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Duterte admin expands funding source for ambitious infra upgrade plan

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BBB program gains headway

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

rom a bias on deals developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, the government has taken a different leaning on infrastructure growth, with its eyes now keen on building more infrastructure through bilateral loans and taxpayers’ money.

Economic managers agreed that the key to ushering in the Philippines to the vaunted “golden age of infrastructure” is political will. Just recently, the Duterte administration decided to pursue its own key infrastructure program called Build, Build, Build (BBB).

This is the heart of President

Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address in 2016, when he vowed to increase the spending on public infrastructure to 7.4 percent of the country’s GDP through 2022.

The program, which was launched a few days ago, was met with support from the general public and the private sector.

WHAT IS BBB? COINED after President Duterte mentioned the phrase during his first State of the Nation Address, the Build, Build, Build (BBB) program is the government’s “most ambitious infrastructure plan,” which is deemed as the solution to traffic congestion, the high cost of prices, the demand for efficient mass transport projects, and the need for more jobs.

It requires the cooperation of the following agencies to be a success: the Departments of finance, budget, public works, transportation, National Economic Development Authority and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Currently, there are 36 infrastructure projects are listed in a Web portal (www.build.gov.ph). These are “envisioned to increase the productive capacity of the economy, create jobs, increase incomes, and strengthen the investment climate leading to sustained inclusive growth.”

Included in the pipeline are the Connector Road, the Mega Manila Subway, the North-South Railway Project, the New Clark Green City, and the Regional Airports Development Program.

A huge portion of the projects may sound all too familiar, as they were jumpstarted by previous administrations, but were not pursued due to time and legal constraints. Lorenz S. Marasigan

“This administration appears thoroughly focused on building up the country’s infra because it is a prerequisite to our transformation from an exclusive and uneven growth path toward an economy that is truly inclusive,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.

Over the next six years, the government will spend roughly P8.4 trillion to build, modernize and rehabilitate new and old infrastructure, as the country plays catch-up with its neighbors in terms of adequacy of transportation facilities, energy and water supply, and other socioeconomic needs.

From 2018 to 2020, the government will undertake its P3.6-trillion Three-Year Rolling Infrastructure Program, which is mainly focused on the development of transportation facilities

throughout the Philippines.

Bias on ‘hybrids’

Despite being gift-wrapped with an intergenerational pipeline of 53 projects worth P1.5 trillion, Duterte’s economic team is now more keen on pursuing its own infrastructure development program.

Dominguez explained that the apparent shift in bias was borne out of the nature of PPP deals, which he described as too slow in movement, when compared to projects that are under official development assistance (ODA) and General Appropriations Act (GAA) funding.

“The past admin ‘PPP-ed’ the projects out. But to get a project from an idea, it takes around 30 months to do so. So we decided to take the projects ourselves, then, Continued on A2

Bemedaled AFP commanders lead campaign vs ASG, Maute Group

‘Great leap’ in PHL’s antiterror drive

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By Rene Acosta

ith two of the most decorated and best commanders of the military leading the operations on the ground, the campaign against the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and other terrorist groups in Mindanao is making a decisive gain as shown by the recent killings of two of the ASG’s most active, elusive and dreaded leaders.

PESO exchange rates n US 49.9270

While the Armed Forces usually measures the results of its campaign on the number of enemy casualties, which is not necessarily the yardstick for the overall success of any operation, the deaths of ASG subleaders Muamar Askali alias Abu Rami and Alhabsy Misaya were a “great leap” in the antiterrorism campaign.

After all, the two terrorist leaders, who have managed to elude the massive and continuing operations of the military until their deaths, have taken the notoriety of the ASG to new heights by perfecting the bloody and lucrative art of kidnapping and resurrecting

it for their group, which, in the process, have enriched the ASG by way of ransom money.

Misaya and Askali were notoriously feared since they have the habit of decapitating their captives once their demand for ransom is not met. Both belonged to the second and third generations, respectively, of leaders of Mindanao’s most notorious group.

‘Experts’

Various reports from the military have tagged Misaya and his group as responsible for some of the daring kidnappings that were perpetrated at sea by the ASG, with

most of the cases carried out on Mindanao’s border waters with Malaysia and Indonesia, by intercepting and boarding transiting vessels.

Misaya and his followers even traveled to Sabah to take captives, whom they would later move to Sulu where they negotiate for their victims’ freedom by way of ransom money.

The military said that in March last year, Misaya and his group kidnapped 10 Indonesians aboard a tugboat and a barge in the waters of Sulu, while the sailors were bringing in coal to the

₧250M The amount of ransom money Askali got in exchange for the freedom of German couple Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen

Continued on A2

n japan 0.4440 n UK 64.5157 n HK 6.4155 n CHINA 7.2404 n singapore 35.6545 n australia 36.9809 n EU 54.8448 n SAUDI arabia 13.3139

Source: BSP (5 May 2017 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, May 7, 2017

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BBB program gains headway Continued from A1

upon completion, bid out the operations and maintenance,” he said.

In a nutshell, these so-called hybrid deals are infrastructure whose construction will be shouldered by the government, but their operations and maintenance components will be tendered to the private sector.

“Projects will be financed by our taxes, ODA funds and commercial loans. We plan to start projects ourselves, then bid out operations and maintenance once completed,” Dominguez said.

Hybrids, however, are downgraded forms of partnership between the government and the private sector, at least for American Chamber of Commerce Senior Advisor John D. Forbes.

“There appears to be a fundamental change to downgrade the potential of PPPs and replace them with so-called hybrid PPPs, with such projects focusing on awarding the operations and maintenance of assets paid for with domestic or foreign ODA financing and probably built by the public sector with domestic or foreign construction firms,” he said.

‘No one size fits all’

Despite this, stakeholders in the PPP arena vowed to continue on supporting the government in its endeavors to deliver quality infrastructure to common Filipinos.

They agreed that it doesn’t matter which mode of project development the administration will undertake or be leaning toward to, what matters is that infrastructure will be delivered in a timely and corruption-free fashion.

“PPP, ODA and GAA are simply different modes to build infrastructure. As builders and partners, we fully support the development of the country’s infrastructure in the most cost-effective and quickest ways possible,” GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. President Louie B. Ferrer

told the BusinessMirror.

Megawide Construction Corp. holds the title with the most number of PPP deals bagged during the course of the Noynoy Aquino administration.

“The country’s main concern is infrastructure investment, and these three provide avenues for this. That being said, there is no ‘one size fits all’ mode for infrastructure investment, so we believe a combination of all three would be to our advantage,” he added.

For instance, Ferrer said, PPPs can bring private-sector efficiency and money into a project. On the other end, GAA gives the government independence to develop infrastructure on its own terms, from financing to development.

ODAs, on the other hand, are lowinterest loans that require the government to hire contractors from the benefactor’s home country.

Aboitiz Infra Capital Inc. Chief Operating Officer Randall C. Antonio likewise aired his group’s support to the new infrastructure thrust, but noted that private-sector cooperation is still needed in order for development to be sustainable.

“We support all of the administration’s efforts to establish and operate physical infrastructure vital to the country’s economic development and prosperity. We believe that the private sector’s capital and expertise still can continue to play a role in this effort,” he told the BusinessMirror.

Risky endeavor

Integrity Initiative Inc. Vice President Henry J. Schumacher added that the government must ensure that it has the capacity to take on projects by itself in order to ensure that they are sustainable.

“We all want infrastructure.

I believe all three systems—PPP, ODA and GAA—should be used.

My concerns are in the area of implementation and regulation,” he said.

Schumacher explained that in implementing projects, there is

the risk of too much projects being undertaken by an agency or a local government unit (LGU) that it will be hard to manage them.

“There will be severe bottlenecks to manage the projects in government agencies and LGUs. Much more capacity building will be needed,” he said.

Aside from right-of-way issues, Schumacher also cited the “unfair” regulation against foreign companies, as this hinders the entry of new technologies to infrastructure projects.

“The unfair policies against foreign contractors, as executed by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board, will hinder the entry of new infra technologies at the BBB,” he said.

Antonio added that the government must be transparent and fair throughout the bidding process, as a significant portion of its program will be funded by taxpayers’ money.

“Guiding principles of transparency and fairness should remain at the forefront of the procurement process, regardless of funding modality, so that Filipino taxpayers and facility end-users still get the best value for money not only when the infrastructure is built, but also when it is operated in the future,” he said.

‘Continue PPP’

Stakeholders are still confident that the government can continue or even surpass the momentum that the previous administration has achieved in terms of infrastructure development.

“Megawide remains optimistic despite the delays currently being experienced by projects. We also hope for its acceleration so that these projects can be finished within this term. President Duterte has been very sincere in his promises for the people; while BBB seems to be an audacious move, it is nevertheless this administration’s vehicle to deliver on projects that have long been needed and awaited,”

Ferrer said.

While the BBB program is a commendable plan, Forbes said, the government must ensure that it will be rolled out as planned.

“BBB is a great slogan and will be a great program if implemented as planned. Who wouldn’t welcome it as something everyone agrees is badly needed?” he said.

Currently, the country’s infrastructure portfolio is far behind its neighbors in the Asean, no thanks to the government’s underspending on infrastructure over the course of three administrations.

During the entire 16 years of the Estrada, Macapagal and Aquino administrations, only four new light-rail stations were completed, despite the increasingly serious traffic congestion.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) is also bursting at the seams, with congestion levels peaking at 40 percent above capacity.

“It has been taking much too long to build many major projects, despite the strongly increased infrastructure spending in 2015 and 2016 to 5.1 percent of GDP. Also, the goal or raising total public-sector spending on infrastructure to 7.4 percent of GDP by 2022 from 5.1 percent in 2016 represents an enormous amount of increased spending on infrastructure,” Forbes said.

“Since investors have identified poor infrastructure as the biggest constraint on the Philippine economy, investors will strongly welcome the completion of the projects included in the BBB program,” he added.

Hence it is extremely crucial for the PPP program to persist, as private-sector investment will help the government in realigning its budget to other needs, such as education, housing, food production and health.

“It is important to continue the PPP program as it can add many billions of dollars in needed infrastructure projects to those to be accomplished with ODA and

government funds. PPP was never the main way of doing projects, but is an important complementary method that can achieve good results,” Forbes said.

are fair and transparent; personnel who have competence and integrity; and projects that are commercially viable,” Palacios said.

Supplement

PPP Center Deputy Executive Director Eleazar E. Ricote assured that the program will continue despite being sidetracked by the broader BBB initiative.

“We can then view PPPs as an alternative or complementary financing option. The government has a very viable pipeline of PPP projects,” he said. “Even as there is a general leaning toward other modes of procurement, the PPP pipeline continues to be highly viable, relevant and attractive to our investors.”

PPP projects, he said, remain viable, and will continue to attract investors throughout the course of the Duterte administration.

“It remains viable because these PPP projects emanated from the implementing agencies themselves and can withstand scrutiny, as these are well-structured projects,” he said.

The two, he said, will support each other, and will not, in any way, “cannibalize” the other.

“We do not see this shift to ODA or GAA as contrary or unfavorable for PPPs. There will always be a keen interest for PPPs as long as the projects remain feasible for both the government and the private sector,” Ricote said.

To date, only nine PPP deals are up for procurement, the bulk of which are being undertaken by the transportation department and its attached agencies.

According to the PPP Center’s database, a total of 15 deals have been awarded to their respective proponents since the agency started handling the development of projects in 2010.

Before the PPP Center came into being, there were 49 PPP deals completed, the legal basis of which is the Build-Operate Transfer Law.

Former PPP Center Executive Director Andre C. Palacios noted that it is imperative for the current government to view the Aquino administration’s flagship infrastructure program as another viable and sustainable means to build infrastructure.

And because the Philippines is in the middle of an infrastructure crisis, he believes that a healthy combination of projects funded by bilateral loans, government budget and private investment would help ease the burden that the common Filipino experiences on a daily basis due to the dearth in infrastructure.

“PPP is not the magic antibiotic that will cure us of our infrastructure sickness. Rather, it is an important supplement that we need, so that taxpayers’ money and ODA funds can be used for large infrastructure projects that are urgently needed but are not commercially viable, like roads, bridges, mass transportation, hospitals and school buildings,” Palacios told the BusinessMirror.

Ideally, the government should raise the money to build public infrastructure that will provide free public services, he said. But the present situation is very far from the ideal.

“For PPP to succeed, it should be viewed as a comprehensive program, not as a stand-alone project.

It should be seen as a long-term relationship, not as a single transaction,” Palacios said.

He explained that companies will not invest their money in expensive infrastructure projects to provide public services when a government is unsure, unreliable and unpredictable.

“A successful PPP program needs four Ps from the government: political support from the top; policies and procedures that

Viable pipeline

‘Great leap’ in PHL’s antiterror drive Continued from A1

country from Borneo. A ransom of P50 million was demanded for the release of the foreigners.

The kidnapping, which followed the same pattern of cases against a number of Malaysian sailors, temporarily jostled the country into an energy crisis as Jakarta briefly halted its coal exports to Manila in protest.

