BusinessMirror January 28, 2015

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Life

BEWARE OF ‘RANSONWARE,’ NEW REPORT WARNS »»D2

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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

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Microsoft wants you to love Windows again A SCREENSHOT of how the upcoming Windows 10 is going to look like on your desktop.

B M D | The Seattle Times

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EATTLE—Microsoft upped its bid to capture the hearts and minds of technology consumers with Windows 10, announcing everything from free upgrades for the majority of Windows users to support for nascent holographic display technology.

The company’s executives also showed off an interface for its operating system that they hope will bridge the gulf separating laptops, tablets and smartphones and will allow Microsoft to expand beyond dependence on the personal computer market.

At a daylong event held last week on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, outside Seattle, chief executive Satya Nadella summed up his goals for Microsoft’s most famous product in terms that would surprise people used to thinking about Windows as a utility akin to a computer’s plumbing.

“We have bigger hopes, higher aspirations for Windows,” Nadella said. “We want to move from people needing Windows to choosing Windows, to loving Windows. That is our bold goal.”

Love wasn’t a term often associated with Windows 8, the last major release of the operating system. Windows 8 was widely panned by users confused by its jarring transition between a new touch-optimized interface and the traditional, familiar Windows desktop.

Microsoft started its public road to redemption in San Francisco last September with the announcement of Windows 10 and the release of a preview of the software.

At that event, operating systems chief Terry Myerson and user experience leader Joe Belfiore made their pitch largely to business customers.

Last week’s gathering of journalists and analysts, featuring hours of presentations and demonstrations, was billed by Microsoft as an effort to show individual computer users what they can expect when the software is released at a date to be announced later this year.

“Undoing some of the damage around Windows 8 is probably the immediate goal” with Windows 10, said J.P. Gownder, an analyst with Forrester Research.

“But you also want to make sure people don’t defect to Chromebooks or Macs. [Microsoft] needs to solidify the ecosystem, and make sure that Windows 7 isn’t the last Windows machine people have.”

Windows 7 powers 56 percent of personal computers, according to data from Web analytics firm Net Applications. Windows 8 and its Windows 8.1 update together account for 15 percent.

Microsoft said on Wednesday it will offer free upgrades to Windows 10 to hook both sets of users. For the first year after the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft will offer users of Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 7 free upgrades to the new operating system, Myerson said.

TRAVEL WITHOUT THE WORRIES

For those not enticed by free software alone, Microsoft has loaded Windows 10 with bells and whistles. The operating system will feature a new Web browser, code-named “Spartan,” that allows users to freeze and share Web pages. Cortana, the search assistant released for Windows Phone last year, will be embedded in Windows 10, allowing users to use voice commands to find files, write e-mails, and other tasks.

Microsoft also unveiled a wildcard: support for interaction with holographic objects. [Microsoft[ announced its HoloLens headset—a wireless, seethrough display that projects holograms into the world around its user.

“It sounds like they’re pulling all the stops to make this a successful Windows release,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst with researcher IDC. “When Nadella said explicitly that they want to be loved, that’s sort of a deliberate new Microsoft strategy to connect with users.”

CES 2015 A SNOOZE? IF you followed this year’s just-concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas hoping to get glimpses of upcoming hotness in mobile technology, you may have come away a tad disappointed. None of the biggest names in consumer electronics unveiled shiny-and-new smartphones and tablets, save for Dell with its Venue 8 7000 tablet that we chatted up briefly in this corner of the page.

Perhaps the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015—coming up in Barcelona, Spain, this March—will whet your appetite, as the usual suspects (LG, Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, et al) are supposedly gearing up for their respective big reveals.

Fans of Sony’s best-selling Androidpowered Xperia Z smartphones might be in for a disappointment, however. The word going around the blogosphere is that the company won’t be unveiling its upcoming flagship, presumably to be called the Xperia Z4, at MWC. Instead, the newest mobile hotness from the Japanese consumer electronics giant will be revealed in the summer during a big Sonyonly event.

The coming test, Hilwa said, is whether the software is able to help Microsoft make up ground in smartphones and tablets, where the company badly lags rivals Google and Apple.

Windows-powered smartphones and tablets have a single-digit share of the global market, in part because of a dearth of applications compared to the other main operating systems. Developers don’t see much of a need to spend the hours coding applications for Windows Phone or the Windows store after already releasing versions for Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. Microsoft brass hope Windows 10 will make it easier for developers to write applications that can be relatively painlessly repurposed for the operating system’s smartphone, laptop and tablet variants.

“The big deal here is making sure that interface works well between tablets and phone,” Hilwa said.

“Because mobile developers have a hard time supporting even two operating systems.” ■

A LOT of us think that ticking that extra box when we book our flights to get travel insurance is “extra baggage” to our wallet.

This shouldn’t be the case. With travel insurance, we get the protection we need as a traveler to cover medical expenses, trip cancellations, and other losses incurred while traveling.

For those with insatiable wanderlust who are subscribed to a postpaid account with Globe Telecom, not only is travel insurance something they won’t have to worry about but they also get to enjoy data-roaming services minus the fear of having to face “bill shock” at the end of their vacation. Simply avail of the latest P599 flat rate for data-roaming services, and you automatically get free TravelCare with up to P200,000 worth of protection from travel inconveniences such as flight delays, lost baggage and more—and you also get to do all the e-mail, social media and Web surfing you like off-shore.

Globe is the first telco in the Philippines to provide free travel insurance with its data-roaming offer, giving its customers a complete and worry-free travel experience abroad.

Loss of luggage and/or travel documents, delayed or canceled flights, damage to baggage, medical emergencies and even accidental death, TravelCare has got you covered.

With the telco’s expanded coverage of its P599/day data roaming offer to over 70 countries around the globe, data roaming has become more accessible and available, connecting travelers to the Web anytime, anywhere. Simply turn on your data roaming, and you will be automatically latched on to a Globe partner carrier in your current destination to enjoy data roaming in a quick click or tap, with an added value of free TravelCare insurance.

Avoiding bill shock due to excessive data charges is now possible with P599/day flat rate. Customers can also surf for a full 24-hour cycle without the need to register or memorize promo codes, making the experience easy and hassle-free.

“Worry-free data roaming is now a must-have for travelers who need easy access to their e-mails, maps, hotels, airline reservations, and their social-media accounts any time of day. Recognizing this as a travel essential, Globe Telecom is expanding its P599/day flat rate for all-you-want mobile surfing to more than 70 countries in our worldwidest roaming network. In addition, this comes with free TravelCare insurance, giving our customers more value for their money,” said Coco Domingo, vice president for Platinum Business and Roaming.

Learn more about Globe Telecom’s data-roaming offer, its partner countries and the full TravelCare insurance coverage by visiting www.globe.com/roaming or call the Globe Roaming Hotline at +6327301212 (toll-free even while abroad).

Needless to say, we’ll know more when MWC comes around.

SAMSUNG GEARING FOR A REBOUND? IF you ask wireless communications executives around these parts about how Samsung’s flagship smartphone is doing, they will invariably tell you that the Galaxy Note 4 is doing rather well, thank you very much. Of course, you do know that the Galaxy S5 is the South Korean company’s flagship, right?

Perhaps the caginess of wireless communications executives around here is a reflection of recent news reports that tell of the troubles facing Samsung’s mobile phones division elsewhere—or perhaps not.

Regardless, the company is no doubt hoping its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6, will be more enthusiastically received in the global market.

Supposedly, the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be toting a screen much bigger than 5.1-inch display of the S5—and may even boast of the curved edge that the company introduced with the Galaxy Note Edge.

Other rumors going around about the S6 is that it will have not only a faster CPU but also a stylish all-metal body, which hopefully will put to rest criticisms regarding the plastic material the company has chosen to house its flagships.

A VERY EXPENSIVE PS4 YOU can get the Sony PlayStation 4 from around here for about P17,000, but somebody in Japan just bought this latest-and-greatest in home gaming for ¥15,135,000.

That would be almost a quarter of a million in US dollars, if our math and conversion skills are not shot in hell.

Why would anyone pay such an outrageous amount for a PlayStation 4?

Well, this wasn’t just another PS4. It was a limited-edition 20th Anniversary PS4 PS4 in originalPlayStation gray, which Sony put up for a bidding war on Yahoo!

Auctions. The company produced just 12,300 units of the anniversary edition,

and the one put on the auction block had the serial number 00001.

No wonder the bidding frenzy. Proceeds from the auction, according to Sony, will be donated to Save the Children Japan. TNS

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property of the month: green living in alabang BusinessMirror

E1 Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Editor: Tet Andolong

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B R R R

Located at the finest locale, Botanika is designed for the privileged few who want to savor a relaxing atmosphere amid the bustling metropolis.

“Inspired by New York’s Central Park, Botanika’s centralized garden system offers scenic walks through the 1.55-hectare property with three towers that gives a very different identity compared to the other ultra-high-end developments in Makati and Bonifacio Global City,” according to Catherine Ilagan, executive vice president of Filinvest Alabang Inc., Botanika project developer.

“Open green spaces are getting scarcer in the metropolis. Our planners thus thought of offering Botanika residents a system of gardens that would allow them to enjoy nature’s healing properties right at their doorstep,” Ilagan added.

Experts in the social and environmental sciences noted that nature can reinvigorate and rejuvenate an individual’s mind and become more productive. “Nature is the perfect setting for a walk or a swim. It encourages movement and discovery.”

Botanika will veer away from the conventional residential condo

environment which highlights the space limitation. In Botanika, an owner can enjoy comfortable space from its 369 units ranging from 123 square meters to 343 sq m and spread out over three towers.

Botanika will be offering the best of both worlds with privacy and nature enjoyed by the owner.

According to Ilagan, “Botanika is the first of the Filinvest Group’s Exclusive Collection, the newest and highest-end brand category.

