Businessmirror March 20, 2015 by BusinessMirror

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TfridayNovember 18,2015 2014Vol.Vol.1010No.No.162 40 Friday, March 20,

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TETANGCO SIGNALS RELUCTANCE TO TWEAK DOMESTIC RATES AT NEXT MONETARY BOARD MEETING

BSP rates to stay on Fed’s dovish tone By Bianca Cuaresma

INSIDE

baic? WHy not?

motoring

e2-e3

‘cinderella’ conquers with kindness

Life

Living the world

EAR Lord, help us always to be aware of the destructive nature of sin in our lives and in society. May we be always careful to avoid sin as we would be careful not to contract any kind of diseases. May we ask always Your grace and love to keep us spiritually, morally and physically upright. May we live Your Word to assure us of Your Kingdom. Amen. WORD AND LIFE, FR SAL PUTZU, SDB AND LOUIE M. LACSON Word&Life Publications • teacherlouie1965@yahoo.com

BusinessMirror

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

“Overnight, the markets generally viewed the Fed move as dovish, in that while it paved the way for a hike, it lowered its forecast for benchmark rates. Markets remain cautious,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said in a text message to financial reporters on Thursday morning. This has reference to the US Fed decision dropping the use of the word “patient” to indicate the timing of its much-anticipated interest-rate hike. US Fed Chairman Janet Yellen said,

IN GOOD TASTE: WOW YOUR GUESTS WITH LOVELY LAMB CHOPS »D3

Friday, March 20, 2015

IN THE AGE OF SUPERHEROES, ‘CINDERELLA’ CONQUERS WITH KINDNESS The way director Kenneth Branagh saw it, Cinderella’s kindness was, in fact, her superpower. “I wanted to make the pursuit of goodness sexy and proactive, not naïve or unsophisticated,” he explained.

DISNEY PRINCESS

Lily James brings the classic fairytale heroine to life in the live-action Cinderella, with a kind heart as her superpower.

B A K Los Angeles Times

HE female heroines that young girls look up to in 2015 tend to be strong, determined, tough chicks. They don’t mince words. They shoot arrows. They wear leather. They don’t think twice about combating male foes. So Cinderella? With her delicate glass slippers and corset and “yes, ma’am”—how could she fit into that category? That was exactly what Allison Shearmur— an executive producer on the femaleempowerment franchise The Hunger Games— was wondering when Walt Disney Pictures approached her about producing a new liveaction version of the 1950s animated fairy tale. “The first thing I said was, ‘OK, but...’” recalled Shearmur of the revamped Cinderella, which stars newcomer Lily James. “It was important to me that we not have a Cinderella that didn’t, in some way, stand up for herself if she was in a situation that was abusive. She had to be responsible for her own destiny. If the prince didn’t come, our Cinderella would be just fine.” In the original tale, Cinderella is a meek house servant who puts up with beratement from her stepmother before a handsome prince rescues her from her cruel fate. She wasn’t exactly a feminist role model, and she was certainly nothing like Katniss Everdeen, Tris Prior or the Black Widow—the female leads of today’s top box-office hits. But the way director Kenneth Branagh saw it, Cinderella’s kindness was, in fact, her superpower. “I wanted to make the pursuit of goodness sexy and proactive, not naïve or unsophisticated,” he explained. To update the story for modern sensibilities, the filmmakers made a handful of subtle changes. Because the original Cinderella loved animals—befriending the mice in her house when she had no one else—they decided the

life

Megaworld sets P35-B budget for two Negros townships

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday signaled a reluctance to tweak the rates at which it borrows from or lends to banks at present, as consequence of the latest decision by the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) to keep interest rates in the world’s largest economy where they are for the time being.

By VG Cabuag

in line with the law.” Yingluck has denied the allegations, saying that the cases against her are politically motivated, and being pushed by the forces behind the military coup that toppled her elected government last May. The criminal conviction and jailing of Yingluck for alleged offenses she had no direct involvement in could heighten tensions in a country still divided by a decade of political unrest.

roperty developer Megaworld Corp. on Thursday said it is investing some P35 billion in the next 10 years to build two townships in Negros Occidental, as part of the company’s efforts to expand its development outside of Metro Manila. The first township, to be called Upper East, will be on a 34-hectare property formerly housing the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Co. on the eastern side of Bacolod City. It is bounded by Burgos Avenue on the north, Lopez Jaena Street on the west and Circumferential Road on the east, and is across the New Government Center. “This prime location, which the locales simply refer to as ‘East,’ is now known to be Bacolod’s booming commercial and business process-outsourcing [BPO] district,” Megaworld said in a statement. The name comes from New York City’s affluent Upper East Side district. Megaworld said the development will be Bacolod’s version of an upscale lifestyle district, where residential condominiums, malls and commercial centers, BPO office towers, tourism and leisure facilities, as well as recreational parks and open spaces, are integrated. The second township of Megaworld in the province, meanwhile, will be in the northern part of Bacolod, where the famous Sugar Road was built. It will be called Northhill and will rise on a 50-hectare property along the new Circumferential Road on the boundary of Talisay City and Bacolod City that has direct access to the new Bacolod-Silay Airport.

See “Yingluck,” A8

See “Megaworld,” A2

TALKING NUMBERS Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao (left) and Ayala Corp. Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala engage in a conversation at the ADB Headquarters on ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, on Wednesday, prior to attending the “Forum on Promoting Remittances for Development Finance.” The Philippines ranked third worldwide ($28 billion) in terms of remittance volume in 2014, next to India ($71 billion) and China ($64 billion). KEVIN DE LA CRUZ

Continued on A2

C  D

YINGLUCK TO BE TRIED OVER RICE SUBSIDY

one-of-a-kind beLt Sports BusinessMirror

| Friday, MarCh 20, 2015 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

ONE-OF-A-KIND BELT MAYWEATHER

PACQUIAO

FOR ‘FIGHT FOR ETERNITY’

After fan voting on the World Boxing Council web site, the sanctioning body has announced it will award the winner of the May 2 welterweight bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas an emerald belt estimated to be worth around $1 million.

By Lance Pugmire Los Angeles Times

ONE-OF-A-KIND belt will be presented to what the World Boxing Council (WBC) is calling the “Fight for Eternity” between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. After fan voting on the WBC web site, the sanctioning body has announced it will award the winner of the May 2 welterweight bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas an emerald belt estimated to be worth around $1 million. The emerald belt was preferred over an onyx belt as the winner’s prize in fan voting, 53 percent to 47 percent. Described as an “exquisite masterpiece,” the belt follows the diamond belt that Mayweather previously won for defeating Mexico’s Saul “Canelo”Alvarez in 2013. In a statement, the WBC said the belt was designed “to appropriately

recognize the winner of this titanic and epic event,” expected to shatter records for pay-per-view and live-gate receipts. Pacquiao has won world titles in eight divisions and Mayweather (47-0) has belts in five weight classes.