The series of kidnappings at sea, for which the government has struggled to find solutions, has prompted the Department of National Defense to seal a joint air and sea patrols agreement with Malaysia and Indonesia.

Before his killing on April 28 at Barangay Silangkan, Indanan, Sulu, by Marine forces, Misaya, a bomb expert and a native of Barangay Bunot in the same town, has logged a number of cases.

Further reports on the terrorist subleader showed he was involved in other high-profile cases, such as the October 2002 Malagutay bombing that killed US serviceman Sgt. Mark Jackson and wounded 23 others that included another US serviceman.

He was also involved in the January 2009 bombing of the Salaam Bridge at Barangay Bato-Bato, Indanan, Sulu, and the March 2011 bombing of the Dennis Coffee Shop at Barangay San Raymundo, Jolo, Sulu, which killed four civilians and wounded 11 others.

On the other hand, Askali and his group were responsible for the beheading of Canadians Robert Hall and John Ridsdel last year and German Jurgen Gustav Kantner in February this year.

The two Canadians were snatched, along with Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipino Marites Flor, from a resort on Sa-

mal Island, Davao Oriental, which was the Askali’s group first recorded foray outside Mindanao for its kidnapping activities.

Sekkingstad and Flor were later released after Askali received P50 million in ransom as he had admitted in some reports.

Askali, also the spokesman of the ASG, had also claimed he received P250 million for the freedom of German couple Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen.

On April 11 Askali and three of his men were killed after they sauntered into Bohol, apparently for kidnapping activities, while Asean officials were meeting in the province.

Four other terrorists were also killed in subsequent operations.

While fears heightened that Askali’s foray in Bohol was to initialize the ASG’s presence in the province, military officials, however, maintained he was there purely for kidnapping activities and to cool off from the continuing military operations in Sulu.

The plan for an atrocity by Askali’s group in Bohol while the Asean meeting was ongoing, had it been carried out, could have been reminiscent of the ASG’s act of beheading Malaysian Bernard Then while Apec leaders were meeting in Manila in November 2015.

Battle-tested commanders

The killing of Misaya heralded positive developments to the shift in tactics taken by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana by putting the once-sputtering Mindanao antiterrorism campaign in the hands of topnotch ground commanders such as Brig. Gens. Cirilito Sobejana and Custodio Parcon.

Sobejana, head of the Joint Task Force Sulu, and Parcon, who steers the Joint Task Force Tawitawi, are battle-hardened soldiers

THIS January 15, 2013, file photo shows armed members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Patikul, Jolo. AP/Nickee Butlangan

and dyed-in-the-wool commanders. They belonged to the crop of the “finest warriors” in the Armed Forces, being both recipients of the Medal for Valor, the highest award in the military.

The two commanders, who were hunting terrorists in their operational areas “like rats”, were veterans of the early campaign against the ASG in Mindanao, wherein they also got their awards.

Sobejana got his Medal of Valor award for leading his men, then as a company commander of the Army’s First Scout Ranger Regiment, in four hours of firefight against more than 150 ASG bandits in January 1995 in Basilan, which left 30 terrorists dead.

The story on Sobejana’s exploits has it that during the firefight, bullets from the ASG have nearly cut off his right arm, but he held it from falling by biting his right thumb while using his left arm to continuously fire at the enemy as he gave battle orders to his men.

On the other hand, Parcon, then a captain and the commander of the 61st Marine Company, led his men in the assault of Camp Al Madinah, ASG’s fortified camp in Basilan.

With Tawi-tawi now under Parcon, the province has stopped from being used as a launching pad for ASG’s kidnapping activities in Sabah, by continuously neutraliz-

ing the remnants of the terrorist group in the island province.

It was under Parcon’s watch that also saw the surrender of more terrorists in the province.

Parcon is also a 1994 Ten Outstanding Young Men awardee.

ASG leadership vacuum

While military officials believed that the killings of Misaya and Askali may lead to a leadership vacuum and a demoralization among the ranks of the terrorists, Sobejana also disclosed of the infighting among the existing leaders of the ASG. The military commander said this was confirmed by ASG subleader Udon Hashim and Haidal Kimar, who yielded to him on Mon-

day at Barangay Jinggan, Panglima Estino, Sulu.

Sobejana said Hashim, who operates in Panglima Estino and Pata Island under senior leader Berham Lutian, and closely associated with Misaya, has been involved in the delivery of fake ransom money for the release of three Malaysian kidnap victims.

“On March 26 the groups of Lutian and Jamir Sawadjaan planned to attack the group of Alhabsy Misaya and Udon Hashim, who were then consolidating at Barangay Jinggan, Panglima Estino, due to the fake ransom money for the release of the three Malaysian kidnap victims that was delivered by [the] latter,” said Sobejana.

However, Misaya reportedly appealed to Radulan Sahiron, the emir of the ASG, to mediate for the settlement of fake ransom money.

Sahiron called Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan to pacify his nephew Jamir Sawadjaan.

Sobejana said Sahiron, who is past his prime, has also been sending surrender feelers.

Maute on the run

In Lanao del Sur at least 38 members of the Maute Group, including three Indonesians and a Malaysian, were also killed late last month as the military continued its operations against the ISIS-affiliated group.

The three-day operation in the town of Piagapo was also carried out as troops continued to search for Isnilon Hapilon, a commander of the ASG and the recognized leader of the ISIS in Southeast Asia.

The military said Hapilon has been ambulatory as a result of the wounds he sustained in an earlier operation by the military, also in the province.

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The World BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 7, 2017

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China’s Belt-Road Plan may top $500 billion, Credit Suisse says

Russia to resume wheat exports to Turkey as stand-off ends

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ussia will be able to resume exports of wheat to Turkey, its second-biggest customer, without restrictions as of Thursday, according to Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci.

President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Sochi on Wednesday and agreed to end a dispute over food imports, including wheat, that caused Russia, the biggest shipper of the grain, to look elsewhere to offload a bumper crop. “ The opening of the Turkish market will provide support” to prices for third-grade wheat, consultant SovEcon in Moscow said in an e-mailed comment.

Turkey, the big gest f lour exporter, mills the higher-quality variety of wheat for shipment to other countries. Some Russian restrictions on Turkish tomatoes may last for another three to five years,

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Wednesday.

Russia hopes Turkey will cancel curbs on grains and sunflower oil in the coming days. The timing on each decision will be defined separately, he told reporters.

The agreement between Russia, the world ’s top wheat exporter, and one of its biggest customers of the grain follows a tit-for-tat that began with a ban on Turkish tomatoes last year and escalated in March, when Turkey restricted imports of some Russian food. The feud left Turkey facing higher prices for wheat elsewhere.

For tomatoes, Turkey will be able to sell the food to Russia in seasons when the country can’t grow sufficient amounts. Russia has accounted for 70 percent of all Turkish exports of the product.

Bloomberg News

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hina could pour more than half a trillion dollars into its Belt and Road Initiative, and the push for greater global influence looks even more promising with US President Donald J. Trump pulling back from engagement, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. The plan could funnel investments worth $313 billion to $502 billion into 62 Belt-Road countries over the next five years, Hong Kong-based analyst Shen Hu wrote in a report on Tuesday. In Africa China may make additional investments of as much as $79 billion in 13 countries, she said.

Most funds may f low into India, Russia, Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, the Philippines and Pakistan, Shen and other analysts said. They added the biggest beneficiaries could be mid-size Chinese construction and machinery companies and Asian infrastructure firms with close ties to the country’s investment.

“Its future seems even more promising” as the W hite House pullback creates opportunities, Shen wrote. “China’s overseas

investment can be more significant for the world, with its growing inf luence and the US administration potentially taking a more isolationist turn.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will convene a Belt and Road summit with 28 world leaders on May 14 and 15 in Beijing, has embraced a new role as an advocate for free trade after Trump’s election, working to boost China’s role in global governance. Xi defended trade before the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, and Premier Li Keqiang echoed the theme in an essay for Bloomberg Businessweek, saying China will champion economic openness and trade.

The analysts estimated the size of the initiative, which they expect will last at least five years

A Chinese worker operates a circular saw at the construction site of an Engro Powergen Thar Ltd. power plant at the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co. site in the Thar desert, Pakistan, on March 9. In the dusty scrub of the Thar desert, Pakistan has begun to dig up one of the world’s largest deposits of low-grade, brown, dirty coal to fuel new power stations that could revolutionize the country’s economy. The project is one of the most expensive among an array of ambitious energy developments that China is helping the country to build as part of a $55-billion economic partnership. Asim Hafeez/Bloomberg via Getty Images

but likely as long as a decade, by scoring demand and supply factors, focusing on infrastructure.

China may give certain countries preferential treatment to serve its own interests, such as bi latera l relations, resources demand and the soundness of investment, they said.

The analysts included a caveat, adding that due to the uncertainties of the initiative, “there’s not much meaningful discussion about how large the initiative could really be”.

Chinese shares that could benefit include construction machinery producer Sany Heavy Industry Co., Sinotruk Hong Kong Ltd., a unit of China’s first maker of heavy trucks, China Communications Construction Co., and Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., the analysts said.

They also cited Malaysian civil engineering company Gamuda Bhd., Indonesian state construction company PT Wijaya Karya, and Pakistan’s Lucky Cement Ltd. Bloomberg News

Shell pumps a torrent of cash as takeover, cost cuts pay off

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oyal Dutc h Shel l Plc. showed it has adapted to a world of lower oil prices, generating a surge in cash that allowed it to pay dividends while reducing debt.

The Anglo-Dutch company’s first-quarter performance helps validate CEO Ben van Beurden’s $54-billion purchase of BG Group Plc.—for which some shareholders complained he overpaid—and the deep spending cuts and asset sales he undertook to protect the balance sheet.

“With new projects starting and higher-cost assets being sold, you’d expect cash generation to only increase,” said Iain Armstrong, an analyst at Brewin Dolphin Ltd., which owns Shell shares. “It’s becoming a cashgenerating machine.”

Shell has adjusted its business to $50-a-barrel crude by cutting costs, increasing production and learning to live within its means.

The company beat first-quarter profit estimates, as did its “supermajor” peers—Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and BP Plc.—all of which tightened their belts following oil’s collapse.

Shell ’s cash f low from operations expanded more than tenfold to $9.51 billion in the quarter, the company said on Thursday in a statement. After taking out the cost of investments, free cash f low of $5.18 billion covered the cash portion of the dividend for a third consecutive quarter. The total dividend payout was $3.9 billion, of which $2.7 billion was

paid in cash and the remainder as shares, the company said.

That’s a big change from the depths of the oil-price slump a year earlier, when Shell was borrowing money to cover shareholder payouts. Net debt fell for a second consecutive quarter to $72 billion. Gearing, or net debt to capital, narrowed to 27.2 percent, from 28 percent at the end of last year. The company aims to bring that down to 20 percent over time, CFO Jessica Uhl said.

Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes more than doubled to $3.75 billion, from $1.55 billion a year earlier, surpassing the $3.01 billion average of analyst estimates.

Profit in Shell ’s upstream, or exploration and production, business totaled $540 million in the quarter, compared with a loss a year earlier. The downstream division, which includes refining and marketing, posted income of $2.49 billion, an increase of 24 percent.

Norwegian peer Statoil ASA also announced results on Thursday, reporting a tenfold jump in profit.

Spain’s Repsol SA said earnings increased 10 percent. Statoil’s shares gained as much as 3.7 percent, while Shell’s B shares, the most widely traded, advanced as much as 3.6 percent. Repsol was down 0.4 percent as of 12:20 p.m. in Madrid.

Still, all the supermajors’ stocks have dropped since the start of the year as the rally in crude prices— up 55 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier—faltered.

Bloomberg News

A woman holds a sign up to the police that reads in Spanish “The people are awake. Today we’ll make history” during a May Day protest against looming austerity measures amid an economic crisis and demanding an audit on the island’s debt to identify those responsible in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is preparing to cut public employee benefits, increase tax revenue, hike water rates and privatize government operations, among other things. AP

Puerto Rico faces uncertain future as debt saga unfolds

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AN JUAN, Puerto Rico— Uncertainty is spreading across Puerto Rico and the US municipal bond market now that the US territory has taken an unprecedented step into federal court to restructure a portion of its $73-billion debt.

Many economists anticipated the island’s move on Wednesday to seek a bankruptcy-like process amid a 10-year recession, but no one can predict what lies ahead.

“Think about it as a marathon,” said Craig Barbarosh, a bankruptcy lawyer with the firm Katten Muchin Rosenman. “Today is the beginning of mile 1. A lot can and will happen.”

In the next couple of days, the chief justice of the US Supreme Court is expected to appoint a federal district court judge to oversee Puerto Rico’s case. The judge will ultimately decide how and which Puerto Rico assets will be distributed to bondholders. However, the judge will first need approval from the federal control board that was

authorized by Congress last year to oversee the island’s finances.

The decision to resolve a portion of the debt in court is the largest effort ever made by a US government to shield itself from creditors. It’s unknown how long the bankruptcy-like process will take, although local government officials believe it could be resolved in four years. During that time, economists and analysts warn, many changes could occur.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable for some,” Barbarosh said.

