed its name to STADA Philippines (STADA Phils. Inc.) last year.

Benefitting from STADA’s broad product portfolio, STADA Philippines’ expansion from its core in ophthalmology into generic pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare is considerably boosted by the addition of Oilatum to its range.

ABS-CBN Legal is Technology, Media, and Telco In-House Team of the Year

Asian legal business bestows honor on Abs-Cbn

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BS-CBN Corporation, the country’s leading multimedia and entertainment company, makes an impact in the legal landscape as its in-house legal team was named the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications In-House Team of the Year at the Asian Legal Business Philippine Law Awards held at Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

The Asian Legal Business (ALB) Philippine Law Awards “recognizes and rewards outstanding performance of private practitioners and in-house teams that have significantly contributed to the everevolving legal landscape of the country.”

The award was given based on ABS-CBN Legal’s outstanding contribution to ABS-CBN’s (1) seamless

transformation from traditional to digital; (2) creation of the ABS-CBN Studio Experience (Studio XP), the country’s first state-of-the-art indoor theme park in TriNoma; (3) proactive compliance with the Data Privacy Act of the Philippines and with safeguarding customer rights to personal data; and (4) participation in corporate social responsibility activities.

ABS-CBN Legal won over other high-performing finalists: Concentrix CVG Philippines, FactSet Philippines, Grab Philippines, Lazada E-Services Philippines, and Shopee PH. For more news, follow ABS-CBN PR on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or visit abs-cbn.com/ newsroom.

Enchanted Kingdom hosts CALABARZON Tourism Expo 2019

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HE DOT Region IV-A held the CALABARZON Tourism Expo last December 11-13, 2019 at the first and only world-class theme park, Enchanted Kingdom, in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna.

The expo showcased the best tourism spots of the region, along with local products, and special cultural presentations.

The first day of the expo was kicked off by a Tourism Appreciation Night attended by special guests, partners, and local officials. DOT Region IV-A Officer-in-Charge Marites T. Castro and DOT Assistant Secretary Maria Rica Bueno expressed their gratitude to the public and private sectors, travel and tourism partners, for their continuous support in promoting tourism which has contributed to the region’s progress.

The Pledge of Commitment of Support Toward Sustainable Tourism was also signed in order to strengthen the commitment to responsible tourism, especially where rich natural resources are involved.

Other highlights of the evening were the CALABARZON Regional Branding Launch and the Tourism Excellence Recognition Ceremony, where Enchanted Kingdom was one of the awardees.

The regional branding #DiscoverCALABARZON aims to promote the region as a unique destination.

All-powerful God

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EAR God, You raised from David’s house a child with power to save. With eagerness for the miracle of Emmanuel, we pray: Merciful God of our ancestors, hear our prayer. You shepherd your people in love: let Your spirit of love guide all our actions this day. You free us from our enemies: make Your Church a sign of God’s love and mercy to the convicted and the condemned.

You guide our feet on the way to peace: comfort families and loved ones who are separated from one another by distance, or by death.

May the dawn from on high break upon us and fulfill our hopes in the coming of our savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

GIVE US THIS DAY SHARED BY LUISA LACSON, HFL Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

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

Life BusinessMirror

FESTIVE DRINKS TO MAKE THE HOLIDAYS LINGER C4

Thursday, January 2, 2020

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Level up your holiday flights IT’S been a long 2019; filled with challenges overcame, goals met, promises fulfilled, and it’s finally time to think of yourself. And there is no better reward for a productive year than a relaxing trip.

Delta (www.delta.com) knows how much you are looking forward to that long holiday vacation. That’s why the airline is making sure that each moment you spend with them is a comfortable and happy experience.

World’s most popular city destinations in 2019

BY ALYSSA MCDONALD & CAROLYNN LOOK Bloomberg News

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ONG KONG is likely to hold on to its status as the world’s most popular city with international visitors in 2019, despite months of political unrest that led to a sharp drop in tourist numbers. Meanwhile New York City falls out of the top 10, and Delhi joins the ranks for the first time.

The Top 100 City Destinations report from global market research company Euromonitor International shows Asian destinations dominating the list, with over 40 entries. Bangkok is expected to take second place, followed by Macau and Singapore.

London is predicted to round out the top 5, although it’s dropped two places amid an uncertain future as Brexit potentially leads to tighter visa restrictions for European Union nationals.

Globally, inbound arrivals are expected to rise 4.2 percent in 2019, to 1.5 billion trips.

New York City, the most popular American destination with international travelers, is expected to sink from eighth spot to No. 11, while Miami (29), Los Angeles (33) and Las Vegas (38) were the next highest US cities on the list.

Competition from Asia and Europe has seen most American cities slip in recent years, despite positive growth in arrivals for most.

Growing trade tension with China is “one of the

main concerns for the travel industry,” according to the report’s author, Rabia Yasmeen, who added that many US cities are actively attempting to tap the lucrative Chinese tourist market.

Euromonitor’s research covers overseas visitors, or “arrivals,” who stay longer than 24 hours and less than one year in over 400 cities around the world.

Arrivals include people traveling for business, leisure and to visit family or friends, but excludes those in employment or education abroad, as well as military personnel, transportation crew, cruise passengers and people displaced by war or natural disasters.