A-ROD PICKS MAYWEATHER

ALEX RODRIGUEZ admits he is no boxing expert. Far from it. But almost like everyone else on Earth, he has an opinion about the May 2 bout between Mayweather and Pacquiao. “My call—which doesn’t mean anything—I would say Mayweather in a decision, 12 rounds,” the Yankees DH/third baseman told host Wally Matthews of SiriusXM’s boxing show, Going the Distance. Matthews, a former Newsday boxing writer and columnist who now covers the Yankees for the ESPN New York web site, noted that Mayweather is a polarizing figure, much like Rodriguez.

So what does A-Rod think of him? “Well, I think, first of all, he’s a very smart businessman from my angle and it seems like anytime you bring eyeballs to boxing, that’s good for boxing,” Rodriguez said. “And the other thing that I see—again, I’m very, very limited in my knowledge about boxing—but it looks like he’s an expert and he works hard at his craft. And I can respect that.” The timing of the fight is favorable for A-Rod. The Yankees have a day game in Boston on May 2, then a night game on May 3, so why not stay up late for the big bout? “I’m certainly going to watch it,” Rodriguez told Matthews. “I think anyone who likes anything about boxing is going to watch. It’s going to be an incredible show.” Going the Distance is heard Tuesday evenings on SiriusXM Sports Zone, channel 92. With Newsday

BANNED FOR 15 YEARS!

WAYNE ODESNIK tests positive for several banned substances, including steroids. AP

ONDON—American tennis player Wayne Odesnik was banned on Wednesday for 15 years after a second doping violation, a sanction that essentially ends his career and was widely applauded by several top players. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) said the 29-year-old Odesnik tested positive for several banned substances, including steroids, during tests in December and January. The ban was back-dated to January 30 and will run until January 29, 2030. “Players and athletes should know if they cheat, they get caught,” second-ranked Roger Federer said from California. “I’m all for a

clean sport, and that’s why you’ve got to catch those guys who don’t do the things they are supposed to be doing.” Odesnik was first sanctioned in 2010 for the possession of human growth hormone (HGH). Odesnik was off the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour from April 2010 to August 2011 after pleading guilty in Australia to importing HGH. He denied using the drug, and repeatedly said he never tested positive. “Obviously when that happens twice, you don’t deserve to be on the tour,” third-ranked Rafael Nadal said. The ITF originally banned him for two years, but cut the penalty in half, saying he cooperated with investigators. Andy Murray and other players later criticized Odesnik, wondering aloud in what way the American might have cooperated with doping authorities. AP

RAFAEl NADAl (from left), Roger Federer and Andy Murray are living up to their lofty billings at Indian Wells. AP

By Beth Harris

The Associated Press

NDIAN WELLS, California—Roger Federer dominated Jack Sock in a 6-3, 6-2 victory to reach the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday, with the fourtime tournament champion winning 14 consecutive points in the second set. Federer has yet to drop a set in three matches so far, needing 69 minutes to polish off Sock and earn his 50th match win at Indian Wells. “Today was by far my best match, so I’m very happy how I was serving, in particular, when it was important,” Federer said. “On the return I was able to play both with the slice coming over and then even standing back. All three things worked. When that’s the case, it’s great as a player to know you have all these options when it comes down to the crunch.” Three-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic played a late match.

FAVORITES IN QUARTERS

Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Timea Bacsinszky, extending the American’s winning streak to 15 matches in her return to the desert after ending a 14-year boycott of the tournament. Bacsinszky had her 15-match winning streak snapped, although her 21-3 record leads the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour this year. She broke to take a 3-1 lead in the opening set before Williams tied it up 3-all and then held for a 4-3 lead. Bacsinszky held for 5-all and had two break points in the next game, but she committed two straight forehand errors. Williams held and then broke in the next game to take the set. The second set featured four straight breaks of serve before Williams won four of the final five games. Sock had one highlight game, holding serve at 2-all in the first set after facing two break points and nine deuces. But Federer won four of the next five games to wrap up the set. “Obviously I needed to serve very well, if not my best, to give me a chance,” Sock said. “He’s done this many times and

makes you play a lot of balls.” Federer broke Sock to open the second set, winning the final point of the first game. That launched a run of 14 straight points as Federer served two love games sandwiched around a break of Sock, giving the Swiss star a 4-0 lead. Sock fought off three break points to trail 4-1. Federer lost just two points in his last two service games. Rafael Nadal advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Gilles Simon to stay on track for a shot at his fourth career title in the desert. Nadal next plays sixth-seeded Milos Raonic, who defeated 17th-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-2, in a fourthround match. Nadal served a love game to close out his match that began as a dust storm swirled outside the stadium under overcast skies. He connected on 70 percent of his first serves in beating Simon for the seventh time in eight meetings. “He’s a player that is tough, because sometimes you

feel that you have the match under control, but he’s able to be back,” Nadal said. “He’s able to play very well in defending positions, and then from defending position, he’s able to come back and have the control of the point. Is a good victory for me.” Andy Murray defeated Adrian Mannarino, 6-3, 6-3, for his 496th career match victory. He tied countryman Tim Henman’s record as Britain’s most successful player in the Open era. Murray set up a quarterfinal against 12th-seeded Feliciano Lopez, who upset No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori, 6-4, 7-6 (2). Third-seeded Simona Halep rallied to beat No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, and will face Williams in the semifinals. The Romanian is the most recent player to beat Williams last fall at the WTA Finals in Singapore. Halep trailed 4-0 in the first set and said she was nervous to start the match. “Then I changed my tactic a little bit just to play more into the court and to play more aggressive, to open the court more,

and to take the ball very fast,” she said. “I wanted to try just to make her run a lot because I know that she’s moving well and she’s hitting really well close to the body. So I tried just to open the court and to finish the points very quickly.” Murray broke Mannarino twice in the second set and closed it out on his second match point when Mannarino netted a backhand. Murray remains on track for a potential semifinal against Djokovic, who beat the Brit in the Australian Open final in January. No. 9 Tomas Berdych advanced with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over No. 27 Lukas Rosol in an all-Czech match. Bernard Tomic beat wild-card Thanasi Kokkinakis, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The planned renovation of Roland Garros, meanwhile, was on hold after Paris city council allowed a new study of the land use on Wednesday. Supported by local residents and environmentalists at the city council, a new project offers an alternative to the controversial expansion that is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

sports

top court in Thailand accepted criminal charges against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in connection with her government’s program to aid rice farmers, raising the possibility that she could be jailed. Though Yingluck is not accused of corruption, herself, in this case, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions will now decide whether she was guilty of criminal negligence for not stopping

PESO exchange rates n US 44.6910

Yingluck has denied the allegations, saying that the cases against her are politically motivated, and being pushed by the forces behind the military coup that toppled her elected government last May.

the alleged graft in the program, which bought rice from farmers at above-market rates. She has already been retroactively impeached and banned from politics for five years over the subsidies and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted in the latest case. “Judges ruled the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions has authority to consider the case,” the court said in a statement on Thursday. “The charge by the prosecutors is

n japan 0.3731 n UK 67.1527 n HK 5.7608 n CHINA 7.1742 n singapore 32.4931 n australia 34.1700 n EU 48.7936 n SAUDI arabia 11.9163 Source: BSP (19 March 2015)

