BusinessMirror March 10, 2019

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Sunday, March 10, 2019 Vol. 14 No. 151

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PRIVATE SECTOR MAKES ITS PITCH FOR ‘FUN’ PHILIPPINES

TOURISM Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat unveils her department’s refreshed Philippines brand campaign Wednesday evening at The Reed in Berlin. The Philippines is participating in the three-day ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel trade fair which affects over 180,000 visitors. STELLA ARNALDO

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

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Special to the BusinessMirror

ERLIN—Filipino fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. and flag carrier Cebu Pacific Airways will be rolling out separate advertising campaigns highlighting the country’s culinary experiences and tourist destinations, in support of the government’s It’s More Fun in the Philippines brand campaign.

“VOLLER energie” (full of energy) is one description of Sultan Kudarat in the German language, using the tourist’s pose as the letter “o” in this meme. The DOT is encouraging Germans and other foreign travelers to participate in the It’s More Fun in the Philippines brand campaign using their own photos of the country and the new fonts and themes available for download. STELLA ARNALDO

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat made this disclosure during the launch of the refreshed It’s More Fun campaign Wednesday evening at The Reed, which was attended by foreign travel agencies and tour operators, media and influencers.

She later told reporters that Jollibee Founder and Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong had offered to make a commercial for her department “promoting Philippine food,” as they discussed the late Anthony Bourdain’s feature on the Philippines, which included the fast-food

chain’s products such as the burgers and Chickenjoy.

She added that in a recent survey, it was found that “when foreigners think of the Philippines, they usually think of Jollibee.”

For the food company’s ad campaign, she explained that popular Filipino talents will be tapped to talk about the regions and the different cuisines/dishes to be featured in these commercials, which will be created by BBDO Guerrero, the same advertising agency that was chosen by the Department of Continued on A2

The hidden technology story in the Book of Genesis

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by Tyler Cowen | Bloomberg Opinion

The stories have so much religious significance that it is easy to miss the embedded tale of technology-led economic growth, similar to what you might find in the work of Adam Smith or even Paul Romer.

Adam and Eve eat of “the tree of knowledge, good and evil,” and from that decision an entire series of economic forces are set in motion. Soon thereafter Adam and Eve are tilling the soil, and in their lineage is TubalCain, “who forged every tool of copper and iron.”

Living standards rise throughout the book, and by the end we see the marvels of Egyptian civilization, as experienced and advised by Joseph. The Egyptians have advanced markets in grain, and the logistical and administrative capacities to store grain for up to seven years, helping them to overcome famine risk (for purposes of contrast, the US federal government routinely loses track of assets, weapons, and immigrant children). It is a society of advanced infrastructure, with

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.1600

MAMANULI | DREAMSTIME.COM

RECENTLY re-read the Book of Genesis as part of a two-day conference with a small group of scholars. It struck me that the book is, among other things, our first look at the wonders and dangers of technology.

governance sophisticated enough to support a 20-percent tax rate (Joseph instructs the pharaoh not to raise it higher). Note that in modern America federal spending typically has run just below 20 percent since the mid-1950s.

Arguably you can find a story of quantitative easing in Genesis as well. When silver is hard to come by, perhaps because of deflationary forces, the Egyptian government buys up farmland and compensates the owners with grain.

Most of all, in the Genesis story, the population of the Middle East keeps growing. I’ve known readers who roll their eyes at the lists of names, and the numerous recitations of who begat whom, but that’s the Bible’s way of telling us that progress is underway.

Neither land nor food supplies prove to be the binding constraints for population growth, unlike the See “Genesis,” A2

n JAPAN 0.4674 n UK 68.2044 n HK 6.6447 n CHINA 7.7696 n SINGAPORE 38.3248 n AUSTRALIA 36.5537 n EU 58.3305 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9097

Source: BSP (March 8, 2019 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

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JOLLY TIME FOR JUAN Continued from A1

Tourism (DOT) to undertake its refreshed brand campaign.

BBDO Guerrero Creative Director David Guerrero told the BusinessMirror “we’ll go around the country, shoot the food and show how these are prepared in [each province].” He said the commercials will be uploaded online, for sharing through social media.

This is reminiscent of the popular Kwentong Jollibee series of ads, where love stories and values-driven storylines are woven around the foods company’s products.

He added these commercials are primarily targeted at Filipinos working and residing abroad in the DOT’s key tourism markets. Among the markets with large concentrations of Filipinos are the United States,

Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asean.

In the case of Cebu Pacific, its ads will feature “the best of the country,” even as it promotes the company’s routes, fleet and service.

In a separate interview, Charo Logarto Lagamon, Cebu Pacific’s Director of Communications, said, “We are working on something that enhances and amplifies It’s More Fun in the Philippines, but focused on enticing foreigners to visit the Philippines.” She said, “Preparatory work is already being done” to create this campaign, which will be “launched soon.”

This is the second campaign undertaken by the airline in partnership with the DOT. It earlier launched “Juan Effect,” a sustainable tourism campaign, which encourages tourists to use eco bags,

reusable water bottles and other recyclables when going on trips. The carrier also distributed trash bins on Boracay Island, in celebration of the island resort’s reopening last October 26. (See “‘Juan Effect’: Airline prods travelers to use reusable water bottles, eco bags,” in the BusinessMirror, July 31, 2018.)

Romulo Puyat also revealed that clothing retailer Bench has been featuring various Philippine destinations in its current Live Local/Love Local campaign, with popular Filipino celebrities Lovi Poe, Kathryn Bernardo, Kisses Delavine, Dominic Roque, Marco Gumabao, to name a few. Among the destinations featured in the campaign so far are Boracay, Siquijor and La Union.

The DOT chief led a 30-man delegation to the ITB Berlin, the

VISITORS to the Philippines booth at ITB Berlin enjoy cups of freshly brewed coffee from local beans roasted by El Union. At right are the company’s cofounders Kiddo Cosio and Sly Samonte. STELLA ARNALDO

MISS Saigon cast member Joana Ampil serenades guests at the launch of the refreshed It’s More Fun in the Philippines brand campaign at The Reed, Wednesday evening. STELLA ARNALDO

largest travel trade fair in the world. Romulo Puyat had underscored the importance of the Philippines’ participation in the annual

trade fair, with Berlin chosen for the first overseas launch of the refreshed It’s More Fun in the Philippines brand campaign.

Genesis…

much later canonical classical economics models of Malthus and Ricardo. Instead, sinning can lead to population destruction (as in the stories of Noah or Sodom and Gomorrah), or warfare can lead to a thinning of the ranks (such as when Simeon and Levi kill the males of Shechem to avenge the rape of Dinah). But those are growth problems quite separate from those of economics.

In the Book of Genesis, the underlying model of economics is a pretty optimistic one, and that is another way in which Western history draws upon its Judeo-Christian roots.

That said, Genesis is by no means entirely positive about the impact of technology. While the Egyptians are relatively wealthy and have a strong state, they end up enslaving the Hebrews, hardly a virtuous outcome. God, rather than telling people to build technology

Continued from A1

in the style of the Egyptians, gives instructions for building the ark of Noah, and later in Exodus there are instructions for the ark of the covenant. Those technologies are more pointed toward carrying along the will and later word of God, rather than the mastery of nature per se.

The story of the Tower of Babel is the clearest instance of the possible dangers of technology. On one hand, it is striking how much potential productive efficacy is ascribed to mankind. People with a single language are building a tower with a top reaching up to the heavens and “now nothing they plot to do will elude them.” God then scatters the humans and takes away their common language, to limit their productive capacity. There is a hint that people are seeking to become the rivals of God, who needs to keep their ambitions in check.

If we transplant this tale into

GUALTIERO BOFFI | DREAMSTIME.COM

TRADITIONAL Filipino weavers and their products were on display at the Philippines booth during the three-day ITB Berlin, the largest travel trade fair in the world. STELLA ARNALDO

During the launch at The Reed, a popular events place in Berlin, the DOT first showed a video of Boracay Island with the polluted Bulabog Beach prior to its closure last April 26, then images of the island after the first phase of its rehabilitation was completed. Romulo Puyat used the Boracay experience as an example to highlight the Philippines’ commitment to sustainable tourism initiatives.

She then rolled out the video presentation, featuring memes in German, using photographs of various destinations in the Philippines, to encourage German tourists to participate in the DOT’s crowdsourced It’s More Fun campaign.

Guests were able to enjoy delectable Filipino cheeses and Philippine nuts, dried mangoes, chicha­ ron, as well as traditional dishes such as adobo, sisig, kinilaw and the like, while watching performances by singers like Joanna Ampil and Apl.de.ap.

Romulo Puyat said the refreshed Philippines brand campaign will be launched next in Japan.

a modern setting, you might think that God is skeptical of globalization, world government, a universal language and unhindered communication. While it would be a further leap across time to read the Babel story as a criticism of the internet, it is nonetheless striking how much the internet has done in the last 20 years to enable common and broad-reaching communication. Arguably, again to transplant some more modern concepts into the narrative, Genesis can be read as suggesting that a nation-based regime, not too obsessed with productivity growth or spreading the word, is the better way to go.

That is far from my own proGDP, pro-globalization views. Nevertheless, I am willing to accept the wisdom of this book as a kind of cautionary note. I used to think of the religious traditions of Judaism and Christianity as far predating the history of economic growth and technology. I now appreciate just how much our obsession with tech and economics has been with us from the very beginning.

While it would be a further leap across time to read the Babel story as a criticism of the internet, it is nonetheless striking how much the internet has done in the last 20 years to enable common and broadreaching communication.

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Chinese tourism boom that propped up luxury brands is faltering

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OR the better part of a decade, wealthy Chinese tourists have been on a feeding frenzy for luxury brands, casinos and cruise lines.

Now there are doubts about how long the buffet will last.

From Tok yo’s glitzy Ginza shopping district to Hong Kong, Macau and New York’s Fifth Avenue, there are noticeable cracks in what has been the very bankable strategy of catering to throngs of newly affluent Chinese traveling the world. Explanations vary from China’s slowing economy to the government’s push to spur spending at home and fluctuations in currency values. Whatever the reason, the result is increasing worry across the globe.

“Luxury brands have gained a lot of traction and growth out of China, but the bloom is off the rose,” said Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing Inc. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which researches aff luent shoppers.

“You can’t blame them because that’s where the easy money was.”

Over the past few months, executives have been hounded by questions about high-end Chinese shoppers, who Bain & Co.

says generated a third of global luxury sales in 2017—mostly outside China’s border. French luxury giants L’Oréal SA and LVMH have tried to ease concerns, saying travel sales remain robust.

Meanwhile, jeweler Tiffany & Co.; Capri Holdings Ltd., the owner of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo; and Coach parent Tapestry Inc. said spending by Chinese tourists in cities including New York and Hong Kong has weakened.

Cruise line operators are grappling with this, too. Many poured resources into catering to the Chinese traveler over the past few years only to have demand disappoint. In early 2017, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. unveiled a ship “built for China” that included bigger rooms specifically designed for extended families. But the effort was a flop and the company is now spending $50 million to revamp the ship for Alaskan cruises.

Casinos are feeling the pressure, particularly in Macau, the world’s largest gambling hub, which includes properties from Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International. Chinese daily visitors from the mainland are still streaming in, spurred by the opening of a bridge linking to mainland China and Hong Kong. But the high rollers who have traditionally propped up casino receipts are staying away from the baccarat tables in the former Portuguese colony.

Wealthy wanderers

THE Chinese tourists made a perfect target for luxury brands.

Thanks to their homeland’s rapid economic growth, they are newly wealthy, full of aspiration and hungry to display their elevated status. Timing also made them invaluable, with their conspicuous consumption taking off just after the financial crisis. As a result, China became the world’s biggest spender in international tourism in 2012, according to data from the World Tourism Organization, a United Nations agency.

In Tokyo, they have been a ubiquitous sight, with shoppers filling up empty suitcases with high-end cosmetics in duty-free airport shops, and tour groups flooding into jewelry stores. Marketing around the Chinese New Year has become the norm, with

even the US catching on to the opportunity. SeaWorld San Diego and the Chicago Symphony took part this year. In Las Vegas, the Bellagio put a giant pig in its lobby in honor of the Year of the Pig, and Caesars sent a dragon parade through its Forum Shops mall.

But China’s leaders would like more of those purchases made at home, and they’re taking actions to support that now that the country’s economic growth has slowed. The government reduced taxes on imported goods to encourage its citizens, the world ’s highest-spending dutyfree shoppers, to buy domestically. It’s also cracking down on daigou—a gray market of surrogate shoppers who buy products like designer handbags overseas for customers in mainland China. It’s a cohort that accounted for an estimated $6 billion in sales in 2016, according to Bain.

