BusinessMirror January 21, 2020

3 ROAD SECTIONS NEAR TAAL CLOSED W HILE all national roads are passable in Batangas and Cavite, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has closed three road sections as part of the 14-kilometer radius danger zone imposed by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Anna Mae Y. Lamentillo, the chairman for the “Build, Build, Build” The Department of Public Works and Highways’ Anna Mae Lamentillo, who chairs the “Build, Build, Build” Committee, fields questions at the BusinessMirror Coffee Club on Monday. ROY DOMINGO

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(BBB) program of the administration, listed the three road sections as the Tanauan-Talisay-Tagaytay Road, the Talisay-Laurel-Agoncillo Road and the Agoncillo Section.

“The entire stretch is now closed to traffic,” she said at Monday’s BusinessMirror Coffee Club, fielding questions from journalists in the ALC Media Group. “We have evacuated more than 50,000 people already and have deployed water trucks to clean national highways, deploying 100 equipment and about 600 employees.”

Lamentillo noted that her group can only “rehabilitate areas outside the 14-kilometer danger zone.”

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 Vol. 15 No. 103

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PHL agri infra backlog pegged at ₧535 billion ₧330B T

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE country’s farm infrastructure backlog, estimated at more than half a trillion pesos, is a major stumbling block to improving farmers’ productivity, as the lack of warehouses and cold-storage facilities has made it difficult to minimize postharvest losses.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Regulations Zanzamin L. Ampatuan made this initial estimate, citing data based on the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) logistics

services road map.

Ampatuan said improving the country’s farm infrastructure and logistics would cut farmers’ postharvest losses and help them double

their income. This, he said, is in line with President Duterte’s marching orders to improve the performance of the farm sector. “[Improving] the performance

The estimated amount needed to build more warehouses as part of investments to improve farm infrastructure. Another P100 billion is for rural roads, P100 billion for coldstorage facilities and P5 billion for container yards directly servicing the agriculture sector

of the agriculture sector and its contribution to the economy” were stressed by the President, while Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar gave him an order “to increase the See “Agri infra,” A2

As this developed, Lamentillo’s group is currently finishing studies for road and bridge construction that are more “science-based” and disasterproof.

“Since we assumed position, we commissioned a lot of studies not just in earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, even flooding.

We really thought that flooding and traffic cannot be solved by politics alone. The Philippines is in a unique position because almost all our road networks are near the fault line, so we really have to build sustainably to make sure that the gaps are plugged,” she said.

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NEDA: TAAL ERUPTION WILL BARELY HIT PHL GDP, POVERTY RATE

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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H E co u nt r y ’s e co n o m i c performance this year and poverty incidence will not be affected by the Taal Volcano eruption, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

In a briefing on Monday, Neda Regional Development Office Undersecretary Adoracion M. Navarro said the impact on Calabarzon’s economy will only be P4.3 billion, or 0.17 percent to P6.6 billion, or 0.26 percent of Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia also said the Philippines is still on track to reducing poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022.

“Filipinos are resilient, and it is also in our culture to help, so

Motorbike taxis are out, are in? Confusing TWG signals appall senators

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan & Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

HE technical working group (TWG) for the motorcycle taxi program may reverse its decision to immediately stop the pilot run—a decision it suddenly announced on Monday morning, ahead of a Senate hearing—but this will come with strings attached.

Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope O. Libiran said a decision to whether extend the pilot run for two-wheel public transport options should come out on Wednesday, when the interagency working group will formally convene.

This will be recommended to Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, who will ultimately decide on the extension.

“The interagency TWG on motorcycle taxis is considering the sentiments raised by the members of the Senate Committee on Public Services, as well as by other stakeholders,” she said.

She was referring to the Public Services panel hearing on Monday, presided over by committee chief Sen. Grace Poe, where senators surprised by the declaration of a termination of the second-phase trial, which should run until March 23, lambasted regulators.

Libiran explained that Tugade is amendable to the extension of the program, but noted several prerequisites to his approval.

“We are considering. But, according to Secretary Tugade, if it will be extended, it should not be in an atmosphere filled with cases. They should agree on the cap, and they should agree on the study areas,” she said.

She was referring to the stay orders sought by Angkas and its riders on the supply cap provision of the amended rules for the pilot program.

“Another meeting shall likewise be conducted on Friday with stakeholders, resource persons, and the three motorcycle providers participating in the study, to iron out the specifics,” she said.

Senators weigh in

The Poe committee is conducting hearings as it rushes remedial legislation to amend the decades-old national transportation and traffic code, in order to allow for motorcycle taxis.

Poe said the results of the TWG studies—from its first sixmonth trial participated in by ride-hailing app Angkas, and from the second phase to run until March 23 unless canceled as announced on Monday—are crucial as basis for the amendatory law.

See “Motorbike taxis,” A2

PESO exchange rates n

Lorenz S. Marasigan

I think, it’s going to have a momentary or passing effect on poverty, but in the end poverty will continue to climb down,” Pernia said.

The damage estimates to Calabarzon, one of the regions that account for the largest contributions to the economy, accounts for the damage to the agriculture, industry and services sector.

Under the first scenario for damages within the 14-kilometer radius, foregone income in the Agriculture and Fishery sector amounted to P3.17 billion, or 2.32 percent of 2018 Gross Value Added (GVA)-Agri, Fishery and Forestry of Calabarzon.

This also includes P357.3 million or 0.02 percent of the 2018 GVAIndustry of Calabarzon and P789.1 million, or 0.08 percent of 2018 GVA-Services of Calabarzon.

See “Neda,” A2

Ecozones done with post-ashfall cleaning up

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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The Senate’s Transportation committee chief, Sen. Grace Poe, throws a question at MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia during Monday’s public hearing on the legalization of motorcycle taxis. ROY DOMINGO

BOP posts $7.8-B surplus, the highest since 2012

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HE country’s balance of payments (BoP) strongly recovered from being in the reds in 2018, as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported a strong surplus in 2019’s end on Monday.

In a statement, the BSP said the Philippines BoP—or the summary of the country’s transactions with the rest of the world—hit $7.843 billion in surplus by the end of 2019. The end-year BoP is a reversal of the $2.3-billion deficit seen in 2018.

The strong 2019 BoP surplus did not come as a surprise to the economy as the Philippines has been consistently posting monthly surpluses throughout last year except in June. In December

alone, the surplus was at $1.57 billion.

In contrast, the 2018 monthly BoP data set was showing consistent deficits, except for surpluses in the months of August, November and December.

“Based on preliminary data, the surplus was supported by higher net receipts of trade in services, personal remittance inflows from overseas Filipinos, and sustained net inflows of foreign direct investments [FDI] and portfolio investments,” the BSP said in a statement.

Just last week, the BSP reported that Filipino migrant workers sent home around $27.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2019, 4.4 percent higher than what they sent in

the same 11-month period in 2018.

FDI, meanwhile, stood at 32.8 percent lower in the first 10 months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. The total value in January to October was at $5.8 billion.

The BSP said the BoP inflows in December 2019 reflected the BSP’s net foreign-exchange purchases from its foreign-exchange operations and income from its investments abroad, and increase in the national government’s net foreign-currency deposits.

These inflows were partially offset, however, by outflows representing payments made by the NG on its foreign- exchange obligations during the month.

CONOMIC zones in Southern Tagalog are expected to return to full normalcy this week, as their developers are nearly done cleaning up the residue left by the ashfall from the volcanic activities of Taal.

Philippine Ecozones Association President Francisco S. Zaldarriaga said the Taal eruption had “minimal effects” on the operations of economic zones in Southern Tagalog. This was backed by reports from the ground that most are already operating 100 percent, while some are trying to return to full normalcy but circumstances hinder them. “[There are] very minimal effects on our economic zones in the area,” Zaldarriaga said in a text message to the BusinessMirror. “[I] was just cross-consulting with some of our members in the affected area [and got the] same feedback: mostly ashfall followed by intensive proper cleanup operations,” he disclosed. “Full normalcy expected this week.”

Peza report

Last week, Peza Director General See “Ecozones,” A2

US 50.8980 n japan 0.4624 n UK 66.1521 n HK 6.5522 n CHINA 7.4189 n singapore 37.7806 n australia 34.9669 n EU 56.4662 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.5663

Source: BSP (20 January 2020)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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Govt begins negotiations on euro-bond issue

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

ISCAL authorities of the Duterte administration have begun negotiations with potential investors in its planned euro-dominated bond issuance.

In an interview Monday, National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) has already tapped

banks for the planned euro bond sale and started investor calls.

“We’ve already announced the appointment with the four banks.

We’ve [also] started investor calls today. We still have to see the market conditions,” de Leon told reporters. “But we have already done the indication in terms of the tenor for both three years and nine years.”

She said because European markets open late in the afternoon, Manila time, bankers would begin calling the “core investors” in territories that de Leon didn’t name.

The four banks that would make investor calls include Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group Inc., Standard Chartered Plc. and UBS Group AG. De Leon told reporters they want

“Obviously, we have been opening markets every year for the dollar and this time we also want to approach European investors coming from a very strong order book last year.”—De Leon

to take advantage of the negative yields of the euro at the moment.

“Of course, we have also done an assessment in terms of appetite.

Obviously, we have been opening markets every year for the dollar and this time we also want to ap-

Day 9: Calm outside, Taal still restive inside; explosive eruption still possible–Phivolcs

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Lake’s land area to expand.

“In my personal assessment, the lake expanded by at least a meter,” he told members of the media.

According to Phivolcs’ Volcano Bulletin issued at 8 a.m. on Monday, activity in the main crater in the past 24 hours has been characterized by steady steam emission and infrequent weak eruptions that generated ash plumes 500 to 1,000 meters tall and dispersed ash southwest of the man crater.

Sulfur-dioxide emission was measured at an average of 4,353 tons per day.

Since 5 a.m. on January 19 until 6 a.m. on Monday, 23 volcanic earthquakes were plotted by the Philippine Seismic Network.

However, Phivolcs said the Taal Volcano Network recorded 673 volcanic earthquakes including 12 low-frequency earthquakes during the past 24 hours. The Taal Volcano Network can record small earthquakes not detected

by PSN.

OLC A NO e x per ts on Monday said Taal Volcano remains restive underneath, indicating that a hazardous explosive eruption is still possible within hours or days even if the past few days were marked by weaker eruptions.

Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary and concurrent Philippine Institute and Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum said the swelling of the landmass around Taal Volcano, as well as several areas in mainland Batangas is caused by the hydrovolcanic and magmatic activity of Taal beneath the surface.

Such activities can cause fissures and cracks earlier discovered on the volcano island as well in areas near the Pansipit River to widen, said Solidum.

As such, he said people must stay away from the high-risk areas within the 14-kilometer radius from the main crater of Taal. He said the same activity caused Taal

Motorbike taxis. . .

Also weighing in against the TWG de-cision to cancel its study on motorcycle taxis were Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian, Ralph Recto, Joel Villanueva and Christopher “Bong” Go. “The abrupt decision of the Technical Working Group to cancel the study on motorcycle taxis as a viable public transportation is illogical,” Villanueva said, adding that the TWG’s findings would have provided both houses of Congress “a clearer perspective on the issue at hand, as its primary mandate should be.”

In outlawing motorcycle taxis with its

REIT. . .

Continued from A8

Republic Act 9856, or the REIT law, was signed 11 years ago and its IRR were released later on, but this new asset class was met with tepid response from the investor community because of several contentious provisions, according to DOF. Wh e n D u te r te wa s e l e c te d i n 2016, Dominguez directed the SEC to review the IRR to make it more palatable to investors and ensure that funds raised from REITs will be reinvested in the country instead of being “squirreled away” to foreign markets and countries.

“Today, we bring the law to life,” Dominguez said. “We finally resolved the issues that hindered the Philippine REIT [from taking] off.”

Problematic aspects

RA 9856 specifies both minimum dividend requirements to attract small investors, as well as tax incentives that were the problematic aspects of the law, Dominguez said.

This could be why the law failed to attract investors in the past administration, he added.

“We took on the challenge but had to be sure that the tax incentives would not be prone to abuse. We had to be very clear in our revenue regulations. This is why we needed to recast the existing revenue guidelines,”

Continued from A1

decision to cancel the study, Villanueva said the TWG placed at risk those commuters dependent on motorcycle taxis because they will patronize an illegitimate form of transportation, apparently referring to the outlawed habal-habal, the pioneer in motorbike taxis.

“For service providers that motorcycle taxi firms tap, the cancellation of the study means adding an estimated 27,000 riders back to the unemployment column. We should create more jobs, not take away means of getting an honest day’s pay,” he added.

Dominguez said.

“We, likewise, wanted to be sure that the large investment funds to be raised using this mechanism will be reinvested exclusively within the country’s real-estate and infrastructure sector. The reinvestment requirement is the regulatory framework, which ensures that the funds invested by Filipinos will stay in our domestic economy and will contribute to the improvement of our country’s infrastructure, rather than the benefits being squirreled away to other markets and countries,” he added.

Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Emilio Aquino said the amendment of the REIT IRR advances the state policy to democratize wealth by broadening participation of Filipinos in the real-estate market.

“REITs allow Filipinos to invest in the realestate market without owning actual property or the disadvantages of high transaction costs and illiquidity,” Aquino said. “They also help investors achieve better returns or volatility outcomes by allowing property developers to diversify their portfolios.”

PSE President-CEO Ramon Monzon said REITs are a “welcome addition”to their productofferings as these will help their market become more competitive in the region.

“Potential issuers and investors, both retail and institutional, have been looking forward to the introduction of REITs in the country given the benefits of both listing and investing in this new asset class.”

“Such intense seismic activity likely signifies continuous magmatic intrusion beneath the Taal edifice, which may lead to further eruptive activity,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Solidum said Phivolcs will look into the connection between the volcanic activity and three successive tectonic earthquakes that hit Mabini, Batangas, Sunday night.

The first, a 4.0-magnitude earthquake, was recorded at 8:23 p.m. This was followed by a 4.6-magnitude earthquake at 8:59 p.m. and another 4.0-magnitude earthquake at 10:02 p.m.

The epicenter of the earthquakes is in Mabini, Batangas.

Solidum said an earthquake caused by a movement in the same earthquake fault in Mabini was recorded by Phivolcs in April last year.

He said they will still investigate whether the Mabini earthquakes which are tectonic in nature, can be linked to the current volcanic activity in the area.

Ecozones. . .

Continued from A1

Charito B. Plaza told reporters economic zone developers did not report any infrastructure and operational damage resulting from the Taal Volcano eruption.

As of last week, most of the economic zones are fully operational.

Only the Laguna Technopark in Santa Rosa, Laguna; the Light Industry and Science Park III in Santo Tomas, Batangas; and the Lima Technology Center (LTC) in Lipa, Batangas, are below 100 percent running.

The economic zones nearest Taal Volcano are LTC and the First Philippine Industrial Park in Santo Tomas, Batangas, both of which are 18 kilometers away from the crater, falling outside the 14-kilometer danger zone identified for manda-

Neda. . .

Continued from A1

Under the second scenario, which takes into consideration the effects with a 17-kilometer radius, reached P6.66 billion or 0.26 percent of 2018 GRDP of Calabarzon.

The bulk of the impact is accounted for by the losses to the agriculture sector which reached P3.17 billion or 2.32 percent of 2018 Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture, in fishery and forestry of Calabarzon.

The estimate also included the P711.9 million or 0.05 percent of 2018 GVA-Industry of Calabarzon, and P2.78 billion or 0.30 percent of 2018 GVA-Services of the region.

Navarro said this was lower than Pernia’s earlier estimate which was pegged at P7.6 billion because the new estimate did not take into consideration a major eruption.

She explained that the initial Neda estimate accounted for“violent volcanic eruptions”which assumed a longer period of recovery and closure of establishments in the area.

“But as we have observed in Tagaytay, some establishments there have started their

The tremors were felt in towns in Batangas, Cavite, Mindoro and as far as Laguna.

“We will still look into it if it is connected to the volcanic activity,” he said.

Prior to that, an earthquake recorded at 6:56 a.m. on the same day was recorded by Phivolcs. It has a magnitude of 3.8 with epicenter in Talisay, Batangas.

Tens of thousands of Taalaffected residents from various parts of Batangas and Cavite who fled their homes since the volcano started to erupt on January 12 are currently in various evacuation centers.

Taal Volcano is the secondmost active volcano in the Philippines next to Mayon Volcano situated in Albay province.

Situated in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur, the Philippines has over 20 identified active volcanoes being monitored by Phivolcs.

proach European investors coming from a very strong order book last year,” she said. “There [were] ‘spillovers’ that time that we were not able to accept in terms of their order books. So we’re coming back for this issue.”

De Leon said fiscal authorities have to gauge market conditions before returning to issuing dollardenominated bonds, especially this quarter.

“But we’re also coming from very strong issuances ng dollar from our corporates; you have seen the likes of [major manufacturing firms]. So I think there’s really strong inves-

tor appetite for Philippine credits, particularly from the corporates,” she said.

The option of returning to yendominated bonds, she said, has yet to pop up as Tokyo is focused on the Olympics and Manila has just done so in August last year.

“It might overlap [with the Olympics].”

For this year, the government is planning to borrow a record P1.4 trillion with a 75-to-25 borrowing mix in favor of domestic sources.

Last year’s borrowing program by the Duterte administration was only at P1.19 trillion.

Govt spots another ‘onerous’ contract

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INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said they have spotted another “onerous” contract with the government.

In an interview with reporters on Monday, Dominguez said he has already endorsed a review of all contracts with onerous provisions.

“In fact, we have one that we found but I will not give you all the details,” he said. Pressed to give more details on the alleged onerous contract, Dominguez answered: “Real estate.

Something that has been 40 years old.”

Asked if the property involved is in Manila, Dominguez said: “No.” This comes as President Duterte continues to publicly threaten the owners of water concessionaires with detention and charges of plunder and large-scale estafa for alleged onerous contracts, forged during the Ramos administration in 1997, and which secured an extension until 2037, years before the original contracts were to lapse in 2022.

Last Friday, Duterte said he will resort to detention in case the owners will “force his hand” by blocking

the government from implementing its new service contracts with them by questioning the legality of the documents before the courts.

However, Malacañang on Sunday gave assurances that there will be no illegal arrest for the owners of water concessionaires.

The government is currently drafting new contracts, which it hopes Maynilad and Manila Water will accept or risk the outright cancellation of their existing service agreements to distribute water in Metro Manila.

The Department of Finance, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Solicitor General, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System are taking part in the revision of contracts with water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Asian Development Bank will also help the government in crafting a new concession agreement. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Jonathan L. Mayuga

tory evacuation.

Plaza said the economic zones that have yet to recover fully from the ashfall are suffering from lack of manpower. Some economic zone workers, locators reported, were forced to evacuate their houses, which fell within the danger zone.

The Southern Tagalog region is home to 1,962 locators, or nearly 44 percent of the total 4,478 locators around the country, and these firms are employing 523,898 workers.

The Peza, in response to the Taal Volcano eruption, will soon require developers and locators to secure geohazard clearance before they can implement their projects. Plaza also said she is asking Southern Tagalog-based economic zone firms to submit their business continuity plan in response to the disaster that hit their region. operations again and we also got a clear picture on the effects on the manufacturing sector, and on electricity and water utilities sector,”Navarro explained.

However, Pernia said the Neda is confident that these losses will be offset by rehabilitation efforts in Calabarzon. This will spur consumption and economic activities that will boost GRDP and, consequently, the country’s GDP.

Rehab plan

The Neda is currently in the process of crafting a reconstruction and rehabilitation plan for areas affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.

While the Neda could not yet provide estimates of how much this will cost, it is confident that public- and private-sector efforts to address the situation will lead to higher GDP. [In] any disaster, like typhoons, and the aftermath of typhoons and volcanic eruptions, there’s going to be a lot of activity, economic activity, in terms of reconstruction and rehabilitation, and that’s going to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

Government spending will be substantial,” Pernia explained.

Agri infra. . .

Continued from A1

income of farmers and production, which should ideally grow by 3 percent annually,” Ampatuan told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Based on the DTI’s blueprint, Ampatuan said the required investment to improve the country’s farm infrastructure is about P535 billion, of which P330 billion should be allotted to build more warehouses.

He added that P100 billion is needed for the construction of rural roads, another P100 billion for cold-storage facilities and P5 billion for container yards directly servicing the agriculture sector.

“This is our current backlog,” said Ampatuan, who is also the Department of Agriculture’s focal person for its “Build, Build, Build” program.

He said the DA is currently conducting an “inventory” of the farm sector’s infrastructure backlog to update existing data and determine the required investments.

The study, expected to be completed by March, would provide the DA a “whole picture” of the problem and allow it to determine key interventions to wipe out the backlog.

Ampatuan said the DA would craft a “wish list” and a priority list of programs and projects to be funded by government using the results of their three-month study. “[By March] we will have a total picture of the logistical movement of commodities [in the country]. We are looking at the extent of [infrastructure support] being provided for agricultural products, particularly for perishable goods,” he said.

Ampatuan said the DA will craft an initial three-year agricultural logistics program involving various interventions, such as the establishment of cold storage facilities, warehouses and roads, to cut farmers’ postharvest losses by half from the current estimated 40 percent in

fruits and vegetables.

Other initial infrastructure projects may include the construction of rain catchment facilities and other technologies to reduce wastage.

Ampatuan said the national government should shoulder the expenses for small-scale, farm-level logistics projects while big-ticket ones must be financed by the private sector.

“We have a problem with postharvest, particularly the handling of commodities especially perishable goods, as wastage reach as high as 40 percent for vegetables and fruits.

Logistics is something that the government should invest in,” he said.

“Because the intervention of the private sector in terms of logistics is not that aggressive for raw products unlike in processed goods,” he added.

Infrastructure development is one of the key areas that the current DA leadership is focusing on to improve “‘farmers’ linkages to the urban/domestic and export market.”

Lamentillo: Convergence

In a roundtable with the BusinessMirror on Monday, Build, Build, Build Committee Chairman Anna Mae Lamentillo said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has established a convergence program with various departments, such as the DA, to collaborate on specific infrastructure projects, such as farm-to-market roads (FMRs), which would benefit farmers.

Lamentillo cited the rehabilitation of the Pigalo Bridge in Isabela as one of the results of the DPWH and DA’s “convergence” initiative. The bridge cut the time for transporting agricultural goods to just five minutes from the previous 24 hours.

She also agreed with Ampatuan’s statement that certain local infrastructure projects, such as FMRs, should be bankrolled by government, as these aim to make travel faster in farming communities.

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Meralco reports 100-percent power restoration in Batangas and Laguna

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

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HE Manila Electr ic Co. (Meralco) has fully restored its main lines and circuits affected by the ashfall from the recent Taal eruption.

“Meralco today announced that as of 3 p.m. Sunday, January 19, 2020, 100 percent of Meralco’s main lines and circuits affected have been restored,” the utility firm said Monday.

In the past week, portions of Cavite, Laguna and Batangas experienced power interruptions because of Taal’s ashfall coming into contact with Meralco’s facilities, thus, affecting the various circuits in these areas. Around 180,000 customers in these areas were affected.

“Meralco thanks its customers for their patience and understanding, and will continue to work 24/7 in all future power restoration efforts,” it said.

Meanwhile, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said Batangas 1 Electric Cooperative Inc. (BATELEC 1) and Batangas 2 Electric Cooperative Inc. (BATELEC 2) recorded a decline in electricity demand as thousands of residential customers were forced to evacuate and businesses closed.

BATELEC 1 reported a 7-megawatt drop, while BATELEC 2 pegged a 12 MW to 15 MW decline, which will have an effect on their operations, both on the financial and technical aspects, including system loss rates and collection efficiency, according to NEA administrator Edgardo Masongsong.

BATELEC 2 General Manager Octavious Mendoza said the municipalities of Talisay and Laurel were on forced power shutdown, as both towns were placed on total lockdown by the authorities to

prevent residents from going back to their homes.

The Lipa City-based power distribution utility also enforced a mandatory shutdown of electricity to 21 barangays of Tanauan City that are within the 14-kilometer danger zone.

Mendoza said this was in compliance to the memorandum issued by the local government of Tanauan and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO).

Tanauan City is currently under a state of calamity due to the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano.

Covered by the temporary shutdown are Barangays Ambulong, Bañadero, Gonzales, Wawa, Boot, Maria Paz, Bagbag, Balele, Mabini, Tinurik, Banjo West, Janopol Oriental, Janopol Occidental, Talaga, Bilog-bilog, Maugat, San Jose, Natatas, Luyos, Montaña and Santor.

However, efforts to restore power to villages not included in the list of “critical areas” by the local government will continue, according to BATELEC 2 Assistant General Manager Mary Ann Dimaano.

Dimaano said the barangays in Tanauan City with ongoing restoration activities are Altura Bata, Altura Matanda, Altura South, Cale, Malaking Pulo and Santol, with 2,605 total combined households.

BATELEC 1 General Manager Alvin Velasco, meanwhile, reported that the towns of Agoncillo, Lemery and San Nicolas—all under lockdown—are also on forced power shutdown. These municipalities have a total combined households of 32,392.

Velasco also informed the NEA administrator of their ongoing activities that include a massive cleanup of their power distribution facilities, such as substations and feeder lines, which were covered by a thick layer of volcanic ash.

PEZA SECURES P800-MILLION FUNDING TO BUILD NEW HEADQUARTERS IN PASAY

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

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HE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is transferring its headquarters back to Pasay City after securing funding from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) for the construction of a 13-story building.

Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza last week said the agency obtained P800 million from LandBank for the construction of a 13-story building in the Bay Area. She bared the new office will be used by the Peza as its new headquarters, and that the property will be completed in two to three years time.

In the meantime, Peza will leave its office at the Department of Energy-Philippine National Oil Co. (DOEPNOC) Complex in Taguig City, and will locate in the Double Dragon Plaza in Pasay City, by March.

Plaza explained the Peza has to relocate its operations because its space in the DOE-PNOC Complex is no longer safe for work. She disclosed the structure endured cracks from the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that shook Luzon in April of last year.

“We will soon be signing with LandBank for the construction of the new Peza building in our

original location along Roxas Boulevard [in Pasay City],” Plaza told reporters.

“In mid-March, Peza’s head office will transfer to Double Dragon. While we are located in Double Dragon—that is along Edsa and Macapagal Avenues, which is near our Peza building—simultaneously the Peza building will be constructed,” she added.

Further, the Peza is looking for a joint-venture partner to build a 33story building to be situated at the back of its headquarters.

The back building, Plaza added, will be used by the investment promotion agency to generate revenue. She said it can be utilized for many purposes, even put it up for lease as office spaces of information technology and businessprocess management firms.