“It could mean everything from slightly higher taxes to...modest adjustments to noncritical services...to concessions by bondholders...they’re going to pull all the different levers.”

Puerto Ricans already have been hit with new taxes, higher utility rates and cuts to public employee benefits, among other things. Many also have struggled to find jobs on an island of 3.4 million people with an unemployment rate that has hovered around 12

percent. Nearly 450,000 people have left for the US mainland in the past decade to flee the crisis.

Islanders fear the situation could worsen under the court process, a nd federa l cont rol board Chairman Jose Carrion noted that consensual negotiations with bondholders are preferable. He and Gov. Ricardo Rossello stressed that despite activating a process to restructure a portion of Puerto Rico’s debt in court, they are still pursuing talks with creditors.

The talks broke down as a litigation freeze expired at midnight on Monday, prompting creditors to file new lawsuits in an attempt to recuperate their multimilliondollar investments in Puerto Rico bonds. Puerto Rico has defaulted on $1.3 billion in principal payments since August 2015, roughly a month after the previous governor declared that the island’s public debt was unpayable and called for a restructuring.

Overall, Puerto Rico has $73

billion in public debt accumulated in part by previous administrations borrowing money to cover budget deficits. By comparison, the US city of Detroit had less than $20 billion in debts when it filed for bankruptcy in 2013, which was the biggest US municipal bankruptcy ever.

The control board said the move to restructure a portion of the debt in court will help Puerto Rico gain access to the capital markets after credit rating agencies downgraded the island’s debt to junk status in recent years.

The US territory’s restructuring could ultimately set a precedent for the US municipal bond market, although it’s unclear whether it will regain immediate access, said Matt Freund, co-CIO and head of fixed income strategies at asset manager Calamos Investments.

“It always surprises me how quickly the market forgives and forgets,” he said. “But this is a big enough event that it could be significant.” AP

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Sunday, May 7, 2017

The World BusinessMirror

Tillerson calls for balancing US security interests, values

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ASHINGTON—Translating “America First” into diplomatic policy, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has proclaimed that the US can’t always afford to condition its foreign relationships and national security imperatives on countries adopting American values, like human rights.

Appearing before State Department employees anxious about changing priorities, Tillerson on Wednesday steered clear of giving details about the 2,300 jobs he plans to eliminate or how his proposed cut of roughly a quarter of the department’s budget will affect agency operations and programs.

But he acknowledged widespread unease about the forthcoming changes and pledged that diplomats would emerge from the department’s changes with “a much more satisfying, fulfilling career”.

Yet, even as he left key administrative questions unanswered, Tillerson offered the most extensive elaboration to date of the meaning of President Donald J. Trump’s America First mantra, adopted during the presidential campaign and taken to the White House.

Over the last two decades, he said, Washington had “lost track” of whether post-Cold War alliances were still serving US interests.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO distinguished between US “values,” which he described as enduring, and “policies”, which Tillerson

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gives a double thumbs-up as he arrives to speak to State Department employees on May 3 at the State Department in Washington. AP/Jacquelyn Martin

said must adapt to the times.

“In some circumstances, if you condition our national security efforts on someone adopting our values, we probably can’t achieve our national security goals,” Tillerson said. “It really creates obstacles to our ability to advance our national security interests, our economic interests.”

Still, he insisted the US won’t abandon core values. In some instances, Tillerson said, the US should and will require other nations to adopt “certain actions as to how they treat people” if they want to cooperate with the US. In other instances, he said the

US would continue advocating for its values without using them as leverage.

“It doesn’t mean that we leave those values on the sidelines,” Tillerson said. “It doesn’t mean that we don’t advocate for and aspire to freedom, human dignity, and the treatment of people the world over.”

Rights groups and lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns about the administration deemphasizing human rights, pointing to Trump’s warm interactions with leaders of nations, like the Philippines and Egypt, which have experienced democratic backsliding in recent years.

Tillerson’s remarks reinforced the notion that under Trump, the US is willing to cut deals and cooperate closely with governments failing to improve their rights records.

Speaking without notes while pacing onstage, Tillerson took diplomats on a rhetorical tour of global hot spots, laying out the various elements of his diplomatic efforts to date: n On Russia, Tillerson said “there’s almost no trust” between the world’s greatest nuclear powers, but that the administration was trying to rebuild trust by looking at one issue at a time.

First up is Syria, as Washington and Moscow see if they can get a cease-fire that can hold. n On America’s two closest neighbors, he said Mexico and Canada are “ready to engage in a good-faith effort” to update their trade relationships with America, alluding to Trump’s insistence that the North America Free Trade Agreement be renegotiated or canceled. He said ties with both aren’t “as rocky as it looks sometimes”. n In Asia he said the US has prepared new sanctions on North Korea. He said the US w ill take action against countries failing to fully implement existing UN penalties on doing business w ith Pyong yang. He said the administration is taking a new look at relations w ith China and next month would hold the first session of a diplomatic and security dialogue w ith senior Chinese officials.

Tillerson’s address came as he prepares a massive reorganization and downsizing that has fueled Democratic and Republican fears that the administration is downgrading the importance of aid and diplomacy. Even as Tillerson proposes a 26 percent cut to the budget, Trump is pressing for a major funding boost to the Pentagon and has already secured billions of dollars in new military funding from Congress.

Tillerson said there was “nothing easy” about what he is trying to do, conceding that the overhaul would present major disruptions for diplomats and their families who serve in posts worldwide.

He asked employees to provide input—through a sur vey and other methods—to help shape the agency’s future direction. The State Department employs about 75,000 people globally. AP

www.businessmirror.com.ph

May accuses EU of sabotaging election as Brexit lines harden

U

.K. Prime Minister Theresa May cast June’s election as a battle between her and European Union (EU) officials as she accused Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s team of trying to sabotage the vote.

In another day marked by rhetorical cut and thrust bet ween L ondon a nd Br ussels, M a y u n l e a s h e d h e r f u r y at reading unf latter ing and detailed accounts in the German media of an Apr il 26 dinner w ith Juncker. T he grow ing antagonism bodes poorly for the looming Brexit negotiations after the bloc earlier toughened its opening demands on money, trade and sovereignty.

“There is a concern that Tory voters will stay home because they think it’s all decided,” said John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde.

“Saying the EU is interfering in Britain’s election is a simple nationalist lie, but also a message that will resonate with the Conservative voters and encourage them to turn out and vote.”

With pollsters highlighting the risk of voter apathy—Britons are facing a fourth major vote in as many years—May seized upon the leaks in a bid to inject the electorate with a sense of urgency.

Her aim: To propel support for her Conservative Party even higher than the 20 percentage-point lead it enjoys over Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition Labour Party.

Her argument is that without a strong mandate in the form of a sizeable parliamentary majority, the UK will be ill-equipped to handle tough talks with a nefarious counterpart seeking to undercut it at every turn.

‘Some in Brussels’

“The events of the last few days have shown that—whatever our wishes, and however reasonable the positions of Europe’s other leaders—there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who do not want Britain to prosper,” May said outside her London residence. “Britain’s negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press.”

Painting the EU as a bogeyman—something likely to go down well with Britain’s proBrex it newspapers—cou ld be inter preted as a cr ude stunt to muster up support at a time when most polls suggest her victory is a foregone conclusion.

The pound dipped 0.5 percent to $1.2877 after her comments.

With five weeks to go, her closest aides are worried about a low turnout, according to a person close to May’s campaign speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

T he risk is that by making the environment in the lead-up to the talks even more toxic, she heightens the chance they will ultimately collapse without the free-trade deal she hopes to land. “ T he ag gressive, adversarial style w ill be helpful for her in the election, although probably not in Brussels,” said Mark Goodw in, professor of politics at Birmingham University. For now, “ it’s a shrewd move”.

Poisoned well

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is seeking a second vote of independence on the grounds that Scotland opposed Brexit, accused May of being “ driven by entirely narrow, partisan motives”.

Trying to “deliberately seek to poison the well will make the negotiating task ahead even harder,” Sturgeon added.

May’s latest intervention came about 24 hours after she warned Juncker she could be a “bloody difficult woman” and the same day as Brexit Secretary David Davis revived threats to walk out the talks without a deal, if provoked.

He a l so s a id it ’s not for t he EU to d ic t at e ho w ne got i a t ion s a re conduc te d a nd re je c te d t he not ion of pay i ng a s muc h a s $10 9 bi l l ion to le ave t he EU, a f i g u re e st i m ate d b y t he Fina nc ial Time s.

The British rebukes followed a report in Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper that Juncker left a London dinner last week worried May was carrying inf lated expectations for what she could achieve and that she was living in another galaxy.

Wake up

If she was, then EU negotiator Michel Barnier gave her a wakeup call earlier on Thursday when he published a hard-line draft negotiating mandate. While he expressed hope for an “entente cordiale”, he warned the talks would not be swift or easy.

The document rejected May’s bid to discuss the terms of divorce and future trade relationsh ip i n loc k step a nd den ied the UK could offset the multibillion-euro exit bill the EU is preparing by claiming a share of the region’s assets. He also published a long list of citizens’ rights the EU wants the UK to g uarantee and demanded its courts still have a role in postBrexit Britain.

“Some have created the illusion that Brexit would have no material impact on our lives or that negotiations would be concluded quickly and painlessly— that’s not the case,” Barnier said, adding that the election will “not change anything” in the EU’s position other than to delay the Brexit talks to June.

The tough message was reinforced by Mar tin Selmay r, Junc ker’s chief of staf f who some European officials view as a potential source of the dinner leaks. He told Politico that Brexit would never become a success.

Selmayr’s influence

Selmayr has already weighed in on the election, taking to Tw itter at the weekend to complain about a UK decision to delay a routine rev iew of the EU’s budget, c it ing elect ion ca mpaign-period rules also know n as purdah. He tweeted that as result there would not even be infor ma l Bre x it ta l k s before June 8, declaring in capital letters “ full purdah reciprocity.”

Three European government officials in Brussels told Bloomberg News the short pause in budget talks for the UK elect i o n s w a s n’t a p r o b l e m f o r the bloc. T hey asked not to be named as budget negotiations aren’t public.

German government Spokesman Stef fen Seiber t a lso denied on Wednesday that Chancellor A ngela Merkel ’s warning of last week to t he UK aga inst harboring “ illusions” on Brexit was prompted by compla ints f rom Junc ker. European gover nment of f icia ls had a lready e x pressed u nea se about t he d inner lea k s.

“There is much rumor, but actually the positions the British government and the EU are committing to paper, and what they are saying at the senior level, is very positive,” Dara Murphy, Ireland ’s minister of state for European affairs, told reporters in Lisbon on Wednesday.

Bloomberg News

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

US starts road to gold with NBA D-Leaguers

T

HE United States men’s basketball team will let minor leaguers take the first steps on the road to gold.

The Americans announced a six-member selection committee on Tuesday that will choose players, mostly from the National Basketball Association (NBA) Development League, to play in games to qualify for the 2019 Basketball World Cup. Coach Gregg Popovich and a team of NBA stars would return for that tournament and the following summer for the Olympics, assuming the US makes it to Tokyo.

But a team of lesserknown players will have to get the Americans most of the way there.

“This will be an excellent opportunity for NBA DLeague players to showcase their talent and experience meaningful and important international competition, while representing the United States,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said in a statement.

Under a new competition schedule introduced this year

by Fiba, the World Cup will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2020 Olympics. Teams must navigate a new qualifying format to reach the 32-team World Cup in China, but because some of the qualifiers will be played during the NBA season, NBA players will not be available.

So the Americans, the reigning Olympic and World Cup champions, will lean on players from the NBA D-League, which will be renamed the NBA Gatorade League beginning next season. USA Basketball men’s national team director Sean Ford will chair the committee, which will include NBA D-League executives Trajan Langdon, Adam Simon and Tony Bollier; Houston Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas; and one athlete representative to be announced.

Nations will be drawn into four-team groups and play home-and-away games within their zone. The first-round competition window dates are November 20 to 28, February 19 to 27 and June 25 to July 3, 2018. The second-round dates are set for August 30 to September 8, 2018, November 26 to December 4, 2018, and February 18 to 26, 2019.

The Americans would likely stage their home games in NBA D-League arenas. AP

Sports

BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 7, 2017

WANT TO MAKE MORE BASKETS?

FIBA APPROVES HEADGEARS

A NEW study suggests that throwing a little more slowly can help improve accuracy. NYT

Y

EAST African Muslim girls practice basketball in their new uniforms in Minneapolis in this photo taken in June 2015. AP

H

ONG KONG—A new rule to let basketball players wear headgear that complies with their religious faith has been passed by the sport’s governing body.

The rule will take effect on October 1, the Switzerland-based federation known as Fiba said in a statement.

Then, players can wear hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes following a 20-year ban on head coverings that was initially imposed for safety reasons.

“The new rule comes as a result of the fact that traditional dress codes in some countries—which called for the head and/or entire body being covered— were incompatible with Fiba’s previous headgear rule,” the governing body said.

Fiba member-federations passed the rule on Thursday at a congress in Hong Kong after studying the issue since

2014, and with several conditions on design and color.