Policy changes

THOSE efforts might be starting to work, given that companies like Capri said its business in China is still growing but struggling in Japan and South Korea because of fewer Chinese tourists. The Chinese have also long been savvy at arbitraging between currency fluctuations and taxes to determine which location is the most attractive to buy the latest hand-

bags, fashion and perfume—a task often handled by daigou.

Shoppers such as Jessica Yang, a 35-year-old lawyer in Beijing, are reconsidering options.

“I buy most of my luxury goods when I travel overseas or at dutyfree stores at airport,” Yang said.

“If the price is not significantly higher in China, I would also consider buying at a domestic counter.”

Tiffany has been particularly hampered by the slowdown.

Last quarter, executives singled out lower spending by tourists, particularly from China, to its flagship store in New York, as a reason for missing analysts’ estimates. Now it’s shifting advertising dollars to other nationalities as a hedge.

“It’s something that we have to deal with,” Tiffany Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Bogliolo said in a November interview. “In the luxury business, tourism is an important part.”

Inroads in China

MANY North American luxury labels consider themselves underexposed to the Chinese market, especially compared with European peers who are faring better. Most are now making inroads in mainland China, mitigating the effects from shifts in tourism. The big handbag labels

Coach, Kate Spade and Kors all see China’s domestic market as key to their future and are opening stores there.

L’Oréal CEO Jean-Paul Agon, anticipating questions from analysts on an earnings call last month, was adamant: “We saw no slowdown in China.” Overall the rate of growth in global luxury is expected to remain unabated, even amid macroeconomic uncertainties like the ongoing trade dispute with the US, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

That’s why any sign of volatility in the mighty growth engine is cause for concerns. In Tokyo, a sudden drop in sales at highend department stores in January triggered alarm bells, coming after Chinese visitors to Japan more than doubled since 2014.

Sales rebounded in February at Takashimaya Co. and J Front Retailing Co., which oversees one of the newest luxury shopping complexes in the heart of Ginza. Still, retailers like Isetan Mitsukoshi and Sogo & Seibu said sales were relatively flat from a year earlier during the week of the Chinese New Year holiday.

“This shows you can’t depend upon Chinese tourism as the drivers of your business,” said Danziger, the luxury analyst. “It’s a dangerous place to be.”

Bloomberg News

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China’s growth pace inflated for nine years, study finds

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HINA over-reported its economic growth between 2008 and 2016 by an average of 1.7 percentage points, according to a recent study by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Chicago.

The discrepancy came from local governments who are rewarded for meeting growth and investment targets, the authors say in a draft paper published by the Brookings Institution. The Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), knowing such manipulation well, has been adjusting the local numbers but hasn’t done so sufficiently since 2008, authors Wei Chen, Xilu Chen, Chang-Tai Hsieh and Zheng Song wrote.

GOOD SAMARITAN ENABLES MAN’S $273-M LOTTERY WIN

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EW JERSEY—An unemployed New Jersey man who won last Friday’s $273-million Mega Millions jackpot, said he wants to reward the mystery person who returned the tickets to a store where he’d left them a day earlier.

Mike Weirsky said at a news conference with lottery officials on Thursday that he bought the tickets last Thursday at a Quick Check store in Phillipsburg, near the Pennsylvania border, and forgot them there because he was more focused on his cell phone.

Someone found them and gave them to the store to hold. When Weirsky returned on Friday, he verified the tickets were his and store employees returned them.

Lottery officials said on Thursday that if the person who found the tickets had held onto them and signed them, they could have claimed the jackpot.

“I’m looking for the guy that handed them in, I want to thank him,” Weirsky said. “I’m going to give him something, but I’m going to keep that private.”

The 54-year-old says he got divorced last fall and had been a stay-at-home husband for years while his wife worked. He said he’d been looking for work for about a year and hadn’t gotten any calls for interviews—until Wednesday, by which time work had ceased to be a priority.

“I had to deny it before I even went,” he said. Weirsky says he’s going to “sit back and enjoy” the money. He said the first thing he’s going to do is buy a new pickup truck, then buy his mother a new car and pay to remodel her home.

“After that I’m basically locked in to what my lawyer and other people I have working for me tell me I can do,” he said.

Weirsky, who has been playing the lottery for years, said he checked the tickets at home on Sunday and saw he’d matched the numbers, but couldn’t quite believe his eyes. He went back to the store during Sunday night’s snowstorm and got the news. AP

“Local statistics increasingly misrepresent the true numbers after 2008, but there was no cor responding change in the adjustment made by the NBS,” they w rote. T hey instead use numbers such as ta x revenue, satellite night lights, electricity consumption, railway cargo f low, e x por ts and impor ts— less likely to be fudged, to predict the actual gross domestic product of the world ’s secondlargest economy.

The revised numbers “indicate that the slowdown in Chinese growth since 2008 is more severe than suggested by the official statistics,” they wrote.

China’s NBS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

China’s GDP has long been cr iticized for either over- or under-estimating growth, or for smoothing out the f luctuations in real economic activities. Local authorities, eager to achieve economic growth goals so as to improve their own chances of promotion, used to report regional GDP figures that when summed would be more than 10 percent larger than the official national figure.

In recent years, the national authority has cracked dow n on fudging statistics by collecting data directly from firms, naming and shaming officials as well as setting up a specific inspection arm. The head of the

statistics bureau claimed last year that the problems were all in the past, and from 2019, it w ill start to compute GDP for the 31 domestic regions.

Tom Orlik, chief economist for Bloomberg Economics and author of Understanding China’s Economic Indicators says he is “c aut ious” about t he paper’s conclusions.

The NBS has made “ determined efforts” to squeeze out the impact of local exaggeration since the 1990s, and the argument that local officials have overstated investment is hard to square with the well-known narrative that China’s capital spending rose too much, he wrote. The authors base their estimate of the “true” rate of GDP on tax revenue, but that may have ref lected a larger services sector, and should not be taken as more accurate than other official indicators, according to Orlik.

Bloomberg News

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EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK JOINS GLOBAL PUSH TO HELP ECONOMY

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RANKFURT, Germany—The European Central Bank took unexpectedly quick action on Thursday to support a slowing economy, joining the US Federal Reserve and Chinese leadership in their attempts to counter worries about global growth.

The central bank for the 19 countries that use the euro pushed back the earliest date for an increase in interest rates from current record lows. It said rates would stay unchanged at least until year-end— previously, it had said until the fall.

The ECB also said it would offer a series of ultra-cheap loans to banks, supporting their ability to keep lending to businesses.

The moves appear to signal concern that the weakness in economic growth could be more than a blip and threatens to turn into a more lasting downturn.

A trade war between the US and China, the world’s largest economies, has hurt international commerce and manufacturing.

Britain’s exit from the European Union could further damage business activity. US President Donald J. Trump, meanwhile, has threatened to put tariffs on auto imports that would hit European automakers hard.

Amid doubts about the extent of the economy’s slowdown, President Mario Draghi said, it was important to take action.

“In a dark room you move with tiny steps.

You don’t run, but you do move,” he told a news conference at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt. “You try to be proactive rather than reactive.”

Wage growth continues to support consumer spending and the economy. But the eurozone, where the economy is heavily

dependent on trade, faces external threats such as a chaotic Brexit and the possibility that governments around the world might put more limits in trade.

“Our decisions certainly increase the resilience of the eurozone economy,” Draghi said, “but can they address the factors that are weighing on the economy in the rest of the word? They cannot.”

The US Federal Reserve has already adjusted the course of its monetary policy.

It has signaled a pause in its rate increases and said it’s ready to slow the reduction of bond holdings purchased under earlier stimulus efforts.

Chinese authorities, faced with a longrunning cool-off in the country’s high growth, are also offering support to business, including a cut of up to 1.3 trillion yuan ($200 billion) in value-added and other taxes.

Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at the bank ING Germany, said that the ECB’s measures came earlier than expected.

“It is clearly an attempt to stay ahead of the curve,” he said.

Investors initially reacted with euphoria to the bank’s actions, but then sold off stocks as they seemed to focus on the longer-term prospect of weaker growth.

The ECB’s actions highlight how quickly the fortunes of the European and global economy have shifted. The bank on Thursday slashed its forecast for eurozone economic growth this year to 1.1 percent from 1.7 percent previously. Inflation is expected at 1.2 percent, down from a 1.6-percent forecast earlier and well below the bank’s goal of just under 2 percent. AP

OLIN SPASH watched as his 11-yearold daughter, Lily, bent down and added her small bouquet of red roses to the pile of flowers. Hand-written notes, damp from the light London rain, were scattered across the colorful display. One read simply: “You did not deserve this.”

In a children’s playground just steps away, another victim of a fatal knife attack in the B ritish capital had bled to death. Jodie Chesney was 17 years old, a proud Scout and model student before her murder a week ago woke a country up to an epidemic that’s now dominating the political agenda.

The national horror at a young girl lying dead on the street has disturbed a country already struggling to contain bitter divisions over leaving the European Union that have poisoned much of the political debate.

Knife crime has been rising for years in England, jumping to the highest level since at least 2011 last year. But a dozen deaths by stabbing in London alone this year has shocked the country because of the apparent indiscriminate nature of many. Police were seeking witnesses to another killing on Thursday afternoon in the west of the city.

“Usually it’s gang related or something like that, but when it’s an innocent young lady with her whole life ahead of her, it’s terrible,” said Spash, 46, a former police officer. He said he moved to Harold Hill, the suburban area of London where Chesney was killed, 25 years ago to avoid crime elsewhere.

The UK is going through its most turbulent period for decades as the government tries desperately to negotiate a Brexit deal. While the focus is on the political drama in Parliament and the stalled talks in Brussels, many voters care more about the fragile state of underfunded state services, such as schools, hospitals and law enforcement.

The Police blame the spate of knife attacks on under-funding, a legacy of more than £70 billion ($92 billion) of government belt tightening since the financial crisis a decade ago. The budget for officers in the UK has fallen 20 percent since 2010 when adjusted for inflation. Prime Minister Theresa May oversaw much of the reduction in her previous job as home secretary.

Others say the focus should be on the root social causes of violence and providing facilities and opportunities for young people.

“It’s about changing the narrative from focusing exclusively on knife wielding

perpetrators to vulnerable frightened young people who deserve to be protected and to have their voices heard,” said Franklyn Addo, 25, who works with young victims of violence for the charity Redthread at Homerton Hospital in east London. “Violence is omnipresent. It doesn’t belong to young people and has existed for a long while.”

It’s now come to the fore. With key Brexit votes looming in Parliament next week, knife crime even usurped May’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond faced a barrage of questions about police funding in a round of media interviews on Thursday that would normally have been expected to focus on Brexit.

The opposition Labour Party again accused May’s government of whittling public services so hard that there isn’t support for young people caught up in the killings on London’s streets. A row over cuts to the police numbers dominated the crucial final week of campaigning before the 2017 election that cost May her majority in Parliament.

Senior police officers, including the capital’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, this week contradicted May’s claim that there wasn’t a direct correlation between falling police numbers and a rise in violent crime.

Indeed, knives pushed Brexit politics off many newspaper front pages. The Sun tabloid, the country’s top-seller, asked “When Will It Stop?” The Mirror said “Another Life Lost.” The Guardian reported how police chiefs are demanding extra money to tackle the outbreak.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wants to treat the proliferation of knife attacks as a public health issue, building on the approach that successfully cut knife crime in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city and a byword for stabbings and slashing for decades.

Khan set up a Violence Reduction Unit based on the Glasgow model, which included rooting out the social causes of gangs and knives, as well as greater stopand-search powers for police. Its director started work this week.

Hammond said police forces should reallocate resources to deal with the upsurge. He promised more money for public services would be made available from cash currently earmarked to mitigate the economic impact of Britain potentially tumbling out of the EU without a deal to safeguard trade. Bloomberg News

Heads bowed to the ground, suspected IS members yield KNIFE ATTACKS MAGNIFY UNSETTLING TIMES IN U.K. S C YRIA—Suspected Islamic State group members, including foreign fighters, sat in a long line in a field of bright yellow f lowers, exhausted and hunched over as they were questioned and searched on Thursday

by US-led coalition members and Kurdish fighters. They were the latest group to surrender from the besieged final pocket of Syrian territory held by the militant group.

Unlike previous days when hundreds of families emerged from the IS-held Baghouz village, the evacuees included dozens of fighting-age men, some of them wounded and limping on crutches days after USbacked forces pounded the area.

Armed coalition fighters encircled the line of men, whose heads were bowed to the ground, to screen them. Separately, Kurdish fighters of the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) searched them for weapons and information.

The men were separated into three groups—Syrians, Iraqis and other nationalities. The SDF has besieged Baghouz since September, but the fight has been slowed because of the enormous number of civilians who have surfaced in the tiny shred of territory on the banks of the Euphrates River in eastern Syria—well over 10,000 have filtered out over the past two weeks.