The construction of the back building is projected to cost between P2 billion and P3 billion, and Peza officials are looking for a constructor who can make it green and sustainable.

“There are now proposals [for the construction of the back building] because we want an iconic design and a green building. However, what we will prioritize is the building of our Peza office, which will be funded by LandBank,” the Peza chief explained.

Gamboa outlines ‘mission’ as full-fledged PNP chief

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

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OLICE Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa formally assumed post on Monday afternoon as the 23rd chief of the 205,000-strong Philippine National Police (PNP) which he had headed since October last year as officer in charge.

“Three months as OIC has made me more than ready to take on the responsibility bestowed upon myself by the Commander in Chief to lead the PNP,” he said.

Upon his assumption as chief of the PNP, Gamboa said he will continue to work harder to intensify the flagship programs of the national government in maintaining peace and order in the communities.

In his full capacity as the new PNP Chief, he noted the scaled-up thrust of the PNP leadership focusing on discipline, reform, internal cleansing, intensified campaign against criminality and illegal drugs, crime prevention, and strengthened public

@rectomercene

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IRPORT Customs authorities intercepted some 330 cartridges of liquid marijuana seized from bonded warehouses at the premier airport.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) district collector Mimel Talusan said the interception was in line with the bureau’s drive to prevent the entry of illegal and

prohibited drugs into the country.

The 330 cartridges were presented to the media on Monday afternoon.

Talusan said the drugs were confiscated from air cargo parcels with an estimated value of P700,000.

The cartridges were inside 11 packages and discovered by Customs employees sorting through the shipment delivered by the different airlines.

The Customs bureau coordinated the seizure of the banned itemswith the Philippine Drug Enforcement

relations with media engagements.

“These policies and plans will remain to be the framework of my leadership, more so now that I am vested with more authority as chief PNP to pursue the flagship program on internal cleansing and organizational discipline with greater vigor and efficacy,” he said.

Gamboa is a member of the PMA Sinagtala Class of 1986 where he graduated with distinctions and awards. He earned his Bachelor of Laws degree at the Jose Rizal University in 2004.

The PNP chief had served in various posts, from being a commanding officer up to different key positions in regional and national units, particularly in the PNP National Headquarters, Southern Luzon, Caraga, and in his home province of Bukidnon.

After his stint in provincial and regional offices, he took the helm of PNP leadership from being the chief directorial staff in 2017 to

deputy chief, PNP for Administration in 2019.

Hours after his assumption, Gamboa said the anti-illegal drugs campaign and the internal cleansing of the PNP will remain as his top priorities.

President Duterte gave Gamboa the marching orders to clean the PNP and pursue the antidrugs drive during his meeting with the President in Davao City, wherein Interior Secretary Eduardo Año was also present.

“He has lots of directives, but generally, if we compress it, it will deal with the two issues which I have said, vigorous antidrug campaign and then cleansing the PNP,” Gamboa said.

Meanwhile, eight people, including a Nigerian were arrested by anti-illegal drugs operatives during a series of operations in Southern Metro Manila and Cavite over the weekend.

The operations, according to Gamboa, busted a drugs distribu-

tion network that operates in the southern portion of the capital that has links with international syndicates.

During a news briefing on Monday, Gamboa identified the Nigerian as Kingsley Osita Escobi, who yielded four packs of shabu weighing approximately two kilos during a buy-bust operation in Bacoor City, Cavite.

“He is believed to have links with the notorious West African Drug Syndicate that is known for its international drug trafficking activities across Asia, Africa and Europe,” Gamboa said.

The Nigerian was among the eight people arrested by members of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group under Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat, wherein a total of 16.5 kilos of high-grade shabu with a worth P112.2 million was seized during four separate operations in the cities of Pasay, Parañaque and Las Piñas, and Bacoor, Cavite.

Are fish caught in Taal Lake safe to consume? DA has the answer

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday assured it is still safe to eat fish from the Taal Lake as long as these were caught alive and, cleaned and cooked well before consumption.

The DA said laboratory tests conducted by its Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) showed that “consumption of fish from Taal Lake is safe, but it must be confined to those that are fresh and caught alive.”

“Caught fish must be washed thoroughly, internal organs removed, and cooked properly,” it said in its latest bulletin report on Taal Volcano’s damage to the farm sector on late Sunday.

In a separate televised interview, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar disclosed that bangus fish kill in Taal Lake has started because of rising acidity in the water caused by the volcano’s activities.

Dar added that fish kill in tilapia may happen “anytime soon.”

“We are starting to see, bangus for example, fish kill in bangus. You can see that happening anytime soon for tilapia but for tilapia presently, the alive and fresh ones could still be eaten as a result of our analysis,” he said.

Due to Taal Volcano’s phreatic eruptions and ashfall, fisherfolk in the area has lost a season of harvest forcing the DA to craft a recovery program for them.

“Basically, a season has been lost. We have to recover and prepare again, hopefully normalcy returns, another to two three months, then we can go back. We are ready to distribute fingerlings of tilapia and other species,” Dar said.

Once aquaculture operation resumes and suitable areas are identified, DA said the BFAR will provide assorted fingerlings to affected fisherfolk.

These fingerlings include: 7 mil-

Customs authorities seize liquid cannabis from Naia warehouse

By Recto Mercene

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Tuesday, January 21, 2020 A3

Agency (PDEA) and Naia Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group.

Talusan turned over the drugs to the PDEA for further investigation.

Talusan stressed that the importation of hempseed and cannabidiol is considered illegal and may be subjected to apprehension through the provisions of RA 9165, also known as the “The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act” and the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.”

A FISHERMAN brings up a net laden with tilapia harvest from a fish cage amid the uneasy calm from the eruption of Taal Volcano. The Department of Agriculture said fish caught in the Taal Lake are still safe to consume provided these are washed and cooked properly. ROY DOMINGO

lion for tilapia, 20,000 freshwater shrimps, 50,000 hito, 100,000 bighead carps and 5,000 ayungin.

Based on the DA’s latest damage report, Taal Volcano’s eruption and ashfall affected 6,000 fish cages with an estimated production worth of P1.6 billion.

Latest DA market monitoring report showed that the average retail price of tilapia in Metro Manila as of January 20 has increased by 6 percent to P124.02 per kilogram (kg) from P117.02 kg recorded on January 11, a day before Taal Volcano erupted.

DA market monitoring report also showed that the average retail price of bangus in Metro Manila has remained flat around P170 per kilogram.

The DA said, as of January 19, Southern Luzon farmers had lost P3.22-billion worth of produce due to Taal Volcano’s eruption

and ashfall.

“To date, total damage and losses amount to P3.22 billion. The volcanic eruption and ashfall affected 16,150 hectares of farmlands, and caused the death of 55,881 head of various farm animals that include chicken, carabao, cattle, horse, swine and goat,” it said.

“The increase in the amount is due to reports of damage on cassava in Batangas, Cavite and Laguna,” it added.

Appeal for assistance

AN organization of small fishermen, meanwhile, is appealing for humanitarian aid and livelihood assistance for victims of Taal Volcano’s eruption.

Haligi ng Batangueñong Anakdagat (Habagat), a local chapter of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pa-

malakaya) said at least nine families, mostly from fishing communities in three Batangas towns around the Taal Lake are in dire need of government help and support.

In a news statement, Gregorio Arpon, Habagat president, said that his group has initially recorded around 1,700, 4, 500, and 2, 800 families affected by the eruption from the towns of San Nicolas, Lemery, and Taal, Batangas, respectively.

“We are still calling for humanitarian aid and livelihood assistance in behalf of tens of thousands of victims of the Taal Volcano’s eruption. We are also in the process of pressing local and national government agencies to effectively address this situation and provide the basic needs of the affected people, and moreover, pursue a genuine rehabilitation program for their devastated livelihood,” Arpon said. With Jonathan L. Mayuga

Coast Guard resumes search for 7 missing fishermen in Pangasinan

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HE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) resumed its search on Monday for seven fishermen who have been reported missing after they went fishing in the waters near Barangay Hermosa, Dasol, in Pangasinan early this month.

A news statement issued by the PCG said the fishermen, who were onboard fishing banca FB Narem 2, ventured out to sea for a fishing activity on January 6.

They, however, failed to return in Infanta, Pangasinan, on their scheduled return date of January 14, as reported by the owner of the banca, Christine Macaraig.

FB Narem 2 was skippered by Captain Alberto Roldan.

Other missing crew members included Roderick Montemayor, Homar Maglantay, Ejay de la Cruz, Jerome Maglantay,

Larry Legaspi and Jefferson Bernabe.

The PCG said Macaraig was able to coordinate with FB Narem 2 through radio at around 2:30 p.m. on January 13, and was informed that the fishing boat encountered big waves of around 13 feet in height.

The banca’s last reported location was at 60 nautical miles, off Camaso Island in Dasol, Pangasinan.

“The PCG deployed BN Islander plane to conduct aerial surveillance approximately 60 to 90 nautical miles off Camaso Island, while the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has deployed multi-mission offshore vessel, BRP Lapu-Lapu, to conduct joint maritime patrol and search for the missing fishermen,” the PCG statement said. Rene Acosta

A4 Tuesday, January 21, 2020 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

PHL allows entry of German beef, poultry but retains ban on pork and pork products

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Philippines has allowed the entry of certain German meat products, particularly beef and poultry, but retained the ban on the importation of pork and pork products from the European country.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) issued on January 15, Department Order (DO) 1 of 2020, that formally granted Germany with a system accreditation as an exporter of frozen beef and poultry meat to the Philippines.

The DA said Germany’s application was “satisfactory and acceptable” after the European country was found compliant with Philippine quarantine and meat inspection systems procedures.

Furthermore, the DA said an inspection mission was sent to Sweden to inspect, and audit, the country’s foreign meat establishments (FME) that would export pork to the Philippines.

“The government of Germany has complied with the requirements provided in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health [Office International des Epizooties, or OIE],”

the order read, which was released to the media on Monday.

The order effectively lifted the import ban imposed by the Philippines on Germany beef and poultry meat, while pork purchases from the European country is still not allowed, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) confirmed to the BusinessMirror.

BAI noted that pork imports from Germany remained banned pending the resolution of its meat shipment comingling issue with Poland that happened last year.

In July of 2019, the DA banned all meat imports from Germany, the country’s second-top source of meat imports, after it discovered a major breach of quarantine protocol for African swine fever (ASF).

Germany’s system accreditation as an exporter of beef and poultry meat to the Philippines is valid until November 12, 2022, according to DO 1.

In a separate DO, the DA granted the United States a system application to export pork and beef to the Philippines after it was found compliant with the country’s and international quarantine standards.

The US’s system accreditation to exportporkandbeeftothePhilippines is, likewise, valid until November 12,

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Data automation and predictive analytics —hot topics for business in the new year on a “ladderized” basis.

3. Analytics life-cycle development Businesses and IT departments will begin to look at their analytics apps in the same light that they look at their traditional transactional apps. IT will develop life-cycle management policies and procedures for analytics—beginning with application development and testing, and extending to launch, support, backup, and disaster recovery.

2022, according to DO 2 of 2020.

Indonesian pork banned

THE DA issued memorandum order 04 of 2020, which formally banned the importation of domestic and wild pigs, pork meat, and other pork-related products from Indonesia after it confirmed hundreds of cases of ASF in that Asean country.

Through MO 04, the DA has suspended the processing, evaluation of the application, and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance from Indonesia.

The BusinessMirror first reported that the Philippines would ban the importation of live pigs and pork-related products from Indonesia after Jakarta confirmed over 300 outbreaks of ASF last month.

Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar earlier told the BusinessMirror that the government would “pursue” the same measures it applied on ASF-affected countries to Indonesia as a safeguard measure against the fatal hog disease.

Since last year, the government, through the DA together with other border-relatedagencies,suchasBureau of Customs, has been implementing stricter quarantine measures on shipments from ASF-affected countries.

By Henry J. Schumacher

4. Augmented analytics Corporate IT and data science departments will begin to integrate the various pieces of analytics into an organized whole. There is the baseline of rudimentary analytics, and then there is the possibility of augmenting these analytics with machine-generated data queries through artificial intelligence and machine learning. AI and ML will augment—not replace—human creativity in terms of framing unique analytics queries. Because AI/ML can rapidly perceive repetitive patterns, they may be able to deliver faster times to market for certain business insights. Again, training of operational staff is needed to gain productivity and staying ahead of the curve!

S potential disruption of our business remains on the agenda, demand for real-time and near real-time analytics will continue to rise. Data will continue to expand its role in daily business operations and decision-making.

5. Predictive analytics In 2019, companies continued to use analytics to gain an understanding of historical and current situations.

In 2020, there will be a shift toward more predictive analytics to assess future economic conditions, risk areas, climate trends, infrastructure maintenance, and investment needs.

Here are six key trends for analytics in 2020:

6. Data automation With data scientists spending up to 80 percent of their time cleaning and preparing data, companies want data automation that can eliminate human involvement in these painstaking operations. This will make data scientists’ time more productive and speed up time to market for analytics.

Looking at these key trends for analytics in 2020, it becomes obvious that companies have to train their staff in data analytics so that they can respond to market opportunities faster and—at the same time— avoid disruptive innovation affecting their business by competitors.

We have to be aware of the fact that the Philippine labor force still lacks employees with Data Science and Analytics (DSA) skills, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) just now. The findings show that this country has an undersupply of functional analysts and data stewards.

Training of data engineers and data scientists in that direction becomes essential!

A

1. Real-time processing The demand for real-time, or near real-time analytics, will require fast CPUs and in-memory processing.

Companies want the ability to instantaneously respond to online sales activities, alerts about their production infrastructures, or sudden changes in financial markets and portfolios.

2. Graph analytics Spreadsheets have been instrumental in getting companies engaged in analytics, but many companies are at a point where their data and the complexity of their analytics queries are surpassing the capabilities of the common spreadsheet.

Graph analytics will gain traction in 2020. With graph analytics, companies can easily determine the connections between many different data points— even those that at first do not appear to be connected.

Graph technology simplifies the task of linking people, places, times, and things, and can speed times to market for business insights. People in operations have to be trained along these lines—that training is available

If you need assistance, contact me at schumacher@eitsc.com

House panel eyes okay of CMTA proposed amendments this week

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

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HE House Committee on Ways and Means on Monday said it is targeting to approve within the week a substitute bill seeking to amend the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).

In an interview following a technical working group (TWG) meeting on the proposal amending CMTA, panel chairman and Albay Rep. Joey S. Salceda said the committee will include in the substitute bill all the proposed amendments to the CMTA, or the Republic Act 10863, saying amendments are needed to improve the CMTA. “I think within this week, the committee will be able to finalize the proposal,” said Salceda. There are six bills filed that seek to amend the CMTA.

According to Salceda, lawmakers are pushing for the mandatory declaration of the value of imported goods in shipping and airline documents.

They also pushed the mandatory advance customs clearance and control on containerized cargoes.

“The concern towards ensuring trade facilitation is [also] there [in the list of amendments]…we are also facing the potential evil of smuggling,” Salceda said.

Earlier, House Committee on Economic Affairs Chairman Sharon Garin of AAMBIS-OWA, head of the TWG, is pushing for the passage of her House Bill 5548 seeks to amend the provisions, among others, affecting the customs clearance, off-Dock Customs Facilities Warehouse (CFW) and that of other third parties as defined in the CMTA. House Bill 5548 is in line with the administration’s continuing efforts

to boost the country’s trade activity and adapt global practices, she said.

Garin added international trade facilitation is crucial to the country’s economic growth and that CMTA amendments are necessary to further improve the country’s international standing.

The main objective of the bill is to improve trade facilitation and assist the government in revenue collection, she said.

“Provisions proposing the simplification and clear definition of some processes in the customs clearance of imported goods are incorporated in the bill,” she said.

The bill seeks to simplify and clearly define some processes in the customs clearance of imported goods.

The measure will also further empower the BOC in the imposition of administrative sanction insofar as third parties are concerned.

Parañaque City extends deadline for biz permit payment to Jan. 31

By Roderick L. Abad

Contributor

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@rodrik_28

A XPAYERS in Parañaque City are being encouraged by Mayor Edwin Olivarez to take advantage of the extension of deadline for payment of business taxes, permits and licenses until the end of this month.

This came after a council resolution was approved to accommodate the significant volume of taxpayers that showed up last week at the city hall to meet the January 25 cutoff point.

“[Those] with statement of account [SOA] dated January 2 to 25 is extended up to January 31, or a six-day extension, with no penalty will be imposed,” the local chief executive disclosed.

Based on the resolution, a 10-percent discount for the duration of the extension period is also entitled to entrepreneurs who fully settle their business taxes.

“However, from February 1 onward, we will be imposing penalty or surcharge,” Olivarez pointed out.

The mayor said they decided to

prolong the time limit for business license registration and renewal upon learning that the city’s Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) has been receiving a huge number of them.

An initiative called “Project Express Lane Operation” (Project ELO) was launched by the city government a couple of years ago.

Since then, assessments have nearly doubled to P81 million from P46 million generated in the first working day of 2018, according to BPLO chief lawyer Melanie Malaya.

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World

Libya players agree to respect arms embargo, push cease-fire

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E R L I N —Wo r l d p owe r s a n d o t h e r countries with interests in Libya’s longrunning civil war agreed on Sunday to respect a much-violated arms embargo, hold off on military support to the warring parties and push them to reach a full cease-fire, German and UN leaders said.

The agreement came after about four hours of talks at the chancellery in Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted leaders of 11 countries, with Libya’s two main rival leaders also in the German capital but not at the main conference table.

Organizers knew that “we had to succeed in getting all the parties that connected in any way with the Libya conflict to speak with one voice...because then the parties inside Libya will also understand that there is only a non-military way to a solution,” Merkel said.

“We achieved this result here.”

Libya has sunk further into chaos since the 2011 ouster and killing of its longtime dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. It is now divided into rival administrations, each backed by different nations: the UN-recognized government based in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and one based in the country’s east, supported by Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s forces.

Haftar’s forces have been on the offensive since April, laying siege to Tripoli in an effort to capture the capital. Haftar’s forces are backed

by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, while the Tripoli government has turned to Turkey for troops and weapons.

A truce brokered earlier this month by Russia and Turkey marked the first break in fighting in months, but there have been

repeated violations.

Among those who attended Sunday were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tay yip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The participants agreed that “we want to respect the arms embargo, and that the arms embargo will be more strongly controlled than was the case in the past,” Merkel said.

She added that the results of the conference should be endorsed by the UN Security Council.

Libya’s two main rival leaders, al-Sarraj and Haftar, each named five members of a military committee that will represent them at talks on a more permanent cease-fire, Merkel said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the committee would be convened “in Geneva in the coming days.”

Merkel said the summit par ticipants agreed that they will give no further support to the warring parties in Libya ahead of the committee’s meeting and “cease operations as long as the cease-fire holds.”

There was no explicit commitment, however, to withdrawing existing military support. That “is a question for the real ceasefire,” Merkel said.

She said the conference hadn’t discussed specific sanctions for violating the arms embargo. The summit’s final statement said the participants “call on all actors to refrain from any activities exacerbating the conflict or inconsistent with the [UN] arms embargo or the cease-fire, including the financing of military capabilities or the recruitment of mercenaries.” AP

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

WEF: Technology revolution could worsen global inequality

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lobal inequality is going to worsen unless governments do more to ensure those most affected by rapid technological change aren’t just cast aside and forgotten, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

As it prepares for its annual Davos gathering of leaders from the worlds of business, politics and finance, the WEF said it’s time to change the fact that a person’s lot in life is still largely determined by their socioeconomic status at birth. The result, it said, is that societies “too often reproduce rather than reduce historic inequalities.”

In its Social Mobility Report,

the WEF said Europe scores well, particularly Nordic countries, with Japan in 15th place and the US down in 27th.

But it said problems are widespread and most countries under perform on three key metrics—low wages, lack of social protection and poor lifelong learning systems.

T hose long-r unning issues have fed a growing sense of unfairness—even where economic measures suggest inequality is broadly narrowing—and an erosion of trust and disenchantment with politics. The WEF said giving everyone the chance to fulfill their potential would not only

improve personal well-being, but also bring broader benefits by boosting economic growth.

“Inequality has become entrenched and, likely, to worsen amid an era of technological change and efforts toward a green transition,” it said.

The WEF makes a number of recommendations for change in its report. They include altering personal ta xation and addressing wealth concentration, improving education to better equip people throughout their working lives, and more social protection for those whose industries are facing upheaval.

Bloomberg News

Oil jumps after unrest hits key Opec producers Iraq and Libya

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il jumped back above $65 a barrel in London as supply disruptions in Iraq and Libya reignited concerns over the market’s vulnerability to geopolitical risk in key production regions.

Futures rose more than 1.7 percent in London and New York. Iraq temporarily stopped output at an oil field on Sunday, with supply from a second site threatened as unrest escalates in Opec’s secondbiggest producer. In Libya, National Oil Corp. (NOC) declared force majeure after Commander Khalifa Haftar blocked exports at ports under his control.

The double whammy of disruptions in two key producers has jolted focus back to supply risks

as oil markets continue their dramatic start to the year. Brent crude has swung in an $8-a-barrel trading range as initial fears that the US killing of a top Iranian general threatened Middle East exports gave way to confidence that the world had an adequate supply cushion.

The spike in oil prices is a rational response to the news on Libya and reflect the jumpy nature of the market, but the temporary stoppage of production in Iraq is more significant, said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. The $60 mark for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is providing “pretty solid resistance,” he added.

WTI futures climbed as much as $1.19, or 2 percent, to $59.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $59.22 as of 1:30 p.m. in Singapore. The contract fell 0.9 percent last week. Brent added as much as $1.15, or 1.8 percent, to $66 a barrel, before easing to $65.69.

Security guards in Iraq seeking permanent employment contracts blocked access to the Al Ahdab oil field, prompting a production halt, according to an official who couldn’t be identified.

The Badra field is also at risk of closure. In Libya, output will fall by about 800,000 barrels a day, according to NOC. Bloomberg News

A5

China reports sharp rise in coronavirus cases

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EIJING—China reported on Monday a sharp rise in the number of people infec ted with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak coincides with the country’s busiest travel period, as millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Health authorities in the central city of Wuhan, where the viral pneumonia appears to have originated, said an additional 136 cases have been confirmed in the city, which now has a total of 198 infected patients. As of the weekend, a third patient had died, bringing the death toll to three.

Two individuals in Beijing and one in the southern city of Shenzhen have also been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, health commissions in the respective cities said on Monday. The three people had visited Wuhan.

The outbreak has put other countries on alert as millions of Chinese travel for Lunar New Year. Authorities in Thailand and in Japan have already identified at least three cases, all involving recent travel from China.

At least a half-dozen countries in Asia and three US airports have started screening incoming airline passengers from central China.

Many of the initial cases had connections to a seafood market in Wuhan, which was closed for an investigation. As hundreds of people who came into close contact with diagnosed patients were not infected themselves, the municipal health commission maintains that the virus is not easily transmitted between humans, though it has not ruled out limited human-to-human transmission. AP

A6 Tuesday, January 21, 2020 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Don’t play the blame game

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ur state volcanologists should be commended for their sound scientific literacy on Taal Volcano’s eruptions and their efforts to communicate regular updates of volcanic activities, which help government agencies respond to the needs of impacted communities.

They should not be made to face a congressional inquiry as Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. had suggested.

What would a congressional investigation accomplish? How exactly would it help ease the crisis at this time?

As Sen. Panfilo Lacson rightly said: “The mere fact that nobody was reported to have died, I think we should not blame Phivolcs and just allow them to do their job. This is not the time to blame people. The situation is still there. We don’t know what else will happen. And quite regularly they are giving updates. So I think it’s a bit premature if we start blaming them now.”

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) chief Renato Solidum, Mariton Bornas and other state volcanologists were not sleeping on the job, as Barzaga implied. On the contrary, they have been working around the clock in coordination with government authorities, hardly sleeping at all, since Taal showed signs of heightened volcanic activity.

Even if the science of volcanic eruption forecasting has come a long way in recent decades and despite a wide range of measurements available to volcanologists today, accurately predicting volcanic eruptions and trying to communicate it with certainty remains fraught with difficulties.

Just last December, New Zealand’s White Island volcano had a massive eruption that killed at least six people and injured some 30 more, surprising the people and tourists in and near the island, despite constant monitoring of the volcano by state scientists.

On the other hand, Ecuador’s Cotopaxi Volcano and Indonesia’s Mount Agung have shown warning signs of impending eruptions and, yet, said eruptions happened much later than expected.

These are just a few examples showing the highly unpredictable nature of volcanoes.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, in defending Phivolcs during a recent Kapihan sa Senado forum, said: “In due fairness to Phivolcs, I haven’t seen any agency in the world that can predict a volcanic eruption. There is no technology, no system or software, that can accurately predict a volcanic eruption. Phivolcs did their best to issue warnings.”

Phivolcs had issued a news bulletin placing Taal Volcano under Alert Level 1 in March 2019. It has been constantly monitoring volcanic activity in Taal and even informed media about a high number of volcanic-induced tremors in December.

Phivolcs first hoisted Alert Level 2 over Taal Volcano on January 12, which climbed to Alert Level 4 after the volcano showed increased activity. Each time there was a significant change in the behavior of the volcano, Phivolcs had issued a news bulletin and informed the public through its social-media accounts, its web site and by making its scientists available for media interviews.

Gatchalian said it is the job of citizens to heed the warnings issued by the agency and the job of local government units to be prepared in times of disaster and natural calamities.

He noted how some local officials allowed people to inhabit the danger zones or hazardous areas near the volcano. “Moving forward, we should now stop constituents from going there and living in that area as part of disaster mitigation,” he said.

Even President Duterte said he too is satisfied with the work of the state volcanologists. And more than a few Filipinos took to social media to defend them and shield Phivolcs from criticism.

We are sure that if Phivolcs had preemptively announced an imminent eruption and one did not take place, Barzaga and fellow critics of the state-run monitoring agency would be calling for heads to roll just the same.

Volcanic eruptions are a double-edged sword that often create a decision-making dilemma, one best responded to by drills, mitigation efforts and preparedness. This is a shared responsibility for government, the private sector, communities and individuals, not just scientific experts. But yes, indeed, experts with education, knowledge and experience must lead the handling of the crisis, not politicians who merely wish to score points by playing the blame game, thereby making a crisis worse.

Rather than focus on blame, we all need to improve our disaster management policies, and develop practical strategies and resources to build resilience and limit the impact of disasters on communities.