News

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Friday, March 20, 2015

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BSP rates to stay on Fed’s dovish tone Continued from A1

per dollar on Wednesday. Total trades aggregated $690.3 million, lower than the $912.7 million set the previous day. “The peso has moved in line with the region. We continue to be watchful of shifts in market sentiment, as more data is released to confirm the underlying strength of the global economy. We will see how these would affect domestic inflation dynamics,” Tetangco said. What he carefully omitted, analysts said, was the central bank’s apprehension that an interest-rate hike at this point potentially strengthens the peso and tamp down growth forecast to average 6.5 percent this year in terms of the gross domestic product. Growth should also be unnecessarily restrained, as export activities scale back as the peso gains on the US dollar. “We will make adjustments to monetary-policy stance as appropriate,” he added. The seven-man MB is next scheduled to meet on March 26. It is expected to keep the policy rates steady as inflation pressures on various commodities remain tame.

while interest rates in the US should soon be allowed to scale up, this did not mean that such an adjustment was imminent. “Just because we removed the word patient from the statement doesn’t mean that we’re going to be impatient,” Yellen had said. Tetangco’s careful use of language bolstered arguments against an interest-rate hike when the policy-making Monetary Board (MB) of the BSP meets again to decide which way domestic interest rates were headed. He dropped broad hints the policy rates in place since October last year should stay frozen at 4 percent for borrowing and 6 percent for lending. As reaction to this and to economic developments overseas, the local currency the peso posted a slight gain against the US dollar at the local currencies market, also known as the Philippine Dealing System (PDS). Data from the PDS showed the peso closing rate at 44.72 per dollar on Thursday, up from 44.75

Balance of payments. . . the $136-million surplus reported the previous month and the $345 million posted in the same month last year. It also brought the two-month BOP surplus position to $1.121 billion, reversing the $4.135-billion deficit reported in the comparable period last year. As a result, the 19-month-high surplus in February already exceeded the assumed $1-billion BOP

Megaworld. . .

MARCH 20, 2015 | FRIDAY

TODAY’S WEATHER

METRO MANILA

22 – 33°C

22 – 32°C

TUGUEGARAO

21 – 33°C

19 – 31°C

LAOAG

MAR 23 MONDAY

MAR 21 3-DAY SATURDAY EXTENDED FORECAST

MAR 22 SUNDAY

MAR 23 MONDAY

23 – 32°C

METRO CEBU

23 – 32°C

24 – 32°C

19 – 32°C

TACLOBAN

22 – 33°C

23 – 33°C

22 – 33°C

20 – 32°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO

BAGUIO CITY 15 – 26°C SBMA/CLARK 23 – 33°C TAGAYTAY CITY 20 – 29°C

22 – 32°C

23 – 34°C

24 – 34°C

24 – 33°C

22 – 34°C

21 – 34°C

BAGUIO

16 – 26°C

16 – 25°C

16 – 24°C

METRO DAVAO

SBMA/ CLARK

21 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

22 – 32°C

ZAMBOANGA

TUGUEGARAO CITY 20 – 34°C

METRO MANILA 22 – 32°C

MAR 22 SUNDAY

via the Circumferential Road. “It is envisioned to be a refreshing lifestyle district that will house upscale residential villages, mixed-use office and retail developments, leisure

LOW PRESSURE AREA WAS ESTIMATED AT 780 KM EAST OF BALER, AURORA (AS OF MARCH 19, 5:00 PM)

Trough of Low Pressure Area is an elongated region of LPA. It can bring in cloudy conditions and precipitation or cold air mass.

LAOAG CITY 21– 31°C

MAR 21 SATURDAY

excess the government set for 2015. Earlier ING Bank economist Joey Cuyegkeng said the country’s BOP should consistently rise during the year due to the low price of imported oil. “This year’s oil-import bill could be 30 percent lower than last year’s $13 billion—which could mean a narrower trade deficit at worst of at $2-billion surplus this year. This assumes a $60 per barrel of Dubai

TAGAYTAY

19 – 28°C

20 – 29°C

LEGAZPI

21 – 31°C

22 – 31°C

SUNRISE

SUNSET

MOONSET

MOONRISE

6:01 AM

6:07 PM

6:03 PM

5:38 AM

20 – 28°C

LEGAZPI CITY 20 – 30°C 20 – 30°C

oil and a 6-percent increase in oil demand,” Cuyegkeng said. “Such a development could bring the current account back up to around $8 billion to $9 billion this year,” he added. The country’s current account is a key component of the BOP. Likewise, foreign-portfolio investments, also known as “hot” money, flowed inward on net basis to $1.4 billion in February, reversing from the previous year.

Continued from A1

The development will be jointly developed with its unit Suntrust Properties Inc., and in partnership with the Lacson family. Megaworld said the two developments will be connected

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

Continued from A8

HALF MOON NEW MOON

LOW TIDEMANILA HIGH TIDE SOUTH HARBOR

and recreational amenities, as well as institutional facilities,” Megaworld said. “Just as what we have done with our other developments, we will transform the sugarcane fields into a bustling new district. Within five to 10 years, we envision this area to be the most sought-after business and lifestyle address for Negrenses,” Jericho Go, Megaworld senior vice president, said. Once completed, the two townships will generate around 250,000 direct and indirect jobs in BPO, construction, transportation, commercial and retail businesses. “We are still finalizing the master plans of the two townships. But one thing for sure, we will be able to provide thousands of jobs to the people of Negros once these two developments are completed,” Go said. The two townships are part of the five big developments that Megaworld will launch this year, as it plans to increase its mixeduse development portfolio from 15 to 20, with a total township land area of 3,100 hectares by the end of the year.

YINGLUCK TO BE TRIED OVER RICE SUBSIDY

PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR)

Continued from A8

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 23 – 31°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD 23 – 31°C METRO CEBU 24 – 31°C

TACLOBAN CITY 23 – 33°C

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 22 – 31°C

ZAMBOANGA CITY 21 – 34°C

MAR 14

PUERTO PRINCESA

24 – 32°C

23 – 32°C

ILOILO/ BACOLOD

23 – 32°C

23 – 33°C

1:48 AM

MAR 20 5:36 PM

Cloudy skies with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6

www.panahon.tv

SABAH CELEBES SEA

10:32 PM

0.93 METER

Partly cloudy to at times cloudy with rainshowers and/or thunderstorms

Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).