The surrender of dozens of men on Thursday could be a sign that the IS fighters inside are starting to wear down. But it is not known how many militants remain and SDF officials say they

expect there are still hundreds inside vowing to fight. The territorial defeat of IS, which once presided over a self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate that straddled huge areas of Iraq and Syria, would be a milestone in the devastating four-year global campaign to crush the group.

But IS militants have scattered in the vast desert between the two countries and sleeper cells continue to stage guerrilla-style attacks. The top US commander for the Mideast said on Thursday that unless the group and its ideology are handled properly, IS will sow the seeds of future violent extremism.

“What we are seeing now is not the surrender of [IS] as an organization but a calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities,” said Gen. Joseph Votel, adding that the insurgents are going underground in remote areas, “waiting for the right time to resurge.”

Votel’s assessment provides a reality check to President Donald J. Trump’s repeated assertion in recent weeks that IS has been defeated and lost 100 percent of its “caliphate,” which once covered a vast territory straddling Syria and Iraq. Votel said the fight against IS and violent extremism is far from over.

On Wednesday night, seven Yazidis including two women, arrived at the SDF-controlled side.

One of them identified herself as Israa, 20, and said she was sold as

a sex slave to 10 different men.

Many Yazidis, followers of a minority faith, are still missing five years after IS militants stormed Yazidi towns and villages in Iraq’s Sinjar region and abducted women and children.

Women were forced into sexual slavery and boys were taken to be indoctrinated in jihadi ideology.

On Thursday, the two Yazidi women—Israa, 20, and Adiba Murad, 21—took off their veils and burned them in front of women fighters of the Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ, that is part of the SDF. With the latest evacuations, hundreds of IS fighters, Syrians and foreigners have surrendered or been captured. They are in addition to about 1,000 foreign fighters the SDF has been holding. Hundreds of Iraqi fighters and some French IS members have been handed over to Baghdad by the SDF. Last month, Iraq’s President Barham Saleh said that all IS militants who committed crimes against Iraq will be put on trial, including 13 suspected French militants who have been transferred to Iraq from Syria.

In Brussels on Thursday, Sweden floated the idea of an international tribunal to try foreign fighters who have fought alongside IS in Syria.

Sw e d i s h Ju s t ice M i n i s t e r Morgan Johansson said he sees “great advantages to be able to convict those who have committed crimes” in connection with the fighting. AP

WORLD’S TOP-PERFORMING STOCK HALTED AFTER MYSTERIOUS 8,500% GAIN HONG KONG stock whose mysterious world-beating surge vaulted it from obscurity into multibillion-dollar investment funds was suspended by city’s securities regulator.

China Ding Yi Feng Holdings Ltd., the Hong Kong investment firm whose more than 8,500-percent surge over the past five years bested every other stock in the MSCI All-Country World Index, was halted

by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission on Friday. A DYF spokesman said she couldn’t immediately comment.

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While the SFC’s reasons for halting DYF weren’t immediately clear, scrutiny of the company has intensified in recent months. Hong Kong market veterans last month questioned the sustainability of the surge that turned DYF into one of the world’s most expensive publicly traded companies. The comments followed several critical reports by Chinese media on DYF Chairman Sui Guangyi, a Taoist scholar who has overseen lackluster results at DYF while touting investing skills on a par with those of Warren Buffett and George Soros.

DYF’s surge added to a long list of extreme, unexplained stock swings in Hong Kong that have threatened to dent the city’s reputation as one of the world’s premier financial hubs. Its suspension puts a spotlight on MSCI Inc.’s decision to add DYF to its global benchmark indexes in November, a move that prompted emerging market index-tracker funds run by BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group Inc. and Northern Trust Corp. to become some of DYF’s biggest shareholders.

Critics of MSCI’s decision, including

former Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. director David Webb, have said the index compiler should do more to vet companies before adding them to equity gauges that serve as benchmarks for investors overseeing trillions of dollars.

MSCI, which uses quantitative criteria such as market value and trading volume to construct its global indexes, has said the gauges are designed to represent the “investment opportunity set” without making any “subjective assessments” of constituent companies. Bloomberg News

Faith www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

1ST SUNDAY IN LENT: ‘LUKE 4:1-13’

How to handle temptations MSGR. JOSEFINO S. RAMIREZ SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

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HE gospel today presents us a very extraordinary event.

Before Jesus Christ began his public ministry, he underwent a 40-day period of fasting and prayer. At the end of it, He was tempted by the devil.

We began the season of Lent last Ash Wednesday. It is a 40day period, parallel to this period we are considering, of prayer and penance.

The Church gives us the opportunity to prepare for those important events, referring to our redemption, which we shall commemorate on Holy Week.

T he best preparation we can make, in order to receive the graces of God, is a firm decision to turn away from sin—this is the essence of penance.

The mortification and sacrifice associated with penance are signs and means of detaching ourselves from the enticements to sin, provided by our disordered inclinations.

We may perhaps be surprised by the fact that Jesus Christ was also tempted. Let us never forget that Jesus Christ is true God, but He is also true man. Christ has everything pertaining to our human nature, except sin.

If Jesus Christ was tempted, it means that temptation is not in itself a sin. Yet we can learn from Jesus Christ how we should react to temptation.

A temptation is an incitement to commit sin. Because we are free beings, we can also be incited to break the moral order established by God and explained to us in the Commandments.

This incitement can come from outside of us (e.g., bad companions, a materialistic environment, etc.),

and it can also come from within us, because of the disorder found in our baser passions.

Our immediate reaction to temptation should be that of not yielding to it. Since we are free beings, we can always resist any temptation, and rest assured t hat God w i l l never allow us to be tempted beyond our strength.

The second reaction is a reaction of realism and humility.

We have to avoid temptation. Although a fall is never inevitable, still it would be great pride and rashness to expose ourselves to the danger of falling if we can avoid it.

If we do not remove a temptation which we could easily remove, then we are somehow not fully determined to follow God’s laws. Therefore, we can see how Jesus, upon being tempted by the devil, was decisive in rejecting the devil’s invitations.

Finally, we can even use temptation to our advantage, and thereby, pull the wood over the devil’s eyes. We turn temptation to an advantage if, on the occasion of a temptation, we intensify our prayers to God. We c a n a l so benef it f rom temptation if we make acts of humility and acts of contrition for those temptations and for all our past and present sins. That is why, without rashness, we can be serene and peaceful, even if we are beset by temptations.

Someone once made a comparison. The devil is like a ver y vicious dog that is tied by a leash. It can bark all it wants.

But it will do us no harm as long as we don’t deliberately get near it.

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EIJING—China’s Communist Par ty chief in Tibet insisted that the Tibetan people feel more affection toward the government than to the region’s traditional Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule nearly 60 years ago.

The Dalai Lama hasn’t done a “single good thing” for Tibet since he left, Tibet Party Secretary Wu Yingjie said during a meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature.

The people of Tibet are instead “extremely grateful for the prosperity that the Communist Party has brought them,” he said.

Zhaxi Jiangcun, a Tibetan grassroots delegate whom Wu called upon to speak, said as far as he knows “there is no such thing” as adoration for the Dalai Lama among Tibetans.

This Sunday, March 10, marks 60 years since the 1959 rebellion, which erupted in the regional capital of Lhasa.

The Dalai Lama has since lived in exile in India, while Tibet has faced increasingly harsh Chinese rule. In 2008, antigovernment protests culminated in attacks on businesses and individuals of Han Chinese ethnicity, the country’s ethnic majority.

The government says rioters killed 18 people. An unknown number of Tibetans were killed by security forces in the aftermath.

China says Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries and regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. Many Tibetans, however, insist they were essentially independent for most of that time and have accused China of heavy-handed rule since the country’s army battled its way into the Himalayan region in 1950.

More recently, traditionally Tibetan regions of western China have been racked by a series of self-immolations by Buddhist clergy and lay people calling for the return of the Dalai Lama, now 83 years old.

Beijing exacts severe punishments on people whom it accuses of advocating Tibetan independence. Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan language advocate, was arrested and later

sentenced last year to five years in prison for allegedly inciting separatism after he appeared in a New York Times documentary video.

Wu said on Wednesday that there are no restrictions on Tibetan language and that Tibetans are encouraged to learn their mother tongue in addition to Mandarin, China’s dominant language.

Current conditions in Tibet are difficult to determine because foreign travelers must get special permission to enter the region. Access is rarely given to foreign journalists, though Wu said everyone is welcome as long as they go through official channels.

He said some precautions are necessary to protect tourists’ safety. The region has an average elevation of 4,500 meters (14,850 feet), which can causes altitude sickness.

“A lot of foreigners are thankful for our concern,” Wu said.

On a visit to Prague on Wednesday, the prime minister of the Tibetan government-inexile said he was heartened to see support for his people in the Czech Republic.

“Each time I come here, I get encouraged, I get the fuel to go back and say ‘There are people around the world who support us, who believe us,’” Lobsang Sangay said.

Sangay said Tibetans are inspired by the Czech Republic’s successful 1989 Velvet Revolution, which resulted in the breakdown of communist Czechoslovakia.

He also commented on the current situation in China’s far west region of Xinjiang, home to the predominantly Muslim Uighur and Kazakh minority groups.

Former Tibet Party Secretary Chen Quanguo is now the party chief in Xinjiang. Under his leadership, the region has been blanketed with stifling surveillance, and an estimated 1 million Uighurs have been detained in extrajudicial camps which the government calls vocational training centers. “[Chen] perfected the algorithm and software and the...system on controlling Tibetans for five years, which he implemented in one year’s time in Xinjiang,” Sangay said. AP

Sunday, March 10, 2019

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Vatican: Number of priests declines for 1st time in decade

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OME—The percentage of Catholics in the world has remained steady, while the number of priests has decreased for the first time in almost a decade, according to Vatican statistics.

Meanwhile, the numbers of bishops, permanent deacons, lay missionaries and catechists have all increased, it said.

At the end of 2017, the worldwide Catholic population exceeded 1.3 billion, which continued to be about 17.7 percent of the world’s population, said a statement published on March 6 by the Vatican press office.

T he st atement repor ted a h a nd f u l of t he st at i st ic s i n the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, which reported worldwide church figures as of December 31, 2017. The press office also announced the publication of the 2019 Annuario Pontificio, a volume containing information about every Vatican office, as well as every diocese and religious order in the world.

According to the statistical yearbook, the number of Catholics increased in every continent. But while that growth in Africa and the Americas kept pace with their respective region’s population growth, Asia showed a 1.5 percent

increase in the number of Catholics while the region’s population grew less than 1 percent.

At the end of 2017 most of the world ’s Catholics (48.5 percent) were liv ing in the A mer icas, followed by Europe w ith 21.8 percent, A frica w ith 17.8 percent, 11.1 percent in Asia and 0.8 percent in Oceania.

The yearbook showed the number of bishops in the world continued its steady increase over the past six years, going from 5,133 in 2012 to 5,389 in 2017.

For the first time since 2010, the Vatican statement said, the total number of diocesan and religious priests around the world decreased, going from 414,969 in 2016 to 414,582 in 2017.

Ord inations of d iocesan pr iests cont inued to dec l ine slowly from 6,577 in 2012 to 5,815 in 2017.

The number of brothers in religious orders continued a steady increase only in Africa, as Asia continued a recent downturn beginning in 2016. The number

PRIESTS’ vestments are seen in Grapevine, Texas, on September 19, 2018. TYLER ORSBURN/CNS

of religious brothers worldwide was down to 51,535 in 2017 from 52,625 in 2016.

The number of women in religious orders showed an ongoing downward trend of about a 1.6-percent each year worldwide since 2013, the yearbook showed.

The slight increases in Africa and Asia weren’t enough to offset the reductions in Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

C a t h o l i c w o m e n’s o r d e r s went from hav ing more than 792,000 members in 2001 to just over 648,910 women at the end of 2017.

The number of candidates for the priesthood—both diocesan seminarians and members of religious orders—showed a continued

slight decline worldwide, decreasing from 116,160 at the end of 2016 to 115,328 at the end of 2017.

T he number of per manent deacons repor ted— 4 6,89 4 — was up 582 over the previous year. The vast majority—97.3 percent—of the world ’s permanent deacons live in the Americas and in Europe.

The number of lay missionaries worldwide increased by over 1,000 people to 355,800 and catechists were up by 34,000 people to 3.12 million by the end of 2017.

There were more than 15.6 million baptisms around the world in 2017 and more than 2.3 million Catholic weddings. Carol Glatz/Catholic News Service/CBCPNews

SAINT FRANCES OF ROME

By Corazon Damo-Santiago

F CHINESE OFFICIAL: NO LOVE FOR DALAI LAMA IN TIBET

Sunday

RANCES died 56, spent 40 years as a dutiful wife and four years as a Benedictine religious. An obedient daughter, she was married to Lorenzo Ponziani at 13.