Each project with the Exclusive Collection brand is envisioned to be an iconic, top-end and one-ofa-kind residential space that will add prestige to the group’s largescale projects.

The buildings have a naturecentric design. From the top, each of the buildings takes the shape of a leaf, a unique configuration which will mean that none of the units will peer directly into a unit of a neighboring tower. When a resident looks out his window, he will not have a direct sightline into a unit in the neighboring tower because of the curving walls of the tower.

There will be an atrium at the center of each building. This will enable the natural light to go through the structure. Further, the atrium will also force air through the edifice offering passive ventilation. From the ground level, the atriums will be interconnected to each other and to a central pool area through a paved walkway that naturally blends with the lush tropical landscape.

Leandro V. Locsin Partners and international firm AEcom are the two organizations that worked tremendously to ensure the natural order of things will be retained such as the property’s sloping terrain. The pool thus has various levels with the waters from one level dropping down to form a waterfall curtain setting for a lower level. “The planners weren’t afraid to compartmentalize spaces to create greater interest in the landscaping,” Ilagan said.

“We’ve designed Botanika to appeal to captains of industry, self-made entrepreneurs and multinational CEOs seeking quick ac-

By Cai U. Ordinario

he National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) expects the lower oil prices to drive up the country’s importation this year, with the windfall from fuel savings seen to trigger a ripple effect in consumption.

“The continuing low prices of oil bode well for the country’s consumer activity, given the relief from hikes in fares, utility costs and other consumer items. Industrial activity also benefits from the reduction in operating costs,” Neda Director General and Eco-

GREEN LIVING IN ALABANG

ODAY, living in a garden atmosphere is one of the aspirations of modern Filipinos. They want to get a break from the rage and frenzy of urban living. In response, Filinvest launched the Botanika Nature Residences—a high-end, low-density residential enclave in Filinvest City in Alabang.

P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 32 pages | 7 days a week

Cheaper oil to hike PHL imports

microsoft wants you to love windows again P

TfridayNovember 18,28, 2014 Vol. Vol. 10 No. Wednesday, January 2015 10 40 No. 111

BALISACAN SAYS WINDFALL FROM FUEL SAVINGS TO CREATE RIPPLE EFFECT IN CONSUMPTION-DRIVEN ECONOMY

INSIDE

RAISE and thanksgiving be to You, oh God, for this new day that You have made. Let our heart rejoice and be glad in it. May we serve the Lord with gladness and come before Him with joyful songs.

May we know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people the sheep of His fold (Psalm 100). Amen.

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nomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.

In November 2014 cheaper oil actually slashed the country’s import payments by 10.8 percent to $4.989 billion, from $5.593 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.

Continued on A2

cess to Makati, as well as Laguna’s industrial estates through the Skyway,” Ilagan said. “They may not always have the time to walk through Botanika’s nature sanctuary or to enjoy the lavish amenities of the developments. But just knowing that it’s there for them to use when they want them should be reasons enough to consider living there.”

True to its mission, Filinvest has strictly followed the guidelines set by the Philippine Green Building Council to ensure every detail required by the Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (Berde) will be followed. Botanika is a Berde-registered project.

The first building has 13 storys boasting of above-par facilities. With only 101 units for Tower 1, residents get to enjoy much sought-after exclusivity that other residential developments could only promise.

Being all about gardens, Botanika’s The Courtyard, The Sculptural Garden and Central Gardens provide the property’s outdoor amenities that support green living.

With huge abundant space, The Courtyard allows residents to do whatever they want—read a book, feel the morning breeze, gaze at the night sky, or even enjoy a sumptuous outdoor feast with the family. The Greenhouse is, likewise, open for anyone who likes to commune with nature especially in the mornings.

With uniquely tiered, stylized swimming pools, a buyer is given a new experience. The Veranda, a canopied area by the pool, can also be used for intimate al-fresco gatherings. Other amenities in Botanika include tiered swimming pools, kiddie pool, lap pool and changing rooms Further, other major amenities include sun-roofed central atrium, grand lobby, reception lounge, roof decks, administration office, mail room, fire safety features, key card access for boom gates and floor access, and underground parking.

All these are artistically splashed with greens to further wash away the stresses of the day.

CARDINAL TAGLE IN PBSP MEET Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (left) welcomes keynote speaker Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle during the PBSP’s 44th Annual Membership Meeting in Makati City. NONIE REYES

Sta. Lucia maintains growth

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TA. Lucia Land Inc. sustains the expansion of its real-estate portfolio in Davao with subdivision project, Alta Monte Residential Estates. The developer brings its legacy of developing properties in Metro Manila to the Davaoeño housing market that wants community-based, integrated residential living near lifestyle centers, but without the congestion notoriously present in densely populated cities.

Located in Tigatto, Buhangin District, Alta Monte will offer residential lot owners the privilege of building their dream home in a 14-hectare gated neighborhood

that’s a mere 15 minutes away from malls, hospitals, airport, and other civic spaces, and commercial and business centers.

Prospective property owners are invited to come home to an enhanced living environment in Alta Monte. The residential project will have a multipurpose clubhouse amenitized with a swimming pool and an open tennis court. Everyday will give a sense of having arrived because of well-thought out community features: landscaped entrance gate with guardhouse; underground storm drainage system to keep the property floodfree; a perimeter wall, concrete

sidewalks, curbs and gutters; a centralized water system with overhead tank and deep well; 8- to 12-meter-wide concrete road; and complete electrical facilities.

“We want to tap into the market of those who want to upgrade their status in life,” Sta. Lucia President Exequiel Robles said. “Discipline among Davaoeños is very profound so, we have private and secure communities like Alta Monte that maintain that character.”

Sta. Lucia started in Davao as a high-end marketer for a residentialgolf and country club development: “We were the first major developer in the area, injecting the idea of

brand identity. We continue to develop properties in Davao because we’ve been successful there.”

The leading real-estate firm is a good fit for Davao with an evergrowing economy, according to Robles. “It is one of the biggest cities in the Philippines so there is huge potential for development.” While Sta. Lucia keeps loyal to a niche subdivision market that has delivered impressive growth for the company, it also intends to enter other markets.

“There are still a lot of avenues for expansion of Sta. Lucia,” Robles said. “As people earn, as the middle market grows, the desire for homes will always be there.”

From rails to ports, poor infra planning burdens Pinoys

Maria Guia C. Buenaventura (from left), vice president for sales of Citystate Properties and Management Corp.; Irene Rose V. Ortega (lot owner); Loo Soon Wai (lot owner); Mercedita V. Ortega (lot owner’s mother); and Irineo H. Ortega (lot owner’s father)

New homeowners receive TCT at Sandari

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ITYSTATE Properties and Management Corp. (CPMC) turned over the Transfer Certificate of Title to Irene Rose V. Ortega and Loo Soon Wai on January 3 for the two lots they purchased at Nalé, Sandari Batulao. The turnover took place at the Sandari Batulao sales and marketing office.

CPMC is the developer of Sandari Batulao, a luxurious eco-centric mountainside residential and leisure development with majestic Mount Batulao as its backdrop. Sandari Batulao is 10 minutes away from Metro Tagaytay and 15 minutes away from the beaches of Nasugbu, Batangas. www.sandaribatulao.com.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Conclusion

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‘W

The five-time Australian Open winner next faces Dominika Cibulkova, who beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Keys advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-4 win over good friend and fellow American Madison Brengle.

Serena Williams had difficulty breathing at times on Monday and coughed throughout.

“When I got down, I was thinking, ‘What can I do now?’” Williams said. “Whatever happens, I thought, I’ve won this five times.”

Looking for No. 6, she’ll need to get past Cibulkova, who hit 44 winners and broke former No. 1-ranked Azarenka’s serve seven times. The No. 10-ranked Cibulkova lost in the final here last year to the now-retired Li Na. Wawrinka advanced by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8), and No. 8 Raonic posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over No. 12 Feliciano Lopez. Spurred on by hundreds of flag-waving Japanese supporters at Rod Laver Arena, No. 5-ranked Nishikori had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 9 David Ferrer.

Wawrinka saved four set points in the last tiebreaker, while trailing 6-2, and then saved a fifth before clinching it on his second match point.

The win helped Wawrinka gain some payback against Garcia-Lopez for an unwanted record. Last year at the French Open, the Spanish player beat him in the first round, making Wawrinka the first first-time major winner to lose his opening match at the subsequent Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt lost at the 2002 Australian Open after winning the 2001 US Open.

“I knew once I came back to 6-5, he’d been getting nervous,” Wawrinka said of the tiebreaker. “I hit a passing shot along the line. They always know I go along the line.”

After Venus’s match on Rod Laver, Djokovic beat Gilles Muller, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5, to advance to his 23rd consecutive quarterfinal in a Grand Slam tournament, a feat which appears to dwarf Venus Williams’s first in nearly five years—unless you’re Venus.

“Any win gives you that rush, whether it’s a first round or the last round,” Williams says. “I’ll be back out on Wednesday trying to play my heart out again.” AP

BusinessMirror

| WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

Sports

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

LAO PDR’S NATIONAL HERO Benjamin Ramos (from left), president of the

WILLIAMS

ELBOURNE, Australia—Fireworks lit up the sky above Rod Laver Arena the moment Venus Williams completed her fourth-round win at the Australian Open on Monday night.

It’s been that kind of tournament so far for the 34-year-old, seven-time Grand Slam winner. Williams advanced to her first quarterfinal in a major since Wimbledon in 2010 and she’ll be joined by her younger sister, Serena, in the final eight.

As multicolored pinwheels and other fireworks celebrating the Australia Day holiday cascaded from the sky, Venus took time on court to credit Serena for her support and inspiration. In 2011 Venus was diagnosed with the energy-sapping Sjogren’s syndrome, a major reason for her absence from the late stages of big tournaments—until now.