METRO DAVAO 24 – 34°C

4:37 AM

-0.01 METER

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January 26 speech in Bangkok. The court ordered Yingluck to appear on May 19. The antigraft agency, often accused of bias by Yingluck’s supporters, has also recommended a further 21 people, including former Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, be charged for alleged corruption linked to the rice program. The office of the attorney general filed the charges on March 17, accusing the former officials of faking a government-to-government rice deal. Should the court decide to take up the case and find Boonsong guilty, he could be jailed for life and ordered to pay a fine of 35.3 billion baht. Bloomberg News

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BusinessMirror Special Feature

Friday, March 20, 2015 A3

Economy

A4 Friday, March 20, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon

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Indian groups seek pharma deals with Pinoy firms

By Catherine N. Pillas

ndia is making a pitch for increased cooperation between the Philippines and the South Asian country in the pharmaceutical sector, as part of efforts to boost the bilateral trade between the two emerging economies. Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shri Lalduhthlana Ralte said in an interview this week that there is room for growth in terms of Philippines-India bilateral trade, with 2014’s tally only amounting to $1.8 billion. Although the amount was an improvement over 2013’s $1.5 billion, Ralte said there are sectors ripe for joint ventures between Filipino and Indian businesses, naming pharmaceuticals as one of them. “There is still much room for partnerships and joint ventures, especially in pharmaceutical. There is potential for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, specifically in the finishing of the products for domestic consumption and Asean markets,” said Ralte at the sidelines of an event organized by non-governmental organization Diwata. “We have to keep introducing our businessmen to each other and explore more areas,” Ralte said. Aside from pharmaceuticals, other areas that can be explored are food and fruit processing. Philippine exports to India, consisting mostly of electrical and electronic machinery and equipment, vege-

table or animal fats and oils, were valued at $600 million. India’s exports to the Philippines, a little over a billion dollars, were comprised of vehicle parts and components, pharamaceutical products and buffalo meat. A 26 - me m b e r b u s i ne s s delegation from India’s pharmaceutical sector visited the Philippines last week as part of their three-nation tour; the other countries being Cambodia and Vietnam. The pharma delegation consisted mainly of medium and small enterprises, with special focus on active pharmaceutical ingredients, formulations and herbal products. As for investments, India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd. has for med a consor tium w ith Megawide Construction Corp. for the renovation and expansion of Cebu-Mactan International Airport. The consortium was awarded the concession agreement last year, earmarking some P 18 billion (project cost) to rehabilitate the country’s second-busiest airport gateway. GMR Infrastructure is the fourth-largest private airport operator in the world.

MOBILE INTERNET FOR ALL

The Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Internet.org have forged a partnership that aims to give Filipinos better access to reliable mobile Internet. Photo shows (from left) Napoleon Nazareno, president and CEO of PLDT and Smart; actor Robin Padilla, a PLDT endorser; Markku Makelainen, director of Global Operator Partnerships; and Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT-Smart chairman during the announcement of the partnership. ROY DOMINGO

Atlas Mining revenues up 12 percent in 2014

tlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp.’s revenues went up 12 percent to 16.2 billion in 2014 on higher production and shipment volumes during the period. However, net profit went down owing to lower metal prices and

higher depreciation, financing and income-tax charges. Copper revenues, accounting for 85 percent of the company’s total revenues, grew by 10 percent to P13.7 billion, as concentrate shipments grew by 14 percent in 2014. Gold revenues grew by 17 percent to P1.3 billion. T he compa ny ’s whol ly owned subsidiary, Carmen Copper Corp., meanwhile, registered a 14-percent increase in its average daily milling throughput, from 43,000 tons per day in 2013 to 49,200 tons per day in 2014. Copper recovery likewise increased from 82 percent to 85 percent, which offset the lower

grade realized in 2014. The increase in daily miling throughput and improved copperrecovery system resulted in a 15-percent increase in copper production to 105.5 million pounds of copper metal in concentrate ,and gold output by 23 percent to 26,310 ounces. Berong Nickel Corp. (BNC), where Atlas Mining holds 25-percent equity interest, meanwhile, topped the 1 million wet metric tons mark for both production and shipment, as production grew more than twofold to 1.3 million wet metric tons. Shipments grew significantly by 58 percent. This allowed BNC to bounce back from its net-loss position to registering a net income of P322 million in 2014.

PPA aligning port operations with global best practices By Lorenz S. Marasigan

ELEGATES of the Port of San Francisco Commission inspected the ports in Manila early this week to observe how port operations are conducted in the Philippines, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) said on Thursday. The visit, the port body said in a statement, signifies the “strengthening” of Manila and San Francisco’s sister-port agreement, which was forged last year. “The visit is only the first under the agreement, which was entered into by both parties last year, to come up with several measures to facilitate the exchange of trade between the Ports of Manila and the Port of San Francisco,” the statement read. Under their partnership, both parties will share general information; policies and best practices on port planning and building; port management and operations; information technology; personnel training, environmental-protection measures; port safety and security; supply-chain logistics; and cruise tourism, among others. “It is also expected to encourage more trade and business opportunities between the two ports by promoting the relationship and benefits of doing business with the sister ports, and by stimulating port traffic and other port-related activities,” the statement read. The Ports of Manila, composed of the Manila International Container Terminal and the Manila South Harbor, handle about 85 percent of the Philippines’s foreign container trade, while the Port of San Francisco is America’s gateway to East Asia that offers major assets, such as naturally deep water, hundreds of square feet of covered storage, on-dock rails, acres of unobstructed lay-down space, and modern and well maintained cargo terminals. In 2011 the PPA also forged a sister-port agreement with Incheon in South Korea, which was primarily aimed at promoting trade and maritime transport between the two countries by way of mutual assistance and port cooperation, particularly in the field of port studies, training and apprenticeship, exchange of information, technical assistance, as well as traffic development and promotion of services between the two ports. The port body, in 2004, likewise, signed a sister-port agreement with China’s Guangzhou Port Authority that is intended to facilitate shipments of goods between Guangzhou and the ports of Manila and Davao. Aside from the Port of San Francisco, the PPA is also currently evaluating a pool of international ports that they plan to offer the same agreement. The state-run port authority is entering into such in its bid to increase the viability and competitiveness of Philippine ports and benchmark it to world standards.

briefs abad defends P22.4-B supplemental budget Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said the supplemental budget for 2014 worth P22.4 billion has been a huge help to the national government’s effort to the continue the rehabilitation efforts in the Supertyphoon Yolanda-affected areas in the Visayas. He said part of the funds worth P8 billion will go to the budget of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council that handles the reconstruction and rebuilding programs in the hardest-hit areas in the Visayas. He said the supplemental budget complements the 2015 national budget allocation worth P21.7 billion for the “Build Back Better” project that integrates a preventive approach with efforts that focus on climate-change adaptation and mitigation and disaster-risk reduction management actions and interventions. “Our country’s natural resources not only shower us with abundant riches but also provide us with a natural defense against typhoons and storms. That’s why proper management of resources is part of the administration’s strategy in climate-change mitigation to safeguard our countrymen against future calamities,” said Abad in a statement. Some P11 billion will cover the 2014 National Risk Reduction and Management Fund. Estrella Torres

group to build center for disaster operations AT a session hosted by Islamic Relief Worldwide at the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan, Rene “Butch” S. Meily, president of the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF), announced that the group will build a disasteroperations center to coordinate private-sector efforts for relief and recovery during major disasters. “We’ll be closely working with Undersecretary Alex Pama and the NDRMMC [National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council],” he said. PDRF is cochaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan, chairman of PLDT; Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, CEO of Ayala Corp.; and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. Meily said in disaster preparedness, the private sector must be engaged as full participants, and not just seen as donors. In his speech, he called for a global private sector disasterresponse network, preagreement among all actors—government, nongovernmental organizations, civil society, private sector, international agencies and military to work together during crisis, like the Japanese concept of kyoutei. He also emphasized the real power of private sector by providing incentives to invest in disaster areas through economic free-trade zone.

