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PHL-China ties:

A guarded alliance

President Duterte (second from left) and Zhang Dejiang (second from right), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, attend a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 20, 2016. Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP

D

By Rizal Raoul Reyes

uring his childhood days, newly appointed Ambassador to Beijing Jose Santiago L. Santa Romana recalled that China, with its billion-plus population, was still a sleeping giant and a third-world country.

“I never imagined that I will be representing the Philippines [as an envoy]. I remember…[China] then was a backward country,” the former student leader from the De La Salle University during the socalled First Quarter Storm in the

1970s said in an interview at the sidelines of a recent breakfast forum in Manila.

The appointment of Santa Romana as the Philippine envoy to China comes amid “interesting” times, as the two countries are

trying to settle simmering territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, and for the Chinese, the South China Sea. Nevertheless, Santa Romana is optimistic on the diplomatic relations between Beijing and Manila.

“Overall, the challenge ahead of us is quite daunting. But, I think, the prospects for Philippines-China relations are bright in the short term and [the] coming years,” he said.

“The key, however, is how to proceed and make sure that the issues can drive the alliance relationship forward and, at the same time, maintain vigilance on the issues that divide us,” said Santa Romana, a veteran journalist who stayed and worked for 38 years in Beijing.

Citing lessons from history, he pointed to Vietnam as an example on how it was able to settle a border war with China, a rising global power in the late-1970s.

In the winter of 1978 China, then under the helm of Premier Deng Xiaoping, wanted to teach Vietnam a “lesson,” by sending more than 80,000 Chinese troops across the border into Vietnam.

Furthermore, the incumbent minister asserted that the Chinese will easily pulverize the Vietnamese army and take Hanoi in a week.

However, the inexperienced and underequipped People’s Liberation Army (PLA) met a strong resistance from battle-tested Vietnamese soldiers. As a result, the Chinese were routed by local militia from posi-

tions that were used for centuries against invaders from the north.

Beijing recalled its troops six weeks later, after suffering heavy losses.

Santa Romana emphasized that political relations are important to settle, like the conflict between China and Vietnam. The implosion of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) helped in solving the conflict, since Vietnam was backed by the USSR during the 1970s. Although the dispute took eight years to settle, he said it was worth exploring the political option.

Trump’s Asia ‘pivot’

Prof. Jay Batongbacal of the University of the Philippines believes Continued on A2

‘T

he key, however, is how to proceed and make sure that the issues can drive the alliance relationship forward and, at the same time, maintain vigilance on the issues that divide us.”

—Santa Romana

Property market seen sustaining strength in 2017 HE Philippine real-estate industry has remained in good shape at the tail end of last year, with the new administration in place, and is expected to sustain its strength through 2017, according to Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services Inc. (Precsi).

As per the property consultant’s report, dubbed “Business As Usual—Market Insight Q4 2016,” the ensuing wait-and-see attitude of the market toward the economic situation in the country under President Duterte is steadily paving the way to take

‘T

his is a strong signal that the government, businesses and consumers are now spending more, as compared to the relatively lackluster GDP growth rate of 5.8 percent in 2015, which was a year prior to the national elections.”—Salas

advantage of the supply-anddemand gaps across all property segments. What triggers the rise of additional developments is the stable economy, complemented by low-interest regime, the study revealed.

Picsfive | Dreamstime.com

T

By Roderick L. Abad | Contributor

Continued on A2

PESO exchange rates n US 49.6950

n japan 0.4342 n UK 62.5561 n HK 6.4058 n CHINA 7.2212 n singapore 34.8761 n australia 37.4402 n EU 53.0643 n SAUDI arabia 13.2555

Source: BSP (27 January 2017 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, January 29, 2017

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PHL-China ties: A guarded alliance Continued from A1

the administration of President Donald J. Trump will continue the pivot to Asia policy, but this time with a different flavor. “The Trump administration will have a strong emphasis on the military component,” he stressed.

“Expect the Americans to be more assertive to counter the aggressive Chinese military buildup in the South China Sea,” he added.

Under the leadership of former President Barack Obama, the US government focused on the economy, as it tried to push for the establishment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Trump rejected the agreement, calling it a “horrible” idea.

In February 2016, 12 countries that border the Pacific Ocean signed up for the TPP, representing roughly 40 percent of the world’s economic output, according to a British Broadcasting Corp. report.

“The pact aimed to deepen economic ties between these nations, slashing tariffs and fostering trade to boost growth. Members had also hoped to foster a closer relationship on economic policies and regulation,” the BBC report added.

Moreover, the agreement was crafted like a counterpart of the European Union. However, the 12

nations needed to ratify it to enable the program to function.

The TPP would have strengthened the US position in the AsiaPacific region, where China is growing in influence. But critics labelled the TPP as a clandestine scheme designed to benefit business and other countries to the detriment of American jobs and national sovereignty.

Given the composition of Trump’s Cabinet, Batongbacal said Washington will be more assertive in projecting power in the region.

For instance, the appointment of Michael Pompeo as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) will see a tougher stand from Washington against perceived and real enemies. Moreover, the appointment of retired Marine General James Mattis as secretary of defense indicates that Washington is now hell bent in projecting military power in the Asian region.

Despite the Chinese military buildup, Batongbacal lamented the Philippines is not addressing the vital need to beef up its external defense capabilities. Instead, Manila is concentrating on enhancing its internal security operability. “The government must realize at this point that beefing up external defense is quite important because of the Philippine sea,” he pointed out.

also warned that severing the defense ties with the traditional allies will pose big challenges for the country.

Joint development and sharing of resources

Chinese President Xi Jinping shows the way to President Duterte during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on October 20, 2016. AP/Ng Han Guan

Earlier, President Duterte said the Philippines will not conduct the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) and the Amphibious Landing Exercise, or Phiblex. Instead, the government will be engaging in counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HA/DR), and engineering and civic action projects.

Batongbacal said the Duterte administration is lukewarm to the

Carat, a bilateral naval exercise conducted between the Philippine and American naval forces to boost interoperability, coordination and cooperation of the two forces, because it provokes the Chinese government.

For the Philippines to develop a genuine and comprehensive defense program, Batongbacal said there must be economic support to sustain the development of the country’s defense capabilities. He

Santa Romana said there will be joint talks between the Philippines and China next month on the possible sharing of the development of the natural resources in the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

“Under the West Philippine Task Force, there is a consensus that plans to allow Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese to engage in small-scale fishing in the Scarborough Shoal this year. In his talks with President Duterte, Premier Xi Jinping said Beijing wants to preserve it as a maritime sanctuary,” the Philippine envoy said.

“These are the elements we hope we can achieve,” he added.

Meanwhile, Batongbacal emphasized that details on joint development and sharing of resources should be discussed and must give importance on transparency.

“Fair allocation of resources must be also emphasized,” he added.

Meanwhile, Prof. Richard Heydarian of De La Salle University said the Philippines must be realistic and use the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), because the Philippine

Constitution and the Chinese legal position are irreconcilable.

“That is why it is important for the government to use the arbitration issue, because it is a preliminary step for the country to have a neutral arbitration [and] acceptable legal reference point in dealing with the involvement in the South China Sea,” he said.

By seeking an arbitration from The Hague Tribunal, Heydarian said the country now has a high moral ground to assert its right.

He added the support of Washington is vital, and that human-rights issues should not undermine the alliance between Manila and Washington.

“It is only the US that can stop China in this region,” he stressed.

As the chairman of Asean this year, Heydarian said Duterte must be able to raise the code of conduct on the issue of the West Philippine Sea. “It’s time for the President to step up the plate,” he said.

“The trial period is over and there is no alternative. The best thing to do at this time is to encourage our President to raise the bar,” he said.

Finally, Batongbacal underscored the maintaining of vigilance and keeping the country’s options open in preparation for future scenarios. “We need to take the China issue seriously in Asean,” he added.

Property market seen sustaining strength in 2017 Continued from A1

It was noted that the Philippine GDP increased by 7.1 percent in the third quarter of 2016, surpassing the 6.9-percent and 7-percent growths posted in the first and second quarters, respectively.

“This is a strong signal that the government, businesses and consumers are now spending more as compared to the relatively lackluster GDP growth rate of 5.8 percent in 2015, which was a year prior to the national elections,” said Jojo Salas, director of research and consulting at Precsi.

Current figures from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) indicate that the average bank lending rate from November 28 to December 2, 2016, stood at 3.435 percent, or 0.365 percent lower than 3.8 percent by the end of 2015. The stability of bank interest rates continue amid the strengthening of the US dollar in recent months. From January to October 2016, the Philippine peso against the greenback averaged at P47.2813, as compared to the mean of P45.5082 as of 2015.

Other indicators, likewise, contribute to the constant rise of the real-estate sector, according to the study. These include the robust flow of money, either from investors abroad or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as heightened public and private sectors’ expenditure, continuous jobs generation and improved tourism.

Based on the latest BSP statistics, the inflow of foreign funds has remained healthy over the years. In fact, net foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to almost $6 billion in 2014 and 2015. Last year it already reached $5.88 billion from January to September. The $6-billion mark, or even the $7-billion level, is likely achievable, given the economic growth and improved credit ratings of the Philippines.

OFW remittances, on the other hand, aggregated to $20.025 billion from January to September 2016, up 4.8 percent from $19.103 billion during the same period in 2015. All indications show that the money sent from abroad will hit the $25-billion mark.

Meanwhile, inflation rate for the first 11 months of 2016 rose 1.6 percent, from 1.4 percent in 2015. It is seen at 2.5 percent in November alone. This is a sign

that the government, businesses and consumers are spending a lot, Salas said.

Even the labor market is showing a stride, as the latest unemployment rate is lower at 4.7 percent as of October last year as compared to 6.6 percent by end of 2015. Such is a welcome development not only for manufacturers, but also for real-estate developers.

Data from the Department of Tourism (DOT) revealed that the total visitor arrivals in the country from January to August 2016 reached 4.04 million, or 12.59 percent greater than recorded in the first eight months two years ago.

Total earnings also amounted to P164.25 billion, up 7.92 percent during the two periods in review. With the aggressive DOT campaigns, the 2016 tourist arrival target of 6 million is seen achievable.

“The macroeconomic indicators presented above show the strong economic footing of the Philippines. The next step is to see if these economic factors positively impact on the real-estate market,” Salas said.

Outsourcing bolsters office take-up

BUSINESS-process outsourcing (BPO) business continues to propel the growth of the office sector, as players in this field need more and more work spaces for their expansion.

In fact, the Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) Road Map 2017 to 2022 chalks up the industry’s growth between 12 percent to 18 percent—twice or thrice of the world’s average of 6-percent growth each year. Good thing the real-estate developers have not wasted time in recent years and were basically pacing their developments to meet the increasing demand for office space.

Approximately, there are more than 7 million square meters (sq m) of Grade A office building or better in all of the central business districts (CBDs) in Metro Manila.

A handful of Prime Grade A buildings are in Makati CBD. Although the stock of Grade A and Prime Grade A offices are high, the overall vacancy across these business hubs is below 3 percent at present.

The office market remains a landlord’s domain, accord-

ing to the Pinnacle study. Given the very high occupancy, lease rates have been rising and albeit slightly in recent months. The brisk demand for office space and issues on the delayed delivery of office buildings because of lack of skilled workers have eased concerns on softening rents.

Generally, leasing activities in Makati City held up. Here, monthly rental fees per square meter for Premium Grade A, Grade A and Grade B&C buildings average at P1,350, P915 and P715, respectively.

