Business World (Jan. 12, 2016)

7/21/2019 Business World (Jan. 12, 2016)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/business-world-jan-12-2016 1/25

P25IN METROMANILA,

PHILIPPINES

TUESDAY • J A N U A R Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 6 • www.bworldonl ine.com

Main index enters bear marketBy Krista A. M. Montealegre

Senior Reporter

VOL. XXIX • ISSUE 117

THE BENCHMARK Philippine

Stock Exchange index (PSEi)

has entered a bear market, sink-

ing to its lowest level in almost

two years, as foreign investorscontinued to dump local equities

amid a global sell-off triggered by

lingering concerns about China’s

economy.

A barometer of investor con-

fidence, the 30-company PSEi

plunged 287.17 points or 4.37%

to close 6,288.26 yesterday, shav-

ing 22.63% off its peak of 8,127.48

logged on April 10 last year to

meet definition of a bear market.

The last time the PSEi strayed

into bear territory was in 2013

whe n eme rgi ng mar ket s suc -

cumbed to massive fund outflows

after then Federal Reserve Chair-

man Ben Bernanke hinted that

the US central bank could start

tapering its quantitative easing

program.

For the second straight ses-

sion, foreign investors logged net

sales of more than P1 billion, ac-

cording to bourse data.

Yesterday’s finish dragged

the PSEi to its lowest level since

Feb. 18, 2014, when it ended at

6,193.97, and its biggest one-day

percentage decline since Aug. 24,

2015, when it lost 6.70%.

The continuing rout in Chinese

equities, fueled by lingering fears

over its economic slowdown, has

been weighing on local equities

since last week, with emerging

FDI, S1/2

BoC, S1/2

Bear, S1/2

S1/1-12 • 3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES

BUSINESSNEWSPAPEROF 2014

AND 2015

ROTARYCLUB OFMANILA

Awarded by

facebook.com/BusinessWorldOnlinetwitter.com/bworldph

F O L L O W U S O N :

A NEWSPAPER IS A PUBLIC TRUST

Year-to-date net FDI fall slows further in Oct. but inflows a third of September’s record highTHE DROP of year-to-date net

foreign direct investment (FDI)

inflows had eased further on an

annual increment in October last

year, but that month’s amount

was just a third of the record high

logged in September, accord-

ing to data released yesterday by

the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

(BSP).

Latest available central bank

data also showed Philippine net

FDI inflows continued to lag

behind those of its comparable

Southeast Asian peers.

Net FDI inflows edged up1.4% to $451 million in October

last year from the $445 million

recorded in 2014’s comparable

month.

“Favorable investor senti-

ment on the back of the country’s

strong macroeconomic funda-

mentals resulted in net inflows

across all FDI components,” the

central bank said in a statement.

Net investments by foreign

firms in their Philippine units’

or affiliates’ debt instruments

surged 71.1% to $287 million from

$168 million in the same compa-

rable months.

However, net inflows of otherFDI components fell: net eq-

lion, 4.9% less than the $5.247

billion recorded in 2014’s compa-

rable 10 months.

The drop as of October was still

better than the 5.5% year-on-year

fall recorded in the nine months

to September, a month that re-

corded a record-high $1.519 bil-

lion in net inflows.

The 10 months to October saw

an 11.6% annual drop to $2.81 bil-

lion in lending by foreign firms

to their local subsidiaries or af-

filiates and a 10.8% fall to $637

million in reinvested earnings

that were mitigated by a 13.9%

BoC marks7th year of missed goalsTHE BUREAU of Customs (BoC)

has missed its collection target

for the seventh consecutive year

in 2015, posting even lower rev-

enues than that recorded the pre-

ceding ye ar, according to offi cial

data released yesterday.

The bureau said in a statement

that it raked in P366.9 billion last

year, about 16% below the govern-

ment’s full-year target of P436.6

billion and 0.6% less than the

P369.3 billion collected in 2014.

In December alone, the bureaubooked P37.1 billion in revenues,

falling short of the P39.4 billion

target for that month by 5.8%

and 17% behind the P44.6-billion

year-ago collection amid a con-

tinued slump in global oil prices.

The bureau listed its Zambo-

anga, Legaspi and Iloilo offices

as last year’s top performers for

exceeding their respective col-

lection targets by P175 million,

P290 million and P2.3 billion,

respectively.

On the other hand, the bu-

reau’s offi ces in Apa rri Limay an d

San Fernando registered the big-

gest shortfalls of P455 million,

P23 billion and P835 million,

respectively.

Data from the Department of

Budget and Management showthe bureau has never met its full-

year collection targets since 2009,

with actual amount s fallin g 10-

21% short.

In 2008, the bureau managed

to exceed a P254.5-billion target

uity capital inflows were halved

(-52.5%) to $101 million from

$213 million, while reinvested

earnings dipped 1.9% to $62 mil-

lion from $63 million.

Bulk of equity capital invest-

ments that month — largely from

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan,

Thailand and the United States

— went to manufacturing; real

estate; financial and insurance;

administrative and support ser-

vice; as well as elect rici ty, gas,

steam and air-conditioning sup-

ply businesses.

October’s tally brought year-to-date net inflows to $4.987 bil-

AR O U N D T H E

W O R L D

B E I J I N G

With luxury Acuramakeover, Hondaaims for brand survivalAs part of a broader makeover

— and even the survival — of

its stalled luxury Acura brand,

Japan’s Honda Motor Co. will

launch a new small crossover

sport utility vehicle this year in

China in a bid to compete with

BMW and Audi in the world’s

biggest car market, two individu-

als closely involved in the effort

said. S3/3

K H O B A R / D U B A I

Aramco to selldownstreamoperationsSaudi Arabia

is consideringselling shares in

refining ventures

with foreign oil firms

but would not offer a stake in

the crude oil exploration and

production operations of state

oil giant Saudi Aramco. Some

Aramco managers have been

informed that the company is

looking at listing shares in “joint

downstream subsidiaries” at

home and abroad, the sources

said. S3/3

N E W Y O R K

Asian stocks fallwith oil, rand as Chinaequity slump deepensAsian stocks extended last

week’s global rout, oil dropped

and the South African rand leda slump in emerging-market

currencies as China’s efforts to

stabilize the yuan failed to halt

a slump in equities. European

stock-index futures slid for a

fourth day. S3/4SOURCE: BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS BUSINESSWORLD GRAPHICS: BONG R. FORTIN

0

500

1,000

1,500

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST OCTOBERSEPTEMBER

5,247

4,987

(in $ million)

905

263 305 359 506

229

671

382 433 403 554

403 451 452 299

526 680

1,519

445 451

JANUARY - OCTOBERPERFORMANCE

YEAR-ON-YEAR PERFORMANCE,OCTOBER

1.4%

-4.9%

2014 2015

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTSIN THE PHILIPPINES

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

ARE THE GOOD TIMES OVER FOR EQUITIES?

SOURCE: TECHNISTOCK

BUSINESSWORLD RESEARCH:

JOCHEBED B. GONZALES AND DINDO F. PARAGAS

BUSINESSWORLD GRAPHICS: BONG R. FORTIN

Jan.2015

Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.2016

April 10, 2015 The Philippine Stock Exchangeindex closes at an all-time high afterdovish signals that a US rate hikewill be pushed to late 2015

August 24, 2015 The benchmark index falls to a14-month low, shedding 6.7% or 487.97points from the previous day onconcerns of a slowing China economy

January 11, 2016 The local stock market loses 22.63% or 1,839.22points from its close last April 10, 2015

January 4, 2016 The local stock marketends the year’s firsttrading day in the red,the first since the1.56% decline whentrades began in 2010

December 29, 2015 The local stockmarket drops 3.85%from its 7,230.57 closein 2014, ending thePhilippine equitymarket’s 6-year run

6,952.08 6,833.42

6,288.26 8,127.48 6,791.01

B E Y O N D

China not facing ‘cataclysmic’slowdown, Stiglitz sayshttp://goo.gl/fUutuS

H I G H L I F E

Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan:The fruit juice factoryhttp://goo.gl/5KirPU

E V E N T S C A L E N D A R

PHL banks’ outstanding loans,NTC broadband hearinghttp://goo.gl/9qRlCS

O N T H E

W E B

30DAYSTOJANUARY11,2016

DOW JONES 16,346.45 -167.65

NASDAQ 4,6 43.63 -45.80

S&P 500 1,922.03 -21.06

FTSE 100 5,912.44 -41.64

EURO STOXX50 2,887.84 -56.10

JAPAN (NIKKEI 225) HOLIDAYHONG KONG (HANG SENG) 19,888.50 -565.21 -2.76TAIWAN (WEIGHTED) 7,788.42 -105.55 -1.34THAILAND (SET INDEX) 1,233.90 -10.28 -0.83S.KOREA (KSE COMPOSITE) 1,894.84 -22.78 -1.19SINGAPORE (STRAITS TIMES) 2708.85 -42.38 -1.54

SYDNEY (ALL ORDINARIES) 4,932.24 -58.60 -1.17MALAYSIA (KLSE COMPOSITE) 1,637.59 -20.02 -1.21

S T OC K MA R K ET

JAPAN (YEN) 117.730 118.300HONG KONG (HK DOLLAR) 7.758 7.757

TAIWAN (NT DOLLAR) 33.288 33.320

THAILAND (BAHT) 36.260 36.290S. KOREA (WON) 1,203.880 1,200.630

SINGAPORE (DOLLAR) 1.434 1.437INDONESIA (RUPIAH) 13,870 13,920

MALAYSIA (RINGGIT) 4.380 4.375

$/UK POUND 1.4570 1.4617

$/EURO 1.0884 1.0871

$/AUST DOLLAR 0.7006 0.7027

CANADA DOLLAR /US$ 1.4118 1.4101

SWISS FRANC /US$ 0.9984 1.0006

INDEXOPEN: 6,523.28

HIGH: 6,523.28

LOW: 6,288.26

CLOSE: 6,288.26

VOL.: 4.788 BVAL(P): 7.230 B

FXOPEN P47.300

HIGH P47.240

LOW P47.350

CLOSE P47.270

W. AVE. P47.271VOL. $582.90 M

LATEST BID (0900GMT) PREVIOUS CLOSE NET % CLOSE NET CLOSE PREVIOUS

287.17 PTS.

4.36%

COMPOSITE

WEIGHTED AVE.

A S I A N MA R K ET S WOR LD MA R K ET S PE SO -DO LL A R R AT E S

30DAYSTOJANUARY11,2016

A S I A N C U R R EN C I ES W OR L D C U R R EN C I ES

25.2 CTVS.

OI L

DUBAI 29.20 27.20

WTI 33.16 33.27

BRENT 33.55 33.75

CLOSE PREVIOUSJANUARY 11, 2016 JANUARY 8, 2016

JANUARY 11, 2016 JANUARY 11, 2016 JANUARY 8, 2016



BoC,

from S1/ 1

Bear,

from S1/ 1

After record year for mergers and acquisitions,privatization to sustain Vietnam’s deals blitzHANOI/SINGAPORE — Foreign

firms are set to capitalize on Viet-

nam’s privatization drive and buy

into assets such as Vinamilk and

Mobifone to gain exposure to its

fast-growing economy this year,

boosting M&A deals that already

hit a record $4 billion in 2015.

The dealmaking flurry has

been encouraged by a turnaround

for Vietnam’s $186-billion econ-

omy last year, which as recently

as 2011 was fighting a 20-plus%

inflation rate and a banking sec-

tor saddled with bad debt.

“With strong momentum in the

Vietnam ese economy and Viet-

namese companies continuing to

grow in scale, the opportunity for

foreign companies to engage in siz-

able transactions and partnerships

has become increasingly attrac-

tive,” said Rehan Anwer, head of

Frontier Markets, at Credit Suisse.

Vi et na m’s ec on om y gr ew

6.68% in 2015, the fastest pace in

five years. By comparison, growth

in the economies of most of its

bigger Southeast Asian neighbors

isn’t expected to be as robust,

hurt by tumbling commodities

prices and falling currencies.

Deal values in Vietnam last

year were boosted by Thai tycoon

Santi Bhirombhakdi-linked Sing-

ha Asia’s $1.1 billion stake pur-

chases in the consumer goods and

beer units of the Masan Group.

This year, the sale of an up to

45% government stake valued at

$3.1 billion in partly state-owned

Vietnam Dairy Products JSC, or

Vinamilk, is on the cards.

Other deals likely to material-

ize in 2016 include a potential

$900 million sale of mobile net-

work provi der Mobif one and a

partial privatization of Binh

Son Refining and Petrochemical

Company, said a senior execu-

tive of an advisory firm with close

links to the government.

Deals are also likely in the

textiles, footwear, construction

and machinery sectors as inves-

tors position themselves before

Vietnam and 11 other countrie s

implement the Trans Pacific

Partnership accord.

The government has thrown

open several sectors for for-

eign investors, as a long-waited

rule kicked in last year allowing

foreigners to own up to 100%

in Vietnamese listed firms, ex-

cept for some sectors such as

property and transportation.

In banks, the government has

promised to raise the 30% max-

imum limit.

Investors do see risks. A key

one is a five-yearly congress of the

Communist Party that takes place

this month, causing uncertainty

about the kind of leadership that

will emerge from it. — Reuters

by P2.3 billion, according to data

obtained from the Customs com-

missioner’s office.

Customs Commissioner Al-

berto D. Lina conceded to hav-ing missed the full-year target as

early as July. The official had then

expected the “doable” collection

to range from P390 billion to

P400 billion.

RETIRED GENERALS OUT

Also yesterday, the bureau said it

has appointed eight new district

collectors before the prohibition

on appointments and personnel

transfers in the government dur-

ing the elections period.

The newly appointed col-

lectors will replace the retired

generals forming the Office of

Revenue Agency Modernization

(ORAM) that had been tasked to

implement a system to improve

revenue “based on their integrity,management skills and capabili-

ties”.

The Department of Finance

formed the ORAM in 2013, fol-

lowing the reassignment of

certain district collectors to the

Customs Policy Research Office

in the wake of poor collections.

But Congress has rejected al-

locations for ORAM this year.

“It’s important to note that the

Department of Finance and the

Bureau of Customs have exten-

sively defended ORAM during the

budget hearings to retain it,” Mr.

Lina said.

Next-in-rank officials will

replace the retired generals, ex-cept for Rolando R. Ricafrente, a

retired Philippine Coast Guard

commodore, whose replacement

at the Port of Limay in Bataan

remains under consideration.

The bureau assigned Cecilio

Vicente R. Gallo to Clark Interna-

tional Airport (replacing Esteban

A. Castro), Reynaldo M. Galeno

to the Port of Batangas (replacing

Ernesto P. Benitez, Jr.), Nicky Earl

L. Tortillas to the Port of Manila

(replacing Mario A. Mendoza),

Antonio Meliton T. Pascual to the

Manila International Container

Port (replacing Elmir S. dela

Cruz), Rico Rey Francis S. Hol-

ganza to the Port of Cebu (replac-

ing Arnulfo V. Marcos), Benhur P.

Arabani to the Port of Zamboanga(replacing Jerry A. Loresco) and

Romeo Allan R. Rosales to the

Port of San Fernando (replacing

Bonifacio T. de Castro).

“We trust that the next-in-line

officers know the Tariff and Cus-

toms Code of the Philippines by

heart,” the bureau said.

“We also need a strengthened

push in terms of our investiga-

tions against smugglers and

getting convictions.” — K. R. D.

Mariano

markets being hit by wild price

swings in varying degrees, PSEChief Operating Officer Roel A.

Refran said in a mobile phone

message yesterday.

“Neg a tive developments

overseas continue to affect the

performance of global equities,

including the Philippine mar-

ket. Money managers, includ-

ing foreign funds, are assessing

and rebalancing their exposure

to emerging markets following

the sell-off,” PSE President and

CEO Hans B. Sicat was quoted in

a statement as saying.

The rout in local equities,

however, does not change the

fundamentals of the Philippine

economy, with growth drivers

“seemingly intact,” Mr. Sicat said.

“The demographic dividends

are all the more pronounced giv-

en strong BPO (business process

outsourcing) performance, ro-

bust consumer sector, lower infla-

tion and growth in infrastructure.

We hope that the resilience and

sound fundamentals of the local

economy will be apparent in the

medium term and can help tem-

per the volatility over the coming

periods,” he said.

Investors are staying on the

sidelines and waiting for the PSEito hit 6,000 before entering the

market, BDO Unibank, Inc. Chief

Market Strategist Jonathan L.

Ravelas said in a mobile phone

message.

“We have problems, but it’s not

that bad to warrant that we trade

at these levels,” COL Financial

Group, Inc. Head of Research

April Lynn L. Tan said in a t ele-

phone interview.

“We think investors with a

long-term view can take advan-

tage and buy the market.”

The bellwether index is now

trading at a price to earnings (PE)

ratio of 15.5 times — below the

five-year PE of 16 times, Ms. Tan

said.

After breach ing anoth er key

support level at 6,300, the PSEi’s

next support is pegged at the

5,700 mark, she added.

“The problem is although we

are more resilient compared to

other markets, we really need

time and the data,” Ms. Tan said.

“We need to prove to the world

we are resi lien t, but wit h last

year’s poor earnings, investors

were definitely disappointed.”

increase in net equity capital

placements to $1.54 billion.

The central bank still expectsnet FDI inflows to have reached

$6 billion in 2015 even after re-

vising other macroeconomic as-

sumptions during the Monetary

Board’s Dec. 17 meeting.

In 2014, net FDI inflows to the

Philippines reached an all-time

high of $6.2 billion, 65.9% higher

than the $3.737 billion recorded

in 2013.

The October inflows failed to

enable the Philippines to catch up

with its comparable neighbors in

attracting FDI.

Latest available central bankdata showed that for the first

three quarters alone, Singapore

had already raked in $48.648 bil-

lion, Indonesia received $16.906

billion, Malaysia recorded $7.817

billion, while Thailand got $6.311

billion.

Reuters had also reported that

Vietnam’s net inflows could have

reached $11.8 billion from Janu-

ary to October. — Melissa Luz

T. Lopez

FDI,

from S1/ 1

THIS PICTURE taken on Sept. 17, 2015 shows a migrant worker who works as street

vendor cycling along downtown Hanoi.

AFP

2/S1 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016



Corporate NewsTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 S1/3

BRIEFS

By Daphne J. Magturo Reporter

By Carmelito Q. FranciscoCorrespondent

Yellow Cab Pizza to enter China market

AboitizPower may tap Russia,

Australia as sources of coal

Cirtek Holdings invests in Banatao’s start-up CloudMondo

EDITOR CATHY ROSE A. GARCIA

MAX’S GROUP, Inc. hopes to

make it big in China wit h its West-

ern-style homegrown pizza brand

despite stiff competition and con-

cerns of a slowdown in the world’s

second-largest economy.

The P hilippin es’ b ig g est

casual dining operator inked

y e s t e r d a y a d e v e l o p m e n t

agreement with China’s Juyan-

gYiTong of the Zhongfa Group

to build at least 15 Yellow Cab

Pizza stores within the Hebei

province, including Beijing.

“China is (on) top of the list

of where we want to grow,” Peter

King, CEO for International at

Max’s Group, said in a briefing in

Makati City yesterday.

Max’s Group is venturing into

China at a time when its economy

is facing sluggish growth. ThePhilippine Stock Exchange in-

dex (PSEi) entered a bear market

yesterday amid a global sell-off

sparked by concerns on the health

of China’s economy.

“We’re still looking at con-

sumer spending. China is a big

market. Having new choices, es-

pecially to that market, is a great

opportunity still. People are

there to try, which is good for us.

It’s still a big market and we are

excited about it,” Max’s Group

President and Chief Executive

Officer Robert F. Trota said.

Zhongfa CEO Mike Zhang

said there is room for new en-

DAVAO CITY — Aboitiz Power Corp.

(AboitizPower) is looking at Australia

and Russia as future sources of coal for its

power plants, with three projects expected

to be online between 2017 and 2019.

The power unit of Aboitiz Eq-

uity Ventures, which inaugurated a

300-megawatt (MW) plant here last

Friday, is currently building three other

coal-fired power plants — a 340-MW

facility in Toledo City, Cebu under

Therma Visayas, Inc.; a 600-MW plant

in Subic, Zambales in partnership with

Manila Electric Co. and Taiwan Cogene-

ration Corp.; and the 420-MW Pagbilao3 plant in Quezon, an expansion of the

existing 735-MW facility, in partnership

with TeaM Energy Corp.

Sebastian R. Lacson, head of the com-

pany’s coal group, said AboitizPower is

“always on the lookout for new sources”

as the need for coal supply increases

with its growing coal plant portfolio.

Mr. Lacson said the company —

which currently has a combined 1,000-

MW in coal-fired power plants, exclud-

ing those that are under partnerships

— has been buying coal from Kaliman-

tan, Indonesia because of the quality

and competitive price.

However, he said AboitizPower fore-

sees the need to eventually consider

Australia and Russia as possible sources.

Aboit izPowe r Chief Execut ive Of-

ficer Erramon I. Aboitiz, at the inaugu-

ration of the new coal plant here last

week, said the compan y is aimin g to

have 2,000 MW output by 2020.

The newly-opened 300-MW coal

fired power plant, located at the bound-

ary of Davao City and Sta. Cruz in Davao

del Sur and run by subsidiary Therma

South, Inc., consumes about 3,400 tons

of coal a day, said Mr. Lacson.

The plant’s output has already been

contracted to about 20 cooperatives and

distribution utilities in Mindanao.Mr. Lacson said the plant, which was

built using the modern circulating fluid-

ized bed (CFB) technology, has the first

coal dome in the country.

The CFB technology is touted as

the latest in coal-fired power plant

technology, which ensures the lowest

emissions possible.

Mr. Aboitiz said the company is en-

suring that the plant would have “the

least adverse effect on the environment

and the community.”

CIRTEK Holdings Philippines Corp. said

it is now a cornerstone investor in Cloud-

Mondo, a technology start-up founded by

Silicon Valley entrepreneur Diosdado P.

Banatao that aims to provide high-band-

width wireless Internet across S outheast

Asia starting this year.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange

yesterday, the Laguna-based chipmaker

said it invested in CloudMondo, which

it described as a “start-up company that

seeks to enable a global, high-bandwidth,

cloud-managed, gigabyte wireless access

and backhaul platform.”

Mr. Banatao, who was recently ap-

pointed by Cirtek as adviser to the board,

is the chairman of Cloud Mondo.

“The investment structure is via pre-

ferred shares convertible to common

shares upon listing in an exchange, at

which time the equity value will be de-

termined,” Cirtek Treasurer and Chief

Financial Officer Anthony S. Buyawe ex-

plained in a mobile phone reply yesterday.

He declined to disclose investment

figures.

The CloudMondo network is currently

in its trial stage, with Manila among one of

its pilot areas.

“In much of the developing world,

Wi -F i ac ce ss is to o ex pe ns iv e an d

characterized by slow, unreliable con-

nectivity. At the same time, you see

the continuing growth of over-the-top

(OTT) value-added services to address

the growth in e-business,” CloudMondo

Chief Executive Officer Ihab Abu-Haki-

ma said in the disclosure.

He said CloudMondo plans to create a

global, high-bandwidth Wi-Fi network as

well as a “global marketplace” for a broad

portfolio of OTT services.

For Cirtek Chairman Jerry Liu, the

transaction will expand the company’s

business from manufacturing to connec-

tivity and content.

With the deal, Cirte k is expect ed to

start manufacturing and supplying mil-

limeter wave radios in the 60 to 80 GHz

spectrum to Cloudmondo.

“ L e a d i n g g l o b a l I T ( i n f o r m a -

t i o n t e c h n o l o g y ) c o m p a n i e s a n d

e-commerce businesses like Apple,

Paypal, Google and Facebook recently

announced that they are all moving

towards using 60-80 GHz broadband

wirele ss techno logy for connec tivit y as

the world enters the era of Internet of

Things,” the company explained.

CloudMondo will eventually “scale up”

and expand to Southeast Asia.

“Given that Wi-Fi is increasingly be-

coming the default content access me-

dium, there is a large regional and global

opportunity,” Mr. Buyawe said.

Shares in Cirtek ended yesterday’s

trading at P17.80 apiece, down by 90 cen-

tavos or 4.81%.

ICTSI unit completes railfacility modernizationPORT OPERATOR International Container

Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) on Monday

said its Polish unit completed its railway

terminal modernization project last month.

In a statement, Baltic Container Terminal

(BCT) said the project was undertaken in

tandem with the Port of Gdynia Authority

and supported by the European Union

Cohesion Fund under the Operational Pro-

gramme Infrastructure and Environment.

The new rail facility can now accom-

modate up to 24 full container trains every

day. Its annual capacity stands at 500,000

twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

“This joint investment improves the

competitiveness of our terminal and the

port of Gdynia,” BCT Chief Executive Of-

ficer Krzysztof Szymborski was quoted

in a statement as saying.

The Port of Gdynia Authority handled

the development and modernization ofthe BCT’s rail network and other related

infrastructure, while BCT acquired two

rail-mounted gantry cranes from Kocks

Krane GmbH for handling of full con-

tainer cranes. The crane can handle more

than 30 moves an hour.

The ICTSI subsidiary said it is plan-

ning to continue upgrading the train

service by investing in electric traction,

in order to improve train maneuvering at

the Baltic port.

Credit rating on EDC’sretail bonds maintainedPHILIPPINE RATING Services Corp.

(PhilRatings) kept the highest credit rat-

ing for Lopez-led Energy Development

Corp.’s (EDC) outstanding P10.5 billion

in retail bonds.

In a statement released on Monday,

PhilRatings said it maintained the issued

credit rating of PRS Aaa for EDC’s P3.5

billion retail bonds due on Dec. 4, 2016; P3

billion retail bonds due on May 3, 2020; and

P4 billion retail bonds due on May 3, 2023.

A stable outlook has also been as-

signed to EDC’s credit rating.

Obligations rated PRS Aaa are

deemed “of the highest quality with

minimal credit risk,” while a stable

outlook is defined as “likely to be

maintained or remain unchanged in the

next 12 months.”

PhilRatings said the rating reflects

the geothermal power producer’s

ample cash flows, growing portfolio

of renewable energy projects, and

strong revenue generation and sus-

tained profitability.

EDC is the leading producer ofgeothermal power in the country, with

total installed capacity of 1,169 MW for

geothermal power.

EDC has recently been venturing

into other indigenous renewable energy

projects involving hydropower, wind

and solar energy, “which are expected

to add to the company’s portfolio in the

coming years.”

Shares of EDC dropped 2.81% to

close at P5.54 apiece on Monday’s trad-

ing. — Janina C. Lim

trants in China’s growing pizza

market, driven by the younger

generation and millennials’

openness towards foreign food

concepts.

“All the high-level income

(earners) are looking for new ex-

periences,” Mr. Zhang said.

The Zhongfa Group is also

engaged in commercial real

estate, elec tr on ic b u sin ess

and hotel management, with

oper ation s span n in g ac r oss

China, the Philippines, Kenya,

Palau, Switzerland, and soon in

Canada.

The first Yellow Cab Pizza

store in China has two prospec-

tive locations — close to the uni-

versity or a park — and is slated to

open in the second quarter of the

year, Mr. Zhang said.

The Chinese pizza market

has experienced phenomenal

growth to become a $2-billion

industry in 2012 — account-

ing for 1.6% of the $125-billion

global pizza market — from

$822 million in 2007, Max’s

Group said in a statement, cit-

ing data from Euromonitor In-

ternational.

Max’s Group may expand its

partnership with the Zhonga

Group by allowing the latter to

bring in more brands owned

by the listed firm to China, Mr.

Trota said.

Yellow Cab Pizza’s foray into

China is part of Max’s Group’s

bigger goal of putting up 200

international stores overseas

by 2020. By that time, the com-

pany aims to have a network of

1,000 stores.

Max’s Group has identified

Asi a Pac ifi c, the Mid dle Eas t

and North America as prior-

ity areas for expansion, with

brands Max’s, Pancake House,

Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin’ Steak

expected to join Yellow Cab in

driving the firm’s global expan-

sion binge, Mr. Trota said.

“By end 2020, international

will account for 20% in terms of

store network, but we believe the

opportunity or scalability is be-

yond that and we are setting our

sights to the 200 [overseas] stores

by 2020,” Mr. Trota said

Max’s Group was operating

34 stores overseas last year, wi th 19 -2 0 st or es ta rg et ed

to be rolled out in 2016, Mr.

Trota said. It closed 2015 with

“around 600” stores across its

stable of brands in the Philip-

pines and overseas.

“Our performance in 2015

wa s ob vi ou sl y mu ch be tt er

than what we had in 2014. We

opened 79 stores for 2015 and

we will conti nue to expan d a nd

grow in 2016, ranging from 60-

80 stores across all our brands,”

he said.

Shares in Max’s Group lost

74 centavos or 4.23% to close at

P16.76 each on Monday.

HOMEGROWN pizza brand Yellow Cab Pizza will soon open in Hebei province, China.

By Krista A. M. Montealegre Senior Reporter

Abra Mining to raise P1-Bvia private placementABRA MINING and Industrial Corpora-

tion (AMIC) has increased the amount

it will raise through a private placement

from select investor groups to P1 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock

Exchange on Monday, AMIC said the

money will be raised from Gem Global

Yield Fund LLC and three P hilippine-reg-istered companies, namely B-Phar, Inc.,

Andrei Vincent Freight Services Corp.

and Jubileum Sea & Air Logistic, Inc.

A Luxembourg-based company,

Gem in July last year sent a firm letter of

commitment to AMIC for a P700 million

capital infusion by way of an equity line of

credit agreement, under which majority

shareholders of the listed Philippine mining

firm would lend their shares to Gem.

Valued at P0.01 each, the com-

mon shares that will be lent out would

come from AMIC’s unissued shares. The

agreement also included warrants which

would be converted into common stock

as needed.

As of this date, AMIC had

199,294,584,200 in outstanding shares, of

which 99,294,584,200 had been issued.

Assuming Gem will proceed with itsprivate placement, the three investing

Philippine companies will fork out the

remaining P300 million.

A local drug wholesaler and retailer,

B-Phar had assets of P1,113,609.24 at

end-2014, while the two cargo forward-

ing companies — Jubileum Air & Sea

Logistic and Andrei Vincent Freight

Services — had assets of P6,354,226

and P3,264,403.10, respectively. —

Janina C. Lim

FULL STORY

Read the full story by scanning

the QR code with your

smartphone or by typing the link

<http://goo.gl/qwwE8i>



4/S1 The Economy TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Reporter

EDITOR TIMOTHY ROY MEDINA

O P I N I O N

Renewing business registration

It is day 12 of 2016. Corporations,

partnerships, professionals and

sole proprietorships should already

be working on the renewal of their re-

spective business registration/permits

with the local government units (LGUs).

I’m sharing in this article some issues

that business establishments may en-

counter in the renewal of their business

registration.

Under the Local Government Code

(LGC), all establishments are required

to annually renew

their registration with

the LGUs. The annual

renewal of business

registration consistsof, but is not limited

to, payment of local business tax (LBT),

mayor’s permit fee, sanitary inspection

fee, garbage fee, building inspection

fee, electrical inspection fee, mechani-

cal inspection fee, plumbing inspection

fee, fire inspection fee, personnel fee,

business plate registration fee and other

charges imposed by the various LGUs.

The LBT is based on gross sales/re-

ceipts while the applicable LBT rate

varies by the establishment’s activities.

Situs rules apply if a specific company

maintains a branch, factory, warehouse,

or plantation in various localities. May-

or’s permit and other fees and charges,

are usually charged as a fixed amount

by LGUs.

Businesses should be aware that the

basis of the LBT is gross sales/receipts

of the preceding year. Some LGUs re-

fuse to consider a lower LBT than that

paid in the previous year, even if gross

sales/receipts register

a decline. In such cases,

businesses must also

be keen in protecting

their rights to ensurethat LBT is correctly

computed.

Renewal and payment of LBT must

be made on or before the 20th of Janu-

ary of each year. Payment of LBT may

be done annually, semi-annually (July

20) or quarterly (April 20, July 20 and

October 20) depending on the schedule

of payment chosen by the business.

The deadline applies to all cities and

municipalities. The LGC, however, al-

lows LGUs to extend the time of pay-

ment but only for a justifiable cause.

In the last two years, Makati City and

Quezon City extended the payment

date until the end of January. It best

to confirm with your particular LGU.

Remember, too, that the extension is

only on the time of payment and not on

the submission of documents necessary

for the renewal of the business permits.

Late payment of LBT will attract a

25% surcharge on the unpaid taxes, fees

or charges, plus an additional 2% inter-

est per month which is computed not

only the unpaid amount but also on the

surcharge.

On the other hand, businesses thatfail to renew their business permit

are, technically, not allowed to operate

within the territory of the LGU.

Every separate or distinct establish-

ment or place of business, including fa-

cilities where sales transactions occur,

is also required to be registered with

the BIR and pay the annual Registration

Fee of P500 on or before Jan. 31 with

an authorized agent bank of the Rev-

enue District Office that has jurisdic-

tion over the business establishment.

Many companies have been penalized

for failure to register an additional floor

that has been leased to house additional

staff, or a warehouse or depot because

of absence of business or sales activities

therein. Under Section 258 of the Tax

Code, failure to register shall be pun-

ished by a fine of not less than P5,000

but not more than P20,000. There is

also a provision for imprisonment of

not less than six months but not more

than two years.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority

(PEZA)-registered entities should be

forewarned on certain policies of some

LGUs when it comes to the assessmentand collection of LBT.

According to PEZA law, PEZA-re g-

istered entities are exempt from paying

LBT regardless of whether they are en-

joying income tax holidays or are under

the 5% gross income tax regime. Thus,

if the Company is a PEZA-registered

entity, it is exempt from payment of LBT

on its registered activities. However,

some LGUs have a memorandum of

agreement with PEZA allowing them to

impose mayor’s permit fees and other

regulatory fees.

In case the company generates in-

come from activities deemed outside of

the registered activity or has local sales

exceeding the 30% threshold, both of

which will be subject to the regular cor-

porate income tax, the LGUs may assess

the and collect LBT on such revenues of

the company.

No matter how diverse procedures

are for LGUs in terms of business reg-

istration and LBT payment, the key is

to be organized and pro-active. Avoid

mistakes and late payment penalties

by filing on time. Know the rules and

ensure that you will be paying only thetaxes and fees that are due.

Let’s start 2016 on a high note.

LET’S TALK TAXED WARREN L.

BALAUAG

ED WARREN L. BALAUAG is a senior

associate of the Tax Advisory

and Compliance division of

Punongbayan & Araullo. P&A is a

leading audit, tax, advisory and

outsourcing services firm and is

the Philippine member of Grant

Thornton International Ltd.

A PROPERTY-DRIVEN banking

bust remains far-fetched with

Philippine institutions well-

provisioned against loans turn-

ing sour, the Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas (BSP) said, citing initial

results of stress tests.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C.

Guinigundo said on Monday that

stress tests conducted by univer-

sal and commercial banks and

market indicators set by interna-

tional authorities show that the

Philippine real property sector

remains healthy and is nowhere

near dangerous bubble levels.

Big banks were made to test

the impact on capital adequacy

ratios (CARs) assuming that 25%

of their property loans turn bad.

“The result so far… is even if

they factored in a 25% souring of

the loans on real estate, they are

still above the 10% regulatory capi-

tal that we imposed on the banks,”

Mr. Guinigundo said during the

Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum.

In any event, “at this point, we

don’t see any signs of stress in the

real estate sector.”

The test was conducted un-

der standards set by the Bank for

International Settlements (BIS)and by the International Mone-

tary Fund (IMF), Mr. Guinigundo

added.

“We tried using both the BIS

methodology for judging whether

the situation is dangerous or

not, and the IMF identification

of possible asset bubbles. Those

two tests will show that we are far

from the so-called danger level,”

said the cent ral bank offi cial.

Under BSP rules, banks can al-

lot a maximum of 20% of their to-

tal loan portfolio to real property.

They must also keep at least a

10% CAR — well above the 8% in-

ternational standard — to better

cushion the lenders against any

shocks and potential write-offs.

Mr. Guinigundo said latest

numbers show real estate loans

making up 17%-18% of banks’

loan portfolios.

As of end -S ept embe r, tot al

loans handed out by banks stood

at P1.233 trillion, up by 26.2%

from the same period in 2014,

BSP data showed. Meanwhile,

banks’ total exposure to real es-

tate loans stood at P1.359 trillion

as of March 2015, up 22% from a

year earlier.

DEVELOPERS MORE ‘PRUDENT’

The sound position of the real

property sector was also due tocaution on the part of real prop-

erty developers, Mr. Guinigundo

said, with property firms having

learned from the 1997 Asian Fi-

nancial Crisis.

“We can also say that we

are in touch with various real

estate developers — the bigger

ones — and it is very comfort-

ing to know that our real estate

developers have become more

prudent, more discreet with re-

spect to their expansion plans,”

the BSP official said.

“They have learned their les-

son, they don’t build… as they did

in the past. They build towers one

at a time.”

Builders have likewise moved

to raise the equity requirement

among unit buyers to ensure that

developers are not “unduly ex-

posed” to possible defaults, he

added.

PRICE INDEX IN THE WORKS

The BSP is also working to estab-

lish a real property price index

within the year to better track as-

set prices and check for any loom-

ing bubbles, Mr. Guinigundo said,

though he added that banks need

to provide more data for better

monitoring.

Circular 892 signed on Nov. 16orders all lenders to submit quar-

terly reports on residential real

estate loans which they handed

out to borrowers covering the

second quarter of 2015 onwards.

Mr. Guinigundo earlier said they

plan to roll out the index within

the first half of 2016.

The BSP also put in place a

broader definition of real estate

exposure to include banks’ hold-

ing companies whose floated

bonds ended up financing real

estate activities and credit for so-

cialized housing.

“We have now a more compre-

hensive definition of the exposure

to real estate. It’s more depend-

able,” Mr. Guinigundo said.

The central bank currently

monitors property prices, but no

index allows it to track averages

across periods, locations and mar-

ket segments to determine wheth-

er a bubble is forming for them to

see the need for preemptive action.

Instead, the BSP relies on indi-

cators such as price-to-earnings

ratio to measure developers’ valu-

ations, and price-to-income ratio

to assess the real estate industry’s

expansion.

Big banks hurdle stress testsimulating property downturn

TWEAKS TO MONETARY policy

will remain data-driven, a central

bank offi cial said, adding that there

is no need at the moment to adjust

policy settings even after other

central banks made their move in

light of global market movements.

Following the much-anticipat-

ed “lift-off” in interest rates by

the United States Federal Reserve

finally held during their Dec. 15-

16 meeting and C hina’s economic

slowdown, central banks world-

wide moved to either tighten or

relax their own policy settings in

respond to market shake-ups.

But there is no case for doing

so in the Philippines, Bangko Sen-

tral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy

Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo

said, with the economy remaining

well-place d to weather external

volatilities.“As early as 2014, we had pre-

emptive moves when we learned

the US Fed would adjust interest

rates and at the same time the

country’s economy was growing,”

Mr. Guinigundo said during the Ka-

pihan sa Manila Hotel forum. “Un-

like other economies in the region

and outside the region, the Phil-

ippine economy continues to be

robust. It is growing, it is expanding

and inflation is down external sec-

tor continues to be healthy.”

“ Nauna tayo (we moved first)

so we don’t need to adjust im-

mediately.”

The BSP’s policy setting

Monetary Board last adjusted its

stance in September 2014 and has

stayed at these levels all through-

out 2015.

As of the Monetary Board’s Dec.

17 policy meeting, rates for short-

term placements of banks placed

under the central bank’s special

deposit account are set at 2.5%.

Overnight borrowing and lending

stand at 4% and 6%, respectively.

“If the Philippine economy

continues to expand and it has

a very good outlook, very good

prospects down the road, we

don’t need to lower or introduce

additional stimulus because the

economy could accommodate

and could absorb some upper ad-

justmen t in intere st rates,” Mr.

Guinigundo added.

The balance of payments po-

sition remained in surplus as of

end-November at $2.14 billion, atad above the $2-billion assump-

tion for 2015. The local economy

grew by an average of 5.6% for the

first nine months of the year.

The Monetary Board (MB) will

review policy settings on Feb. 11,

its first for the year.

“The BSP does not need to ad-

just if adjustment s are made by

the Bank of Thailand, Monetary

Authority of Singapore, US Fed,

Europe, Japan, or China... There

are domestic factors that will have

to be considered by the BSP MB

before it can decide on monetary

policy,” Mr. Guinigundo said.

“In the words of US Fed Chair

Janet Yellen: we will remain data-

dependent. If the economy is ris-

ing and the inflation rate remains

within t arget of 2%-4% for 2016,

we don’t have to act.”

Inflation averaged 1.4% for

2015, matching the central bank’s

forecast rate for the year and fall-

ing below the o ffi cial targ et range

set for the year. BSP Governor

Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. said the

below-target rise in the prices

of basic goods meant “no strong

need” to adjust policy rates.

Mr. Guinigundo however add-

ed that the upcoming May 9 presi-

dential elections will likely pose

upward pressure on inflation,

based on previous experience.

PESO SEEN MORE STABLE

Despite a strengthening of the

dollar against emerging market

currencies, the BSP expects amore stable movement of the peso

this year owing to the country’s

sound macroeconomic position.

“At times there will be more

dominant negative market senti-

ment that will drive the dynamics

of the exchange rate. We should not

be worried when sometimes the

exchange rate moves in a direction

that we don’t expect, but given the

strong macroeconomic support, we

should be seeing a more stable cur-

rency movement in 2016 and even

beyond,” Mr. Guinigundo said.

“The BSP is trying to do con-

tinued stabilization of the mac-

roeconomy not only in terms of

monetary policy but also in terms

of banking supervision and pay-

ments and settlements system.

We will continue to be doing our

mandates under the law.”

The peso closed yesterday at

P47.27, against last week’s P47.165

to log its weakest close for the

year so far.

INTEREST RATE CORRIDOR

ON TRACK

The BSP is also gearing up to-

wards the planned shift to the

interest rate corridor scheme of

setting policy rates by the second

quarter, with monetary authori-

ties yet to settle the tenor lengths

for term deposits.

Mr. Guinigundo said that the

central bank is looking at issu-

ing seven-day and 28-day term

deposits to be auctioned off under

the interest rate corridor systemas consultations among banks are

ongoing.

“We are still consulting with

our stakeholders, the banks,

particularly with the tenor. The

tenor right now is between seven

and 28 (days),” he told reporters

on the sidelines of the forum.

“Some are proposing longer

tenors, but if we decided to in-

crease the tenor it might bump

with the 91-day Treasury bill rate.

We don’t want to crowd out the

Treasury bill.”

The corridor is designed to

mop up excess liquidity in the

system and better guide market

rates. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Philippines moved onmonetary policy aheadof the crowd — BSP

THE DEPARTMENT of Justice’s

(DoJ) procurement panel has

postponed to Feb. 5 the openingof bids for the P50.2-billion pris-

on facility to be built via public-

private partnership (PPP).

Pre-Qualification, Bids and

Awards Committee (PBAC) legal

counsel Senior State Counsel Ro-

sario Elena Laborte-Cuevas cited

“outstanding issues that need to

be threshed out before bid sub-

mission.”

Amo ng the se is sue s is the

Office of the Solicitor-General

and the Department of Finance’s

ongoing review of the final build-

transfer-maintain contract.

Ms. Laborte-Cuevas added the

DoJ sought confirmation from

the National Economic Develop-

ment Authority (NEDA) Board

regarding the scope of its project

approval.“There was a request for confir-

mation on the scope of flexibility

on the variants of the PPP scheme,

i.e., whether partial payments

may be made during construction

period,” she said in a text message.

“It is in effect just a request for

clarification before copy of the

contract is finalized,” she added.

Ms. Laborte-Cuevas said the DoJ

PBAC is still awaiting NEDA’s reply.

But for now, even with the deadline

pushed back several times, the DoJ

is maintaining its April 2016 target

date for starting construction.

The opening of bids was pre-

vious ly sched uled for Sept . 21,

but the process was disrupted

following the transfer of then-

chairperson Undersecretary Jose

Vicente F. Sal azar t o the EnergyRegulatory Commission.

It was then deferred to Nov. 5,

Dec. 1, and Jan. 15 because of the

pending contract review.

Three bidders have hurdled

prequalification: San Miguel

Holdings Corp., Mega Structures

Consortium (led by Megawide

Construction Corp.), and DMCI

Holdings, Inc.