REPLACEMENT OF Mrt RAILS to continue on sunday Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3) will undergo another round of rail replacement works this coming weekend, as part of government’s effort to enhance the safety of Metro Manila’s most utilized railway system. This time, however, regular Saturday operating hours will be observed, while the Sunday opening will be at 10 a.m. “Our continuing efforts to enhance the safety of the MRT 3 system include rail replacement works, which we are scheduling in such a way as to cause the least inconvenience to passengers,” the transportation chief said. Around 192 meters’ worth of rails will be replaced on the northbound tracks between the Taft Avenue and Magallanes stations. The train line will also receive the recently procured 7,296 linear meters’ worth of brandnew steel rails by June 2015. Abaya added that the train system’s toilet-rehabilitation project is ongoing. “All 63 toilets of the MRT-3 system will be rehabilitated by September 2015, with the first two toilets to be completed next month.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

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Economy BusinessMirror

Friday, March 20, 2015 A5

new minimum daily pay only 44% of the estimated P1,088 that a family of six needs to keep up with rising cost of living

P15 wage hike meaningless–IBON

he recent wage increase in Metro Manila is meaningless, as the new minimum daily pay of Filipino workers is only two-fifths (44 percent) of the estimated amount needed for a family to live decently, according to research group IBON Foundation.

The Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region (NCR) issued a P15 wage hike this week, increasing the daily minimum wage to P481. IBON said the increase is so small, it fails to even come close to the estimated family living wage, which is pegged at P1,088 for a family of six. This is aggravated by how the increase is insignificant to keep up with the rising cost of living. The research group added that a low wage increase stifles the potential of the labor market to spur economic activity. “More than half of the total labor force are wage and salary workers, and this is a potentially very large market, whose demand for and consumption of various goods and services could spur economic activity. However, this considerable potential is stifled by how only 71 percent of these workers receive the minimum wage, or even less than the minimum wage,” the think tank said. According to IBON, higher wages have dynamic multiplier effects on the economy, because a wage-led growth is an internal and more sustainable source of economic growth than external markets. Moreover, low-income households, which are lacking in basic necessities, have a high tendency to consume than high-income households that are inclined to save. “A substantial wage increase will also benefit micro, small and medium enterprises that produce goods for the local market that will consumed by those who receive a wage hike. It will also benefit the informal economy in worker communities, when additional wages will be used to pay vendors, sari-sari stores, small eateries, jeepney and tricycle drivers and others,” IBON said. The research group added that the workers’ demand for a P16,000 monthly minimum wage is affordable, and will only cost firms an average of 17.1-percent cut in profits. “Accepting this slight reduction still leaves them with considerable profit, and will not be inflationary by not passing the costs to consumers. Granting workers a substantial wage increase will improve the welfare of workers and will provide their families much-needed respite from the increasing cost of living,” it said.

Newly opened Segment 9 to help end port congestion

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

he P1.59-billion Segment 9 connecting the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) to MacArthur Highway in Valenzuela City started commercial operations on Thursday, a top official of the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) said on Thursday. The 2.42-kilometer expressway, which provides motorists an alternate access to Valenzuela City and Manila port areas through the thoroughfare to the north, is expected to ease traffic on major thoroughfares and arteries in Metro Manila, MNTC President Rodrigo E. Franco added. “Vehicles going to Camanava via Nlex can take the west-bound ramp at the Smart Connect Interchange, proceed through Segment 9 and take MacArthur Highway, instead of exiting at the Valenzuela Interchange and passing through the congested Maysan Road. Vehicles going to the Port Area can take the same route and pass by Monumento in Caloocan, instead of exiting at Balintawak and going through traffic-heavy Edsa,” he explained. By easing the traffic, Segment 9 will dramatically facilitate the movement of people and goods between Central and North Luzon and Metro Manila, particularly the Camanava area. “By linking Nlex and MacArthur Highway, we expect to see increased economic activities in these areas, since it will improve transport logistics through the more efficient movement of trucks,” Franco added. Segment 9 features two vehicular overpasses and two pedestrian overpasses, and is equipped with toll-collection system, traffic management and telecommunication systems, median lighting, lane markings, signages, emergency call boxes and laybays. The new alignment requires motorists to pay the same toll fees as those currently collected in the existing Nlex Open System. Toll rates amount to P45 for Class 1 vehicles (cars, jeepneys, pickup trucks and vans), P114 for Class 2 vehicles (two-axle trucks, buses and vans), and P136 for Class 3 vehicles (trucks and trailers with three or more axles). The economic benefits that Segment 9 will bring are expected to increase further when Segment 10 of the Nlex Harbor Link is finished in late 2016. Stretching 5.65 km long, Segment 10 will largely be an elevated expressway, directly linking Nlex and MacArthur Highway to Manila’s Port Area district. The P10-billion alignment will primarily cater to port traffic and is envisioned to significantly speed up and reduce the cost of the transport of goods from Central and Northern Luzon to the country’s premier harbors. The two alignments will be linked via the Nlex Karuhatan Valenzuela Interchange. “When Segments 9 and 10 become operational, the country’s port-congestion problem will be a thing of the past,” Franco said, adding that his company is projecting an average daily traffic of roughly 27,000 vehicles for Segment 9 during its first year of operation.

A6 Friday, March 20, 2015

Opinion BusinessMirror

editorial

LPG safety bill: It’s about time

HEY are an integral part of the everyday lives of Filipinos—from the richest to the poorest households. And every one of us has looked at one of these liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks thinking what would happen if something went wrong.

It seems like every few months there is another incident where, through misuse or mishandling, there is a major fire with headlines like “LPG tanks explode, cause fire in Parañaque.” However, in 2011, the Bureau of Fire Protection and the LPG Industry Association reported that five out of 10 tanks of LPG in the market were defective and substandard. Fire Chief Supt. Santiago Laguna said the most common causes of LPGinduced fires in homes and establishments are defective hoses, incorrect installation of the pressure regulators and cylinder valves that were left open. There is misuse and mishandling. Nonetheless, if 50 percent of all tanks are bombs just waiting to go off, it is a crime and something has not been done to correct this problem. There are about 12 million LPG tanks in use at any given time, with about 3 million needing repairs and another 3 million that are so worn-out that they should be discarded. All this information was available at least four years ago, but it is only now that the House of Representatives is getting nearer to passing a law to regulate and help control this situation through the LPG Industry Regulation and Safety Act, which is long overdue. From a news release by House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Arnel Ty: “The bill requires every LPG installation, including centralized underground pipelines, to obtain and renew annually a highly improved standard compliance certificate to be issued by the Department of Energy.” Further, “the measure, likewise, regulates the manufacture, requalification, exchange, swapping or improvement of LPG cylinders, and provides adequate strategies to guarantee that every tank coming out of a refilling plant has gone through painstaking security checks.” Of course, there are going to be those unscrupulous companies and individuals that will do everything they can to skirt the law to increase their profits. But, at least, the government is taking proactive steps to stop this potential life-threatening practice of selling bad products to the public. Do we dare ask which vested interests have spent time and money delaying this legislation? This is a no-brainer and what the legislature is supposed to be doing. Identify and substantiate that a genuine problem exists. Bring in the technical experts to offer solutions and the “legal eagles” to draft penalties for violation. Then pass the law. But the LPG Industry Regulation and Safety Act is not a law yet, and it should be enacted as quickly as possible.

