BusinessMirror November 25, 2019 by BusinessMirror

Monday, November 25, 2019 Vol. 15 No. 46

NG sourcing ₧3B for local palay purchase T

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE national government is willing to spend an initial amount of P3 billion to buy the unhusked rice produced by local farmers affected by the implementation of the rice trade liberalization law. Following President Duterte’s verbal order, Acting Budget Secretary Wendel E. Avisado said they will talk with the Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Agriculture (DA)

officials this week. “The President has made the order to buy the produce of our rice farmers so we have to source out the needed funds. The initial targeted amount is 3 billion,”

Avisado said in a text message to the BusinessMirror. “We will sit down with the DOF and DA officials [this] week in order to fast-track the process and for us to comply with the Presi-

“We will sit down with the DOF and DA officials [this] week in order to fast-track the process and for us to comply with the President’s order as fast as we can.” —Avisado

dent’s order as fast as we can,” he added. Sought to clarify on the possible source of funds, Avisado said this will be one of the things they will discuss during the meeting. Duterte said in a late-night press conference on November 20 that he is formally ordering Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar to suspend rice imports. See “Palay,” A2

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U.S., PHL TO OPEN TALKS ON FREE-TRADE DEAL By Elijah Felice E. Rosales @alyasjah

ASHINGTON will begin negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Manila next year in a move that will secure market access for Philippine exporters to the United States in the face of global trade uncertainty. American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Executive Director Ebb Hinchliffe said the US government is prioritizing the conclusion of its regional trade deal with Canada and Mexico. As such, all efforts to negotiate a bilateral FTA with trading partners, including the Philippines, are suspended to make way for the North American agreement. However, in his recent meeting with Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) executives, Hinchliffe said he was informed negotiations for an FTA with the Philippines will begin after the US finalizes its trade deal with Canada and Mexico.

Break tariff stalemate with South Korea–banana growers’ plea to Duterte By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

HE Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) is urging President Duterte to break the stalemate in talks between Manila and Seoul for the reduction of South Korea’s tariffs on Philippine cavendish ahead of a bilateral meeting this week. PBGEA said Manila and Seoul should work on a “speedy end to the issue of very high import tariffs imposed on Philippine bananas.” “The negotiations between the Philippines and Korea have been on a stalemate as Korea insists on greater market access for its automotive exports to the Philippines in exchange for a lower if not zero tariffs for Philippine bananas,” the association said in a statement on

PESO exchange rates n

Sunday. PBGEA Executive Director Stephen Antig said prolonging the negotiations would be disadvantageous to Filipino banana exporters as competition against Latin American producers gets stiffer. “The negotiations have only started in the second quarter while the tariff rates for our competitors have been getting more and more favorable to our disadvantage,” Antig said. President Duterte is set to headline a bilateral meeting with his South Korean counterpart President Moon Jae-in this week at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Busan. The negotiation is a side event to the two-day 30th Asean-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit dialogue partnership. See “Banana growers,” A2

“I met with the USTR here one on one just recently in the last couple of days, and it’s true that the US-Philippines trade agreement is not imminent. The major cause to that, I don’t believe it’s the China trade war, [but] has more to do with the passing of US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the USMCA,”Hinchliffe told reporters last week. “I do know from USTR, I believe that I can fairly confidently say after USMCA is done, the next country that the US would be looking at would probably be the Philippines ahead of Vietnam and possibly ahead of the United Kingdom for obvious reasons,” he added. The USMCA was projected to be ratified in either September or October, Hinchliffe said, but it is facing rough sailing in the US Congress. With the delay accounted in, he estimated the trade deal will be finished no later than December, after which the US government will begin looking into the proposed FTA with the Philippines. See “Free-trade,” A16

Neda lists priority bills for last 3 yrs of Duterte

BIGGEST LANTERN OF HOPE SM City Pampanga’s Biggest Lantern of Hope brings light and music to the Christmas Capital of the Philippines with a dazzling spectacle inspired by the province’s iconic giant lanterns. The Pampanga Eye, the 65-meter (or 213 feet) tall ferris wheel at the mall’s Skypark, sparkles with 17,664 dancing led lights synced with all-time favorite Christmas carols and festive fireworks. This amazing extravaganza lit up SM City Pampanga on November 23, and will do so again on November 30 and December 7, 2019. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

T least a dozen bills are being eyed as priority legislation in the last three years of the Duterte administration to boost economic growth, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). In a recent presentation at the House of Representatives, Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon said the priority bills will be included in the updated Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the medium term socioeconomic blueprint. The priority bills include the land use bill for the agriculture sector; e-vehicles bill, industry sector; and open access in data transmission bill, services sector. See “Priority bills,” A2

US 50.9570 n japan 0.4691 n UK 65.7855 n HK 6.5163 n CHINA 7.2499 n singapore 37.3832 n australia 34.5641 n EU 56.3432 n SAUDI arabia 13.5882

Source: BSP (22 November 2019 )

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, November 25, 2019

‘IS fighters not yet coming in droves, but alert must remain’

By Rene Acosta

@reneacostaBM

OUTHEAST Asia may have been spared becoming a destination for the bulk of Islamic State (IS) fighters who have retreated from Syria, but countries, including the Philippines, must keep up the pressure against the international terrorist group, a United States official said. The IS has carved out its presence in the region through Mindanao, attacking and occupying Marawi City in 2017 through its mixture of local and fighters in a devastating war that saw the death of Isnilon Hapilon, its emir in Southeast Asia. “We have seen a few indications of an interest in traveling to Southeast Asia, but truth be told, it’s not one of the regions that Isis fighters seem to be heading to in droves,” said Nathan Sales, ambassador-atlarge and coordinator for counterterrorism at the US Department of State. Sales was in Manila over the weekend to confer with Philip-

Priority bills. . . Continued from A1

“As we all know, President Duterte ran with an agenda for change and we at the Neda translated this to mean that there will be changes in our access to services and also the institutions that render these services,” Edillon said. In terms of agriculture, Edillon said there are five priority bills, including the National Land Use Bill, which has been languishing in Congress for over 30 years. The bill protects prime agricultural land, to help ensure the viability and sustainability of onfarm employment and overall rural development. This aims to address challenges, particularly on the increasing limitations on land and water resources. There are four proposed national land use policy bills at the Senate. “The bills were referred to [the Committee on] Environment and Natural Resources for deliberation. Thirteen National Land Use bills were filed in the Congress and all bills are still pending in the Committee on Land Use for deliberation,” Neda documents stated. Other bills include the establishment of the coconut farmers and industry trust fund, and strengthening the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC). The coconut farmers trust fund consolidates all assets and benefits from the coconut levy fund. It also creates a coconut farmers and industry trust fund to exclusively benefit coconut farmers and workers. Neda said 16 bills were filed at the House of Representatives and three at the Senate. As of October this year, initial hearings on the bills were conducted in both houses of Congress.

pine counterterrorism officials on the two countries’ ongoing joint effort against the IS, the al-Qaida and even local terrorist groups in Mindanao. The ambassador told international journalists during a telephonic press briefing that while the region has not seen the mass exodus of foreign fighters, Southeast Asian countries, especially the Philippines, must ensure that this trend continues. “It’s incumbent upon us to make sure that they’re not able to, should they ever wish to, and that’s why I’ve been talking to—and why the United States government has been talking to—counterparts here in On the PCIC, Neda said the proposed bills reorganize the state-owned enterprise and increase its authorized capital. This will allow the corporation to better cater to the demands of small farmers and fisherfolk. Two bills filed at the HOR are pending for deliberation at the Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization. One bill was filed at the Senate and reached first reading in July 2019. “The bill was referred to the Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises; Agriculture and Food; and Finance for deliberation,” Neda said. The list also includes the Magna Carta for Young Farmers, and the bill strengthening the agricultural and rural financing system. The Magna Carta for Young Farmers promotes and protects the rights of young farmers between the ages of 15 and 35 years old. There are four bills filed at the HOR to institutionalize the Young Farmers’ Program and another one creating a magna carta of young farmers. All these bills are pending for deliberation at the Committee on Agriculture and Food. Meanwhile, the bill on strengthening the agricultural and rural financing system amends the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009, or RA 10000, to allow banks to merge their loan allocation to the farm sector as a measure to improve their compliance rate. One bill to increase the allotment of the regular loan portfolio of LandBank was filed, and is still pending for deliberation at the Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries. Another bill consolidating the loan allocation for agriculture and fisheries credit, and Agriculture Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) was filed at the Senate. It is pending at the Committee on

Minimum wage. . .

During the consultations and hearing, Mirasol said a few stakeholders are still against

Continued from A16

the minimum wage adjustment for HSWs, but most support the possible pay hike. “During the public hearing, we already have an understanding there will be an increase, but up to how much, that is what we still need to deliberate,”

Pope. . .

Manila about bolstering our cooperation on border security efforts to prevent people from hopping on a plane and flying to the region or exploiting the maritime environment to gain access to countries in the region,” he said. “So far we haven’t seen a huge problem, but we have to make sure we keep it that way,” he added. Analysts warned, at the defeat of the IS in March this year, that countries should brace for the return of fighters, thus raising the stakes of worldwide terrorism attacks, including in the Philippines which has seen its cases of suicide bombings. A 2019 third-quarter report by the Lead Inspector General for the US Operation Pacific Eagle-Philippines, the counterterrorism project of the US Indo-Pacific Command in Mindanao, listed IS membership in the country at roughly about 500, most of whom are also members of the local terrorist groups, like the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Maute Group. Sales said that while the IS had not directly carried out attacks anywhere after its defeat in Syria, it modified its tack by relying on its regional networks, especially in South Asia, including Afghanistan, and in Africa.

In the Philippines, the US concerns focused more on the export from the Middle East of terrorist tactics, techniques and procedures, and even radicalism, as shown by the suicide bombing carried out by Filipino Norman Lasuca against soldiers in Indanan, Sulu. “We have seen an increased focus on Isis’s part, in particular, in cultivating networks around the world in places like South Asia, in places like West Africa and we hope to address the challenges that Isis sympathizers and Isis affiliates pose in Southeast Asia, as well,” Sales said. He said the efforts in addressing the challenges involves a “wholeof-government” approach, which includes tightening border security, law enforcement measures, curtailing the flow of funds and de-radicalization, all of which are being carried out in Mindanao. “So we have to be working closely with regional partners who share our concern about these threats, to bring to bear all the tools of national power—again, border security, law enforcement, crisis response and so on—to make sure that these budding alQaida and Isis affiliates are kept from metastasizing further,” the ambassador said.

Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform.

In terms of services, Neda said there are four bills—Open Access in Data Transmission Act; amendments to the Retail Trade Act; amendments to the Public Service Act; and amendments to the Foreign Investment Act. The proposed Open Access in Data Transmission Act will lower barriers to entry for data services and reduce inefficiencies in network deployment. Edillon said the bill also introduces aspects of spectrum management reform, cited as one

of the causes of delay in the entry of the third telco player. One bill each has been filed at the Senate and HOR. The Senate bill is pending before the Committees on Science Technology and Public Service, while the bill at the HOR is pending with the Committee on Information Communications Technology. The amendments to the Retail Trade Act aim to relax barriers to foreign investments in the retail sector by lowering the minimum paid-in capital for these firms to $200,000 from $2.5 million. The bills also removes the $250,000 paid-up capital per store for enterprises engaged in the sale of high-end or luxury products. The Senate version of the bill is pending with the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, while the HOR version is pending with the Committee on Trade and Industry. Neda said the proposed priority legislation list include amendments to the Public Service Act, which allows 100-percent foreign capitalization in telecommunication and transportation. The Senate bill is pending at the Committee on Economic Affairs while the HOR version is in the period of interpellation. The last priority bill, the amendment to the Foreign Investment Act, reduces the minimum employment requirement to 15 from 50 direct local hires for small- and medium-sized domestic enterprises established by foreign firms with paid-in capital of at least $100,000. It also excludes the practice of professions from the coverage of the foreign investment negative list. The Senate bill is pending at the Committee on Economic Affairs, while the HOR version was approved on third reading last September. Cai Ordinario

Mirasol said. Currently, the monthly minimum wage rate for HSWs in NCR is pegged at P3,500. Mirasol said they may hold another board meeting to deliberate the wage adjustment for HSWs, but personally, she said, she wants it completed next week. “For my part I would rather like the deliberation completed [in our next meeting]

since we already held a public hearing and consultation. We would now be basing our decision on the economic indicators, as well as the concerns and position papers of both employers and employees,” Mirasol said. The seven-man RTWPB-NCR usually decides as a whole through voting of its members. Its members includes representatives from the labor and employer sector, and the government.

Industry

There are three priority bills for industry— e-Vehicles bill, National Quality Infrastructure System and Amendment of the Consumer Act. The e-Vehicles bill grants incentives for the manufacture, assembly, conversion and sale of hybrid and other fuel-alternative vehicles. It establishes charging stations and mandates new buildings to provide space for charging. The bill is pending in both houses of Congress. The National Quality Infrastructure System bill integrates and coordinates the standardization, metrology, testing analysis, quality management, certification and accreditation of infrastructure systems. Neda said the amendment of the Consumer Act protects consumers and businesses and addresses the use of technology applications. Companies engaged in e-commerce may be closed if found selling unsafe products. Both the National Quality Infrastructure System bill and the amendment of the Consumer Act were filed at the HOR, but no counterpart bills have yet been filed at the Senate.

Bills on services

Continued from A16

By condemning nuclear deterrence, Francis pleased liberals and agitated conservatives, perhaps informing his more nuanced remarks on Sunday. Japanese who came out to see Francis were grateful, regardless. “I think he is a person who can deliver the message of peace without inhibition,” said Negoro Fumiyo, a 62-year-old Christian from Osaka. Fumiyo waited for hours in the rain for Francis’s Mass, celebrated in Nagasaki’s baseball stadium before a crowd of some 35,000 — and the remains of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary rescued from a cathedral destroyed in the 1945 atomic bomb. The statue, which was remarkably well preserved, despite the blast, was featured on the altar. Francis’s visit to Nagasaki also gave him the chance to honor Christian missionaries and martyrs centuries after Saint Francis Xavier first brought Christianity to the archipelago in 1549.

He laid a second wreath of flowers at the memorial of 26 Nagasaki Martyrs, who were crucified in 1597 at the start of the two-century wave of anti-Christian persecution by Japanese rulers. The example of the missionaries and martyrs, and the hidden christians who kept their faith alive underground for generations, helped inspire a young priest named Jorge Mario Bergolio to be a missionary in Japan. “May we never forget their heroic sacrifice!” Francis said in remarks at the memorial. Shingo Fukaura, from the Goto Islands off Nagasaki, where the Hidden Christians survived during the time of persecution, traveled to Nagasaki bearing gifts he hoped to give the pope at Mass. “I also brought tthis branch of the camelia tree, which has been on my island since the time when we, Christians, were hiding our faith,” he said. “I am hoping he could give his blessing to this tree...and I could take it back to the islands to make it a symbol of peace.” AP

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DepEd doing own probe in case of teacher forced to quit than face charges

HE Department of Education (DepEd) said on Sunday efforts to get all parties involved in a complaint against a public-school teacher to air their side had been ongoing before the teacher was “forced” to choose resignation over criminal charges during a confrontation before television and radio host Raffy Tulfo. The teacher did not get due process in the program, and a formal, more thorough investigation continues, DepEd said in a statement. The DepEd reminded all concerned that “schools are second home to learners, while teachers are their second parents,” amid the controversial episode on Raffy Tulfo in Action after the teacher was forced to give up her profession for allegedly humiliating her student in class. “We entrust our children to the institution and teachers. In addition to the right of children to education, their rights against bullying and child abuse are also strongly protected,” the statement read. On the other hand, the DepEd said, teachers “exercise substitute parental authority” while children are in school. “They are expected to exercise reasonable supervision over the conduct of the child, including disciplining them as part of their upbringing, while maintaining their dignity and safety,” it added. The department noted that there are laws and policies that apply to students and teachers and that DepEd takes care to ensure that both the learner and the teacher, are “treated with dignity and respect” through policies and processes already existing at all levels of governance of DepEd [the schools, regions, divisions, and central office]. “It appears that what transpired in the program was a move for on-thespot compromise: the resignation of the teacher in exchange for the nonfiling of complaints against her. In the

Palay. . .

Continued from A1

This was the same time that he expressed willingness to buy all farmers’ produce at farm-gate prices, even if it means government spending billions and losing money. Although the administration will no longer suspend rice imports during harvest, Dar said the President wants them to tighten the guidelines for importing rice, among other directives. Last Friday, the President defended his order of buying the produce of local farmers, saying this is equivalent to buying social unrest. “But then allow them a leeway of comfort in life. So who bears the burden? The Filipino people. We lose. Yes, we lose. How many billions? Five, 6, 7 billions. So what? It’s our money. It’s your money. And we are, I said, buying social unrest. It’s more expensive to deal with, especially if these guys would join the NPA [New

DepEd Child Protection Policy, incidents of child abuse are not subject to compromise.” The statement added, “On the other hand, teachers are entitled to due process, which was not given to her during the program, especially since resignation from her job earlier than her intended retirement will have serious impact on her person and family.” The agency assured the public that it endeavors to provide a proper forum to discuss the facts and issues that will resolve conflicts and concerns in a fair and humane manner. “We assure the public that this case is being handled by the DepEd regional and division offices, through procedures consistent with the applicable laws and policies. Even prior to the airing of the television program, there was already a meeting between the parents of the learner and the teacher before the school head, and it is best for this process to continue.” The DepEd also appealed for cooperation and coordination of all stakeholders to maintain and promote trust, respect and dignity of all learners, teachers and administrators of schools. “We enjoin all our schools to strengthen their Parents-Teachers Associations as a platform to build mutual understanding and trust in the joint parenting of the learners. As another concrete step, DepEd will be organizing a dialogue with representatives of the media to exchange perspectives on the handling of issues involving students, teachers and schools.” In an episode, entitled “Mommy, Ipina-Tulfo ang Pasaway na Teacher ng Kanyang Anak!”aired last November 18, host Raffy Tulfo acted on a complaint of a grandmother against the teacher of her grandchild. The grandmother was accompanied by the child’s parents. They were seeking justice and demanded the revocation of the teacher’s license to teach. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

People’s Army],” Duterte said in a speech during the inauguration of the Phase 2 of the coal-fired power plant of the Sarangani Energy Corp. and presentation of the hydropower project of Siguil Hydropower Economic Zone. However, analysts earlier interviewed by the BusinessMirror said the President’s order would distort market dynamics. While he said there is nothing inherently wrong with the move as an immediate response to farmers’ needs, lawyer Michael Yusingco, a nonresident research fellow of Ateneo School of Government, said this cannot be a long-term policy and that the government’s ultimate goal should be to make farmers competitive. For economist Maria Ella C. Oplas, economics professor of De La Salle University, this move will not only create an artificial floor price which could lead to market distortion but it will also make room for corruption as the government can sell rice at a lower price.

Banana growers. . . “[We] hope Duterte will raise anew the issue on banana import tariffs with Moon during the bilateral talks, along with other concerns on the proposed free-trade agreement [FTA] between the two countries,” PBGEA said. PBGEA noted that Duterte first raised the matter during his state visit to South Korea in April 2018. The Philippines has been pushing for a reduction in South Korea’s tariffs on cavendish for so long now, according to PBGEA. At present, Philippine banana exports to the East ASian country are slapped with a 30-percent tariff. The Philippines eyes to reduce it to at least 5 percent, if not zero, PBGEA said. PBGEA said the urgency for the tariff reduction is growing as South Korea’s trade deal with five Central American banana-exporting countries took effect in October. The trade deal reduced the tariffs South

Continued from A1

Korea imposes on bananas from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, which are competitors of the Philippines in the global banana market, according to PBGEA. This, the group noted, is worrisome as the Philippines’s share of the South Korean banana market would be reduced by the anticipated higher shipments from the Central American countries. “The Central American bananas have been slowly eroding the market share of the Philippines. If this continues any further, the Philippines will not be able to compete,”PBGEA President Victor Mercado Jr. said. South Korea is the country’s third-most important banana market, next to China and Japan. Despite the high import tariff, banana shipments to this East Asian country reached 420,344 metric tons (valued at $203.69 million) in 2018, from 379,144 MT ($176.55 million), according to PBGEA.

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Senate sets probe of NGCP’s compliance with natl security By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

OVING to address recurring brownouts, the Senate Committee on Energy is poised to review the operations of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), citing national security issues. Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian, committee chairman, earlier filed Senate Resolution 219 paving the way for the Energy Committee to scrutinize NGCP’s compliance with its mandate to “safeguard the grid and ensure continuous electricity supply in the country.” At the same time, Gatchalian asked the Joint Congressional Energy Commission to, likewise, look into the operations of the country’s power transmission line to “verify whether Filipinos are in charge of its day-to-day management amid national security concerns.” The lawmaker noted that the JCEC is the country’s primary watchdog in the power sector. Gatchalian promptly filed Resolution 219 in the wake of serious concerns raised by fellow senators “over the China-owned State Grid Corp.’s 40-percent stake in the country’s lone transmission line.” The Senator stressed the need to verify whether Filipinos are actually in charge of the day-to-day management of the grid as mandated by the Constitution despite the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) manifestations during the 2020 budget delibera-

tions that all executive officers of NGCP are Filipinos. He asserted that “we should employ all possible safeguards to ensure that Filipinos are in control of lone power grid, that Filipino interests are being protected and national security concerns are covered 100 percent.” Noting that while State Grid Corp. has a 40-percent stake in the NGCP, Gatchalian emphasized that its concession agreement limits the Chinese-owned firm from assigning Chinese officials from managing the transmission lines. Moreover, Gatchalian also contends there is a need for a “more active government supervision” over the national grid even as he also wants to ascertain a plan of action for the regular audit and inspection of NGCP’s operations and to formulate a national strategy to ensure security and resiliency of the national grid amid physical and virtual threats and vulnerabilities. “The national grid is the sole backbone for the transmission of electricity throughout the entire country and any event leading to its failure to operate will have wide-ranging effects on the economy, public safety, and national security,” the senator said. He pointed out that the power transmission line is “one of the vital facilities in our country.” He warned that “with a single switch, no electricity will be transmitted in our homes, businesses, to our military facilities.” “That’s why it is very important that the management in control of the transmission line are Filipinos,” Gatchalian said.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, November 25, 2019 A3

NG to undertake ₧3.06T worth of transpo projects

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE national government aims to undertake P3.06-trillion worth of transportation projects under the updated list of the Duterte administration’s flagship projects. Documents obtained by the BusinessMirror showed the amount covered 40 projects including railways, airports, bus rapid transit system, greenways and transportation-related technology projects, among others. The largest flagship project in the transportation sector is the New Manila International Airport worth P735.634 billion, the unsolicited airport project proposed by San Miguel Corp.

Documents stated that the project is set to commence construction in six to eight months. The project is set to be completed by 2025. A close second is the P628.42 billion North-South Commuter Railway Extension. The project involves the Philippine National Railway 2 and the PNR South Commuter. The project is financed through Official Development Assistance (ODA) and is set to commence con-

struction in six to eight months. The project will be completed by 2023. Other big ticket transportation projects are: the P356.96 billion Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1; the P175.3 billion PNR South Long Haul; the P149.13 billion NorthSouth Commuter Railway, or PNR North 1; and the P101.85 billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) upgrade. The Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1 and PNR South Long Haul will commence construction in six to eight months, and will be completed by 2025 and 2023, respectively. The North-South Commuter Railway is already ongoing and will be completed by 2022, while the Naia upgrade is already in “advance stages of government approval” and will be completed by 2024. Earlier, the list of 100 infrastructure flagship projects was jointly approved by the Investment

DOJ clarifies appeals process with Bureau of Immigration

Comval LGU to upgrade town’s clinic through miner’s donation

HE local government of Maco, Compostela Valley, is eyeing to expand its infirmary clinic to a modest 30-bed capacity hospital. Apex Mining Co. Inc., which operates the Maco Gold Mine, has allocated P9 million for the construction of the hospital building, Mayor Alvera Veronica R. Rimando said. Interviewed at the sideline of 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference organized by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) in Baguio City, Rimando said they are now waiting for the necessary permit from the Department of Health to start construction next week. Hopefully, she said the hospital will be completed and start receiving patients. The town’s infirmary is a lying-in clinic that caters to pregnant women who are about to give birth. “By next year, we can provide more services and cater to more people in need of medical attention,” she said in Filipino. Rimando led stakeholders of Apex Mining during the annual Minerals Industry Parade, which drew hundreds of participants representing 150 different mining companies, including quarry and cement companies, and other mining support industries, equipment suppliers and contractors. A large-scale gold mine, Maco Gold Mine is one of the country’s top producers of the yellow metal in the country. The mayor, an internal medicine specialist said the hospital will be a boost to the health services provided by the LGU. The hospital will be run and managed jointly by the LGU of Maco and Apex Mining, Rimando said. The mayor said that the Maco Gold Mine operator has been very supportive of the local government in providing various social services to the people on top of providing employment and livelihood opportunities to its host communities. The direct and immediate beneficiaries of the clinic upgrade are people in 16 barangays in Maco, Rimando said. Apex Mining President and CEO Luis R. Sarmiento said they currently

have more than 2,000 employees, 75 percent of which are from Maco. “In one of the eight direct impact barangays, almost all families have one at least one member working in the mine,” he added. Sarmiento, former president of PMSEA, said Maco Gold Mine enjoys the support and cooperation not only of the local government but of the various stakeholders. Roy Andoy of the Maco-based Immaculate Concepcion Parish said mining changed the lives of the people because of the employment and livelihood opportunities provided by mining. “Before, many people have no jobs and a regular source of income. Now, people have jobs and can send their children to school,” Andoy said. A former small-scale miner, Ryan Ropacurba, president of the Lim-aw Rural Skilled Workers’ Association said Apex Mining provided them livelihood and training. He said now as skilled workers providing manpower support to Apex, they are no longer working as small-scale miner, which he said, is very risky. Ropacurba said small-scale mining has been their way of life for a long time because they have no choice. Now, he said they have a better job and source of livelihood. “As a boy, we were exposed to the danger of small-scale mining. In our community, we were all working as small-scale miners. We used to oppose Apex Mining and I was the leader of anti-mining group,” he said. He said Apex and the local government reached out to the communities and came up with various programs that benefited the people, including those who used to protest against the company’s large-scale mining operation. “Now, I am a leader of our organization who works together with the mining company,” he said. The group is now into hollow blocks making and its members are hired by Apex Mining to provide manpower support to the company, giving them decent jobs and livelihood. “Some were trained how to do welding, some are carpenters, others are electricians,” he said. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee and the Committee on Infrastructure Cabinet Level Wednesday, November 6. The flagship projects are now expected to cost P4.2 trillion. Of the hundred projects, around 26 will be implemented through PPP. Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects Secretary Vivencio B. Dizon assured that the government will not be tied to provisions, such as automatic rate increases and commitments of noninterference. Dizon added there will also be no noncompete clauses, which will strip the government of its ability to require concessionaires to improve services. These concessionaires, Dizon said, have been detrimental to public interest. Under the Duterte administration, such disadvantageous provisions will not be allowed.

NORTHERN CLEANING

This photo shows residents of Surigao del Norte washing clothes the traditional way: on the river. The river also gives the chance to children to enjoy the water to bathe. NONIE REYES

Nearly 6,000 OWWA members yet to avail of ₧1-billion rebate program By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

NLY 5.9 percent of the P1billion allocation for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) rebate program has been released since the project was launched two months ago. In an interview, OWWA Administrator Hans J. Cacdac said they were able to release P59,456,149 of the allocated P1 billion for the first batch of the rebate beneficiaries,

numbering nearly 23,000. Cacdac noted they still have 6,036 OWWA members who have yet to avail of their rebate benefits this year. “They are probably waiting to go home to avail of their rebates,” Cacdac said. “We will continue with the distribution. We have no deadline for this.” The amount of the rebate range from P941.25 up to P13,177.50, depending on their number of contributions. Out of the 23,000 beneficiaries,

200 opted to donate their rebate to OWWA’s selected scholars. “We have a list of scholars, who they could allocate their rebate benefits,” Cacdac said. He urged other beneficiaries to also consider donating rebate to other scholars. To qualify for the said rebate program under Republic Act 10801 or the OWWA Act, an overseas Filipino worker must have been a member of OWWA for at least 10 years and have not availed of any benefit from the agency.

HE Department of Justice has issued a circular sampling that appeals process for orders, resolutions and decisions of the Bureau of Immigration filed before the BI. Under Department Circular 23 that took effect last November 21, a person who challenges any BI order, resolution or decision has to file only a notice of appeal with the Office of the Secretary of Justice (SOJ) within 15 days from receipt of the documents sought to be challenged. Upon filing of a notice of appeal, the appellant is given only 15 days to file his or her memorandum for review of the justice department, which would be reviewed by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Justice Undersecretary and Spokesman Markk L. Perete said the filing of an appeal notice does not stay the execution of the challenged order, resolution or decision. Perete added the SOJ is empowered to grant interim reliefs, one of which is the temporary stay of the execution of an order, resolution or decision issued by BI. Likewise, under the circular parties-in-interest would be given a chance to intervene in the appeal, he said. Perete said that the BI’s omnibus rules provide a 30-day period and automatic stay of execution of any order, resolution or decision pending appeal which is inconsistent with the Administrative Code (AC). Under the AC, Perete noted that a BI deportation order becomes executory 30 days after its promulgation unless countermanded by the President. Joel R. San Juan

Cimatu to mining industry: strengthen ‘culture of care’

NVIRONMENT Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has called on the mining industry to institutionalize a culture of care in all aspects of mining operations as he underscores the need for mining companies to reinvent the industry’s image. In a speech delivered by Environment Undersecretary Analiza R. Teh during the 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference (ANMSEC) held in Baguio City Friday night, Cimatu said “it is high time for the industry to highlight a different but equally important side of the mining culture—that of a caring, nurturing,

protective industry.” “To achieve this, a culture of care should be fostered in all aspects of mining,” Teh said reading Cimatu’s speech. First and foremost, Cimatu said mining should care for the people. “Through various programs being implemented by mining companies, which include the social development and management program, support and services have consistently been provided to ensure sustained improvement in the living standards fo the host and neighboring communities,” he said. According to the DENR chief, social development programs should be vis-

ible and should leave a positive social impact on the communities during the life of the mine and even after its closure. He said the industry should do away with the dole-out mentality. More than the support for infrastructures and other physical assets, mining companies should invest more in programs that will help contribute in the ultimate goal of establishing selfsustaining communities, Cimatu said. Cimatu said the mining industry should foster a culture of care also by strictly complying with laws, rules, and regulations concerning the health and safety for its workers.

Moreover, the DENR chief said the industry should strengthen its commitment to caring for the environment by ensuring sustainable environmental conditions at every stage of the mining operation, reminding that the DENR Administrative Order 2018-19 requires companies to minimize the disturbed area of a mining project at any given time. He said through the policies, 31 nickel mining operators should implement progressive rehabilitation to mitigate and reduce the adverse impacts of mining on the environment.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

A4 Monday, November 25, 2019 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

PHL lacks qualified engineers, middle managers–survey

By Elijah Felice E. Rosales

@alyasjah

ABOR cost in the Philippines may be the cheapest in Southeast Asia, but the country is failing to maximize this in attracting investments due to the scarcity of skilled workers, according to a report released by a governmentsupported Japanese organization.