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THE Entrepreneur

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eopolitical tensions in the Middle East are again testing the Philippine economy so early this year. I am confident, however, that we will weather this latest crisis and that the economy will grow more robust in 2020 despite the many challenges.

The world oil market was one of the first to react when the US Pentagon confirmed that an air strike on January 3 in Baghdad International Airport killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. Global oil prices in knee-jerk reaction rose over 4 percent, with Brent hitting $69.16 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude reaching $63.84 a barrel. Oil prices since then have retreated from their highs.

Unless the US-Iran tension escalates into a full-blown regional war (which I doubt) and key oil supply routes are disrupted, the Philippine economy will continue to chart a growth path. Given the country’s solid macroeconomic fundamentals and the massive infrastructure program of the Duterte administration, I believe the Philippines will ride out the unfolding crisis in the Middle East.

The government is closely monitoring the situation because of its

impact on world oil prices and the deployment of millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East. President Duterte has already ordered top government officials to travel to the Middle East and check on the welfare of Filipinos there.

The President is not taking any chances. He directed Environment Secretary and former special envoy to Middle East Roy Cimatu to immediately fly to the region to prepare for the evacuation of some 4 million Filipinos if violence broke out and endangered their lives.

But Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno has so far downplayed any significant impact on the Philippine economy. And I can only agree with him. World oil prices did not really shoot up, except for the temporary 4-percent spike.

Our government economic planners have been conservative in

forecasting oil prices. Diokno said for the oil prices to make a difference in the forecast of economic managers, they must hit $90 per barrel. He noted that the Dubai price of oil was still below $60 per barrel.

Workers’ remittances are also holding up. Filipinos are mostly working in Saudi Arabia and very few of them work in Iraq or Iran.

Money sent home by OFWs, based on the latest BSP data, rose 8 percent in October last year to $2.67 billion, the fastest expansion in 2019, from $2.47 billion a year ago. Overall remittances in the first 10 months of 2019 stood at $24.86 billion, up 4.6 percent from $23.77 billion in the same period last year.

Remittances, along with receipts from foreign tourists and revenues from the business-process outsourcing sector, have boosted the gross international reserves of the BSP to an all-time high of $87.855 billion.

The huge reserves have strengthened the peso against the US dollar.

The peso is trading at around 50.75 against the greenback and has stood its ground despite the lingering USChina trade war.

A strong peso, low inflation and interest rates, the “Build, Build, Build” program and the current high approval ratings of President Duterte are supporting the robust expansion of the Philippine economy.

Foreign financial institutions, as a result, are bullish on the Philippines.

Fan Cheuk Wan, HSBC managing director and chief market strategist

for Asia, told the media that the Philippine economy would grow 6.4 percent in 2020 and 6.5 percent in 2021, faster than the estimated 5.8 percent expansion in 2019. Economic growth, according to her, would be driven by robust consumption amid the slow inflation and rebound in investments, adding the Philippines would continue to outperform its peers in the region.

The signing of the 2020 budget has also assured a vigorous economic expansion this year. The P4.1-trillion budget, which is equivalent to 19.5 percent of the projected gross domestic product, is 12 percent bigger than the 2019 budget.

Global debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service sees the Philippine economy growing 6.2 percent in 2020, faster than the estimated 5.8 percent in 2019, due mainly of the timely signing of the P4.1-trillion national budget. Moody’s sees the signing into law of the 2020 budget by President Duterte “credit positive.”

The World Bank, for its part, expects the economy to grow by more than 6 percent annually over the next three years and remain one of the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia.

I am equally upbeat. I believe we will have a stronger domestic economy this year, one that is robust enough to withstand external threats.

For comments, e-mail mbv.secretariat@gmail. com or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph.

Making babies to grow economies won’t work

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug

Senior Editors

Creative Director Chief Photographer

Strong PHL economy to weather ME crisis

Leonid Bershidsky

BLOOMBERG

I

n his recent state of the nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent about 20 minutes on a sweeping constitutional reform proposal designed to keep him in power indefinitely—and about twice as much time on ideas meant to boost the birth rate. This is typical of Europe’s national-conservative governments, and even some relatively liberal ones, that are preoccupied with fertility policies because of declining populations.

Perhaps, they’re on to something.

In a just-published working paper, economist Charles Jones of Stanford University built some models to show that so-called natalist policies may be “much more important than we have appreciated” in determining whether nations, and the world as a whole, will end up with a shrinking population and no economic growth—or with both the population and the economy on a path of steady growth. The intuition behind the models is that growth is, essentially, a function of

people’s ability to come up with new ideas, and if the number of people stops growing or falls, the stock of knowledge stops expanding.

“The social planner,” Jones wrote, “would like the economy to have a much higher fertility rate.” But the global trend is going in the opposite direction: Historically, fertility rates in high-income countries have fallen from five children per women to four, three, two, and now even fewer.

From a family’s standpoint, there is

Putin is ready to fight tooth and nail for a return to growth.

Starting this year, low-income families are receiving, on average, $180 per child per month until the children reach age three. He has also ordered the maternity-capital subsidy boosted to $10,000 for the second child.

nothing special about “above two” versus “below two” and the demographic transition may lead families to settle on fewer than two children.

The macroeconomics of the problem, however, make this distinction one of critical importance: it is the difference between an Expanding Cosmos of exponential growth in both population and living standards and an Empty Planet, in which incomes stagnate and the population vanishes.

United Nations population data show birth rates going down steeply even in those parts of the world where it seemed just recently they’d never go down below the replacement rate of two births per woman. In Asia, for

example, that’s projected to happen between 2055 and 2060. More educated populations and more women in the work force mean fewer kids, and these are factors that aren’t going away in the foreseeable future.

In Europe, of course, the population growth rate is already negative. In the wealthier countries the decline is still offset by immigration from places that produce too many people for their countries of origin to sustain. That’s the case in Germany and France. But in post-Communist Eastern Europe, natalist policies are the only obvious way to slow down a population decline enhanced by emigration, which the European Union’s free-movement policy has stimulated. Besides, natalism goes hand in hand with nativism, and in a number of Eastern European countries, voters and, subsequently governments, are wary of trying to increase immigration.

In any case, counting on immigration isn’t really a long-term solution.

If the global population as a whole stops growing, this source of replenishing the labor forces and the stock of idea-generating researchers and See “Bershidsky,” A7

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Local business tax: Taxpayer’s remedies

Trump’s impeachment trial will test impartiality of US Senate

I

n the previous article in this column, my colleague, Irwin Nidea Jr., articulated that at this time of the year when permits to do business are required to be renewed, local government units (LGUs) have the tendency to flex their power to collect taxes from individuals and entities doing business within their respective jurisdictions.

Indeed, in countries like ours where taxes are the main source of revenues, the exercise of the power of taxation is necessary for the very existence of government. Without the revenues raised from taxation, the government cannot support itself and the public needs. And so, it is often said that taxes are the lifeblood of the government. This is true not only for the national government but also for the smallest unit of government. Thus, no less than the constitution grants the LGUs the power to create their own sources of revenues. That is further amplified by the Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC).

And one of the more significant sources of revenues for LGUs is the local business tax. These business taxes are generally based on gross sales or receipts made by the business for the preceding year. These taxes, together with other fees and charges, accrue on the first day of January of each year, and are usually required to be paid before the business permit is issued.

There are instances where disputes ensue between the LGU and the taxpayer. The issues range from the legal and factual bases of the imposition of business tax to disagreement pertaining to the correctness of the computations. But such issues could affect the timeliness in securing the business license. Often, for fear of failing to meet the deadline for the payment of the tax and the issuance of permit and, thus, avoid doing business without a license, taxpayers are constrained to pay the tax sought to be collected by the LGU, even for tax impositions they believe should not be due.

In situations like this, what are the remedies available to the taxpayers?

Essentially, there are two remedies that taxpayers can resort to under the LGC—one is the “protest of assessment” under Section 195 and a “claim for refund or tax credit” under Section 196. A taxpayer may file a protest under Section 195 or pay the tax and, thereafter, file claim for refund under Section 196 of the LGC. Under what circumstances are these remedies applicable? There are court decisions holding that Section 195 applies only in cases of notice of assessment. And a notice of assessment, as commonly understood, upon review or examination conducted by tax authorities after a taxpayer has paid or supposed to have paid his taxes. Based on the LGC, an LGU has a period of five years (or 10 years in case of fraud) within which to conduct an assessment. It could be inferred from some judicial pronouncements that it is only in this situation where Section 195 applies.

A statement of account or payment order cannot be considered the

notice of assessment required under Section 195 as the notice of assessment contemplates a computation based on deficiency taxes, when the local treasurer finds that the correct taxes were not paid. Accordingly, the remedy of protest does not apply to statements of accounts or orders of payment issued in connection with a taxpayer’s renewal of business permits and licenses at the beginning of the year. The only remedy is for the concerned taxpayer to pay and, if it disagrees with the tax payment, file a claim for refund of incorrectly paid or illegally collected taxes.

A closer look at many other decisions, however, would indicate that a taxpayer faced with similar situation is free to choose which remedy to enforce. And once he chooses the remedy, he must observe the procedures laid down by law for the availment of the said chosen remedy. Apparently, these two remedies call for different requirements and conditions for their application. As such, a taxpayer should be clear on the basis of its action, and follow the prescribed procedure for that action.

A taxpayer may, therefore, file a protest against an assessment made upon the renewal of business permit.

But this option presupposes that taxes had not yet been paid. Once the contested tax had been paid, a protest will not result in getting the desired result, that is, the return of the amount allegedly incorrectly paid or illegally collected.

In essence, while a taxpayer may legally protest taxes sought to be imposed when renewing his business permit, this may delay the issuance of business permit. The only remedy available to a taxpayer faced with a situation where he is forced to pay tax to avoid the non-issuance of business permit is to pay and apply for a refund or tax credit. This is an independent remedy and the taxpayer would only need to follow the requirements of said remedy, which are: (1) the concerned taxpayer files a written claim for refund or credit with the local treasurer, and (2) the case or proceeding must be filed within two years from the date of payment of the tax, fee or charge.

Judicial precedents dictate that a prior resort to protest action is not necessary.

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

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at fulvio.dawilan@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 310.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the rules for the impeachment trial had stalled its endorsement to the Senate. Pelosi held its transmittal to ensure a fair trial in the Senate which under the US Constitution shall try and decide the case. This is a genuine concern after McConnell and other Republican senators have stated that they would not serve as impartial jurors, followed

by McConnell’s admission that he met with the White House lawyers to coordinate the trial of the case.

While impeachment is widely accepted as a political exercise, Section 3, Article 1 of the US Constitution requires the senators who act as impeachment jurors to take an oath or affirmation where they will swear “to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws.” But will the Republican senators be equal to their pledge and place national interests above their reelection bids? Almost all of them have not shown any independence from the White House.

The Democrats had demanded to call new witnesses particularly former National Security Adviser John Bolton who had expressed willing-

ness to attend the trial if he is subpoenaed as a witness. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wanted four witnesses, including the White House Chief of Staff John Mulvaney who once admitted of a quid pro quo arrangement between White House and Ukraine on the release of the aid.

Trump had warned that he would prevent Bolton’s testimony by invoking executive privilege. Relevant witnesses were presented during the impeachment trials of former Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, the only two other presidents who were impeached by Congress.

While Trump’s impeachment was a foregone conclusion, convicting and ousting him from the presidency is close to impossible. The Republicans control the Senate and it is extremely doubtful if the Democrats can convince enough Republicans to vote in favor of calling more witnesses. A handful of swing Republican senators seem receptive to the idea but the Democrats need at least four converts to obtain the required majority vote. One observer warned that “if the Senate does not call Bolton and the other witnesses with first hand knowledge of the president’s action, it would be facilitating a cover up and this is how history will record it.”

Trump has repeatedly denounced his impeachment as a hoax, and the reelectionist Republican senators who are wary of losing Trump’s and his constituents’ support, stand by him. It is unfortunate that under Trump, the US standing as the world’s beacon of justice and exemplar of morality in public service has suffered a severe blow. Now, it is no longer regarded as the model of democracy where the Rule of Law reigns supreme. Trump has blatantly abused his power when he allegedly withheld US military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the investigation of his political opponents. He

reportedly obstructed Congress in its investigation of the case against him by preventing his subordinates from testifying before the congressional inquiry. Trump’s undisguised message is that he is above the law.

Democrats said abuse of power under Trump has reached unheard of proportions.

Regrettably, our democratic system has allowed rogue politicians to get elected into office which lends legitimacy to their despotic rule.

Elections can pave the way to dictatorship and eventually produce sham democracies. Remember that Hitler was elevated to power as Germany’s chancellor by way of elections. So did Peron, Duvalier, and other demagogues who were catapulted to the presidency of their countries.

The US senators should not apply a double standard, in holding anyone, liable for a crime. A wrong is a wrong whoever commits it, whether he is the president of the US or of any other country. The same exalted Senate, which passed the Magnitsky Act hailed worldwide as a model legislation which imposes severe sanctions on any individual who has committed gross human-rights violations, should demonstrate its bipartisan will to try Trump without fear or favor and convict him, if the evidence so warrants. This impeachment case will test whether the US Senate has a spine to check presidential abuses. Otherwise, the Americans might as well have Caligula to appoint his horse a senator.

For the rule of law to endure, we need the Senate to remain independent, not just a pawn to do presidential biddings. As a coequal of the Executive, Congress should remain a countervailing force to rein in the unbridled authority and excesses of the presidency. This is the least it can do to regain the respect of the international community.

Soviet Union are learning Russian or dreaming of moving to Russia.

So the government has been offering “maternity capital” to new mothers—a lump subsidy currently worth $7,600 that can go toward housing, education, and other costs.

Briefly, the policy appeared to work: In 2013, 2014 and 2015, the number of births in Russia exceeded the number of deaths. But then an economic downturn reversed the trend. In January through February of 2019, Russia’s natural population decrease, 236,900 people, was bigger than for the whole of 2018.

Putin is ready to fight tooth and nail for a return to growth. Starting this year, low-income families are receiving, on average, $180 per child per month until the children reach age three; in the state of the nation address, Putin proposed continuing to pay half that amount until age seven. He has also ordered the maternity-capital subsidy boosted to $10,000 for the second child. In addition, the government will offer hot meals to all primary-school students.

The problem with the measures taken by Eastern European governments is that they don’t really work as advertised. In a 2014 paper, the Brandeis University economist Elizabeth Brainerd wrote that natalist policies in post-Communist Europe have been “only modestly effective in countering the impacts of widespread social changes, including new work opportunities for women and stronger incentives to

invest in education.”

Indeed, more recent data appear to bear out this conclusion. In Poland, the 500 Plus program has lifted many families out of poverty, but the number of births and the fertility rates actually dropped in 2018. The population decline resumed after halting in 2017.

In Russia, meanwhile, the brief baby boom largely took place in areas with the least economic opportunity—those where the maternity capital went the furthest. Some of these areas are in the North Caucasus, a region with a high proportion of Muslims who traditionally have high birth rates. Big-city residents are more responsive to the general economic situation and to intangibles, such as the level of freedom and a sense that the children will have a better future. So far, Putin’s policies haven’t produced much hope on any of those fronts—and even if they did, there’d be no guarantee that Russia wouldn’t follow the Western European low fertility trend.

Even though, in theory, pro-fertility policies appear desirable as global population growth slows, in practice there are no such policies proved to have a surefire effect. As Canadian political scientist Richard Togman wrote in “Nationalizing Sex: Fertility, Fear and Power,” his recent history of natalism: “ Thus far, efforts to increase fertility have primarily led to a change in the timing of births but not in the overall number of babies born. Regimes as violent and

totalitarian as Nazi Germany and Communist Romania have failed to increase long-term birth rates, as have a multitude of more moderate approaches of many other states.”

In Togman’s view, the problem with natalist politics is that they’re based on the manipulation of broad national statistics rather than on finding out why the birth rate is low in a specific nation or region. “Governments almost never make studied inquiries of various demographic groups regarding what it would actually take to convince them to have another child,” he wrote.

Only through a detailed study of local context and with input from those whom the programs are deemed to serve can natalist policy be truly effective. By its nature, natalist policy relies on the buy-in of millions of people, and truly consensual efforts to change reproductive practices might yield great benefit to individuals, their communities, and the state.

Because of this need for smart design and universal buy-in, illiberal governments, such as Putin’s or Orban’s aren’t likely to come up with the best solutions. Ultimately, that means humanity may come up with other ways of ensuring an expanding store of knowledge and continued growth before it cracks the secret of increasing fertility. Jones mentioned a couple of possibilities in his paper: Producing more ideas with the help of automation, or simply discovering a way to make people immortal.

Manny F. Dooc

TELLTALES

Fulvio D. Dawilan

Tax Law for Business

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 A7

F

inally, the articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump approved by the US House of Representatives were transmitted to the Senate last week. This started the impeachment trial of Trump. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. has begun presiding over the proceedings with the 100 senators acting as jurors to decide whether the articles of impeachment are valid to oust the president from office.

The group of 7 Managers tasked to handle the prosecution of the case is headed by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, whose committee conducted the impeachment investigations and collected evidence that formed the basis for the impeachment. Schiff expects that new evidence will come out, which will be presented during the trial. One such evidence, which an impartial Senate establishing the facts cannot ignore, and objective jurors searching for truth cannot disregard, was the conclusion of the Government Accounting Office (GAO), a nonpartisan US congressional watchdog, that the Trump administration violated the law when “it withheld US security aid to Ukraine last year that had been appropriated by Congress.” Earlier, Schiff, the lead prosecutor of the case, had issued a statement saying, “If it’s relevant, if it’s probative, if it sheds light on the guilt or innocence of the president, then it should be admitted.” The House of Representatives controlled by the Democrats has approved the two articles of impeachment—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—but the ensuing skirmishes between

Bershidsky. . .

Continued from A6

entrepreneurs will run out.

So the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will start offering free in vitro fertilization to women starting February 1, in addition to tax breaks and loan forgiveness for large families.

Poland last year expanded its generous 500 Plus program, initially intended as a kind of unconditional basic income for families with at least two children, to those with just one child. The program, introduced in April 2016, pays families about 12 percentof the country’s average gross wage per child, and while some criticize it for the absence of meanstesting, others welcome it as a form of recognizing the labor that goes into caring for children.

Lithuania recently extended child benefits to all children and decided to pay for free lunches for all preschoolers. Other post-Communist nations, such as Slovakia and Bulgaria, have pro-fertility policies in place, though they’re less generous than Poland’s or Hungary’s.

Putin’s Russia is one of the world’s natalism champions. Though, unlike its former Eastern European satellites, it attracts a relatively large number of immigrants from former Soviet countries, the opendoor policy is unpopular and, as Putin well knows, unsustainable because fewer people throughout the former

The world’s 2,153 billionaires are richer than 4.6 billion people, says Oxfam

By Marc Daniel Davies Bloomberg Opinion

T

he world’s richest 1 percent have more than twice the wealth of the rest of humanity combined, according to Oxfam, which called on governments to adopt “inequality-busting policies.”

In a report published ahead of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, the United Kingdom-based charity said governments are “massively under-taxing” rich

individuals and corporations, and underfunding public services.

Oxfam’s “Time to Care” report also highlighted gender-based economic disparities, saying women and girls were burdened with disproportionate responsibility for care work and fewer economic opportunities. “Economic inequality is out of control,” with 2,153 billionaires having more wealth than 4.6 billion people in 2019, it said.

“Our broken economies are lining the pockets of billionaires and big business at the expense of ordinary

men and women,” said Oxfam India Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Behar. “No wonder people are starting to question whether billionaires should even exist.”

Billionaires’ fortunes

The world’s three richest people amassed a total of $231 billion over the past decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg—the fifth-richest person in the world—had the highest boost last year, with a net

gain of about $6 billion. Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos still claims the top spot with a net worth of $116 billion.

The total wealth of the top 20 billionaires has doubled from $672 billion to $1.4 trillion since 2012, according to Bloomberg Wealth.

An individual who saved $10,000 a day since the construction of Egypt’s pyramids would still only have a fifth of the average fortune of the world’s top 5, Oxfam said.

Oxfam’s critics have dismissed the headline inequality statistics as mis-

leading and suggest that they drastically overstate the scale of the problem. The organization has repeatedly defended its analysis and challenged such accusations.

The charity’s annual statistics rely on Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth report, which Oxfam itself said suffers from poor quality of data and may even underestimate the scale of wealth disparities.

Extreme poverty

Citing World Bank research, Oxfam

said reducing inequality has a bigger effect on lowering extreme poverty than economic growth. That analysis “shows that if countries reduced income inequality by 1 percent each year, 100 million fewer people would be living in extreme poverty by 2030,” it said.

Figures from the Washingtonbased lender show extreme poverty has declined drastically in the past two decades. They show the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day declined by 1.1 billion from 1990.

A8 Tuesday, January 21, 2020

REIT rules amended to attract more investors

A

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

FTER 11 years, the government has launched the amendments to the regulations governing Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) companies —a move seen to finally attract investors and cure the problematic aspects of the law.

The Department of Finance (DOF), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) signed the amendments to the regulations in a ceremony on Monday in Manila.

SEC issued the amendments to the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the REIT Act of 2009. Meanwhile, the DOF and the BIR released a new revenue regulation updating the tax treatment of REIT transactions, specifically on tax incentives for REIT companies and the

exemption from value-added tax of the transfer of property to a REIT company in exchange for its shares of stocks, among others.

For its part, PSE also issued amendments to the Listing Rules for REITs that provide the appropriate mechanisms, internal controls and procedures to monitor compliance of REITs with the applicable rules and regulations.

In his opening remarks, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the signing of a new set of rules and regulations on the REIT is a “proof that the Duterte

administration is not only propoor and pro-middle class, but also business-friendly, as we are aware that this will translate into more economic gains for all law-abiding Filipinos.”

These economic gains include attracting new investments, modernizing infrastructure, especially in the countryside, and creating new jobs, which, he said, are among the priority concerns of President Duterte, in step with his ultimate goal of ensuring decent lives for all law-abiding Filipinos.

On top of requiring the rein-

vestment in the domestic market of funds raised from REIT, the SEC also relaxed the minimum public ownership (MPO) requirement to 33 percent as what the law provided, from the previous IRR’s requirement of 40 percent.

“This will open up attractive investment opportunities and broaden access to the capital market.

This will allow big players in the real-estate business to raise more capital to further invest in our country, a win-win situation for all,” Dominguez said.

See “REIT,” A2

LRMC deal faces House inquiry

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T

@joveemarie

HE chairman of the House Committee on Games and Amusement on Monday filed a resolution urging Congress to look into the alleged lopsided concession agreement entered by the government with Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC).

In House Resolution 647, ACTCIS Rep. Eric Yap said LRT 1 operations was turned over from the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to LRMC in 2015.

“ This agreement will cover a 32-year period, the gross revenue amount reported by LRMC [amounting to P13 billion] in just four years appears to be bigger than the Project Concession Fee [of P9 billion], which may indicate an unjust and inequitable terms that may put the financial burden of the agreement [on] the government,” he said.

“There must be a review of such existing, government contracts w ith private firms to ensure that these are primarily advantageous to the Filipino people,” he added.

The LRMC is a consortium of

the Ayala-led AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Pangilinan-owned Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and Australian firm Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings.

Earlier, President Duterte said he will look into the LRMC’s concession agreement with government as Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Manuel V. Pangilinan also have key roles in its operations.

Zobel and Pangilinan also chair the water concessionaires —Manila Water and Maynilad, respectively —whose agreements are currently being looked into in Congress for their alleged onerous contracts with the government.

PAYING IT FORWARD Villar Group Chairman Manny Villar graced the inauguration of the Manny Villar Auditorium at the Holy Child Catholic School, in Tondo, where he received his elementary education. Blessed by His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the auditorium is Villar’s way of saying thank you to his alma mater for helping him become the person he is today, and hopes that it can help the HCCS continue its mission of forming the minds of the youth in the service of God, country and family. Also present at the inauguration are: HCCS School Director Fr. Nolan Que, Asst. School Director Fr. Nick Celiano Jr., former School Director Fr. Solomon Jardinero, HCCS Principal Ms. Ofel Lumawig, and RCAMES Clusters 5 and 6 School administrators. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING THE COUNTRY as of 4:00 pm - January 20, 2020

Uncertain impact of Taal eruption spurs mixed results in T-bill auction

R

ESULTS were mixed in the Treasury bill (T-bills) auction on Monday as the auction committee decided to fully award bids for the 91-day T-bill while partially awarding the 182and 364-day securities.

Of the P20 billion on offer, the committee was able to raise P14.7 billion.

The auction was also more than 1.5x oversubscribed as total tenders reached P33.5 billion.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters that higher rates were expected, considering the impact of Taal Volcano eruption.

De Leon expected the upward swing of rates was “expected” because the situation is “still very fluid in terms of the impact of [the Taal] volcanic eruption [and as it’s] still on Alert Level 4.”

However, she said fiscal man-

agers do not see the volcanic eruption having a significant impact on inflation. “ There’s really no need for alarm, given that there would be some cuts in production in [areas] affected by the Taal eruption. Obviously, there would be other regions that would also be able to fill up the gaps; they would compensate,” de Leon told reporters after Monday’s auction. “So we do not see inf lation rates will go up significantly but, still, banks are pricing in [inching up of rates]. Moving forward and given the expectation for the full year, it’s already also 2.9 percent.”

The 91-day T-bill worth P6 billion on offer was fully awarded as it fetched an average auction rate of 3.390 percent, higher by 6.2 basis points from the previous

3.328-percent average auction rate. Tenders for the government paper amounted to P13.927 billion.

Bids for the 182-day T-bill worth P6 billion on offer were also oversubscribed, attracting total tenders of P8.27 billion.

The average auction rate for this security is capped at 3.652 percent, a 6.5-basis point increase from last average auction rate at 3.587 percent.

The 364-day T-bill worth P8 billion on offer was also partially awarded as accepted bids reached P5.685 billion.

The auction committee decided to accept bids at an average auction rate of 3.971 percent. This is up by 7.5-basis points compared to the previous average auction rate of 3.896 percent.

Tenders for this security reached P11.305 billion. Bernadette D. Nicolas

Makati extends business, realty tax deadlines

T

he Makati City government on Monday announced that it has extended the January 20 deadline of the assessment and payment of business and realty taxes in the city.

Makati Mayor Abigail Binay sa id t hat t he e x tension was made possible following the passage last week of City Ordinance 2020-001.

The assessment of business permits with no penalty will be until January 25, while the city will re-

ERRATUM:

ceive payments for business and realty taxes with no penalty until 5 p.m. of January 31 only.