She reminded mothers: “It is most praiseworthy for a married woman to be prayerful, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping.”

An exemplar of a Christian who merged secular and religious life so well, Vatican II weekday Missal refers to her as “Rome’s first great woman in a thousand years.”

Reluctant bride

SAINT Frances was born in Rome in 1384 to noble and wealthy parents. From her mother, Jacobeila, she inherited her quiet ways and devotion to God. From Paul Busso, her father, she got her strong will.

At 11, she expressed her desire to be a religious. Busso opined, “Too young to know her own mind, but not too young to be married.”

She prayed and went to her confessor who asked, “Are you crying because you want to do God’s will or you want God to do your will?”

At 13, she became the bride of Lorenzo Ponziani, a wealthy and virtuous nobleman of Rome. He mother-in-law, Cecilia, likes hosting parties in their palatial home and attending them with friends. She found it difficult to adapt to her mother-in-law’s social life.

She joined the Third Order of Saint Francis in San Francisco Ripa Church near the Ponziani Palace. Fr. Bartholomew Bondi became her spiritual director.

Stressed and miserable coping with changes in her life, she became ill. So sick she could not speak and move for months.

Close to death, Saint Alexis appeared to her in a vision. Like her, he was being forced to marriage. He left home and lived by begging.

He returned unrecognized by his family, but was allowed to sleep under the stairs.

Saint Alexis told her that God is giving Frances a choice—get well, or die.

Frances answered: “God’s will is mine.”

Saint Alexis answered, “Then, live to glorify His name.” Her recovery was unbelievably fast.

After she regained her health, she was still expected to join social functions. She discovered that her sister-in-law Vannozza, who exuded a joyful disposition, also nurtured

a desire to be a nun.

Together they decided that obligation to the family was their first concern. Together they involved themselves in corporal works of mercy—visiting prisoners and the sick in the hospitals, and helping needy people in the city.

They prayed and talked about their concerns in a secret chapel they set-up at the attic of a cottage in the garden.

The people saw the spiritual inconsistencies among the members of the Ponziani household which embarrassed Cecilia. She requested Lorenzo to stop her daughters-in-law in their spiritual activities, but he refused.

The Ponziani couple had their first child, John Baptist, who brought joy to the family.

When Cecilia died, Frances was tasked to manage the Ponziani household. She was a fair and excellent administrator.

Epitome of generosity

IN the 15th century Rome suffered from invasion and famine. To ensure that the Ponziani clan would have enough food, her father-in-law kept the keys to the granary.

Once, trying to gather leftover, her husband came and was surprised to see it filled with “40 measures of wheat—so shining and so full that it seemed as though it had been raised in Paradise and reaped there by angels.”

How God provides to the generous was experienced, too, by his father-in-law. So annoyed when the last cask of wine was empty, Frances reminded the family to have faith and led them to the wine stock.

Everyone attested that they drank “the best wine ever tasted.”

They changed their attitude and became generous, too, narrated Fr. Marion Habig, OFM, in The Franciscan Book of Saints.

Lorenzo was taken prisoner, her son John was kidnapped. And her second son and daughter died. The wrecked palace served as a hospital.

After the civil war, father and son returned and the task of restoring Lorenzo’s spirit and health was a task she did well.

John married a woman who disliked Frances. Stricken by a strange illness, Frances healed her. It was the beginning of a very good relationship, and Frances gave her daughterin-law the task of managing the household.

On August 15, 1425, the Feast of the Assumption, Saint Frances founded the Olivetan Oblates of Mary, under the authority of Olivetan Monks of the Abbey Ma. Nova in Rome.

This fraternity of pious ladies was neither

SAINT Francesca Romana Giving Alms by Baciccio WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

cloistered nor bound by formal vows so they can combine prayer life and help answer the needs of society.

On July 4, 1433, it was approved by Pope Eugene IV as a religious community of Oblates with private religious vows known as Oblates of Saint Frances of Rome.

After the death of her husband, Frances joined the congregation on March 21, 1436.

A year after, she was elected superior, a post she held until her death.

The angel beckons

AN exemplar of a married woman and love for God, she lived a life of humility, patience and detachment to worldly things.

An article in the Catholic Encyclopedia

by Francesco Paoli said she was gifted by miracles, revelations about purgatory and hell, ecstasies, ability to detect diabolical

plans and read secrets of conscience.

Father John Matteorri, her confessor for the last 10 years of her life who wrote her biography, attested that she sees her guardian angel as a child about 8 years old constantly. Her last words: “the angel has finished his task—he beckons me to follow him.”

She died on March 9, 1440. She was canonized by Pope Paul V on May 29, 1608.

Her Bull of Canonization stated: “Her prayers and sufferings helped bring to end Western Schism (1378-1449), as well as the residence of popes in Avignon France.”

Damo-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 of Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

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Science

BusinessMirror

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOST’S P150-M NATIONAL HALAL LAB AND SCIENCE CENTER

PHL’s one-stop shop halal center opens

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Story & photo by Edd K. Usman

ORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato—It was 10 years in the making. The Philippine National Halal Laboratory and Science Center (PNHLSC) in Southern Mindanao is now open for business.

Local and foreign dignitaries joined and witnessed the inauguration of the PNHLSC building in this city. It was built at a cost of around P150 million.

Including its old and new hightechnology equipment, the total can go up to P300 million, the BusinessMirror learned.

The PNHLSC is a project of the Department of Science and Technology, specifically DOSTSoccsksargen region. It sits on a 1-hectare land area, with floor area of about 3,000 square meters. It has 35 rooms in its three floors. Soccsksargen stands for South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City. Koronadal City is its administrative capital.

Halal is an Arabic word which means legal, permissible. When referred to Muslim dietary needs, halal foods are those that do not contain un-Islamic or haram (illegal, forbidden) substances or elements, among them, pork and alcohol and their derivatives.

‘Seed’ of the building

DR. Zenaida P. Hadji Raof Laidan, DOST-Soccsksargen director, recalled at the PNHLSC’s inauguration in Barangay Paraiso, Koronadal City, on February 25 that the “seed” of the building sprouted in 2003 when she conceptualized and proposed to the DOST leadership the High Impact Program on Halal, or as the “Philippine Science and Technology Program for the Development of the Halal Industry.”

“The DOST-12 [Soccsksargen] High-Impact Program on Halal covers different components, namely, advocacy and policy development, support to halal SMEs

[small and medium enterprises], halal accreditation and certification, halal information management system, and the establishment of the Philippine National Halal Laboratory and Science Center, which is our entry point—the core of our very endeavor,” she explained.

Laidan was then the chairman of the Regional Information and Technology E-Commerce Council.

She said she was inspired in taking the cudgel for the halal program, and became more driven when then-President-now-House Speaker, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, once told her “that she [Arroyo] had been confronted by the problem that her guests from Islamic countries do not know where to find halal food whenever they are in the country.”

Laidan noted that the Department of the Budget and Management (DBM) released in 2008 a P75-million allocation for the building. Construction started in 2009 and finally completed in 2018 after more funding was released. In 2017, the DBM released another P75 million for the building.

One-stop shop center

LAIDAN revealed that the PNHLSC is “envisioned as one-stop shop center with the ultimate goal to develop locally made products of halal premium brand that is compliant to internationally accepted standards and requirements adopting a Unified Global Halal Standard.”

Describing the PNHLSC as “the pioneering halal facility” in the Philippines, she said it is “a certifying halal laboratory to serve as

THE Philippine National Halal Laboratory and Science Center (PNHLSC) in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.

the clearing house of halal-certified products coming in and out of the country” for the benefit of consumers of halal products.

She said the PNHLSC offers laboratory analytical services that include profiling of fatty acids of animals and plants; DNA analysis in food and other processed products; alcohol content of beverages and other related products; and, fourth, qualitative detection of haram in meat, accepting various types of products for testing from customers encompassing the entire food supply chain.

Laidan described the PNHLSC as “a one-of-a-kind infrastructure in the country... our gateway to inclusion—social, financial and knowledge sharing.”

“It is our gateway to the world because of our integrity, network and accessibility since we are located in South Central Mindanao, serving a wider population of Muslims compared to other administrative regions of the country and, adjacent to the ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] and is proximate to the BIMP-Eaga [Brunei-IndonesiaMalaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area],” she added.

Seal of quality

THE DOST regional head cited the Turkey-based Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic

Countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-SMIIC) for approving its request for “permission to use its standards on halal.”

“SMIIC encourages DOST-12 with its expertise and capabilities to adopt, implement and assure compliance to SMIIC Unified Global Halal Standards through the leadership of Dr. Zenaida P. Hadji Raof Laidan being a devout Muslim in the [Philippine] Ministry [Department] of Science and Technology.”

Laidan said the DOST regional office then launched its “Seal of Quality” following the OIC-SMIIC approval, “which will be the straight ticket of locally made Halal Certified products to the global halal market.”

The PNHLSC and the OICSMIIC approval marked two of the highlights of the country’s halal calendar.

Human resource development

DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, at the inauguration, cited the role of the DOST in the Halal Export Act, saying “this is to help in the human resources development, including a provision on services.”

She said the center in the Mindanao city caters not only to Soccsksargen, but to the whole of the Philippines. It means, she

added, that the DOST is capable of testing for halal, which is a very specific test.

“A laboratory for halal, you cannot mix with non-halal,” Guevara emphasized.

“For many people, if you say ‘halal,’ [they think] it is only for Muslims. The truth is that halal food is a healthy food. So, it is not only our Muslim brothers, who are Filipinos, who will benefit but the entire nation because these products have a very high standard of quality,” the DOST undersecretary for research and development (R&D) noted.

Halal products are not only food, but also for cosmetics and many others, she said.

The DOST has two other halal laboratories at the DOST Calabarzon (Laguna in Luzon) and DOST Davao region (in Davao City), Guevara said. She explained that the department’s target is not just where halal is consumed but also where halal is produced.

Guevara sa id t hat besides from the Philippine Science High School, faculty and students of Sultan Kudarat State University, and the Southern Philippines University can also be the center for the research.

Partners’ help

THE halal laboratory and science center could not have been estab-

lished without DOST Soccsksargen’s partners’ help, particularly former South Cotabato Governor Arthur Y. Pinggoy, who was present at the inauguration.

Laidan said Pinggoy “never hesitated to extend his support” when she called him up as the DBM wanted assurance that there was a ready lot for the building.

“My sincerest thanks to this man of candor with a big heart.

Gov. Arthur Y. Pinggoy Jr., as well as Mayor Peter B. Miguel, who provided for the access road from the national highway. With t hei r suppor t, ou r proposed budget amounting to P75 million for the establishment of the PNHLSC in Koronadal City was approved in 2008,” Laidan said at the inauguration.

As the budget releases were staggered, she said they had to source funds from the DOST region’s budget in 2010 while, at the same time, putting up and operating a world-class halal laboratory at the agency’s regional office in Cotabato City as they awaited the new building’s completion.

The DOST regional office transferred the halal equipment and operation to the PNHLSC, as well as its office to Koronadal City.

Laidan also thanked former DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo and his successor, Secretary Fortunato T. de la Pena, as well as the DOST undersecretaries, and the Regional Development Council for helping in the realization of the PNHLSC Building.

Foreign dignitaries

THE foreign dignitaries invited for the inauguration of the center were led by Russian Federation Ambassador Igor A. K hovaev, and halal thought leaders from the OIC Bosnia Mufti Mustafa Cer ic, Musl im World L eag ue Deputy Secretary-General Abdulrahman al-Zaid, OIC-SMIIC Secretary-General Ihsan Ovut, and many others.

The foreign dignitaries lauded DOST Soccsksargen for its strong advocacy and support for the halal industry as they expressed their support. Ceric even dubbed Laidan as the “Queen of Halal in Asia.”

BREAKING THE H.I.V. STIGMA THROUGH DIGITIZED ART

By Stephanie Tumampos

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HE cities of Caloocan, Manila and Quezon have high prevalence rate of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Metro Manila. At the same time, it is feared that the incidence might reach uncontrollable rates as reported by the Department of Health (DOH).

In terms of the number of people with HIV infection, “we are not bad,” but on how fast Filipinos are getting it, “that’s where the urgency is coming from,” said Dr. Brian Bantugan, director at Saint Paul University’s Center for Research, Innovations and Development, and a member of National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) Division of Humanities.

Incidentally, the three cities were the first to develop in the history of urbanization in the country’s Metropolis.

In an interview with the B usiness M irror, Bantugan explained how digitized art and the role of social media have shaped the HIV situation in the Philippines—both in good and bad terms. Bantugan was the speaker at the recent forum, titled, “Enhancing Public’s Level of Awareness on HIV-AIDS Using Digitized Art,” held by the NRCP at a hotel in Quezon City.