“It was developed in a way that minimizes the risk of injuries, as well as preserve consistency of the color of the uniform,” Fiba said.

Headgear will be permitted under the following conditions: it must be black, white or the same dominant color as a team’s uniform; not cover any part of the face entirely or partially; and have “no opening/closing elements around the face and/or neck.”

The headgear must also have “no parts extruding from its surface,” Fiba said.

The move was urged by Women National Basketball Association players, including Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm, who signed a letter on social media that was sent to Fiba President Horacio Muratore. AP

ALONSO LEARNS LESSONS IN 1ST INDY TEST I

NDIANAPOLIS—Fernando Alonso got his first real lesson in IndyCar racing on Wednesday.

It’s not easy, even for a two-time Formula One champion.

On a cool, brisk day that saw racing conditions worsen by the hour, the 35-year-old Spaniard turned his first laps on an oval, passed his rookie test and is now eligible to try to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 later this month. He got Michael Andretti’s No. 29 car up to 222.548 mph and avoided crashing when two birds flew into his car as he turned a lap clocked at a tick less than 220 mph.

Welcome to Indy, champ.

“It’s very sensitive, this place, to wind and to climatic conditions,” Alonso said. “Everyone was telling me this before coming here, but yeah, we confirm it today. We need to be always ready to set up the car for whatever conditions we have there.”

Alonso’s decision to race in one of the crown jewel races in North America has sent a wave of anticipation through IndyCar. Dozens of reporters covered his solo test, and speedway President Doug Boles said ticket sales are picking up. Race organizers expect the crowd to be the second-most attended 500 in 20 years, trailing only last year’s sellout for the 100th running of the 500.

Alonso isn’t coming to Indy to sell tickets; he intends to add the second leg of auto racing’s triple crown to his résumé. Alonso already has won at Monaco. He has not won at Le Mans.

Alonso became one of the world’s greatest drivers by making right and left turns on road and street courses,

A5

running occasionally in the rain and usually without concrete walls surrounding him.

At the historic 2.5-mile Brickyard, Alonso must contend with unforgiving walls, regular weather delays and four corners that seem to change like the wind.

Alonso found out the hard way when the blue sky turned gray, temperatures dropped into the low 50s Fahrenheit and the gusts picked up.

He even acknowledged that going into the first turn on his first full lap, he thought was flat out—before realizing his right foot wasn’t completely down.

Still, Alonso aced his first big test.

He only needed 50 laps to pass all three phases of his rookie test, setting him up to compete in the May 28 showcase race. He topped the 219-mph threshold in less than three hours and was even better in the afternoon, when he drove another 60 laps.

Rain wiped out the final two hours of practice time but car owner Michael Andretti said the team couldn’t have done much more anyway because Alonso was out of tires.

The only other glitch came when two birds flew right into Alonso’s path. They vanished in a puff and crew members eventually cleaned the remains off the car.

“I saw one bird approaching Turn 3 in the penultimate run, and I just lift off and avoid the bird.

Probably I will not do that on the race day,” he said.

“But today I save one life there. I didn’t manage to save the other two.”

Alonso will be the sixth entry in the Indy 500 for Andretti Autosport, a team that includes Alexander Rossi.

Last year the ex-Formula One driver won in his first 500 start. Now the 25-year-old American finds himself in the somewhat awkward position of trying to help the 35-year-old Alonso, who is sixth on F1’s career victory list with 32.

“I can’t add any more than Ryan [Hunter-Reay] or Marco [Andretti],” Rossi said, referring to his teammates. “If he asked [for advice], I think I’ll point him in their direction.”

Andretti and his father, Mario, both expect Alonso to be a contender and the early results look promising.

“It was great. He did perfect. Now we can go play a little bit,” Michael Andretti said after the morning session. “He’s the real deal. I think he’s going to have a really good month.”

The other Andretti, Michael’s son, Marco, also pitched in by setting up the car for Alonso, who strapped himself into the bright orange Honda and quickly got up to speed.

Alonso, who drives for struggling McLaren in F1, now heads home with plenty of knowledge, data to study and time to come up with a plan that will help him get ready for a new set of challenges when practice opens on May 15. Among other things, he will be on the track with other cars soon enough.

“It felt new to me and it felt a little bit, yeah, strange, driving anticlockwise and at those speeds,” Alonso said.

“It’s been a very helpful day in terms of knowing all these different worlds, these different techniques on driving and get up to speed a little bit. Still a long way to go, but I think I’m happy with this first step.” AP

By Victor Mather

New York Times News Service

OU want to throw more accurately? Throw softer.

That’s one of the takeaways from a new study by Yale and Harvard professors on the physics of throwing. The findings might interest quarterbacks, dunking-booth participants and anyone throwing wadded-up paper into a wastebasket. If you’re missing a lot, try throwing a little slower.

The paper, published last week in Royal Society Open Science, is not likely to take the sports world by storm, with its talk of the “dynamics of the projectile” and “propagating distributions with non-infinitesimal variance”. But inside is quite a bit of solid advice for athletes who throw things.

It is well known that there is a trade-off between throwing fast and throwing accurately. A reason for this, many people believed, was that throwing fast made it harder to release the object at just the right moment.

But the study finds that even after the object is released, faster throws are less accurate. “The speed at which you throw the ball affects the curvature of the trajectory the ball takes,” said one of the authors, Madhusudhan Venkadesan of Yale.

This effect is so pronounced that the study advises those seeking accuracy to throw as slowly as possible while still reaching their target.

The professors, Venkadesan and Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan of Harvard, did not line up dozens of undergraduates with baseballs and javelins for the study. Instead, their conclusions are based on mathematical modeling.

“What our work adds is a physics basis for why there is a speed/accuracy contrast,” Venkadesan said.

But they also compared their findings with data taken from athletes and found that the figures matched nicely.

For example, the study suggests that the optimal speed for a thrown dart is 5.1 to 5.5 meters per second.

Typical dart throwers toss at an average speed of 5.8 to

INDYCAR racing is not easy, even for two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso. AP

6.7 meters per second, not far off.

Again, slowness pays off. Of the suggested speed, Venkadesan said, “That’sabout as slow as you can throw while still sticking the dart in the board.” If the throw was any slower it “would completely miss the board, or it is going to enter at a very glancing blow.”

Humans tend to have discovered, without doing any math, the correct speeds to throw in sport after sport. “By trial and error, people learn what to do,” Venkadesan said.

“We have the ability to learn. We learn over one lifetime: Babies start throwing and get feedback.”

One reason humans are so good at throwing may be that for tens of thousands of years they relied heavily on hunting for survival. “Hunting is a big part of the story,” Venkadesan said. “In the context of hunting, being fast and accurate is a challenging thing.”

Though we think of cave men hunting with spears, there is evidence that earlier hunting relied on throwing rocks. Getting the mechanics of throwing right could have been the difference between a protein-rich dinner and hunger.

And humans have unusually good throwing abilities. “Chimpanzees are slow and not accurate,” Venkadesan said. “They can barely throw as fast as a 10-year-old human.”

The researchers found one exception to the “slower is better” rule: cricket. When players are trying to hit the wicket—a small vertical target—to get a run out, “the best way is an underhand throw as fast as you can,” Venkadesan said. “It comes out of the math.”

The rule also might not be of much use in baseball and other sports in which someone is trying to hit the ball. Although slower pitches would be more accurate, they would also be easier to clobber into the bleachers— unless they curve or slide or knuckle, of course.

The professors offer some unorthodox basketball advice: Consider throwing free throws underhanded.

“The underarm throw is marginally better for an average NBA player,” the paper said. The professors suggest that the reason more players have not tried the style is simply societal pressure—it looks kind of silly.

Faith

Sunday

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

A6 Sunday, May 7, 2017

Is the Philippines losing the faith?

C

EBU City—Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the Philippines has gone from a country known for drawing the largest papal Mass crowd in the Church’s history to having a much-admired president who cusses the pope to public applause.

Some people are starting to observe a radical shift, particularly in Christian family and faith life.

“We are a majority Catholic country and we are proud of that, and yet, we see an erosion of faith and values of faith, life and family,” said Dr. Ligaya Acosta, Human Life International (HLI) regional director for Asia-Oceania, during an interview at the sidelines of the recent Human Life International Lay Lay and Life Advocacy Conference.

‘Very aggressive push’

“Of course, we know from the very beginning, we, Filipinos, have the same thinking: we are very pro-life and very pro-family,” she added, noting, however, that times are changing.

“Now, there are many Filipinos who think that abortion is OK. It is so sad that when we watch TV [we see] feminists discussing openly about the need for abortion in the Philippines,” said Acosta, who discussed the topic, “The Threat of Ideological Colonization”.

The medical doctor blamed the “very aggressive push” of “the peddlers of the culture of death” in the

form of abortion, divorce, euthanasia, total population control, for the shift in Filipino family values and beliefs about life.

This is apparent even to an outsider, who has been closely following developments in the political and social life of the country.

“In this beautiful countr y, family life is struggling,” said Fr. Shenan Boquet, HLI president, who discussed about “Evangelium Vitae: Key to Attaining True Freedom in the World”.

Not the same Philippines

Boquet quoted Lipa Archbishop Emeritus Ramon Arguelles as saying, “Don’t be fooled by what you see…. The Philippines is changing before our eyes.”

The priest was quick to link the general health of the country with the spiritual life of the family.

Corrosion, he explained, happens “when we start neglecting the families”.

“This is what we’re starting to see and have seen for many years in the Philippines…so we have to return to what is always true and that is the dignity and sacredness

Dr. Ligaya Acosta (right) at the recent Human Life International Lay Lay and Life Advocacy Conference John Juat

of the individual, the beauty of matrimony and the sacredness of marriage, the beauty of family life and to allow faith to really flow into the family,” Boquet said.

Some 220 participants from all over the country attended the conference, which carried the theme “Defending the Natural Family: Hope of the Dying World”.

‘Church isn’t the building but the people’

Meanwhile, in a homily at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City, Bishop Pablo David reminded the faithful that, although the existence of parishes, chapels, and sanctuaries play a big role in community-building, the people of God play the bigger part.

“The Church isn’t the building, the Church is about the devotees,” the prelate said.

“Even if I do not see lots or structures, whenever I see the people of God active and animated, I declare it as a Church,” he said.

Addressing the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) in his diocese, David appealed for help in building communities and establishing new parishes to address the needs and demands of the people.

“There are currently 27 parishes [in our diocese] serving and catering to more or less 2 million Catholic faithful, we need to further strengthen and build community and parishes,” he said in Filipino.

The prelate also encouraged the lay faithful to heed the call to be “stewards of creation” and to take care of every ministry and group.

“Let us advance the idea of stewardship and be defenders of all our fellow men in schools, churches, ministries and other places in our diocese,” the bishop encouraged the Mass-goers.

David also emphasized the importance of BECs and their roles in building the Church of God. Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz and Christine Paguirigan/CBCPNews

Tagle: Imitate Christ, the model of harmony

‘L

ove your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, and to do it actively.”

Thus, said Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle in his discussion on the “Harmony among Peoples and Religions Today” at the recent Pan Asian School of Dialogue with Oriental Religions (SOR) in Mariapolis Peace in Tagaytay City. The event was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Focolare Movement in Asia.

In his speech, Tagle enumerated four components of harmony: first, openness to change that requires one to be an agent of harmony, has to be agile and at home with changes; second, acknowledging diversity; third, to choose the weaker, the underdog or the shameful for the weak will overcome the strong when faced with anti-thesis; and fourth, to relax, as all things come in their own way.

He made reference to Asian Theologian Edmund Chia, whose essay was published in the book Harvesting from Asian Soils. Tagle said there is a time for everything, which does not mean doing nothing. He said those who are working quietly, and in a hidden manner, will effect change. He encouraged everyone to have a mind-set that is open to harmony.

I n h i s r e c o m m e n d at i o n s , Tag le of fered t he fol low i ng: First, change of mind, which is change in perception and understanding of others in order to lead to understand one’s self.

Second, religions or religious experience could not be separated from social reality. This is important between and among peoples and religions, for all peoples, no matter what their religious backgrounds, are part of society.

Third, to maximize the nonverbal method of pedagogy-like friendship, which is nonverbal.

Fourth, not to give up on working for harmony in a time of the spread of fundamentalist tendencies, or in time of fear, rigidity, narrow-mindedness, indifference,

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle (right) speaks with Prahama Boonchuay (left), a Thai Buddhist monk, during the recent Pan Asian School of Dialogue with Oriental Religions 2017 in Mariapolis Peace, Tagaytay City. Roberto A. Samson

and disregard for humanity.

Tagle urged everyone to read Vatican II documents, especially Lumen Gentium, which calls for the search of what is common among world religions, and also the special document Nostra Aetate on dialogue with other religions. In celebrating the Mass, Tagle underscored in his homily that everyone has to carry their cross, imitating Christ who became the model of harmony even in suffering.