Since real-estate firms are trying to meet the strong demand with new stock, total rents remain the same in the fourth quarter of 2016. The weighted average lease rate in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) is P905 per sq m a month. That of Grade A office buildings in Ortigas, on the other hand, is still at P660 per sq m each month as older buildings weigh down the rents of recent inventory.

Meanwhile, office spaces leased out monthly in Alabang and Bay Area are a bit higher at P670 for every square meter, as those in Quezon City are offered at P680 per square meter a month due to newer buildings.

“Selling of office spaces is now a growing trend,” Salas said, while citing that less than 10 percent of the current 7-million-plus sq-m total floor area is up for grabs.

Prices in Makati City and BGC financial districts, for instance, are north of P200,000 per sq m. He expects that selling activity in the office market will rise steadily in the coming quarters.

All’s well for dwelling market

INCREASING land values have vertical developments constantly rise in populous Metro Manila, wherein the total number of condominium units is estimated to reach more than 200,000 by the end of 2016.

Citing the Pinnacle study, the executive revealed that 44 percent of the condo projects are high-end (over P7 million); 37 percent, middle midmarket; and 19 percent, lower midmarket. The latter and economic segments are seen to grow in the years to come since vertical socialized housing and the hike in economic housing price ceiling to P1.7 million have been approved.

High-end residential developments dominate the Makati and BGC skyline because most expatriates and local executives are based there. Crowded places, likewise, offer substantial vertical products, such as Manila and Quezon City with over 20,000 units and 40,000, respectively, from projects launched between 2009 and 2015. Even sparsely populated areas in the metropolis, like San Juan City, now host premium condo products.

Although the figures are staggering at a glance, nevertheless they fall short compared to the projected housing needs in Metro Manila of more than 100,000 residential units annually as per projections of the National Economic and Development Authority. While the total requirement includes the “can’t afford” segment, at least 350,000 of the projected dwelling needs in the Metro each year are coming from households that “can afford” to buy housing units.

More space for growth in retail development

PINNACLE reported that commercial retail malls continued to generate income in the fourth quarter of last year as the “ber” months and balikbayan season filled up the coffers of the property developers in this category.

The company’s research monitored that the Sy-led SM Group has 58 malls and targets to reach the 60-mall mark soon. Meanwhile, the Robinsons Group of the Gokongweis has 42 malls, as Cosco/ Puregold Group owns 40 big stores.

Robust occupancy rate of malls was apparent in the latter part of 2016 and, as expected, every commercial space were rented out to take advantage of the shoppers’ propensity to spend during Christmas holidays, according to Salas.

“Commercial-mall rents have been very stable, and this property segment is still a landlord’s market,” he said.

Tourism boosts hotel, gaming facilities

THE 6 million tourist arrivals target by end of the year is likely achievable, which, according to the property consulting firm, is indeed very good news to the operators of over 20,000 deluxe hotel rooms in Metro Manila.

Key players, like the SM Group, recently opened its five-star Conrad Hotel in the SM Mall of Asia complex. Operated by the Hilton Group, this 347-room accommodation facility sits on top of the twostory high-end S Maison mall.

The Okada Manila was recently launched as the third integrated hotel and casino complex within the Entertainment City in Pasay City. This is a 44-hectare property of the Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., with a total of 993 rooms ranging from spacious 60-sq-m units to luxurious 1,400-sq-m villas.

Joining the hospitality bandwagon is Vista Land Group, which aims to open six hotels under the Mella Brand soon. This is a threefour-star brand, with an ideal size of 150-room hotel development.

To encourage more players to come, the government, through the DOT and its attached agency Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, has been promoting Philippine tourism and ancillary infrastructures.

Recently, Bureau of Internal Revenue Regulations 7-2016 was signed and published. It spells out the fiscal incentives entitled to companies operating within the tourism enterprise zones (TEZs) under the Tourism Act of 2009.

“This will further boost the development of tourism infrastructure and facilities around the Philippines,” Salas said.

Pent-up demand continues for industrial hubs

BUOYED by the influx of locators to the country, various economic zones have been accredited lately by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

The research and consulting director of Precsi bared that there is a total of 348 economic zones operating nationwide. These include 72 manufacturing economic zones (MEZ), 234 information-technology (IT) parks/centers, 21 agro-industrial economic zones (AIEZ), 19 tourism economic zones (TEZ) and two medical tourism parks/centers.

Adding to these existing industrial hubs, he disclosed, are the 145 new economic zones being developed: 29 MEZ, 104 IT parks/ centers, six AIEZ and six TEZ.

Considering that industrial spaces are sprawling across the

country, the average lease on land of selected zones is only P55 per sq m a month, while that of selected factory spaces is P190 per sq m every month.

Business as usual

AS business continues for real-estate developers, there’s no stopping for big players to usually go for first mover advantage, Salas said.

Given their machinery, he noted that major developers Ayala and SM Groups will continue to pace real-estate developments.

It is reported that the former’s property business alone generated a net income of P15.1 billion in the first nine months of 2016. The Ayala-owned conglomerate will continue to develop townships and intend to expand its recurring income base.

The latter’s real-estate business, on the other hand, earned a net profit of P17.5 billion. The Sy family will keep on growing their recurring income developments and property sales.

Business tycoon Andrew Tan’s Megaworld Group allocated P150 billion for its capital expenditure for the remainder of 2016 and up to 2017. The Robinsons Group has been busy building condo projects for sale and expanding its recurring income base (office, malls and hotels).

The Filinvest Group, meanwhile, is appropriating P5 billion for housing and condo developments in the next three years. Also, the company is spending more on its Filinvest Corporate City.

Based on the Pinnacle study, Salas said all of the big players are competing for their market share as they expand their real-estate portfolio. He added that demand across all property sectors will continue.

The BPO and traditional companies will keep on searching for office spaces; end-users and investors will scout for suitable residences; small retailers shall continue taking advantage of Filipinos penchant for shopping; tourists will still fill up hotel rooms, and manufacturers will ceaselessly look for optimum industrial spaces.

“As usual, savvy real-estate developers will continue do their due diligence, and look for the unsatisfied demand, and supply the gap,” Salas stressed.

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The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, January 29, 2017

A3

UK economy dismisses Brexit threat as growth stays strong T

he United Kingdom economy grew faster than economists forecast in the fourth quarter, continuing to defy expectations that the Brexit vote would derail the expansion.

The 0.6-percent gain beat the 0.5-percent median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey and marked a 16th straight quarter of growth. It was driven entirely by services, helped by consumer spending, with zero support from production and construction, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

The economy has performed better than predicted since the vote to leave the European Union last June, though the latest data show that it remains overly reliant on one sector. The support from consumers could weaken this year as the pound’s decline pushes up inflation, squeezing real incomes.

“The economy’s brisk growth at the end of 2016 has all the hallmarks of being driven by an unsustainable consumerspending spree,” said Samuel Tombs, an economist at Capital Economics in London. “We continue to expect slowdowns in business investment and consumer spending to cause GDP growth to slow to an average quarter-on-quarter rate of just 0.2 percent or so in 2017.”

Companies from airline EasyJet Plc. to telecommunications firm BT Group Plc. have this month cited Brexit-linked problems, such as a weaker pound and loss of business, as they offered investors a forbidding outlook for this year. The UK currency has dropped 15 percent since the referendum last June.

The fourth-quarter estimate, based on 44 percent of the data that will ultimately be available, showed that services surged 0.8 percent, offsetting stagnation in industrial production. Manufacturing rose 0.7 percent. The growth meant the economy expanded 2 percent in 2016, though that’s down from 2.2 percent the previous year and marked the weakest since 2013. Economists forecast a further slowdown this year, to 1.2 percent.

Brexit talks

Prime Minister Theresa May plans to start formal talks on leaving the EU by the end of March. She has indicated that she wants to withdraw from the bloc’s single market for goods and services, an outcome that economists say will hurt trade.

For now, the near term is looking brighter than anticipated, a fact acknowledged by Bank of England (BOE) Governor Mark Carney this month. While he expects growth to cool in 2017, he’s indicated the BOE may raise its forecasts in February at its next policy decision. Carney was among the economists who warned before the referendum that the UK might have faced a recession if Britons voted Leave. Pro-Brexit campaigners have pointed to the economy’s resilience as evidence that leaving the EU won’t make the country worse off.

On an annualized basis, the UK economy grew 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter. The US is forecast to have expanded 2.2 percent in the period, down from 3.5 percent in the three months through September. UK GDP per capita grew 1.3 percent in 2016, down from 1.4 percent the previous year. It’s now 1.9 percent above its level in the first quarter of 2008, the precrisis peak for GDP. Bloomberg News

Top forecaster: Fed to hike rates every quarter in 2018

T

he Federal Reserve (the Fed) is about to go rapid-fire on interest rates, boosting them in the second half of this year, and following that with a rise in every single quarter of 2018, according to BNP Paribas SA, which expects the tightening to strengthen the dollar and push gold down toward $1,000 an ounce.

The US central bank is seen raising borrowing costs later this year, given the fiscally expansive policies proposed by Donald J. Trump, and the new president’s agenda may help to lift wages in 2018, hoisting labor costs, the bank said in a January 25 report. BNP was the top gold and precious metals forecaster in the fourth quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Gold may yet find support from higher inflation in the first half of 2017. But the Fed will pursue rates hikes in the second half of the year, keeping the dollar strong,” commodity strategists Harry Tchilinguirian and Gareth Lewis-Davies wrote.

“In 2018 BNP Paribas expects the Fed will hike every quarter.” The Fed raised rates last December for the first time in a year, and investors are seeking to determine the likely timing of further hikes as the world’s largest economy shows signs of recovery and Trump gets down to business with vows to accelerate growth, create jobs and boost spending on infrastructure. The precious metal dropped after Trump’s surprise win last November amid optimism about the outlook, then rebounded this month.

There’s scope for gold “to hold on to the January gains, even possibly add to them,” BNP said. “But as we near the end of 2017, expectations of Fed rate hikes will take over stewardship of gold prices. In turn, the path of least resistance for gold is likely to be downward again.”

Bullion outlook

Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,196.68 an ounce on Thursday, up 4.3 percent this year, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Last year it rose 8.1 percent to snap three annual declines, even after dropping in the final quarter.

Prices may average $1,210 this year, $80 more than previously forecast and $1,100 in 2018, BNP said.

Last month policy-makers lifted the target range for the benchmark federal funds rate to 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent, and penciled in three-quarter-point increases for 2017, according to the median of their quarterly estimates. While the BNP note didn’t spell out in figures the size of the hikes it expects, a graph showed six-quarter-point increases through to the end of 2018. Bloomberg News

A4

The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, January 29, 2017

US president has 1.3B reasons not to pick a fight with China

U

. S . Pre s i d e nt D o n ald J. Tru mp has repeatedly attacked China on everything, from trade to Taiwan, to pressure his counterpart Xi Jinping to cede ground. In doing so he risks a backlash that could make doing deals even harder.

China has a population of 1.3 billion and its dominant state-run media seeks to burnish the image of the Communist Party. In that environment, Trump’s hectoring could stoke nationalism in a year where China’s leaders are already working hard to instill public pride and stress unity.

If Trump’s rhetorical blasts fan Chinese patriotism, it could give Xi less room to negotiate without appearing weak at home, raising the odds he retaliates. That’s even as China’s leaders, generally, are careful to try and prevent nationalism taking on a life of its own, in case it sets off broader social unrest.

Like prior presidents, Xi uses nationalism to bolster his standing, as well as the party’s. Sounding powerful on the global stage, and deflecting provocations from other nations, is one way to foster that.

