BusinessMirror November 03, 2019

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Sunday, November 3, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 24

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

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DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

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By Roderick L. Abad | Contributor

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VEN if the government’s moratorium on the acceptance, processing and evaluation of applications for Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) ecozones in Metro Manila brings uncertainty to the continued growth of the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector, industry players have resolved to stay in the country, notably its capital city where they are mostly located, as well as keep tabs on provincial areas for future expansion.

This much was indicated by the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap), despite President Duterte’s recent imposition of the NCR ban by virtue of Administrative Order (AO) 18, consistent with his 10-point socio-economic agenda, particularly the goal of promoting rural and value chain development.

“As one of the largest contributors to growing the new ‘middle class,’ the IT-BPM industry continues to positively impact the government’s goal to create more jobs

MINDAUGA DULINSKA | DREAMSTIME.COM

The government moratorium on the processing of new applications for ecozones in Metro Manila is not seen to dampen the outsourcing industry’s resolve to continue seeking new opportunities for growth. both in Metro Manila and in ‘next wave and digital cities’ through further expansions in our existing operations and the promotion of new ones,” Ibpap president and chief executive officer Rey E. Untal told the BusinessMirror in an email interview.

AO 18 has been generally welcomed by various stakeholders. The local outsourcing sector, though, has mixed sentiments toward this policy. Among the biggest worries is its perceived impact on future expansion.

“The IT-BPM industry does have a number of near- to medium-term challenges given the moratorium,” he said of their concern vis-à-vis the supply imbalance in the Metro Manila office property market.

Center of development

OVER time, Metro Manila has been the country’s center of development whatever industry may be involved. Alongside this is the rise of economic zones or special areas for business and trade.

Continued on A2

The rash of protests around the globe have one thing in common

By Rosalind Mathieson

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protests can be nimble but also turn rudderless and chaotic, hostage to violent fringe elements.

History tells us that keeping leaderless movements going at a high level for a long period is hard.

That’s perhaps even more so as countries fret less about the risk of international blow back including sanctions.

“We perceive a more competitive geopolitical environment in which traditional values-based foreign policy objectives have fallen by the wayside,” says Jonathan Wood, director of global risk analysis at Control Risks in Washington. “The default response of many governments is likely to be to try and ride these out as much as possible and hope they begin to dissipate before the economic costs get too high.”

Bloomberg News

ONG Kong martial-arts guru Bruce Lee urged followers to “empty your mind, be formless, shapeless like water.”

That philosophy has driven months of anti-government unrest in Hong Kong. And it applies to protest movements elsewhere that are operating with quick-changing tactics and without clear leadership.

Mass demonstrations are not new. Anti-war and anti-nuclear protests swept the globe decades ago, as did the Occupy movement of 2011-2012 directed against globalization and inequality.

But from Iraq to Chile, it feels like protests are everywhere right now. Huge street rallies, violent clashes with police, tires and buildings burning, shops smashed.

Songs, chants, dances and flashmobs. Crowds that gather and van-

ish in unexpected places, organized via encrypted messaging apps where people use pseudonyms.

In some cases the protests are driven by a backlash against austerity, as global growth slows and becomes even more unequal. But not all movements have the same spark, even if their form is similar.

Leaderless protests can be hard for governments to deal with because they can’t work out who to deal with. Such activity may start from a single issue, then morph into a many-headed hydra.

A lack of central leadership can prevent infighting, but also pull movements in many directions, sapping momentum. Leaderless

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.0330

Hong Kong

A WOMAN waves the Lebanese flag as she faces Lebanese army soldiers on Jal al-Dib highway, north of Beirut. HASAN SHAABAN/BLOOMBERG

HONG KONG’S protesters have sustained demonstrations against China’s increasing grip over the city since June—all without a clear Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4689 n UK 65.8581 n HK 6.5094 n CHINA 7.2325 n SINGAPORE 37.4802 n AUSTRALIA 35.2230 n EU 56.9120 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6081

Source: BSP (October 31, 2019 )

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, November 3, 2019

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The rash of protests around the globe have one thing in common Continued from A1

leader. That’s by design: During pro-democracy protests in 2014, the government arrested key leaders and threw them in jail.

Now the groups guard their anonymity and organize in online platforms like LIHKG, a Hong Kong-based forum that lets users endorse posts, and Telegram, where anonymous users broadcast messages, photos and videos to hundreds of thousands of people.

The lack of a figurehead has frustrated the government. At the same time, no one has enough clout to call off the demonstrations, cut a deal or even tell fellow protesters what to do next.

Lebanon

PROTESTERS in Lebanon achieved at least one of their aims as Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation Tuesday following nearly two weeks of anti-government unrest. Demonstrators have called on the government to resign, but also want the ouster of an entire political elite they blame for corruption and cronyism that has hit living standards and dragged the economy toward collapse.

The demonstrations have drawn hundreds of thousands of people right across Lebanon, and have attracted people from different religious sects and social classes.

People first took to the streets to reject a proposed levy on calls made via WhatsApp. The government quickly withdrew the plan.

But protesters say they have no

confidence that warlords who emerged to lead Lebanon at the end of the 1975-1990 civil war can change. “I won’t hide that I reached a road block,” Hariri said.

France

was the refusal of officials to register opposition candidates for elections to the largely toothless city council. It’s all a prelude to the battle over Russian parliamentary elections in 2021.

THE grassroots Yellow Vest movement in France has lost much of its momentum in the year since it began as opposition to higher fuel taxes—and morphed into broader grievances against the government. Several thousand protesters still gather on some Saturdays, even though what remains of the movement has been marred by violence and extremism.

The angst behind the initial rallies remains, however: Inequality, cuts in public services, and unpopular pension reforms are set to bring protesters back out in strikes and marches from December. President Emmanuel Macron says he understands how his push to reform the economy came across as harsh and sometimes unfair. But he has vowed to press on.

Algeria

Russia

Iraq

THE biggest anti-Kremlin protests for seven years erupted in Moscow this summer, defying crackdowns by riot police and efforts to decapitate the movement by preemptively detaining veteran Russian opposition leaders.

A new young generation of activists, encouraged by leading musicians and social media stars, turned out to protest civil rights abuses, declining living standards and graft. The unlikely catalyst

ALGERIANS have been taking to the streets since February, initially to protest the re-election bid of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, one of North Africa’s longest-serving leaders, who eventually resigned in April and is not contesting the December election. The public discontent has transformed into demands for rootand-branch change from the coterie of elite army officers, and party officials who’ve dominated politics in the OPEC member for decades.

Algerians, the majority of whom are under 30, continue to block the boulevards of Algiers and other cities with fiery Friday protests. Attempts to broker talks have foundered over who exactly represents the dissatisfied masses in the country of over 40 million people.

THOUSANDS of Iraqis have challenged a government crackdown that has left more than 200 people dead since the start of the month to protest over jobs and public services.

While Iraq has enjoyed relative stability since 2017, many Iraqis suffer power cuts and lack access to clean water and good health care.

Decades of war, sanctions and foreign occupation beginning in the early 1980s and ending with the battle to defeat Islamic State have

ravaged Iraq’s infrastructure. Protesters say corrupt politicians have pillaged state coffers.

The protests have put Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi under pressure. Prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads a key bloc in parliament and campaigned on a nationalist platform, has called on the government to step down, but the protests are otherwise largely leaderless.

Chile

CHILE’S social unrest has followed a pattern similar to Brazil in 2013.

Both were triggered by a seemingly banal reason—a small hike in public transport fares—and turned into massive protests against an ever-growing list of grievances: Soaring living costs, inequality, deteriorating health and education systems and, particularly in Brazil’s case, corruption.

The amorphous nature of the protests mean there’s no single leader to negotiate with, or a clear manifesto. Calls for protests in Chile are often made by student groups on social media, then heeded by Chileans of all ages and social classes. In Santiago, 1 million people—more than 15 percent of the city’s population—took to the streets on Friday.

Ecuador

ECUADOR’S unrest started after President Lenin Moreno ended fuel subsidies as part of a credit deal with the International Monetary Fund. The protests attract a wide variety of supporters including the indigenous community, students and labor unions.

Amid a national strike that paralyzed the country and with Quito overrun, Moreno—who describes the movement against him

as a coup— temporarily relocated his government to the coastal city of Guayaquil. He has now reinstated subsidies.

Global climate strikes

STUDENTS are skipping school all over the world to join what are known as climate strikes across more than 200 countries, demanding greater action to combat climate change. While the lightning rod has been Swedish student Greta Thunberg, the protests are also taking on a life of their own.

Support for activist group Extinction Rebellion has meanwhile grown worldwide, with non-violent demonstrators disrupting airports, bridges and key streets in major cities. The movement has spread beyond the traditional activist set as the science around climate change becomes more urgent and extreme weather events more frequent.

Here to stay, despite the odds Continued from A1

Tasked to oversee and administer such ecozones is the Peza, which was established through the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 as the state’s arm to promote foreign investments in the country. Attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the agency has expanded through the years to also provide incentives at the locations that are controlled by developers and being occupied by operators of the IT-BPM sector, which covers call centers, shared service centers, software development and tech support facilities, among others.

Data from Peza show that the distribution of operating ecozones it accredited has been mainly concentrated in Metro Manila, with a lion’s share of 45 percent. Coming second is Cebu with just 12 percent, followed by Laguna with 5 percent.

As of April 2019, the number of enterprises or companies approved by the Peza to operate within the ecozones has reached 3,595.

Since several firms have multiple initiatives, accredited projects have aggregated to 7,506.

Location-wise, Laguna has accounted for 26 percent of accredited projects, followed only by Metro Manila at 24 percent, and then Cavite with a hold of 20 percent.

The IT service export business, where the IT-BPM belongs, has the most number of projects (88.6 percent) approved by Peza compared to various verticals in the National Capital Region (NCR), or Metro Manila.

Out of these initiatives, 73 percent are located in Metro Manila. From the 1,621 IT service export projects in the metropolis today, 36 percent are call centers, 27 percent are business-process outsourcing, and 19 percent are software development.

The phenomenal success of IT service export projects has been evident in the Metro since 2006, with an annual average of 115 new projects for the last 13 years.

As of March 2019, 38 new projects have already been registered, or over 23 projects in the same period in 2018.

Issues borne from AO 18

EXPERTS would agree that the effects of AO 18 would be felt only when Peza-approved office space runs out. But how soon would this be?

In Metro Manila, there are 166 IT ecozones, of which Makati City has the biggest share of 27 percent, followed by Quezon City at 21 percent, and then Pasig City at 14 percent.

According to the agency, more than 660,000 sq m or 46 percent of the 1.4 million sq m of Grade A office space due for completion from the third quarter of 2019 to end-2023 in Metro Manila have already been greenlighted by the Peza. But this is seen not to be the last stretch of the accredited office space supply in NCR. “With a number of pending Peza proclamations for Metro Manila, available Peza-accredited IT space has gone down considerably, thereby risking insufficient supply to meet industry demand,” Untal said, while noting that the latest estimated inventory of only 126,940 sq m is shorter than the forecast yearly demand of 400,000 sq m to 450,000 sq m.

“This shortage in Peza-registered IT-BPM space in Metro Manila could result in a loss of as much as 40,000 to 50,000 potential new jobs in the industry and may further result in a significant increase in rental rates, thereby affecting the competitiveness of the Philippines for future expansions,” noted the Ibpap chief.

Cushman & Wakefield Philippines Research, Consulting & Advisory Services reported that Metro Manila commands an average monthly asking rate of P994 per sq m for Grade A office spaces as of third quarter this year. Lease values were already expected to grow further prior to the directive’s issuance. This may accelerate even more due to the order.

Another threat that AO 18 is seen to cause is the challenge in talent availability in the countryside. While some IT-BPM facilities have been successful in expanding to provinces, this is primarily driven by voice services.

“As the industry pivots to digital, talent availability for mid- to high-complexity work has predominantly been limited to Metro cities such as Manila and Cebu,” Untal said. “Moreover, Metro Manila still holds the highest ranking in global competitiveness reports among all Philippine cities, and thus attracts more investors and higher-value IT-BPM services.”

Proof of this is the second ranking of the country’s capital in the Global Top 100 Super Cities in the Tholons Services Globalization Index for 2019.

Course of action

SINCE the moratorium’s effectivity, the above-cited concerns have emerged, not to mention that the certification of new special economic zones within Metro Manila has been frozen.

“Given these points, Ibpap is requesting to facilitate the proclamation of pending Peza-certified applications in Metro Manila

with the Office of the President,” he appealed.

The IT-BPM industry, likewise, is supportive of the government’s effort to boost development in rural areas via the different agencies—Department of Information and Communications Technology, DTI, Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Peza—that have been tasked to hasten human capital and infrastructure development, as reinforced by the order.

In fact, the local outsourcing sector is one of the most aggressive in locating and expanding to previously untapped localities, enabling these areas to metamorphose into vibrant spokes and distributing the benefits of a thriving industry. Of late, well-developed hubs in Metro Manila have already created vibrant spokes in 25 provinces that have generated close to 300,000 jobs.

“With the continuing support of the government, the IT-BPM industry will continue to become a critical pillar in our country’s goal of generating employment for Filipinos and driving inclusive growth, especially in the countryside,” Untal said.

Continuous discussion

BECAUSE the future growth of the IT-BPM industry and stakeholders is at stake, AO 18 and other prevalent issues surrounding the industry and business environment will be tackled further in the upcoming International Innovation Summit 2019 on November 12. This year’s conclave focuses on three key areas, such as Country & Policy, Human Capital, and Deep Tech.

“Specific to Country & Policy, we have tracks on digital competitiveness and legislation that highlight how we can collaborate with the government in developing policies that are essential in building a stronger IT-BPM future,” said Untal.

Ibpap recently completed the review of its plan for the outsourcing sector to remain significant in the ever-changing business environment. The presently implemented blueprint that runs until the next three years targets a $40-billion industry by then, which translates to an annual revenue growth rate of 9 percent.