“Definitely my sister Serena, she’s just the ultimate champion, and definitely a lot of inspiration from all my fans who have stayed behind me through thick and thin,” Venus said.

On the men’s side, No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic, defending champion Stan Wawrinka, US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori and Canadian Milos Raonic won their fourth-round matches. That sets up a pair of compelling quarterfinals: Djokovic vs.

Raonic, and Wawrinka versus Nishikori.

Venus Williams, asked if her 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Agnieszka Radwanska was her biggest in a while, said “from the outside looking in, I guess it could be like that. “[But] I feel like I’ve been here before so it’s not like I’m jumping up and down for joy.”

Venus will next face Madison Keys, a 19-year-old American who was inspired to play tennis by watching the Williams sisters.

“It’s definitely been an experience, really playing well, kind of living up to what people have been saying,” Keys said. “I’m just really happy that it’s finally here and that I’m doing so well.”

Serena Williams had a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Garbine Muguruza, motivated by a loss to the Spanish player at the 2014 French Open.

“She made me play a lot better,” Serena Williams said. “I had to play the best match of the tournament or else I was going to be out.”

“She didn’t give me many chances, and against the great players you have to take any chances you can get,” Bouchard said. “If you don’t have time, you have to go for riskier shots, and I made a few too many unforced errors because I was under pressure.”

Sharapova, the 2008 Australian Open champion and a two-time finalist, has a 5-0 record against Makarova, including wins in the quarterfinals here in 2012 and 2013. In four of those losses, Makarova has failed to win a set.

The other women’s semifinalists will be determined on Wednesday, when No. 1-ranked Williams plays last year’s finalist, Dominika Cibulkova, and Venus Williams, playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in nearly five years, takes on 19-year-old American Madison Keys.

If the Williams sisters play each other in the semifinals, it would be their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament since the Wimbledon final in 2009—won by Serena.

MARIA SHARAPOVA moves closer to another Australian Open title. AP

AS Rafael Nadal heads for the exit, Tomas Berdych (top left) celebrates perhaps the biggest upset victory in his career. AP

FIREWORKS M FOR VENUS

The Associated Press

B D P

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ELBOURNE, Australia— Two rounds after Roger Federer’s unexpected exit from the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal has joined him on the sidelines.

Nadal’s lack of match fitness from nearly six months of injuries and illness finally caught up with the 14-time major champion in his quarterfinal match against seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych on Tuesday. He was never much of a factor and lost in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (5).

The third-seeded Nadal said before the tournament that his inactivity over the last half of 2014 made him unlikely to win more than a few rounds. Coming into the Australian Open, Nadal had played only eight matches since last June because of a right wrist injury and appendix surgery in November.

Federer, who has 17 major titles, including four in Australia, departed Melbourne Park after an upset third-round loss to Andrea Seppi. Nadal said he was surprised to have advanced as far as he did in Melbourne.

“It is obvious that I needed something more to be more competitive,” Nadal said. “As I said when I arrived here, the process always is not easy. When you have injuries, comebacks are difficult. But without being at my top level of tennis, I was able to be here in quarterfinals. Is not a bad result at all for me.”

Nadal saved two match points in the 12th game of the final set, sending it to a tiebreaker.

But Berdych raced out to a 5-2 lead in the decider and finally ended the match on his fourth match point when Nadal netted a return of serve.

“I was ready for everything and I think that was the difference,” Berdych said. “I started pretty well, but when you’re playing Rafa you have to keep going to the last point.”

Berdych, who had lost 17 straight matches to Nadal before Tuesday, will play the winner of the night quarterfinal between Andy Murray and local hope Nick Kyrgios. The other men’s semifinalists will be determined on Wednesday, when topseeded Novak Djokovic plays Milos Raonic and defending champion Stan Wawrinka takes on US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori in

quarterfinals in the other half of the draw.

Earlier Tuesday on Rod Laver Arena, Maria Sharapova moved closer to another Australian title, defeating 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Sharapova made all the big points look easy against Bouchard and advanced to a semifinal against Ekaterina Makarova, who earlier beat third-seeded Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-0.

“I felt pretty good from the start, didn’t feel I had too many letdowns,” Sharapova said, adding that her close call in the second round—facing two match points against a qualifier—sharpened her focus for the rest of the tournament.

“When you are down and out in the second match, I don’t want to face that call with my father too many times during a tournament,” she said.

The last time Sharapova and Bouchard met—in the semifinals at the French Open last year—Bouchard won the first set before Sharapova came back to take the next two. The Russian then won the title at Roland Garros.

This time, Bouchard, who made the finals of Wimbledon and two other Grand Slam semis last year, didn’t come close to taking a set, looking flat from the outset while being broken in her opening service game. The Genie Army, a group of young Australian men who croon about the Canadian player, was left to sing another day.

Rafael Nadal’s lack of match fitness from nearly six months of injuries and illness finally catches up with the 14time major champion in his quarterfinal match against seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych on Tuesday.

RAFA OUT!

rafa out!

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BusinessMirror; Her Excellency Malayvieng Sakonhninhom, ambassador of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) to the Philippines; and Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, founder of the BusinessMirror and former Philippine ambassador to the Lao PDR, grace the handover of the bust of Lao’s national hero, former President Kaysone Phomvihane, to the Asean Garden in a ceremony held in Intramuros, Manila, on January 27. This is the first time that the Lao PDR donated a bust of its national hero to a friendly country. STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS

PESO exchange rates n US 44.0820

e a re pumping in money to finance our infrastructure, because we know that it is spring to economic growth. If our roads are paved, the transport of goods and services to the market would be faster, improving businesses that create jobs, ultimately leading to comprehensive growth,” President Aquino said during his visit in Romblon this month.

For his part, Public Works Secretary Rogelio L. Singson said his of-

fice aims to increase infrastructure spending through 2016, explaining that the government has set its sights on spending the equivalent of 5 percent of GDP, totaling as high as $18 billion by 2016, from $4 billion in 2011. “We commit that, by 2016, all national roads and bridges, estimated to measure 32,000 kilometers, will have been paved,” he said.

PPPs to sustain infrastructure reforms

For Luz, the key to achieving the target of eradicating the logistical nightmares lies on two things: higher public infrastructure spending and quickly implementing the publicprivate partnership (PPP) projects.

Continued on A4

‘ECB’s QE TO BENEFIT EMERGING MARKETS’

By David Cagahastian

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he quantitative easing (QE) program announced by the European Central Bank (ECB) would mean additional portfolio inflows to emerging markets like the Philippines, an official of the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Tuesday.

Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil S. Beltran said See “ECB’s QE,” A2

n japan 0.3721 n UK 66.5153 n HK 5.6875 n CHINA 7.0484 n singapore 32.7967 n australia 35.0358 n EU 49.5482 n SAUDI arabia 11.7255 Source: BSP (27 January 2015)

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News BusinessMirror

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Cheaper oil to hike PHL imports Continued from A1

The lower oil prices brought down the country’s crude-import payments in November 2014.

However, the Neda believes there will be an increase in oil imports toward the end of 2014 and the whole of 2015.

“The prevailing low-oil-price environment, which is expected to persist until 2015, may further increase the country’s total oil importation for the remaining part of 2014 and for the whole of 2015 given the country’s high dependence on imported oil,” Balisacan said.

“Imports of consumer goods will, likewise, remain positive for the remaining month of the year, mainly supported by the uptick in domestic consumption primarily of food,” he added.

Balisacan said low oil prices is a welcome development in the Philippine economy, which is primarily consumption driven. The World Bank estimates that 80 percent of the Philippine economy is accounted for by consumption, with household consumption accounting for 70 percent and government spending, 10 percent.

The Neda official said this is contrary to what is happening in the global economy. He said the fragile state of the global economy is causing uncertainties such as deflation and slowing consumer demand.

He added that the low-inflation environment should encourage agencies to encourage backward linkages among domestic industries. Programs that improve pro-

DMCI. . . Continued from A8 documents for the auction.

The winning concessionaire will be given the right to operate and maintain the whole LRT east line for 10 to 15 years.

The DOTC’s bids and awards committee aims to announce the qualified groups by the end of February. The bidding is expected to be held in the second

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST JANUARY 28, 2015 | WEDNESDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

half of the year.

The O&M of the LRT Line 2 is one of the projects that the government wants to implement under the public-private partner-

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ship (PPP) scheme.

The government has awarded nine PPP contracts since the program was launched in 2010.

NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING LUZON. (AS OF JANUARY 27, 5:00 PM)

Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”. It affects the eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry; characterized by widespread cloudiness with rain showers.

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 25 – 30°C

from more immediate signs of a global supply glut.

Futures fell as much as 0.6 percent in New York. A spike to $200 a barrel is possible without adequate spending for the long term, Opec Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said. US crude inventories probably rose to 402.1 million barrels last week, the most in records dating back to August 1982, a Bloomberg News survey shows before a government report on Wednesday.

Oil slumped almost 50 percent last year amid the fastest pace of US crude production in more than three decades while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resisted calls to reduce output. Prices may drop to as low as $30 a barrel, Gary Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview with CNBC on Monday.

“Supply is still the issue, we need to see that cut back,” David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “The potential is still for the downside in the near term because of that need to see a reduction in current production. Demand doesn’t improve rapidly on the falling price, it does take a while to kick in.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery declined as much as 27 cents to $44.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $45.04 at 3:55 p.m.

Singapore time. The contract lost 44 cents to $45.15 on Monday, the lowest close since March 2009.

The volume of all futures traded

counted for 7 percent of total imports reached $347.78 million, a 65.2 percent decline from $1 billion in November 2013.