Encounter with the HIV issue

BANTUGAN had his first encounter on the HIV issue in 2015, when he was asked to make a standardized procedure for a social-hygiene clinic in Metro Manila.

“The Klinika Bernardo was my formal entry to the issues on HIV,” he said.

He learned at the Klinika that not a lot of men who had sexual intercourse with men go to the social-hygiene clinics. For them, socialhygiene clinics are for sex workers and women.

“There’s a notion that if people find you [male] there walking out, you are promiscuous and you [male] got the disease somewhere,” Bantugan said.

It’s never about gender, it’s about promiscuity, he explained.

Most males who had sex with males were professionals. “They don’t want to go to these [social-hygiene] clinics,” Bantugan added.

The clinic made an extension called Sundown, where people could go and have themselves checked in the evening when no one could notice them.

R ight after his projec t at Klinika, Bantugan was offered to do a social science research about HIV. He was awarded a P700,000 grant from the NRCP for his research “Going Viral: Using Digitized Arts for HIV/AIDS Related Advocacies.”

The NRCP is a collegial body of highly trained scientists and researchers to address the growing demand for knowledge and to contribute to the country’s development and to the improvement of the quality of life of the Filipino people.

HIV environment through social media

THE social media is a powerful tool for many,

especially for Filipinos. It gives a person a voice but this can either be good or bad.

The HIV environment in the country is heavily related to social networks where those who get infected communicate for their sexual tryst.

Bantugan was referring to the availability of applications or apps in Facebook or Grindr, the world’s largest social-networking app for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

According to Bantugan, “While it is possible to get the infection outside city, the transfer or the acquisition of the virus mostly happens during parties, such as in condominium units used for sessions for sexual activities.”

“If we consider Cebu, it’s about drugs or drug use that leads to HIV infection,” or simply the sharing of infected needles, Bantugan explained. In Manila, he said, the spread of HIV is through sex, mainly between males, who could easily get their partners through the social media.

“Social media is the network of people getting sexual partners, say through group chats and clans,” Bantugan explained.

A “clan” is a group of people who share the same interest, come together through social media like Facebook and socialize to get sexual partners.

“They create groups, [set the place] where they have to meet, have a party, and then bahala na [come what may] what happens and that’s where it happens,” Bantugan added.

“You can’t have people who are too far apart. They have to meet for the encounter.”

He said if there are many clans in a city then, that city will be the site of infection.

Good side of social media through digitized art

BANTUGAN looked at how the social media can be used to help in the turnaround of the HIV situation.

While visiting Love Yourself, a group that conducts free HIV testing, a friend from the group brought Bantugan to an event. There, he realized that digital art plays a huge role in his research on the environment that makes use of the digital platform to help solve the problem of HIV in the country.

Bantugan conducted interviews and investigated the nature of the art being created and the people behind them.

“Initially, I planned to do only 50 interviews from various artists, such as directors, photographers, designers, influencers and digital-media artists. But I got more than 70 interviewees throughout the process,” he said.

His subjects were creators of campaign posters, movies and other forms of digitizedmedia art. Only a minority, or nine of the 70 interviewees, are women, who were anti-HIV advocates and who understood the alarming spread of the illness among Filipinos.

Bantugan realized that digitized art are the jumping boards for conversations. “It is the social context and structure, and what made it possible for people to create such work is there.”

He found out that the production of

digitized art is no longer linear, or runs straight.

“With social media, the production branches out and continues to create more questions. There is continuity of work and there are a lot of possibilities to use this kind of platform to help the HIV problem.”

He noted that the genre is not anymore an issue today. In the past, what is on television is different from what is shown in the cinema.

There is distinction.

Curently, however, “whatever is shown either on TV, or online, go both ways.”

A way to reach out

BANTUGAN shared that the most important finding in his research was that while the digital platform may be an easy way to find sexual partners and get infected with HIV, “this can also be a way to reach out to people who would rather hide than go out, than say ‘that I am infected.’”

He insisted that creators of digitized media art are needed to reach out to people who don’t want to be tested.

“Politicians cannot do it, nor the teachers,” Bantugan told the B usiness M irror. He explained that it is simply because politicians and teachers do not have the language used in the digital platform.

It is important, he said, for every person to understand how people can optimize the use of the digital platform.

“We need more people who can transcend the urban context on the use of digitized

platforms,” he said.

HIV stats

THE HIV epidemic took the world by storm in the 1980s because of fear, stigma and ignorance, said the World Health Organization.

The first case of HIV infection in the Philippines was in 1984. According to HIV/ AIDS Art Registry of the Philippines, there have been 60,270 confirmed HIV cases reported to HARP, wherein 94 percent (56,335) were male and 6 percent (3,861) were female, with 81 percent reported from January 2013 to October 2018.

In the span of five years, the HIV cases skyrocketed. In 2018 a total of 488 deaths were reported.

According to Dr. Genesis Samonte of the Department of Health Bureau of Epidemiology, only 17 percent of Filipinos have the right awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention and transmission.

On the other hand, Dr. Verdadez Linga, Quezon City Health Department Official, said that recent survey results showed that the high percentage of new HIV infections is from the younger groups, i.e., ages 15 to 24. The youngest reported AIDS patient who sexually contracted HIV is 13 years old.

What alarmed the authorities was the report in December 2018 when13 high-school students from South Cotabato were reported HIV positive. They said that the increasing number of HIV/AIDS infections may be attributed to a lack of awareness.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sunday, March 10, 2019

A7

BULALACAO’S ADVENTURES HUSTLE FROM ONE ISLAND TO ANOTHER

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Story & photos Marky Ramone Go

HE first time I cruised aboard an interisland ferry boat was many years ago.

Our destination was Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro. Wide-eyed with wonder, I found myself swimming in crystal-clear waters and frolicking over white sandy beaches for the first time in my adolescent life.

Sandwiched in our ocean fun spree was a hiking trip to Mount Malasimbo. A year after that, I returned with my mates from the UST Mountaineering Club for our induction climb to Mount Halcon.

Since then I’ve always associated Oriental Mindoro with the beaches of Puerto Galera, the dense forest of Halcon, the Malasimbo Music Festival and the quaint town of Calapan.

And despite venturing as far out to its twin province Occidental Mindoro, to explore the Apo Reef, I never realized the region still has more to offer.

A recent visit to the province introduced me to Bulalacao, the southernmost town of Oriental Mindoro. The municipality’s name translates to “meteor” and has different versions of how it came to be.

The first legend says it was derived from tales about a flock of mythical birds called bulalacao which appears whenever people are sick and mysteriously cures them. The second one was about how a meteor crashed and created the many islands in Bulalacao Bay. Regardless of these origins, the locals seem to find humor with the town’s old moniker “Bula-layo,” where the suffix “layo” translates to

THIS view welcomes visitors as they approach Target Island.

LOLA Bugkos shows off the bamboo where she carved a sample Hanuno script.

“far.” It was a bit a distant indeed, as it takes three-hour land travel from the capital Calapan to reach the town, as it lies literally next to Occidental Mindoro.

With the wealth of discovery and adventure we had, it’s safe to say that the long journey by sea and land is very much worth the undertaking.

Island spotting around Bulalacao Bay

AS an incoming typhoon threatens the rest of Luzon, it was sunny when we started our island hopping. We were greeted by a generous sun shower as we boarded our boat. The ample sunshine gave the water a majestic sheen off the blue waters. As soon as our boat picked up speed, we started sighting the dotted islands from afar.

KIDS from the Panaytayan Mangyan settlement

THE long sand bar of Aslom: a natural playground.

There are around 11 islands and islets scattered throughout Bulalacao Bay, and visiting each can last you a day or two. The first island we came to was Aslom Island, one of the bigger islands in the bay measuring 12 hectares with a crescent-shaped sandbar that stretches along the shoreline where visitors can chill and relax.

The next island was Target Island, named as such because it was the US Air Force’s bombing practice site during World War II. The bomb drops created rugged craters and carved out interesting patterns on the rock formations. Despite its violent past, the island is still very appealing with a scenic coastline leading to a lake located in the middle of the island.

Before lunch time, we reached Tambaron Island and spent more than an hour just chilling here. Surrounded by coral-rich waters teeming with marine biodiversity suitable for snorkeling and diving, it is an ideal place for visitors to stay for a night or two, thanks to a few cabanas that front the island.

WITH several cabanas, Tambaron Island is perfect for tourists staying overnight.

Our last stop was Suguicay, the most popular island in Bulalacao Bay. To hasten our trip, we went back to the mainland and took a short road trip to Bangkal Port where we walked over a 300-meter wooden bridge protruding from a mangrove forest out into the open sea, and delighted over a spectacular scenery. From here, we took a half-hour boat ride to Suguicay, where adventure activities awaited us.

Extreme adventures at Suguicay Island

AFTER feasting on local cuisines, including the very interesting and fine-tasting pasyak shellfish stewed with ginger, coconut milk, vinegar and soy sauce, we jumped right into the activities courtesy of Bulalacao Island Adventures. Previously based in Boracay, the outdoor company now offers parasailing, fly fish and banana boat activities in the island.

After exhausting our arms during the wild but fun Fly Fish ride, and since the sky was gloomy, we spent the whole afternoon bumming

Anilao dive spot gets coral restoration lab

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S part of its corporate social responsibility, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) Foundation, through its Shore It Up program, recently received a donation of 40 eco-reef modules, which will be installed in Balayan Bay, one of the country’s top scubadiving destinations.

Since 2016, MPIC Foundation has been nurturing a Coral Restoration Field Laboratory in Barangay Solo in Mabini, Batangas, to help restore the marine ecosystem of the area. In the past two years, it has laid 12 modules that had provided valuable data to help in the flourishing of aquatic life in the barangay.

Eco-Mer artificial reef units are made of marine concrete, which has better larval attachment, higher survival rates of coral recruits and wider niche range for higher species diversity, beyond any other commercial artificial reefs. The laboratory serves as an underwater work station for volunteer divers to study the fluid dynamics, study coral growth potential at Eco-Mer units per depth, and other scientific diving related to monitoring and coral restoration for Mabini.

The artificial coral reefs undergo monitoring and scientific activities to help enrich the ecosytem of Anilao’s dive spots by setting up marine sanctuaries.

Volunteer divers and local Bantay Dagat who will serve as technicians of the underwater laboratory were certified by the National Association of Underwater Instructors.

IN photo, Eco-Mer and Divers Institute of Technology consultant William McGilton, MPIC Foundation President Melody del Rosario, and marine ecology expert Prof. Avigdor (AV) Abelson of the Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Mooring buoys will also be installed in dive sites to prevent damage to corals caused by dropping of anchors. According to MPIC Vice President for PR and corporate communications Melody del Rosario, Shore It Up started in 2009 as a coastal cleanup movement in the Anilao dive spot, and has expended into

a comprehensive marine biodiversity conservation program which covers underwater cleanups, mangrove propagation, giant-clam rearrangement, artificial reef restoration and community livelihood projects.

She added that coral restoration is one way of responding to the effects of climate change

and help working on solutions for sustainable use of the sea as a source of food and livelihood for fishermen and ocean stakeholders.

Shore It Up has been held in key coastal areas such as Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro; Subic Bay Freeport Zone; Hundred Islands National Park in Alaminos City, Pangasinan; del Carmen in Siargao Island; Panglao and Pamilacan Islands in Bohol; Surigao City; Medina, Misamis Oriental; and Cordova, Cebu.

For the past 10 years, it has mustered over 85,000 volunteers from the Metro Pacific group of companies, national government agencies, local government units, law-enforcement agencies, academe, civil-society groups and dive industry stakeholders. A good number of these volunteers are recruits in the Junior Environmental Scouts (JES), an environmental education initiative for school children. To sustain these environmental undertakings, the Foundation helped establish Mangrove Propagation and Information Centers in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, which can be located in Alaminos City, Pangasinan; del Carmen, Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte; the third in Cordova, Cebu.

The Metro Pacific program is a recipient of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines’s Anvil Award of Merit for sustained environmental program for the environment from 2011 to 2016, as well as the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program in the Corporate Governance Asia Award for 2017 and 2018.

around the island.

Just as I was about to give up waiting for the sky to clear up, an hour before sunset, there was the whiffling of gentle winds, but strong enough for tandem parasailing!

Pair after pair, we took off and flew over the island of Suguicay. I found the experience very Zen-like while I marveled at the sight of the fiery setting sun while the calm blue waters of Bulalacao Bay were sparkling up until there’s available light.

amongst the eight Mangyan tribes of Mindoro.”

To preserve their culture, community elders teach the Hanuno script and language to elementary students once a week.

Lola Bugkos Dagay showed us how to inscribe the Hanuno script (Surat mangyan), one of the indigenous suyat scripts of the Philippines, on a piece of bamboo. Afterwards, Lola Bugkos gave the bamboo to me after I asked for it.