The errand boy’s story James Jimenez

spox

HIS is the profoundly disturbing story, told by an errand boy, about people who loudly proclaim their devotion to democratic principles, even as they secretly worked to undermine the very bedrock of democracy. Apparently, so the story went, a handful of politicians who found no favor with the electorate managed to convince themselves that they had been cheated of their victory. In their discontent, they reached out to others who felt the same about their own political losses. They would hold meetings in the night, and wonder how they could get redress for the wrong they felt had been dealt them. It was only a matter of time before they made contact with another disgruntled politician who, it seemed, had the answer they were seeking. A plan, so simple and straightforward, that looked impossible to fail. The only problem was that they needed to break the law in order to make it work. At this point, I harbored some hope that the protagonists would choose the higher ground and simply dismiss the proffered plan as something they would have no part in. After all, don’t we always say that the ends cannot

justify the means? Unfortunately, the story goes that the idea was, instead, met with enthusiasm, as plans were quickly drawn up, discarded and reconceptualized. At the end of it all, a potential ally was identified, and the blueprint for wrongdoing was quickly put in motion. In the cool environs of the mountains, the cold-blooded scheme kicked into gear. Using all the influence they had at their disposal, the plotters secured for their errand boy an entry into the place where ballot boxes from the last elections were stored, supposedly secured by local officials. A box was selected at random and forcibly opened, breaking the seal of the trust reposed in that ballot box by the very voters that the plotters claimed to love. It was a wonder they did not choke on the irony of that. Without hesitation, the worthy errand boy grabbed ballots from within and unceremoniously stuffed

them into his backpack, stopping only when he could fit in no more. When he looked into the box, it seemed that he had left half untaken. I could only imagine the frisson of excitement that ran through the plotters when they heard that the deed had been done. Here, at last, they must have thought, was the key to their reascension into the places of power where they felt they belonged. Here, at last. And yet, doesn’t it always seem that just when we are at the peak of our joy, we find ourselves thrown back down? When the errand boy, safely concealed in his hotel room, looked at his loot, he realized that the evidence of wrongdoing wasn’t there. The ballots tracked the final results closely, indicating that the votes had been read accurately and reported out faithfully. Seeking guidance from the disgruntled politician who had come up with the plan in the first place, the errand boy was told to add marks on the ballots to make it appear that the results were, in fact, wrong. Obediently, the errand boy placed additional marks throughout the ballots he had, increasing the vote count for their potential ally—the better to convince him that he, too, was cheated out of the winners’ circle— and, through overvoting, effectively decreasing the votes garnered by the validly elected incumbent. Suddenly, the ballots that had originally given witness to the accuracy of the

system being blamed for the political misfortunes of the plotters now stood ready to offer false testimony for a diabolical scheme to defraud the Filipino electorate. With the plan executed to perfection, it was inevitable that the plotters felt empowered to brag about the “evidence” they had. They took the stolen ballots on road shows, exhibiting them to all who cared to listen, giving assurances that these were genuine ballots. So confident were they that they held these ballots over the heads of everyone who disagreed with them, like some Damocletian sword hanging by a single horsehair that they assured they would clip as soon as they got a guarantee of transactional immunity. For those who have not heard of that term before, transactional immunity means you will only confess to a crime in exchange for the guarantee that you won’t be prosecuted for it. This is also known as having your cake and eating it, too. For a while, it seemed that everything had been wrapped up neatly. But these alliances—cemented by a shared fear of discovery—last only so long, as everyone continues to benefit. Unfortunately for the plotters, they decided to kick the errand boy to the curb. And so he decided to kick back by telling this story. Make of it what you will. James Jimenez is the spokesman of the Commission on Elections.

opinion@businessmirror.com.ph

Opinion

Primer on happiness

This beast called beauty contest

BusinessMirror

Tito Genova Valiente

Edsel L. Beja Jr.

EAGLE WATCH

ARCH 20 is International Day of Happiness. In the spirit of the occasion, Eagle Watch devotes a column to this thing called “happiness.”

Two kinds of happiness

HAPPINESS in the first instance is “emotional happiness”—that is, it is about positive and negative feelings. This can be measured as the number of times that people felt cheerful, inspired, etc., (i.e., positive feelings) and the number of times they felt upset, afraid, etc. (i.e., negative feelings) in a specified period like yesterday or today. The item to ask could be “Did you feel excited today?” or “Did you smile a lot yesterday?” for positive feelings; and, correspondingly, “Did you feel upset today?” or “Did you feel worried a lot yesterday?” for negative feelings. Why take the trouble of measuring positive and negative feelings? One reason is that emotions convey useful information about the people’s state of being. Researchers can thus look at the net value of the positive and negative feelings as a proxy measure of their short-term well-being: higher amounts mean the people are happier. Another reason, and perhaps a more important one, is that positive and negative feelings are not exactly mathematical inverses of each other. As such, decreases in negative feelings do not lead to increases in positive feelings. In an extreme case, the absence of negative feelings does not mean the situation is all right—this condition is, in fact, a psychopathological marker. The point is this: society is not necessarily better off when fewer people say that they are miserable. Happiness in another instance is “evaluative happiness”—that is, it is a cognitive evaluation of how people’s lives are going. The evaluation can be about life in general or about life domains in particular. For life, in general, the query could be “How happy are you with your life as a whole?” For life domains, say, financial domain, the query could be “How happy are you with the financial situation of your family?” Researchers can then use the responses as proxy measures of the people’s long-term well-being: higher values mean the people are happier. Note that the cognition-based and the feeling-based responses entail different and distinct process. As such, it is possible that people exhibit positive dispositions but they disapprove of how their lives

are proceeding. For example, people in poverty may be smiling at you but deep inside they really want a better life.