The contract provides for a

three-year construction period

to be followed by a 20-year main-

tenance period; the winning con-

cessionaire will also be in charge

of provisions for staff housing,

prisoner rehabilitation and high-

tech security equipment.

The Bureau of Corrections,

a DoJ-attached agency, will ad-

minister the facility to be locatedat the Fort Magsaysay military

reservation in Nueva Ecija. With

a capacity of 26,880 inmates, the

prison will accommodate con-

victs to be transferred from the

congested New Bilibid Prisons in

Muntinlupa City and Correction

Institute for Women in Manda-

luyong City.

So far, contracts for 12 PPP

project cumulatively worth some

P217.4 billion have been awarded

since the flagship program was

launched in the third quarter of

2010 under the administration

of President Benigno S. C. Aqui-

no III. — Vince Alvic Alexis F.

Nonato

DoJ postpones prison PPP bid opening to Feb. 5

FREEPIK.COM



S1/5The Economy TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

THE PHILIPPINES stands to

gain $10 billion worth of “co-

benefits” annually from slashing

50% from its carbon emissions

by 2050, the Asian Develop-

ment Bank (ADB) said in a report

launched yesterday.

The indirect benefits from de-

liberate climate action represent

around 0.5% of the country’s gross

domestic product (GDP), accord-

ing to the report titled “Southeast

Asia and the Economic of Global

Climate Stabilization.”

The so-called “co-benefits”

partly offset the estimated costs

of implementing measures aimed

at cutting carbon emissions,

which are esti mated at aroun d

1.8% of the GDP.

“Including co-benefits and

climate change benefits... the netbenefits are higher than costs,”

Francesco Bosello, who co-au-

thored the report, said during the

launch.

The co-benefits largely reflect

reduction in pollution-related

mortality, transport congestion

and transport accidents, assum-

ing the concentration of carbon

dioxide in the Philippines reaches

500 parts per million.

The report defines co-benefits

as “additional beneficial effects

that are neither captured in the

modeling of policy responses nor

whic h are part of the bene fits

derived from reduced climate

damage.”

In the absence of climate-

related policies, greenhouse gas

emissions in the Philippines will

likely increase from 150 to 400

metric tons of carbon dioxide

equivalent in 2050.

The Philippines plans to

reduce its carbon dioxide emis-

sions by 5.7% in 2030 from 2010

levels, the Manila-based multi-

lateral lender said, citing targets

outlined by the country’s energysector.

The goal translates to roughly

30% emission reductions in 2020

from what the Philippines would

have emitted in the absence of

climate-related policies.

The P hilippin es has the

“most stringent” emission re-

duction goal when compared to

those of Indonesia, Malaysia,

Thailand and Vietnam, according

to the ADB report.

“Energy efficiency im-

provement is one of the

key options that need to be

exploited to reduce emis-

sions. Of course energy ef-

ficiency does not improve by

itself,” Mr. Bosello said.

The ADB report also

highlighted the need for

a global carbon trading

platform to discourage

consumption of fossil

fu els an d even tu ally

reduce greenhouse gas

emissions.

The Philippines, along with

Vietnam, will likely benefit from

the proposed global carbon mar-

ket by selling excess carbon emis-

sions rights to other countries

like Indonesia.

“If reducing emissions fromdeforestation and forest degra-

dation credits are not allowed

to enter the global carbon mar-

ket, increased carbon prices will

raise carbon permit export val-

ues to $160 billion in 2015,” the

report said. — Keith Richard D.

Mariano

MONEY SENT HOME by over-

seas Filipinos may have increased

at a faster pace in November dueto base effects, an economist at the

Standard Chartered Bank said.

Remittances likely grew 2.4%

year on year in November, picking

up from the 0.2% rise reported for

October, Jeff Ng, the bank’s re-

gional economist for Asia, said in

an outlook i ssued yesterday.

“Remittance growth was more

volatile than in prior years due to

currency volatility. However, we

expect a modest pick-up towards

year-end 2015, in line with his-

torical trends.”

Cash remittances from over-

seas Filipinos totaled $2.232 bil-

lion in October, slightly up from

the $2.228 billion recorded a year

earlier and from September’s

$2.20 billion.

“Remittances from the [United

States] fell by double digits in Oc-

tober and likely remained a drag

on overall remittance growth,”

Mr. Ng noted.

“However, given a weaker Phil-

ippine peso in the latter half of the

year, the headline remittance re-

sult is likely to be less of a concern

given that remittance growth in

local-currency terms should be

higher than in US dollar terms.”

The economist also expects

the country’s exports to have con-

tracted at a slower pace of 3.9%,compared with the 10.8% decline

seen in October.

“External demand was sub-

dued in the latter half of 2015,

but we expect improved demand

from China and Japan to have

helped the contraction bottom

out,” Mr. Ng said.

“Electronics exports contin-

ued to support, although exports

of other manufactured products

remained weak,” he added.

Latest government data show

merchandise export receipts

dropped 10.8% to $4.59 billion in

October. This reversed the 2.4%

gain from a year earlier, but came in

under the 15.5% drop in September.

Outbound shipments of elec-

tronic products, which accounted

for 52% of the aggregate export

receipts, climbed 7.3% year on

year to $2.39 billion in October.

“We expect exports to con-

tinue to face challenges in 2016

due to flat growth globally. This

may continue to weigh on the

Philippines’ trade deficit, which

reached the lowest monthly level

($1.9 billion) for the past five years

in October,” Mr. Ng said. — Keith

Richard D. Mariano

ADB makes cost-benefit casefor curbing carbon emissions

A LEGISLATOR on Monday proposed that the govern-

ment offer up to P150 billion worth of retail bonds to

help finance the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

modernization program.

“The next administration should ascertain the feasibil-

ity of offering up to P150 billion worth of ‘Kalayaan’ retail

bonds to support the Armed Forces of the Philippines

Modernization Program, amid the country’s long-running

row with China over territorial waters,” a statement from

House Deputy Minority Leader and LPGMA (LPG Market-

ers’ Association) party-list Rep. Arnel U. Ty read.

“The bulk of the additional funds raised from the bond of-

fering may be set aside to acquire new warships — additional

frigates and corvettes — for deployment to the West Philip-

pine Sea,” Mr. Ty was quoted as saying in the statement.

He cited a Congressional Planning and Budget

Offi ce (CPBO) report which shows that the Aquino ad-

ministration has spent P50.73 billion for the military’s

ongoing Capability Upgrade Program (CUP).

Under the 2016 budget, the Department of National

Defense’s P116.1-billion budget includes another P25-

billion allotment for the CUP.

“We have to invest in new warships to secure the

West Philippine Sea’s huge oil and gas deposits, which

are the key to our energy independence,” Mr. Ty said.

“The bond float would enable patriotic Filipinos to

save money and at the same time help defend the coun-

try’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone in West Philippine

Sea against Chinese incursions,” the statement read.

During the 80th Anniversary of the AFP at Clark,

Pampanga, President Benigno S. C. Aquino III said 65

AFP modernization projects worth P56.79 billion were

completed under his administration.

In addition, a P83.9-billion Medium Term Capability

Development will be implemented until 2017.

According to Mr. Aquino, the three previous ad-

ministrations were only able to implement 45 projects

worth P31.75 billion.

Republic Act No. 10349 or the revised AFP Modern-

ization Law signed in 2012 provides P75 billion for the

CUP in the initial five years, or from 2013 to 2017.

Mr. Ty cited a data from the CPBO which showed

that the Aquino administration has so far spent for

the acquisition of two second-hand US Coast Guard

high endurance cutters converted into frigates — the

BRP Gregorio del Pilar and the BRP Ramon Alcaraz ;

the Landing Craft Utility BRP Tagbanua; eight

Sokol combat utility helicopters; five AW-109 naval

helicopters; 18 basic trainer aircraft; plus dozens of

1.25-ton and 2.5-ton troop carrier trucks and field

ambulances.

“With or without the dispute with China, we really

have to reinforce the Philippine Navy in particular. We

should at least make our naval assets comparable to

those of Indonesia. Because like Indonesia, we have

a large group of islands and vast territorial waters to

protect,” Mr. Ty said. — Keith Richard D. Mariano

OSAKA PREFECTURE, one of Japan’s

major industrial regions, has sent a busi-

ness mission to the Philippines to look for

opportunities for its companies to expand

in the country.

The mission is led by Osaka Governor

Ichiro Matsui, who will sign a memoran-

dum of understanding with Lilia B. De

Lima, Philippine Economic Zone Author-

ity (PEZA) director-general, to support

the expansion of Osaka-based companies

in the Philippines.

The mission intends to focus on

the Philippines as a promising market

wi th st ron g dev elo pme nt pr osp ect s,

the Trade department said. The visit

is scheduled from Jan. 12 to 14. Osaka

is on Japan’s main island of Honshu. It

is roughly in the center of the country

and has a population of around 8.8

million.

PEZA, an agency attached with the De-

partment of Trade and Industry, reported

investments of P295.09 billion last year,

up 5.6% from P279.48 billion in 2014.

The new capital came from the 598

new projects approved by the agency,

which helps to promote investmen ts in

the export-oriented manufacturing in-

dustry.

The PEZA-registered projects, which

enjoys tax incentives, 1.243 million new

jobs as of October, up 7.7% from 1.154 mil-

lion in the same period in 2014.

These projects are expected to contrib-

ute $36.63 billion in export revenues as of

October, slightly lower than the $36.84

billion in 2014. — Victor V. Saulon

ENVIRONMENTAL groups are pushing leg-

islators to pass a law that will ban the manu-

facture of products containing plastic micro-

beads, a practice that the organization claims

pollutes the aquatic ecosystem.

On Monday, the Ecowaste Coalition and

Oceana Philippines issued a statement call-

ing for a ban on plastic microbeads found in

personal care products such as facial wash,

shampoo and toothpaste.

“Plastic microbeads in personal care

products go straight to the drainage system

and into water bodies and subsequentlypolluting the oceans with minuscule, non-

biodegradable particles that are then eaten by

aquatic organisms who mistake them for eggs

or plankton,” EcoWaste Coalition president

Sonia Mendoza said.

“Phasing out plastic microbeads in per-

sonal care products will help reduce alarming

microplastic pollution of our oceanic waters,”

Gloria E. Ramos, Vice-President of Oceana

Philippines, also said.

Both groups noted that microbeads, which

are often smaller than 1 millimeter, attract and

absorb hazardous substances which according

to aquatic health researchers can be up to a

million times more toxic than waters around

them.

The two officials also said that Congress

should follow the regulatory action imple-

mented by the United States government,

which pass ed last Dec. 28 the Micr obead -

Free Waters Act which provides for the

eventual phase out of microbeads in con-

sumer products.

Under the US law, companies are required

to stop using these microbeads in their prod-ucts by July 2017 and to stop selling them by

2018.

In the Senate, at least one proposed law

has been filed by Senator Miriam Defensor-

Santiago through Senate Bill No. 2135, oth-

erwise known as the Microbead-Free Waters

Act of 2014.

The bill aims to prohibit the production,

manufacture, distribution and sale of any

product which has plastic particles that are

less than 5 millimeters in size. — Alden M.

Monzon

PEZA to sign investment deal with government of Osaka

Ban sought on microbeadsin personal care products

Peso weakness easesimpact of remittanceslowdown — StanChart

Bond issue proposed to fund ships for South China Sea

AFP

COUNTING BANK NOTES at a foreign exchange counter in M anila

A F P



During the Ateneo-Gawad-

Ka li nga (GK) ceremony

thatturnedover German

VillageGKSt. Josephhousesto 21

familieslastDec.21, 2015, Nueva

EcijaMayorGloria“Baby”Crespo-

Congcosaid thatthe municipality

of Cabiao hasnever experienced

suchdestruction asdid thedam-

agewroughtbythe twintyphoons

Lando andNonaat theclosingof

2015. Asif theimagesofhectares

of drow ned ri ce fi elds w ere not

enough,Congcosharedstoriesthat

highlighted the meshof poverty

andhopelessnesssufferedbyfarm-

erswhencalamitouseventssuchas

typhoonsand floodsdamage their

livelihoodsand drainlocalgovern-

mentfinancialresources.

What is missing f rom May or

Congco’s speech is a perspective

of the climate change-driven se-

curityand governancechallenges

thatconstantlyconfrontrurallo-

cal governments such as Cabiao

andGabaldon.Behindthesechal-

lenges is the limited capacity of

local governments to implement

disaster riskr eduction and man-

agement(DRRM)measuresshow-

ing that no amount of planning

fullypreparesthem fromextreme

events. Additionally, there is the

lack of local access to technical

know-how and funds to climate

change (CC), proof that the ag-

ricultural and fisheries sectors,

whicharethe backboneofpeople’s

livelihoods, but yet are the most

vulnerabletoclimatechangerisks.

Lossesin agriculturalproduc-

tion,inlivesandinfrastructurethat

haveaccompaniedthestrongerand

moredevastatingstorms, suchas

Lando(Koppu)in CentralLuzon

in 2015; Yolanda (Haiyan) in the

Visayasin 2013; Pablo(Bopha) in

SouthernMindanaoin2012; On-

doy(Ketsana)in NorthernLuzon

in2009confirmthe emergenceofa

new(climatic)normalthatrequires

newlocalgovernanceimperatives.

Giventhe “extremevulnerabil-

ity”ofthericegranariesinNueva

Ecija, Cagayan Valley and Mind-

anao,aNationalClimateChange

Action Plan, 2011-2028 assesses

The brilliant lawyer and Har-

vard Law a lumnus Juan Ponce

Enrile, who voted against the

extension of the RP-US-bases

treaty, decided not to run for re-

election to the Senate that year

because he loathed the prospect

ofdebatingwithMr.Sottoonthe

floor oftheUpper Chamber.

Another winner in the sena-

tori a l ra ce of tha t yea r w a s

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She

had one outstanding credential,

daughter of former president

Diosdado P. Macapagal. She ran

under the name Gloria Macapa-

gal instead of Gloria Arroyo, her

married name. She won on that

basis but having placed only

13th, her Senate term was good

for only three years.

So, she had to run again in

1995. This time she had herself

made up to look like Nora Au-

nor. She placed No. 1 that sec-

ond time around.

In 1998, the people elected

the action star Estrada presi-dent, the Nora Aunor look-alike

vice- presi dent, and reele cted

Messrs. Revilla and Sotto sena-

tors. The people added another

cel ebri ty — from the s p orts

world, this time — t o th e r os-

ter of senators, Robert “Sonny”

Jaworski. Failing election to

the Senate that year were Yale

master in law and former Com-

mi s s i on on E l ecti ons cha i r

Haydee B. Yorac and University

of Michigan Graduate School of

Business alumnus and former

Secretary of Finance Roberto

de Ocampo.

Senator Sotto demonstrated

his vastknowledgeand eloquence

once again in the celebrated Es-

trada impeachment trial. In his

solitary participation in those

historic proceedings, he rose to

aska witness a questionpertain-

ing to a phone conversation the

witness had with Pres. Estrada.

He asked, “Analog or GSM?” He

then sat looking delighted at his

televised displayof knowledgeof

moderntechnology.

Inthattrial,hedidnotsay“yes

na yes”tothedictatesofSen.En-rile.Accordingto him,he sought

the counsel of former Supreme

Court justices on the issue of

whethertheJaimeD ichavesenve-

lope,whichwasbelievedto becon-

taining incriminating evidence

against the impeached President

Estrada,shouldbe openedor not.

When he, Senators Enrile, Ja-

worskiand eightothers votednot

to open the envelope, the much

better informed and politicized

sectorsof Philippinesocietytook

mattersintotheirownhandsand

chasedoutofthePalacetheactor-

turned-president. Incidental to

that monumental event was the

elevationoftheNoraAunorlook-

aliketo thepresidency.“ Anak ng

EDSA — sa labas ,” Inquirer col-

umnist Conrad de Quiros aptly

describedGloriaMacapagal.

In the elections of 2001, the

people elected to the Senate the

husbands of Box Office Queen

Vilma S antos a nd TV Megastar

SharonCuneta,ed gingoutformer

National Economic Development

Authorityand candidate for PhD

in Economics at Cornell Univer-

sity Solita “Winnie” Monsod. In

2004, another actor greater in

staturethan Messrs.Estrada and

Revilla as heis referred to as the

King of Philippine Movies, Fer-

nandoPoe,Jr.could havebecome

president if the “ Anak ng EDSA

— salabas” had notinfluenced the

elections.

But action movie stars Man-

uel “Lito” Lapid and Ramon

“Bong” Revilla, Jr. were elected

to the Senate.

In 2010 Mr. Estrada would

havebeen elected presidentagain

had not the beloved housewife-

turned president died before

election time, the outpouring

of sympathy thrusting her son

Noynoyto thepresidency.

“Let the people decide,” now

cry Former President Fidel V.

Ramos, Retired Supreme Court

Chief Justice Artemio V. Pan-

ganiban, and thousand others.

So, we might just see this year

the election as president the ad-

opted daughter of the King of

Philippine Movies, the elevation

of a prizefighter and a host of

show business personalities to

the Senate.

But one thing is sure: the re-

election of the most outstanding

alumnus of Iskul Bukol , Senator

Sotto, who laughed off the ac-

cusation that he had plagiarized

Robert Kennedy. How could he,

said he,whenwhathesaid was in

Tagalog, a language Kennedy did

notspeak. n

Get morecontent online:www.bworldonline.com

Likeus on Facebook:www.facebook/BusinessWorldOnline

Followus on Twitter:@twitter.com/bworldph6/S1 Opinion TUESDAY,JANUARY12, 2016 S1/7

BusinessWorldPublishingCorporation, 95 BaleteDriveExt.,NewManilaQuezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines1112

Editorial (+632)[email protected]

Advertising (+632)[email protected]

Circulationtel. (+632)[email protected]

MIGUEL G. BELMONTE President andChiefExecutiveOfficerl LUCIENC.DYTIOCO SeniorVice-Presidentfor SalesandMarketingHAZELD.GASTONAdvertisingDirectorl JEANETTEF.DOMINGUEZSpecialFeaturesAdvertisingManager

RAFAELM.DELARRAZABAL,JR. CirculationDirector

RAUL L. LOCSINFounder

ROBY ALAMPAYEditor-in-Chief

WILFREDO G. REYES ManagingEditor l ALICIA A. HERRERA, CATHY ROSE A. GARCIA, RICKY S. TORRE, BETTINA FAYE V. ROC AssociateEditorsl MARIA ELOISA I. CALDERON Editor-at-LargeROBERTJ.A. BASILIO, JR. Opinion andEngagement Editor FRANCISCO P. BALTAZAR Foreign NewsEditor l TIMOTHY ROY MEDINA OnlineManagingEditor l MIRA CATHERINE B. GLORIA OnlineEditor l BRIAN M. AFUANG VisualEditor

EDITOR ROBERTJ.A.BASILIO,JR.

TO TAKE A STANDOSCAR P. LAGMAN, JR.

The present generation of Filipinos seems to prefer people

from the entertainment industry as their national leaders.

Inthecorporatesetting,rules ondis-

cussingparticular issues canadvocate

abstentions (theyarenot called recusals

here) as whenthese involvepossibleconflicts

ofinterest.Thepartywitha pecuniarystake

onanitemin theagenda mayopttoleavethe

roomto allowa morefreewheeling discussion,

withoutthe distractionof thebody language

oftheinterested party,saya gloweringlookat

opponents.

Theefforttomaintainanarm’s-length

detachmentintheevaluationofan itemthat

involves aninterested party,whomay have

stepped out,does notalways succeed.There

areafter all minutes of themeetingtoshow

howthe votes wentand whichexecutive was

opposinga particular proposal thatbenefits

thetemporarilyabsentone— maybehis

promotion.The latter is bound tofind outwho

thenaysayers wereand mayexact his revenge

ata later date— this has nothingtodo with

your violent

oppositiontomypromo-

tion.

Earlyin

life,welearn

whenit is

appropriate

tospeakout.

Around the

familydinner

table,permis-

sionis needed

toproffer

comments or opinions,depending onthe

topic.The low-status kids maygetasked about

digital matters,likewhatapptochoosefor the

music ofthesixties or howtoacc ess Facebook.

This juvenileopinionis valued and assistance

activelysought. Subjects likethe acquisitionof

a propertyhowever arereserved for theones

payingfor it.

Inother fora,sayintheboard meetingof

a mutual fund,subjects liketheeffectofthe

MiddleEast crisis onOFW (overseas Filipino

workers) remittances,the exchangerate fore-

castbyyearend,and thevolatilityofthestock

marketare reserved for designated experts

fromr esearchor grayhairs around thetable.

A revered oneslumped on his chair,perhaps

dozingoff,may betapped and giventhemicro-

phonetoprovideanopiniononChina’s gross

domestic productprospects or thequality of

thecandidates inthe elections.Everybody

is expected tohold his breathas the wisdom

pours forthsoftly tothe receptiveears around

thetable. (Please,no sideconversations.)

Withholdingcommentisbest donevolun-

tarily.Thereshouldbe noneed forsomeone

tosay—you’reoutofline.Or,“youdon’tknow

whatyou’retalkingabout.” However,fora talk

showhostwith guestsaroundthe tablesome

orderhas tobe imposedinsolicitingcomments.TheTV host(evenfemales areseldom

referred toas “hostesses”) has togo around

thetable and ensurethatall panelists are

givena chanceto pontificate.It is considered

bad formtohaveoneguestbroodinginsilence

withonly anaudible shiftingin thechair to

express his ennui.The realizationthat one

panelisthas yetto speakupputs thehostina

mild panic,as shescrambles toaska question

for “our youngestone inthe panel” (read:

somebodywhoshouldn’tbehereand has

nothingto contribute) — dothe farmers feel

thebenefits ofthe country’s highGDPgrowth

rate?Short answer: No,ma’am. (Let’s takea

breakfor thelast commercial.)

Proddingguests thathave longpauses

betweenwords and sentences (called dead

air inTV parlance) smacks ofdiscourtesy

especiallywhenc uttingoff icons inmid-cheer.

This canalsoresultindeprivingtheaudience

ofpossibly morevaluable insights thanthose

offered bythe hostor her other gliband fast-

talkingguests.

As theforum ofdiscussion gets more

formal,the rules for disengagementare more

prescribed.The highestlevel ofadversarial

discussioncan limitone’s rolein a judicial

proceeding.Nonparticipation canbe invoked

— Ma’am,thesethreearelikelytovoteagainst

us again.They arealways smirkingat me.

Withholdingcomment is noteasy, espe-

ciallywhenonehas somethingtocontribute

ona topic: aninformed and objectiveopinion.

Inthe process ofselecting leaders,a deep

studyof issues and a reviewofprecedents are

notexpected, and neither arethey available.

Votingwith emotions,likepity for infants

abandoned onchurchdoors, plays a bigpart.

Still,an overlypersistent outsider whohas

switched allegiances beforecanstretch the

patience(and attentionspan) offormer fans.

Someploys cangobeyond thepale,suchas the

exhumationof thecorpses ofpossible rela-

tives.This particular gambitto gainentrance

intothebigtentseems a bitmuch…

evenfor a circus. n

Withholdingcomment

FENCESITTERA.R. SAMSON

Withholding comment

is not easy, especially

when one has something

to contribute on a

topic: an informed and

objective opinion.

BLUEBOARDALMA MARIAO. SALVADOR

Beyond preparedness,

the climate-proofing of

local governance requires

the establishment of

“climate change adaptive”

communities.

BWorld University @BWorldUniv

Theyouth and its rolein Filipinosocial

entrepreneurship inthenew issue:

university.bworldonline.com

Matthew Keys @MatthewKeysLive

With$1.3 billionyou could buyInstagramat

Facebook value.

Breaking News Feed @pzf

BREAKINGNEWS — HISTORIC: Nobodywon

tonight’s Powerball jackpot. Wednesday’s

estimated Powerball drawing jumps to$1.3 billion.

Cato Institute @CatoInstitute

America’s richestare rarelytherichestfor too

long; Mostonlyhold that status for a year —

j.mp/1O9ccY6

MIT Tech Review @techreview

AI Algorithimidentifies humorous pictures

bit.ly/1OZ9H7N

Harvard Biz Review @HarvardBiz

Whenyou’vemadeenoughmoneytocausefamily

tensions.hbr.org/1JzGfJD

# bworld feed

In the US presidential elec-

ti ons of 2000, A l Gore re-

ceived more votes than

Georg eW . B u sh bu ti t w a s M r.

Bush who was inaugurated as

president of the United States

ofA meri ca .T hereha vebeeni n

thehistoryof thatcountrythree

other candidates — JohnQuincy

Adams,Rutherford B.Hayes, and

B enj a mi n Ha rri son — w ho re-

ceived fewer votes thantheir op-

ponents butwere theones sworn

in as president.That is because

in the American electoral sys-

tem, thevoters do notdi rectl y

electthepresident,a preselected

groupof elitepeoplecalled the

Electoral Collegedoes.

In many First World coun-

tries — the United Kingdom,

Germany, the Netherlands, Ita-

ly, Australia, Canada, and Japan

— and in Thailand, Malaysia,

and Singapore, the leader of the

party that wins the most num-

ber of seats in the legislative

body or Parliament becomesthe head of government. In the

Philippines, the president or

head of government is chosen

directly by the people.

The people have elected as

president a plain housewife

though the widow of a martyred

politician, a college dropout

turned actor best known for

his portrayal of an underworld

character, a daughter of a former

president who was made to look

like a popular singer/actress, and

the son of the housewife who be-

came president. Another actor

could have been elected presi-

dent had not his opponent in

that election, the singer/actress

look-alike who happened to be

the incumbent president then,

influenced the elections.

The present generation of

Filipinos seems to prefer people

fromtheentertainmentindustry

as their national leaders.

In 1987, they elected to the

Senate, where the voices of in-

tellectual giants like Manuel L.

Quezon, Manuel A. Roxas, Jose P.

Laurel, Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo

M. Tañada, and Jose W. Diokno

once reverberated, the man who

portrayed the notorious gangster

Asiong Salo nga in several m ov-

ies, Joseph E. Estrada. Another

actor of the same star billing as

Estrada could have been elected

to the Senate that year. But the

people missed out on him be-

cause the man ran as Jose Bau-

tista, his real name.

Inthe 1992 senatorial race,the

samemanranagain.

This time the people voted

for Jose Bautista because he ran

as Ramon Revilla, Sr., the actor

who gained a large following f or

portraying another gangland

character,the infamous Nardong

Putik.He placed third in anelec-

tioncontestthatsawformer Cory

C. Aquino’s Health Secretary Al-

fredo Rafael A. Bengzon, Trade

and Industry Secretary Jose S.

Concepcion, Jr., and Solicitor-

General Francisco I. Chavez go

downindefeat.

In the five years Mr. Estrada

was in the S enate, he auth ored

one bill that passed into law —

the banning of the slaughter

of carabaos. In cognizance of

that solitary accomplishment,

the people elected him vice-

president. They also sent to the

Senate other men and women

who d istingui shed themsel ves

in the entertainment industry.

There was Vicente “Tito” C.

Sotto III, star of the TV sitcom

Eat B ulaga , the No. 1 medium

of toilet humor. He must have

impressed the people the year

before with his dazzling par-

ticipation in the Great Debate

on the extension of the RP-US

Military Bases Treaty. A rally

was organ ized by the propo -

nents of the extension of the

treaty to convince the senators

to approve the proposed treaty.

There on the stage was Tito

Sotto beside his Eat Bulaga co-

star Aiza Seguerra, then only

seven years old, sex symbol Na-

nette Medved, a non-Filipino,

and actress Sharmaine Ruffa

R. Gutierrez leading the chant

“Yes na yes to the bases.”

That unique display of erudi-

tionand eloquencegot thepeople

to elect him senator in 1992. In

fact,he was thetopnotcher among

thewinning candidates.

Because we let the people decide

andestablishes thecountry ’svul-

nerabilityto climatechange risks.

In support of this framework

aretheemergentstoriesfromthe

ground that attest to the severe

impacts of excessive rainfall,

drought,temperaturevariabilities

and “unpredictable seasonality”

on cropping and harvesting (see

Oxfam-GB’s Framework analysis

and action for the Rural Sector

at www.pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/

files/documents/efiles/webmaster/

rural-sector-climate-change-resil-

ience.pdf )— realitiesthatare reso-

natedinformerAteneoPresident

Fr. Ben Nebres, SJ’s most recent

call for humanitarian action for

thefarmersofCabiao,when“40%

oftheri cecrop s a nd100%ofthe

vegetablecropsare gone.”

Beyond preparedness, the

climate-proofing of local gover-

nancerequires theestablishment

of “climate change adaptive”

communities. It involves the

application of vulnerability and

adaptationassessments, local cli-

mate change development plans

and tools for equippinglocal gov-

ernments with information and

measures to manage, cope and

adapttoclimatechangerisks.

Climate-proofing the agricul-

tural sector alsorequires the de-

velopmentofhybrid cropvarieties

and the propagation of climate-

resilientplanting, harvestingand

intercroppingtechnologies.It en-

tailstheorganizationofalternative

croppingschedules and practices

as well as the institution of crop

insuranceforfarmer’sprotection.

Rappler’s Pia Ranada’s dis-

cussion of a disaster-ready and

climate-resilienteco-town inSan

Vicente,Palawan isinstructive of

thisemergenttrend.In Cabiaoand

Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, beyond-

disasterreliefmeasuresare begin-

ning to include the distribution

of rice seedlings for immediate

replanting,plantingof alternative

cropssuchassweetpotatoesand

the mobilization of the commu-

nity’slabor forceto revisittradi-

tionalmeansof floodcontrol.

Duringthe Asia-EuropeMeet-

ingConferenceonDRRMin2014,

Philippine President Benigno

Aquino III spoke of the govern-

ment’s efforts to climate-proof

“our pathto progress.”

Centered on how his govern-

ment“refusedto becondemned to

aviciouscycle ofconstructionand

reconstruction,” his policy state-

mentcreatesa platformthatmajor

presidentialcontenders— Senator

GracePoe,Vice-PresidentJejomar

C. Binay, Davao City Mayor Ro-

drigoR.DuterteandManuel“Mar”

A. Roxas II — should build on in

their campaigns (see Rappler’s

MariaRessa’sinterviewsofthese

candidates,#TheLeaderIWant).

Whilethecandidates’platforms

reflectthatanintegratedCC-DRRM

indevelopmentand governanceis

anon-debate,eachshouldcreate

spacesthatwidenthe discussionof

theirrespective disasterresponse

andclimatechangeplatforms.

SenatorPoe’selectioncampaignhighlightsher roleinhavingfiled

SenateBillNo. 2424whichseeks

theprotectionof watershedsthat

supportnationalirrigationsystems.

Thebill acknowledgesthe critical

roleofwatershedsascatchbasins

forfillingupirrigationsystemsand

insupportingagriculture— which

itidentifiesasextremelyvulnerable

toclimatechangeandto mining.

Binay’s populist platform in-

cludes“increasingto50%theuseof

renewableenergyin thePhilippine

energymix by2030.”Hespokeof

theimplementationof DRRM,“cli-

matechangelaws,”urbanplanning,

retrofitting,capacitybuilding,and

resilienthousingatthelocallevel.

Roxas’roleasthe formerinteri-

orand localgovernmentsecretary,

hasgivenhiman edgeto“change”

and“improve”theprocessesof the

nationalDRRMoffice,thePhilip-

pine Atmospheric, Geophysical

and Astronomical Services Ad-

ministration’sweatherforecasting

andlocal governments’prepared-

ness—evenifhehastoconstantly

defend his performance during

the Haiyan disaster response in

Tacloban. In addition, he argues

forthe“recognition”offarmsand

rural enterprises, “revival in the

agricultural sector” and sustain-

abledevelopmentgoalsbasedon

food and job security, education,

“hanap-buhay” and “free(dom)

fromcalamitousevents.”

Finally,Duterte’s record is pre-

sented by how he replicated his

experience and leadership role

in preparedness and response

in Davao City at the time of ty-

phoon Pablo, in his mobilization

of search/rescue and response

teams tohelp theYolanda-strick-

envictims of Tacloban. n

IfonelooksbackattheAquino

administration’s accomplish-

ments, i mporta nt reforms

related to human capital invest-

ments,notablyin thehealthsec-

tor,willsurelybe partof itslegacy.

For examp le, thep a s sa g eof the

ResponsibleParenthoodand Re-

productiveHealthAct of2012 trig-

gersgovernmentprogramsto help

familiesremainmanageableinsize.

Eventually,onehopesthis putsthe

countryina betterpositiontocon-

centrateand deepenpublic sector

and household level investments

amongfewerchildren.

In addition, the passage of

the Sin Tax Law of 2012 helps to

mobilize and channel resources

for health sector investments,

including a more inclusive and

well -fi nanc ed heal th insu r-

ance system (e.g. PhilHealth).

Already, the S in Tax generate d

$2 billion within two years of its

passage, boosting resources to

enroll 14 million more families

— about 45 million mostly poor

and low-income citizens — in

PhilHealth.

However,recent evidencegen-

erated by government research-

ers suggests that enrollment

does not automatically translate

to access. Other policy innova-

tions are now underway to help

poor and low-income consumers

access the health system more

effectively, including efforts to

reduce out-of-pocket share of

spending, streamlined proce-

dures and direct assistance to

navigatethe healthsystemand its

requirements.

The above reforms could be

a powerful force for inclusive-

ness inthe healthsector iffurther

steps are taken to achieve better

qualityand morecompetitiveser-

vices for t he low-income market

segment.Both public and private

sector stakeholders in health

haveanimportantroleto playin

this regard.

HEALTH SECTORCOMPETITIVENESSThehealthcareandmedicaltour-

ismsectorshave beenidentified

amongthepotentialsunriseindus-

triesof thePhilippines.According

toEuromonitor,sales fromhealth

andwellnesstourisminthe Phil-

ippinesmore thandoubledfrom

2007to2012 —thesetwo sectors

combi ned i ncreas ed by a rou nd

118%duringthis period.Medical

tourismalonegrewby 155%with

salesreachingP52.4billionin2012

fromP20.5billionin 2007.

Bullishprivatesectordemand

forhealthservicesis mirroredby

resurgenceinpublic sectorspend-

ing in this area. Challenges nev-

ertheless remain, notably on the

inclusivenessofhealthcareservices

forthe vastmajorityof poorand

low-incomehouseholds.Thelargest

shareoftotalhealthexpenditurefor

2012is fromout-of-pocketsources

at58%.Fora poorhousehold,this

remains an effective barrier to

access, and in many cases curbs

health-seeking behavior itself.

Furthermore,it iswell knownthat

manygovernment primaryhealth

carecenterslaginqualityservices.

BETTERMARKET INFORMATIONUltimately, through its im-

pact on both quality and price,

increased competition in the

health sector could be good for

all consumers of health servic-

es, rich and poor alike. Yet this

competition needs to empower

consumers, if they are to work

to their benefit.

In addition to more general

health policy reforms, several

novel information-related inno-

vations haverecently been rolled

outby theDepartmentof Health

(DoH), providing consumers,

civil society,and other healthsec-

tor stakeholders with the means

to hold industry players much

moreaccountable:

• Drug Price Watch ( dpw.doh.

gov.ph/ ) is anonline repositoryof

drug prices which allows health

sector consumers and practitio-

ners to monitor the prices and

availabilityof medicines indiffer-

ent locations. This allows them

toweigh options; and this should

trigger more effective competi-

tionacross drugoutlets.

• Drug Price Reference Index

( ncpam.doh.gov.ph/index.php/

drug-price-reference ) ha s bee n

established by the DoH for all

essential medicines in order to

guide national and local health

facilities in their more efficient

procurement of pharmaceuti-

cal products. This responds to

the well-known variability in

procurement prices in national

a nd l oca l p u bl i c hea l th of-

fices that were assessed to be

up to 16 times more costly for

branded drugs and three times

more costly for generic drugs

when compared to international

benchmarks. With better infor-

mation, the DoH could more ef-

fectively monitor which health

offices could dramatically im-

prove their drugs procurement.

From a governance point of view,

civil society watchdogs and the

Commission on Audit could use

this information database to fer-

ret out anomalous transactions

as well.

• Hospital Advisor ( Hospital-

Advisor.doh. gov.ph ) is an online

application that could be used

to search over 1900 public and

private hospitals for price, qual-

ity and other service-related

information. For hospitals, it al-

lows smaller and more competi-

tive players to showcase their

services and more effectively

amenities. For consumers, it

provides a searchable platform

from which they could more

effectively choose hospital ser-

vices. It also provid es them a

direct-feedback opportunity to

publicly rate their hospital ser-

vices f or qualit y and ef fective-

ness. Think TripAdvisor.com for

hospitals.

Ultimately, many of these

i nforma ti on-ba s ed reforms

seek to empower consumers by

providing them a choice in the

healthmarket. Quiteunderstand-

ably, many of these reforms are

disturbing parts of the industry

thathavegottenused toyears of

weak competition, leaving many

cons u mers p oorl y i nformed.

Greater access to market infor-

mation could therefore serve as

a game changer.

What happens in2016, when

a new government takes over?

Ultimately, the sustainability of

most reform gains depend criti-

callyon citizens proactivelyrely-

ing on them, so that future of-

ficials will have no choice but to

continueto build onthesepolicy

innovations. With this in mind,

the approach of the DoH to em-

power consumers could bea very

effectivestrategy. n

(Thearticlereflectstheperson-

al opinion of the author and does

notreflecttheofficial stand of the

Management Association of t he

Philippinesor theM.A.P.)

Climate-proofinggovernancein the Philippines

EMPOWERING CONSUMERSIN THE HEALTH SECTOR M.A.P. INSIGHTSRONALD U. MENDOZA

What happens in 2016,

when a new government

takes over? Ultimately, the

sustainability of most reform

gains depend critically on

citizens proactively relying

on them, so that future

officials will have no choice

but to continue to build on

these policy innovations.

Erosion of the 1982 Forbes 400 listees and theirfamilies in subsequent lists, relative to 1982

RONALDU. MENDOZA, PhD, istheExecutiveDirectorofthe AIM Rizalino S. Navarro PolicyCenterforCompetitiveness(AIM-RSN-PCC).Thisarticledraws in part from“OpportunitiesandChallengesin Health Tourism: TheCaseofthePhilippines” co-written by theauthorwith staffmembersoftheAIM Policy [email protected]

@aim.edu

[email protected]

map.org.ph

ALMA MARIA O.SALVADOR, PhDisassistant professorofpoliticalscienceat theAteneo deManilaUniversity.

A.R. SAMSON ischairandCEO of Touch DDB.

[email protected]

OSCAR P. LAGMAN, JR.isamemberofManindigan!, acause-orientedgroupthat takesstandson [email protected]



8/S1 Technology TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Tech firms fight to be the centerof your digital life at CES 2016LAS VEGAS, US — The battle to

be at the center of your digital

life has taken on a new dimen-

sion amid a proliferation of

connected devices.

Af te r sm ar tp ho ne wa rs ,

browser wars and platform wars,

a fight is on to be the “hub” which

connects the millions of con-

nected objects from light bulbs

to wearable to washing machines.

At t he Consumer Electronics

Show which concluded Saturday,

the contenders included robots,

televisions, speaker hubs and

even wearable trackers powered

by artificial intelligence. And the

connected car raced into the mix.

Exhibitors ranging from start-

ups to big consumer electronics

giants are vying to be the control

center for the vast array of Inter-net of things in your home, car,

and elsewhere.

South Korea’s LG unveiled its

Smart ThinQ home hub, a speaker

that lets a user communicate with

and get alerts from connected ap-

pliances, security systems and

even talk to cars.

This allows the smart home

and connected car to communi-

cate with each other. And it can

connect with older appliances

with attachable sensors.

LG calls this “the future of the

smart home” and uses an open

platform that can connect with

devices using Google Nest, Blue-

tooth, Wi-Fi and more.

Samsung announced its TVs

will act as command center s in

smart homes by incorporating

technology from Silicon Valley

start-up SmartThings, which

Samsung bought in 2014, allowing

them to control devices synched

to the platform.

“You can have a smart home

basically for free as a start-

ing point; it is pretty amazing,”

SmartThings Founder and Chief

Alexander Hawkinson told AFP.

Chinese electronics giant

Haier unveiled its Ubot personal

assistant robot — a near-human-

oid gadget which can control

home appliances.

“He’s like a personal assistant

who can turn on your TV and all

your appliances, and when you’re

not home he helps with surveil-

lance,” said Haier’s Kristen Smith.“The ultimate goal is to sim-

plify your life, to take care of the

things you worry about.”

RESPOND AND ENTERTAINSegway, which is owned by Chi-

na’s Ninebot, unveiled a personal

transporter which morphs into a

cute robotic personal assistant.

The robot, made in collabo-

ration with Intel and China’s

Xiaomi, is open to developers

which could add on applications

for security, entertainment or

other activities.

Aft er rid in g it , th e dev ice

sprouts arms and can navigate

and interact with users with its

sensors and artificial intelligence.

It is expected to be commercial-

ized later this year.

More whimsical, Chinese

start-up UBTech Robotics un-

veiled Alpha 2, a prototype per-

sonal assistant humanoid which

can respond and entertain.

“You can talk to him and he

will answer. He can give you the

weather,” said UBTech’s Jess ica

Pan.

“And he is very lifelike. He has

20 joints and can move like hu-

mans, he can dance and show you

a yoga pose.”

These new contenders face a

tough battle against entrenched

companies like Google and Apple

— not part of the floor exhibitors

at CES — which each have their

own artificial intelligence assis-

tants as well as ecosystems forconnected homes and wearables.

And Facebook’s Mark Zucker-

berg said ahead of the show that

he wants to build a robot butler

“like Jarvis in Iron Man” which

can manage household tasks.

Whi le Mr. Zuc ker ber g and

Facebook were not exhibiting

at CES, his comments and the

innovations at the show under-

score the progress being made

in computing and artificial in-

telligence which can unleash

new innovations.

WEARABLE SIRIIsraeli-based start-up OrCam for

example unveiled a wearable arti-

ficial intelligence clip-on camera

which “acts like a personal assis-

tant like Siri or Cortana, but with

eyes and ears,” says OrCam Mar-

keting Chief Eliav Rodman.

The device “can provide a real-

time profile of people as they walk

up to you during a conference,

displaying their details on your

smartphone or watch; it can track

your eating habits,” says OrCam

Cofounder Amnon Shashua.

“It can even monitor the facial

expressions of people you meet

and topics of discussion and let

you know in hindsight the qual-

ity of interaction you have with

friends and family.”

Car makers don’t want to be

left out either.

Ford for example unveiled an

alliance at CES with US online

giant Amazon aimed at allowingpeople to connect their cars into

“smart home” networks.

The tie-up will enable driv-

ers to communicate with the

hub and, for example, ask if

their garage door is open, or

request an appointment with

their mechanic.

Other car makers including

BMW and Volkswagen showed

systems which connect not only

to a smartphone but to home

networks, enabling users to tap

smart appliances or garage door

openers, for example.

WILD WESTThese new systems offer new

connecting options but could cre-

ate confusion because of multiple

technical standards.

“It almost forces you to get

things within the same brand

in order to match up,” said Ron

Montoya at the auto research

firm Edmunds.com.

Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint

Technologies Associates, agreed,

saying that There is no grand ar-

chitecture, so everyone is making

a land grab. Everyone wants to be

the hub.”

Mr. Kay said that until players

such as Apple, Google and Mi-

crosoft agree on open standards,

“it’s going to be difficult for this

market to move forward.”— AFP

EDITOR MIRA CATHERINE B. GLORIA

THE Consumer Electronics

Show is usually a place for tech-

nology companies to brag about

how much faster, lighter, and

thinner their products are than

ones from competitors. Staff

from the various hoverboard

companies exhibiting at the

world’s largest gadget conference

this week were eager to point to

another feature: patents.

One Chinese maker of elec-

tric skateboards, Hangzhou Chic

Intelligent Technology, brought

along framed copies of its pat-

ents to CES in Las Vegas. The

patents, which were filed in the

US, Europe, and Japan, cover as-

pects of the device’s design. Thecompany, which currently only

offers products wholesale, plans

to sell to consumers under its own

brand this year, said Ada Xian,

an overseas manager staffing the

booth. “We, ourselves, are suing

the copycats,” she said.

The Chinese company, which

goes by the brand name Chic, had

its display tucked away among

other cramped, off-brand corpo-

rate booths on the outskirts of

the show floor, alongside selfie

sticks and low-cost drones. About

a dozen companies there were

hawking hoverboards and prod-

ucts resembling Segways. One

such company showing off a one-

wheeled skateboard had its booth

raided by US marshals and its

wares confiscated.Chinese hoverboard compa-

nies are facing criticism for copy-

ing, which makes Chic’s patents

something to brag about. But

exactly who invented the hover-

board is something of a mystery.