Since coming to power, Xi has expanded the reach of China’s military, and stepped up assertions to territory in the South China Sea. “If the Chinese people perceive Xi Jinping to be bullied by Trump, they will expect a very strong response,” said Paul Haenle, a China adviser to former President George W. Bush and now director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. “If it gets really bad, you could see nationalism kick in” like the anti-Japan protests of late-2012.

At the height of those frictions with Japan over the East China Sea, which occurred shortly before Xi’s elevation, Chinese took to the streets

in more than a dozen cities, smashing Japanese cars, tearing up Japanese flags and looting Japanese shops. The rampage was set off when the Japanese government nationalized three disputed islands, sparking claims Tokyo infringed on China’s sovereignty and “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.

At one point demonstrators turned their criticism onto the central government, displaying posters of the party’s late chairman, Mao Zedong, to imply he’d take a stronger stance than the authorities in Beijing. Others used the protests to show their support for disgraced politician Bo Xilai, known for his efforts to revive Maoist policies.

Now, Trump and his team risk offending China’s nationalists by railing against Beijing on Taiwan and the South China Sea—areas that party leaders consider “core interests” that can’t be negotiated.

Delicate balance

As Xi prepares for a twice-a-decade party leadership reshuffle later this year, any provocations carry added risk because he needs to project an image as a strong leader who won’t be cowed by US policy that appears to be aimed at containing China.

Trump’s suggestion he might use the threat of officially recognizing Taiwan, which China regards as a province, to get a better trade deal could result in Xi making no concessions on trade at all. Trump has also complained China hasn’t done enough to help disarm North Korea, and his pick for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson proposed blocking China’s access to reclaimed reefs in the disputed South China Sea. At the same time, Xi needs to avoid letting nationalism get out of hand. Bloomberg News

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Trump’s immigration actions show sharp shift in US policy

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By Julie Pace | The Associated Press

ASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump’s wideranging executive actions tightening border security—and the prospect of additional measures restricting refugee flows—mark a sharp shift away from Washington’s elusive efforts to forge comprehensive immigration legislation.

“We do not need new laws,” Trump said on Wednesday during remarks at the Department of Homeland Security. “We will work within the existing system and framework.”

The centerpiece of the measures Trump signed was an order to jump-start construction of his promised US-Mexico border wall.

He also ordered cuts in federal grants for immigrant-protecting “sanctuary cities” and a boost in the number of border patrol agents and immigration officers, pending

congressional funding.

Sometime this week, Trump is expected to pause the flow of all refugees to the US and indefinitely bar those fleeing the war-torn Syria. The president’s upcoming order is also expected to suspend issuing visas for people from several predominantly Muslim countries—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen—for at least 30 days, according to a draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press.

The actions, less than a week into Trump’s presidency, would fulfill pledges that animated his candidacy and represent a dramatic redirection of US immigration policy. They were cheered by Republicans allies in Congress, condemned by immigration advocates and triggered new tension with the Mexican government.

Trump was expected to turn back to the economy on Thursday, signing a notice to Congress that he plans to start bilateral trade negotiations with most of the countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, according to a W hite House official.

On Monday Trump moved to pull the US out of the 12-nation Pacific R im agreement, which he said would be damaging for American workers. Instead, he said he wanted to negotiate with countries individually.

The official insisted on anonymity in order to confirm the executive action ahead of Trump’s announcement. For years, lawma kers in both par ties have worked to pa ss imm ig rat ion legislation that would provide some form of legal status for people living in the US illegally, most recently in 2013. Given

the growing political power of Hispanic voters, Republicans had feared the opposition from some in the party would deeply damage their prospects of winning back the W hite House. But Trump’s ability to win on a hardline immigration message has recalibrated the party’s view.

Trump is unveiling his immigration plans at a time when detentions at the nation’s southern border are down significantly from levels seen in the late-1990s and early-2000s. The arrest tally last year was the fifth-lowest since 1972. Deportations of people living in the US illegally also increased under former President Barack Obama, though Republicans criticized him for setting prosecution guidelines that spared some groups from the threat of deportation, including those brought to the US illegally as children.

As a candidate, Trump tapped into the immigration concerns of some Americans who worry both about a loss of economic opportunities and the threat of criminals and terrorists entering the country. His call for a border wall was among his most popular proposals, and supporters often broke out in chants of “build that wall” during rallies.

Immigration advocates and others assailed the new president’s actions. Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said Trump’s desire to construct a border wall was “driven by racial and ethnic bias that disgraces America’s proud tradition of protecting vulnerable migrants.”

How Trump plans to pay for the wall project is murky. While he has repeatedly promised that Mexico will foot the bill, US taxpayers are expected to cover the initial costs.

The new administration has said nothing about how it might compel Mexico to reimburse the money.

In an inter v iew w it h A BC News on Wed nesd ay, Tr u mp said, “ There will be a payment; it will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form.”

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto responded, “I have said time and again, Mexico will not pay for any wall.” Peña Nieto was expected to meet with Trump at the White House next week, but a senior official said Trump’s announcement led him to reconsider the visit.

Asked about Mexican resistance

to his plan to require the payment, Trump said in the ABC interview, “He has to say that. He has to say that. I’m just telling you that there will be a payment.”

Congressional aides say there is about $100 million of unspent appropriations in the Department of Homeland Security account for border security, fencing and infrastr ucture. T hat wou ld a l low planning to get started, but far more money would have to be appropriated for construction to begin.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, in an interview on Wednesday on MSNBC, said Congress will work with Trump on the up-front financing for the wall. Asked about estimates that the project could cost $8 billion to $14 billion, Ryan said: “That’s about right.”

Trump has insisted many times the border structure will be a wall.

The order he signed referred to “a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous and impassable physical barrier.”

To build the wall, the president is relying on a 2006 law that author ized several hundred miles of fencing along the 2,000 -mile frontier. That bill led to the construction of about 700 miles of various kinds of fencing designed to block both vehicles and pedestrians.

The president’s orders also end what Republicans have labeled a catch-and-release system at the border. Currently, some immigrants caught crossing the border illegally are released and given notices to report back to immigration officials at a later date.

Trump’s crackdown on sanctuar y cities—locales that don’t cooperate w it h i m m ig rat ion author ities—cou ld cost individual jurisdictions millions of dollars. But the administration may face legal challenges, given that some federal courts have found that cities or counties cannot hold immigrants beyond their jail terms or deny them bond based only on a request from immigration authorities.

T he president a lso moved to rest a r t t he “Sec u re Communities” program, which was launched under former President George W. Bush and initially was touted as a way for immigration authorities to quickly and easily identify people in the country illegally who had been arrested by local authorities.

Military tensions, government stability mark a year of risk I

f 2016 was packed with surprises, 2017 carries just as much political risk. The difference, according to a new report by Verisk Maplecroft, is that governments will be able to weather populist storms and any military flareups will likely fizzle.

Here’s a breakdown of the consultancy’s analysis: looking at likely conflicts among major powers, government stability and threat of terrorism.

Interstate tensions: Military disputes likely, but not war

Verisk Maplecroft assigns at least a 90-percent chance of military scuffles between a variety of heavily armed powers in 2017—including India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, and the US and Iran in the oil-rich Persian Gulf. But they will ultimately step back from the brink of war.

The company uses a machine learningassisted model that analyzes over 22,000 observations, such as military spending and categorized news events, to measure the

probability of interstate tensions escalating.

These are the likeliest confrontations.

“While militarized disputes have the potential to bubble over into something bigger, the overwhelming majority of clashes quickly simmer down,” said Guy Bailey, head of analytics at Verisk Maplecroft.

Government stability: Risks abound, but Europe’s safest

Europe faces a series of elections that may see establishment figures swept away.

Yet, Verisk Maplecroft’s analysis shows that Germany and France, where antiimmigration parties have gained ground, stand a good chance of withstanding the populist threat. The Greek crisis, meanwhile, may flare up again and the messy process of quitting the European Union puts the UK on a par with Poland, according to its government stability index. The most vulnerable governments are clustered in the developing world: including Iran and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, Mauritania and Botswana in Africa, the

Philippines and Pakistan in Asia, plus Ecuador and Panama in Latin America.

Th e s e f i n d i n g s a re b a s e d o n a probabilistic model that evaluates the stability of the executive branch in three years’ time, relating to, among other factors, any lack of popular legitimacy or the robustness of mechanisms for the transfer of power.

Terrorism risk: Threat is real, but West is well protected

On the security front, the threat of terrorism in Western countries, like France and the UK, will continue to loom large this year, according to the firm’s analysis of recent historical attacks, as well as the danger posed by active terrorist groups. But some of that risk is offset by their strong counterterrorism capabilities.

The most vulnerable country is Turkey, because it is on the frontlines of the fight against the so-called Islamic State, faces a more direct threat and has fewer defensive resources. Bloomberg News

Editor: Lyn B. Resurreccion

Science

BusinessMirror

Sunday

Sunday, January 29, 2017 A5

PHL joins space race with Diwata microsats

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By Diana G. Mendoza | Inter Press Service

he Philippines, a tiny developing country, has joined the colossal world of space technology, building its second microsatellite that it plans to launch late this year or in early-2018—not to study other planets, but to monitor weather patterns and climate change to protect the country’s natural resources and improve disaster-risk management.

Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a wide area in the Pacific Ocean with frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that makes it the fourth most disaster-prone nation in the world, according to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, the Philippines can now benefit from its first eye in the sky—a 50-kilogram imaging and earth observation satellite while venturing, with baby steps, into space science.

Diwata, a Filipino term for a mythological character meaning “fairy”, the first Philippine microsatellite, has just completed over 4,000 orbits around the world. While it continues to circle the globe, its sister Diwata-2 is now being built.

The microsatellite was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape

Canaveral, Florida, on March 23, 2016, and deployed into space from the ISS’s Japanese Experiment Module, “Kibo”, where it was housed and calibrated on April 27, 2016.

Joel Joseph Marciano Jr., a professor of electrical and electronics engineering at the University of the Philippines (UP), said Diwata-1 is the first microsatellite built under the Development of Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) program that aims to enhance capacity in space technology through the development of microsatellite systems.

The three-year program, which started in 2014 and with a budget of P840 million ($17.1 million), is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and implemented by several departments of UP.

Marciano, the program leader of the PHL-Microsat, said the microsatellite was a result of ruminations by scientists after Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in the Philippines and the strongest storm ever to make landfall in recorded history, flattened Tacloban City (573 kilometers southeast of Manila) and its peripheral cities and provinces on November 8, 2013.

With 250-km-per-hour winds and 7-meter-high storm surges, it killed more than 6,500 people, damaged more than 1 million homes, 33 million coconut trees, 600,000 hectares of agricultural land and more than 1,000 public structures.

“Haiyan was a big wake-up call. We thought hard about having remote sensing technology and scientific cameras and cable systems to help prepare for and mitigate devastation from disasters,” Marciano told journalist-fellows at the recent Graciano Lopez Jaena Journalism Workshop on science journalism organized by the UP College of Mass Communications.

He said the Philippines is one of the 10 most biologically “megadiverse” countries in the world, with over 2 million square kilometers of maritime waters encompassing an important part of the “coral triangle” and thousands of species of flora and fauna.

Unfortunately, it is frequented by an average of nine typhoons and 10 weaker storms that make landfall each year.

“The presence of environment sensing and Earth-observation technology would provide a faster turn-around of informationgiving and intervention,” said Marciano, who is also the director of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the DOST.

His colleague, Gay Jane Perez, a professor of the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology who is the project leader of the PHL-Microsat Remote Sensing Product Development, said one of Diwata-1’s first missions on disaster assessment was the gathering of evidentiary images of the destruction caused by Typhoon Lawin (international code name Haima) that struck the northern Philippines on October 20, 2016.