“We are also set to present the results and findings of the Roadmap 2022 recalibration, which will also be instrumental in developing the action plans needed to strengthen the Philippines’ position as one of the top investment destinations in the world for IT-BPM services,” the Ibpap chief stressed.

www.businessmirror.com.ph · Editor: Angel R. Calso

The World

The world’s most profitable firm pays surprisingly little

T

hey run the world’s most profitable company, oversee one-tenth of global oil output and their decisions help shape the fate of a nation. Their paychecks, however, are a little less grandiose.

Saudi oil giant Aramco is a cash cow for the kingdom, allowing the royal family to wield power with a drip-feed of petrodollars. For executives, it’s a relatively modest life compared with some of their peers elsewhere.

Last year, top management and board members—about 17 people in total—split roughly $30 million worth of compensation and benefits. That was half of what rivals Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. handed their executives and directors, though they would have been subject to income tax whereas Saudi nationals aren’t.

Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser collected no more than a $5-million package in 2016 as the company began preparing its protracted initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said. That was less than a fifth of what Exxon’s then-Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson received at the time.

Even when taking into account the tax regime and other perks like secluded housing with private pools, the numbers are hardly staggering compared with the grand plan for the company.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants Aramco valued at a spectacular $2 trillion when the government eventually sells shares in it, the centerpiece of the biggest economic transformation since the firm was brought under state control in the 1970s. Inside the C-suite, senior executives for decades have been schooled in the mantra that long-term success trumps all other priorities. It’s about the future of the kingdom, not personal enrichment.

“This is the lifeblood of Saudi Arabia,” said Ellen Wald, who runs her own energy and political consulting firm and is author of the 2018 book Saudi, Inc.: The Arabian Kingdom’s Pursuit of Profit and Power. Senior leaders “see themselves as stewards of this incredible national resource,” she said.

Aramco hasn’t publicly revealed compensation details beyond the aggregate figures, which were included in an April bond prospectus. A spokesman for the Dhahranbased company, officially known as Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said the policy is to remunerate managers in a manner that’s consistent with Aramco’s strategy and objectives.

More details may emerge should Aramco move ahead with its long-anticipated public listing, which has been delayed repeatedly, in part because investors are concerned that the proposed valuation is too high. The IPO process will start on Sunday and shares of Aramco will start trading on the Saudi stock exchange on December 11, Saudi television news channel Al Arabiya reported this week.

Prince Mohammed wants to sell part of the firm to outside investors to underpin his “Vision 2030” package of reforms. The

goal is to diversify the economy, slash unemployment and reduce the reliance on oil. There has been plenty of reason to speculate about lavish payouts for executives. In Europe and the US, there’s usually at least a cursory relationship between a company’s size and profitability and what it pays top brass.

Aramco booked a staggering $111 billion in profit last year, more than what five of its biggest rivals—Exxon, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell Plc., BP Plc. and Total SA—earned together. And the IPO target would make it the world’s most valuable public company, surpassing other oil giants by multiples.

The firm’s oil revenues also have long helped finance the lives of members of the House of Saud, whose collective net worth is estimated at more than $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

But Aramco board members have been dismissive of compensation packages sized according to US standards, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

Directors were also skeptical of incentives that could push employees to maximize short-term results at the expense of longterm performance, the people said.

“There’s this feeling of intergenerational equity of the stewardship of Saudi oil that’s been a really strong part of Aramco’s mission,” said Jim Krane, an energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute. It’s about “preserving the oil for future generations.”

The board has explored ways to align Aramco’s executive compensation with US and European standards to appeal to international investors, people familiar with the matter said. Directors have mulled stock grants and long-term incentive awards, which often make up the bulk of executive pay at Western firms.

The board has also weighed granting equity awards to all Aramco employees, one of the people said. Nasser’s pay package mainly consisted of salary and deferred compensation, they said.

There are also big pay disparities between Aramco and other large oil companies controlled by governments.

Regulatory filings show that members of the management board of Russia’s Rosneft PJSC split an aggregate $63.9 million in 2018, while a dozen directors and senior bosses of PetroChina Co. got a total of $1 million that year. However, rules and customs for disclosure and classification of executive compensation vary greatly between jurisdictions, making such figures hard to compare.

Working at Aramco, for example, comes with many benefits beyond salaries. Jobs at the company are highly coveted among Saudis. Top candidates are sometimes recruited as early as their teens. A job offer can be a ticket to a university education in the US, career-long job security and immense prestige back home. Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

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EIJING—With home sales crashing, real-estate agent Zhang Yonggang is tightening his belt, part of a plunge in Chinese consumer demand that is a bigger threat to economic growth than Beijing’s tariff war with Washington.

Zhang, who works in the central city of Taiyuan, said his office sold no apartments last month after Beijing tightened lending controls in July to rein in housing costs and debt. Zhang, 42 and married with a teenage son, said his income has fallen by half from a year ago.

“I have no money to buy a home and no plans to change cars,” Zhang said. “It is definitely the toughest time I’ve ever seen.”

Communist leaders are counting on consumers to power China’s economy, replacing trade and investment. But shoppers, spooked by the tariff war and possible job losses, are cutting spending on cars, real estate and other bigticket purchases.

Economic growth sank to a three-decade low of 6 percent over a year earlier in the quarter ending in September. That is stronger than most major countries but a strain for Chinese companies that need to repay debt.

Factory activity shrank more than expected in October, accord i ng to a n of f ic i a l t rade group, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. Analysts said that suggested an uptick a month earlier didn’t mark the start of a recover y.

Communist leaders express confidence China can survive President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes on its exports.

O n T h u r s d a y, t h e r u l i n g party’s Central Committee affirmed support for private business within an economy dominated by st ate indust r y a nd gave no sign of plans to change economic strateg y.

But leaders openly fret over slumping consumer spending and other domestic activity.

Premier Li Keqiang, the top

economic official, told local leaders last week to fight “downward pressure” on the economy and “make sure targets for this year are achieved.”

“Many real economic entities are struggling amid weak domestic demand,” the premier said at a meeting with provincial governors, according to a Cabinet statement.

Beijing has tried to stick to plans to nurture self-sustaining, consumer-driven growth instead of resorting to stimulus, which usually means splurging on construction paid for with bank loans.

That might re-ignite a surge in debt that forecasters estimate has risen as high as the equivalent of 300 percent of China’s annual economic output.

“China is willing to accept slower growth, but only up to a point,” Rory Green of TS Lombard said in a report.

If job losses spike, “of course Beijing will have to step in with a major stimulus,” Green said.

Trump’s punitive duties on billions of dollars of Chinese goods in a fight over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology ambitions have battered exporters.

But their impact on the rest of the economy has been smaller than some forecasters expected.

And trade overall is stronger than expected. Shipments to the United States fell nearly 11 percent in the first nine months of 2019, but exports to the whole world were off only 0.1 percent.

Retai l sa les rose 8.2 percent over a yea r ea rl ier in t he nine mont hs end ing in September.

But some indust r ies su f fered pa i nf u l cont rac t ions: Auto sa les fel l 11.7 percent.

The pressures are reflected in

A

year to help offset the trade slump. The US Federal Reserve’s signal this week of a policy pause after three rate cuts may give them reason to be more cautious going forward.

What Bloomberg’s economists say

“Policy support is likely to continue across the region, though we may see a pause in monetary easing through year-end in some economies as central banks take stock of the measures in place.”

Chang Shu, chief Asia economist

A worker does a quality check of engine parts on the production floor at the PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp., in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 23. Muhammad Fadli/Bloomberg

for global trade, plunged again in October. Shipments fell 15 percent from a year earlier, pushed down by a slide in semiconductor and petrochemical shipments. Imports also fell 15 percent.

Much will depend on how the US-China trade talks play out. The two governments had flagged progress toward an initial agreement to be signed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later this month, but Chile’s decision to cancel the event amid social unrest has raised doubts

A3

China’s economy struggles as consumers tighten belts

Asia’s factory hubs stuck in the doldrums as trade talks linger sia’s factor y hubs remained in the doldrums in October despite anticipation that the US and China are moving toward an interim trade agreement.

Purchasing manager indexes for South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia remained in contraction territory while Taiwan also moved below 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion.

Even Vietnam, which has been more resilient than many of its peers, slid to the dividing line. Thailand joined Vietnam at 50, having stayed close to the dividing line for much of this year.

China’s Caixin index—which is more weighted toward private manufacturing companies—rose to 51.7 from 51.4, but an official gauge released Thursday dropped to its lowest level since February.

“The headwinds for global growth, i n c l u d i n g Ch i n a , co nt i n u e to b e a challenge,” Johanna Chua, chief Asia Pacific economist at Citigroup Inc., told Bloomberg Television.

The protrac ted slowdown comes against a backdrop of the slowest global growth in a decade, as rising protectionism and weakening demand takes its toll on business confidence across Asia.

South Korean exports, a bellwether

Sunday, November 3, 2019

about when a deal will be inked.

In a tweet Thursday, US President D o n a l d J . Tr u m p s a i d o f f i c i a l s a re searching for a new location for him and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign the deal, which he said would be “about 60 percent of total deal.”

At the same time, Chinese officials are casting doubts about reaching a comprehensive agreement.

Asian central banks from India to South Korea have loosened monetary policy this

Reaching an agreement will be critical for corporate sentiment, according to Rob Carnell, chief economist for Asia Pacific at ING Groep NV in Singapore.

“The trade war, geopolitics are the single biggest driver of financial markets and what corporate decision-makers are using to decide whether or not to do things,” he told Bloomberg Television.

He warned that the weakness in manufacturing PMIs signals the services sector will be next.

“You look at what’s happening to manufacturing and you just stick a big lag in, and that’s typically where nonmanufacturing is going to go.”

Bloomberg News

An employee uses balloons to attract customers at a fashion retailer having a promotion sale at a shopping mall in Shenzhen, China’s Guangdong province on Friday. Chinese leaders are counting on consumers to power the economy, replacing trade and investment as Beijing fights a tariff war with Washington. But shoppers are jittery about possible job losses and are tightening their belts, hurting sales of cars, real estate and other big-ticket items. AP

Anna Li’s dilemma. The 28-yearold employee of an informationtechnology company in Beijing plans to buy an apartment, but first she wants a new job. She has looked since last year and found nothing because companies have cut hiring.

“I used to have a plan to buy an apartment next year, but now it depends on the success of my job hunting,” said Li. The International Monetary Fund is forecasting annual growth of 6.1 percent this year, down from last year’s 6.6 percent and just above the official minimum target of 6 percent. Next year, the IMF expects a further decline to 5.8 percent.

Some analysts question whether China really is achieving even that growth and say the real rate may be closer to 3 percent. They blame flaws in data collection and political pressure to make results look better.

Economic activity might be up to 21 percent smaller than official data show, according to Yingyao Hu and Jiaxiong Yao at Johns Hopkins University.

Government data assume all investment pays off, but much spending in 2012-2017 went into unproductive projects, say Hu and Yao. They cite evidence including satellite photos that show nighttime cities darker than they should be with more activity.

That could mean Chinese debt is higher relative to the size of the

economy than thought. That might further depress consumer demand because more national income must be diverted to repay debt.

Leaders are trying to reassure US and other foreign companies that have postponed or moved planned investments out of China to avoid tariff hikes.

Li, the premier, has told a string of American, European and other visiting business leaders they are welcome despite Beijing’s 15-month-old war with Trump.

Beijing has announced marketopening measures over the past two years including abolishing limits on foreign ownership in securities trading, auto manufacturing and some other industries.

“I believe the further improvement of China’s business environment will provide larger opportunities,” Li told Evan Greenberg, the chairman of the US-China Business Council, which represents companies that do business with China, in an October 17 meeting.

The tariff war has made Beijing determined to adapt to slower growth and less reliance on debt in what it views as a period of strategic competition, said Green of TS Lombard.

Chinese leaders don’t want to use credit-fueled stimulus and “leave themselves vulnerable to future economic and financial sanctions,” he said.

Plus, Green said, Trump is “the perfect scapegoat” to blame for slower growth. AP

Asean meet spotlights advances in trade, sea pact and rifts

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ONTHABURI—S outheast Asian leaders are making last-minute efforts with wealthier neighbors led by China to conclude negotiations on one of the world’s largest free-trade accords and will praise progress in talks on a nonaggression pact in disputed waters when they meet for a summit in Thailand.

But intractable differences, often hidden behind handshakes and ceremonial photo-ops, have stymied those efforts by the 10-member Asean.

President Donald Trump is skipping the flurry of meetings in a Bangkok suburb this weekend in a palpable absence that could be viewed in the region as a snub.

He is sending national security adviser Robert O’Brien, who is not a member of his Cabinet, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“President Trump is dealing with immense political troubles at home and that also plays into concerns over American wherewithal and commitment to this part of the world,” Manila-based political analyst Richard Heydarian said.

Such an absence “helps China to portray the United States as an unreliable regional

hegemon” and establish a much more “China-centric” order in the region, he said.

A major development is the possible announcement of a conclusion to seven years of negotiations for a free-trade pact called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. China is among those leading the negotiations along with Asean members and their dialogue partners Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand.

Th e U S , w h i c h p re f e r s b i l ate r a l trade deals, is not included. A successful deal would boost free trade in a time of protec tionism and fur ther integrate China with many of Asia’s most vibrant economies.

The talks were progressing toward a conclusion last month when new issues cropped up, which may again delay the signing to next year, Philippine Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez told reporters.

“It can still happen...if we decide on a way forward,” Lopez said, without elaborating on the disagreements, which concern technical details and rules on market access, competition and investment. AP

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Sunday, November 3, 2019

The World BusinessMirror

IS confirms al-Baghdadi’s death; names new caliph

I

slamic State (IS) named a new leader to succeed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who was killed during an American military raid in Syria, and threatened to retaliate against the US. In an audio statement published on its social-media accounts, the terrorist group confirmed the death of Baghdadi. It said the new leader, Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurashi, will also assume the title of “caliph,” indicating that it still plans to establish an Islamic state.

T he statement, read by IS Spokesman Abu Hamza al Qurashi, contained threats against America and referred to President Donald Trump as a “senile old man.”

It also warned that what’s to come will be worse by comparison to the days of the group under Baghdadi’s leadership.