The side trip to a Mangyan settlement

The Hanuno script reads:

THE next day, the Oriental Mindoro Tourism Office took us to the Hanuno Mangyan settlement in Panaytayan, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro.

Even though it isn’t part of the municipality of Bulalacao, this town is an ideal side trip for those wanting to learn more about Mangyan culture.

Aside from ancient burial grounds and an underrated weaving industry, the town of Mansalay prides itself for having a very intact local culture said to be “the well-preserved

“SI aypod bay upadan No kangtinaginduman. May ulanhmadikagnan. May takipmadikaywan. Ga siyon di saadngan. Go pagtangdayondiman” [“You, my best friend, oh too far. My thoughts of you make me sad. River digs the dungeon gap. Forest breaks our world apart, as if you’re here on my sight.

Sitting, so close, by my side.”]

Those words were overflowing with beauty, romance and reflective poetry, the most fitting token to remember these islands on this side of Mindoro.

SkyJet to open its first direct flight to Camiguin

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KYJET Airlines announced recently its new ManilaCamiguin (MNL-CMG V.V.) route. Starting this May, SkyJet Airlines will have its daily flights, except for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and complete daily flights from October.

This is the first time in over 30 years that scheduled direct flights from Manila to Camiguin will be offered. SkyJet’s flights provide the fastest way travel to Camiguin with air travel time of one hour and 15 minutes.

Experience the wonders of Camiguin, with its beautiful beaches (White Island and Mantigue Island), rich marine life, refreshing waterfalls (Tuasan and Katibawasan Falls), hot and cold springs (Mount Hibok Hibok Ardent Hot Spring and Santo Niño Cold Spring), and rich-flavored food and delicacies.

SkyJet’s inaugural flight coincides with Camiguin’s Fiesta Festival which features a daily fiesta in May. Camiguin, known as the Lanzones Capital of the Philippines, will celebrate its Lanzones Festival this

TUASAN Falls

coming October 16 to 22.

The island is home to a host of excellent diving spots, accessible to both scuba divers and free divers, such as the Underwater Cemetery and Giant Clam Sanctuary. Its stunning underwater visibility and diverse dive offerings are the focal point of the Camiguin Dive Festival and Underwater Photography Contest every third quarter of the year.

A8 Sunday, March 10, 2019

Sports BusinessMirror

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

IF MARK CUBAN COULD RUN

FOR PRESIDENT, WHO ELSE COULD?

By Tim Dahlberg The Associated Press

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ARK CUBAN is talking once again about running for president, and this time no one is laughing—at least publicly—at the thought.

After all, if a billionaire reality-TV star can be elected to the highest office in the land, what’s to prevent a fellow billionaire and reality-show star—and National Basketball Association team owner—from running the table in the electoral college himself?

Quite a bit, actually, if the owner of the Dallas Mavericks runs as an independent like he says he might. Presidents since the mid-1850s have been either Republicans or Democrats, and political pros say the idea of anyone winning as an independent is far-fetched, at best.

But the independent label appeals to Cuban, who believes President Donald Trump won in 2016 mostly because he wasn’t a lifetime politician.

“People weren’t voting for [Trump in 2016] because he was calling people names, they were voting for him because he was not a politician, and he was demonstrating to everyone that he wasn’t a politician,” Cuban told the New York Daily News earlier this week.

There’s nothing new, of course, about politics and sports colliding. Trump himself once owned a team in the ill-fated US Football League and tried unsuccessfully over the years to get a National Football League (NFL) team of his own.

Jim Bunning was a Hall of Fame pitcher for the Phillies before he became a US senator from Kentucky. George H.W. Bush was captain of the Yale baseball team, and Gerald Ford was a center on the Michigan football team in the 1930s.

Ronald Reagan was a sports announcer early in his career and played The Gipper in the football movie Knute Rockne, All American.

But what about sports figures of today, who might have name recognition but little else

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DECISION to allow athletes from Oceania to compete at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou has been hailed as a major breakthrough by Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) President John Coates and described as a “game changer” by an Olympic fencer.

The decision, announced during the 38th Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly in Bangkok recently, means competitors from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands will be eligible to compete for medals in a number of sports at an event, second only to the Olympic Games in terms of numbers.

“Australia is very grateful for this opportunity which was confirmed this weekend and there will be enormous interest from our Oceania neighbors,” Coates said. “This is something I have been pursuing for more than 20 years.”

The invitation to the Oceania National Olympic Committees is expected to be limited to sports which qualify for Paris 2024 through Asia.

Coates claims Australia has been pursuing stronger ties with the OCA for some time following Australia’s invitation to participate in the East Asia

working in their favor. Could any of them find their way to the White House for something other than a title celebration?

Stranger things have happened, so let’s look at a few team owners—and possible future owners—who might have Oval Office aspirations:

THE independent label appeals to Mark Cuban— who believes President Donald Trump won in 2016 mostly because he wasn’t a lifetime politician— and the sky is the limit in the Philippines for Manny Pacquiao, who already serves as a senator while continuing his boxing career.

MARK CUBAN Unlike many potential candidates, the Mavs owner has some experience in going up against Trump. In 2012, the two billionaires got into a Twitter exchange over donations to help victims of Superstorm Sandy, and Cuban said he would donate $1 million to charity if Trump would shave his head.

When Trump responded with insults, Cuban hit right back, saying he needed to do better. “This reminds me of when I used to pick on you when we were kids in Kenya,” Cuban tweeted at Trump, who was at the time challenging President Barack Obama’s birthplace.

JERRY JONES He owns both America’s team and Roger Goodell, which by itself makes Jones an attractive candidate. But he’ll have to run on his record, and in the NFL it hasn’t been great in recent years for Jones, whose Cowboys have won only three playoff games in the last 20 years. Still, imagine the parties in the Rose Garden should he be elected.

STEVE BALLMER With a net worth of $41 billion, the former Microsoft chief could solve a lot of the country’s problems by himself. He’s already started by founding USAFacts, which tracks data on the federal, state and local level to help politicians better understand financial issues in government. The only problem Ballmer can’t seem to figure out is how to get the Clippers in the NBA Finals.

ROBERT KRAFT Six Super Bowl rings, two trips to a massage parlor in Florida. As long as the video never surfaces, Kraft still has a shot at the biggest ring of them all.

BILL FOLEY He’s the owner other owners love to hate. All Foley did was put the first major pro franchise in Las Vegas, then watch as his Golden Knights stormed into the Stanley Cup final in their first year of existence. After that, fixing the national debt shouldn’t be a problem.

AUSTRIAN President Alexander Van der Bellen (right) hands over a football for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. AP

and not afraid to take a stand on issues, and by now, he’s got to be looking for a new challenge after a season of dragging his underachieving Lakers teammates up and down the court. But he’s already the King, which might spark a bit of a constitutional crisis come inauguration day.

MANNY PACQUIAO OK,

Games in Osaka in 2002.

“This has been quite a journey that ultimately will benefit athletes in this region,” he said. “This good news follows Australia’s participation more recently at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, and the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.”

Olympic fencer and AOC Executive Board member Evelyn Halls also welcomed the news.

“The opportunity to participate in the Asian Games is fantastic news for Australian fencers,” she said.

“The Games will be a critical step in their Olympic qualification pathway, which runs through the strong Asian zone. This is a potential game changer.”

Volleyball Australia President Craig Carracher also believes the Asian Games can lift competitive standards for Australian players.

“Oceania’s inclusion in the 2022 Asian Games represents an invaluable opportunity for volleyball players in Australia and throughout our region to gain experience competing against some of the best athletes and teams in the world,” he said. “This would not have been possible without the foresight and persistence of the AOC.” Insidethegames

Fifa explores Kuwait, Oman as 2022 World Cup cohosts

LEBRON JAMES The greatest player of his generation turns 35 in December, so he’ll be eligible to run next year. James is socially active

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he can’t be the president of the United States, but like James, he’s made enough money to own a major sports team. And the sky is the limit in his native Philippines, where Pacquiao already serves as a senator while continuing his boxing career.

President Duterte himself suggested at Pacquiao’s 40th birthday party in December that the boxer might succeed him as president.

And, unlike any of the others, Pacquiao actually has a chance.

Nike set to become first major sponsor of Los Angeles 2028

‘A GAME CHANGER’

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OLYMPIAN Evelyn Halls says the opportunity to participate in the Asian Games is fantastic news for Australian fencers.

IFA continues the push to expand the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams, considering Kuwait and Oman becoming cohosts with Qatar, which remains in the middle of a complicated diplomatic standoff with several Arab neighbors.

Qatar’s infrastructure is already stretched for the Middle East’s first World Cup, and Fifa President Gianni Infantino wants to add 16 more countries to the planned 32-team tournament. That’s too many games for the eight stadiums spread over just a 30-mile radius in Qatar, a tiny nation with just 2.7 million people, most of them foreign workers.

Infantino has been lobbying for an expanded 2022 tournament for months, even suggesting some games in Saudi Arabia, which is leading the bitter isolation campaign with several Arab neighbors against Qatar. Kuwait has been trying to mediate the crisis.

Fifa is now looking at Kuwait and Oman, a person with knowledge of the situation told the AP on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. Infantino visited Kuwait last month and Oman on Sunday.

Kuwait and Oman have remained neutral in the diplomatic battle, which began in June 2017. Other Gulf countries launched a boycott of Qatar over accusations that it supports extremist groups, which Doha denies.

The principle of expanding the World Cup has already been agreed by Fifa members, with 48 teams planned for the 2026 World Cup being jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Infantino first announced in April that he wanted to fast track the expansion to 2022, even though Qatar couldn’t cope with 16 more games.

Saudi Arabia has been leading the economic and travel boycott of Qatar with the United Arab Emirates, so holding games in those countries would be problematic. Infantino discussed that during a meeting with Saudi sports leaders at a meeting in Zürich on Thursday, the person with knowledge of the situation said. The top sports government official in the UAE on Wednesday acknowledged the fraught political climate currently impedes his country in becoming part of Qatar’s tournament plans.

“As far as the co-hosting, currently with the crisis on, I think Kuwait can play a very important role,” Maj. Gen. Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi, chairman of the UAE General Authority for Sports, told the AP. “They have one big international stadium, and they are building two extra stadiums.

That could solve the problem and it would easier for the Qataris if the crisis is resolved because you [could] have Saudi Arabia and the UAE.” The World Cup is already operating in a curtailed 28-day period from November 21 to December 18, 2022 after it was shifted from the usual June-July slot to avoid Qatar’s fierce summer heat. Qatar is building just eight stadiums for a 64-game tournament. Twelve would be necessary for 48 teams playing 80 games.

Stressing that “Qataris are my brothers,” Al Romaithi embraces Qatar’s right to remain the main host for the Middle East’s first World Cup. His view contrasts with the more hostile tone from the rest of the UAE’s government.

“The World Cup is a Qatari World Cup, not any other country,” said Al Romaithi, who is running to be elected president of the Asian Football Confederation in April. “This is their hard work.

They won the bid in 2010 and they worked hard to build the stadiums and they are almost ready to host 32 teams.

“But if a decision is taken by Fifa to increase to 48 then I hope that we all support, which means the tension or problems in the Gulf is resolved.”

Kuwait has the 65,000-capacity Jaber AlAhmad International Stadium to host World Cup games, but there is a complete ban on alcohol in the nation. Qatar has an exemption that allows foreigners to drink alcohol, but it has yet to confirm how available it will be in stadiums.

Budweiser is a major Fifa sponsor.

Oman’s biggest stadium has 34,000-capacity stadium, which is short of Fifa’s minimum requirement of 40,000 seats.

The decision to award the tournament to Qatar in a 2010 vote forced Fifa to deal with concerns about labor conditions for migrant workers, many building the stadiums. The bidding process for the 2026 World Cup was the first where Fifa assessed the human rights records of countries. Infantino told the AP last year that he would have to weigh up the human rights records of any countries added to the 2022 World Cup hosting.

Fifa Vice President Victor Montagliani wants the governing body’s ruling council to decide whether to expand to 48 teams at a meeting in Florida next week.

“I support it,” Montagliani, who leads the CONCACAF confederation, told the AP. “I start in a positive way—unless there is something that makes me change my mind—that is if Qatar doesn’t want it—or the analysis is negative then I would have to rethink my positive stance.” AP

IKE is expected to be announced as the first major sponsor of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

The deal is the final stages of negotiation by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Properties, the joint sales venture of Los Angeles and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) launched in January, Sports Business Journal reported.

It is reported that the deal will include outfitting the American teams competing at Los Angeles 2028, volunteer uniforms and merchandise that will be sold to the public.

The deal will be the first step towards the sponsorship target of $2.5 billion set by Los Angeles 2028.