The images, which were taken five days after the storm made landfall, provided clarity to government bodies handling the coordination of disaster relief and rehabilitation. Perez said Diwata-1, which is barely the size of two suitcases stacked on top of each other and weighs only 50 kilograms, has special cameras that take images of the Philippines while in orbit.

“The microsatellite has a unique ability while in a high vantage point to do research and to get information that complements ground monitoring,” she said. “We can translate this research product into more useful information.”

Its main parts include a high-precision telescope for high-resolution imaging that can be used for assessing the extent of damage during disasters; a wide field camera for observing large-scale weather patterns; and a space-borne multispectral imager for monitoring bodies of water and vegetation. Perez said resource inventory and assessment in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, mining and energy will be better. “ The microsatellite can obser ve meteorological events and weather updates, such as typhoons and heavy rains, and provide information essential to farmers and fisher folk that can help them adjust their planting

and fishing methods amid changing climate conditions,” she said.

She added that it can also monitor forest cover, and protect cultural and historical sites and the Philippines territorial borders.

Currently in orbit with an altitude of over 400 km, Diwata-1 passes over the Philippines four times a day, with six minutes per pass. It is expected to capture 3,600 images daily. Through its sensor, it sends images and data back to the Philippine Earth Data Resources and Observation (Pedro) Center at the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales province, 254 km north of Manila, its ground station.

Marciano and Perez are part of the PHL-Microsat program that includes Filipino scientists who assembled Diwata-1 in collaboration with Tohoku University and Hokkaido University, the UP and DOST’s partner-universities.

The all-Filipino team of scientists and engineers who designed and built Diwata-1 are now based in Japan. Under the PhilippinesJapan partnership, seven engineering students from UP and two science researchers from the DOST were sent to Tohoku and Hokkaido universities to work on the microsatellite bus system and payload design while pursuing their advanced degrees.

With its first satellite blasting into space, the Philippines joins 70 other countries, which, according to the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) as of 2015, are operating government space agencies and are capable of human spaceflight, which is the gold standard for space programs.

Marciano said the country’s first steps into space -technology development expects to boost governance through land

use, local development planning, zoning generation and revenue through tax mapping, real-property administration, tourism and infrastructure planning, and monitoring in transportation and development corridors.

As it assembles Diwata-2, the Philippines also hosted for the first time in its 23-year history the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum in November last year. Already, Diwata-1 was cited by Nasa’s Presidential Transition Binder as its poster child for small spacecraft technology.

The document that will be given to the new US administration cited Diwata-1 as an example for small spacecraft technology that has many advantages of being small but powerful, adding the ease of deployment and low cost of building it. With these initial strides, the PHLMicrosat hopes to motivate the Filipino youth to take an interest in the sciences and take advantage of this new era of space science. The UP is also introducing science journalism in its curriculum to train future journalists in understanding the sciences and to widen media writing and reporting on science.

Perez said the country’s space program is incremental but it hopes to motivate more young people to take interest in it.

“We are now training students to develop capabilities to arrive at something like Diwata-1 in the future, perhaps with their own creative and better designs.”

In addition, she said the Microsatellite Research and Instructional Facility is being established at UP, it will be the hub for the country’s interdisciplinary research and development activities in space technology.

Faith A6 Sunday, January 29, 2017

Saint Don Bosco, Father and Teacher of Youth

By Corazon Damo-Santiago

A

man led John Bosco at the bottom of a precipice where an enormous b u i l d i n g t o w e re d o v e r t h e m .

Bronze portals with inscriptions abound.

The inscription on the first: “Depar t from me you cursed into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

More popularly known as Don Bosco, he could hardly breath due to suffocating heat, “while a greasy, green-tinted smoke lit by flashes of scarlet flames rose behind the enormous walls.”

He saw six boys screaming in terror with arms outstretched, sucked, drawn and fading in the echo of the inferno. They were hurled down on portals, which “opened thunderously and slam shut with a mumble.” They are boys under his care in the oratory.

Bosco saw “something like a furnace, its jaws spouting fiery balls when the boys were thrown. Everything was like “leaping tongues of fire, glowing white, yet did not incinerate.”

A lad dashed out and with a piercing scream fell into a cauldron of liquid bronze.

Instantly he became incandescent with an echo of a dying wail. Others followed him.

After a few steps, “poor wretches savagely striking each other, or clawing their own faces, tearing their own flesh and spitefully throwing it about” appeared. Then the “entire ceiling of the cave became transparent” and “revealed a patch of heaven.”

The scene made the fiery crowd “fuming and panting with envy,” sobbing and screaming blasphemies and imprecations against the saints.”

Then the guide gripped Bosco’s arm and commanded him to touch a wall—the remote rim of hell. It is a proof that “he has seen and touched the last wall of eternal suffering, millions of miles from hell’s real fire.”

The guide seized Bosco’s hand, “forced it open and pressed it against the first of the thousand walls.”

The sensation was “utterly excruciating that he leapt back with a scream and found himself sitting on the bed.”

His hands were swollen and the skin of his palm peeled off.

Bosco shuddered in fear for the boys he saw were his wards. If they were to die now, that would be their eternal destiny, according to Don Bosco’s Vision of Hell by Fr. Adolf Faroni, SBD.

Read people like books

Gifted by God with prophetic dreams, he had also a keen awareness of their moral blunders and innermost secrets, and death.

As the boys in the oratory walked past him, he could sense the condition of their souls and can read their conscience.

And because Bosco dreamt about the impending death of his wards, every night disciplinary reminders and spiritual exercises were musts.

He urged them to do Exercises for a Happy Death well because it might be their last. Likewise, he shared his dreams with a jest that they were nothing but dreams, but said, “I will still tell it to you for your spiritual benefit.”

The boys in the orator y seriously remembered his remarks, convinced that he was God-sent because he had predicted deaths and even unforeseen events accurately and used his prophetic gifts to ensure their readiness for death.

Fr. Joseph Calasso, his spiritual director assigned to per fec t his theological competence after his ordination, advised him to consider his dreams significant.

When Bosco presented the Rules of the Salesian Congregation to Pope Pius IX, the similarity of the difficulties, t h re at s a n d t r i b u l at i o n s t h e y b o t h experienced initiated a supernatural bonding between them.

Pope Pius IX, after listening with great attention and emotion to Bosco’s extraordinary dreams, said: “When you get back to Turin, write these dreams and everything else you have told me, minutely. Save all this as a legacy for your congregation so that they may serve as an encouragement and norm for your sons.”

Realization of a prophetic dream

John Bosco was born of a poor family near Castelnuevo in the archdiocese of Turin, Italy, on August 15, 1815. His father died when he was 2 years old. His

Sunday

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Bishop to Duterte: Don’t spread rumors A

Catholic bishop warned President Duterte against spreading rumors and gossip, or accusing people without proof.

Original photograph of Don Bosco in Torin (1880) Wikimedia Commons

mother, Margaret, provided him with a good Christian education.

At the phase of life when children should be in kindergarten, he was tending sheep on the hills.

At 14, he studied under Father Calasso.

When the priest died, he went to a public school at Castelnuevo.

At 16, he entered the Seminary of Chien and was ordained priest on June 5, 1846, in Turin. The city of Turin then was in the threshold of industrialization and beset with many challenges.

Among his prophetic dreams, one when he was 9, left the most profound impression.

Bosco was watching a group of boys having fun. When others started cursing, he went to the group and started to box them, shouting that they stop. A man, whose face radiated with light, told him to be a leader of the group, win their friendship not with blows but through kindness and gentleness.

When he asked who he was, the man said: “I am the Son of her whom your mother has taught you to greet three times a day.”

A majestic lady took Bosco’s hand and pointed to a variety of animals that took the place of the children.

She said: “Make yourself humble, steadfast and strong. And what you will see happen to these animals, you will have to do for my children.”

When Bosco looked, the wild animals became gentle and bleating lambs to welcome the Man and the Lady.

The newly ordained priest gathered the orphans and homeless boys in the slums to attend catechism lessons in the Sunday school.

Wi t h h i s c h a r m i n g p e r s o n a l i t y a n d at h l e t i c p rowe s s o n j u g g l i n g, sprint, broad jump and acrobatics, and intellectual acumen, boys flocked to his classes. He formulated a system of education with the components of kindness, reason and religion.

Aware that idleness is the devil’s workshop, he introduced vocational lessons for tailors, blacksmiths, bookbinders and printing to inculcate honest work.

Enemies of the church and labor exploiters hired killers to eliminate him.

But, as always when in danger, a grey dog he named Grigio would come to the rescue to save him from harm.

In 1868 about 800 students were involved in his Preventive Educational Programs. To ensure the continuation of the program, Bosco founded the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (Salesians), which was opened in 1869.

Saint Dominic Savio, a 15-year-old prodigious saint, is the first model of his efforts in the priestly vocation.

With the help of Sister Mary Dominic Mazzarello, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Auxiliatrix in 1872.

He died on January 31, 1888. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on June 2, 1929, and canonized by the same pope on April 1, 1934. He was given the title “Father and Teacher of Youth”.

His feast day is on January 31.

Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

Novaliches Bishop Emer itus Teodoro Baca ni sa id spreading gossip is u nbecom ing of a president of t he l a nd.

“He is degrading his leadership.

A president who is a rumormonger turns many people off,” Bacani said on Radio Veritas on Thursday.

Duterte hurled vulgar, personal tirades against bishops and priests recently for criticizing his war on drugs that claimed more than 7,000 lives since his assumption of the presidency.

He also accused Bacani of having two wives, like him, after the latter, on January 18 criticized the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) antidrugs campaign as a “bringer of death.”

Speaking before more than

₧10M

The amount of money that Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani said he will give President Duterte if he could prove he has two wives 5,000 delegates of an international church event in Santo Tomas, Batangas, the prelate also chided the PNP for its supposed failure to solve the mounting cases of summary killings.

The bishop challenged Duterte

Bishop Teodoro Bacani speaks during the recent Fourth World Apostolic Congress on Mercy at the National Shrine and Parish of Saint Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas. Maria Tan/CBCPNews

to prove his allegation, adding that he will give him P10 million if the latter can reveal his supposed two wives to the public.

“If the President can produce just one wife of mine, I will give him P5 million, even if I have to borrow the money for it. And if he can produce two, he will

have P10 million,” Bacani said.

He also reminded Duterte to treat his post with dignity and respect by not spreading lies or unverified information.

“He should be careful! He is a president and not just an ordinary gossip-monger,” Bacani said.

CBCPNews

Focolare PHL marks 50th year in Asia T he Focolare Movement, a Catholic organization fou nde d b y a n It a l i a n laywoman, Chiara Lubich, celebrates this year the 50th anniversary of its establishment in the Philippines. The event will be highlighted by the holding of the Focolare Movement of School of Dialogue with Oriental Religions of the Pan-Asian Formation Course on Interreligious Dialogue from March 2 to 5.

With the theme “Harmony among Peoples and Religions Today”, Archbishop Antonio Luis Cardinal Tagle will be the keynote speaker. The event will conclude with the closing celebration at Terra Moy, Mariapolis Peace in Tagaytay.

Focolare’s has been engaging in interreligious dialogue with Buddhists, Hindus and Moslems and other faiths for the 50 years of its existence in the country.

Focolare’s New City Press celebrated its 50th anniversary on August 28, 2016, with the theme “New City Press PH, 50 years at the service of a United World”, at San Carlos Seminary auditorium in Makati City. With its mission to propagate the ideal of unity, the New City Press has continued to reach readers with its publications of several books, magazines and reading materials. The Mariapolis Peace in Tagaytay, with its School of Dialogue with Oriental Religions, was established in 1982.