The 2019 rankings were calculated using estimates based on part-year arrivals data, meaning Hong Kong’s place as the global travelers’ capital could still change. The city’s tourist industry has been badly hit by protests that have raged almost every week since June.

However, Euromonitor Senior Analyst Simon Haven said strong arrivals numbers in the first half of the year would lessen the impact of the protests on total annual visitor numbers.

“Over the period January to June of 2019, inbound arrivals grew by 14 percent versus the same period last year. In July, arrivals started to drop, with the most notable drop being in August, when the city experienced a 40 percent drop versus August 2018,” he wrote in an e-mail.

“Based on the latest data available from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, as well as Euromonitor

forecasts, total inbound arrivals into Hong Kong are expected to drop by 5 percent to 10 percent in 2019,” Haven wrote. This degree of decline would keep the Asian financial hub in pole position in 2019, given its lead over Bangkok and strong performance in 2018.

More broadly, the Euromonitor list shows that Asian tourism is booming. The region accounts for significantly more locations than any other, and the number has risen steadily since the first edition was published in 2013.

Travelers within Asia are responsible for much of the growth, according to the report, as income levels rise and the numbers of Chinese visitors to other countries—as well as millennial travelers from around the region—increase.

The biggest leap up the rankings in 2019 is expected to come from Hurghada in Egypt, which is forecast to take 63rd position after joining the top 100 in 82nd place last year. Thanks in part to a tourism reform program and improving security, Egypt remains North Africa’s leading destination, with Cairo also enjoying strong growth. Other notable climbers among the top 100 include Indian cities, such as Agra and Bangalore, and Cebu in the Philippines.

In Europe, more traditional travel hot spots like Barcelona, Milan and Vienna have slid down the rankings, while cities in “off the beaten path destinations, such as Croatia, Slovenia and Sweden have moved up,” the report said. For the most part, however, such locations are yet to break the top 100. ■

TPB brings environmental program to Rizal, Laguna TPB employees doing their share in preserving key tourist destinations.

ASIDE from promoting local tourism and raising awareness on its sustainable aspects, the Tourism Promotions Board Philippines, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism (DOT), aims to lead by example as it takes part in protecting local tourist destinations through “Fun Goes Green,” its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. Recently implemented in Rizal and Laguna, the program encourages TPB employees and local tourism stakeholders to do their part in preserving the natural beauty of the destinations.

As growing tourist destinations in Southern Luzon, more local and foreign tourists flock to Rizal and Laguna because of their rich heritage and beautiful sites.

In partnership with The Haribon Foundation, TPB employees went on a three-day immersion where they conducted different activities to help protect the natural

sites of Rizal and Laguna.

The first destination was Buhay Punlaan Native Tree Nursery in Lumban, Laguna, where participants learned the importance of the propagation stage of forest restoration through the collection of wildings from mother trees, soil potting and bagging, as well as seedling and seed transplantation.

“It is very important to focus on the native species that are most adapted to the Philippine rain forest ecosystem, and that is what we want to promote in all our nurseries,” said Joseph Riel A. Senga, partnerships officer of The Haribon Foundation.

The TPB also headed to the Japanese Garden in Caliraya, Laguna, and Mount Batolusong in Barangay San Andres, Tanay, Rizal, where employees trekked and planted trees with the Barangay San Andres Samahan Ng Mga Magsasaka.

“We have planted around 1,250 native

seedlings here in Barangay San Andres.

These seedlings, once they grow to become trees, will provide shelter to the animals living in this area.

Also, this will help in giving cleaner air. This project is really important because it shows how nature and humans are interconnected. When we help the environment, it also provides us with what

we need,” said Nova Regalario, conservation specialist at The Haribon Foundation.

TPB’s visit to Rizal and Laguna was the fourth leg of its CSR program in 2019.

Earlier last year, they also implemented the CSR activities in Occidental Mindoro, Leyte and Palawan. Similar activities were also conducted in Boracay, Bohol and Camiguin, in 2018.

GET A WHOLLY REINVENTED INTERNATIONAL MAIN CABIN SERVICE THE airline debuted in November its industry-leading Main Cabin experience. Passengers get free “Welcome Aboard” cocktails, featuring Bellini, hot towel service, and mix-and-match options for premium appetizers and larger entrees.

These enhancements were borne out of rigorous reviews of the service through nearly 14,000 hours of flight time from over 1,800 customer surveys and crew feedback. A design team made up of 24 flight attendants also gave their input to perfect the innovative service of Delta’s international flights.

Apart from these, Delta has provided specialized training to its team of more than 3,000 pursers, who are the lead flight attendants on international flights.

In addition to the recently upgraded amenity kits, more international onboard enhancements are coming soon including refreshed earbuds and headsets. This is in line with Delta’s commitment to creating a best-in-class experience all customers can look forward to.

SIMPLIFY YOUR TRAVEL WITH THE UPGRADED FLY DELTA APP WITH its many convenient features, customers can worry less about checking in, securing luggage or even satisfying cravings while onboard.

Delta has expanded its auto check-in feature, which is already popular with its domestic customers, to include international flights. Confirmed Delta passengers will be checked in automatically 24 hours prior to their scheduled departure. Customers will receive an alert via e-mail or push notification, open the app, input or confirm passport information, and their boarding pass will be there along with everything they need for their flight.