“We are giving our taxpayers more time to comply with requirements for the renewal of their business permits and payment of taxes due. We hope they will do their part to make the extension count and serve its purpose, which is for their benefit,” the mayor said.

She reminded taxpayers of the penalties for late payments, such

as a 25-percent surcharge and 2-percent interest per month of the delay until the full payment of business tax due has been settled.

On the other hand, a 10-percent discount is given to nondelinquent taxpayers of real-property tax who will pay for the full year on or before the January 31 deadline.

She said frontline offices have been authorized to render overtime services to serve taxpayers until January 31. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

In the BusinessMirror story on page A12 on Monday, January 20, titled, “Negros fluvial parade turns tragic, hanging bridge’s cable snaps,” the caption was in advertently omitted in the accompanying photo by a netizen. The caption reads: “This photo, courtesy of Wilven Joy Gena Garzon, shows some spectators holding on to the hanging bridge to watch the fluvial parade below, minutes before a cable snapped, sending some of them hurtling into the river below.” Our apologies to Wilven Joy.

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In the ad material of Notice of filing of application for Alien Employment Permits published on December 6, 2019, the company address of Ms. Yang, Ruoyun under AMUSETECH BUSINESS OUTSOURCING should have been read as 6, 7, 8th Flr. (NP), MOA Arena An J.W. Diokno Blvd., Brgy. 076, Pasay City, Metro Manila and not as published. In the ad material published on September 14, 2019, the name of Mr. Liou, Dong-Hua under WANFANG TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT, INC. should have been read as Liou Liou (a.k.a. Liu, MengTse), Dong-Hua and not as published.

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

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

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

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Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

B1

PSEi back to 7,500-point level

S

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

P

HARE prices fell on Monday with the main index declining more than 2 percent, sending it to 7,500-point level as investors were rattled with the renewed conflict in the Middle East.

T he benchmark Phi lippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell 169.98 points to close at 7,552.60 points.

“Investors fled to safer haven assets on news [that] Libya declared force majeure as the country’s ongoing civil war ahead of peace talks aimed at ending the conflict met with resistance,” Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said.

Total value of trade reached P6.27 billion, with several com-

Zen Rooms bullish on PHL, moves HQ to Mla from SG

R

O C K E T I nt e r n e t backed hospita lit y ma nagement company Zen Rooms is focusing on developing its business in the Philippines, where it has moved its headquarters from its previous den in Singapore.

Zen Rooms cofounder Nathan Boublil said this move is driven by the continued economic growth of the Philippine economy, which grew by 6.2 percent in the third quarter of 2019.

He also cited a study conducted by Oxford that concluded the Philippines will be the second top driver of global economic growth in the next decade.

“We are placing the heart of our company in one of the most hospitable nations in the world. By having our headquarters in the Philippines, we believe we can build the strongest hospitality team in the region,” he said.

Boublil noted that his group would also like to focus on developing the accommodations sector in the Philippines, which he said, “is plagued with inefficiencies.”

“We want to transform the Philippines accommodation market with our technological and operational solutions to improve its safety and value for money. By using this market as a base to trial market-leading technologies, we can successfully scale them across the region,” he said.

The company official noted that this move will “offer a boost to the local economy and its people,” further increasing the 400 jobs that it created since it was launched a few years ago.

“We see so much potential in the country’s young generation, as their creativity, and optimism, is what makes them stand out and it is absolutely admirable,” he said.

Currently, Zen Rooms is present in 30 cities around the country with over 300 Zen properties.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

panies effected block trades. Foreigners were net sellers at P512.9 million.

“In addition, as the latest GDP [full-year 2019 gross domestic product] will soon take center stage, many are remaining on the sidelines,” Limlingan said. The government will release the figures on Thursday, January 23.

Decliners edged out losers 130 to 64 and 44 shares were unchanged.

All other subindices were down, led by the All Shares index that fell

Philippine Stock Exchange President & CEO Ramon Monzon (from left), PSE COO Atty. Roel Refran and PSE Chairman Jose Pardo lead the opening of the PSE trading after the long holiday at the PSE Building in Bonifacio Global City. BM FILE PHOTO, NONIE REYES

76.92 points to 4,474.27 points; the Financials index lost 21.17 to 1,825.74; the Holding Firms index shed 164.70 to 7,310.89; the Mining and Oil index was down 98.29 to 8,045.24; and the Property index plunged 156.49 to 3,879.29.

Property developer Ayala Land Inc. was the day’s top traded share,

falling by 7 percent, or P3.05 to close at P40.50; SM Prime Holdings Inc. shed P0.95 to P39.75; International Container Terminal Services Inc. rose P0.20 to P132.90; Megaworld Corp. gained P0.12 to P4.42; SM Investments Corp. dropped P25 to P1,030; and Ayala Corp. declined P53 to P750.

Businesses defying warnings in Taal danger zone face closure, says DILG

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

& Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

Special to the BusinessMirror

B

USINESS establishments that continue to operate within the 14-kilometer danger zone around Taal Volcano face possible closure from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

DILG made the warning on Monday after a hotel in Tagaytay City allegedly defied its order for the suspension of commercial operations in the high-risk areas.

Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said they immediately sent a memorandum to Tagaytay City Mayor Agnes Tolentino last Tuesday asking her to stop all business operations under her jurisdiction.

“If they defy the memorandum we will, again, direct the local chief executive to, again, close them down, cancel their mayor’s permit, their operating permits,” Densing told reporters in an ambush interview on Monday.

“And if they continue to operate even in the absence of those permits, we will send the Philippine National Police to close them down,” he added.

Densing said in Filipino, “We specifically instructed Tagaytay City, because on the second day [after the eruption], there were stubborn people, so we had to write a letter, or memo, to Tagaytay City Mayor Tolentino to impose or to implement the ‘no commercial activity memorandum….’ We can send the Philippine National Police to close them down to ensure they follow the orders of no commercial operations at least within the 14-kilometer danger zone.”

He added, “We are discouraging tourists or locals to go up to Tagaytay because it’s still under Alert Level 4. If they go up, and the volcano suddenly explodes, they will just be an additional group of people that have to helped or protected.”

Some 60 establishments, including hotels, restaurants, event spaces, retail stores, supermarkets and drugstores, reopened over the weekend despite the continued warnings of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) that an imminent explosive eruption is expected for the Taal Volcano. (See, “60 Tagaytay outfits reopen despite Taal,” in the BusinessMirror, January 20, 2020.)

Densing said the measure aims to discourage tourists from going to Tagaytay, which remains vulnerable to the ashfall due to its proximity to Taal Volcano.

As of January 20, the Phivolcs said Taal Volcano is still at risk of having

Phinma opens first cement facility

HILCEMENT Corp., a unit of publicly listed Phinma Corp., on Monday said it launched its first cement facility at the Freeport Area of Bataan in Mariveles, Bataan.

The Philcement Plant and Port in Mariveles is the first of its kind in the Philippines, and potentially one of the largest in the world with an initial, annual capacity of 2 million tons of cement.

With highly automated equipment, the facility will allow Philcement to serve the growing demand for cement to consumers.

“As we inaugurate this Philcement plant and port facility with the largest bulk cement terminal in the country, which we are told is also the largest independent cement terminal in the world, we are strongly signaling the Phinma Group’s commitment to the country’s much-needed infrastructure development program,” Ramon del Rosario, Phinma president and CEO, said.

“We are today telling the world that we are back in cement and, like when we first began over 60 years ago with a vision to help build the nation, we are back with that same burning desire to make it our business to help build the nation by playing

Smartphone maker realme targets making 50-M units

S

In this BusinessMirror file photo, a church caretaker at Taal church in Batangas guards the vicinity of the church, where cracks were detected inside due to continuous earthquakes since the January 12 phreatic eruption. ROY DOMINGO

an imminent destructive eruption based on its sulfur emissions and the earthquakes in its surrounding areas.

As of Monday, Densing said they have placed on lockdown 14 identified local government units (LGU) in Batangas, together with the 132 barangays surrounding or near the Taal Volcano, due to Taal’s ongoing activity.

‘Safety first’

“We know the businessmen are hurting [from the closure]. We understand.

But it should be safety first before profit,” Densing said.

To address the concerns of the affected establishments, Densing said they will hold a dialogue with them.

“The only thing we could do is to talk with them, and see how we could relieve them of the pressure of not earning in the meantime.... Hopefully, we could have a dialogue with the businesses, and see what kind of assistance we could give together with the Department of Trade and Industry,” Densing said.

As for the displaced workers, Densing said they are relying on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to provide emergency employment for them.

DOLE earlier said it will hire an initial 6,000 displaced workers to help in its profiling operations in areas affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.

Nancy’s appeal

For her part, Sen. Nancy Binay, who chairs the Senate Committee on Tourism, appealed to businesses within the danger zone to err on the side of safety before reopening their establishments.

She told the BusinessMirror, “We are aware that the business losses are mounting, but we also need to recognize that the paramount concern will

always be the safety of everyone over other things.”

She also urged the LGU to first conduct a survey of establishments to determine which can operate, even on a partial basis. “Aside from Phivolcs and DILG advisories, these establishments should also be cleared by building officials, city health officers and other government agencies.”

She added, an on-premise survey is needed “to check the extent of damage on big and small businesses, and if they are prepared to handle the situation in the long term, or what their preparations are in a worst-case scenario—that includes putting an emergency plan in place for their customers, guests and staff.”

Made aware of business enterprises and event spaces unwilling to provide refunds to guests due to instructions of the LGU to reopen, the lawmaker stressed, “The businesses can provide flexible terms to those who have bookings with them. They should not penalize their guests. Maybe they can be open to renegotiations, and help their guests in rebooking, refund or to look for other options [and] alternatives.”

She appealed to everyone to “help each other. We didn’t want this to happen, so let’s be a little considerate, and flexible, with customers and don’t give them a difficult time. The same is true with lessors with their tenants who are affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.”

Industry sources disclosed that some establishments are forced to reopen as they are unable to negotiate a suspension of rent with their landlords, while Taal Volcano continues to be restless.

“We know that there are economic costs,” said Binay. “It’s not just businesses that are affected here. There are lives at stake—and the safety of our people come first,” she underscored.

a significant role in infrastructure development,” he said.

Phinma started its cement business in in 1956 after the acquisition of the Cebu Portland Cement Co. plant in Bacnotan, La Union.

Through the years, it took over the management of cement plants in Bulacan, Rizal and Davao—expanding its stake in the industry with quality cement under the Union Cement brand.

It then left the business with the entry of multinational cement players.

Phinma returned to the cement industry after it registered its cement company Philcement in September 2017, aiming to produce approximately 3 million metric tons (MMT) of cement per year.

The company, however, will start as a cement importer.

Phinma imported 50,000 MT of cement, or approximately 2 million sacks, from Vietnam. It plans to import the same amount per quarter for a total of 200,000 MT a year.

Philcement is headed by Eduardo Sahagun, a retired chief executive of Holcim Philippines Inc. who joined Phinma less than a year after retiring. VG Cabuag

MARTPHONE manufacturer realme aims to double its annual global shipments this year to 50 million units, as it guns to retail more 5G-ready handsets in the 22 territories where it is currently present in, including the Philippines.

Sky Li, the founder and chief executive of the smartphone brand, said in 2019, the group recorded a total of 25 million smartphone shipments across the globe, and the Philippines ranked second in terms of total sales in an online marketplace. In the Asean, realme ranks fifth in terms of market penetration.

This feat gave the company, currently still in its nascent stages, the

confidence that it could double its shipments to 50 million by the end of 2020.

“The smartphone industry is a very competitive market where brands come and go, and it is fiercely growing as we speak. As a young brand, realme is optimistic it will surpass all the challenges in the industry, and [will] continue [on] broadening our market footprint with the youth as our No. 1 motivation,” he said.

Li added that realme will be launching more 5G devices in 2020, after introducing its first 5G - c apable sm a r t phone, t he realme X50. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Strong residential push gives Meralco better sales in 2019

T

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) registered “better” electricity sales last year versus a year ago, a company official said.

“Energy sales in 2019 was better than last 2018’s 5.3-percent growth,” said Meralco First Vice President and Head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications Victor Emmanuel Genuino in a text message.

The utility firm’s 2019 sales volume, along with its financial performance, will be released late next month.

“It was higher than last year.

Residential sales are very strong,” he added, without providing figures.

At end-September last year, Meralco’s sales volume grew by 6.3 percent to 35,005 gigawatt hours while customer count increased by 4.2 percent to 6.82 million. Residential energy sales, which accounted for 31 percent of the total consolidated energy sales volume, grew strongest at 8 percent, followed by commercial energy sales volume growing at 6 percent with 39-percent share of the total sales volume and growth by industrial at 5.1 percent.

Demand within its franchise area peaked at 7,740 megawatts, recorded on June 4, 2019.

Meralco President Ray Espinosa earlier said that in the last five comparative nine-month period is the

shift between the second and third quarter in terms of highest sales volume, which reflects variability due to either temperature in the second quarter, frequency and extent of weather disturbances, or manufacturers beginning to ramp up production to stock up in the third quarter in preparation for the holiday sales.

Also, Meralco Chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the company expects sustained growth from the country’s continued overall economic expansion, as well as growth that will follow the government’s ongoing infrastructure development program.

“There is no doubt that there will be significant domestic economic expansion with the expected improvement in government public investments in the coming months, in addition to the inflow from remittance of our overseas Filipino workers,” Pangilinan said, while adding that manageable inflation and increased liquidity in the financial system provides opportunities for growth across all customer segments.

Pangilinan earlier said Meralco is “quite likely” to post “north of P23 billion” in core income for 2019.

“For the first nine months, the actual core was about P18.5 billion, so it is, likely, we will achieve the P23-billion-plus core net income for the full-year 2019,” he said last year. Lenie Lectura

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

January 20, 2020

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

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

53.5 154 86.6 25.05 7.03 12.24 64.95 12 20.5 31.65 58 22.45 186 58 0.89 2.84 18.02 0.53 3.78 1.18 0.34 860 0.85 173.5 1890 1.03

54.6 154.7 87.5 25.1 8.49 12.26 65 12.06 20.8 31.7 58.1 23 187 58.45 0.91 2.85 18.2 0.65 3.89 1.21 0.37 875 0.9 175 1949 1.04

53.25 157.5 87.05 25.1 7.03 12.5 65.05 12.2 20.5 31.65 58.25 22.5 190.8 57.7 0.89 2.89 18.2 0.53 3.78 1.2 0.34 860 0.9 175 1890 1.04

53.5 157.5 87.5 25.1 8.49 12.5 65.2 12.2 20.5 32.25 58.45 22.5 190.8 58.5 0.89 3.17 18.2 0.64 3.89 1.21 0.34 870 0.91 175 1900 1.04

53 153.3 84.55 25.05 7.03 12.1 64.2 12 20.5 31.5 58 22.45 185.6 57.6 0.89 2.8 18.02 0.53 3.78 1.2 0.34 860 0.9 173.5 1890 1.04

53.5 154 87.5 25.05 8.49 12.24 65 12 20.5 31.7 58 22.45 186 58.45 0.89 2.84 18.2 0.64 3.89 1.21 0.34 870 0.91 173.5 1890 1.04

1260 1298610 860250 154800 700 77900 2855040 22200 2000 145600 10330 28300 162170 8820 24000 277000 3000 6000 8000 23000 80000 160 68000 320 390 649000

67105 200364905 74500975.5 3878235 5213 954040 185046455 266814 41000 4618700 601642.5 636470 30222874 508398 21360 805200 54564 3390 30370 27630 27200 138700 61210 55555 739750 674960

INDUSTRIAL

AC ENERGY ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER VIVANT AGRINURTURE AXELUM BOGO MEDELLIN CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT FRUITAS HLDG GINEBRA JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP MG HLDG PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG DAVINCI CAPITAL EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA LMG CHEMICALS PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

HOLDING & FRIMS

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

2.14 32.75 0.226 19.9 66.05 281 9.35 3.83 11.72 31.55 8.8 14.9 11.92 2.88 88.35 14.84 4.81 8.95 7.23 71.1 0.52 1.67 37 211 42.1 6.9 11.14 0.158 1.64 9.7 1.83 5.28 1.65 0.115 152 1.19 2.43 64 67.45 1.57 5.02 13.5 9.02 12.6 14.66 9.66 0.96 0.94 2.14 4.82 4.7 32.4 2.08 7.8 1.29 4.65 1.1 11.08

2.15 32.85 0.233 20 66.25 285 9.37 3.84 11.98 31.6 8.81 15.1 11.96 2.89 100.9 14.96 5.14 8.97 7.24 72 0.53 1.68 37.6 212.8 45.4 6.98 11.16 0.174 1.65 9.74 1.88 5.3 1.74 0.119 153 1.2 2.57 66.75 69.95 1.58 5.46 13.62 9.39 12.98 15 10 0.99 0.95 2.16 4.87 4.75 32.5 2.09 7.83 1.35 5.1 1.11 11.1

2.25 33 0.235 21.4 67 295 9.74 3.9 11.94 32.95 8.81 14.9 12.46 2.83 101 14.86 4.79 9.12 7.23 73 0.52 1.63 37.05 214 42.1 6.81 11.36 0.175 1.62 9.75 1.9 5.3 1.73 0.116 155 1.22 2.56 67 70.95 1.62 5.46 13.62 9 13.34 14.92 9.96 0.95 0.96 2.13 4.82 4.74 32.3 2.15 7.8 1.39 5.3 1.04 9.65

2.26 33 0.236 21.4 67.4 295 9.88 3.93 11.98 33.15 8.84 15.1 12.96 2.95 101 14.96 5.15 9.13 7.24 73 0.53 1.75 37.1 214.4 42.1 7 11.38 0.175 1.65 9.77 1.91 5.3 1.73 0.116 155 1.22 2.57 67 70.95 1.64 5.46 13.8 9.02 13.34 15 10 1 0.96 2.15 4.82 4.74 32.4 2.16 7.95 1.4 5.3 1.11 11.3

2.14 32.55 0.226 19.62 66 280.4 9.31 3.83 11.94 31.45 8.8 14.9 12 2.74 101 14.86 4.79 8.95 7.22 70.5 0.52 1.62 37 210 42.1 6.81 11.16 0.175 1.61 9.63 1.83 5.3 1.68 0.115 150.2 1.19 2.56 67 68 1.56 5.46 13.5 8.99 12.1 14.36 9.62 0.93 0.91 2.13 4.82 4.7 32.3 2.07 7.76 1.29 4.57 1.01 9.25

2.15 32.75 0.235 19.9 66.05 281 9.35 3.84 11.98 31.6 8.81 15.1 12.08 2.89 101 14.96 5.14 8.95 7.23 72 0.52 1.68 37 212.8 42.1 6.98 11.16 0.175 1.64 9.71 1.83 5.3 1.68 0.115 153 1.19 2.57 67 68 1.58 5.46 13.5 9.02 12.98 15 10 0.99 0.94 2.14 4.82 4.7 32.4 2.09 7.8 1.29 5.1 1.11 11.08

10788000 511700 2920000 2703500 72200 357150 9680500 1683000 16700 824300 170800 2000 958800 3671000 90 18300 4900 839200 2655800 339620 1072000 60994000 133300 310910 100 4700 63700 100000 255000 1839600 917000 3500 189000 1080000 543060 2856000 3000 120 460 33928000 600 34800 129700 672400 1678900 217700 168000 2054000 85000 50000 181000 3700 13072000 443100 721000 65900 2046000 17819800

0.88 11.06 749.5 52.65 11 2.67 0.7 1.01 1.01 6.53 6.35 13 780 72.9 6.62 0.49 3.71 10.88 0.58 3.3 4.4 1.19 2.72 1.19 182 1026 148 0.78 0.207 0.217

0.89 11.08 750 52.75 11.02 2.68 0.72 1.02 1.02 6.54 6.36 13.1 781.5 74 6.65 0.5 3.73 10.9 0.6 3.31 4.65 1.25 2.89 1.23 195 1030 148.1 0.84 0.215 0.218

0.91 11.78 796 54 11 2.83 0.69 0.99 0.99 6.53 6.3 13.26 797 72.95 6.66 0.5 3.69 11.02 0.59 3.42 4.4 1.23 2.72 1.23 194 1062 152.5 0.84 0.207 0.234

0.91 11.78 796 54 11.06 2.84 0.73 1.05 1.09 6.56 6.35 13.26 797 74 6.66 0.5 3.72 11.02 0.6 3.45 4.4 1.25 2.72 1.23 194 1062 152.6 0.84 0.207 0.234

0.86 11.08 750 52.25 11 2.66 0.69 0.96 0.97 6.53 6.2 12.98 779.5 71.85 6.66 0.495 3.69 10.88 0.58 3.28 4.25 1.23 2.72 1.23 181 1012 146 0.8 0.207 0.218

0.89 11.08 750 52.75 11 2.68 0.7 1.01 1.02 6.54 6.35 13 780 74 6.66 0.495 3.71 10.9 0.6 3.31 4.33 1.25 2.72 1.23 181 1030 148.1 0.84 0.207 0.218

34907000 18600 284670 483480 3122200 7379000 910000 3771000 301000 294000 9129700 10500 97090 1012620 300 20000 121000 687200 266000 32911000 23000 14000 2000 1000 170 219330 240180 75000 100000 610000

23624180 16760155 672710 54171866 4779969.5 101994336 91800479 6505550 199932 26313785 1505755 30144 11745462 10516610 9090 272480 23700 7546358 19198981 24280825.5 557830 102205270 4932165 65952208 4210 32580 715078 17500 414660 17846565 1697570 18550 324210 125140 82960327 3412570 7690 8040 31907 53593440 3276 474980 1168321 8799344 24942094 2169253 160280 1924300 181820 241000 850980 119830 27727510 3456050 964960 312479 2210800 182936775

-36041077 20861078 5020 71400 -73630844.5 -2659360 -298097.5 -22759976 29447 -52200 1525820 -7394930 -34000639 136202 -69602528 -20219514 -135880 -8380 1539295 -407022 -18080 -510178 11200 68504 5523300 14707156 -2675311 519410 4624990 24768086 -5584 -66164 -17500 -203110 -17263872 -18550 28035647 -142800 -19173750 -1362 193110 -4248350 -12585976 -31922 -564000 119829.9999 -931580 2938922 -298980 -739273

30979430 198480 207120 32190 216579265 -67178240 25602641.5 -5623357.5 34352532 -1524980 19993590 -113820 633380 3805750 299390 1921888 1113998 57238356 -26432625 136570 76033535 -65432020 73,890,783.5( 18,746,468.5004) 1998 9950 447600 -29640 7504974 -3340070 155300 109404380 -5463250 98630 17240 5440 1230 31610 225965115 -119482015 35651883 -7446422 61240 20700 135920 -

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.83 0.84 0.85 0.85 0.82 0.84 464000 386410 -24360 AYALA LAND 40.5 40.75 43.4 43.4 40.5 40.5 19904400 820883780 -213875255 1.3 1.33 1.4 1.4 1.33 1.33 8000 10840 ARANETA PROP BELLE CORP 1.77 1.79 1.86 1.86 1.75 1.79 851000 1540760 A BROWN 0.69 0.71 0.73 0.73 0.7 0.7 1182000 835980 CITYLAND DEVT 0.84 0.86 0.83 0.86 0.83 0.86 20000 16630 0.183 0.185 0.182 0.185 0.182 0.185 1150000 212600 CROWN EQUITIES CEBU HLDG 6.4 6.69 6.5 6.69 6.4 6.4 7400 47817 -21760 CEB LANDMASTERS 4.74 4.77 4.67 4.77 4.65 4.77 144000 672460 98280 CENTURY PROP 0.52 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.52 0.53 11383000 6035120 24400 0.4 0.405 0.405 0.405 0.405 0.405 20000 8100 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 17.94 18 18.24 18.4 17.94 18 381000 6895686 1932722 DM WENCESLAO 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.64 9.3 9.4 51800 488442 EMPIRE EAST 0.41 0.425 0.42 0.43 0.415 0.425 460000 193000 1.52 1.53 1.54 1.54 1.51 1.53 11041000 16828800 -3648310 FILINVEST LAND 1.07 1.08 1.1 1.1 1.07 1.08 453000 488050 GLOBAL ESTATE 8990 HLDG 14.7 14.74 14.72 14.82 14.7 14.7 527600 7765762 -1982784 PHIL INFRADEV 1.23 1.24 1.27 1.29 1.2 1.23 4243000 5320840 21160 4.4 4.42 4.31 4.42 4.23 4.42 54627000 237115180 10793380 MEGAWORLD 0.25 0.255 0.26 0.27 0.247 0.25 52860000 13531350 11050 MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES 0.41 0.415 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.41 110000 45200 PRIMEX CORP 2.21 2.26 2.28 2.31 2.22 2.22 710000 1612130 17760 26.2 26.4 27.6 27.9 26.2 26.2 2863800 76037500 -20571195 ROBINSONS LAND 2.09 2.12 2.09 2.12 2.09 2.12 25000 52410 6270 ROCKWELL SHANG PROP 3.18 3.23 3.24 3.24 3.24 3.24 15000 48600 48600 STA LUCIA LAND 2.48 2.49 2.47 2.5 2.47 2.49 981000 2441490 SM PRIME HLDG 39.75 39.9 40.7 40.7 39.75 39.75 9864400 393734220 -26046790 5.73 5.87 5.89 5.89 5.72 5.87 15200 88744 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 2.12 2.13 1.92 2.25 1.9 2.12 73710000 153511630 -2613920 PTFC REDEV CORP 26 47.95 49.45 49.45 49.45 49.45 300 14835 VISTA LAND 7.29 7.31 7.35 7.35 7.3 7.3 8363000 61063758 -4927853