“What’s interesting here is the

speed at which a rather innova-

tive device became commoditized

and improved upon in a decen-

tralized manner,” said Benjamin

Joffe, a general partner at Hax,

a hardware incubator and inves-

tor with offices in San Francisco

and Shenzhen, China. “There are

hundreds of Shenzhen factories

making them, most apparently

building on existing designs to

create sometimes better, simpler,

and cheaper ones.”

Segway, which has been sell-

ing self-balancing vehicles since

2001, said low-quality knock-offs

risk harming its brand. Reports

of injuries and faulty devices

catching fire have soured some

of the hype around hoverboards.

“Over the holidays, we probably

received about 100 calls a day in

our customer care group with

complaints about their Segway,”said Brian Buccella, the compa-

ny’s vice-president of marketing

and business development. “And

it wasn’t a Segway; it was a hover-

board. That’s not OK.”

In 2015, China’s Ninebot

acquired Segway and is help-

ing the brand make a renewed

push toward mass adoption,

something that’s eluded the

company in the past. Segway

sued at least three hoverboard

makers last year, including one

named Swagway, claiming they

infringed on patents. Another

one of the targeted companies,

called Inventist, is itself suing

IO Hawk, a US distributor of

products made by Chic.

A few rows away from Chic’s

booth at CES, Airwheel was dem-onstrating a two-wheeled board.

The company is in talks with

Wal-Mart S tores about carrying

its products, said Cilla Wu, Air-

wheel’s sales director. Airwheel

hopes its device does not infringe

on any competitors’ intellectual

property. “To be honest, we don’t

have patents for hoverboards or

single-wheel designs,” Ms. Wu

said. “That’s why we are going

with two wheels.” — Bloomberg

LAS VEGAS, US — Turntables turned heads

as a renewed love of old-time vinyl records

struck a chord at the famously futuristic

Consumer Electronics Show.

Sony, Panasonic, Victrola, and Audio-

Technica were among the companies

showing off turntables boasting digital

age spins such as high-resolution audio

or wirelessly connecting to speakers.

Turntable makers at CES, which

wrapped in Las Vegas Saturday, toldof vinyl records being all the rage after

years of digital tunes dominating the

music industry.

Sony Electronics President Mike Fa-

sulo said at the show that vinyl records

were “on fire” and that the Japanese

entertainment giant’s music arm was

working hard to keep up with demand.

A Victrola booth on the CES show

floor was packed with a wide array

of turntables that combined modern

features with vintage designs.

Victrola turntables date back more

than a century, and the brand was

bought recently by Innovative Technol-

ogy which has offi ces in the US and

Hong Kong.

CONNECTING WITH MUSIC“There is something retro about vinyl

that inspires the nostalgia in all of us,”

Guillermo Moncada of Innovative told

AFP at the Victrola booth.

“We grew up with our parents vinyl

collections, and our millennial genera-

tion is now collecting them as well,” the

29-year-old continued.

“We have a personal relationship

with vinyl as opposed to an MP3 file.”

While digital music from mobile

devices or streamed online might

slipped into the background for

people, vinyl tends to be more tactile

and interactive.

Listeners may admire album cover

art or ponder lyrics printed on the back

or on record sleeves..

Records also call for listeners to get

involved by flipping them over.

“You are sitting there actually enjoy-

ing the music,” Mr. Moncada said of

opting for vinyl records.

“You have a connection with it in a

sense; that is something a lot of us are

starting to realize again.”In addition, many audiophiles appre-

ciate the sound of music on vinyl, grainy

edges and all.

VINTAGE MEETS MODERNTurntables have been hot sellers for Los

Angeles-based Boytone, which even has

a model with a cassette tape player.

An array of turntables found at CES

were built into carry cases to go mobile

in designs reminiscent of decades past.

Despite vintage looks, new model

turn tables boasted features such as

Bluetooth connections to speakers of

headphones, or being able to plug into

computers so music on records could be

“ripped,” or copied, into digital files.

“It allows you to keep your turntable

and vinyl in one room while enjoy-

ing your records virtually anywhere in

the house,” Crystal Griffi th of Audio-

Technica said of wireless capabilities in a

freshly-unveiled model.

A new Sony turntable included

the ability to automatically convert

analogue music from records into digital

format for listening on other devices.

“Our new PS-HX500 turntable

serves as an important bridge that

connects the growing number of vinyl

record collectors to the convenience and

sound quality afforded by hi-res audio,”

Yamato Tanikawa of Sony Electronics

said in a release. — AFP

Palm-sized $79 computer targets emerging markets

Waxing nostalgic over vinyl records at CES

VICTROLA TURNTABLES with

vintage designs but modern

technology on display at the 2016CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, as vinyl

records make a comeback.

ENDLESS MINI

A F P

For hoverboards at CES,

patents are a must feature

LAS VEGAS, US — It is a spherical computer

that costs $79, is packed with a fair amount of

what the Internet has to offer — and fits in the

palm of your hand.

The computer start-up Endless is out to

bring the Internet to people without deep

pockets or reliable online connectivity.

“The idea is to make it useful with full

Internet, limited Internet or without any

Internet,” Endless Chief Executive Matt

Dalio said of the computers aimed at

emerging markets.

“It comes pretty loaded,” he added,

speaking at the Consumer Electron-

ics Show on Friday in Las Vegas.

For example, the Endless Mini

includes online encyclopedia Wikipedia and courses from non-

profit educational organization

Khan Academy.

The computers, which require

keyboards, can be plugged into

any television to provide a display.

Dalio depicted the San Fran-

cisco-based start-up’s mission as

a for-profit spin on the One Laptop

Per Child (OLPC) project launched

a decade ago by Nicholas Negroponte,

who ha s advi sed En dless.

OLPC originally aimed to create a $100

computer for children in developing coun-

tries, but the price later approached twice

that amount.

“OLPC was before its time,” Mr. Dalio said.

“We are learning from what they did right and

what they did wrong.”

Instead of giving computers away to those

who can’t affo rd them , Endl ess pric es its

offering to be within reach of people with

just enough money to join the “kno wledge

economy,” according to Mr. Dalio.

“The barriers are cost and connectivity,” he

said, holding up an Endless Mini. “With cost,

we solve that right here.”

Endless Mini addresses the connectivity

problem by coming loaded with large amounts

of information which is then updated when-

ever it is connected online. A larger and more

powerful model sells for $189.

Endless computers are powered by open-

source Linux operating software with a sim-

plified user interface.

“Linux has historically been targetedat the most tech-savvy users and we are

targeting the least tech-savvy users,” Mr.

Dalio said.

“We needed to make it as easy as a

smartphone to use.”

The computers are being sold at the

Web site endlessm.com .

“It costs too much to give away comput-

ers to a billion people,” he said.

“But if you can sell them you have a revenue

stream that allows you to build a product of

epic proportions.” — AFP

Netflix stunned the show with theannouncement that it added 130 newcountries for its streaming TV service tobring its total to 190, calling it “the birth of anew global Internet TV network.”

India will be one of the new markets for Netflix,

which is still studying ways to get into China.

Google and Lenovo announced plans toproduce the first consumer handset using

the US computing giant’sProject Tango 3-D technology.

The device set to launch worldwide later this year

aims for a new generation of smart devices that

can be used for indoor mapping, augmented

reality and more.

The 4K high-definition television formatbecame the standard base formanufacturers, which showcased thinnerand more spectacular displays for thosewilling to pay the price.

The Consumer Technology Association, the trade

group behind CES, said one in every five

televisions sold this year is expected to be 50

inches or more, measured diagonally, and feature

ultra high-definition 4K resolution.

The Internet of Things showed spectaculargrowth from products like a smart mirror

from Haier that delivers news and weatherand connects to other appliances, and

connected spoons and diet scales.

Samsung unveiled a smart refrigerator that lets

its owner use a smartphone to virtually peer

inside and see what should be on a shopping list.

Wearable technology probed deeper to getmore data about health, while makinginroads into the medical field: diagnosing

conditions and even offering treatment forpain and other ailments. Shoes measuredsteps and shirts kept tabs on heart rates.

French-based health group VisioMed introduced

its Bewell Connect “virtual checkup” though a

smartphone app that communicates with its

connected blood pressure and glucose monitor,

thermometer and blood oxygen sensor.

Automakers moved to connect not only to thesmartphone, but to the smart home and

other parts of the digital life.

Ford teamed with Amazon to link up the car

maker’s Sync vehicle hub with the online giant’s

smart home hub called Echo.

Virtual reality spread beyond video games totouch sex, sports, sales and spaceexploration. Facebook-owned Oculus begantaking pre-orders for its eagerly-anticipatedRift VR headsets at a price of $599, and CESwas rife with companies scrambling to fieldcompeting devices or content that coulddraw people into faux worlds.

Startups turned attention to ways to tap intothe brain.

A “mind control” headband unveiled by startup

BrainCo effectively hacks into brain signals with

a range of possible applications — from helping to

improve attention spans, to detecting disease,

controlling smart home appliances or even a

prosthetic device.

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2016CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW8

BUSINESSWORLD GRAPHICS: SAMANTHA GONZALES



S1/9The WorldTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

ELECTION BRIEFS

EDITOR KATRINA PAOLA B. ALVAREZ

Obama to push hope in farewell SOTU WASHINGTON — Barack Obama

will use his final State of the

Union (SOTU) address on Tues-

day, one of the last grandstand

occasions of his presidency, to

define his legacy and make the

case for optimism amid an angst-

ridden election race.

Seven years ago, a youthful

President Obama’s first address

to Congress surprised some with

gloomy talk of shaken confidence,

a weakened economy and uncer-

tain times ahead.

His farewell State of the Union

address may surprise for its op-

timism.

Senior White House officials

promise an unorthodox speech.

Mr. Obama will ditch the tradi-

tional hour-long laundry list of

the year’s legislative priorities

and instead look beyond his

presidency.

For a president who has leaned

heavily — critics say too heavily

— on dazzling rhetorical skills topush his agenda, it will be one

of the last chances to define his

presidency before a national au-

dience.

Around 30 million viewers are

expected to watch live, an audi-

ence that may only be matched

during the Democratic nominat-

ing convention later this year,

when he passes the torch to the

next presidential hopeful.

To reach the broadest audience,

Mr. Obama’s aides will amplify his

message across print, television

and innovative digital platforms

like Medium and Genius.

Mr. Obama will list his admin-

istration’s achievements, from

health care reform to gay rights

to a nuclear deal with Iran to a

pending Trans-Pacific trade deal.

But, he will also stress the dis-

tance traveled since the throes of

the Great Recession and speak to

Media intimidatedGOVERNMENT INTIMIDATION of

journalists and activists in Uganda is

having a “chilling effect” on free speech

ahead of elections next month, Human

Rights Watch said on Monday.

“Journalists have been suspended

under government pressure, and radio

stations threatened for hosting op-

position members as guests or when

panelists expressed views critical of

the ruling party,” the US-based rights

group said in a report released on

Monday. — AFP

Catalan leaderCATALONIA’S PARLIAMENT swore in

a new separatist leader on Sunday

evening, putting the pro-independence

movement’s commitment to break with

Spain over the next 18 months back on

track after a long political deadlock.

Carles Puigdemont, mayor of Girona,

replaced Artur Mas as head of a majority

separatist Catalan parliament, which will

now restart the push for a unilateral split

with Spain. — Reuters

To counter Tsipras

GREEK CONSERVATIVES elected Kyria-kos Mitsotakis as their new leader on

Sunday, hoping he can revive their

fortunes and challenge leftist Prime Min-

ister Alexis Tsipras, still popular despite

opting for austerity.

Mr. Mitsotakis, a 47-year reformist

lawmaker and scion of one of Greece’s

most influential political families, is

expected to pile pressure on 41-year-old

Mr. Tsipras ahead of a crucial parliamen-

tary vote on pension reform, as part

of the first review of G reece’s bailout

program. — Reuters

Egypt parliament backEGYPT’S NEW PARLIAMENT convened

on Sunday, in its first session in three

years, after a legislative election domi-

nated by pro-government candidates in

the absence of any opposition.

Hundreds of bills awaiting ratifica-

tion have piled up since the last parlia-

ment was dissolved by a constitutional

court in 2012. — AFP

a present he will portray as rich in

promise.

“It’s about the power of possi-

bility,” said a senior White House

official. “It’s looking beyond his

time in office,” in an attempt to

“elevate the country.”

The speech, under construc-

tion since the autumn, will also

challenge Americans to address

unfinished business, from deal-

ing with racial tensions to gun

violence to drug abuse.

White House offi cials admit it

is a risky strategy.

For a president with a year left

in the Oval Offi ce, misjud ging the

nation’s mood could make him

look cripplingly out of touch.

The political backdrop is a

shrill and hyper-partisan 2016

election campaign that has

tapped into fears about terrorism,

as well as middle-class malaise

spurred by a lost decade of wage

growth.

Mr. Obama is unlikely to dwell

on the 2016 election race directly,

but in embracing optimism, the

Whit e Hous e hop es to draw a

sharp contrast with Republicans.

“We think that there is a lot

of noise coming from one party,”

said one aide, insistin g the nega-

tivity of the campaign trail does

not represent the broader nation.

If Mr. Obama manages to

kindle a sense of optimism, sup-

porters hope it could help define

a political epoch, much as Lyn-

don Johnson did when declar-

ing a “war on poverty” or when

John F. Kennedy announced the

moonshot.

A HOSTILE CONGRESSMr. Obama has long thought of

his presidency in such historic

terms. But the broad sweep of his

speech is also born of necessity.

He faces a hostile Republican

Congress, united only in its dis-

dain for him and his agenda.

Mr. Obama can expect some

bipartisan support for a call to

enact criminal justice reform,

but efforts to close the notorious

prison at Guantanamo Bay or im-

prove ties with Cuba will require

unilateral executive action.

He will rely on symbolism

and the bully pulpit to press for

tighter gun-control laws, which

Republicans fiercely oppose.

The White House says one seat

in the First Lady’s guest box will

be left vacant for “victims of gun

viol ence who no long er have a

voice — becaus e they need the

rest of us to speak for them.”

Republican criticism is likely

to focus on Mr. Obama’s handling

of foreign policy, in particular the

rise of the Islamic State group in

Syria and Iraq.

Offering a preview of the Re-

publican response, House of Rep-

resentatives Speaker Paul Ryan

accused Mr. Obama of “doubling

down on the same failed foreign

policies that have made the world

a more dangerous place.”

“The president of the United

States should be an optimist,”

said Danielle Pletka of the con-

servative American Enterprise

Institute. “Don’t slam him for

wan ti ng gre at th in gs for our

country.”

“Slam him for not talking

about how the last seven years

have seen an almost unprec-

edented decline not simply in our

nation’s security, but in our abil-

ity to combat enemies near and

far.” — AFP

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama is photographed walking during a commercial break at a town hall meeting with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on reducing gun violence, at

George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, on Jan. 7.

AFP



10/S1 The World TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Mexico launches Guzman’s

US extradition processMEXICO CITY — Mexican au-

thorities launched on Sunday

the process to extradite drug

lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guz-

man to the United States, as they

also sought to question US actor

Sean Penn over their clandestine

meeting.

The extradition bid marks a

reversal from President Enrique

Peña Nieto’s refusal to send Guz-

man across the border prior to

his July escape from a maximum-

security prison.

The attorney general’s office

said in a statement that Interpol

Mexico agents went to Guzman’s

prison near Mexico City to ex-

ecute two arrest warrants for his

extradition, two days after he was captured in a deadly mili tary

raid.

Mexico received the US ex-

tradition requests last year on a

slew of charges, including drug

trafficking and homicide. Guz-

man is wanted in a half-dozen

US states.

A federal offi cial told AFP the

process could take “months,” but

that authorities will likely “try to

do it fast.”

After judges rule on the extra-

dition, the foreign ministry has to

issue a decision, which Guzman

can appeal.

His attorney has vowed a

“tough” legal fight that could

reach the Supreme Court.

Guzman is now back in the

same prison he escaped on July 11,

when he snuck down a hole in his

cell’s shower that led to a 1.5-kilo-

meter tunnel outside the prison.

Offi cials defen ded the decisio n

to send him back to the Altiplano

prison, some 90 kilometers west

of Mexico City, saying it remains

one of the most secure in the

country and that the cells were

reinforced with metal rods under

the floors. A tank is stationed out-side the prison.

Guzman fled prison once be-

fore in 2001, but after his Febru-

ary 2014 capture, Mr. Peña Nieto

vowed to keep him behind bars

in Mexico. He escaped 17 months

later, and a dozen p rison offi cials

were detained.

Analysts say the government

should extradite Guzman instead

of taking the risk of losing him

again. — AFP

Deadly strike on Yemen MSF clinic draws ireDUBAI — A missile strike on a

Doctors Without Borders clinic in

Yemen killed at least four people

Sunday, the group said, condemn-

ing what it called a “worrying pat-

tern” of such attacks.

The raid was the third of

its kind in four months in the

war- rava ged cou ntr y, whe re a

Saudi-led coalition has been

battling Shi’ite Huthi rebels

who have seize d territ ory from

the internationally-recognized

government.

It also follows a US strike in

Afghanistan on a facility run by

the Paris-based medical humani-

tarian organization, known by

its French acronym MSF, which

killed 42 people.

MSF could not specify whether

the medical facility was hit in an

air strike by the Saudi-led coali-

tion or by a rocket fired from the

ground.

Three MSF staff were among

10 people wounded in the Yemen

strike, and two other members of

staff were in “critical condition,”

MSF said in a statement.

“The numbers of casualties

could rise as there could still be

people trapped in the rubble,” it

said, adding that the missile hit

the medical facility in the Razeh

district of Saada province.

All staff and patients had been

evacuated, with the patients being

transferred to another MSF-sup-

ported hospital in Saada, it said.

MSF director of operations

Raquel Ayora denounced the

strike and repeated that the or-

ganization constantly shares the

coordinates of its facilities with

those fighting in Yemen.

“There is no way that anyone

with the capacity to carry out an

air strike or launch a rocket would

not have known” that the clinic

was a funct ioning health facility

supported by MSF, Ms. Ayora said.

“We strongly condemn this

incident that confirms a worry-

ing pattern of attacks to essential

medical services and express

our strongest outrage as this will

leave a very fragile population

without health care for weeks,”

said Ms. Ayora.

“Once more it is civilians that

bear the brunt of this war,” she

added.

MSF last month accused the

coalition of bombing its clinic in

Taez, southwest Yemen, wound-

ing nine people including two

staff members.

The coalition said it would in-

vestiga te that claim although it

has repeatedly insisted it does not

attack civilians.

And in October, air strikes hit

another hospital run by MSF near

Saada without causing any deaths.

MSF facilities have also been

hit elsewhere, with the deadliest

recent strike coming during a US

air raid on the hospital in the Af-

ghan city of Kunduz. — AFP

Merkel under pressure as Cologne cases rise to 516BERLIN — Cologne police on Sun-

day said they had now recorded

over 500 cases of New Year’s Eve violence blamed on migrants, pil-

ing fresh pressure on German

Chancellor Angela Merkel over her

liberal stance towards refugees.

Marking a sharp jump from the

caseload of 379 given on Saturday,

police said some 516 complaints

had now been lodged, including

40% that are related to sexual

assault.

Witne sses descri bed terrif y-

ing scenes of hundreds of women

running a gauntlet of groping

hands, lewd insults, and robberies

in the mob violence.

Even though no formal charg-

es have been laid, Cologne police

have said those suspected over

the New Year’s rampage near the

city’s railway station were mostlyasylum seekers and illegal mi-

grants from North Africa.

The scale of the Cologne as-

saults has shocked Germany and

put a spotlight on the 1.1 million

asylum seekers who arrived in the

country last year.

It has also fueled fear, with a

poll published by Bild am Sonntag

newspaper saying that 39% of

those surveyed felt police did

not provide suffi cient prot ection ,

while 57% did.

And jus t und er hal f (49 %)

believed the same sort of mob

viole nce could hit thei r home-

town, reported the newspaper,

which headlined its article with

the question: “Is the New Year

Eve scandal the result of wrong

policies?”Turning away from her mantra

of “we will manage this” over the

record migrant influx, Ms. Merkel

has been forced to change tack.

She took a tough line on Satur-

day, saying she backed changes to

the law to make it easier to expel

asylum seekers convicted of a

crime.

“If the law does not suffice,

then the law must be changed,”

she said.

China to limit family sizefor up to 30 years: official

S. Korea: US might send morestrategic weapons to peninsulaSEOUL — The United States and

its ally South Korea were discuss-

ing on Monday sending more

strategic US weapons to the Ko-

rean peninsula, a day after a US

B-52 bomber flew over South Ko-

rea in response to North Korea’s

nuclear test last week.

North Korea said it set off a

hydrogen bomb last Wednesday,

its fourth nuclear test since 2006,

angering China, the North’s main

ally, and the United States, which

said it doubted the device was a

hydrogen bomb.

In a show of force and support

for allies in the region, the United

States on Sunday sent a nuclear-

capable B-52 bomber based in

Guam on a flight over South Korea.

North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun

newspaper, the mouthpiece of theruling Workers’ Party, said the

United States was bringing the

situation to the brink of war.

South Korean media said the

United States may send to South

Korea B-2 bombers, nuclear-

powered submarines and F-22

stealth fighter jets.

A South Korean defense min-

istry spokesman declined to give

details.

“The United States and South

Korea are continuously and

closely having discussions on ad-

ditional deployment of strategic

assets,” the spokesman, Kim Min-

seok, said.

China called for all sides to

avoid raising tension.

“Safeguarding the peace and

stability of northeast Asia accords

with all parties’ interes ts,” Chi-

nese Foreign Ministry spokes-

man Hong Lei said in response

to a question about the U.S. B-52

flight.

“We hope all parties can main-

tain restraint, proceed cautiously,

and avoid successively escalating

tensions.”

‘HIGHEST-LEVEL READINESS’The chairman of South Korea’s

Joint Chiefs of Staff warned that

North Korea was likely to carry

out further “sudden provoca-

tions,” a South Korean defense

minist ry offi cial said.

The commander of the 28,500

US troops in South Korea, Gener-

al Curtis Scaparrotti, urged them

to be vigilant.

“I want you to maintain the

highest-level readiness from a

long-term view as joint military

exercises are coming up,” Mr.

Scaparrotti told US and South

Korean forces on a visit to a base,

a US militar y offi cial said.

He was apparently referring

to joint annual military exercises

that usually begin in February or

March and invariably provoke an

angry reaction from North Korea.

On the diplomatic front, South

Korea said its chief nuclear ne-

gotiator planned to meet his US

and Japanese counterparts on

Wednesday to discuss a response

to North Korea, and the next day,he would meet China’s nuclear

envoy in Beijing.

North Korea has been under

United Nations Security Council

sanctions since its first test of an

atomic device. After its third test,

in 2013, the Security Council took

about three weeks to agree a reso-

lution that tightened financial

restrictions and cracked down on

its attempts to ship and receive

banned cargo.

South Korea and Japan used a

military hotline for the first time

after of North Korea’s test, South

Korea’s defense ministry said, in a

sign the North’s behavior is pushing

the two old rivals closer together.

South Korea has also resumed

anti-North propaganda broad-

casts through loudspeakers along

the border, a tactic that the North

considers insulting. It responded

with artil lery fire the last time

South Korea used the speakers in

August.

South Korea also said it would

restrict access to the jointly run

Kaesong industrial complex just

north of the heavily militarizedinter-Korean border to the

“minimum necessary level” from

Tuesday.

The complex, where South

Korean factories employ North

Korean workers, is an important

source of revenue for the impov-

erished North. — Reuters

A MOTHER and a grandmother put a coat on a child in B eijing on Jan. 1.

A F P

BEIJING — China will stick to

family planning restrictions for

up to 30 years, a senior Chinese

offi cial said on Mon day, rejectin g

concern that limits on the num-

ber of children had shrunk the

pool of workers needed to sup-

port an aging population.Last year, the ruling Chinese

Communist Party announced it

would relax its long-standing and

controversial “one-child policy,”

allowing all couples to have two

children.

But critics say the policy

change comes too late to avert a

dangerous population imbalance

as many couples are now not keen

on having more children.

China’s population is set to

peak at about 1.45 billion by 2050,

when one in every three people is

expected to be more than 60 years

old, with a shrinking proportion

of working adults to support

them.

But, offi cials would adhere to

family planning restrictions “for

the long term,” Wang Pei’an, vice-

minister of the National Health

and Family Planning Commis-

sion, told a news conference.

“This long-term adherence is

at least 20 years, 30 years,” Mr.

Wang said.

“After a period of time, along

with demographi c changes, and

along with changes in the popu-

lation’s socioeconomic develop-

ment situation, we will adopt a

different population policy.”

He said it w as diffi cult to gi ve

a specific time on how long the

restrictions on family size would

be maintained, saying it was an

issue that had to be dealt with “in

line with the times.”

Asked about the dang er the

two-child policy would preventChina from getting rich before it

got old, Mr. Wang said an aging

population was a global problem

and “an inevitable trend of a soci-

ety’s development.”

China’s main problem with its

labor force was not the number of

workers but “how to improve the

quality of workers,” he said.

Mr. Wang said there was a de-

mographic “imbalance” in China

between poorer regions with

higher fertility levels than cities,

where many people are reluctant

to have more children.

The one-child policy was intro-

duced in the late 1970s to prevent

population growth spiralling out

of control, but is now regarded

as outdated and responsible for

shrinking the labor pool.

It has also led to the problem

of an aging society, with a smaller

number of productive young

people, a phenomenon usually

seen in industrialized countries.

With the adoption of the two-

child policy, China’s labor force

could rise by more than 30 million

by 2050 and its aging population

will be reduced by two percentage

points by 2030, Mr. Wang said. —

Reuters

MARINES STAND guard on Jan. 10 outside the house where five gang suspects

were killed in the Jan. 8 military operation that resulted in the recapture of

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico.

AFP

“Cologne has changed every-

thing, people now are doubting,”

said Volker Bouffier, vice-presi-dent of Ms. Merkel’s CDU party.

‘ASSAULTS WERE PLANNED’Justice Minister Heiko Maas said

he believed the violence in the west-

ern city of Cologne was organized.

“For such a horde of people to

meet and commit such crimes, it

has to have been planned some-

how,” he told Bild am Sonntag.

“No one can tell me that this

was n ot coordin ated or planned.

The suspicion is that a specific

date and an expected crowd was

picked,” he said.

Quoting confidential police re-

ports, Bild am Sonntag said some

North Africans had sent out calls

using social networks for people

to gather in Cologne on NewYear’s Eve.

Separately in Hamburg, police

said they had received 133 crimi-

nal complaints for similar vio-

lence during the northern city’s

own New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Wit h tho usa nds of asy lum

seekers streaming into Germany

every day since last year, Ms.

Merkel has already come under

fire from critics, even within her

own conservative alliance, who

want her to reve rse her open -

door policy to war refugees.

Critics have questioned Ger-

many’s ability to integrate the

massive numbers of newcomers,

many of whom hail from Syria,

Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Ms. Merkel had until now not

wavered from her stance, even us-ing her New Year’s address to tell

Germans that the record influx was

“an opportunity for tomorrow.”

But after Cologne, she has ad-

opted a harsher tone, saying also

that “we must speak again about

the cultural fundamentals of our

coexistence.”

‘TURNING POINT?’“It’s not premature to speak of a

turning point, or at least the re-

inforcing of a trend that had al-

ready started to take shape lately,”

Andreas Roedder, contemporary

history professor at Mainz Uni-

versity told AFP.

Bit by bit, the government

has begun to tighten up checks,

including reinstating individual

interviews in asylum applications

for Syrians since Jan. 1, which hadearlier been waived.

And in Afgh ani sta n, an ad-

vertising campaign is runnin g to

dissuade middle-class Afghans

from coming, telling them that

they should stay and rebuild their

home country.

Balkan states have already

been designated safe countries of

origin — a category which meant

that citizens would not usually

be granted asylum — and Algeria

and Morocco could soon join that

list.

“After a period of open-arms

policy, the time has perhaps come

to change the tone. Right now, the

question is on expulsions, tough-

ening the law, as what happened

in Cologne really has a political

dimension to it,” said Tilman

Mayer, a political analyst at BonnUniversity, speaking to Phoenix

television station.

Ms. Merkel is caught in a bind

as asylum seekers are still arriv-

ing at the rate of between 3,000

and 4,000 a day, despite the harsh

winter conditions.

“The situation could degener-

ate very quickly for Ms. Merkel

with in the CDU becaus e resi s-

tance and nervousness is grow-

ing,” said Mr. Roedder. — AFP

Values need not be threatenedby migrant influx, Pope says

VATICAN CITY — Pope Fran-

cis warned on Monday that the

recent huge influx of migrants

risked overwhelming Euro-

pean values and traditions, but

he said he was sure the conti-

nent could resolve the crisis

and emerge strengthened by

the new arrivals.

“The present wave of mi-

gration seems to be under-

mining the foundations of

that ‘humanistic spirit’ which

Europe has always loved and

defended,” the pope said in an

annual address to diplomats at

the Vatican City.

Ack now le dgi ng tha t th e

flood of refugees, mainly

from the Middle East and Af-

rica, was a diffi cult burden, the

pope said he was sure Europe

could find “the right balance

between its two-fold moral

responsibility to protect the

rights of its citizens and to en-

sure assistance and acceptance

to migrants.” — Reuters

A GROUP of migrants wait to board a bus in Presevo, Serbia on Jan. 5.

AFP



S1/11The NationTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

THE COMMISSION on Elections

(Comelec) has responded to Sen-

ator Grace Poe’s petition against

the cancellation of her candidacy

— with all seven commissioners

affi xing their con formity amid in -

fighting on unauthorized filings.

The 50-page comment asked

the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss

Ms. Poe’s petition challenging the

Comelec Second Division’s Dec. 1

resolution in favor of lawyer Es-

trella C. Elamparo. The poll body

denied committing grave abuse of

discretion when the en banc, vot-

ing 5-1-1, upheld the division’s ac-

tion through a Dec. 23 resolution.

Saying “the Comelec op-

pressed nobody,” the poll body

responded that it clearly applied

the Constitution and the correct

law and jurisprudence in affi rm-ing the finding that Ms. Poe mis-

represented her residency and

citizenship credentials.

The comment was filed by Sec-

ond Division member Arthur D.

Lim, the acting counsel for the

poll body as regards the Elamparo

case. The signatures had annota-

tions reflecting the voting pattern

behind the affi rmation of the Sec-

ond Division’s resolution.

Chairman Andres D. Bautista

— who dissented from the en banc

resolution and voted in favor of

Ms. Poe — wrote the note: “Sub-

ject to the concu rring and dis-

senting opinion dated 12/23/15.”

Commissioner Luie Tito F.

Guia — who concurred that Ms.

Poe misrepresented her resi-

dency but dissented regarding

her citizenship — likewise wrote:

“subject to my separate opinion.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner

Christian Robert S. Lim noted his

inhibition (to recall, he recused

from the Elamparo petition be-

cause she was a law associate).

The comment was submitted

Monday afternoon, four days pastthe court’s non-extendible dead-

line of 10 days from notice. The

Comelec likewise attached a two-

page motion for the SC to admit

the comment “in the interest of

justice.”

Comelec Spokesperson James

Arthur B. Jimenez first disclosed

this development in a press brief-

ing that morning.

“It’s an act of the commission

en banc and the seven signatures

will reflect that charact er,” M r.

Jimenez said. “When the docu-

ment is signed by all seven, it is

considered very clearly, without

question, an act of the en banc.”

TWITTING ON TWITTERThis was the second comment

required by the SC on Ms. Poe’s

two electoral cases. The first com-

ment was filed Thursday regard-

ing the First Division’s Dec. 11

resolut ion (al so affi rmed by the

en banc on Dec. 23), but it was

filed only by division member

Commissioner Rowena Amelia

“Bing” V. Guanzon.

This prompted Mr. Bautista toissue a memorandum asking Ms.

Guanzon to explain why she filed

the comment without his and the

other commissioners’ concur-

rence. He said this act was a form

of “disrespect” for his position.

Ms. Guanzon, for her part,

took to Twitter on Monday and

lambasted Mr. Bautista for sup-

posedly being biased in favor of

Ms. Poe.

In a series of tweets, she said

Mr. Bautista himself met with

the commissioners three times

to “insist we consolidate all Grace

P cases.”

To recall, Ms. Poe’s camp

moved for the consolidation of all

four petitions, but the two Come-

lec divisions thumbed down the

request. (Ms. Guanzon’s First Di-

vision handled the three petitions

by former senator Francisco S.

Tatad, political science professor

Antonio P. Contreras, and former

law dean Amado D. Valdez.)

When the Come lec en banc

voted to affi rm the two divisions’

resolutions, Mr. Bautista alleg-

edly sat down on the en banc rul-ing’s issuance.

“He voted in her favor. Talo

si Grace P. [Grace P lost.] He de-

layed issuance of the Resolution

until dec 23,” read her tweet.

Mr. Jimenez said the Comelec

en banc will still have to deliber-

ate what action to take on Ms.

Guanzon’s filing.

Ms. Guanzon had earlier said

in a Friday evening statement

that as commissioner, she was not

a “subordinate” of Mr. Bautista.

On Sunday, she said in a radio

interview that she had to comply

with the SC’s Jan. 7 deadlin e and

did not wait for Mr. Bautista to

be at the office to sign the com-

ment.

In a separate development,

Rizalito Y. David, who unsuccess-

fully petitioned the ouster of Ms.

Poe from her Senate seat, asked

the SC to take action against

former Chief Justice Artemio V.

Panganiban for allegedly trying to

sway the high court into ruling in

the senator’s favor.

In a 10-page manifestation, he

implored the high court to “bearin mind the stringent demands of

justice and the need to promote

proper ethical conduct among the

members of the bar vis-a-vis the

respect due this court.”

Mr. Panganiban said in his

Jan. 10 column at the Philippine

Daily Inquirer that Ms. Poe’s case

is “unique” and presents “a rare

moment for judicial greatness for

those who see beyond the text.”

The former chief justice also

opined that the axiom “salus

populi est suprema lex (the wel-

fare of the people is the supreme

law)” should be invoked “extra-

constitutionally” to render social

justice in favor of foundlings like

Ms. Poe.

Mr. David’s manifestation

read: “Suffi ce it to state that this

act is as dangerous as the at-

tempts of foreign governments to

influence the executive decisions

of the President of a republic.”

Mr. David’s case against the

Senate Electoral Tribunal’s (SET)

Nov. 17 ruling upholding Ms. Poe’s

citizenship eligibility is currently

pending before the SC. Ms. Poehad asked the high court to con-

solidate her electoral cases with

Mr. David’s case against the SET.

Comment to Poe petition has en banc signing up

Allow private gun ownersexemption from election ban, Supreme Court asked

THREE licensed gun owners askedthe Supreme Court (SC) on Monday

to order the Commission on Elec-

tions (Comelec) to allow private gun

licensees to seek exemption from

the six-month election gun ban.

In a 43-page petition for manda-

mus, the three gun owners — Eric

F. Acosta, Nathaniel G. dela Paz

and Rodrigo G. Moreno — said the

Comelec should not limit election-

season authorization to certain

government offi cials, law enforcers,

security personnel and cashiers.

The petition asked the SC to

order the Comelec to entertain

applications from private license-

holders for the Certificate of Au-

thority (CA), an exemption from

the gun ban.

The petition said Republic ActNo. (RA) 10591 (Comprehensive

Firearms and Ammunition Act)

gave private citizens holding Per-

mits to Carry Firearms Outside

Residence (PTCFOR) the legal

right to carry firearms, which the

Comelec’s Resolution No. 10015

allegedly violated in imposing an

election gun ban.

At the same time, the petition

argued that the said law did not

include the conduct of elections

as among the reasons for a gun

owner’s license to be suspended

or revoked.“Hence, RA 10591 gives PTC-

FOR holders a clear legal right

to carry their firearms, and not

have their PTCFORs revoked or

suspended...,” read the petition.

It added the Comelec violated

the equal protection clause by

allowing exemptions for select

offi cers — becaus e of their dut y or

exposure to safety threats — but

not for private citizens.

“[The Comelec] likewise vio-

lated petitioners’ right to equal

protection of the law, by ignoring

their right to bear their firearms,

yet at the same time, granting

such right to govern ment offi cials

who are similarly situated as peti-

tioners,” the petition read.

Saying the Comelec resolutionundermined the purpose of RA

10591, the petition emphasized

that private license-holders

would lose their ability to protect

themselves from threats to their

safety.

Comelec Resolution No. 10015

set a 150-day election gun ban

from Jan. 10 to June 8.

By Vince Alvic A. F. NonatoReporter

Petition vs Duterte’s candidacy still pending

THE PETITION to cancel the certificate of

candidacy (CoC) of Davao City Mayor and

presidential candidate Rodrigo R. Duterte is

still pending before the Commission on Elec-

tions (Comelec), its chairman clarified yester-

day, in contrast to news reports quoting a law-

yer for Mr. Duterte as saying the petition has

been dismissed.

Comelec Chairman Andres D. Bautista

confirmed late Monday afternoon that the

petition filed by University of the Philippines-

Diliman Student Council Chairman John Pau-

lo G. de las Nieves has not been dismissed by

the poll body’s First Division. Mr. Bautista said

this was conferred to him by commissioner

Christian Robert S. Lim of the First Division.

Mr. de las Nieves’s legal counsel, Maria

Sheila M. Bazar, was absent at the preliminary

hearing yesterday. She released a statement

later that day saying: “I had come from the

hospital to take care of my brother, who is cur-

rently being treated for cancer. He has been in

the hospital since December, and I have been

attending to him daily ever since.”

Mr. de las Nieves’s 23-page petition, filed

last December, argued that Mr. Duterte’s can-

didacy was null and void since the CoC of the

candidate he replaced, Martin B. Diño, was

defective.

Mr. de las Nieves’s petition is one of threefiled against Mr. Duterte. The others are by

presidential aspirant Rizalito Y. David and

Davao City broadcaster Ruben Castor.

Another hearing on Mr. D uterte’s candi-

dacy is scheduled today.

Duterte, Cayetano to prioritize Mindanao rail system

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The r unning mate of Davao

City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo R.

Duterte has committed that, should they win, their ad-

ministration will immediately calendar the construction

of the Mindanao Railway System.

In a speech before local business leaders here on

Sunday, Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano said the rail

system has been identified by Mr. Duterte h imself as

one of his “regional economic inclusiveness projects,”

which would be under an overall program of stronger

decentralization.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez,

who is not a known supporter and has not declared

backing for Mr. Duterte nor Mr. Cayetano, lauded the

promise.

“The Mindanao railway system has been an elusive

dream. Should they succeed to become the next presi-

dent and vice-president, I hope they will stick to these

sound economic platforms,” Mr. Rodriguez said on the

sidelines of the event.

Mr. Duterte, meanwhile, returned yesterday from

a three-day visit to Taiwan where part of his itinerary

was a visit to the different mass transportation systems

there, including the fast train.

The mayor, who is on leave from his local post until

the 14th, also met with overseas Filipino workers in

Taiwan to present his platform of government.Mr. Cayetano said the first phase of the envisioned

railway system will be in Region 10 (Northern Mind-

anao), straddling the coastal cities of Iligan, located

southwest of Cagayan de Oro, and Gingoog in the

northeast.

The entire rail system, the first anywhere in

Mindanao, will be circumferential with a total length of

2,000 kilometers.

It is planned for construction under six phases at

a total estimated cost of P86 billion, based on the

initial study conducted by the National Economic and

Development Authority.

“We will have it inked in the 2017 budget,” the

senator said.

In June last year, an offi cial of the Mindanao Devel-

opment Authority (MinDA) said the railway system was

under “consideration” by the national government as a

priority project as listed in the Mindanao Development

Corridors program, which forms part of the Mindanao

Peace and Development Framework Plan 2020 and of

what was supposed to be an accelerated infrastructure

development initiative, the Midterm Updated Philippine

Development Plan 2011-2016.

Several lawmakers have also previously urged the

public-private partnership offi ce to put the Mindanao

rail in the priority list, but the project never took off.

Mr. Cayetano also hinted that if Mr. Duterte be comes

president, appointed undersecretaries and assistant

secretaries for the Department of Transportation and

Communications would come from the Visayas and

Mindanao.

“As much as possible, we avoid a Metro Manila-

centric Cabinet,” Mr. Cayetano said.

Other aspects of the planned regional economic

inclusiveness are: a P1-billion seed capital fund perregion; transfer of the central offi ces of certain agencies

outside the National Capital Region; establishment of

specialized medical centers in the Visayas and Mind-

anao; and developing growth centers in the country-

side. — with Carmencita A. Carillo

By Alden M. Monzon Reporter

By Mark D. Francisco Correspondent


Survey shows food security, 4Ps among top concernsBy Kathryn Mae P. TubadezaReporter

CONGRESS should trace the flow of money

in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF),

a film director of one entry in the festival

told legislators on Monday.

“With MMFF being under MMDA

(Metropolitan Manila Development Au-

thority) and therefore an accountable

public office, we would like Congress to

trace the flow of money from the ticketbuyers to theaters’ box office to MMFF

producers to beneficiaries,” Hono r Thy

Father Director Erik Matti told the House

committee on Metro Manila development

at a hearing on Monday.

“We want MMFF to produce verifiable

bank statements, open themselves to audit,”

Mr. Matti told lawmakers.

He said the MMFF is “only concerned

about money and not… the welfare of pro-

ducers, the film workers and the taxpayers

who support them each year.”

The hearing on Monday discussed the

reported disqualification of Mr. Matti’s film

from the festival’s Best Picture category.

“The MMFF Executive Committee could

have disqualified Honor Thy Father fromthe roster of films,” MMFF Executive Com-

mittee Chairman Emerson S. Carlos, for his

part, told lawmakers.

“It’s very clear in the rules that the failure

to notify entry will be shown in other film

festival[s] merits the penalty of disqualifica-

tion. However, MMFF chose to be magnani-

mous,” Mr. Carlos said.

According to Mr. Carlos, the participation

of Honor Thy Father at the Hawaii Interna-

tional film festival was not disclosed. “This is

a major infraction of MMFF rules,” he said.

The MMFF committee has noted that

Honor Thy Father ’s participation in the Cin-

ema One festival was “revealed to the MMFF

through their letter dated Nov. 5, 2015, [and

this was] received on Nov. 6, 2015, only twodays before the showing, not giving the MMFF

enough time to deliberate on the matter.” The

Cinema One Film Festival was held on Nov. 8.

Ronald Stephen Monteverde, the film’s pro-

ducer, told the hearing that he has “refuted this

charge of nondisclosure, on statements I made

and interviews I gave on print, broadcast and

social media.” — Kathryn Mae P. Tubadeza

‘We want MMFF open to audit’ — filmmaker

FOOD SECURITY, farmers’ needs,

and the Aquino administration’sPantawid Pamilyang Pilipino

Program (4Ps) were among the

top concerns in a survey commis-

sioned by an environmental group.

Results of a Social Weather Sta-

tions (SWS) survey conducted on

Sept. 2-5 last year among 1,200

adults nationwide — with sampling

error margins of ±3 points for na-

tional percentages and ±6 points

each for Metro Manila, “Balance

Luzon,” the Visayas and Mindanao

— showed 80% of respondents

saying they will probably vote for

a candidate that will support the

continuation of 4Ps, while 11% said

they will not be affected, and 8%

said they will not vote otherwise,

for a net score of +72.Sought for comment, Presi-

dential Communications Secre-

tary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. said:

“This affi rms that the re is broad-

based acceptance by our people

of government’s efforts to uplift

the quality of life of the poorest

families and thereby enhance the

attainment of inclusive growth

where no one gets left behind.”

Other issues asked in the SWS

poll are:

• Ensuring that needs of the

farmers are met: +68 (76%, probably

vote for, minus 8%, will not vote for)

• Ensuring that food needs are

met: +66 (75%, probably vote for,

minus 9%, will not vote for)

• Promoting environment-friendly farming: +58 (70%, prob-

ably vote, for minus 12%,will not

vote for)

• Continuation of “ Daang Ma-

tuwid ”: +50 (65%, probably vote

for, minus 15%, will not vote for)

• Amendment of the economic

provisions of the Constitution:

+49 (64%, probably vote for, mi-

nus 15%, will not vote for)

• Enactment into law of the

Freedom of Information Bill: +26

(48%, probably vote for, minus

21%, will not vote for)

• Enactment of anti-dynasty

law: +22 (46%, probably vote for,


• Enactment of the proposed

Bangsamoro Basic Law: -3 (31%,probably vote for, minus 34%, will

not vote for)

• Enactment into law of di-

vorce: -18 (26%, probably vote for,


The Third Quarter survey on

“issues that one would vote for a

candidate” were commissioned

by Greenpeace Philippines.