Philippines before the pioneers of the Focolare Movement arrived in Manila.

The pioneers of the Focolare in the Philippines were sent by foundress Chiara Lubich. They were Giovanna Vernuccio, Guido Mirti, Silvio Daneo and others in February 1966.

Cause of Chiara Lubich beatification Giovanna Vernuccio, Focolare Movement pioneer in the Philippines, celebrates the 50th anniversary of Focolare Philippines.

Focolare also has social centers, such as Bukas Palad and Pagasa Social Centers, and development projects, which have been instituted for the needs of thousands of poor families.

Last year the Focolare organized two major events. One is a Pan Asian Meeting for Economists on May 25 and 26, 2016, which advocated an Economy of Communion aimed at bridging the social economic divide in the world.

The other event is the World Media Cong ress 2016, which promoted dialogic journalism to help build peace and universal brotherhood. Organized by New City Press and Institute of Spirituality in Asia it was held from October 10 to 12, 2016.

The Focolare Movement in the

Philippines will host the International Genfest in June 2018. The last Genfest was held in Budapest, Hungary, in 2012. This international youth meeting is usually attended by more than 20,000 participants from all over the world.

Humble beginnings

The Focolare Movement came in Asia and in the Philippines amid the spread of communism in some Southeast Asian countries—Vietnam, LaoPDR and Cambodia—and the threat of communism in Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries. Fr. Joseph Taschner, SVD, a missionary priest who met the Focolare Movement-Europe in 1964, had spread the charism of unity and living the Gospel by organizing groups to regularly meet for the “Word of Life” in the

Several years after Lubich’s death on March 14, 2008, members of the Focolare in the Philippines, and in other countries were jubilant following the opening of the cause of her beatification at the Cathedral of Frascati in Rome, Italy, on January 27, 2015.

The Focolare in the Philippines and in the world who draw inspiration from her saintly life glued themselves to the news of the opening of the cause of beatification.

The postulation commission designated by Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement, postulator, Fr. Silvestre Marques, and the vice postulators, Lucia Abignente and Waldery Hilgeman.

A prayer for intercession of Lubich, now a Servant of God, says: “Eternal Father, source of love, of every light and goodness, we give You thanks for the charism of unity given to Chiara and for the remarkable testimony of it she gave to the Church and humanity, remaining faithful to Jesus Forsaken.” Vanessa M. Puno

Lenten pilgrimage to Lipa churches, Padre Pio Shrine

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ilgrimage apostolate Green Faith Travels brings pilgrims to the national shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Santo Tomas and seven other churches and chapels in Lipa City and Balete in Batangas on March 18 for its annual Lenten Pilgrimage of Faith and Heritage.

Now on its fifth Lenten journey, devotees of Saint Padre Pio and the Blessed Mother will also visit and pray at the following churches in Lipa City, known as the country’s “Little Rome”: Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, the seat of the Archdiocese of Lipa; Carmel of Our Lady Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace (Carmelite Monastery); Parish of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace; Divino Amor Chapel (Redemptorist Shrine); Parish of

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Barangay Talisay; and Parish of Santo Niño in Barangay Marawoy. The pilgrims will also visit the chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Marian Orchard in Balete, Batangas, a sprawling prayer park that has become an oasis for quiet contemplations of thousands of local and foreign visitors.

The Catholic-themed gardens feature a plaza of the apostles, Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces prayer hall, Via Crucis gardens, meditation gardens, Two Hearts promenade and garden steps.

The Sacred Heart tower is its highest point, where pilgrims may see the Taal Lake and volcano island and the mountains of Makiling, Maculot, Malarayat and Banahaw.

Padre Pio shrine

The archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Padre Pio became a national shrine upon the declaration of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on September 14, 2015. The Catholic faithful hear Mass, confess and pray for their intentions through the intercession of Saint Padre Pio, known for his miracles of healing and blessings.

From its old church made of nipa (coconutpalm leaves or cogon grass) and bamboo, the design of the new main church was inspired by nature and ecology. Its tropical design made use of wood, stone, bamboo and sasa (leaves from a variety of bamboo) with the roof of the church shaped-like a giant salakot (native wide-brimmed hat made of palm leaves).

The salakot “reminds the faithful of how God protects us from all evil and harm” just as how it also keeps farmers a n d f i s h e r m e n p ro te c te d f ro m t h e elements. The shrine’s whole concept is to have a “unique, serene and welcoming church that naturally draws people to pray and be inspired by God and nature which He created.”

Green Faith Travels is on its sixth year as a noncommercial Catholic apostolate organizing pilgrimages and spiritual travels.

Interested par ties may inquire at 0926-6152596, e-mail greenfaithtravels@ g m a i l. co m a n d g re e n f a i t h t ra v e l s @ yahoo.com or visit www.facebook.com/ greenfaithtravels for details.

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Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Negeri Sembilan swing State Museum and Rumah Negeri Sembilan

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Physiotherapy Center to boost medical-travel tourism

W

f you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur, and you have time to spare before your evening flight, swing by the neighboring state of Negeri Sembilan.

Watersports at Lexis Hibiscus

n State Museum. The mandatory first stop of your day swing is the State Museum Complex in the capital town of Seremban, the repository of local traditions and cultures that can give you a glimpse of the soul of the state.

Negeri Sembilan is an amalgam of Malay and Indonesian cultures, and is most evident in the Minangkabau architecture of the museum, characterized by pointed edges shaped like a buffalo horn. A Sumatran influence, many of the old and contemporary buildings around Seremban showcased this design theme.

Within the complex is the Istana Ampang Tinggi (High Dam Palace), a royal residence built in the 1860s as a wedding gift of the local ruler to his daughter. The 67-footlong hardwood was dismantled in the 1900s and reassembled in its current location to serve as an architectural showcase.

Right beside is the Rumah Negeri Sembilan, an example of a typical “state house” that was taken by the British government to London for an exhibition in 1924. The house is recognized as a heritage building by Malaysia’s Ministry of Culture.

After a heady museum tour, sink your teeth into the fingerlicking Chocs Valley chocolates,

Premium Prehabilitation and Manual

Lexis Hibiscus Resort Hotel

By Bernard L Supetran

Situated less than an hour away from the airport, Negeri Sembilan, as it is fondly called, packs an eclectic charm, especially after having a blast in the pulsating urban heart of Malaysia.

Sunday, January 29, 2017 A7

which are concocted just a few steps away. This confectionery whips up artisanal chocolates, which the amiable staff will gladly demonstrate for you.

If time allows, swing by the iconic Istana Seri Menanti in Kuala Pilah District, a four-story timber palace built in the early-1900s, which has been turned into a museum for the house royal regalia.

One of the biggest of its kind in the world, it has 99 solids timber pillars and used hardwood rods in place of nails. Adorned with a floral motif, it is topped with buffalo horns, which are regarded as a protective Minangkabau symbol.

The palace, however, is undergoing a drawn-out restoration and visitors can only view its exterior. n Port Dickson. If you’re a beach bum, this getaway is a must visit. The nearest beach to Kuala Lumpur, this district is a haven for Malaysians and Singaporeans longing to laze at sleepy shores of powdery beige sand.

The long coastline has several coves, each with a distinct character—Tanjung Gemuk, Saujana, Cahaya Negeri, Purnama, Bagan Pinang, Tanjung Biru (Blue Lagoon) and Teluk Kemang. The latter is the most popular beach, dotted with restaurants, souvenir shops and groceries for local snacks.

One of Port Dickson’s imposing structure is the luxe Lexis Hibiscus Resort Hotel, where you can grab lunch and laze around for the remainder of the day. It has nine dining outlets, but it is Roselle

Nasi Goreng Kampung

Malaysian Satay

Nasi Lemak

Coffee House and Umi Japanese Restaurant that are open roundthe-clock for walk-in guests.

You can feast on mouth watery Malay specialties, halal food, international dishes and Japanese favorites in an opulent setting.

If you want a more scaled-down experience, there is the Hibiscus Walk, which is dotted by hawker food stalls that evoke the typical Malaysian “pedestrian” feel in the classy enclave. There is a wide array of traditional dishes from Malacca, Penang, India and China, which make up the entirety of Malaysian cuisine.

A must taste is Negeri Sembilan‘s signature dish, Masak Lomak Lado Api, a combination of lemongrass, turmeric, small extra hot chilies simmered in coconut milk, which produce the spicy aroma of a mouthwatering dish, which can be paired with fish, meat, prawn, or chicken. Named after the country’s national flower, Hibiscus is a waterworld in itself, being adjudged recently by the Guinness World Records as having the “Most Swimming Pools in a Resort” and “Most Overwater Villas at a Single Resort.”

With 522 floating water villas scattered over a kilometer into the sea to form the shape of a hibiscus, the resort is a swell place to engage in water sports, such as banana boat, kayaks and Jet Skis. Sip coffee or your favorite beverage on the beach as you watch the ships, or the world, go by. These are some of the adventures you might have missed in the cosmopolitan hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur.

Near the farthest “petal ” of the hibiscus villa formation is a 400-feet water fountain, which forms part of the resort’s landscape and the tallest

of its kind in the country.

Lexis Hibiscus also boasts of 117 well-appointed rooms in its tower hotel, which overlooks Straits of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest sealanes, and the silhouette of the Indonesian province of Sumatra in the horizon. n Garden Café. Cap your day tour with a hearty meal in this cozy restaurant in Nilai district, which is arguably the place to be for authentic Malay and Sumatran cuisine that is owned by the amiable self-taught Chef Aunty Aini.

If she’s not too busy, she’ll gladly take time out for a brief tête-à- tête, being a celebrity cook in her own right. Culinary TV stars Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay have come all the way to this part unknown, just for her fabled heirloom cooking. And if it’s your lucky day, you might be rubbing elbows with the Malaysians in the country’s who’s who list. Those are reasons enough to make Garden Café your dinner place, which incidentally is closed on Monday.

This itinerary has just scratched the surface of Negeri Sembilan’s must-see places. There’s the Army Museum, the Fisheries Department Aquarium, Wan Loong Chinese Temple, Ostrich Farm, the recreational parks of De Bana Recreational and Ulu Serting, Kuala Klawang Customs Museum, Lukut Historical Complex and everything in between.

The state also has an intriguing royal sultanate system, which is unique.

With all its natural and cultural wealth largely undetected by the Filipino tourist radar, it might as well be the main destination of your next Malaysian journey.

hen it comes to travel for leisure, recreation and holidays, the Philippines is undoubtedly among the top destinations in the world. With sprawling beaches, underwater gardens, mountains and historical sites, the country is a tropical haven brimming with natural wonders and rich culture; perfect for tourists, vacationers and adventurers.

Undoubtedly, the performance of the tourism industry is upbeat and the popularity of the country‘s medical tourism is not far behind. In 2015 the Philippines was ranked No. 8 on the list of top medical tourism destinations in the world, according to the International Healthcare Research Center and Medical Tourism Association (MTA), an association for medical tourism and international patient industry representing health-care providers, governments, insurance companies, employers and other buyers of health care.

In 2014 the country ranked No. 8 on the Top 10 Medical Tourism Destination list, according to the Medical Tourism Index (MTI). Developed by the International Healthcare Research Centre and MTA, the MTI ranked the countries primarily based on its medical tourism industry, facility and service, and environment, along with other indicators.

Records also show that the country now serves approximately 80,000 to 250,000 medical tourists annually. Among the most popular services offered in the Philippines are surgeries, therapies, dental services, cosmetic services and other medical treatments. With the state-ofthe-art facilities and quality medical care by professional doctors and health-care providers, medical tourists flock into the country to avail themselves of quality treatment and care.