In a survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro), the Philippines posted the lowest basic monthly salary for workers and engineers in manufacturing at $236 and $381 per month, respectively, in a group of five Southeast Asian economies. Thailand posted the highest basic salary for workers at $446 per month, while Malaysia has the highest paid engineers among the group at $851

per month. As such, the number of Japanese firms in the Philippines said that rising wages is a challenge for their operations dropped to 45 percent, from last year’s 50 percent. However, as much as labor cost is cheap, the supply of manpower is becoming the country’s obstacle in pulling investments and encouraging expansions. The survey reported 53 percent—from 44 per-

cent last year—of Japanese firms said they are finding it harder to secure qualified human resources in the Philippines. Further, 44 percent, from 30 percent, admitted it is becoming difficult to seek skilled engineers in the country, while 39 percent, from 35 percent, said they consider it a business challenge to acquire capable middle management, the survey added. The survey also reported that the number of Japanese firms in manufacturing that listed insufficient level of quality control as a problem to production jumped to 59 percent. These manufacturers lamented the lack of professionalism and careless inspection within their labor force, as well as high turnover rate of their skilled engineers. “From business point of view, abundant, talented, English speaking human resources for competitive compensation is one of the important strength of the Philippines. However, year by year, it gets harder for Philippine respondents

to secure skilled engineers and capable middle management. Besides, high rate of personal turnover and ongoing labor issues are likely to reduce the advantage of Philippines as an investment destination,” the Jetro report read. Overall, the number of Japanese firms in the Philippines expecting to profit this year slipped to 69 percent, from last year’s 76 percent. Also, 44 percent of firms, from 56 percent, said they expect profit to increase for the following year. The Japanese firms said that they anticipate profit to go up next year attributed it to expansion of sales in the domestic and overseas markets, as well as an improvement in the efficiency of their operations. The Jetro survey this year covered the responses of 139 Japanese firms doing business in the Philippines, of which 73 are in manufacturing and 66 are in nonmanufacturing. The sample size this year was higher than that of last year, which tallied the insights of 127 respondents.

PSA report: Real-estate sector receives P3.211B in subsidies By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HE real-estate sector received a total of P3.211 billion in subsidies from the government between 2013 and 2017, according to the latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The sector did not receive subsidies in 2016, but the PSA report indicated that Filipino taxpayers’ support for local real estate surged to P1.488 billion in 2017 alone. Prior to 2017, the highest subsidy received by the sector was in 2013, when it received P970.9 million. This was followed by P724.1 million in 2014, and P27.9 million in 2015.

In 2013 to 2015 and 2017, real-estate activities with own or leased property industry received all the subsidies extended by Filipino taxpayers. Total income generated by the sector reached P675.6 billion in 2017, an increase of 17 percent from P577.7 billion recorded in 2016. The industry that received the subsidies in 2017 was also its top earner cornering 96.4 percent or P651.3 billion of the earnings in the sector. PSA said real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis generated an income of only P24.4 billion or 3.6 percent of the total earnings of the sector. In terms of expense, PSA data

showed the total expense incurred by the sector amounted to P459 billion in 2017, higher by 21.7 percent from the P377.1 billion reported in 2016. PSA said the real-estate activities with own or leased property also accounted for most of the expense. It was the major contributor to total expense worth P438 billion, or 95.4 percent. “The income per peso expense generated by the sector stood at 1.47 in 2017. This means that for every peso spent, a corresponding income of P1.47 was generated,” the PSA report read. “By industry group, real-estate activities with own or leased property recorded an income per peso expense of 1.49, while real-estate activities on a fee or contract basis generated an income per peso

expense of 1.16,” it added. In 2017, there were a total of 4,734 establishments in the formal sector of the economy were engaged in real-estate activities. This was 6.5 percent lower than the the 5,065 establishments recorded in 2016. The data was based on the final results of the 2017 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI)-Real Estate Activities Sector for All Establishments. The survey was conducted nationwide in 2018, with the year 2017 as the reference period of data, except for employment which is as of November 15, 2017. The ASPBI collects data to provide information on the levels, structure, performance, and trends of economic activities of the formal sector in the entire country.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Nickel miners, Chinese battery makers forge strategic partnership

Nickel briquettes PHOTOGRAPHER: PHILIP GOSTELOW/BLOOMBERG By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

HE Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Power Battery Application Committee of China Industrial Association of Power Sources (CIAPS-PBA) to explore possible investments in the local nickel sector. PNIA said in a statement that China, being the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, is one of the country’s “strategic partners in the sustainable e-vehicle industry.” “We believe that there is great opportunity for the nickel industry in the Philippines. Aside from the country’s wealth of natural nickel reserves, champions of nickel mining are encouraged by developments that are vital in driving business and investment growth around the world,” PNIA Chairman Emeritus Clarence J. Pimentel Jr. said on Sunday. Citing the International Nickel Study Group, PNIA said “the role of nickel in enabling a sustainable future presents opportunities for the Philippines.” “The industry remains robust and productive in trying to meet the global nickel ore demand to deliver the much needed impetus in many sectors that drive industrialization and sustainability around the world,” it added. Under the MOU signed by the two groups, there would be a promotion for “cooperation, networking, linkages and possible joint venture and investments among PNIA and CIAPS-PBA member companies.”

The MOU would provide a “platform for possible collaboration on the development of a nickel industry road map that would highlight linkages and opportunities for the power battery sector in the years to come,” according to the PNIA. PNIA added that there would also be information sharing between the two groups on “policies, trading and investments for nickel ore that will impact the production of batteries for electric vehicles.” “We are glad to be a part of this strategic partnership and we look forward to the valuable output it will bring to both industries. Together we can make the industry more productive and sustainable and as such, will enable us to contribute more to each of our own country’s economies,” said Pimentel. Citing the Philippine Statistics Authority, the PNIA said mining industry “contributed to the regional economies where they operated with a significant portion of 18 percent and 17 percent of the GDP of the Philippines Southern Luzon region and Northeast Mindanao region, respectively in 2018.” The PNIA was established in 2012, to advance the development and promote an inclusive and sustainable growth for the country’s nickel industry. Founding members of PNIA include Agata Mining Ventures Inc., Carrascal Nickel Corp., Citinickel Mines and Development Corp., CTP Construction and Mining Corporation, DMCI Mining Corp., Marcventures Mining Development Corp., and Platinum Group Metals Corp.

Distribution utilities in Mindanao must submit WESM requirements, follow rules—ERC chief By Lenie Lectura @llectura

HE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has directed all distribution utilities (DUs) and W holesale Electricity Spot Market participants in Mindanao, to comply with all WESM requirements to ensure the overall readiness of the system. “We note that based on the results of the recent 19th WESM Mindanao Readiness Assessment [W MR A] Meetings conducted by the Department of Energy [DOE], there was a delay in the completion of WESM registration by PHOTO shows the Victoria Substation of Davao Light and Power Co. Inc. in Davao City. FROM WWW.DAVAOLIGHT.COM. the participants in Mindanao, despite the mandatory membership as provided WESM in Mindanao. for by the WESM Rules. “The ERC enjoins full compliance with the WESM Therefore, the Commission hereby enjoins the DUs in rules to avoid recurrence of manual load dropping. OthMindanao to comply with all the WESM prerequisites, erwise, the commission shall be constrained to impose and to strictly follow the Interim Mindanao Dispatch the necessary fines and penalties on the DUs for failure Protocol [IMDP],” ERC Chairman and CEO Agnes VST to comply with the WESM directives,” said Devanadera. Devanadera said Friday. The WESM in the Mindanao grid was launched in The WMR A also noted the low turnout of parJune 2017, with commercial operation expected to ticipation in the Trial Operations Program and the happen next year. incidence of manual load dropping despite over sup The WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricply of generating capacity in the region resulting ity. It is a centralized venue for buyers and sellers to trade from the DUs’ noncompliance with the IMDP. electricity as a commodity, where prices are based on ac The completion of the WESM registry for Mindanao tual use (demand) and availability (supply). Trading Participants and the active participation of such WESM started commercial operations in the Lutrading participants, particularly the DUs, are essential zon grid in June 2006, and in December of 2010 in to the forthcoming commercial operations date of the the Visayas grid.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

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Average farm-gate price of rice declines by 23.5%–PSA report

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

@jearcalas

he average quotation for local unhusked rice was lower in the first week of November compared to the farm-gate price recorded a year ago, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its weekly price monitoring report, preliminary data released by the PSA indicated that average farm-gate price of palay rose slightly to P15.52 per kilogram, from P15.36 per kg recorded in the last week of October. “However, the annual rate was still on a downward trend as it posted a decline of 23.5 percent from its level of P20.28 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” the PSA report read. The slight uptick in the farmgate price of palay on a weekly basis was not enough to pull up retail and wholesale prices. According to the PSA, the retail and wholesale price of rice continued to decline due to the hike in local inventory. “At the wholesale price, the average price of well-milled rice shrank further to P37.57 per kg, or by 0.1

percent, this week from its previous week’s level of P37.60 per kg,” the report read. “Similarly, it went down at an annual rate of 14.1 percent from its level of P43.71 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added. The average retail price of wellmilled rice also fell to P41.73 per kg, from last week’s P41.75 per kg and last year’s P47.62 per kg levels. As for regular-milled rice, its average wholesale price dropped to P33.42 per kg during the reference week from end-October’s P33.69 per kg level. It declined by 17.9 percent from its year-ago level of P40.69 per kg, the PSA added. “At the retail trade, the average price of regular-milled rice went down further to P36.82 per kg, or by 0.5 percent, this week from its weekago level of P37.02 per kg,” it said.

Farmers in Bayambang, Pangasinan, display their harvest of unhusked rice. Pangasinan is part of the Ilocos region, the fourth top producer of rice last year, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. LAILA D. AUSTRIA

“On an annual basis, it also plunged at a rate of 16.6 percent, from its level of P44.14 per kg in the same week of the previous year,” it added. The same report also indicated that the average farm-gate prices of yellow and white corn were lower in the first week of November. The PSA said traders offered to buy yellow corn at P12.16 per kg,

0.3 percent lower than the week-ago price of P12.19 per kg and 15 percent lower than last year’s quotation of P14.30 per kg. The PSA said the average farmgate price of white corn fell to P13.32 per kg, or by 1.3 percent, on a weekly basis. On an annual basis, white corn was cheaper by 8 percent, compared to its year-ago level of P14.48 per kg.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, November 25, 2019 A5

‘Grow Asia farm program help PHL planters improve skills’ By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

he Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) said Grow Asia, through its Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Development (PPSD), is helping Filipino farmers improve their skills and hike their output. Searca said PPSD is a farm partnership model that’s benefiting 117,000 smallholders in coconut, coffee corn, fisheries and vegetables. In a report published by the Los Baños-based institute, titled “Competency Certification for Agricultural Workers in Southeast Asia,” authors Bernie S. Justimbaste and Edwin P. Bacani said Grow Asia has demonstrated farming models that integrate small farm owners into the big Asean value chain. Grow Asia, which was founded by Asean and the World Economic Forum, has built synergies between value chain players in agriculture via PPSD. It facilitates delivery of many interventions including agricultural and technical-vocational (Tech-Voc) skills training in the production of various farm products. Searca noted that Grow AsiaPPSD is providing a Mindanaobased program multiple interventions in farmers’ production of coconut water and development of skills and know-how in coconut intercropping, replanting and market access. The partners in this program are Unilever, Friends of Hope and KFI Center for Community Development.

In coffee production, 10 cooperatives in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur, are being helped by a Nestlé project through technical assistance, intercropping know-how, provision of quality planting materials (Robusta coffee) and establishment of market. Macnut Philippines is also involved in contract growing and buy-back of Arabica coffee. This project has 15 other partners including the Philippine Coffee Alliance. As for corn, Searca said farmers in Zamboanga del Norte have been connected through ZMDC Grains Inc. to a hog farmers’ cooperative in Batangas to buy corn. Aside from skills training, interventions include credit and post-harvest technologies. The partners here are Pioneer, and eight other agencies and groups, including Philippine Maize Federation Inc. Searca said it supported the replication of such farm production model as that of Grow Asia. “Grow Asia-PPSD has proven to foster skills capability building of agriculture human resource, a major Searca function being Asean’s graduate education and research center,” Searca Director Glenn B. Gregorio said in a statement. Gregorio also said a common competency certification system among Asean countries will enable freer exchange of farm workers between countries. Asean countries are working toward one Asean Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) to allow this matching of farm skills and competencies between countries. Gregorio said the AQRF recognizes both nonformal and informal learning in assessing farm workers’ skills level and qualifications.

Green Monday BusinessMirror

A6 Monday, November 25, 2019

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Delhi’s dirty air has intangible costs for a slowing economy

light disruptions, fewer tourists, lost work hours and missed school days have come to portray India’s struggles with toxic air quality in its capital city, and the intangible costs may be adding up for an economy grappling with a sharp slowdown. India’s losses from air pollution increased more than four times to $560 billion between 1990 and 2013, according to the World Bank, which attributed the economic burden to the rising costs of public health-care and work force disruption.

Pollution is now being counted among the hidden costs like repelling top corporate talent, according to analysts and industry lobby groups. “This feeds into the broader economic environment,” said Hemant Shivakumar, a New Delhi-

based senior analyst at Control Risks that advises clients on political and security risks. “If the air pollution escalates year after year and there’s no response then it’s likely to send investors a different message.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government deployed 300 field teams to curb pollution after it reached record levels earlier this month, as winds carried smoke from farm stubble burning in areas around New Delhi. Despite t he measures a nd the state gover nment imposing restr ictions on use of pr ivate vehicles, pol lution levels remain a cause for concer n in the capital cit y of what was until recently the world ’s fastestgrow ing major economy. Air quality index for New Delhi was classified as “poor” early

Vehicle travel past a worker sweeping a road shrouded in smog in New Delhi on November 5.

last week, an improvement from “severe.” However, the respite may be short-lived with the level seen deteriorating to “severe” later last week. A read ing above 400 fa l ls under the severe category and “affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases,” according to the environment ministry. “It affects us all,” Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, the ambassador of the Dominican Republic to India and the dean of the Diplomatic Corps, was cited as saying by the Press Trust of India. “This is a problem of major proportions to be solved” by the city and the federal government, he said. Pollution in the national capital could pushed talent to work in other cities in India or abroad, according to industry group the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. W hile gross domestic product growth slipped to a six-year low in the quar ter ended June, a i r pol lut ion added a not her layer of cha l lenge for the Modi government that’s taken severa l steps to boost the economy, a lthough there are no sig ns of a quick rev iva l so far. “ There are a number of economic detriments linked with Delhi’s ongoing pollution crisis,” said Natasha Mudhar, the chief executive of London-based business consultancy Sterling Global, and founder of The World We Want, which is working toward achieving the United Nations’s sustainable development goals. “Employers in the city are finding it increasingly hard to retain top-level executives and highly skilled workers who are looking to get out of the city and away from the hazardous air,” she said. Bloomberg News

Ruhani Kaur/Bloomberg News

DENR shuts down 4 open dump sites in Pampanga

ITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shuts down last week four illegally operating dump sites in this province. Environment Undersecretary Benny Antiporda, for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Unit Concerns, issued the cease-and-desist order (CDO) against the City of San Fernando, and municipal governments of Bacolor and Porac for operating the illegal dump sites. The open dump sites were located at Lara village in City of San Fernando, Maliwalo in Bacolor town, and barangays San Jose Matli and Matli Dos, both in the town of Porac. “Poor waste management at dump sites poses serious threats, not just to the environment, but also to public health. That is why, we are taking our messaging to uphold proper waste disposal to a higher level to encourage communities, especially our local government units, to not make open fields as repository areas for wastes,” he said. Under the law, establishment and maintenance of an open dumpsite is strictly prohibited. The DENR found mixed garbage of plastics, diapers, polystyrene and even hospital wastes like syringes and tubings in the dump site. Antiporda said the DENR is keeping an eye on the operations of illegal dump sites, since

One of the illegal open dump sites in Pampanga which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources shut down on November 12. Benny Antiporda, environment undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Unit Concerns, issued a cease-and-desist order against the City of San Fernando, and municipal governments of Bacolor and Porac for operating illegal dump sites. DENR Region 3

it bears a serious impact on the ongoing cleanup and rehabilitation of Manila Bay. “We cannot clean Manila Bay if we allow this,” he said, pointing out that dump sites have leachate, which could flow to nearby rivers and bodies of water. The DENR also summoned the local chief executives and their respective municipal councils to explain the operations of the illegal dump sites and to present their immediate plan of action for the closure and rehabilitation of these garbage dumps. “They [municipalities] were given seven days to explain the illegal operation of the dump site, as supported by the necessary documents, clearances and other permits issued

pertaining to the implementation of the disposal site,” he said. Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, provides that no open dumps shall be established and operated, nor any practice or disposal of solid waste by any person, including local government units, which constitutes the use of open dumps for solid wastes, is allowed. Any person found violating the law shall be fined with P500,000 plus an amount not less than 5 percent but not more than 10 percent of its net annual income during the year. But if local government officials and officials of a national agency are found guilty of violating the law, they can be charged

administratively in accordance with Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code. Me a nw h i le, M ay or E d w i n Santos denied the existence of an open dump site in the City of San Fernando. “We are not operating an open dump site. We only have the City Transfer Station,” Santiago said in a statement following the issuance of a CDO against the operation of the facility in Lara village here. City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Regina Rodriguez also said no dump site is operating in the city. Rodriguez said the former dump site has been converted to a transfer station when it was rehabilitated through the city’s greening program. “We are fully implementing RA 9003. From the garbage collection, to the sorting and transferring, our system works. We are in partnership with the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp., which collects the garbage every day from our transfer station. We will never tolerate the existence of an open dump site here in San Fernando,” he said. Rodriguez added that the transfer station was reviewed and approved by the DENR Region 3 pursuant to the Department’s Administrative Order 9, Series of 2006, or the “General Guidelines in the Closure and Rehabilitation of Open Dump site and Controlled Dump Facilities.” Marna Dagumboy Del Rosario/PNA

Mayflor R. Candelaria (fifth from right, front), Clark Development Corp. (CDC) Environmental Permits Division (EPD) assistant manager, receives the award given by DENR Region 3 headed by Director Lormelyn E. Claudio (sixth from right, second row). Other awardees include Fontana Development Corp. represented by Mannie Dungca (right), Filinvest Mimosa with Liezl Santos (second from left, front), CRL Environmental Corp. with COO Maria Carmela Q. Capule (fourth from right, front), Donggwang Clark with Engr. Jeff San Juan and Nathaniel Esteban (fifth and sixth from left). The Environmental Practitioners Association Inc. is represented by its Secretary Jocelyn T. Ricardo (left) of Tipco, Vice President Engr. Rolando Sta. Cruz (third from right) and Yasmin M. Dizon (fourth from right). They are joined in the photo by EMB Officers and staff.

CDC, Clark locators recognized for supporting DENR programs

LARK FREEPORT—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) recently recognized Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and other locator companies in this free port for supporting various environmental programs in the region. During the Environmental Partnership Awards held at a hotel, CDC, through its Environmental Permits Division headed b y E n g r. R o g e l i o M a g a t , C D C - E P D Assistant Manager Mayflor Candelaria, received the award that cites the longterm par tnership of CDC and DENR Region 3 for numerous environment undertakings. The award also acknowledges the contribution of the state-owned firm to the advocacies of DENR-EMB. “It is this enduring partnership that inspired some locators to go beyond compliance and become environmental advocates for sustainable economic development,” Candelaria said after they received the award.

Acknowledging their commitment to the environment, DENR Region 3 also conferred awards to some locator companies in the free por t. These include Donggwang Clark Corp., Fontana Development Corp., Filinvest Mimosa Inc. and CRL Environmental Corp. Some of the notable eco-friendly programs of CDC which are also participated in by its locators include the annual Recyclables Collection Event and Adapt an Estero Project. These aim to clean up the river systems within the Metro Clark area. M e a n w h i l e , t h e E n v i ro n m e n t a l Practitioners Association, headed by Magat, was also recognized for being the longtime partner of the EMB R3, in the conduct of training for Pollution Control Officers and Managing Heads to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills needed for environmental stewardship. Coinciding with the activity, outgoing DENR Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio welcomed the incoming DENR Region 3 Regional Director Wilson L. Trajeco in a turnover ceremony.

Water comes from forests, not dams–Haribon

mid ongoing contentions about the controversial Kaliwa Dam, e nv i ro n m e nt a l g ro u p H a r i b o n Foundation reiterates that the solution to the water crisis is right in our midst—the restoration of Philippine forests. Haribon emphasized that the water issue should be understood from the ridge-to-reef perspective that begins with where water comes from. “Water comes from forests not from dams. Forests absorb water through their roots, releases it from their leaves through transpiration, then turns into rainwater together with water evaporated from oceans and other water bodies,” the group said. Th e f o u n d at i o n c i te d t h at t h e Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), submitted by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has also recognized the significant role of forests in the global carbon cycle as carbon sinks of the land ecosystem, absorbing carbon dioxide and storing carbon in soils. “Forests have an indispensable biodiversity value—not only does it supply goods for trade and subsistence, it also contributes to water cycle and groundwater withdrawal,” Haribon added. Based on the government reforestation costing—particularly the National Greening Program—restoring 1 hectare of forest costs P16,450 for three years. According to Haribon, this shows that only around P2.48 billion is needed to restore 150,000 hectares of forests in the country compared to the P12.2-billion loan from China that puts the Philippines at risk of environmental chaos and debt trap.

Threatened species

Haribon also cited that the EIS reported that 67 species found in the watershed area and along the tunnel alignment are listed under the International Union for Conser vation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species, four of which are critically endangered native tree species, such as yakal saplungan, bagtikan, white lauan and tanguile; endangered species such as narra; 13 vulnerable species including kamagong, hamindang and tanglin. Various fauna species in the EIS report identified 69 species of birds—such as the yellow vented bulbul, the Philippine bulbul, chestnut munia, Luzon tarictic and rufous hornbill. There are 13 mammalian species— including the shor t-nosed fruit bat,

musky fruit bat, long-tongued nectar bat, rousette bats, pygmy roundleaf bat, Polynesian rat, long-tailed macaque, Asian palm civet, Northern Luzon giant cloud rat, wild boar, Philippine forest rat and the Oriental house rat. A total of 15 herpeto-faunal species (nine reptiles and six amphibians) are recorded in the area—including the gecko, skink, cobra, Philippine brown rat snake, green tree skink, cuming’s eared-skink, water monitor lizard, python and green snake. The list of amphibians, include the Malayan freshwater turtle, Laguna de Bay frog, common tree frog, giant marine toad, Chinese softshelled turtle and Luzonfanged frog. “Their presence in the watersheds of Sierra Madre is a good indicator of balance in the ecology, food chain cycle and natural environmental process that humans benefit from daily,” Haribon said. According to the foundation, while the EIS report submitted by the MWSS on September 2019 highlights the abundance of biodiversity in the area, it fails to respond to how it will establish and implement mitigating measures to address the impacts of structural development to the affected wildlife species. The construction of the dam, said Haribon, will not only submerge their homes, but will also impact our daily survival once they go extinct.

Good governance

The group also cited the Commission on Audit’s (COA) report on the Kaliwa Dam project as a “negotiated contract.” COA has since called on the MWSS to explain the bidding process it undertook that seemed to have favored the China Energy Engineering Corp. Ltd. According to Haribon, the report is telling of the integrity of an institution, its potential impacts to the quality of infrastructure services, and the treatment toward social and environmental interventions. Despite staunch opposition from various groups, the Kaliwa Dam project has recently received a green light from the Depar tment of Environment and Natural Resources. Groups, including the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network, composed of environmental and Indigenous Peoples groups, criticize the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate that was said to bypass proper permission procedures from affected Indigenous Peoples communities.

Biodiversity Monday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Monday, November 25, 2019

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Butterfly on a bomb range: Endangered Species Act at work

EU and Norway upholding Asean biodiversity conservation

sean continues to find an ally in the European Union for efforts aimed at protecting and conserving the region’s rich biodiversity.

A Saint Francis Satyr butterfly rests on a leaf in a swamp at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, on July 29. It’s wing was marked for identification by a biologist studying the rare insect. AP/Robert F. Bukaty ORT BRAGG, North Carolina—In the unlikely setting of the world’s most populated military installation, amid all the regimented chaos, you’ll find the Endangered Species Act at work. There, as a 400-pound explosive resounds in the distance, a tiny Saint Francis Satyr butterfly flits among the splotchy leaves, ready to lay as many as 100 eggs. At one point, this brown and frankly dull-looking butterfly could be found in only one place on Earth: Fort Bragg’s artillery range. Now, thanks in great measure to the 46-year-old federal act, they are found in eight more places— though all of them are on other parts of the Army base. And if all goes well, biologists will have just seeded habitat No.10. One of Earth’s rarest butterfly species, there are maybe 3,000 Saint Francis Satyrs. There are never going to be enough of them to get off the endangered list, but they’re not about to go extinct either. They are permanent patients of the bureaucratic conservation hospital ward. In some ways, the tiny butterfly is an ideal example of the more than 1,600 US species that have been protected by the Endangered Species Act. Alive, but not exactly doing that well. To some experts, just having these creatures around means the 46-year-old law has done its job. More than 99.2 percent of the species protected by the act survive, The Associated Press has found. Only 11 species were declared extinct. On the other hand, only 39 US species—about 2 percent of the overall number—have made it off the endangered list because of recovery, including bald eagles and American alligators. “Species will remain in the Endangered Species Act hospital indefinitely. And I don’t think that’s a failure of the Endangered Species Act itself,” says Jake Li, director for biodiversity at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center in Washington. The Endangered Species Act “is the safety net of last resort,” says Gary Frazer, assistant director of ecological services at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the law. “We list species after all other vehicles of protection have failed,” he said. The 1973 law, passed unanimously in the Senate, was designed to prevent species from going extinct and to protect their habitat. Under the law, it is unlawful to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect” endangered animals and plants, and it also forbids the elimination of their habitats. Another species found at Fort Bragg—the red-cockaded woodpecker—is a case of success but at a cost of $408 million over 19 years. The woodpeckers live only in longleaf pines, which have been disappearing across the Southeast for more than a century, due to development and suppression of fires. In the 1980s and 1990s, efforts to save the woodpecker and their trees setoff a backlash among landowners who worried about interference on their private property. Wildlife officials were even shot at. Army officials weren’t happy either. “We couldn’t maneuver. We couldn’t shoot because they were afraid the bird was going to blink out and go into extinction,” says former top Fort Bragg planning official Mike Lynch.

By the 1980s, the red-cockaded woodpecker population was below 10,000 nationwide. Now, they’re well past 15,000 just on military bases. After failed efforts, biologists and bureaucrats changed their approach. Instead of prohibiting work on land the woodpecker needs, Fish and Wildlife Service officials allowed landowners to make some changes, as long as they generally didn’t hurt the bird. The Army set fires to regularly burn scrub. The result? When Fort Bragg Endangered Species Branch Chief Jackie Britcher started, in 1983, there were fewer than 300 woodpecker families on Fort Bragg. Now she counts 453 families. “Something is going right,” she says. The Army has better land to maneuver in and the community is taking pride in the woodpecker, Lynch says. From 1998 to 2016, the federal government tallied $20.5 billion in spending on individual species on the endangered list. That’s based on an annual per-species spending report that the Fish and Wildlife Service sends to Congress, but that tally is not comprehensive. Seven species, mostly fish, ate up more than half of the money expended under the act, according to the annual accounting figures. About $3 million was spent to save the Saint Francis Satyr butterfly. Nick Haddad, a Michigan State University butterfly biologist and Saint Francis expert, regularly visits the artillery range. He expected a moonscape, but found beauty. Because no one was venturing into the woods there, no one was dismantling beaver dams or snuffing out fires. Aside from munition fragments, the landscape was much like North Carolina before it was altered by humans. The picky butterfly needs a touch of chaos in its habitat. It requires water, but not a lot. It thrives on fire to burn away overgrown plants, but not too much. Now, Haddad and his team replicate those conditions elsewhere on base, and they watch the butterfly population grow. After years of criticisms from conservatives that the endangered species program is too cumbersome for industry and landowners, President Donald J. Trump’s administration has enacted 33 different reforms. Among them: a change in the rules for species that are “threatened,” the classification just below endangered. Instead of mandating, in most cases, that they get the same protection as endangered species, the new rules allow for variations. That is better management, says the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Frazer, adding, “It allows us to regulate really only those things that are important to conservation.” Noah Greenwald, endangered species director of the Center for Biological Diversity, characterizes the regulations as “a disaster.” While scientists across the globe warn of the coming extinction of a million species in the decades ahead, Nick Haddad is determined that the Saint Francis Satyr butterfly won’t be one of them. “This is the thing that gives me hope,” Haddad says. “That’s where the Endangered Species Act had an impact.” AP

EU Ambassador to Asean Igor Driesmans and Chargé d’Affaires of the EU Delegation to the Philippines Thomas Wiersing and Xavier Canton-Lamousse, project manager of the EU, visited the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, last week. Driesmans and his delegation met with ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim and other ACB officials to discuss new avenues of cooperation in biodiversity conservation in the region. At the same time, Nor way showed its commitment to protecting biodiversity and combating climate change in the Asean region through a ceremonial tree planting in La Mesa Watershed last week. Nor weg ian A mbassador to the Philippines Bjørn Jahnsen and Norwegian Ambassador to the Asean Morten Høglund led the ceremonia l tree-planting ceremony at the La Mesa Nature Reser ve, a joint news release from the embassy and from the ACB said.

“We will work with the Asean region in forestry management, fishery management, among others. These are part of our comprehensive work to move toward a more ambitious partnership in environment and climate action,” the EU envoy said. Lim, for her part, said Driesmans’ visit to the ACB, his first since he was appointed ambassador to Asean early this year, demonstrates Asean and EU’s long-standing partnership in the region’s biodiversity conservation. “We are thankful that up to this day, the EU remains to be a strong partner of the ACB in improving protected area management and in curbing biodiversity loss through the BCAMP,” Lim said. Shortly after the meeting, the EU delegation took a short walk at the Mount Makiling Botanical Gardens, a recreational area in Mount Makiling, which is one of the nine protected areas in the Philippines designated as Asean Heritage Parks.

EU envoy: Count on us

During the event, the Royal Nor wegian Embassy in Manila committed to plant 500 indigenous seedlings in La Mesa Nature Reser ve, covering 1 hectare of land in the watershed, in partnership with the ACB and ABS- CBN Lingkod K apamilya. “This is a perfect time to reaffirm Norway’s commitments to strengthen cooperation in conservation of biodiversity in the Asean region,” Høglund said. “We urge countries to act together to tackle the global challenge of climate change, and focus on the impact of these changing conditions in Asean and its international relations,” he added. Since 2015, Norway has been a sectoral dialogue partner of Asean, promoting cooperation in many areas such as peace and reconciliation, energy, trade and privatesector development, and climate change and biodiversity.

“If you look at the data, protecting biodiversity will serve us all. If biodiversity is protected, it has an impact not just on the economy, but on climate change and possible conflicts around the world. It is really something that interests us all,” Driesmans said in his message. “Here in the Asean, we have seen some worrying trends and, at the same time, bright spots that we want to support and nurture, which is why the European Union is here…. The Asean can continue to count on us,” Driesmans said. T he AC B i s i mplement i ng an EU-financed project “Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in Asean” (BCAMP). BCAMP is designed to improve the management of protected areas in the Asean region; develop and mobilize knowledge and scientific basis for biodiversity conservation; mainstream biodiversity into the education system; and strengthen the regional capacities in biodiversity conservation. The five-year project, which started in 2017, is part of the EU’s global strategy to contribute to global sustainability by ensuring Asean’s rich biological diversity is conser ved and sustainably managed, and by enhancing the region’s social, economic, and environmental well-being.