Happiness and public policy

THERE are at least three reasons happiness is useful for public policy. First, the measurement of happiness presents information about the state of being in a society that cannot be inferred from the standard indicators. For instance, the inflation rate is an indicator of whether goods and services are affordable, but the people’s happiness on the inflation rate is an indicator of whether they find the goods and services affordable. Happiness data can therefore augment the information presented by standard indicators. Second, the happiness methodology helps clarify the impact of public policy on people’s lives. If so, happiness can serve as a criterion on which to benchmark such an evaluation. A high economic growth rate, for instance, is no longer ipso facto desirable because the happiness approach requires that one also look at how such achievement enables the people to pursue the “good life.” That is, a robust economic growth rate must be viewed in terms of how it affects the aspects of life that are most important to the people. A third, but related to the second, reason concerns the introduction of the happiness methodology as an alternative framework for analyzing resource allocation and valuation of non-marketed goods. In brief, the happiness approach discards market prices but, instead looks at the tradeoff between a good and a numeraire in the context of what people hold dear as indicated by their well-being. In so doing, the happiness approach presents a way out of the problem about the people being not effective or not relevant when corporate power, political expediency, and elite interest control the resource allocation and valuation in society.

Prospects

STUDYING happiness leads to new insights about societies and provides fresh inputs for the design of public policy. The key challenge of course is mainstreaming happiness. Dr. Edsel L. Beja Jr. is a research faculty at Ateneo de Manila University.

annotations S Toni Gonzaga anti-beauty? But she dresses up and even promotes beauty products? Does she have anything against beauty pageants? But she accepted the hosting job.

The winners have been declared but no one is talking about them. In other words, the new Binibini have been named. Maidens of pulchritude, of beauty and brains, they say. On Facebook, a few photos are posted but which very few individuals are concerned about. People are talking about the host, Toni Gonzaga and her so-called witticisms. Or insults. Strange that a pleasant and lovely beginning had turned sour. I am talking about Gonzaga walking in, dwarfed by a dress that threatened to engulf her co-host. Observers in hindsight are saying the danger sign came early on when one of the judges called was comedian Vice Ganda. The air was rife with anxious anticipation that Vice Ganda would have fun at the expense of the candidates. Well, he was not in a physical position to do that. And in a lovely twist in the event, audiences declare the comedian as in his best form, good manners and right conduct lending sparkle to his huge celebrity. Even the question composed by Vice Ganda was short and sweet, not ponderous at all. Which cannot be said of Gonzaga as a significant chunk of annotators and bloggers and tweeters indicate in their posts. There was a general feeling Gonzaga was not only ill-mannered but also ill at ease in her newfound task as a host of a beauty pageant. She had poise, some bloggers commented but her tongue was vicious. There was a surplus of confidence in that lithe body that bordered on arrogance, many stated in their Facebook postings. She asked one contestant about a second time as contestant. The obvious reference being that the woman would lose this year and she could always compete next year. Sober perspectives remind Gonzaga that the role of the host is to make the beauty contestants feel relaxed because they were already flustered and tired from all the rehearsals. But Gonzaga was having a ball in that ball gown at the expense of practically all the contestants. She even dared touch the earrings of one contestant and sang a song about the chandelier dangling by the earlobe of the poor contestant. She made fun of a contestant’s family name; she even created pun out of judge’s surname. It was good her French was not good

enough. Can you imagine if she did know some French and proceeded to poke fun at how Xian Lim called the French ambassador “Gill,” instead of what should have sounded like “Zhella”? Well, the god of embassies and goodwill is kind. How do we deal then with the circus whose one-night ringmaster was Toni Gonzaga. Allow me to anthropologize. Perhaps, Toni Gonzaga saw the banners and numbers being hoisted and realized she was in a cockpit rather than in pageant hall. As the people that night (and in previous nights) became rowdier, the host started getting the bad vibes and loud energy from the crowd. Beauty pageants, after all, have been

Confronting and ending anti-Semitism

By Michael Douglas | Los Angeles Times/TNS

AST summer our family went to Southern Europe on holiday. During our stay at a hotel, our son Dylan went to the swimming pool. A short time later he came running back to the room, upset. A man at the pool had started hurling insults at him. My first instinct was to ask, “Were you misbehaving?” “No,” Dylan told me through his tears. I stared at him. And suddenly I had an awful realization of what might have caused the man’s outrage: Dylan was wearing a Star of David. After calming him down, I went to the pool and asked the attendants to point out the man who had yelled at him. We talked. It was not a pleasant discussion. Afterward, I sat down with my son and said: “Dylan, you just had your first taste of anti-Semitism.” My father, Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, is Jewish. My mother, Diana, is not. I had no formal religious upbringing from either of them, and the two kids I have with Catherine Zeta-Jones are like me, growing up with one parent who is

Jewish and one who is not. Several years ago Dylan, through his friends, developed a deep connection to Judaism, and when he started going to Hebrew school and studying for his bar mitzvah, I began to reconnect with the religion of my father. While some Jews believe that not having a Jewish mother makes me not Jewish, I have learned the hard way that those who hate do not make such fine distinctions. Dylan’s experience reminded me of my first encounter with antiSemitism, in high school. A friend saw someone Jewish walk by, and with no provocation he confidently told me: “Michael, all Jews cheat in business.” “What are you talking about?” I said. “Michael, come on,” he replied. “Everyone knows that.”

With little knowledge of what it meant to be a Jew, I found myself passionately defending the Jewish people. Now, half a century later, I have to defend my son. Anti-Semitism, I’ve seen, is like a disease that goes dormant, flaring up with the next political trigger. In my opinion there are three reasons anti-Semitism is appearing now with renewed vigilance. The first is that, historically, it always grows more virulent whenever and wherever the economy is bad. In a time when income disparity is growing, when hundreds of millions of people live in abject poverty, some find Jews to be a convenient scapegoat rather than looking at the real source of their problems. A second root cause of anti-Semitism derives from an irrational and misplaced hatred of Israel. Far too many people see Israel as an apartheid state and blame the people of an entire religion for what, in truth, are internal national-policy decisions. Does anyone really believe that the innocent victims in that kosher shop in Paris and at that bar mitzvah in Denmark had anything to do with Israeli-Palestinian policies

DOUGLAS

or the building of settlements 2,000 miles away? The third reason is simple demographics. Europe is now home to more than 40 million Muslims, twice the world’s entire Jewish population. Within any religious community that large, there will always be an extremist fringe, people who are radicalized and driven with hatred, while rejecting what all religions need to preach—respect, tolerance and love. We’re now seeing the amplified effects of that small, radicalized element. With the Internet, its virus of hatred can now speed from nation to nation, helping fuel Europe’s new epidemic of anti-Semitism.