“We challenge our Presidential

candidates to clearly state how

he/she will support the farmers,

address iss ues on food suffi ciency,

and make farming climate resil-

ient and environment-friendly,”

Vigi e Beno sa-Llo rin, Food and

Ecological Agriculture Cam-

paigner, Greenpeace Philippines,

said in a statement on Monday.“While each candidate may have

their own lines about agriculture,

the voters are looking and demand-

ing for more than mere rhetoric, but

rather real programs and policies to-

wards safe, healthy and sustainable

food and agriculture systems that

respond to the continuing plight

of Filipino farmers, the majority of

whom continue to reel from mass

poverty, hunger and destitution,”

Ms. Benosa-Llorin said.

GUN RESTRICTIONS are in force again ahead of the May elections. This file photo

from the holidays shows policemen’s weapons are taped to ensure they do not fire

indiscriminately during the New Year.

P H I L I P P I N E S T A R_

E D D G U M B A N

FEEDING PROGRAM by a charity group

BW FILE PHOTO



DAVAO CITY — Mindanao will

attract more investment in re-

newable energy (RE) and maxi-

mize their potential when a spot

market for power is implemented

here, a t op offi cial of the Min -

danao Development Authority

(MinDA) said.

Romeo M. Montenegro, Min-

DA head for public affairs and a

member of the Mindanao Power

Monitoring Committee (MPMC),

said it is crucial to set up the

Mindanao Wholesale Electricity

Spot Market (WESM) soon given

projections of a power surplus

beginning this year.

“Mindanao is expected to have

new coal-fired projects that will

result in power surplus. Hope-

fully, by then we will already have

a power spot market similar to

the WESM in Luzon,” said Mr.

Montenegro.

Mindanao cannot participate

in the WESM in its current formbecause its grid is not connected

to the national network.

Mindanao, which has been

relying on the Agus and Pulangi

hydroelectric complexes for more

than 50% of its supply, has been

beset by energy problems since at

least the last six years.

With sever al new coal -fire d

power plants starting operations

in the next two years, supply will

no longer be tight but the energy

mix would tilt in favor of fossil

fuel, covering about 67% of avail-

able total supply.

MinDA is aiming for a 50-50

balanced mix between RE and

fossil fuel by 2020.

There are currently 290 RE

applications in Mindanao — con-sisting of hydro, geothermal, solar

and biomass — with a potential

capacity of at least 2,400 mega-

watts (MW).

“Although several compa-

nies have started setting up RE

projects in Mindanao,” said Mr.

Montenegro, “these projects will

only benefit the island if the spot

market is in place.”

Bryan H. Diosma, MPMC

technical working group head,

explained that electricity dis-

tributors are currently fully con-

tracted to existing facilities and

ongoing fossil fuel projects, which

restricts them from tapping the

proposed RE facilities through

bilateral contracts.

The top offi cial of Aboitiz Pow-

er Corp. (AboitizPower), whichhas both coal-fired and green

energy projects in Mindanao

through various subsidiaries, also

said a WESM will benefit the pow-

er source proponents, the elec-

tricity distributors and ultimately

the commercial and household

consumers in Mindanao.

“We are confident that the

benefits we are experiencing in

Luzon and Visayas will come to

Mindanao as our policy makers

introduce the WESM, open ac-

cess and other initiatives con-

templated under EPIRA,” said

Aboi tiz Power Chi ef Execu tiv e

Offi cer Erramon I. Aboi tiz on the

sidelines of last Friday’s inaugu-

ration of the company’s new 300-

MW coal-fired plant located at

the boundary of Davao City and

Sta. Cruz town in Davao del Sur.

EPIRA is the Electric Power

Industry Reform Act (EPIRA)

passed in 2001.

Mr. Aboitiz said EPIRA trans-

formed the power industry from

a “monopolized, politicized and

heavily subsidized structure into

one that is competitive and bears

the true cost of power.”

The 15-year-old law, he added,

“allowed private investments to

come in and help Mindanao se-

cure its power needs.”

MinDA data show that Mind-

anao will have an expected com-

bined capacity of 1,920 MW once

the committed coal plant projects

start operating between 2015 and

2018, enough to meet the island’s

present average consumption

of 1,400 MW per day with a pro- jected growth rate of 6% annually.

As of yesterday, the Mindanao

grid had a reserve of 308 MW

from an available capacity of 1,471

MW and a peak demand of 1,163

MW, based on the National Grid

Corporation of the Philippines’

monitoring.

FEED-IN TARIFF With more RE projects in Mind-

anao, consumers in the South will

also be able to finally benefit from

RE sources through the Feed-In

Tariff (FIT) program.

Mr. Diosma pointed out that

consumers in Mindanao are

already paying for the FIT-Al-

lowance (FIT-All) charge, which

started in February last year, eventhough the grid does not have ac-

cess to existing RE projects that

are delivering supply to the Lu-

zon and Visayas grids.

The P0.0406-per-kilowatt-

hour FIT rate applies to all elec-

tricity consumers nationwide.

Electricity suppliers collect

this charge from consumers,

whic h is the n remi tted to the

FIT-All Fund that is administered

by government-owned National

Transmission Corp. (TransCo).

TransCo pays the proponents

of the RE projects.

“An electric cooperative in

Mindanao can absorb renewable

energy even without paying be-

cause the (consumers through

the) government pays for that,”

Mr. Diosma said.The country’s RE law under

Republic Act 9513 provides for the

FIT program wherein the capac-

ity of qualified green projects are

dispatched to the grid at a fixed

rate over a period of 20 years.

THE PUBLIC ATTORNEY’s Of-

fice (PAO) asked the Supreme

Court (SC) on Monday to over-

turn the Court of Appeals’ (CA)

order for a Manila judge to in-

hibit from the M/V Princess of the

Stars civil suit when the case was

already reaching its conclusion.

In a 78-page petition, PAO —

on behalf of 71 bereaved plaintiffs

who lost their loved ones to the

June 2008 tragedy — said the CA

Special Sixteenth Division erred in

directing the recusal of Manila Re-

gional Trial Court (RTC) Branch

49 Judge Daniel C. Villanueva.

The CA, through Associate

Justice Edwin D. Sorongon, had

granted the inhibition request of

Sulpicio Lines, Inc. (now known asPhilippine Span Asia Carrier Corp.)

on Sept. 21 last year, three days after

Mr. Villanueva on Sept. 18 ordered

the shipping firm to pay more than

P200 million in damages.

The appeal s court affi rmed the

decision on Dec. 18, additionally

ordering the Manila RTC to re-

raffl e the case to a differen t judge.

But PAO argued the appeals

court cannot compel Mr. Vil-

lanueva to recuse from the case

because voluntary inhibition, ac-

cording to Section 1, Rule 137 of

the Rules of Court, is left to the

“sound discretion of the judges

concerned.”

The petition added that the CA

should have dismissed Sulpicio’s

case to begin with because it did

not attach the pertinent records

of the case.

It also questioned the timing of

the decision, as the Sept. 18 deci-

sion was arguably rendered final

and executory because Sulpicio

lodged a “fatally defective” appeal.

The petition also claimed

Sulpicio “maliciously misinter-

preted” Mr. Villanueva’s words

to show his alleged bias, stressing

the judge had remained “unbi-ased and impartial” in handling

the civil suit.

Heidee Laurel, a plaintiff who

lost her parents and five of her

siblings to the tragedy, lamented

how the bereaved relatives were

so close to being compensated.

“ Hust isya na eh! Nana lo na

kami! Bakit may ibang taong

pumipigil pa du’n?(It was justice

already! We won! Why do certain

people have to stop it?),” she said

during a press briefing by PAO.

PAO Chief Persida V. Rueda-

Acosta said it was unheard of for the

appellate court to issue an inhibi-

tion order for a judge when the deci-

sion was already nearing execution.

Asked by repo rters how the

CA’s inhibition order would affect

the case, Ms. Acosta said the ship-

ping firm’s inhibition petition

should have been rendered moot

and academic by the issuance of

the RTC decision.

“Why would Justice Sorongon

have that re raffl ed? Having st ud-

ied the Rules of Court, I am not

aware of voluntary inhibition for

a case that is decided already,” she

said, stressing that the SC should

halt the CA’s order to avoid set-ting a precedent.

The Manila court is set to hear

on Jan. 13 the PAO’s motion to

execute the decision ordering the

payment of damages. Ms. Acosta

said Mr. Villanueva is expected

to rule then on whether he will

abide by the CA’s inhibition order

or not.

The Manila RTC held in the

Sept. 18 decision that there was

suffi cient proof of negligence on

Sulpicio’s part, when it allowed

the M/V Princ ess of the Star s

to set sail despite a Signal no. 3

storm warning hoisted over the

Romblon area. The missing cap-

tain was ruled to have misled the

Coast Guard into thinking they

have changed course.

That decision noted the firm

was involved in at least 32 maritime

disasters, including the 1987 colli-

sion of M/V Doña Paz with an oil

tanker leading to 4,300 casualties.

Only 32 of the M/V Princess

of the Stars’ 851 passengers and

crew members survived the mis-

hap in the Sibuyan Sea, off San

Fernando, Romblon.

The Maritime Industry Au-

thority, on Jan. 23, 2015, canceledthe Certificate of Public Con-

venienc e of what is now known

as Philippine Span Asia Carrier

Corp., ten years into the 25-year

effectivity. Because of this, the

firm’s ships are now limited to

carrying cargo.

12/S1 The Nation TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 EDITOR RICKY S. TORRE

Maintenance provider deniessabotage in MRT breakdown

THE METRO Rail Transit Line 3’s

(MRT-3) German maintenance

provider denied allegations of a

“sabotage” after the train broke

down last Friday, saying the roll-

ing stocks and signaling system

are now “obsolete.”

“The GM (general manager) is

saying that there is a sabotage on

the train last Jan. 8,” Roehl B. Ba-

car, authorized representative of

Schunk Bahn-Und Industrietech-

nik GmbH and Comm Builders

& Technology (SBI-CBT), Phils.

Joint Venture, said in a telephone

interview yesterday, referring to

MRT-3 General Manager Roman

R. Buenafe.On the same day, the Transpor-

tation department turned over

the maintenance of the rolling

stocks and signaling system from

SBI-CBT to South Korea’s Busan

Transportation Corp. and its Fili-

pino partners: Edison Develop-

ment and Construction, Tramat

Mercantile, Inc., TMI Corp., Inc.

and Castan Corp.

Mr. Buenafe questioned the

timing of the breakdown, telling

reporters that “a short circuit

doesn’t happen on its own....

Something ha ppened, ” b u t

stopped short of disclosing details.

“We are being harassed. There

are silly notions and conclusions

of sabotage and I’m including that

in the supplementals [for the graft

case],” SBI-CBT’s Mr. Bacar said.

Last month, he filed graft

charges before the Office of the

Deputy Ombudsman for Luzonagainst Mr. Buenafe, Transporta-

tion Undersecretary Edwin Lo-

pez and three oth er MRT offi cials

for allegedly not paying for the

group’s services in full.

The Transportation depart-

ment had hired seven different

subcontractors to handle the

train line for six months. Dur-

ing the transition period last

week, the agenc y exten ded the

contracts for another month —

except that of SBI-CBT’s.

Mr. Bacar said “napagi-initan

ako since meron akong finile na

case against sa GM (I was pres-

sured because I filed a case against

the GM).”

But Mr. Buenafe said the Ko-

rean group took over the German

group’s duties because the rolling

stocks and signaling system are

the most crucial disciplines.

Mr. Bacar said these compo-nents are now “definitely obso-

lete” and it will take six months to

one year for the major spare parts

to be ordered.

SBI-CBT is one of the three

groups that submitted an unsolic-

ited proposal during the negoti-

ated procurement for the train’s

long-term maintenance contract,

but was disqualified after submit-

ting its documents 43 minutes

beyond the deadline.

The group will no longer ap-

peal the disqualification, but pro-

posed to be a technical adviser

as it has an agreement with the

train’s original equipment manu-

facturer, according to Mr. Bacar.

The three-year P3.81-billion

contract with the Busan group is

the subject of an upcoming Sen-

ate investigation, amid reports

that the Korean group tried to

back out of the deal. The Trans-portation department denied the

reports.

By Daphne J. Magturo Reporter

OIL COMPANIES have cut diesel

prices this week by 70 centavos

per liter, bringing the total reduc-

tion for the sixth straight week of

price rollback to P4.75 per liter.

Kerosene prices have dropped

by 70 centavos per liter, also the

eighth consecutive week of re-duction.

Gasoline prices also went

down by at least 10 centavos per

liter, reversing last week’s in-

crease by the same amount.

Eastern Petroleum Corp. was

the first to slash prices at 6:00

p.m. on Monday. It is also the only

company so far that announced a

deeper cut for the price of gaso-

line — at 20 centavos per liter.

Others have scheduled the

cuts at 6:00 a.m. today.

Phoenix Petroleum Philip-

pines, Inc. said in its advisory it

was reducing prices “to reflect thedownward price movements of

petroleum products in the world

market.”

Crude oil prices have been

falling in the world market and

have slipped below $35 per barrel

for the first time since 2004. —

Victor V. Saulon Oil price adjustments in January (per liter)

GASOLINE DIESEL KEROSENE

Dec. 28

P0.20Dec. 28

P0.40Dec. 28

P0.60

Jan. 12

P0.70Jan. 12

P0.70Jan. 12

P0.10-P0.20

Jan. 5

P0.15

Jan. 5

P0.25

Jan. 5

P0.10

Fuel prices cut anew

Mindanao spot market toopen doors for renewables

By Carmelito Q. FranciscoCorrespondent


MRT CARS near Guadalupe station

P H I L I P P I N E S T A R _M I C H A E L V A R C A S

Bill amending investment restrictions to go to bicam

A BICAMERAL conference committee will

meet in three weeks to reconcile the Senate

and House versions of a measure amending

investment restrictions in laws governingadjustment companies, lending compa-

nies, financing companies, and investment

houses.

“I’m hoping that two weeks from now we

will be able to get it passed in the floor and

hopefully on the last week of January do the

bicam,” Davao del Norte Rep. Anthony G.

del Rosario told reporters in an interview

on Monday.

A technical working group met on Mon-

day to draft a consolidated version of the

measure both filed by Mr. del Rosario and Is-

abela Rep. Giorgidi B. Aggabao (4 th district)

seeking to amend investment restrictions in

specific laws governing said companies.

“We’re hoping we will be able to come up

with a final draft of the consolidated version

and on Tuesday we’ll be having a committeemeeting. I’ll be sponsoring this final draft

for approval on Tuesday,” Mr. del Rosario

said, adding the main objective of the mea-

sure is “to allow foreign entities to come in

and own 100% of” those companies.

“As a result of the APEC (Asia-Pacific

Economic Cooperation) meetings, some-

body there must have probably brought up

the issue why we did not lift the restrictions

with regard to the other financing corpora-

tions or other financial intermediaries, that

is why we are now pushing for the removal of

these restrictions,” he said.

The proposed law repeals statutory laws

and implementing rules and regulations

that impose nationality requirements of

foreign investment limitations.

Sought for comment, John D. Forbes,senior adviser of the American Chamber

of Commerce of the Philippines, said: “The

reform has been supported by Philippine

and foreign business groups for some years.”

“We are very pleased that it is moving in

the Senate and the House, under the leader-

ship of Senator [Joseph Victor G.] Ejercito

and Rep. del Rosari o,” Mr. Forbes said via text .

A similar measure, Senate Bill No. 3023,

has been approved on second reading on

Dec. 15, 2015.

By Kathryn Mae P. Tubadeza Reporter

Reversal of inhibition order on Sulpicio case sought

FULL STORY

Read the full story by scanning

the QR code with your

smartphone or by typing the link

<http://goo.gl/Fnl39K>



EDITOR BETTINA FAYE V. ROC

LOANS SECURED under the

central bank’s peso rediscount

window in 2015 stood at only a

third of the year-ago level as rates

went up and given ample money

supply, the Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Thrift and rural banks availed

of P437 million from the BSP’s re-

discount facility from January to

December, which is 67.3% below

the P1.34 billion tapped in 2014.In a statement sent on Monday,

the central bank said the sharp

dip in total availments both in

the peso and the foreign currency

windows was due to the “increase

in rediscounting rates and ample

liquidity in the financial system.”

The rediscount facility allows

small banks to take out loans

from the BSP to meet short-term

liquidity needs by using promis-

sory notes as the borrowers’ col-

lateral.

For the year, bulk of the total

loans taken by banks went to com-

mercial credits at 84.1%. Produc-

tion credits made up 5.1% while

other types of loans accounted

for 10.8% of the total availments,

particularly housing (6.4%), per-

manent working capital (2.4%),and capital expenditures (2%).

Only one universal bank took

out foreign currency loans under

the BSP’s Exporters Dollar and

Yen Rediscount Facility (EDYRF)

at $0.7 million. This is 93% lower

than the $10 million in rediscount

credit granted in 2014.

More foreign insurers keen on PHL mart

A CRITICAL pillar of Europe’s

banking union is less than two

weeks old, but already plans to

make bondholders share the pain

when lenders fail are running

into old national habits.

Creditors are supposed to take

losses when European financial

companies collapse under rules

that took final effect Jan. 1, but

regulators’ actions late last year

suggest that may be true more in

theory than in practice.

Bankers and supervisors in

Italy and Greece found ways to

shield investors in failing firms;

in Portugal, regulators chose who

should be impaired; and in Ger-

many, private-sector protection

schemes mean bondholders may

never suffer imposed losses.

Nearly four years in the mak-

ing, Europe’s banking union has

encountered turbulence every

step of the way, with Germany’s

government resisting what it sees

as attempts to underwrite weaker

member states.

Finance ministers on Friday

will be brief ed on the proje ct’s

status for the first time since

the new rules have been fully inforce.

“The practical effect of this is

that people are going to get more

creative,” said Nicolas Veron of

the Brussels-based Bruegel re-

search group.

“We have a banking union on

the books, but bankers are still

acting as if banking-sector sound-

ness was assessed by the market-

place on a national basis.”

The financial meltdown of

2008 that led to a debt crisis

spiraling from Greece across

the now 19-nation euro region

prompted governments to em-

bark on a banking union designed

to break the link between failing

banks and countries.

Du tc h F in an c e Min ister

Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on

Jan. 7 that he’ll use his nation’s

presidency of the EU to push for

the completion of controls that

would further integrate the bloc’s

financial system.

REGULATORY HAIRCUTSEven countries like Germany, one

of the biggest proponents of strict

rules to mandate creditor losses,

have laid the groundwork to avoid

regulatory haircuts by setting upprivate-sector solutions that

don’t require immediate taxpayer

funds.

Veron sai d t hese mutual pro-

tection schemes, present in all

levels of the German banking

sector, benefit from implicit gov-

ernment guarantees, while let-

ting regulators say the industry is

successfully bearing its own costs.

Other tools like precautionary

government aid and privately ar-

ranged debt swaps allowed strug-

gling banks in Greece and Italy

to steer clear of forced haircuts

whi le win ni ng app rov al fro m

European Commission state-aid

authorities. Regulators also have

leeway to make exemptions that

prevent contagion and preserve

the public interest under the

tougher rules that kicked in this

year.

That strategy won the day

in Portugal last month when

regulators cherry-picked certain

Novo Banco SA senior creditors

to absorb losses from the fail-

ure of Banco Espirito Santo SA.

Other bondholders were spared

in a move that enraged investors

and was defended by the Bank of

Portugal as necessary “based on

Europe’s bank creditors dodge losses,suggesting loopholes in new regulation

Creditors, S2/ 3

Rediscount loans drop

Rediscount, S2/ 3

MORE FOREIGN firms are look-

ing to enter the Philippine insur-

ance industry, a top official of the

Insurance Commission (IC) said.

Deputy Insurance Commis-

sioner Ferdinand George A. Flo-

rendo said that in particular, the

country’s insurance regulator

received queries from companies

present in Southeast Asia.

“We’ve received a number ofinquiries from our ASEAN (As-

sociation of Southeast Asian

Nations) neighbors. There’s a lot

of interest. There’s one ASEAN

big player that came who is very

interested,” Mr. Florendo told

reporters recently.

Wit hou t nam in g the Asi an

insurer, the IC official noted that

the company is looking at put-

ting up both life and non-life op-

erations in the Philippines and is

“looking for a bank partner.”

This interest from foreign in-

surers’ comes after the success-

ful entry of two foreign firms last

year — Ageas Insurance Interna-tional N.V. (Ageas) and Allianz SE

— that both forged partnerships

with local banks.

Before the final agreement

between German insurer Allianz

and Philippine National Bank

(PNB), five other foreign firms

were keen in forging an alliance

or a joint venture bancasssurance

arrangement with the Lucio C.

Tan-led bank — Fubon Life of

Taiwan, Samsung Life of Korea,

Zurich Life of Switzerland, and

a Japanese and a Malaysian in-

surer.

Meanwhile, industry sources

identified the possible foreignentrant as Bangkok-based Muang

Thai Life Assurance Public Com-

pany Limited. IC’s Mr. Florendo,

however, did not confirm this.

IC Commissioner Emmanuel

F. Dooc earlier said more foreign

firms are eyeing to come to the

country since the Philippines

“happens to offer the best poten-

tial” for insurance companies.

“We have low insurance pen-

etration, big population and our

economy is growing,” he said.

A stud y made by Mil lim an,

Inc., a global actuarial and con-

sulting firm, titled “Potential

Implications of the ASEAN Eco-nomic Community for the Life

Insurance Industry” released last

August showed that the Philip -

pine life insurance industry is the

second most liberalized market

among countries in the ASEAN,

but penetration is still one of the

lowest in the region.

The said report placed the

country at second place in terms

of industry liberalization among

the 10 ASEAN member econo-

mies, behind Singapore.

Countries were rated across

eight features — product develop-

ment, distribution, investment,

sophistication of capital regime,

By Imee Charlee C. DelavinReporter

Insurers, S2/ 3

LIBOR (US$) Nov. 13 Dec. 11 Jan. 08

90-days 0.3636 0.5120 0.6211

180 0.6038 0.7465 0.8508

SIBOR (SG$) Nov. 08 Dec. 05 Dec. 31

90-days 1.1351 1.0711 1.1851

180 1.1898 1.1290 1.2516

FOREIGN INTEREST RATESPercent per annum

Source: BSP

s

High Low

Current: 1.836Previous: 1.773(November 2, 2015)

Current: P47.271Volume: $582.90MPrevious: P47.019

P14.380 B

LENDING RATESFRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016

UNIVERSAL BANKSLOCAL BANKSAsia United Bank 7.0000 6.2500Banco de Oro Unibank 6.8360 4.0000Bank of the Philippine Islands 6.8000 4.0000China Banking Corporation 8.0000 4.2500Development Bank of the Phils. 7.5000 4.5000East West Bank 6.2500 4.2500Land Bank of the Philippines 7.6667 4.6667MetroBank and Trust Co. 7.5000 5.0000Philippine National Bank 8.4000 7.4000Philippine Trust Co. 7.0000 4.5000Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. 7.7500 5.7500Security Bank Corporation 7.0000 5.2500Union Bank of the Philippines 8.5000 6.5000United Coconut Planters Bank 7.0000 5.0000AVERAGE 7.3716 5.0941 BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKSANZ Bank 6.0000 2.7000Deutsche Bank 6.2500 3.2000Hongkong & Shanghai Bank 6.2500 2.9000ING Bank 5.6000 3.6000Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. 6.8360 1.7000Standard Chartered Bank 4.6600 3.5550

AVERAGE 5.9327 2.9425 COMMERCIAL BANKSLOCAL BANKS:Bank of Commerce 6.7500 4.2500BDO Private Bank 6.8360 4.0000Phil. Bank of Communications 7.0000 5.0000Philippine Veterans Bank 7.3250 4.8250Robinsons Bank Corp. 7.5000 4.7500AVERAGE 7.0822 4.5650 BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKSBangkok Bank 7.5000 4.5000Bank of America 6.8360 4.8360Bank of China 6.0000 2.8000Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi 5.7500 3.7500Cathay United Bank Co., Ltd. —— ——Citibank, N.A. 3.7500 2.7500Industrial Bank of Korea-Manila —— ——JPMorgan Chase Bank 6.8130 6.8130Korea Exchange Bank 8.0000 4.5000Mega Int’l. Comm’l. Bank Co. Ltd. 8.0000 3.5000AVERAGE 6.5811 4.1811 SUBSIDIARIES OF FOREIGN BANKSChinatrust Bank 6.6380 5.6380Maybank 7.0000 6.0000AVERAGE 6.8190 5.8190GENERAL AVERAGE 6.8713 4.4824

MARKET WATCH

PDS weightedaverage rate

DEMAND RATE

HIGH: 2 9/16% LOW: 2 1/2% AVE.: 2 17/32%

FOREX RATEMONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

INTERBANK RATESFRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015

DAILY VOLUME

T-BILL 91-DAYMONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2015

Average yield

January 10, 2011 — December 7, 2015

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan



25.2ctvs

source: BSP

PESO CROSS RATES MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

Phil Aussie Bahrain Canadian HKong Japan Saudi S’pore Swiss UK US EMU

one unit of currency peso dollar dinar dollar dollar yen rial dollar franc pound dollar euro

Philippin es 1.0000 0.0305 0.0080 0.0301 0.165 1 2.5006 0.0798 0.0307 0.0212 0.0146 0.0213 0.0195

Australia 32.8230 1.0000 0.2629 0.9879 5.4190 82.0780 2.6202 1.0069 0.6944 0.4804 0.6981 0.6389

Bahrain 124.8679 3.8043 1.0000 3.7581 20.6155 312.2478 9.9681 3.8306 2.6416 1.8277 2.6557 2.4306

Canada 33.2266 1.0123 0.2661 1.0000 5.4857 83.0873 2.6525 1.0193 0.7029 0.4863 0.7067 0.6468

Hong Kong 6.0570 0.1845 0.0485 0.1823 1.0000 15.1463 0.4835 0.1858 0.128 1 0.0887 0.1288 0.1179

Japan 0.3999 0.0122 0.0032 0.0120 0.0660 1.0000 0.0319 0.0123 0.0085 0.0059 0.0085 0.0078

Saudi Arabia 12.5267 0.3816 0.1003 0.3770 2.0681 31.3246 1.0000 0.3843 0.2650 0.1834 0.2664 0.2438

Singapore 32.5978 0.9931 0.2611 0.9811 5.3818 81.5149 2.6023 1.0000 0.6896 0.4771 0.6933 0.6345

Switzerla nd 47.2695 1.4401 0.378 6 1.4226 7.8041 118.2033 3.7735 1.4501 1.0000 0.6919 1.0053 0.9201

United Kingdom 68.3186 2.0814 0.5471 2.0561 11.2793 170.8392 5.4538 2.0958 1.4453 1.0000 1.4530 1.3299

United States 47.0190 1.4325 0.3765 1.4151 7.7628 117.5769 3.7535 1.4424 0.9947 0.6882 1.0000 0.9152

EMU 51.3730 1.5652 0.4114 1.5461 8.4816 128.4646 4.1011 1.5760 1.0868 0.7520 1.0926 1.0000

Source: BSP

EXCHANGE RATESNEW YORK-one US$ expressed in respective

unit of foreign currency

EMU 1.0921/26

United Kingdom 1.4525/30

Canada 1.4151/55

Switzerland 0.9947/57

Japan 117.56/58

India 66.84/86

Mexico 17.9300/00

Denmark 6.8321/31

Norway 8.8629/79

Sweden 8.5019/83

Singapore 1.4424/29

Australia 0.6976/78

New Zealand 0.6553/56

Hong Kong 7.7644/51

S. Africa 16.2996/85

Hungary 289.73/13

Israel 3.9255/55

Iceland 129.25/56

Czech Koruna 24.734/758LONDON - one pound sterling expressed in

respective unit of foreign currency at 1637 GMT

US 1.4516 1.4521

Swiss France 1.4445 1.4455

Japan 170.6600 170.76

Norway 12.8874 12.8954

EURO 1.3300 1.3309

Canada 2.0547 2.06

Denmark 9.9249 9.9266

Sweden 12.3527 12.3606

JAPAN-in ¥ per unit of fo reign currency

UK 0.5862 0.5866

Switzerland 0.8467 0.8478

SINGAPORE-in S$ per unit of foreign currency

US 1.4424 1.4431

UK 2.0938 2.0955

Australia 1.0026 1.0037

Per 100

Hong Kong 0.1857 0.1859

Japan 1.2279 1.2288

MONEY RATES

Prime rate-charged by large

comm’l banks to their best corp. borrowers;

Broker Loan Rate-charged to broker on stock

exchange collaterals; Federal Funds-reserves

traded among comm’l banks for overnight use

Prime rate 3.2500

Discount 0.7500

Broker Loan Rate 2.0000

Federal Funds Rate 0.2500

EURODOLLAR DEP (New York)

One month 0.3800 0.4800Two months 0.4500 0.5500

Three months 0.5700 0.7000

Four months 0.6300 0.7300

Five months 0.6800 0.8000

Six months 0.8000 0.9000

Nine months 0.9500 1.1000

One year 1.1000 1.2500

MONEY RATES (London)

Euro$ Depo

One month 0.5600 0.6600


Six months 0.8900 0.9900

One year 1.2100 1.4100

Forwards & Deposits (Singapore)

One month 0.9300 1.0600

Two months 1.0000 1.1200


Six months 1.1200 1.2500

Nine months 1.1800 1.3100

One year 1.2500 1.3700

LIBOR RATE -London Interbank Offered

Rates charged in US$ for Eurodollar loans

Rates fixed at 11:00 a.m. London time

One Month 0.4238

Two Months 0.5150

Three months 0.6211

Six months 0.8508

One year 1.1551

GOLD BULLION

WORLD BULLION-in US$ per troy

ounce, rupees/10 gms, won/gram

Ldn morning fix 1097.45Ldn aftrn fix 1101.85

London close 109.00 .53

New York 1098.20 1098.70

Zurich 1,098.20 1,098.70

Bombay 24 carat 20/ 0.00

Karachi 24 carat 0.00 0.00

Dubai 24 carat 0.00 0.00

US Gold Prices ($/Troy ounce)

Engelhard gold (bullion) 1105.02

Engelhard gold (fabricated) 1187.9

Handy & Harman (base price) 1101.85

Handy & Harman (fabricated) 1223.054

Krugerrand 1091.9 1094.9

MONEY QUOTATIONS FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016

Source: REUTERS

Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent Equivalent

of foreign of US$1 of foreign of RPP in of foreign of EURO

currency in in foreign currency in foreign currency in in foreign

Currency US Dollar currency RP peso currency EURO currency

Convertible currencies with BSP

US dollar 1.000000 1.000000 47.0190 0.021268 0.9152 1.092600

Japanese yen 0.008506 117.564072 0.3999 2.500625 0.0078 128.452152

UK pound 1.453000 0.688231 68.3186 0.014637 1.3299 0.751962

Hongkong dollar 0.128821 7.762709 6.0570 0.165098 0.1179 8.481548

Swiss franc 1.005328 0.994700 47.2695 0.021155 0.9201 1.086810

Canada dollar 0.706664 1.415100 33.2266 0.030096 0.6468 1.546138

Singapore dollar 0.693289 1.442400 32.5978 0.030677 0.6345 1.575967

Australia dollar 0.698080 1.432501 32.8230 0.030466 0.6389 1.565151

Bahrain dinar * 2.655690 0.376550 124.8679 0.008008 2.4306 0.411419

Kuwait dinar N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Saudi Arabia rial 0.266418 3.753500 12.5267 0.079829 0.2438 4.101067

Brunei dollar 0.690894 1.447400 32.4851 0.030783 0.6323 1.581430

Indonesia rupiah 0.000072 13888.888889 0.0034 294.117647 0.0001 15151.515152

Thailand baht 0.027563 36.280521 1.2960 0.771605 0.0252 39.640068

U. A. E. Dirham 0.272301 3.672407 12.8033 0.078105 0.2492 4.012471

E.M.U. euro 1.092600 0.915248 51.3730 0.019465 1.0000 1.000000

South Korea won 0.000829 1206.272618 0.0390 25.641026 0.0008 1317.523057

China yuan ** 0.151658 6.593783 7.1308 0.140237 0.1388 7.2043 51

Others (Not Convertible with BSP)

Argentina peso 0.072137 13.862512 3.3918 0.294829 0.0660 15.146237

Brazil real 0.247598 4.038805 11.6418 0.085897 0.2266 4.412790

Denmark kroner 0.146368 6.8320 94 6.8821 0.145304 0.1340 7.464748

India rupee 0.014967 66.813657 0.7037 1.421060 0.0137 72.998029Malaysia ringgit 0.228571 4.375008 10.7472 0.093047 0.2092 4.780138

Mexico new peso 0.055772 17.930144 2.6223 0.381345 0.0510 19.590557

New Zealand dollar 0.65591 1.524599 30.8402 0.032425 0.6003 1.665778

Norway kroner 0.11283 8.862891 5.3052 0.188494 0.1033 9.683636

Pakistan rupee 0.009539 104.832792 0.4485 2.229654 0.0087 114.534418

South African rand 0.061757 16.192496 2.9038 0.344376 0.0565 17.691913

Sweden kroner 0.117621 8.5018 83 5.5304 0.180819 0.1077 9.289191

Syria pound 0.004552 219.683656 0.2140 4.672897 0.0042 240.038406

Taiwan dollar 0.030048 33.280085 1.4128 0.707814 0.0275 36.362314

Venezuela bolivar 0.159129 6.284210 7.4821 0.133652 0.1456 6.866104

SDR Rate = $1.38434 SDR GOLD Buying: $1,106.95 SILVER Buying: $14.00

* Various banks in Bahrain as quoted in Reuters’ Screen

** Asian Time Closing Rate as of January 8, 2015

BSP REFERENCE RATE MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016Source: BSP

BORROWINGS from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ rediscount facility declined

last year amid ample liquidity in the financial system.

B WF I L E P H O T O

S2/1TUESDAYJANUARY 12, 2016

Banking &Finance

w w w . b w o r l d o n l i n e . c o m S2/1-10 • STOCK MARKET • WORLD SPORTS • BULLETINS • ARTS & LEISURE • SPECIAL FEATURE

VOL XXIX ISSUE 117 ISSN0116-3930

BUSINESSNEWSPAPEROF 2014 AND 2015

ROTARYCLUB OFMANILA

Awarded by



2/S2 The

Stock Market TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Main index nears 2-year low as sell-off deepens

THE BENCHMARK Philippine

Stock Exchange index (PSEi)

dropped yesterday to its lowest

level in nearly two years, joining a

regional sell-off triggered by wor-

ries over the financial turmoil in

China.

The 30-company PSEi sank

287.17 points or 4.36% to close at

the session’s low of 6,288.26 — its

lowest finish since Feb. 18, 2014

when it ended at 6,193.97, accord-

ing to bourse data. It was the lo-

cal barometer’s biggest one-day

percentage decline since last Aug.

24, when it lost 6.70%.

The PSEi is down 22.63%

from its record high of 8,127.48

registered last April 10, touching

bear territory. A drop of 20% is

the common definition of a bear

market.

The broader all-shares index

plunged 160.31 points or 4.23% to

settle at 3,627.97.

“A fall this Monday wasn’t re-

ally unexpected. But what came

as a big shock was that this seem-

ing ‘aftershock’ from last week’s

tremor was just too wild and

wide,” Justin o B. Calay cay, Jr.,

analyst at Philstocks Financial,

Inc., said in a research note.

“Everybody’s been talking

about the critical break of the

6,600 level. It doesn’t help that

regionally, the stock markets

remain weak,” COL Financial

Group, Inc. Head of Research

April Lynn L. Tan said in a t ele-

phone interview.

Fears about a deep slowdown

in China continue to take the

limelight, fueling a global sell-off.

Reeling from an already rough

start to the year, Asian shares

extended their losses yesterday

led by Chinese equities, which

tumbled more than 5%.

All sector counters were deep

in the red, losing nearly 4% each.

Property plummeted 171.32

points or 6.30% to 2,545.52 to

become the biggest drag to the

local stock market.

Likewise, mining and oil

slumped 443.51 points or 4.57%

to 9,249.42; industrial fell 422.06

points or 4% to 10,125.99; hold-

ing firms dropped 249.21 points

or 3.98% to 6,012.77; services

gave up 56.18 points or 3.90% to

1,383.68; and financials tumbled

50.36 points or 3.38% to 1,436.29.

Value turn over impr oved to

P7.23 billion after 4.79 billion

shares changed hands, from P5.57

billion on Friday.

More than eight stocks de-

clined for every issue that ad-

vanced, while 28 i ssues changed

hands.

Net foreign selling accelerated

to P1.16 billion from P1 billion in

the prior session.

Philippine equities may need

domestic catalysts to get out

of this slump, Philstocks’ Mr.

Calaycay said, noting that the

major economic data and corpo-

rate earnings are not expected

until later in the month or even

through the first two weeks of

February.

“As this continues to be the

prevalent mood, the prudent

stance would be to wait for the

volatility to ease and for the mar-

ket to find a firmer footing before

making any commitments,” he

said.

EDITOR BETTINA FAYE V. ROC

By Krista A. M. Montealegre Senior Reporter

NOTE: These schedules are subject to change without any further notice.

Date Company Time & PlaceJANUARY29 Primex Corp. (Annual) 3:00 p.m. Pasig Room, Valle Verde Country Club, Capt. Henry Javier St., Pasig CityFEBRUARY02 Victorias Milling Co., Inc. (Annual) 8:00 a.m. Victorias Golf & Country Club, Victorias City, Negros Occidental

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

Banks

49.87 43.23 22,227 Asia United Bank Corp. 22,800 45 45.8 44 45.8 45 421,395

123.7 93 346,311 Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. 3,356,220 99.5 99.5 94.5 95 99.5 5,749,389

107 80.05 319,239 Bank of the Phil. Islands 3,434,740 81.5 82 81 81.25 82 28,851,607

44.58 36.5 67,661 China Banking Corp. 36,100 37 37 36.5 36.5 37 29,600

26.13 17.2 25,800 East West Banking Corp. 156,400 18 18 17.2 17.2 18.3 (208,784)

99.8 69 219,432 MetroBank and Trust Co. 3,983,530 74.2 74.2 69 69 74.4 (127,085,357)

19.2 14.32 8,583 Philippine Business Bank 342,000 16 1 6.1 15.8 16 16.5 4,770,000

87 49.5 62,457 Philippine National Bank 386,670 51 51 49.9 50 51 6,361,117

108.1 85 22,824 Philippine Savings Bank 1,920 98 98 95 95 99 -

175 82.5 100,000 Philippine Trust Co. 20 100 100 100 100 122 -

48.5 29.25 44,657 Rizal Commercial Banking 72,400 32 32.9 31.7 31.9 32.8 1,250,380

177 120 80,177 Security Bank Corp. 631,630 136 136.1 133 133 136 2,828,231

71.95 49.8 59,849 Union Bank of the Phils. 7,350 57 57 56.5 56.55 57 -

OtherFinancial Institutions

8.7 2.3 602 AG Finance, Inc. 110,000 2.49 2.5 2.17 2.3 2.5 -

3.3 1.15 1,758 Bright Kindle Res & Inves., Inc. 122,000 1.18 1.18 1.15 1.15 1.18 4,600

2.55 2.17 5,212 BDO Leasing & Fin., Inc. 2,000 2.41 2.41 2.41 2.41 2.45 -

16.98 14.2 6,745 COL Fin’l. Group, Inc. 27,900 14.4 14.9 14.2 14.2 14.4 -

0.73 0.35 280 Medco Holdings 730,000 0.44 0.44 0.4 0.4 0.46 (129,000) 850 630 1,242,302 Manulife Financial Corp. 180 630 635 630 630 655 (113,800)

1.21 0.9 1,954 National Reinsurance Corp. 879,000 0.93 0.93 0.92 0.92 0.93 -

361.2 275 20,180 The Phil. Stock Exchange, Inc. 3,330 276 276 275 275 278.8 -

3.2 1.43 6,509 Vantage Equities, Inc. 317,000 1.7 1.7 1.54 1.55 1.7 -

Electric ity, Energy, Power&Water

2.27 1.29 8,116 Alsons Cons. Res., Inc. 1,206,000 1.36 1.37 1.28 1.29 1.35 -

46.5 39.1 289,929 Aboitiz Power Corp. 2,224,300 40.5 40.55 39.4 39.4 40.9 4,564,220

8.96 5.2 103,847 Energy Dev’t. (EDC) Corp. 14,354,500 5.7 5.7 5.51 5.54 5.7 15,095,606

31.2 20.4 74,683 First Gen Corp. 4,005,200 21.1 21.2 20.1 20.4 21.1 (17,018,545)

106.2 61.25 33,920 First Phil. Hldgs. Corp. 667,040 63 63 60.8 61.25 63 8,817,084

343.8 260.4 339,257 Manila Electric Co. 301,690 309.2 309.2 301 301 3 10 13,594,092

33 20 49,295 Manila Water Co. 835,300 24.95 24.95 24 24 24.9 639,580

10.62 5.85 54,844 Petron Corp. 2,608,700 6.44 6.44 5.84 5.85 6.46 (2,945,413)

4.16 3.15 5,329 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 137,000 3.56 3.76 3.56 3.73 3.8 -

2.47 1.66 9,828 Trans-Asia Oil and Energy 3,695,000 2.05 2.05 1.99 2.02 2.06 2,856,360

25.5 19.4 23,028 Vivant Corp. 2,400 22.5 22.5 22.5 22.5 22.5 54,000

Food, Beverage& Tobacco

5.15 1.25 2,487 Agrinurture, Inc. 1,336,000 4.33 4.38 3.8 4 4.4 (109,420)

20.55 15.48 34,553 Century Pacific Food, Inc. 222,500 16 16 15.4 15.48 16 (18,576)

15.09 9.49 21,375 Del Monte Pacific Ltd. 127,400 11.6 11.6 11 11 11.62 -

11.43 7.31 52,214 D and L Industries, Inc. 13,007,800 7.98 7.98 7.24 7.31 8 (2,344,824)

11.9 6.99 135,730 Emperador, Inc. 2,201,400 8.9 8.9 8.35 8.42 8.9 (971,739)

1.28 0.7 1 ,800 Alliance Select Foods Int’l., Inc. 13,000 0.63 0.72 0.63 0.72 0.7 -

15.7 10.52 3,228 Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. 4,700 11.54 11.54 11.5 11.5 11.96 -

235.8 180 207,516 Jollibee Foods Corp. 917,740 205 206 194 194 205 (44,616,438)

37.92 16.33 4,035 Liberty Flour Mills, Inc. 400 26.9 26.9 26.9 26.9 25.8 -

60 38.95 41,614 Macay Hldgs., Inc. 3,700 35.7 38.95 35.7 38.95 40 -

34.4 16.76 18,219 Max’s Group,Inc. 346,200 17.5 17.5 16.76 16.76 17.5 588,854

210 115 19,333 San Miguel Pure Foods Co., Inc. 6,260 112.1 121 112.1 116 117 (304,658)

4.94 3.24 11,968 Pepsi-Cola Products Phils. 139,000 3.28 3.45 3.24 3.24 3.4 (214,580)

6 3.88 13,652 RFM Corp. 1,826,000 3.89 3.95 3.85 3.9 3.88 905,880

0.203 0.129 245 Swift Foods, Inc. 5,700,000 0.137 0.14 0.133 0.135 0.137 (33,750)

230 173.6 378,709 Universal Robina Corp. 2,328,470 179.5 179.5 170 173.6 180.3 (51,146,845)

0.86 0.56 1,560 Vitarich Corp. 383,000 0.55 0.56 0.55 0.56 0.56 (46,750)

4.8 4.2 13,255 Victorias Milling Co. 1,129,000 4.55 4.55 4.53 4.55 4.55 3,788,090

Construction, Infrastructure& Allied Services

12.9 8.05 2,036 Asiabest Group Int’l., Inc. 1,300 10.2 10.2 10.02 10.18 10.18 -

2.34 1.19 2,025 Da Vinci Capital Hldgs., Inc. 7,587,000 1.93 1.93 1.7 1.8 2 1,551,400