For premier physical rehabilitation, functional training and overall wellness, medical tourists may seek specialized therapies at the Polarity Prehabilitation and Physiotherapy Center, one of the newest wellness centers that was added to the list of medical and wellness facilities that caters to the international medical travel sector.

Known for its advanced manual physiotherapy and myofascial release services, the Polarity Prehabilitation and Physiotherapy Center provides relief fro m pain, recovery from injury and improvement of physical conditions in the promotion of a new and healthy lifestyle.

The Polarity Prehabilitation and Physiother-

apy Center specializes in physical rehabilitation through exercise, manual therapy, muscle and fascia manipulation, muscle release techniques, functional exercise and training, and specific conditioning.

Physiotherapy is a science-based profession with a whole person approach to health and well-being. Taking into account the general lifestyle of the individual, the core of the treatment is the patient‘s involvement in their own care through education, awareness, empowerment and participation in the program designed by the Polarity Prehabilitation and Physiotherapy Center.

Myofascial release service is an effective hands-on therapy that directly changes and improves the health of the fascia—a band or sheet of connective tissue that attaches, stabilizes, encloses and separates muscles and other internal organs. The therapy breaks down the scar tissue, relaxes the muscle and myofascia, resulting to good posture and lasting and effective relief to the patient.

The Polarity Prehabilitation and Physiotherapy Center evaluates, treats and prescribes programs to prevent or recover from injuries, alleviate muscle pain and achieve optimum health and wellness of the body. These programs are customized to meet the health-and-fitness goals of individuals, who work long hours in the office, athletes, trainers, performers, and those who are engaged in physically demanding work daily. These procedures and treatments are conducted by a team of well-trained and skilled therapists, who are experts in their chosen field.

Conveniently at the heart of Quezon City, the Polarity Prehabilitation and Physiotherapy Center is well-equipped with the modern and rehabilitation facilities.

With several treatment rooms available, patients can relax and enjoy the comfort and privacy afforded by the center. The facility also has a rehabilitation room complete with equipment for strengthening and mobility exercises.

With the country’s beautiful tropical setting, medical tourists can schedule vacation trips right after their treatments. This adds better value on their trips wherein they can improve their health and well-being while having their holiday at the same time. For further information, you may check its Facebook account, PolarityPhysiotherapyCenter, or visit its web site at www.polaritywellnesscenter.com.

A8 Sunday, January 29, 2017

Sports

BusinessMirror

Tagaytay City hosts Asian zonals

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OP masters from Southeast Asia will see action in the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Asian Zonal Chess Championships for men and women set from February 25 to March 5 in Tagaytay City.

The tournament will be held under the auspices of the FIDE, Asian Chess Federation, National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), according to Tagaytay City Rep. Abraham Tolentino, the FIDE and NCFP secretary-general.

“We are hosting this FIDE event to give a chance, not only for our top grandmasters [GMs] to qualify, but for the many aspiring Filipinos who wish to test their skill against the best from Asean and neighboring countries, and try to get the International Master and Fide Master titles and improve their FIDE ratings,” Tolentino said.

The Asian Zonal is part of the FIDE World Championship cycle and will select two players to advance to the World Cup scheduled this September in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The women’s champion will qualify to the Women’s World Championship. Besides the qualification to the World Championship cycle, at

CARMELO ANTHONY says he has not spoken with Phil Jackson, the team president, since last week, when they had what Anthony described as a brief meeting. AP

stake in the Asian Zonal is $5,000 in cash prizes.

FIDE is divided into four continents and each continent is subdivided into zones. Countries in FIDE Zone 3.3 for Southeast Asia are, in alphabetical order, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The previous FIDE Zone 3.3 championship was held 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City and was very successful for the host Vietnam as two of their GMs qualified even against a 10-man Philippine contingent. Previously, Tagaytay City also hosted the Asian Zonals in 2013 where Filipino GM Wesley So qualified and untitled Filipina Bernadette Galas finished a surprise second in the women’s division and earned her Women’s International Master title.

Filipino GM Mark Paragua qualified in the 2011 Asian Zonals also in Tagaytay City.

By Scott Cacciola

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L

New York Times

ALLAS—Carmelo Anthony started his day in the familiar position of discussing his future with the New York Knicks.

The latest round of questions from reporters centered on comments by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James— specifically, his frustration with his own team’s roster and his desire to add another “playmaker”, as the Cavaliers seek to defend their National Basketball Association (NBA) championship. James and Anthony happen to be close friends.

“Do I think he would want me to play with him?” Anthony said on Wednesday morning. “Yes, I do think he would want me to play with him. But I don’t know if that comment is about me. I don’t think I’m the only playmaker in the NBA.” A trade with the Cavaliers

Euro track-and-field records to undergo credibility review AUSANNE, Switzerland—The track-and-field record book in Europe is being reviewed to see if it can still be believed to be clean of doping.

European Athletics said on Thursday it has created “a task force to examine the credibility of European records.”

Current records include several set in the 1980s by athletes from Soviet Bloc countries, including East Germany. Some times in women’s track events still stand as world records.

European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen said records should be 100-percent credible.

“However, there is a view that this is currently not the case with some of the performances on the European

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

record list,” the Norwegian official said in a statement.

Hansen is a board member at the International Alliance of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which will await Europe’s findings.

“I have been in regular contact with IAAF President Sebastian Coe on this matter and the IAAF will monitor this work closely before deciding on any actions at the world level,” Hansen said. “This is obviously a contentious and difficult issue that they will be looking into.”

The task force has been set a September target to report back. It is chaired by Irish official Pierce O’Callaghan, the head of operations for the 2017 world championships in London. AP

FRENCH skipper Francis Joyon smashes the record for the fastest sail around the world. AP

AROUND THE WORLD IN 40 DAYS

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ARIS—French skipper Francis Joyon smashed the record for the fastest sail around the world by more than four days when he won the Jules Verne Trophy on Thursday.

Joyon and teammates Clement Surtel, Alex Pella, Bernard Stamm, Gwenole Gahinet and Sebastien Audigane crossed the finish line off the French island of Ouessant just before 9 a.m. local time, in their maxitrimaran Idec Sport.

would be nearly impossible for any number of reasons, starting with the no-trade clause in Anthony’s contract.

He has expressed a desire to remain with the Knicks.

Anthony finished his day by trying to deliver a win for the foundering Knicks. Instead, the Dallas Mavericks dealt them a 103-95 loss at American Airlines Center, their 14th defeat in their past 18 games.

The Knicks (20-27) have issues. Anthony, who will most likely be the subject of trade speculation for weeks, is barely speaking with team management. The Knicks have lost more games than they have won, and their playoff hopes are already dimming ahead of the NBA All-Star break.

Anthony finished with a game-high 30 points, shooting 13-of-24 from the field—although he was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Courtney Lee added 23 points. But it was not enough against the Mavericks (16-29), a middling team that appears bound for the draft lottery.

Wednesday’s game was another rough outing for Kristaps Porzingis, who has been hampered by a sore Achilles tendon in recent weeks. He finished with 13 points and shot four-of-11 from the floor.

Early in the first quarter, the Mavericks’s Dirk Nowitzki fooled Porzingis with a pump fake, forcing him into his second foul. Porzingis unsuccessfully petitioned Knicks Coach Jeff Hornacek to keep him on the floor.

It was that kind of night for Porzingis, and not unlike many of his recent ones. In his last five games entering on Wednesday, he had shot 37.9 percent from the floor while averaging 10.6 points, well below his season averages. Against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, Porzingis shot just three-of-11 from the floor and scored eight points. Many of his attempts were not even close.

After that game, Porzingis studied film of his shooting form. He could tell that he was not releasing the ball with enough of an arc.

“I had open looks,” he said. “It’s just sometimes when I have that much space, my shot is flat.”

As for Anthony, he said he had not spoken with Phil Jackson, the team president, since last week, when they had what Anthony described as a brief meeting.

“That’s all I can say,” Anthony said.

They took 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.

The previous record was 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds in 2012 by Frenchman Loick Peyron.

Joyon averaged 26.85 knots, the equivalent of almost 50 kph, over 26,412 miles.

Relief was his first thought at the finish.

He said in a radio message they spent the final night in rough sea conditions.

“It’s the result of long years of work,”

Joyon said. “The sea was very tough, the boat was being banged around, we could not rest at all. The night was very hectic.”

The 60-year-old Joyon also held the record for the fastest single-handed circumnavigation from 2008-2016 before Thomas Coville improved his mark last December.

The Jules Verne Trophy is open to any type of boats without restriction, and takes skippers around the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn. AP

KISENOSATO ACHIEVES PINNACLE OF SUMO

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OKYO—A Japanese sumo wrestler has reached the pinnacle of the country’s ancient sport for the first time in almost two decades.

Kisenosato was promoted to the highest rank of “Yokozuna” on Wednesday, three days after winning his first title at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament with a 14-1 record.

“I humbly accept the honor,” he said at a ceremony in Tokyo. “I will concentrate on being true to the title of Yokozuna.”

Kisenosato, whose real name is Yutaka Hagiwara, is the first Japanese wrestler to earn the coveted rank of “grand champion” since 1998.

Mongolians and Hawaiians have dominated the sport for more than a decade, causing concern among some sumo officials and fans. The last three wrestlers promoted to Yokozuna were Mongolian: Hakuho, Harumafuji and Kakuryu. Before them came Hawaiian Akebono and Samoan Musashimaru.

The sport’s popularity has waned in recent years, amid a series of scandals involving bullying of junior apprentices, and wrestlers gambling on professional baseball games. The lack of a Japanese at the top, and competition from football and baseball, has also had an impact.

Previously, the last Japanese promoted to Yokozuna was Wakanohana in 1998. His brother, Takanohana, was the last Japanese to compete as a Yokozuna. He retired in 2003.

Wrestlers must normally win two consecutive tournaments to be promoted. Kisenosato only has one title, but earned the top rank based on his consistent results in recent tournaments and the New Year title.

As much as his promotion will give the sport a shot in the arm, it comes at an advanced age for a sumo wrestler.

Kisenosato is 30 years old. Mongolian Hakuho, who is 31, was 22 when he became a grand champion. He went on to win a record 37 championships.

KISENOSATO smiles as he holds a red sea bream in a formal ceremony to notify him of his promotion to the pinnacle of Japan’s ancient sport for the first time in almost two decades in Tokyo. AP

Sunday, January 29, 2017 A9

PRESSURE &RELEASE » A12

THE EVOLUTION

JANE DOE

By Joel Pablo Salud

30 December 3038

HIGHLY-CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ITP-CID REPORT: TRINOMA FINDINGS During a recent demolition conducted by the Federation government of the abandoned Trinoma, a body was excavated at the site.

The remains, purportedly female, still intact and with hardly any signs of decomposition, was immediately shipped to the city’s forensic pathologist and leading expert on evolution and genetics, Dr. John Michael V. Williams of the University of the Philippines, for further study.

The following documents, audio-visual digital materials, email and online records, social media posts, and other necessary files and mainstream media reports posted on WebMast and other social media venues were culled by Chief Inspector Rolando T. Gatmaitan of the ITP-CID within days of the discovery of the murders.

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hey seek to explain not only the brutal deaths of Dr. Williams of the UP Department of Evolution and Genetics, together with Drs. Tomás de la Vega and Manuel A. Barameda, and members of the laboratory staff, but to make sense of the existence of a creature that was both human and beast.