SERVICES ABS CBN 17.8 17.92 17.5 19 17.5 17.92 573700 10301088 GMA NETWORK 5.35 5.39 5.42 5.42 5.36 5.39 241300 1301888 0.4 0.405 0.4 0.4 0.395 0.4 510000 202700 MANILA BULLETIN GLOBE TELECOM 2046 2050 2084 2084 2042 2046 61615 126143410 11376330 PLDT 1066 1070 1086 1088 1038 1070 159895 169862115 -14716720 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.044 0.046 0.045 0.047 0.044 0.046 6500000 293200 1.66 1.8 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.66 6000 9960 IMPERIAL ISLAND INFO 0.102 0.103 0.104 0.104 0.102 0.102 950000 97370 ISM COMM 3.84 3.85 3.95 4 3.84 3.84 2831000 11136310 219300 JACKSTONES 1.83 2 1.9 1.9 1.83 1.83 155000 286590 2.48 2.49 2.58 2.65 2.43 2.49 2160000 5519640 -70950 NOW CORP 0.28 0.285 0.275 0.29 0.275 0.285 9980000 2807750 271450 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2.63 2.64 2.73 2.73 2.61 2.64 155000 410950 5380 2GO GROUP 9.4 9.76 9.81 9.81 9.4 9.4 20100 191247 1914 18.3 18.6 18.3 18.3 18.3 18.3 155000 2836500 2836500 ASIAN TERMINALS 5.35 5.37 5.33 5.5 5.33 5.35 402600 2168062 106320 CHELSEA CEBU AIR 86.45 86.5 87.5 87.8 86.45 86.5 459080 39992529.5 -11845249 INTL CONTAINER 132.9 133 131.2 132.9 130.4 132.9 1870040 246820334 17570661 12.96 13.92 12.94 12.94 12.94 12.94 1000 12940 LBC EXPRESS LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.9 0.92 0.9 0.92 0.9 0.92 297000 269740 MACROASIA 12.34 12.36 13.6 13.6 12.2 12.34 2463600 31234992 -4230744 METROALLIANCE A 0.9 0.96 1 1 0.96 0.96 17000 16570 7.45 7.8 7.4 7.45 7.4 7.45 9300 68830 PAL HLDG HARBOR STAR 1.51 1.53 1.4 1.53 1.4 1.52 8513000 12680870 -118600 ACESITE HOTEL 1.32 1.39 1.33 1.33 1.32 1.32 20000 26460 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.81 1.97 1.79 2 1.79 2 10000 18720 WATERFRONT 0.61 0.63 0.61 0.63 0.6 0.63 537000 328400 890 891 890 890 890 890 500 445000 FAR EASTERN U IPEOPLE 8.18 9.44 9.44 9.44 8.18 8.18 4600 39392 STI HLDG 0.61 0.62 0.61 0.62 0.6 0.61 5890000 3592060 BERJAYA 2.97 3 3.32 3.32 2.92 2.97 3072000 9387220 83680 10.62 10.8 10.74 10.8 10.52 10.8 845700 9057964 -2421088 BLOOMBERRY 2.19 2.25 2.27 2.27 2.1 2.25 51000 111150 -26320 PACIFIC ONLINE LEISURE AND RES 2.46 2.48 2.47 2.47 2.46 2.47 33000 81410 MANILA JOCKEY 3.01 3.03 3.08 3.08 3.01 3.01 115000 348590 0.57 0.58 0.58 0.59 0.57 0.58 1529000 890170 -207309.9997 PREMIUM LEISURE 11.3 11.34 11.44 11.44 11.3 11.34 1181100 13399290 219792 ALLHOME METRO RETAIL 2.09 2.1 2.14 2.14 2.08 2.1 207000 434010 PUREGOLD 39.75 39.85 39.5 40 39.25 39.85 908800 36023300 694965 77.5 78.5 78.3 78.55 76.95 78.5 84800 6604917 -218512 ROBINSONS RTL 135 135.5 135 137 134.5 135 370870 50006775 149850 PHIL SEVEN CORP SSI GROUP 2.76 2.77 2.82 2.82 2.74 2.76 768000 2128810 -1780 WILCON DEPOT 18.58 18.6 18.6 18.6 18.4 18.58 3198700 59449634 31608690 0.405 0.41 0.42 0.42 0.405 0.405 750000 308800 20500 APC GROUP 8.73 8.88 8.99 9.09 8.7 8.73 54600 489458 EASYCALL IPM HLDG 7.4 7.5 7.45 7.45 7.45 7.45 300 2235 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.385 0.395 0.385 0.395 0.37 0.39 9700000 3722150 40450 9.11 9.2 9.18 9.2 9.18 9.2 140000 1287460 SBS PHIL CORP

MINING & OIL ATOK 10.06 10.8 10.88 10.88 10.88 10.88 100 1088 APEX MINING 1.06 1.07 1.05 1.06 1.03 1.06 369000 386120 -3150 0.0014 0.0015 0.0014 0.0014 0.0013 0.0014 70000000 97500 ABRA MINING ATLAS MINING 2.52 2.55 2.53 2.53 2.52 2.52 759000 1,917,550( 1,641,779.9997) COAL ASIA HLDG 0.27 0.275 0.275 0.275 0.275 0.275 30000 8250 CENTURY PEAK 3.14 3.15 2.98 3.15 2.96 3.15 7360000 22664530 535780 7.17 7.18 7.18 7.18 7.18 7.18 200 1436 DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL 1.56 1.57 1.6 1.62 1.57 1.57 1618000 2566660 -167800 GEOGRACE 0.21 0.211 0.219 0.223 0.21 0.211 1300000 279550 LEPANTO A 0.097 0.099 0.098 0.099 0.098 0.099 180000 17780 0.0078 0.0088 0.0079 0.0079 0.0077 0.0077 162000000 1247900 MANILA MINING A MARCVENTURES 0.83 0.86 0.87 0.87 0.83 0.83 959000 817100 -592060 NIHAO 1.02 1.06 1.07 1.07 1.02 1.06 24000 25410 NICKEL ASIA 3.4 3.41 3.44 3.46 3.37 3.41 6084000 20696260 -2170390 0.73 0.74 0.73 0.74 0.72 0.74 51000 37170 ORNTL PENINSULA PX MINING 2.94 3.04 2.97 2.97 2.92 2.94 476000 1397030 -929430 SEMIRARA MINING 21.5 21.6 21.8 21.8 21.05 21.5 271400 5812515 -768985 ACE ENEXOR 8.03 8.1 8.71 8.89 7.91 8.1 1536200 12504306 3371 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 800000 8800 ORNTL PETROL A PHILODRILL 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 24300000 262600 PXP ENERGY 8.92 8.99 9.3 9.5 8.9 8.92 790700 7182912 -99787

PREFFERED

HOUSE PREF A 98 99.75 99.8 99.8 99.05 99.05 3990 397969 AC PREF B1 502 507 501 502 501 502 30 15040 100.6 101.9 101.1 102 101.1 102 25640 2608674 CPG PREF A SMC FB PREF 2 996 1000 990 990 990 990 10 9900 GTCAP PREF A 970 980 970 970 970 970 10 9700 GTCAP PREF B 970 989 970 970 970 970 180 174600 99.75 100 100 100 100 100 24500 2450000 MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A 100.2 102 102 102 102 102 100 10200 PNX PREF 3B 107 109 109 109 109 109 160 17440 PNX PREF 4 1026 1028 1030 1030 1030 1030 10 10300 1028 1040 1030 1030 1030 1030 500 515000 PCOR PREF 3A SMC PREF 2C 77.1 77.5 76.9 77.5 76.9 77.1 13820 1064959 76950 SMC PREF 2E 74.8 75.5 74.9 74.9 74.9 74.9 2000 149800 SMC PREF 2F 75.8 76 76.2 76.2 75.8 75.8 14000 1062046 75.05 75.5 75.1 75.1 75 75 1400 105060 SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I 75.5 76 75.9 76 75.9 76 27600 2096660 PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

16.42 5.14

16.58 5.29

16.7 5.14

16.7 5.14

16.38 5.13

16.58 5.13

80600 300000

1337004 1539040

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.23

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ITALPINAS 3.89 KEPWEALTH 9.56 XURPAS 0.9

1.3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

3.96 9.58 0.91

3.96 9.62 0.93

3.96 9.9 0.93

3.9 9.56 0.9

3.9 9.58 0.91

181000 236100 3231000

707980 2270561 2960490

-39000 1976 57040

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

113.6

-840104 -1539040

114

115.6

115.6

113.5

113.6

19960

2278863

80286

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Sta. Lucia to grow its hotel rooms to 2,000 keys

P

ROPERTY developer Sta. Lucia Land Inc. said it wants to grow its hotel portfolio to about 2,000 rooms in the coming years upon full completion of at least three new projects over the medium term.

The listed firm currently has more than 1,600 rooms from its 13 projects, which comprise hotels, condotels, or condominium with hotel units and facilities, and resorts.

Sta. Lucia said its new projects on the pipeline include SotoGrande Palawan in Puerto Princesa, SotoGrande Baguio and Sta. Lucia Residenze Tower 3 in Cainta, Rizal.

These three projects can add about 400 rooms to the company’s portfolio over the medium term.

“We hope to be a major player in the tourism growth story, as the Philippines now inches closer to its goal of hitting 10 million international arrivals by 2022. After all, we recognize the value in these numbers— with the influx of tourists comes the

growth of homegrown shops and restaurants, tourism destinations, and other livelihood related to travel and, consequently, more jobs, increased incomes and better quality of life for more Filipinos,” Sta. Lucia President Exequiel Robles said.

The company already has an extensive footprint in Palawan, Baguio City and Cainta, Rizal, where its new condotels and hotels are set to rise.

Cainta is home to Santa Lucia City where the company has built a large shopping complex offering a mix of homegrown and international brands, towering luxury residential condominiums, and soon the sixstory Santa Lucia Business Center, its first foray in the office property segment.

The company’s current hotel portfolio includes Stradella at East

Bel-Air; La Breza, SotoGrande at Neopolitan and SotoGrande Katipunan, which are both located in Quezon City; Club Morocco in Subic, Zambales; Splendido Hotel in Laurel, Batangas; Aquamira Resort and Residences in Naic, Cavite; Arterra Hotel and Resort, SotoGrande Cebu at Residencia de Vistamar, and La Mirada at Residencia de Vistamar, all in Cebu; SotoGrande Iloilo in Jaro, Iloilo; SotoGrande Davao in Talomo, Davao City; and Crown Residences at Harbour Springs in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Sta. Lucia Land is part of the Sta. Lucia Group, which has completed over 220 projects within more than 10,000 hectares of land spanning 70 cities and municipalities in 10 regions. VG Cabuag

Media groups mount drive to ‘save’ ABS-CBN from attacks, shutdown M EDIA groups have cried foul against what they call the Duterte administration’s “Marcosian game plan” to derail the franchise renewal of ABSCBN Corp., calling it a blatant attack to suppress press freedom marred with “putrid motives.”

The pushback was led by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), which launched an online signature campaign to support the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. It aims to gather at least 1 million signatures for the campaign.

ABS-CBN is required under the law to secure a congressional franchise as a television network. Duterte has been attacking the network since 2016, claiming that it is biased and unfair. He also cited tax cases, which have since been cleared out, as his reason for blocking the franchise of the network.

Congress has yet to deliberate on the franchise bill. The existing franchise of ABS-CBN is set to expire on March 23.

In a statement, AlterMidya, a coalition of independent media entities, said President Duterte is weaponizing his power and influence in the legislature by publicly admitting that he will block the renewal of the

franchise of ABS-CBN, one of the two largest networks in the Philippines.

“The heightened threats by the Duterte administration to derail ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal speak volumes of how the President is following the Marcosian game plan to the letter. How can the nation forget how in the early years of the Marcos dictatorship, the regime confiscated TV and radio stations owned by the Lopezes and transferred the control to his cronies?” the statement read.

AlterMidya added that Duterte’s move is textbook “Marcosian,” as he earlier suggested that the Lopezes simply sell the network to another entity to save it.

“Duterte is brazenly picking instructions from that same playbook, even suggesting that the owners of ABS-CBN just sell the network, increasing suspicions that he wants the ownership of one of the biggest media networks in the country to go to one of his cronies,” the statement read.

The group also scored the President for allegedly using “a plethora of legal tools” through the Office of the Solicitor General, which is reportedly using a “quo warranto petition” to cancel the existing franchise of ABS-CBN. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Telcos told to roll out mobile number portability law in ’20

T

ELECOMMUNICATIONS companies Globe, Smart and third player Dito were reminded Monday to fulfill their commitment to roll out the awaited Mobile Number Portability Act (MNPA) in phases within the year.

“This means [cell phone] subscribers will be able to switch networks or change subscriptions without losing the mobile numbers they currently use,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Monday.

Gatchalian reminded the three telcos that they are expected to “implement the MNPA, even in phases, as long as it will be done within the first six months of this year.”

The senator suggested that telcos may opt to “implement mobile porting for postpaid subscribers first within this year and after that, they can focus on the mobile number portability of prepaid subscribers next.”

As principal author of the new law to be known as the Lifetime Cellphone Number Act, Gatchalian had been meeting with local telco representatives, as well as global technology service provider Syniverse to explore options to expedite implementation of the mobile number portability services in the Philippines.

He noted that telcos estimate the process

of integration, interoperability and other technical preparations would “take some time,” projecting that mobile number portability services will likely be ready “by the second half of 2021.”

Gatchalian cautioned, however, that “stretching the deadline that long is a disservice to Filipino consumers who are already fed up with the underwhelmingly poor and expensive services.”

He recalled the telcos assuring the Senate panel that the techonology needed to implement it is already available, which the senator took to mean this will facilitate the process. “They said when we were conducting hearings on this law that the technology is there and it’s easy to implement it. So I was surprised when they said our people must wait 18 months,” a dismayed Gatchalian added in Filipino.

Upon its implementation, the remedial legislation will, likewise, remove the interconnection fees charged to subscribers for calling and texting across different networks.

Despite the delay, Gatchalian expects the mobile number portability law to be fully implement within year 2020, vowing to closely monitor compliance with the new law. Butch Fernandez

mutual funds

January 20, 2020

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 249.65 -5.73% -0.42% -1.44% -0.89% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.3281 -10.04% -0.97% -4.6% -3.9% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.5167 -14.26% -4.4% -4.78% -4.39% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.8798 -7.16% n.a. n.a.

-1.93% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.843 -2.8% n.a. n.a.

-0.74% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 5.2682 -4.94% 1.05% -1.57% -1.13% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.8421 -4.44% -2.86% n.a.

-1.35% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 101.57 -16.7% n.a. n.a.

-1.7% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 50.637 -2.92% 1.9% n.a.

-1.26% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 526.08 -2.98% 0.86% -1.22% -1.26% Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a,d,8 1.0097 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-1.98% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.275 -2.87% 1.71% -0.17% -0.92% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 37.44 -2.99% 2.53% -0.23% -1.21% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.006 -3.18% n.a. n.a.

-1.19% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 5.1587 -2% 2.46% 0.76% -1.24% 861.19 -2.06% 2.39% 0.63% -1.25% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.8163 -9.33% -1.3% -3.26% -4.12% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 4.125 -3.08% 1.61% -0.29% -2% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.9884 -2.37% 2.25% n.a.

-1.24% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.6116 -1.71% 3.44% 1.37% -1.14% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 115.5229 -1.73% 3.09% 1.6% -1.22% ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

$1.0559 10.06% 6.45% 1.31% 2.67% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.4109 20.43% 10.11% n.a.

2.34% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5433 -10.31% -3.63% -4.67% -1.25% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.1392 -6.5% -2.07% -2.15% -1.92% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6051 -1.53% 1.41% -1.9% -1% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.2295 n.a. n.a. n.a.

0.44% Grepalife Balanced Fund Corporation -a N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9526 2.74% 2.2% 0.5% -0.53% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.7463 3.97% 1.23% -0.47% -1.13% -0.54% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.7759 2.64% 1.14% -1.09% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.1206 -0.76% 1.03% 0.54% -0.24% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.8062 0.63% 1.69% -0.11% -1.49% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9998 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-1.57% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9836 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-1.28% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9806 n.a. n.a. n.a.

-1.27% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.957 0.29% 0.97% -1.31% -1.83% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03835 8.21% 2.65% 0.31% 2.01% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $1.0512 10.1% 5.01% 1.29% 1.28% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.9746 15.16% 7.78% 4.69% 1.63% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.1398 10.41% 4.59% n.a.

0.97% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 358.09 4.04% 2.75% 2.25% 0.08% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.904 2.51% 0.3% -0.7% 0.11% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1202 4.71% 5.11% 5.15% 0.13% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2185 3.81% 1.96% 1.69% -0.29% 1.88% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3465 5.56% 1.34% -0.53% Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. -a P N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.3381 11.98% 2.08% 1.28% -0.8% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.767 5.67% 2.64% 1.24% -0.56% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9573 5.41% 0.79% -0.2% -0.73% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.0452 8.47% 3.76% 2.24% -1% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.6791 7.43% 3.22% 1.72% -1.29% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $469.29 4.47% 2.67% 2.74% 0.23% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.74 3.25% 1.67% 1.29% 0% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.2102 6.86% 2.96% 2.49% 0.25% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0259 4.02% 1.46% 1.45% 0.39% Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. -a N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.0996 5.86% 1.27% -0.68% 0.4% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.4124 10.07% 3.27% 2.64% 0.36% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0604426 5.85% 2.26% 1.95% 0.21% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.1974 10.59% 2.71% 2.59% 0.7% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 126.01 4% 2.87% 2.2% 0.18% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0296 n.a. n.a. n.a.

0.32% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.249 5.76% 2.88% 1.57% -0.61% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2665 3.71% 2.9% 2.39% 0.15% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0381 2.06% n.a. n.a.

0.09% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $1 n.a. n.a. n.a.

1.01% 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."

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020 B3

B4 Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Chinese new year feast at the Bellevue Manila

Roasted Pecking Duck Rolls FUN AND LUCK AT SM CITY NORTH EDSA. Kids dressed in their cheongsam outfits welcome the Year of the Rat at SM City North EDSA underneath its golden money tree adorned with ampao, Chinese lanterns and golden coins. Mallgoers can look forward to fun and lucky activities like market bazaars, Chinese cultural shows, a lion and dragon dance, and meet and greet sessions with Mickey and Minnie in celebration of Chinese New Year.

CHS Batch ’70 to stage Golden Reunion

Deep-friend Oriental Style Pork Ribs

Baked Tiger Prawns with Zinjiang Sauce

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AVE a prosperous Year of the Rat and take part in the special dining offerings prepared by The Bellevue Manila in Alabang, Muntinlupa City just for the Lunar New Year.

Phoenix Court, the city’s premier fine dining Chinese restaurant, is serving up special set menus to welcome the Year of the Rat! Until February 22, guests may avail of the restaurant’s Chinese New Year Set Menu 1 for groups of

either 6 to 8, or 10 to 12 persons. The Chinese New Year Set Menu 2 will also be available in groups of 6 to 8 10 to 12 persons. Both sets will feature the Deepfriend Oriental Style Pork Ribs and the Baked Tiger Prawns with Zinjiang Sauce.

At Phoenix Court, we are also offering Tikoy for only Php 220 nett per box.

On January 25, join us at an all-day buffet Cafe D’Asie for Php 1,540 nett per person, available during lunch and

dinner, as we welcome the Lunar New Year with a specially curated buffet to symbolize an abundant and prosperous 2020.

Enjoy our Chinese New Year ala carte specials with a stunning 360 degree view of the city at the Vue Bar, located at the 22nd floor of The Bellevue Manila’s Tower Wing.

For inquiries and reservations, please contact us at (02) 8771 8181.

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ALOOCAN High School Batch 1970 will celebrate its 50 years in a Golden Reunion on March 15, 2020 at Park Inn by Radisson at SM North Edsa Complex from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Interested parties please contact Felipa Laureano-Martinez 0917-830-7444 and Amelia Basilio-Valdivia 0919 628 5490.

This is strictly for reservation only.

Deadline for reservation is February 14, 2020. This day promises to be a day of fun and memories as CHS ’70 graduates reunite with their classmates 50 years ago.

DLSMC Wellness Center offers discounts on all ECU Packages

OW more than ever, people are taking preemptive health measures through early detection and treatment, and one of the ways they are doing this is through an Executive Check-Up (ECU).

However, there are still some who would put it off till later since they find it impractical because they see it as an additional expense.

But this does not have to be the case for De Los Santos Medical Center’s (DLSMC) Wellness Center, which is dedicated to proving its patients the most comprehensive and cost-efficient check-up packages.

To start the year right with health as a top priority, DLSMC Wellness Center is offering a 30% discount for patients who will avail of their HealthForward ECU Packages from January 1 to 31, 2020. The DLSMC Wellness Center offers four different customized check-up packages designed to suit the individual needs of patients, allowing them to curtail any unnecessary expenses from tests and procedures they do not need: Health Forward Basic (for individuals below the age of 50 with no signs of diabetes or cardiovascular diseases); Health Forward Diabetes (for individuals

with diabetes); Health Forward Heart (for individuals with existing heart conditions); and Health Forward Optimum (for individuals aged 50 and above).

Through DLSMC HealthForward ECU Packages, patients will undergo a complete medical assessment to check their overall health, detect risk factors, or address the existence of health conditions. I For scheduling and inquiries, please contact Wellness Center at 889-DLSMC (35762) ext. 3456 or send a message to its Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ DeLosSantosMedicalCenterOfficial.

Gov. Mandanas meets with PhilHealth on UHC

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HE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and the provincial government of Batangas met recently in Pasig City to thresh out various operational issues in the implementation of UHC at the level of local government units such as registering PhilHealth beneficiaries to a primary care provider within their jurisdiction and

integrating all local health systems into a provincial-wide health system.

During the meeting, the state health insurance agency thoroughly discussed the roles and functions of the Local Health Board which is being chaired by the local chief executive; fund distribution, among others. To better respond to the UHC challenge, the Province of Batangas

has apportioned P2-B for health care services this year.

In photo are PhilHealth President and CEO BGen. Ricardo C. Morales [6th from left] and Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas [beside Morales] together with senior PhilHealth officials and senior provincial officers of the province after the meeting in Pasig City.

ANC’s Cathy Yang hailed as Asia’s Best TV News Presenter

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BS-CBN News Channel (ANC) anchor Cathy Yang brought honor to the Philippines anew at the start of the new decade after being named as Best News Presenter at the 24th Asian Television Awards recently held in Manila.

Cited for her work in the ANC business news program “Market Edge with Cathy Yang,” Cathy said the award ‘takes her full circle’ as a journalist.

“From being a Kapamilya where I learned all the ropes and then I went abroad from Manila to Tokyo to Hong Kong and back, here I am again.

Thank you, ANC and Kapamilya for all the support,” she said.

The anchor of “The Boss” and “Business Nightly” on ANC is now a four-time winner in the Asian Television Awards, after bagging the honor thrice for another regional news network. This year, she bested fellow broadcasters from the Philippines, China, Japan, India, and Taiwan.

Catch Cathy Yang on “Market Edge with Cathy Yang” on weekdays at 3 pm, on “Business Nightly” also on weekdays at 8 pm, and “The Boss” every Thursday at 7:30 pm via ANC or iWant.

CONOR MCGREGOR

Irish superstar Conor McGregor is firmly in control of the future of two UFC divisions. AP

FLOYD FIRST, MANNY NEXT L

AS VEGAS—After three years without a victory, Conor McGregor needed only 40 seconds to reclaim his place at the center of the mixed martial arts world.

McGregor’s dynamic stoppage of Donald Cerrone in UFC 246 on Saturday night put the Irish superstar firmly in control of the future of two UFC divisions.

Every elite lightweight and welterweight will practically beg for his shot against a fighter who still commands the world’s attention like nobody else. A refocused McGregor seems eager to make up for lost time after three years of inactivity and outside-the-cage misbehavior, suggesting he could fight three more times this year.

“The whole world lights up when I fight,” McGregor said. “So I want to get back out there again.”

He hadn’t made a decision by the time he left T-Mobile Arena late Saturday night with a broad smile on his face and a bottle of his own branded whiskey in hand. McGregor plans to speak with UFC President Dana White and billionaire ex-UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta before he decides whether to pursue a championship belt, a revenge fight, an absurdly lucrative boxing match or any combination of the three.

The contenders already are lining up.

Popular welterweight brawler Jorge Masvidal would welcome a showdown, while welterweight champion Kamaru Usman would love to defend his title against McGregor. Both fighters watched McGregor’s victory from cageside, and Masvidal even tried to goad McGregor in curious fashion by wearing the same Versace robe that McGregor famously wore a few years ago to an open workout.

Lightweight contender Justin Gaethje fights in a reckless, crowd-pleasing style guaranteed to make a compelling matchup for the similarly aggressive McGregor. Another must-see bout would be a third fight with imperious veteran Nate Diaz, who fought twice in 2019 after his own three-year break.

But White wants McGregor to wait for a fight against lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who beat McGregor in October 2018 and subsequently sparked an ugly brawl outside the cage. The bad feelings from that promotion haven’t healed, and White believes the rematch could rival the profitability of McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

“With how Khabib won the first time and how famous Khabib

has become, we’re looking at Hagler-Hearns,” White said. “We’re looking at like Ali-Foreman, Ali-Frazier. This is a massive fight with global appeal. This is the fight that you make. This is the fight that makes sense.”

But Nurmagomedov is booked to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 in April, and McGregor would prefer not to wait until late summer for his next bout. Instead, he half-seriously predicted the NurmagomedovFerguson bout will be scrapped and he’ll be forced to step in.

McGregor also could bide his time with another absurdly lucrative boxing match. While most fight fans scoff at this entire venture, the wider world still appears to be fascinated by these spectacles, as evidenced by the money made by McGregor and Mayweather in 2017 in one of the richest pay-per-view bouts in boxing history.

Mayweather turns 43 next month and has fought once since 2015, but he immediately posted a mocked-up advertisement for the rematch on his Instagram page Saturday night. McGregor ripped it because the graphic artist didn’t include the logo for McGregor’s promotional company. He jokingly suggested that slight means he’ll instead fight Manny Pacquiao, who has also declared his interest in the payday that comes with giving a boxing lesson to McGregor.

“I certainly would love the rematch with Floyd,” McGregor said. “It very well could happen this year. The one with Manny will also be there whenever.... Floyd is going through money fast. He is far from retired. That rematch will happen.”

Before he beat Cerrone, McGregor suggested he could fight again at UFC 248 on March 7 if he didn’t take too much punishment. Cerrone failed to land a single strike, so McGregor came out totally unscathed—but it could still take a bit longer than seven weeks to sort out his next step.

At least the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history appears to be taking that next step with sure footing. The spotlight never left McGregor, but he didn’t seem capable of meeting its demands in recent years.

“I’d achieved it all, right?” McGregor said. “I broke the game before I was 30 years of age. One belt became

not enough. I achieved it all. [Coach] John [Kavanagh] says it’s the worst nightmare for a coach if a student achieves it all.

I probably had to go through all that and then just come back for the love.”

McGregor was still the biggest star in the game even while he lost both of his UFC belts, dabbled in boxing and

focused on whiskey, both as a successful distiller and an eager consumer.

McGregor and Nurmagomedov then engaged in a dark, ugly promotion of their first bout. Away from the cameras, McGregor was training erratically and enjoying too much of the good life created by his stardom.

He says he escaped that cloud late last year, and McGregor believes his performance against Cerrone showed the way to even brighter days if he can stay on this path.