11.16 4.54 5,482 EEI Corp. 1,394,600 5.4 5.4 5.24 5.29 5.41 6,449,671

15.18 12 89,039 Holcim Philippines, Inc. 25,000 13.8 13.8 13.8 13.8 13.82 -

25.6 10.34 14,743 LBC Express Hldgs., Inc. 37,100 11.64 11.64 10.34 10.34 11.64 -

8.6 5.21 13,197 Megawide Const. Corp. 1,453,600 5.52 5.52 5.5 5.5 5.69 (5,294,650)

12.28 10.1 3,007 Phinma Corp. 33,600 11.26 11.6 11.2 11.6 11.26 (48,636)

2.07 0.84 865 TKC Steel Corp. 31,000 0.96 0.96 0.92 0.92 0.96 (1,840)

1.7 1 1,465 Vulcan Industrial Corp. 92,000 1.01 1.03 1.01 1.01 1.06 -

Chemicals

3.2 1.53 1,325 Crown Asia Chemicals Corp. 730,000 2.19 2.19 2 2.1 2.2 115,640

3.18 1.75 339 LMG Chemicals Corp. 15,000 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 -

6 1.61 1,991 Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. 2,000 3.01 3.01 3.01 3.01 3.01 -

4.07 1.4 4,400 Pryce Corp. 436,000 2.22 2.22 2.16 2.2 2.22 -

ElectricalComponents &Equipment

65.8 40 14,264 Concepcion Ind’l. Corp. 17,600 41.5 42.05 41.5 42 42.1 730,000

7 5.16 9,842 Integ. Micro-Electronics 1,968,300 5.5 5.52 5.2 5.3 5.5 10,159,235

3.82 0.43 1,833 Ionics, Inc. 5,523,000 2.33 2.34 2.1 2.14 2.31 (913,170)

2.96 1.39 3,009 Phoenix Semicon. Phils. Corp. 469,000 1.47 1.49 1.35 1.39 1.5 -

32.09 16.4 7,459 Cirtek Hldgs. Phils. Corp. 216,700 18.2 18.7 17.8 17.8 18.7 17,880

OtherIndustrials

2.65 1.56 1,527 Splash Corp. 2,276,000 2.48 2.58 2.46 2.5 2.59 25,000

Holding Firms

0.49 0.3 956 AbaCore Capital Holdings,Inc. 2,940,000 0.36 0.36 0.3 0.3 0.36 90,000

821 665 412,041 Ayala Corp. 468,350 690 690 660 665 700 (102,537,150)

59 51.95 302,708 Aboitiz Equity Ventures 2,299,040 55.25 55.55 54.05 54.5 56.3 (36,546,207)

27.3 14.6 149,939 Alliance Global Group, Inc. 7,074,400 15.2 15.2 14.56 14.6 15.2 (1,691,646)

7.24 6.2 15,500 A. Soriano Corp. 204,000 6.2 6.2 6.15 6.2 6.3 (1,240)

1.62 0.9 2,703 Anglo-Phil. Hldgs. Corp. 6,000 0.82 0.9 0.82 0.9 1.11 -

0.34 0.206 777 ATN Hldgs., Inc. “A” 540,000 0.21 0.21 0.206 0.21 0.21 -

9.72 6.5 56,281 Cosco Capital, Inc. 2,240,100 7.88 7.88 7.55 7.62 7.9 9,609,296

16 10.7 155,612 DMCI Hldgs., Inc. 5,497,700 12.26 12.36 11.72 11.72 12.58 (18,313,006)

4.85 3.6 39,133 Filinvest Dev’t. Corp. 551,000 4.1 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.25 1,869,200

6.6 2.76 1,639 F&J Prince Hldgs. Corp.”A” 146,200 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.6 5.6 -

0.42 0.176 364 Forum Pacific, Inc. 500,000 0.198 0.198 0.198 0.198 0.2 -

1,446 1,097 225,196 GT Capital Hldgs., Inc. 324,900 1 ,315 1,328 1,290 1, 292 1,340 (18,158,090)

6.88 5.18 3,190 House of Investments, Inc. 171,000 5.33 5.3 3 5.18 5.18 5.44 414,430

9.96 4.9 6,762 IPM Hldgs., Inc. 1,411,200 9.67 9.8 9.2 9.8 9.89 (75,460)

75 62.1 469,166 JG Summit Hldgs., Inc. 2,336,350 66.5 66.5 65 65.5 67.1 (72,021,741)

6.78 4.01 155 Keppel Phils. Hldg., Inc. “A” 1,000 4.01 4.01 4.01 4.01 5.99 -

0.89 0.54 444 Lodestar Invest. Hldg. Corp. “A” 405,000 0.65 0.66 0.6 0.6 0.64 -

9.18 5.14 26,673 Lopez Hldgs. Corp. 403,200 6.09 6.09 5.8 5.8 6.09 299,198

16.84 9.89 148,686 LT Group,Inc. 1,309,200 14.5 14.5 13.74 13.74 14.6 4,513,008

0.7 0.45 570 Mabuhay Hldgs. Corp. 40,000 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.49 -

5.44 4.21 141,100 Metro Pac. Inv. Corp. 23,933,500 5.13 5.15 5.06 5.06 5.19 1,591,723

0.057 0.028 1,160 Pacifica, Inc. 92,100,000 0.029 0.029 0.028 0.029 0.029 1,058,500

2.35 0.65 4,048 Prime Orion Phils., Inc. 2,432,000 1.75 1.75 1.7 1.71 1.78 -

1.68 1.02 713 Prime Media Hldgs., Inc. 31,000 1.04 1.04 1.02 1.02 1.1 -

1.31 1.1 2,004 Solid Group, Inc. 430,000 1.13 1.13 1.08 1.1 1.12 -

970 769.5 617,951 SM Investments Corp. 323,470 801 802.5 769.5 769.5 808 (82,159,115)

80.75 44 123,683 San Miguel Corp. 543,850 52 52 50.6 52 52 (244,382)

1.08 0.61 631 South China Resources 133,000 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 -

3.18 2.15 388 Seafront Resources Corp. 32,000 2.38 2.38 2.38 2.38 2.38 -

124 63 21,238 Top Frontier Inves. Hldgs., Inc. 1,300 68 68.95 63.8 63.8 63.7 (25,670)

0.62 0.25 397 Unioil Res. And Hldgs. Co. 2,080,000 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.27 (346,250)

0.28 0.162 609 Wellex Industries, Inc. 740,000 0.191 0.21 0.186 0.186 0.19 -

0.37 0.21 632 Zeus Hldgs., Inc. 130,000 0.23 0.231 0.23 0.231 0.231 -

Property

0.28 0.18 1,064 Arthaland Corp. 110,000 0.21 0.21 0.2 0.2 0.21 -

10.94 5.72 6,240 Anchor Land Hldgs., Inc. 3,700 6 6 6 6 7.3 -

41 30 440,869 Ayala Land, Inc. 23,486,000 31.4 31.4 30 30 31.75 (147,043,365)

1.45 1.03 1,748 Araneta Properties, Inc. 39,000 1.13 1.13 1.08 1.12 1.09 -

4.72 2.47 25,978 Belle Corp. 5,053,000 2.68 2.68 2.4 2.47 2.7 2,236,620

1.15 0.55 1,057 A Brown Co., Inc. 2,091,000 0.69 0.69 0.6 0.61 0.69 12,900

1.19 0.95 3,429 Cityland Dev’t. Corp. 10,000 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.96 -

0.164 0.1 1,496 Crown Equities, Inc. 4,050,000 0.112 0.112 0.11 0.11 0.117 2,240

5.43 4.65 9,120 Cebu Hldgs., Inc. 17,300 4.8 4.8 4.75 4.75 5 -

1.03 0.48 5,568 Century Prop. Group, Inc. 4,536,000 0.52 0.52 0.45 0.48 0.52 394,440

0.6 0.38 2,655 Cyber Bay Corp. 530,000 0.41 0.41 0.39 0.39 0.42 8,100

25.35 7.26 45,264 DoubleDragon Prop. Corp. 3,492,000 22.4 22.5 19.7 20.3 22.7 4,055,354

0.96 0.67 9,833 Empire East Land, Inc. 20,000 0.7 0.7 0.67 0.67 0.77 7,000

0.234 0.139 695 Ever Gotesco Res. 830,000 0.144 0.144 0.139 0.139 0.141 -

2.09 1.56 37,830 Filinvest Land, Inc. 20,569,000 1.67 1.67 1.56 1.56 1.67 (10,074,220)

1.78 0.9 9,887 Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. 5,437,000 0.99 0.99 0.9 0.9 0.99 (95,000)

10.4 6.05 37,798 8990 Hldgs., Inc. 67,900 6.81 7.05 6.81 6.85 7 144,502

1.55 1.11 1,262 IRC Properties, Inc. 327,000 1.12 1.12 1.09 1.12 1.16 -

1.19 0.81 1,072 City and Land Developers 64,000 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.91 0.91 -

5.88 3.52 113,483 Megaworld Corp. 80,177,000 3.81 3.82 3.51 3.52 3.88 (98,667,760)

0.134 0.073 621 MRC Allied Industries, Inc. 630,000 0.073 0.073 0.072 0.073 0.073 -

8.79 4.78 2,739 Primex Corp. 417,900 8.55 8.55 8.47 8.47 8.55 510,900

31.9 23.5 96,205 Robinsons Land Corp. 6,716,400 24.9 24.95 22.8 23.5 25 (64,611,355)

0.55 0.37 1 ,895 Philippine Realty & Hldgs. 110,000 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.39 -

1.87 1.35 8,258 Rockwell Land Corp. 108,000 1.35 1.35 1.33 1.35 1.35 -

0.98 0.68 6,620 Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. 3,629,000 0.76 0.76 0.71 0.74 0.76 -

22.95 17.44 554,481 SM Prime Hldgs., Inc. 22,597,500 20.4 20.4 19.02 19.2 20.6 (201,520,607)

8.49 3.89 40,445 Starmalls, Inc. 7,000 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.7 -

1.5 0.65 1,665 Suntrust Home Dev., Inc. 614,000 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.74 0.83 -

8.59 4.62 57,782 Vista Land & Lifescapes 6,388,000 4.93 4.93 4.59 4.62 4.93 (8,318,180)

Media

67.8 48.3 50,963 ABS-CBN Corp. 41,130 61.1 61.1 59.9 59.9 61.1 -

7.57 5.95 21,712 GMA Network, Inc. 240,300 6.6 6.6 6.4 6.46 6.6 -

0.71 0.48 1,615 Manila Bulletin Pub. Corp. 55,000 0.5 0.5 0.48 0.48 0.5 -

Telecommunications2,702 1,686 223,804 Globe Telecom, Inc. 86,120 1,758 1,758 1,685 1,686 1,758 (58,245,635)

4.89 1.91 5,796 Liberty Telecoms Hldgs. 1,466,000 4.4 4.48 4.24 4.48 4.41 (280,600) 3,200 1,920 414,827 Phil. Long Dis. Tel. Co. 113,955 1,949 1,949 1,920 1,920 1,958 (45,331,230)

Information Technology

7.33 4 1,400 DFNN, Inc. 589,900 5.65 5.68 5.5 5.61 5.56 (296,800)

0.41 0.122 596 Island Info. and Tech., Inc. 2,990,000 0.129 0.129 0.122 0.122 0.136 7,530

1.9 1.2 960 ISM Comm. Corp. 1,322,000 1.38 1.38 1.3 1.34 1.38 -

0.39 0.25 544 Millennium Global Hldgs., Inc. 1,080,000 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 -

1.03 0.41 956 Now Corp. 4,713,000 0.67 0.68 0.62 0.63 0.68 67,190

2.05 1.4 335 Transpacific Broadband 40,000 1.51 1.51 1.51 1.51 1.51 -

23.1 12.1 29,893 Philweb Corp. 24,800 21 21 19.96 20.85 21 (20,825)

4.8 1.2 998 Yehey! Corp. 34,000 3.3 3.6 3.15 3.59 3.38 -

TransportationServices

11.32 3.82 14,970 2Go Group, Inc. 178,900 6.55 6.65 6.1 6.12 6.55 (18,900)

14.48 10.9 21,960 Asian Terminals, Inc. 100 10.98 10.98 10.98 10.98 11.7 -

98.4 76 46,052 Cebu Air, Inc. 562,770 78.15 79 75.95 76 79.75 (3,158,852)

117.8 58 118,013 Int’l. Cont. Term’l. Serv., Inc. 2,518,270 63.1 63.55 57.8 58 63.7 (76,997,711)

2.48 1.8 2,874 Macroasia Corp. 10,000 2 2.33 2 2.33 2.32 -

5.28 4.33 109,281 PAL Hldgs., Inc. 22,000 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.35 4,500

1.66 1.14 690 Harbor Star Shipping Serv., Inc. 129,000 1.17 1.17 1.14 1.14 1.17 46,700

Hotel & Leisure1.26 1.02 386 Acesite (Phils.) Hotel Corp. 129,000 1.13 1.15 1.12 1.12 1.12 (54,240)

0.12 0.037 444 Boulevard Hldgs., Inc. 18,400,000 0.038 0.038 0.036 0.037 0.038 11,400

45.9 16.9 1,128 Grand Plaza Hotel Corp. 31,600 21 21 21 21 21.45 -

0.4 0.165 775 Waterfront Philippines, Inc. 130,000 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.31 0.32 -

Education

12 9.5 3,564 Centro Escolar University 700 8.33 9.57 8.33 9.57 9.64 -

0.74 0.4 3,912 STI Educ. Systems Hldgs., Inc. 5,600,000 0.41 0.41 0.39 0.4 0.41 (25,350)

Casinos &Gaming

29 20 23,443 Berjaya Phils., Inc. 900 26.9 27 26.9 27 27 24,29013 3.51 38,665 Bloomberry Resorts Corp. 7,967,000 3.67 3.67 3.5 3.51 3.67 (11,453,930)

0.016 0.0053 252 IP E-Game Vent., Inc. 38,000,000 0.0093 0.0093 0.0084 0.0084 0.0093 18,000

11.5 6.81 8,171 Leisure and Resorts Corp. 3,816,000 7.01 7.01 6.81 6.81 7.1 22,994,022

12.86 1.59 8,973 Melco Crown Resorts Corp. 7,657,000 1.69 1.71 1.59 1.59 1.69 (1,8 63,130)

2.18 1.85 1,972 Manila Jockey Club, Inc. 105,000 1.91 1.98 1.9 1.98 1.98 -

1.99 0.45 14,074 Premium Leisure Corp. 53,620,000 0.47 0.47 0.44 0.45 0.47 1,195,200

10 8.5 5,172 Philippine Racing Club 500,000 9.35 9.35 9.35 9.35 9.4 -

7.57 3.19 55,933 Travellers Int’l. Hotel Grp., Inc. 543,000 3.74 3.74 3.52 3.55 3.79 -

-

Retail -

5.06 3.14 1,133 Calata Corp. 210,000 3.15 3.15 3 3.15 3.14 (291,310)

4.01 3.6 12,346 Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. 3,805,000 3.79 3.79 3.5 3.6 3.78 1,484,340

43 30 84,344 Puregold Price Club, Inc 4,166,200 32.8 33 30.4 30.5 33 (2,481,255)

89 61.8 87,394 Robinsons Retail Hldgs., Inc. 943,450 64 64.5 62.4 63.1 65 (22,926,748)

140.6 83.5 45,844 Philippine Seven Corp. 10,530 100 100 100 100 100 103,000

11.3 2.59 8,580 SSI Group, Inc. 6,262,000 2.87 2.87 2.55 2.59 2.9 (48,570)

OtherServices

0.83 0.41 3,077 APC Group, Inc. 1,080,000 0.43 0.43 0.41 0.41 0.44 -

3.78 2.5 2,871 Paxys, Inc. 32,000 2.53 2.53 2.5 2.5 3 (50,370)

0.73 0.43 876 Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. 530,000 0.43 0.46 0.43 0.44 0.47 9,000

7.23 4.12 5,520 SBS Phil. Corp. 3,033,300 5.2 5.2 4.6 4.6 5.2 (158,615)

Mining

3.4 1.6 10,587 Apex Mining Co., Inc. “A” 62,000 1.89 1.89 1.7 1.7 1.84 -

0.007 0.0038 817 Abra Mng. and Ind’l. Corp. 3,159,000,000 0.0049 0.0049 0.004 0.0041 0.0049 288,500

10.22 3.9 8,139 Atlas Cons. Mng. & Dev’t. 216,000 4.01 4.01 3.9 3.9 4 24,000

0.97 0.49 1,960 Coal Asia Holdings, Inc. 1,533,000 0.53 0.54 0.48 0.49 0.55 100,000

1.14 0.55 1,551 Century Peak Metals Hldgs. 897,000 0.57 0.57 0.55 0.55 0.58 27,700

9.26 5.62 468 Dizon Copper Silver Mines 34,000 6.21 6.21 5.89 5.92 6.21 -

3.47 0.48 8,384 Global Ferronickel Hldgs., Inc. 5,818,000 0.51 0.51 0.46 0.48 0.51 31,790

0.47 0.27 928 GEOGRACE Res. Phils., Inc. 350,000 0.28 0.28 0.26 0.27 0.27 -

0.3 0.163 5,024 Lepanto Cons. Mng. “A” 7,200,000 0.169 0.169 0.163 0.163 0.167 -

0.32 0.185 3, 822 Lepanto Cons. Mng. “B” 1,060,000 0.187 0.187 0.186 0.186 0.202 -

0.018 0.0097 1,558 Manila Mining Corp. “A” 184,700,000 0.01 0.01 0.0099 0.01 0.01 -

0.019 0.01 1,142 Manila Mining Corp. “B” 242,500,000 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 0.011 -

6.45 1.59 2,896 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 828,000 1 .6 1.61 1.59 1.59 1.62 -

4.17 2.35 2,394 Nihao Min. Resources 64,000 2.54 2.54 2.36 2.37 2.43 -

16.02 4.46 33,882 Nickel Asia Corp. 2,897,000 4.92 4.92 4.45 4.46 4.86 610,240

0.8 0.5 536 Omico Corp. 157,000 0.53 0.53 0.51 0.51 0.54 16,830

2.57 1.07 3,080 Oriental Peninsula Res. 414,000 1.14 1.14 1.07 1.07 1.15 5,550

9.4 4.3 21,244 Philex Mining Corp. 551,000 4.45 4.45 4.25 4.3 4.45 (93,050)

168.4 111.1 134,128 Semirara Mng. and Power Corp. 312,820 130.3 130.3 124.4 125.5 130.9 328,218

0.012 0.007 1,829 United Paragon Mng. Co. 14,000,000 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 0.007 63,000

Oil

0.28 0.18 507 Basic Energy Corp. 90,000 0.198 0.198 0.198 0.198 0.195 -

0.014 0.008 1,164 Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. “A” 1,000,000 0.0097 0.0097 0.0097 0.0097 0.0094 -

0.016 0.009 720 Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. “B” 4,000,000 0.009 0.009 0.009 0.009 0.0098 -

0.022 0.009 1,919 The Philodrill Corp. 456,900,000 0.012 0.012 0.01 0.01 0.011 -

5.92 3.2 1,335 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 8,000 3.26 3.26 3.25 3.25 3.38 -

5.3 1.2 2,074 Philex Petroleum Corp. 390,000 1.26 1.26 1.22 1.22 1.26 -

12.26 1.93 483 Trans-Asia Petroleum Corp. 313,000 2 2.01 1.93 1.93 2.1 -

Preferred

532 500 10,320 Ayala Corp. Class “B” series 1 Pref. 6,730 525 532 516 516 525 -

549 500 13,905 Ayala Corp. Class “B” series 2 Pref. 5,040 507 515 507 515 530 -

122 103 6,554 First Gen Corp. Pref. F 10,000 104 104 103 103 103.4 -

128 106.5 14,445 First Gen Corp. Pref. G 22,700 110.5 117.5 107 108 110.5 -

535 497 10,560 Globe Telecom, Inc. - Perp. Pref. 520 528 528 528 528 526 -

1.14 1.02 1 ,815 Leisure & Resorts World-Pref. 57,000 1.09 1.1 1.09 1.1 1.07 -

115.9 102.5 4,360 Megawide Const. Corp.-Perp. 100,020 108 109 108 109 107 -

1,064 1,005 15,300 San Miguel Purefoods Perp. Pref. 2 55 1,022 1,022 1,020 1,020 1,029 -

104 103 1,296 PhoenixPetroleum-Non-Voting3A 10,200 104 104 103.7 103.7 104 (1,040,000)

106.8 105.7 801 Phoenix Petroleum-Non-Voting 3B 3,610 106.8 106.8 106.7 106.8 106 -

1,160 1,005 7,379 Petron Corp.-Perpetual Pref. 2A 120 1,035 1,036 1,035 1,036 1,030 -

1,170 1,016 3,065 Petron Corp.-Perpetual Pref. 2B 1,030 1,077 1,077 1,065 1,065 1,077 - 85.6 76 7,234 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-B Pref. 15,400 80.75 81 78 80 81 -

89.05 78.6 21,084 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-C Pref. 47,900 82.7 83 82.5 82.5 82.5 (825,050)

85 77 6,990 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-D Pref. 11,000 78.2 78.25 78.2 78.25 79 -

80 76 10,586 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-E Pref. 60,250 79 79 78.5 79 79 -

80.85 78 17,800 San Miguel Corp. Series 2-F Pref. 86,810 79.8 79.8 78.5 79.7 79.8 (95,380)

Phil. DepositReceipts

68 48 19,776 ABS-CBN Hldgs. Corp. “PDR” 3 9,750 61.05 61.05 60 60 62 (1,003,365)

7.4 5.92 5,417 GMA Hldgs., Inc. “PDR” 18,000 6.5 6.5 6.35 6.4 6.5 (6,500)

Warrants

4.7 1.81 149 Leisure & Resorts World-Wrnts. 157,000 1.87 1.87 1.78 1.81 1.92 -

Smalland MediumEnterprises

4.49 2.64 978 Alterra Capital Partners, Inc. 132,000 3 3.14 2.9 3.14 3.1 -

4.22 2.59 574 Italpinas Dev’t. Corp. 386,000 2.75 2.75 2.57 2.59 2.79 7,740

9.7 2.54 532 Makati Finance Corp. 2,000 2.54 2.54 2.54 2.54 2.57 -

17.24 8.4 22,704 Xurpas, Inc. 1,878,200 14.64 14.64 13.18 13.2 14.64 2,172,708

ExchangeTraded Funds

132 102.9 1,225 First Metro Phil. Equity ETF 66,780 108 108 102.9 102.9 108 1,978,850

AUB

BDO

BPI

CHIB

EW

MBT

PBB

PNB

PSB

PTC

RCB

SECB

UBP

AGF

BKR

BLFI

COL

MEDMFC

NRCP

PSE

V

ACR

AP

EDC

FGEN

FPH

MER

MWC

PCOR

PNX

TA

VVT

ANI

CNPF

DMPL

DNL

EMP

FOOD

GSMI

JFC

LFM

MACAY

MAXS

PF

PIP

RFM

SFI

URC

VITA

VMC

ABG

DAVIN

EEI

HLCM

LBC

MWIDE

PHN

T

VUL

CROWN

LMG

MVC

PPC

CIC

IMI

ION

PSPC

TECH

SPH

ABA

AC

AEV

AGI

ANS

APO

ATN

COSCO

DMC

FDC

FJP

FPI

GTCAP

HI

IPM

JGS

KPH

LIHC

LPZ

LTG

MHC

MPI

PA

POPI

PRIM

SGI

SM

SMC

SOC

SPM

TFHI

UNI

WIN

ZHI

ALCO

ALHI

ALI

ARA

BEL

BRN

CDC

CEI

CHI

CPG

CYBR

DD

ELI

EVER

FLI

GERI

HOUSE

IRC

LAND

MEG

MRC

PRMX

RLC

RLT

ROCK

SLI

SMPH

STR

SUN

VLL

ABS

GMA7

MB

GLO

LIBTEL

DFNN

IS

ISM

MG

NOW

TBGI

WEB

YEHEY

2GO

ATI

CEB

ICT

MAC

PAL

TUGS

ACE

BHI

GPH

WPI

CEU

STI

BCORBLOOM

EG

LR

MCP

MJC

PLC

PRC

RWM

CAL

MRSGI

PGOLD

RRHI

SEVN

SSI

APC

PAX

PHA

SBS

APX

AR

AT

COAL

CPM

DIZ

FNI

GEO

LC

LCB

MA

MAB

MARC

NI

NIKL

OM

ORE

PX

SCC

UPM

BSC

OPM

OPMB

OV

PERC

PXP

TAPET

ACPB1

ACPB2

FGENF

FGENG

GLOPP

LRP

MWP

PFP2

PNX3A

PNX3B

PRF2A

PRF2B

SMC2B

SMC2C

SMC2D

SMC2E

SMC2F

ABSP

GMAP

LRW

ALT

IDC

MFIN

X

FMETF

52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stocks Volume Open High Low Close Prev Net Foreign

High Low (Pmil) Close Trade(peso)

Buy(sell)

PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

PROVIDED BY TECHNISTOCK

52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stocks Volume Open High Low Close Prev Net Foreign

High Low (Pmil) Close Trade(peso)

Buy(sell)

Stock

Code

Stock

Code

Issue Stock Cash Ex-date Record Payable

Leisure and Resorts World Corp.-Pref. P0.0425 22-Dec.-’15 29-Dec.-’15 12-Jan.-’16Manila Broadcasting Co. P0.0625 16-Dec.-’15 21-Dec.-’15 15-Jan.-’16Far Eastern University P12.00 22-Dec.-’15 29-Dec.-’15 15-Jan.-’16

DIVIDEND UPDATE

Volume High Low Close ChangePLDT 99,198 $41.38 $40.43 $40.49 ($0.42)

Manulife Financial Corp. 2,918,538 $13.61 $13.40 $13.43 $0.05

Sun Life Financial, Inc. 429,762 $28.79 $28.29 $28.30 $0.06

PHL ABROAD JANUARY 8, 2016 Source: PSE

Stocks Volume Close Net ±%

Yehey! Corp. 34,000 3.59 0.210 6.21%

Liberty Flour Mills, Inc. 400 26.9 1.100 4.26%

Oriental Pet. and Minerals Corp. “A” 1,000,000 0.0097 0.0003 3.19%

Phinma Corp. 33,600 11.60 0.340 3.02%

Alliance Select Foods Int’l., Inc. 13,000 0.72 0.020 2.86%

Leisure and Resorts World Corp.-Pref 57,000 1.10 0.030 2.80%

Araneta Properties, Inc. 39,000 1.12 0.030 2.75%

Starmalls, Inc. 7,000 4.80 0.100 2.13%

Megawide Const. Corp. - Perpetual Pref. 100,020 109.00 2.000 1.87%

Asia United Bank Corp. 22,800 45.80 0.800 1.78%

Stocks Volume Close Net ±%

Keppel Philippines Holdings, Inc. “A” 1,000 4.01 -1.980 -33.06%

Anglo-Philippine Holdings Corp. 6,000 0.90 -0.210 -18.92%

Philippine Trust Co. 20 100.00 -22.000 -18.03%

Anchor Land Holdings, Inc. 3,700 6.00 -1.300 -17.81%

AbaCore Capital Holdings, Inc. 2,940,000 0.300 -0.060 -16.67%

Paxys, Inc. 32,000 2.50 -0.500 -16.67%

Abra Mining and Industrial Corp. 3,159,000,000 0.0041 0.0008 -16.33%

MEDCO Holdings, Inc. 730,000 0.400 -0.060 -13.04%

Empire East Land Holdings, Inc. 20,000 0.67 -0.100 -12.99%

A Brown Co., Inc. 2,091,000 0.61 -0.080 -11.59%

LAGGARDS

LEADERS

TOP 10 IN VOLUME TOP 10 IN VALUEStocks Volume

Abra Mining and Industrial Corp. 3,159,000,000

The Philodrill Corp. 456,900,000

Manila Mining Corp. “B” 242,500,000

Manila Mining Corp. “A” 184,700,000

Pacifica, Inc. 92,100,000

Megaworld Corp. 80,177,000

Premium Leisure Corp. 53,620,000

IP E-Game Ventures, Inc. 38,000,000Metro Pacific Investments Corp. 23,933,500

Ayala Land, Inc. 23,486,000

Stocks Value

Ayala Land, Inc. 710,951,415

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. 438,586,924

GT Capital Holdings, Inc. 427,359,170

Universal Robina Corp. 405,163,001

Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc. 320,435,165

Ayala Corp. 314,665,790

Megaworld Corp. 290,200,470

Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. 281,422,515Bank of the Philippine Islands 279,379,918

SM Investments Corp. 253,225,94 0

PSE TURNOVERS AND AVERAGES VOLUME VALUE (P)

FINANCIAL 14,624,343 1,002,582,314.35

INDUSTRIAL 82,362,884 1,273,067,199.03

HOLDINGS 152,016,752 1,685,167,010.62

PROPERTY 202,684,586 2,061,631,543.43

SERVICES 173,861,492 923,580,635.51

MINING 4,085,936,823 88,023,670.51

SME 76,486,854 188,916,143.87

ETF 66,780 7,010,333.00GRAND TOTAL 4,788,040,514 7,229,978,850.32

TOTAL FOREIGN BUYING: 2,962,151,849.35

TOTAL FOREIGN SELLING: 4,126,317,979.69

OPEN HIGH LOW

FINANCIAL 1,483.49 1,483.49 1,436.29

INDUSTRIAL 10,517.88 10,523.64 10,125.99

HOLDINGS 6,189.27 6,189.27 6,012.77

PROPERTY 2,691.33 2,691.33 2,538.96

SERVICES 1,431.72 1,434.51 1,383.68

MINING 9,688.50 9,700.41 9,215.79

ALL SHARES 3,765.45 3,765.45 3,627.97

PSEI 6,523.28 6,523.28 6,288.26

ADVANCES: 22 DECLINES: 182 UNCHANGED: 28

ODD LOTS VOLUME: 1,480,430.00

ODD LOTS VALUE: 318,651.06

FINANCIAL: 1,436.29

A S O N D J

INDUSTRIAL: 10,125.99 HOLDINGS: 6,012.77 PROPERTY: 2,545.52 SERVICES: 1,383.68 MINING & OIL: 9,249.42 ALL SHARES: 3,627.97 PSEi: 6,288.26

A S O N D J A S O N D J A S O N D J A S O N D J A S O N D J A S O N D J A S O N D J

Philippine Index Charts MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

50.36 56.18 160.31443.51 287.17171.32249.21422.06

* - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. ** - NAVPS as of 2 banking days ago*** - Listed in the PSE.***** - Manage by BDO Private Bank starting September 1, 2015 (Formerly Manage by PAMI).****** - Inception date is October 8, 2014. **** - Formerly, Optima Balanced Fund, Inc.******* - Launch date is May 5, 2015. *** ***** - Launch date is June 16, 2015

STOCK FUNDSPrimarily invested in Peso securitiesALFM Growth Fund, Inc. * 235.17 -11.64% 1.22% 5.28% -4.8%ATRKE Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. * 1.0968 -32.67% -3.69% n.a. -6.22%ATRKE Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. * 3.4648 -21.34% -1.44% 5.1% -5.42%First Metro Save & Learn Equity Fund, Inc. * 5.0067 -11.05% 0.43% 8.06% -5.15%PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc.* ******** 44.4234 n.a. n.a. n.a. -5.14%Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. * 484.3 -12.19% -2.39% 5.89% -4.42%

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund., Inc. * 1.1209 -11.56% n.a. n.a. -4.73%Philequity Fund, Inc. * 32.1512 -14.23% 2.79% 10.37% -5.22%Philequity PSE Index Fund, Inc. * 4.3709 -10.8% 3.68% 10.75% -5.56%Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. * 733.21 -10.71% 3.33% 10.31% -5.82%Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. * ****** 0.8184 -14.06% n.a. n.a. -4.55%Sun Life Prosperity Phil. Equity Fund, Inc. * 3.6152 -12.41% -0.77% 7.54% -5.88%SunLifeProsperityPhil.StockIndexFund,Inc.******** 0.8462 n.a. n.a. n.a. -5.56%United Fund, Inc.* 2.9868 -9.84% -3.61% 1.25% -5.15%Exchange Traded FundFirstMetroPhil.EquityExchangeTradedFund,Inc.**** 107.4421 -9.74% n.a. n.a. -5.79%Primarily invested in foreign currency securitiesATR KimEng Asia Plus Recovery Fund, Inc. ** $0.8293 -15.43% -5.97% -6.15% -7.23%BALANCED FUNDSPrimarily invested in Peso securitiesATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc.* **** 1.6781 -13.57% 0.68% 7.41% -3.68%ATRKE Phil. Balanced Fund, Inc. * 2.0711 -12.22% 1.38% 5.57% -3.09%Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund, Inc.* 1.9486 -5.08% 2.23% 6.76% -2.69%First Metro Save & Learn Balanced Fund, Inc. * 2.5813 -8.41% -1.76% 6% -4.01%NCM Mutual Funds of the Phils., Inc.* ***** 1.7463 -7.29% -2.13% 4.66% -2.51%One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.* 0.9572 -8.91% n.a. n.a. -4.41%PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. * 3.4767 -8.3% -2.79% 4.31% -2.52%Philam Fund, Inc. * 15.6021 -8.47% -2.4% 5.05% -2.51%Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc.* 3.4889 -7.89% -0.02% 6.52% -3.07%Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. * 0.8968 -11.31% n.a. n.a. -3.42%Primarily invested in foreign currency securitiesCocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. * $0.03538 2.11% 1.14% 3.56% -0.03%PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. * $0.8446 -13.28% -6.93% -3.54% -4.68%Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. * $3.0069 -4.31% 1.06% 2.27% -3.46%BOND FUNDSPrimarily invested in Peso securitiesALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. * 322.71 0.91% 2.42% 4.04% -0.01%ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc.* 1.9189 -3.46% 3.01% 4.13% 0.06%Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 2.5429 4.94% 5.2% 6.05% 0.04%Ekklesia Mutual Fund, Inc. * 2.042 0.38% 3.23% 5.49% 0.17%First Metro Save & Learn Fixed Income Fund, Inc. * 2.2098 1.04% 5.95% 8.48% 0.24%Grepalife Bond Fund Corp. * 1.338 -2.41% 0.08% 3.22% 0.24%Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. * ***** P1.5965 -2.7% 0.15% 2.87% 0.03%Philam Bond Fund, Inc. * 3.9948 -1.37% 2.28% 5.09% 0.35%Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. * 3.4614 -1.24% 4.41% 5.95% -0.49%Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. * ****** 0.917 -4.87% n.a. n.a. -0.01%Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. * 2.7047 -0.44% 1.93% 3.93% 0.07%Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. * 1.5245 -1.42% 0.78% 3.01% 0.07%Primarily invested in foreign currency securitiesALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * $419.83 2.69% 1.73% 3.81% 0.36%ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. * €206.13 n.a. 1.84% 2.89% 0.04%ATR KimEng Total Return Bond Fund, Inc. ** $1.0954 2.96% 0.86% 1.77% 0.15%FirstMetroSaveandLearnDollarBondFund,Inc.* ****** $0.0243 n.a. n.a. n.a. 0%Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. * $1.7196 0.78% 1.01% 4.53% 0.54%MAA Privilege Dollar Fixed Income Fund, Inc. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S.MAA Privilege Euro Fixed Income Fund, Inc. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S. N.S.PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc. * $1.0543 -6.47% -4.62% -1.86% 0.46%Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * $2.124 1.62% 0.62% 3.22% 0.74%Philequity Dollar Income Fund, Inc. * $0.0554873 1.31% 1.01% 3.59% 0.04%Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. * $2.8556 2.17% -1.04% 2.43% 0.66%MONEY MARKET FUNDSPrimarily invested in Peso securitiesALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. * 114.3 1.15% 1.36% 2.09% 0.06%Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. * 1.1554 0.04% 0.29% 0.88% -0.16%Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. * 1.1402 1.32% 0.27% 0.31% 0.05%

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-Dper share Return Return* Return* Return

% % % %

MUTUAL FUNDSMONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016



S2/3Banking &FinanceTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Peso slumps on US data, China

public interest” and “to safeguard

financial stability.”

Greece also avoided bailing in

creditors by overhauling its four

biggest banks under the bailout it

won in August, even though euro-area creditors made a special

point of putting senior bondhold-

ers in line for losses in exchange

for rescue funds.

RISKY INVESTMENTSThe EU’s new bank resolution

chief wants exemptions to be a

last resort under the bloc’s new

framework. Single Resolution

Board Chair Elke Koenig said

creditors need stable rules to be

able to invest with confidence

and that precautionary bailouts

should be used sparingly.

Greece was unique because its

entire financial system was on the

brink, Koenig said in an interview

last month.

Italy was another special case

in the way it handled four smallbanks in November, when some

of the nation’s big banks lent

money to the public resolution

fund to shield creditors from tak-

ing losses. This move earned a

public guarantee, but no censure

from EU competition authorities

as long as the government credit

line isn’t used.

Going forward, regulators

need to do more to prevent re-

tail customers from buying risky

investments, Koenig said. Rather

than using workarounds to shield

family savings tied up in bank

bonds, governments should fo-

cus on keeping that money out of

harm’s way.“Investors need to understand

the game, market authorities

need to understand the game, and

need to know that if you buy a

bond, you are a creditor,” Koenig

said.

“Say this is not an instrument

for the average saver. Clearly after

you have made a fortune and you

are a very experienced saver you

can go for that but make sure that

you address the topic also from

the mis- selling perspective.”

Regulators in the new year are

seeking to wean lenders and their

governments off their historic

bailout habits.

Portuguese Finance Minister

Mario Centeno said on Dec. 21

that “the regulatory change that

will take place on Jan. 1, 2016, wil l mak e all ban k res olu tio n

processes more serious,” and

Koenig said the industry needs

to take note.

“I’m very much in favor of hav-

ing very clear rules, at the same

time, I’m also very much in favor

of giving a bit of leeway to the

authority,” Koenig said. “Hope-

fully we’re not getting started

with such messy quest ions.” —

Bloomberg

Creditors, from S2/ 1

The yen rediscount window,

meanwhile, remained unused for

both 2014 and 2015.

RATESIn the same statement yester-

day, the central bank also came

out with the rediscount rates for

January 2016.

Rates under the Rediscount

Wind ow I mean t for univ ersal

and commercial banks remain at6.125% for 30-day loans, 6.1875%

for 90-day loans, and 6.25% for

180-day loans.

Under the Rediscount Win-

dow II meant for thrift, rural,

and cooperative banks, the rates

are 4% for 30- and 90-day loans,

4.0625% for 180-day loans, and

4.125% for 360-day loans.

Peso facility rates stood un-

changed since September 2014,

as these merely follow the BSP’s

policy-setting Monetary Board’s

stance on overnight lending and

borrowing rates which has been

kept steady since.

Meanwhile, rates for borrow-

ings from the dollar rediscount

wi nd ow ha ve be en hi ke d to

2.6127% for loans with a tenor of

one to 90 days; 2.6752% for 91- to180-day loans; and 2.7377% for

181- to 360-day loans.

Rates under the yen redis-

count facility, meanwhile, stand

at 2.08286% for one to 90-day

loans, 2.14536% for 91- to 180-day

loans, and 2.20786% for 181- to

360-day loans. — Melissa Luz

T. Lopez

Rediscount, from S2/ 1

CENTRAL BANKERS are no lon-

ger the circuit breakers for finan-

cial markets.

Mon etar y - polic y maker s,

market saviors the past decade

through the promise of interest-

rate reductions or asset pur-

chases, now lack the space to cut

further or buy more. Even those

willing to intensi fy their efforts

increasingly doubt the potency of

such policies.

That’s leaving investors hav-

ing to cope alone with shocks

such as last week’s rout in China

or when economic data disap-

point, magnifying the impact of

such events.

“The monetary illusion is

drawing to a close,” said Didier

Saint Georges, a member of the

investment committee at Carmi-

gnac Gestion SA, an asset-man-

agement company. “With central

banks becoming increasingly re-

stricted in their stimulus policies,

2016 is likely to be the year when

the markets awaken to economic

reality.”

Even against the backdrop of

this week’s market losses, Federal

Reserve officials signaled their

intention to keep raising interest

rates this year.

Those at the European Central

Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan

(BoJ) ended last year playing

down suggestions they will ulti-

mately need to intensify econom-

ic-aid programs.

They have only themselves to

blame for becoming agents of vol-

atility, according to Christopher

Walen, senior managing director

at Kroll Bond Rating Agency Inc.

He told Bloomberg Television

last week that officials’ willing-

ness to keep interest rates near

zero and repeatedly buy bonds

and other assets meant they be-

came “way too involved in the

global economy” and should have

left more of the lifting work to

governments.

The handover to looser fiscal

policy now needs to happen if

economic growth and inflation

are to get the spur they need, said

Martin Malone, global macro

policy strategist at London- based

brokerage Mint Partners.

“Major economies have ex-

hausted monetary and foreign-

exchange policies,” he said.

“Government action must

take over from central-bank poli-

cies, triggering more confident

private-sector investment and

spending.”

INFLUENCEThe influence of central bankers

was underscored by a report this

week from currency strategists at

HSBC Holdings Plc, which calcu-

lated foreign-exchange markets

are more sensitive to interest-

rate decision-making than at any

time in the last 15 years.

“FX markets are likely to re-

main hypersensitive to rate ex-

pectations until we are past the

current era of extremely accom-

modative monetary policy,” the

strategists led by David Bloom

wrote.

Even if more stimulus does

end up being delivered by the

ECB or B0J, China’s increased

willing ness to devalue the yuan

will blunt the effect of it by limit-

ing declines in their currencies

and pushing up bond yields as

money exits China, according to

George Saravelos, a strategist at

Deutsche Bank AG in London.

“All of these natural market

forces that have been suppressed

and overwhelmed by money

printing by developed-market

central banks will likely assert

themselves this year,” said Ste-

phen Jen, founder of London-

based hedge fund SLJ Macro

Partners LLP.

“My guess is that this will not

be a tranquil year,” Jen said. —

Bloomberg

LONDON — Eleven formerDeutsche Bank, Barclays and So-

ciete Generale employees are due

on Monday to become the first

people charged formally with

conspiracy to rig Euribor, an in-

ternational benchmark used to

set interest rates on a wide range

of financial products, including

mortgages.

In the latest chapter of a global

rate-fixing inquiry kick-started

by US regulators in 2008, 10 men

and one woman are due to ap-

pear at Westminster Magistrates’

Court in London to be charged

with plotting to manipulate Euri-

bor or the Euro interbank offered

rate.

Global investigations have

so far culminated in banks andbrokerages paying about $9 bil-

lion in regulatory settlements and

more than 30 individuals being

charged.

The former middle managers,

traders and Euribor rate submit-

ters appearing in court on Mon-

day span six nationalities and

are resident in countries ranging

from the United States to Den-

mark and Singapore.

Frenchman Christian Bittar,

a Singapore-based star trader

who was once one of Deuts che

Bank’s most profitable money

mar kets man ag er s, will b e

join ed in court by forme r Ger-

man colleagues Achim Kraemer,

An dr ea s Ha us ch il d, Ar da la n

Gharagozlou, Joerg Vogt and

Kai-Uwe Kappauf. Also in the dock are four for-

mer Barclays employees: French-

man Philippe Moryoussef, Briton

Colin Bermingham, Dane Sisse

Bohart and British and Italian

dual national Carlo Palombo. The

line-up is completed by French

former Societe Generale trader

Stephane Esper.

Lawyers for former Deutsche

Bank colleagues Bittar and

Hauschild have said earlier that

their clients would contest therate-riigging allegations vigor-

ously.

Lawyers for Vogt and Palombo,

former employees of Deutsche

Bank and Barclays, respectively,

have declined to comment and

others did not respond to re-

quests for comment.

FOURTH PROSECUTIONDesigned to reflect the cost at

which banks can borrow from

each other in different currencies

over varying time frames, rates

such as Euribor and the London

interbank offered rate (Libor) are

benchmarks for about $450 tril-

lion of financial products.

Monday’s proceedings rep-

resent the fourth rate-riggingprosecution launched by the

UK’s Serious Fraud Office since

it joined the global inquiry belat-

edly in 2012.

US and British prosecutors

have each concluded one jury

trial to date, with one trial con-

tinuing in London and another

scheduled to begin in London

next month.

The cases are coming to court

more than three years after Bar-

clays became the first bank to

reach a global settlement with au-

thorities in 2012, admitting that

its traders tried to rig Libor and

Euribor from 2005 through 2009.

It was fined $450 million.

Since then, 10 other major

financial institutions have been

fined in Europe and the UnitedStates for their role in the saga, in-

cluding UBS, Lloyds, JPMorgan,

Citigroup and ICAP.