ITP graphology expert Renee M. Marinduque confirms in his initial findings that the text and voice signatures of collected digital log entries belong initially to Dr. John Michael V. Williams, and then later, to Dr. Evelyn Bautista, both leading figures in the study of Genetics and Evolution.

Based on initial police reports, Dr. Williams’ body and the rest of his colleagues and staff, save for Dr. Bautista, were found in an advanced state of decomposition, all decapitated, with signs of what seemed like gorging by an animal resembling a predatory reptile.

Dr. Bautista reportedly survived the incident.

As of this hour, no suspect has been arrested.

All documents relating to this brutal episode have been kept under lock and key in Malacañang, with official copies sent to the National Security Adviser, Chief of the National Bureau of Investigations, the Secretary of the Department of National Defense, and Chief of “Project Black Book” under the Office of the President, United Federation of Philippine Free States.

All investigations and studies into the matter of the creature had failed in all attempts to form any definitive conclusion as to its actual nature and purpose in nature.

Case is closed.

Dr. J.M. Williams Log: 27 January 3039 Specimen: Partly human Gender: Female Age: Middle thirties Eyes: dark hazel-green Hair: Straight, plum red Height: 5’9” Weight: Approx. 135 lbs.

Distinguishing marks: Slightly faded rose tattoo on the left arm / mole on the lower side of the left eye Unusual features: Partial growth of exoskeleton along the torso, upper arms, upper chest, wrist, knees / long clawlike hands and fingernails / phalanges, tarsals and metatarsals stretching two inches longer than what is normal for humans / thick armor-like scales forming at the wrist to the base of the elbow, both arms / forehead covered by armor-like scales resembling that of a Pholidota / teeth chiselled to fang-like perfection / eyes and pupils hazy grey, and shaped like a snake’s.

Identifying marks: No fingerprints / No visible eye prints Discovery: Found by a couple along an empty lot two kilometers east of the old, abandoned Trinoma two days into the demolition. They reported the find to two officers of the Integrated Transnational Police-Asia Criminal Investigations Division (ITP-CID) on the same day.

Cause of death: Unknown *Note: Initial tests have shown that the specimen exhibits features of being cold-blooded as would a regular species of reptiles.

Analysis: I have not seen anything like it: a human being that is not a human being. The subject is beast-like, more reptilian than homo sapiens.

Since her discovery on 30 December 3038, the scientists and doctors of the University of the Philippines have been closely studying and monitoring this unusual specimen.

No identification was found on the subject, neither was she in any of the government’s database.

We refer to her as Jane Doe.

I, Dr. John Michael V. Williams, have taken the liberty to contact a fellow doctor and scientist based in the Central Canadian Republic, the leading Filipino-Canadian expert on Evolution, Genetic Engineering, and Linguistic and Social Anthropology—Dr. Tomás de la Vega and his colleagues—to study this marvellous specimen.

I’ve started initial autopsy and forensic tests.

Initial observations re: bone structure, skin/teeth sampling, and DNA code sequences to establish identification suggests that the specimen is Asian in origin.

However, closer observation of the molecular structure and DNA code sequence sourced from different parts of the body reveals several anomalies:

(1) The subject possesses no distinct cellular nucleus in some parts. It’s as if her biological structure on the cellular level has been devolving into something closer to the cellular physiology of a bacteria/virus, and in parts where sensitive bodily organs are located, that of a prehistoric reptile;

(2) The rate of cellular devolution, if devolution has actually occurred, is a thousand times faster than what its Continued on A10

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Sunday, January 29, 2017

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The Evolution of Jane Doe Continued from A9

counterpart—evolution—can accomplish in approximately 1.5 million years;

(3) Also, it appears that Jane Doe’s DNA exists in both linear and circular form, loosely structured unlike that of human DNA, allowing no more than the simplest processes to occur;

(4) As it has been pointed out, first

by Dr. Tomás de la Vega in the Oxford Journals of Molecular Biology and Evolution, the strongest and most versatile of all species, which can undoubtedly survive the onslaught of billions of years, is the one that retains the simplest if not the most primitive cellular physiology despite its multicellular state.

Dr. Tomás de la Vega and his team’s ETA from Vancouver would be at 2100 hours tonight, Philippines Airlines (Flight PR 119), Manila time. I can’t wait to hear what he and his colleagues have to say.

Dr. J.M. Williams Log: 28 January 3039

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AM. Dr. Tomás de la Vega, Dr. Evelyn T. Bautista, and Dr. Manuel A. Barameda arrived last night at the UP Department of Evolution and Genetic Studies.

I personally welcomed the doctor and his team, and escorted them to the laboratory where the specimen was kept in a blast-freeze chamber. We lost no time conducting tests and experiments on the cadaver.

By sundown, Dr. de la Vega confirmed our initial findings re: DNA, but was hardly surprised at the discovery.

He said he has been following developments on the subject matter.

In fact, he pulled out a book he wrote as a young expert on Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, From Beauty to Beast: Charles Darwin’s Miscalculation of the Evolutionary Sequence, and pointed to his theory, which he called “The Devolution Revolution”.

Our discussion on the matter was candid enough to shock our previously held notions about the Darwinian theory. Suffice it that the Dr. Tomás de la Vega had spent a lifetime of research and experiments to prove Darwin wrong.

I took the liberty of recording what he said last night. Here’s an excerpt:

“From the very moment life occurred, evolution kicked off with natural selection, and gave the first life forms the ability to adapt to their environment and adjust to the surrounding conditions.

“The Earth was young and volatile, subject to the meticulous and ever-changing blueprint and temper of Nature. For reasons of continuity, life evolved into simple structures and organisms in order to triumph over the temper of the times. Complex life would’ve died in a split second under these extremely harsh conditions.

However, as evolution would have it, life refuses to stay austere.

As soon as life progressed from simple organism to complex life forms, something needs to be done for it to survive. The development of instinct, therefore, became a necessary biological offshoot of this need.

“Where single cell creatures lived and reproduced through mitosis, multicellular creatures emerged as a result.

A couple million years and they began to grow arms, legs and feet, some even wings. The earlier creatures, mostly those hunted as prey, developed armor and ‘weapons’—fangs, claws, scales, exoskeletons, powerful hind legs for speed—to fight off predators.

“With these came, too, an insatiable hunger, and, in time, skills for the hunt. Every creature known to man is both predator and prey, and its most primitive form, both scavenger and hunter. This was an expected outcome in order to preserve Nature’s all-important balance.

“Apparently, the development of creature instinct had become Nature’s first priority, leaving the progress of the brain locked in its infancy for eons.

However, through the confluence of millions of years of experience, surviving one catastrophe after the next, one predator after the other, Nature decided to take a gargantuan experiment into the evolutionary process: to finally breed a creature with a highlydeveloped brain.

“For Nature, this poses a huge problem and a big risk. In order to develop the brain, the natural process is forced to take a detour in order to focus all its energies and vital powers on the advancement of the brain, leaving other features underdeveloped or less than satisfactory for survival.

“Instead of an exoskeleton, horns, and protective armor, as a substitute for fangs, claws, and speed, Nature produced mammals and provided these with feeble hide as covering, and arms and legs to make up for the lack of speed.

“In time, the human genus appeared—the hominins as we know them. Then came homo erectus from which modern man, homo sapiens, appeared.

If you look at humanity’s cosmic calendar, and lump billions upon billions of years in a 31-day monthly calendar beginning January and ending in December, the Big Bang would’ve occurred on New Year’s Day, first life on Earth appeared sometime late September, and the emergence of the first humans on December 31, New Year’s Eve, around 10:30PM.

“With the development of the human brain, man was able to manage and control, in a manner of saying, his physical state and his environment. The 20th-century author, Carl Sagan, once proposed that humanity’s chances of survival grew exponentially when we made a bargain with nature: not only should we progress extragenetically, meaning, development in the molecular and cellular level, but in “extrasomatic knowledge” as well, meaning “information stored outside the body”. In other words, learning.

“By this ability, we were able to adapt to nature’s ferocity and power, and bridge distances, through industrial progress, the powers of arts and culture, communicate and even appreciate beauty through writing and literature, technical knowhow, and imminent ideological discoveries, leaving his kind with sufficient means to adjust and familiarize itself with its surrounding, hence triumphing over it.

“This is where Charles Darwin seemingly proved himself wrong. He assumed that with humanity’s achievements in the realm of industry and the arts—extrasomatic knowledge—what man had undergone was no less than evolution, meaning an improvement of the human species both genetically, and as proof of this, our extrasomatic accomplishments.

“However, as the language of genetics and evolution implies, what we went through was a ‘devolution’ into being the weaker of the species, save for a developed brain. In the process, our instincts have suddenly taken a back seat.

“All these are really just temporary.

Nature and evolution are still at work in the sidelights, busy as ever in the department of physiological transformation, biding their time until they’ve exhausted all means to develop the brain.

“Once the brain has fully matured and reached its evolutionary zenith, the final stages of the evolution-devolution process is forced to take another gigantic leap: a return to its original physiological design, not one destined for creaturely comforts, but one that’s engineered to fight, hunt, invade and survive the most challenging terrain, and triumph over the harshest conditions, but with a twist: a predatory creature completely armed with primitive weap-

ons and armor, but one made more efficient because of its highly-developed human brain.

“Have you ever imagined the kind of violence a bacteria inflicts on a human body? It has in its employ a cache of weapons, from life-threatening toxins to the ability to inflict damage on the cellular level. Now imagine scores of humans with bacterial or viral ability to replicate in vast numbers, use instinct for destruction while armed with a highly-developed brain.

“It’s as if natural selection chooses who to develop, time and again, with creaturely violence to preserve the primordial genetic continuum. We have seen the beginnings of this slow yet sure transfiguration, or rather, mutation in the past—birth pangs, I call it—which would soon give rise to a fully evolved species of predator-man.

“We have stood witness to it time and again: in wars and dictatorships, in imperial rule, in genocides and carnage of unbelievable proportions, in rapes and plunder, humans acting like beasts on the prowl.

“These are the reasons why some of us wonder how man can accomplish such levels of violence and carnage seen only in beasts.

“For reasons I have yet to discover, Nature’s experiment with catastrophes and tragedies, including acts of repression and environmental degradation, had, alas, triggered something in the human gene pool to rekindle its primitive design for survival—to kill or stop any and known threats.

“This forced man, via genetic transformation, to revert to being beasts without regressing the brain’s abilities. The problem with this is that the changes, which through evolution took

millions of years to develop, required but a matter of weeks or months to reach its final stage.

“I came to this conclusion when seven unusual specimens—humans with creature-like features—were discovered recently in various places: Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, China, Mexico, Africa, and Lebanon. While studying the subjects, I asked Dr. Martin G. Smith, an expert on cellular biology, what strings all these specimens together. And then it hit me. All these specimens came from countries where catastrophes have been brutally rampant, and repression and persecution widespread.

“Strange as this is astonishing, we found out that all these specimens died of what seems like cancer at the genesis of their mutation. It’s as if cancer—the sudden multiplication of cells in certain areas of the body as these are often triggered genetically—is actually nature’s way of attempting to make that evolutionary leap, dividing and transforming, yet failing to achieve its desired outcome for some reason or the other.

“This brought me back to my days at the university. I remember the hour quite clearly. My French professor in Genetics, Adélaïde Bélanger, and I had a full hour debating whether cancer, as we know it to be a disease today, is actually evolution’s way of attempting an evolutionary leap.

“I was able to silence her ranting only after I raised the issue of teratoma tumors found mostly in women. These tumors, after having reached maturity, have been said to contain hair, teeth, bone, even as complex organs such as small brains and eyes, both limbs, even feet. Some contain even the vestiges of tissues found in the lungs, thyroid, and liver.