“I love that whiskey, but you’ve got to respect it,” McGregor said. “You’ve got to respect that liquid, because if you don’t, it will come and get you.” AP

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, January 21, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

OSAKA, SERENA WIN OPENERS DOWN UNDER

By John Pye

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The Associated Press

ELBOURNE, Australia—Naomi Osaka won the tournament opening match for her dad at the Australian Open.

Serena Williams won hers for her daughter.

The first two matches on center court at the Australian Open were all about families for two champions.

For something new, Osaka’s father, Leonard Francois, was in the crowd watching as the defending champion reeled off the last four games after dropping serve for the only time to beat Marie Bouzkova, 6-2, 6-4.

Next up, Williams started her bid for a first major title as a mom when she beat 18-yearold Anastasia Potapova, 6-0, 6-3. Williams has won the title seven times in Australia, and is aiming for an all-time record-equaling 24th

Grand Slam singles title. She hasn’t added to her career tally since victory at the 2017 Australian Open, and then becoming Olympia’s mom. She managed to end one drought last week when she won the title in Auckland, New Zealand—her first since the Australian title three years ago.

“I hadn’t been able to win as a mom, so it was nice to finally be able to win a tournament with a two-year-old now,” Williams said of her Auckland win. “I’ve been pretty close, but it was special for me and for her. I hope for her.”

Williams has lost four Grand Slam finals since her last title, and is determined to end that streak.

She won seven straight games until Potapova held serve and changed the momentum—for a little while at least. The Russian got a service break, but broke Williams rallied quickly to get back on track.

DENMARK’S Caroline Wozniacki makes a backhand return and Naomi Osaka signs autographs in Day One of the Australian Open. AP

Osaka thanked the crowd after her match, saying “You probably didn’t come for me, but thanks for filling up the stadium.”

There was one person in particular who was there only for Osaka.

“My dad watched my match from my box for the first time during a Grand Slam,” Osaka, who won back-to-back majors at the 2018 US Open and last year’s Australian Open, tweeted.

“I feel so happy.”

She later explained: “He’s just superstitious. Because, like, he literally— because, like, before when he used to sit in my box I would just look at him and complain a lot, but I have matured over the past, like, three or four years he hasn’t sat in my box.”

It was an all-star lineup on Rod Laver, with six-time champion Roger Federer and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic playing matches on either side of No.

1-ranked Ash Barty’s night match.

Osaka is aiming to be only the ninth woman to successfully defend the Australian Open title. She wasn’t able to do that at the US Open last year, when she lost in the fourth round, but says she learned some valuable lessons there.

“Definitely, it was really tough for me trying to control my nerves,” she said of her first-round win. “I’m really glad I was able to finish it in two.

Other seeded players advancing on the women’s side included No. 13 Petra Martic and No. 14 Sofia Kenin. Martic had a 6-3, 6-0 win over Christina McHale and Kenin beat Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, 6-2, 6-4.

Denis Shapovalov lost an ill-tempered match, 6-3, 7-6 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (3), to Marton Fucsovics, who has made a habit of taking out the No. 13 seed in Melbourne.

Shapovalov berated the umpire and received a code violation for spiking his racket after the third set.

“I didn’t break it. If I break it, 100 percent code me,” Shapovalov yelled at umpire Renaud Lichtenstein. “You’re not doing your job. You’re just finding reasons to code me.”

Fucsovics also beat the 13th seed last year at Melbourne Park, that time Sam Querrey in the second round.

“Usually this is not a lucky number, but for me, my favorite number,” he said. “I played some of my best tennis today. Everything was working well.”

There were several rain delays in the mid-afternoon, prompting organizers to close the roof on the three show courts. Play was suspended on the others when heavy rain fell shortly after the first delay.

In other men’s results, Querrey beat 25th-

seeded Borna Coric, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, and No. 8 Matteo Berrettini advanced, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, over wild-card entry Andrew Harris.

Former No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, meanwhile, beat Kristie Ahn, 6-1, 6-3, in the first round of the last tournament of her professional career.

Wozniacki has announced she will retire after the Australian Open, where she won her first major title in 2018.

No. 13-seeded Denis Shapovalov is out of the Australian Open after losing in four sets to Marton Fucsovics. The 20-year-old Canadian lost, 6-3, 7-6 (7), 6-1, 7-6 (3). Shapovalov berated the umpire and received a code violation during his ill-tempered match on Margaret Court Arena. The blowup came after the third set.

After throwing his racket, Shapovalov was given the code violation that triggered his outburst.

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BU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—Lee Westwood secured his 25th European Tour win with victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday.

Westwood, who had a one-shot overnight lead, has now won in four different decades starting in the 1990s. The Englishman’s fiveunder par final-round 67 gave him a two-shot margin over a chasing pack of France’s Victor Perez (63); and England’s Tommy Fleetwood (63); and Matthew Fitzpatrick (67), who all finished on 271.

Bernd Wiesberger and second-round leader Francesco Laporta, who both started the final round one back of Westwood, had their challenge fall away after rounds of 72 and 74.

Top-ranked Brooks Koepka finished joint 34th with an eight-under 280 after a 69 in the final round, 11 back of Westwood.

It was Koepka’s first tournament since returning from a knee injury he aggravated in October when he slipped while walking off the tee at the CJ Cup in South Korea. He previously had stem-cell treatment for a partially torn tendon in his patella.

Westwood, a former world No. 1-ranked player, was challenged throughout the final round.

Fitzpatrick, who was two shots off Westwood before the start of the day, got off to a strong start and an impressive front nine saw him pile on

the pressure, but the 46-year-old former world No. 1 kept his cool and continued to putt well to secure his victory.

“It’s been a good week,” Westwood told europeantour.com. “I wasn’t really paying any attention to what other people were doing.

“I was trying to control me, control my emotions and control what I’m working on in the golf swing. Just managed to do that.

“A little slipup at 16. Like I said yesterday, with what I’m working on, if I don’t quite do it, I hit a pull, and I hit a pull second shot and pulled the putt actually, as well, but I hit some good shots coming in, and really just pleased with the way I controlled myself.”

Westwood was ranked No. 63 in the world going into the event, but the first victory by an English player on the 2020 Race to Dubai should move him into the top 30.

Fitzpatrick is already in there and was pleased to start the year with a strong performance, he added: “Front nine I felt like could I hole everything

Westwood wins in Abu Dhabi for 25th Euro tour victory and managed to hole one putt for par, which was nice to keep a bit of momentum going.

“Just on back nine, just couldn’t make a thing. It was just one of those days, but hey, that’s golf. I’m delighted. It’s a great start to the year.”

Fleetwood, on his 29th birthday, carded a final round of nine under to finish on 17 under, but fell just short of winning the event for a third time.

SPURS COOL DOWN HEAT

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AN ANTONIO—Patty Mills celebrated his heritage Sunday with a performance that typified his career.

Mills provided a late spark, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and the San Antonio Spurs held off the Miami Heat, 107-102, Sunday.

The win came as San Antonio became the first NBA team to hold Indigenous People Night—a meaningful cause to Mills, who is an Australian of aboriginal descent.

“It’s an important night, and it’s really important to Patty,” San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said. “For the indigenous people here in Texas it’s important to all of us, but it’s sort of double for him because of his history and his background.

“He didn’t play like he did because of that; he does that every night. His energy has been there his whole career. It’s who he is.”

Mills had 18 points and DeMar DeRozan

added 20 as San Antonio snapped a two-game skid.

Mills requested the Spurs honor his ancestry, as well as those of Native Americans, and the franchise obliged on the eve of Martin Luther King Day. “Besides basketball, it was a win for us to be able to use basketball as a platform to be able to share culture and traditions, and you saw it tonight,” Mills said.

Miami’s Duncan Robinson missed a 3-pointer with 10.2 seconds left and the Heat trailing 105102. Miami fouled Marco Belinelli, who made both free throws to cap the scoring.

“It’s a big moment,” Robinson said. “I want to make that shot for this team. I didn’t do it.

I’m disappointed in myself, but it’s nice to know these guys have my back no matter what.”

Bam Adebayo had 21 points, 16 rebounds and six assists for Miami, which had won its previous two games. Goran Dragic added 19

points, and Kendrick Nunn had 18.

“I actually liked the way we competed,” said Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who had 16 points.

The Spurs rebounded—barely—after blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against Atlanta in a 121-120 defeat Friday.

“We fresh off a feeling of letting a game slip away from us,” DeRozan said. “Being right back in that position, just kind of understanding how hard we needed to play down the stretch, how hard it was going to be.”

Mills fueled a late run by diving out of bounds and throwing the ball off Miami center Meyers Leonard to salvage an offensive possession. With cheers of “Patty, Patty,” still ringing throughout the AT&T Center, Aldridge drained a hook shot to pull the Spurs within 98-97 with 4:39 remaining.

A few possessions later, Derrick White used a backhanded stab to deflect and steal an attempted entry pass at the top of the key

Ageless Sainz captures third Dakar Rally title

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IDDIYA, Saudi Arabia—Carlos Sainz confirmed his third Dakar Rally triumph on Friday after ensuring defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah didn’t escape in the Saudi desert.

Sainz stayed within minutes of AlAttiyah’s dust on the 12th and last stage, a 167-kilometer route from Haradh to Qiddiya.

Al-Attiyah, second overall, earned his first stage win of this Dakar but Sainz finished four minutes back in sixth to secure the car title beside his victories in 2010 and 2018. All three were in different cars but with the same codriver, Lucas Cruz.

Sainz won by six minutes over Al-Attiyah, and 10 minutes over Mini teammate Stephane Peterhansel. The trio, who share 19 Dakar wins, had been vying for the lead among themselves since Stage 4. Sainz led from Stage 3.

“I feel very happy,” Sainz said. “There’s a lot of effort behind this. A lot of training, practice,

physically, with the team.... We started winning this Dakar on day one, and we have gone flat out from the beginning.”

The Spaniard’s lead was reduced to 24 seconds by Tuesday, but navigation errors by Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel on Wednesday gave Sainz an 18-minute buffer he used to cruise to the end.

“We did a good job to finish second even though we wanted to win,” Qatar’s Al-Attiyah said. “We made two or three mistakes along the way and had loads of punctures, but I’m rather happy. I’m coming back to win next year. I just needed a bit more luck.”

Peterhansel completed his 31st Dakar on the podium for the 16th time. The Frenchman has won it a record 13 times, and added four stage wins to extend that record to 80.

“The four specials are a nice consolation prize, it’s always nice to win,” Peterhansel said.

“It proves we’ve still got the mojo and raw speed.”

Former Formula One champion Fernando Alonso finished 13th on his first Dakar.

Motorbike rider Ricky Brabec became the first American champion in Dakar history, followed soon after by compatriot Casey Currie in the SSV lightweight cars category.

Brabec on a Honda ended 18 years of KTM dominance. Rather than take it easy with a comfortable lead, he went all out to win the last stage and finished second to Jose Ignacio Cornejo of Chile by 53 seconds.

Brabec won the overall from Pablo Quintanilla of Chile by 16 minutes. Defending champion Toby Price of Australia, third on the stage, was 24 minutes back in third.

“It’s my fifth Dakar, my second time finishing...I woke up this morning just happy to ride the last day. And we’re here. We won!”

Brabec said. “We had to be smart and focused every day. There’s no top guy on the [Honda] team, we all work together, we’re a family. We all won.” AP

Lee Westwood has now won in four different decades starting in the 1990s. AP

“You just concentrate on what you’re doing and every time, every week we play, somebody is going to play great golf and, at the moment, that’s Lee,” said Fleetwood.

“I’m very, very happy with my weekend, I felt like I played some really good golf.”

Perez joined Fleetwood with a final round of 63 to come joint-second, while Louis Oosthuizen finished fifth on 15 under.

Sergio Garcia finished six off Westwood to come tied for eighth alongside Austria’s Wiesberger. AP

San Antonio Spurs’ Lonnie Walker and Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn fall as they chase the ball. AP

by Adebayo. That led to a three-point play by Aldridge for a 102-98 lead with 3:20 remaining.

“It was a big play,” White said. “I was just trying to be active, get my hands on the ball and make a play.”

Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and Doug McDermott scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Indiana Pacers rallied late to beat the Denver Nuggets, 115-107, also Sunday night.

Malcom Brogdon and TJ Warren added 22 points each for the Pacers, who snapped a 10game skid at the Pepsi Center. They overcame a 30-point performance from the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic to win their fifth straight overall.

Jerami Grant and Will Barton added 16 points apiece for the Nuggets, who were again without injured starters Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray.

Denver had the lead for most of the game, but was outscored, 41-26, in the fourth quarter.

The Nuggets missed 10 of 32 free throws and were just three of 23 from three-point range, while the Pacers connected on 13 of 29 from beyond the arc, including six 3-pointers by McDermott.

Brogdon connected on a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the third quarter and the Pacers pulled to 81-74 going into the final period. AP

CARLOS SAINZ is given a championship toss by the members of his team. AP

Darkness forces extra day for playoff in LPGA Tour opener

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AKE BUENA VISTA, Florida—The final round of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions featured a little bit of everything.

Clutch shots, bold play, lead changes, a few costly mistakes and, even, bonus golf.

Sunday did everything but decide a champion.

Nasa Hataoka and Gaby Lopez matched par five times in a playoff at the 197-yard 18th hole, until it was too dark to continue. They returned at 8 a.m. on Monday at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club to see who gets the trophy.

Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Hall of Famer Inbee Park also was in the playoff, but was eliminated on the third extra hole when her tee shot with a fairway metal caromed off rocks left of the parthree 18th and bounded into surrounding water.

If the LPGA season can replicate the fireworks displayed in its season opener, this could be quite a year. Five players spent time with at least a share of the fourth-round lead. Lopez (five-under 66), Hataoka (68) and Park (71), who led by two shots after 54 holes, finished 72 holes of regulation at 13-under 271.

MJ Hur, who made 10 birdies and shot 63, and Brooke Henderson (67) finished one shot out of the playoff in this event featuring 26 LPGA tournament winners from the last two seasons.

The playoff that will resume on Monday is the LPGA’s longest since Pernilla Lindberg defeated Park

in eight holes at the 2018 ANA Inspiration. Monday’s winner will earn $180,000.

The 31-year-old Park, winless in 2019, by far had the most experience of the last players standing, having won 19 times, including seven major championships, in addition to winning an Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016. Perennially one of the LPGA’s best putters, Park struggled to make anything Sunday until rolling in a 15-footer for birdie at the short par-four 16th that lifted her back into a tie for the lead.

When Lopez, clad in the red and green colors of Mexico, and Hataoka scrambled to get up-and-down for pars on the third playoff hole, Park was eliminated.

She dropped to 3-5 in her LPGA career in playoffs.

“I think just No. 18 got me yesterday and today,” said Park, who had three-putted the hole for bogey a day earlier. “If I shoot under par [Sunday], I should have won. That’s golf.”

Lopez’s 66 was one of the sharper rounds played Sunday. She completed it in grand style by making the lone birdie yielded all weekend at the 18th hole.

Lopez hit a four-hybrid past the flagstick and made an 18-foot, right-to-left slider to get to 13 under. There have been only five birdies on that hole all week by LPGA players in the tournament, which also features celebrity amateurs; Lopez owned two of them.

The 21-year-old Hataoka has giant goals for 2020. A three-time LPGA winner, she wants to climb to No. 1 in the world (she entered the week ranked sixth) and win gold at the Summer Olympics in her native Japan. She stayed alive on the second hole of the playoff by making a 15-footer for par following a poor chip. AP

Messi gives Setién blazing start with Barcelona

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ARCELONA, Spain—Quique Setién had Lionel Messi to thank for ensuring he made a winning start as Barcelona’s new coach.

The club’s all-time leading scorer finally broke down a stubborn Granada after the visitors were reduced to 10 men to secure a 1-0 win at Camp Nou on Sunday.

Granada had kept Barcelona in check and hit the post in its best scoring chance moments before Germán Sánchez was sent off with 20 minutes to play after getting a second yellow card for fouling Messi.

A hole then appeared in the visitors’ defense which Messi exploited by passing to Antoine Griezmann inside the area. Griezmann quickly squared the ball for Arturo Vidal, who used his heel to roll it on for Messi to slot into the corner of the net for the 76th-minute winner.

Setién, who last coached at Real Betis, was hired by Barcelona on Monday after it fired Ernesto Valverde following a loss in the Spanish Super Cup

semifinal to Atlético Madrid.

“I am happy.... We did many things well, and I hope to go forward improving little by little,” Setién said. “[Messi] did what he has been doing all his life.

There are games like this when you are missing your finishing touch or are not inspired in attack, when he always appears. We know that when the ball reaches Messi’s feet there is a very high probability it is going in the net.”

Barcelona stayed ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference. Both teams are eight points ahead of third-place Atlético Madrid after 20 of 38 rounds.

Messi took his league-leading tally to 14 goals this campaign.

With Barcelona at the top of the league, the rare midseason coaching change was seen by many fans as an attempt to recover the attractive passing attack that had waned in recent seasons. Setién declares himself an admirer of soccer great Johan Cruyff, who established Barcelona’s style as a coach in the 1990s. AP

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

PSA HONORS TEAM PHL AS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR F F

ILIPINO athletes kept their poise, competed with flag and country in mind and exceeded all expectations by emerging overall champion of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

In record fashion, the 1,115-strong Philippine bets delivered 149 gold, 117 silver and 121 bronze medals from the 56 sports played in the 11-day competitions held in three major clusters within Luzon.

The numbers were the highest ever tallied by the country since it began competing in the biennial meet in 1977.

And they were more than enough to clinch for the host its second overall championship in the 11-nation multisport competition known as the Olympics of Southeast Asia.

For that astonishing feat in a December-toremember, Team Philippines will be bestowed the 2019 Athlete of the Year award in the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night.

The traditional gala honoring the top sports heroes and heroines of the year just passed is set on March 6 at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel and is presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Milo, Cignal TV and the Philippine Basketball Association.

This is the second time the country’s oldest media organization is recognizing the entire Team Philippines as its Athlete of the Year, the first one in 2005 when the Filipinos first won the overall title of the SEA Games the country also hosted.

Olympic silver medal winner Hidilyn Diaz

and Asian Games golden girls Margielyn Didal, Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go, all recipients of the Athletes of the Year honor in 2018, are but some of the prominent gold medalists for Team Philippines in the SEA Games, along with world champions Carlos Yulo and Nesthy Petecio and Tokyo Olympic-bound pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena.

“The choice of Team Philippines as 2019 PSA Athlete of the Year has never been as unanimous.

And it was felt the least the PSA can do to honor the men and women who brought singular distinction to the country during the 30th SEA Games is to give them one resounding, united vote,” said PSA President Eriberto ”Tito” Talao of the Manila Bulletin.

The Athlete of the Year is the highest honor solely

given by the PSA which was first established in 1949 and composed of editors and sportswriters from the different broadsheets, tabloids and sports web sites.

The country sportswriting fraternity will be handing out trophies for the President’s Award, Executive of the Year and National Sports Association of the Year.

There will also be awards for Ms. Basketball, Mr. Volleyball, Ms. Golf, Mr. Football and Coach of the Year.

The PSA will also give out Major Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, Tony Siddayao Awards, Milo Junior Athletes Awards and Citations to be led by the SEA Games gold medal winners.

Sports personalities who passed away last year will also be accorded with a posthumous recognition.

LASCUñA PRESSES BID IN PRADERA T

TONY Lascuña is aiming to boost his Order of Merit campaign in the Philippine Golf Tour Asia.

ony Lascuña hopes to come out strong coming off a playoff setback the last time out, aiming for a top finish in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Pradera Verde Classic firing off on Tuesday in Lubao, Pampanga.

Lascuña also aims to boost his Order of Merit (OOM) bid in the Philippine Golf Tour Asia (PGTA).

The multi-titled Davaoeño leads the OOM derby with $38,950 in earnings with two tournaments left in the third season (201920) of the region’s emerging circuit which broke barriers by holding a couple of tournaments in Taiwan last year.

Lascuña won the other leg in Tainan, besting a slew of Taiwanese and Thai aces, then rebounding from a forgettable joint 31st place finish at Luisita with a runner-up effort at Summit Point on a sudden death loss to Juvic Pagunsan last November.

“I feel good coming off a long break but so do the rest, so it’s going to be tough,” said Lascuña, 49, also wary of the tour’s long hitters who are expected to dominate the vast Pradera Verde layout.

Although diminutive Jhonnel Ababa had ruled

the last two Pradera events with 10-under 278 totals, a player’s length off the tee remains one of the key factors to one’s title drive at Pradera with the average distance of PGTA drives rising steadily buoyed by improvement in training and equipment.

“It depends, players with average drives can make it up through solid rescue or long iron shots. And there’s the short game and putting to talk on,” added Lascuña.

Whatever, the elite international field braces for an all-out assault of long, flat layout in Round 1 of the $100,000 event put up by ICTSI with Aussies Damien Jordan and Jack Lane-Weston, Thai Pachara Sakulyong, Spain’s Marcos Pastor, Josh Salah and Lexus Keoninh of the US and Japan’s Toru Nakajima spearheading the foreign challenge.

Also expected to step up are Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia, American Charles Lee, Koreans Myung Chal Hwang, Sangun Lee and Jun Sung Park along with Spain’s Salvador Paya Vila, Singapore’s Gabriel Cheok, Finland’s Sean Avellan, and Japan’s Yuta Sudo and Keita Sudo.

But the locals are also keen on keeping the crown at home with reigning Philippine Open champion Clyde Mondilla gunning for a victory worth $17,500 in a bid to stay in the hunt for back-to-back OOM title feat. The Del Monte ace is currently at No. 3 with $23,823 behind second running but absentee Tim Stewart ($32,570).

A host of young aces are also ready to crowd the fancied bets in all four days of the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. and backed by PLDT Enterprise, Meralco, BDO and PGTA official apparel Pin High, among them are Ira Alido, Reymon Jaraula, Keanu Jahns, James Ryan Lam, Justin Quiban, Sean Talmadge, Rupert Zaragosa and former amateur hotshot Lloyd Go.

MORRISON MISSES TOKYO STANDARD

ilipino-American William Morrison broke his own national record in men’s shot put but missed the Olympic qualifying standard at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Tennessee over the weekend.

Representing Indiana, the 6-foot-3 Morrison heaved the metal ball to 19.17 meters to finish second behind David Pless (19.36 m) in the meet.

The 30th Southeast Asian Games gold medalist earlier set the national record of 18.38 m at the New Clark City last month, beating Eleazer Sunang’s previous best of 16.74 m and the Games record of 17.74 m set by Thailand’s Chatchawal Polyam in the

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2011 Indonesia edition.

Morrison posted a 20.40 m effort in June 2019 before he officially earned a spot on the national team.

His record at the Vanderbilt tilt, however, was short of the 21.10 m qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympics.

Only Ernest Obiena already secured a ticket to the Japanese capital with his smashing feat in men’s pole fault. Besides Morrison, still hoping to qualify for Tokyo 2020 are hurdler Eric Cray, sprinter Kristina Knott and pole vaulter Natalie Uy. Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Lady Blazers beat Lady Knights, bag solo volleyball lead

OLLEGE of Saint Benilde scored a methodical 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 victory over Letran to wrest the solo lead in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 95 women’s volleyball tournament on Monday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

The Lady Blazers played a balanced offense with Chelsea Umali finishing with a team-high seven points, with Klarisa Abriam, Jade Gentapa and Michelle Gamit scoring six points each.

Marites Pablo, Mycah Go, Kaila Miranda added five points apiece and Christine Lim finished with 11 excellent digs for Saint Benilde which cruised to its third straight win.

Chamberlaine Cunada paced Letran with 15 points, while Julienne Castro contributed seven points. Julia Angeles had 25 excellent digs and 12 excellent reception and Marie Simboro finished with 14 excellent sets in the loss for the Lady Knights.

Mapua University, meanwhile, overcame

a sluggish first set to edge Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 22-25, and grab its first win of the season.

The Lady Cardinals had 55 successful attacks out of 229 attempts over their opponents’ 47 of 214 attempts.

The match was marred by errors for both teams with the Lady Generals committing 36 errors, four more than the Lady Cardinals’ 32.

Lorraine Barias paced the Lady Cardinals with 20 points with 28 excellent digs, Angeline Magundayao added 10 points and two blocks and Wellamae Ortega had 21 excellent digs and nine excellent receptions.

Krizzia Reyes made 19 points and Cathetine Almazan chipped 11 points for the Lady Generals, who drew two aces, 24 excellent digs, and 16 excellent sets from Anne Formento.

Jayrah Mangaring finished with 28 excellent digs and 13 excellent receptions for EAC in the one-hour and 52-minute match.

Ryniel Berlanga

Rowing head in PSA forum

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HE new officers of the Philippine Rowing Association led by President Patrick “Pato” Gregorio lead Tuesday’s guests list in the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Amelie Hotel Manila.

Gregorio will be accompanied by Deputy Secretary-General Magnum Membrere to discuss their plans for the association in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine

Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Philippine Sports Institute national training Director Marc Velasco was also invited to the 10 a.m. forum to talk about the 30th anniversary of the Philippine Sports Commission on January 24.

The forum is livestreamed via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/ PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and aired on a delayed basis over Radyo Pilipinas 2 from 1 to 2 p.m. and at 6:30 p.m.

Baclig, not Malonzo, AMA’s top pick in rookie draft

Russia slams UK anti-doping body on Farah samples

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MA Online Education changed its plans and picked homegrown playmaker Reed Baclig as the top selection in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Developmental League Draft on Monday at the PBA Office in Libis, Quezon City.

The Mark Herrera-coached Titans selected the little-known 5-foot-7 guard who was part of the school’s grassroots program.

Projected top selection Jamie Malonzo slid to Marinerong Pilipino at second, giving the Foundation Cup runner-up a foundational talent in the 6-foot-6 high flyer.

The 23-year-old Malonzo graduated from

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USSIA accused the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) of creating “a wall of mistrust” after the agency revealed it would block any attempts by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to seize samples given by Sir Mo Farah during an investigation into athletes trained by the Briton’s disgraced former Coach Alberto Salazar.

Nicole Sapstead, chief executive of UKAD, warned she would not sanction the release of blood and urine samples from Britain’s four-time Olympic gold medalist unless there was “credible evidence” to suggest they contained banned substances.

UKAD refused a request to hand over the samples it held for Farah during the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation into Salazar, banned in October for four years for doping offences.

They claimed at the time that retesting risked degrading samples which are stored for up to 10 years for testing using new detection methods.