Other features in the dialogue:

n Roberto Signor and Lolita Castillo, codirectors of SOR, welcomed the participants of the dialogue from across Asia. n Nar Plaras and Fr. Chun Boc Tay, codirectors of Mariapolis Peace, explained the significance of Mariapolis Peace, the event’s venue, which Focolare foundress, Chiara Lubich, on her first visit to Asia in 1981 and 1982, first envisioned as a place of witness to dialogue, and of encounter among different cultures and religions in Asia. n An interreligious prayer performed by a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist monk and a Christian culminated in the singing of the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi: “Make me a channel of Your peace”.

n Greetings and messages poured from the Focolare Center in Rome through its representatives Francisco Canzani, Renata Simon, Roberto Catalano and Rita Massoulem. n Bishop Roberto Mallari, the dean of SOR, expounded on the Filipino greeting Mabuhay!, which means to live life greatly, to live in harmony and to live in that sacred place—that point of convergence and to write convergent lines. n The dialogue of the Focolare Movement in India, titled “Weaving Threads of Unity”, retraced Lubich’s visit to India in 2001. n An Indian classical music and another devotional song by Mitali of Anam Prem immersed the participants in Hindu culture. n It was followed by impressions from Hindus Dr. Meenal Katarnkar of Anam Prem, Dr. Lalita Namjoshi of KJ Somaiya and G.Vijayaragavan of Shanti Ashram. n A dialogue on Buddhism and Taoism was followed by a Thai violin performance. n Silvio Daneo’s book Paths Beyond Imagining from New City Press Philippines was lauched. n Fr. Raph Ling from Taiwan expounded on Taoism and Christianity.

n Dr. Chiaretto Yan, a Chinese Focolarino presented the Chinese point of view and culture. His book, Sharing the Joy of the Gospel in China, translated and published in four languages, expounded on the interreligious dialogue. n Fr. Am Mijares talked about Japanese Buddhist philosopher Kitaro Nishida and his theory of pure experience. n Fr. William LaRouse, MM, talked on the Federation of Asian Bishop’s Conference on Dialogue in Asia Today. n In one of the video clips, Lubich said, “For those who know how to love, dialogue is possible,w but for those who do not know how to love, dialogue becomes impossible.” n Pangalay (also known as Daling-Daling or Mengalai in Sabah), a traditional dance of the Tausūg from Sulu in Mindanao and Sabah in Malaysia, was performed by a Muslim family, Jul Kipli, his wife Joi Wadi and their children. n Dr. Cresencia Gabijan presented her book, Dialogue, Light and Fire, where she captured the life and vision of Lubich, integrating her spirituality with her passion for unity through dialogue.

Vanessa M. Puno

Jesus: The Good Shepherd

By Corazon Damo-Santiago

M

an harnesses the wool of sheeps and processes them into clothing to ward off coldness. When wet, the wool becomes too heavy for sheeps to carry in water so they drown, for they cannot swim. Too, they have no sense of directions, and are easy prey to other animals for they have no horns, claws or fangs to defend themselves.

But the sheep is a privileged animal. Jesus, the Redeemer, is man’s Good Shepherd and theirs, too. Jesus chose David, the shepherd boy, to be the king of Israel who reigned for 40 years to shepherd His people. Indeed, shepherds are close to Jesus’ heart.

They were the first visitors when He was born in Bethlehem.

Search for the lost

Jesus is likened to a Good Shepherd. He came to save not only Israel but the entire human race.

His entire life epitomizes shepherding the lost and the least.

The loving, merciful shepherd in his travels around town and villages, healed the sick, feed the hungry and drove away evil spirits from possessed people.

He likened them to a sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:35).

To the Pharisees, scribes and tax collectors who criticized Jesus for eating with sinners, he narrated the Parable of the Good Shepherd. A lov ing shepherd would leave 99 sheeps to search for a lost one until He finds it.

Then he sets it on His shoulder with joy (Luke 15:4-5).

The parable illustrates the compassion of Jesus for a lost soul.

That there is “more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need for repentance.”

Commissioning the 12

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-10), Jesus set the standard of Christian conduct in conformity to God’s will.

After His resurrection Jesus ordered the apostles to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that “I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Peter, as the leader of the apostles, is the spokesman for the Christian communities. From Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria the apostles divided the world to determine assignments. And like Peter, the first shepherd of the church, always reminded church leaders to tend the flock in their midst “not by constraint but willingly as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly” (1 Peter 5:2-4). And like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, they were persecuted and martyred.

Joie de vivre

Ah, the joy of living, the French says. Life is sweet, good and joyful. It complements the axiom of Greeks and Romans: Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.

Today’s generation enjoy all the fruits of man’s quests to improve life, make it comfortable and pleasurable. The world is not only engaging the best of man’s cravings but entertaining man’s craving to the hilt. The world adheres to the theory of materialism. It is defined by Webster as “physical well-being and wordly possessions constitute the highest value and the greatest good”.

The fallen nature of man is at its apex. Gluttony at its best, to update every material thing he owns.

Hunger and poverty abounds not because the world lacks resources but due to man’s diminishing desire to share—to love his brethren.

Endless cravings has neglected God’s “love for neighbors” dictum.

Shepherds where art thou?

They have diminished tremendously in numbers. Too, the demands of shepherding a staggering number of followers necessitate a more practical way to spread the gospel. Jesus’ reminder is no longer taken so seriously. “Woe to the shepherd who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture” (Jeremiah 23:1) is no longer as threatening.

Pope Francis, concerned about the hunger and forms of slavery that chains people to poverty, reminded the flock he shepherds to help the people in their parishes.

When he expelled a “German luxury bishop for his $43-million new residence complex,” Christians knew he means compliance.

How do Christians become fishers of men in a materialistic world?

So, difficult, theologians say, for men are afraid of uncertainty.

Charles Spurgeon in How To Become Fishers of Men, lamented: “One reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.” He said this 150 years ago.

Looking back, Paul, after he established Philippi, the first Christian community in Europe, shared his apostolic love and concern, human sensitivity, anxieties and fears to this Christian community, when he said: “Whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things...then the God of peace will be with you.” n Santiago is a former regional director of the Department of Education National Capital Region. She is currently a faculty member of Mater Redemptoris Collegium in Calauan, Laguna, and Mater Redemptoris College in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

Head of Anglican church visits Christian refugees in Jordan

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MMAN, Jordan—The head of an Anglican church met with Iraqi refugees during a recent visit to Jordan, in which he called on the region’s embattled Christians to remain in the Middle East, the cradle of their faith. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said Christians “are the past in the Middle East, they are the present and they must be the future”.

Two dozen refugees from Iraq asked the archbishop to help them leave the Middle East after praying with him at Saint Paul’s Anglican Church in Amman.

Welby also met Jordan’s King Abdullah II and visited the Zaatari refugee camp.

The Middle East is home to the oldest Christian communities in the world, but large numbers have fled in recent years to escape war and Islamic extremism.

At dusk, the bells at Amman’s Church of the Redeemer rang out in welcome of the archbishop for a prayer service with about a hundred Jordanian, Iraqi and other Christians.

Welby invoked the Ten Commandments in a plea for more support for refugees from the Middle East, including Christians.

Bassam Adam, a Christian from Mosul, said he fled Iraq “with nothing but the clothes on our backs” after the Islamic State (IS) group entered the city in 2014.

US-backed Iraqi forces have driven IS from much of Mosul in recent months, but Adam is in no hurry to return. He said intolerance is deeply rooted in Iraq, “even in the minds of the kids”, and that Iraqi Muslims would throw stones at Christian school buses.

“They consider us as a second-class people,” Adam said. “How could we live together?”

Britain’s Ambassador to Jordan Edward Oakden, who also attended the service, sounded a more optimistic note.

“Throughout human history there have been countless triumphs of the human spirit, this will be another one,” he said. “The archbishop’s visit helps create that sense of future, hope and possibility.” AP

Tourism&Entertainment Madrid Fusión Manila 2017 cooks its way to sustainability BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

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Story & photos by Gretchen Filart Dublin

or more than 300 years, Spain and Philippines shared a deep history in food. Colonizing the Philippines from 1521 to 1898, the Spaniards brought to the country not only Catholicism but also its cuisine and meticulous cooking methods, something that is still evident in Filipino kitchens, especially during feasts. It’s not surprising to see lechon, paella, leche flan and morcon on locals’ tables during birthdays and Christmases—all of which are adaptations of dishes passed down from Spain to its former colony.

From April 6 to 8 this cultural assimilation was commemorated in Madrid Fusión Manila, now on its third year. An annual celebration of the distinct cultural exchange between the two aforementioned countries, Madrid Fusión Manila highlights regional lunches, Spanish and Filipino food artisans, and renowned international chefs, who craft signature dishes and share insights, as well. Held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, it is the only Asian counterpart of the Madrid Fusión in Spain, a highly regarded national culinary event held yearly since 2003.

T his year the convention’s theme was “Towards a Sustainable Gastronomic Planet”, in line with Madrid Fusión’s aim to show that gastronomy can be transformative, sustaining not only people, but also the culture, and land and water where it comes from. The goal is to impart ways on satiating gastronomic needs while putting cultural appraisal and environmental protection at the forefront.

“On our first year, our theme

was the 300 years of the gastronomic journey with Spain. Last year, in celebration of the 450 years of the Manila Galleon trade, the theme centered on an east-meetswest. This year, with the many issues facing our world, we have chosen a theme that is relevant to our times: “Towards a Sustainable Gastronomic Planet”, Tourism Director Verna Covar-Buensuceso said.

Sustainable gastronomy is a hot global issue, especially in the midst of global warming and climate change. Through sustainable farming and state-ofthe-art agricultural practices, greenhouse-gas emissions, the main cause of global warming, can be reduced significantly.

Herbicide-tolerant and insectresistant crops, for example, can reduce fuel use, insecticide use, and Carbon Dioxide emission— all of which speed up global war ming. Non- GMO feed for livestock and improved animal health can both contribute to a decrease in greenhouse gas, as well as the eased-up pressure on

Sea connectivity to boost SE Asia tourism

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Sunday, May 7, 2017 A7

inking the seaports of Mindanao and Palawan with those of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam will boost the tourism exchange and cruise-ship industry, as well as trade and maritime relations between the Southeast Asian nations, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo said.

What had been an inconceivable plan until last year turned into a reality last Sunday when President Duterte hosted Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the inauguration of the roll-on-roll-off (Roro) ferry services, linking the seaports of Davao City and General Santos City to the Bitung, Indonesia, seaport.

“After launching the Roro trips between the Davao and General Santos City seaports and Bitung, Indonesia, Roro trips between Mindanao and Palawan seaports and those of Malaysia and Brunei will follow,” Teo said during the launching of M/V Super Shuttle weekly Roro ferry service.

The new shipping route, which is within the Brunei Darussalam-IndonesiaMalaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), is the Philippine government’s maiden accomplishment under its Asean chairmanship this year.

While the Depar tment of Tourism (DOT) works out with the airlines on opening more air routes between the Philippines secondary airports, Teo said

creating a network of sea routes between the country’s sea gateways and those of Asian neighbors is a must to boost up the country’s tourism.

“The Roro trips, where air-conditioned tourist buses can board the ships or barges and new cruise-ship lines may yet enhance tourism and trade within the Southeast Asian growth area,” Teo said.

Th e D OT h e a d s a i d t h e D u te r te administration has also mapped out plans for joint naval operations with Indonesia and Malaysia to secure the maritime borders to protect the Roro vessels and cruise-ship passengers.

In a joint declaration on establishing direct sea connectivity, Duterte and Widodo agreed to provide naval escorts to the Roro ships within their respective jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the DOT Region 11 Office in cooperation with Davao travel and tours operators will offer discounted packages under the “Davao Summer Will Rock You” campaign until May 31.

The summer special program was unraveled at the DOT Region 11 trade exhibit “Madayaw Davao” at the DOT Showroom at Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City, that featured the destinations in the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao Occidental and the five cities of Davao, Tagum, Panabo, Digos, Mati and Samal.

Madrid Fusión Manila 2017, one of the most awaited events in the culinary and tourism industry Wine tasting at Madrid Fusion Manila 2017

DOT and the DA serve regional lunches during the three-day event.

This year’s Madrid Fusion Manila focuses on agri-tourism and local farmers.

the production and consumption of livestock, particularly beef.

With healthier meat alternatives and dietary regulation, consumers can help reduce methane gas in the atmosphere and decrease fuel used to transport livestock from farm to market. Additionally, the support to sustainable farms can help in the growth of the local economy and provide fair wage to small farmers and other workers.

These were all tackled during Madrid Fusión Manila in three parts: the International Gastronomy Congress, Fusión Manila International Gastronomy Expo and Flavors of the Philippines. All three underscore the crucial role of culinary and agricultural tourism.

Madrid Fusión Manila 2017 was extra special because for the first time, the proponents invited a homegrown kitchen talent to cook in Madrid Fusión in Spain: Myke “ Tatung” Sarthou.

Sarthou—whose cookbook and salt-making documentary were launched on the event’s final day—brought his own salt and ingredients to Spain and chose to create Filipino dishes to enforce that “Filipino food is good on its own.”