Some industry experts have estimated that Nike could pay as much as $200 million to be a sponsor because of the merchandising, licensing and promotional potential of a deal with Los Angeles 2028—the first summer Olympic Games to be held in the US after 32 years.

Nike has been a USOC footwear and apparel sponsor since 2005, and its current agreement, believed to be worth about $4 million annually, runs until the end of next year.

The company already has deals Major League Baseball and National Football League until 2030 and USA Track and Field until 2040.

Karate, meanwhile, will step up its campaign to reverse a decision not to include it on the program of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris by meeting French officials.

World Karate Federation (WKF) President Antonio Espinós is due to hold talks with Paris 2024 following an announcement last month that the sport had not been chosen as one of their optional sports.

Espinós will be accompanied by Francis Didier, president of the French Karate Federation (FFK), and Toshi Nagura, secretarygeneral of the WKF. “This meeting will aim to convince the OCOG [Organising Committee of the Olympic Games] to the full additional sports program for the 2024 Olympic games with karate,” the FFK said on its Facebook page.

Karate is due to make its Olympic debut in Tokyo next year but was not chosen by Paris 2024.

They chose instead sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing—all part of the Tokyo 2020 program—along with, controversially, breakdancing. Insidethegames

Learning a lifetime thing for Loukha Clothing exec F

By Rizal Raoul Reyes

business with the Department of Trade and Industry and finally launched the brand and first product line in November 2017.

The name was actually a play on my name, Vikha and Louise.

OR Ateneo de Manila University management graduate Vikha Louise Vargas, learning is a lifetime thing.

BM: Please explain the business model of Loukha Clothing.

VLV: For the garments, all materials—fabric, buttons, zippers and accessories—are sourced locally. Production is outsourced with our skilled sewers who work in the comfort of their own homes. I pay them on a per-piece basis, as opposed to most garment factories who pay their sewers on a per-operation basis.

Lead time depends on the number of designs we plan to release. It usually takes three weeks to six weeks for the clothes to be ready for selling. For the accessories, I source them both locally and overseas.

I only took orders online via Instagram or Facebook when I was starting. I posted my items on my page and people message me for their orders. Now, we’re available at Frankie & Friends General Store at SM Aura and online with StyleGenie PH. We’re working on a few more consignments, and hopefully a website within the year.

BM: How would you assess the business so far?

VLV: Loukha is still very young. I still have a lot of things in mind that I want to happen for the brand. We still have so much work to do. Right now, we’re focusing on expanding our customer base and increasing brand awareness through online platforms and brick-and-mortar stores.

When she opened Loukha Clothing, Vargas made the bold step as she didn’t have any background on designing a clothing line. But there was no turning back for the 2015 graduate: Vargas bucked the odds to push her clothing brand for women belonging to the members of the millennial and Gen Z generations.

Aside from pursuing her calling in creating her own brand, Vargas also wants to make a difference to others and empower female buyers by developing their confidence through clothes they bought from Loukha.

Here are Vargas’s replies to the BusinessMirror’s questions on her enterprise.

BusinessMirror (BM): What motivated you to put up Loukha? How did you develop the name of your business?

Vikha Louise Vargas (VLV): It was in 2017 when I decided to pursue this venture.

I’ve always been into fashion. It’s really something I’m very passionate about.

I also knew I wanted to put up a business because I wanted to have another source of income; but I did not think I could set up a clothing line. I knew nothing about the garment business since I didn’t go to a fashion school. But I did graduate with a degree in management and worked as a marketing professional. I used this credential to help me set up the project I was passionate about.

PATRICIA VARGAS sports some of the products of Loukha Clothing.

My original plan was just to buy and sell clothes but I felt like I wasn’t going to give much value since other sellers were also selling the same items. I then decided to have mine exclusively made or, if ever I buy and sell, I make sure they’re not widely available.

Mostly, I was struggling with sourcing: finding the most cost-effective fabric suppliers and skilled sewers. I did my research and went to different places to scout for these. It was painstaking but, luckily, I was able to find good ones. It’s a continuous pursuit.

When I was finally able to gather all information and suppliers, I registered the

2 BusinessMirror

MARCH 10, 2019

BM: What fuels your passion as an entrepreneur?

VLV: I’ve always believed in creating opportunities, not just grabbing them. As an entrepreneur, it excites me when I am able to work with other people and be an instrument, as well, of their success. Customer satisfaction is also a motivation for me, of course. We are happy when the customers are delighted with their purchases.

BM: How do you develop the creativity in the designs of the clothing line? Do you have a group of designers under your wings who provide the designs?

VLV: No, I don’t have designers who work under me. I also get to decide on the design. I get inspiration for the designs everywhere—from people I meet, the places I visit, through social media, etc. I also personally handpick and curate ready-made pieces, which I think would fit the brand and would appeal to my market.

BM: Who are your target markets?

VLV: The brand caters mainly to savvy Continued on page 7

BusinessMirror

MUSIC

OPM RECORDS Still on heavy ‘rotation’

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Sound BusinessMirror

MARCH 10, 2019 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

MUS

OPM ON VINYL

HIGH DEMAND, HEFTY PRICE

by Rick Olivares

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O doubt, vinyl is back as a preferred medium for music fans all over the world.

Now it begs the question: How does Original Pilipino Music—from the albums recorded back in the “Golden Age” of the 1960s to 1980s, all the way up to today—fare in the market?

Let’s clarify OPM to include not only the music (pop music in general) but also the independent and underground releases that one can find in the market today.

So, not everything is on a major label. There are no new releases on vinyl from major record labels, except for their reissues. All new releases on vinyl come from independent and underground labels.

We recently spoke to some of the “Kagatan” music fair sellers about their observations about how OPM performs in the vinyl market.

The consensus is that OPM on vinyl does well. However, one thing inferred from our interviews and observations as a music enthusiast is that price has a lot to do with how quick it moves.

We spoke to Arbie Bulaong (Treskul Records), Omeng Rodolfa (Spins Records), Roland Savellano (Lahn’s Records), Paolo Dagdag (Old School Music Project), Remy Cabaltera (Remnants Thrift Store) and Elwyn Zalamea (New Vintage Culture) on their thoughts about OPM on vinyl.

Describe the demand for OPM today.

BULAONG: It is still high. The usual big-name artists are sure sellers: APO

Hiking Society, The Dawn, Identity Crisis, Juan de la Cruz [and] Sharon Cuneta.

As for the artists today, Up Dharma Down’s vinyl release for “Capacities” is sought-after by fans. I am not sure kung marami na-press, but marami naghahanap.

The Pinoy punk releases are always popular. Anything punk, kahit foreign,mabilis bilhin.

Yung mga really hard-to-find releases tulad ng RJ and the Riots, Electromaniacs, Speed Glue & Shinki and Third World Chaos, kahit bootleg pinapatulan.

Dagdag: In-demand pa rin up to now. Marami naghahanap ng OPM at masaya ako kasi nagkaroon ng value ang lumabas nung araw. Kung bakit maraming naghahanap—siguro kasi yung kabataan nila madalas nila

marinig sa radio and TV yung musika kaya naghahanap sila ngayon. Wala silang budget noon at ngayon, meron na.

The popular titles on my list are Ric Segreto, VST & Company, Hotdog, the “Bagets” soundtrack, Boyfriends, Juan de la Cruz, Soul Jugglers, Wadab, Identity Crisis, Bong Gabriel, Maria Cafra, Sampaguita, Mike Hanopol, at marami pang iba.

Rodolfa: Up to now marami naghahanap ng OPM. VST & Company, Boyfriends, Apo Hiking Society, Juan de la Cruz. One foreigner was even looking for the Soul Jugglers!

Savellano: Marami naghahanap ng OPM. Ang challenge lang ay yung makakita na makinis na kopya.

Pahirapan maghanap ng ganyan.

Malakas din sa online yung mga naghahanap ng OPM. Cabaltera: When we opened

Remnants in 1994, pawala na yung mga long-playing records.

That time, pag meron nagoffer ng OPM, tinatangihan ko. Bagito pa ako noon. But even before the vinyl revival, we started getting OPM. Bakit siya mahal? Kasi konti lang in circulation, unlike foreign artists na meron pressings from different countries. Because of the lower print runs, the demand is higher.

Zalamea: In my case, [it’s] not that much—compared to two years ago. Baka rin kasi mahal siya. It has to stop at some point. It can only go as high as what people are willing to pay.

We also asked: Who are buying? Is it Generation X? Or, the millennial and post-millennial generation?

ALL agree that it is both. Abroad, it Continued on page 6

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | MARCH 10, 2019

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SIC ON PRINT

A concert for the damned, and the death of a piano

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by Rick Olivares

OU know what they say about your life flashing in front of you when you’re about to die?

Last February 27, at the Cine Adarna of the UP Film Institute, it was close… but not quite.

Famed artist, cartoonist and experimental filmmaker Rox Lee was celebrated for his 40-plus years of his body of work in an exhibit cleverly entitled “RetRox.” During the 7 p.m. performance

dubbed “Rox External,” some of his art and films shot on 8-mm cameras flashed on screen, as members of sludge metal band Kapitan Kulam, blues rockers the Borrachos and avant-garde crew the Brockas played in what was equal parts a theater of the absurd, a symphony of the damned, and a madcap dance that assaulted the senses.

The scene reminded me of two things: The first, a scene in Ralph Bakshi’s animated post-apocalyptic classic Wizards, where Blackwolf shows his mutant army World War II propaganda film that feeds their

bloodlust to the haunting strains of an organ played by the Grim Reaper.

And the second, that part in the Doors’ classic The End, where the song enters a spoken-word section by vocalist Jim Morrison, a reenactment of Freudian drama, as the music built to a climax before the band went ballistic.

And true enough, as the clips sped up, the music got faster; and the scene, even more surreal and bizarre. Poet and artist Khavn dela Cruz, who also plays with the Brockas, began literally hammering away at the keys of an old piano with… a hammer.

And when the keyboard was finally destroyed, he brought out an axe and began hacking away. Copper coil, wood, leather, including parts of plastic “monobloc” chairs there were smashed on the instrument by host and actor Jun Sabayton, began flying in all directions.

At one point, dela Cruz doused the remains with some liquid, as if to set it on fire. But it was like a final blessing on the life of a musical instrument that served its purpose well.

In the midst of this orgy of sound and sight, Rox Lee, at 68 years of age, was rocking with his makeshift guitar made out

of aluminum, shingles and wire. It was as if he was having a seizure. His eyes looked up to the ceiling, entranced. His body shook with spastic delight.

The whole set took about 45 minutes, and it ended with the destruction of the piano. Bloodlust satiated.

“That wasn’t art,” dispelled Sabayton.

“That was experimental.”

I asked if this was rehearsed. “No,” clarified dela Cruz, who also said they have done this before during a performance at Cubao X. “It was totally improvisational.

If we did this outdoors, I would have burned the piano’s remains. Its work in this world… is done.”

By the performance’s end, the hundred plus people who attended the exhibit and performance all clambered up to the stage to take photos and pick up remains from the piano as souvenirs.

Kapitan Kulam drummer Jay Gapasin noted, “Improv performances are exciting. You not only go with the flow, but you play on the emotions and mood of the moment.”

And Rox Lee summed it up best with a joke and a laugh: “That was 40 years of pent-up frustration… released in a moment.

I hope people enjoyed it.”

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MARCH 10, 2019 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

Sound trip BusinessMirror

MUSIC ON PRINT

Vinyl...

from page 4

has been acknowledged that it is the millennials who form the bulk of buyers today. But here in the Philippines, Gen X has the buying power, but so do millennials who are catching up.

We also queried each seller: What was the most expensive OPM record they sold. And the answers were shocking.

BULAONG: Most recently, I was able

to sell a sealed copy of Mike Hanopol’s Buhay Musikero for P12,000!

Dagdag: Ang pinakamataas ko nabenta is yung “Up in Arms” album ng Juan dela Cruz—yung first album nila. Siyempre, Gen X-er yung bumili, and I sold it for P38,000 kahit hindi ganun kaperfect yung condition niya. Imagine, if perfect or sealed. It will go higher.

The next-highest sold record was original na (Pinoy Punk) album ng Third World

Chaos. Ang bumili ay German collector for P35,000!

Zalamea: I sold a near-mint copy of Juan dela Cruz’s Greatest Hits, in its original shrink wrap, for P10,000, and this was in 2013.

Also, an original press of 10 of Another Kind for the same price, before the reissue came out.

Savellano: Nabenta ko yung The Very Best of Sharon Cuneta, High School and Sharon & Love albums for P6,000 each. Nabenta ko

yung “Maskara” ng Juan dela Cruz [also for the same price], and The Dawn’s self-titled debut for P8,000.

Rodolfa: The most expensive na nabenta ko is Juan dela Cruz’s “Kahit Anong Mangyari” for P15,000.