Once inside the app, customers can access the “Today” mode to easily add checked bags, change seats and purchase upgrades.

POPULAR PRESELECTION MEAL PROGRAM BY browsing through the Fly Delta app, Delta One customers will be able to select their preferred meal 21 days prior to their trip. Customers will also be able to select meals for others traveling under the same reservation.

As the trip gets closer, passengers who haven’t yet made a meal selection will receive an e-mail reminding them to select an entrée. From there, they’ll be driven to the “Trip Overview” screen in the Fly Delta app to browse their entrée options and pick their favorite plate. You can make changes to your selection up to 24 hours prior to your trip.

SECURE YOUR LUGGAGE WITH DELTA’S RFID BAG TAG TECHNOLOGY FIRST deployed in 2016, Delta’s radio-frequency identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology provides customers with improved real-time tracking of luggage throughout the travel experience. This is a first for US carriers.

With RFID, customers will get to track their bags on and off the aircraft during their journey via push notifications to the Fly Delta app.

The holidays shouldn’t be a time for stress and frustration. With all these enhancements, Delta is giving flyers the means to have the best holiday experience possible.

Spo

Business

C2 Thursday, January 2, 2020

CHELSEA RECORDS $128-MILLION LOSS L

ONDON—Chelsea has recorded a loss of £96.6 million (around $128 million) for the year ending June 30. The loss was revealed Tuesday in the Premier League club’s latest financial results.

After two profitable years, Chelsea insisted it’s still compliant with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations.

The club cited a lack of Champions League football, costs associated with changing manager and a record outlay on players Kepa Arrizabalaga, Christian

Pulisic, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho for the loss.

Turnover grew slightly to £446.7 million.

“Consistent revenue growth and careful financial management over recent seasons has allowed the club to make significant levels of investment in the playing staff whilst maintaining compliance with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations,” Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck said on chelseafc.com.

“This has contributed to another Europa League victory at the end of the 2018-19 season and a return to the highest level of

European competition.

“This solid commercial foundation, allied to a young and exciting team now led by Frank Lampard, means that the club is well placed to sustain its pursuit of success both on and off the pitch, as well as maintain its financial stability over the coming years.”

Chelsea made a £62-million profit in the previous year.

The London club is fourth in the Premier League, 20 points behind leader Liverpool, and plays at Brighton on Tuesday. AP

HAPPY NEW YEAR! The San Antonio Spurs Coyote mascot celebrates the new year during a time out in the first

POWERTSHIF State Warriors on Tuesday, in San Antonio. AP

Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham scores his side’s second goal during their English Premier League match with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, in London over the weekend. AP

Venus out of Brisbane International

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RISBANE, Australia—Venus Williams has been forced to pull out of the Brisbane International following an undisclosed “setback” in training.

Tournament officials said Wednesday a replacement for the 52nd-ranked Williams will be named on Thursday. Williams had been given a wild card for the Brisbane event which starts January 6.

The 39-year-old Williams still hopes to contest the Adelaide International from January 13.

“Unfortunately I won’t be starting my season in Brisbane due to an unexpected setback during my training,” she said in a statement on Wednesday. “I look forward to being in Australia in the New Year, and will see everyone at Adelaide.” AP

HE West is used to being loaded at the top.

The East, not so much.

But a new year is arriving with a new look in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Eastern Conference. The league will wake up on Wednesday—the first day of 2020—with six teams with winning percentages of .600 or better, the first time that’s been the case on New Year’s Day since 1998.

“This is a tough part of the country, a tough part of our league,” Philadelphia Coach Brett Brown said.

He didn’t say “finally,” but he could have.

Just last spring, Brooklyn got the No. 6 seed in the East playoffs at 42-40. This season, it won’t be inconceivable if two teams in the East reach 50 wins and start the playoffs on the road anyway—which would be amazing, considering that every 50-win team in the East since 1998 has gotten a top 4 seed.

Has there been a power shift from one conference to another? And can what seems to be happening in the East race last until April?

“My gut feel is, I think it can,” Brown said. “To your overall question, is there a power shift, I’m biased but I think quite possibly.”

That one could easily be argued. Going into 2020, the basic structure of the standings in each conference

ATP Cup adds to crowded sked before Australian Open

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oger Federer won’t be playing until the Australian Open, but the summer of tennis Down Under ahead of the first Grand Slam of 2020 will be a little more hectic for everybody else.

Kicking off on Friday with the start of the new 24-team, Davis Cup-style Association of Tennis Professionals Cup in three cities across Australia, players will have a host of options to them on both the ATP and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tours.

Federer and Switzerland aren’t involved in the ATP Cup, but No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Novak Djokovic will be representing Spain and Serbia, respectively. No. 3 Federer wants to spend more time with his family before the start of the Australian Open on January 20, in Melbourne.

When the ATP Cup concludes on January 12, Djokovic is scheduled to play at the Adelaide International, a joint ATP-WTA tournament that includes world No. 1 women’s player Ash Barty of Australia. Also in that week across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand will be the ATP’s Auckland Open.

The Brisbane International, formerly a joint ATPWTA event, will be a women’s only tournament this year with hometown star Barty among a group of headliners also including Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka, beginning next Monday.