Islamic State’s rules stipulate that its leader must be a religious scholar and a descendant of Prophet Muhammad’s tribe.

The Pentagon on Wednesday released video footage of the weekend raid that led to the death of Baghdadi, including attacks on fighters from the area surrounding the compound where

This image released by the Department of Defense on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, and displayed at a Pentagon briefing, shows an image of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Department of Defense via AP

the terrorist leader was hiding.

Al-Baghdadi was the highestranking terrorist leader targeted

by US forces since al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 in a raid in Pakistan during

the Obama administration. The military held a Muslim ceremony before disposing of his body at sea “in a weighted bag,” the Pentagon announced at the time.

Bloomberg News

Kids of US immigrants move up just like those 100 years before

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hildr en of US immigrants tend to earn more than their parents and have higher rates of upward mobility than their American-born peers.

Those are some of the conclusions in a working paper circulated this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research that explores how immigrants often improve their children’s prospects in life— and shows those born to recent immigrants are moving up just like those who came to American shores a century before.

Many immigrants earn less than US-born workers upon arrival, and while they don’t completely catch up in a single generation, their children do, according to the research

by Ran Abramitzky of Stanford, Leah Platt Boustan and Elisa Jacome of Princeton University, and Santiago Perez of the University of California at Davis.

“Children of immigrants from nearly every sending country have higher rates of upward mobility than the children of the US-born,” they said.

They also directly take on the politics around immigration, which was a central theme during the 2016 election that installed Donald Trump as president and remains a controversial topic as the country gears up for the 2020 campaign.

“A lthough some politicians have a short-term perspective on immigrant assimilation, our

findings suggest that this view might underestimate the longrun success of immigrants,” they wrote. “Our findings are more consistent with the idea of the ‘American Dream,’ by which even immigrants who come to the US with few resources and little skills have a real chance at improving their children’s prospects.”

T he ana lysis tracks immig ra nts u si ng h istor ic a l d at a

that stretch back more than 100 years. The first earliest groups consist of 4 million first-generation immigrants and their children in the 1880 or 1910 censuses, with the first group mostly from northern and western European nations such as Ireland or Germany, and the second including more from the southern and eastern parts of the continent who are thought

to have faced more initial disadvantages in the labor market.

The researchers then follow the children of those groups to the 1910 and 1940 censuses using information on their names, ages and birthplaces. The historical data show “immigrant families were more likely than the US-born to move to areas that offered better prospects for their children,” the researchers wrote. Bloomberg News

Editor: Angel R. Calso · www.businessmirror.com.ph

Thai entrep pushing insects as the ‘snack’ of the future

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ANGKOK—They are sold in bags like salted peanuts, or tubes like stacked potato chips, but these crunchy morsels on the shelves of Thai convenience stores and supermarkets stand apart from the snack food crowd.

The bugs—baked, not fried— could be the next big thing in tasty treats.

Rural Thais have long eaten bugs as part of their diet. In big cities, street vendors catering to migrant workers sell cooked insects that under most circumstances would cause foreign tourists to whip out a can of bug spray.

The idea to package them like potato chips came to entrepreneur Thatnat Chanthatham when a story on the news caught his attention.

“I heard on the TV news that the UN said insects were an alternative source of protein for the future so I thought that Thais eat a lot of insects already and can get them as street food. Has anyone put them in a bag?” the 46-yearold told The Associated Press. “If not, how can we do it? What sort of flavors?”

His supply chain begins at the Smile cricket farm in Ratchaburi province, 100 kilometers west of Bangkok. In one breeding room alone, more than a million of the chirping insects are being raised on a 45-day cycle from egg to adult to harvest.

Some of the products are baked here, others at the next stop, a factory in Bangkok, where they are packaged and then trucked to retail outlets.

Small crickets are one of the best sellers in the range of insect convenience snacks sold under the HiSo brand—that’s Thai slang for “high society.”

H i S o s n a c k s u n a b a s he d l y proc l a im what t hey a re: t he bamboo worms look like bamboo worms; the crickets look like crickets. The line also includes crispy silkworms.

They come in original, barbec ue a nd tom ya m f l avors, and can be found in Thailand ’s ubiquitous 7-Eleven shops and in a major supermarket chain.

Crickets are priced at 25 baht (83 cents) for a bag; at the high end, a tube of bamboo worms costs 160 baht ($5.29).

HiSo has established itself in the snack market, but there was plenty of trial-and-error involved, Thatnat said, such as when they were considering whether to sell large, black crickets.

“Even though I’m a regular when it comes to eating bugs, I still felt like their eyes were staring at me...

Then, after we ate them, their legs and wings poked out and got stuck

in our teeth and gums,” he said, laughing.

“I thought, should we go ahead?

I talked to the team and they said please shelve this one, so I did.”

Two tons of insects pass through his Bangkok factory every month.

Revenue is steady at around $100,000 per month, but overheads are high. While he raises his own crickets, he hasn’t yet found a way to produce enough silkworms and bamboo worms to the required standard, so he has to buy them from independent suppliers.

Still, four years after the metamorphosis of HiSo from idea to industry, Thatnat is a satisfied man.

“When it comes to bugs, there are people who are scared of them, people who eat them and people who don’t. But to be where we are today, with people knowing and accepting our HiSo brand, that’s what I’d call a success.”

Until recently, demand for edible bugs was mainly in parts of Asia, Africa and South America.

But HiSo’s emergence comes amid growing global interest in insects as a food source.

They don’t need a lot of space, don’t need a lot of feed and don’t leave a large carbon footprint.

And in return, as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization points out, they offer substantial nutritional benefits for livestock and for humans.

“They have an incredibly high content of protein, but also minerals and also vitamin B12,” said the FAO’s Katinka de Balogh. “The nutritional value of insects has not been recognized in the past and I think, nowadays, we are finding that there is a huge potential.”

Will HiSo’s packaging and marketing be a game changer, helping make insects the food of the future?

Thatnat said his products are popular with Asian tourists, especially the Chinese, so his next goal is to export them. But so far, he’s hit a brick wall, and blames a morass of unclear regulations.

“There needs to be an agreement between governments. All you really get is advice on bugs as a food source,” he said. “In the end, these insects can’t really go between countries yet. That’s one of the things stopping us from obtaining our goal.”

Even in Thailand, some can’t stomach the thought of crunchy crickets or original flavor bamboo worms.

Many passers-by kept walking when recently offered samples in the street, or flat out turned down a taste, though two office workers who tried them said they were fine.

“If I see them, I’ll buy them,” said Anuwat Suetrong. AP

The market for bulletproof vehicles is skyrocketing T

he 2020 Range Rover Sentinel, which debuted in March, contains more than a ton of ballistic steel plate and armored glass inside its body.

It can withstand a pipe bomb exploding from point-blank range and can weather rounds of bullets shot by AK-47s, AR-15s and 9 mm pistols.

Its 510-horsepower V8 engine can ford deep water, descend steep mountains, and sprint at 120 miles per hour—an admirable feat considering that the Sentinel weighs 10,000 pounds, more than twice the weight of a regular Range Rover.

It also has a hatch that allows those inside to escape through the rear luggage compartment, in case the doors should become unusable.

Engineered and built by Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations team in West Midlands, England, it’s not the first bulletproof vehicle Land Rover has made in-house, but it’s certainly the toughest.

The Sentinel’s release highlights a segment of the automotive industry that often goes unnoticed: the manufacture and sale of armored vehicles. And today, there’s growing demand from consumers willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for them.

“A lot of regions around the world are

developing economically very quickly, and defense expenditures are correlating with that, and we have been scaling with it,” says Philip Nadjafov, whose family founded Toronto-based Isotrex in 2005. He says business overseas, especially to fulfill UN peacekeeping and government contracts, has risen precipitously over the last three years. “People are investing in their security.”

While brands such as Audi, BMW, and Land Rover already offer in-house bulletproofing options, it’s the rise of sales by the many private providers across the US that indicates the real profits to be made. No comprehensive data exist for the industry at large, but interviews with many of them have set market growth expectations near double digits, year-over-year, for the foreseeable future.

In San Antonio, Texas, Lawrence Kosub at Texas Armoring Corp., which opened in 1997, is laying plans to open a facility in Central America that can manufacture 200 armored vehicles per year, up from the 50 he now produces annually.

In Utah, ArmorMax Chief Executive Officer Mark Burton is working on a government contract to deliver 140 Ford vehicles to various agencies by early 2020. He’s built manufacturing plants in

eight countries over the past two decades, and next year, Burton will open an outpost in India.

Some outfits, such as O’Gara Group, have been around for more than 100 years; it was providing armored limousines in the 1940s, when Harry Truman was president—and a client. Others sprouted more recently: Manhattan Armor was founded in New York City in 1979; International Armoring Corp. was founded in Ogden, Utah, in 1993; and AddArmor was founded in Jackson, Wyo., in 2017. They remain bolstered by demand from what feels like every corner of the globe: From Brazil to Ukraine, Nigeria to the Philippines, everybody wants immunity from any imminent threat.

The current of change

An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 armored vehicles circulate on streets worldwide, with Brazil leading with the highest per capita number of armored vehicles in the world, according to Texas Armoring Corp. Sâo Paolo alone currently receives 800 armored vehicles a month.

But where the perennial hot spot is Brazil, and need has been white-hot in Mexico, demand now comes from West African nations such as Nigeria, whose growing economy is the

largest on the continent. It’s also coming from the US, where outfits such as Texas Armoring Corp. have seen business double. At ArmorMax, the US comprises nearly 80 percent of business, an inverse flip from 20 years ago. Sales to American clients at the IAC subsidiary have increased eightfold since 1994.

“People are worried about random acts of violence,” Burton says, mentioning he had just spoken on the phone with a prospective private client in Chicago. “They’re the attorneys, they are the doctors, the business executives. They’re worried about their families or their wives being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

It’s a generalized “unsettled” feeling that has sparked the rise, he adds. “People just want peace of mind as they drive around.”

How it’s done

Most vehicles that have undergone bulletproof treatment endure an invasive process. The outfitter first removes all nonessential components in order to lessen the weight of what will inevitably become a very heavy apparatus. That means pulling out some trim and wiring, carpeting and seats. Then, the sides and pillars of the vehicle are sliced open

and stuffed or welded with armored panels, most often made from ballistic-grade steel.

A lighter-weight composite material can include special resins, ballistic nylon, and/or Kevlar, such as that found in bulletproof vests.

Along the bottom and sides of the car, special firewalls can be added. A crumple-zone bumper can be added, too, which enables the vehicle to burst through blockades or out of rubble without damaging the radiator and other internal mechanics.

Elsewhere, wheels are made to run while flat by installing polymer donuts where the inner tubes use to be—those will run at 60 mph or so for roughly 50 miles before wearing out. Windows are replaced with “transparent armor,” a 1- or 2-inch-thick sandwich of plastic poly and leaded glass. The thicker the width, the more security it provides: Two inches get you protection against a single shot from a big-game hunting rifle. Often, the heavier glass requires more-than-routine maintenance: “We have a lifetime warranty on the work we do—but for the glass, we have a 24-month warranty,” Burton says. (The motors burn out the fuses that make the windows go up and down.)

One man in Mexico who asked to remain

unnamed for safety reasons had his life saved by just such a windshield: An attacker fired a gun direc tly at his Mercedes in broad daylight—the damage was merely a cracked window and the cost of replacing it. (“Insurance doesn’t cover the windows,” he says.) Rogerico Pagliari, who lives in Brazil, says the windows of his bulletproof Volvo S70 have never been shot at—but that doesn’t mean they don’t work. “Once, I got in an ambush, and it gave me the confidence enough to gas instead of stopping.”

A sometimes low-key status symbol

Sometimes, the goal during manufacture is to make the vehicle look extremely low-key, with no obvious signs that it has been altered for enhanced protection. Unnoticed means unbothered, the thinking goes. Attention creates a target.

“We once had a client request we armor a Ford Taurus Limited,” Kosub says. “You’re talking about a $40,000 car with $100,000 worth of armoring on it. But that’s the type of thing that most of our clients who are serious about security really want—something under the radar.”

Bloomberg News

Faith

Sunday

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

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time: ‘Luke 19:1-10’

True contrition means desire to restitute Msgr. Josefino S. Ramirez SUNDAY GOSPEL IN OUR LIFE

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accheus was a very fortunate man.

Surely, he had heard about the Great Teacher. And he must also have heard about some of Jesus’ teachings from his neighbors.

Sometime before Jesus arrived in Jericho, he must have decided to mend his ways. And now, regardless of the spectacle that he might create, getting rid of false human respects, he decided to climb a tree (something far below his social station) just so that he could catch a glimpse of that Teacher who had already made much an impact on is life.

Jesus could read men’s hearts. He knew that the short man up in the tree was not there out of mere curiosity.

He could see that the grace of God had touched Zaccheus heart, and that there had been a conversion.

And He was right. “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8).

We can learn many things from this short man. But today, we can concentrate on his decision to restore whatever he had dishonestly gained.

True conversion always implies the desire to restitute. Sorrow or contrition means the desire not to have done the wrong for which we are sorry. Therefore, it necessarily implies the desire to repair any evil effects that may have ensued from our wrongdoing.

For example, if we are sorry for having stolen or cheated, then we should try our

best to return whatever we have gained dishonestly to its rightful owner.

If we are sorry for having gossiped or backbitten (and this is a sin so common nowadays, but many people don’t even realize it), we should try to restore the honor of that person whom we have unjustly defamed.

If we are not willing to make restitution, then we are not truly sorry. And without genuine sorrow, no forgiveness is possible.

Once, the famous Cure of Ars received a lady who confessed, rather flippantly, that she had gossiped. She did not seem to be aware of the gravity of her fault. For her penance, she was asked to get a handful of hay, to throw it up, and to pick up all the pieces again.

“What a strange penance,” she must have thought to herself. As she threw the hay up, a gust of wind came along and scattered all the pieces away. As she went here and there trying to gather the pieces of hay, she realized the wisdom of that penance.

How difficult it is to gather up the idle words, and the harm caused by their spread, as they stray away from our lips.

How difficult it is to restore the good name of someone we have calumniated or detracted from!