Cabaltera: Nabenta namin yung “Up In Arms” ng Juan dela Cruz for P13,000. And [its] condition wasn’t so good. If it [was] in excellent condition, it will go for much higher; maybe, P30,000.

Dr. Martens kicks off

limited-edition Sex Pistols collection

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N 1975 a band of anarchic, irreverent and rebellious outliers took the global punk scene by storm.

Ushering a loud, brash and no-holds barred era of music was none other than the iconic Sex Pistols.

While they only produced one album “Never Mind the Bollocks: Here’s the Sex Pistols” during their short-lived career, the raucous group’s legacy carries on.

Arguably hailed as the true purveyors of punk, the image of the Sex Pistols endures as the embodiment of nonconformist attitude and brazen rebellion.

It was only a matter of time before Dr. Martens, a staunch crusader of subcultural iconoclasts, rolled out

with a collection that pays homage to one of the most influential rebels in music history.

Keeping punk alive

DRAWING inspiration from the groundbreaking album artwork designed by the equally influential artist Jamie Reid for the controversial British foursome, the Dr. Martens x Sex Pistols collection features select Dr. Martens classics emblazoned with lyrics from the band’s song Pretty Vacant. The collection includes the 1490 10-eye boot, 1460 8-eye boot, and the 1925 steel toe.

To officially introduce the collection in the

Dr. Martens Brand Senior Executive Nadz Payumo (3rd from right) and Brand Manager PJ Chua (2nd from right) with Gracenote band (LR) Ej Pichay, Jazz Jorge and Eunice Jorge. Also in photo are Photographer and Artist Shaira Luna and Mega Magazine’s Lyn Alumno.

Philippines, an exclusive media launch was held on February 28 at Saguijo Bar and Café. As the band is considered as innovators not only in music but also in art, the event paid homage to the distinct musicality and brand of artistry that defined the Sex Pistols’ era: from the décor of the venue and the music, all the way to the requested attire of the guests.

Hosted by Raymund Marasigan, the event gathered select representatives from the media, Dr. Martens enthusiasts and fans of Sex Pistols alike for a night of tribute to the rebellious power of art and music. The program kicked off with the highly-anticipated product reveal, soon followed by a brand talk.

In a way that’s most fitting, each of the pieces in the Sex Pistols collection were unveiled one after another as the spotlight was turned on a musical instrument, where a pair of Dr. Martens was displayed.

After the program, the night continued to pick up pace as guest bands Grace Note and Chicosci took over the stage to perform. Chicosci performed two Sex Pistols songs: God Save the Queen and Anarchy in the UK. The bands also performed original songs which reflected the defiant spirit of the collection and the brand.

Dr. Martens x Sex Pistols

A FEROCIOUS take on the 1460 boot, the 8-eye 1460 Sex Pistols Vicious boots is emblazoned with a digitized print of the band’s wildly infamous bass player Sid Vicious.

Apart from the bold print, what makes this boot stand out is its visible neon pink welt-stitching, neon pin and shocking yellow heel-loops, and its flat “No Feelings” laces with pink and yellow aglets. Built to last with a durable Goodyear welt, the boots are also constructed no less with the trademark air-cushioned soles with grooved edges and Backhand Straw Grain, a full-grain leather with a crosshatch texture.

For something a little more nondescript

yet unabashedly straightforward, check out the 1460 Sex Pistols No Future. This monochromatic eight-eye men’s boot features song lyrics on its back strap as a tribute to Jamie Reid’s album artwork. Made with Milled Greasy, a lightweight, soft leather with an oily coating, the boots also bear a striking neon pink and shocking yellow heel-loop and are constructed with comfortable air-cushioned soles with grooved edges and durable Goodyear welt.

Far from subtle, the 1490 Sex Pistols is a striking variation of the classic 1490. A staple amongst purveyors of antiestablishment ethos such as the countercultural characters of the 70s, the punks, and the goths, there’s no doubt the 1490 is an ideal silhouette for a Sex Pistols collab. Emblazoned with song lyrics, this 10-eye boot is a graphic black-and-white tribute to Jamie Reid’s found-letter aesthetic which he popularized with the iconic typography he used for “Never Mind…” The boots come with two pairs of laces, features neon pink and shocking yellow heel-loops and are made with Backhand leather and constructed with air-cushioned soles with grooved edges and a Goodyear welt.

All style and attitude, the 1925 Sex Pistols is a punchy take on the classic 3-eye shoe. Featuring a bulbous toe silhouette, the monochromatic shoes also bear a cutout which reveals a fashion steel toe cap. The true highlights of the pair however are the mismatched logos, with one reading “Boredom” and the other “Nowhere”—a reference to the buses on the cover art for the single Pretty Vacant. Unapologetically bold, the laces of the shoes also feature mismatched color pop aglets or the plastic tag covering the end of the laces. Made with Smooth, the original and durable Dr. Martens leather, the shoes are built to last with a durable Goodyear welt and constructed with aircushioned soles with grooved edges.

The Sex Pistols collection are already available in limited quantities at Dr. Martens stores in Glorietta, SM Megamall, SM North Edsa The Block, Marquee Mall, Nuvali Solenad 2, SM City Cebu and Abreeza Davao.

Pinoy Moba game players race for title at 3rd Mobile Legends PHL competition

By Oliver Samson

Each team will clash against all the others in a best-of-three match, Lin said.

The $100,000 pool prize is already contested in the regular season, according to Calulo, adding that each team will race for points into the playoffs.

“Only eight teams will proceed to the playoffs, which are the eight teams with the most number of points,” Calulo said.

The teams will receive a salary for each week during “the entirety of the group stage.” However, Calulo declined to reveal the amount.

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines Season 3 regular season will commence on March 23 and conclude on May 5.

The prizes are the following: • First runner-up: $13,000 (around P678,509) • Second runner-up: $6,000 (around P313,158) • Third runner-up: $4,000 (around P208,772) • Fourth and fifth runner-ups: $2,000 000 (around P104,386) each • Sixth and seventh runner-ups: $1,000 (around P52,193) each This season is going to be a fresh MOBA gaming experience not only for the contenders but also for viewers, according to organizers.

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a Moba mobile game developed and published by the Shanghai City, China-based Moonton.

Correspondent

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HANGHAI Moonton Technology Co. Ltd. promises that more actionpacked Moba (multiplayer online battle arsenal) game matches will continue to explode at the third season of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines, as the smartest and deadliest Filipino teams wrestle for the $25,000 (around P1,305,937.50 at US$1 to P52.24) grand prize and a chance to campaign in the Southeast Asian league.

Two teams from the local league will advance to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2019 and will compete against the best players from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, according to Moonton e-Sports Manager JingJie Lin. The teams from the second season racing for the grand prize and a chance to fight in the regional cup this year include the following: Cignal Ultra (Season 2 champions backed by Cignal TV Inc.), Bren Esports of BrenPro Inc., Sterling Global Dragons, Execration, Aether Atlas and Evos.PH Gaming.

Meanwhile, the teams from the main qualifiers include No Limits/Bren EsportsLimitless, Finesse Phoenix, ArkAngel and ArkAngel Ownage. Each of these teams will face nine other teams in a round-robin, according to Joy Calulo, league administrator at MET Events.

Learning a lifetime thing for Loukha Clothing exec Continued from page 2

chic millennials and Gen-Z’s; most likely the yuppies who love to dress up, be it for work or any special occasion. We make clothes and curate our items for the ladies who want to look stylish without breaking the bank.

BM: Are there plans to expand the product line in the future?

VLV: Absolutely! Actually, not just our product line but the brand itself. My dream for Loukha is to be a lifestyle brand that won’t only cater to fashion but also other categories like home and beauty; but that’s for another time. The focus now is to grow the clothing line first, then, hopefully, eventually diversify when we’re ready.

BM: Did your management degree come in handy in running the business?

VLV: Yes, it definitely did. But I think more than that, it was really my work experience that helped me fuel my business.

What you learn outside school is really different. You don’t really learn everything in school.

In the real world, sometimes you even have to learn things on your own. Working for a local tech start-up taught me how to

multi-task, deal with different kinds of people and situations, and ultimately go out of my comfort zone.

Our team was skeletal, but I am fortunate enough to have been mentored by good bosses and surrounded by a great team.

BM: What is the brand and marketing position of Loukha?

VLV: We focus on slow and sustainable fashion. Most of the fabrics used to produce the garments are either deadstock or remnants. These are excess fabrics that come from textile factories or fashion houses that are either just stored or thrown as waste.

We just make sure to carefully select fabrics that are both of good quality and aesthetic. We want our customers to feel good in what they’re wearing.

We also take pride in locally sourcing for and making our clothes. We partner with skilled sewers who make our clothes with great attention to detail, making sure that each piece is sewn beautifully.

If we were to describe the girl who wears Loukha, she’s definitely someone who is confident in her own skin and unafraid to make a statement. It is she who is bold and she who makes things happen.

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Nonprofits launch computer science program for underprivileged students

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WO nonprofit groups launched recently a computer science program for K-to-12 students from low-income families.

A statement said Mano Amiga Academy (MAA) Inc. and Developers Connect Philippines (DevCon) Inc. partnered to pilot a program, called DevCon Kids, which seeks to impart technology skills to students at an early age. The program led to the formation of a DevCon Club, which now counts 30 members selected from Grades 7 to 9 who possess a certain level of aptitude and knowledge in science and math. Every week, DevCon Kids mentors discuss lessons, such as coding and design thinking, specifically developed for the program.

One of these mentors is Joel Bautista, who is also a full-time computer science teacher at the Philippine Science High School. A lead instructor for DevCon Kids, Bautista joined the program’s core team because he believed in their advocacy of teaching kids life skills that are beyond the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

“We are in the 21st century and we want to instill computer science skills, problem solving, creativity and collaboration in today’s kids,” Bautista said. “Our goals and those of Mano Amiga are parallel—we’re both serving the underserved. We are aware that they don’t have computer labs like other schools do, and it’s DevCon’s way of extending help by teaching these new topics.”

THIRTY students from Mano Amiga Academy completed the full-day robotics lesson under the DevCon Kids program led by mentors from DevCon Philippines. MANO AMIGA ACADEMY INC.

Internet workings MAA students and DevCon Club members JC Gorgonio and Cheska Andes share their excitement about the program.

Andes has always enjoyed language classes the most, getting her best grades in English and Filipino. After joining DevCon Club, her grades in Math and Science started improving, according to a statement.

“I signed up for DevCon Club because we

MANO Amiga Academy Inc. students learned how to assemble and program mBots, which are educational robot kits designed for kids who are just starting to learn about robot software. MANO AMIGA ACADEMY INC. don’t have a computer at home and I wanted to know more about how computers and the Internet worked,” Andes said.

A highlight in the DevCon Kids program

is a full-day lesson in robotics. The students were paired up and provided an mBot each. mBots are educational robot kits designed for kids who are just starting to learn about robot software. The students learned how to program their robots and create codes to make them move, transmit a sound if it senses light, navigate and follow a track, and even wrestle against another robot.

“Honestly, our first few lessons in DevCon Club were really hard. My friends and I almost quit but we kept going because of our cheerful mentors and our supportive student-affairs coordinator,” Gorgonio, a Grade 7 student, said. “We’re also excited for our next lesson on making mobile apps.”

Continuing efforts SEEING the success of their pilot program and the positive feedback from the students, MAA and DevCon officers said they plan to continue what they have started to reach more children and expose them to computer science and information technology.

LEAD Instructor Joel Bautista volunteers for the DevCon Kids program to instill 21st-century skills in underprivileged youth and to bring ICT education closer to them. MANO AMIGA ACADEMY INC.

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MAA will continue running DevCon Club, and encourage the older students to transmit their learning to incoming Grades 7 to 9 students.

According to MAA Executive Director and Founder Lynn Pinugu, DevCon provided all the requirements for the students, “easing their worries over having to acquire the laptops and other equipment themselves.”

“We will replicate DevCon Kids one school at a time, applying insights from the pioneer batch in developing a hybrid program that we will use for future beneficiaries,” DevCon Managing Director Shumate Royo said. “We hope to work with donors as well, as running the program requires a lot of resources—laptops, high-speed WiFi, and a facility conducive to learning.”

Tech-voc track LAST year, the World Economic Forum ranked the Philippines 53rd among 63 countries in terms of digital competitiveness. A report from the Department of Education (DepEd) said that only 26 percent of public schools in the country have Internet access.

Add to this picture the fact that the current school curriculum only offers computer programming in senior high school for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) strand of the technical vocational track. There is also a lack of ICT devices in many schools nationwide as computer laboratories are still being built.

The quality of ICT education in the Philippines is definitely a pressing concern, with education stakeholders repeatedly calling for capacity-building for teachers, allocating sufficient resources, and partnering with the private sector to accelerate ICT education, the statement read.