Deutsche Bank was fined a re-

cord $2.5 billion last April.

As part of that deal its Lon-

don-based subsidiary pleaded

guilty to criminal wire fraud and

the parent group entered a de-

ferred prosecution agreement

to suspend criminal charges. —

Reuters

End of monetary illusion magnifies shocks for martspolicyholder protection, foreign

ownership, new licenses, and

talent mobility — that capture

some key characteristics of a life

insurance market, and assessed

the relative stage of development

or openness of each feature for

each ASEAN country in the form

of an index.

The Philippine life insurance

industry, in particular, had one

of the lowest penetration rates

in the region as of 2014 at 1.2%,

it added.

Aside from PNB and Allianz ,

last year, Belgium-based Ageas

partnered with East West Bank-

ing Corp. to put up a new life in-

surance company.

Hong Kong-based FWD Group

also established its presence in

the country in April 2014, becom-

ing the first foreign life insurer to

enter the local market in 10 years.

It also has an existing exclusive

bancassurance tie-up with Secu-

rity Bank Corp.

Bancassurance refers to the

selling of insurance products

wit hin ban k bran che s. Und er

Republic Act No. 10607 or the

amended Insurance Code, banks

are no longer required to have a

5% equity in insurance compa-

nies to enter into a bancassurance

deal as long as they comply with

requirements set by the IC and

the central bank.

Insurers, from S2/ 1

Britain starts hearing1st Euribor rigging case

PEOPLE’S BANK of China

(PBoC) Deputy Governor Pan

Gongsheng will replace Yi Gang

as head of the State Administra-

tion of Foreign Exchange (SAFE),

while also maintaining his post

at the central bank, the currency

regulator said in a statement.

Pan “recently” held his first

meeting to review the regulator’s

work in 2015 and outline goals for

2016, the statement said, adding

that the regulator will proceed

with plans to make the yuan con-

vertibl e “in an orderly fashion ”

and will tackle “violations” of

foreign-currency regulations.

China has “relatively abun-

dant foreign-exchange reserves,”

the regulator said. China’s foreign

reserves fell for the first time lastyear since 1992, slumping $513

billion, or 13%, to $3.33 trillion

as of Dec. 31, the PBoC said last

week.

SAFE is China’s top currency

regulator and operates under

the State Council, or cabinet. A

deputy central bank governor

traditionally serves concurrently

as the agency director.

P an r eplac in g Yi doesn ’ t

signal a big shift on the yuan,

also known as the renminbi or

RMB, Larry Hu, head of China

economics at Macquarie Securi-

ties Ltd. in Hong Kong said after

the appointment was initially

reported by Caixin magazine in

December.

SAFE’s function includes

studying and proposing policies

on the reform of the foreign ex-

change administration system,

and the gradual advancement

of yuan convertibility under the

capital account, according to its

website.

Yi is also a deputy governor at

the central bank and will retain

his post at the PBoC, the regula-

tor said. The central bank, led by

Governor Zhou Xiaochuan since

2002, has six deputy governors.Pan previously worked at the

Agricult ural Bank of China and

before that held a number of posi-

tions at Industrial & Commercial

Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s

largest lender, including general

manager of financial planning

and secretary of the board of di-

rectors, according to his PBoC

biography. He earned a Ph.D in

economics at Renmin University

of China. — Bloomberg

PBoC deputy governor tohead currency regulator

THE PESO succumbed to the dol-

lar’s strength at the start of trad-

ing this week as market players

favored the foreign unit after a

firmer US jobs report supported

views of another rate hike this

quarter, and as investors contin-

ued to shy away from riskier as-

sets over renewed concerns of a

deep slowdown in China.

The local currency closed at

P47.27 against the greenback on

Monday, 10.5 centavos weaker

than its P47.165-per-dollar finish

last week.

The peso slumped at the start

of trading, opening at P47.30 ver-

sus the greenback, and dropped

to as low as P47.35-per-dollar. It

however recouped its earlier loss-

es, with its strongest point logged

at P47.24 against the foreign unit.

Dollars traded fell to $582.9

million from $663.1 million the

previous session, according to

data from the Philippine Dealing

& Exchange Corp.

Traders interviewed yesterday

attributed the dollar strength yes-

terday to the US non-farm payroll

(NFP) print, which showed jobs

created in the world’s largest

economy surged last month, and

to persisting concerns over the

health of China, which dragged

sentiment on emerging markets

(EM), the Philippines included.

“The peso was weaker on the

back of firmer dollar after the up-

beat NFP data which gave the dol-

lar a push and dragged the EMs

weaker across the curve,” a trader

said via phone.

“The low equities market is

also causing a stir on the invest-

ment side while given the firmer

string of US data, market suspects

another rate hike in March,” the

trader added.

Another trader said: “The peso

depreciated on account of upbeat

US labor data.”

“US non-farm payrolls ex-

ceeded market expectations and

unemployment rate remained

low at 5%. The peso depreciated

further due to safe-haven buying

amid weakness in the Chinese

stock market,” the trader added.

Non-farm payrolls increased

by 292,000 last month, the US

Labor Department said on Friday,

as hiring got a boost from unsea-

sonably warm weather.

The US central bank last

month raised overnight rates by

a quarter percentage point to be-

tween 0.25 and 0.50%, the first

increase in nearly a decade, and

a subsequent move at its next

meeting this month was already

seen as off the table.

For today, a trader said the

market will be “very cautious”

and continue to monitor overseas

developments particularly on

equities.

The other trader said “in the

absence of major economic data

releases, investors may focus

on the economic turbulence in

China, which may lead to further

strengthening of the US dollar. “

A trade r said the peso could

move within the P47.15 to P47.35-

per-dollar band today, while an-

other put support at P47.20 and

resistance at P47.40.

Most emerging Asian curren-

cies extended losses on Monday

despite China’s stronger guidance

on the yuan as the outlook for the

renminbi remained weak amid

uncertainties over Beijing’s ex-

change rate policy.

The yuan rose after the People’s

Bank of China set its daily midpoint

rate higher for a second session.

That helped the Singapore dollar

turn firmer and other emerging

Asian currencies recover earlier

losses. Still, regional units failed to

fully benefit from the renminbi’s

rebound as doubts lingered over

whether and how long China will

continue to support the currency.

— Imee Charlee C. Delavin with

Reuters

PEOPLE’S BANK of China Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng answers questions

during a press conference on March 13, 2013.

A F P

THE PESO gave up 10.5 centavos to the dollar yesterday after a good US non-farm

payrolls report and amid lingering fears of a slowdown in China.

B W F I L E P H O T O



HE MAY NOT BE a top-of-mind Philippine Bas-

ketball Association (PBA) star, but for 10 years,

veteran guard Jireh Ibañes of the Rain or Shine

Elastopainters has built for himself a solid ca-

reer, anchored, he said, on a lot of hard work.

Currently helping the Elastopainters in

their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series with

the San Miguel Beermen, the former Univer-

sity of the Philippines stalwart and one-time

PBA Defensive Player of the Year recently

talked to BusinessWorld and shared some of

his thoughts on various stuff.

Below is the conversation.

BusinessWorld ( BW ): What are your

thoughts on the kind of campaign that

Rain or Shine is having in the PBA Philip-

pine Cup?

Jireh Ibañes (JI): I am not really sur-prised with how our team is performing in the

ongoing conference. At the start of the tourna-

ment we made big moves, letting go of some

players, and some people felt that our ability

to compete would be affected. But t hings have

turned out okay for us, even better.

BW : You have been with the team for

10 years already, how does it feel to have

seen it grow from an expansion team to a

contender now?

JI: I am very thankful to be part of the team

for 10 years and like what you have said I have

seen it grow. When I started [with the then

Welcoat Dragons] if we win two to three games

it is as if we have won a championship but now

we are expected to be a contender each time

and win. Even the management thinks that

way. And having seen that growth brings de-

light on my part. I feel I am very much part of

the team’s history as I was there when we were

losing to now. As far as my role, it has evolvedsignificantly from the days when I was just a

young player with not much responsibilities to

now that I am a veteran and the team captain,

helping our young players develop as well.

BW : To where do you attribute your

long partnership with the Elastopainters?

JI: I am thankful and blessed that I am

with a group like Rain or Shine because they

know how to appreciate hard work. That’s my

brand of play. I hustle and do the little things

that the team needs. I may not be the face of

the team but they like what I do and know I

am committed and would do everything that

is asked of me.

BW : You are known as a defensive spe-

cialist, is it something that you always

wanted to be?

JI: Even back in high school I already take

pride in playing defense. I remember my dad

telling me, ‘There is no off night in defense

but in offense there is.’ And I realized that he

had a point. So when I played in college I had

good teammates who can score, like UP gun-

ner Mike Bravo, and I simply said to myself

I just have to play defense to help my team.

And it transcended here to the PBA which has

worked well for me.

BW : How is it playing for a coach like

Yeng Guiao, who has a reputation of being

very tough?JI: The thing about Coach Yeng is that

what he hates is someone not giving the effort

and thinking while on the court. On my end

I always play hard and think which is why I

am comfortable playing for him. He is a very

balanced coach, gives credit when you deserve

one but does not hesitate to call you out if you

do not perform. And I am happy with that. He

has helped my game and career since he got

here.

BW : Your thoughts on the kind of sea-

son your alma mater, UP, had in Season 78

of the University Athletic Association of

the Philippines? Would you like to coach

the Maroons in the future?

JI: I am happy for them. Three wins may

not be much to speak off but they competed.

It is very hard to break the losing habit. And I

hope they get to establish stability there and

sustain it, including in the leadership. They

have good players there to build on. As far ascoaching, I have to learn more about it. It is

not something I am thinking right now but

who knows.

BW : What can people expect from

Rain or Shine this season?

JI: We will continue to go out

and compete. We will find ways to

win even whe n we are t aking on

stronger opponents. We may be

a bunch of no-namers, they say,

but we will continue to prove

them wrong.

SportsWorld


FOR THREE straight games, Alaska

asserted its dominance over upstart Glo-

balPort to move within striking distance

of making the championship round for

the third time in four conferences.

But that doesn’t mean the Smart

Bro PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven

finals series is already in the bag for

the Aces.

“No, not at all, I never believe

that,” head coach Alex Compton told

sportswriters when asked if the series is

already over.

“I’m the guy who’s hardened enough

to believe that when we were being

dominated by San Miguel in the finals

last conference, somebody has to come

back from 3-0 and said why not us?

I still don’t believe it’s over until that

buzzer sounds and we’ve got proof that

it is done,” he added.

Alaska team captain Tony dela Cruz,

GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio and veteran

guard Joseph Yeo are also firm believers

that a series is not over until it’s over.

“In 2006, we were up 3-1 against

Purefoods in the semis and they came

back and beat us,” Mr. Dela Cruz told

BusinessWorld in an interview. “Nothing

is safe here.”

Mr. Dela Cruz has just moved to Alaska

when Shell folded up in 2005, and was a

firsthand witness to one of the most dra-

matic comebacks essayed by James Yap

and the rest of the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs

in the 2005-06 Philippine Cup by coming

back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Alaska.

The Hotdogs then subdued Yeng

Guiao’s Red Bull Barako in six games in

the championship round.

Messrs. Yeo and Jarencio were part

of the Petron squad that fought back

from a 3-1 deficit in the 2011 Governors

Cup finals and they saw the Boosters

rallying by winning three straight games

against the TNT Tropang Texters and

denied their rivals a grand slam.

“I’ve seen strange things happened

before. I was with Petron as an assistant

coach when we came back from 3-1

deficit to beat Talk ‘N Text in the finals.

The following year, we were up 3-1 then

lost to TNT three straight. Anything can

still happen. The ball is round. You can

never tell,” added Mr. Jarencio.

For Mr. Yeo, one game is all the

Batang Pier needed to get back on track.

“We just need to get our rhythm

back,” added Mr. Yeo. “We didn’t have

our rhythm in Game 2, 3 and 4, a rhythm

which sparked us to win Game 1. If we

win our next game, we might build

some momentum. Who knows, it might

be the signal of something good.”

THE ALASKA ACES use the first of their three

tries to eliminate the GlobalPort Batang Pier in

their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinal

series in Game Five today at the Smart Araneta

Coliseum.

Notched their third straight win in their semis

tiff with the port masters, 109-84, on Sunday, the

Aces try to finish things off in the 7 p.m. ga me

and make their return trip to the finals of the

season-opening Philippine Basketball Associa-

tion tournament.

Banking anew on its collective defensive

strength, Alaska made life tough for GlobalPort,not allowing the latter to get its offensive game to

really soar.

After scorin g 107 point s in their Game One

win, the Batang Pier have been limit ed to just

76.3 points in their last three games, affecting

greatly their ability to keep in step with the Aces,

last year’s tournament runner-up, en route to

a 20.6-point average deficit per game in their

semifinal losses.

“It was once again a solid defensive team effort

for us tonight,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton

after their win on Sunday.

“I saw the players’ energy and I’m proud of

what they did. T hey are playing with their hearts

out and I can’t ask for more,” the coach added.

In Game Four, forward Calvin Abueva showed

the way with a double-double performance of 20

points and 13 rebounds. He was ably backed up by

Dondon Hontiveros and RJ Jazul, who finished

with 16 points and 14 points, respect ively, and

seven three-pointers between them.

While thei r backs are again st the wall, the

Batang Pier are not about to give up, believing

that they still have it in them to bounce back,

notwithstanding they are up against a veteran

team like Alaska.

They, however, underscored the need to “de-

liver” in every possible way to give themselves thechance to compete and keep their Philippine Cup

campaign alive.

In the last game, the explosive backcourt duo of

Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle paced Glo-

balPort with 24 and 16 points each. Veteran for-

ward Jay Washington was the lone other Batang

Pier player to score in double-digits with 10.

If the Aces beat GlobalPort today, they await

the winner of the other semifinal series between

the San Miguel Beermen and Rain or Shine Elas-

topainters. As of this writing they were to play

Game Four with the ROS leading the series, 2-1. ALASKA IS OUT to finish off GlobalPort in Game Five today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Players, coaches see semifinals series far from over

Elastopainters’ Jireh Ibañes: Hard work pays off

Shares some of his thoughts with BW’s Michael Angelo Murillo

RAIN OR SHINE

veteran Jireh Ibañes

LOS ANGELES — Dallas forwardDirk Nowitzki, 37 years old and

with more than 1,300 NBA games

under his belt, is still the Maver-

icks’ go-to guy.

The German veteran scored a

game-high 29 points on Sunday

as the Mavericks edged the Min-

nesota Timberwolves 93-87 in

Minneapolis, taking up the slack

on a night when many of his team-

mates struggled offensively.

“He’s a guy that’s prepared

himself for greatness virtually ev-

ery night,” Mavericks coach Rick

Carlisle said of Nowitzki.

“One of the things we want to

try to do is take some of the bur-

den off of him, but there’s nights

like tonight where it’s unavoid-

able.”

Dallas forward Chandler Par-sons added 14 points and center

Zaza Pachulia scored 13, but it

was Nowitzki’s scoring touch that

made the difference.

He hit four of seven three-

point attempts, while the rest of

the Mavs were a combined two of

13 from beyond the arc.

Nowitzki finished the game

12-for-22 from the floor and

pulled down seven rebounds in

31 minutes.

It was his fourth straight20-point effort and his 13th such

game this season.

“The guys kept coming to

me,” Nowitzki said. “Defensively,

it was a good effort tonight. We

didn’t have a lot of guys who were

shooting the ball especially well,

but I thought defensively we kept

battling.”

Second-year guard Andrew

Wiggi ns led the Timb erwol ves

with 21 points.

Dallas led by six at halftime

and closed out the third quarter

with an 18-4 scoring run.

The Timberwolves trimmed

the deficit to 85-82 late in the

fourth quarter, but Nowitzki con-

verted a three-point play with 1:30

remaining, and Dallas held on.

STREAKING CLIPPERSThe Los Angeles Clippers had to

work overtime to stretch their

winning streak to nine games

with a 114-111 victory over the

short-handed New Orleans Peli-

cans.

Point guard Chris Paul scored

25 points with 11 assists and five

rebounds for the Clippers, one

of seven Los Angeles players to

score in double figures. — AFP

DIRK NOWITZKI #41 of the Dallas Mavericks controls the ball against Johnny

O’Bryant III #77 of the Mil waukee Bucks in the first half at American Airlines

Center on Dec. 28, 2015 in Dallas, Texas.

Dirk Nowitzki makes thedifference for Mavericks

EDITOR FRANCISCO P. BALTAZAR

Alaska out to give

GlobalPort the bootBy Michael Angelo S. Murillo Reporter

ALVIN S. GO

AFP

By Rey Joble

A L V I N S . G O



Welcome changeO P I N I O N

W hen Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov faced

members of the media shortly after he joined the

ranks of National Basketball Association franchise

owners in 2010, he boldly promised to bring a championship to

the Nets in five years. Needless to say, that promise was broken,

and spectacularly; through the half decade in question, the black

and white managed to move past the first round of the playoffs

only once. His sole consolation: The rival Knicks have arguably

been worse over the same time frame.

To be sure, Prokhorov has

at least seen fit to back his

desire up with an unprec-

edented allocation of re-

sources, leading to a record

payroll in 2013. And, for all

the follies of his win-now in-

tentions, it’s clear that his in-

clination to keep bankrolling

his sports investment hasn’t

abated; in the offseason, he

forked over yet another $400

million and change to buy

out the minority and claim

full control of the Nets. In

other words, they’re set in

terms of finances even as

their output continues toleave much to be desired.

M a k e n o m i s t a k e ;

Prokhorov is serious in mak-

ing the Nets competitive,

and for the long term. He

has learned to chuck instant

gratification for patience, re-

alizing from experience that

the Larry O’Brien Trophy

can’t be bought by the stockpiling of free agents. These days, he

is more circumspect with how his checks are cashed, although, on

the court, regression seems to be evident of late; his NBA team is

wallowing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference barrel (given

the view that the Sixers are outliers and, therefore, don’t count).

The good news is that Prokhorov is keen on stirring the pot for

better results. He just fired erstwhile head coach Lionel Hollins

(in the process eating the latter’s salary for the next one and a

half years) and essentially stripped general manager Billy King,

whose contract expires at the end of the season, of decision mak-

ing powers. NBA lifer Tony Brown will now be calling the shots

from the bench, while personnel decisions will most likely be

made by a trusted group behind the scenes.

It remains to be seen whether Prokhorov’s latest moves will im-

pact positively on the Nets’ performance. Considering how poorly

they were faring prior to the turn of events, however, any change

cannot but be deemed welcome. At the same time, it’s no coinci-

dence that the hot seat has already been occupied by five otherwise-

able bodies since he came on board. In any case, he’s moving the

pieces on the board, hopefully based on a well-thought-out strategy

that will, at some point, bring him victory.

COURTSIDEANTHONY L. CUAYCONG

Prokhorov is serious in

making the Nets competitive,

and for the long term. He

has learned to chuck instant

gratification for patience,

realizing from experience

that the Larry O’Brien Trophy

can’t be bought by the

stockpiling of free agents.

These days, he is more

circumspect with how hischecks are cashed, although,

on the court, regression

seems to be evident of late;

his NBA team is wallowing

at the bottom of the Eastern

Conference barrel.

ANTHONY L. CUAYCONG has been writing Courtside sinceBusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior

Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

S2/5World SportsTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

O P I N I O N

CHESS PIECEBOBBY ANG

BOBBY ANG is a founding member of the National

Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its

first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant

(CPA), he taught accounting in the

University of Santo Tomas (UST)

for 25 years and is currently Chief

Audit Executive of the Equicom

Group of Companies.

[email protected]

Qatar Masters Open

Doha, Qatar

Dec. 19-30, 2015

FINAL TOP STANDINGS1-2. GM Magnus Carlsen NOR 2834,

GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2736, 7.0/9

3-7. GM Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2796,

GM Sergey Karjakin RUS 2766, GM San-

an Sjugirov RUS 2646,

GM Ni Hua CHN 2693,

GM Vassily Ivanchuk

UKR 2710, 6.5/9

Total of 132 players

Time Control: 90 min-

utes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes

play-to-finish with a 30-second increment

added after every move starting move 1.

SEXY CHESSGM Nikita Vitiugov is currently no. 30

in the world with 2721 rating points. He

was a member of the gold-medal winning

Russian team in the World Team Cham-

pionship of 2009 and 2013. Aside from

his strength as a player he has seconded

Peter Svidler in two Candidates’ Tourna-

ments and has found time to author two

best-sellers in the French Defense.

Nikita Kirillovich was sensationally

upset in the first round by the untitled

Chinese player Xu Yinghun. Anyway

he gathered himself and won four with

no loss from his final eight games for a

respectable 16th place finish.

Caruana calls his 30th move in the fol-

lowing game “unbelievably sexy”.

Playing Black in the following game

is GM Krishnan Sasikiran, until recently

the no. 2 player of India after Vishy Anand. Nowadays several players like

Harikrishna, Negi, Ganguly, Adhiban

and Sethuraman are ranked higher, but

we should not forget that for more than

a decade Sasikiran had led the country’s

colors in international competition.

* * *

Vitiugov, Nikita (2724) - Sasiki-

ran, Krishnan (2638) [C50]

Qatar Masters Open 2015 Doha

QAT (7.9), 27.12.2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3

Nf6 5.c3 d6 6.Bb3 a6 7.0–0 h6 8.Re1

0–0 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Nf1 Bxb3 11.Qxb3

Re8 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3 Qd7 14.h3

Ne7 15.Nh2 c6 16.Nhg4 Nxg4 17.hxg4

d5 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.d4 exd4 20.Rxd4

c5 21.Rd2 d4 22.cxd4 cxd4 23.Red1

Nc6 24.f3 g6 25.Nd5 Kg7 26.Qb6

The threat i s 27.Rxd4 Nxd4 28.Qxd4+

with a winning game.

26…Re6?

Surprisingly, the

only defense is 26…Qc8

to get the queen out

of range of the knight

fork after 27.Rxd4 Nxd4 28.Qxd4+ Kh7

29.Nf6+ Kh8. White might still win at

the end but that was the only chance.

By putting his rook on e6 Sasikiran in-tends to play …f6 after the queen’s long

diagonal check, but it turns out to be not

enough.

27.Rxd4! Nxd4 28.Qxd4+ f6

[28…Kf8 29.Qh8#; 28…Kh7 29.Nf6+

Rxf6 30.Qxd7 Rxd7 31.Rxd7 White has a

winning end game]

29.Nc7!!

Beautiful. Now 29…Qxd4 30.Nxe6+

wins for White.

29…Re7 <D>

POSITION AFTER 29…RE7 And now comes the “unbe lieva bly

sexy” move.

30.Ne8+! Qxe8

If the king moves to h7 or g8 then

Nxf6+, and if:

30…Kf8 31.Qxf6+ Kxe8 32.Qxg6+ Rf7

33.Rxd7 Rdxd7 34.Qxh6;

30…Kh8 31.Qxf6+ Kh7 32.Rxd7

Rdxd7 33.Qf8

31.Qxd8 Qf7 32.Rd6 g5 33.b3 Re8

34.Qb6 Re7 35.Qd4 Re6 36.Rd7 Re7

37.Rd5 Qe8 38.a4 Qc6 39.Rd6 Qc1+

40.Kf2 Rf7 41.e5 Qc2+ 42.Kg3 1-0

Black is helpless: 42…Qg6 43.exf6+

Rxf6 44.a5 hopeless.

SHAK ATTACKGM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was the

2003 World Junior Championship in

Nakhchivan, a remote area in his home

country of Azerbaijan. There were some

mutterings that many of the top juniors

in the world did not participate because

the venue was so far from civilization. Toremove any suspicion that his victory was

undeserved, “Shak” participated again

in the 2005 edition held in Istanbul and

won the title again. He was on a definite

upswing and after winning several strong

tournaments wound up as the no. 4

ranked chess player in the world in 2007.

He has said that the only way he

knows how to play chess is to go all-out

for a win. This style has brought a lot of

successes but also failures when he tries

too hard and the win is not there. He is

still as brilliant as ever though as the

following game will attest.

GM Aleksandr Lenderman was born

in St. Petersburg in September 1989, but

moved with his family to Brooklyn when

he was four. He played in the USA team to

the 2015 World Team Chess Championship

and won the gold medal in the 2nd board.

* * *Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2748) -

Lenderman, Aleksandr (2626) [E20]

Qatar Masters Open 2015 Doha

(3), 22.12.2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nc3

c5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Ne4 7.Bd2 Nxd2

8.Qxd2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Qb6 10.e3

Black has two bishops but White has

the space advantage. If Black can get his

c8–bishop into play then he would be

doing very well.

10…Ne5 11.b3 Qa5 12.Rc1 0–0

13.0–0 a6 14.Rfd1 Ba3 15.Rc2 Rb8

Planning …b7–b5 and then bringing

his c8–bishop into active duty on the

long diagonal.

16.Qe2 Rd8 17.h3 Be7 18.f4 Nc6

19.Kh2 Nb4

It is not yet time for 19…d5? 20.cxd5

exd5 21.Nxd5 Rxd5 22.Bxd5 Qxd5

23.Nxc6 Black can resign.

20.Rcc1 Nc6

This is completely in keeping with

Lenderman’s style. His pinpricks with

the bishop on a3 and knight on b4 are

very irritating and designed to drive his

opponent to do something rash. That is

exactly what Mamedyarov does.

21.Qd3! Ba3 22.Bxc6!?

What is the idea behind this move? Well,if 22…bxc6 then 23.Nxc6 forking queen

and rook, and if 22…dxc6 then 23.Nxc6

Rxd3 24.Nxa5 and White has won a pawn.

22…Bxc1?

In his video commentary GM Jan

Gustafsson points out that White’s

combination has a hole. After 22…dxc6!

23.Nxc6 Rxd3 24.Nxa5 Rd7! refutes the

line, although admittedly it is very hard

to see. The rook on c1 is attacked and if

25.Rb1 Bb4 wins a piece. On the other

hand if 25.Rxd7 (25.Rb1 Bb4) 25…Bxd7

26.Rd1 Be8 the a5–knight is in a diffi cult

place and will be lost soon.

23.Be4 Bb2 24.Nxe6!

Imagine that — the pawn on e6 is

guarded by pawns on d7 and f7, and

White just takes it off!

24…fxe6

[24…Qxc3 25.Bxh7+ Kh8 26.Nxd8

Qxd3 27.Bxd3 Kg8 28.Bf5 Bf6 29.Nxf7Kxf7 30.Bxd7 White has 4 pawns for the

piece — more than enough]

25.Bxh7+ Kh8 26.Ne4 Rf8

What are the alternatives for Black?

Of course not 26…Kxh7 27.Nf6+ Kh6

28.Qh7#;

26…Qh5 27.Ng5 followed by Bg6 and

Nf7+ is also not satisfactory;

Trying to get his bishop back to the

kingside might be the best. 26…Bf6!

27.Nd6! (27.Nxf6 gxf6 28.Qg6 Qxa2+

29.Kg1 Qe2 forces White to take the draw

by perpetual check) 27…Rf8 28.Bg6 fol-

lowed by Qe2, f5 and Qh5 looks very dan-

gerous but this gives the most chances.

27.Bg6

The idea is Qd3–e2–h5+, inserting

either c4–c5 or f4–f5 to cut-off the black

queen from the kingside.

27…Kg8

[27…d5 28.Qe2! dxe4 29.b4! Black’s

queen has to leave the 5th rank clearing

the way for White’s mating combination

starting Qh5+]

28.Qe2 Bf6 29.c5

Now White is getting in Qh5, and the

game is over.

29…Bc3 30.Qh5 Rf5

[30…Rd8 31.Qh7+ Kf8 32.Qh8+ Ke7

33.Qh4+ Kf8 34.Nxc3 Qxc3 35.Qxd8#]31.Bxf5

A sho rt er wi n was 31. Qh7 + Kf8

32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qe8# But you know

how it is — once you see a mate you don’t

have to look for another one.

31…exf5 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Ng5+ Kh6

34.Rd6+ Bf6 35.Qh8+ Kg6 36.Qh7# 1–0

Shak got his bid for the $27,000 first

prize derailed when he lost to Magnus

Carlsen in the penultimate round.

They say that Mamedyarov was put in

his place because the reigning world

champion is impervious to such reckless

attacks. Word of warning — that was

the same thing they said about Mikhail

Tal when he was making his bid for the

world elite in 1957-1959, that he will be

shut out by the solid players like Vassily

Smyslov and Mikhail Botvinnik. All of

that talk faded when Mikhail Tal became

world champion in 1960.

Gems from Qatar

LOS ANGELES — Jordan Spieth claimed

his seventh USPGA Tour title on Sunday,

routing the field to win the Tournament

of Champions and match Tiger Woods

for the most career wins before the age

of 23.

The 22-year-old Texan fired a clos-

ing round of six-under 67, capping an

incredible week of precision golf to winby eight strokes.

He finished at 30-under 262, becom-

ing just the second player in history to

hit that magic 30 number.

It may be his first USPGA Tour

tournament of 2016, but Spieth has

picked up right where he left off last

year when he won two majors and five

titles. He also finished runner-up at the

PGA Championship and fourth at the

British Open.

The reigning Masters and US Open

champion is pleased with his start to

the year.

“Very satisfied,” Spieth said. “I felt

comfortable the whole week. It felt like

it was a short three-week break over

the holidays and just tried to continueexactly what we were doing last year.

“It worked this week and all parts of

the game were firing.”

Fellow American Patrick Reed, the

defending champion in the tourna-

ment open only to the prior season’s

winners, ended up in sole possession

of second place after making a final

round charge.

He had four birdies on the front

nine at the par-73 Plantation Course at

Kapalua. He finished with a four-under

69 to reach 22-under 270.

Brandt Snedeker (67), and Brooks

Koepka (71) tied for third at 21-under,

nine strokes back of Spieth.

Rickie Fowler shot a six-under 67 to

finish alone in fifth.Horton Smith, who won 14 times

from 1928-30, holds all-time record for

the most victories before the age of 23.

Spieth, who doesn’t turn 23 for an-

other six months, says he is uncomfort-

able with comparisons to 14-time major

champion Woods.

“I am no where near him. I don’t

think there is any reason to compare,”

he said. “It is awfully early. What Tiger

has done I can’t imagine ever being

done again.

“It is nice to be in that company

anytime you can get into the company of

some of the hall of fame players. It is cer-

tainly a goal I have had since I was a kid.”

Spieth finished with seven birdies

and one bogey — at the par-threeeighth — en route to collecting $1.18

million in prize money.

World number two Jason Day, who

is playing for the first time in three

months, shot an eight-under 65 to finish

tied for 10th at 15-under.

British Open champ Zach Johnson

tied for 21st after closing with a 67. —

AFP

Spieth blitzes field to win Tournament of Champions

WASHINGTON — A dramatic missed field goal

saw the Seattle Seahawks edge past the Minne-

sota Vikings as the Green Pay Packers demol-

ished the Washington Redskins on a pulsating

day of NFL wild card action playoff on Sunday.

The story of the day came in Minneapolis,

where Vikings kicker Blair Walsh fluffed an easy

27-yard field goal attempt with 26 seconds left

on the clock to allow Seattle to cling on for a

nail-biting 10-9 victory.

Walsh’s miss was the final act of an icy after-

noon in Minnesota, where sub-zero tempera-

tures before kick-off made the game the third

coldest match in NFL history.

The mercury plunged minus six degrees

Fahrenheit (minus 21 Celsius) before the game.

The coldest match ever recorded was the 1967

“Ice Bowl” between the Dallas Cowboys and t he

Green Bay Packers, where the temperature was

minus 13 at kickoff.

“I can tell you this: It’s my fault. I don’t care if

you give me a watermelon (to kick), I should be

able to put t hat through,” Walsh said afterwards.

“I’m the only one who didn’t do my job there.

That’s on me.”

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was in no mood

to sugarcoat the miss for Walsh.

“It’s a chip shot, he’s gotta make it,” Zimmer

said, insisting that his team had done enough

for victory.

“I’ve probably never been more proud of a

football team than I am of this team,” he said.

The Seahawks, runners-up in last season’s

Super Bowl and champions two years ago, now

advance to a meeting with the National Confer-

ence number one seeded Carolina Panthers

next week.

Seattle coach Pete Carroll paid tribute to his

team’s never-say-die approach.

“This was really a survival game for both

teams,” Carroll said. “It was an amazing de-

fensive effort on both sides; it was one of those

all-day jobs.”

Added S eahawks cornerback Richard Sher-

man: “The football gods were with us today.”

In Washington meanwhile, the Redskins’ un-

likely run to the postseason came to an abrupt end

as Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay rediscovered

their best form to clinch a convincing 35-18 victory.

Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins was

sacked six times as the Packers roared back

from 11-0 down to overpower the home side at

FedExField.

Rodgers made 21 of 36 for 210 yards and two

touchdowns while the Packers also made yard-

age on their running game.

Running backs Eddie Lacy and James Starks

both crossed for touchdowns as the Packers

booked a visit to Phoenix next Saturday to face

the Arizona Cardinals.

The win in the NFC first-round game means

the Packers will have a chance to avenge their

humiliating 38-3 defeat to the Cardinals on Dec.

27. — AFP

Packers and Seahawks

advance in NFL playoffsQUARTERBACK Aaron

Rodgers #12 of the

Green Bay Packers

makes a pass during

the third quarter of the

NFL game against the

Arizona Cardinals.

A F P



BriefsBerkeley, Ateneo de Davaowin Sportsmanship titleBERKELEY School and Ateneo de Davao

University won the Sportsmanship award in theSBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament 2015 National

Finals. The Sportsmanship Award recognizes not

only players but also their fans, coaches, school

offi cials and parent s, who showed fair play and

humility throughout the tournament. Berkeley

School and Ateneo de Davao are fine examples of

how budding cagers can go beyond the basket-

ball skills they learn as the award-winning sports

clinic BEST Center continues to equip players.

Berkeley School placed third in the SBP division,

while Ateneo de Davao placed second in the Pas-

serelle division.

ePLDT’s ABM Global Solutionsinks agreement with NetSuiteABM GLOBAL Solutions (AGS), ePLDT’s end-to-end

business solutions management unit, joined forces

with NetSuite to provide local companies cutting-

edge enterprise resource planning solution that willhelp them operate their businesses better. Local

enterprises can now look forward to managing their

business operations better, faster, and in real-time on

the cloud via the systems offering to be accessible

via Philippine ICT giants: ePLDT, AGS, and NetSuite.

“We in the PLDT Group aspire to enable enterprises

in every and any ICT requirement, and to be the

trusted expert partner. Sealing this partnership with

NetSuite solidifies our mission to be a one-stop

shop for every company’s ICT needs,” said Ernesto

R. Alberto, ePLDT CEO and PLDT EVP and Head of

Enterprise and International & Carrier Business.

Japan Foundation, Manilasets Spinning Manila concertTHE JAPAN Foundation, Manila (JFM) brings

artists Diana Garnet, Joe Inoue and THE

BEATMOTORS to the Philippines for the concert

dubbed Spinning Manila: J -Pop Live! onFeb. 28, 5 p.m., at Whitespace Manila, Chino

Roces Avenue, Makati City. Admission to the

concert is free, but online registration, which

is open from Jan. 12, 12 noon, is required at

spinningma nila.eventbrite.com . Aside from

the concert, there are two other things to get

excited about. There’s the Facebook Cosplay

Photo Contest to be launched this week. Also,

all three artists will make an appearance at

the JFM’s annual event showcasing Japanese

language, arts and culture: Nihongo Fiesta

2016, on Feb. 27 at Shangri-La Plaza.

Monsanto unveils animatedversion of children’s bookMONSANTO Philippines launched the animated

version of the only Filipino children’s book on

biotech corn seeds titled Lina’s Town Rises

Again. Lina’s Town Rises Again was written forelementary school children to develop a basic

understanding of the impact of agriculture

products, specifically Dekalb corn seeds in social,

economic and environmental terms. It touches

on the themes of sustainability, collaboration and

safety by narrating the true and inspiring story of

how agricultural biotechnology seeds positively

transformed a woman farmer’s life, and enabled

her farming community to recover economically

in the aftermath of a devastating typhoon. The

story is authored by Chat Ocampo, Corporate

Engagement Lead – Philippines.

DLS-CSB gains CHEd COE,PAASCU Level 4 accreditationTHE DE LA Salle-College of Saint Benilde

(DLS-CSB) welcomes the year 2016 with two

major accreditations testifying to its status as

a learning environment that nurtures studentsto be professionally competent in established

industries and emerging fields of specialization.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd)

certified as Center of Excellence (COE) the col-

lege’s Business Administration and Hotel and

Restaurant Management courses. The designa-

tion issued by the CHEd identified colleges and

universities around the Philippines that “con-

tinuously demonstrate excellent performance in

the areas of instruction, research and publica-

tion, extension and linkages and institutional

qualifications.”

President Benigno S. C. Aquino III has conferred the Order of

Sikatuna with the rank of Datu Katangiang Ginto (Grand Cross, Gold

Distinction) on outgoing Australian Ambassador Bill Tweddell.

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario presented the

award to Ambassador Tweddell on Jan. 5 in tribute to Australia’s

long legacy of cooperation and friendship with the Philippines. The

Philippines and Australia are marking 70 years of bilateral relations

in 2016. The award was also in recognition of four years of dedicated

service to developing the bilateral relationship, and contributing to

the overall development of the Philippines. Ambassador Tweddell

led the humanitarian response to Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as

Yolanda) where Australia contributed a total of A$100 million in aid

and defense assets.

Outgoing Australian Ambassador feted

The Sun Life Financial Philippines Foundation, Inc. is sponsoring the

construction of a new gallery at the National Mus eum of Natural History.

The philanthropic arm of Sun Life Financial Philippines is providing P30

million for “Gallery I: Biodiversity of the Philippines” which will showcase

a stuffed version of Lolong, the largest crocodile in the world that was

caught in Agusan del Sur. In photo during the signing ceremony (L-R) are

PHINMA Foundation Executive Director EJ Qua Hiansen, National Museumof the Philippines Director Jeremy Barns, Philippine National Museum

Foundation, Inc. Chairman of the Board of Trustees Ramon Del Rosario,

Jr., Sun Life Foundation Vice-President Michael Gerard Enriquez, Sun Life

Foundation Treasurer Benedict Sison, and S un Life Foundation Executive

Director Anne Zillah Flores.

Sun Life sponsors new gallery at National Museum

KPMG, UA&P launch annual investment guide

EMIRATES, connector of

people, places, economies and

ideas, has released its new

fares for the year.

“Experiencing cultures

and exchanging ideas have

allowed many to take part in

society’s progress. For 2016,

we invite people to Be There by

travelling and exploring places

they have never been beforeand help make new experi-

ences possible,” said Abdallah

Al Zamani, country manager,

Emirates Philippines.

For destinations across the

GCC, Economy Class fares start

from $786 while Business Class

fare starts from $1,882. Book

your trip to cosmopolitan Dubai

from US$ 847 (Economy Class),

$2,457 (Business Class). Mean-

while, destinations in Europe are

within reach starting at $ 902

(Economy Class) and $2,599

(Business Class).

Tickets are available for sale

from Jan. 5 to 18 for travel dates

from Jan. 25 to Nov. 30.

Emirates releasesnew fares for 2016 KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG

RGM&Co.) partnered with the

University of Asia and the Pacific

(UA&P) and launched the 2016 annual

investment guide entitled Moving

Across Bord ers: Th e Philip pines an d

the ASEAN Economic Community in a

round table discussion conducted by

the firm last Dec. 7 at the Tower Club,

Makati City.

During a robust discussion with

executives from the country’s top

companies, University of Asia and

the Pacific’s University Professor and

Center for Research and Communica-

tion Founder and Director Dr. Bernardo

M. Villegas gave an overview of the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

(ASEAN) Economic Community and the

Philippines’ competitive advantages and

challenges.

Following his talk was a panel

discussion moderated by Vice-Chairman

and Head of Tax, Chi ef Operating Offi cer

of KPMG RGM&Co. Emmanuel Bonoan

together with Bank of the Philippine

Islands President Cezar Consing, URC

Branded Consumer Foods Group

Executive Vice-President and Managing

Director Cornelio S. Mapa, Jr., John

Clements Consultants, Inc. President

and CEO Maria Carolina Dominguez,

�

�

NOTE: Press and photo releases are published in this paper free of charge.

Priority will be accorded to releases of news value, which are subject to

editing. Releases, preferably with high-resolution photos, may be e-mailed to

[email protected]. Materials sent become BW property.

Jardine presents Optimum Flex

Consumer Guide

LG Smart TV offers Netflix viewing experience in PHLIN LINE with its global partnership with

multinational Internet TV provider Netflix, LG

Electronics announced that the on-demand

streaming operation will already be available

in the Philippines starting today.

This rollout succeeds other established

markets (the Americas, Western Europe,

Australia, New Zealand and Japan).

The expansion will bring an extensive

library of high-quality content, including 4K

HDR-mastered original TV series, to more

markets in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

LG has been chosen as a primary globalbusiness partner of Netflix due to the superior

picture quality and performance they lend to

the Smart TV industry and the Netflix viewing

experience alike.

Among Netflix’s acclaimed original TV show

series are Marvel’s Daredevil , Orange is the New

Black and Sense8 . The company also plans to

provide global members with its HDR-mastered

original TV series Marco Polo. Netflix has praised

LG’s 4K HDR OLED TVs for having the purest

Cebuana Lhuillier to hold disaster resilience forum on Jan. 27THE PHILIPPINES is hit by calamities year in and year

out. As a result, thousands of Filipinos suffer from the

effects of such disasters, claiming the lives of individuals,

rendering families homeless, and leaving a trail of

devastation that takes years to restore.

In the hopes of alleviating the negative impact of

these occurrences, a disaster resilience forum will be heldthis Jan. 27 in Makati City. The event, called “2016 Ready:

Disaster Resilience Forum – The Role of Microinsurance

in Building Disaster-Resilient Communities,” is being

organized to help prepare Filipinos for imminent dangers

and to spread information in order to minimize, if not

completely avoid, damages in the event of calamities.

Highlighting the importance of microinsurance in a

vulnerable country such as the Philippines, the forum

aims to help educate and empower the public by present-

ing ways people can protect themselves and how they

can take part in getting their community equipped with

the necessary tools, practices, and knowledge to become

more disaster-resilient.

Leading the movement is Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance

Solutions (CLIS), which has been actively offering aid to

distressed individuals and communities through relevant

insurance products and services as well as community

outreach programs. At any given time, there are more than

six million Filipinos covered by the ISO-certified company

through its rich portfolio of products.

Its premiere microinsurance offering, the Alagang

Cebuana Plus (ACP), made available in partnership

with Pioneer Insurance, has given otherwise uninsured

individuals, especially the poor, financial security in

times of need. ACP has settled more than P140-million

claims to date.

Organized in the observance of January as

Microinsurance Month, the disaster resilience forum

is supported by The Insurance Commission, the

government agency fully promoting microinsurance

under the Department of Finance, and Deutsche

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit or

GIZ, which specializes in international developmentadvocating pro-poor protection.

Touching on the Marikina Valley Fault and the

country’s susceptibility to disasters, CLIS General Manager

Jonathan Batangan stressed the need for such event,

saying, “This forum is very timely as there have been talks

about ‘the Big One’ and the occurrence of more severe

and more frequent natural disasters such as Typhoon

Yolanda… We hope that this forum will provide a venue to

exchange ideas to foster disaster resiliency and encourage

individuals, organizations and communities to be more

proactive in ensuring their security and protection in these

vulnerable times. With enough preparation, we can facethe challenges ahead with more hope and certainty.”

JARDINE Distribution’s Optimum Flex offers a flexible

“cementitious” or cement-based product that seeps into

— and bonds with — the concrete to seal off pores and tiny

spaces where water can enter. It completely and perma-

nently bonds with the concrete, enabling the structure to

be flexible enough to withstand frequent movements and

avoid cracking. Optimum Flex has the pre-packaged and

pre-measured components of a powder and an emulsion.

The user just needs to take these out of the package and

mix them directly. It is very easy and convenient to use,

leaving no room for errors in measurement. Once mixedaccording to instructions, Optimum Flex may be applied to

the concrete structure. It only takes about 20 minutes for

Optimum Flex to dry, set, and bond permanently with the

concrete.

Bulletins6/S2 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

and University of Asia and the Pacific

Vice-Dean of the School of Economics

and Program Director for Industrial

Economics Program Dr. George

Manzano.