“The negative performance of capital goods imports was largely due to the decrease in imports of aircraft, ships and boats, which partly reflects the trough period of the massive refleeting program of major airlines, as well as to the reduction in the import value of telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery,” Balisacan said.

Meanwhile, the countr y’s import payments between January and November 2014 amounted to $58.549 billion, a 2.8percent increase compared with $56.965 billion in the same period of last year.

Electronic Products, the country’s top import product, accounted for 28.2 percent of the aggregate import bill. Electronic product imports amounted to $1.408 billion, a 21.8- percent growth from $1.156 billion in November 2013.

Among the major groups of electronic products, Components/ Devices or Semiconductors, accounted for the biggest share at 24.4 percent. Last November there was a 48-percent increase in semiconductor import payments to $1.220 billion from $824.10 million in November 2013.

Oil extended losses to trade near an almost six-year low as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (Opec) warning that prices may surge without new investment in production failed to shift the market’s focus

ductivity must be instituted to take advantage of this, he said.

“These include programs that improve productivity through the use of technology and that facilitate access to credit, such as those of the Departments of Trade and Industry and Science and Technology,” Balisacan said.

Economists from private banks even expect inflation to moderate to 3.6 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2016. These are lower than the central bank’s inflation projections.

The PSA said import payments for Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials accounted for 18.8 percent of the country’s import bill.

The payments for these products decreased by 23.1 percent to $939.41 million in November 2014 from $1.222 billion in November 2013.

The PSA said petroleum crude contributed the biggest share of imports in this commodity group and accounted for 10.2 percent of total imports.

Apart from lower oil import payments, the Neda attributed the double-digit decline in the country’s import bill to lower imports of capital goods, which accounted for 15.8 percent of the total import bill.

Payments for capital good imports posted a decline of 59 percent to $789.41 million in November 2014 from $1.924 billion in November 2013.

The import of transport equipment is included in the import of capital goods. Data showed that transport equipment imports ac-

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was about 43 percent below the 100-day average.

US supplies

Brent for March settlement slid as much as 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $47.79 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It decreased 63 cents to $48.16 on Monday. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.96 to WTI. Opec, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, is open to a meeting with nonmember producers to tackle the global glut, El-Badri said in an interview in London on Monday, estimating the surplus at 1.5 million barrels a day.

He didn’t offer a time frame for when oil could reach $200 a barrel and said the market will be brought back into balance by a reduction to supply, rather than an increase in demand.

US crude stockpiles probably climbed 4.25 million barrels in the week ended January 23, according to the median estimate in the Bloomberg survey of eight analysts before a report from the Energy Information Administration.

The nation’s oil boom has been driven by a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which has unlocked shale formations from Texas to North Dakota. Production averaged 9.19 million barrels a day through January 9, the most in weekly records compiled since January 1983, data from the Energy Department’s statistical arm show.

With Bloomberg News

ECB’s QE. . .

Continued from A1

in an economic bulletin that ECB’s QE program will generate additional portfolio inflows although at a lower level than what the US QE program had generated for emerging markets like the Philippines.

“The ECB QE program will generate additional portfolio flows equivalent to a fraction of the levels that benefited the country under US QE program.

It will probably approximate the net portfolio flows from EU [about 2 percent of GDP annually or $3B] from 2007 to 2009, the only years when EU data are available from the BSP,” Beltran said.

ECB President Mario Draghi said the ECB’s QE program will consist of a monthly release of €60 billion from March 2015 to September 2016.

This would amount to some €1 trillion that the ECB would have spent buying securities such as sovereign bonds and injecting liquidity to the economy to stave off fears of deflation and revive the European economy.

Beltran said that while the effectiveness of QE and its effects are debatable, the effects on the Philippines of the US QE program can provide a glimpse of what the ECB’s QE program would have in store for emerging markets (EM).

He also noted that when the US QE had tapered off, the result was the outflow of portfolio investments from the Philippines, which resulted in a net outflow of $300 million in 2014.

“For emerging markets, the US QE policy has translated into hot money inflows. The low American interest rates have also exerted pressure on EM currencies to appreciate. In EMs themselves, interest rates have been kept low,” Beltran said.

The tapering of the US bondbuying program also resulted in an outf low of portfolio investments last year. Beltran said net inflows in 2014 plunged by nearly a quarter to $21.8 billion. This decrease in inflows resulted in the country seeing net outflows of portfolio investments of $300 million.

ECB’s Draghi committed to a QE program to counter the threat of a deflationary spiral in the euro zone.

The Nation BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, January 28, 2015 A3

Palace still pushing for peace process, BBL despite eroding support in Congress

M

By Butch Fernandez

alacañang remains firm in pushing the peace process, as well as the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law (BBL), despite the decision of irate lawmakers to withdraw support for it in protest over the weekend “massacre” of police special forces by Muslim rebels in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao.

“Iginagalang natin ang proseso ng mga mambabatas at mauunawaan namin ang kanilang pasya dahil nga sa pinakahuling kaganapan, pero patuloy pa rin ang pagtataguyod natin ng prosesong pangkapayapaan, dahil mahalaga ang pagpapasa ng Bangsamoro basic law,” Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said.

Coloma told Palace reporters that the Office of the President will abide by the legislative process, even as it affirms the importance of forging a new peace deal with Moro rebels and passing the BBL granting greater autonomy to the Muslim community in the South.

He said this was the reason Presi-

dent Aquino dispatched Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to the massacre site in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao to conduct an on-site inquiry and report to him immediately.

SAF commander relieved

The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, relieved on Tuesday the commander of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) as it began looking into the massacre on Sunday of police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, that resulted in the death of more than 40 policemen.

PNP Officer in Charge Deputy Director Leonardo Espina said Director Getolio Napenas was relieved of his post as the Board of Inquiry (BOI), which Espina himself heads, investigates the death of the police commandos in the hands of Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces.

“I personally talked to Napenas about his administrative relief…I

would like to get to the bottom of things, how this happened,” said Espina during a briefing, which was also joined by Roxas.

“The BOI will determine what really happened and its investigation will entail both internal and external.

What is the culpability, liability of the officers who led the SAF operation?”

Espina added.

The BOI, whose members included Director Benjamin Magalong of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, will also determine the criminal liability of those who killed the policemen after they served the warrant of arrest for Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan.

Espina said Napenas is replaced

by Chief Supt. Noel Talina, deputy commander of the SAF. The PNP officer in charge said he would recommend the highest possible medal to be given to those who died during the operation, and it is the equivalent of Gold Cross medal in the military. At the same time, they

would also be promoted.

“Full state honors, benefits [to the slain policemen] will be given,” Espina assured.

Roxas said the final death toll for the police in the botched operation was 44 killed and 12 wounded, adding that the total number of commandos who participated in the serving of the warrant was 392.

As to what the other policemen did during the incident, he did not say.

“They all came from different units within the SAF,” the secretary said of the policemen.

Call for sobriety

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Tuesday expressed solidarity with the families of the policemen who were killed in the recent clash with the MILF forces, even as President Aquino continues to keep mum over the incident.

In a statement released to the media, Sereno said his fellow magistrates “deeply” mourn the death of the police officers but, at the same

time, are calling for sobriety.

“No words are enough to console the families for their loss, perhaps even the promise of earthly justice will sound hollow at this time. But I ask them now to cling to the hope that there is always the eternal realm,” Sereno said.

“A call for war and retribution should never be made lightly and should remain always a final option.

It should certainly not be made in the heat of the moment and in the face of, as yet, unclear facts and confusing narratives,” she added

CBCP issues condemnation

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) deplored the Mamasapano massacre as an “utterly senseless act of violence” in Mindanao.

CBCP President and LingayenDagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, however, clarified that "while the CBCP condemns such violence, we cannot side with those who call for the discontinuance of peace talks.”

With Rene Acosta, Joel R. San Juan

Economy

A4 Wednesday, January 28, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

BusinessMirror

news@businessmirror.com.ph

PHL urged to expand in nonvoice BPO

B

By Kris M. Crismundo | Philippines News Agency

usiness-process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the Philippines need to expand in nonvoice services as rapid growth in this sector is seen in coming years.

Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) President Benedict Hernandez said, at the sidelines of the International Con-

tact Center Conference and Expo in Pasay City on Tuesday, that there will be faster demand in nonvoice BPO than voice services as the in-

dustry’s client markets are moving toward nonvoice process.

Contrary to voice-based process wherein customers’ queries are handled over phone, nonvoice services are via e-mail, chat or social media.

“There will be faster growth in nonvoice, while growth in voice services will be minimal,” Hernandez told reporters.

“We need to make sure to position ourselves in nonvoice services,” he said.

With this trend, the country may lose its competitive advantage of speaking the English language

clearly than other markets, as nonvoice services will be looking into e-mail, chat, and social-media capabilities of talents.

“That will be a new challenge for the industry; how we could be different in offering non-voice services,” he mentioned.

Currently, 90 percent of the local market are services, while the remaining are nonvoice process.

Meanwhile, global services consulting firm Everest Group Vice President Hanumantha Karthik said annual global spending on contact services has reached the $300 billion

to $350 billion mark.

Only 20 percent, or around $60 billion to $75 billion, of the total global spending on contact-center industry is outsource-based services.

The 20-percent share of outsource-based services is expected to grow by 6.0 percent to 8.0 percent in the next three to five years, while spending in this sector is seen to expand by 10 percent to 12 percent.

This means the Philippines still have market to grow its contact center industry with this global trend according to the CCAP chief.

Plant breakdowns, WESM price may affect consumer power bill, Meralco exec says

By Lenie Lectura

T

HE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has expressed concern over the frequent incidents of power-plant outages as this may have an adverse impact on consumers’ electricity bills.

“We are monitoring with concern the prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market [WESM], which appears to be affected by multiple simultaneous outages of power plants,” Meralco Utility Economics Head Larry Fernandez said in a text message.