Venus Williams, who had been given a wild card for Brisbane, pulled out with an undisclosed training “setback”on Wednesday. She still hopes to play in Adelaide.

Also on the WTA Tour, the ASB Classic next week has secured a bit of a coup with Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, who will retire after the Australian Open, scheduled to attend and play singles, as well as doubles together in New Zealand. The Hobart International will be played the same week in Australia.

The 38-year-old Federer, who has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, is the only one of the top seven players in the men’s rankings who will not be competing in the 10-day ATP Cup in Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.

“He’s made the decision to spend some time with his family and he’s obviously a lot more conscious of how much he’s playing [as he gets older],” ATP Cup tournament director Tom Larner told the Australian Associated Press. “For everything Roger has given to the sport we’re accepting of that.”

Andy Murray will not be appearing for Britain, withdrawing following an injury setback

after his return from hip surgery.

Australia will play in Brisbane with Germany, Greece and Canada. In the other Brisbane group it’s Serbia, France, South Africa and Chile. In Sydney, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria and Molodova comprise one group while the other contains Argentina, Austria, Croatia and Poland. Perth hosts the United States, Russia, Italy and Norway and another group comprising Spain, Japan, Uruguay and Georgia.

Kei Nishikori withdrew from the Japan team for the ATP Cup and from the Australian Open.

“I am still not 100 percent ready to compete at the highest level,” Nishikori said. He has not competed since the US Open because of a right elbow injury that required surgery in October.

There are a number of innovations to be provided at the ATP Cup, including Team Zones, which will replace the player chairs near the umpire, and on-court coaching where the captain, coaches and players can offer input.

Each encounter will be best-of-three, three-set matches—two singles and a doubles.

The six group winners plus two second-place countries go through to the final series in Sydney beginning January 9.

World No. 15-ranked Denis Shapovalov, a member of the Canadian team which opens against Greece on Friday, questioned the timing of the ATP Cup so close to last year’s new format for the Davis Cup, the long-standing men’s international team competition. On November 24, Nadal beat Shapovalov to clinch the Davis Cup for Spain in Madrid. AP

THE Clippers’ Paul George goes up for a shot by the Kings’ Richaun Holmes. AP

No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal will be representing Spain in the Association of Tennis Professionals Cup.

George, Leonard lift Clippers past Kings

By Michael Wagaman The Associated Press

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ACRAMENTO, California—Paul George and Kawhi Leonard had far more success passing the ball in the first half than they did shooting it–and the Clippers still put up nearly 60 points.

That, as Leonard pointed out afterward, bodes well for a franchise in serious pursuit of its first National Basketball Association (NBA) championship.

George had 21 points with season highs of 11 rebounds and nine assists to shake off a slow start, and shorthanded Los Angeles thumped the Sacramento Kings, 105-87, on Tuesday.

Leonard scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter to help the Clippers to their 14th consecutive win in Sacramento dating to 2013.

“That’s what championship teams are about,” said Leonard, who led Toronto to the title a year ago before signing with the Clippers in hopes of bringing a banner to Los Angeles.

“Going through playoff runs, the best players aren’t going to play great some nights. It might be somebody off the bench or somebody [else] starting that has a big game that propels us to win.”

Ivica Zubac added eight points and 13 rebounds, and Maurice Harkless scored 12 points for the Clippers. Los Angeles also got a big lift from Larry Shamet and Derrick Walton Jr., who

combined for 19 points.

That was pivotal on a night when George shot six of 25 and Leonard was eight of 21.

“We just kind of hung in there,” Los Angeles Coach Doc Rivers said. “We went zone a little bit and changed our look. I just like our defense.”

The Clippers played without Patrick Beverley and sixth man Lou Williams. Beverley is nursing a sprained right wrist he injured during Saturday night’s loss in Utah, while Williams missed the game because of personal reasons.

Richaun Holmes had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento. The Kings have lost eight straight.

“They pushed us around out there and they had their way,” Sacramento Coach Luke Walton

Ha! Ha! Ha! Who knows, these things might actually hap

By Tim Dahlberg

The Associated Press

P

redictions aren’t for the faint of heart, as anyone who has ever given money to a bookmaker can attest. Strange things can happen, which is a big reason why they still play games.

Still, with every new year comes the hope that this might be the year some of them come true.

With that in mind, let’s begin. There’s a new decade dawning and, who knows, these things might actually happen in 2020:

BRADY RETIRES: Tom Brady announces his retirement midseason, shocking New England fans who assumed he would play until he was eligible for Medicare. An emotional Bill Belichick struggles afterward to find the right words to honor the quarterback who won six Super Bowls and made the Patriots the dynasty of the early 2000s.

“Right now we’re just worried about getting ready for the Bengals,” Belichick said.

OLYMPIC GLORY: Usain Bolt comes out of retirement for the Olympics in Tokyo, and oddsmakers quickly make him the favorite to win another three gold medals in the speed events. Instead, Bolt decides to compete in skateboarding and becomes the first to land a 720 Gazelle Flip as he takes gold in the

newest Olympic sport. In related news, Michael Phelps announces plans to compete in break dancing in the 2024 games in Paris.