If we were to remember the need that we have to restore what we have unjustly taken away, whether it be wealth or honor, we would perhaps be more tenacious in resisting the sins and temptations against justice.

Bettinna Carlos shares her journey in her first book ‘Heartbreaks & Breakthroughs’

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eartbreaks are something we all go through at one point; it may be from a loss, a failure or being a solo parent. It may feel like you’re carrying a cross of solitude, stigma and suffering.

But breakthrough is also one of the things we experience.

Media personalit y, entrepreneur, and single mom Bettinna Carlos has experienced these, too. In Heartbreaks & B re a k t h ro u g h s , C a r l o s g i ve s h e r testimony: how she made sense of God’s purposes for pain, and how He has helped turn her heartbreaks into breakthroughs.

Published by OMF Literature, Hear tbreaks & Breakthroughs shares Bettinna’s journey—from sickness to full recovery, not just in the physical but emotional and spiritual aspects as well.

Authentic, candid and, at times, downright hilarious, each chapter shares a “heartbreak” episode in Carlos’s life that God used to show Himself and His power, as well as the “breakthrough” where she learned important lessons from the heartbreaks she went through.

Here are some of the important lessons Carlos hopes single mothers, and each one of us, will pick up from reading her book: God has a purpose in our waiting.

Chapter 1 of the book opens with a story of how her health deteriorated as she juggled multiple responsibilities.

As she waits for her medical results, she comes to several realizations. She shares, “God used this time to show more of Himself to me—that He’s our Provider, Guarantee, Father and Comfort—and also for me to discover more things about myself.”

She encourages readers to not panic when it seems that nothing is happening, despite constant prayers.

“God remains in control and He is still at work,” she assures. “Sometimes, God really makes us wait because we need to learn to wait on Him while He is preparing our heart to receive what we are asking for in His timing!”

Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling.

Carlos relates her falling-out with the father of her daughter, Gummy, many years past, and how she realized the importance of forgiving him, no matter how hard it was.

“I knew I had to forgive, though I didn’t feel like it,” she confesses in Chapter 5. “So

I had to choose it, even though I struggled with it.”

And struggled she did for a while.

But thanks to God’s grace, she found, as she would share in latter chapters, the hear t and oppor tunity to reconcile with Gummy’s father, not as lovers, but as partners in parenting their daughter.

We are never alone. Perhaps Carlos’s biggest breakthrough is the realization that although she is raising Gummy on her own, she has God both as her Father Provider and her Faithful Partner.

She narrates various heartbreaks of solo parents, which include making ends meet, time management, decision-making and loneliness, among others.

Then she lists down her learnings about God because of these heartbreaks, like how God is our Companion, Friend, Refuge, Strength and Healer.

“I share my stor y with you with hopes that you too will see the loving hand of God on everything happening in your life,” Carlos tells the readers in the opening pages of her book. “May you be convinced that He is above all and in control of everything, causing all things to work out for your good and His glory.”

She closes the book with “Truths to Hold on To.” The chapter is filled with bible verses and inspiration for different situations that readers, not just single parents, can keep reading through.

Heartbreaks & Breakthroughs is available at National Book Store, OMF Lit Bookshop, Passages, and other leading bookstores for P250.00. The book can also be ordered online through omflit.com.

Sunday, November 3, 2019 A5

Segunda Mana sends 1,000 youth to school annually

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

egunda Mana, the donationin-kind program of Caritas Manila, has played a vital role in its scholarship program for children belonging to the marginalized sector.

Eac h yea r, Seg u nd a Ma na makes it possible for 1,000 students from the poorest provinces nationwide to graduate with a formal college education and servant leadership training.

“Education gives our youth the hope for a better future,” Caritas Manila Executive Director Fr. Anton CT Pascual said in a press statement.

Pascual said Segunda Mana has

raised 287.4 million from 2008 to 2018. From January to July of 2019 it reported an additional gross revenue of 41,490,980 bringing the total to 328,890,980.

It has reached 70 million in annual gross sales in the previous years. Its target is to generate 150 million annual gross sales to fund Caritas Manila’s programs and services for the poor.

Funds generated by Segunda

Mana help produce 1,000 Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program graduates each year.

YSLEP was borne out of Caritas Manila’s strong belief that one of the best ways to fight poverty is through education. It helps poor but deserving students earn college or vocational-techical degrees.

“Segunda Mana encourages people to donate items they no longer need, things they want to give away or nonmoving inventories,” Pascual pointed out.

“Individual and corporate donors can give new or preloved clothes, shoes, toys, school supplies, books, home and office furnitures, appliances or any item they feel can help raise funds.”

Donated items are sold and converted to cash to be used for Caritas Manila’s social services and development programs. Its major beneficiary is the YSLEP scholarship program.

Furthermore, it is also a social entrepreneurship program.

All donated items are sorted and some items are sold in bulk to around 400 micro-entrepreneur families who then sells them as a livelihood. This encourages the poor to become self reliant.

Segunda Mana also provides direct and indirect employment for others who lack the qualifications for regular employment. It has employed at least 120 full-time staff.

As of July 2019, Segunda Mana has 34 charity outlets nationwide.

The expansion began in 2018 when it started operating outside of Luzon by opening a branch in Iloilo City.

Segunda Mana is targeting to open an outlet in Cebu City this year and in Tagum City, Davao next year. It plans to have 50 charity outlets operational all over the country by 2021.

Jehovah’s Witness holds intl meet in PHL

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

t is the message of love as interpreted in 67 countries.

This was how Jehovah ’s Witness Assistant Local Media Spokesman Melchor R. Basalo described their three-day 2019 International Convention in Pasay City.

The main thrust of the convention is Bible education and the theme this year is “Love never fails.” “ T his is ver y relevant because we know that hate is now w ides pread a s seen t h rough racism, war and conf lict within the family,” Basa lo said.

“There is a lack of love. So the

theme is very timely. If we love one another, many problems will be solved,” he added.

Over 5,500 delegates from 67 countries are attending the event, which ends on November 3.

They are joined by the 26,000 local members of Jehovah’s Witness.

Jehovah’s Witness Spokesman Dean Jacek said this was the first time so many delegates from numerous countries are attending their international convention in the Philippines.

“In all the conventions held in the country, this has the most number of international delegates.... It is unusual that so

many people from other countries converge in single meeting,” Jacek said.

He said they hoped to connect and transcend the differences in race, culture and language through the words of the Bible, particularly on love.

“All the delegates come here to learn to realize love. So even if they have different perspective they will still have something in common,” Jacek said.

There is no better proof of this than Jacek himself, a Caucasian, but is f luent in Filipino after spending years in the country as a missionary of Jehovah’s Witness.

Besides fostering deeper understanding among Jehovah ’s Witness members, Jacek said the event is also expected to provide economic benefit to the country.

“It is expected about half a billion pesos worth of income are expected to be generated by our 5,500 international delegates,” Jacek said.

“It is a win-win solution,” he added. The international delegates were toured to local attractions in Metro Manila, Tagaytay, Laguna and Batangas.

Jehova h ’s Wit nesses is a Christian denomination w ith 8.5 million members nationwide.

Light the World Giving Machines back this Christmas

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he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Church), and three charity organizations from the Catholic Church, United Nations and business launched on Wednesday the 2019 Light the World Giving Machines in time for Christmas.

Joining the Church in spearheading the gift-giving initiative are Caritas-Manila, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Philippines and business-based Hero Foundation.

Fr. Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila; Maria Margarita Uy Baula, Unicef corporate fundraising officer; and Kiel Sandico-Fernandez, head for fundraising and marketing of Hero Foundation graced the event.

Beginning on November 8, people can participate in instant acts of service by buying for someone in need through the special giving machines that will be located at the fourth Level of TriNoma Mall near Cinema 1 in Quezon City.

Coming back this year as charity partners are Unicef Philippines and Caritas Manila. Hero Foundation joins as the third partner.

The Light the World Giving Machines will be set up in 10 locations across the globe, with Manila being the only site with a Giving Machine in Asia.

Gift options begin from a P50 medicine kit to a P1,000 contribution to aid in a child’s lower limb prosthesis.

The Light the World Giving Machines allow everyone to give.

Whereas a typical vending machine would only allow a person to get something.

T he Giv ing Mac h ines w i l l operate from November 8 until

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leads the launching of the 2019 Light the World Giving Machines during the Influencer Event attended by charity groups. In the photo are (from left) Haidi Fajardo, area director of Public Affairs of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Ayi Alzola, associate marketing manager of TriNoma; Kiel Sandico-Fernandez, head for fundraising and marketing of Hero Foundation; Fr. Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila; Maria Margarita Uy Baula, Unicef corporate fundraising officer; and Aretemio Maligon, Church leader. Bernard Testa

December 31 during mall hours.

The machines will close on January 1, 2020.

All proceeds will go directly to the three charity organizations.

All administrative costs will be covered by the Church allowing 100 percent of the donations to go to the beneficiaries.

Light the World goes online

For those outside Metro Manila who wish to donate, the Light the World products will be available on the Lazada flagship stores of

Unicef, Caritas Manila and Hero Foundation.

The Light the World products is available on Lazada starting October 30 until 31 December.

Light the World campaign

The Light the World Giv ing Machine is part of the Church ’s Christmas campaign, #LightTheWorld. This initiative celebrates the birth and life of Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world, and asks people to follow His example of serving

and caring for individuals one by one throughout the month of December.

In 2018, the Giving Machines raised more than $2 million for local and international charities from five locations worldwide.

Manila alone raised a total of over P800,000 donations from close to 4,000 donors.

The Church, along with Caritas Manila, Unicef and Hero Foundation, hopes to raise more funds to help more children and families this year.

Science

Sunday

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion BusinessMirror Diwata-2 microsatellite first year in orbit commemorated; 10 small satellites being developed A6 Sunday, November 3, 2019

First PHL-made nanosatellite presented

T

Story & photos by Lyn Resurreccion

he first nanosatellite being built in the Philippines will soon join the Maya-1 cube satellite (cubesat), which is now in orbit in space.

The 10 cm3 nanosatellite is one of 10 new small satellites that are in the laboratory and at different stages of development.

Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr., acting director of Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Advanced Science and Technology Institute (Asti), presented the tentatively named Birds-2S cubesat during the commemoration of the first anniversary of the launching of Diwata-2 microsatellite on October 29.

Dubbed “Diwata-2: A Year in Space,” the event’s theme was “Translating knowledge into local technologies and applications.” It was held at the University of the Philippines Diliman Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (UP-EEEI).

Diwata-2, a 50-kilogram Earth observation microsatellite, was the country’s third small satellite deployed into space through a 600-km Sun-Synchronous Orbit in Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan, on October 29, 2018.

10 small satellites underdevelopment

The new 1-kilogram cubesat is being built by eight engineering scholars under the Space Science and Technology Proliferation through University Partnerships (STeP-UP) of the the Space Technology and Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement (Stamina4Space) Program of the DOST. It is expected to be launched in orbit next year.

Marciano, also the program leader of Stamina4Space, told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the forum that the 10 small satellites under development are in addition to the three satellites already in orbit—the Diwata-1 and Diwata-2 microsatellites, and the Maya-1 cubesat.

He e x pl a ined t h at a l l t he 13 satel l ites “ have t he f inger pr ints of Fi l ipinos in va r ious

for ms,” but t he c ubesat is 10 0 percent being made in the Philippines by Fi l ipinos.

The first three satellites in orbit were made by Filipino engineers in collaboration with Japanese experts in Hokkaido and Tohoku universities in Japan.

Captured 46.06 percent of PHL’s land area

Stamina4Space PHL-50 Project Leader Dr. Marc Talampas, used numbers in summarizing the events’ presentations, besides mentioning the 13 satellites in orbit and underdevelopment, he enumerated the following: 46.06 percent, the Philippine land area that Diwata-2 has captured in images; 672, the number of screws that had to be checked after every vibration test during Diwata-2’s development, showing the meticulous engineering needed; three, the “trinity of vision”—light source, object and detector, the basic principles that Diwata-2’s optical payloads operate; and 101, for Philippines-Oscar 101 (PO101), which was designated by AMSAT to Diwata-2’s amateur radio unit on April 11 this year.

Marciano said Diwata-2 might be able to capture 100 percent of total land area of the Philippines within a year. He explained that the 46.06 percent represented only the clear images taken by the satellite, with the cloudy images removed.

Among Diwata-2’s mission is to provide satellite date for agriculture, fisheries, forestry and other sectors.

It a id s i n d i s a ster res pon se m a n a gement t h rou g h a ssess ment of d a m a ges c au sed b y n at u r a l d i s a ste r s b y t a k i n g pre - a nd post d isa ster i m ages; prov ide mea ns of com mu n ic at ion for emergenc y res pond e r s t h rou g h a m at e u r r a d io; a nd t hrough automat ic pac ket re por t i ng s y stem.

The first nanosatellite being built in the Philippines by Filipino engineering scholars was presented during the commemoration of the first anniversary of the launching of Diwata-2 microsatellite on October 29 at a forum at UP-EEEI.

Data users

Current registered users of Diwata-2’s web site have reached over 800, Stamina4Space report said.

Data obtained by the BusinessMirror showed that among those who use Diwata-2’s web site are government agencies, such as the DOST, Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Transportation, National Defense; public and private universities and colleges; high schools; news agencies; private businesses; local government units; national and local disaster agencies; Namria; foreign universities; and others.

Marciano said that in some cases, agencies need a combination of data from Diwata-2 and zfrom other satellites from which the Philippines has access.

These agencies include the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Sugar Regulatory Administration, National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, Department of Budget and Management, all of which already have agreements with DOST-ASTI. Municipal governments, he said, also ask for data for their land use.

Science, not commercial satellite

One year after the launching of Diwata-2, Marciano explained that more time is needed to be able to “reap its benefits.”

“Our satellites are built in an academic setting, not professional. It is for research.... We are trying to discover something new.

We do experiments. The mindset of designing a scientific quality

Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr., acting director of DOST-Asti and program leader of Stamina4Space, speaks at the forum, dubbed “Diwata-2: A Year in Space,” on October 29 commemorating the first anniversary of Diwata-2’s launching in space. The event was held at UP-EEEI.

satellite is different from a commercial satellite,” he said.