Moving Across Borders: The

Philippines and the ASEAN Economic

Community provides information on

the role the country will play in the

upcoming ASEAN integration. The

publication tackles

key insights on labor

mobility, trade facilitation

and connectivity, and

transforming into one

ASEAN market. The report

also highlights important

issues affecting the

country and opportunities

that the AEC will bring

about as the country

positions itself as a future

game changer in the

region.

“The Philippines is

one of the most rapidly

emerging markets in the

ASEAN region. As the

country moves towards

integration, we believe

that this publication will

help Philippine and for-

eign investors take full advantage of the

ASEAN integration,” said Mr. Bonoan.

Hard copies of the guide are cur-

rently available at no cost (subject to

availability) from KPMG R.G. Manabat &

Co. or may be downloaded through the

Web site at www.kpmg.com.ph. Contact

Mariel Javier ([email protected]) or

Cristina Roxas ([email protected]) for

copies of the investment guide.

black, contrast and color vibrancy, all factors

which ensure enhanced details and greater

dimension when displaying their content.

“We are excited and honored to ring in

2016 by bringing prestigious content provider

Netflix to the country,” LG Philippines Home

Entertainment Vice-President Tony An said.

“This breakthrough partnership will grant our

Filipino consumers access to their favorite

movies and TV shows whenever they want in

their LG Smart TVs.”

Netflix is now available in select LG Smart

TV models in the Philippines. For more infor-

mation, visit www.lg.com/ph.



S2/7TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Complete the grid so that every row, column

and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

Crossword By Thomas Joseph

ACROSS 1 Church area5 Dear Mama rapper10 Fleet makeup12 Visibly stunned13 Party bowlful15 “— a deal!”16 Music’s Yoko17 Tennis court divider18 Twosome20 Dunham of Girls

21 Binge22 Vegas number23 Bring together25 Checkout act

28 Colorful flowers,for short31 Walking aid32 Mount St. —34 Paris pal35 Had lunch36 By way of37 Computer RAM

components40 Practical joke41 Alleviates42 Sea dogs43 Lamarr of Hollywood

DOWN 1 Jellied dish2 Snapshots3 Takes notice4 Clean Water Act org.5 Tex-Mex snack6 “That’s gross!”7 Grimacing, perhaps8 Tack on9 Jai alai baskets11 Hot, in a way14 Complete turnaround19 Wrinkly fruit20 Faithful

24 Jason’s quest25 Rascals26 Phone feature27 Zoo resident29 Dream up

30 Made malicious remarks33 Fresh35 Sacred chests38 Toronto’s prov.39 Derisive cry

Sudoku Pacific

1/12 DIFFICULTY RATING� MONDAY’S PUZZLE ANSWER © 2015 Universal Uclick

MONDAY’S ANSWER1-12

Red carpet, from S2/ 8

WASHINGTON — Star Wars:

The Force Awakens has surged to

third place in all-time global box

offi ce receip ts, overtak ing Juras-

sic World after a blockbuster de-

but in China that pushed its total

to $1.73 billion, Disney said on

Sunday.

The company said the seventh

installment of the Star Wars saga

made an estimated $145.9 million

over the weekend, including $53

million in China.

I t dominat ed t he N ort h

American box offi ce for a fourth

consecutive weekend, becoming

that market’s top grossing film

of all time with $812 million in

cumulative sales.“China led the way as the fi-

nal international market to open

with an estimated two-day week-

end (total) of $53M, making it

the highest Sat/Sun opening of

all-time there as well as the big-

gest industry opening Saturday

of all-time,” a statement from

Disney said.

Disney said the China num-

bers put the film’s global total

over $1.73 billion, behind only

Avatar ($2.79 billion) and Titanic

($2.19 billion), both by filmmaker

James Cameron.

Jurassic World had previously

been number three, with $1.67

billion i n total box offi ce receipts,

but it fell to the Star Wars on-

slaught.Disney noted that The Force

Awakens also was in record ter-

ritory in key European markets

— the highest grossing film ever in

the UK, and number three within

Europe.

Even before the week was out,

it had overtaken Avatar , a sci-fi

epic that has sold $760.5 million

in the North American market

since its 2009 release, as the top-

grossing film of all times there.

CRUCIAL CHINASuccess in China, the world’s sec-

ond-largest movie market, is be-

coming increasingly crucial for

Hollywood studios as analysts

predict ticket sales in the coun-

try will overtake those of the US

as soon as next year. Receipts atChina’s box offi ce surge d nearly

50% last year, compared with

the 7.2% growth seen in North

America.

For Disney, which bought

the Star Wars franchise from

George Lucas in 2012, its latest

blockbuster has been a success,

particularly at home. The movie

zoomed past the $760.5-million

record set by Avatar to become

the highest-grossing film in the

US and Canada in just 20 days.

Still, Disney faces bigger hur-

dles in matching its US success in

China and other Asian countries,

where the Star Wars franchise

isn’t as well known or have as big afollowing as in Western countries.

For example, the movie didn’t

even open as No. 1 in South Korea

and Vietnam.

Nomura Holdings, Inc. esti-

mates The Force Awakens will

gross as much as 1.5 billion yuan

($228 million) in China, which

would fall short of breaking re-

cords set last year. Researcher

Rentrak Corp. estimates Furious

7 generated $391.4 million in

the country in 2015 and Monster

Hunt, a Chinese fantasy movie,

grossed $393.2 million.

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICESuch was The Force Awakens’s

hold on American moviegoers

that it overshadowed what oth-

erwise would have been a phe-nomenal North American perfor-

mance for The Revenant.

Oscar-winning director Ale-

jandro González Iñárritu’s d ark

tale of survival in the American

frontier, starring Leonardo Di-

Caprio, took in $38 million over

the weekend, lifting it to second

place in the North American

rankings.

This was the third week The

Rev ena nt has been in North

Amer ican movi e thea ters, but

only its first week in wide release.

Third place went to Daddy’s

Home , a sharp-edged comedy

about the uncomfortable com-

petition between a stepfather,played by Will Ferrell, and the

biological father, Mark Wahlberg.

Also in its third week in the-

aters, it made $15 million.

Number four was The Forest ,

a low-budget horror film starring

Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kin-

ney, which made just over $13

million its first weekend in the-

aters, industry tracker Exhibitor

Relations estimates.

Fifth on the list was Sisters ,

with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey,

at $7.2 million its fourth week out.

It has made nearly $62 million

so far.

Rounding out the top ten were:

The Hateful Eight ($6.3 million);

The Big Short ($6.3 million); Al-

vin and the Chipmunks: The Road

Chip ($5.5 million); Joy ($4.5 mil-lion); and, Concussion ($3.1 mil-

lion). — AFP/Bloomberg

Star Wars overtakes Jurassic World for

3rd

place in global sales

FANS POSE for pictures ahead of the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

in Beijing on Jan. 8. Disney, which purchased Lucasfilm from Star Wars creator

George Lucas for $4 billion in 2012, plans two more films in the space saga as well

as a standalone spin-off.

Good night,Rocket ManACCORDING TO offi cial social media

accounts on Jan. 11, British music legend

David Bowie — seen here performing

on stage at the Forum in Copenhagen

in this Oct. 7, 2003 file photo from AFP

— has died at the age of 69. Bowie died

after an 18-month battle with cancer, his

offi cial Twitter account announced on

Monday. “David Bowie died peacefully

today surrounded by his family after a

courageous 18 month battle with cancer.While many of you will share in this loss,

we ask that you respect the family’s

privacy during their time of grief,” it

said. Bowie had just marked his 69th

birthday last Friday with the release

of a new album, Blackstar , with critics

giving the thumbs up to the latest work

in a long and innovative career. In the

last few years, the chart-topping singer

has kept a low profile after undergoing

emergency heart surgery in 2004. His

last live performance was at a New York

charity concert in 2006. — with Reuters

This review was released before the news of David

Bowie’s death on Mon day.

NEW YORK — At an age when many famous rockers

would be cashing in through nostalgia tours, David

Bowie has instead set off on a new phase of a career

already defined by invention.

The rock icon marked his 69th birthday on Friday by

releasing Blackstar , which is his 25th studio album and

one of his most innovative yet as Bowie subtly but dog-

gedly breaks free from traditional pop structure.

The new Bowie sound is rooted in jazz, but a hard jazz,

as an accelerating tenor saxophone and heavy rhythm

section chase his vocals maze-like throughout the songs.

Bowie created Blackstar by teaming up with the

quartet of saxophonist Donny McCaslin, who has probed

the reaches of modern jazz through driving funk and

electronic backdrops.

McCaslin’s saxophone carries much of the album, yet

other instrumentation creates a sense of dread and tension,

from the dark bass that opens “Lazarus” to the morose

piano chords that begin the elaborate “Dollar Days.”

Yet the title track, which starts off the Blackstar al-

bum, runs for nearly 10 minutes and is guided firmly by

Bowie’s voice. He sings in a gentle wail in cryptic verses

about death and religion.

“On the day of execution / Only women kneel and

smile,” sings Bowie, in imagery reinforced by a nightmarish

video in which he appears blindfolded with beady eyes.

James Murphy, the force behind LCD Soundsystem,

one of the most influential electronic bands of the

2000s, contributes percussion on two tracks.

CHANGE A CONSTANT FOR BOWIEBlackstar is the second album since Bowie’s reemer-

gence in 2013. That year, he released The Next Day , his

first album in a decade, which he announced on his

birthday to stunned fans who presumed he had retired.

But Bowie is finished with live performances, ac-

cording to a report last year that qu oted his agent.

If true, the final concert by the performer who

pioneered theatrical glam rock would have been a set of

just three songs at a charity show in New York in 2006.

Yet the British artist, who is a long-time resident

of New York, has stayed active on side projects. Hecomposed the music for the current off-Broadway play

Lazarus , based on the science-fiction novel The Man

Who Fell to Earth whose 1976 film version starred Bowie

as an actor.

Bowie rarely speaks in public. But his longtime

producer Tony Visconti said that Bowie always had a

“hint of jazz” in his work.

Visconti, speaking to National Public Radio, said the

unwritten concept of Blackstar was to find jazz musi-

cians who “weren’t necessarily going to play jazz.”

“If we used rock musicians trying to play jazz, it

would have been a very different album,” h e said.

While full-on jazz is new for Bowie, experimentation

is in some ways the norm for the singer whose early hits

included “Changes” and whose song “Golden Years” is

now 40 years old.

Bowie’s most celebrated venture into new musical

territory came in his Berlin Trilogy albums in the late

1970s when he also played with form and turned to

abstract electronic sounds inspired by the scene in his

temporary home of Germany.

Bowie is also no stranger to saxophone, which he

plays himself and notably included on his hard-charging

Tin Machine II album released in 1991.

MODERN TAKES ON PASTDespite the large musical ambitions of Blackstar , Bowie

keeps the album succinct at seven tracks.

He originally composed the title track for the

French-British crime television series The Last Panthers.

Another song, “’Tis a Pity She Was a Whore,” is a

gender-bending, modernist take on the horror of World

War I.

Bowie again reaches back lyrically in “Girl Loves

Me” which he sings mostly in Polari, the slang used by

Victorian London’s gay underground.

Bowie turns wistful, if still abstract, on the album’s

final songs as keyboards converge into a dreamlike aura.

“Seeing more and feeling less / Saying no but mean-

ing less / This is all I ever meant,” Bowie sings, conclud-

ing aptly: “I can’t give everything away.” — AFP

With jazz turn, Bowie proves mastery of innovation

CLEAVAGE — LOTS OF IT Viola Davis, an Emmy winner and a

Globes nominee for her portrayal of law

school professor Annalise Keating in

ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, left

little to the imagination in her Marchesa

navy blue frock with sheer sleeves, all

encrusted with silver accents.

Pop star Katy Perry also dared in

a plunging Prada gown in this year’s

Pantone color of the year, rose quartz.

And Jaimie Alexander, the star of

NBC hit drama Blindspot and a pre-

senter at Sunday’s ceremony, wowed

fashionistas in her emerald and black

Genny gown, which featured geo-

metric patterns — and a deep wide

neckline.

(SOMEWHAT) DEMURE LOOKS Alicia Vikander, a double nominee for

her work in The Danish Girl and Ex

Machina, looked ethereal in a pleated

white goddess gown from Louis Vuit-

ton with a sweet r uffl ed neckl ine —

and a nearly bare back.

Jennifer Lawrence, a winner for

best actress in a comedy for Joy ,

dressed to impress with a structured

red column gown from Dior that of-

fered glimpses of skin thanks to side

cutouts.

Jennifer Lopez’s bright yellow

gown by Giambattista Valli featured

a thigh-high slit, revealing her fiercely

toned legs. But the dress featured a

capelet, covering most everything

else, and was finished off with a snak-

ing diamond necklace. — AFP

A F P

JENNIFER LAWRENCE TOM FORD AND JULIANNE MOORE

KATY PERRY

VIOLA DAVIS

A F P

A F P




THE REVENANT , a brutal

American frontier story starring

Leonardo DiCaprio that suffered

through a challenging film shoot,

won the Golden Globe awardsfor best drama, best director and

best actor.

DiCaprio took home the

statuette for best actor in a

drama, while director Alejandro

González Iñárritu picked up

the award for best director. The

Martian won the award for best

comedy and best actor in a com-

edy for Matt Damon at the annual

Golden Globes ceremony Sunday

in Beverly Hills, California.

The awards, handed out an-

nually by the Hollywood Foreign

Press Association, honor the past

year’s achievements in film and

television. While not as presti-

gious as an Academy Award, a

Golden Globe can provide a boost

to movies that are still in theaters.That may be especially impor-

tant this year, when pictures like

The Revenant have labored under

the shadow of Walt Disney Co.’s

record-setting Star Wars.

The Revenant , a 20th Century

Fox release, could certainly ben-

efit. The Globes wins create a

launch pad of publicity for the

movie, which has been in limited

release since Christmas and ex-

panded across the US this past

weekend. It to ok in $38 million

ahead of the Globes ceremony,

almost toppling Star Wars: The

Force Awake ns from its perch

atop the box office.

Set in the 1820s, The Revenant

features DiCaprio as frontiers-

man Hugh Glass, who is seeking

revenge against companions who

left him for dead. The violent

drama comes from the filmmak-

ers behind last year’s Oscar best-

picture winner, Birdman.

Co-produced by New Regency

Pictures, the film is directed and

co-written by Iñárritu, who took

home last year’s best director

Oscar, with two-time Oscar

winni ng cinem atogr apher Em-

manuel Lubezki. Tom Hardy

and Domhnall Gleeson also star.

Filming was particularly diffi-

cult for the cast and crew, who

shot in grueling conditions.

“Everyone in this room knows

pain is temporary,” Iñárritu said

in accepting his award. “Film is

forever. So who cares, right?”

DiCaprio, who got a stand-ing ovation from his Hollywood

peers, said he wanted to share

the award with all the indigenous

communities around the world.

“It is time that we recognize

your history and that we protect

your indigenous lands from cor-

porate interests and from people

that are out there to exploit

them,” said the 41-year-old actor,

who criti cs belie ve may final ly

win his first Oscar for the movie.

Fox, which also released The

Martian, captured six awards, the

most of any studio.

The victories for the two films at

the Globes put them in prime posi-

tion as Hollywood’s annual awards

season heats up, leading to the all-

important Oscars on Feb. 28.Other winners that may ben-

efit from a win include Creed , a

modern, multiracial update to

the Rocky series that brought

Sylvester Stallone a supporting-

actor award and standing ovation

from his peers. He thanked his

imaginary friend, Rocky Balboa.

Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful

Eight won for best original score.

Jennifer Lawrence won best ac-

tress, comedy, for Joy.

Lesbian drama Carol and Wall

Street comedy The Big Short ,

which had led nominat ions go-

ing into Sunday’s ceremony, came

home empty handed, as did ad-

mired Catholic Church sex abuse

probe Spotlight.

The Golden Globes, chosen by

about 90 members of the Hol-lywood Foreign Press Associa-

tion, also highlighted the growing

competition between traditional

television networks and newer

digital distributors Netflix, Inc.,

Amazon.com, Inc., and Hulu LLC.

Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle

won the award for best comedy

series, and its star, Gael Garcia

Bernal, won for best actor.

Mr. Robot, about a computer

programmer and vigilante hack-

HERE ARE the winners in key catego-

ries for the 73 rd Golden Globe Awards,

which were handed out on Sunday in

Beverly Hills:

FILM• Best film, drama: The Revenant

• Best film, musical or comedy:TheMartian

• Best actor, drama: Leonardo

DiCaprio, The Revenant

• Best actor, musical or comedy: Matt

Damon, The Martian

• Best actress, drama: Brie Larson,

Room

• Best actress, musical or comedy:

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

• Best supporting actor: Sylvester

Stallone, Creed

• Best supporting actress: Kate

Winslet, Steve Jobs

• Best director: Alejandro González

Iñárritu, The Revenant

• Best foreign language film: Son of

Saul (Hungary)• Best animated feature: Inside Out

• Best screenplay: Steve Jobs

• Best original score: The Hateful

Eight

• Best original song: “Writing’s on

the Wall” ( Spectre)

TELEVISION• Best drama series: Mr. Robot

• Best drama actor: Jon Hamm, Mad

Men

• Best drama actress: Taraji P. Hen-

son, Empire

• Best musical or comedy series:

Mozart in the Jungle

• Best musical or comedy actor: Gael

Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle• Best musical or comedy actress:

Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

• Best limited series or TV movie:

Wolf Hall

• Best limited series or TV movie

actor: Oscar Isaac, Show Me A Hero

• Best limited series or TV movie

actress: Lady Gaga, American Horror

Story: Hotel

The Revenant tops the Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA — Comedian Ricky Gervais

promised to be “nice” but wasted no time in tweaking

Hollywood’s top stars with his acerbic British wit upon his

return to hosting the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.

Joy actress and winner Jennifer Lawrence, 25, was pillo-

ried for her $52 million paycheck, Golden Globes organizers

the Hollywood Foreign Press Association saw their trophy

tarnished and Sean Penn took a hit when Gervais dubbed

him a “snitch” for his secret interview of Mexican drug

kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

“I am going to do this monologue and then go into

hiding. Not even Sean Penn will find me,” Gervais joked in

his monologue. He took a swig of beer and added “Snitch.”

Penn was not in attendance.

“Relax, I’m going to try and be nice,” he said after a few

quips. “I’ve changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obvi-

ously. Now Caitlyn Jenner, of course.”

Welcome back, Ricky!

Nobody in an audience that included the likes of Leonardo

DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Jane Fonda, and Taraji P. Henson,

was safe. Gervais opened by hushing their applause and saying

“Shut up, you disgusting, pill-popping, sexual deviant scum.”

Gervais created the smash hit comedy The Offi ce and

has built a career with his razor-sharp take on people’s

everyday faults — even the stars.

In past Golden Globes from 2010-2012, he has insulted

the Kardashians, Madonna, Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson and

British royal Kate Middleton.

On Sunday, he talked of keeping his own Golden Globe

statuette for The Offi ce by his bed to use as a sex toy.

“And they asked me to host four times!” Gervais said

with a big smile.

“Ricky, thank you for your support,” HFPA President

Lorenzo Soria said onstage, after a jab at Soria’s abililty “to

get you all depressed” with a speech.

After Gervais last hosted the show in 2012, many Holly-

wood watchers thought he might never be asked to return.

The HFPA turned to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in the past

three years.

When Fey and Poehler did not return for 2016, Gervais

was asked back and he sought to put the Hollywood

awards in proper perspective.

“Listen, if you do win tonight, remember no one cares

about that award as much as you do,” he said. — Reuters

Gervais promised to be ‘nice’... but couldn’t

And the winners are...

WINNER’S CIRCLE: posing with their trophies at the press room are (clockwise from top left) director Alejandro GonzálezIñárritu and actor Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant ; Taraji P. Henson for Empire; and Matt Damon for The Martian

Stars struttheir stuffon Globesred carpet

er, took home the prize for best

drama series.

Jon Hamm won his second

Golden Globe for best actor in a

drama for his portrayal of wom-anizing advertising executive

Don Draper in Mad Men , whose

finale aired last year.

And for best actress in the TV

drama category, Taraji P. Henson

won the Golde n Globe for her

role in Empire, which looks at the

struggle inside the family behind

a major hip-hop label.

Gervais returned to host for a

fourth time, replacing actresses

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey after a

three-year absence. His previous

appearances as host were con-

troversial for caustic remarks

about Hollywood actors and

the HFPA itself, and he was at itagain Sunday.

In his opening monologue,

Gervais skewered the head of

the HFPA and suggested NBC

could be impartial because

t he net w ork w asn’ t up for

any awards ( Mr. Robot airs on

NBCUniversal’s USA Network).

He also poked fun at some of

Hollywood’s favorite causes,

including equal rights for trans-

sexuals and equal pay for wom-

en — even joking that he was

getting the same fee that Fey

and Poehler had to split.

He introduced Mel Gibson,

who has been widely condemnedfor a number of anti-Semitic

statements, by saying he wanted

to find something nice to say

about the Mad Max actor. Ger-

vais offered up that he’d rather

have a drink with Gibson than

with Bill Cosby.

“I love seeing Ricky once

every three years,” Gibson re-

sponded. “It reminds me to get

a colonoscopy.” — Bloomberg/

Reuters/AFP

LADY GAGA

Red carpet, S2/7

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood’s

top stars oozed glamour on

Sunday as they hit the Golden

Globes red carpet in plenty of

bling and sequins — and with

lots of attitude.Here are a few key takeaways

from the A-list fashion parade:

STRAPLESS GLAMOURGina Rodriguez, who won a Globe

last year for best actress in a com-

edy series for Jane the Virgin and

was a nominee again this year,

sizzled in a strapless sapphire

blue Zac Posen gown, and had a

quality accessory on her arm: her

father.

Downton Abbey star Joanne

Froggatt, nominated for her sup-

porting role on the wildly popu-

lar television series, meanwhile

chose a pale blue Reem Acra

gown with a daring neckline.

Comedian Amy Schumer

sported a black and white Prabal

Gurung gown with pockets — cer-

tainly not a fashion Trainwreck,

the name of her hit film, nomi-

nated for best comedy on Sunday. And pop diva Lady Gaga, a winner

for her role in fright fest American

Horror Story: Hotel , channeled

Marilyn Monroe in a form-fitting

black Versace gown, her platinum

hair swept into a very Marilyn-

esque style.

THE BLING RINGBrie Larson, who took home

the prize for best actress in a

motion picture drama for her

searing portrayal of a woman i n

captivity in Room, stunned in a

gold sequined halter gown from

Calvin Klein, with cutouts at

the waist.

Julianne Moore glittered from

head to toe in a deep blue se-

quined gown by Tom Ford — and

had Ford on her arm.

AFP

JOANNE FROGGATT

BRIE LARSON AND ALICIA VIKANDER

JAIMIE ALEXANDER

AMY SCHUMER



IN THE MIDDLE of the eastern side of Metro

Manila is Lilac St., a thriving food strip in

Marikina known for its slew of independent

restaurants and diverse cuisines. It is similar

to its more famous predecessors, Magin-

hawa St. in Quezon City and Aguirre St. in BF

Homes, Parañaque. Nowadays, many people

go to Lilac St. to eat out apart from anything

else. One restaurant that has gained a steady

following over the last two years is Concho’s

Home of Sisig Goodness (Concho’s).

Concho’s is a Filipino casual dining res-

taurant that serves local favorites includ-

ing — what else? — sisig. Sisig is a popular

appetizer first introduced in the country’s

culinary capital of Pampanga. It is typically

made of chopped pig ears and jowls, which are

then braised, fried and served on sizzling hot

iron plates.In an interview with Busine ssWorld , co-

founder Kathy Hernandez stated that Con-

cho’s was a 5-years-in-the-making project.

“We believed in our homemade sisig and its

potential and we wanted to share the ‘sisig

experience’ to others,” she said.

In spite of that, factors such as looking for

the perfect location and finding the right team

made the dream difficult to be actualized. In

2014, Ms. Hernandez, along with husband

Darwin and good friends Kean Cipriano and

Tatsi Jamnague (both from OPM band Cal-

lalily), opened their first branch in a humble

space along the food street.

Concho’s aims to attract families and

friends who want to experience “straight-

up good food and nothing too fancy.” Its

best-selling sisig comes in solo and to-share

servings, while their crispy pata, dynamite

(ground pork wrapped in chili pepper and

fried to a golden brown), beef tapa , and

mango sago dessert are also crowd-pleasers.

“Since we are newbies in the restaurant

business, we realized that challenges come in

big and small packages everyday; from wrong

estimate of food supply to shortage in dining

or kitchen crew,” Ms. Hernandez shared.

“However, you learn to deal with and solve

them right there, right now. The restaurant

business is very dynamic and needs quick and

wise decision-maki ng.”

She said that Concho’s greatest challenges

are always maintaining the best quality of

food, keeping its customers interested, and

ensuring its team sustains the business’

work et hics and s tand ards at al l ti mes.

Furthermore, Ms. Hernandez said that

establishing standard guidelines, getting

quality suppliers, and expecting nothing short

of the best are their ingredients to success.

Innovation is another factor that is often

taken for granted in the food business. “That’s

how you’ll keep your competitive edge in theindustry,” she explained.

While there is a pre-set notion that working

with friends is a rec ipe for disaster, the guys

behind Concho’s defies the stigma.

“There are really more ups than downs

wit h ma nag in g busi nes s wi th fr iend s be-

cause you are together in the business not just

because of the business per se but because

you have a relationship deeper and stronger

beyond the restaurant,” said Ms. Hernandez.

She advised: “Have fun together! Don’t for-

get the friendship even before you started the

business venture. It will help you get through

tough and challenging times.”

Concho’s looks forward to opening its next

branch in Maginhawa St. early this year.

For more infor matio n, e-ma il to: conch o-

[email protected] or visit facebook.com/con-

chosisig.

S2/9ENTREPRENEWSTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Hot off the plate

OWNERS OF Crab n’ Crew Restobar

By Erika Denise L. Dizon Special Features Writer

30 AND UNDER

From hobby to trade

Hobby, S2/ 10

TRISHA SAGUIN

WITH THE GROWING number of

digital channels and a broadening

online marketplace, it’s becoming

easier for any aspiring entrepreneur

today to establish and run a businessof his own without shelling out

capital for brick-and-mortar spaces.

Businesses operated online initially

consisted those engaged in selling

non-perishable retail products, but

today, several players, including

food entrepreneurs, are beginning

to carve their own niche in the

online marketplace.

F o r o n e , b o o s t i n g o n l i n e

presence and taking advantage of

ubiquitous social media networks

were how Pan ic Bak ing Des ser ts

(Panic Baking), a home-based

baking business, managed to grow

its market.

Founded by Trisha Saguin, a

Hotel and Restaurant Management

graduate from the University of Sto.

Tomas, Panic Baking was born from

a hobby that began five years ago, when one of Ms. Sag uin ’s clas ses

piqued her interest in baking.

“We were required to take

a baking course when I was a

sophomore in college. I enjoyed the

class so much that I started baking

regularly even after it was over. I

began with revel bars, brownies and

cookies, but at that time it was only

a hobby,” she recalled, in a recent

By April Paulyn B. Roque Special Features Assistant Editor

inter view with Bu si ne ssWo rld .

“Eventually, though, I started

getting baking requests from several

friends, and they were willing to pay

me for it. My parents also asked to

bake treats to serve as holiday gifts

that year for their colleagues and

family friends. I think that’s when

I saw the opportunity to turn what

I considered as a hobby into a full-fledged business.”

She carried out the venture

throughout college, and even after

she graduated and started working

in Singapore, Ms. Saguin said she

continued to accept orders from

close friends and co-workers. Upon

returning to Manila last year, the

business grew further as she was

able to focus on strengthening

the brand online, which gradually

increased the volume of orders.

“I make it a point to produce

quality products at a fair price. My

main goal is ensuring my customers

are satisfied with the product/s

they bought from me, and that

they actually feel good about their

purchase,” she said.

On creating new flavors or

products, Ms. Saguin said she takesthe market into consideration in

trying out new recipes, but she

always likes baking her staple treats.

“For instance, I’ve made matcha

revel bars when matcha was at its

height among consumers, and I’ve

made stuffed cookies when everyone

was into it, but I also have my staples

— revel bars, sugar cookies, acai

IN THE SUMMER of 2011, Erika Delos

Reyes and a few of her friends paid a visit

to another friend’s crab farm where they were treated to a selection of crab dishes.

It was during a local festivity so there were

also other guests at the farm. They noticed

that they were eating without the use of

any utensils.

Suddenly, an idea became apparent to

them. “That’s when we thought, ‘What if we

bring this to the Metro?’ Isn’t it fun [to eat]

crabs with bare hands?,” Ms. Delos Reyes

recalled in an e-mail to BusinessWorld.

In December of 2012, Ms. Delos Reyes,

with Abby Roque -Lanuz a, Renee Jose,

Zachary Puno and Vonnet Estaris, opened

Crab n’ Crew Restobar in Quezon City.

It’s a place where crab is not in short

supply — in other words, a crab heaven.

Anyo ne who can she ll out P799 is at

liberty to wolf down as many crabs as

one’s tummy can hold in one sitting. (The

price is P400 for a child who’s less thanfour feet tall.) The “Crab-All-You-Can”

offer of the restaurant also comes with

unlimited rice and iced tea.

There are a couple of rules to

remember, though. Sharing is prohibited.

Leftovers are levied an additional charge

and cannot be taken out.

The restaurant serves up mud crabs,

whi ch are wid ely cult ure d acro ss the

Philippines. They are known for their

tasty flesh. Owing to their abundance,

Ms. Delos Reyes said that they can pur-

chase them at a reasonable price and

that their suppliers are able to meet

their demand.

“I think what makes our patrons enjoyeating crabs here is that we encourage

them to eat with their bare hands,” Ms.

Delos Reyes said, adding that their res-

taurant’s tagline is “Let’s get our hands

dirty!.” “They will be able to crack, peel

and devour every crab meat.”

Those who are averse or allergic to

crabs may try out other foodstuffs on Crab

n’ Crew’s menu, such as oysters, shrimps,

mussels, baby back ribs, buffalo wings and

chicken inasal with sinamak.

Crab heaven

BIG IDEA

Paramount to every committed res-

taurant is customer satisfaction. Ms. De-

los Reyes assured that they maintain the

freshness and flavor of their dishes and

that their staff are friendly and accom-modating.

Bu t she a dmitted tha t keeping

customers satisfied is a tricky business.

“You can’t please them all but we’re open to

constructive criticisms and suggestions,”

she said. Moreover, she noted that they

read reviews and comments on the

restaurant and, whenever they can,

answer back and use these feedbacks to

improve their system.

Some of the feedbacks the restaurant

receives, Ms. Delos Reyes revealed,

entreat them to establish branches in

provinces like Bulacan, Pampanga, Cebu

and Davao. “Our short-term plan is to

open another branch in southern Metro.

As for our l ong-term plan, if everything

work s well , we’l l be open ing a coupl e

of branches around the Metro and if

possible, around the country,” she said.

In a span of three years, Crab ‘n Crewhas built a distinct reputation for itself

in the crowded restaurant scene in

Quezon City, enticing a growing number

of diners with its unlimited crab offering.

“Surviving and thriving in the restaurant

scene is very difficult in a saturated

market, and for first-time restaurant

owners, it is an accomplishment enough,”

Ms. Delos Reyes said.

For more info rmati on, conta ct 709-

3740, e-mail to: [email protected] or

visit facebook.com/ CrabNCrew.

“I think what makes our

patrons enjoy eating crabs

here is that we encourage

them to eat with theirbare hands,” Ms. Delos

Reyes said, adding that

their restaurant’s tagline is

‘Let’s get our hands dirty!.’

“They will be able to crack,

peel and devour every

crab meat.”

By Francis Anthony T. Valentin Special Features Writer

ASIDE FROM their sisig , Concho’s best-sellers include crispy pata, beef tapa and dynamite.

CRAB N’ CREW Restobar offers a Seafood Platter at P1,199.



ELIMINATE, SIMPLIFY, INTEGRATEBy Jovy J. Jader

MILLENIALS have become a significant

force in the country’s small-business seg-

ment, veering from the traditional career

path of seeking employment, and skipping

the rank and file. And as many young en-

trepreneurs emerge, taking the business

plunge at an early age may have become less

daunting.However, four friends who all hold college

degrees did not take any chances, as starting a

small business still had to be a well-calculated

step for them.

“Our degrees were not in any way related

to business. So we had to take all that we

learned from our respective family busi-

nesses, and look at all angles before start-

ing our own enterprise,” Alvin Tsoi, 24, co-

owner of Beard n Belly bar said in an e-mail

to BusinessWorld . “We have degrees from a

good university, so going into business was

really a big step for us.”

With the myriad bars and restaura nts in

Quezon City, making theirs stand out was a

crucial step for the quartet.

“We decided to try and build something

different from other establishments of the

same kind because nowadays, bars in the

area are always noisy and crowded. We

tried to build something different — a place

where peopl e can rela x, have a dri nk, and

enjoy good food amid a cozy ambiance,”

he said. “We planned this for a long while,

but it was in November 2015 that we really

decided to go for it.”

Location was a key consideration as well,

Mr. Tsoi added. Beard n Belly is located in

Scout Borromeo, Quezon City, tucked amid

the bustling Tomas Morato and Timog area.

“We realized that we will be located

right beside many of our competitors who

are already established, but what we really

considered was that the area draws so

many people and we are confident that we

can really compete against the neighboring

establishments,” he said.

Admitt edly, Mr. Tsoi and the other owners

do not have formal culinary trai ning, but he

asserted that customers “will enjoy our food

and bar chows.” He said that they are allinto cooking and have long been practicing

the craft themselves, particularly co-owner

Alv in Ang who prepare d most of the items

on the menu.

“What we lack in formal training, we make

up for with our passion in cooking,” Mr. Tsoi

said. “And on the business side, we have all

had experiences working for our respective

family’s businesses, so we’ve taken all that we

have learned there here.”

Whi le the busines s is only on its second

month, the owners of the bar already have the

future in sight. Mr. Tsoi said that they are eye-

ing an expansion and the opening of a Chineserestaurant in Quezon City.

“Our plan is to expand our business. Have a

spacious one for people to come. Our primary

goal for our consumers is they should have

fun with their friends and have a relaxing

night after stressful work,” he said.

Aske d about his thoug hts on mil leni als

who are star ting to be more bent on build-

ing their own businesses rather than start-

ing careers, Mr. Tsoi shared that it is an

oversimplified standardized image of the

demographic cohort.

“To each his own,” he said. “I graduated

wi th a deg re e in Pha rm ac y fr om US T

(University of Santo Tomas), but I started

this because I felt that this is really what I

wanted to do. And I am proud and glad that I

made that decision.”

Fo r mo re inf or ma tio n, co nta ct 091 7-

8177127.

Supply chain infrastructurechallenges and opportunities

THE SUPPLY CHAIN infrastructure

consists of the assets and systems

that drive the network of suppliers,

manufacturers, and logistics func-

tions. It includes the information

and organizational structures that

support the supply chain.

Recent studies show that outright

savings can be realized in improve-

ments in the design of the supply

chain infrastructure, such as in ma-

terials sourcing, manufacturing capa-

bilities, and distribution systems.

What’s interesting is that as savings

from such improvements seem obvious,

many companies have yet to make an

effort to examine their infrastructures.

Instead, many executives focus on

improving the multitude of operational

processes that underlie supply chain

functions. Many managers have not yetgrasped that supply chains are not only

about processes but that they are also

about assets and structures.

MATERIALS SOURCINGLarge conglomerates such as General

Electric (GE) have shifted sourcing

of raw materials for its production

systems to China, India, Russia, and

Mexico. The shift manifests GE man-

agement’s recognition that one’s ma-

terials sourcing structure cannot be

rigid. It must be adaptable to change

especially in the wake of widely

changing commodity prices and in a

stronger US dollar.

MANUFACTURING CAPABILITIESG E l i k e w i s e h a s s h i f t e d

manufacturing facilities to be nearer

to material sources while at the same

time balancing the moves to not be far

from its markets or at least to nearby

transportation hubs.

GE is not the only one. United

Technologies, Toshiba, Huawei, and

Hon Hai Precision Industry also

have made shifts in manufacturing

strategies to adapt to changing times.

Shifting to a cheaper factory

location is not as easy as it looks,

companies have to be aware of

where thei r customers are and what

additional costs will be incurred if

distances between production sites

and its customers widen.

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS As onlin e sales multiplied versus in-

store revenues in North America this

past Christmas, retailers have imme-

diately moved to change their distri-

bution infrastructures, consciously

aware that if they don’t, they will be

left behind.

Amazo n has alread y intro duced

same-day deliveries for perishable

products in several American cities.

The company also has employed

ordinary people to deliver products

in an arrangement similar to Uber, in

which instead of drivers transporting

people, the drivers transport productsto customers within hours.

Amazo n also has inves ted in its

own trucking fleet to deliver fresh

produce and is planning to use its

own trucks to deliver from regional

warehouses to customers. This has

caused anxiety with Amazon’s key

freight partners, notably UPS and

FedEx.

F oc u s on the su pply c ha in

infrastructure is not limited to

conglomerates or American firms.

There are plenty of opportunities in

Asia-Pacific and the Philippines.

Some P hilippine f ir ms, f or

example, have adapted their logistics

infrastructures to roll-on/roll-off

cargo instead of relying heavily on

traditional inter-island ferries. Some

have set up manufacturing facilities

in the provinces to expand their

market reaches.

The results, however, have been

mixed. High operating costs such as

in wages and energy have prevented

firms to realize attractive rates of

return on investments. Executives

complain about the high costs to

sell in Philippine provinces but part

of the reason is some firms have

continued to stick with traditional

dealers, which drive up product costs.

Firms have been reluctant to try other

options such as direct online selling.

Philippine firms also have increased

imports and exports in the past decade

but challenges such as port conges-

tions and bureaucratic red tape have

made it difficult for companies to ex-

pand materials sourcing options.

Whereas firms have conti nued t o

work to improve the infrastr ucture

side of logistics and materials, it has

been observed that firms have not

been as hardworking in the manufac-

turing side.

Many Philippine factories are far

from efficient. Whereas information

technology and human resource ad-

vances have been seen in the service

industries, they have yet to be fully

tapped for manufacturing. From hy-

brid manufacturing designs to shop-floor information systems, there is

much potential for factory infrastruc-

ture improvement that if taken, may

possibly catapult Philippine industry

to at least par with first-world Asian

counterparts.

Business owners in Asia and the

Philippines need to realize their

traditional supply chain models will

have to change with the times.

As one US executive remarked: “The

weak link in our whole manufacturing

process remains the supply chain,”

so it is true in most organizations.

Especially in an era of challenging

growth, re-structuring one’s supply

chain could be the best solution to

attaining one’s business goals.

The author is a business consultant

and regional speaker on supply chain

management. He has directed and im-

plemented su pply cha in management

projects both local and international

which have resulted to company-wide

improvements in revenue, working

capital, total cost, and service levels.

Mr. Jader was f ormerly with P rocter

& Gamble Philippines and Coopers

& Lybrand/PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Shou ld you have quest ions or com-

ments, e-mail to: jjjader@prosultscon-

sulting.com.

Hobby,

from S2/ 9

10/S2 ENTREPRENEWS TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 EDITOR JOSIELYN B. LUNA

The millenials’ business

berry cookies, and cookie shots — that are

always available regardless of the trends,” she

explained. “My revel bars and sugar cookies

sell best, I’ve noticed. I receive a lot of orders

for those, also because they can easily be

customized.”

Like most small-scale businesses, Ms.

Saguin has been a one-man team since Panic

Baking’s launch. She ran the brand andmanaged all its aspects entirely on her own

until last year, when the lack of manpower

became too overwhelming to handle.

“I love baking and I don’t feel like it’s work

at all, but the one thing I found challenging in

becoming a food entrepreneur was manp ower.

For years I was accomplishing everything by

myself — from buying the ingredients and

baking the products, to driving to do meet-

ups. It was only recently that I finally decided

to hire someone to help me, since the volume

of orders only continue to increase,” she said.

Today, the food entrepreneur is set on

further growing her business and doesn’t

plan to make it a sideline it anytime soon.“What I really want to do is to open my

own cafe, even just a small one, where I can

serve my products,” she said. “I can really see

myself doing this full-time.”

Fo r mo re inf or ma tio n, co nta ct 091 5-

8438882 or visit facebook.com/PanicBaking.

BEARD N BELLY bar is “a place where people can

relax, have a drink, and enjoy good food amid a

cozy ambiance.”

PANIC BAKING’s revel bars and sugar cookies are among its customers’ favorites.



Tuesday, January 12, 2016

VOL XXIX ISSUE 117 ISSN0116-3930

This advertisement has been placed by BusinessWorld

Expat life: from kale shakesand sun to gossip and icy reality

By Matthew Garrahan

There was a moment, shortly after I movedmy family from one American coast to the

other, when the magnitude of what we had

done finally hit me.

While ginger ly walkin g down the steps

that lead from our Brooklyn street to an-

other one below, I slipped on some ice and

bounced the rest of the way down on my

back.

Lying at the foot of the stairs, dazed, ach-

ing and staring up at the slate grey sky, it

struck me that Santa Monica was a very, very

long way away.

Work relocation requires personal as well

as professional adjustment and I have been

fortunate enough to try it twice.

In 2006 my wife and I swapped London

for Los Angeles; then, 18 months ago, now

with three children in tow, we moved again

— trading sun-kissed, southern California

for the slightly less sun-kissed environs ofNew York City.

Before both moves, we had to contend

with friends and colleagues who weighed in

with unsolicited advice and warnings.

“You’re mad,” one Los Angeles friend said

before the move east.

“You’re supposed to move from New York

to LA, not t he other way round.”

He had a point.

I had met those New York transplants

who trade the cold weather and cramped

apartments for airy houses, sandy beaches

and year-round sunshine. But we had heard

similarly gloomy warnings before our move

from London to LA and the dire predic-

tions about plastic people and traffi c proved

unfounded.

I admit, though, that in my first few

months in New York it occurred to me on

more than one occasion that I had made an

awful mistake, usually when fighting my waythrough the rush hour on the subway to the

Financial Times offi ce.

One morning I was delighted to find myself

on a completely empty train, my happiness

evaporating only once it dawned on me that

I was heading in the wrong direction and

was on my way to Queens, not Manhattan.

All expats have to deal with change.

In LA, the daily sunshine means the sea-

sons blur into each other whereas in New

York there are clear seasonal differences.

The extremes are greater, with stultify-

ing summers and Game of Thrones-style

winters.

One evening in Brooklyn, shortly after my

tumble down the stairs, I resolved to clear

the thick layer of ice covering the front steps

of our house.

We had used up the industrial-size d bagof salt the previous tenant had left in our

basement so I set about the ice with a ham-

mer. Only, I had misplaced our hammer so

I used the only one I could find: a small one

with a dainty head that my wife used to make

jewelry.

As I sat there, miserably tapping on the

step, hands numb and small shards of ice

hitting me in the face, our neighbor emerged

from her house, asking if I was all right.

There were no such issues in LA.

I had got used to the sunshine, the nearby

beach and the peculiar food orders of diet-

obsessed dining companions (on one of my

final meals there a friend ordered a kale

shake and a soy-cheese omelette).

In LA, I didn’t have to commute because I

worked from home, which was a big change

from working in the FT ’s London offi ce. In

LA, I would take my children to school each

morning, return home, say goodbye to my wife and walk a few yards to the small offi ce

adjoining the garage. There I would settle

down to work at my desk — alone.

With no colle agues to exchan ge gossi p

with or annoy, it was a solitary existence .

I had to force myself to go out every day to

see other humans to avoid turning into Jack

Nicholson’s character in The Shining.

In New York I was once again working in a

real offi ce, which require d another period of

Expat, S3/2

A new directionof travel

other but with the likes of Google,

AI develo pers and the roboti cs

industry, there is a notable cau-

tion beneath the public gestures.

“The car industry is still feel-

ing its way towards an uncertain

future,” said John Leech, head

of automotive at KPMG, the

consultants. Of the experiments

that have characterized early ap-proaches to things like driverless

and connected cars, he adds: “It’s

a very risk-averse approach to the

technology.”

Car makers are not yet ready

for an end game that would in-

volve placing definit ive bets on

which forms of person al trans-

port and which business models

will prevail. The risk is that, in the

process, they are surrendering

the future.

“That leaves the door open to

new entrants,” said Mr. Leech.

“We’ll see more Googles and

more Teslas.”