Norway is dialogue partner of Asean

Tree planting, reducing carbon footprint

“ The Nor wegian Embassy in Manila is constantly looking for possibilities to reduce our carbon footprint here in the Philippines,” Jahnsen said. “By planting 500 seedlings this year, we are offsetting roughly 74 tons of carbon footprint equivalent to the projected carbon footprint that the embassy producing per annum,” he added.

ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita Lim (right) speaks with EU Ambassador to Asean Igor Driesmans during the latter’s visit to the ACB headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna. ACB photo

Norwegian Ambassador to Asean Morten Høglund (from left), Norwegian Ambassador to the Philippines Bjørn Jahnsen, Lim, Quezon City Environmental Protection and Waste Management Head Andrea Villaroman, and ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Bantay Kalikasan Program Director Jen Santos Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila photo

The embassy has specifically chosen to plant trees in the La Mesa Watershed because this is considered as the carbon dioxide sink of Metro Manila. The watershed is also a major source of water for some 12 million residents of Metro Manila. La Mesa Watershed is part of the Angat-Ipo-La Mesa water system, which supplies most of the water supply of Metro Manila holding over 50 million cubic meters occupying an area of 27 square kilometers. The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila has been actively working on projects and initiatives to make its workplace greener. This year, the embassy also installed a 16-kilowatt peak solarpower system in the ambassador’s residence.

Preserving biodiversity

“With land conversion and degradation rapidly gobbling up forests and other vital ecosystems, any effort to conserve the last standing forests that we have deserves praise. I am glad that we are not alone in protecting and preserving the remaining biodiversity in the region,” Lim said. “ The Royal Norwegian Embassy’s commitment to support our fight against climate change, specifically the embassy’s pledge to plant an estimate of 500 trees, could not have come at a better time. This supports the Asean’s latest undertaking the Asean Green Initiative, which was introduced during the 15th Asean Minis-

terial Meeting on the Environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia, last October,” Lim said. “ The Asean Green Initiative aims to plant 10 million trees all over the Asean region and raise awareness about biodiversity and ecosystem services, and its values. It intends to promote public and private investment in biodiversity and ecosystem services, and ensure that regional policies and strategies are supported by grassroots actions,” she added. T h i s ye a r, Nor w ay a nd A sean has signed an agreement to prote c t t he e nv i ron me nt a nd hu m a n we l l- bei ng f rom pl ast ic pol lut ion. Norway is playing a leading role in promoting efforts for clean and healthy oceans around the world. This year, it hosted the Our Ocean Conference in Oslo where $64 billion of total was pledged to protect the oceans. Norway is also about to sign an agreement on developing a system of information gathering to support conservation and sustainable management of coastal wetlands in the Asean region together with the ACB. Norway is committed to reducing harmful greenhouse-gas emissions. Norway is also dedicated to enable vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change, prevent deforestation, and reduce harmful greenhouse-gas emissions. By 2030, Norway is targeting to lower its own greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent.

Brazil: Amazon deforestation worst since 2008

Krimej indigenous Chief Kadjyre Kayapo (foreground) of the Kayapo indigenous community, looks out at a path created by loggers on the border between the Biological Reserve Serra do Cachimbo, front, and Menkragnotire indigenous lands, in Altamira, Para state, in Brazil. AP/Leo Correa

IO DE JANEIRO—Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is at its worst in more than a decade, a government report said last week, undermining officials’ claims that concerns by environmentalists have been overblown. Deforestation between August 2018 and July 2019 reached 9,762 square kilometers, a 30-percent increase over the previous year, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research said. The area of deforestation is the largest recorded since 2008, and is about the size of the US states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Concern about the Amazon heightened after President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January. His administration has advocated the loosening of protections around natural reserves and indigenous

lands as a way to promote economic development. Environmentalists and nonprofit groups have accused the government of trying to weaken environmental legislation, warning that deforestation would likely worsen as a result. The Bolsonaro administration has spent a lot of energy attacking data on deforestation. In August, the head of the space research institute, Ricardo Galvão, was fired shortly after Bolsonaro accused his agency of manipulating deforestation data to make the government look bad. The president later suggested, without citing evidence, that nongovernmental groups could be setting some of the fires in the Amazon to draw attention to his administration.

The annual data published by the space research agency last week confirms the institute’s earlier reports that deforestation was on the rise. The latest data is actually 42 percent higher than what was previously reported. “It is unacceptable that the Amazon is still being destroyed,” the WWF conservation group said in a statement. It said deforestation will accelerate unless the Brazilian government takes robust action to prevent it. In July and August, fires in the Amazon region spread at a pace unseen since 2010, before slowing in September. Farmers, developers and others often use fire to clear deforested land for soy production or pastures.

Some European leaders have questioned Brazil’s commitment to tackling deforestation and argued that the fires in the Amazon required a global response because of the ecosystem’s critical role in draining heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Brazilian government has denied any wrongdoing and says it is taking all the steps needed to protect the Amazon, accusing France and Germany of infringing on its sovereignty. As fires raged a few months ago, Bolsonaro sent the military to help battle some blazes and banned most legal fires for land-clearing in the Amazon for two months. Fires in the Amazon eventually fell below the monthly average in September. AP

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MS. JUAN CUI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. ZHENGMEI WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 121 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. MING ZHAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YIBIN WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 122 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZONGHAO YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. LILI LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 123 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHENGXIN WU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. GUOFENG WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 124 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. TING OUYANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CHUNLIN DENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 125 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TIAN YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XUANFENG TANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 126 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. RENJIE SHENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. RONGFENG LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 127 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JINTAO MU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WANHONG XU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 128 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. DEYU WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. FEIYANG HE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 129 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHILUO WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LIANGWEI ZHAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 130 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. HAOHAO LYU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LIANG WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 131 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LIANG XU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZINAN WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 132 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WUXIN YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHIQIANG ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 133 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. HAO ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. LANYU WEI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 134 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. JUNJUN TAN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JINPING LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 135 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. BAOJUAN WEI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LAI SONG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 136 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. PENG ZOU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 100 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEIJIANG ZENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 137 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. LINGXIN WU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 101 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YUQIANG PENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 138 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CHUANWEI JU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 102 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LANG SUN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 139 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHENGJIE HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 103 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LUNYI LIU / Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. FEIHU LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 104 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 140 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JIANGNAN SHENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. CHAOXIONG JIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 105 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 141 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YONG LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. SHENGMING YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 106 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 142 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. MENGQIN LUO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. GE YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 107 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 143 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. BIN YUAN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. HAIFENG LYU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 108 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 144 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. DINGJIE OUYANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 145 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LIANJIE ZENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEI TANG/ Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. WENYAN XIAO/ Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

LANCE EXPERT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, INC. Brgy. San Francisco, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LIWEI WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Speaking Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XIAO CHEN/ Chinese

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

BusinessMirror

A12 Monday, November 25, 2019

Name and Address of Company/Employer

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Brief Description of Functions

Name and Address of Company/Employer

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Brief Description of Functions

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 146 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. GUANG YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 184 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. QIYUN HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 147 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YAOLI WEI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 185 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. RUI LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 148 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEIKUN LU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 186 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. CHUNXIU WU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 149 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JIAHAO ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 187 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. MEIYING CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 150 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TINGRONG MA/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 188 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WENSHAN CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 151 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XIAOGUANG SUN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 189 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. MENGYA QIN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 152 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZEBIN SUN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 190 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JINWEI LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 153 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TINGJIA LAI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 191 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YIKE LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 154 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XIANQIANG HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 192 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TINGYONG HU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 155 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHAORONG JIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 193 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YUJIAN HE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 156 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TIANYU MU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 194 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHENFENG LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 157 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XIAOJIAN MAO/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 195 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHENG LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 158 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEI MU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 196 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZIHAO LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 159 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. CANHUI TANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 197 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEILONG WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 160 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEI WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 198 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. JIALE SHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 161 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YUQI LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 199 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. RONGGUI LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 162 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. QIANGZHI YANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 200 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WENQIANG WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 163 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XIANGBIN WU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 201 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WENTIAN JIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 164 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TENGJIANG WU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 202 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. GANGGUI HUI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 165 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SIJIE WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 166 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. HEXIN ZHANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 167 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. HANXIAO HUANG/ Chinese

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 168 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

203

NOBLELINK INC. EPZA, Rosario, Cavite

MR. HEEYOUNG HAN / Korean

Project Manager

NIDEC PHILIPPINES CORPORATION 204 SEZ, Laguna Technopark, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. HIROTO MIZUGUCHI / Japanese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MITSUBISHI MOTORS PHILIPPINES 205 CORPORATION GAP-SEZ, Santa Rosa City, Laguna

MR. HIROYUKI MORIYAMA / Japanese

MR. WENSHI JIANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

GOLDEN ZONE GARMENTS AND 206 ACCESSORIES INC. LISP II-SEZ, Calamba City, Laguna

MS. HAIYAN YIN / Chinese

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 169 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. XIANFENG LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

MR. SUNG BIN KIM / Korean

Assistant General Manager

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 170 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

CNB MACHINERY AND STEEL CORP. 207 Narra Road, San Antonio, San Pedro, Laguna, San Pedro, Laguna

MR. ZHIJUN WANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

208

KOU FU PACKAGING CORPORATION Mountview Industrial, Carmona, Cavite

MS. SHOU-HUI YU / Taiwanese

CEO/TREASURER

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 171 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. TAO ZHOU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

209

H.R.D. SINGAPORE PTE LTD CEZ II, General Trias, Cavite

MR. ATSUYA BABA / Japanese

Adviser- Quality Assurance System

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 172 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. QINGHUA ZOU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 173 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MS. HONGYAN GENG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 174 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHIYUN HE/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 175 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. WEISHENG YOU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 176 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. ZHIHAO CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 177 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. QIAN CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 178 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. FENGZE LIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 179 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. SHIQING LI/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 180 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. LEI HUANG/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 181 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. XIANHAO SU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 182 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. YAO CHEN/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

SMART WIN TECHNOLOGY, INC. 183 4-12F Southwoods Tower 2, Biñan City, Laguna

MR. FENG QIU/ Chinese

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Manager- Administration Division Senior ExpertManufacturing Division Product Development Manager

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRICAL POWER CONSTRUCTION 210 CORPORATION San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas Name of Alien:

MR. LEI ZHANG / Chinese

Welding Supervisor

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRICAL POWER CONSTRUCTION 211 CORPORATION San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas Name of Alien:

MR. JUNZHONG ZHANG / Chinese

Welding Supervisor

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRICAL POWER CONSTRUCTION 212 CORPORATION San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas Name of Alien:

MR. LONG QIN / Chinese

Welding Supervisor

CHINA SOUTHEAST ASIA ELECTRICAL POWER CONSTRUCTION 213 CORPORATION San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas Name of Alien:

MR. KUN SUN / Chinese

Boiler Fabrication Supervisor

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days from the date of publication. Please inform the DOLE Regional Office if you have an information of any criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

HENRY JOHN S. JALBUENA Regional Director

To avail of free job referral, placement, and employment guidance services, visit the nearest Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) or log on at http://www.philjobnet.gov.ph AEP20191007273

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Monday, November 25, 2019 A13

Record turnout in first HK vote since protests started

RECORD number of Hong Kongers cast ballots in district elections by Sunday afternoon, with hours to go before polls were due to close, as they seized the first opportunity to vote after months of increasingly violent protests calling for greater democracy.

More than 1.7 million people, or 42 percent of the financial hub’s electorate, had voted by 2:30 p.m., the government said. The previous highest turnout was 1.47 million in 2015. Residents faced unusually long lines at polling stations across the city as they came out to vote in the city’s District Council election, with some people waiting since the early morning hours. “There’s so many people it’s brought tears to my eyes,” said Ng

Siu-hong, a councilor for the city’s Central and Western District. “It’s good for me, but more important good for democracy.” Ahead of the election, Hong Kong officials warned the vote could be postponed after some candidates came under attack and the city was paralyzed, with protesters blocking roads and riot police laying siege to a university. Police are dispatching at least two officers clad in riot gear to each polling booth, which are set

to close at 10:30 p.m. Results are expected in the early morning hours on Monday. With the risk of violence ever present, the government said on Friday that opening hours for polling stations would be extended if voting can be resumed within 90 minutes of any unexpected disruption. If not, then voting would be suspended until December 1. The vote comes at a time of unprecedented political polarization in the city, with divisions hardening as the protests turn more violent. While most Hong Kongers support the protesters’ goals of an independent inquiry into police abuses and meaningful elections, they’re also increasingly fed up with tactics including vandalizing transport networks, seizing universities and using medieval-style weapons. “It’s kind of a referendum on the government and everything that’s happened over the past five months,” said Chi-Jia Tschang, who worked at Goldman Sachs a senior director

in the Hong Kong office of BowerGroupAsia, which advises companies on business and political risk in the region. “People still want an opportunity to work within the system to have their voices heard. That’s why there’s so much focus on this.” The district council is the lowest rung of government in the city and councilors have few real powers, mostly advising the chief executive on matters like fixing up parks and organizing community activities. Its elections have typically been plagued by low voter turnout and aren’t hugely competitive, compared with those for the Hong Kong’s more powerful Legislative Council. But they’re being closely watched this year as the first democratic exercise since the protests began in June. Enthusiasm is high among pro-democracy forces, who are hopeful they can pressure Carrie Lam’s administration to become more compromising. Lord Alton of Liverpool, an independent election observer who will be visiting areas around polling sta-

tions in the afternoon, was upbeat about the situation. “The turnout is significantly up so far on previous elections, more than double from four years ago,” he said. “The absence so far during the day of protests means there shouldn’t be any negative reason for people feeling unable to go out to vote.” District councilors help appoint 117 of the 1,200 electors who select the chief executive, which would give pro-democracy forces more choice over candidates who must nevertheless still be approved by Beijing. The councilors are also directly elected by the public, making it a more democratic process than the contest for the legislative council, which has reserved seats for members of the financial hub’s business community. As she cast her vote, Lam said that the Hong Kong administration will continue to support the district councilors. She said she expects a relatively peaceful and calm election even as the city faces an “extremely

challenging” situation. The vote comes as dissatisfaction with the government’s performance increases because of the ongoing protests triggered by legislation allowing extraditions to mainland China. People’s unhappiness with the administration rose to 80 percent from just 40 percent a year ago—well before the unrest began—according to surveys by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. Lam’s popularity, meanwhile, has fallen to records as peaceful marches five months ago were ignored and demonstrators began clashing with police, with the protest movement morphing into a wider pushback against Beijing’s grip. “People now realize that you can take things to the streets, but at a very high cost—and there is a limit to one’s energy,” said Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy lawmaker in the city’s legislative council. “You need changes from within this rotten system.” Bloomberg News

Japan, South Korea meet after saving intelligence pact

AGOYA, Japan—The Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers met on the sidelines of a Japan-hosted Group of 20 (G20) meeting on Saturday, a day after Seoul kept alive a 2016 military intelligence sharing pact with Tokyo, reversing its planned termination amid bilateral tensions. Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi and South Korea’s Kang Kyung-wha discussed ways to mend their countries’ troubled ties as they met in Nagoya, where Japan was hosting the foreign ministers meeting from the G20 major economies. Motegi was expected to press Kang

PARTICIPANTS of the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting pose for a family photo during the G20 foreign ministers meeting on Saturday, November 23, 2019, in Nagoya, Japan. Front from left are Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Saudi’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Argentina’s Foreign Secretary Jorge Faurie, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, European Union Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Middle from left are US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, Senegal’s Foreign Minister Amadou Ba, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Winston Peters, Spain’s Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok, Chile’s Foreign Minister Teodoro Ribera, United Kingdom’s Minister for the Commonwealth, the UN and South Asia Tariq Ahmad. Back from left are Ambassador of Egypt to Japan Ayman Aly Kamel, Vietnam’s Vice Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Candith Mashego-Dlamini, Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emanuela Claudia Del Re, Frence’s Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Mexico’s Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs Julian Ventura Valero, Brazil’s Secretary for Commercial and Economic Foreign Policy Norberto Moretti, and Thailand’s Advisor to Foreign Minister Pornpimol Kanchanalak. AP PHOTO/EUGENE HOSHIKO

US regulators bar govt telecom funds for Huawei, ZTE

S communications regulators have cut off government funding for equipment from two Chinese companies, citing security threats. The Federal Communications Comm ission (FCC) a lso pro posed requiring companies that get government subsidies to rip out any equipment from Huawei and ZTE that they already have in place. It’s the latest action by the US administration against Chinese tech and telecom companies. The FCC voted unanimously on Friday to bar US telecommunications providers from using government subsidies to buy equipment from Huawei or ZTE. The FCC’s order mostly affects small, rural companies, as larger US carriers do not use equipment from those Chinese companies. In a statement on Saturday, Huawei urged the FCC to reconsider what it called a “profoundly mistaken” and “unlawful order.” It said the decision was “based on selective information, innuendo and mistaken assumptions” and that “these unwarranted actions will have profound negative effects on connectivity for Americans in rural and underserved areas across the United States.”

As for replacing existing equipment, the FCC is asking for comment on how to help rural telecoms financially. Bills in Congress have proposed setting $700 million to $1 billion aside. A trade group for small rural wireless carriers has said that it would cost up to $1 billion for its dozen companies to replace their Huawei and ZTE equipment. It says that Huawei has 40 customers in the US. (Huawei is also a member of the trade group, the Rural Wireless Association.) The group said on Friday that it was “cautiously optimistic” that the FCC’s approach would let its companies keep providing services to customers and give them funding to replace any banned equipment. The Huawei statement said the lack of funding would hurt rural and disadvantaged communities. “Without access to those solutions, these carriers will lose their ability to provide reliable and high-speed telecommunications and Internet services,” it said. “Rural schools, hospitals, and libraries will feel the effects. And, due to reduced competition in the market for telecommunications equipment, particularly in cutting-edge 5G networks, all

Americans will pay higher prices for these critical services.” Huawei reiterated its desire to work with the FCC to lay to rest concerns over national security and ensure “best practices” are used in US telecommunications systems. Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of telecom gear as well as a major cellphone manufacturer. The US government has said that Huawei poses an espionage threat, but has presented no evidence of its equipment being used for spying by the Chinese government. The US has been pressuring allies to ban Huawei from their networks and has restricted exports of US technology to Huawei, though numerous loopholes have been exploited. ZTE did not respond to requests for comment on Friday. ZTE has also denied that China uses its products for spying. A congressional report in 2012 labeled both Chinese companies as security risks. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said the FCC’s move on Friday was a good one, but took too long and did not go far enough. She said there needs to be a “coordinated national plan” for securing next-generation cellular networks, known as 5G. AP

to stick with a 1965 agreement in resolving their dispute over wartime Korean laborers, seen as the root cause of tensions that led to Japan’s trade curbs against South Korea and subsequent retaliatory measures that spilled into the area of national security. “I plan to hear more about South Korea’s decision,” Motegi told reporters before the talks. The outcome of the talks was not immediately known. Seoul’s announcement on Friday followed a strong US push to save the pact, the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, which is a symbol of the coun-

try’s three-way security cooperation amid North Korea’s nuclear threats and China’s growing influence. Just six hours before it was to expire, South Korea announced that it was aborting the process for the time being. In Tokyo, Japan’s trade ministry announced a decision to resume their export controls talks, in response to Seoul’s decision to drop its legal step at the World Trade Organization against Japan. Japanese trade officials said it was not an effort to save GSOMIA, but South Korea had indicated it may reconsider if Japan showed a sign of flexibility on the export issues. AP

A14 Monday, November 25, 2019 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

PHL: The population growth ‘sweet spot’

arlier this month a paper was published— “World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency”—purportedly signed by 11,000 scientists. The basic premise is “clearly and unequivocally the planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.”

As we are not scientists, we would certainly not presume to disagree with the 11,000. The solutions offered are the standard “leave all fossil fuels in the ground” and “switch to more plant-based foods.” However, underlying most “research” of this type is also the premise that there needs to be some sort of “culling of the herd” in that there are just too many people. “The paper calls for more control over the massively booming global population.” Further, “population control would have to be approached with methods that ensured social and economic justice.” Of course, no analysis was released as to the number of children these 11,000 scientists have bred or how many are at least eating plant-based as the majority of their food intake. One specific remedy is to “shift economic goals toward maintaining biosphere—not gaining wealth.” The average salary for a scientist in the United States is $87,358. If you work for Procter & Gamble Co.—makers of toilet paper and car air freshener among other products—the average salary is $104,255. Both of those incomes put these scientists in the top 1 percent of all 7 billion-plus humans. Surely, the 11,000 have already taken steps to reduce their annual income to the global median of $10,642. From a purely physical standpoint—notwithstanding trying to provide food and water—the entire world population could fit in Australia, with a population density of 1,000 per square kilometer. By comparison, the City of Manila has a population density of 41,000 per sq km. But what the paper does not address is that the global population is aging at an alarming rate. The paper does acknowledge that the global population growth rate peaked in the 1960s except for Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The absolute increase of the population per year has peaked in the late 1980s. We have all recently read that the average age of Philippine farmers is over 60 and rising. And an aging population—percentage over 65— is not confined to the developed world like Japan, Italy and Germany. Vietnam is also facing a future aging population crisis. The government announced this past week that the retirement age for women will rise from 55 to 60, and from 60 to 62 for men beginning in 2021. The United Nations estimates that 17 percent of the population will be over 60 by 2030, up from 9 percent in 2010. By the end of next year, there will be a higher percentage of the global population over 65 than under five years of age. In 2030, more than 20 percent of the North American and European population will be over 65. China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam will see their “over-80” population increase by 400 percent in less than 30 years. The Philippines is not only in an age-demographic “sweet spot” today. But the fertility rate is falling and the birth growth rate will soon approach the replacement rate as the total population levels off and stabilizes. While much of the rest of the world gets old with shrinking population, the Philippines will be young and vibrant.

Say no to single-use plastics Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

S the Climate Change Commission (CCC) of the Philippines celebrated the 12th Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week from November 18 to 22, 2019, at One Esplanade in Pasay City, the conversation remains focused on how the Philippines has taken action on the problem and what its plans are for the future. Part of the weeklong celebration were activities like the Third National Convention on Climate Change Adaptation, “Ctrl+S Now: A Print Exhibition on Climate Change Awareness and Action,” and “Making Climate Finance Count: Increasing Flows for Adaptation.” As the country’s lead policy-making body tasked to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate the government programs related to the creation of plans and strategies that will

mitigate the effects of climate change in the country, CCC is ready to lead the country as it moves toward low carbon and climate-resilient development. This is according to CCC head Secretary Emmanuel M. de Guzman. One aspect that requires attention would be the production, use, and disposal of single-use plastics. Experts from environmental organizations have said that one possible solution is for the Philippines

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(Official statement of Regent Foods Corp.)

his is in response to the Facebook post of Mayor Vico Sotto last Saturday. Regent Foods Corp. (RFC) respects the sentiments of our good Mayor, inasmuch as it also respects the rights of its workers to hold a peaceful strike. However, it must be remembered that these rights presuppose that the strike was first peaceful and that it was carried out within the bounds of the law. Unfortunately, contrary to how Vico depicts the situation, the strike involved here was never legitimate and never peaceful, and up until it was dispersed, it was exercised in violation of RFC’s own rights, as well as the rights of other people. For the record, RFC has been in business since 1988, and has continuously provided jobs to hundreds of workers. Pasig has been home to RFC for the last 30 years now. Throughout its existence, RFC has always been able to dialogue properly with its work force on every concern—labor or otherwise. Unfortunately, for the information of the general public, a minority group at RFC was able to conduct a strike recently, although the same was done outside the confines of the law. It had no legitimacy from the beginning since there is an existing

sole and exclusive bargaining agent within the company. On top of this, the strikers also committed criminal activities during the conduct of their unlawful strike. RFC was immediately accused of initiating a lockout when the truth of the matter is that it was the minority union—UMRFC-KMU—who locked RFC and its employees out of the company, gravely affecting the lives of more than 400 innocent employees. To address this situation early on, RFC had sought the help of several government offices, including that of Vico’s. In his post, Vico deliberately failed to disclose to the public that, before any of this had happened, RFC actually wrote his office to ask his assistance in amicably pacifying the situation. This request merely fell on deaf ears, which is precisely

to uphold the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) strategy. If this becomes a legislation, manufacturers will be held responsible for the packaging of their products up to the end of its life cycle. The government may also choose to ban the use of single-use plastics, or to require that all plastics used in packaging should be recyclable. The public, naturally, needs to support the call to formalize these regulations. Manufacturers have the power (as well as the responsibility) to influence their customers’ behavior. It only takes a little creativity and innovation. Possible strategies that they can implement would be to give out discounts for every use of reusable packaging or containers, or award points to those customers who recycle. Their advertising and PR agencies can definitely think of more creative ways to nudge people to change their ways. These companies and manufacturers also have a say in the way their suppliers deliver the raw materials. They can always request their partners to use environment-

friendly packaging in delivery, for example. Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, author of the Climate Change Act that gave birth to the CCC, said during the above-mentioned event that we have reached the point of no return. She said that we all have to take action now in order to survive; otherwise, people are going to die. She also said that climate science already presented the possibilities that we all face as we fight against the challenges brought about by climate change. As to be expected, changing mindsets and behavior appears to be the biggest hurdle in this advocacy. But if the government and businesses will take responsibility and initiate proper action, then people may be influenced, educated, and moved to change their attitudes, habits and lifestyle.

what constrained RFC to resort to private security assistance for the sole purpose of reopening the gates of the company and resuming its usual business operations. Unfortunately, the strikers did not only resist these security enforcers, they also blatantly attacked the latter using sharp weapons and other tools. As a result, several of these security agents were injured; one of them is, in fact, still in critical condition. Because their activities and unlawful attack upon private citizens were caught firsthand by Pasig police forces, these strikers were arrested and were properly investigated through inquest proceedings. The Office of the City Prosecutor of Pasig City eventually found probable cause to indict these arrested strikers in court for their crimes. Despite all of this, Vico still portrays RFC as an evil corporation ready to “put poor and powerless people to jail.” Vico deliberately overlooks that RFC is not the complainant who pressed these criminal charges, RFC did not order their arrest, and RFC did not even participate in the preliminary investigation of these individuals. Worse still, Vico has cast RFC as anti-labor. But, the truth is, RFC only meant to protect the rights of its nonstriking employees who were prevented by the strikers from working and providing for their own families. When RFC said that it trusts the judicial process, it did not only speak on its own behalf but, more so, on behalf of those non-strikers who were

also affected during the illegal strike and on behalf of those individuals who were hurt by the illegal strikers. RFC respected Vico’s former decision not to help out in resolving this matter in the past three weeks. RFC, however, had been left with no other choice but to watch affected nonstrikers fear and worry for what the future holds for them. RFC vowed to ease their worries by assuring them that during the strike, they would be properly compensated—again, to the detriment of RFC whose business was completely stifled by the illegal strike. Through a prior phone call and during the personal meeting between Vico and RFC representatives, the good mayor lectured RFC to be more humanitarian. Vico, however, refused to listen to RFC’s side and consciously turned a blind eye to the plight of the majority of RFC’s employees. He also failed to see the company’s humanitarian effort in providing its affected employees financial assistance during such a dark time in the company’s history. For 24 days, RFC stood by and did nothing to the strikers, even when they barricaded its ingress and egress, and even when the banner of KMU was visibly displayed in RFC’s private property, which are clear violations of RFC’s rights. Not to mention, a clear violation of the rights of the lawful union existing in RFC, recognized therein as the employees’ sole and exclusive bargaining agent. RFC believes there is nothing

nnn

Let us remember the life, courage, and heroism of Sen. Ninoy Aquino (Benigno Aquino Jr.) on Wednesday, November 27, his birth anniversary. Ninoy was born in Tarlac, in 1932.

See “Kapunan,” A15

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Opinion

Dean of the family

What GCTA must mean

BusinessMirror

Joel L. Tan-Torres

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

DEBIT CREDIT

have been head of four “families” in my career life. These are my family of stakeholders of organizations that I led as the (1) commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue; (2) chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy; (3) partner of two big accounting and tax firms; and currently, (4) dean of the University of the Philippines (UP) Virata School of Business (VSB). As head of these institutional families, I have to discharge the role and responsibilities of the father of the family.

As dean of the UP VSB, my task, as defined in the UP Faculty Manual, is to “act as presiding officer of the faculty of the college or school, as provided for by the Charter of the University System, and exercise such other administrative duties which the Board of Regents, on the recommendation of the president of the University System, may prescribe.” Clearly, one of my main function in VSB is to oversee the academic system in the school. The VSB has over 40 full-time faculty members; around 50 part-time lecturers; over 1,200 students taking up their undergraduate, masters and PhD programs in two campuses in Diliman and Bonifacio Global City, the research program; and the tens of thousands of graduates which the VSB produced in its 103 years of existence. In addition to the academic and scholastic requirements of the school, I, as the father of the VSB family, have to look into the other necessities, including financial, infrastructure, and external relations and linkages The school has several financial support and sources. Most of these come from the budget that VSB gets from the UP System and the national government. The school also has several trust funds accumulated over the years to service its many requirements. The alumni are great contributors to the financial requirements of the college. The UP College of Business Administration Alumni Association and the UP Masters in Business Administration Alumni Society are spearheading this. There are also numerous supporters from the local and global communities that continue to provide grants and assistance to the school. I will also have to look into the opportunities in the UP Business Research Foundation. Even though there are several sources of financial support, the school continues to search for additional sums to fund its many requirements. I was quite shocked upon reporting for work in October 2019 to discover the dire state of facilities and infrastructure in the school. The building is now over 40 years old. I remember that my accounting classmates and I were the first occupants of the newly constructed building in 1978 when it was all spick and span. Now over 40 years later, the school facilities have deteriorated and need sprucing up. As a good father of the VSB family, I will work for a pleasant environment for the various stakeholders of the school. I am also focused on making sure

I was quite shocked upon reporting for work in October 2019 to discover the dire state of facilities and infrastructure in the school. The building is now over 40 years old. I remember that my Accounting classmates and I were the first occupants of the newly constructed building in 1978 when it was all spick and span. Now over 40 years later, the school facilities have deteriorated and need sprucing up. that the VSB family will network and engage more proactively with its many external stakeholders. These include the various units and colleges in the UP System, the alumni, other government offices, the educational institutions outside UP, the corporate community and many other stakeholders in our country. I have also marching orders from the UP leadership to expand the network and interaction of VSB with the global institutions, such as foreign schools and universities, developmental international organizations, and the two-way exchange of foreign university students and faculty with the VSB. It is high time that the college proceeds to attracting foreign students to study in the school to complete their academic courses and foreign professors teaching in VSB. My plan of action for the school, as defined in my “Looking in Reaching out” agenda involves leading the college to look into and tap the various resources and goodwill of the school to perpetuate its many successes attained in the past. I intend also to be outward looking and reach out to address the many requirements of the various stakeholders of the School. I believe that UP VSB should be able to service the academic and other demands of both its internal stakeholders and the external community. Definitely, this is a good role for the Dean of the UP VSB and business community. Joel L. Tan-Torres is the dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. He was the former Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2009 and 2010, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy from 2014 to August 2018, and a partner of Reyes Tacandong and Co., CPA, from 2011 to October 2019. He is a certified public accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. This column accepts contributions from accountants, especially articles that are of interest to the accountancy profession, in particular, and to the business community, in general. These can be e-mailed to boa.secretariat.@gmail.com

Kapunan. . .

continued from A14

wrong in trusting the justice system. Otherwise, RFC would practically be encouraging civil disobedience, lawlessness and illegal use of force. RFC still maintains its position and will not be cowered by the mayor’s threats. RFC trusts the justice system, not because it can afford to, but because it has to. RFC can only hope that Vico will also offer it the same courtesy, as is required by the basic rules of fairness. As recent events would however reveal, the Mayor’s mind is already made up on an unjust quid pro quo. This, RFC cannot allow. Moving forward, RFC may simply accept its fate that the Pasig City administration will unjustly make life hard for it and its 400-strong work force, and contemplate by simply bringing its business elsewhere—a truly painful outcome for a corporation that has considered Pasig City its home for a total of three decades now. (This column invites any response of the Office of Mayor Vico Sotto, Defend Job Philippines Workers, and our readers).