Friday, March 20, 2015

criticized as commodifying women. There must be another way to look at the Gonzaga fiasco. A bigger picture is warranted, a meta-criticism, if you wish, is needed to make sense of that night. Gonzaga holding court instead of microphone is the blasting metaphor for beauty competitions. It is a cutthroat competition no more and no less. One does not savor a pageant, one survives it. The survivors are those who can smile the widest after hours and hours of practices and presentations. There are academies out there with the zeal of an abbot ready to transform women from ordinary to extraordinary creatures. There are men and women out there who know right away if a contestant merits tutoring on world events. And there are beauty-queen hopefuls who can memorize set answers and use them to respond to any question. Ask a question and give an answer, for that is all that is needed to form a beauty queen. Just say at the beginning “I believe” and finish the answer with “That is all, thank you” and you have a winner. For all the franchise and goodwill, beauty pageants cannot be taken

seriously. Just look at the titles at stake: Miss Supranational and Miss Intercontinental. Then, there is the Miss International. If those were not enough consider winning the title of the woman representing Miss Universe and you have a contest that is really more for fun rather than that for conquest of territory. The fact of the matter is the contestants can join over and over till they get the title. Perhaps, that was what bothered Gonzaga. The fact of the matter is the beauty pageants in this country have developed vocabulary already to cope with the temerity of some of our women. There are repeaters and crossovers, the latter to mean that some who have won titles in other competition with different franchise can go to the other competitions. Truth hurts and Gonzaga’s words bristled that night at the Araneta Coliseum. The comments all uncalled for were valid and true. What Gonzaga should have done was to skip altogether that hosting job and, instead, do a sitcom on beauty pageants and beauty queens. Then we would have cheered her.

It is time for each of us to speak up against this hate. Speaking up is the responsibility of our political leaders. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has made it clear that anti-Semitism violates the morals and spirit of France and that violent anti-Semitic acts are a crime against all French people that must be confronted, combated and stopped. He challenged his nation to tell the world: Without its Jews, France would no longer be France. Speaking up is the responsibility of our religious leaders, and Pope Francis has used his powerful voice to make his position and that of the Catholic Church clear, saying: “It’s a contradiction that a Christian is anti-Semitic. His roots are Jewish. Let anti-Semitism be banished from the heart and life of every man and every woman.” In New York, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan is well-known for building a bridge to the Jewish community. His words and actions and the pope’s are evidence of the reconciliation between two major religions, an inspiring example of how a past full of persecution and embedded hostility can be overcome.

It’s also the responsibility of regular citizens to take action. In Oslo members of the Muslim community joined their fellow Norwegians to form a ring of peace at a local synagogue. Such actions give me hope— they send a message that together, we can stand up to hatred of the Jewish people. So that is our challenge in 2015, and all of us must take it up. Because if we confront anti-Semitism whenever we see it, if we combat it individually and as a society, and use whatever platform we have to denounce it, we can stop the spread of this madness. My son is strong. He is fortunate to live in a country where antiSemitism is rare. But now he, too, has learned of the dangers that he as a Jew must face. It’s a lesson that I wish I didn’t have to teach him, a lesson I hope he will never have to teach his children.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

Michael Douglas, award-winning actor/producer and United Nations messenger of peace, received the 2015 Genesis Prize, which honors “exceptional people whose values and achievements will inspire the next generation of Jews.” He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.

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A8 Friday, March 20, 2015

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PHL told to reshape food policies T

By Cai U. Ordinario

he International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is urging middle-income countries, like the Philippines, to reshape their food system to attain food security for all.

In its 2014-2015 Global Food Policy Report, the IFPRI said food systems can be reshaped by focusing on nutrition and health, closing the gender gap in agriculture and improving rural infrastructure. “It may seem counterintuitive,

but these growing economies play a key role in our ability to adequately and nutritiously feed the world,” IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan said. “It has become clear that the factors that influence people’s

dramatic reductions in open defecation contributed to large declines in the number of stunted children. The research found that Bangladeshi children living in places where open defecation had been reduced were taller than children in neighboring West Bengal, India, where open defecation is still common, even at the same levels of economic wealth. The report also discussed the strong evidence that food insecurity was a contributing factor to instability in the Middle East. Food insecurity also draws attention to the pressing need to regulate food production to prevent food-borne diseases. The IFPRI also said there’s a need to help small-family farmers move up by increasing their incomes or move out to nonfarm employment, as well as improve social protection for the rural poor. The institute also urged governments to help support the role of small-scale fishermen in satisfying the global demand for fish. “We made some important strides toward global food and nutrition security in 2014,” Fan noted. “For example, nutrition shot up to the top of the global agenda and the concept of climate-smart agriculture has gained a foothold. Now we need to keep these and other food-policy issues high on the global development agenda to ensure we eliminate hunger and malnutrition worldwide,” Fan said. The IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world.

nutrition go well beyond food and agriculture to include drinking water and sanitation, the role of women and the quality of caregiving, among others,” he added. Reshaping food systems in countries like the Philippines may be crucial given the serious threat posed by climate change to food security. The IFPRI noted that the Philippines continues to struggle with the damage caused by Supertyphoon Yolanda (inter nationa l code name Haiyan) on its food supply. Another typhoon, Ruby (international code name Hagupit), also caused significant damage to the farm sector. T he e x t e nt o f t he damage wrought by Yolanda and other succeeding typhoons forced the national government to push back its rice self-sufficiency target to 2016. “Looking toward the future, the region continues to focus on major food-security challenges caused by the 2008 food-price crisis, although a certain sense of satisfaction is justified, as the region has not experienced another rice-price spike, even though global markets for wheat and corn have been quite unstable,” the report stated. The report also stresses the link between sanitation and nutrition, noting findings in Bangladesh that show

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS SURPLUS EXCEEDED GOVT TARGET IN FEBRUARY By Bianca Cuaresma

he country’s transactions with the rest of the world, as reflected in the balance of payments (BOP), continued to gain strength following a disappointing deficit last year, its surplus state having exceeded the government target in February this year by more than $100 million. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday

Yingluck. . .

See “Balance of payments,” A2

Continued from A1

Yingluck’s party swept into office in 2011 elections, in part by appealing to Thailand’s millions of rice farmers with a plan to buy their crops at abovemarket rates. Yingluck said the program was aimed at reducing inequality by boosting rural incomes, while her opponents said it was ill-conceived, encouraged corruption and was a form of vote buying. Once implemented, the program was criticized by exporters for distorting the market and dethroning Thailand as the largest rice exporter. International rating companies, including Moody’s Investors Service voiced concern that the subsidies strained public finances.

Mounting losses

reported a surplus in the BOP totaling $985 million in February, the widest in 19 months, or since July 2013, when the surplus aggregated only $1.099 billion. A surplus in the BOP means that the country’s foreign-currency earnings were more than enough to cover its foreign-currency expenditures. February’s figure represented an acceleration from

The National Anti-Corruption Commission ruled last July, two months after Yingluck’s government was overthrown, that she was negligent for failing to halt the program after being warned of losses that grew to an estimated 500 billion baht ($15.3 billion). The

junta’s hand-picked legislature, the majority of members with links to the military, then voted in January to retroactively impeach her. The top US diplomat to visit Thailand since the coup, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, angered the junta shortly after when he said the case against Yingluck didn’t appear to be fair.

‘Politically driven’

“When an elected leader is removed from office, is deposed, then impeached by the authorities—the same authorities who conducted the coup—and then when a political leader is targeted with criminal charges at a time when the basic democratic processes and institutions of a country are interrupted, the international community is going to be left with the impression that these steps could, in fact, be politically driven,” Russel said in a Continued on A2