The mood among big car mak-

ers was summed up this week by

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of

Renault and Nissan. Asked about

Toyota’s willingness to imagine

such a radical change in its busi-

ness, he brushed it off as a largely

rhetorical response to an unprec-

edented technological upheaval:

the near-simultaneous arrival of

Travel, S3/2

By Tim Bradshaw, Richard Waters

and Andy Sharman

Last week, the world’s biggest

car maker contemplated a world

beyond cars.

Whi le mos t com pan ie s fac -

ing digital disruption like to

pretend it is business as usual,

Toy ota wan ts the wor ld toknow that it is ready to think

the unthinkable: a future in

wh ic h car s are no lo ng er it s

main business.

Gill Pratt, head of the Japanese

company’s robotics and artificial

intelligence research unit, envis-

aged a time when another kind

of machine might replace cars

as a preeminent object of desire:

“Home robots may eventually

become even more personally

prized in future than cars have

been in the past.”

He said Toyota wants to use the

skills acquired to build driverless

cars to develop domestic robots,

potentially heralding as big a shift

in its business as its move out of

mechanical looms at the begin-

ning of the automobile age.

The Japanese company, which

has poached robotics expertise

from Google to boost its AI unit,

has not been alone. This week,

signs proliferated at the annual

Consumer Electronics Show in

Las Vegas that car makers are

preparing to leap into the future.

General Motors announced a

$500-million investment in Lyft,

the ride-hailing app that is trying

to mount a global challenge to

industry leader Uber. Apps like

Lyft could one day pose a mortal

threat to the car industry: should

they replace vehicle ownershipon a broad scale and turn cars

into interchangeable shared util-

ities, companies like GM would

lose their direct relationship with

many customers.

Meanwhile, a series of car

makers lined up at CES to boast

about the latest advances in their

internet-connected vehicles.

In Ford’s case, that means being

able to connect cars to homes,

and to drones. Should the urge

take them, customers would be

able to check the ir fuel effi ciency

from the kitchen table or control

a drone from their driver’s seat.

Roland Berger, the consultants,

estimate that the size of the mar-

ket for autonomous driving tech-

nology will be $40 billion-$60

billion by 2030.

Such a start to the year might

suggest that the industry is pre-

paring to move decisively beyond

designing, making and selling

cars. Yet with car makers set to be

competing not just against each

THE FARADAY FUTURE FFZERO1 Concept car is displayed on the first day of the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,

Nevada.

A F P

FOLLOWFOLLOW

LIKEVISIT

@BWHighLife

www.highlife.com.ph

bwhighlife.tumblr.com

www.youtube.com/user/BWHighLifeTV

www.facebook.com/pages/Highlife-Philippines

© The Financial Times Limited [2012]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in anyway. (The client) is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation.

In partnership with



S3/2 • Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Should an employer ask about

a candidate’s grades in school?By Lucy Kellaway

I was thi nki ng of cha ngin g

jobs and I went online to apply

to one of the big five consult-

ing firms. I was put off by the

first question: what grade had

I achi eved for my degr ee? I

have more than 10 years’ expe-

rience, two masters degrees,

several professional certifi-

cates and enough to show pro-

fessionally. I just don’t feel it

should matter whether you

worked hard at university

when you’re mid-career — or

even in your first job. Do youagree? — Consultant, male, 36

Answer

I do agree. The class of degree

a student gets at university is

a feeble indicator of what sort

of consultant they are going to

turn into.

That is partly because the grade

could be due to one of two very

different things. A high (or low)

mark might mean the person is

very bright (or quite dim).

Equally, it could mean they

spent their student years slog-

ging their guts out (or not lifting

a finger).

But even if an employer knew

which one, it stil l woul dn’t be

much the wiser.

This is because academic intel-

ligence doesn’t translate well into

career success. I often marvel at

the way that some of the most

intelligent people I know are not

only feeble at their jobs, but often

seem gormless professionally.

Even if the result reflected

hard graft (or lack of it) that

still doesn’t prove that such

slogging would continue into

paid employment.

Most of us work much harder

at some points in our lives than

others. I know lots of people

who id led th eir way thr oug h

university and have akhano-

vites ever sin ce.

A couple of years ago I did a test

of my Financial Times colleagues

(most of whom I know very well),guessing the class of degree they

had received.

Not only was I rotten at pre-

dicting who got what, there was

not necessarily a correlation be-

tween the best degrees and the

finest journalists.

Yet despite all this I don’t think

that the question is quite as idi-

otic as you evidently do.

Or at least I don’t think it is as

idiotic as the other questions that

I suspect were on the form.

I bet they asked you to describe

situations in which you showed

leadership, or asked you to waffle

on about creativity.

At least a grade is a fact, and one

that employers can process as

they choose.

It’s possible that they didn’t

want to hear that you got a top

degree at all. A couple of years ago the scien-

tist Lord Winston announced that

he only hired people with 2.1s.

Anyo ne who did bett er than

that, he reasoned, hadn’t spent

enough time at university turn-

ing into the sort of broad, curious

person he was looking for.

As an aside, it is obvious from

your question that you didn’t get

a first (neither did I).

In my experience, the people

who did are more than happy to tell

employers — or anyone at all — just

how well they did in perpetuity.

Readers chime in

I got an upper second class

honors degree (2.1) and now

have a PhD in physics and am

chief executive of the company

I founded. I used to be asked in

interviews why I didn’t get a firstclass degree. It’s simple. When

I was 21-years old I was build-

ing social skills (read partying

too much). I’m now approaching

50 and party less but I’m still a

quick thinker, which is what an

employer should be looking for. If

they turn you down for not being

the brightest on paper, it’s the

wrong company. — CEO, male

With more than 20 years’ ex-

perience in markets, I was ap-

proached by a major investment

bank to handle business with

central banks. After a series of

interviews I was told I had the

job but would have a “chronology

interview”, which included the

issue of my economics degree two

decades earlier, which then veered

into the ludicrous when they

asked me what the favorite part ofmy course had been and why. Box-

ticking nonsense. Jobs on offer

from people who got good grades

are likely to require good grades.

Not a surprise. — Anonymous

If you are 36 and have the expe-

rience you say you do, I wonder

why you are fooling around with

an online application. First ex-

pand your network to get an inter-

view with a partner who will then

send you through the ridiculous

HR process on your way to being

hired. — Consultant, happy ex-exec

Sounds like they’re not the

right employer for you. It should

not matter if you were tending

a cobbler’s lath or spearfishing

for conger eels before the age of

25 if you then got yourself sorted

out professionally and buckled

down, which you seem to havedone. It’s marginally interesting

to employers who are looking for

PLUs (People Like Us), which is

why it’s a red flag to anyone look-

ing to join a forward-thinking

organization. When you get to

interview, ask with a laugh why

they do it. If they squirm, you’ll

know why. — Anonymous

As an employer who has made

costly hiring errors, I have con-

cluded that it’s easier than one

would expect for stupid/incom-

petent people to build up a CV

of work experience which makes

them seem a lot more capable

than they actually are. Although

it’s obviously only one data point,

we do pay attenti on to where a

candidate did their undergrad

degree and what grade they got.

— Anonymous

Mid career at 36?!?!?! Would

you mind sharing the de-

tails of your pension plan?

— Anonymous

Travel,

from S3/ 1

Expat,

from S3/ 1

electric vehicles, driverless car

technology and ubiquitous inter-

net connectivity.

“Some people will tell you we

don’t do cars, we do software, we

do robots, we do this, we do that,”

Mr. Ghosn says.But for the likes of Renault and

Nissan, he says there is a clear

future: as a provider of personal

mobility, ranging from selling

$3,000 cars in India to supply-

ing driverless vehicles that bring

greater freedom to 95-year-olds.

“Mobility” is a buzzword that has

swept through the auto industry as

companies have sought to address

the future while dodging the ques-

tion of how deeply their industry is

about to change. Ford, for instance,

used CES to put the provision of

mobility on a par with its role as a

car maker, suggesting that new ser-

vices and business approaches will

one day expand to be as significant,

whatever form those may take.

Becoming a “supplier of mobil-

ity” makes it possible for car mak-ers to conjure up a rosier-sound-

ing future even if it does little to

answer how they will adjust to

technological change. While Ford

estimates that a total of $2.3 tril-

lion is spent on cars each year, the

figure rises to $5.4 trillion if you

include spending on all forms of

personal transport and services,

excluding air travel, according to

Mark Fields, chief executive.

“We, as well as the rest of the in-

dustry, get virtually none of that,”

he said in an interview with the

Financial Times . “It’s a natural

extension to our business.”

This idea is not new. One of

Mr. Fields’ predecessors at Ford,Jacques Nasser, laid out a vision

of Ford as a mobility company 15

years ago, though nothing came

of it. But invoking the expansive-

sounding cause of mobility is also

a perfect rhetorical hedge. The

prevarication is understandable.

Faced with such big changes,

most car makers are simply not

ready to place their bets.

“The technology trends we see

today are in contradiction with

each other,” says Mr. Ghosn.

The advent of driverless and

electric vehicles would seem to

point towards a future in which

shared vehicles replace individu-

al car ownership for many people.

But he adds that the other

great technological driver of the

moment — pervasive internetconnectivity — pulls in the other

direction.

The smartphone has become

the model for connected devices

of all kinds. Sucking up data and

monopolizing user attention,

they have shown how powerful

such devices can be.

The same could lie in store for

the car, Mr. Ghosn believes: “The

car is going to become a heavily

loaded personal space, because

what we’re trying to do wit h the

connected car is make it an exten-

sion of your office or your house.”

As owners submit more of their

personal data so that cars can

tailor their interaction with the world, the value of ownership in-

creases. “This is probably against

sharing,” he adds.

This points to an attractive

visi on for car maker s: a world

in which connected robot cars

are the new smartphones. Car

makers see other parallels to

mobile devices: Audi, BMW and

Mercedes-Benz have put consid-

erable emphasis on controlling

vehicle data that can be use d t o

deliver valuable new services.

Yet the analogy is also an omi-

nous one. Turning an everyday

object into a connected digital

device opened the mobile phone

industry up to powerful competi-

tors from technology, undermin-

ing market leaders like Nokia and

BlackBerry.Not surprisingly, newcomers

are positioning themselves as

the equivalent of smartphone

interlopers.

Last week it was the turn of

Faraday Future, a Californian

electric car start-up that unveiled

its first vehicle at CES.

“A new car’s technology is of-

ten two or three years out of date

compared with the latest smart-

phones. We are trying to blend

and merge the two,” said Nick

Sampson, head of research and

development.

He says vehicles will be paid

for more like smartphones, in

monthly insta llments tha tinclude a variety of services.

“You’ll subscribe to a mobility

service. It changes how you build

the business.”

Car makers, however, are

betting that they can adapt to

changes like these quicker than

newcomers can learn the rigors

of the auto business. “The car in-

dustry reinvents itself on a fairly

regular basis,” said Andy Barratt,

head of Ford’s British unit. “We

won’t be the company we are now

in 10 years.”

It is a self-confidence born

out of decades of adaptation to

new technologies.

The age of software, for in-

stance, has brought a stream of

enhancements, from ABS brakes

to collision-warning systems.This has led to an almost unani-

mous stance among car makers

that casts driverless technol-

ogy as the extension of today’s

software controls, pointing to a

gradual shift that will see cars

progressively take over more of

the driving without undermin-

ing the joys of either owning or

— when people choose to do it —

driving a car.

The optimistic timetable laid

out by Mr. Ghosn this week for

Renault and Nissan was typical.

In it, driverless technologies

creep up on the driver almost un-

noticed — until, five years from

now, the car has taken over com-pletely and the driver is sitting

back reading a book.

Yet such a gradual transition

into a radically different future

could turn out to be wishful

thinking. The digital age has been

marked by discontinuous change.

As the arriv al of touc h scre en

smartphones showed, years of

planning and research for inter-

net-connected devices did not

prepare mobile phone companies

for the revolution triggered by

the arrival of the iPhone.

The harmonious evolution to a

driverless future envisaged by the

car makers faces some roadblocks

— not least, finding an answer to

the problem of how to safely pass

control of a vehicle back and forth

between the car’s own “brain”and the human driver.

Yet, if car makers succeed in

adapting their business models

whi le emb rac in g an un pre c-

edented series of technology

shifts, they will have truly suc-

ceeded in bucking the digital

trend.

And if al l th at fa il s,

there are always the do-

mestic robots.

transition. For the first few weeks

I would jump every time some-

one walked behind my chair. I

also had to unlearn the habit I

had picked up in LA of talking to

myself while typing.

Whether it was the weather, thecommuting, or having to wear a

tie again, those first few months

in New York were miserable.

But then, slowly, things began

to get better. I had been worried

about my children being cowed

by the harsh weather but they

rush outside every chance they

get, rain or shine.

I began to appreciate all of the

things New York has to offer and

also adjusted to an office environ-

ment again to the extent that I

felt comfortable throwing balls of

paper at the banking editor when

he wasn’t looking.

Yes, the Yorkshire terrier-

sized rats I see frolicking on

the subway tracks take a bit of

getting used to and, yes, the

swelter ing su mmer str eetsof Brooklyn and Manhattan

are ripe with smells I never

thought existed.

But none of that has dented

my belief that work relocation is

positive and rewarding.

If, as the new year looms, your

thoughts turn to working in a new

and different region, give

it a try.

Just take care on icy stairs.

© The Financial Times Limited [2012]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in anyway.(The client) is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation.



S3/3 World BusinessTUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

A PROMOTIONAL

model poses next

to an Acura TLX

car during the

Imported Auto Expo

in Beijing, China, in

this Sept. 24, 2015

file photo.

BEIJING — As part of a broader

makeover, and even the survival,

of its stalled luxury Acura brand,

Japan’s Honda Motor Co. will

launch a new small crossover

sport utility vehicle (SUV) this

year in China to compete with

BMW and Audi in t he world’s big-

gest car market, two individuals

closely involved in the effort said.

Reviving Acura is one of the

biggest challenges facing Takahiro

Hachigo, who took over as Honda

chief executive officer last year.

The brand has struggled to carve

out a clear identity as a sporty,

high-performance luxury label.

Since entering China a de-

cade ago, Acura has struggled,

selling just over 4,000 cars last

year compared with BMW’s

460,000 and Audi’s 554,000.

And i n th e Un ited States, where

Acu ra deb ute d thr ee dec ade s

ago, sales have failed to top the

201,000 cars it sold as far back

as 2006, according to industry

consultant IHS. Sales last year

wer e 179,00 0, aro und hal f the

number of cars sold by both

BMW and Toyota Motor’s Lexusluxury marque.

That revival effort will kick off

with production mid this year of

a China-only subcompact cross-

over SUV at a jointly-run plant

wi th Gua ng zho u Aut om obi le

Group. The new model will have

a “crisp, more expressive” style

— the result of four years of ef-

fort by Honda product planners

and engineers — said the two

individuals, who asked not to be

named as they are not authorized

to speak to the media.

“We don’t have a strong brand

with Acura in Chin a. Our next

move could be make or break,”

one of the individuals said.

A Beijing-based Honda spokes-

woman said the new Acura cross-

over SUV is being developed spe-

cially for China and demonstrates

the company’s commitment to

that market. One of the knowl-

edgeable individuals said Acura’s

China sales unit reckons it could

eventually sell about 30,000 of the

new crossover SUVs a year.

But the new model’s signifi-

cance goes beyond China, with

the styling of the China-only car

highlighting the signature feature

of a broader Acura makeover.

While the under-wraps China

model is unlikely to be unveiled

before the Beijing autoshow in

April, hints of the new Acura styl-

ing should be on show in Detroit

on Tuesday.

In an e-mailed response to

queries, California-based Honda

spokeswoman Jessica Fini de-

clined to comment on Acura’sproduct plans, but noted a new

concept model to be unveiled at

the Detroit autoshow “previews

the (brand’s) future design di-

rection,” and “expresses perfor-

mance through design”.

‘NO MORE SMILEY FACE’Honda’s leadership, already bat-

tling a crisis over potentially le-

thal air bags made by supplier

Takata Corp., is aware that a

failed makeover could render

Acura a “Mercury of Honda,” one

of the individuals said, referring

to the entry-level luxury brand

Ford Motor Co. killed off in 2010

after years of dwindling sales.

Part of the Acura identity issue

is that there is little to differenti-

ate between the upscale brand

and mainstream Honda cars, with

a quiet recognition inside Honda

that Acura cars are in many cases

merely “re-badged” Honda cars,

the two individuals said.

“Styling cues in Honda and

Acur a cars have becom e more

and more common,” said one of

the knowledgeable individuals.

Some Honda cars’ strong charac-

ter lines, he said, are often quickly

borrowed by Acura, or the other

way around, giving both brands a

“family resemblance”.

“Where’s our discipline in

that?” he said.

The new styling direction un-

der Acura’s global design chief

Dave Marek will allow Acura to

have a new, more sporty look, the

people said, making it stand out

from Honda models.“No more smiley face,” one

of the two people said, referring

to a common perception of the

Acura look . “If you want to be

a performance oriented brand,

you should not come across as

a clown. You should be serious,

even mean,” he added.

CLOSING DOORSBeyond styling, the new Acura

model for China is likely to pack

more luxury technologies and fea-

tures, boasting a turbo-charged,

4-cylinder engine and 10-speed

automatic transmission, giving

it a “more lively character and a

spirited and engaged driver feel,”

said one of the individuals, add-

ing it was aimed at taking on rival

BMW X1 and Audi Q3 models.

Honda wants Acura to com-

pete better in China’s growing

market for small, premium cross-

over SUVs market, but acknowl-

edges its cars need more “upscale

quality” — through seemingly

small improvements such as the

sound the doors make when they

are closed, the people said.

The new subcompact cross-

over will be loosely based on

Honda’s existing Vezel and HR-V

SUVs that are sold around the

world. Acura is sold in only two

major markets, China and the

United States, with limited avail-

ability also in Canada and a few

other countries.

Industry experts are puzzled

at Honda’s failure to make Acura a

stand-out performance car — es-

pecially given its relative successas a Formula One engine supplier.

“It’s strange it has taken this

long for Honda,” said Bumsuk

Lim, a Shanghai-based consultant

who work ed at Hond a’s Tokyo

design studio during the 1990s.

“It’s not as if Acura doesn’t

have a design heritage. They had

this great second-generation

Acura Legend coupe, which was

seen at the time as a Japanese

BMW.” — Reuters

With luxury Acura makeover,Honda aims for brand survival

KHOBAR, SAUDI ARABIA/

DUBAI — Saudi Arabia is con-

sidering selling shares in refining

ventures with foreign oil firms

but would not offer a stake in the

crude oil exploration and produc-

tion operations of state oil giant

Saudi Aramco, sources familiar

with offi cial thinking said.

Some Aramco managers have

been informed that the company

is looking at listing shares in “joint

downstream subsidiaries” at

home and abroad, the sources said.

One option is to create a hold-

ing company that would group

together Aramco’s stakes in the

downstream subsidiaries, one

source said. Shares in the par-

ent firm would not be offered, he

added.

“The holding company is the

one which could be listed, not Aramco itself,” he said, declining

to be named because of political

sensitivities.

The global energy market has

been awash with speculation

since Deputy Crown Prince Mo-

hammed bin Salman appeared

to indicate in an interview with

The Economist magazine last

week that Saud i Arab ia migh t

sell shares in Aramco, as part of a

privatization drive to raise money

in an era of cheap oil.

On Friday Aramco, the world’s

largest oil company, issued a brief

statement saying it was consider-

ing options including the stock

market listing “of an appropri-

ate percentage of the company’s

shares and/or the listing of a

bundle (of) its downstream sub-

sidiaries”.

Aram co has crud e res erve s

estimated at about 265 billion

barrels, over 15% of all global oil

deposits, so it could become the

first listed company valued at $1

trillion or more if it went public,

analysts have estimated.

But several sources close to Ar-

amco said its massive size, and the

confidentiality surrounding it as

the main instrument of the king-

dom’s oil policy, meant the sale of

a stake in the parent firm was not

being actively considered.

“The government will never

give up its crown jewel,” said a

senior banker in Riyadh.

Instead, authorities are look-

ing at accelerating plans that havebeen in the works for many years

to sell shares in part of Aramco’s

vast refining and petrochemicals

empire, which by itself is esti-

mated to be worth tens of billions

of dollars.

A prec eden t for the sale al-

ready exists: PetroRabigh 2380.

SE, a refining and petrochemi-

cals venture in which Aramco

and Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical

each own 37.5%. It held an initial

public offer (IPO) on the Riyadh

bourse in 2008.

“The higher priority is to

IPO downstream — it would be

low-hanging fruit,” said Essam

al-Zamel, a prominent economic

columnist in Saudi Arabia.

Aramco could not be reachedfor comment on Sunday, a day off

for the company’s employees.

VENTURESIt is not clear which ventures

might be involved in a sale. But

the range of candidates is wide;

Aramco and subsidiaries own or

have an equity interest in over 5

million barrels per day of refining

capacity.

Its operations include a joint

refinery with Royal Dutch Shell

in Jubail known as SASREF;

a venture with Exxon Mobil in

Yanbu known as SAMREF; and

its YASREF refinery, which is a

venture wi th C hina Petrochemi-

cal Corp. (Sinopec). YASREF has

already said it is looking at listing

its shares eventually on the Saudi

stock market.

Subsidiaries of Aramco abroad

include S-Oil in Korea; a refinery

in Fujian, China owned jointly

with Exxon and Sinopec; and Mo-

tiva in the United States, which is

a venture with Shell.

Prince Mohammed told The

Economist that he expected a de-cision on the Aramco privatiza-

tion to be made “over the next

few months”. But an actual sale of

shares would probably take much

longer to happen as it would in-

volve reorganizing Aramco.

“This is still at a very pre-

liminary stage. They have to do a

study first and submit the results

to the board members, and then

decide whether to go ahead with it

or not,” said the first source.

Selling shares in joint ventures

could prove problematic if for-

eign partners did not agree. An

industry source said Aramco’s

foreign partners had not yet been

consulted on the idea; at present,

they are “like a deaf man at a wed-

ding”, he said.

At t he right price, foreign in-

vestor s might be keen on grab-

bing a chunk of Saudi Arabia’s

refining operations, which have

been growing even as global oil

prices have plunged in the last

18 months, squeezing upstream

producers.

But Saudi political sensitivi-

ties may influence any sale. Tradi-

tionally, shares in state firms have

been sold at discounted prices

exclusively to Saudi investors as

a way of sharing the kingdom’s oil

wealth.

So any listing of shares would

probably have to occur on the

Saudi bourse, and though the

market opened to direct foreign

investment last year, participa-

tion in an IPO might well be lim-ited to local investors; foreigners

would have to buy th e s hares in

the secondary market.

The Saudi bourse, capitalized

at only $379 billion, has been hit

hard by the tumble of oil prices —

it is trading at four-year lows — so

it is in poor shape to absorb a big

new supply of equity. Initially,

any sale of Aramco assets might

therefore be limited to several

billion dollars, bankers say.

Nevertheless, the government

appears determined to proceed

with a sale — not merely to raise

money, but as part of a drive to

diversify the economy beyond

crude oil production and have the

private sector play a bigger role,

analysts said.“This is part of the reformist

tidal wave characterizing Saudi

Arabia… It’s part and parcel of Mo-

hammed bin Salman’s drive to al-

ter the structure of the economy,”

said John Sfakianakis, a Riyadh-

based economist. — Reuters

Saudi Arabia’s Aramco would sell downstreamoperations, not upstream

TOKYO — Japanese beverage maker

Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. will submit

a bid as early as next week to buy

SABMiller PLC’s Grolsch and Peroni

beer brands for as much as ¥400 bil-

lion ($3.41 billion), the daily Yomiuri

reported.

If accepted, it would be the biggestoverseas beverage acquisition ever by

a Japanese company, topping Kirin

Holdings Co. Ltd.’s $3.3-billion takeover

of Australia’s Lion Nathan in 2009, the

paper said.

Asahi Holdi ngs offi cials could not b e

reached for comment.

Anheuser Busch InBev SA, which

agreed to buy SABMiller for $100 billion

plus, has been seeking potential bidders

to buy Grolsch and Peroni, sources close

to the process told Reuters last month.

Peroni and Grolsch are small,

premium brands and AB InBev wants

to avoid getting bogged down in

regulatory scrutiny over a Euro-

pean portfolio that already includes

Corona and Stella Artois, the sources

said.

Indicative offers are due in mid-January, with a tight schedule for due

diligence in order to clinch a deal by

early March, the sources said.

The sources had estimated a

potential combined value for Peroni

and Grolsch of about €1.8 billion ($2

billion), based on earnings before

interest, taxes, depreciation and

amortization (EBITDA) of €120 mil-

lion to €150 million and a possible

multiple of around 12 times EBITDA.

— Reuters

Asahi to submit bid next week forSABMiller’s Grolsch and Peroni

DETROIT — When US President

Barack Obama visits Detroit’s an-

nual auto show on Jan. 20, exactlyone year before h e leaves offi ce,

he is expected to tout how much

the industry has changed since he

orchestrated a federally funded

rescue in 2009.

But many of the changes on

display at the city’s annual auto

show will not reflect the green-

transport revival the president

envisioned.

The ‘Detroit Three’ automak-

ers racked up record sales and

profits in the US market last year

not because of electric cars or

plug-in hybrids, but because of

soaring demand for pickup trucks

and sport utility vehicles (SUV)

fueled by gasoline prices that hit

multi-year lows.

At General Motors Co. ( GM),

the focal point of Detroit’s bail-out, pickups and SUVs accounted

for nearly 70% of last year’s sales.

In 2016, one of the SUVs GM sells

in America — the Buick Envi-

sion — will be, for the first time,

imported from China, to the cha-

grin of the United Auto Workers

union, a key Obama constituency.

With oil prices expected to stay

low for some time, all the major

automakers are looking for a big-

ger slice of US truck market profits.

Nissan Motor Co. and Honda

Motor Co. are using auto show

press previews on Monday topromote new versions of their

full-size pickups, the Titan and

the Ridgeline, respectively.

The big splash from bailout

beneficiary Fiat Chrysler Auto-

mobiles is not a small car, but a

sleeker, updated minivan, which

comes in a plug-in hybrid version

and a powerful gasoline model

more people are likely to buy.

There are also new luxury ve-

hicles to be unveiled: a revamped

Lincoln Continental is expected

from Ford Motor Co. and Hyun-

dai Motor Co.’s new flagship

luxury sedan, the G90.

Mr. Obama has made boost-

ing fuel effi ciency a corn erstone

of his energy and climate policy.

Mandates from California and

other states are prodding auto-makers to continue rolling out

zero emission electric vehicles,

such as GM’s Chevrolet Bolt, even

if sales remain slow.

In his 2011 State of the Union

Add res s, Mr. Obam a ren ewed

a call he made as a candidate in

2008 to get 1 million plug-in elec-

tric vehicles (EVs) on the road

by 2015. But sales have been far

slower than expected — only

about 490,000 vehicles, including

115,000 in 2015, down 6% from

2014. Automakers have been

forced to cut EV prices and salesforecasts.

The next president will decide

the fate of Mr. Obama’s goal of

boostin g average fuel effi ciency to

54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) (23.2

kilometers per liter) by 2025.

A decision on whether the final

2021-2025 regulations are fea-

sible is due by April 2018, under a

new president.

The average fuel economy of

new vehicles sold in the United

States has improved over the past

few years, standing at 24.9 mpg

in December. It is down 0.9 mpg

from the peak reached in August

2014, but still up 4.8 mpg since

October 2007.

The auto show also will lay

bare another juggling act for De-

troit. While the US automakersstill make most of their money

from big ‘body-on-frame’ vehicles

powered by gasoline, just as they

did 60 years ago, they are cruising

into a high-tech world of connect-

ed cars that ultimately will lead

to self-driving, or “autonomous”

vehicles powered by batteries.

The contrast will be stark be-

tween last week’s Consumer Elec-

tronics Show in Las Vegas, where

autonomous driving took center

stage as GM and Ford announced

new high-tech initiatives, and the

display of traditional heavy metal

in Detroit. But even in the Motor

City, the high-tech future of mobil-

ity will not be completely ignored.

The new Mercedes-Benz E-

Class from German automaker

Daimler AG will offer so many

a dva nc ed dr iver a ssista nc e

technologies that with just a few

software changes the car could be

allowed to drive itself hands-free,

company executives have said.

The difference between the

new E-class and Tesla Motors,

Inc.’s electric Model S is that Tes-

la Chief Executive Elon Musk is

willing to allow extended hands-

free driving, albeit with more lim-

itations as of Sunday than before,

and Mercedes executives are not.

Forecasts for the widespread

adoption of autonomous cars rangebetween five and 20 years away. But

their advent could lead to a fresh

crisis for traditional automakers

and their employees, Barclays auto

analyst Brian Johnson said on Sun-

day at an automotive event.

If self-driving, shared cars be-

come the norm, he said, that could

mean 60% fewer vehicles on the

road, and a one-third reduction

in the number of auto-assembly

plants by 2025 or 2030. — Reuters

Detroit’s auto industry is changed — Washington

EDITOR FRANCISCO P. BALTAZAR

R E U T E R S



4/S3 World Markets TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

ASIAN STOCKS extended last

week’s global rout, oil dropped

and the South African rand led a

slump in emerging market cur-

rencies as China’s efforts to stabi-

lize the yuan failed to halt a slump

in equities. European stock index

futures slid for a fourth day.

The Shanghai composite in-

dex tumbled more than 5% to the

lowest in almost four months,

despite rallies in the yuan in

onshore and offshore markets.

The rand tumbled 9% to a record

before paring its slide. Oil sank to

its lowest since 2003 and copper

futures declined. Investments

regarded as offering more safety

found support, with sovereign

yields falling in Australia and

New Zealand.

Volatility in Chinese marketshas sapped risk appetite globally,

sending equities worldwide down

the most in more than four years

last week and hobbling commodi-

ties. While data Friday showed US

payrolls surged in December, the

focus has now returned to China

after the country posted a record

46th monthly decline in producer

prices, Nobel-prize-winning

economist Joseph Stiglitz said

the nation isn’t facing a “cataclys-

mic” slowdown and the turmoil

was more about badly designed

stock market circuit breakers.

“The market is concerned

about China’s financial stability,”

said Matthew Sherwood, head of

investment strategy at Perpetual

Ltd. in Sydney, which manages

about $21 billion.

“People are also quite nervous

about the Chinese economic out-

look. China is certainly slowing

on a very gradual path down. A

lot of people are fearing a hard

landing is in play, but that’s not

our central scenario.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-cluding Japan Index slid 0.9%

as of 7:05 a.m. London time, the

Shanghai composite index slid

5.3% and the Hang Seng index

dropped 2.4% in Hong Kong. Chi-

na cut trading short on two days

last week as sell-offs in equities

triggered a new circuit breaker,

that was then abolished.

With Japan closed for a holiday,

futures on the Nikkei 225 Stock

Average retreated 1.4% in Singa-

pore. Those on the Euro Stoxx

50 index dropped 1% while those

on the S&P 500 fell 0.2%. The

largest US exchange-traded fund

tracking Chinese shares tumbled

13% last week, exceeding the 10%

slide in the Shanghai composite.

The Philippine Stock Exchange

index slumped 4%, poised to

enter a bear market after losing

22% from its record high in April.

“It’s Halloween in January,” Astro

del Castillo, managing director at

First Grade Holdings Inc., said

in Manila. “The red flags are all

there for investors to realign their

portfolios.”Singapore’s Straits Times in-

dex lost 2% and the Jakarta com-

posite index slumped 1.9% and

the KOSPI index in Seoul dropped

1.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 in-

dex fell 1.2%, led by mining stocks

and energy producers.

The rand was down 2.6% at

16.72 per dollar, after rebounding

from its steepest intraday slump

since October 2008. The mag-

nitude of the move had analysts

scratching their heads.

“We unfortunately don’t have

any major pinpoint reasoning

as to what’s going on, but it’s

very scary,” said Evan Lucas, a

Melbourne-based market strate-

gist at IG Ltd. “South Africa is

so heavily tied to China in terms

of what it does that, could it be

another signal that there’s a risk

off around a China hard landing?”

The Chinese yuan climbed

0.2% to 6.5837 after the central

bank set the reference rate little-

changed for a second day, follow-

ing an eight-day run of weaken-

ing. The yuan also gained 0.3% inHong Kong at 6.6619 per dollar.

The cost of borrowing yuan in

Hong Kong jumped by the most

on record, reflecting tighter sup-

ply of the currency following sus-

pected intervention by the Chi-

nese central bank. — Bloomberg

Asian stocks fall with oil, randas China equity slump deepens

SINGAPORE — Gold edged high-

er on Monday, trading close to

last session’s nine-week high as

pressure on Asian stock markets

supported safe-haven bids for the

metal.

Asi an sha re mar kets swe pt

lower after Wall Street suffered

its worst starting week in history

and doubts over Beijing’s eco-

nomic competence sent investors

into the arms of the safe-haven

yen and sovereign bonds.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,105

an ounce by 0330 GMT. US gold

gained 0.7% to $1,105.2.

“We have some supportive fac-

tors in the market such as Saudi

Arabia-Iran tensions, devaluation

of yuan which have prompted safe-

haven appeal of gold,” said Ronald

Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong

Gold Dealers Ltd in Hong Kong.

Gold climbed to its highest

since early November on Friday,

adding more than 4% to its value

this year, on concerns over the

Chinese economy and tumbling

stock markets. Perceived mis-

steps by China’s authorities in

controlling their share market

and currency have led to concerns

Beijing might lose its grip on eco-

nomic policy too.

China wi ll face great diffi culty

in achieving economic growth

above 6.5% over the 2016-2020

period due to slowing global de-

mand and rising labor costs at

home, the China Securities Jour-

nal quoted a top state adviser as

saying.

Investment appetite for bul-

lion showed signs of picking up

last week. Holdings of the world’s

largest gold-backed exchange-

traded fund, New York-listed

SPDR Gold Shares, rose 4.2 tons

on Thursday, data from the fund

showed.

Bullion is often seen as an

alternative investment during

times of financial uncertainty,

although safe-haven rallies tend

to be short-lived.

Silver rose 0.4% at $13.986 an

ounce, while platinum lost 0.5%

at $870.25 an ounce. Palladium

was down 1.2% to $48 8.25 an

ounce. — Reuters

Bullion firm on safe-haven demand as stocks face headwinds

Oil drops over 2% as China slowdown weighsSINGAPORE — Crude oil prices

fell over 2% on Monday as China’s

economic slowdown dented the

outlook for demand and traders

are placing record bets on even

lower prices as they increasingly

lose faith in a significant market

recovery.

Global benchmark Brent was

down 89 cents, almost over 2.6%,

to $32.66 per barrel at 0319 GMT,

and US West Texas Intermedi-ate (WTI) crude was down about

2.3% to $32.39.

Monday’s decline adds to last

week’s more than 10% drop in

both Brent and WTI prices to

start the year. Traders and inves-

tors have wondered how long and

deep the slide may go with Gold-

man Sachs saying oil could hit

$20 a barrel.

Goldman analysts further said

in a note on Friday that sustained

lower prices are needed to in the

first quarter “so producers will

move budgets down to reflect $40

a barrel oil for 2016.”

Other oil market analysts are

pointing to China’s slowdown,

MELBOURNE — London copper

sank to its lowest since 2009 on

Monday as persistent concerns

over China’s economic growth

dimmed prospects for metals de-

mand and dented risk appetite.

China’s major stock indexes

opened down on Monday after

weak Dece mber infl atio n data

were released at the weekend, fur-

ther souring sentiment towards

metals after last week’s stock mar-

ket rout raised concerns Beijing

was failing to boost its economy.

“Expectations coming into

2016 were for a better macro en-

vironment, but the likelihood is

that we’re not going to see any

real rebound until well after the

Chinese New Year,” said analyst

Daniel Hynes of ANZ in Sydney.

The Lunar New Year will take

place in early February.

“In base metals we saw a good

little run-up in late December.That set the scene for disappoint-

ment when we opened the new

year.”

Three-month copper on the

London Metal Exchange (LME)

had fallen 1% to 4,440 a ton by

0308 GMT, following 0.9% losses

in the previous session. It earlier

hit $4,416 a ton, its weakest since

May 2009. Prices have already

shed nearly 6% this month.

Shanghai Futures Exchange

copper fell to its weakest in more

than three weeks. It was last at

35,240 yuan ($5,352) a ton, a 1.3%

loss.

Low prices have enticed mod-

est physical buying. Premiums

for bonded copper in Shanghai

climbed $2.50 to $85-$95, the

latest data showed, which is the

highest since November.

But given China’s rocky eco-

nomic outlook, investors remain

to be convinced on the prospects

for the metal.

Hedge funds and money man-

agers added to a bearish bet in

copper in the week to Jan. 5, US

Commodity Futures Trading

Commission data showed on Fri-

day.

China wil l face great diffi culty

in achieving economic growth

above 6.5% over the 2016-2020

period due to slowing global de-

mand and rising labor costs at

home, a top state adviser said.

In other metals, LME nickel

sank 3% as traders sold metal

that last week had been bought as

part of the US commodity index

rebalancing, a Singapore-basedtrader said. “Nickel got bid up too

much on the LME close for the

index (rebalancing), so it is the

easy over performer to sell back

down again.”

Triland expects buying to con-

tinue this week, it said on Friday.

“It was expected that nickel would

be bought today and indeed some

large volumes changed hands this

afternoon in the ring, helping

nickel to close about $110 higher.

The buying could continue each

day until next Thursday,” it said.

The rebalancing of commodity

indexes is an annual rite that can

swing billions of dollars from one

market to another. — Reuters

Copper yields further to ebbing China demand

which saw a slide in the yuan and

two emergency suspensions in

stock trading markets last week,

as the main reasons for lower oil

and commodity prices.

“China macro trends to remain

in the driving seat for commodi-

ties,” Singapore Exchange (SGX)

said on Monday in its 2016 com-

modity outlook.

“With a slowing domestic

economy, mounting deflationary

pressures, rising capital outflows,

growing credit risks, a continued

nationwide anti-corruption drive

and rising US interest rates, there

is perhaps plenty of scope for vol-

atility to stage a return,” SGX said.

Oil market speculators have

increased their net-short posi-

tions, which would profit from

prices falling lower, to a record

high in the week to last Tuesday,

in a sign that they are losing faith

in a price rise anytime soon, a

weekly report from a US govern-

ment agency that tracks com-

modity markets activity showed

on Friday.

At the same time speculators

have cut their net-long positions

to fewer than 50,000 contracts, orthe equivalent of 50 million bar-

rels, according to the trading data.

Longs are bets on higher prices,

while shorts are wagers that the

market will fall.

Oil prices have fallen over 70%

since the downturn began in mid-

2014 as soaring global production

sees hundreds of thousands of

barrels produced every day with-

out a buyer, leaving storage tanks

filled to the brim. Adding to over-

production is slowing demand,

especially in China where growth

has dropped to its lowest rate in

a generation and experts see few

signs of improvement for the next

few years. — Reuters

EDITOR WILFREDO G. REYES

FOOD COCOA ICCO Dly (SDR/mt) 2,182.48COCOA ICCO $/mt 3,021.27COFFEE ICA comp ‘79 cts/lb 112.09COFFEE mild arabica NY cts/lb 147.19COFFEE mild arabica B’men/H’burg 145.3COFFEE robusta NY cts/lb 83.67COFFEE robusta Le Havre/Marseilles 75.2SUGAR ISA FOB Daily Price, Carib. port cts/lb 14.46

SUGAR ISA 15-day ave. 14.56GRAINS (FOB Bangkok basis at every Thursday)FRAGRANT (100%) 1st Class, $/ton 789FRAGRANT (100%) 2nd Class, $/ton 761RICE (5%) White Thai- $/ton 366RICE (10%) White Thai- $/ton 363RICE (15%) White Thai- $/ton 362RICE (25%) White Thai- $/ton (Super) 358BROKER RICE A-1 Super $/ton 329

METAL COPPER Merchant, US cts/lb 207.15COPPER No. 2 Refined, US cts/lb 355.35COPPER Bare Bright,del US cts/lb 389.85LEAD battery scrap, del US cts/lb 42.5LEAD Premium, del US cts/lb 13.5ALUMINUM Premium, del US cts/lb 8.95ALUMINUM Alloy, spot, US cts/lb 87ALU Mixed Clips, del US cts/lb 61ALU Turnings, del US cts/lb 49

TIN Premium/Grade A, US cts/lb 34.03TIN Premium/Low Lead, US cts/lb 41.9PALLADIUM free $/troy oz 499.5PALLADIUM JMI base, $/troy oz 505PLATINUM free $/troy oz 881.5PLATINUM JMI base $/troy oz 884KRUGGERAND, fob $/troy oz 1,091.9NICKEL Premium, del US cts/lb 22.5ZINC Premium, del US cts/lb 7IRIDIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz 510RHODIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz 630

SPOT PRICES FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016

New Robusta 10 MT - $/ton

High Low Sett Psett

Jan. 1442 1437 1440 1434

Mar. 1492 1480 1485 1479

May 1522 1510 1513 1509

July 1550 1537 1541 1538

High Low Sett Psett

Mar. 2158 2111 2155 2107

May 2156 2115 2154 2109

July 2153 2113 2151 2106

Sept. 2147 2108 2145 2101

LIFFE COCOA (Ldn)-10 MT-£/ton

LME FINAL CLOSING PRICES, US$/MT

CASH 3 MOS

ALUM. H.G. 1,476.00 1,492.5

ALUM. Alloy 1,600.00 1,610

COPPER 4,486.50 4,485

LEAD 1,647.00 1,621

NICKEL 8,405.00 8,505

TIN 13,950.00 13,750

ZINC 1,478.50 1,509

LONDON METAL EXCHANGE

LIFFE COFFEE

MANILA COPRA (based on 6% moisture)

Peso/100kg Buyer/Seller

Lag/Qzn/Luc 3,400/3,410

Coconut Oil - Crude 64.50/65.50

COCONUT OIL (PHIL/IDN),$ per ton,

CIF Rotterdam

Feb. 16 / March 16 1,140.00

March 16 / April 16 1,145.00

COCONUT OIL (US)-cents/lb

Crude CIF, NY Nola March / April

Crude FOB rail Nola March

COCONUT

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

DOW JONES

OPEN: 16,519.17 CLOSE: 16,346.45

HIGH: 16,651.89 NET: -167.65

LOW: 16,314.57 PREV: 16,514.10

NASDAQ COMPOSITE


OPEN: 4,722.02 CLOSE: 4,643.63

HIGH: 4,742.57 NET: -45.80

LOW: 4,637.85 PREV: 4,689.43

FTSE


OPEN: 5,954.08 CLOSE: 5,912.44

HIGH: 6,013.38 NET: -41.64

LOW: 5,912.44 PREV: 5,954.08

DJ EURO STOXX


OPEN: 3,087.42 C LOSE: 3,033.47

HIGH: 3,114.45 NET: -51.21

LOW: 3 ,033.47 PREV: 3,084.68

225-NIKKEI


OPEN: 17,562.23 CLOSE: 17,697.96

HIGH: 17,975.31 NET: -69.38

LOW: 17,509.64 PREV: 17,767.34

KOSPI


OPEN: 1,897.18 CLOSE: 1,894.84

HIGH: 1,907.43 NET: -22.78

LOW: 1,892.69 PREV: 1,917.62

ASIA-DUBAI(JANUARY CONTRACT)

�

DOLLARS PER BBL30 days to January 8, 2016

Average (Jan. 4-8) $30.04Average (Dec. 1-31) $34.64

Jan. 4 5 6 7 8

$/bbl 32.40 31.20 30.20 27.20 29.20

NEW YORK-WTI(FEBRUARY CONTRACT)


Jan. 4 5 6 7 8

$/bbl 36.7

6 35.97 33.97 33.27 33.16

�

DOLLARS PER BBL30 days to January 8, 2016

LONDON-BRENT(FEBRUARY CONTRACT)


Jan. 4 5 6 7 8

$/bbl 37.22 36.42 34.23 33.75 33.55

� DOLLARS PER BBL30 days to January 8, 2016

Source: REUTERS

US COMMODITY FUTURES FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016Source: REUTERS

PLATINUM(JANUARY CONTRACT)


GOLD(JANUARY CONTRACT)


SILVER(JANUARY CONTRACT)


COPPER(JANUARY CONTRACT)


COFFEE(MARCH CONTRACT)


SUGAR(MARCH CONTRACT)


COCOA(MARCH CONTRACT)


WHEAT(MARCH CONTRACT)


Business World (Jan. 12, 2016)

Documents

Transcript of Business World (Jan. 12, 2016)