Latest data showed that a total of 2,532 megawatts (MW) of power have already been shaved off from the Luzon grid due to forced and scheduled shutdown of power plants.

Among the power plants that are on scheduled maintenance shutdown include Malaya Unit 1 (300 MW), GN Power Unit 2 (300 MW), Masinloc Unit 2 (315 MW) and Quezon Power (460 MW).

Meanwhile, the power plants that went on forced outage include the Limay 6 (60 MW), due to high turbine vibration; Limay 8 (100 MW), due to undetermined cause; Malaya 2 (350 MW), due to main fuel heater leak; GN Power 1 (300 MW), due to actuation of generator fault problem; Tiwi 2 (27 MW), due to low vacuum; Ilijan A, due to undetermined cause; and BacMan 2 (20 MW), due to stillundetermined cause.

“On top of around 1,000 MW of capacity under scheduled maintenance, another 1,400 MW is under forced outage or unscheduled outage,” Fernandez added.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho

L. Petilla said there are still no reported power outage incidents in Luzon amid the high number of power plants going offline because demand is still manageable.

“The grid’s condition is still white, meaning normal. The cool weather keeps the demand low. We are hoping for the best,” he said.

In the meantime, Meralco is closely monitoring prices at the spot market. “We are awaiting the billing of WESM to see how all these outages affected spot market prices,” Fernandez added.

In the January billing rates, Meralco customers saw a drop in their bills following a decrease in generation charge, the largest component of the bill.

January power rates went down

by P0.19 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

A Meralco bill is made up of many charges. Generation charge, or the portion of the bill that goes to the generation companies or power producers, has further decreased

by P0.22 centavos, from P4.94 last December to P4.72 this January.

This is the lowest generation charge in 15 months.

The reduction in the generation charge was mainly driven by lower charges from the power facilities under the Power Supply Agreements (PSAs), which registered a reduction of P0.73 per kWh due to the normal operations of the power plants during the December supply month and the lower cost of fuel. Coal prices of some suppliers went down by almost $2 per metric ton.

The lower PSA charges more than offset increased charges from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and

Glutton’s delight A mother and daughter team prepares, cooks and sells an assortment of glutinous rice delights, known as kakanin, to shoppers and pedestrians along Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila for P10 to P15 apiece. Nonie Reyes

WESM, which increased by P0.24 and P1.68 per kWh, respectively.

The higher WESM charges were primarily due to the additional payment and compensation to power generators affected by the administered and secondary price cap implementation for the February to July 2014 supply months.

In terms of share to Meralco’s total power requirements for the December supply month from PSAs, IPPs and WESM accounted for 52 percent, 45 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Meralco, however, said this series of lower generation charges over the past few months may be

difficult to sustain, especially as warmer temperatures set in, coinciding with the shutdown of the Malampaya gas facility sometime from March to April this year. Add to this the upward adjustment and longer threshold reference period before the secondary price cap in the WESM is triggered.

Philippines, Bangladesh seek business synergies

B

anking on their sustainable economic growth, inclusive development strategy and increasing young population, the Philippines and Bangladesh explore their growing trade and investment potentials to look for synergies and give a boost to bilateral economic relations.

“We are similar in terms of [economic] growth and export dependency, wherein 40 percent of our exports are electronics,” Trade Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr. said during a recent call by a six-member Bangladesh business delegation to the Philippines.

Manalo added that the Philippines has a lot to learn from Bangladesh, and vice versa.

The delegation is led by Bangladesh Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BPCCI) President Rashed Maksud Khan, and composed of top executives of key businesses in Bangladesh.

Manalo noted that the Philippines needs to build on sectors such as garments, tourism and processed food since these employ most of the country’s population.

“We come with this business delegation mainly to promote our bilateral trade and investment. We look forward to have good business with the Philippines,” Khan said in an interview at the sidelines of the call.

Khan added that the Philippines is a very good potential since it has its own resources, people are highly educated and trained, and known for various products in electronics, media and service industry.

“We want to develop our agriculture with your expertise and knowledge for your people have developed the skills in food production, processing, canning and packaging. We would like to collaborate with your country on this field,” Khan said.

Khan noted that Bangladesh is strong in ready-made garments and is the No. 2 exporter to US and Europe.

“I think we can meet your requirements. We can set up a facility in the Philippines or in our country [Bangladesh]. We made the offer to your investors whichever they like,” Khan said.

Khan said they initially talked to some members of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry on possible tie-ups in the garments industry. PNA

From rails to ports, poor infra planning burdens Pinoys

Continued from A1

“We should see a surge in infrastructure spending and PPP projects,” he said.

The key infrastructure program of the Aquino administration has made a good impression among its peers in Asia, due to its “sound policies and structure.”

Since its inception in 2010, the government has awarded only nine deals under the program, which has a robust pipeline of more than 60 projects. The government is currently auctioning off 11 contracts as of press time.

Diokno, however, was not too happy of the program, calling it a “disappointment.”

“The credibility of the Aquino administration will diminish as its term ends. Some contractors might choose not to participate and just wait for the next administration.

You see the same companies competing for the various PPP projects.

Their capacity may be near their limits,” he said.

But for PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao, the government has done a great job in facilitating the program that seeks the help of the private sector in plugging the infrastructure gap in the Philippines.

“We have a lot of projects in the pipeline and we are seeing a lot of interest from foreign bidders. There

are new players in our projects. Those that are already participating in our bids are large corporations, which form consortiums, and they should really invest in our infrastructure,” she said.

The PPP chief said the Aquino administration hopes that the next administration would continue implementing the key infrastructure thrust in order to address the infrastructure woes in the country.

“We all want the PPP Program to be sustainable and to go beyond 2016. So what we are doing now is we’re strengthening the regulatory framework and making the process more efficient and fool-proof of the PPP Act,” Canilao added.

Essentially, the PPP Act is an amendment of the build-operatetransfer (BOT) law, which is the very cornerstone of the program.

“The technical working group meetings will start at the lower house on the 28th of January and on the Senate. We are talking with the Senate President and we’re hoping that their technical working committee meetings would start really soon,” Canilao said.

When approved, the PPP Act would institutionalize the Project Development and Monitoring Facility, the PPP Governing Board and the contingent liability fund. The proposed amendments include the sepa-

ration of regulatory and commercial functions of government-owned and -controlled corporations and create a list of projects called “Projects of National Significance.”

By virtue of being included in the list of projects of national significance, projects will be “insulated” from local laws, among others, by local government units.

The proposed amendments also include allowing time-bound temporary restraining order and the extension of the period for the Swiss Challenge to six months, from the current two-month period.

The amendments are seen approved within the term of President Aquino.

Address woes practically

More than increasing infrastructure spending for the next couple of months, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Alfredo M. Yao said the government must also act quickly to address the woes in the country’s much-needed facilities.

“We need to work double time.

These problems are a result of poor planning from past administrations—a confluence of poor planning. We should have improved our rail systems by this time, our airports should have been modernized, and our ports should have

been improved,” he said.

The short-term measure addressing the congestion at Naia and the Manila-based ports, he said, should force the port operators and airlines to move to secondary gateways up north and down south.

“We have seaports in Batangas and in Subic, which are ready. We just have to improve them, add more berths to lessen the queues. For the airport, we cannot really use our existing. We have a runway problem, so we have to bite the bullet. We have to get out from them and make an alternate airport in Naia. We really have to go to Clark, but the problem is we need a bus rail, or an airport rail that would run efficiently,” Yao, who owns a majority of budget carrier AirAsia Zest, said.

But, more than forcing commercial airlines to get out of the Naia, the government should exercise the political will to remove private planes out of the main gateway.

“If they would do that, Naia’s runway would improve by 20 percent to 30 percent. These planes should be transferred to Clark or Sangley. Imagine, these planes that carry only two to three passengers would have the same waiting time as a commercial airplane that carries 200 to 300 passengers. They should have the political will and power to do it,” Yao said.

Bear the consequence for now

Building the infrastructure now, Luz said, would mean further addressing the problem of congestion.

“We must accelerate building more infrastructure, but as we build the infrastructure at the same time, the public would have to suffer inconvenience because of the construction, but at least we could reap the benefits in the future,” he said.

At present, the government is building more bridges, paving more roads, and is trying to improve the state of the railways, aviation gateways and seaports around the country, implementing the P4.76-trillion Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding Areas, otherwise known as the Dream Plan, crafted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

It lists the transport infrastructure the Philippines needs to remove potential losses and gain from prospective savings.

Some of the projects under the PPP Prog ram—a number of which have been awarded already—were under the Dream Plan, but almost five years into the Aquino administration, not one had been completed.

“We must understand that

i nf ra st r uc t u re projec ts h ave long gestation periods,” Canilao explained.

Slated for commercial operations is one of the smallest projects in the pipeline, the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway Link, a four-kilometer thoroughfare awarded to Ayala Corp.

Luz said he has high hopes that the government would address these problems sooner or later, as this would have a direct impact on the overall ranking of the Philippines in terms of competitiveness, which is a barometer that tells investors whether or not to risk their money in the Southeast Asian economy.

“Overall we rank 52nd at the World Economic Forum. We used to be in the 80s three or four years ago. It’s a big improvement, imagine when we fix these logistical problems, imagine the increase,” Luz said.

The government and the private sector might be working closely to eradicate the congestion and help lessen the load of commuters, but that might be far from a hand’s reach as of the moment.

For now, the woman who passed out while riding the MRT could do with what is available, even if it means risking her life just to earn a living.

Economy BusinessMirror

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PECR 5 to boost PHL’s oil, coal output by 2019–US-EIA report

A

By Lenie Lectura

N ongoing auction on the exploration of potential coal and petroleum areas in the Philippines could increase the country’s oil production to 39,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) by 2019, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest report.