THE PATRIOT

epublic Act 10592 or the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law, allows for a reduction of sentences of persons deprived of liberty, depending on how well they abide by rules and regulations inside “any penal institution, rehabilitation, or detention center or any other local jail.” This law, in relation to Republic Act 7659 (death penalty law), reportedly does not cover PDL who have been convicted of heinous crimes as enumerated in RA 7659. These crimes were considered punishable by death “for being grievous, odious, and hateful offenses and, which, by reason of their inherent or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity are repugnant, and outrageous to the common standards, and norms of decency and morality.”

The application of the GCTA law resulted to the supposed erroneous release of at least 1,914 inmates, a large majority of which already surrendered or returned to government custody at the behest of President Duterte. One returnee is Antonio “Tony” Simolata, who has spent close to 30 years in detention, (a few months in jail while the murder case was pending, a few months in the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm and more than 25 years in the maximum security prison in the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa). Tony was released by virtue of the application of the GCTA law, but voluntarily returned two months ago. I met Tony a few days ago when I visited inmates in the Minimum Security Compound. For two years now, I have been privileged to be part of the prison ministry of

Pastor Gary Galvez who served time in prison himself for about three years for a crime he did not commit. Once released and reformed, Gary made sure that he would visit his former mates in prison as often as he can and bless them with whatever resources he can gather from his friends. In the Bible, Hebrews 13:3 tells us, “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you, yourselves, were suffering.” This holiday season, whenever your schedule permits, try visiting the poor, the sick, the needy or those in prison. It is truly heartwarming to see the simple joys in their hearts. Little did I know that my daughter, 26-yearold Regina Victoria has been wanting to join an outreach group that will visit jails and prisons. Together

A second look at cable cars Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

uring the early days of the Duterte administration, one of the initial pronouncements of then-newly appointed Secretary Arthur P. Tugade was the idea of cable cars to help mitigate the transport and traffic problems in the country. This was met with a lot of skepticism, and some with ridicule by a lot of people, including some of our prominent transport planners. But rather than shelve it off, the department fortunately moved forward and two years later, cable cars as part of the government’s transport solutions might soon become a possiblity. Though cable or gondola cars, were being used even before rails at the turn of the 18th century— mostly for mining and mountainous towns, it was not until the 20th century that they became a serious mass transport solution. This was in Medellin, Colombia, a country known for out-of-the box transport and traffic solutions, such as the Bus Rapid Transit System, or BRT, which has now, like the cable cars, gained a good following in China, South Korea, Indonesia and countries in South America, Africa and Europe. Cable cars are good mass transport alternatives, especially in

developing countries like the Philippines where the need to have an immediate and low cost solution is present. Cable cars are fast and easy to build. If all conditions and requirements are met, it would take only a year for it to be operational after a detailed engineering study is done. One reason is the small infra footprint cable cars require compared to rail, or even subway, as the space it mostly occupies is the airspace above, which is less disputable than ground properties or the much contested right-of-ways that is plaguing most of our major transport infrastructures implementation in the Philippines. This adds to making cable cars

Monday, November 25, 2019 A15

with Pastor Gary (Gz Galvez FB account), Regina will make her first trip to the National Bilibid Prison within the year after taking part in her first ever prison ministry at the Correctional Institute For Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City a few months ago. Having handled a handful of criminal cases in my 20-year legal career, I profess no expertise in this field. What I know is that Pastor Tony and more than a thousand returnees like him appear to be victims of the erroneous application of the GCTA law inasmuch as Justice Secretary Guevarra has recently declared that the processing of early release of inmates under the GCTA law is briefly suspended. I was told that the authority to rerelease these returnees like Tony are now devolved to the Bureau of Correction under Director General Gerald Bantag. Under existing regulations, “Good conduct” means the “conspicuous and satisfactory behavior of a detained or convicted prisoner consisting of active involvement in rehabilitation programs, productive participation in authorized work activities, or accomplishment of exemplary deeds coupled with faithful obedience to all prison/jail rules and regulations.” I do not have the records on Pastor Tony. I only got to hear his story by way of his testimony from the heart and a brief, but intimate, interview in my quest to truly know why he chose to return to prison. In brief, Tony used to be a farmer before he was convicted of homicide, arson and murder. He was committed to prison at the same time I graduated from the military academy—1987. He was in death

row, his sentence was commuted to life in 1998, got married in 2001, became a father and turned to God while in detention. He was a beneficiary of the GCTA law and enjoyed his liberty very briefly. He returned to detention as he and his wife looked at the “unfortunate” situation as a blessing and an opportunity to serve others. In his own words, Tony says, “to be in prison is not hell, but for me it’s a blessing because I did get to know God inside the prison.” Perhaps Tony needs to know God more or allow others to know God through him. One thing certain is Tony’s full trust in His plans. I am quite certain there are others like Tony who have found, are trying to find or will inevitably find God in their most trying times. His full testimony can be found in www.trojanhorseinternational.com/ resources/TrojanWarriorsTestimonies/content.htm With stories like the one of Tony, GCTA must mean God’s Call To Action (or Attention). With indulgence, I call on my former law professor and current Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, as well as my PMA upperclassman, Bantag, and all those under them to give preferential attention to those returnees who deserve to be legitimately released. A good number of returnees, those who were released on parole (not under GCTA) for instance, are likely to spend the holidays away from their respective families, unless those in the government are touched by God and act with dispatch to serve the least of their brothers in prison.

among the cheapest to build. Subways cost highest at billions of pesos per kilometer and light rails at hundreds of millions of pesos per kilometer. On the other hand, cable cars cost less at a little over P50 million per kilometer. Carriage is also comparable with the bigger cable cars, or “gondolas,” carrying as much as 6,000 passengers per hour, or reaching 100,000 passengers on a similar time run by the Light Rail Transit (LRT). And similar to modern rail, cable cars leave a better carbon footprint than road transport as they run on electricity. One unfounded concern about cable cars would be its viability during typhoons. It can run up to 60-kilometer per hour winds, which is fairly strong. Besides, there are also weather restrictions on other modes of transport and this can be best approached by applying the required safety standards. Cable cars are also great in areas where railways and even traditional road highways, are difficult to build, such as traversing mountains and wide bodies of water to connect communities. And in the Colombia experience, such transport connectivity injected economic, as well as social alleviation, in these once hard-toreach communities. In the Philippines, the Department of Transportation has pinpointed areas where cable car transport can immediately be im-

plemented. A foreign grant initiated by the DOTR has already done the initial studies for Baguio City where definitely cable cars would work best than other forms of mass transport. With the present thrust of new Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to push for a traffic and pollution-free city, the idea of cable cars in the Pine City has been embraced fully well with the possibility that this becomes a PPP project of the city itself. Other potential cable car applications in the country would be in Iloilo, connecting to the province of Guimaras, Davao City and Samal Island; additional transport mode between Cebu and Mactan; and in Metro Manila, connecting the mountain cities and municipalities of Rizal, such as Antipolo to Marikina as a feeder transport line to LRT 2, or direct to Pasig and Makati. With less than three years left of this administration, an idea that was not taken seriously by the public at the start, this maybe one of those projects that can be implemented within the President’s term. It maybe that Tugade was right all along.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Thomas Tim Orbos was former DOTr undersecretary for roads, and general manager of the MMDA. He is currently undertaking further studies at the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University. He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu

Negative rates can do a lot more damage yet: A Nordic warning By Kati Pohjanpalo Bloomberg Opinion

fter half a decade of negative interest rates, one of the biggest Nordic pension funds is wondering whether this is just the beginning. The head of investments at Finland’s Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co. says his industry is “just starting to see what kind of new challenges [negative rates] will cause.” That means “we are just taking the first steps” in portfolio adjustments, Mikko Mursula said in an interview in Helsinki. He says reality hit after the summer, when it became virtually impossible to get government bonds at positive yields across most of the euro zone.

The steps he’s taken so far have led away from easy-to-sell assets, as liquidity becomes a luxury of a bygone age. It’s a way to preserve returns, but also means the pension industry is delving into much murkier asset classes that might prove hard, or very time-consuming, to off-load if markets turn. Euro-zone rates first went below zero in 2014. That’s two years after Denmark, which has had negative rates longer than any other country. Swedes have been living with the policy since 2015. According to the ECB, accommodative monetary policy is still needed as growth in the single-currency area slows. In August, the global stock of assets trading at negative yields hit $17 trillion. (It’s since receded to about $12 trillion.)

In Finland, $131 billion of debt traded at negative yields as of November 18, down from $178.9 billion in August, with bulk of the subzero bonds issued by the government. Initially deemed a short-term fix for flagging economies, the idea is gradually taking hold that Europe is nowhere near the end of the subzero era. The head of investments at PFA, a Danish pension fund with about $100 billion in assets, recently suggested that markets have fundamentally misinterpreted the staying power of the current cycle, amid a global supply shock. For funds like Ilmarinen, the practical response has been to ditch government and investment-grade bonds, and pile into alternative investments, such

as real estate and infrastructure. Surviving with a lot less liquidity requires a new set of skills. “We need to be very careful,” Mursula says. In the alternative-asset universe, the best performing sub-asset class over the past 15 years has been private equity; but it’s tricky to maintain, according to Mursula. “It’s definitely not buy-and-hold,” he said. Of the roughly $55 billion that Ilmarinen oversees, almost 8 percent is in private equity. “Even to keep our allocation where it is at this moment we need to do new commitments all the time,” Mursula said. He says he wants to keep PE at about 8 percent to 10 percent of the total fund.

A16 Monday, November 25, 2019

NCR minimum-wage hike up for review by board soon

By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

HE regional wage board in Metro Manila is now looking to start the review for a possible new round of minimumwage hike within its jurisdiction.

This, after the one-year ban for the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board-National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) to process a new wage adjustment finally lapsed last Friday (November 22) after the anniversary date

of its previous wage order, Wage Order (WO) NCR-22. “After the anniversary date [of WO NCR-22] we can now initiate a motu propio [review]. That is, if..no party which will file a wage petition,” RTWPB-

₧25

The last increase in daily minimum-wage rates in Metro Manila. Currently, the prevailing minimum-wage rate in the region ranges from P500 to P537 NCR Chairman Sarah Buena S. Mirasol told BusinessMirror in a phone interview. As of last Thursday, Mirasol said they have yet to receive any wage petitions, which are usually filed by labor groups. WO NCR-22 raised minimumwage rates in Metro Manila by

P25. Currently, the prevailing minimum-wage rate in the region ranges from P500 to P537. Mirasol said they may discuss the possible motu propio review during their next board meeting next week. She, however, noted that their priority during the meeting will be the wage hike for household service workers (HSW) or kasambahay in NCR. “Remember the last wage increase for kasambahay was on December 16, 2017. So they will be our priority,” Mirasol said. The RTWPB-NCR already completed the necessary stakeholder consultations and public hearing for the said wage adjustment in previous weeks. See “Minimum wage,” A2

Duterte flies to Busan for Asean-ROK summit By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

resident Duterte is now in Busan to attend Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-Republic of Korea (ROK) Commemorative Summit as well as to discuss issues of mutual concern in his bilateral meeting on Monday with South Korean President

Moon Jae-in. The summit, to be held starting today (November 25) until tomorrow (November 26) is expected to be attended by heads of Asean member-states. According to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Junever M. Mahilum-West, the main summit will happen on Tuesday, with discussions on the 30 years of coop-

NORTHEAST MONSOON NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LUZON as of 4:00 am - November 24, 2019

eration between the regional bloc and Korea, connectivity, and the regional security issue in the Korean peninsula. Two outcome documents are expected in the summit and other side events. These documents are the Asean-ROK Joint Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity, and Partnership and the Co-Chairs’ Statement on the Asean-ROK Com-

memorative Summit. On the sidelines of the summit, Duterte is also expected to meet his South Korean counterpart on Monday to exchange views on different issues, as well as sign at least four bilateral agreements on education, tourism, social security and fisheries. The two leaders’ meeting also comes at a time when the Philippines and Korea are currently in negotiations for a free-trade deal. If signed, the FTA with South Korea will only be the country’s second bilateral trade deal after the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which entered into force in 2008. This is the President’s second visit to Korea since assuming office, and his first time in Busan. The President went on an official visit to Seoul in June 2018. South Korea was the Philippines’s fourth major trading partner last year. It is the Philippines’s eighth export market and second import supplier. Total bilateral trade was valued at $13.7 billion, with Philippine exports to South Korea at $2.5 billion, and Philippine imports from South Korea at $11.2 billion. Accompanying the President in Korea are Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, and Philippine Ambassador to Korea Noe Wong.

Free-trade. . . Continued from A1

The business leader argued the only challenge the trade deal between Manila and Washington could face is that it’s election season in the US next year, and “freetrade agreements are not necessarily a very popular topic to talk about.” “There’s always these issues, but the basic agreements can get started. I would confidently state there will be a free-trade agreement between the US and the Philippines coming. I hope it would be in sometime 2020, but it could be as late as 2021. When they start the negotiations, it will take a couple of years, but the trade agreement between the US and the Philippines will not take a long time,” Hinchliffe said. “We are common partners, we know each other very well, we

POPE IN NAGASAKI: NO TO ATOMIC WEAPONS, DETERRENCE DOCTRINE

Pope Francis waves to the faithful as he arrives for a Mass at a baseball stadium on Sunday, November 24, 2019, in Nagasaki, Japan. AP/Gregorio Borgia

AGASAKI, Japan—Pope Francis demanded world leaders renounce atomic weapons and the Cold War-era doctrine of deterrence, saying on Sunday the stockpiling of nuclear arms decreases security, wastes money and threatens humanity. Francis blasted the demise of arms control treaties while visiting Nagasaki, the site of the second of the two 1945 US atomic bombings in Japan. After laying a wreath of flowers and praying at the foot of the memorial to the victims, Francis said the place stands as a stark reminder “of the pain and horror that we human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another.” “Convinced as I am that a world without nuclear weapons is possible and necessary, I ask political leaders not to forget that these weapons cannot protect us from current threats to national and international security,” he said. The mood was somber and silent, darkened by the downpour that drenched the terraced fields and rice paddies of Nagasaki, and the thousands of Japanese who came out in plastic raincoats to witness the second pope to pay his respects to victims of the bomb. Francis visited Nagasaki—and later Hiroshima—at the start of a three-day trip to Japan aimed at emphasizing his call for a global ban on atomic weapons. Nagasaki was the perfect place to begin his visit, the birthplace of Christianity in Japan, and ground zero of the bomb. The Holy See was among the first countries to sign and ratify the new UN nuclear prohibition treaty, and Francis himself has gone further than any pope before him in saying not only the use, but the mere possession of atomic weapons is “to be condemned.” While Francis didn’t repeat his 2017 condemnation Sunday, he made a similar point. “One of the deepest longings of the human heart is for security, peace and stability,” he said. “The possession of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction is not the answer to this desire; indeed they seem always to thwart it.” The first US atomic bomb fell on

know our needs and wants very well. I don’t think once these trade agreement talks begin, it should not take a very long time, unlike TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] that took 10 to 12 years, or the other trade agreements. This trade agreement should happen very quickly,” he added. US-Asean Business Council Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director Michael W. Michalak in September told the BusinessMirror the US is prioritizing the resolution of its trade conflict with China over anything else. As such, its planned trade deal with the Philippines has to take a back seat for the meantime. Without an FTA, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said Manila will just maximize its trade perks with Washington under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). “We will maintain a healthy trading relationship with the United States under the current GSP trad-

Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing 140,000 people. The second one dropped three days later on Nagasaki, and killed another 74,000 by the end of the same year. Many of the survivors have suffered the lasting impact of radiation and developed various forms of cancer. Under the 1957 government law designed to support A-bomb survivors, or hibakusha, more than 370,000 people were recognized as eligible for various types of government support, including medical and welfare assistance, depending on how far they were from ground zero. “In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more detstructive weapons, are an affront crying out to heaven,” Francis said. He lamented the“climate of distrust” that is eating away at nonproliferation efforts and the arms control framework, a reference to a series of violated treaties and the demise this year of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a landmark Cold War-era arms control agreement. The US formally withdrew from the treaty in August, after accusing Moscow of developing a Russian missile system prohibited under it. Gerald Powers, director of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute, said Francis didn’t break any new ground on the morality of deterrence in his Sunday remarks, after he shifted the church’s position in 2017. “Instead, the pope reinforces the church’s long-standing efforts to delegitimize the nuclear status quo and convince the world that nuclear disarmament is not only a moral imperative but should be a policy goal,” he said in an e-mail. Starting 1982, St. John Paul II had held that nuclear deterrence could be morally acceptable in the interim “so long as it is used as a step toward mutual, verifiable nuclear disarmament.” But the Holy See has come to realize in recent years that the policy was becoming a permanent condition, and not leading to disarmament.

See “Pope,” A2

ing arrangement. Philippines will maximize usage of the program,” Lopez said in an earlier text message to the BusinessMirror. The GSP allows the Philippines to ship a total of 5,057 products—or nearly half of the 10,600 US tariff lines—to the US at zero or reduced tariff rates. However, the Philippines could lose this preferential treatment once it has been classified as an upper middle income by the World Bank, which the government is targeting to achieve by 2022 under the Philippine Development Plan 20172022. The FTA, as such, should secure exporters market access to the US even without the GSP. Based on records from the Philippine Statistics Authority, goods trade between the Philippines and the US last year grew 7.16 percent to $18.69 billion, from $17.44 billion in 2017, making it the country’s third-largest trading partner next to China and Japan.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, November 25, 2019

First Gen sees ‘business as usual’ mode once Udenna buys Chevron’s Malampaya stake

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

IRST Gen Corp., which sources most of its supply from the Malampaya gas field, expects a “business as usual” scenario once the sale of Chevron Malampaya Llc.’s entire 45-percent stake in the gas field to Udenna Corp. of businessman Dennis Uy is finalized.

“I think it would continue to be business as usual, as far as I am concerned. We are the biggest customer of Malampaya gas, and so we expect to continue that delivery,” said company President Francis Giles Puno. First Gen’s gas plants have contracts with the Malampaya consortium, which consists of Chevron, Shell Philippines Exploration BV (SPEx) with 45 percent, and state-led Philippine National Oil Co. Exploration Corp.

PSALM may adjust Malaya bid price as 2nd bidding fails

HE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) may adjust the minimum bid price (MBP) of the 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (MTPP) after it declared last week’s rebidding a failure. “PSALM will report to its board of directors the outcome of today’s bidding so that it can take the necessary steps to lower the MBP. The next round of bidding for the Malaya plant will commence at the soonest possible time,” said PSALM Friday night. The MBP was set at P4,481,796,017. However, 3 of the 4 prequalified bidders—Panasia Energy Inc., Ar Inc.— told PSALM before the deadline for the submission of financial bid that they cannot meet the MBP. The fourth prequalified bidder, DM Wenceslao and Associates Inc., submitted a sealed bid. “PSALM declared a failure of the second round of public bidding because there was only one bid. And pursuant to the bidding rules, PSALM then proceeded to go through the process of negotiated sale with DM Wenceslao. Nonetheless, when PSALM opened the lone bid from DM Wenceslao, it was below the MBP. Thus, PSALM was constrained to also declare a failure of the negotiated sale. The Malaya plant is currently operational and being dispatched as a must-run unit. As per the Department of Energy’s (DOE) direction, once privatized on an “as is where is basis,” Malaya would no longer be required to run as an MRU. MTPP is located in Pililla, Rizal. Lenie Lectura

(PNOC-EC) with the remaining 10 percent. The consortium, in turn, has a contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) under Service Contract 38 set to expire in 2024. They expressed interest to extend the license to explore for oil and gas in northwest Palawan until 2039, but this was stalled

due to the tax issue raised by the Commission on Audit. Just recently, Chevron and UC Malampaya Philippines Pte. Ltd., a unit of Udenna, signed a sale and purchase agreement. The deal is still up for approval with the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC). “We asked for clarifications on the news, but there is nothing official yet from the DOE and the stakeholders. We don’t know exact details yet because we only read it in the newspapers. What I understand is transactions of that size goes to the PCC,” said Puno when asked to comment on the sale. The buyer and the seller did not disclose the price tag. “Recall that it’s already in the history of ownership changes when Shell and Occidental Philippines Inc. had transactions be-

fore. The common party is Shell,” said Puno. To date, SPEx leads the consortium as the project operator of the Malampaya gas-to-power project, which supplies fuel to First Gen’s gas plants—Santa Rita, San Lorenzo, Avion and Ilijan plant. First Gen has 3,492 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity in its portfolio, which accounts for 21 percent of the country’s gross generation. The company is also involved in liquefied natural gas (LNG). First Gen’s LNG partner, JGC Corp. of Japan, is currently completing a study focused on modifying First Gen’s existing jetty that would allow the company to receive large- and small-scale LNG vessels. Puno said that given the attractiveness of LNG prices

today, it will allow First Gen to bring in a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) on an interim basis to enable us to deliver LNG supply earlier. “The price of LNG today is quite attractive and even cheaper than Malampaya. If we can bring in gas lower than Malampaya, it is really good for consumers. “Right now, current Malampaya prices are at $9 per million BTU [British thermal unit]. India for example has auctioned LNG.

As estimated by Bloomberg, a it will be ranging from $6.30 to $6.70 per million BTU. “That is already cheaper than Malampaya and we can compete with coal even in a baseload basis at that price. If I could also get at that same amount,” said Puno. The company is currently in talks with FSRU providers to bring in LNG earlier than 2024. The company, he said, may set aside “roughly $300 million” as budget for the FSRU.

Dito Telecommunity forges 2 new deals for network devt By Lorenz S. Marasigan

@lorenzmarasigan

ITO Telecommunity Corp., the third telco expected to launch its wireless services sometime next year, has signed two new deals for the development of its network. The group led by Davao-based businessman Dennis A. Uy struck network development deals with Leo Technologies Infrastructure Corp. and Alt Global Solutions Inc. Its deal with Leo Technologies involves the construction of shared telco towers,

while the contract with Alt Global involves the deployment of in-building solutions and rooftop tower construction services. Without disclosing further details, Dito Telecommunity Chief Administrative Officer Adel B. Tamano said: “For the past few months, we have been pushing hard to have on board like-minded partners who are as committed as we are in making sure that we provide world-class telecommunications services to the Filipino; and would like to assure our countrymen that yes, Dito is very well on its way to provide faster, more affordable and secure telecom services.”

Dito is still in the process of building its network, and is implementing infrastructure build projects by partnering with common tower providers. It is also building its own towers, while tapping tower companies to hasten its network development. Dito has committed to provide a minimum Internet speed of 27 Mbps to 37 percent of the Philippine population. Aside from network development, Dito has also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Armed Forces to allay fears of cyber-security issues due to its partner-

ship with a Chinese company. “We value transparency and integrity in our business. This is the reason why we had a public memorandum of agreement signing with the Armed Forces of the Philippines with members of the media present a few months ago,” Dito Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo Santiago said. The agreement with the military contains the same provisions signed by the two incumbent telcos with “notable exception that additional provisions were provided pertaining to commitments of Dito to national security.”

”Dito Telecommunity has guaranteed in the recently signed agreement that its devices, equipment and structures shall not be used to obtain classified information from the Armed Forces,” Santiago said. He added that Dito will abide with the National Cybersecurity Plan, while passing regular audits. “While we in Dito have yet to provide telecommunications services, we have set standards, controls, measures, and rigid protocols to help protect the integrity of Philippine national security especially on cyber security,” he said.

Outsourcing of health-care delivery launched in PHL

NEWLY established company is launching an outsourcing program that is expected to streamline various processes involved in and speed up the delivery of health-care services in the country. The Medical Benefit Clearinghouse Inc. or MBCI, offers an administrative service program powered by the most advanced technology and a seasoned work force familiar with medical billing and diagnostic procedures and codes. The company, fully Filipino-

owned and duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, holds office at the Fifth Floor, CityState Center Building, Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City. In medical billing, companies that function as intermediaries who forward claims information from health-care providers to health insurers and patients are known as clearinghouses. In what is called claims scrubbing, clearinghouses check the provider’s claim for errors and verify that it agrees with that of the health insurers and patients.

The clearinghouses also check to make sure that the procedural and diagnostic codes being submitted are valid and that each procedure code is appropriate for the diagnosis code submitted. Dr. Erwin P. Fabros, president and chief operating officer of MBCI, said this is the prevailing health-care setup in the United States and other advanced countries. Among other services, MBCI offers membership eligibility and claims processing services to health-care providers. With

its highly advanced technology system and experienced work force, it provides cost-efficient services to deliver quality results on time. As a health-care servicing company, it specializes in providing various health-care services from enrollment, membership eligibility, service support, utilization management, claims processing, provider payment and medical data analytics. Compared with the typical health insurance plan that consistently increases in premium

based on predetermined benefit packages, MBCI’s administrative service program provides costefficient yet comprehensive and flexible benefit coverage with high servicing standards.

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, November 25, 2019

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

SHARE prices fell for the second straight week on low volume as investors are still looking for some impetus to trade. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) declined 108.37 points to close at 7,824.59 points. The main index was down for three of the five trading days but volume of trade was thin, only at a weekly average of P4.9 billion. Foreign investors were net sellers at P3.22 billion. Turnover value for the week came in at P25.87 billion, way below the weekly average. “Majority of investors are still on the sidelines, waiting for the perfect moment to get back in” while the few investors still in the market “continue to cut losses as several companies break below major support areas,” Christopher Mangun, research head of AAA Securities Inc., said. With the exception of the Services index that gained 2.23 points to close at 1,549.70 points, all other subindices ended lower. The broader All Shares index declined 72.77 to 4,679.04, the Financials index was down 46.72 to 1,874.13, the Industrial index fell 170.72 to 9,911.62, the Holding Firms index shed 53.49 to 7,756.93, the Property index was down 86.62 to 4,033.22, and the Mining and Oil index plunged 566.71 to 8,175.43. For the week, losers led gainers 173 to 54, and 14 shares were unchanged. Top gainers were Omico Corp., Prime Media Holdings, Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., Benguet Corp. A and PFTC Redevelopment Corp. Top losers, on the other hand, were IPM Holdings Inc., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., Manila Broadcasting Co., Ace Enexor Inc. and Italpinas Development Corp.

This week

Trading may still be volatile this week, but share pries may end higher partly as a result of window dressing of companies during the month’s end. Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital and Development Corp., said the first half of the week may see some continued selling and repositioning of assets ahead of the MSCI rebalancing. “Afterwards we could see some window dressing to close out the month of November,” Limlingan said, adding that the market has been getting mixed signals on the progress of trade talks between the United States and China. Meanwhile, broker 2TradeAsia advised to buy cheap stocks, especially those large caps that have breached their fresh lows last week, adding that most of these were already trading at oversold levels. Foreign investors may have a lull this week as a result of the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US, while others may be sidetracked by the Philippines hosting of the Southeast Asian Games by the end of the month. “Within such lull, it would be good to gradually position on prime stocks, ahead of the expected rebound [next month],” the broker said.

Stock Picks

Broker Regina Capital advised investors to buy the stocks of DMCI Holdings Inc. after it found its bottom at P7.45, now its short-term support level. “Despite indicators still all being on selling pressure, it looks like they are hinting at a minimal upside or, at most, some sideways movement below its resistance at P7.90. The climbing momentum, coupled with generally lower volumes, will likely not be enough to push DMCI up—but selling signals are starting to weaken. It will, however, remain trapped below the said upper bound,” the broker said. DMCI shares closed last week at P6.55 apiece. Meanwhile, the broker advised to trade the range on the stock of Ayala Corp. after it saw bearishness during the two previous sessions bottoming out at P812 the previous week. “At this point, it looks like the selldown has started to simmer down enough for the stock to venture into sideways consolidation. It is set to remain below the nearest resistance at P839.95, especially with the looks of its indicators, for the next few sessions,” it said. Ayala shares closed Friday at P825 apiece. VG Cabuag

Victor Consunji company launches P2.2-B project in Capitol Hills, QC By VG Cabuag

@villygc

ICHE residential developer Victor Consunji Development Corp. (VCDC) has launched the P2.2 billion M Residences townhomes in Capitol Hills, as the company hopes to tap the luxury market in the area. The company’s Founder and CEO Victor Consunji, the son of DMCI Holdings Inc. Chairman Isid ro Con su nji , sa id the project followed the success of his previous projects M Residences in Taguig and in New Manila in Quezon City, which appealed to buyers due to their customizable units. He said the two phases of M Residences New Manila, worth P1.1 billion and P1.5 billion, respectively, were fully sold out and the company may launch a third phase that will link the first two projects and transform it into one community. Meanwhile, the P4.5billion M Residences in Taguig, located inside Acacia Estates, is already 75 percent sold after its launch in September last year, with some buyers taking up as many as eight lots, combining these to build a single home worth about P200 million. “Our clients only buy our units once in a lifet i me. W hen someone moves into our unit, I believe it is finished and designed in a way that is

good enough for mine. I make sure it is up to our standards,” Consunji said. The developer offers three models of townhomes for its M Residences with lot areas of 75 square meters, 105 square meters and 120 square meters. Each unit is customizable with total living areas of at least 110 square meters to as much as 370 square meters of houses of three to five stories high. The younger Consunji said the standard home in M Residences in Capitol Hills will be selling for around P16 million to P17 million with the price going higher if the buyer chooses to add to the standard floor area.

Customization lure Known for its select locations, VCDC has carved a niche in the

Mutual Funds

proper t y development business due to its offer of customization options as against the rigid platforms offered by most developers. First-time home buyers are prov ided f i n a nc i ng c hoices while VCDC w il l be its developer, as wel l as pr ivate contractor for the customization required. Aside from personal preferences of room layouts, buyers also get to choose their prefer red finishings from tiles, to countertops, cabinets and bathroom fi xtures. M Residences tend to attract a cer tain t y pe of home buyers who prov ide a good ne ig hborhood for f a m i l ies, he said. “ We believe that communit y is the best amenit y,” Consunji said.