International Gastronomy Congress

The International Gastronomy Congress is one of the most awaited events for amateur and pro cooks.

Here, industry experts, bemedalled pioneers and world-renowned chefs from as far as Europe and Latin America come to the Philippines to discuss kitchen perspectives. This year a total of 20 chefs spoke about the origins and importance of sustainable gastronomy, including Locavore’s Ray Ariansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer, Belgium’s Gert de Mangeleer and Singapore’s Julien Royer.

Fusión Manila International Gastronomy Expo

Highlighting gourmet food and beverages and relevant technologies, the International Gastronomy Expo opened with agricultural seminars and a flurry of international trade booths.

The assortment of booths were highly diverse, ranging from organic farms to meat producers, even cutting-edge kitchen equipment. Within minutes of scouring the expo hall, I have made two favorites: Parañaque-based chocolatier Risa, which sources ingredients for its luxurious dark chocolates from South Cotabato; and Batsimansi, which makes allorganic, homemade vinegar in six interesting versions.

Platform for boosting local and global interest in Filipino cuisine.

Also on site were the Department

The DOT booth for Cagayan showcases the finest products from the region.

of Tourism (DOT) booths, each showcasing products from a specific region, such as Cordillera, Bicol and Cagayan.

Flavors of the Philippines

For food lovers, the best parts of Madrid Fusión Manila are its regional lunches. Flavors of the Philippines, as it is aptly called, showcased two luncheon sets daily—one set each from the DOT and the Department of Agriculture (DA). The former presented local dishes from the Philippines’s main island groups, starting from Luzon, followed by the Visayas and Mindanao.

The DA on the other hand, hosted rice delicacies on the first day, then nose-to-tail, and corn and seafood dishes on the second and third days. Alongside all these activities are food events, such as festivals, cooking demonstrations and “Dinner with the Stars”, hosted by acclaimed chefs, held across the Philippines from March 11 to April 20.

Next big food trend

When Madrid Fusión Manila began three years ago, international

curiosity for Filipino cuisine wasn’t that widespread. This has changed drastically with the introduction of Filipino products and chefs in Madrid Fusión. In 2015, for example, Chef Margarita Fores—who leads Cibo and Lusso, shared her insights on kinilaw at Madrid Fusión. In 2016 Fores was awarded Asia’s Best Female Chef.

The success stories go on and on. The landscape for local talent will only keep getting better, said Covar-Buensuceso during the Madrid Fusión 2017 at Palacio Municipal de Congresos in Madrid.

“Today, food forecasts for 2017 have predicted the Philippines as the place where the next big food trend will start, and many articles have been written worldwide about how the food scene in the Philippines is heating up.”

The success of this year’s Madrid Fusión Manila is a testament to this massive potential. But more than that, it is a testament to the ingenuity of Filipinos when it comes to creating sustainable means for nourishment while respecting the farmers plowing our lands and the fruits that are harvested from them.

Your summer destination beckons in Coron

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his summer, the Two Seasons Island Resort and Spa in Coron, Palawan, where unspoiled nature meets luxury and sophistication of world-class service in premier accommodations and exciting recreational activities, is the perfect getaway for those who seek tranquillity away from the busy city life. Each of its comfortable and tastefully appointed 42 bungalow-type accommodations offers charming sceneries of the island, whether it’s the seascape, sandbar, sunset, the beach and the mountains of Coron, and easy access to the beach right for the convenience and privacy of each guest.

Known as the first eco-friendly luxury resort in the tropical peninsula of Malaroyroy, guests of Two Seasons can enjoy a spectacle of Palawan’s natural and serene environment, where mangroves and a house reef provide a haven for a protected giant clam and turtle sanctuar y, and natural limestone cliff formations offer a stunning backdrop with a view of the ocean. Nestled within the expansive property is a sand

bar connecting to an islet, and a 200-meter westside beach, with another 200-meter eastside beach with mangroves connected by a trail of lush gardens.

Adventure awaits travelers of any age, with a wide range of marine activities offered to g uests t hrough t he Paw i k a n Aqua Sports Center, the resort’s recreational hub where a f leet of catamarans, banana boats and kayaks is available. For nondivers, the HydroBOB Submersible Scooter offers an under water

view for those who would like to explore the deep, while for scuba divers, there are the Japanese shipwreck dive sites, listed in the Top Ten Best Scuba Diving Sites in the World according to Forbes Traveler magazine, to check out. On curated day tours, visitors are transported to notable island landmarks steeped in Coron’s natural beauty and colonial heritage.

Fresh sea food a nd g r i l led specialties, and international cuisines await guests longing

for sumptuous meals at the Two Season’s Sulu restaurant, while the Bahura Bar offers a mix of good music and drinks in a fun and casual atmosphere. With its scenic location, war m Filipino ho s p it a l it y a nd w o r l d - c l a s s amenities, Two Seasons Island Resor t and Spa is indeed an idea l eco-fr iend ly destination for an island getaway, and venue for impor tant gather ings, such as private conferences and seminars, weddings and other socia l f unctions.

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Science

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

Agri-aqua R&D icon Dr. Ramon V. Valmayor, 85

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r. Ramon V. Valmayor, considered as one of the most revered leaders of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD), passed away on April 14 at the age of 85.

Popularly known through his initials RVV among his coworkers, Valmayor had set his leadership in the milieu of excellence, more than two decades back.

For many, he will always be remembered as a stalwart of public servanthood both in academe and in the science and technology (S&T) community. He will be remembered as a role model, a mentor and a man who has dedicated his life in serving the people through his numerous legacies in research and development (R&D) for the interest of the country’s agriculture, aquatic and natural resources (AANR) sector.

Valmayor was a member of the famed Class of 1955 of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) College of Agriculture, which is recognized by many as the best class ever produced by the college.

From this class, 37 members attained their PhD from the United States and many of them retired as senior officials. Valmayor himself completed his masters in science at Cornell University as a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) scholar in 1958 and his PhD at the University of Florida as a Rockefeller Foundation scholar in 1964.

His illustrious career defines him as a man whose contributions have impacted much in the world of R&D. He first served as associate professor of Horticulture from 1970 to 1973 and, at the same time, chairman of the Department of Agronomy of the UPLB. After this, he served as director general of the then-Philippine Council for Agriculture Resources and Research (PCARR) from 1981 to 1982, and then as executive director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PC ARRD) from 1982 to 1990.

His work as a public servant was replete with fruitful accomplishments, anchored not only to dedication to duties and quest for excellence in the service, but also to the professional betterment of those whom he worked with in the sector.

Dr. William D. Dar, former executive director of PCARRD, described RVV as a man who has made great impact in the world of R&D, an administrator par excellence, and a man who has set the bar of leadership.

Dar recognized him as the man behind the establishment of the R&D consortia system, and the man who has sustained and strengthened the National Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Network.

Valmayor provided his coworkers, colleagues and friends numerous opportunities for them to grow and improve. He was always there to help, advise and support, according to Dar. He recalled how he was given a PhD scholarship at UPLB through the recommendation of RVV when the latter was the chairman of the Manpower Development Committee of PCARR. Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero, former executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic Marine Research and Development, through his wife, said RVV became instrumental in the advancement of his career after having been given a PhD scholarship by PCARRD through RVV’s encouragement.

As an R&D manager, RVV epitomized tactfulness and the ability to draw help from other agencies in connection with the Council’s

Valmayor

mandate of generating local and external funds for R&D. Luz Firmalino, a PCA ARRD retiree who served the council for 34 years, narrated that she heard him convince Bill McClusky of the USAID on the benefits of certain projects in the pipeline in terms of enhancing R&D facilities and capacitating the National Agriculture Resources Research and Development System’s human resource with new learnings.

RVV displayed the same degree of tactfulness and convincing ability regarding projects to be funded by the council.

“Implementing R&D programs was quite taxing. We had to sit with representatives of recipient institutions to convince them about what they really needed in their implementation. This was where RVV’s mettle for research and his tactfulness would usually come to play,” Firmalino recalled.

Behind his amiable and compassionate disposition, RVV would exude candor whenever he wanted to exact discipline, vigilance and upright disposition.

“We never made the mistake of attending meetings unprepared.

We never cited data/figures that we were not sure of. My God! He knew not only the figures but oftentimes the page of the Philippine Recommends where the figures were,” Luz recalled.

Firmalino also narrated how RVV would discipline reneging scholars to ensure that the government would not be disadvantaged after providing the necessary support.

“They were made to pay back even if they were in another country as he would see to it that their properties were subjected to liens, if necessary,” she said.

RV V was also particular on punctuality. Firmalino remembered how he would sometimes stood near the clock at the lobby to see those who would come late.

Though no words were said, his presence was enough for the latecomers to shrink in shame.

As part of RVV’s stern disposition when compelled, he would also call those who were caught loitering to his office. He was vigilant about the use of utilities, such as lights and air conditioners, leaving a note for the concerned staff as a means of correction.

Compassionate as he was, there was a time that RV V devoted his Christmas bonuses for raffles, but this practice ended when he learned that those who won would only squander the money for drinking. RVV instead set aside his bonuses for the scholarship of deserving children of PCA ARRD employees.

RVV’s commitment and passion for agri-aqua R&D are best epitomized in a book he has written, The making of the Philippine Agriculture and resources research system: A case for the developing world. He has written three other books, 30 technical articles and 56 semi-technical articles.

Shortly after RVV’s retirement at PCARRD in 1990, he established the Philippine Agriculture and Resources Research Foundation Inc., a private, nonstock, nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonsectarian corporation that served as his final legacy as an R&D icon for the AANR sector.

Ricardo R. Argana/S&T Media Service

Francisco Miguel Felicio, a research associate at the Philippines’s Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite Project, points at the screen to where Diwata-1 is approaching the Philippines at the Advanced Science and Technology Institute in Quezon City, which tracks the movement of Diwata as it nears the Philippine territory just in time for Diwata-1’s 365th day in orbit around Earth on April 27.

PHL’s Diwata-1 marks 1 year in space Story & photo by Stephanie Tumampos | Special to the BusinessMirror

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o celebrate the milestone, the Pinoy Showcase of Space Technologies held a live demonstration of Diwata-1, capturing and sending an image of Polilio Island to its receiving station, called Philippine Earth Data Resource Observation (Pedro) facility, at the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-Asti) at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) in Quezon City.

50 kg The weight of Diwata-1, the Philippines’s first microsatellite Pedro is a multifunctional facility that is in charge of the receiving, processing and distribution of the optical and radar images and data from satellites that orbit above the Philippines.

The Filipino-made satellite,

which was launched from the International Space Station Kibo module in 2016, is a project of the DOST-Asti, together with the UPD. It is also in collaboration with the Hokkaido and Tohoku universities in Japan, with funding from the DOST Grants-in-Aid. The program started in 2015 in order to build and launch the Philippines’s first microsatellites for multispectral, high-precision earth observation and ramping up local capacity-building activities in small-satellite development and operation.

Equipped with four cameras, the first microsatellite can take

images of the Ear th in high resolution, depending on what mode it is set.

“It has a high-precision telescope, which captures 3-megapixel resolution colored images,” Dr. Gay Jane Perez, the Philippines’s Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite (PHL-Microsat) Project Leader 5, explained to reporters.

Other cameras include a multispectral imager, which captures images at different wavelengths between the visible and infrared range of the spectrum; a wide-field camera, which gives a wide-angle view of the Earth’s surface; and a middle-field camera, which is used in altitude determination.

The images will be used for environmental monitoring, disasterrisk management and mapping, among other uses.

The 50-kilogram balikbayan box-shaped microsatellite has already journeyed 5,000 times around Earth. It has continuously taken pictures of the country’s islands and some parts of the world.

The Earth obser vation site now has a database of thousands of photos that can be used for research and analysis by scientists and researchers. Beyond this, the PHL-Microsat team has decided to make these photos public. “[There is] a distribution site that we’ve been working on. More or less this would be our soft launch on our web site wherein you can access the images,” said Engr. Mark Tupas, PHL-Microsat Project 3 leader, during the Pinoy Showcase of Space Technologies

held in Asti. The photos can be accessed by select registrants of national agencies and researchers at this site: https://data.phlmicrosat.xyz.

T he D O S T a l so s a id it i s p re p a r i n g t he l au nc h i n g o f Diwata-2 by the second quarter of 2018. Diwata-2 will be an improved version of Diwata-1, which will be decommissioned in November 2018. The i mproved m ic rosatel l ite w i l l feature deployable solar array panels to power up the other features of the microsatellite.

Leonard Paet, a PhD scholar at Tohoku University in Japan, said through an online video conference call, “The difference is that Diwata-2 will become more cubic, and the weight will be less because we have a limitation with the launch provider.”

Diwata-2 will also be built to be sun-synchronous. This means it will travel and pass by at the same location of the Earth on the same day. This setting would enable Diwata-2 to track the Philippine islands better, and to operate longer in space than its predecessor.

It will be launched higher at an altitude of 613 kilometers above the Earth, compared to Diwata-1, which was launched at 400 km.

Diwata-2, which is being developed by Filipino DOST scholars at Hokkaido University and Tohoku University, is set to be sent into space from an H2A rocket by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in 2018.