He said commercial satellites, which sell their results, are tried and tested, the results are exact and no experimentation is needed.

“If you want to focus your satellite on the Philippines, you have to do a geo-stationary orbit, but you have to spend millions of dollars for a high-resolution camera,” he said.

Amateur radio for communication

Marciano said besides the satellite images, Diwata-2’s amateur radio unit (ARU) can be used by amateur radio users.

He said Diwata-2’s signal can be used by people using ham radio if there is no cell phone signal, or if one is in a secluded place, and especially during disaster where cell phone cignals are out.

Marciano said its users reach as far as Europe and in communicating between Japan and the Philippines.

The Stamina4Space team said Diwata-2’s ARU payload has seen increasing uptake from various users, with ham radio enthusiasts actively posting and sharing their experiences in social media and online platforms.

Continue the momentum

DOST Undersecretary Dr. Rowena Guevara, for Research and Development, said in her opening message, “The event’s theme, ‘Translating knowledge to local technologies and applications’ captures what the team has been doing since then.”

She added: “We hope to continue this momentum by fostering more local and international linkages and choosing more skilled and

passionate researchers in this field in paving the way for future satellites, not only future Diwatas but possibly even more sophisticated satellites that bear the names of more Philippine icons that can proudly symbolize how far the Filipino stamp of ingenuity and innovation can take us.”

From resource-based to knowledge-based economy

Executive Director Dr. Enrico Par ing it, of DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development, in his message said PCIEERD is bullish that “we will be able to expand, increase and extend whatever gains we have made in the space industry.”

He added: “At the end of the day, we want to propel the Philippine economy through value-adding by way of leveraging on advance technologies. We are transitioning from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. And the knowledge that you gained and have applied will enable this kind of transition.”

Paringit said that even if the countr y still has to harness its nationa l resources “a cr ucia l part of that will be to harness these technologies in order to utilize our precious resources in a sustainable manner.”

Citing one of the missions of Diwata-2 that is to monitor the country’s natural resources and environment, he said, “We would like to see these investments in space technology and space systems engineering as ways for us to be able to attain sustainability and development.”

DOST-PCIEERD monitors the Stamina4Space program.

Space tech key to developing people, data, industry

Marciano highlighted the importance of space technology research in developing people, data and industry, which are the three innovation thrusts of the Stamina4Space program.

“If we don’t start and sustain this, we will forever be consumers of technology and data provided by other countries,” he said.

He added: “We aim to derive economic benefits from space— get t i ng d at a , bu i ld i ng e le ctronics and instruments that can feed into industr y through d i f fe re nt i ate d pro duc t s a nd ser vices, training people like the young people that you see here—so that we are not continuously left behind. The future lies in getting data and information from wherever we can get it [and] that includes the strategic vantage point of space.”

Marciano said with the evolution of Diwata-1 and Diwata-2 “we are now able to respond more and in a better way to the needs of our country with data from space. We are even able to internalize the slogan ‘We put computers in orbit’ for data, industry and people.”

He said, “We want to communicate to our countrymen that we are trying to get better at making space technology work for the Philippines.”

After the forum, guided tours of the University Laboratory for Small Satellite and Space Engineering Systems (ULyS3ES) facility were opened to the public to showcase the technologies onboard the microsatellite, as well as the localization efforts being made by the Stamina4Space Program’s different project teams.

Food packaging has vital role during disasters F

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

ood waste or food lost during the four stages of the food supply chain is not always caused by man’s behavior. Sometimes, poor packaging has a lot to do with it.

From the farms and handling of the agricultural food products by farmers, the food producers, to the food processors, retailers and down to the consumers, the ultimate end-user of these very important products, food is wasted because commodities, inadvertently spoil or expire and, eventually, go to waste.

Hence, Secretary Fortunato de la Peña of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said there is an urgent need for packaging research on the development of disaster relief goods, underscoring the critical role played by packaging in mitigating risks, enhancing preparedness, and food and medical supplies delivery in times of disasters.

At the same time, the DOST chief highlighted the need to formulate testing protocols to ensure the safety of disaster or relief goods during handling and distribution, taking into consideration the geographic conditions of countries located in the Asia Pacific.

In his keynote speech, de la Peña said packaging plays a critical role whether in business or in bigger concerns like food security and environment issues because of technology advancements and innovations that have widened the scope of relevance and reach for the packaging industry.

More important, the role of packaging in times of disasters, especially in the face o f c l i m ate - c h a n g e i m p a c t s, c a n n o t b e overemphasized, he explained.

De la Peña made these recommendations before members of the Asia Packaging Network (APN) and International Safe Transit Association-Asia Packaging Division (ISTA-APD) during a back-to-back International Packaging Symposium held from October 22 to 24 at a hotel in Makati City.

The twin events with 100 attendees highlighted the role of packaging in disaster preparedness. Among the topics include smart packaging technology, packaging materials, t re n d s , i n n o v a t i o n a n d s u s t a i n a b i l i t y packaging for food and agriculture, packaging regulations, testing and impact to trade, packaging design, printing and branding, and distribution packaging.

Prone to disaster

Focusing on the role of packaging in disaster preparedness, de la Peña said Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, are in the socalled Pacific Ring of Fire, where natural disasters, such as typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis, are common occurrences.

Unfortunately, he said, such natural events have become more devastating and harmful, causing significant loss of properties and lives.

“In the Philippines, we normally experience an average of 20 typhoons a year, with the Typhoon Perla [international code name Neogori] being

the latest,” he said.

Packaging, he said, plays a critical role in mitigating disaster risks, enhancing the disaster preparedness, and food and medical supplies delivery to affected areas as fast as possible.

Supertyphoon Yolanda experience

The DOST chief said the Philippines was caught grossly unprepared when Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) made landfall on November 8, 2013.

The strength, when it landed in Eastern Samar was 330 kilometers/hour, and it had a wide coverage affecting Eastern, Central and Western Visayas, and some parts of Southern Luzon and Mindanao.

“The massive destructions, devastations, and loss of properties and lives of people have brought major challenges to the national government, as well as to the Filipino people,” he said.

Roads and airports leading to calamitystricken areas were closed which caused difficulty in the delivery of basic social services, such as food, water and medicines.

He said the local government units (LGUs) and local service providers were, likewise, affected and it took several days for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other service providers to enter the affected areas.

Limited, hard to prepare food packs

He noted that packs of emergency food were limited to canned foods, noodles, coffee, rice

and crackers that needed water and preparation.

“Canned foods, without easy-to-open ringpulls, added a degree of unnecessary difficulty as can openers were hard to find since these were not included in the relief packages,” he pointed out.

Likewise, he said rice, instant noodles and coffee found no use to immediately address the hunger of calamity survivors.

“This situation has increased the magnitude of distress to the calamity survivors,” he said.

Lessons learned

Learning its lessons well from the Yolanda experience, the DOST and the Packaging Technology Division of the Industrial Technology Development Institute (PTD-ITDI) embarked on a program on the development of shelf-stable, ready-to-eat foods as disaster/relief foods based on international protocols.

A year later, the first ready-to-eat (RTE) food developed by the DOST’s PTD-ITDI was born—a chicken arroz caldo with a brand name “Pack of Hope” with a message of “in every pack, there is a hope to address hunger.”

“The RTE was designed to be a first-stage relief food to address both hunger and thirst of survivors for the first 48 hours of the calamity’s occurrence,” he said.

The food pack is lightweight and has a shelf life of at least one year.

The product, he said, was packaged to withstand aerial drop distribution at 20 feet height by land and by water submersion.

Field-tested RTE food packs

The development of the RTE food passed field testing and simulation trials following the ISTA test procedures, he said.

The following year, the chicken arroz caldo RTE was field-tested and distributed to survivors of typhoons, volcanic eruptions and landslides.

“When the landslide happened in the mining area of Itogon, Benguet, in September 2018 due to Typhoon Lawin, RTE chicken arroz caldo was distributed to victims by aerial drop since all roads going to the affected area were not passable,”he said.

The arroz caldo was also distributed along with smoked fish rice meal, another RTE product of the PTD-ITDI, during the recent earthquake in Batanes, as well as the 6.3-magnitude earthquake to affected people in affected areas in Mindanao.

The DOST’s PTD-ITDI has also developed boiled sweet potato and cassava in light syrup, all RTE food packs designed for distribution as disaster/ relief goods.

De la Peña said going beyond RTE foods, the DOST’s Food Nutrition and Research Institute and the Food Processing Division of the ITDI also developed food packaging for energy bars with high nutrient content as emergency food, and instant powdered baby foods.

Extending shelf life

Correct packaging also plays an important role in extending the shelf life of fresh food.

According to the DOST chief, a recent study conducted by the PTD-ITDI indicated that through

active packaging technology, the shelf life of fresh bread can be extended from three to five days or up to 90 days.

Field testing and trial distribution of fresh bread was already conducted by researchers.

Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara for Research and Development of the DOST agrees.

She noted that enhancing the quality of food packaging and packaging of agricultural products will help reduce food waste, citing food waste in the case of highly perishable tomatoes.

“Almost half of tomatoes produced by farmers are lost because of poor packaging,” she said.

Helping farmers

She challenged researchers to help farmers reduce postharvest losses and increase their income through packaging that will extend the shelf life and avoid unnecessary food waste.

According to Guevara, on top of research to enhance food quality, they should also consider the balance between environmental protection and consumer safety.

Chief Science Research Specialist Daisy E. Tañafranca of the PTD-ITDI said the event aims to be a venue for exchange of ideas among researchers about packaging trends, it’s critical role in food security, food and consumer safety, and ways to improve management of wastes.

Tañafranca, who also heads the 10-member APN, said research on packaging needs funding, which hopes to come up with more competitive packaging designs that will pass international standards and boost exports.

Tourism&Entertainment BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Klook, Smart tie-up for the best travel experience

It was a foggy and cold dawn while we waited for the sunrise. It didn’t disappoint.

Discovering Nature’s Wonders in Kanas Lake Nature Reserve

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Story & photos by Joshua Berida

y friend and I decided to wake up early to watch the sunrise at one of the scenic spots in Kanas Lake Nature Reserve.

We only had a few hours to explore when we arrived the day before so we wanted to make the most of our time on our last day in the park.

It was a clear dawn where we could see the snowcapped mountains in the distance. “This is going to be a good day,” I said to my friend. We waited for the bus to fetch us along with other early risers who had the same idea. It was a chilly, autumn day, so we put on an extra layer of clothes and a jacket since we were eager to explore Kanas after taking more than a day to reach it.

The fog is lifting

The bus meandered through a winding road. My friend and I couldn’t help but stare out the window like excited children with cameras ready to capture the moments passing us. The dawn fog moved slowly, wrapping its wispy fingers around the rolling hills, while horses galloped at their own, steady pace.

Our bus stopped at the scenic spot. And there we were, waiting for the sunrise.

A7

“It was freezing,” I thought to myself. Nature’s wonder can wait since she has done this in front of so many others for eons.

My friend and I met one of our roommates from the dorm. He was eating cup noodles to stay warm. We greeted each other and went with the usual how-are-youwhat-do-you-think-of-the-view with the little English he knew. I felt the cold crawl up my throat, “I’m going to be sick after this,” I thought to myself. However, we stayed as the fog began to dissipate, and nature and science colluded to go about their daily routine. Sunlight touched one of the peaks in the distance; it crawled down its back, gradually on all fours just like wobbly baby steps.

The first rays pierced through the fog, scatter ing light and spreading its warmth as the cold and hot air fell and rose to heavens. Mass. Matter. Molecules.

You’ve heard this story before,

The colors of the trees and water below create a picturesque view.

The clear, serpentine river mirrors the surrounding trees.

The low paths lead to stunning views of the mountain and its autumn’s colors.

small things leading to bigger ones, illumination sweeping over the landscape at a glacial pace. At the right moment, you’ll witness it, nature in all her glory, revealing craggy peaks, autumn-tinged leaves, uneven, perfect.

And the story went on its usual drama, and there we stood there in awe. We took several photos of the moment, at least the ones we

The wooden cabins are also guesthouses, hostels, shops, and restaurants.

could capture in a frame, in megapixels. I put my camera down for a while, and just looked with my naked eyes.

A view from above

Our feet led us to different hiking trails each time we alighted the bus. One of the viewpoints showed a river, it moved snakelike through yellowing trees. We

followed the low and high paths with views from above and from below, enticing us with a different perspective.

We were on a bus on our way up to Guan Yuan Tai, our last stop. It made for a slow ascent, providing passengers with panoramic views of the snow-capped mountains and the autumn-colored landscape.

Our newfound Chinese friend kept messaging us to go up the viewpoint because it was the best he had ever seen in the park. There was a line of people going up and down the hill to get a glimpse of the lake below and the surrounding vistas.

I took my time soaking in the fresh air and stunning views, my friend did the same. We took our last few photos of Kanas before leaving. I took a few mental snapshots for the times I would want to recreate the images from scratch, the orange-yellow leaves of the trees, the curves of the landscape with its white peaks and the cerulean color of the lake. Maybe to some degree, I can imitate Mother Nature in her process of creation, to be a detail in a grand design.

We met the Chinese and American guys we traveled with at the bus stop bound for the park’s exit.

The uneventful ride took us back to where our trip started earlier.

We missed the last bus back to Burqin, but we didn’t fuss over it, since it was a beautiful day. We just shared a taxi with another group of friends and a couple. In a blur of little details we were in the city, in a restaurant sharing a meal and a round of drinks. It could’ve been a day like any other.

The view from Guan Yuan Tai was spectacular.

DOT 11 holds Davao Oriental dive fest

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Great Wall dive site in Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental

o promote and develop the dive tourism industry in the Davao region, the Department of Tourism Region 11 held the first Sawom Dabaw, the Davao Oriental Dive Festival in Governor Generoso (GovGen). Sawom, which literally means to swim or dive, featured discovery dive tours among participating dive center operators, industry stakeholders, underwater photographers and media.