UKAD played a leading role in helping rebuild the anti-doping system in Russia following the publication of a series of reports which led to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) being suspended initially by Wada in 2016.

Now, Rusada, currently facing the prospect of having a ban reimposed after allegedly manipulating data from the Moscow Laboratory they transferred to Wada, have called on Britain to be treated the same as everyone else.

“The World Anti-Doping Code and Wada standards are the same for everyone,” Rusada deputy General Director Margarita Pakhnotskaya told Russia’s official state news agency TASS. “Be it the British Anti-Doping Agency, Rusada or some other. Otherwise, the system will not work.”

Farah, winner of the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000 meters gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, has never failed a drugs test and has always strenuously denied taking banned substances.

Insidethegames

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Unified Tennis Philippines officials (from left)—board member Gerard Maronilla and President Jean Henri Lhuillier—pose with awardee Raul Guerrero, Alex Eala, Francis Casey Alcantara and Eala’s father and Coach Mike Eala. At right is UTP General Manager Jacinto Tomacruz.

TENNIS BODY HONORS TOP PLAYERS

Portland State before taking his act to De La Salle for one season and was even a part of the Mythical Team in University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82.

Marinero were the clear winners of the draft as Coach Yong Garcia chose standouts Joshua Torralba and Jollo Go of De La Salle, James Spencer of University of the Philipihjes, Darrell Menina of University of Cebu and Miguel Gastador of University of San Jose-Recoletos. Karate Kid-Centro Escolar University also picked Gilas pool member

Coastal rowing to be proposed for inclusion at Paris 2024

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oastal rowing could feature at Paris 2024 after World Rowing confirmed a proposal to add three events in the sport for the Olympic Games in the French capital.

The events, set to make their Olympic debut at the 2022 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, would take place at an existing venue at Paris 2024, World Rowing President Jean-

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HE Unified Tennis Philippines (UTP) recognized the country’s top players— led by Alexandra “Alex” Eala who was bestowed the title “Philippine Tennis Phenom”—during a recent awarding ceremony in Makati City.

UTP President Jean Henri Lhuillier led the ceremony and in his short address to the athletes, told them how their triumphs in the sport “inspired a lot of Filipino youth on getting into tennis and how many more Filipinos are developing an appreciation for the sport, as well.”

“This recognition also hopes to ignite the fire in more athletes to perform above and beyond, I hope that more Filipino tennis players will follow in your footsteps,” Lhuillier said.

Eala won titles in various international tournaments in 2019, including the International Tennis Federation Asia Oceania 14-Under Junior Qualifying Tournament in Malaysia, Under-18 ITF Juniors Grade A Singles Tournament in South Africa and in the Junior Orange Bowl Tennis Championships in the US. Eala also achieved an all-time high of No. 9 in the ITF World Junior Rankings.

Francis “Nino” Casey Alcantara and Jeson Patrombon were also feted for their men’s doubles gold medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Lhuillier also awarded Raul Guerrero for his contribution to the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Series. He was honored for his work in laying the foundation for the country’s most successful tennis tournaments.

The UTP is backed by Cebuana Lhuillier and Palawan Pawnshop.

Jaydee Tungcab as third overall pick as it entered a new era under Coach Jeff Napa.

Also joining the Scorpions are John Apacible of University of the East, Jboy Gob and David Murrell of UP, and Jerie Pingoy of Adamson University. Wangs-Letran picked school-based players in the first four rounds.

Forty-one of the 137-strong cast were picked in the draft that lasted 20 rounds. Eleven of the 12 participants in the upcoming Aspirants’ Cup are school-based teams. The tourney tips off on February 13.

PBA RECOGNITION

NorthPort owner and 1 Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero (center) receives a plaque of appreciation from the Philippine Basketball Association Board of Governors during the league’s Hero of the Night for his participation in last year’s 30th Southeast Asian Games where Team Philippines won the overall championship. Romero was a member of the national team that clinched a bronze medal in polo’s 0-2 goal event at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Batangas. With Romero are PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial (third from right) and Governors (from left) Robert Non (San Miguel), Rene Pardo (Magnolia), Ricky Vargas (TNT KaTropa), Alfrancis Chua (Barangay Ginebra) and Bobby Rosales (Columbia).

Christophe Rolland told insidethegames.

It is not yet clear where coastal rowing competitions would be staged at the Games in the French capital if the proposal is approved.

Rolland added they would not require any additional athlete quotas and claimed the proposal was “fully in line” with the considerations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

World Rowing is set to vote on putting forward the coastal version of the sport to the IOC at its Congress in October. The IOC Executive Board will confirm the program for Paris 2024 during its meeting in December.

Coastal rowing, described as the “extreme and adventure side” of the sport, involves rowing along a sea coast and out into the sea. There are seven boat classes for men and women—single scull, double sculls, coxed quadruple sculls and a mixed double scull.

Coastal rowing was added to the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar last month and could make its debut at the main Games if World Rowing’s proposal is accepted by the IOC. Rowing events at Paris 2024 are set at the Olympic Water Sports Stadium in Vaires-surMarne located 35 kilometers from the French capital. Insidethegames

NINERS, CHIEFS IN SUPER BOWL

By Eddie Pells

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The Associated Press

LITTLE more than two years ago, a pair of teams gambled on quarterbacks who had all kinds of potential but were far from a sure thing.

Both teams guessed right.

The Kansas City Chiefs will meet the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on February 2 in Miami. Oddsmakers opened the line at pick ‘em in a title game featuring one franchise, the Niners, trying to win a recordtying sixth Lombardi Trophy against another, the Chiefs, making their first appearance in the big game in 50 years.

Their quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes (KC) and Jimmy Garoppolo (SF).

Mahomes, whose gaudy college stats (his 5,052 passing yards led the country in 2016) were a by-product of playing at pass-happy Texas Tech, was generally viewed as no better than the second-best quarterback in a 2017 draft that wasn’t considered strong on quarterbacks to begin with.

Chiefs Coach Andy Reid disagreed. He gave up a first-round pick in the following year’s draft to move up to select Mahomes in 2017. Now, in his third season, Mahomes is a Super Bowl quarterback. He has 11 postseason touchdown passes, not a single interception, and has even led the Chiefs in rushing the last two weeks.

With its 35-24 win over Tennessee on Sunday in the American Football Conference (AFC) title game, Kansas City became the first team in National Football League (NFL) history to go from trailing by double digits to winning by double digits in consecutive playoff games.

“Everybody liked this guy,” Reid said, in 2017, about the reaction from the Kansas City front office and scouting department after they’d spent time with Mahomes in advance of the draft. “Everybody fell in love with the kid, and how he went about his business and how he played. That’s not something that happens every year.”

Garoppolo, a second-round pick by the Patriots in 2014, was considered the quarterback-in-waiting in New England, despite a limited résumé as Tom Brady’s backup. But with the Patriots not ready to part ways with their franchise cornerstone, and with Garoppolo’s contract running out, the quarterback became expendable. San Francisco acquired him in the middle of the 2017 season for a second-round pick.

Garoppolo won his first five starts in San Francisco and, before the season was out, he had a five-year contract extension that, at the time, included the highest average yearly salary in NFL history.

“When you find the right guy at that position, it’s really good for your franchise,” Niners GM John Lynch said, not long after the trade.

Though Garoppolo’s 102 passer rating this season was only 3.3 points less than Mahomes’s, San Francisco doesn’t depend on its franchise QB the way Kansas City does.

Exhibit A: Garoppolo threw only eight passes and totaled only 77 yards in San Francisco’s 37-20 win over Green Bay in the NFC title game Sunday. He is helped by a bruising running game recently anchored by Raheem Mostert (220 yards and four TDs on Sunday).

And the Niners have found a game-wrecking defensive end in rookie Nick Bosa. The second pick in the 2019 draft had a sack Sunday to go with the nine he recorded over the regular season to fuel a defense that gave up the fewest passing yards this season.

It all helped the 49ers return to the Super Bowl for the first time since Colin Kaepernick took them in 2013. The departure of Coach Jim Harbaugh and Kaepernick’s kneeling saga ushered in a period of instability. It included a carousel of four head coaches in four years that finally settled when Kyle Shanahan—the son of two-time Super Bowl winning Coach Mike Shanahan—got the job in 2017, and soon was joined by Garoppolo.

But when it comes to Super Bowl droughts—outside of the Jets and a handful of teams who have never been, nobody has waited longer to get to the title game than the Chiefs.

The team that lost to Green Bay in the very first Super Bowl, returned three years after that, in 1970, to win its first NFL championship. The Chiefs had their ups and downs in the decades since. The stat that stuck out the most was their 3-8 home playoff record since that victory over the Vikings in 1970 that marked the last game before the NFL and its old rival, the American Football League, officially merged and began playing as a single league the next season.

Now, in a season filled with celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the NFL, the Chiefs are back, coached by Reid, whose 14 postseason wins compiled over 20 seasons do not include a “W” in the biggest game of all.

Could the quarterback he took a chance on—a nimble-footed, strong-armed, next-generation talent—be the one to finally put him over the top?

Garoppolo, to say nothing of San Francisco’s running game and its top-ranked pass defense, will have plenty to say about that two weeks from now.

POPE CATCH

Sports BusinessMirror

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| Tuesday, January 21, 2020 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

A toss-up at legal sports books

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AS VEGAS—Even the bookies are having a problem figuring out a favorite in the Super Bowl.

Odds opened at pick ‘em Sunday at many Las Vegas sports books, though the Kansas City Chiefs quickly moved to one-point favorites over the San Francisco 49ers. Early bettors favored the Chiefs in a game that will almost surely set new legal betting records.

The combination of an attractive matchup, close odds and the spread of legalized sports betting means hundreds of millions of dollars will exchange hands over the next two weeks.

Bettors at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook got an early start after they were offered the pick ‘em odds at halftime of the National Football Conference championship game. Oddsmaker Jay Kornegay said about 80 percent of the early money was on the Chiefs and the line moved to Chiefs minus-1.

The over/under total started at 51 1/2 and was at 53 after a bettor put $110,000 on the over.

Odds and point spreads can fluctuate up until the kickoff February 2 in Miami, largely because of heavy bets on one side or the other.

At the new Circa sports books, the game was pick ‘em with a 52 total to open. Sports book director Matthew Metcalf tweeted that bettors could bet up to $100,000 a side on Sunday with limits of $500,000 a side beginning Tuesday morning.

Most books limit bets early to see if the point spread moves while being tested by so-called sharps.

Legal betting in Nevada’s 200 sports books was down last year at $145.9 million after setting a record the year before with $158.6 million in bets. A big percentage of Super Bowl betting is in so-called prop bets, which have become increasingly popular as they multiplied in recent years.

Books will begin releasing hundreds of different prop bets during the week, from who will win the opening coin flip to how many penalties each team will have.

Kornegay said he expects a new record to be set in Nevada on the game, largely driven by a good economy. Bets are now legal in 13 other states, too, though not in the home states of either team or in Florida. AP

Tom Brady most dominant player in AFC history

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Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard (13) falls to the ground between San Francisco 49ers free safety Jimmie Ward (20) and Emmanuel Moseley during the first half of their National Football Conference final match on Sunday. AP

England’s Ollie Pope takes the catch to dismiss South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen during Day Four of the third cricket test between both teams in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on Sunday. AP

om Brady has been synonymous with the American Football Conference (AFC) championship for the last two decades.

Thirteen times he played for the Lamar Hunt Trophy and nine times he won it, besting MVP Patrick Mahomes in overtime, upending Blake Bortles in a classic comeback, denying Andrew Luck and Philip Rivers trips to the Super Bowl, foiling Ben Roethlisberger twice and Kordell Stewart once, and splitting two games with Joe Flacco.

Peyton Manning he bested once but three other times he lost to his rival in the conference title game.

Sunday’s showdown between the throwback Tennessee Titans (11-7) and the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs (13-4) marks the first AFC championship game since 2010 without Brady barking under center and Bill Belichick scowling on the sideline.

It’s also the first time since 2002 that the AFC championship doesn’t include Brady, Manning or Roethlisberger.

The star attractions this time are the Titans’ bulldozing running back Derrick Henry, the man most responsible for putting an end to New England’s preeminence and for trampling the high hopes in Baltimore after All-Pro Lamar Jackson played his position in 2019 unlike any other quarterback in the league’s first 100 years.

Reigning league MVP Mahomes produced an astonishing 51-7 response to the 24-0 hole the Chiefs found themselves in against Houston in the divisional round last week. So consummate was Kansas City’s comeback that the Chiefs ran out of fireworks they shoot off to celebrate their touchdowns at Arrowhead Stadium.

Before Brady made the AFC title game his personal playground, John Elway, Bob Griese and Terry Bradshaw built their reputations in the big games that secured Super Bowl appearances for the eventual Hall of Famers.

Two decades before winning two AFC titles from the front office with Manning as his quarterback, Elway engineered five victories for the Denver Broncos from the huddle, including classics, such as “The Drive“ and “The Fumble,” against the Cleveland Browns. He won Super Bowls following his last two conference championship appearances and another with Manning, who toppled Brady, 20-18, in the 2016 AFC title game in the 17th and final meeting between the two greatest quarterbacks of the 21st century.

Griese led Miami to three consecutive AFC trophies in the years following the 1970 merger, including a win over Pittsburgh and Bradshaw during the only undefeated season in league history.

Bradshaw bounced back to win four AFC titles in six seasons, parlaying each of them into a Super Bowl ring.

Jim Kelly won a record of four consecutive AFC championships in the 1990s, but heartbreaking Super Bowl losses followed each of them during a streak of 13 consecutive victories by the National Football Conference representative. AP TOM BRADY’S name is solidly etched in National Football League history. AP

God, You are our sun and our shield

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EAR God, in trust we pray: Establish Your Church in peace, oh God. Inspire bishops in their work to promote the rights of women, immigrants and the poor. Advance understanding, respect, and dialogue among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other religious denominations for Peace and Unity in this World. Revive lands and peoples that suffer destruction caused by war, violence and acts of terror. May God fill us with every blessing of the spirit as we prepare for the coming of Christ, in company with Saint Ambrose and all the saints. Amen.

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

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

AN assortment of various kitchen gadgets in New York, including a food processor. AP

Life

SAG AWARDS: ‘PARASITE’ WINS, SO DO JOAQUIN PHOENIX AND RENEE ZELLWEGER D3

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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Providing quality ‘homeware’ to Filipinos

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES

9 essential gadgets worth the real estate in your kitchen

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BY KATIE WORKMAN The Associated Press

LOVE a shiny new kitchen object as much as the next cook and, at times, my kitchen has resembled a kitchen specialty store. But if you have a small kitchen, counter space and cabinet storage are at a premium.

Here are some of my all-time favorite gadgets to make your cooking life better. I’m skipping the bigger appliances like slow cookers and air fryers. I’m also skipping knives, cutting boards, pots and pans, measuring cups and the like, because you pretty much know you need those.

This is about great gadgets, both low- and hightech, that deserve a spot in your kitchen because they work hard and smart.

■ PERFECT PEELER. I use a peeler pretty much every day for something. Potatoes, carrots, apples, winter squash, etc. I am a fan of Kuhn Rikon peelers, which are lightweight and easy to use on peels thick and thin. OXO also make an assortment with different blades, shapes and widths.

■ PEPPER MILL. Nothing is more important in the kitchen than salt and pepper, and freshly ground pepper is much better than pre-ground. The Peppermate Traditional Pepper Mill is sleek and contemporary looking, made of ceramic with a side crank. It has a removable, clear bottom cup under the grinder to catch the pepper, and an adjustable grinding size, from very fine (for most things) to very coarse (for things like steak au poivre). For a more classic look, Peugeot makes high-quality mills.

■ MANDOLINE. It’s hard to get perfectly thin slices for most of us home cooks, even with a good knife. But with a mandoline, you can get even slices of all sorts of vegetables and other ingredients. One example is the OXO Good Grips Hand-Held version, which comes with settings for three different thin-nesses, and a handle so you can slice safely and quickly into a bowl or over a plate.

■ FOOD PROCESSOR. I use no appliance more than this one. I use it for pureeing, chopping, slicing and shredding. Cuisinart has long been my go-to brand; I grew up with one and now own half a dozen. Other companies, like KitchenAid and Breville, also make good food processors. Sizes range from quite large (14 or 16-cup bowls) to mini (about 2 cups). I recommend one little one, for things like mincing garlic or making pesto, and one large, for everything else.

■ MICROPLANE. One of those products where the brand name has become synonymous with the thing itself, even though other manufacturers make similar items. This is basically a small, handheld grater. The most classic one is long and narrow, with lots of fine blades that turn lemon zest and hard grating cheeses and chocolate into fluffy mounds of delicate tiny shreds. You can also get versions that grate food into larger strands.

■ INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER. There are many versions on the market, from digital to analog to Bluetooth to infrared. When you want to make sure that you are not overcooking a roast beef, or that your bread is cooked through, an instant-read thermometer is indispensable. (You’ll justify the cost quickly when you consider how much you spent on

that holiday filet!) In the most user-friendly digital arena, Thermapen instant thermometers are fast and precise with a wide temperature range.

■ IMMERSION BLENDER. I love my blender and food processor, but if you’ve ever tried to transfer a pot of hot, chunky soup to a blender then you understand why an immersion blender is such an asset. Instead of pouring, just place the immersion blender right into the pot. You can even stick the wand into a can of whole tomatoes and puree them right there. There are loads of good ones on the market, from companies like Breville, All-Clad, Braun and Philips.

■ WINE OPENER. If you’re not a wine drinker, then obviously this isn’t a go-to gadget, but if you are, investing in a nice one makes opening a bottle a real pleasure. Williams Sonoma makes a great assortment, including classic winged corkscrews and easy-touse lever corkscrews. Rabbit is an another reliable name in the wine-opener world, and you might splurge on a Pro Electric Corkscrew with an Infrared Thermometer for the true oenophile in your life.

■ SOUS VIDE. If you’ve been curious about sous vide (and many people are), then now is a good time to try this latest-technology gadget; there are lots of options out there at pretty reasonable prices. Sous vide is a cooking method that entails putting food in a vacuum-sealed bag and cooking it in water at a controlled temperature. It’s basically impossible to overcook it. The Joule Sous Vide is small compared to other sous vide appliances, but powerful, as well as sleek and attractive enough to leave out. It works with phone apps, as well, for the ultimate in modern cooking. ■

SINCE entering the local market in 2001, Gourdo’s has proven itself a reliable source for the best homeware from all over the globe—from Europe to North America and Asia.

After opening its first branch at Bonifacio Global City, Gourdo’s opened a second branch in 2004, a 26-sq-m space in Glorietta 4. To cope with the rising demand for its products, Gourdo’s moved to a space in Glorietta that’s 10 times bigger, which means there are now just as many more reasons to linger and leisurely browse their display.

Susan San Miguel, general manager of Gourdo’s, said the store provides more comfort and a better shopping experience to its customers.

With its French-inspired interiors, San Miguel said they will also showcase premium names in kitchenware and cookware. Among the familiar brands in the roster are Wilton, Wusthof, Microplane, Lodge, Ballarini, Swissmar, Libbey, Tovolo and Trudeau. Gourdo’s also has its own in-house labeled products.

For the money-conscious shoppers, San Miguel said Gourdo’s stylish settings can be easily achieved with valuefor-money options of dinnerware, cutlery, glassware and linens. Moreover, she said buffet setup needs are met with serving tools like chafers, buffet plates, grazing boards and service sets. If a raclette party is on your calendar, Gourdo’s has everything for a cheese or chocolate fondue. You can put together a Spanish spread with their paelleras, cazuelas and Spanish food ingredients.

Further, there are tools for those who are into bartending, such as copper cocktail shakers and stemware. Those who prefer coffee and tea won’t be disappointed with the selection of accessories and coffee beans, and the lineup of tea brands.

Gourdo’s carries Twinings, Tipson and Basilur.

San Miguel said baking enthusiasts can also find baking ingredients in Gourdo’s, such as Wilton fondant and food coloring, chocolates for praline-making, colored dusting powder for sugar crafts, and cookie and cupcake decorating.

Moreover, they also sell homegrown favorites like Basimatsi vinegar as well as chocolates from Auro, Malagos, Manila Chocolatier, and Theo and Philo.

It’s not just all the little things at Gourdo’s. Don’t be surprised to see electric kitchen appliances under the labels of KitchenAid, Oster, Kenwood, Vitamix, Braun, George Foreman and Russel Hobbs.

“Our kitchen section is most popular but we also carry items for other parts of the home,” pointed out San Miguel.

They have a bed-and-bath corner that offers beddings, pillows in various shapes and sizes, towels and bathroom accessories. A selection of soaps, sprays and candles can also be found there.

The terrarium bar is difficult to miss with its row of succulents and stash of tiny shovels, pots, potting mix, pumice, rocks and pebbles.

BRIA Homes to hold nationwide Grand Open House on January 25, 26 AS a new decade dawns, BRIA Homes (www.bria.com.ph) continues to bolster its status as the “Pambansang Pabahay ng Pilipinas,” providing more strongly built modern homes to ordinary Filipinos in key cities and towns all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Having emboldened families and individuals to buy their own homes, not in the distant future but in the here and now, the fastest-growing mass housing developer aims for every BRIA Home to be a symbol of determination and triumph for the average working Filipino, making the BRIA experience a national experience.

BRIA Homes also intends to aid in nation-building by showing Filipinos that owning a home is just the first step toward

achieving more goals, and this, in turn, contributes to the country’s progress. It is with this aspirational thrust that BRIA Homes kicks off the new decade with a Grand Open House on January 25 and 26, which will simultaneously showcase its well-designed model homes in all of its projects nationwide.

On January 25, the Grand Open House will welcome prospective Filipino homeowners by a lively motorcade at 7 am, followed by a grand launch of the Pambansang Pabahay campaign.

Leisurely viewing will continue at 8 am on January 26, with more than 50 BRIA communities open to guests all day.

Visitors can check out BRIA’s model units: Elena, a 24-square-meter unit on a 36-sq-m lot; Bettina, a 44-sq-m unit on a

36-sq-m lot; and Alecza, a 36-sq-m unit on an 81-sq-m lot; plus BRIA’s compact condominium model units designed for those who prefer comfortable, fuss-free lifestyles.

Aspiring homeowners will also see firsthand the perks of living in a safe and secure BRIA community: its perimeter fences, guarded entrances and exits, and 24/7 CCTV coverage, along with its recreational amenities like basketball courts and eco-friendly spaces. Future residents will have access to key destinations, such as schools, hospitals, churches, and commercial establishments, and to major roads and highways. All BRIA developments are, likewise, located close to different modes of public transport.

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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Carrie Fisher bio as sharp, endearing as its subject

By Douglass K. Daniel The Associated Press

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TAR Wars fans may feel a lump in their throats when Carrie Fisher appears in the finale of the world’s most popular film series. The Rise of Skywalker was supposed to be Princess Leia’s movie— and Fisher’s character would, at last, take center stage.

As with so much of her life, Fisher’s moment instead became another great thing that almost happened, not unlike a childhood upended by celebrity parents, a marriage to singer Paul Simon marked by breakups, and an acting career hobbled by drug addiction and mental illness. Her public persona as a tough, irreverent truth-teller hid a deep streak of insecurity and neediness.

“For all her bravado and charm,” a friend told biographer Sheila Weller, “Carrie was as fragile as a butterfly.”

Fisher believed that in her weakness there was strength.

Weller writes, “Her honesty about her problems gave her a strength— empathy toward and relief for others with problems; a unique, wise humor that would grow over the years.”

Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge (Sarah Crichton Books; Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is a compassionate portrait of a complex personality whose up-anddown life rivals the Hollywood travails of Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland in its mixture of charisma, talent and self-destruction. Fisher’s story is a sad one, certainly, but also lively, tart and funny because she was all that and more. So is Weller’s engaging book.

Tapping Fisher’s many friends, she fills her pages with anecdotes illustrating the pains and joys of a life that often went over the edge—way over.

Little Carrie was a precocious charmer—and why not, given her parents were a sparkling actress, Debbie Reynolds, and a teen idol, crooner Eddie Fisher. Their busy careers left Carrie and her brother to be raised by a grandmother and a governess, home at times their

mother’s hotel rooms. Carrie’s relationship with her mother was one of love and codependence but also competition for attention. If Reynolds was smothering, her father was distant and self-absorbed.

Reynolds’s connections helped Fisher to win her first film role, in 1975’s Shampoo with Warren Beatty,

and her second, in 1977’s Star Wars.

With unexpected superstardom at 19, she put aside her desire to become a writer. She also made little use of a good singing voice to avoid comparisons with her father.

Fisher had been showing signs of bipolar disorder for years, selfmedicating with cocaine and Percodan

z

to try to calm the howling in her head.

Recovery from an overdose on the set of the 1981 comedy Under the Rainbow came with an official diagnosis, which she rejected in favor of thinking she was just a drug addict. It would be several more years before she realized the emotional highs and lows, manic shopping, racing thoughts and nonstop talking were textbook bipolar behavior.

An overdose in 1985 followed by rehab changed Fisher’s life. She not only accepted that she had the dual diseases, she also decided to write about them and the other strains she felt. The autobiographical novel Postcards From the Edge, published in 1987, led to a new career as a novelist.

Writing the screenplay for the movie version opened another venue for her skills—as a script doctor she would pep up Sister Act and Lethal Weapon 3 (both 1992) and other films.

In time Fisher developed a public image as a witty if troubled observer of life in general and Hollywood in particular. One of her reflections: “Money and power don’t change you.

They reveal you.”

Following a serious psychotic break in 1997, Fisher went public about her struggles, writing the novel The Best Awful in 2004 and becoming an advocate for others living with the diseases. Not that writing about being bipolar and an addict cured her. Nor did the new signs of success and acceptance ease her feelings of inadequacy. In later years the fat shaming she endured from social media especially hurt her.

When Fisher died in 2016 after suffering a seizure mid-flight from London to the US, she had been a part of American culture since her birth 60 years earlier. Few movie stars reach the iconic status she achieved as Princess Leia. Yet, her openness about her illnesses may be her most important legacy. n Douglass K. Daniel is the author of Anne Bancroft: A Life (University Press of Kentucky) and other books.

Cat-and-mouse game skillfully told in debut novel

By Bruce DeSilva The Associated Press WHEN Elizabeth Pfautz was a child in Pennsylvania, her twin sister was lured away by a stranger, never to be seen again.

Years later, in 1941, Elizabeth is raising a daughter who bears a striking resemblance to the missing twin. They live with her husband, a schoolteacher, in a remote Native American village in Alaska.