Thai minister leads in AgriMuseum groundbreaking

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hai Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin, also the president of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (Seameo) council, led the groundbreaking of the Southeast Asian AgriMuseum and Learning Center on Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) recently.

The AgriMuseum will rise adjacent to the headquarters of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Now in its 50th year, Searca has been mandated to build the capacities of institutions working in agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia through its core programs on graduate education and institutional development, research and development and knowledge management.

With its Tenth Five-Year Plan (2015 to 2019), Searca is focused on promoting inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (Isard).

Searca is one of the oldest centers of Seameo. The Seameo Council is the highest policy-making body of Seameo, an intergovernmental treaty organization founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science and culture. Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones represents the Philippines in the council, which is composed of the education ministers of the Seameo member-countries.

The first of its kind in the region, the AgriMuseum is envisioned to deepen understanding and appreciation of agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia, the challenges it faces and how such may be addressed. It will highlight the importance of agriculture and, thus, generate renewed interest in it as a field of study and course of livelihood.

The state-of-the-art exhibition space is intended to extend Searca’s work by promoting awareness of agricultural and rural development in Southeast

Asia, as well as the appreciation of science-based knowledge and innovations in agriculture in an interactive setting.

Te e r a k i a t h a s e x p r e s s e d his support, in his capacity as Seameo Council president, to establish the AgriMuseum.

Searca was Teerakiat’s first stop in his first visit to the Philippines as Thailand’s education minister and Seameo Council president.

He was received by the Center’s officers and staff and scholars led by Searca Director Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., who also presented an overview of the Center’s programs and activities under its Tenth Five-Year Plan and its latest accomplishments.

In this message, the top Seameo official commended Searca’s significant work in promoting agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia.

“I am reminded of the late King Bhumibol. His name means ‘the strength of the land’. All his life’s work has been what you have been doing—to promote the strength of the people, the strength of the

land, agriculture and environment,” Teerakiat said.

Reiterating that agriculture is the backbone of most of the countries in Southeast Asia, he was pleased to note that Searca has made significant contributions to enhance knowledge on ARD, and to uplift the lives of the people.

Teerakiat also remarked that while some 50-year-old centers may be running down, Searca seems stronger at 50 with all it has accomplished, and its vision for the future.

“I wish all of you the best, and I feel really honored to come here today to learn what you have done,” he said.

Te e r a k i a t a l s o v i s i t e d Seameo Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology and Seameo Regional Centre for Public Health, Hospital Administration, Environmental and Occupational Health.

He also paid a courtesy call on Secretary Briones, and visited the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños.

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Sunday, May 7, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

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Philipine Treasures: Creating beauty from broken pieces and throwaways

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Story and photos by Marilou Guieb Correspondent

OMEWHERE near Wright Park in Baguio City, where horses for rent and saddles on sale speak of days of rough mountain riding, is the other side of life in the wild. A stone’s throw away is the showroom, where the daintiest of craft works are stored.

The entrance door and front windows of the building is a delightful show of mosaic-glass panes that open up to a stunning display of crystals and a kaleidoscope of colors that begins a walk through a maze that feels like a visit to fairyland.

Welcome to Philippine Treasures, the world of Loly Gomez, a gracious lady artist whose creations speak more eloquently of her exquisite taste for beauty and making world-class craft from seemingly insignificant raw materials.

Gomez is well known for her Christmas decors and candleholders, but the endless array of her works spans wherever her imagination takes her.

“I just look at something and I know what to do with it,” she said of her uncanny skill of designing items of beauty from material otherwise strewn about as waste.

Until she moved out from the central business district, when the friars that owned the space wanted to turn the area into dining places, Philippine Treasures was a mainstay and a landmark of homegrown businesses on Session Road.

Then, her shop displayed what she calls cathedral window-glass mosaic candleholders, that have since been a classic copied, by many other glass craftsmen.

Of being copied, she said, “I don’t really mind being copied, as this spreads beauty around.”

If anything illustrates her knack for turning what would otherwise be trash to lovely decor items, how she became a glass-mosaic artist says it best.

“When my son Anthon had a car accident and his windshield was smashed to tiny pieces, I asked him not to throw those away,” she recalled.

Since then, she has worked with broken glasses, turning these into dainty lamps and colorful mosaic art, such as seen on her window-glass panes.

Hanging light lamps over her dinner table in her home also shows her talent in turning broken things into a thing of beauty. She tells of a time when the glass lamps were broken, and that she did not want to give up the iron castings that held the lamps. She then covered the cracks with colored broken glass shaped into flowers and leaves, and the lighting now is a lovely centerpiece in her home. Her early works that continue to fascinate buyers are glass bowls decorated with butterflies, flowers and bamboo designs of powdered glass. She is also famous for her lamps, where light shines through fiery colors of glass mosaic, or pastel-colored broken glass.

Gomez is a self-taught artist, learning how to do things like dyeing glass through tedious trial-and-error experiments and lots of common sense on how something might work.

“I work with my hands. This is so when someone says it can’t be done, then I say, yes, it can,” she said, adding she does not know

how to draw, so she creates work like the mosaic designs directly on her glass bowls.

With childlike glee and naivety, she enthused how amazing computer technology is, referring to her grandsons showing her how to design virtually on the computer.

“You can see how something will turn out by just clicking keys, like a building turning blue, then green, etcetera. It’s amazing,” she said.

But despite this, her restless hands continue to fiddle with material, transforming her endless imagination into finished designs.

Gomez is also an intense leaf artist. She has devised a way to make leaves pliable when processed, not simply brittle when dried. She stops at where a box of thousands of these leaves, and as if lost in another world, twiddles with them while in conversation.

She puts three leaves side by side and says, “Oh, these can be like angels,” adding two leaves sideways to make wings. Beside the box is the lady airbrushing the leaves one by one with dye. Gomez said the leaves are spraypainted with dye, rather than paint, to minimize toxicity in the environment. Just the same, the lady worker, as most of her workers, wears a mask and an apron.

Gomez said they are audited twice a year for safety by an independent group.

“I observe things,” she said.

Like when walking through the Subic forest trail, she looked at leaves on the trees and imagined how these could become currency for her and her workers, numbering 200 on regular seasons, and expanding on peak-production periods. A trip to the beach can end up with vans filled with driftwoods, shells and other seashore treasures on return.

She has also created expansive livelihood opportunities in the countryside, and the hundreds of thousands of collected items in boxes in her five-story production building tell the story.

She tells of how a woman in Pangasinan who collects and processes leaves for her has also trained neighbors who are happy to earn a living simply by plucking and picking up leaves.

She stops and picks up a dried lotus flower, and says it can be an angel dress upside down, or added decor to other creations.

These items are sourced from as far as Mindanao, and powdered capiz shells also come from the southern parts of the country.

Feathers, sand, glitters, pine cones and hundreds of tiny objects fill her shelves.

Leaves made into floral shapes and combined with other dried things from the garden arranged on bunched-up dried twigs make for wall and table decors.

Leaves also become garlands and wreaths, hanging balls of bouquets in dainty colors or fiery tones. The variety on display is overwhelmingly endless, and a walk through the passages seems almost ethereal with angels and butterflies, flowers and wreaths,

lamps, glitters and shimmering beads occupying almost every inch of her space, one artwork lovelier than the other.

But even more fascinating is how and from what they are made. The production space, despite the heaps of materials, is a model of order. Every table takes on one process. Passing through a table where Styrofoam Christmas balls are being decorated, she notices with a side glance that some balls are not of the same size. The space is quiet, and one is reminded of the atmosphere created as described when the right side of the brain is at work.

“It’s like a symphony,” Gomez said, and one understands the synchrony of silent hands engrossed in creating art.

Carton boards are base materials for some angel designs. Ugly GI wires are transformed into best-selling golden angels, coneshaped base for mini-Christmas trees. Plastic items covered with paint and glitter become worldclass Christmas hangings.

Gomez is a rare combination of an artist with a business acu-

men, with most artists losing touch when the administrative aspect interferes. She is also a people manager, with some of her first workers refusing to retire, saying the work is enjoyable.

But the road was not always smooth, and challenges were at times almost insurmountable.

Like when a bank loan was made for production and by selling time, dollar exchanges shot up, leaving them with losses.

It was a time when a backpacker saw a product called “prosperity tree” made of broken glass, hanging on wires shaped like a tree, and ordered a few boxes, and the item became a hit in the US. This made them bounce back, and to this day, they deliver items to the same fellow who came into their life in those trying years. Believing in prayer, Gomez said God provides, and her faith is steadfast to this day.

She mulls over her compulsion for beautiful decors, as it is far from the AB English degree she finished at the Ateneo de Manila.

“My father, way back in our home in Bicol, loved making and decorating Christmas trees. Per-

haps it started there,” she said.

Eventually, it served as a perfect match for a young mother, as she could design at home with her kids around, and had time to make meals.

How her trade all began also speaks of the authenticity and integrity of her products. She tells of the time when they were building their family house, and the wood shaves were strewn all over. She turned them into red ribbons as her Christmas tree decors. Friends saw this and asked that she make for them, too. She did and continued to make other home decors for herself and friends until she was convinced it was time to turn her hobby into a real enterprise.

Philippine Treasures was licensed in 1972 as a souvenir shop of customized and handcrafted glass votives; cone trees; copper, brass and silver products; baskets, wall, panelling, garlands and wreaths; lanterns, and silk; and natural leaf-andflower arrangements. It has garnered many awards, including Outstanding Enterpreneur given

by LandBank in 1999; Manila

FAME-Katha Award in 2012; and Land Bank of the Philippines Kaagapay Award in 2015.

In 2016 she recalled with regret how her Christmas tree was burned to the ground by mischievous people. It was 10 meters tall, covered with white and silver-painted bamboo leaves and decorated with her trademark Christmas balls which—together with Architect Aris Go—was a labor of love for which she did not charge the city for her services.

Writing about Philippine Treasures can easily be about its entrepreneurial success. But beyond the scores it has made, both on the export and local markets, the story is really about Gomez and how it all began. For when told, it is one to inspire every aspiring crafstman and artist, every stayat-home mother how to emerge a success with available materials.

It is a story about how passion and imagination can turn things as simple as a fallen leaf, a piece of broken glass, wood shavings and dried twigs and weeds from a garden into a thing of beauty that can spell a life of success and fulfillment.

A10 Sunday, May 7, 2017

RegionsSunday BusinessMirror

Editor: Efleda P. Campos • www.businessmirror.com.ph

‘Bloodless’ Lenten tradition

of Macabebe, Pampanga

THE First Station of the Cross: Jesus was presented to Pontius Pilate by the Sanhedrin.

By Joey Pavia

Photos by Leo Villacarlos | Correspondent

M

ACABEBE, Pampanga— The “bloodless” Lenten tradition here has earned praises from a parish priest and a provincial board member.

Msgr. Mar Ramos of the San Nicolas de Tolentino parish said during the Mass before the Good Friday procession here: “I highly recommend it. It’s unique in Pampanga.”

The monsignor was referring to the “living” statues of Macabebe.

Pampanga Third District Board Member Rosve Henson said “it’s worth emulating.”

Henson is based in the city of San Fernando, the country’s center of self-flagellation during Holy Week.

Priests are openly against selfflagellation. In Porac town, Angeles City and the city of San Fernando, people are nailed on the cross during Holy Week.

The Good Friday procession passes by statues played by living people. A group, called “Everybody’s Club”, started a “bloodless” Lenten tradition in Barangay San Isidro some 60 years ago.

Everybody’s Club has been creating replicas of the Station of the Cross since 1956. Every year the club chooses what to replicate among the 14 Stations of the Cross. Then it will plan the scenario of the station chosen and recreate the scene from the actors to their costumes.

All the 14 stations were represented and displayed in vacant lots and façade of houses along major roads in San Isidro and at villages near the municipal hall.

The tradition went on for decades, but it was during the time of Mayor Annette Flores-Balgan when the Maleldo activity “grew and improved”, residents said.

Macabebe tourism officer Catherine Flores said Balgan openly supported the tradition shortly after she became mayor in 2010. Flores said the two-term mayor had given financial subsidies to the participating clubs and groups. The woman-mayor also gave cash gifts to winners when it was still a competition.

Flores said the municipal government and the clubs did not accept the “cash gifts” because “the tradition was supposed to be a practice of religion rites and devotion”. The religious display was no longer a competition since 2016.

She said this year they had decided to completely let go of the prizes and contests. A subsidy of P6,500 each was given to the 13 groups-clubs that participated in the 2017 Holy Week tradition.

THE Third Station: Jesus falls for the first time.

THE Good Friday procession

THE traditional Pabasa when mourners lament the Passion of Christ.

RegionsSunday BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

Sunday, May 7, 2017

A11

Bulacan offers culinary tour for food aficionados

T

Story and photos

By Catherine Joy L. Maglalang Correspondent

HERE is an ongoing food tour in the City of Malolos, Bulacan. Rheeza Santiago Hernandez, a food historian in the city, is an organizer of the culinary tour.

puto

It was my first time to participate in a culinary tour. As a native Capampangan, I enjoy being in the kitchen: I like cooking, but I love eating more!