According to DOT 11 Regional Director Tanya Rabat-Tan, they envision the province as the next diving getaway of the region for its rich marine and terrestrial biodiversity. She noted that it has the region’s longest coastline of more than 500

kilometers, exemplifying the richness of its coastal and marine resources that can be harnessed for sustainable tourism.

She said that the event is a step toward DOT 11’s “Islands to Highlands” tourism thrust of discovering new “ridge to reef” sites it can offer to adventure-loving locals and foreign visitors.

The divers explored the dive sites of GovGen, namely, Sigaboy Island, Coral Garden, Cape San Agustin and Great Wall, a drop off near the coast of Tagabebe village which teems with barrel sponges, soft coral and gorgonian fans.

A dive forum was also conducted simultaneously for the locals to underscore sus-

tainability of the town’s marine biodiversity. They were also given an introductory shore entry scuba diving in Pundaguitan.

The event partners are Davao Summer Festival, the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving (PSSCD), the Province of Davao Oriental, and Municipality of Governor Generoso, with Philippines AirAsia as the official carrier.

A series of dive validation activities were subsequently held in Mati City and the municipality of Tarragona, which revealed more potential sites for diving operations.

DOT dive expedition was hatched last year in Talikud Island in the Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte.

By Gelyka Ruth R. Dumaraos Photos by Ermelo Villareal

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mart Communications Inc. and awardwinning booking app Klook recently partnered in a travel fest to bring in the best travel experience for their subscribers.

Travelers can now share their fun moments in real time through Smart’s fastest LTE network which lets them have access to the Internet 24/7 wherever they may be.

As more and more Filipinos travel around the world with the advent of booking apps, Alice Ramos, Smart Communications Inc. vice president for International Roaming and Consumer Business, noted that there is a need to have a strong data signal even when Wi-i is available.

“When we’re traveling, we always assume when we go to other land where the grass is always greener, the Wi-fi is always green [in signal] too,” she said.

However, it’s not always the case. Even in countries such as Japan, there will still be locations when one needs data for easier navigation. “Of course, you need a map or when you want to post and share your selfie. When you don’t have data right then and there, it’s a little lag.”

Seamless connectivity

With Smart’s roaming services, subscribers need not to experience poor data connection that hurdles them to update their loved ones back home and post their fun moments via their social-media platforms.

Smart subscribers can avail themselves of roaming offers such as GigaRoam at P999 for 1GB of Web surfing, video streaming and social app usage for five days. There is also Roam Lite P150 or P250 for up to 200mb of Internet for one day. Chat services are also up to 200mb for 24 hours for only P250.

“You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg for data roaming because it’s in your phone already,” Ramos said. “Even with the presence of free Wi-fi, from time to time you will need data. And it’s not as expensive as you expect.”

No bill shock

Contrary to some users’ fear of expecting whopping bills after their trip, Ramos highlighted that with Smart’s roaming offers, postpaid subscribers are guaranteed that there will be no bill shock.

Subscribers may look into their Smart Data Roaming Manager to monitor their data usage real time. The pre-defined data roaming packages make it convenient for users to transparently manage their subscriptions and monitor actual usage versus their data allocation.

“At Klook, our goal is to make traveling more seamless for every Filipino,” Michelle Cruz, market lead for Klook Philippines, shared, adding that Klook’s partnership with Smart adds to the seamless travel experience one awaits when booking through the platform.

Attendees of the Klook Travel Fest held last September at the World Trade Center where able to avail themselves of discounted roaming offers by Smart, aside from exclusive deals on over 100,000 attractions and activities and 300+ destinations around the world.

Cruz added that compared to last year where most of the users of the app booked deals to Asian destinations, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, more and more people are getting enticed into traveling to Australia, the United States and Europe. With this, Klook continues to add more deals to these destinations and more services to help them in their itineraries.

“Everything that we do revolves around the questions on how to make discovery more amazing, how we make things more convenient for our users besides ensuring the best prices for our activities, we’re also adding more services into the platform.”

Cruz added, “Our goal really is to constantly upgrade or innovate our product to empower all modern-day Filipino travelers and give them accessibility and the best prices for their travels.”

A8 Sunday, November 3, 2019

Sports BusinessMirror

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

I.O.C. KEEPS IMAGE

FRESH IN CHINA C

hinese sports firm Anta Sports has renewed its deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to become official uniform supplier until the end of 2022.

The agreement, signed at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, will see Anta supplying IOC members and staff with sports apparel, including shoes and accessories, for major events like next year’s Winter Youth Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.

Anta, based in Jinjiang, is already the official sports apparel supplier of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Chinese capital.

Anta, established in 1991, is one of the leading sportswear companies in China, and has been the official sports apparel partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee since 2009.

It was also a sponsor of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The company also provided IOC uniforms for the Olympic Winter Games and Summer Youth Olympic Games in Pyeongchang and Buenos Aires last year.

The Chinese company had replaced American sportswear company, Nike, when their four-year contract with the IOC ran out at the end of 2016.

“We are delighted to announce this

long-term agreement with Anta,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “We were very pleased by the excellent quality and designs of the uniforms delivered for Pyeongchang 2018, and Buenos Aires 2018, and we have been very impressed by the professionalism, great service spirit and flexibility of the Anta team.”

“Anta is a strong partner of the Olympic Movement, and we thank it for its commitment to sport in China, as well as its partnership with the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022,” he said. “We look forward to wearing its uniforms with pride in Lausanne, Tokyo, Beijing and Dakar [2022 Summer Youth Olympic Games].”

Earlier this month, Anta announced it had suspended contract renewal negotiations with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States in response to a tweet by a Houston Rockets official Daryl Morey in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

The company claimed it “opposes any action that harms China’s interests.”

Anta has contracts with several NBA players, including Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson, Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo and Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward.

Ding Shizhong, executive chairman of the Board and chief executive of Anta Sports, did not

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (right) and Anta Sports Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Ding Shizhong sign the new deal until 2022 at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

mention the NBA controversy when renewing the deal with the IOC. “We feel honored to work with the IOC,” Shizhong said. “Anta’s value of ‘Keep Moving’ echoes with the Olympic motto of ‘higher, faster, stronger.’ We would take this opportunity to build a bridge that inspires broader exchanges and communication for

Chinese culture and Olympic culture.”

“As our brand grows in China and in the international arena, we will keep on promoting the Olympic spirit and culture in our markets by helping our consumers approach the charm of the Olympics in a more accessible way, and bring the transcendent sports spirit into everyone’s daily life,” he added. Insidethegames

Douglas promotes long odds against Tyson to inspire

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OLUMBUS, Ohio—James “Buster” Douglas will mark the 30th anniversary of his upset boxing victory over Mike Tyson with a campaign aimed at inspiring others who face long odds.

Douglas, 59, joined organizers at the Ohio Statehouse Wednesday to announce a series of “42 to 1” events framed around his unlikely 1990 victory to raise funds for work force development, diversity and self-help programs for at-risk youth.

“The reason we’re still here today talking about Buster’s 42-1 upset fight with Mike Tyson is because it transcended sports,” said two-time

Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, a backer of the effort. He said the bout proved “nothing is impossible if you possess iron will and great determination.”

Douglas, a Columbus native, met Tyson, the reigning undisputed world heavyweight champion, in the ring in Tokyo on February 11, 1990. Douglas prevailed in a stunning upset over a man feared for his prowess in the ring and considered the best boxer in the world at the time.

He lost the title to Evander Holyfield that October.

“I went into the fight only to win,” Douglas said Wednesday, “never knowing it would come

out to be something as spectacular as it has been over the years.”

The Tyson-Douglas contest gained new attention with the release of an ESPN documentary, also titled 42 to 1, in December.

ESPN plans to air the documentary and send some of its personalities to participate in a celebratory gala in February.

State Sen. Jay Hottinger, a Newark Republican, said a bill establishing a “James ‘Buster’ Douglas 42to-1 Odds Day” is moving through the statehouse.

It’s among several official actions that governments are taking to mark the anniversary. AP

THE Adamson University Baby Falcons celebrate their victory.

Baby Falcons dethrone Zobel gals

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damson University ended De La Salle-Zobel’s reign with a 25-20, 25-21, 25-14 victory to advance to the next phase of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82 girls’ volleyball stepladder recently at the Paco Arena.

Middle blocker May Nuique topscored for the Baby Falcons with 14 points on eight attacks and four blocks, while Kate Santiago contributed 13 kills and 11 digs.

Up next for Adamson University is a duel with twice-to-beat University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Sunday at the Blue Eagle Gym. National University-Nazareth School is in the best-of-three Finals after sweeping all its 12 elimination round matches.

Despite the victory, Baby Falcons Coach Lerma Giron said there are so much to correct with the team.

“We still had so many errors. The good thing is the kids believe in themselves—that they could win,” Giron said.

Adamson University built an 11-point lead in the third set after scoring five consecutive points, 20-9, to put the game away.

With the Junior Lady Spikers cutting the gap in the second frame, 21-22, the Baby Falcons put the finishing run with three consecutive points off two hits by Santiago and a service ace by Nuique, for a 2-0 set lead.

Irah Jaboneta paced De La Salle-Zobel with 11 points, while Gerzel Petallo and Ysabel Gamboa chipped in 10 points apiece.

Angel Canino did not play in the game, citing an undisclosed injury.

The Junior Lady Spikers committed 26 errors, including 11 in the third set.

UST, meanwhile, drew a huge game from Rey de Vega to beat Adamson University, 25-17, 27-25, 25-17, to secure the last Final Four berth in boys’ action.

De Vega unleashed 18 points on 12 spikes, five service aces and a block to lead the Tiger Cubs. He served five straight aces as UST came back from a 2-11 deficit in the second set with

to tie the game at 13-13.

The Junior Tiger Spikers then went toe-totoe with the Baby Falcons and hung tough to take a commanding 2-0 set lead.

UST started the third set by scoring nine of the first 10 points and never looked back to move on to the Final Four.

Paul Colinares added 12 points, including three blocks, for the Tiger Cubs.

“I’m so proud of the players because all of what we practiced in the past few days they translated to this victory,” UST Assistant Coach John Abella said.

Libero Vantracy Prudenciado provided the floor defense with 22 digs, while CJ Segui poured in 11 receptions and five points for UST. Jefferson Marapoc led Adamson University with 17 points, while, captain John Gay chalked up 11.

UST will open its semifinals series with twice-to-beat Far Eastern University-Diliman on Sunday at the Blue Eagle Gym. The other pairing pits No. 2 University of the East and No. 3 National University-Nazareth School.

GINEBRA VS. MERALCO

LA TENORIO leads the Kings past the Elite.

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arangay Ginebra and Meralco face each other to break a tie for third place in the Philippine Basketball Asssociation Governors’ Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After the league observed All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, action resumes with the Gin Kings and Bolts, an encounter between teams holding 5-2 won-lost records.

The game is set at 7 p.m.

NorthPort (3-4) and Alaska (2-6) try to chase the pack in the 4:30 p.m. first game.

Barangay Ginebra rolled to its fifth straight victory when it thrashed Blackwater, 101-93, last Wednesday.

Import Justin Brownlee turned to beast mode in the fourth period after scoring only

seven points in the first three quarters. The American erupted with 10 points in the final quarter and listed a triple-double of 12 rebounds and 11 assists.

LA Tenorio topscored with 20 points, seven boards and five assists, while Japeth Aguilar added 18 points.

Coach Tim Cone took advantage of the short break to work on their lapses that were in full display despite the victory against the Elite.

“We are making a lot of turnovers. Now we have to prepare [hard] for our next game,” Cone said. “They are one of the league leaders, they blew up San Miguel.”

“We have so many battles. We’re going to play a lot better than what we did [against Blackwater] to be able to beat Meralco,” he added.

The Bolts did turn heads when they dismantled the grand slam-seeking Beermen.

Meralco drew huge numbers from import Allen Durham and Baser Amer in its lopsided 125-99 win over San Miguel.

Durham registered a tripledouble of 29 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, while Amer added 26 points, highlighted by his three triples in the fourth that cut the life off from the Beermen.

Ramon Rafael Bonilla

Preparing the next batch of Filipino chefs

Preparing the next batch of Filipino chefs

By Jt Nisay

Salvador, and Michael Angelo Monsalve, with Tan as team manager.

Other efforts of the PYCC are “Paella Gigante” and “Nestle International Chefs Day,” which are conducted every year with the LTB.

Y2Z Editor

T

he next generation of Filipino culinary stars have the appetite to learn, but they need to binge on self-confidence.

Such was the assessment of veteran chef Cherrie Uy-Tan on her younger counterparts during the recent local celebration of International Chefs Day 2019 at Foo’d

by Davide Oldani in BGC. Tan serves as Ambassador Mentor of Worldchef’s Global Development of Young Chefs, as well as president of Philippine Young Chefs Club (PYCC), the youth arm of LTB Chefs Association (LTB) that also works closely with the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines in building camaraderie among culinary professionals, training talents, sharing knowledge and promoting social responsibility. “[The PYCC] envisions to hone future culinary leaders with globally competitive skills, nationalistic pride, discipline and honor, to uplift Filipino food tradition and culture that will contribute to nationbuilding,” Tan said.

Promote cooking

The Philippine Young Chefs Club (PYCC) will be sending for the first time a National Young Chef’s Team abroad for a global competition. Competing at the FHC China International Young Chefs Challenge 2019 this month are Rayzel Salvador (from left), Jomari Miranda, Michael Monsalve and Rier Franco, while PYCC President Cherrie Uy-Tan will serve as team manager.

‘We look at your ‘Chef Age’” Established in 2012 as a nonprofit organization, the PYCC provides continuous learning to its members, particularly about the inner workings of the food industry.

Tan said while schools teach textbook lessons such as recipes and kitchen management, PYCC trains its members with a “more holistic approach” to the culinary scene based on practical insights of seasoned professionals.

The group lists about 150 current members across the country. The PYCC welcomes any culinary or hotel and restaurant management student, or—in an open usage of the word “youth” in its group name—anyone who has been working in the culinary and baking industry for one to three years, regardless of age.

“We don’t have an age limit for our members because some are in the process of career change in life,” Tan said, adding they have members who are graduates of computer science and nursing, to name a few. “We look at your age as a chef, not your age as a person.”