“In 2013 total oil production was 26,000 barrels per day while the country consumed 299,000 bbl/d. In May 2014 the government invited tenders for 11 oil and gas blocks in the Palawan Basin and nearby areas, including one in the South China Sea. This exploration bid round could push oil production up to 39,000 bbl/d by 2019,” the EIA said.

The Department of Energy (DOE) launched last year the Fifth Philippine Energy Contracting Round (PECR 5), in which 11 blocks covering a total area of 47,840 square kilometers are being offered to potential investors.

Most of the oil-and-gas exploration blocks are near the Philippines’s main island of Luzon, while most of the coal blocks are in southern Philippine provinces. Ten of the 11 oil and gas block on offer are offshore.

The blocks are mainly in frontier regions, and cover an average size of 4,350 sq km

PETILLA: “As we live within international laws, we seek all diplomatic recourse to assert our claims to the areas in the West Philippine Sea.”

per block, with the largest covering 5,760 sq km in the East Palawan region.

The areas for petroleum exploration include Area 1 in Southeast Luzon; 2 and 3 in Masbate-Iloilo; 4 and 5 in Northeast Palawan; 6 in Southeast Palawan; 7 in West Palawan; and 8 to 11 in West Luzon.

Two of the blocks are close to the Spratly Islands, of which a portion is claimed by both the Philippines and China. The EIA

estimates that the South China Sea contains approximately 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas in proved and probable reserves.

“The area we are offering in the West Philippine Sea is near Palawan,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jerico L. Petilla said.

Area 7, according to the DOE, holds an estimated resource potential of 165 million barrels of oil and about 3.5 tcf of natural gas.

“As we live within international laws, we seek all diplomatic recourse to assert our claims to the areas in the West Philippine Sea,” Petilla said.

The Philippines imported roughly 270,000 bbl/d of crude oil and petroleum products in 2013, with 35 percent of their crude-oil imports coming from Saudi Arabia and Russia. Further, the country possesses the capacity to refine 290,000 bbl/d.

Shell Philippines and Otto Energy play significant roles in the upstream sector, while Petron Corp. operates the largest refinery in the country, supplying nearly 40 percent of the country’s oil needs. The Philippines exports nearly all the crude oil it produces.

“The Philippines is a net energy importer in spite of low consumption levels relative to its Southeast Asian neighbors. The country produces small volumes of oil, natural gas and coal. Geothermal, hydropower and other renewable sources constitute a significant share of electricity generation,” the EIA said.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015 A5

DBM’s Abad bares GAARD scheme to increase spending

By Estrella Torres

B

udget Secretar y Florencio B. Abad on Tuesday said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already released 78 percent, or P2.037 trillion, of the P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015 to recipient government agencies and departments to address procurement delays and fast-track project implementation.

He said under the new budgetary-reform program, dubbed as GAA-as-Release Document (GAARD), government agencies are required to obligate funds on the start of the fiscal year to facilitate the spending upon budget release.

The new scheme also allows government agencies and departments to enter into contracts and kick-start the procurement process from the start of the fiscal year.

“This is because the disaggregated budget items in the GAA—specifically under the GAARD regime—are already considered released to their respective agencies,” said Abad in a news statement.

The new budgetary reform is being implemented under National Budget Circular 556 on the Release of Funds for 2015.

“In keeping with the GAA-as-Release-Document regime we started last year, the release of a major component of the 2015 budget at the start of the year will ensure greater efficiency in public spending. With the GAA standing as the official budget release document, we’re able to address previous issues in transparency, delays in project implementation, and accountability in the expenditure process,” Abad said.

ABAD: “The goal of the budget’s early release is to give agencies a head-start in the procurement process for their projects. But we also plan to aggressively clear spending bottlenecks by working closely with agencies, and making sure they make the most of the funds released to them.”

The budget chief said that the remaining 22 percent of the national budget, worth P568.7 billion, will be considered for later release and will be done through the special allotment release order subject to compliance with required documents and clearances.

Abad explained that the increase in the initial fund release is due to the adoption of the “no lump-sum policy” in the General Appropriations Act and the comprehensive release of budgets in most departments, including the Department of Agriculture’s provision for farm-tomarket roads and national programs for rice, corn and livestock.

“The goal of the budget’s early release is to give agencies a head-start in the procurement process for their projects. But we also plan to aggressively clear spending bottlenecks by working closely with agencies, and making sure they make the most of the funds released to them,” Abad said.

Under the circular, agencies need to execute priority programs and projects within one year so they can deliver public goods and service at the soonest possible time.

Opinion BusinessMirror

A6 Wednesday, January 28, 2015

editorial

Exporting to halal markets

A

call recently made by the Department of Trade and Industry to local food exporters to get Halal Certification so that they can increase their share of the global halal market is an extremely important one and should be heeded by those concerned.

Production for export, especially where the market is more or less assured, is one of the fastest ways of growing for business and of creating employment opportunities by the government.

As the DTI indicates, the global Muslim population in 2013 stood at 1.6 billion, or 23 percent of the world total. The global halal market stood at approximately $2.3 trillion and the food halal market at about $700 billion.

The halal market is vast, by any reckoning. Can Philippine exporters benefit from this challenge? No doubt they can. The room for the expansion of exports in the Philippines is practically infinite. Consider the following numbers: Exports per capita, 2013; Singapore: $76,448; Indonesia: $734; Brunei: $28,190; Cambodia: $611; Malaysia: $7,662; Philippines: $543; Thailand: $3,351; Laos: $390; Vietnam: $1,479; Myanmar: $185 The numbers shown above are humiliating. We are superior only to Laos and Myanmar. As far as the possibilities of increasing Philippine exports are concerned therefore, we can say the sky is the limit.

The DTI informs us that contrary to the common notion it covers only meat and food products, halal in fact includes cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Halal is also interconnected with the services sectors such as food manufacturing and service industries, logistics and shipping, Islamic banking, finance and standards, auditing and certification, tourism, retail and health and wellness sectors.

The DTI reports the Philippines exported in 2013 a total of $480.27 million worth of products to Islamic countries. These exports included fruits, nuts, cereals, meat, fish and seafood preparations.

The potential for expansion includes sugar products, canned tuna and sardines, processed fruits and drinks and snack foods and biscuits.

The certification system in the Philippines consists of the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) that provides accreditation to halal certifiers through the Halal Development and Accreditation Board or Halal Board. As of February 2014, the NCMF has accredited three halal certifiers in the country. As of 2013, the DTI has listed over 200 Philippine-based firms belonging to various agri-food and agri-fishery sectors that have secured halal certification, an indication that the Philippines has the capacity to be a leading producer of halal products.

At the same time, the DTI underscores the need to further strengthen the halal accreditation and certification system. In particular, “there is the need to develop other Philippine standards parallel to international standards pertaining not only to food products but also to non-food products.”

The DTI is calling on the private sector to carry out more information campaigns, conferences and seminars to inform stakeholders of the advantages of participating in the halal industry.

We urge our exporters to respond to this challenge of the DTI to participate in the halal industry not just for their own benefit but for the benefit of the nation as a whole.

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Basics of reinsurance Dennis B. Funa

INSURANCE FORUM

R

EINSURANCE is “a transaction whereby one insurance company (the ‘reinsurer’) agrees to indemnify another insurance company (the ‘reinsured’, ‘cedent’ or ‘primary’ company or ceding company) against all or part of the loss that the latter sustains under a policy or policies that it has issued.”

And, just like in any other insurance transaction, the ceding company has to pay the reinsurer a premium. In other words, reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies.

The purpose of reinsurance is to further spread risk. The rationale can be better appreciated in times of extraordinary or catastrophic losses.

In a catastrophic fire of an industrial proportion, an insurance company can be financially crippled without reinsurance. From a business standpoint, reinsurance enables an insurance company to expand its capacity to underwrite.

On the other hand, a reinsurer may in turn cede to another reinsurer called retrocessionaire. This is called retroceding, which is the act of a reinsurer of reinsuring with another reinsurer. In such a case, the ceding reinsurer will be known as the retrocedent. And, just as in direct insurance, there are reinsurance intermediaries, i.e. reinsurance brokers. Ceding is the act of passing “on to another insurer (the reinsurer) all or part of the insurance written by an insurer (the ceding insurer) with the objective of reducing the possible liability of the latter”.

There are two general types of reinsurance agreements: facultative

and treaty reinsurance. In the facultative type, reinsurance is transacted on an individual risk basis where “the ceding company has the option to offer an individual risk to the reinsurer and the reinsurer retains the right to accept or reject the risk.” In treaty or obligatory reinsurance, however, the reinsurer must accept all business included within the terms of the reinsurance contract. There is no individual risk scrutiny by the reinsurer. One contract encompasses all subject risks.

Both facultative and treaty reinsurance can be grouped into two main categories: pro rata and excess of loss reinsurance. Pro rata, or ‘proportional,’ is a form of reinsurance in which the reinsurer shares a proportional part of the original losses and premiums of the ceding company. It is, in other words, a “sharing concept” where the ceding company and reinsurer share premium and losses in a determined percentage.

Excess of loss or non-proportional reinsurance provides that a reinsurer indemnifies a ceding company against the amount of loss in excess of a specified retention, subject to specified limits.

A concept that needs to be understood in reinsurance is the term

“retention.” This refers to the portion of a risk which the direct insurer is willing and able to carry itself.

Beyond this retention, the risks will have to be ceded. Ceding insurers have to regularly submit reports to the reinsurer. One such report is the bordereau report which provides premium or loss data with respect to identified specific risks. This report is periodically furnished to a reinsurer by the ceding insurers or reinsurers.

The underlying principle making reinsurance possible is the duty of utmost good faith or Uberrimae Fidei.