It was a Sunday morning. We assembled in front of the historical Barasoain Church, a Roman Catholic church built in 1888 in the city of Malolos. Some foreigners from Spain, Thailand and Japan who are food writers and bloggers joined us.

The food tour rode on three different vehicles first to Barangay Santo Rosario, to visit Aling Mercy Antonio, 80, the maker of the well-known Chicken Empanada de Kaliskis. Aling Mercy is considered a culinary icon in the province of Bulacan.

Aling Mercy said the recipe of the Chicken Empanada de Kaliskis started from the 1820s during the Spanish era. She said a Spanish friend of her grandparents taught them how to make it.

Aling Mercy started making the dish when she was seven years old. She said the main ingredients of the empanada are chicken, potato, flour, egg, sugar, pepper, salt, baking powder and cooking oil. They do not use monosodium glutamate. She said they previously put raisins, sliced boiled egg and ham but they stopped using these ingredients to lengthen the product’s shelf life.

Aling Mercy said they produce between 200 and 600 pieces every day, selling these at only P45 each. She said they also produce white-cheese filled empanada with ham and egg for only P80; gorgoria, cookies made from flour, sugar, butter and water; and biscocho de sebo, also known as biscocho de kurbata, named because of its necktie shape, both for only P50 per pack. She said these delicacies are only available in the city of Malolos.

She said four to five persons are in charge in preparing, making and cooking empanadas in their store.

They also rent a tricycle for delivering their products. Unfortunately, they are using the earnings from making empanadas for her medical needs because of her asthma.

Meanwhile Prof. Jaime Salvador Corpuz, a cultural historian, said empanada is a type of bread called piya or meat pie from the Spanish word empanar, meaning “to wrap”. He said the halfmoon shape is the typical form of Filipino empanada. In Bulacan, empanada-making was started in 1820 by siblings Agustina Domingo, the great grandmother of Aling Mercy, and Justina. Corpuz said it was first introduced as Empanada de Malolos, and finally called Empanada de Kaliskis based on the suggestion of Mila Enriquez be-

cause of its scaly-looking outer covering.

He said this food began during the spread of the Katipunan in the province, even the opening of Congress and the inauguration of the Republic of Malolos. It became a favorite food of former presidents of our country specifically Manuel L. Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, Elpidio Quirino, Carlos Garcia, Ferdinand E. Marcos, Corazon Aquino and Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

After Empanada de Kaliskis, the group tried Gorio and Mimi’s Special Kakanin in Barangay Desta Atlag. The couple owning this business is Soledad “Mimi” dela Cruz, 69, and Gregorio dela Cruz, 71. They’ve been doing this kakanin-making business for almost 30 years now. Their products include sapin-sapin, butsi, bibingka, ginataang bilo-bilo, kalamay munggo, maja blanca, kutsinta and pitsi-pitsi, all creatively covered with banana leaves.

They sell their products for only P300 for 60 pieces and P600 for 120 pieces. The couple said they make delicacies for parties, catering services in the municipality of Baliwag and even Quezon City. They work seven days a week and produce 10 to 50 kinds of delicacies. They claimed their five children finished their studies because of their business. The children are graduates of education, engineering and hotel and restaurant management courses.

The next stop was Gloria’s Bakery that still uses the traditional pugon in cooking breads, owned by the 80-year-old Aling Gloria Lazaro, in Barangay Balayong in the city of Malolos. She said the business has been going on for 20 years now. Their specialty is pandesal and boling, bread made up of flour, salt and water.

Barangay Captain Emanuel Lazaro, the son of Aling Gloria, said their operation leaves no leftovers in their business. They make pupol or breadcrumbs to feed fishes. He said they put the leftovers above the fireplace to make it roasted, then pound it in a mortar and pestle and sift it through a sieve to separate the powdered form of good-quality breadcrumbs from the rest of the bread. He said they cook at least four cavans of flour every day versus the eight cavans during the previous years because of the higher cost of production, specifically the price of flour that hit P1,000 per cavan these days. He said beneath the pugon, at least 50 cavans of salt are placed there permanently to increase the heat of the cooking vessel needed and helpful in cooking bread.

We also sipped the vinegar the city produces from the Paombong

Aling Mercy Antonio holding a tray of Empanada de Kaliskis

pangat na ayungin

tree. Edmar Marcelino, a vinegar maker of the city, said they harvest at least six containers or 30 gallons of vinegar every morning, the best part of the day to gather vinegar. A single tree produces at least 1.5 liters overnight, with at least two months of continuous flow of nectar.

He said the tree must be kicked and hit around for 40 times a week, with two-day intervals, and wounded before placing the bottle to collect the liquid. The collected liquid must be placed in jars for the two-week fermentation process. When the vinegar is ready, some dregs in the form of foam will be floating in the fluid. They sell it for P30 per 1.5-liter bottle and P300 for a big container that holds at least 5 gallons of vinegar, he said.

The next stop was at Bistro Maloleño dubbed “Home of authentic Bulacan heritage cuisines and favorite food of our heroes.”

Ferdinand Talbenito Jr., the owner and general manager of Bistro Maloleño, prepares enjoyable dishes such as kinilaw na bangus; menudo; puchero; kitang with kamias; hamon Bulakenya; pangat

sapon sapon

na ayungin; nilaga; ginataang binagkat (iced sweetened gabi with milk and pinipig); and panotcha ( molded roasted sugar).

Talbenito said the restaurant is now four years old, but is known because of the “uniqueness of food; pagbuhay sa mga lumang pagkain, na mas umangat sa iba.”

He said they also serve dishes known as Filipino heroes’ food, such as the pochero ni Plaridel, tinolang manok ni Rizal, nilagang manok na puti na may asparagus ni Aguinaldo, Arroz ala Cubana ni Hen. Gregorio; nilitsong manok sa saha ni Bonifacio; and tempura ni Mariano Ponce. We also went to Naty Castro’s house to see how she makes the very creative handmade and colorful pastillas wrapper. She said her mother, Aling Luz Ocampo, was the original wrapper maker, who passed away last year at age 93. She said Aling Luz started making the pastillas wrapper when she was 11 years old. She said they have 20 patented designs, and produce 2550 pastillas wrappers per day. She said aside from the wrapper, they also make inukit na dayap.

Hernandez said their customers

include Jaime Zobel Ayala, Korina and Mar Roxas, and the Asean Summit. She said a wrapped pastillas costs P25 each, with the wrapper alone costing P12. The pastillas come in a box of 10.

Our group then went to Dr. Benito Ignacio’s house in Barangay Saug in Marilao town and enjoyed tamales tatsulok made out of ground rice, salted egg and other ingredients; sumang galapong with macapuno, malagkit, latik; and minatamis na saging saba with sago.

After our meryenda, we visited the children of Nana Tasing, the tamales maker in Barangay Pandayan, in the city of Meycauayan.

The main ingredients of tamales are ground glutinous rice, coconut milk, sugar and pepper. They make five flavors, such as salted egg, adobo, ginger, latik, and macapuno. They can produce at least 500 to 1,000 pieces of tamales a day. Ever since they could remember, the shape is triangle or pyramid, wrapped using Butuan banana leaves to enhance the shelf life of tamales.

Our last stop was at the Francia’s Special Puto Store owned

by Aling Francia Zamora, located in Barangay Saluysoy, in the city of Meycauayan. Zamora said she started her business in 1972 during the Martial-law period.

She sells two types of puto, the male and female. The male puto contains salted eggs and the female puto has shredded cheese.

She also sells suman pinipig, kutsinta, leche plan and ube halaya, among others.

I asked the business owners the secret of their success. Almost all of them answered, “Its constant or unchanged taste made our business survive through the years.”

Hernandez said the culinary tour was sponsored by the City Tourism Office and other private entities, such as the Bistro Maloleño. She said this free special tour is exclusively for food writers, bloggers and historians dedicated to boost the local tourism of the province of Bulacan.

She said they also offer a regular packaged-culinary tour for ordinary food enthusiasts for only P1,500 to P1,800 per head.

They started to conduct the food tour in 2010, the boom period of food trips and photography.

RegionsSunday BusinessMirror

A12 | Sunday, May 7, 2017 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

NICE Bernardo, granddaughter of a former mayor of Palanan, Isabela, stands in front of a fish tableau made of materials indigenous to the town.

Palanan, Isabela: Angels’ Paradise Story and photos by Leonardo Perante II

T

Correspondent

HE third leg of my trip to the coastal towns of Isabela brought me to the historic, but once controversial town of Palanan. A granddaughter of former Mayor Angel Bernado met me at the town’s airstrip.

“Welcome to Palanan!” Nice Bernardo cheered as she led me to a brief tour around the town, including the spot said to be where the fleeing Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was cornered by the American forces on March 23, 1901.

Surprisingly, this coastal town has narrow, but well-paved streets. Every front yard is planted with vegetables, rather than ornamental plants. I was given a list of potential tourist destinations ranging from waterfalls, upland lagoons, a series of rivers, a fishing village and a developing resort.

Nice recalled that as a gamecock enthusiast, former Mayor Bernardo had a coastal property at Barangay San Isidro cleared of tall grasses for his rooster’s coop. As soon as the area was cleared of undergrowth, the former town chief was amazed to discover the unveiled beach estate was even more ideal as a vacation spot with its great seascape, untouched forest and dramatic sunrise.

“You can watch the sun as it

rises from the horizon,” the young Bernardo said.

The site is located in mid-Eastern Luzon facing the Pacific Ocean opposite Benham Rise. It has rich coral reefs and deep seas teeming with exotic marine life. During summer, humpback whales from Antarctica usually side cruise Palanan Bay less than a mile from the fishing village of San Isidro.

The waterfront is home to darkskinned Dumagats, said to be the descendants of the Negritos who were the island’s first inhabitants.

These short, kinky-haired and nomadic coastal dwellers, indigenous to Palanan, have mastered deepsea (though primitive) fishing, armed only with hook and line, and net cast off from manually paddled kayak.

Since the former mayor’s six children—Angelica, Angelo, Angelina, Angelito, Angelette and Angela (all named after him)—are fond of water sports, and travel as far as Cebu to Jet Ski and windsurf, the father came up with the

THE Pacific Coast of Palanan has strong tidal waves that create a rampaging effect against the rock walls of the coastal town.

SEVERAL varieties of local fish caught from Palanan Bay are displayed on the beach to entice visitors to have a taste of Decotcotan.

idea of developing the idle property into a resort aptly named Angel’s Paradise.

“My Lolo Angel realized his children have been spending so much flying down south just to have fun when they can have it at home for free,” Nice said. Initially, a permanent cottage had been erected few meters away from the perimeter of the jungle.

A league of Isabela Mayors conference was the first group activity held at the seaside recreational facility. The holding of a photo session for Miss Isabela candidates at the resort prompted the couple to rush a number of nipa and bamboo cottages, shower rooms, a function hall, water system and a power generator capable of energizing the whole village.

Because of the soft-sand attributes of its beaches, the resort was named Dicotcotan, a Dumagat term describing a beachwalk that easily buries the foot into the sand. With a substantial investment poured into the project, the Bernardos are

seriously considering opening the resort for commercial accommodation to make it self-sustaining.

Later, Angela, Nice’s mom nicknamed Lala and the youngest, came into the picture. A biologist, Lala decided to run the recreational facility instead of pursuing a medical career. She believes her love for nature coupled with her angling skills and knowledge in the culinary arts could make her new-found job, fun as well.

With the abundance of Blue Marlin bigger than she was, game fishing became the name of the game. Lapu-lapu, tuna, Spanish mackerel, crabs, lobsters and other exotic fish species, grow naturally enormous in the surrounding waters.

“Guests could enjoy the sun, beach, waters, jungle and most of all the food—real fresh sashimi and steamed lobsters fresh from Palanan waters,” Nice told BusinessMirror. The Palaneños’ hospitality and generosity are priceless pluses to every guest. Being

AN array of exotic game-fishing catch that includes a blue marlin hangs on a tree trunk at Decotcotam Beach in Palanan, Isabela.

WITH tremendous speed, fishing boats traverse the blue waters of Palanan Bay.

nearly crimeless and consistently the cleanest municipality in the Cagayan Valley region, the place assures each visitor of good health and safety.

“But since we are not yet fully developed, we do our best to provide our guests a comfortable stay.

We are currently deciding what necessary amenities are immediately needed until we could hopefully come up with the standards of a world-class resort,” Nice said.

Nice sees bright prospects for her town’s cottage industry like

hand-fan making, and hat and mat weaving once Palanan fully blooms as a tourist destination.

“Our fishing industry will also surely benefit from the influx of visitors to the municipality,” she projected. Aside from an arduous boat ride from Baler in Aurora province, the better way to reach Palanan is a flight from Manila via Cebu Pacific. Disembark at Cauayan City Airport and then take another 35-minute flight to Palanan via Cylone Airways over the Sierra Madre mountain range.

A FISHERMAN rushes his fishing boat ashore to escape the rolling tide at Palanan Bay.