All PYCC members are Filipino citizens and have joined on their own initiative either through e-mail (philippineyoungchefsclub@gmail.com) or social media (@philip-

One of the PYCC’s activities is “Nestle International Chefs Day,” a joint project of PYCC, LTB and Nestle in educating kids about healthy eating habits. This year’s edition was held at Sto. Niño Elementary School in Caloocan last October 16. pineyoungchefsclub on Facebook and Instagram). The group also conducts recruitment through school caravans and by putting up a booth at the WOFEX’s Philippine Culinary Cup every year.

The PYCC, which is recognized by the Worldchefs (former World Association of Chefs Societies) and by the Worldchefs Young Chefs Club, enlists two chaptermembers: The Greater Manila Chapter, which encompasses Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna; and the Visayas Chapter, which has two clusters in Iloilo and Bacolod.

Around 80 percent of PYCC members are from the Greater Manila Chapter, the majority of which is from schools, led by Global Academy, followed by Lyceum of the Philippines. The group also has members from AICA, CCA, DLS-CSB, First Gourmet Academy, ISCAHM, Tesda and UST, as well as from institutions, such as City of Dreams-Manila, Ikomai-Tochi and Marriott Hotel.

Tan said the diversity provides members with a strong industry network and connec-

2 BusinessMirror

tion with senior and international chefs, on top of continuous education through monthly events.

Global contest This year, the PYCC will be sending for the first time a National Young Chef’s Team abroad for a global competition. The FHC China International Young Chefs Challenge is four-member team competition of a semi-buffet setup, to be judged by highly recognized International Chefs from Worldchefs. Competing in this year’s contest are 12 countries, namely, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, PenangMalaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States.

The country’s delegate comes from City of Dreams-Manila, the team that topped the recently concluded Philippine Culinary Cup’s Young Chefs Team Challenge.

The team members include Rier Maverick Franco, Jomari Miranda, Rayzel Monique November 03, 2019

On a wider scale, the LTB Philippines Chefs Association aims to bring together hotel and restaurant professionals, such as executive chefs, caterers, wine sommeliers, purchasing managers, culinary school educators and the like, regardless of nationality.

“We try to create links of friendship, professional cooperation and mutual understanding,” said chef J. Gamboa, LTB treasurer and head of the Education, Communications and Social Media committee.

“Our goals are to promote cooking, recipes, high-quality products, and technical equipment; to help train, recruit, and find work for professionals away from their country of origin; to foster information and communication among members; and to organize professional exchanges and make available all advantages reserved for the profession.”

A nonprofit organization, the LTB is a member of Worldchefs, the world governing body of culinary associations dedicated to maintaining and improving the culinary standards of global cuisines.

The organization traces its history to 1979, when fine dining was reserved to the great restaurants of the grand hotels chains. Swiss chef Werner Berger of Santis Delicatessen and Werdenberg International decided to put up a guild named Les Toques Blanches Philippines, with the mission to bring together professional chefs and hotel and restaurant practitioners to improve culinary standards and develop the Filipino culinary professional. In 2014, the guild’s name was changed to LTB Philippines Chefs Association (www.ltbchefs-phils.com).

Today, LTB Philippines Chefs Association is part of the spearheading committee of the Philippine Culinary Cup, the only Worldchefs-accredited culinary competition in the country. The group is also behind the Culinary Team Pilipinas, which has brought home accolade from international competitions while showcasing the skills and talents of the professional Filipino chef.

“Always willing to contribute their talents to worthy causes, LTB members have engaged in fund-raising activities to rebuild communities in need, cooked for the benefit of programs for the elderly, and shared their time and expertise to inspire young future chefs,” Gamboa said. “Through regular Chefs Table events and educational tours, vibrant exchange of industry best practices takes place, learning and growth among the members is fostered.”

BusinessMirror

YOUR MUSIC OUR BUSINESS MINT COLLEGE STUDENTS DURING THE SCHOOL’S MINT STREET MEDIA WEEK (PHOTO BY CARL OCAMPO COURTESY OF MINT COLLEGE)

SCHOOLS THAT ROCK SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE PHL MUSIC INDUSTRY Y

By Mony Romana (First of a series)

EARS after some quarters were ready to declare the death of OPM, we are now seeing a renewed vigor and vitality in the local music scene. Digital technology has made the art of music production more accessible, where garage bands and bedroom producers are able to produce tracks of substantial quality and get them to a wide audience. But while the barriers to entry in the music business have been lowered, navigating the industry’s ins and outs has become an even more complicated endeavor.

THE AUTHOR (PHOTO COURTESY OF MINT COLLEGE)

Fortunately, learning institutions that mold a new breed of professionals for the industry has acknowledged the importance of business knowhow and added music business courses in their curriculum.

De La Salle College of St. Benilde was the first to recognize this by introducing a Music Business subject in the Music Production Curriculum.

The

course “The Business of Music,” covered a wide range of topics from intellectual property and copyright, publishing and music marketing.

As Patrick Frias, chair of the Music Production Department of the School of Design and Arts shares, “The program is unique in the country and its curriculum is designed to develop the skills

necessary to succeed in today’s complex and challenging music industry field.”

Meridian International College, more popularly known as MINT College opted for a more novel approach in developing music business professionals.

Established in 2010, MINT College offered a first: a full Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Music

Business Management. Subjects included Introduction to the Music Business, Music Marketing, Artist Management, Songwriting and Publishing, along with Audio Music Production subjects.

The program was the brainchild of the late OPM legend Eugene Villaluz along with the Continued on page 6

Sound BusinessMirror

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YOUR MUS

TICKLING YOUR FANCY

NEW SINGLE FROM THE VOWELS THEY ORBIT

A

FTER reaching the number one spot in one of the most prominent FM radio charts in the Philippines and peaking at number two on Spotify Philippines Viral 50 with “Selos,” the indie pop-rock band, the vowels they orbit returns with a brand new single under Sony Music Philippines.

An easy listening number that showcases the band’s more relaxed and technically adept side, their second single “Kiliti” is a song about finding the perfect someone in an imperfect situation. It tackles a kind of love that is capable of surmounting the greatest odds under any circumstances.

“The song was written by Nikka back in college a few years ago with just her guitar,” says Darwin Hernandez, the band’s manager and Soupstar Entertainment’s head honcho. “The full band arrangements were done by all the members and was produced by Rye Sarmiento, who is also the guitarist of 6cyclemind and Banda Ni Kleggy.”

Deceptively simple sound

Certainly at peace with their deceptively simple but lush sound, the vowels they orbit takes pride with their collaborative effort in recording a worthy follow-up to their hit single.

“At first, we can’t help but feel a bit nervous about the release of Kiliti given the success of Selos,” bassist Patch Javier points out. “But going back and remembering how Kiliti

KILITI SINGLE COVER

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YOUR MUSIC OUR BUSINESS

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SOUNDSTRIP is published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the BusinessMirror The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

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INDIE POP-ROCK BAND THE VOWELS THEY ORBIT

is such a different song makes us feel excited, rather than pressured.

What’s important to us is that people get to listen to the song.”

“It’s always also a great feeling when listeners interpret the song in their own ways and find a connection to the song somehow,” vocalist and guitarist Nikka Melchor shares the same sentiment. “Knowing that we love this song and that we put a lot of work into it is enough to not feel worried.”

What’s next

Now signed with Sony Music Philippines, the vowels they orbit are set to release an EP soon. The band, composed of Nikka Melchor (Vocals), Jeremy Sayas (Drums), Hannah Dela Cruz (Keyboard), Gene Santiago (Guitars) and Patch Javier (Bass), is managed by Soupstar Entertainment, which takes pride of its star-studded roster such as Sandwich, Pedicab, Moonstar88, 6cyclemind, Gracenote, Imago and more.

“Kiliti” is now available on streaming and download platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes store, and Deezer.

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | NOVEMBER 3 , 2019

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SIC OUR BUSINESS

ADOBO JAZZ

WAKING UP THE ‘DORMANT’ LOCAL JAZZ SCENE

By Tony M. Maghirang

'J

azz is dying in the Philippines,' lamented 69year old George “Cosme” Almaden, Jr., former Jazz Friends and Emil Mijares band sideman.

But rather than rue the passing of an era, Cosme gathered all his powers and connection to help infuse a new lease on life before Filipino jazz fades to oblivion.

His latest attempt to revive Pinoy jazz is called Adobo Jazz which has initially found its voice in a compilation album of the same name on bandcamp. The album titled “Adobo Jazz: Filipino Jazz Music of Our Time Vol. 1” will be formally launched on December 1 in what’s expected to be the Pinoy jazz event of the year.

The compilation assembles new original works from the likes of veterans Colby de la Calzada, Elmir Saison and Henry Katindig as well as upcoming sensation Erskine Basillio. The recording received support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the featured compositions on the first release are the cream of the crop in a rash of submissions from all over the country.

“I told the jazz community here, ‘Guys, I got an NCCA grant to do a jazz

ADOBO JAZZ ALBUM COVER

ADOBO JAZZ COLLAGE: Joey Quirino, George “Cosme” Almaden Jr. and Henry Katindig (Photos from Adobo Jazz FB Page)

album and I need your original contributions,” shared Cosme.

“Dinagsa ako! Ang daming nagsubmit! It goes to show there’s a jazz audience out there. You just need to tap them.”

Jazz music is in Almaden’s DNA. As drummer for The Jazz Friends led by the late Lito Molina, he and the rest of the celebrated jazz outfit steered the gathering of executives to offhours fame in the ‘60s onwards. His gig with the Jazz Friends caught the attention of Emil Mijares, with whom he worked with in various shows and concerts in Metro Manila. He later branched out into playing with other jazz personalities like Bel (Bugudoy) Cruz, Romy Katindig, harpist Tadao Hayashi, Emy Munji, Ely Saison, and the legendary Bobby Enriquez.

That Pinoy jazz has fallen to hard times is a tough pill for George to swallow. He argued, “We were the first to love jazz in the Far East, right after the war. American jazz greats first played here and they left jazz as a legacy to us.

“Now we’re falling behind other countries in jazz appreciation and in producing music. Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong have already surpassed us.”

What rankles even more is the fact that Pinoy jazz greats pass

away without due recognition. While hailed elsewhere as harbingers of the new sound of jazz elsewhere, the likes of Bobby “The Wildman” Enriquez and Emil Mijares seemed to have been lost in the collective amnesia of the guardians of the socalled Original Pilipino Music.

“I am also frustrated because a lot of Filipino jazz greats have passed away unappreciated in the Philippines,” Cosme complained. “They’re hailed as jazz greats abroad but in their home country, they appeared to have just come and gone.”

George also hit the skins on three tracks on the Adobo Jazz album.

“Kalipay” is a slow serpentine lounge charmer while “Liwanag Ng Buwan Sa Dagat” luxuriates in hot percussive beats and even hotter solo sax and piano breaks. “Autumn Leaves”, a bonus track rescued from a 1993 session, presents sir George in peak performance.

All told, the news of the demise of jazz in these luckless shores is largely exaggerated, With Adobo Jazz, musician/ producer Cosme isn’t just going to revive it. He’s kicking its dormant ass so it gets up on sturdy legs and slays the naysayers themselves.

Clap your hands and say Yeah!

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Sound trip BusinessMirror

YOUR MUSIC OUR BUSINESS

RHYTHM & RHYME

by Kaye Villagomez-Losorata

S

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

omething old. Of the popular songs the Joker film included for clown references, “Send In The Clowns” was featured twice in the film: first when the Wall Street were singing it in the subway sequence and then the full Frank Sinatra version during credits. Before Sinatra made it popular, Stephen Sondheim wrote the song for the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. In the local scene, “Send In The Clowns” was used as theme song for the German Moreno-starrer, Payaso back in 1986. Yes, kids… Kuya Germs was way ahead of Joaquin Phoenix.

Something new. The original Joker motion picture soundtrack is now available for streaming/ downloading on Spotify and Apple Music. Just in case the downward spiral to cinematic depression you got from the movie wasn’t enough, go stream. That said, you have to admire the whole new state of melancholia that Phoenix and the filmmakers sent viewers to in order to flesh out this standalone film.

By the time Arthur Fleck/ Joker did that victory dance inside a public toilet, notice that the scoring has helped push viewers over to that necessary plunge to bleakness. Prior to “The Bathroom Dance” track, entries like “Defeated Clown,” “Hiding In The Fridge,” and “Subway: really set you up to

Schools...

accommodate Arthur’s brand of victory—one that’s half-twisted and half-threatening but definitely full-on melancholy.

Hildur Guðnadóttir’s music measured madness for the viewers. The soundtrack did its own “acting,” increasing Phoenix’s dosage of craziness each time Fleck decided to choose next-level cringe-fest that eventually detonated to a demented end.

Something borrowed. The full soundtrack composed by Guðnadóttir, who also wrote and performed for HBO’s Chernobyl and Sicario, had help from some popular songs like Jimmy Durante’s “Smile,” Chaim Tenenbaum’s “If You’re Happy And You Know It,” and two Sinatra classics, “That’s Life” and “Send In The Clowns,”

as mentioned. These songs— including The Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays The Fool,” Lawrence Welk’s “The Moon Is A Silver Dollar,” Fred Astaire’s “Slap That Bass,” Jackson C. Frank’s “My Name Is Carnival,” Gary Glitter’s “Rock ‘N’ Roll (Part 2),” and Cream’s “White Room”— were obviously included for references to anything related to clown, comedy or smile.

Something blue. Joker has gone where no other Joker

character interpretation dared to go and that direction is deep, solid black and blue. Phoenix’s darker than dark Joker origin film provided auditory misery on the side while we wait for the actor’s real climax in the form of an Oscars acceptance speech.

(The author is a former entertainment reporter and editor before shifting to corporate PR. Follow @ kayevillagomez on Instagram and Twitter for more updates.)

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founders of MINT College, and to date is the only institution that offers such program. Currently at the helm of the program is Lachmi Baviera, former head of Warner Music Philippines. She describes the program as follows: “Our MBM program gives our students a head start on being immersed in the music industry. They make informed decisions when it comes to their careers, are introduced and now forming connections with key people in Philippine and global platforms.”