Is our development as a species no different from the development of a cancerous tumor? Is teratoma the homo sapien’s first attempt at cellular division?

“Such a specimen, if at all we unearth one, could change the whole course of what we know as genetics and evolution. This will be the real missing link.

“Suffice it for now that devolution is the true evolution, nay, the true genetic ‘revolution’. Because in our fullest evolved state, humans MUST remain as beasts.”

Dr. J.M. Williams Audio Log: 30 January 3039

9

AM. This is Dr. Evelyn Bautista.

With me is Dr. Williams’ digital audio log recorder. This morning, at about 0500hrs, I was rescued by operatives of the ITP-CID from inside the mess hall of the UP Department of Evolution and Genetics. I am now at its headquarters in Ortigas, holed up in a top secret chamber three miles below sea level.

Yesterday, the 29th, further tests and experiments were conducted on our Jane Doe.

Apparently, Dr. de la Vega had discovered another anomaly which could very well explain the physiological state of the specimen in question.

At 10:07 AM yesterday, findings from a sampling taken from the subject’s brain revealed an enormous burst of activity. It’s as if, in Dr. de la Vega’s words, “the brain is directly controlling the subject’s body mass and structure on a cellular and molecular level.”

This, above any other, left us to conclude that the specimen, first and foremost, was not dead but very much

alive, but in hibernation.

Secondly: the specimen, however motionless in general and without a heartbeat, was quickly mutating into something definitely non-human. Dr. de la Vega and Dr. Williams had instructed us to bind the specimen’s arms and feet just to be sure.

Half past the hour of noon, while most of the staff and doctors were out for lunch, a commotion inside the laboratory was heard all the way up to the mess hall. The sound of crashing and breaking of glass. We rushed to where the noise was coming from.

At the entrance to the lab, adjacent to the hallway leading to the staircase, two creatures of identical features stood. They were not human but reptilian, with hideous faces that resembled a crocodile, torso of a snake, its chest and lower limbs wrapped in what seemed like the exoskeleton of an armadillo.

Their fingers and toes had turned into claws, their eyes bloodshot, their teeth fang-like.

Everything happened so quickly.

The first to be gorged by one of the creatures were two of Dr. Williams’ staff members, assistant scientists Renato Villanueva and Bart de Asis. Both hid themselves in the maintenance room for safety.

Then came the other creature and proceeded to rip apart my colleagues Dr. de la Vega and Dr. Barameda in one fell swoop. From where I and Dr. Williams hid behind a table, we saw the creature rip the torso of Dr. de la Vega using its huge claws, the way a chef would use a cleaver.

No, they were not in a feeding frenzy. From where I was watching the carnage, they seem to be in the thick of a murderous rampage. This is something an animal, even the vilest of predators, would rarely be guilty of.

Why were they not feeding? Why were they simply killing?

Dr. Williams, out of desperation, scampered to a nearby open hallway, leaving me behind. It didn’t take long for the two creatures to grab hold of the good doctor and rip him to shreds.

While they fixed their attention on Dr. Williams, I ran to the mess hall and bolted the doors.

The odd thing was, I saw both creatures staring at me as I was running, yet they hardly moved a muscle to give chase. From the look on their faces, it was as if they wanted to let me go. I was holed up in the mess hall until morning when the ITP-CID operatives arrived.

By the time they discovered my whereabouts, and the slew of body parts scattered in the lab, the two creatures were long gone.

Dr. Evelyn Bautista’s log: 02 Feb 3039

M

y notes on Jane Doe: The specimen, apparently, had taken on the survival qualities of a single cell organism, first by reproducing via multicellular mitosis in a span of two weeks, and second, by recreating through mutation the features of three predators: the Viper, the Brazilian Black Crocodile, and the prehistoric Raptor.

As for its features resembling the Viper, the bodies inside the lab were found with cobra venom in their systems.

Jane Doe’s supposed “death” was, in fact, the time it took for its complex DNA structure to transfigure to its simplest form and complete its final stages of evolution.

The specimen is very much alive.

The evolution of Jane Doe has reached its zenith. At the rate of these creatures’ reproduction via multicellular mitosis, at the end of 3039, all life on Earth, as we know it, will have faced extinction.

Only these creatures will remain unless we find a way to stop them. But how do we stop ourselves from evolving?

Welcome the New Triassic Era. +End of Log Year 3039

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Sunday, January 29, 2017 A11

The Right Attitude Is The right attitude is acceptance.

A bowing of head, a surrendering of sword.

In reaching the end one gives way to the erosion of metal and blood— the downpour of soul kept intact by a reflection of worth tucked in a cage of mirrors, an illusion of freedom.

All one needs to do is knock on glass.

But in shattering faith— death— would be kinder.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

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PRESSURE &RELEASE A12

R

By Joseph Anthony Montecillo

ed eyes blink at you from across the blacktop of the highway. The tail lights sit still for the most part. Each pair claims a piece of the night sky, twinkling in place. Stare long enough, and constellations start to appear. Here, a couple of lanes away, a snake curled up ready to strike made up of three taxi cabs and an askew Mazda. There under the train station, a cocked gun made up of three black cars in a row and one taxi.

Stare even longer and soon, all you can see is red. Every other color gets washed away, leaving the world just a filthy, fuzzy scarlet.

You must get a lot of staring done on this stretch. It’s all there is to do. Everything else remains unmoving, unyielding. Sitting inside the bus, legs cramping up even as they twitch against the clutch and brake, you’ve learned to know this road in ways you’ve never known your wife or the children at home you never see. From here, you might even fool yourself into thinking you’re above what’s happening.

Kawawa, you think, shaking your head.

Grabe talaga ‘to.

But that’s just part of the illusion. You’re as much a part of it as anyone else.

I know you’re trying not to think of that.

You focus on how everything stretches out before you towards the distant horizon of high rises. No straight lines can be seen anywhere.

The vehicles twist and weave and turn in and out of each other like arteries tangled in veins and knotted in tiny capillaries.

You think of the children at home, the boy and the girl, the third on the way. They’ll be missing their father again, always working the long hours. You’re that man--the one who works too hard and has no energy left at the end of the day. Try hard enough, you’ll see their faces in the tail lights.

See? There they are.

Then the horns start blaring, the sound piercing through the windshield. Once one goes off, others scream out to respond. Feel the cacophony beats its way into your ears, pressing against your skull. The blood pounds in your head, and you feel it clog against every bit of fat you’ve ever eaten in your life.

Your head feels cramped like a thousand cars fighting for space in a lane they don’t belong in.

Behind you, the tired sighs and gentle snoring of passengers. The incessant tap, tap, tap of fingers against glass screens. Muffled words and music pushing out against headphones. Whispered gossip overheard at lunch from the sister of a friend whose tita knows someone in the government. They don’t know you, won’t remember your face, but without you they’re nowhere.

Traffic moves an inch, maybe less. A little pressure on the gas, lift the clutch a bit. The timing is impeccable--pressure and release exactly when needed. The bus lurches forward and jerks when you hit the brakes. Everything comes to a standstill and the horns come again. They drown out your thoughts, until your consciousness is only one long honk.

Above you, a pirated film chatters away on a broken television screen. The hottest new starlet opens her mouth to profess her love but all that comes out is a blaring horn, screaming at the cars

ahead to just move putang ina just move already.

The horns keep shouting at each other. If sound had a color, you know that this would be red.

A dirty, dingy red smeared against a rusted wall.

Under the howling, sirens wail. A police car, coming out of the gate of the police camp to your right, sits blockaded by a wall of metal and glass. You convince yourself that you’re concerned. Someone could be being robbed or murdered and this traffic damn traffic because of this damn government who just never get anything right and will this honking ever stop goddamn it just move already!

That’s right.

You’re screaming in your mind, I can hear it.

Teeth grind against each other to bar your frustration. Soon, your rage dissolves into the horns.

The constellations blaze away and all that’s left is red lights.

The sea of red stars blinks and you blink back.

Do it.

You slam your foot on the gas.

The engine roars as the bus crashes into the cars in front of you. Two, three hunks of metal smash together. The glorious sound of glass breaking and steel crunching. The impact shakes the whole bus, people thrown to the ground fill the air with screams. Your whole body shudders, racked by the jolt like electricity rushing through your bones. A warmth on your head. Blood, spilling down your face, free at last.

The horns again. Or is that the screaming?

Laugh. Now you’re that guy--the one they’ll talk about on the news. See your family tearfully discussing you. He would never do this. This isn’t what he’s like. They’ll open their mouth for more excuses but it’s all just honking.

Your body feels numb. You’re panting, lungs seeking air and finding only smoke and blood in the air. Everything is hot. Your legs call out to you, and your foot finds the gas. You press down again.

The bus obeys. It shoves against the two cars that have melded to the front and smashes into the mess of traffic. More glass shattering. The safety glass behind you perhaps. Metal screeches and bends and breaks and oh my god, the music of it.

Smashing against that blaring monotony--screaming and twisting and churning. You don’t know if your foot’s on the gas but the bus keeps moving.

Down the slope of the overpass, the tangled beast of metal plows its way through taxi drivers and mothers and children and adulterers and priests and all that flesh gives way to the weight and the impact. All the red in the world set against a deep black now, and the blood is pouring down your face.

With each collision, that rapturous jolt.

It rattles you down to the deepest parts of your body. Fight off the tempting unconsciousness.

Remain in the moment. This, you must feel this, for this is all there is.

The rattling and gnashing of teeth sets a joyous percussive beat to the fracturing of your bones in your legs. When the steering wheel meets your chest, the air leaves your body. Your ribs crumble and your lungs struggle, with no structure to hold.

The crash continues. Through your bruised and swollen eye, you look out onto the road. The veins have burst and the cars have relinquished all hope of civility. You can’t tell where one starts and another begins. It’s all just metal, crashing against blinking red lights.

You’re a hero. You’ve set them free.

That’s what’s happened. It isn’t the domino effect of a devastating collision. Physics has no role in your victory. Rather, the world has finally come to its senses. Let go of the breaks and step on the gas--pressure and release at just the right moment.

The earth shakes and a rain of glass falls against your skin. Something has struck the

bus from behind. Again, that lightning rushing through your veins. This one sends you forward. The seatbelts snap, and you fall forward.

Your head is the first to break through the windshield-- thick shards slicing at your face as you soar through a mist of broken glass.

The night air cools your hot skin.

You land with a thud into a cradle of hot metal. The wreckage grabs you in its maw, limbs twisted to meet and join the carnage.

Barely breathing, you can taste the burning metal in the air. A fire crackles a few feet from your head, livening the color of blood in your eyes. Eye. One of them is shut closed, you can’t tell if you’ll ever get it back.

You yell into the night. No words from your mouth, just sound.

You test your limbs one at a time. Your right arm still moves but each twitch sends stabs of pain through you. Your left is just gone. There’s nothing there but a dull throb. Your left leg is

moving but you can tell that the bone has been smashed to dust. Your right leg only feels hot.

You hazard a peek. A thin shaft of metal pokes straight through your ankle.

You bite down on your lips with the teeth you have left and move your leg. The scream tears your mouth apart. Your scream becomes an ocean, flooding the sky and filling your ears.

Deep in those dark comforting waters, you find the strength from pure stubbornness and a rush of what must be adrenaline.

The leg comes free from the metal.

Putang ina, sit up, you tell yourself. I tell it to you too. Together, we will your body to obey.

The thrill surges through you as you shove against the pain and force your body to sit up.

For the briefest second, you find yourself sitting up to see the red all around you.

You take a deep breath, your last, and look up to the sky. It’s all black.

There are no stars out tonight. n