STEALING AWAY: The Houston Astros stumble early in the season, with hitters swinging wildly at pitches they don’t recognize. Desperate for contact, they devise a system of tin cans connected by string to relay signals from center field to the dugout. The Astros immediately go on a 15-game winning streak, then issue a statement blaming irresponsible reporting by the fake media for the team’s early struggles.

HALL OF FAME: Barry Bonds finally gets elected to the Hall of Fame, boosted by the support of a new wave of analytics-driven baseball writers who say his

orts

sMirror

Thursday, January 2, 2020

NEVER SAY DIE YACHT H

OBART, Australia—The final yacht has finished the annual Sydney to Hobart race—more than four days after the line honors winner.

After six nights at sea and with rations low, Tasmanian 30-foot yacht Take Five crossed the finish line Wednesday in five days, 23 hours and 41 minutes for the 628-nautical-mile course in the 75th edition of the race.

Comanche, one of five 100-foot super

maxis among the 157 starters, finished Saturday morning in a time of one day, 18 hours, 30 minutes and 24 seconds to take line honors for the third time. Ichi Ban took handicap honors on Monday for the second time in three years.

“It took a few days longer than I was hoping but it’s bloody awesome,” Take Five owner and skipper Ian Gannon said of the six-night trip. “We did plan for a seven-day

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voyage, with emergency rations, as well.

Another day out there would have finished up everything that we had.”

Gannon and his six-person crew were forced to spend four hours on Monday tucked into Tasmania’s east coast when thunderstorms struck. They were not able to see the New Years’s Eve fireworks in Hobart because they were blocked by Tasman Island off the southeast coast of Tasmania.

Only three yachts—Faster Forward, Hollywood Boulevard and Minerva—failed to finish. There were no reported serious injuries. AP

NORTH KOREANS FOREGO CHANCE FOR TOKYO 2020 N

half of the National Basketball Association game between San Antonio and the Golden

FT IN NBA is basically the same.

There’s a team that has broken a bit away atop the pack—Milwaukee in the East; the Los Angeles Lakers out West.

Then there are five teams jostling for spots two through six—Miami, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia and Indiana in the East; Denver, the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston, Dallas and Utah in the West.

There’s a team around .500 hovering in seventh— Brooklyn in the East, Oklahoma City in the West.

And then there’s a below-.500 team in eighth— Orlando in the East, Portland in the West.

The East and West have split the last eight NBA Finals, so it’s not like there’s been a huge disparity in talent at the very top. But the West, top to bottom, has unquestionably been the stronger side of the league for some time.

Things seem different now.

“It’s really competitive and you have to like this,” Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You have to enjoy it as a competitor. People have been disparaging the Eastern Conference for so long. You have some really good teams here in the East and the teams are proving it.”

DECADE IN REVIEW

THERE were seven different franchises with at least one said. “We have to come together and we’ve got to be mentally stronger, physically stronger and fight our way out of it. That’s the only way to get out of this type of slump that we’re in, and we’ve done it before.”

Three days after a 13-point loss to Utah, Los Angeles took control in the first half despite both George and Leonard struggling offensively. The All-Stars missed 17 of their first 24 shots combined.

Both got going after the break.

Leonard made five of seven shots in the third quarter, and George–who missed eight of his first nine shots beyond the arc–made a three to open the fourth. George added another 3-pointer later that put the Clippers ahead, 103-86.

“I had the mindset of just go and attack, be aggressive, be physical,” George said. “I got the spots I wanted to. I got to the shots I wanted to.

But it’s just that stretch for me right now where the ball’s not going down.”

appen in 2020 overwhelming numbers can’t be ignored any longer. In particular, they cite his dominance (.845, adjusted for cap size) in the emerging category of superstar players who used both the cream and the clear (SPCCA).

BEAST MODE II: Marshawn Lynch gets the ball this time, scoring from the 1-yard line as time expires to give the Seattle Seahawks a 21-20 victory over the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Afterward, Lynch said his beef with the media was all a misunderstanding and begins regaling reporters with stories about his career, beginning with his first touchdown run as a nine-yearold in Pop Warner football.

DRAFT DAY: LSU’s Joe Burrow is the No. 1 pick, and he is greeted with big cheers not only by the three extremely hungover Bengals fans in attendance but those holding

NBA championship in the 2010s, Golden State leading the way with three followed by Miami with two.

San Antonio was one of the five clubs with one—but a case could be made for the Spurs being the team of the decade.

The Spurs had the most wins in the 2010s, whether just counting the regular season or adding both the regular season and the playoffs together. Oklahoma City was No. 2 in regular season wins, followed by Golden State, Houston and Miami.

The fewest wins? That would be Sacramento, followed by Minnesota, Brooklyn, Phoenix and New York. But a special decade-long award for futility should go to Detroit and Sacramento— the only teams in the NBA that didn’t win a playoff game in the 2010s. The Pistons have lost 14 consecutive postseason contests since winning Game Four of the 2008 Eastern Conference finals.

Other high marks from the 2010s: Most points—Devin Booker scored 70 points for Phoenix against Boston on March 24, 2017.

Even with Leonard and George struggling most of the first half, the Clippers still built a big lead on the slumping Kings late in the second quarter.

Shamet’s 3-pointer gave Los Angeles a 57-40 halftime lead.

Leonard got going in the third and the Clippers went on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 19. Montrezl Harrell tipped in an offensive rebound then made a pair of free throws that made it 85-66.