Colleges and universities offerings of music business subjects and courses can only mean one thing: the local music industry can look forward to a

better, brighter future. As the rapidly changing landscape of the music industry evolves, such courses become more of a necessity. The Centro Escolar University Conservatory of Music acknowledges this in introducing a Business of Music course to their curriculum “so that training musicians will not only learn the musicianship and musicality needed, but also learn how to sustain with stability to their chosen field.”

“Moreover, it is important for musicians to know the value of profit in music performance and creation,” added baritone, choral conductor, and CEU Conservatory of Music head Prof. Angelito “Jun” Ayran.

Artists who take these programs and courses would be exposed to more career options and make more informed choices.

As Awit Awards nominated singer-songwriter and MINT MBM student Elise Huang shares: “MBM surpassed my expectations of learning the music business and continues to surprise me and teach me more about the music industry.”

Technologies and systems leveraging on the collection, interpretation and analysis of big data from music consumption on digital platforms will emerge, and colleges and universities with music business courses and programs are in the best

positions to become thought leaders in this field.

As studies in the field of music business and data continue to progress worldwide, academics in this field can take the lead in developing Philippine market centric research, which can only benefit the industry moving forward. Industry and academic partnerships will be important, as an industry that encourages an environment of constant learning will help the local industry flourish and grow.

James “Mony” Romana is a lecturer for music business courses who has held several executive positions in the recording industry since 1991.

Protect the ‘millennial wallet’

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

A

n article by Forbes years ago cited research from LivePerson that analyzed the digital habits and preferences among millennial and Gen Z consumers. The finding?

The majority (61.8 percent) would rather leave their wallet at home than their phone.

Mobile phones have basically evolved as a basic need in today’s ultra-connected digital world. According to a new analysis of a Pew Research Center survey of US adults conducted in early 2019, more than nine in 10 millennials own smartphones.

Recognizing the need to protect such valued possession is Singapore-based insurtech firm Axinan. The company announced last month its entry into the Philippine market, in partnership with Mercantile Insurance Co. (Mercantile), with a product that seeks to protect mobile phones.

The unique partnership between a nonlife insurer and an insurtech player is one of the firsts in the Philippines. Underwritten

by Mercantile, the insurance solutions introduced will be in the area of mobile phone protection through Axinan’s consumer brand, igloo.

Eric Bataga, country manager of Axinan (from left); Wei Zhu, founder and CEO of Axinan; Mel Mallilin, president of Mercantile Insurance PH and Justin Liu, vice president of Mercantile Insurance PH “The Philippines insurance industry has shown positive growth in recent years as the country’s economy grows,” said Wei Zhu, founder and chief executive officer, Axinan in a press briefing in Makati City.

“With our partnership with Mercantile, who understands the local nonlife insurance segment deeply, we believe that there will be more of such solutions from igloo by Axinan, and this is just a start to our goal in providing a variety of digital solutions in the insurance space,” he added.

According to a global study by SquareTrade in November 2018, 66 percent of smartphone owners damaged their phones in the past year. The San Francisco-based company said cracked screens was the most common type of damage (29 percent), while scratched screens (27 percent) and nonworking batteries (22 percent) took second and third places, respectively.

“As a prelude to the foray of products

from Axinan and Mercantile, the first product that will be rolled out under igloo will be Mobile 360,” Zhu said. “Under Mobile 360, consumers can enjoy comprehensive mobile phone protection for its screen, camera, battery, accidental and liquid damage protection.”

The product will have an initial launch in Metro Manila and will be available nationwide in the near future. Mobile 360 will be able to cover the majority of mobile phone brands in the market.

According to Frank Ramos, executive vice president of Mercantile, the partnership enables the 57-year-old nonlife insurance firm to broaden its product portfolio.

“With the rising popularity of digital solutions in the region, we are excited to collaborate with Axinan to leverage on their niche in digital insurance solutions, ensuring that we are able to give the best solutions to our consumers,” he said. “This is in

Filipino players in competitive Dota 2

By Luis Delos Santos

T

he prestigious The International 2019, or TI, held in Shanghai, China, in August saw its first back-toback champions OG win $30 million.

After months of rest for the teams that participated in the illustrious event, teams were at it again last week at the Electronic Sports League (ESL) One 2019 Dota 2 championship in Hamburg, Germany.

There were a lot of changes that had been made in the teams. Our very own TNC Predator—which finished 9th-12th place in The International and has a lineup of all Filipinos—fell into collapse when Carlo “Kuku” Palad, Nico “eyyou” Barcelon, and Coach Lee “Heen” Seung Gon left the organization for greener pastures. They were replaced by veterans Australian Damien “Kpii” Sau-jing Chok, who is a TI runner-up and Park “March” Tae-won from Korea.

Another local team, Mineski, was also hit by the post-TI roster shuffle. They lost team captain Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross Jr.; Bulgarian Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov, who left for Alliance; and Malaysian Kam “Moon” Boon Seng, who went to Fnatic. The shake-up also saw Filipino Abed “Abed” Yusop leave his Malaysian-based team Fnatic

line with our mission of providing the best service that is responsive to the needs of the public. Through this strategic partnership with Axinan, we will be able to offer a wider variety of solutions in the nonlife insurance space.”

Axinan Chief Commercial Officer Raunak Mehta said that with more people in the Philippines getting mobile phones at higher price points for better functionalities, these devices are increasingly seen as an asset and an extension of one’s lifestyle and personality. The entry of Axinan into the Philippine market, he added, will provide Filipino millennials a viable and quality option to protect such asset.

“We are proud to announce that the Mobile 360 through igloo is an innovative solution of Axinan’s proprietary technology to innovate and create products for the digital economy in the Philippines,” Mehta said. “Axinan’s Mobile 360 boasts of having instant approvals and a simple application process that is fully accessible online, tackling the common pain points in the traditional insurance industry.

Furthermore, its product offerings will be made available to both new and used mobile phones from any telco, whether it is prepaid or postpaid.”

Axinan is an insurtech firm specializing in leveraging big data, actuarial risk management and machine-learning processes to develop solutions for businesses and consumers. Founded in 2016, the firm now has operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and development offices in China and Taiwan.

Fortnite creator Epic Games is now a Harvard B-School case study

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Filipino team TNC Predator became the first Southeast Asian Dota 2 squad to win the championship at the Electronic Sports League (ESL) One 2019 Dota 2 championship last week in Germany. Photo from facebook.com/ TNCProTeamDota2

to sign with North American juggernaut Evil Geniuses, or EG. We see these post-TI roster rotation as interesting as the national news because these players are considered celebrities in the Dota 2 community. Just like in any sport, there is the drama of game-fixing accusations and team chemistry issues.

It’s like watching your favorite TV series: You’ll never know what is going to happen next.

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In the end, the changes made by TNC Predator worked in their favor as they won the ESL One 2019 Dota 2 championship in Germany, taking home a neat $125,000 from the $300,000 total prize pool.

We hope that our boys will win every major and minor tournament that they will participate in to qualify for next year’s The International. Our dream is to see them hoist the Aegis of Champions and be our first Filipino Dota 2 champion.

November 03, 2019

pic Games Inc., the closely held video-game company behind the global hit Fortnite, will now be studied at Harvard Business School.

The university published one of its famous case studies last week on the company, which was founded in 1991 by computer programmer Tim Sweeney.

The case study focuses less on Fortnite, which took in an estimated $2.4 billion last year, and more on the company’s introduction in December of the Epic Games Store, an online video-game retailer. That business challenges Steam, a division of closely held Valve Corp., with an online marketplace that promises game developers a greater share of revenue.

“Should Epic Games continue to pursue becoming a platform?” the study asks, contrasting that with its development of highly lucrative products like Fortnite and the Unreal Engine game software. “Was it sensible to do both?”

The study charts Epic Games’ history from its inception in Sweeney’s parents’ home to the creation of the Unreal Engine, as well as hit games, such as “Gears of War” and “Fortnite.” With the latter’s 2017 release, the company shook up the video-game industry with a title that was free and playable across multiple platforms, from game consoles to mobile phones. Last year Epic raised $1.25 billion from investors, including KKR, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and aXiomatic Gaming. Andy Wu, an assistant professor of business administration at Harvard, and Christopher Zhang, a recent graduate of Swarthmore College, prepared the case study based on already published sources. A spokesman for Epic said the company wasn’t involved and Sweeney, who studied mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, has no plans to speak at the school. Bloomberg Opinion

Online thrift stores give deal hunters new ways to score

By Tali Arbel The Associated Press

N

EW YORK—It’s not just eBay anymore. A slew of web sites and apps act as virtual thrift stores for vintage devotees, deal hunters and those just looking to unload stuff they don’t want anymore.

These sites have proliferated as the recession of a decade ago and the slow comeback in wages since then dramatically altered how people shop. Discounters like TJ Maxx have been sweeping up, while many traditional retailers have shrunk, gone bankrupt or disappeared. The stigma of “used” has fallen away, and many now shop knowing full well they can sell their pieces later and get some money back. Some consider buying used clothes online a more eco-conscious approach to trends.

There’s a range to the Goodwills and consignment stores of the Internet. Some cater to kids or young adults; some are specifically for high-end fashion; some are a free-for-all. Online, stuff may be more expensive than at an actual thrift store, especially when you add in shipping costs. But in many cases, it’s also easier to find stuff— no dusty racks, no piles of clothing, and you can search for a brand name and item without leaving your couch. There’s often room

Willie Walton hangs clothing on a three-tiered conveyor system at the ThredUp sorting facility in Phoenix.

A slew of web sites and apps act as virtual thrift stores for vintage devotees, deal hunters and those just looking to unload stuff they don’t want anymore. AP to negotiate price.

The best sites create an experience for shoppers that’s not only easier to navigate than an actual thrift store but better than going to a traditional store and buying something new (at full price), said Anita Balchandani, a McKinsey partner.

It’s hard to determine how big the used-clothing market is but you can see increasing consumer interest in it due to the growing number of companies engaged in it, said Balchandani, who is coauthor of a report predicting that consumers will use more “pre-owned” or rented clothing, a la Rent the Runway’s model of renting out clothes to its subscribers.

The best-known online marketplace that connects individual sellers and buyers is eBay. But sites built for different purposes also function as bargain-hunting middlemen. You can list your wares on neighborhood app Nextdoor, Craigslist and

Facebook’s marketplace. In these cases, you’re typically limited by geography as these sites mostly connect locals, pointed out Kathy Kristof, editor of the SideHusl web site that gives tips on gig jobs. Some people also use Facebook’s groups function, dedicated to specific brands, and ship to each other across the country. Etsy also is more wide ranging.

Fraud protections vary on these platforms. Etsy and eBay have a process to resolve disputes. On the others, it may be free to post listings, but that means there is no mediator when things go wrong.

On some sites, sellers manage their own “closets.” They can try to develop a personal following by using social media to promote themselves and ingratiate themselves to buyers by enclosing thank-you notes with purchases.

“A lot of my sales come solely from Instagram,” said Haley Gibbs, 24, who resells

clothes that she picks up from thrift stores in Minneapolis, where she lives. She sells on Poshmark, a site that’s a grab-bag of styles and prices. She sends handwritten notes to her buyers, whom she considers a supportive community that helped her transition to selling full-time.

The whole look and feel of Depop, an app popular with teens and young adults, is reminiscent of Instagram, complete with stylized posts by wannabe influencers. Other sites cater to parents of young children, like Kidizen. It’s a market that makes particular sense for used clothing, since kids grow so fast.

For those focused on high-end items, like deluxe watches, designer garments and gently used handbags that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, a model like TheRealReal guarantees that the merchandise is authentic. The company’s employees, not individual sellers, sets prices and the site takes a hefty cut—it can be over half of the selling price. But buyers are able to trust that a Hermes scarf is actually Hermes.

Reselling and refurbishing used clothes is attracting so much attention that some resale sites are striking partnerships with retail names more than a century old. JC Penney and Macy’s are working with ThredUP, which operates similarly to TheRealReal in that a customer buys from the middleman, not from another individual.

(ThredUP does not have the same singular high-end focus, though.) Neiman Marcus has an arrangement with Fashionphile, in which it owns a minority stake. There’s a plan for customers to be able to sell their old handbags and accessories to Fashionphile inside Neiman Marcus’s luxury department stores.

UnionBank exec: Understanding millennials is a must

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illennials are expected to continue overtaking the global work force. According to an Ernst & Young report, titled “Global Generations: A Global Study on Work-Life Challenges Across Generations,” 75 percent of the global work force will be comprised of millennials by 2025.

This means that there needs to be a shift in how organizations manage their work force. The key to do this is by understanding their people, similar to the marketing principle of knowing their customers, said Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) Assistant Vice President for Customer Experience Group Ron Batisan.

As one of the panelists during the recent general membership meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines, Batisan shared his in-

sights on how the UnionBank manages its work force, 65 percent of which are millennials. He said that based on his experience managing employees under the young age group, which he is also part of, understanding what millennials want will enable organizations to harness their full potential.

Batisan said because of the millennials’ idealistic views, one great way to inspire them into action is to lead by example.

“We millennials are very idealistic.

If we don’t see our leaders doing things the way they should be done, we tend to get easily discouraged,” he said.

Batisan stated that millennials are self-driven, and, as such, are not fond of being micromanaged. Being avid consumers of information, millennials are quick learners, he said, adding that if there’s something they don’t under-

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Union Bank of the Philippines Assistant Vice President for Customer Experience Group Ron Batisan November 03, 2019

stand, they can always learn from information that is widely available on the Internet.

With a results-based approach, millennials can complete tasks at their own pace, but it still helps to communicate with them regularly, not only about work, but also about their shortand long-term goals to see if they’re still aligned with that of the company’s.

“Discuss their career path more often,” the young executive said. “They want your opinion because they want to feel important.”

Batisan shared other helpful tips to handle millennials, including being humble, explaining everything, giving them challenging assignments and treating them more like friends to pave way for a more open communication.

“Try to be informal unless the situation warrants it,” he said.