Under this doctrine, the reinsurer has to rely on the good faith of the cedent specifically on material facts pertaining to the ceded business. The reinsurer is not intimately involved in underwriting the ceded business.

On this matter, the reinsurer has to rely on the cedent.

Corollary to this doctrine is the basic tenet of lack of privity of contract between the reinsurer and the original policyholder. The reinsurer is ordinarily not liable to the original policyholder of the ceding insurer, “it is not a co-signer of the policy issued to the original policyholder, and it is not jointly and severally obligated to make good on the benefits the policyholder sought to obtain under the insurance contract”.

Resulting from the doctrine of utmost good faith is the ‘Follow-theFortunes Doctrine,’ which provides that a reinsurer must indemnify a reinsured “for any payments made by the reinsured for claims covered by the underlying policy, by settlement or adverse judgment, as long as those claims are not fraudulent, collusive or made in bad faith.”

Under this rule, a reinsurer cannot dispute the good faith determinations that a risk was covered

Social media changes speech

By John Kunza

The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tennessee

T

he president wanted to make this year’s State of the Union address an “experience.”

Channeling prime-time television, the president’s address had all the hallmarks: celebrity appearances, catchphrases and a social media hashtag.

The days of a stuffy speech filled with polite claps are over; the address has been upgraded.

Critics chiming in are using phrases commonly used to review other prime-time television moments and most are in agreement that it was a good mash-up of television meeting the Internet.

For the first time the White House posted the entire copy of the speech ahead of time on a blog. Readers got a 10-minute head start and were sharing it across the World Wide Web. In

fact, the White House was one of the most shared websites in the world the night of the speech.

Part of this new experience included viewers chiming in on social media with the hashtag #SOTU. This was a move straight out of television’s bag of tricks. Move over, #Scandal, #BigBangTheory and #IDOL, because #SOTU is trending globally. In fact, #SOTU was so popular it was used in some 1.3 million tweets while the speech was still being made. In all, around 2.6 million State of the Union

tweets were sent last Tuesday evening.

Zignal Labs dug deeper into the social media chatter and determined the most active metro areas on social media in the country were New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco.

One of the benefits of using social media was that it got everyone involved in real time. The Twittersphere erupted with both praise and criticism after President Barack Obama’s ad-libbed quip about elections, “I know, because I won both of them.” One thing that united both sides of the aisle was the hashtag #IWonBothOfThem.

The conversation wasn’t just contained to Twitter. Facebook says 5.7 million people made 13.8 million interactions on the day of the address.

Facebook calls an interaction a like, post, comment or share.

For Facebook the most active ar-

under the underlying policy, or a good faith interpretation of the policy terms.

However, it must be pointed out that the reinsurer’s obligation is not the same as the obligation of the reinsured to the original policyholder.

“A reinsurer will not be held liable beyond the terms of the reinsurance contract merely because the ceding insurer has sustained a loss.

The fact that the direct insurer has paid a claim does not establish that it is entitled to indemnity from the reinsurer because the claim might have been one for which the insurer was not bound to make payment.”

Thus, “cedents that make ex gratia or ‘voluntary’ payments (payments made in the absence of any legal obligation to pay) are not entitled to indemnity from their reinsurers unless the reinsurance contract provides to the contrary.”

There are four crucial reasons justifying the importance of reinsurance, which all must remember.

First, it protects an insurer against very large insurance claims. Second, it maintains a balanced set of underwriter results annually, avoiding the frequency of peaks and troughs. Also, reinsurance helps spread the risk among insurers and internationally.

Lastly, it increases the capacity of the direct insurer, allowing them to insure a large risk through the help of other insurers.

With all the complexities of both insurance and reinsurance, at the end of the day, their existence has been so designed to keep the industry thriving and the insuring public protected.

Dennis B. Funa is presently the Deputy Insurance Commissioner for Legal Services of the Insurance Commission. E-mail dennisfuna@yahoo. com for comments.

eas of the country were North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and South Carolina.

People also logged on to factcheck the president. Google says its most searched questions related to the State of the Union Address were: 1. What is the middle class income?

2. Why are gas prices dropping?

3. How much does the president make?

With all eyes on the 2016 presidential race, we were also busy talking about potential candidates.

According to Zignal Labs, the most frequently mentioned 2016 White House contenders on Twitter were Rand Paul, Elizabeth Warren and Marco Rubio. Paul dominated the online conversation and was mentioned 48 percent of the time, Warren was mentioned 17 percent of the time and Rubio 8 percent.

Opinion BusinessMirror

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

India’s swelling stash of dollars

By Robert P. George The Philadelphia Inquirer

BLOOMBERG VIEW

R

AGHURAM Rajan’s recent surprise rate cut was what central bankers call an “insurance move.” In a highly uncertain and deflationary world, the Reserve Bank of India governor decided he’d rather risk higher inflation in hopes of boosting growth. More quietly, Rajan is taking out another policy that could pay even bigger dividends in years to come. He’s hoarding dollars. that a stable, strong rupee is the key to cementing trust in India’s economy, which still suffers from a sizable current-account deficit and relies on short-term capital flows. A firm currency should attract overseas capital to support equities, upgrade infrastructure and pay down government debt.

This offers an opening for Modi; the question is whether the prime minister will seize it. In July, the prime minister’s first budget avoided “big bang” reforms like allowing foreigners to hold majority stakes in key sectors like insurance and defense. His government sidetracked a World Trade Organization deal to cut tariffs. And while he harnessed the plunge in oil prices to trim subsidies, Modi has been slow to dismantle budgetbusting support programs.

Modi needs to get serious with his first full budget, expected in late February. He enters the process with a rare economic tailwind.

By stabilizing the financial system and shoring ups its defenses, Rajan has given Modi considerably more latitude not only to restructure the economy, but to take risks like selling state assets and welcoming more foreign involvement in the economy.

Once India reforms and moves beyond the boom-bust cycles of the past, it should be able to turn around and use its reserves to invest in education and healthcare as well as roads, bridges, ports and the power grid.

Dominic Bunning of HSBC says “an improving policy framework and the positive reform momentum we are seeing” make him increasingly bullish on India. He’s not the only one. While China is growing faster—7.3 percent versus 5.3 percent—India is widely expected to pull ahead in 2016.

Both countries have seen stock gains in 2014 in the 40 percent or more range, even as markets in Brazil and Russia have sagged.

“I might be tempted to call it just ‘IC’,” Jim O’Neill, the economist and Bloomberg View columnist who coined the term “BRICs,” quipped recently.

All Rajan has done, though, is prepare the ground. The onus still lies on Modi to push forward the politically difficult reforms he’s avoided thus far. He’s now got 322 billion good reasons to do so.

H

ow do immigrants become Americans?

It goes beyond becoming a citizen, and even formally signing on with the American political creed. The key ingredient is something I know intimately from my own family’s experience, namely, gratitude. It is, typically, an immigrant’s feelings of gratitude to America for the liberty, security, and opportunity our nation affords him and his family that leads to his appreciation of the ideals and institutions of American cultural, economic, and civic life.

From this appreciation comes an immigrant’s belief in the goodness of American ideals and the value of the constitutional structures and institutions by which they are effectuated.

And from this belief arises his aspiration to become a citizen together with his willingness to shoulder the responsibilities of citizenship and even to make great sacrifices for the nation —his nation—should it come to that.

My own immigrant grandfathers came to the United States a little more than a hundred years ago. Like most immigrants, they were not drawn here by any abstract belief in the superiority of the American political system.

My father’s father came from Syria fleeing oppression visited upon him and his family as members of a relatively small ethnic and religious minority group. My mother’s father came to escape the poverty of southern Italy.

They both worked on the railroads and in the mines. My maternal grandfather settled in West Virginia and saved enough money to start a little grocery store, which became a flourishing business. My paternal grandfather spent his entire life as a laborer. He died of emphysema, no doubt as a result of the pulmonary health hazards of coal

mining in those days.

Both men were exceedingly grateful for what America made possible for them and their families. Their gratitude was not diminished when times got hard in the Great Depression. Although both my grandfathers encountered ethnic prejudice, they viewed this as an aberration _ a failure of some Americans to live up to the nation’s ideals. It did not dawn on them to blame the bad behavior on America itself. On the contrary, America in their eyes was a land of unsurpassed blessing. It was a nation of which they were proud and happy to become citizens.

And even before they became citizens they had become patriots—men who deeply appreciated what America is and what she stands for.

I suspect that as I tell these stories, many readers are thinking of their grandparents or great-grandparents.

The amazing and wonderful thing is that a family story like mine of immigrant ancestors becoming Americans is not the exception; it is the norm. (Of course, the story of Africans brought to America as slaves and then subjected to segregation and discrimination even after slavery was abolished is a radically different one—a story

Real men can make quiche (and cut wood)

By Charles M. Madigan Chicago Tribune/TNS

A

SET of chisels I bought at a sale on the East Coast came home to me a few months ago after they were sent “out West” someplace to be properly sharpened.

A dull chisel is a troubling thing.

“Be careful,” the guy at the knife place said. “They are like razors.”

And he was right. The four I had sent away with scratches and chips in their blades came back mirror sharp, sharp enough to shave hair from your arm without even a little push.

When I was unpacking them, I found myself putting my thumb over the leading edge of each of them as I shifted them from the package to the spot in my workshop where they stand like cold steel soldiers waiting

A7

How do immigrants become Americans?

William Pesek

On Fr iday, the day before Barack Obama flew to New Delhi for his lovefest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the RBI announced that India’s foreignexchange reserves had risen to a record $322 billion. While the news couldn’t compete with the Modi-Obama hug at the airport, a nuclear deal and talk of cooperation on climate change, that swelling stash greatly increases the odds that Modi’s reform program will succeed.