November 22, 2019

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 252.09 2.55% 1.03% -1.01% -0.04% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.4781 9.99% 2.49% -0.38% 2.59% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.7913 -0.18% -1.11% -2.78% -2.86% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.9028 3.21% n.a. n.a. 0.2% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.8496 5.06% n.a. n.a. 3.52% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 5.3339 4.25% 2.25% -0.57% 1.15% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,6 0.8557 4.74% -1.66% n.a. 2.27% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 110.29 1.04% n.a. n.a. -5.06% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 51.3712 7.02% 3.48% n.a. 4.36% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 534.43 6.63% 2.23% -0.36% 3.83% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.2936 5.29% 0.72% 3.16% 2.73% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 38.0375 6.34% 3.69% 0.5% 3.84% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.0177 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 5.2268 8.23% 4.19% 1.53% 5.4% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 872.47 8.18% 4.08% 1.44% 5.32% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.8771 4.7% 1.86% n.a. 1.99% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 4.2184 5.73% 3.35% 0.52% 3.93% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 1.0018 7.78% 3.89% n.a. 4.98% United Fund, Inc. -a 3.6539 7.27% 5.22% 2.21% 4.37% Exchange Traded Fund First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 116.9727 8.54% 4.81% 2.45% 5.62% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $0.9846 5.76% 5.07% -0.07% 5.97% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.3395 15.54% 9.44% n.a. 21.2% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5749 -3.46% -2.31% -4% -4.62% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.2281 2.69% -0.15% -1.01% 0.86% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6273 6.32% 2.37% -1.19% 3.31% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a,5 0.231 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Grepalife Balanced Fund Corporation -a 1.3362 3.85% n.a. n.a. 2.45% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.9597 7.84% 3.13% 1.01% 6.33% 3.7848 9.31% 2.37% 0.19% 7.24% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a Philam Fund, Inc. -a 16.9302 8.45% 2.17% 0.1% 6.43% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 2.134 5.26% 1.92% 0.8% 3.13% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.8583 7.03% 3.18% 0.48% 5.67% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a,d,2 1.0128 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9967 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a,d,2 0.9938 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.9754 6.38% 2.49% -0.45% 5.83% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03815 9.97% 2.87% 2.04% 8.07% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -a $1.004 7.45% 4.47% 0.39% 9.88% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.8331 12.33% 7.38% 3.54% 15.85% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,7 $1.115 9.47% 4.49% n.a. 10.95% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 356.37 4.1% 2.73% 2.26% 3.76% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.9263 4.49% 0.74% -0.36% 3.61% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.1057 5.06% 5.24% 5.23% 4.35% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.2151 4.26% 2.44% 1.88% 4.03% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3454 6.39% 2.1% 1.42% 6.36% Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. -a P 1.6086 3.02% 1.32% -0.19% 2.83% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.3377 12.01% 2.62% 1.55% 10.66% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.7641 8.24% 2.83% 1.5% 7.02% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 0.9553 7.86% 1.31% n.a. 7.19% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.0471 10.65% 4.84% 2.44% 10.17% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.6825 10.12% 4.32% 1.88% 9.26% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $466.63 4.46% 2.62% 2.81% 4.07% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є219.62 3.35% 1.56% 1.39% 3.27% $1.204 7.29% 3% 2.59% 6.96% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0258 4.03% 1.46% 1.29% 4.03% Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. -a $1.7102 1.38% -0.18% 0.22% 1.18% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -a $1.0957 6.95% 1.25% -0.83% 5.73% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.3962 12.26% 3.38% 3.1% 10.38% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.06029 5.98% 2.22% 2.02% 5.77% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $3.168 10.44% 2.88% 2.67% 10.3% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 125.36 4.21% 2.76% 2.14% 3.71% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a,3 1.0284 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.249 6.11% 2.55% 1.6% 5.68% Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.2606 3.81% 2.84% 2.27% 3.4% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0354 2.1% n.a. n.a. 1.92% Feeder Fund Primarily invested in foreign currency securities ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -b,d,4 $0.99 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU). 1 - Launch date is January 3, 2019. 2 - Launch date is January 28, 2019. 3 - Launch date is February 1, 2019. 4 - Launch date is August 1, 2019. 5 - Launch date is September 28, 2019. 6 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last October 12, 2018 (formerly, One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.). 7 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last October 9, 2019. "While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http:// www.pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

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PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

November 22, 2019

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE VANTAGE

53.7 152 90.35 25.05 12.8 68.4 12.7 20.6 40.55 58 24.9 200.6 59.1 0.98 18 4.23 7.7 1.21 0.38 804.5 0.85 1.07

54 153 90.4 25.15 12.9 68.45 12.98 20.9 40.6 58.75 24.95 201 60 1.11 18.1 4.34 8.49 1.34 0.39 812 0.88 1.09

54 154 90.7 25.05 12.66 66.15 12.7 20.9 41.15 58.95 25.2 201 59.1 0.98 18.2 4.23 7.74 1.21 0.39 803 0.85 1.07

54 154 92 25.2 13.06 68.4 12.7 20.9 41.2 58.95 25.2 201 60 1.11 18.2 4.34 7.74 1.21 0.39 814.5 0.88 1.07

53.7 151.3 89.25 25 12.66 66 12.7 20.9 40.6 58.95 24.9 197.2 59.1 0.94 18 4.23 7.7 1.21 0.39 803 0.85 1.07

53.7 152 90.4 25.05 12.9 68.4 12.7 20.9 40.6 58.95 24.9 201 60 1.11 18 4.34 7.7 1.21 0.39 814.5 0.85 1.07

1,960 3,215,760 5,444,740 69,900 94,100 3,647,780 45,400 100 375,500 30 26,500 405,410 750 76,000 15,300 12,000 60,300 3,000 50,000 350 26,000 183,000

INDUSTRIAL

105,816 490,008,281 491,628,922 (1 1,752,665 1,208,252 247,395,271 576,580 2,090 15,281,740(8, 1,768.5 661,425 81,312,914 44,361 72,350 277,200 50,870 464,524 3,630 19,500 281,585 22,150 195,810

(4,296) (115,668,655) 88,487,509.5) 584,422 119423691.5 855,735.0003) (17,445) 15,707,708 (0) -

AC ENERGY ALSONS CONS ABOITIZ POWER BASIC ENERGY FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG MERALCO MANILA WATER PETRON PETROENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL SPC POWER VIVANT AGRINURTURE AXELUM CNTRL AZUCARERA CENTURY FOOD DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EMPERADOR SMC FOODANDBEV ALLIANCE SELECT GINEBRA JOLLIBEE MACAY HLDG MAXS GROUP PEPSI COLA SHAKEYS PIZZA ROXAS AND CO RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VICTORIAS CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CEMEX HLDG EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP HOLCIM MEGAWIDE PHINMA TKC METALS VULCAN INDL CROWN ASIA PRYCE CORP CONCEPCION GREENERGY INTEGRATED MICR IONICS PANASONIC SFA SEMICON CIRTEK HLDG

2.46 1.21 34.75 0.236 23.5 76.8 328.6 18.4 4.51 4.07 10.84 32.05 8.14 15.32 13.64 3.62 18.06 14.92 5.06 8.73 7.21 88.8 0.58 41 195 8.02 12.18 1.41 11.42 1.99 5.38 1.98 0.12 153 1.15 2.43 65.05 68.05 2.38 15 10.32 13.98 16.92 9.4 1.02 0.98 2.06 4.93 28.1 2 8 1.34 5.2 0.99 5.78

2.47 1.22 35.2 0.243 23.8 77 330 18.48 4.53 4.25 11 32.1 8.15 16.94 14.18 3.64 18.86 14.94 5.2 8.74 7.22 90 0.59 41.5 195.7 8.79 12.2 1.42 11.5 2 5.46 2.03 0.123 154 1.16 2.51 69.4 72.6 2.39 15.08 10.36 14 17.1 9.6 1.05 0.99 2.09 4.94 29.7 2.03 8.13 1.41 5.6 1.03 5.8

2.46 1.24 35.2 0.243 23.9 76.8 317 18.5 4.55 4.26 10.8 32.1 7.88 15.32 13.98 3.71 18.02 15.16 5.3 8.76 7.26 87.4 0.59 42 200.4 8.89 12.48 1.43 11.6 1.99 5.42 1.97 0.122 150.2 1.14 2.43 65.05 68.1 2.35 15 10.3 13.88 17.1 9.4 1.03 0.98 2.06 5 29.75 2.02 7.83 1.35 5.6 1 5.7

2.5 1.25 35.4 0.244 23.9 77 331 18.98 4.6 4.26 11 32.1 8.2 15.32 14.46 3.73 18.86 15.16 5.3 8.76 7.26 90 0.6 42 200.4 8.89 12.48 1.43 11.6 2.05 5.46 1.98 0.123 154.9 1.16 2.43 65.05 68.1 2.38 15.2 10.38 14 17.14 9.7 1.05 0.99 2.06 5.04 29.75 2.03 8.2 1.41 5.6 1.03 5.95

2.45 1.22 34.4 0.236 22.5 76.8 317 18.3 4.5 4.07 10.8 31.8 7.88 15.32 13.6 3.61 18.02 14.94 5.06 8.71 7.21 87.4 0.58 39.7 194.2 8.5 12.18 1.35 11.5 1.99 5.4 1.97 0.12 150.2 1.14 2.43 65.05 68.05 2.28 14.98 10.3 13.8 16.86 9.4 1.02 0.98 2.06 4.9 29.75 2 7.83 1.34 5.2 0.98 5.7

2.47 1.24 34.75 0.243 23.8 77 330 18.48 4.53 4.25 11 32.05 8.14 15.32 14.18 3.62 18.86 14.94 5.2 8.74 7.22 90 0.59 41.5 195 8.8 12.2 1.41 11.5 2 5.46 1.98 0.123 154 1.16 2.43 65.05 68.05 2.38 15 10.32 14 17.1 9.4 1.05 0.99 2.06 4.94 29.75 2.03 8.13 1.41 5.2 1.03 5.8

2,471,000 53,000 1,139,100 60,000 2,545,600 61,000 123,340 1,228,400 555,000 5,000 18,100 287,200 365,100 600 1,223,400 2,878,000 500 487,300 5,000 447,100 1,669,900 38,640 234,000 77,500 843,410 3,700 229,900 2,379,000 470,300 815,000 76,500 14,000 2,090,000 516,070 3,454,000 7,000 7,270 490 1,093,000 31,800 59,700 23,200 519,800 35,400 183,000 702,000 29,000 515,200 100 3,869,000 128,800 58,000 300 196,000 321,600

6,099,670 65,040 39,544,020 14,490 59,652,035 4,686,534 40,110,292 22,649,442 2,508,770 20,720 198,600 9,189,075 2,932,247 9,192 17,511,694 10,557,750 9,094 7,350,244 25,870 3,905,198 12,051,329 3,465,691 136,040 3,118,970 165,270,592 32,080 2,815,240 3,305,230 5,455,100 1,648,670 415,685 27,630 252,520 79,245,532 3,987,970 17,010 472,913.5 33,345 2,549,290 477,380 615,842 324,558 8,890,768 333,847 187,930 693,110 59,740 2,562,944 2,975 7,805,320 1,042,469 78,410 1,640 195,760 1,871,671

(16,080) (15,063,570) (6,525,580) (3,319,285) 3,353,932 (7,074,384) (1,418,000) 5,665,615 967,628 3,516,330 (448,500) (931,089) (1,300,420) (1,028,911) 627,090 (38,127,890) (40,892) (1,151,730) (205,070) (115,590) 19,971,392 253,000 17,010 (421,870) 118,490 221,770 (167,984) (2,207,700) (9,680) 1,960 (615,564) 672,460 843,051 (22,438)

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL AYALA LAND LOG ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP SOC RESOURCES TOP FRONTIER ZEUS HLDG

0.79 12.28 822 50.35 11.16 3.41 6.63 0.7 0.92 0.95 6.99 6.55 13.12 0.206 881.5 5.55 77.9 5.11 0.49 4 12.48 0.54 4.39 1.28 1.22 1,066 156.1 0.81 216 0.218

0.8 12.52 825 50.75 11.18 3.42 6.85 0.72 0.95 0.97 7 6.6 13.38 0.22 894 5.99 78.95 5.72 0.5 4.07 12.6 0.58 4.4 1.4 1.26 1,067 156.9 0.83 220 0.225

0.78 12.32 810 51.85 11.24 3.38 6.8 0.7 0.95 0.97 7.05 6.71 13.38 0.206 876.5 5.55 75.95 5.74 0.5 4 12.8 0.58 4.45 1.26 1.25 1052 157 0.82 213.2 0.226

0.8 12.58 825 51.85 11.26 3.5 6.85 0.72 0.95 0.98 7.06 6.72 13.38 0.206 895 5.55 78.95 5.74 0.5 4.07 12.8 0.59 4.49 1.4 1.25 1,066 157 0.82 220 0.226

0.76 12.22 792 50.1 11.14 3.38 6.8 0.69 0.92 0.96 6.96 6.55 13.1 0.206 874 5.55 75.95 5.72 0.49 3.99 12.22 0.56 4.39 1.26 1.25 1,052 156 0.8 205 0.218

0.8 12.5 825 50.75 11.18 3.41 6.85 0.72 0.95 0.97 7 6.55 13.38 0.206 894 5.55 78.95 5.72 0.5 4 12.6 0.58 4.39 1.4 1.25 1,066 156.9 0.81 220 0.218

9,569,000 11,000 436,630 925,590 16,579,000 581,000 7,000 119,000 1,029,000 374,000 997,100 35,104,800 2,000 100,000 85,660 100 1,365,800 300 3,000 16,882,000 436,400 75,000 16,844,000 122,000 2,000 211,015 150,940 416,000 5,210 1,910,000

7,470,650 137,066 351,224,645 46,845,711.5 ( 185,581,032 1,980,410 47,610 82,820 959,230 361,950 6,975,032 232,628,955 26,284 20,600 76,382,065 555 107,097,004 1,720 1,490 68,000,830 5,467,944 43,010 74,568,840 162,860 2,500 224,031,410 23,636,109 334,250 1,107,150 424,530

(1,488,730) (123,082,785) 20,619,019.5) (32,488,296) (219,620) 204,840 879,900 (128,148,194) (2,620) (775,930) 41,440,443 (67,803,250) (2,146,868) 5,825,520 77,520,915 (16,299,223) (307,018) -

HOLDING & FRIMS

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.85 0.86 0.85 0.86 0.84 0.85 1,885,000 1,598,880 268,120 ANCHOR LAND 8.83 9.78 8.84 8.84 8.84 8.84 500 4,420 44.5 44.6 44.65 44.8 43.85 44.5 13,217,800 584,390,370 (212,121,835) AYALA LAND 1.61 1.68 1.63 1.68 1.61 1.68 47,000 76,760 ARANETA PROP BELLE CORP 2 2.01 2 2.02 2 2.01 3,459,000 6,951,130 5,463,760 A BROWN 0.72 0.74 0.74 0.75 0.72 0.72 502,000 367,660 0.85 0.86 0.85 0.86 0.84 0.86 59,000 49,710 CITYLAND DEVT 6.2 6.47 6.2 6.7 6.2 6.7 800 5,060 CEBU HLDG CEB LANDMASTERS 4.69 4.7 4.67 4.7 4.67 4.7 36,000 168,960 0.59 0.6 0.59 0.6 0.58 0.6 4,429,000 2,611,310 CENTURY PROP 0.425 0.435 0.425 0.425 0.425 0.425 990,000 420,750 CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON 18.8 18.88 18.9 18.98 18.72 18.8 120,500 2,265,950 ( 424,801.9997) 10.22 10.3 10.28 10.28 10.24 10.28 395,300 4,057,288 1,836,928 DM WENCESLAO 0.121 0.132 0.121 0.121 0.121 0.121 50,000 6,050 EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND 1.54 1.55 1.55 1.56 1.53 1.54 4,327,000 6,682,290 (217,640) GLOBAL ESTATE 1.23 1.24 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.23 102,000 125,460 14.82 14.94 14.82 14.82 14.82 14.82 178,800 2,649,816 8990 HLDG PHIL INFRADEV 1.28 1.29 1.32 1.32 1.23 1.28 2,832,000 3,587,810 12,500 CITY AND LAND 0.7 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.75 41,000 30,660 30,660 4.54 4.55 4.57 4.57 4.51 4.55 8,920,000 40,537,470 (17,505,700) MEGAWORLD 0.231 0.232 0.218 0.236 0.218 0.231 29,270,000 6,723,500 131,000 MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.395 0.395 0.395 270,000 106,650 2.01 2.02 2.02 2.04 2.01 2.01 165,000 332,520 PRIMEX CORP 26.5 26.55 25.25 26.5 25.25 26.5 4,167,500 109,639,025 56,558,495 ROBINSONS LAND PHIL REALTY 0.35 0.375 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 30,000 10,500 2.16 2.19 2.17 2.17 2.16 2.16 18,000 38,910 ROCKWELL 3.09 3.15 3.15 3.15 3.09 3.15 29,000 90,970 40,870 SHANG PROP STA LUCIA LAND 2.45 2.48 2.46 2.48 2.45 2.48 114,000 279,890 39.35 39.45 38.6 39.7 38.4 39.45 7,147,200 280,847,745 49,833,965 SM PRIME HLDG 4.9 5.23 5.25 5.25 5.23 5.23 5,100 26,715 VISTAMALLS SUNTRUST HOME 1.52 1.54 1.51 1.54 1.5 1.54 1,804,000 2,733,240 7.58 7.61 7.61 7.62 7.56 7.61 2,356,300 17,907,078 (8,615,093) VISTA LAND SERVICES ABS CBN 17.4 17.9 17.2 18 17.2 17.9 207,400 3,667,524 GMA NETWORK 5.27 5.28 5.28 5.28 5.25 5.27 33,800 177,801 0.43 0.445 0.46 0.46 0.425 0.445 900,000 389,850 MANILA BULLETIN 11.74 13.96 12.5 12.5 11.58 11.7 1,400 17,328 MLA BRDCASTING GLOBE TELECOM 1,935 1,942 1937 1,950 1,910 1,942 44,580 86,480,690 37,357,405 PLDT 1,102 1,116 1091 1,116 1,081 1,116 96,885 106,997,280 8,882,805 5.2 5.73 5.1 5.76 5.1 5.73 200,200 1,123,288 (106,700) DFNN INC 0.103 0.109 0.105 0.109 0.104 0.109 900,000 95,490 ISLAND INFO ISM COMM 4.19 4.2 4.35 4.35 4.16 4.19 3,587,000 15,077,760 698,470 2.94 2.95 2.84 2.96 2.84 2.95 1,766,000 5,157,170 (164,100) NOW CORP 0.3 0.31 0.3 0.305 0.3 0.305 1,180,000 355,550 TRANSPACIFIC BR PHILWEB 2.7 2.75 2.77 2.77 2.65 2.7 282,000 753,930 (32,160) 9.82 10.08 10.1 10.1 10 10.08 1,900 19,026 2GO GROUP 18 18.2 18 18 18 18 83,000 1,494,000 1,314,000 ASIAN TERMINALS CHELSEA 5.96 5.97 5.92 5.96 5.88 5.96 686,800 4,062,223 (17) CEBU AIR 92 92.25 91.2 92.15 91 92 66,680 6,103,205 (4,695,670.5) 121.8 122.7 120.5 122.9 119.2 121.8 2,064,740 250,103,022 (49,423,860) INTL CONTAINER LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.9 0.92 0.91 0.91 0.9 0.9 140,000 126,520 18.1 18.28 18.12 18.28 18.02 18.28 107,800 1,956,432 MACROASIA 7.86 7.94 7.86 7.94 7.85 7.94 6,400 50,553 3,930 PAL HLDG 1.3 1.31 1.3 1.32 1.25 1.31 1,536,000 1,969,930 51,950 HARBOR STAR ACESITE HOTEL 1.54 1.62 1.53 1.63 1.53 1.62 156,000 250,060 10.02 10.78 10.42 10.94 10.34 10.94 1,700 17,734 GRAND PLAZA 0.61 0.63 0.62 0.63 0.62 0.63 589,000 366,630 WATERFRONT FAR EASTERN U 890.5 910 910 911 910 910 1,110 1,011,150 7.9 8 7.9 7.9 7.9 7.9 3,000 23,700 IPEOPLE 0.67 0.68 0.67 0.68 0.67 0.68 155,000 104,150 STI HLDG BERJAYA 2.72 2.73 2.59 2.73 2.58 2.72 978,000 2,597,190 2,620 BLOOMBERRY 11.38 11.46 11.12 11.5 11.12 11.46 10,521,600 120,184,360 47,645,128 2.55 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.55 2.6 15,000 38,700 PACIFIC ONLINE LEISURE AND RES 2.81 2.83 2.9 2.9 2.77 2.81 440,000 1,246,390 8,640 MANILA JOCKEY 3.39 3.44 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 19,000 64,600 4.6 4.62 4.62 4.62 4.62 4.62 8,000 36,960 (36,960) PH RESORTS GRP 0.63 0.64 0.63 0.64 0.62 0.63 515,000 323,890 (129,620) PREMIUM LEISURE ALLHOME 11.52 11.56 11.5 11.56 11.48 11.56 5,846,900 67,403,528 (15,478,178) 2.28 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.25 2.3 162,000 369,580 2,210 METRO RETAIL 39.85 39.95 40 40 39.85 39.95 3,006,000 120,091,385 33,328,200 PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL 75 75.7 77 77 74.7 75.7 238,970 17,937,545 (2,528,663) 130 150 150 150 150 150 41,580 6,237,000 1,500 PHIL SEVEN CORP 2.66 2.67 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.67 432,000 1,148,300 187,380 SSI GROUP WILCON DEPOT 17.96 17.98 17.68 18.2 17.68 17.98 380,400 6,827,834 3,827,310 APC GROUP 0.465 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.465 0.465 1,050,000 489,450 8.72 8.97 8.83 9 8.72 9 13,200 116,506 EASYCALL GOLDEN BRIA 420 424.6 416.2 427.8 416.2 425 90 38,102 2.4 - 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.4 23,000 56,700 IPM HLDG 0.42 0.425 0.405 0.42 0.4 0.42 8,980,000 3,695,700 81,500 PRMIERE HORIZON 8.97 9.13 9.14 9.17 9.13 9.13 4,700 42,971 SBS PHIL CORP MINING & OIL ATOK 10.02 11.16 11.2 11.2 11 11.16 9,700 108,182 APEX MINING 1.08 1.09 1.1 1.1 1.08 1.08 936,000 1,017,480 (311,110) ABRA MINING 0.0016 0.0017 0 0.0015 0.0016 0.0015 0.0016 56,000,000 89,300 (17,600) 2.54 2.55 2.56 2.56 2.54 2.54 679,000 1,731,150 (53,760) ATLAS MINING BENGUET A 1.01 1.16 1.28 1.28 1.16 1.16 8,000 9,400 1.03 1.19 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 67,000 69,010 (69,010) BENGUET B 0.27 0.285 0.28 0.28 0.275 0.275 330,000 92,300 (28,000) COAL ASIA HLDG 2.51 2.52 2.52 2.52 2.52 2.52 626,000 1,577,520 CENTURY PEAK DIZON MINES 7.26 7.6 7.26 7.6 7.26 7.6 200 1,486 1.82 1.84 1.84 1.84 1.81 1.82 2,150,000 3,909,520 81,470 FERRONICKEL 0.2 0.209 0.209 0.212 0.2 0.209 1,510,000 306,270 GEOGRACE LEPANTO A 0.102 0.105 0.102 0.105 0.102 0.105 520,000 53,530 0.103 0.107 0.107 0.107 0.107 0.107 20,000 2,140 (2,140) LEPANTO B 0.0085 0.0087 0 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 0.0086 6,000,000 51,600 MANILA MINING A MARCVENTURES 1.04 1.05 1.03 1.05 1.03 1.04 338,000 350,200 1.02 1.06 1.05 1.06 1.02 1.06 15,000 15,620 NIHAO 3.29 3.3 3.22 3.33 3.22 3.3 1,030,000 3,385,850 (111,240) NICKEL ASIA OMICO CORP 0.57 0.58 0.6 0.6 0.53 0.58 46,000 26,090 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.81 64,000 51,840 (3,240) ORNTL PENINSULA 3.25 3.28 3.28 3.28 3.28 3.28 2,000 6,560 (6,560) PX MINING 20.75 20.85 20.2 20.85 20.15 20.75 2,396,800 49,193,905 (16,975,015) SEMIRARA MINING AC ENEXOR 10.6 10.68 10.8 10.8 10.14 10.6 954,300 9,979,948 (650,862) 0.011 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 0.012 5,000,000 60,000 ORNTL PETROL A 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 9,800,000 105,400 PHILODRILL PXP ENERGY 11.54 11.6 11.4 11.62 11.4 11.54 186,200 2,135,066 PREFFERED ALCO PREF B 100 101 100 100 100 100 11,000 1,100,000 ALCO PREF C 101.4 103 103 103 103 103 10 1,030 100.2 101 100.1 100.9 100.1 100.9 203,070 20,487,363 DD PREF 985 1,000 998 998 998 998 20 19,960 SMC FB PREF 2 FGEN PREF G 109.7 111.3 109.7 109.7 109.7 109.7 36,880 4,045,736 1.01 1.03 1.04 1.04 1.04 1.04 1,000 1,040 LR PREF 100.5 101 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 500 50,250 PNX PREF 3A 1,026 1,030 1028 1,028 1,025 1,026 310 317,980 PNX PREF 4 PCOR PREF 2B 1,027 1,049 1035 1,035 1,035 1,035 10 10,350 1,029 1,050 1049 1,050 1,049 1,050 190 199,400 PCOR PREF 3A 1,050 1,079 1065 1,065 1,065 1,065 215 228,975 PCOR PREF 3B SMC PREF 2C 78 78.35 78.35 78.35 78.35 78.35 1,240 97,154 76.55 77.45 77.5 77.5 76.55 76.55 32,760 2,507,835 SMC PREF 2F 75.2 76 75.1 75.1 75.1 75.1 20,400 1,532,040 SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I 75.15 75.5 75.2 75.2 75.2 75.2 20,000 1,504,000 PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR GMA HLDG PDR

16.92 5.08

17.1 5.09

16.9 5.09

17 5.09

16.9 5.08

16.92 5.08

21,400 2,900

363,664 14,748

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.42

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

4.75 12.18 0.91

FIRST METRO ETF

117.2

1.54

1.4

77,000

107,800

4.76 12.2 0.92

4.8 11.54 0.89

4.84 12.28 0.91

4.73 11.54 0.87

4.76 12.18 0.91

273,000 1,627,900 4,557,000

1,302,320 19,607,600 4,084,760

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS 117.6

116.6

117.2

115.8

117.2

7,340

854,166

(271,904) (33,580) (37,136) (88,000) -0) 11,650

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance BusinessMirror

Monday, November 25, 2019 B3

Senators firming up higher tax, regulation for vape to bankroll universal health care

By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

HE Senate is poised to convene a majority caucus this Monday to firm up an emerging consensus to impose higher tax on electronic cigarettes, or vape, to fund health care.

This was disclosed by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri over the weekend following a request by Sen.Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. This committee is tasked to review and endorse revenue measures. Cayetano earlier indicated her readiness to champion a bill regulating e-cigarettes in order to both raise funds for universal health care and as a less harmful option for people seeking to quit tobacco smoking. The caucus is also meant to solidify the Senate’s position as it seeks a clearer signal from the Palace as to President Duterte’s true intent on whether to ban e-cigarattes or vaping outright; or just regulate it by, among others, banning vaping in public places and increasing the excise taxes on vape products, alongside other “sin” items like alcohol.

Mixed signals

TO recall, the 17th Congress included an excise tax on e-cigarettes, alongside higher tobacco taxes. There is also a sin tax bill, which aims to hike excise taxes on alcohol products and e-cigarettes, pending in the 18th Congress. “We are getting mixed signals from the Palace because he [Duterte] told people to vape within their homes. If so, then we just need regulation for vape,” Zubiri said in a radio interview. The majority leader hinted he would also favor “leaving the tax provision as is,” referring to that part of the 17th Congress

bill, signed into law by Duterte, including vape products among those slapped an excise tax. Just last week, Zubiri’s counterpart, House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Joey S. Salceda signaled he would move to repeal that law, after Duterte announced he will ban vapes and the importation of vape products. But a day later, Salceda said he will no longer push for repeal and will instead support pending legislation for yet another round of excise taxes on vape, since Duterte had indicated he would just want people to vape only in private.

Emerging consensus

The emerging consensus in the Senate now “is to just hike the tax [on vape], make the cost prohibitive,” Zubiri said. According to Zubiri, there are many ways to regulate vaping: through graphic health warnings; banning the use of flavors, because the additives and oil used in the flavors are the ones that clog the lungs; banning sale of vapes to minors; and mandating the use of proper signages. The senate majority leader emphasized the bottomline is that “we lawmakers want a clear signal from the President and the DOH [Department of Health] before we finalize any law regulating vaping or hiking the exise tax on it.” Zubiri admitted “it is hard to craft a law which the President will veto later.”

At the same time, lawmakers, likewise, want a clear guideline from Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on what is their final stand on taxing e-cigarettes. “We also need to give the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] and [Bureau of Customs] clear guidelines since they’re the ones who will seize banned products, if ever,” Zubiri added.

DOF grateful

The Department of Finance (DOF) announced it welcomes the support of Cayetano and Salceda on the tax rates of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs). “We would like to thank Salceda for publicly committing to tax ENDS/ENNDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems] at the same rate as the proposal of Cayetano,” Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a statement. “From the start, we have been encouraged by the strong efforts of both chairpersons to push the reform. This time, we are more strongly encouraged because both [Cayetano and Salceda] are now aligned in their proposals.” “Salceda’s recent pronouncements mean that, if SB [Senate Bill] 1074 is passed by the Senate in its present form, there will be no disagreement on tax rates for Ends/Ennds during the bicameral conference committee talks to iron out possible differences between the Senate and House versions,” Chua added. “This could only mean well for the sin tax reform as a whole.” The rates Salceda proposed are the same rates embodied in SB 1074, which proposes to tax Ends/Ennds at parity with cigarette products, following the advice from medical experts belonging to the Sin Tax Coalition that a prohibitive excise tax rate will discourage young Filipinos from smoking or vaping. “Taxes on HTPs and vapes must be raised to prevent the youth from being enticed to try using these products,” Anthony C. Leachon, coconvenor of STC, said. The STC is a group of

KPMG R.G. Manabat partner awarded as outstanding CPA

ITH an outstanding record and remarkable contributions in the field of Accountancy, KPMG R.G. Manabat and Co. Risk Management Partner Maria Gracia Casals-Diaz has been granted the prestigious Outstanding CPA in Public Practice award by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She received the award during the awarding ceremonies of the 74th Picpa Annual National Convention held last November 21 at the San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. This award is given to a Picpa member whose excellent performance and achievements have promoted the accountancy profession and whose national impact contributed to the prestige of the organization. Diaz also received the Picpa Outstanding CPA in Government Service award in 2009 and the Young Achiever in Government Service award in 2003. Diaz’s extensive experience spans across various services and industries, including corporate governance, internal audit, financial reporting, capital markets and risk management, among others. She was the general accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2007 to 2014, where she led the adoption of the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards and Philippine Standards on Auditing, and other global standards, and practices, on corporate governance and capital market. She is currently a member of the Philippine Interpretations Committee, which technically supports the Philippine standard-setting body and of the Financial Reporting Standards Council. Diaz is also a member of the Picpa Ethics Committee, which spearheaded the local adoption of the latest Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants by the New York, United States-headquartered International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, “an independent standard-setting board that develops, in the public interest, high-quality ethical standards and other pronouncements for professional accountants worldwide.”

INNOVATIONS AWARD This photo courtesy of Security Bank Corp. shows SB Foundation Chairman Rafael F. Simpao Jr., and SBC Executive Vice President and Branch Banking Group Head Leslie Y. Cham receiving the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards held in Singapore. SBC’s flagship corporate social responsibility program was hailed as the Best CSR Initiative. SBC bank products and services were also acclaimed in their respective categories. “These awards are a true reflection of our promise to all our clients, employees and the communities we serve,” Security Bank President and CEO Sanjiv Vohra said.