In Houston, James Harden scored 35 points after missing the last game with an injury to lead the Houston Rockets to a 130-104 victory over the Denver Nuggets also on Tuesday night.

The Rockets were back to full strength after Harden missed his first game of the season because of a sprained right toe in a loss to New Orleans on Sunday. Clint Capela (bruised heel) and Russell Westbrook (load management) also returned after sitting out on Sunday in the 127-112 defeat. betting tickets on him at 40-1 to begin the year.

NFL owners attend in record numbers, then vote unanimously in special session to hold the draft in Las Vegas for the next 10 years.

NBA: The Lakers collapse midseason, and Magic Johnson comes back to the team to mediate a lingering dispute between LeBron James and Anthony Davis over who has the biggest mansion in Beverly Hills. With Steph Curry playing on the Korn Ferry golf tour and Kawhi Leonard taking some time off to rest, the Utah Jazz go through the playoffs undefeated to win their first NBA title.

DODGERS DELIGHT: Tired of losing because their lineup is full of strikeout marks, the Dodgers sign a trio of contact hitters to play the outfield.

The strategy falters on opening day when Manager Dave Roberts calls for a hit and run and no one can

Most rebounds— Kevin Love had 31 for Minnesota against New York on November 12, 2010.

Most assists—Rajon Rondo had 25 for New Orleans against Brooklyn on December 27, 2017.

Most steals—Lou Williams had 10 for the Los Angeles Clippers against Utah on January 20, 2018, and Draymond Green had 10 for Golden State against Memphis on February 10, 2017.

Green’s was part of a most unique triple-double; he also had 11 rebounds and 10 assists, but only four points.

Most 3-pointers—Klay Thompson made 14 for Golden State against Chicago on October 29, 2018.

Most blocks—Poor Chicago. JaVale McGee had 12 for Washington against the Bulls on March 15, 2011, and Hassan Whiteside had 12 for Miami against the Bulls on January 25, 2015. AP Nikola Jokic scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Westbrook had 28 points for his 11th straight games with 20 or more points, which is the longest streak by a Rockets player besides Harden since Yao Ming did it in 14 games in a row in 2006.

In San Antonio, DeMar DeRozan had 24 points and San Antonio escaped with a 117-113 overtime victory over short-handed Golden State.

Dejounte Murray scored seven of his 15 points in overtime, and San Antonio won its eighth in 13 games. LaMarcus Aldridge added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Patty Mills had 18 points. Alec Burks had 28 points and Glenn Robinson III added 25, including 15 in the first quarter, for Golden State.

The Warriors—already without stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson long term—were without starters D’Angelo Russell and Willie Cauley-Stein. Draymond Green had 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 36 minutes. remember exactly what that means.

TIGER’S TRIUMPH: Tiger Woods returns to the Masters with so many green jackets that he hires former caddie Steve Williams to carry them into the clubhouse. Williams later misunderstands a comment by Woods about beating Patrick Reed, who is hospitalized after being found unconscious on the Hogan bridge.

FREE AGENT FUN: Gerrit Cole is unceremoniously booed after failing to make it out of the second inning in his debut at Yankee Stadium, where one young fan holds a sign saying “Yankee fan this morning. Not a Yankee fan anymore.” Anthony Rendon, meanwhile, struggles to adapt to the Anaheim lifestyle, complaining that he can’t take his kids to the grocery store any more because he keeps running into Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

MISSION TIGER

Tony the Tiger jumps for joy at the sight of the Sun Bowl trophy at the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl game on Tuesday in El Paso, Texas. Tony’s Mission Tiger initiative—to help give kids better access to sports—aligns with the Sun Bowl’s inaugural purpose of helping underprivileged children. AP

ORTH Korea are set to announce they will not compete in the third round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in South Korea in February—ending its chances of reaching Tokyo 2020.

The tournament, featuring two groups of four, is due to take place on Jeju Island between February 3 and 9.

The top 2 teams in each group are then scheduled to play each other in a two-legged homeand-away playoff on March 6 and 11, with the winners qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games.

But, according to South Korean agency Yonhap News, North Korea has already notified the AFC that they not will be taking part.

They did not give a reason, Yonhap News reported, but relations between the two countries have deteriorated since the Hanoi Summit in February between North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and United States President Donald J. Trump ended without a deal on denuclearization.

It is not expected that North Korea will be replaced in the tournament.

North Korea were due to face South Korea in Group A, which also includes Vietnam and Myanmar.

North Korea, who played at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in Beijing and London, were the topranked team in Group A with a world ranking of 11.

South Korea have never qualified for an Olympic women’s football tournament and have only beaten their rivals from the North once in 19 meetings.

Four other teams in the third round—Australia, China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei—were drawn into Group B and are scheduled to play their matches in Wuhan in China from February 3 to 9.

North Korea also declined to participate in the women’s tournament East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship earlier this month in Busan.

North Korea had won the three previous EAFF titles but pulled out months before the opening kickoff.

It is less than two years since the two Koreas marched together in the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and took part in a joint women’s ice hockey team— events that heralded hopes of a new reconciliation between the North and South.

Trump’s attempts at diplomacy with Kim, which he has made a centerpiece of his foreign policy efforts, have failed to make much progress after positive early signs following Pyeongchang 2018.