There, Elizabeth dreams of her missing sister every night. Although Elizabeth isn’t a woman given to magical thinking, she can’t shake the feeling that her sister is trying to make contact through those dreams.

As Raymond Fleischmann’s debut novel, How Quickly She Disappears (Berkley), opens, a plane that delivers mail to the village has landed with a stranger in place of the usual pilot. And there is something wrong with the plane.

Before the stranger figures out how to fix it, he gets into a dispute with Elizabeth’s best friend in the village, viciously bludgeons him to death and refuses to explain why. The only person he will speak with, he tells police, is Elizabeth.

Reluctantly, Elizabeth agrees to see him, only to find that he has no interest in talking about the killing.

He has a different agenda.

Elizabeth’s twin is alive, he tells her. He knows who

took her and where she is now. If she wants to know more, she will have to continue visiting him in jail, each time doing him a single, small favor.

What follows is a high-stakes, cat-and-mouse game that will remind readers of the menacing dance between Hannibal Lecter and FBI agent Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.

Fleischmann tells his story with such skill that it is hard to believe this is a debut novel. The characters are well-developed and memorable, the rural Alaska setting is vividly portrayed, the plot is loaded with unexpected turns and the unrelenting suspense creates a growing sense of dread.

Best of all, the author tells the tale with the musical prose of a literary novelist at the top of his game.

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Booboo Stewart, 26; Ashton Eaton, 32; Emma Bunton, 44; Geena Davis, 64.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Pay more attention to important relationships, your health and how you present who you are and what you can do. Turn this year into one of personal growth, enlightenment, and striving to reach higher standards and professional goals. Leave the past behind you, and focus on the moment and what life has to offer. Change begins within. Your lucky numbers are 1, 5, 18, 26, 34, 42, 47.

a

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Learn from mistakes, and consider the best way to improve what you have to offer. An act of kindness will make you feel good, as well as make a difference to someone struggling. Romance is highlighted. HHHHH

b

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Refuse to let emotions get in the way of your responsibilities. A problem can be fixed if you are open about what you want to see happen.

Be the one to make a difference, not the one to cause concern. HH

c

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): If you want change, make it happen. Refuse to let someone bully you or lead you astray. Make your home a safe place where you can chill and enjoy time spent with family and friends. HHHH

d

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Step outside your comfort zone and see what life has to offer. Look at possible partnerships and how you can work alongside someone who will contribute as much as you do. HHH

e

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A playful, energetic attitude will lead to success. Network and socialize with people who are as enthusiastic as you are, and good things will transpire.

Personal improvements will boost your morale and make you irresistible. Love is in the air. HHH

f

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t mince words when dealing with youngsters or seniors trying to take advantage of you. Set a standard that will ensure everyone stays in line and takes care of his or her responsibilities. HHH

g

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You may want change, but some of the people your choices will affect may not. Get the goahead before you make a move that may cause havoc.

Concentrate on personal growth and improvements, not trying to change others. HHHH

h

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Look at all sides of a situation and you’ll come up with a plan that will encourage others to pitch in and help. Don’t let someone from your past cause problems that will upset your current friendships or a love relationship. HH

i j

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You’ll attract plenty of attention. Put your energy into something constructive. Fixing up your personal space to suit some of the projects you want to pursue will help push you in the right direction. HHHHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’ll face opposition if you are too vocal about what you plan to do. Focus on perfecting your plans before you decide to share. Someone will take advantage of you or steal your idea if you are too transparent. HHH

k

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Put your best foot forward. Partnerships, professional gains and personal change are within reach.

Enthusiasm and following through with your promises will lead to greater opportunities and the chance to earn your living doing something you enjoy. HHH

l

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Channel your energy wisely. You can get into an argument or you can make good use of your time. Helping others can be good for the soul and offer insight into a situation you have been avoiding.

Observation will be enlightening. HHH BIRTHDAY BABY: You are energetic, open-minded and fair.

You are sensitive and compassionate.

‘beat it’ BY PAUL COULTER The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Floor cleaner 4 Broad neckwear 9 ASCAP alternative 12 ___ carte 13 Islamic law 15 Faux or fox coats 16 “Scram, truck driver!”

18 Book after Ezekiel, alphabetically 19 Sneaker brand 20 R.R. stop 21 2019 Gold Glove winner Anthony 23 Sections of a tall cake 25 Restroom door sign 27 It’s a wrap in Japan 29 Hanukkah item 31 Chooses 33 Gallery display 34 1545 council site 36 Aqua Velva competitor 37 “Scram, scoutmaster!”

40 “Roots,” e.g.

43 One-eyed “Futurama” toon 44 Stereotypically unsanitary animal

7 How a bandage should be 4 50 Ease, as tension 52 After expenses 53 Pie cuts, essentially 55 Fire remnant 56 Valentine sentiment 58 Alabama-to-Ohio dir.

60 One of ___ (Willa Cather novel) 61 Organ knob 62 “Scram, meteorologist!”

65 ___ in Boots 66 Zimbabwe’s capital 67 Schwab of tire fame 68 Appropriate 69 Less cooked 70 Silent Spring subject DOWN 1 Gandhi’s title 2 Laurence of Othello 3 Able to wait 4 Grate stuff 5 “___ the one!”

6 Did a cheerleading stunt 7 Home of Maine’s Black Bears

8 Aunt, to Frida Kahlo 9 “Scram, beekeeper!”

10 US show about a hacker 11 The Heart ___ Lonely Hunter 14 Magazine space seller 15 Tasseled hat 17 Poi source 22 Abbr. on a bank statement 24 Mex. miss 26 One might visit for the holidays 28 401(k) alternative 30 Early cat carrier?

32 Ed.’s request 35 Scottish denial 37 Black gunk 38 ___ de la Cite 39 Green smoothie vegetable 40 You may be asked for its last four digits: Abbr.

41 Relished something 42 “Scram, maze creator!”

44 Assemble again 45 Kept from happening 46 Most brief

8 Nickname hidden in “clairvoyant” 4 49 Ha ha ha or hardy har har 51 “Don’t worry about me” 54 Prefix with “red” 57 Good economic periods 59 Bronte heroine Jane 61 Health resort 63 Viking ship propeller 64 ___ Lingus Solution to yesterday’s puzzle:

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JOAQUIN PHOENIX with his SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Joker.

Show BusinessMirror

RENEE ZELLWEGER beams with her SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Judy.

LAURA DERN in the press room with the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Marriage Story.

‘Parasite’ wins at SAG Awards, so do Joaquin Phoenix and Renee Zellweger

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By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

ARASITE has officially infected Hollywood’s award season. Bong Joon-ho’s Korean class satire became the first foreign language film to take top honors from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday, setting itself up as a legitimate best picture contender to the front-runner 1917 at next month’s Academy Awards.

The best ensemble win for Parasite came over the starry epics Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and The Irishman. It was a surprise but only to a degree. Parasite, up for six Oscars, including best picture, has emerged as perhaps the stiffest competition for Sam Mendes’s 1917, which won at the highly predictive Producers Guild Awards on Saturday.

But Parasite was the clear crowd favorite Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where even the cast’s appearance introducing the film drew a standing ovation. Yet until the SAG Awards, the many honors for Parasite have seldom included awards for its actors, none of whom were nominated for an Oscar.

“Although the title is Parasite, I think the story is about coexistence and how we can all live together,” said Song Kang-ho, one of the film’s stars, through a translator.

Because actors make up the largest percentage of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, their picks are closely watched as an Academy Awards harbinger. But the last two years, the SAG ensemble winner has not gone on to win best picture: Black Panther last year and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2018. And this year’s front-runner, 1917, more acclaimed for its technical acumen, wasn’t nominated by the screen actors.

If Parasite can pull off the upset at the February 9 Oscars, it would be the first foreign language film to do so.

Before the win for Parasite, the SAG Awards were

most notable as a reunion for Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. They each took home awards, and celebrated the other’s win.

Pitt is headed toward his first acting Academy Award for his supporting performance in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, and he added to his front-runner status with a win from the actors’ guild. Along the way, his speeches have been full of one-liners and he didn’t disappoint Sunday. Pitt, who said he was nursing a flu, looked down at his award and said, “I’ve got to add this to my Tinder profile.”

He added: “Let’s be honest, it was a difficult part. A guy who gets high, takes his shirt off and doesn’t get on with his wife. It was a big stretch.” The audience laughed and clapped, including—as the cameras captured—Aniston, his ex-wife.

Aniston later won an award of her own for best female actor in a drama series for the Apple TV Plus show The Morning Show. “What!” she said upon reaching the stage. Aniston finished her speech with a shout-out to her Murder Mystery costar Adam Sandler, whose performance in Uncut Gems has gone mostly unrewarded this season despite considerable acclaim.

“Your performance is extraordinary, and your magic is real. I love you, buddy,” said Aniston.

Backstage, Pitt watched Aniston’s acceptance speech. After she got off stage, they warmly congratulated each other on their first individual SAG Awards.

Along with Pitt, all the Oscar favorites kept their momentum, including wins for Renee Zellweger (Judy), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Laura Dern (Marriage Story).

As expected, Phoenix took best performance by a leading male actor. After individually praising each fellow nominee, Phoenix concluded with a nod to his Joker predecessor. “I’m standing here on the shoulders of my favorite actor, Heath Ledger,” said Phoenix.

Dern also further established herself as the best supporting actress favorite with a win from the actors’

guild. On her way to the stage, she hugged her father, Bruce Dern, part of the Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood ensemble.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge continued her awards sweep for Fleabag, a winner at the Emmys and the Golden Globes. Waller-Bridge added an SAG win for best female actor in a comedy series and took a moment to reflect on the show’s parade of accolades.

“This whole thing really has been a dream, and if I wake up tomorrow and discover it was just that, then, thank you,” said Waller-Bridge. “It’s been the most beautiful dream.”

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also continued its streak, winning best comedy series ensemble for the second straight year, along with a win for Tony Shalhoub. But accepting the ensemble award, the show’s shocked Alex Borstein said she had voted for Fleabag.

“Honestly this makes no sense,’ said Borstein.

“Fleabag is brilliant.’”

Robert de Niro was given the guild’s lifetime achievement award, an honor presented by Leonardo DiCaprio who, like De Niro, is a frequent leading man for Martin Scorsese. (The two costar in Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon.) A raucous standing ovation greeted the 76-year-old actor.

De Niro, a fiery critic of President Donald J. Trump, referenced the president in his remarks.

“There’s right, and there’s wrong. And there’s common sense, and there’s abuse of power. As a citizen, I have as much right as anybody—an actor, an athlete, anybody else—to voice my opinion,” said de Niro. “And if I have a bigger voice because of my situation, I’m going to use it whenever I see a blatant abuse of power.”

Game of Thrones closed out its eight-season run with wins for Peter Dinklage for best male actor in a drama series and for best stunt ensemble work. The Crown took best ensemble in a drama series. And both Fosse/ Verdon stars—Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell— won for their performances in the miniseries. n

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

BRAD PITT with the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood.

AN EVENING OF MUSIC, GENEROUS DEED

MUSIC masters join young autistic talents in an evening of classical, jazz and Filipino music on January 23, as the Association for Adults with Autism Philippines (AAAP) presents Collaborare: A Night of Fusion Music From Gershwin to Grusin to Cayabyab.

In a unique collaboration between masters and budding artists with autism, three of the country’s eminent musicians—pianists Raul Sunico and Ma. Solinda GarciaBautista, and drummer Jun Regalado—will perform solo and ensemble pieces with six gifted, and proudly, autistic young adults. These are songsters Ian Borleo, Danica Escanisas, Samantha Kaspar and Thara Santiago; and keyboardists Kevin Bautista and Macky Palomares.

Sunico has won major international piano competitions, given solo recitals the world over and is the only pianist in the world to perform the four piano concertos of Sergei Rachmaninoff in a single evening. Regalado is one of the Philippines’s most prolific and sought-after drummers and is an Aliw Lifetime Achievement Awardee. Garcia-Bautista, a long-time corporate executive in the finance industry, is a classical and crossover pianist, national music competitions winner and pioneer of music therapy in the Philippines, helping individuals, communities and corporate clients.

AAAP is a nonprofit organization founded by parents of persons within the Autism spectrum disorder. Its flagship project, A Special Place, is envisioned to be a community that will offer residential, educational and work opportunities for adults with autism and related conditions.

Under the care of a professional staff trained in individualized development programs, residents enjoy opportunities for personal growth and social relationships in an environment that both recognizes their special needs and nurtures their strength.

For an evening of not just beautiful music but also generous deed, visit Ticketworld online (www.ticketworld. com.ph) or one of its outlets nearest you for details.

Proceeds from the benefit concert on January 23 at Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, will support AAAP’s multiple projects, including the development of a multifunction village for adults with autism.

‘Bad Boys for Life’ debuts so good with box-office top spot

By Jonathan Landrum Jr. The Associated Press LOS ANGELES—Two Bad Boys were too good for one Dolittle at the box office.

Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, brought in $59 million in the United States and Canada to score a No. 1 debut entering the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The actionpacked, buddy comedy returned for the franchise’s third installment after a 17-year hiatus with popular demand to outlast Dolittle, starring Robert Downey Jr., which opened at second with a mediocre $22.5 million. Sony Pictures predicted that Bad Boys will

make around $68 million over the four-day weekend.

The film exceeded expectations, building momentum with favorable reviews including an “A” Cinema Score and a 76-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

“It’s a great brand with two terrific stars, a beloved franchise and it feels like summertime in January,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. He said it was a smart move by Sony Pictures to release the film during January, an unusual month for blockbusters releases but it ultimately “reaped huge benefits.”

Dolittle barely topped the World War I film 1917, which claimed the top spot last week. The Sam Mendes-directed war film continues to hold strong with $22.1 million this weekend after going from 11 screens in its first weeks to more than 3,600.

The Oscar-nominated epic wartime film has gained popularity after it won Golden Globes for best director and drama film a couple weeks ago. Saturday night, it won an award for theatrical motion picture at the Producers Guild Awards, which has gone on to win best picture Oscar 21 out of 30 times, including the past two years.

“1917 is really taking a lot of the oxygen, and taking on a life of its own since the Oscar nominations and all of these awards,” Dergarabedian said. “If you haven’t seen 1917, you’re totally out of the loop for awards season.” Along with Bad Boys, Sony Pictures has two

other films in the top 10 at the domestic box office, including Oscar-contender Little Women and Jumanji: The Next Level, which crossed $700 million worldwide.

In another blockbuster, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker topped $1 billion globally after five weeks.

The Disney’s film focusing on the final chapter of the Luke Skywalker saga has also earned more than $492 million domestically.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included: 1. Bad Boys for Life, $59.1 million, ($38.6 million international) 2. Dolittle, $22.5 million, ($17.2 million international) 3. 1917, $22.1 million, ($26.1 million international) 4. Jumanji: The Next Level, $9.5 million, ($17 million international) 5. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, $8.3 million, ($10.9 million international) 6. Just Mercy, $6 million, ($1.3 million international) 7. Little Women, $5.9 million, ($6.2 million international) 8. Knives Out, $4.3 million, ($3.1 million international) 9. Like A Boss, $3.8 million 10. Frozen 2, $3.7 million, ($12 million international)

CHRISTIAN, AICELLE, MARK JOIN FORCES FOR ONE-NIGHT CONCERT

THREE of the country’s established music artists, Christian Bautista, Aicelle Santos and Mark Bautista, come together for a night of vocal virtuosity, mixing pop, jazz and a pinch of theatrics for their concert 1 for 3, which goes onstage on February 1 at The Theatre at Solaire.

All of them are celebrated for having left their imprint on the international stage, each one recognized for various artistic endeavors in the industry and applauded for possessing a voice with power and nuance.

At present, Christian, Aicelle and Mark are part of GMA’s newest musical-comedy variety show All-Out Sundays.

Under the helm of musical director Mel Villena and stage director Paolo Valenciano, 1 for 3 features songs that will move, thrill and spark joy among the audience, all the while showcasing Christian, Aicelle and Mark’s music chops and individual styles.

1 for 3 is presented by Solaire Resort & Casino in cooperation with PLDT Home. For tickets, call TicketWorld hot lines at 8891-9999, or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.

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Art

BusinessMirror

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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Portrait found in gallery’s walls verified as missing Klimt PHANTASMA, Sal Ponce Enrile, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 36” x 60”

Artists as modern-day alchemists CIRCLES

A mix of top Filipino abstractionists comprises the 2020 curtain-raiser of Arte Bettina in a group show, titled Alchemy.

JT NISAY

jtnisay@gmail.com

T

HE boundless curiosity of man sparked a mad rush to understand, and eventually exploit, his connection to the cosmos.

Speculative thoughts were born, including astrology, which, of course, centers on man’s link to the stars.

Another form, however, focused on transforming base metals, such as lead or copper into something more precious like silver or gold. It also sought ways to extend life and attain eternal bliss. In 12 century Latin Europe, the practice was named alchemy.

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, both astrology and alchemy “have always been pursued in the belief that the processes human beings witness in heaven and on Earth manifest the will of the Creator and, if correctly understood, will yield the key to the Creator’s intentions.”

How alchemists utilize select materials to create something that will stand the test of time presents parallels with the artistic process. Are artists then the alchemists of our time? Britannica strengthens the impression, stating that the “Greeks, Chinese and Indians usually referred to what Westerners call alchemy as ‘The Art,’ or by terms denoting change or transmutation.”

In any case, the idea supplies the premise of Arte Bettina’s curtain-raiser for the year—a group show titled Alchemy, featuring some of the top names in Philippine nonfigurative art. The show opened last week at the gallery’s space in Greenbelt 5, and will run until February 2.

The exhibition flourishes in the richness of the presented style and on the level of individual execution by both new and established artists.

Alchemy takes the viewer from running along, beneath and above the many lines of Jay Ragma in Red Pillars, to figuring in the geometry and textures of J Consunji in Takbo V, to losing form and gaining life and color in Sal Ponce Enrile’s Phantasma.

Also part of the group show are Andre Baldovino, Fitz Herrera, Binong Javier, Niccolo Jose and Rico Lascano. Meneline Wong is a participating artist as well, together with Marlon Magbanua, Coeli Manese, Dennis Morante, Josep Pascual, Michael Pastorizo, Eddie Santillan and Kenneth Montegrande, who has pledged to donate 20 percent of his earnings to the victims of the Taal Volcano eruption.

According to Arte Bettina owner Atty. Leonides David, Alchemy showcases a diversified mix of talents in terms of style and experience level.

“What we have is here is variety of techniques, methodologies and colors. They’re all taking on abstraction, but they approach it in different angles,” he said. “We also have young and promising artists

1994 2019, J Consunji, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 47.24” x 47.24”

together with more established ones.”

David said that presenting a mix of young and veteran artists is something they plan to maintain throughout the year. They also intend to showcase works from masters and foreign artists.

“This year, we will go conceptual, abstract, modern and configuration,” he said. “It will cover everything.”

■ More information is available at info@artebettina.com or www.artebettina.com.

ALT Philippines 2020 at SM Aura Premier TWENTY-TWENTY brings a great sense of anticipation for the next decade in Philippine art. An exciting shift in the landscape is upon us, with a collective of 10 galleries coming together to experiment on new ways of presenting and experiencing art, with the purpose of meeting the evolving needs of the industry. Their pioneering project is ALT Philippines 2020, which will be held from February 14 to 16, at the SMX Convention Center, in SM Aura Premier.

The collective is composed of visionary and dynamic local galleries, ranging from the most veteran and experienced alongside exciting young vanguards. These include Artinformal, Blanc, Finale Art File, Galleria Duemila, MO_Space, The Drawing Room, Underground, Vinyl on Vinyl, West Gallery and 1335 Mabini, all of which consider ALT a passion project.

With their combined expertise and experience, they offer a rare opportunity for visitors to view an exceptional and thoughtfully curated selection of work from over 150 established, mid-career and emerging artists in one venue in an immersive and engaging format.

Exhibiting artists include some of the most dynamic in the industry whose works have shaped the conversation of art in the last decade. Their works are rooted in exceptional research and unexplored directions, championed by galleries willing to take risks as a way to broaden ideas on art. A unique feature is the collective’s

hands-on approach to producing and designing each aspect of the art show— from the hive-like design of the venue, to dedicated spaces highlighting each galleries’ distinct contemporary visions, to public programming.

Visitors are in for an exciting and engaging experience with each gallery’s thematic presentation: Artinformal will present the works of their represented artists and several guest artists in a newspaper-format catalogue featuring interviews focusing on the theme “Materials of the Artist.”

Blanc Gallery’s exhibition, Fulfilled Space, begins its journey with how small, mindful, deliberate movements progress toward a state of contentment.

The Drawing Room represents artists whose respective practices represent a country in constant frenetic flux and depict the ensemble of realities that makes up their own complex situations and environments.

Their show for ALT Philippines 2020 aims to reflect the dynamics of this relationship, and the defined sensibility of each artist.

Finale Art File’s exhibition for the inaugural ALT Art Fair 2020 is an opportunity to review the state of painting through the works of 11 Filipino contemporary artists. Crossing various styles and generations, their work represents the vitality and diversity of Philippine painting.

Galleria Duemila’s exhibition, Carpe

THE founding collective behind the pioneering art show ALT Philippines 2020 represents 10 visionary and dynamic local galleries, ranging from the most veteran and experienced along with exciting young vanguards. These include Soler Santos, West Gallery; Mawen Ong, MO_Space; Kathleen Villalon, The Drawing Room; Silvana Diaz, Galleria Duemila; Cesar Villalon Jr., The Drawing Room; Evita Sarenas, Finale Art File; Pia Reyes, Vinyl on Vinyl; Gabby dela Merced, Vinyl on Vinyl; Sylvia Gascon, Finale Art File; Tina Fernandez, Artinformal; and Jay Amante, Blanc. Not shown in photo are Angel Velasco Shaw, Galleria Duemila; and Mona Santos, West Gallery.

Diem: Beyond Seizing the Day, brings together 10 diverse artists to challenge and further their process and practice in ways that are not considered to be predictable in any given audience. Angel Velasco Shaw curates the exhibit.

1335 Mabini will be exhibiting a dynamic range of works by both established and emerging artists, in accordance with the gallery’s commitment to artistic positions and practices exploring mobility, history, and critical engagement with the environment, collective memory and politics.

MO_Space will be featuring paintings, sculpture and objects by leading innovative contemporary artists and a selection of dynamic upcoming conceptual artists.

Underground will feature a solo presentation of the artist Valerie Chua, whose works explore how individuals retain relevant information as they move across different landscapes.

Vinyl on Vinyl showcases artists who explore beyond conventional art forms.

Their works revolve around pop surrealism, after-modernism, post-Internet, kinetic art, underground and street art, along with other emerging and unexplored genres.

West Gallery features a range of veteran talent and promising young artists whose diverse visions reflect the pulse of Philippine contemporary art.

ALT Philippines 2020 is one of the exciting cultural projects of SM Aura Premier.

PIACENZA, Italy—Art experts have confirmed that a painting discovered hidden inside an Italian art gallery’s walls last month is Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of a Lady, which was stolen from the gallery nearly 23 years ago.

The authentication of the painting announced Friday solved one of the art world’s enduring mysteries—where did the missing work end up?—but left several questions unanswered, including who had taken it and whether it ever left the museum’s property.

A gardener at the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in the northern city of Piacenza who was clearing away ivy noticed a small panel door on a wall outside and opened it. Inside the space, he found a plastic bag containing a painting that appeared to be the missing masterpiece.

“It’s with no small emotion that I can tell you the work is authentic,” Piacenza Prosecutor Ornella Chicca told reporters Friday while two police officers stood on either side of an easel bearing the recovered painting.

Portrait of a Lady depicts a young woman sensually glancing over her shoulder against a dreamy moss green background. Klimt finished the painting in 1917, the year before he died. The Ricci Oddi gallery acquired it in 1925, and reported it missing in February 1997.

Since the gardener’s discovery on December 10, the canvas had been kept in a vault of a local branch of Italy’s central bank while experts used infrared radiation and other noninvasive techniques to determine if it was the original Portrait of a Lady.

Experts said the painting was in remarkably good condition. One of the few signs of damage was a scratch near the edge of the canvas that may have resulted “from a clumsy effort to remove the portrait from its frame,” said Anna Selleri, an art restorer from the National Gallery in Bologna. The experts who did the verification work found persuasive evidence in the work of their peers more than two decades ago.

An Italian high-school student, preparing for her graduation exams in 1996, noticed striking similarities between the painting that would go missing a year later and an earlier Klimt work of a woman with a similar posture and gaze but wearing a hat and scarf, accessories that the artist didn’t include in Portrait of a Lady.

Intrigued by the observations of the student—who went on to become an art researcher herself—experts back then examined the artwork in the Piacenza gallery’s collection and found that Klimt had painted it on top of an earlier portrait of a woman. Those studying the work in recent weeks, with the aid of x-rays, saw the earlier portrait. Selleri said the radiation analysis revealed that while painting the later portrait, Klimt didn’t redo much of the face, but used whitish pigment from the earlier version for the skin. Portrait of a Lady was officially listed as missing on February 22, 1997, but might have been snatched from a gallery wall a few days earlier, during the exhibit preparation work.

So who stole the painting? Chicca said police were studying some traces of organic material on the recovered canvas in hopes they might provide leads.

Asked if authorities knew whether the piece had ever left the gallery’s grounds, investigators said that’s something else they hope to find out.

As for why and when the painting ended up stashed behind a wall, journalist Anne-Marie O’Connor, the author of a book about the dramatic fortunes of Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, has an educated theory.

Before the 1990s, Klimt was largely “considered an Austrian painter, but his stature really grew at this point,” O’Connor said. When Portrait of a Lady was taken, the value of the art nouveau artist’s paintings was “soaring,” she said.

O’Connor ventured that perhaps whoever took the painting stowed it behind the gallery’s walls while waiting for news about the heist to die down but the stolen work proved “too hot to handle.”

“It would have been hard to sell it to a private buyer” on the so-called gray market, O’Connor noted in a phone interview from London.

Some of Klimt’s works have experienced stunning turns of fortune. O’Connor’s 2012 book The Lady in Gold chronicled the ultimately successful effort by a woman to gain back Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

That portrait was snatched from the Bloch-Bauer home in Vienna in 1941, by a Nazi officer. The woman, Bloch-Bauer’s niece, later sold the painting to cosmetics mogul Ronald Lauder in 2006, for $135 million.

Another celebrity Klimt piece was a second portrait of the woman, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II. Oprah Winfrey eventually purchased that painting and reportedly sold it a few years ago for $150 million. AP

THE painting, which was found last December near an art gallery is believed to be the missing Gustav Klimt’s painting Portrait of a Lad. AP