GSIS members reminded on ill effects of unpaid loans

TATE-pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has urged its members to ensure religious and accurate loan repayment to avoid negative consequences on their social insurance benefits. “We are reminding our member-borrowers to pay the correct loan amortizations on time,” GSIS Chairman, Acting President and General Manager Rolando L. Macasaet said. “ This will preserve their future benefits, which they have earned and should enjoy for devoting their prime in government service.” Macasaet added that if left unpaid, loans incur interests and penalties. When the obligation is deducted from their retirement or separation benefit, it might leave them with little or no proceeds at all. “Responsible borrowing keeps the pension fund healthy,” Macasaet explained. “Upto-date loan payment makes the GSIS fund adequate to lend to other members, as well.” Members with overdue loan accounts may avail of a GSIS program that waives all interests, penalties and surcharges on their existing salary loan accounts. Members are qualified to apply for the

loan if they are permanent in employment status; have no pending administrative or criminal case; are not on leave of absence without pay; and have a net take-home pay of P5,000 after deduction of monthly premium contributions and loan amortizations. If members are already out of government service and financially incapable to settle their outstanding loan balances in full, however, they may avail of the one-time condonation and restructuring program the GSIS calls Program for Restructuring and Repayment of Debts (PRRD). GSIS said the PRRD condones all unpaid penalties on the borrower’s outstanding balance. The restructured amount carries an interest rate of 10 percent per annum compounded annually.

physicians, civil society groups and public health professionals. According to Leachon, the national nutrition survey revealed that 1 in every 5 vape users in the country is aged 10 years old to

19 years old. The House and Senate versions of the proposal also ban flavors other than mint, menthol and tobacco, in an effort to curb cigarette consumption among young people.

B4 Monday, November 25, 2019

Insular Foundation, Cebuana Lhuillier partner in support of Alternative Learning System

Hyundai expands flagship Rainwater Harvesting Project in Tanay

LEAN, potable water for all. Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), H.A.R.I. Foundation, Inc. (HFI) President Maria Fe Perez-Agudo formally turns over the Hyundai HD36 truck, customized into a water delivery truck, to Tanay Mayor Hon. Rex Tanjuatco. From its initial beneficiaries—the 200 students of Rawang Elementary School in Barangay Tandang Kutyo—the Hyundai Rainwater Harvesting Facility is out to scale its reach to other water-challenged areas in Tanay as partners in sustainability, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), Better World Korea, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), H.A.R.I. Foundation, Inc. (HFI) and the Tanay local government enter the second phase of their partnership. Better World Korea, the corporate social value arm of HMC, through HFI, the corporate social responsibility arm of HARI, recently donated a Hyundai HD36 light truck customized into a potable water delivery truck. The formal turnover ceremony took place last October 23 at Tanay Municipal Hall. The water delivery truck is expected to be a regular sight in Tanay as it shuttles to and from Rawang

Elementary School to collect and deliver potable water to neighboring communities, starting with Barangay Plaza Aldea. He recalls, “In the first three months after the rainwater harvesting facility was installed, the people were hesitant to drink. So, the teachers and the students of Rawang were the first ones to make use of the water. The rest of the community decided to draw water only when they saw that the children were not getting sick and that they were needlessly spending on buying water from other places. In the next few years, we realized that Rawang was producing excess water, so the donation of this water delivery truck is a great help to us. Kesa bibitbitin pa nila ang kanilang mga lagayan, ang truck na ang magdadala ng tubig sa kanila,” Tanay Mayor Hon. Rex Tanjuatco said. In response, HFI president Maria Fe Perez-Agudo said, “Meron tayong maagang pamasko sa mga taga-Tanay--isang regalong pangmatagalan. Malapit sa puso ng H.A.R.I. Foundation ang proyektong ito dahil kitang-kita at damang-dama natin ang benepisyong naidudulot ng pilot Rainwater Harvesting Project. My dream is to multiply the success of the Hyundai

Rainwater Harvesting Project to the various islands of this country.” The pilot Rainwater Harvesting Facility was launched in Rawang Elementary School on March 22, 2017, an invention of Prof. Han Moo Young of the Engineering College of Seoul National University. It’s a filtration method capable of producing and storing as much as 25 gallons of potable water a day from rain gathered in roof gutters. The project garnered for HFI the Gold Award at the 2017 of the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ).

Cherry Mobile unveils Love Marie Collection

ET to embark another milestone in time for their 10th year anniversary, Cherry Mobile has finally unveiled the Love Marie Collection by Cherry, its exclusive collaboration with one of the most beautiful Filipinas, renowned fashionistas and visual artists in the country today, Heart Evangelista-

Escudero. The collection showcases five intricately designed masterpieces that depict Heart’s creativity, passion for art, classic beauty and style. “I’m so thrilled to have worked with Cherry Mobile and be part of their family as they celebrate their 10th year anniversary. As a proud Filipina, I am impressed on how they have remained on top despite the tough competition in the mobile phone industry. Cherry Mobile is continuously providing wide range of products that are value for money and fit every Filipino lifestyle. I am so happy to see my paintings on Cherry Mobile devices and excited to share it with everyone out there. I have always been a staunch believer of Filipino talents and products. Without a doubt, they can be at par with global brands. We should support our homegrown brands, Cherry Mobile being one.’’, shared Heart. The Love Marie Collection by Cherry includes the following artworks which are all incorporated in this collection: Gaea, an ode to what Mother Nature once was; Rainbow Seas, replicating the majestic and rich hues of the sea; Fleur and Belles

Fleurs, both are expressions of Heart’s fondness for flowers; and Princess Panda, an illustration of her beloved “aspin’’ which is available in two colors (black/ white and red/white). “Cherry Mobile has been committed to providing Filipinos with wider range of products. Now a decade older, we are more than excited to do this collaboration. As a Filipino brand, Cherry Mobile is about to set a different tone, and this is to provide stylish and premium devices through this exclusive collection. More than the goal to reach another benchmark on our 10th year, working with Heart has enabled us to bring color and life to our devices through the Love Marie Collection by Cherry, truly a celebration of art and sophistication of a modern Filipina,” said Michelle NguCinco, Cherry Mobile’s COO. For more details about the Love Marie Collection by Cherry, as well as the other updates from the brand, visit: CM Website: www.cherrymobile. com.ph; Facebook: www.facebook. com/cherrymobile, and Instagram: @ cherrymobileph.

Open your eyes to better eye care

ORE than our window to the world, our eyes send unconscious social queues that communicate the real us, way better than any words put together. It can convey affection, hostility, and even indifference. And to see the beauty around and within us, it is but prudent to take better care of our eyesight. This is the core commitment of George, one of the premier eye care providers in the country. For almost six decades, George has always been at the forefront in advocating professional eye care to its clientele. It remains committed to delivering only the best solutions and incomparable services at a level

of excellence synonymous with global standards. Fact is, George is the only optical store operation that conducts a complete eye assessment procedure called EyeCare360 that goes deeper into the visual system as a whole. This kind of procedure examines and accesses eye abnormalities that may lead to sight-threatening conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, and complications brought about by diabetes and hypertension. George’s flagship store in SM Megamall reopens its doors to customers recently. This milestone likewise signifies the company’s transition from George Optical to simply “George.”

The newly renovated store at the Ground Floor of Building A features two consultation rooms with two licensed practicing Optometrists available at any time within mall hours. These well-trained eye doctors are readily available to examine eyes for both vision and health problems as well as correct refractive errors through prescriptive eyeglasses. The optical store also displays a broad mixture of local and high-end designer brands from IC Berlin, Oakley, Rayban, Adidas to Silhoutte among others. An addition to the selection is Privé ’Revaux, a new brand co-founded by Hollywood A-listers Jamie Foxx, Hailiee Steinfeld, and Ashley Benson.

O help Filipinos complete basic education, Insular Foundation, Insular Life’s corporate social responsibility arm teamed up with Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation to support the Alternative Learning System (ALS) Program. The ALS program is a parallel learning system for those who do not have or cannot access formal education in schools. It includes both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills. To kick-off the partnership, Insular Foundation has donated a laptop, printer and projector, as well as ALS learning modules for the ALS Community Learning Center in Pedro Guevarra Elementary School in Binondo, Manila. “Insular Foundation is here to do its share to bridge the gap between the hope that the students keep in their hearts and the reality of a better future for themselves and their families. We have been doing this for 50 years now,” said Ramon M. Cabrera, Insular Foundation trustee,

and InLife Senior Vice President. “As it is our desire to make education inclusive and accessible to all, we entered into a partnership with the Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation to support its Alternative Learning System Program. We believe in this approach because it provides a practical option to the existing formal schooling,” he added. In the photo, from left: Insular Foundation trustee and InLife Senior Vice President Ramon M. Cabrera; Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation Executive Director Jonathan D. Batangan; and Insular Foundation Executive Director, and InLife Vice President Staff Ana Maria R. Soriano present the symbolic key to the ALS Community Learning Center to students and officials, namely, Dr. George D. Borromeo, OIC – Principal, Pedro Guevarra Elementary School (fourth from left), Merie Gerlie V. Capiral, Public Schools District Supervisor, Department of Education (third from right), and Wendella B. Tabio, Education Program Supervisor - ALS (second from right).

Sports BusinessMirror

RUSSIA’S Danil Lysenko makes an attempt in the men’s high jump final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, in March last year. AP

| Monday, November 25, 2019 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

HE prospect of Russia being banned from next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo has increased after a key World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) panel recommended the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) be declared noncompliant. Wada confirmed its Compliance Review Committee (CRC) had sent a recommendation that Rusada be suspended again to the Executive Committee for consideration at its meeting on December 9. The Executive Committee will vote on whether to declare Rusada noncompliant, a sanction which would trigger a sliding scale of punishments, at the top of which includes banning Russian athletes from competing at Tokyo 2020. In a statement, Wada said the CRC revealed suggested “serious consequences in line with the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories.” The exact reasons for the recommendation have not been public, but it appears the CRC was not satisfied with the responses it received from Russia following allegations the country manipulated data from the Moscow Laboratory. Wada had demanded the Russian Sports Ministry and Rusada explain “inconsistencies” it found in the data when it opened a compliance procedure against the body, first suspended in 2015 before being reinstated last year, in September. Russia was ordered to address the differences between the Laboratory Information Management System database provided by a whistle-blower in October 2017 and the version Wada extracted from the facility in January. The data is being used to prosecute athletes involved in the state-sponsored doping scandal which tainted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and other major events. Nearly 50 cases have been built against Russian athletes, Wada said in September.

BAN ON RUSSIA LOOMS

THE seat gets hotter for Russia as the doping controversy inquiry by International Olympic Committee, headed by Thomas Bach, and the World Anti-Doping Agency approaches its conclusion.

obstruction of an investigation. The president of the Russian track and field federation, meanwhile, resigned on Saturday, two days after he was accused of obstructing an anti-doping investigation involving fake medical documents. Eight months before the Olympics in Tokyo, Russia is facing a double threat on doping-linked charges, including another case centered on alleged tampering with lab data provided to the World Anti-Doping Agency. Track federation President Dmitry Shlyakhtin stepped down at an emergency federation conference in Moscow. He was already provisionally suspended pending a hearing on the charges from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). Runner-turned-businesswoman Yulia Tarasenko has been appointed acting president. However, she immediately faced a backlash from Russia’s most decorated active athlete, the three-time world high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene. “Tarasenko is Shlyakhtin’s stooge and should get out of the federation immediately, following her superprofessional boss,” Lasitskene told state news agency Tass. Lasitskene sarcastically congratulated the board members who voted in Tarasenko. “Well done, the operation to liquidate Russian athletics is nearly complete,” she said. Wada said Friday a key panel had recommended the country be declared noncompliant for allegedly tampering with lab data in a separate case. That could lead to Russia being banned from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Russia’s track team was reduced to a single athlete in 2016 amid

The global watchdog has the power to ban Russia from next year’s Olympic Games under new compliance standards. But any move in that direction would have to be approved by the Wada Executive Committee, half of which comprises International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other officials from the sports movement, who have previously been against a blanket suspension from the Games. IOC President Thomas Bach suggested in an interview with the Associated Press earlier this week the organization would be against a blanket suspension on Russian athletes from Tokyo 2020. Rusada would almost certainly appeal any sanction from Wada to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which will have the final say. Russia could also be prohibited from hosting major sporting events, including World Championships and continental tournaments, if Rusada is declared noncompliant. Events already awarded to the country could also be reallocated if it is “legally and practically possible to withdraw that right and reassign” it to another nation. Rusada Director General Yury Ganus has been preparing for the decision and has repeatedly contradicted claims from the Russian Government that the country had done nothing wrong. Confirmation of the CRC recommendation came on the same day as a decision from World Athletics to suspend the process of reinstating the Russian Athletics Federation. World Athletics is considering expelling the body in the wake of the latest charges against its officials over the

Bach asked to intervene in Tokyo Olympic labor dispute

OKYO—An international trade union wants International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to intervene and investigate alleged labor and safety violations at venues being built for next year’s Tokyo Olympics. The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) has been critical for several years of workers’ rights at Olympic venues. In face-to-face meetings and in writing, it has asked local organizers, Tokyo’s municipal government, and the Japan Sport Council, for outside inspections of construction sites and the right to interview workers. “However, our attempts to achieve justice for complainants have been consistently rebuffed by the three

implementing agencies,” the international union said in an open letter this week to Bach. The union asks the International Olympic Committee to “intervene and directly address human-rights abuses when local organizing committee fail to do so.” The BWI, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, only an hour’s drive from the IOC’s main base at Lausanne, was formed in 2005. Its web site says the BWI represents about 350 trade unions and around 12 million members in 127 countries. The BWI alleges health and safety violations, and has been critical of the treatment of migrant workers in Tokyo, the use of subcontractors, and wages. It has also

complained about grievance procedures. “We are writing this ‘Open Letter’ to ask for your immediate intervention in the preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics to prevent future workerrights violations,” the letter said. The letter says three workers have died during the construction process, and it also alleges that “venues have been built using tropical rainforest timber from companies with a documented history of indigenous and workerrights violations.” “Given all our efforts to cooperate with local organizers, we must conclude that they have no

intention of respecting international labor standards. What does that mean for the IOC?” The letter references the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which spell out practices for businesses and government. It also details human-rights standards for sporting bodies like the IOC and soccer’s world governing body Fifa. Many sports bodies have signed up to the Guiding Principles. They include Fifa and UEFA, the Commonwealth Games Federation, the International Paralympic Committee, and Qatar’s 2022 World Cup. The IOC has been slower to move. The IOC has added the UN guidelines to host city contracts that come into effect with the 2024 Paris Olympics. This excludes Tokyo, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where independent labor unions are barred by

earlier doping revelations. Russia’s head track Coach Yuri Borzakovsky indicated one path could be for Russia to compete at the Olympics as an officially neutral team, as it did at the 2018 Winter Olympics. “The main task is that the athletes and their coaches don’t suffer in the current situation, so that the guys can keep training for the Olympics and compete there,” he said. “In what status they compete, that’s another question.” A politically well-connected regional sports minister, Shlyakhtin took office in January 2016 pledging to overturn Russia’s suspension from international track events due to widespread doping. Nearly four years later, the suspension is still in place. World Athletics, formerly known as the IAAF— International Association of Athletics Federations—said Friday that Russia could be expelled altogether following the new charges against Shlyakhtin and senior officials. Shlyakhtin is one of seven people charged Thursday following an investigation into the medical files presented as an alibi by high jumper Danil Lysenko last year. He was facing a ban for failing to make himself available for drug testing. AIU investigators allege officials helped Lysenko draw up the fake documents so he could avoid punishment. World Athletics could also end a scheme which allows top Russian athletes such as Lasitskene to compete internationally as neutrals. World Athletics’“statements are beyond comprehension,” Tarasenko said. She didn’t elaborate on how, or if, the federation intended to fight the charges. “We’re not feeling very joyful, put it that way,” said Tarasenko, who was a sprinter in the 1990s and is now CEO of a company laying running tracks at stadiums. “We think there’s still some chance to keep fighting for the federation.” Insidethegames

China’s authoritarian government. China is at the center of human-rights issues. Intense protests in Hong Kong have centered on demands for full, democratic elections. In western China, more than a million Muslims have been detained in reeducation camps. Those released have described them as virtual prisons. In an e-mail to AP, the IOC said it had asked the International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations body, to help negotiate a settlement. “The IOC also engaged in a number of discussions and we still hope a solution can be found,” the IOC said in a statement to AP. Both the BWI union and the ILO attended a forum given this week by the Centre for Sport and Human Rights. A BWI spokesman promised to raise the Olympics and Japan labor issues, and to also ask questions about “remedies” if solutions are not found. AP

Spo

Business

Monday, November 25, 2019

RAHM IN CONTENTION IN DUBAI

UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Jon Rahm moved into a strong position to win the Race to Dubai title after shooting six-under 66 in the third round of the season-ending World Tour Championship to tie the lead with Mike Lorenzo-Vera on Saturday. Lorenzo-Vera bogeyed the 18th hole for the second straight day to shoot 69 and drop into a share of the lead with Rahm, who needs to finish first or second to stand a chance of

becoming European No. 1 for the first time. They are 15 under par overall, two strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy (65) and four clear of fourth-place Tommy Fleetwood (70)— another Race to Dubai contender. Bernd Wiesberger, who leads the Race to Dubai standings, was tied for 24th place—13 strokes behind Rahm and Lorenzo-Vera— after shooting 73. Rahm can take the title if he wins and Wiesberger finishes lower than outright

second, or if he finishes outright second and Wiesberger finishes worse than tied for fifth place with one other player. “Playing pretty solid. Really confident off the tee. Really confident with every part of my game right now,” Rahm said. “I’m hitting a lot of great shots and giving myself chances.” Rahm won the season-ending event once and claimed a share of fourth place in his two starts at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Another victory will earn him $3

million—the richest first prize in golf. Rahm would also join the late Seve Ballesteros as the second Spaniard to win the Race to Dubai. “Gives me goosebumps to think about that,” he said. “I’ve said it many times, as a Spaniard, any time you join or you have the chance to put your name on a list where there’s only one name and that name is Seve, it’s pretty impactful “It’s really emotional for all of us. To

think not even Sergio [Garcia] or Miguel Angel [Jimenez] or Olly [Jose Maria Olazabal] or many other great players couldn’t get it done. It’s hard to believe that I have the chance to be the second.” Lorenzo-Vera, who is ranked No. 96, still has a chance to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the event, after opening with a 63 and then establishing a three-shot lead with a second-round 69. “That’s one of the things I think about the most, to win in Dubai,” the Frenchman said. “Only big names do it...to achieve that tomorrow would be really an awesome achievement.” McIlroy shot the lowest round of the day to

power back into contention at an event he won in 2012 and ’15. He was 5 under after eight holes, having started birdie-birdie and eagled the par-five 7th hole after carrying a bunker 240 yards with a 5-wood, and picked up two more birdies in the back nine. “You’ve got Tommy and Jon up there obviously, and Mike’s holding steady at the top,” said McIlroy, who opened with 64 on Thursday only to drop down the leaderboard after a second-round 74. “I’m going to have to go out there and shoot a similar score tomorrow to what I did today to really have a chance. But just really pleased that I got myself back in the golf tournament.” AP

Torchlight and Bonfire: An Ateneo celebration Bleachers’ Brew

Rick Olivares | bleachersbrew@gmail.com AROUND 10:40 in the evening of the 23rd of November, 2019, several Ateneo studentathletes—all champions in their respective sports in the first semester of the year— made their way down from the stage at the Ateneo Grade School parking lot. They were all going to light the bonfire. When the wood was set ablaze, a cheer rose up and the alma mater song was sung. And, thus, continued an 82-year tradition of championship celebration by the school’s varsity teams. Where did this is begin? When a fire razed the Ateneo campus inside Intramuros on the night of August 13, 1932, a defiant and proud group of students, led by their American Jesuit professors, began singing school songs and hymns. When it looked like the Ateneo seniors team was going to win the NCAA crown in 1937, Fr. John McCarron, SJ, the school’s varsity teams’ chaplain and later, athletic moderator, thought back to beach bonfires, and how people talked and shared stories and experiences. And he also remembered the fateful night of the 13th of August 1932, when a fired razed the Ateneo campus inside Intramuros. No one knows how it all started, but as the building were eaten up by the flames, students, faculty and Jesuit mentors began singing school hymns. Whether it was in defiance or merely putting on a brave front, it was cathartic. Just like sports. The score was 36-22 with two minutes left in the game when “Roll Out the Victory” erupted from the Ateneo side of the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. It might have been a lot of time left in the game for Jose Rizal College (JRC) to catch up, but to the Ateneans in the gallery along with their cheerleaders—Raul Manglapus, Luke Paredes and Frankie Romualdez—knew it was over. True enough, the score ended in a 40-26 triumph for the Ateneo blue and whites. And on September 30, 1937, Ateneo was NCAA champion for the fifth time. They had played eight games and won seven of them. After the match, the school’s Rector, Fr. Carroll I. Fasy, SJ, organized the student body. They patiently waited for their heroes led by Head Coach Totoy Bautista, Jess Arce who was a high-school senior already playing for the college team, star guard Simon LaO, forwards Fermin “the Black Fury of Zamboanga” Fernando and James “Wonder Boy” Hampton, and Cesar Basa, among others to file out. When the blue and whites (this was a good two years before Ateneo sports team formally adopted the Blue Eagle moniker) got out of the RMC, a raucous cheer greeted them as some 500-plus students yelled their hearts out. With school officials and their cheerleaders leading them, the Ateneo throng with several dozen holding up torches turned left into Taft (and right in front of De La Salle College) then right into Herran (now Pedro Gil) then to Dakota along Mabini then all the way to Padre Faura. Normally, the walk from Vito Cruz to Ateneo’s new campus in Padre Faura would take 30 minutes. But with this route, it took them a little over an hour. This was the first ever torchlight parade in the school’s history. During the parade, the Ateneans erupted into their three new cheers that year—Halikinu, Swinging and Jamming. The new cheers were created to inject life into the Ateneo crowd. School reporters criticized the lack of spirit by the Ateneo crowd—“the spirit-less cheers are like the fall of the Bastille,” decried one upset Guidon writer. The new cheers and songs had literally lit a fire. And for the man known as “Rah-Hul” Manglapus, he wasn’t done penning cheers and songs for his school. Two years later, he would introduced “Fly High” as the first ever Ateneo Blue Eagles squad was introduced over KZRH (today known as Radyo Pilipinas). Once inside the campus, those carrying their torches, one by one, threw them into the shrine of wood and literally lit a fire. That was how they lit the bonfires then. Four years later, on a sunny Sunday, September 28, Ateneo’s college team defeated their counterparts from JRC. The school had to wait for five more days—on October 3rd—the juniors team that lost to La Salle and needed one more game to dispatch their newfound nemesis, 17-16, to complete a double victory. Noted Father McCarron, “We needed everything in our arsenal to win. Our team captain, Tony Montenegro played well as did Jess Coruna.” Fr. Vincent O’ Beirne, SJ, declared no classes the next day for the entire high school and college beginning a tradition. This time, there were five different parades that set off from five different points to converge at Plaza Lawton before making their way to the parade grounds of Luneta Park (as it was called before it was renamed Rizal Park) for the bonfire. After the bonfire the Blue Eagles and some key supporters were served a banquet at the Aristocrat Restaurant along Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard). Both teams had their group pictures taken at the nearby Sun Studio. Each photo cost 30 centavos. Their reward for the senior squad for winning the title—a trip to the Summer Capital, Baguio, on October 9. Father O’ Beirne reflected about the win, “The bleachers were sardined with humanity, surprises, disappointments, cheer-mad rooters and the hush of defeat. These are all the matter of historians—after the cheers and tears for some—to write about because we all know how it feels. For three years, we cooled our heels by the side of the road and cheered as the winner passed by. Now that we are tripping along the highway ourselves, that long rest will stand us in good stead, for we intend to stay on that road for a while.” And it looked that way for a moment as a little over two months later, Ateneo defeated La Salle in the dying seconds of the NCAA football title game when Simon LaO fired the game winner past their goalkeeper, Louie Javellana (who later transferred to Ateneo). Reflected Father McCarron after the game, “Like it or not, Ateneo is not a football school. This is a fact. Basketball has ruined it.” But another event would ruin the football celebrations. Scant hours after the title win, air raid sirens broke out as the Japanese began bombing the Philippines and the world truly plunged into a global conflagration. The torchlight parade continued until the celebrations for the 1976 NCAA Finals after which it ended. When Ateneo bagged its historic first UAAP title in 1987, by word of mouth, the basketball players, students, and alumni gathered in front of the Loyola Center (today’s known as the Blue Eagle Gym). People searched for broken branches, twigs, and paper and tossed them into a heap while dousing it with lighter fluid. It was then set ablaze in an impromptu bonfire over smuggled beer, cigarettes, and the hearty laughs of newly minted champions. The bonfire celebrations are more organized today with performances by the school’s musical alumni and entertainers, fireworks, and well...beer and food. There are speeches, merriment, and well, thanking the Most High for the blessings received. And just as it was intended 82 years ago, it brings everyone together.

orts

sMirror

Monday, November 25, 2019

SEA GAMES OPEN IN 4 FRONTS F Ramon Rafael Bonilla, Claudeth Mocon-ciriaco & Bernadette d. Nicolas

DRIVERLESS SHUTTLE IN NEW CLARK CITY Coast Autonomous’ driverless

shuttle arrives in New Clark City to service athletes, officials and spectators within the New Clark City sports complex during the 30th Southeast Asian Games. The electric shuttle can accommodate up to 14 passengers and runs at a speed of 20 km to 45 km per hour. The shuttle is also PWD-friendly with a wheelchair ramp and emergency buttons inside, according to Coast Chairman and CEO David Hickey.

OOTBALL, netball and floorball competitions open in separate venues on Monday a day after the Philippines yielded to Brunei Darussalam in polo in the 30th Southeast Asian Games. Just like in all previous editions of the biennial multisport competitions, sports that require more days to complete their eliminations start ahead of the opening ceremony. The SEA Games will open on Saturday at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan with the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) keeping a lid on the show’s details.

The Philippines faces Indonesia in men’s and women’s floorball at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Human Kinetics in Quezon City at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, while the Filipinos take on the Singaporeans in netball at 3 p.m. set at the Santa Rosa Multi-Sports Complex in Santa Rosa, Laguna. The men’s national under-22 football team, meanwhile, takes on Cambodia at 8 p.m. at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. On Tuesday, the women face Myanmar also at 8 p.m. at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna. But while action builds up for the country’s fourth hosting of the Games— after 1981, 1991 and 2005—government has guaranteed support in terms of traffic management in Metro Manila through the Metropolitan Manila Development

Authority (MMDA) and Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit. MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said there will be no dedicated lanes for SEA Games delegates but stop-and-go schemes will be implemented along Edsa and major thoroughfares in the metropolis. The MMDA schemes will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on November 30 and end on December 11. Lim appealed for understanding as there will be delays expected on roads toward the sports and nonsports venues within Metro Manila: Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, Cuneta Astrodome, SM Mall of Asia Arena, SM MOA Skating Rink, World Trade Center, Philippine International Convention Center Forum, SM Megamall, Filoil Flying V Centre, Filinvest City, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman

Gym, Marine Corps, Muntinlupa Sports Complex, Starmall Edsa, Makati Coliseum, Manila Hotel tent, SM Megamall Ice Rink, World Trade Center, Philsports Arena, Amoranto Sports Complex and Manila Polo Club. Malacañang, meanwhile, on Sunday offered no excuses as it apologized to athletes and guests from Timor Leste, Myanmar and Cambodia for the inconvenience they experienced when they arrived in the country. Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo issued the apology in response to criticisms of the country’s hosting of Games after athletes and guests had to go through delays in transport and checking in at hotels. “We can no longer undo what has

been done. The Office of the President will not offer any excuses. As host country, we apologize for the unintentional inconvenience suffered by our athleteguests,” Panelo said. While the Palace said they cannot promise a hitch-free hosting of Games, Panelo said they are taking the word of Phisgoc that they will do better moving forward. “We are not promising that the Games will run without a hitch, given the countless athletes who will participate and represent their respective countries, but we will exercise due diligence in making sure everyone will have a pleasant, productive and memorable stay in the Philippines,” he said. “We wish all the participating athletes good luck and look forward to their excellent and hopefully world record breaking performances,” he added.

Netball, floorball take center stage in UP, Sta. Rosa

eam Philippines will begin its medal campaign in netball and floorball of the 30th Southeast Asian Games in separate venues on Monday. Playing at home, the Philippines faces Indonesia in men’s and women’s floorball at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Human Kinetics in Quezon City at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, while the Filipinos take on the Singaporeans in netball at 3 p.m. set at the Santa Rosa Multi-Sports Complex in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Malaysia and Thailand will tangle in the other pair of floorball matches, an indoor team sport featured, as a demo event in the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar and made its debut as an official sport two years later in Singapore.

Azkals confident of chances against region’s powerhouse

HE national under-22 team gear up for a pace-setting kickoff battle against Cambodia in the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) football competitions that open on Monday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. The Philippines has gone all-out in its prepations since August for the biennial event that is hosted by the country.

Two senior members of the national team—Amani Aguinaldo and mainstay Stephan Schrock—are reinforcing the team. “Their impact is not just emotionally and psychologically necessary, but their technical skills are high boosters for the team,” Assistant Coach Ernie Nierras told the precompetition press conference on Sunday at the Century Hotel in Manila.

The Azkals are coming off the Copa Paulino Alcantara Cup where they were a guest team that served as the warm up games for the SEA Games. The team showed booked a 1-1-1 wonlost-drawn record. They defeated Green Archers United FC (1-0), drew with Mediola FC (2-2) and lost to Ceres Negros FC (2-1). In the Merlion Cup in Singapore, the nationals placed last among four countries. Singapore won the tournament followed by Thailand and Indonesia. “They should not underestimate the new Azkals. They are totally different from the team that competed in the Merlion Cup,” Nierras said. Ryniel Berlanga

Emotions pour in for polo athlete, president Romero

HE 30th Southeast Asian Games is going to be an emotional one for father-athlete Mike Romero. Although he’s not the biggest star in Philippine polo team, the party-list congressman is dedicating his performance in the biennial meet to his late son—Miguel. “I’ll dedicate all our games to Miguel, he should have been playing here,” said Romero

during the inauguration of the Bamboo Pavilion inside the vast Miguel Romero Polo Field. Romero and son Miguel were very close that the family decided to name the playing field in his honor. Miguel passed away on December 14, 2017, at the young age of 22. Romero was in fact too grateful to the stakeholders—the Philippine Olympic

Committee (POC), Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) and the Philippine Sports Commission—for the realization of the family’s dream. “Just like me, Miguel was athletic and he wanted to represent the country that’s why I’m thankful sa kanilang tatlo for Miguel finally realized his wish,” said Romero. “Ngayon, he’s still part of the SEA Games because the whole field is named [after] sa kanya—in his memory,” Romero said. Romero is one of the founding members of the Philippine National Federation of Polo Players (PNFPP) and part of the PH team that will wage war in the 0-2 goals event starting December 3. Games have already started at the nearby Hacienda Bigaa, with Team Philippines dropping an 8-8.5 loss to Brunei in the 0-2 event. Ramon Rafael Bonilla A FRIENDLY game ushers in the polo competitions at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Calatagan, Batangas, on Saturday. NONOY LACZA

MMDA SEAG traffic schemes take effect Saturday

By Claudeth Mocon-ciriaco

tarting November 30 to December 11, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit will implement stop-and-go schemes, and other traffic adjustments starting on Saturday until December 11, for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in various areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila. MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim, however, stressed that no lanes will be assigned or dedicated for SEA Games delegates.He said the schemes will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday in the following areas: n Along Adriatico from Pres Quirino to Pablo Ocampo (both directions) n Along Pablo Ocampo from Taft Avenue to Adriatico (westbound only) Motorists are advised to use alternative routes:

n All vehicles coming from Taft Avenue traversing the westbound lane of President Quirino Avenue intending to turn left on Adriatico Street shall go straight to Roxas Boulevard or Mabini Street. n All vehicles coming from Taft Avenue intended to use the westbound lane of Pablo Ocampo will use Menlo Street then Donada to destination. n All vehicles coming from Roxas Boulevard or FB Harrison using the eastbound lane of Pablo Ocampo intending to utilize Adriatico Street will go straight to Taft Avenue to point of destination. n All vehicles coming from Roxas Boulevard or FB Harrison utilizing eastbound lane of President Quirino intending to utilize Adriatico Street will go straight to Taft Avenue to point of destination. The agency will deploy 2,000 traffic personnel—with a no day off policy—in key areas in the metropolis to help manage traffic flow. On Edsa alone, 122 traffic enforcers will be deployed every 100 meters.

Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. To win the game, the team must score more goals than the opposing squad within the limits of the rules. Completing the five-country cast in floorball is Singapore, the reigning champion in the men’s and women’s division. Led by Head Coach Noel Johansson, Team PH is expected to come up with a strong performance with forwards Sarah Samonte and Candy Noreen Pellejera helping the women’s team while the men’s side will have Jan Vitaliano, Aristeo Perol II and defender Christopher Holland. In netball, the Philippines will be represented by its women’s team composed of Kristine Abriam, Ana Thea Cenarosa, Katrina

Rose Domino, Diana Doqueza, Loraine Angela Lim, Karen Lomogda, Janelle Mendoza, Cathlyn Jane Seno, Zharmaine Velez, Eliezza Dianne Ventura, Alexadrea Gastador and Jhianne Layug, and Head Coach Angelina Fedillaga. Almost similar to basketball, each team is allowed seven players on the floor and must score more goals than the opposing team within the four 15-minute quarters. Unlike basketball though, netball’s rings don’t have a backboard and each player is only allowed to hold onto the ball for just three seconds before passing or attempting a shot. It will be five-country affair with Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand seeking the title against the Philippines and Singapore.

CLARKSON L SHINES AS CAVS SNAP 6-GAME LOSING SKID

LEVELAND—Riding a six-game losing streak, coming off a 42-point loss and playing without their leading scorer seemed to be a negative set of circumstances for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Those obstacles didn’t matter Saturday night. Jordan Clarkson made all six of his three-point attempts and scored 28 points to help Cleveland beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-104. Clarkson’s season high, which included 14 points in the fourth quarter, came a night after he was held scoreless in a 143-101 loss at Dallas. The Cavaliers completed a stretch of five games in seven days Saturday after the team arrived in Cleveland around 3 a.m. Larry Nance Jr. started in place of forward Kevin Love, who missed his second game this week because of a sore back. “Obviously, last night wasn’t necessarily a morale booster,” said Nance, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds. “To come back in and win this game, I’m really excited to see.” Cleveland Coach John Beilein has remained upbeat despite his team’s difficult stretch that dropped the Cavaliers’ record to 5-11. “I didn’t see any fatigue,” he said. “I didn’t see anything but effort to try and win the game. There are a lot of teams that have had tough schedules, that have had injuries and are rebuilding. We just have to stick together so we can be better than this.” Tristan Thompson scored 25 points and Cleveland held off a Trail Blazers’ run in the fourth quarter. Damian Lillard returned after missing two games because of back spasms and scored 23 points, but Portland dropped to 5-12 and is 2-10 this month. The Trail Blazers have lost four straight and five of seven. Portland advanced to the Western Conference finals last season, but the Trail Blazers are struggling without center Jusuf Nurkic, who broke his leg in March and is still sidelined. “I’m not a big worrier, but there is reason for concern on certain things,” Lillard said. “Because of the expectations for us, absolutely, it’s disappointing.” Carmelo Anthony, playing his third game with Portland, scored 11 points in 35 minutes. Anthony was five of 15 from the field and missed all eight of his three-point attempts. “Physically I feel great,” he said. “Mentally I feel great. We’ve all been in situations like this before where we’re trying to figure it out. There is still light at the end of the tunnel.” Cleveland led 100-88 midway through the fourth quarter, but Lillard scored the Blazers’ next nine points, cutting the lead to 102-97. Baskets by Thompson and Nance halted Portland’s rally. Lillard had 16 points in the fourth. CJ McCollum finished with 20 points. In Memphis, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers knew they would be tired playing their second game in as many nights. Experience made the difference against the young and rested Memphis Grizzlies. James scored on a driving layup with 1:30 left to put Los Angeles ahead to stay as the Lakers held off the Grizzlies, 109-108, on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. “We just kept our composure,” James said. “That’s what we do. We are a very resilient team.” The Grizzlies had a final chance with the ball and 1.3 seconds left. Jaren Jackson Jr. went sprawling trying to corral Kyle Anderson’s inbounds pass. AP

EVI, Finland—Coming off a record-breaking season with 17 race wins, Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t need much time in the new campaign to reach yet another milestone. The American set the all-time World Cup record for most slalom wins by any skier on Saturday, after earning her 41st career victory in the discipline at the season-opening slalom race. Shiffrin beat the 32-year-old best mark from Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, who won 40 slaloms between 1974 and 1987. Shiffrin amassed her total in just seven years, having won her first race in December 2012. “I don’t feel super emotional, I am just happy,” said Shiffrin, who usually refrains from focusing on records or statistics. “I am happy with my skiing for the first [slalom] race of the season.” Shiffrin, the 2014 Olympic and four-time world champion, has held the women’s record since passing Marlies Raich’s tally of 35 slalom wins a year ago. On Saturday, Shiffrin came from behind to defeat Petra Vlhova, runner-up to the three-time champion in the overall standings last season. Vlhova, who won this race in 2017, led by 0.13 seconds after the opening run but skied out early in her final run and failed to finish, immediately after the American had posted the fastest run time by far. “I had a solid first run and in the second run I was really attacking and fighting,” Shiffrin said. “I may have been a little bit lucky but we have no idea how [Vlhova] was going to finish.” Even with Vlhova skiing out, the duo looked set to continue dominating the discipline, as all 21 World Cup slaloms since January 2017, have been won by either Shiffrin (17) or Vlhova (4). On Saturday, Wendy Holdener finished runner-up but trailed Shiffrin by 1.78 seconds, a country mile in a sport mostly decided by hundredths of a second. The Swiss skier had been nursing an elbow injury in recent weeks but improved from sixth position after the opening run. “I still can’t fully stretch the arm but you don’t need that in slalom,” Holdener said. “I am just happy that I could start here.”

Shiffrin nails record 41st World Cup slalom win

Mikaela Shiffrin reaches, yet, another milestone. AP

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Katharina Truppe of Austria, was 1.94 behind in third, while the rest of the field finished more than 2.4 seconds off the pace. In the opening run Shiffrin and Vlhova had already created a gap to the rest of the field of almost a full

second, with Vlhova leading the American by 0.13. “It was OK, I felt pretty solid with my skiing,” Shiffrin said after the first run. “I think there are some spots where I can be a little bit more relaxed.” Vlhova was 0.32 behind Shiffrin at the second check

point but found a smoother line going over a roll into the steep part of the Levi Black course. New Zealand teenager Alice Robinson, who beat Shiffrin in the season-opening giant slalom in Austria last month, was sitting out the race with a knee injury. AP

SPAIN VS. CANADA IN DAVIS CUP FINAL TEAM Canada celebrates and so does Spain’s Rafael Nadal (top) and Feliciano López after winning their semifinal doubles match against Great Britain. AP

Jordan Clarkson made all six of his three-point attempts and scored 28 points to help Cleveland beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 110-104. AP

By Tales Azzoni

The Associated Press

ADRID—The revamped Davis Cup will reach its climax on Sunday, with Canada celebrating a historic first title or Spain lifting the trophy for the sixth time in front of its fans. After two thrilling semifinals decided in tiebreakers of the doubles matches on Saturday, Spain outlasted Britain and Canada upset Russia to play for the title of the new Davis Cup Finals, the World Cup of tennis. Rafael Nadal won his singles and doubles matches to lead Spain to a 2-1 comeback win over Britain, putting the hosts in the Davis Cup final for the first time since 2012. Nadal and Feliciano López defeated Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) in the decisive doubles to clinch the victory for the five-time champions. “It was an exciting match, almost dramatic,” Nadal said. “We played at a high level. We knew the victory would come if we played with determination and hope.” Kyle Edmund gave Britain the lead with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over the 38-year-old López in the first singles, then Nadal evened the semifinal by cruising past Daniel Evans, 6-4, 6-0, for his 28th straight Davis Cup singles victory. The top-ranked Nadal has won all six of his matches this week. Britain did not use Andy Murray for the third straight day. The three-time Grand Slam champion won his opening singles but said he was not in his best shape. Little separated the teams in the doubles on Caja Mágica’s center court, with neither capitalizing on their break opportunities. Both sets lasted more than an hour. Spain prevailed in both tiebreakers before a boisterous home crowd after Britain squandered four set points in the second set, including three in the tiebreaker. “We had our chances at the end,”

Jamie Murray said. “That one will hurt for a little while, I think.” Spain converted on its second match point. “The crowd was amazing,” Nadal said. “It’s hard to describe the feeling of playing in a team competition in front of our fans on this court. It was incredible.” Spain has been playing without Roberto Bautista Agut, who had to leave the team because of the death of his father. The British team complained that Spain made a late change for the first singles match, citing an injury to replace Pablo Carreño Busta by López. “We’ve done really well to make the semis,” Skupski said. “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t go a step further, but we’ll be back here next year and try and go a bit further.” All four semifinalists are secured in next year’s edition of the Davis Cup Finals, which is the result of a 25-year partnership between the International Tennis Federation and the investment group Kosmos to make the team competition more attractive and lucrative.

HISTORIC CANADA

CANADA reached its maiden final in 106 years of playing the Davis Cup after Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov beat Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), in another decisive doubles. Rublev put the Russians ahead defeating Pospisil, 6-4, 6-4, in the first singles, and Shapovalov evened the tie by downing Khachanov, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. In the doubles, the Canadians trailed 3-0 in the third-set tiebreaker but rallied and converted their second match point. “Today was an incredible match,” Pospisil said. “I mean, the doubles, just with the buildup, obviously getting to this moment the last five days, I mean, it took a lot of emotions even just to get to this match. “It’s pretty incredible to make the finals, first time in history for Canada. To do it the way it happened was pretty special to be a part of.” Pospisil and Shapovalov have played all of the matches for Canada, which won Group F by defeating former champions Italy and the US, then eliminated another former champ Australia in the quarterfinals. It had never beaten the US or Australia in the Davis Cup. The Canadians impressed in Madrid without two of their top 3 players. Milos Raonic was out injured, and Felix Auger-Aliassime was with the team but also injured. The 150th-ranked Pospisil did not drop a set in singles this week until his loss to Rublev. The 20-year-old Shapovalov, No. 15 in the world, also won three of his four singles. Russia, which won the Davis Cup in 2002 and 2006, also used only Khachanov and Rublev. “It hurts of course that we lost today, but overall we gave our best,” Khachanov said. “We cannot complain that we didn’t do something.”

God our Refuge and our Strength od our Refuge and our Strength, You work awesome deeds across the Earth. In faith, we pray: God, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Inspire those who work in care facilities, and ease the suffering of the sick and the elderly. Strengthen those in recovery for addiction, and help us to address opioid and drug abuse. Free those entrapped by fire, storm or disaster. May God show us mercy, forgive our sin and lead us to everlasting life. Amen! Give Us This Day, Shared by Luisa Lacson, HFL

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Marahuyo: Enchanting pieces of practical luxury TOTA PULCHRA

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asking on the success of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Go Lokal! program, which helps the local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) go mainstream and be regular suppliers of

retail establishments, the department recently inaugurated a high-end concept store called Marahuyo. “In Marahuyo, we have assembled an impressive lineup of Philippine designer brands that represent world elegance borne out of the Filipinos’ deeply rooted

passion to create,” stated Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez in his foreword to a book, also called Marahuyo, which he also echoed at the store’s launch at the Duty Free Philippines Luxe Mall in the Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. “This initiative will serve as the impetus that will help

our MSMEs expand, and create, more jobs and employment opportunities for our countrymen.” The Marahuyo by Go Lokal! retail store is a partnership between DTI and Duty Free Philippines Corp (DFPC). “Today marks the culmination of

an idea that began years ago. An idea of a world-class duty-free store that will put the Philippines as a top-ofmind shopping destination to boost the country’s shopping tourism,” declared Continued on D2

Monday, November 25, 2019

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Marahuyo: Enchanting pieces of practical luxury

Continued from D1 DFPC Chief Operating Officer Pelagio Angala. “We acknowledge our vital role, and to stay ahead of our competitors and to strengthen the Philippines as a great destination for travelers, we continue to explore ways to offer unique and extraordinary experiences that cannot be replicated easily.” Marahuyo, in Tagalog, translates to “a state of enchantment and attraction.” Thus, the designers chosen to be part of the Marahuyo stable are creators of pieces that are spellbinding, enthralling and captivating. They are Aranaz (handbags), Earl Carlo Gariando Enterprises (clutch bags made of bass), Quiddity (handcrafted leather bags), Helena Alegre Jewelry (scriptural and fabricated jewelry), Joanique (fashion accessories), Maria Angelica Rare Finds (antique accessories), Arnel Papa (fashion jewelry), Mele+Marie (handbags), J Makitalo (fashion accessories) and Ann Ong (fashion jewelry). “Go Lokal! really began by supporting mediumpriced products which is where the majority of our MSMEs were positioned. There remained a number of SMEs that catered to the higher-end market, using locally available resources to create luxurious designs of high quality—what we now refer to as ‘practical luxury.’ These are the businesses the DTI now supports with Marahuyo,” explained Trade Assistant Secretary Rosvi Gaetos. Acclaimed designer Budji Layug was tapped by the DTI to be the creative director of Marahuyo. “The luxury brands we have here mirror Filipino artistry and skill, and celebrate our country’s abundant materials,” he shared in the book. “This program will start with lifestyle-based products like jewelry, bags and other fashion items, but you can expect the inclusion of other product categories soon. According to the DTI, Go Lokal! MSMEs retail through 114 stores nationwide with record sales of more than P100 million in 2018. With the launch of Marahuyo as a sub-brand, it is hoped that the highend market will spur greater sales even more with the introduction of products that may be pricier but with a higher level of craftsmanship. “Each of the Philippine designer brands you will find at Marahuyo are socially responsible enterprises that work with local communities to create [products] using traditional and indigenous materials,” Gaetos added. “In fact, every purchase from this boutique contributes to the livelihood of our Filipino craft communities.”

Today’s Horoscope By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Katie Cassidy, 33; Jerry Ferrara, 40; Christina Applegate, 48; Bruno Tonioli, 64. Happy Birthday: Think matters through from start to finish. Overextending yourself mentally, financially or physically will set you back. Balance will be the key to reaching your destination on time and achieving all that you set out to do. A quieter approach to life, love and happiness will help you flourish in ways you never thought possible. Live, love and laugh. Your lucky numbers are 2, 13, 17, 28, 31, 36, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Express your feelings, and open up about what you want. Show support and offer suggestions. Work to build stronger relationships with the people you care about most. Be observant, learn and prepare to make a move that will improve your lifestyle. «««

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t fear change; embrace the opportunity to experience something new and different. Show a little creativity, and try new things. Put your energy into helping the flow, not fighting to keep things the same. Accept the inevitable, and embrace the future. «««

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Designate more time to taking care of personal business. Refuse to let anyone occupy your time or trick you into doing things you don’t care to do. Making a personal improvement will bring you the highest return. Romance is encouraged. «««

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The more you socialize or network with colleagues, the better. Running your ideas by someone who has more experience will help you see greater possibilities. Stretch your mind, and don’t fear doing things differently. Explore, expand and execute your plans. ««««« At the inauguration of Marahuyo by Go Lokal! are Jourdan Go of Quiddity, designer Earl Gariendo, designer Helena Alegre, Marahuyo Creative Director Budji Layug, Trade Assistant Secretary Rosvi Gaetos, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Senate Committee on Tourism Chairman Sen. Nancy Binay, Duty Free Philippines Corp. COO Vincent Angala, designer Arnel Papa, designer Joyce Makitalo, Marahuyo cocreative lead Stanley Ruiz, and designer Hannah Oamil representing Mele+Marie.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You will do best if you observe. Don’t put yourself in a position that will force you to make a move. Put greater emphasis on how you look and feel and what you are capable of doing. Love is on the rise. ««

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Learn through experience. Volunteer your time, and associate with people who know more than you. Implement change if it will help you get ahead. Your intuition will help you make better decisions when dealing with relationships, children or older relatives. ««««

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You’ll learn the most and do your best if you consort with people with more experience. Sticking close to home or spending time with people who don’t have anything positive to offer will lead to stagnation. Embrace the world around you. «««

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take an innovative idea to the next level. You’ll grab the attention of someone who has a vision. A change you make will draw you out of your comfort zone into a place that will help you grow and gain valuable experience. «««

One Earth Organics celebrates diversity in new campaign Natural beauty brand One Earth Organics (facebook.com/onearthorganicsbeauty) goes far beyond selling organic skin-care products. Grounded on the principle of enhancing natural beauty and maintaining it naturally through harmless, chemical-free solutions, the brand values beauty as something that is not skin-deep, but self-deep. The mantra serves as the light One Earth Organics aims to shine in its new campaign, titled “Celebrating Diversity” (bit.ly/2pnNGAa). Featuring eight personalities who champion various types of beauty, the movement encourages women to feel confident and valid, regardless of weight, age, color, gender orientation and skin condition. “Empowerment is everything,” One Earth Organics Founder Tyfannie Anne Short said. “The concept is synonymous with the brand.” One of the faces of the campaign is

ageless fashion icon/social-media influencer Tessie Singson. At 65 years young, Singson is known in social media as @lolaandrogynous, celebrated for her unabashedly stylish fashion sense that reminds everyone that beauty knows no age. For transgender makeup artist Gabrielle Moi, she has learned that beauty is not a feeling pending approval from other people, but a source of confidence and pride that comes from within. “I’ve realized that every woman is different,” she said. “We’re not less of a woman just because we happened to be transgender.” Binibining Pilipinas 2019 candidate Hanna Arnold stressed that the mythical “gold standard of beauty” is a thing of the past. “Each of us has a unique look, unique body and unique skills,” said Arnold, who used to despise being “too tall.” “We don’t just believe our bodies are good, but we know they are good.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Proceed with an open mind, a positive attitude and an honest assessment of what’s happening and what’s possible. The way to make your lie or a situation you face better comes from being realistic. «««

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A steady pace forward will pay off. Your smart and unyielding persistence will help you get your way. A change at home will encourage better life decisions. Don’t share your plans until you have everything in place. ««««

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t get trapped in someone’s drama or feel you have to make a change because someone else does. Follow your heart, do your own thing and focus on what brings you the most joy. Personal gain and improvement are favored. ««

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Get your papers in order, help a cause you care about and make changes that will benefit you. Refuse to let anyone entice you into wasting time, being indulgent or getting involved in something that isn’t in your best interest. «««««

Birthday Baby: You are well-liked, admirable and proactive. You are innovative and compassionate.

‘to be in the sky’ by will nediger The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

ACROSS 1 Each 7 Car wash cloth 10 Gunk on Santa’s suit 14 Send for 15 Woman in 9-Down 16 You can stick with it 17 Under control 18 Bewildered 20 Unflappable 21 Animal that builds a fancy structure to attract a mate 22 Cuisine known for baba ghanouj 24 For example 25 Watson’s tech company 28 “They’re after us!” 29 Cacophonies 31 One may roost in a hollow tree 34 Is derisive 38 Wipe out, in surfer lingo 39 Science class session 41 Selassie in Ethiopian history 42 Cannon fodder at a sports game 44 Plane’s flight recorder 46 Trail mix

8 ___ Dhabi 4 49 One has a cover but isn’t an open book 50 Detective’s exclamation 53 “Count me in!” 56 Fuzzy buzzer 58 The Washington Post composer 62 Taco option similar to shawarma 63 App for travel accommodations, or a hint to 21-, 31-, 44- and 56-Across 64 It leaves a slimy trail 65 Quaker morsel 66 Open, as a letter 67 Moves like a rabbit 68 Grp. that often meets on a school night 69 Author Eliot or Sand DOWN 1 Words that might worry a buyer 2 Kick a football 3 Lead-in to a texter’s viewpoint 4 Online message 5 They pretend to share your view on an issue

6 Circle’s lack 7 Scouting mission, briefly 8 Professed 9 “In the beginning...” book 10 Movie ticket remnant 11 Camel’s rest stop 12 Diva’s performance 13 Build-A-Bear bear 19 Child’s expertise? 21 Commonplace 23 Fella 25 “Yeah, right!” 26 Some are designed for nursing 27 Closet pest 30 Take a nice, long bath 32 Kristen of Ghostbusters 33 Bar bill 35 Little white lies 36 Close after just a few shows, maybe 37 Alluring 40 Mower part, or mower target 43 Star ornament’s spot 45 Blood typing letters 47 JFK’s craft in WWII 50 Embarrass

1 Greeting in Reading 5 52 Energize 54 Company with “counting sheep” ads 55 Human trunk 57 Diaper carriers 59 Lyft competitor 60 Unexpected wrinkle 61 Up to the job 63 8 in a date, for short Solution to Friday’s puzzle:

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Monday, November 25, 2019

It’s in the genes all access Ricky GallaRdo

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ewcomer Iana Bernardez bagged her very first acting trophy at the recently concluded Cinema One Originals Film Festival, and her actress-mother Angel Aquino couldn’t have been

happier. “I was very emotional when news reached me that Iana won. I was in tears because of overwhelming joy. I am just so proud of her!” Aquino told us. Bernardez won as Best Supporting Actress for her on-point performance in J.E. Tiglao’s Metamorphosis. Bernardez spread her wings and focused on learning the ins and outs of film production right after she graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University. “I was really interested on becoming a good line producer, and to know the different facets of the filmmaking process. Acting just happened, I guess, and I just embraced it when it fell on my lap,” she shared. She openly admits to being an accidental actor. “Oh yes, when I first forayed into acting and landed a major role in Dwein Baltazar’s Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus, there were a hundred and one questions in my head, not to mention that I was as nervous as any newcomer would be. I had no acting experience, zero, not even when I was in school. I was supposed to be in charge of casting for that film and then they asked me to audition and offered me the lead female role.” In her heart, Bernardez wants to be a good

film producer. “I want to be a good and kind and a fair producer. I am very fortunate that in just a few years, I have amassed work opportunities and have collaborated with wonderful filmmakers to have produced, such titles as Kiko Boksingero, Kuya Wes, Fuccbois, Oda sa Wala, Babae at Baril, Hospicio and Tia Madre for our local festivals. I am thankful for the roles that have been entrusted to me, and I remain excited for the roles that will be offered to me in the future. I guess I can try to become both a good producer and a good actor, with more experience, more training, more collaborations, more guidance from my mom and from experts in the industry that I have chosen to be part of and I have come to love so much.” IN THE NAME OF THE MOTHER Actress Sunshine Cruz and her three teenage daughters Angelina, Samantha and Chesca have recently signed a packaged endorsement contract with Em-Core Dotnet, a new direct marketing company that sells health, wellness and beauty products. The three girls are so excited that just because of their being celebrity children and even without any proof of popularity yet, they were included in this wonderful business break. “I guess we have to thank our mom because she has remained fit and smart and beautiful at her age, that’s why the brand chose her and even included us,” remarked youngest daughter Chesca. The three girls are using the surname Cruz and requested that it should never be a basis of any controversy. The father of the three is actor Cesar Montano, whose real surname—Manhilot—many feel is not a friendly-sounding surname for any one who has plans to pursue a career in advertising or the performance arts. Sunshine shared that both Angelina and Samantha have dreams of becoming singers, just like many of the members of the Cruz family that started to become popular in the 1960s. “But I hope they prioritize school first,” she added.

Sunshine Cruz with daughters Chesca, Samantha and Angelina (left), and Angel Aquino with daughter Iana Bernardez

Benjamin Alves on the pursuit of passion

From left: GMA Senior Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi Santiago-Lara, GMA Artist Center Assistant Vice President and Head for Talent Imaging and Marketing Unit Simoun Ferrer, GMA Senior Vice President for Entertainment Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable, Benjamin Alves, GMA Artist Center Senior Talent Manager Daryl Zamora, and Benjamin’s Comanager and Empire Philippines President Jonas Gaffud

Sought-after leading man Benjamin Alves renewed his contract with GMA Network last November 12. Present in the contract-signing were GMA Senior Vice President for Entertainment Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable, GMA Senior Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi SantiagoLara, GMA Artist Center Assistant Vice President and Head for Talent Imaging and Marketing Unit Simoun Ferrer, GMA Artist Center Senior Talent Manager Daryl Zamora, and Benjamin’s comanager and Empire Philippines President Jonas Gaffud. Benjamin, who started his career at GMA in 2012, expressed his gratitude for all the support

he has received from the network all these years. He said, “This has always been my home, I always felt at home here from the time that I started, never po akong nag-isip or nag-doubt na I really feel like I belong here. From the start, when I signed my first contract, they never made me feel like I wasn’t welcomed or part of the family, and that means a lot. I think I want to show that appreciation by doing well with the shows they’re giving me and to stay loyal to the network.” Aside from exhibiting his acting caliber in various GMA programs, Benjamin is also an inspiration to the young generation. Being the GMA Network Excellence Awards

(GNEA) ambassador for four years now, he leverages this platform to advocate his passion for learning and through this, he continues to discover more of the Filipino youth’s exemplary performance in academics and leadership, and to inspire them on social responsibility. Rasonable shared that she is proud of Ben’s growth as a well-rounded artist and sees that he constantly finds ways to further hone his skills, “Nakita mo ’yung ang layo na ng narating niya sa kanyang craft. Itong huling ginawa niya na Dahil Sa Pag-ibig, we saw a different Ben. He did it very well, so it’s very gratifying to see someone like him na mag-grow as an actor here in GMA.”

‘Empire’s’ Jussie Smollett: Chicago prosecution was malicious CHICAGO—Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett is suing Chicago for malicious prosecution and says the city should not seek payment from him to cover the cost of the investigation into his claim that he was a victim of a racist and homophobic attack because it accepted his $10,000 bail “as payment in full.” Chicago filed a lawsuit in April seeking reimbursement of more than $130,000 for overtime paid to police officers who were involved in investigating the alleged January attack. Smollett’s attorneys filed a response Tuesday in federal court. It said the city should not be allowed to recover costs from Smollett because it accepted $10,000 from the actor “as payment in full in connection with the dismissal of the charges against him.” They also filed a counterclaim, saying Smollett was the victim of a malicious prosecution that caused him humiliation and extreme distress. Smollett told police that he was beaten January 29 by two men who looped a noose around his neck and threw vile comments at him. Chicago police said the attack was staged, and Smollett was charged with making a false report. Prosecutors dropped the case in March. Smollett maintained his innocence but agreed to let authorities keep the $10,000 bail.

Jussie Smollett

Chicago’s Law Department issued a statement Wednesday saying the city will continue to pursue its efforts to recover the full cost of its investigation. “The judge in this case has already ruled in our favor once and we fully expect to be successful in defeating these counterclaims,” Bill McCaffrey, Chicago law department spokesman, said in a statement. AP

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Japanese skin-care

brand’s best of the best and then some diNNa chaN vasquez @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

recently received some skin-care products—including the Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate, Power Infusing Concentrate, Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Contour Serum and Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream— from top Japanese brand Shiseido. So far, I have only used the Ultimune products. I read that one bottle of the Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate is sold every 15 seconds. I mean, that’s serious stuff if you ask me. The line has been reformulated recently. On top of the original proprietary Ultimune Complex, there’s now ImuGeneration Technology, as well. The concentrate now has the antioxidantrich reishi mushroom and iris root, that not only help fortify our skin’s defensive ability, but also hydrate and visibly reduce signs of aging. I think of Ultimune as preventive management, meaning we take care of our skin before aging and environmental damage catch up with us. One thing I love about the Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate is its texture. The formula is so light and sinks into the skin. Use Ultimune as a pre-treatment to enhance the efficacy of your moisturizer or serum. I also like that I can use it for day and night. This is the first time that I’ve used anything from the Ultimune line and I’m very very impressed. Another item from the line I am impressed with is the eye cream. The Ultimune Power Infusing Eye Concentrate helps improve the appearance of the eye

area by defending against daily damage caused by friction, like rubbing of the eyes and by strengthening the eye area and restoring firmness. I hardly use eye cream but I gave this a try and was astounded by how it worked for me in just three weeks. I use both products with skin-care items from other brands and they work well. I also received a couple of items from the Benefiance line—the Wrinkle Smoothing Contour Serum and Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream. The Wrinkle Smoothing Serum is powered by ReNeura Technology and addresses the look of deep wrinkles so effectively, results are visible after just seven days of use, according to the results of user trial. The Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream is an iconic eye cream that’s been advanced and improved. This new version of the age-defying Shiseido Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream contains a breakthrough and proactive new formula that’s more effective in helping improve skin with frown lines and wrinkles. With Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream, users noticed benefits immediately, with increased results over a period of four weeks. Women saw instant smoothness and experienced a moisturized feel that lasted all day. Shiseido skin care can be pricey. A good way to try them would be via facials at Shiseido’s boutiques. I had a mini facial at the TriNoma branch and I’m definitely coming back for the real thing.

SPRING-SUMMER IN 2020 For the spring-summer 2020 season, global fashion brand Tod’s presents the modernity of clean lines and high-quality materials, envisioned by the expert hands of skilled artisans who used unique craftsmanship to create cosmopolitan products. Leather takes center stage, and is tieeyed or cut into cascades of sequins. Pony skin is woven into macramé. Pleats are created from nappa intarsia. Blouson jackets are sharply structured, and cozy overcoats come in anaconda or rubberized leather. There are also touches of zebra print which add a dash of vibrant eccentricity to the collection. The palette juxtaposes natural leather hues with graphic black and white, softened by muted pastels or given definition by accents of bright color. The focus for accessories is on the art and craftsmanship of saddlery. San Crispino stitching accentuates the tapered silhouette of kitten-heeled slingbacks and slip-ons, so that the meticulous skill which goes into making the products becomes a mark of contemporary style. Round-toe loafers in metallic leather and zebra-print pony skin reconfirm one of the brands signature designs. The iconic letter T, taken from the archives, features throughout the collections, on fastenings of handbags, on driving shoes and on buckles, emphasizing and giving character to the Tod’s brand, which is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists Inc. around these parts.

BusinessMirror

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Monday, November 25, 2019 E1

Why employees need both recognition and appreciation

By Mike Robbins

ecognition and appreciation. For leaders who want their teams to thrive and organizations that want to create cultures of engagement, loyalty and high performance, it’s important to understand the distinction. to build trust and connect. Here are a few simple ways to show appreciation for those around you:

One of the best things you can do for the people you work with is also one of the simplest: Put down your phone, turn away from your computer and genuinely listen to them.

Tell people what you value about them

Doing this proactively—not bec au se someone d id some thing great or because you want something from them—is an incredibly powerful gift. It can positively affect how your colleagues feel about themselves, your relationship with them and

By Michael Hodgkins, Meg Barron & Stacy Lloyd

the culture of the team.

Check in

There’s a quote I like that is often attributed to Teddy Roosevelt: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” No matter who said it, it’s such a great reminder. Check in with the people you work with. Recognition is appropriate and necessary when it’s earned and deserved. Appreciation, however, is important all the time. Mike Robbins is the author of four books, including his latest, “Bring Your Whole Self to Work.

It is critical for digital health companies to involve physicians (and patients) early in the development of their products to help articulate how they should function, touch a patient’s life and integrate into clinical practice.

Obtain diverse perspectives

To obtain valuable insights into

n e-t h i r d of A mer ic a n workers are in jobs for which the median wage is below $15 an hour. More than half of retail and food service workers get less than a week’s notice of their schedule. Yet, our extensive experience with top executives has shown us that many genuinely believe they are doing everything they can for their front-line workers. How can these data-driven business leaders be so misinformed?