Trump became the first US President to meet with his North Korean counterpart at a summit in Singapore in 2018.

Trump said at the time that the pair had “developed a very special bond” and described Kim as “a very talented man.”

The Hanoi Summit was followed by another historic meeting in June, when Trump took an unprecedented step into North Korea.

Recently, however, relations have shown signs of returning to their pre-Pyeongchang 2018 state and Kim has threatened to lift a selfimposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, and resume launches over Japan in the build up to Tokyo 2020.

The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Earlier this month, hopes for a joint North-South Korean Fifa Women’s World Cup ended after South Korea withdrew its bid for the 2023 event just hours before the deadline.

The Korea Football Association claimed strained inter-Korean relations meant a unified bid was not possible. Insidethegames

North Korea will boycott the women’s Olympic football qualifying tournament in South Korea.

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Thursday, January 2, 2020

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

Entertaining BusinessMirror

z Festive drinks to make

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Kate Bosworth, 37; Dax Shepard, 45; Taye Diggs, 49; Cuba Gooding Jr., 52.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Take whatever others say or do in stride this year. If you let outside influences occupy your time, you will fall short of reaching your goals. There is much you can accomplish if you embrace change and make the most of every situation you face. Don’t let memories hold you back. It’s time to let go of what’s no longer useful. Your lucky numbers are 2, 8, 21, 26, 34, 38, 41.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Expect situations to get blown out of proportion. You are best not to make a fuss or act on assumptions.

Concentrate on personal improvements, positive attitude and taking care of your responsibilities in a timely fashion. HHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A change you want to make will be more natural if you accept help from someone who understands how important it is to you. Don’t jeopardize your health or take an unnecessary physical risk.

Implementing practical applications now will bring more significant long-term opportunities. HHH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Stick to your game plan and refuse to let anyone interfere or meddle in your business. Be cautious when sharing personal information, passwords or sensitive secrets someone asked you to keep. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): It’s up to you to make a change. Don’t pussyfoot around an issue that needs an adjustment. Flesh out any matters that could stand between you and what you are trying to accomplish. HH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Set up a meeting or business trip that will help you excel.

Don’t leave your destiny in someone else’s hands. If change is happening all around you, position yourself to fit into what’s unfolding—one way or another.

Romance is encouraged. HHHHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Gather information, get involved in what’s going on in your community and be careful how you handle money, contracts and legal matters. Start the year off on the right foot by putting a practical savings plan in place. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Change may be daunting, but once you get involved and pitch in and help, you will see that the result can be favorable for you, as well as everyone involved.

HHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take a much-needed break. Relaxing with someone who puts you at ease will revitalize you and prepare you for the jobs that lie ahead. HHH

i

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Make adjustments at home that will help you expand an interest you have. Looking for a way to lower your overhead or to bring in a higher income will also encourage you to set a budget that reflects living a responsible lifestyle. HHHHH

j

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Talk is cheap.

Don’t let emotional matters stand between you and what you hope to accomplish this year.

Take control and make a giant leap in a direction you find most suitable for reaching your goal. HH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Revisit ideas that still interest you. Consider how you can turn something you enjoy doing into a moneymaking venture. A home-based business, if handled properly, can bring you the little extras you desire. HHHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep emotions in check when dealing with people you do business with or rely on for support. A change to the way you do your job or to the people you work alongside will encourage innovative ideas that will pay off. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are dependable, persistent and persuasive.

You are broad-minded and imaginative.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

the holidays linger T HE holiday season has not yet drawn to a close, and the easiest way to make all that good cheer linger is through festive drinks.

Torani, the world leader in flavoring syrups, sauces and blended drinks bases, shares concoctions based on that creamy, velvety, decadent treasure called chocolate, which you can enjoy alone or with company while watching the colored lights flicker before they are taken down.

Recently, Torani and Equilibrium Intertrade Corp., top Philippine distributor of coffee, tea and specialty beverage products, engaged over 60 baristas and restaurateurs from well-known coffee houses, restaurants, and hotels in Luzon to teach the science of flavor and more at the first-ever Torani Master Flavor Class.

Anjali Ganpule, Torani San Francisco’s innovative food scientist, conducted the three-part workshop and shared the art of seducing the senses with both exciting and soothing flavors.

The class learned to craft amazing flavors, and how to understand, develop and promote their drinks in a competitive market.

Here are three delicious concoctions from Torani that should extend the holiday cheer with ease: CHESTNUT BERRY FRAPPE 60cc Mocafe Madagascar Vanilla Powder 20ml Torani Chestnut Praline Syrup 15ml Torani Puree Strawberry 120ml Gippy Milk Ice Ambiante Whipped Cream Drizzle puree in a glass and set aside.

Put all ingredients in a blender except Ambiante.

Blend until smooth.

Pour into glass. Top with whipped cream and strawberry puree.

TOASTED MARSHMALLOW CHOCOLATE 60cc Café Essentials Chocoholic’s Choice Powder 15ml Torani Toasted Marshmallow Syrup

120ml Gippy Milk Ice Ambiante Whipped Cream Dark Chocolate Sauce 3 pieces Toasted Marshmallow Put all ingredients in a blender except Ambiante Whipped Cream, dark choco sauce and toasted marshmallow.