Rajan’s shock rate move on January 15 was itself a boost to so-called Modinomics. By slashing the benchmark rate to 7.75 percent from 8 percent, the RBI governor made clear the central bank was ready to guard India’s economy against a fast-mounting number of risks around globe. Equally important, says Marc Chandler of Brown Brothers Harriman, was the “vote of confidence” the decision signaled about Modi’s government.

Now Rajan’s stockpiling of currencies should help catalyze change in New Delhi. As recently as September 2013, when Rajan started at the RBI, India was spiraling toward crisis. An economy once celebrated as one of the superpowers of the future–Brazil, Russia, India and China, or the BRICs–was being grouped among the world’s most “fragile” nations.

Hedge funds bet India would be the first of the BRICs to be downgraded to junk.

Rajan moved fast to halt a run on the rupee, shore up the banking system and cap inf lation.

More recently, he’s been building up India’s defenses as emerging nations brace for Federal Reserve rate hikes and a new euro crisis.

Nizam Idris, a Macquarie Group strategist, reckons that Rajan has stockpiled about $59 billion of reserves since taking charge at the RBI, or an average of $4 billion per month.

While India’s reserves are still a fraction of China’s $3.8 trillion, they’re substantial enough now to “create a stronger firewall against external account shocks and build greater international confidence,” says Rajiv Biswas of IHS Global Insight.

India represents something of an outlier in the region. While Asian peers devalue to boost exports, Rajan has clearly decided

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

for a battle.

I heard a voice: “That’s how you carry a chisel!”

Why did I do that?

Mr. Wray.

Mr. Wray was the manual arts teacher at the Altoona, Pa., junior high school we visited once a week to be properly instructed in two important manual arts: basic woodworking and drafting. You were not a complete young man without those skills.

Many viewed Mr. Wray as a beast because he had no patience with

fools. He knew that a chisel could just as easily slice a finger off as it could shave a thin slice of hardwood. Caution was the rule, and the thumb over the leading edge was the reminder.

One wrong move and you would get a genuine chisel cut to remember. Then Mr. Wray would paddle you with the walnut beating tool he made himself, complete with nickel-size holes that left welts like red communion wafers on the back of your legs. You would not do that again.

We need manual training again.

I understand we have technical schools and post-high school training schools and all kinds of other places to learn how to do things well. The roofers have a facility where they can train you in the proper roofing skills.

But none of that is for kids.

Manual training and home economics for kids–bring them back.

And de-sexify them.

A young man who cannot make a quiche will never make a woman happy. (Or a man, either.) Neither will he be competent if he can’t put a button on a shirt.

And who wants a woman who can’t frame?

Skills are good, and once learned, as my chisel experience teaches us, are not soon forgotten.

We were, what, 14 or 15 years old when we first ran into Mr. Wray?

There were two assignments in shop class, which we took at the public school because the Catholics had no tool shop. We had to prepare the joint to make a tight cross from two pieces of wood. Then we had to build

of injustice and a stain upon our nation’s history. Yet the great efforts to right these wrongs and live up to our national ideals of liberty and justice are also part of our heritage.)

I believe that immigration has been a great strength for America and that it will continue to be so. I certainly hope that immigrants will continue to want to be Americans. Does this mean that I reject what is known as “multiculturalism?

It depends. I certainly see no need to encourage immigrants to abandon their customs, traditions, and ethnic or religious identities; on the contrary, I think it is good for families, and good for America, for immigrants to honor their ethnic customs and identities and pass them along to the next generation. Immigrants have always done this, and it is fine and good —a source of strength. Of course, this is to be distinguished from an ideology that promotes the rejection of a primary and central political allegiance to the United States and its ideals and institutions. And it is certainly to be distinguished from any ideology that denies the fundamental goodness of America’s principles of political and civil liberty.

Now, where a culture of opportunity flourishes, immigrants will feel, as my grandparents felt, gratitude for the opportunities they are afforded to lift themselves up, and make a better life for their children, by dint of hard work and determination to succeed.

However, it appears to be a brute fact of human psychology that where a culture of entitlement prevails, gratitude even for charitable assistance will not emerge. A culture of entitlement ends up reinforcing an attitude that impedes the gratitude that enables immigrants to become Americans.

As I said, I want immigrants to become Americans. I want them to believe in American ideals and institutions. I want them to “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I want them to believe, as I believe, in the dignity of the human being, in all stages and conditions of life; in limited government, republican democracy, equality of opportunity, morally ordered liberty, private property, economic freedom, and the rule of law. I want them to believe in these ideals and principles not because they are ours, but because they are noble and good and true.

But the transmission of American ideals to immigrants and, indeed, to anyone, including new generations of native-born Americans, depends on the maintenance of a culture in which these ideals flourish. The maintenance of such a culture is a complicated business—one with many dimensions.

But in this democratic nation of immigrants in which “We the People” have the privilege and responsibility of governing ourselves, it is every citizen’s business.

And it is certainly the special business of institutions of higher learning.

For such institutions, civic education —education that advances the understanding of our nation’s constitutional principles and institutions—is a high calling and a solemn obligation. If, as James Madison said, “only a well-educated people can be permanently a free people,” then civic education is vital to the success of the grand experiment in ordered liberty that Madison and the other founding fathers bequeathed to us and our posterity.

a bookcase out of whatever wood we wanted to use.

But these tasks came in order.

Mr. Wray would let you start your cross in white pine, because it was soft and easy to work. If you could not make a good joint with that, then he would search for harder wood.

If the worst thing happened and you could not make a good joint out of any of the common woods, he would bang a couple of pieces of black walnut in front of you and tell you to chew on that for a while.

Then he would whack your butt.

This was both informative and character building.

And, obviously, important.

I don’t know how you feel about chisels, but they are among my favorite tools. You can fix a lot of mistakes with them, fit things that don’t natu-

rally fit, finish finely and cut a clean space for placing a hinge.

Is that important?

I would say yes, not in itself but because we are becoming a nation of functional idiots when it comes to these common trades. My thought has always been that if journalism failed me, I could always frame houses!

Or teach college.

But I still want to frame houses and work with my tools.

And even though my butt stings at the very thought of the man, I need to thank Mr. Wray now for the time he spent teaching us how not to chop off our fingers.

Not a sweet man at all, but a man who knew the value of an edge and how to use it, and that is well worth the knowing.

2nd Front Page BusinessMirror

A8 Wednesday, January 28, 2015

DMCI wins ₧2.27-B LRT Line 2 Antipolo extension contract

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

T

he P2.27-billion contract to construct the guideways for the extension of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 to Antipolo City has been awarded to a local construction company, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said on Tuesday.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said the multibillionpeso deal was granted to D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI), which was given 18 months to complete the civil works for the 3.9-kilometer elevated viaduct of the east train line to Masinag Junction in Antipolo City.

“Our projects for LRT 2 will make fast, affordable and convenient transportation accessible to residents of the densely populated parts of Rizal, such as Antipolo and Cainta,” Abaya said.

The contract is part of the P9.7billion program, which also seeks to increase the capacity of the train line.

It will take the government roughly a year and a half to complete the

construction of the railway extension and make it operational.

Under the LRT Line 2 East Extension project, two additional stations will be constructed: the Emerald station in front of Robinsons Place Metro East in Cainta, Rizal; and Masinag station at the Masinag Junction in Antipolo City.

LRT Line 2, which ferries 240,000 passengers daily, will be able to serve an additional 130,000 commuters once the extension is completed.

The 13.8-km LRT Line 2 traverses the cities of Manila, San Juan, Quezon City, Marikina and Pasig.

Meanwhile, four consortiums are keen on joining the auction for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of LRT Line 2.

Transportation Spokesman Michael Arthur C. Sagcal said Aboitiz Equity Ventures-SMRT Transportation Solutions Consortium, DMCITokyo Metro Co. Ltd. Consortium, the Light Rail Manila Consortium, and the San Miguel Corp.-Korail Consortium submitted qualification See “DMCI,” A2

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BSP confident PHL banks can withstand headwinds

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By Bianca Cuaresma

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the banking system needs to be handled with extreme care this year in light of homegrown or external shocks that may affect the local financial system in 2015.

At the recent annual bankers’ reception held at Fort Abad, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said that while the banking system has a history of strength and resilience, the industry must not be complacent but must remain mindful of risks that could surface down the line.

“I have learned in my almost 10 years as governor of the Bangko

Sentral [ng Pilipinas] that each year is different. While our mandate remains the same, our operating environment is constantly shifting and changing. Sometimes, it turns on its head. So, how do we navigate in uncharted waters? Well, with extreme care,” Tetangco said.

Tetangco further said that along with extreme care, one must ensure

TETANGCO: “I believe, therefore, that even as episodes of stormy weather develop, the Philippine banking community can face 2015 with confidence given its strong balance sheet, solid capital base that exceeds global standards, product innovations and adherence to international standards for governance and risk management.”

the banking system is in shipshape condition and properly equipped to deal with the unfolding of events in the financial system.

The central bank in the second half of 2014 started implementing a wave of reforms even when the banks were at their strongest.

At the start of 2014, the BSP implemented the Basel 3 Accord on

capital ratios. Later that year the BSP also let out a series of mandates, including the higher capital requirements for banks, the regulations for so-called domestic systemically important banks and the shift from the banks’ focus on collateral to the clients ability to pay.

Likewise, the BSP subjected the real-estate sector to stress tests and monitored the banks’ exposure to the property sector, whose maiden results should soon come out.

“Our stress tests indicate that our banks have enough capital to withstand extreme shocks in credit and market risks,” Tetangco said.

“I believe, therefore, that even as episodes of stormy weather develop, the Philippine banking community can face 2015 with confidence given its strong balance sheet, solid capital base that exceeds global standards, product innovations, and adherence to international standards for governance and risk management,” Tetangco added.