They’re benchmarking against other poor performers

Company leaders we’ve spoken with are quick to point out that they “pay in line with the market.” But in a sea of mediocrity—which

how a product or solution will work once it’s introduced into the real world of patient care, digital health companies and health systems need the input of physicians with different backgrounds and in different specialties who collectively treat diverse patient populations.

Be respectful of time and expertise

When physicians provide their expertise and time, often they are sacrificing time with their patients—something companies should keep in mind when engaging with them. At the end of the day, if a digital health tool isn’t helping achieve the quadruple aim, it isn’t solving the right problem. The best way for digital health companies and health systems to ensure that it is and can be implemented effectively, is to deeply involve physicians and patients. Michael Hodgkins is the chief medical information officer of the American Medical Association, where Meg Barron is vice president of digital health strategy and Stacy Lloyd is senior manager of digital health strategy.

Why is every streaming service using the same pricing model?

Why so many CEOs don’t realize they’ve got a bad jobs problem By Katie Bach & Zeynep Ton

ecause the digital health ecosystem is growing and evolving so rapidly, it has become difficult for physicians, patients and health system administrators to navigate potential solutions that can address multifaceted problems, as well as meet requirements for privacy, security, clinical efficacy, usability and interoperability. To help address this problem, the American Medical Association created its Physician Innovation Network (PIN), which connects physicians, residents and medical students to health technology companies and entrepreneurs. Below are some thoughts based on our interactions with physicians and innovators involved in PIN.

Engage early and often

qoncept | Dreamstime.coma

Recognition is about giving positive feedback based on results or performance. But there are some limits to recognition. First, it’s performance-based, so it’s conditional. Second, it’s based on the past, so it’s about what people have already done. Third, it’s scarce. Fourth, it generally has to come from the top. And while recognition that includes monetary compensation can be great, researchers from the London School of Economics found that financial incentives can actually backfire when it comes to motivating employees. Appreciation, on the other hand, is about acknowledging a person’s inherent value. The point isn’t their accomplishments. It’s their worth as a colleague and a human. In simple terms, recognition is about what people do; appreciation is about who they are. This distinction matters because recognition and appreciation are given for different reasons. And when we show appreciation to our colleagues, customers, managers and partners, we’re more likely

Listen

How to Engage Physicians in Innovative Health-Care Efforts

is what the US service industry is in terms of front-line job quality—keeping pace with median performers should not be the goal.

They aren’t looking at the (right) data

Executives are usually up on the macro labor numbers, like total wage spending and average wage growth, but not on what their labor model means for individual workers. Many companies also track metrics, such as employee engagement, that can give a misleading picture of job quality. While engagement surveys may be useful in assessing year-on-year trends, they don’t give a true picture of job quality.

They’re out of touch

It’s not just the data that execu-

tives are missing out on; it’s also the reality of their workers’ day-to-day lives. When we break down workers’ basic living expenses using a living wage calculator, executives are often surprised that even workers making what executives think is a “good wage,” like $15 an hour, fall short each month.

They conflate culture with good jobs

Because executives are out of touch with how hard things are for their employees, it’s easy for them to figure that a “strong culture,” frequent “employee appreciation” and cool but insufficient benefits such as wellness programs add up to job quality. Fortunately, the solution to these problems is straightforward and something that executives

and their staffs are already good at: rigorous analysis. This will require looking at new metrics, such as the percentage of full-time workers earning a living wage, assigning much less significance to comparisons with low-paying competitors and learning about the workers’ day-to-day challenges. Finally, it will require executives to be honest with themselves. Unfortunately, there is a deeper problem that is more difficult to solve: the beliefs some executives have about the value of hourly jobs and workers. Katie Bach is the managing director of the Good Jobs Institute. Zeynep Ton is a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and president of the Good Jobs Institute.

By Rafi Mohammed

treaming services are violating rule No. 1 in pricing/packaging: Meet the needs of customers. Viewers want to watch their favorite shows—and minimize paying for programs that they’re not interested in. Just as important, if rival streaming services start offering cheaper options (e.g., metered plans or a la carte), those that don’t follow suit will be put at a significant competitive disadvantage. Bloated all-or-nothing packages will be even less appealing. So what should streaming services do? Consider adding the following options:

Metered

The easiest solution is to meter usage by number of shows or viewing time. A handful of volume-based plans can be offered: low, medium and high. And if the unlimited plan is ditched, a key problem will be solved. Friends and distant friends will be more vigilant about safeguarding their streaming passwords if they are now being charged for their “generosity.”

Good-better-best

Another way to provide discount options is to offer a line of packages. Content can be segmented by content type (series shows versus films), exclusivity (original content versus available on other services) and release date (new versus six months after release). Usage restrictions include “ability to binge watch” (yes/no), viewing time (all week versus only weekend) and device (mo-

bile versus television).

Metering/good-better-best hybrid

Cell phone pricing plans of the past are an example of a hybrid of metering and G-B-B. In addition to a fixed number of minutes, minutes were allocated to different categories such as off-peak, peak and international.

Discounts to encourage commitment

It’s odd that streaming services typically only offer month-to-month plans. This pricing strategy makes it easy to turn services on and off. Volume discounts—committing to a period of time—can be employed to reduce customer churn. Sure, cellphone-like plans are cumbersome compared with the simplicity of one price for all you can watch. But that’s the point: New plans are deliberately cumbersome. A common tactic in pricing is to create hurdles to identify price-sensitive customers. Streaming hurdles, such as volume, content and usage restrictions are used to ensure that discounts are offered only to customers who truly care about a reduced price. Customers who aren’t concerned about price can go directly to “unlimited.” A one-price-fits-all strategy fails to acknowledge that for any product or service, customers have unique needs and a different willingness to pay. Rafi Mohammed is the founder of Culture of Profit, a consultancy.

Education BusinessMirror

E2 Monday, November 25, 2019

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Young artists feted at 52nd NSAC A By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

DOZEN young artists were feted by Pilipinas Shell at this year’s 52nd National Students Art Competition (NSAC) awarding ceremonies held last week at a mall in Makati City.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat keynoted the event, citing how art contributed to the Philippines’s historic past. “Art has always made an important part in imagining the nation, shaping our consciousness, even determining its history,” she said. “Juan Luna’s Spoliarium, which depicts a classic scene of Roman gladiators, was an allegory of Filipino suffering under the Spanish rule. The masterpiece inspired Jose Rizal to write Noli Me Tangere, which indirectly led to the Filipino revolution,” Romulo Puyat added. The theme of this year’s competition, “Imagine Nation,” asked students to create their visions of the Filipino dream. “Art is passed to grapple with the realities of today, to wrestle

with the issues that confront our society, but doesn’t mean art can be hopeful or beautiful. Above all, art should be inspiring,” Romulo Puyat said. “Creating art is an intensely personal experience; a process that delves deep into your soul and explores every part of your psyche. But that is also why art is very powerful.” The DOT chief lauded the students’ works and welcomed them to the circle of Filipino contemporary artists, who have long been making their mark in the international art world and whose careers were developed from this very competition. “Students, use your talent to impart messages and ideas that will help build our nation. As a young Filipino artist, you will be joining

PILIPINAS Shell President and CEO Cesar Romero (second row, sixth from left) and Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat (second row, seventh from left) pose with the 12 winners of Shell’s 52nd National Students Art Competition. They are with special guests and other Shell executives.

the ranks of the masters, leaders, teachers and even outsiders in the art world who live a lasting impresssion on the country. Your next artwork could very well start a revolution,” she said. The winners were taken from 1,111 entries. The top 3 studentartists for each category with their respective works and schools are as follows: n Oi l /ac r yl ic: Fi rst pl ace, Rhichelle Kirk A. Tabanera of the Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez

Institute of Science and Technology (Earist), for his work Still Standing; second place, Nemesis B. Manahan, Bulacan State University (BSU), Let There Be Light; and third place, Trinkher Q. Nogueras, University of the East (UE), Mag-aaral. n Watercolor: First pl ace, Nicolle T. Plamer, Earist, Gising Sanip; second place: Jarren V. Dahan, University of Mindanao,May Layang Lumipad; and third place, Paul John V. Galagar, University of

the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB), Pira-piraso. n Sculpture: First place, Justin Angelo D.G. Vital, BSU, The Safe and Sound of Patong-Patong; second place, Wendi T. Patoc, Earist, Pagsibol; and third place, Sherlyn A. Belga, Adventist University of the Philippines, Key Roots. n Digital art: First place, Jemill B. Pang i l inan, Tec hnolog ica l University of the Philippines, Rich Mind, Rich Land; second place, Keith Andrew M. Sescon, UP-Cebu,

Teodoro gives books, uniforms to 5,700 kinder kids in Marikina

arikina City government distributed two sets of school uniforms and storybooks for free to all 5,700 kindergarten students in the city as it reaffirms its commitment to a better quality education and services to schoolchildren in the city. Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro led the distribution to publicschool kindergarten children from November 12 to 14. The following public schools where Teodoro distributed the school goods were: Barangka Elementary School, Kalumpang Elementary School, Industrial Valley Elementary School, L. Victorino Elementary School, Malanday Elementary School, Marikina Elementary School, San Roque Elementary School, Santo Niño Elementary School. The other schools were the kindergarten schoolchildren enrolled at H. Bautista Elementary School, Saint Mary Elementary School, Concepcion Elementary School, Parang Elementary School, Fortune Elementary School, SSS Village Elementary School, Concepcion Integrated School, Nangka Elementary School and Kapitan Moy Elementary School. According to Department of Education-Marikina, a total of 5,711 kindergarten students are enrolled in public elementary schools in Marikina for the SY 2019-2020. Teodoro said the free books are for the parents to read to their children who are still learning to read, saying parents should take time to bond with their children while they are still young.

The storybooks were big, colorful and have a lot of illustrations to spark the imagination of children, the mayor explained. According to Teodoro, schoolchildren can also learn good values from the big storybooks that the Marikina local government provided. “The storybooks are for you, the parents. Your children are still young who could not still read. You will read the books to your children to teach them to read,” the mayor told the parents in Filipino. The books, Teodoro added, are for free, they can own it, even if it is destroyed or crumpled. What is important is that the parents spend time with their children to read books so that they could learn to read. Dr. Elisa Cerveza, assistant schools division superintendent in Marikina City, said kindergarten children in all of Marikina’s 17 public elementary schools each received two uniforms and storybooks. “We give priority to kindergarten children this time in giving free uniforms and storybooks,” Cerveza said in Filipino. Jenalyn Sagan, a mother, expressed her gratitude to Teodoro, saying that the free two sets of uniforms, will lessen her expenses because she will not have to buy a new set of uniform for her kids. She added that the new uniforms will enable her child to have uniforms for two days. “This is a big help in our budget,” Sagan said in Filipino. She said a pair of uniform for kindergarten children costs around P200.

Marikina City Mayor Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro leads the distribution of free two sets of school uniforms and storybooks to kindergarten children enrolled in the 17 public elementary schools in the city. Marikina LGU

Transparency; and third place, Andrei Timothy D. Barrantes, UE, The Maker. “I’m thankful to God and also for Shell. I’m glad that I finally won after joining this competition for four years,” Vital, a graduating BSU fine arts student, told the BusinessMirror in a chance interview. Each winner received a cash prize, a plaque and art supplies. Their schools, likewise, received a plaque and cash prizes. Their winning entries are now on display alongside the top 100 submissions at Glorietta 4 until November 23. Shell NSAC, one of the longestrunning art contests in the country, has built a legacy of developing the local art scene by creating a platform for young talents to showcase their creations. “Shell continues to invest in programs that promote social development, because we believe in the power of the Filipino youth. We believe that they can influence the country toward a better and brighter future,” said Pilipinas Shell President and Chief Executive Officer Cesar Romero. Pilipinas Shell hopes to keep its legacy of recognizing and driving artists to excel, just like the many artists who began their careers with this competition.

Teachers across PHL introduced to robotics

CLASSES SUSPENDED Students of Santiago City National High School in Isabela province hurry home after classes were suspended with the onslaught of Typhoon Ramon in the province. All classes in all levels in the province were, likewise, suspended. CEASAR M. PERANTE

New aviation school prepares PHL pilots for fulfilling careers

career in aviation was hailed as one of the top 10 highest paying jobs in the Philippines right now. More Filipino pilots could join this high-paying job league with the forecast by Boeing’s Pilot and Technical Market Outlook for 2013-2032 that air traffic is expected to grow 4.7 percent annually over the next 20 years. This means that the demand for new commercial planes would translate to a staggering 498,000 new commercial airline pilots over the next two decades. According to International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao), thousands of pilots will need to be trained to meet the growing demand for air transport, as passengers are forecast to double in the next 15 years. First Aviation Academy Inc. (FAA), an integrated aviation career and resource development company, foresees this shortage of aviation professionals and aims to address it. Established in March 2019, shareholders PTC Group and MacroAsia Corp. invested in this brandnew training center in Subic Bay International Airport. It aims to develop the next generation of worldclass Filipino aviation professionals. The pilot school offers one course: Air Transport Pilot Training (ATPT). According to FAA’s General Manager Raoul “Arvi” Perez, the ATPT course is unique because it already contains all the training that one

needs to become an airline pilot. Unlike other training schools, FAA’s ATPT course would provide graduates with the following: Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating, Multi-Engine Rating, Commercial Pilot License and Air Transport Pilot License Theory. “On top of that, they will also be trained on several airline-related ground schooling courses,” Perez said. “I think that differentiates us, because just by getting the ATPT course, you’ll be ready to transition to an airline training.” When applying in FAA’s 12-month training program, cadets can expect to be trained in the latest technology and equipment, such as aircraft simulators. According to Perez, FAA students will be provided with the training they need in order to transition to an actual airline. Of the latest simulators, FAA boasts of having the Tecnam P2010 single engine aircraft, as well as the Redbird MCX—both of which are extensively used in the program. FAA cadets can also have unlimited use of the Garmin G-1000 full glass cockpit electronic instrumentation for single-engine training. This is important because they will be familiarized with the glass cockpit, which is currently used by modern airlines. They can also expect to have a higher number of multi-engine fly-

ing time using Tecnam P2006T twin engine, another simulator that FAA offers to its students. Moreover, aspiring pilots can expect to be trained using the Redbird Citation Mustang simulator, which is used for jet orientation. FAA offers multi-engine training, which is usually not offered by other flight schools. Perez explained that FAA doesn’t only offer the rating, but also the extra time flying the twin engines. This means that it would be a very good advantage for someone who would like to enter the airline field. In addition, FAA’s instructors are high timers, according to Perez, who were extensively trained in using the Tecnam P2010 single engine aircraft, as well as in Redbird MCX simulators. They are also familiar with the operations of Subic airport. After taking the course, FAA’s cadets have various options, including continuing to become a flight instructor, or proceeding to the Airbus A320 type rating. They can also look at various paths in the general aviation field, where they could continue to fly and build up their time. While there is a shortage of pilots, salaries for this career would remain high. Perez said that this would be a good period especially for those who have the desire to become airline pilots.

ublic and private schools from all over the country attended and experienced the world of robotics through SparkEd, an annual seminarworkshop hosted by De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (DLSZ) that focused on blended learning experiences for the 21st century. The teachers were treated to a basic robotics workshop which included a sample session from e2 Young Engineers. E2 Young Engineers is an enrichment program that teaches the basic principles of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to children as early as four years old. It uses popular toys, such as Lego and K’Nex, to build models to demonstrate the real-world application of STEM principles. Among the many models are various types of vehicles, walking androids, conveyor belts and carousels, to name a few. The participants built some of these models using exclusively designed build kits. Like other forward-looking educational institutions, DLSZ has made a big push into STEM education and recently spun off its robotics unit separately from its Science Department. The main goal of its robotics program is to stimulate the students’ creativity and imagination by designing solutions to real-world science problems using robots. Young Engineers Franchise owner Peri Espino shared with teachers different topics focused on the students’ learning process on STEM through the programs of E2 Young Engineers. “The program provides learners with a solid foundation in STEM to better prepare them to tackle the new K to 12 curriculum in high school,” Espino said. “This is important whether or not the child chooses to go into robotics later on.” M ore information, updates, and activities are available on the Facebook page of e2 Young Engineers.

E2 Young Engineers

Amir Asor, a young Israeli entrepreneur, founded e2 Young Engineers and created the program in 2008 to develop children’s knowledge and understanding of STEM subjects. He was able to pioneer the concept of “edutainment” in the classroom, combining education and entertainment. In 2011, Asor was awarded the title of “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Youth Business International, a network of international not-for-profit organizations which is overseen by England’s Prince Charles, who is the organization’s president.

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Monday, November 25, 2019 E3

Learning pr on the job

D PR Matters By Millie F. Dizon

ear PR Matters, I recently graduated from a communications course that includes PR subjects, and after reading your column, I am thinking of pursuing a career in public relations. Do you think that what I have learned in school will be helpful to me and what else will I have to learn as I go on with my work? I will greatly appreciate your guidance on this.

Dear Bernardine, My colleagues and I are happy you are thinking of pursuing a career in public relations. We all can say that this is very challenging, but very fulfilling, as you will find as you go along. It is a good thing that you took some subjects on public relations in college. This will give you some PR basics and align you to the discipline, but from experience, we can say that the best way you can learn about it is on the job. In an article on PR News Online, Arthur Solomon, enlightens us about “9 Things About PR They Didn’t Teach You in College.” Solomon, who is SVP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller and is on the Seoul Peace Prize Nominating Committee, is definitely an expert in communications. And what he shares with us is very enlightening, even with those already working in the industry. He begins by saying that he was surprised that “there are several things about dealing with journalists that I find new and some experienced PR pros are not aware of.” With that, “unless your college instructors are working news people, the following may have eluded you.”

Embargo

Embargo in PR speak means restricting the release of a statement or news item until such time. But as Solomon says, “PR pros should know that once a release is distributed, when it is used is up to the editors.” In short, just because a PR firm distributes a press release with the words “Embargoed Until” atop it doesn’t mean the reporter will honor it. It may work to speak to the journalist and request that he or she honor the embargo, but the best thing is not to release anything unless you are prepared to have it published.

adobo FOI 2019: The Rice Revolution—How Patrick and Rachel Renucci Mixed Data, Research and Passion to Help Out Farmers Affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda in Leyte MANILA, PHILIPPINES—To help the Philippines reclaim the title of the world’s best rice producers—this is but among the many goals that husband and wife duo Patrick and Rachel Renucci have as they build up their company, Chen Yi Agventures. And one might argue that they have begun making that a reality as they pave the way for revolutionizing rice production with their brand, Renucci Rice. In fact, it was just recently that their Dalisay rice was named as the world’s third best by the World Rice Conference 2019. At this year’s adobo Festival of Ideas (FOI), the two will be talking

about how they made this feat possible, and how data and researchdriven methods have allowed the farmers they work with to drastically increase harvest yield and quality, a demonstration on how “The Connectivity Economy” pushes innovation by putting collaboration over competition. Their talk will be entitled “Rice Revolution.”

Head-on and never in half measures

Patrick and Rachel once lived busy lives in Paris. Patrick founded and ran Median Impressions, one of the largest printing companies in the city. Rachel, on the other hand, was an investment banker managing over a billion dollar fund in a company based in Hong Kong and London. While most couples in their position might not think about restructuring their lives, both of them answered to a higher calling that they simply could not ignore—helping the farmers that were affected by Supertyphoon Haiyan (named Yolanda in the Philippines). The couple remember how it was when they first saw the images on their television screen. “We

Muhammad Ribkhan | Dreamstime.com

Sincerely, Bernardine S.

Off-the-record

“If you don’t want it reported, don’t say it’ is the advice I always give to executives before interviews of when they socialize with the media,” says Solomon. While you can establish off-the-record ground rules upfront when conveying the information you want kept off-the-record, it doesn’t mean a reporter considers it so. This is especially true in a social setting when you can be relaxed and off-guard. Better to keep important information close to your heart.

Wheat and chaff

“Treat the minors like the majors,” says Solomon. That means, not limiting your network to the major media companies. What can be considered minor companies may grow and may give you good exposure.

After-hours availability

Many PR firms and companies have normal business hours, were affected because we know the Philippines a little bit and we understand that calamity can happen but the problem with the Supertyphoon Yolanda, we saw for several days that nobody was able to go there and to help so we were so affected and the image was so hard on TV that we decided, my wife and I, we discussed and say maybe it’s time for us to change the way we are living and to change the way we are earning money and let’s try to go there and see what kind of business we can do to help the people recover,” shared Patrick. Pivoting sounds like a difficult task as it is, but the Renuccis went beyond that. Selling off all their assets to help rebuild a province, the two packed their bags and made their way to the Philippines no holds barred. Rachel explained, “I think if we are going to invest the amount we’ve invested into the province of Leyte, which meant building the most technologically advanced rice processing complex in Southeast Asia in Alangalang Leyte, and to mobilize thousands of farmers, we can’t do it in half steps. We can’t be living in Paris half the time, Hong

but journalists work roundthe-clock. After pitching a good story, Solomon says, “the best way you can cement media contacts is to let journalists know where you can be reached at all hours.” In short, always be there for your contacts.

Journalists can’t do without us

While too many PR pros think content creators can’t survive without their help, it’s really the opposite, says Solomon. After all, “there’s enough legitimate non-PR pitched news to fill editorial holes without the help of PR pros.” In short, “they can survive without us. We can’t survive without them.”

Your executive

“Just because your very important executive is in town and wants media coverage doesn’t mean that reporters will jump at the opportunity of doing an interview,” says Solomon. There are several reasons for this. To begin with, the industry Kong sometimes, and maybe once a month, we’ll graze into Leyte, it doesn’t work that way. When we decided to do this, to invest all that we had in this project, to transform the rice industry in the Philippines, we have to give all of ourselves, we have to go into it head-on and never in half measures.”

Redefining food production, redefining Filipino rice

Patrick and Rachel didn’t have any relatives in Leyte, and were coming in not knowing what to expect. What they did discover, however, was the vast rice fields empty and without farmers tilling the land. The two would then survey 4,000 farmers to understand their needs and problems, and then began finding solutions. The result of their research would be the Renucci Rice Partnership Program, an end-toend initiative that enables local Leyte farmers to produce grains and earn a living wage by providing them with all the farming inputs that they need and helping them from land preparation, planting and harvesting. Through the program, farmers

your executive works in won’t interest every news outlet. Sometimes, it can be clear that the executive is only after selfpromotion. In addition, “even if a reporter agrees to a get-toknow session, he might not find anything the executive says important enough to warrant writing a story.”

Your agency

Solomon shares with us this reality. “Even if you work for a top 5 agency, journalists will not be impressed when you contact them. It’s the story that matters, not the agency that provides it.” He also shares with us an experience how an important editor at a major media outlet intimated to him how she would throw out her handwritten pitches without opening them as the PR failed to spell her name correctly. This is something we all have to think about.

Your title

Solomon shares with us are given access to low-interest loans in kind (fertilizers, pesticides, and a single kind of high-yielding seed). This helps the farmers gain access to credit in a country where alternative collaterals have yet to be accepted, and true financial inclusion is still far from being achieved. The program also grants them access to the company’s stateof-the-art and fully automated processing center that drastically increases both quantity and quality of the grains. “They were harvesting around 50 cavans or 50 sacks per hectare so that’s around two tons per hectare of palay. Some of our farmers that joined our program reached already over 200 cavans per hectare. Some of the farmers, they reached ten tons of palay, so it’s huge,” Patrick shared. Chemical free, and wholly produced in Leyte, the rice is as pure as it can be, hence the name Dalisay—a Filipino term for genuine, true, and pure. The rice, as the couple explains, is also a stark contrast from what’s readily available in most markets as imported grains are either mixed in together or mixed with the local

another reality in the PR world—“an important-sounding title will fail to give you an in with media.”

Being helpful and being there

If you are looking at a longterm relationship with the media, Solomon says it means always being there for them. This is, perhaps, the most important thing we don’t learn in school. PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdombased International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie F. Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman. We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

produce before they are sold.

A tide that lifts all boats

In a landscape where competition is known to drive innovation, the Renuccis are redefining success by proving how collaboration works far better. After all, the two realized that food production isn’t just an issue limited to farmers in Leyte. “The rice crisis, it’s more complex. It’s not only about the farmer. If we want to solve the problem of rice crisis in the Philippines, we need to go beyond the farmer. That means maybe we have to adjust some laws, we need to do compact farming so we need to work altogether. We cannot just rely on the farmer and trying to help the farmer. It’s not enough,” Patrick expounded. The dream of the Renuccis is for the entire supply chain to be uplifted. By working closely with different links in the value chain, different sectors, they are hoping that the entire industry will improve. This is the only way for their end goal, which is to help provide farmers a sustainable livelihood, to be achieved at its fullest potential.

ExecutiveViews BusinessMirror

E4 Monday, November 25, 2019

ATANGAS is just over an hour’s drive on a regular day. Its proximity to the metropolis makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the south. The province has many beaches and is famous for excellent diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island in Bauan, Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Calatagan and Laiya in San Juan. Batangas also has attractive islands, including Tingloy, Verde Island (Isla Verde), and Fortune Island. The Sulu-Sulawesi Triangle has its center at the Isla Verde Passage making Batangas seas a host to more than half of the world’s species of coral reefs. Batangas is also famous for Taal Volcano. It is where the Taal Heritage town lies, a small picturesque town that has ancestral houses and structures dating back to the 19th century. That’s because the place became the first settlement of the Spaniards in Batangas and one of the earliest in the Philippines. Other important peaks are Mt. Makulot with an elevation of 830 m, Mt. Talamitan with 700 m, Mt. Pico de Loro with 664 m, Mt. Batulao with 811 m, Mt. Manabo with 830 m, and Mt. Daguldol with 672 m which are homes of flora and fauna that is distinctively found in Batangas. Batangas is also known for its livestock industry. Cattle from Batangas is widely sought throughout the country. Bakang Batangas (Batangas Cow) is actually synonymous to the country’s best species of cattle. Over the years, foodies rave over Batangas Bulalo along with other favorites: Batangas Lomi, Kapeng Barako, sinaing and tawilis, among others.

Mount Malarayat Golf & Country Club at Lipa, Batangas

WITH the province’s abundant natural resources, fun destinations, great food offerings and rich history, Batangas has become a great investment haven over the years. One of the earliest developers mesmerized by the beauty of Batangas is the Active Group owned by the Turalba family. Now standing proudly in the heart of Lipa City is the world-class Mount Malarayat Golf & Country Club, a golf course-country club-residential estate complex covering 200 hectares. Characterized by the seamless integration of man-made and natural environment, the centerpiece of this family resort destination is the 27-hole all-weather championship golf course designed by the internationally-renowned J. Michael Poellet Design Group. Awarded “The Best Golf Course in the Philippines” in the recently-held Asia-Pacific Golf summit held in India, Mount Malarayat celebrated its 21st year anniversary with two days of festivities on October 19 and 20 with local and foreign gold aficionados teeing off. “I was part of the design team for the clubhouse. My participation was in planning, the architectural plan and supervision. Then when it was done I managed it for a while as a club manager,” reminisced Architect Antonio “Toti” Turalba, Jr., currently president and chief executive officer of the Active Group of Companies. “Mount Malarayat is now a thriving a community in this side of Batangas. Lipa used to be a sleepy town and was virtually unknown. The construction of the STAR Tollway was a great help, too,” Toti said. True enough, Lipa is now a city of its own and is very progressive with its own hospitals, schools, and business establishments. It’s highly populated with many Filipinos either migrating or buying properties there as vacation houses. These make Lipa a perfect residentialrecreational development outside of Manila. “That’s why Active Group is bullish about the progress of the province. Its big population, good roads and infrastructure make the development fastest south of Manila,” Toti added.

Porto Laiya at San Juan, Batangas

THUS, after Malarayat, the group developer looked into beach properties and found Laiya. Toti said his father, Antonio A. Turalba, Sr., was part of the project but he was the one leading this time for the Porto Laiya project, a coastal lifestyle that merges with contemporary pleasures. Porto Laiya is a gated beach enclave made distinctive with landscaping, breathtaking water views, and carefree home sites. All thoughtfully placed among lush trees, exclusive facilities and amenities and relaxing activities in a

white-sand seaside setting. “Laiya white sand is the nearest in the Metro. Like Lipa, Laiya wasn’t known at that time. Today, many OFW Batanguenos and investors have bought lots at Laiya for their vacation and recreational pleasure.

Mozzafiato at Balete, Batangas

“AND now to complete the trifecta of Active Group Batangas properties we have found another property to develop. We call it Mozzafiato, meaning ‘breathtaking’ in Italian. It’s really something new –lakeside living —inspired from my trips to Italy. This property lent itself to what I saw in Italy. So I’m going to have its own marina. It’s a project with a gross area of 72 hectares, of which some 54 hectares are developable. We shall have residential subdivision component comprising about 44 hectares, while about 6 hectares are set aside for the commercial area. The marina will be part of the commercial area,” Toti said excitedly. “Mozzafiato is purely my own brainchild, a boating lifestyle where Taal Lake provides the recreational venue for a variety of watersport activities. The landowner was a classmate of mine. The project broke ground in May 2018 with my mother, Arch. Maria Cristina V. Turalba, the co-founder and vice-chairman of the Active Group of Companies in attendance,” he said. At the time of the interview for Business Mirror, the amiable developer was doubly excited because “our license to sell the property (for Mozzafiato) just came out.” “Balete is just 10-15 minutes exit from Malarayat. I’m the only one there. That makes the difference. Mozzafiato shall place Balete on the map. Just like what Malarayat Golf & Country Club did to Lipa,” Toti added. While Mozzafiato is being developed, Toti said, the local government of Balete is also fixing its municipality. The ‘bayan’ is already being fixed. The municipal hall, which is along the shore, will be transferred. He said the city mayor likewise decided to make the existing structure into a money-making venture for the LGU. “So sumasabay ang bayan sa ginagawa naming development. We complement each other. In fact, the mayor is collaborating with my dad to improve the new city hall. While I work closely with the LGU. So ang bayan ng Balete ang talagang makikinabang,” he said.

The Builder and his legacy

WITH grand projects completed and a new adventure in the making, is there anything else the creative architect cannot do? “We are really on a continuous hunt for properties to develop and other projects outside of Manila. But we are not closing opportunities to coming to Manila. But right now, aside from Mozzafiato, we have other properties all over Negros from the capital city going north: from Bacolod to Talisay, Cadiz, and Sagay, among others. Indeed, Toti has imbibed the values his parents have shown him and his siblings all these years— that is to build and eventually help the community. “I like to build things with my hand. I love to tinker with things, to make things on my own. I like concepts, I prefer tangible results,” he said. So he also finds time to tinker around with his hobbies: mountain/sports bikes and cars including a Ferrari! He said it must be the influence of his parents who by chance has provided the job site to be his playgroud during his growing up years. “Lumaki ako sa construction site. yung mga hollow blocks, ginagawa kong bahay-bahayan dati.” When away from work and hobbies, the best time for Toti is spent with his family: his artist wife who goes on exhibits abroad, his aeronautical engineer son who is based in Boston and his artist daughter who is into film making. The family goes on a helicopter ride in Boston with the son as the captain, among others, aside from travels abroad, for their bonding time. Indeed, there is no sign of slowing down for Toti. For himself, he dreams of putting up a garage for car restoration in the future to continue his hobby. But for now, he is building a legacy he can call his own. “The key is to be the first, find the opportunity to build and help the town and community. It’s about the project and its impact on the community. I feel blessed to give back by creating good things for the people. With this work, I believe I could outlive my life’s purpose and eventually leave a good legacy,” Toti concluded.

ARCH. ANTONIO TURALBA, JR.

BUILDING HIS LEGACY TO BUILD AND HELP TOWNS AND COMMUNITIES By Leony R. Garcia