Blend until smooth. Pour into glass. Top with whipped cream, dark chocolate sauce and toasted marshmallow.

TWO of the three delicious and merry concoctions from Torani just right for the holiday season, Chestnut Berry Frappe and Toasted Marshmallow Chocolate.

FRUITCAKE 60 cc Café Essentials Chocolate Truffle 120 ml Gippy Milk 15 ml Torani Balsamic Fig Torani Dark Chocolate Sauce (Garnish) Whipped Cream (Garnish) Candy Sprinkle (Garnish) Spread whipped cream and dark chocolate sauce in the glass and set aside. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour into the glass. Garnish with whipped cream and candy sprinkle. n

5 great ways to unwind in NOMA after long work week AFTER a long, stressful week at work, there’s nothing like using that hard-earned time to kick back and enjoy the best in life.

For people who live and work in North Makati (NOMA), Assembly Grounds at The Rise offers a bunch of ways to chill and relax, enjoying the best food and pampering treatments. n ENJOY UNLIMITED KOREAN BBQ AT PREMIER THE SAMGYUPSAL. The meat is succulent, the side dishes are limitless, and there are enough flavors and textures to keep taste buds occupied for a long time. Diners can get premier-grade meats, imported melted cheese dip and more authentic dishes. Bring the entire barkada for a fun weekend feast. n TAKE SOME TIME FOR SELF-CARE. Focusing on appearance isn’t just about looking good, it’s about feeling good, restoring a sense of self after a debilitating week behind that office desk. With /nook/ urban family salon + spa, both men and women can avail themselves of top-notch pampering treatments, from facials to haircuts.

n CHOMP ON SOME CHEESY, MEATY MEALS. When craving for juicy steak, crunchy nachos and a dash of lime, head on over to Fiery Style Southwestern Flaming Grill, the place to be for

Southwestern Tex-Mex food. This perpetually festive restaurant is always alive with a vibrant cocktail bar or a live acoustic set, and when the most important thing in the world is a Friday night agenda,

you can always rely on a hefty drink and a sizzling plate of spiced steak. n SET AN APPOINTMENT FOR A GENTLEMAN. Got a bunch of fun engagements this weekend? Then looking dapper is a must. At Sanbry Men’s Grooming House, every guy becomes a gentleman, what with their bachelor-pad setup and expert grooming skills. You’ll walk out looking like the toast of the town. n SAVOR A HOT BOWL OF RAMEN. Is it a rainy weekend? Want to just stay in the area and enjoy something toasty and perfect? Then get a seat at Ramen Daisho, an authentic Fukuoka ramen restaurant that uses ingredients sourced directly from one of Japan’s ramen masters. With chewy, slippery noodles swimming in a bowl of savory broth, a rainy weekend will always be a happy weekend.

With all these things to do right in the heart of NOMA, Assembly Grounds at The Rise (www.assemblygroundsattherise.com) is the ideal place for the thriving community to make every minute of the weekend worthwhile.

SAVOR a hot bowl of ramen

’something else entirely’ BY DAMON GUCZYNSKI The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Exam with logical reasoning sections: Abbr.

5 Former Saudi king 9 Break into smithereens 14 Ancient Peruvian 15 Cleveland’s lake 16 Group’s basic customs 17 Frog of some Caribbean regions 20 It may be cultured 21 Taxes’ partner 22 Back of a boat 23 Rodent often kept as a pet 27 Fed. food inspector 29 Good QBs throw many of them 30 King topper, often 31 Bird related to the chickadee 35 Lovey-dovey noise 36 Molecule in fingernails?

37 Think tank products 41 Finish 42 Major Georgia airport: Abbr.

43 Fish with a curled tail 45 Dernier ___ 46 USS Enterprise captain Jean-___

Picard 9 Many, many 4 50 Marsupial native to Australia 53 They’re passed on from parents 57 Cart fillers 58 Hopeless 59 It’s in a whole other category...or a hint to the starred answers 63 Gives off, as light 64 NPR staple 65 Speck of dust 66 Least desirable 67 Home-run run 68 What peacocks’ spots resemble DOWN 1 An arm and a leg?

2 Muzzle 3 Like a 45-degree angle 4 Hissy fit 5 Scaredy-cat’s emotion 6 “Boyfriend” singer Grande, to fans 7 Worshipper of Lakshmi and Vishnu 8 Trickery 9 Hits, biblically 10 Starbucks’ White Chocolate ___

1 Ship that was double-booked?

1 12 Take notice of 13 QVC alternative 18 Stretching muscle 19 What a card player is dealt 23 (OMG!) 24 Indiana basketballer 25 They’re tapped to open apps 26 Crystal-filled rock 28 Deserving, or deserved 31 Runner’s sport or spot 32 Book’s opening section, informally 33 Shire of Rocky 34 Dawn goddess 38 ___-facing car seat 39 Bit of ink 40 Former Japanese ruler 44 Erstwhile 46 Most recent 47 Cab company competitor 48 Sidewalk material 51 What 47-Down provides 52 Ed of Up 54 Spock portrayer 55 Overjoy

6 Monica who won nine Grand Slams 5 58 Lickety-split 59 Wet blanket?

60 Texter’s “I believe...”

61 Certain Christmas tree 62 A pair of

Solution to Tuesday’s puzzle: