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T UE S DAY JANUARY 1 2 , 2 01 6 www.bwo r ld o n lin e.co m

VOL. XXIX ISSUE 117

OIL
JANUARY 8, 2016
CLOSE PREVIOUS
DUBAI 29.20 27.20
WTI
33.16 33.27
BRENT 33.55 33.75

S1/1-12 3 SECTIONS, 26 PAGES

Main index enters bear market

ARE THE GOOD TIMES OVER FOR EQUITIES?

By Krista A. M. Montealegre
Senior Reporter

THE BENCHMARK Philippine

Stock Exchange index (PSEi)
has entered a bear market, sinking to its lowest level in almost
two years, as foreign investors
continued to dump local equities
amid a global sell-off triggered by
lingering concerns about Chinas
economy.
A barometer of investor confidence, the 30-company PSEi
plunged 287.17 points or 4.37%
to close 6,288.26 yesterday, shaving 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
when emerging markets succumbed to massive fund outflows
after then Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that
the US central bank could start
tapering its quantitative easing
program.
For the second straight session, foreign investors logged net
sales of more than P1 billion, according 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
Bear, S1/2

April 10, 2015

The Philippine Stock Exchange
index closes at an all-time high after
dovish signals that a US rate hike
will be pushed to late 2015

August 24, 2015

The benchmark index falls to a
14-month low, shedding 6.7% or 487.97
points from the previous day on
concerns of a slowing China economy

8,127.48

6,791.01

Jan.
2015

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

last year from the $445 million

recorded in 2014s comparable
month.
Favorable investor sentiment on the back of the countrys
strong macroeconomic fundamentals 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 comparable months.
However, net inflows of other
FDI components fell: net eq-

uity capital inflows were halved

(-52.5%) to $101 million from
$213 million, while reinvested
earnings dipped 1.9% to $62 million from $63 million.
Bulk of equity capital investments that month largely from
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan,
Thailand and the United States
went to manufacturing; real
estate; financial and insurance;
administrative and support service; as well as electricity, gas,
steam and air-conditioning supply businesses.
Octobers tally brought yearto-date net inflows to $4.987 bil-

lion, 4.9% less than the $5.247

billion recorded in 2014s comparable 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 recorded a record-high $1.519 billion in net inflows.
The 10 months to October saw
an 11.6% annual drop to $2.81 billion in lending by foreign firms
to their local subsidiaries or affiliates and a 10.8% fall to $637
million in reinvested earnings
that were mitigated by a 13.9%
FDI, S1/2

-4.9%

YEAR-ON-YEAR
PERFORMANCE,
OCTOBER

5,247

1.4%

4,987
1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

2014

905

500

263
JANUARY

305 359

671

506

FEBRUARY

2015

229
MARCH

382
APRIL

433 403
MAY

554

403

451 452

JUNE

JULY

299

BEYOND

China not facing cataclysmic

slowdown, Stiglitz says
http://goo.gl/fUutuS

HIGH LIFE

526

AUGUST

SOURCE: BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS

E
ON TEHB
W

Sept.

Oct.

445 451

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

BUSINESSWORLD GRAPHICS: BONG R. FORTIN

Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan:

The fruit juice factory
http://goo.gl/5KirPU

680

BEIJING

With luxury Acura

makeover, Honda
aims for brand survival

As part of a broader makeover

and even the survival of
its stalled luxury Acura brand,
Japans 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 worlds
biggest car market, two individuals closely involved in the effort
said. S3/3
KHOBAR/DUBAI

Aramco to sell
downstream
operations
AROUN
D
Saudi Arabia
THE
is considering
WORL
D
selling 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
NEW YORK

Asian stocks fall

with oil, rand as China
equity slump deepens

1,519

1,500
1,000

Aug.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.
2016

SOURCE: TECHNISTOCK
BUSINESSWORLD RESEARCH:
JOCHEBED B. GONZALES AND DINDO F. PARAGAS
BUSINESSWORLD GRAPHICS: BONG R. FORTIN

(in $ million)

January 4, 2016
The local stock market
ends the years first
trading day in the red,
the first since the
1.56% decline when
trades began in 2010

6,288.26

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS

IN THE PHILIPPINES
JANUARY - OCTOBER
PERFORMANCE

6,833.42

January 11, 2016

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

Year-to-date net FDI fall slows further in Oct.

but inflows a third of Septembers record high
THE DROP of year-to-date net
foreign direct investment (FDI)
inflows had eased further on an
annual increment in October last
year, but that months amount
was just a third of the record high
logged in September, according 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 up
1.4% to $451 million in October

6,952.08
December 29, 2015
The local stock
market drops 3.85%
from its 7,230.57 close
in 2014, ending the
Philippine equity
markets 6-year run

Asian stocks extended last

weeks global rout, oil dropped
and the South African rand led
a slump in emerging-market
currencies as Chinas efforts to
stabilize the yuan failed to halt
a slump in equities. European
stock-index futures slid for a
fourth day. S3/4

EVENTS CALENDAR

PHL banks outstanding loans,

NTC broadband hearing
http://goo.gl/9qRlCS

BoC marks
7th year of
missed goals
THE BUREAU of Customs (BoC)
has missed its collection target
for the seventh consecutive year
in 2015, posting even lower revenues than that recorded the preceding year, according to official
data released yesterday.
The bureau said in a statement
that it raked in P366.9 billion last
year, about 16% below the governments full-year target of P436.6
billion and 0.6% less than the
P369.3 billion collected in 2014.
In December alone, the bureau
booked 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 continued slump in global oil prices.
The bureau listed its Zamboanga, Legaspi and Iloilo offices
as last years top performers for
exceeding their respective collection targets by P175 million,
P290 million and P2.3 billion,
respectively.
On the other hand, the bureaus offices in Aparri Limay and
San Fernando registered the biggest shortfalls of P455 million,
P23 billion and P835 million,
respectively.
Data from the Department of
Budget and Management show
the bureau has never met its fullyear collection targets since 2009,
with actual amounts falling 1021% short.
In 2008, the bureau managed
to exceed a P254.5-billion target
BoC, S1/2

A NEWSPAPER IS A PUBLIC TRUST

FOLLOW US ON:

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2/S1

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

After record year for mergers and acquisitions,

privatization to sustain Vietnams deals blitz
HANOI/SINGAPORE Foreign
firms are set to capitalize on Vietnams 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 Vietnams $186-billion economy last year, which as recently
as 2011 was fighting a 20-plus%
inflation rate and a banking sector saddled with bad debt.
With strong momentum in the
Vietnamese economy and Vietnamese companies continuing to
grow in scale, the opportunity for

foreign companies to engage in sizable transactions and partnerships

has become increasingly attractive, said Rehan Anwer, head of
Frontier Markets, at Credit Suisse.
Vietnams economy grew
6.68% in 2015, the fastest pace in
five years. By comparison, growth
in the economies of most of its
bigger Southeast Asian neighbors
isnt 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 Singha Asias $1.1 billion stake purchases 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 materialize in 2016 include a potential
$900 million sale of mobile network provider Mobifone and a
partial privatization of Binh
Son Refining and Petrochemical
Company, said a senior executive of an advisory firm with close
links to the government.
Deals are also likely in the
textiles, footwear, construction
and machinery sectors as investors position themselves before
Vietnam and 11 other countries

implement the Trans Pacific

Partnership accord.
The government has thrown
open several sectors for foreign investors, as a long-waited
rule kicked in last year allowing
foreigners to own up to 100%
in Vietnamese listed firms, except for some sectors such as
property and transportation.
In banks, the government has
promised to raise the 30% maximum 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

AFP

THIS PICTURE taken on Sept. 17, 2015 shows a migrant worker who works as street
vendor cycling along downtown Hanoi.

Bear,

from S1/ 1
markets being hit by wild price
swings in varying degrees, PSE
Chief Operating Officer Roel A.
Refran said in a mobile phone
message yesterday.
Negative developments
overseas continue to affect the
performance of global equities,
including the Philippine market. Money managers, including 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 given strong BPO (business process
outsourcing) performance, robust consumer sector, lower inflation 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 temper the volatility over the coming
periods, he said.

Investors are staying on the

sidelines and waiting for the PSEi
to 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 its 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 telephone interview.
We think investors with a
long-term view can take advantage 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 breaching another key
support level at 6,300, the PSEis
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 resilient, but with last
years poor earnings, investors
were definitely disappointed.

BoC,

from S1/ 1
by P2.3 billion, according to data
obtained from the Customs commissioners office.
Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina conceded to having 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 during the elections period.
The newly appointed collectors 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 capabilities.
The Department of Finance
formed the ORAM in 2013, following the reassignment of
certain district collectors to the
Customs Policy Research Office
in the wake of poor collections.
But Congress has rejected allocations for ORAM this year.
Its 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, except 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 International 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. Holganza to the Port of Cebu (replacing 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 Customs Code of the Philippines by
heart, the bureau said.
We also need a strengthened
push in terms of our investigations against smugglers and
getting convictions. K. R. D.
Mariano

FDI,

from S1/ 1
increase in net equity capital
placements to $1.54 billion.
The central bank still expects
net FDI inflows to have reached
$6 billion in 2015 even after revising other macroeconomic assumptions during the Monetary
Boards 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 bank
data showed that for the first
three quarters alone, Singapore
had already raked in $48.648 billion, Indonesia received $16.906
billion, Malaysia recorded $7.817
billion, while Thailand got $6.311
billion.
Reuters had also reported that
Vietnams net inflows could have
reached $11.8 billion from January to October. Melissa Luz
T. Lopez

EDITOR CATHY ROSE A. GARCIA

BRIEFS

Abra Mining to raise P1-B

via private placement
ABRA MINING and Industrial Corporation (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 Philippine-registered 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 common shares that will be lent out would
come from AMICs 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 its
private 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 forwarding 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>

ICTSI unit completes rail

facility modernization

PORT 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 Programme Infrastructure and Environment.
The new rail facility can now accommodate 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 Officer Krzysztof Szymborski was quoted
in a statement as saying.
The Port of Gdynia Authority handled
the development and modernization of
the BCTs rail network and other related
infrastructure, while BCT acquired two
rail-mounted gantry cranes from Kocks
Krane GmbH for handling of full container cranes. The crane can handle more
than 30 moves an hour.
The ICTSI subsidiary said it is planning to continue upgrading the train
service by investing in electric traction,
in order to improve train maneuvering at
the Baltic port.

Credit rating on EDCs

retail bonds maintained

PHILIPPINE RATING Services Corp.

(PhilRatings) kept the highest credit rating 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 EDCs 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 assigned to EDCs 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 producers
ample cash flows, growing portfolio
of renewable energy projects, and
strong revenue generation and sustained profitability.
EDC is the leading producer of
geothermal 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 companys portfolio in the
coming years.
Shares of EDC dropped 2.81% to
close at P5.54 apiece on Mondays trading. Janina C. Lim

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Corporate News

S1/3

Yellow Cab Pizza to enter China market

By Krista A. M. Montealegre
Senior Reporter

MAXS GROUP, Inc. hopes to

make it big in China with its Western-style homegrown pizza brand
despite stiff competition and concerns of a slowdown in the worlds
second-largest economy.
The Philippines bigg est
casual dining operator inked
yesterday a development
agreement with Chinas JuyangYiTong 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
Maxs Group, said in a briefing in
Makati City yesterday.
Maxs Group is venturing into
China at a time when its economy
is facing sluggish growth. The
Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) entered a bear market
yesterday amid a global sell-off
sparked by concerns on the health
of Chinas economy.
Were still looking at consumer spending. China is a big
market. Having new choices, especially to that market, is a great
opportunity still. People are
there to try, which is good for us.
Its still a big market and we are
excited about it, Maxs Group
President and Chief Executive
Officer Robert F. Trota said.
Zhongfa CEO Mike Zhang
said there is room for new en-

HOMEGROWN pizza brand Yellow Cab Pizza will soon open in Hebei province, China.
trants in Chinas 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 experiences, Mr. Zhang said.
The Zhongfa Group is also
engaged in commercial real
estate, electronic business
and hotel management, with

operations spanning across

China, the Philippines, Kenya,
Palau, Switzerland, and soon in
Canada.
The first Yellow Cab Pizza
store in China has two prospective locations close to the university 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 accounting for 1.6% of the $125-billion
global pizza market from
$822 million in 2007, Max s
Group said in a statement, citing data from Euromonitor International.
Maxs 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 Pizzas foray into
China is part of Maxs Groups
bigger goal of putting up 200
international stores overseas
by 2020. By that time, the company aims to have a network of
1,000 stores.
Maxs Group has identified
Asia Pacific, the Middle East
and North America as priority areas for expansion, with
brands Maxs, Pancake House,
Teriyaki Boy and Sizzlin Steak
expected to join Yellow Cab in
driving the firms global expansion 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 beyond that and we are setting our
sights to the 200 [overseas] stores
by 2020, Mr. Trota said
Maxs Group was operating
34 stores overseas last year,
with 19-20 stores targ eted
to be rolled out in 2016, Mr.
Trota said. It closed 2015 with
around 600 stores across its
stable of brands in the Philippines and overseas.
Our performance in 2015
was obviously much better
than what we had in 2014. We
opened 79 stores for 2015 and
we will continue to expand and
grow in 2016, ranging from 6080 stores across all our brands,
he said.
Shares in Maxs Group lost
74 centavos or 4.23% to close at
P16.76 each on Monday.

Cirtek Holdings invests in Banataos start-up CloudMondo

By Daphne J. Magturo Reporter
CIRTEK Holdings Philippines Corp. said
it is now a cornerstone investor in CloudMondo, a technology start-up founded by
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Diosdado P.
Banatao that aims to provide high-bandwidth wireless Internet across Southeast
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 appointed by Cirtek as adviser to the board,
is the chairman of Cloud Mondo.
The investment structure is via preferred shares convertible to common
shares upon listing in an exchange, at
which time the equity value will be determined, Cirtek Treasurer and Chief
Financial Officer Anthony S. Buyawe explained 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-Fi access is too expensive and
characterized by slow, unreliable con-

AboitizPower may tap Russia,

Australia as sources of coal
By Carmelito Q. Francisco
Correspondent

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 Equity 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 Cogeneration Corp.; and the 420-MW Pagbilao
3 plant in Quezon, an expansion of the
existing 735-MW facility, in partnership
with TeaM Energy Corp.
Sebastian R. Lacson, head of the companys 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 1,000MW in coal-fired power plants, excluding those that are under partnerships

has been buying coal from Kalimantan, Indonesia because of the quality
and competitive price.
However, he said AboitizPower foresees the need to eventually consider
Australia and Russia as possible sources.
AboitizPower Chief Executive Officer Erramon I. Aboitiz, at the inauguration of the new coal plant here last
week, said the company is aiming to
have 2,000 MW output by 2020.
The newly-opened 300-MW coal
fired power plant, located at the boundary 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 plants 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 fluidized 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 ensuring that the plant would have the
least adverse effect on the environment
and the community.

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-Hakima 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 companys
business from manufacturing to connectivity and content.
With the deal, Cirtek is expected to
start manufacturing and supplying millimeter wave radios in the 60 to 80 GHz
spectrum to Cloudmondo.

Leading global IT (information technology) companies and

e-commerce businesses like Apple,
Paypal, Google and Facebook recently
announced that they are all moving
towards using 60-80 GHz broadband
wireless technology for connectivity 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 becoming the default content access medium, there is a large regional and global
opportunity, Mr. Buyawe said.
Shares in Cirtek ended yesterdays
trading at P17.80 apiece, down by 90 centavos or 4.81%.

4/S1

Economy

The

EDITOR TIMOTHY ROY MEDINA

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Philippines moved on
monetary policy ahead
of the crowd BSP

FREEPIK.COM

Big banks hurdle stress test

simulating property downturn
By Melissa Luz T. Lopez
Reporter

A PROPERTY-DRIVEN banking
bust remains far-fetched with
Philippine institutions wellprovisioned against loans turning 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 universal and commercial banks and
market indicators set by international 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 capital that we imposed on the banks,
Mr. Guinigundo said during the
Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum.
In any event, at this point, we
dont see any signs of stress in the
real estate sector.

The test was conducted under standards set by the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS)
and by the International Monetary 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 central bank official.
Under BSP rules, banks can allot a maximum of 20% of their total loan portfolio to real property.
They must also keep at least a
10% CAR well above the 8% international 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-September, total
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 estate 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 to
caution on the part of real property developers, Mr. Guinigundo
said, with property firms having
learned from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
We can also say that we
are in touch with various real
estate developers the bigger
ones and it is very comforting to know that our real estate
developers have become more
prudent, more discreet with respect to their expansion plans,
the BSP official said.
They have learned their lesson, they dont 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 exposed to possible defaults, he
added.

PRICE INDEX IN THE WORKS

The BSP is also working to establish a real property price index

within the year to better track asset prices and check for any looming bubbles, Mr. Guinigundo said,
though he added that banks need

to provide more data for better

monitoring.
Circular 892 signed on Nov. 16
orders all lenders to submit quarterly 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 holding companies whose floated
bonds ended up financing real
estate activities and credit for socialized housing.
We have now a more comprehensive definition of the exposure
to real estate. Its more dependable, Mr. Guinigundo said.
The central bank currently
monitors property prices, but no
index allows it to track averages
across periods, locations and market segments to determine whether a bubble is forming for them to
see the need for preemptive action.
Instead, the BSP relies on indicators such as price-to-earnings
ratio to measure developers valuations, and price-to-income ratio
to assess the real estate industrys
expansion.

DoJ postpones prison PPP bid opening to Feb. 5

THE DEPARTMENT of Justices
(DoJ) procurement panel has
postponed to Feb. 5 the opening
of bids for the P50.2-billion prison facility to be built via publicprivate partnership (PPP).
Pre- Qualification, Bids and
Awards Committee (PBAC) legal
counsel Senior State Counsel Rosario Elena Laborte-Cuevas cited
outstanding issues that need to
be threshed out before bid submission.
Among these issues is the
Office of the Solicitor- General
and the Department of Finances
ongoing review of the final buildtransfer-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 confirmation 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 NEDAs 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 previously scheduled for Sept. 21,
but the process was disrupted

following the transfer of thenchairperson Undersecretary Jose

Vicente F. Salazar to the Energy
Regulatory 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 maintenance period; the winning concessionaire will also be in charge
of provisions for staff housing,
prisoner rehabilitation and hightech security equipment.

The Bureau of Corrections,

a DoJ-attached agency, will administer the facility to be located
at the Fort Magsaysay military
reservation in Nueva Ecija. With
a capacity of 26,880 inmates, the
prison will accommodate convicts to be transferred from the
congested New Bilibid Prisons in
Muntinlupa City and Correction
Institute for Women in Mandaluyong 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. Aquino III. Vince Alvic Alexis F.
Nonato

TWEAKS TO MONETARY policy

will remain data-driven, a central
bank official 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-anticipated lift-off in interest rates by
the United States Federal Reserve
finally held during their Dec. 1516 meeting and Chinas economic
slowdown, central banks worldwide 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 Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy
Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo
said, with the economy remaining
well-placed to weather external
volatilities.
As early as 2014, we had preemptive moves when we learned
the US Fed would adjust interest
rates and at the same time the
countrys economy was growing,
Mr. Guinigundo said during the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum. Unlike other economies in the region
and outside the region, the Philippine economy continues to be
robust. It is growing, it is expanding
and inflation is down external sector continues to be healthy.
Nauna tayo (we moved first)
so we dont need to adjust immediately.
The BSPs policy setting
Monetary Board last adjusted its
stance in September 2014 and has
stayed at these levels all throughout 2015.
As of the Monetary Boards Dec.
17 policy meeting, rates for shortterm placements of banks placed
under the central banks 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
dont need to lower or introduce
additional stimulus because the
economy could accommodate
and could absorb some upper adjustment in interest rates, Mr.
Guinigundo added.
The balance of payments position remained in surplus as of
end-November at $2.14 billion, a
tad above the $2-billion assumption 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 adjust if adjustments 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 rising and the inflation rate remains

within target of 2%-4% for 2016,
we dont have to act.
Inflation averaged 1.4% for
2015, matching the central banks
forecast rate for the year and falling below the official target 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 added that the upcoming May 9 presidential 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 a
more stable movement of the peso
this year owing to the countrys
sound macroeconomic position.
At times there will be more
dominant negative market sentiment 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 dont expect, but given the
strong macroeconomic support, we
should be seeing a more stable currency movement in 2016 and even
beyond, Mr. Guinigundo said.
The BSP is trying to do continued stabilization of the macroeconomy not only in terms of
monetary policy but also in terms
of banking supervision and payments and settlements system.
We will continue to be doing our
mandates under the law.
The peso closed yesterday at
P47.27, against last weeks P47.165
to log its weakest close for the
year so far.

INTEREST RATE CORRIDOR

ON TRACK

The BSP is also gearing up towards the planned shift to the

interest rate corridor scheme of
setting policy rates by the second
quarter, with monetary authorities yet to settle the tenor lengths
for term deposits.
Mr. Guinigundo said that the
central bank is looking at issuing seven-day and 28-day term
deposits to be auctioned off under
the interest rate corridor system
as 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 increase the tenor it might bump
with the 91-day Treasury bill rate.
We dont 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

OPINION

Renewing business registration

varies by the establishments activities.

t is day 12 of 2016. Corporations,
Situs rules apply if a specific company
partnerships, professionals and
maintains a branch, factory, warehouse,
sole proprietorships should already
or plantation in various localities. Maybe working on the renewal of their reors permit and other fees and charges,
spective business registration/permits
are usually charged as a fixed amount
with the local government units (LGUs).
by LGUs.
Im sharing in this article some issues
Businesses should be aware that the
that business establishments may enbasis of the LBT is gross sales/receipts
counter in the renewal of their business
of the preceding year. Some LGUs reregistration.
fuse to consider a lower LBT than that
Under the Local Government Code
paid in the previous year, even if gross
(LGC), all establishments are required
sales/receipts register
to annually renew
a decline. In such cases,
their registration with
businesses must also
the LGUs. The annual
be keen in protecting
renewal of business ED WARREN L.
their rights to ensure
registration consists BALAUAG
that LBT is correctly
of, but is not limited
computed.
to, payment of local business tax (LBT),
Renewal and payment of LBT must
mayors permit fee, sanitary inspection
be made on or before the 20th of Janufee, garbage fee, building inspection
fee, electrical inspection fee, mechaniary of each year. Payment of LBT may
cal inspection fee, plumbing inspection
be done annually, semi-annually (July
fee, fire inspection fee, personnel fee,
20) or quarterly (April 20, July 20 and
business plate registration fee and other
October 20) depending on the schedule
charges imposed by the various LGUs.
of payment chosen by the business.
The LBT is based on gross sales/reThe deadline applies to all cities and
ceipts while the applicable LBT rate
municipalities. The LGC, however, al-

LETS TALK TAX

lows LGUs to extend the time of payment 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% interest per month which is computed not
only the unpaid amount but also on the
surcharge.
On the other hand, businesses that
fail to renew their business permit
are, technically, not allowed to operate
within the territory of the LGU.
Every separate or distinct establishment or place of business, including facilities 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 Revenue 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 punished 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 assessment
and collection of LBT.
According to PEZA law, PEZA-registered entities are exempt from paying
LBT regardless of whether they are enjoying 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 mayors permit fees and other

regulatory fees.
In case the company generates income 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 corporate 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 registration 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 the
taxes and fees that are due.
Lets start 2016 on a high note.

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.

Economy

The
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

S1/5

AFP

COUNTING BANK NOTES at a foreign exchange counter in Manila

Peso weakness eases

impact of remittance
slowdown StanChart
MONEY SENT HOME by overseas Filipinos may have increased
at a faster pace in November due
to 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 banks regional economist for Asia, said in
an outlook issued 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 historical trends.
Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos totaled $2.232 billion in October, slightly up from
the $2.228 billion recorded a year
earlier and from Septembers
$2.20 billion.
Remittances from the [United
States] fell by double digits in October and likely remained a drag
on overall remittance growth,
Mr. Ng noted.
However, given a weaker Philippine peso in the latter half of the
year, the headline remittance result 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 countrys exports to have contracted at a slower pace of 3.9%,
compared with the 10.8% decline
seen in October.
External demand was subdued 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 continued 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 electronic 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 continue 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

THE PHILIPPINES stands to

gain $10 billion worth of cobenefits annually from slashing
50% from its carbon emissions
by 2050, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report
launched yesterday.
The indirect benefits from deliberate climate action represent
around 0.5% of the countrys gross
domestic product (GDP), according 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 estimated at around
1.8% of the GDP.
Including co-benefits and
climate change benefits... the net
benefits are higher than costs,
Francesco Bosello, who co-authored the report, said during the
launch.
The co-benefits largely reflect
reduction in pollution-related
mortality, transport congestion
and transport accidents, assum-

A LEGISLATOR on Monday proposed that the government 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 feasibility of offering up to P150 billion worth of Kalayaan retail
bonds to support the Armed Forces of the Philippines
Modernization Program, amid the countrys long-running
row with China over territorial waters, a statement from
House Deputy Minority Leader and LPGMA (LPG Marketers Association) party-list Rep. Arnel U. Ty read.
The bulk of the additional funds raised from the bond offering may be set aside to acquire new warships additional
frigates and corvettes for deployment to the West Philippine Sea, Mr. Ty was quoted as saying in the statement.
He cited a Congressional Planning and Budget
Office (CPBO) report which shows that the Aquino administration has spent P50.73 billion for the militarys
ongoing Capability Upgrade Program (CUP).

and has a population of around 8.8

million.
PEZA, an agency attached with the Department 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 investments in
the export-oriented manufacturing industry.
The PEZA-registered projects, which
enjoys tax incentives, 1.243 million new
jobs as of October, up 7.7% from 1.154 million in the same period in 2014.
These projects are expected to contribute $36.63 billion in export revenues as of
October, slightly lower than the $36.84
billion in 2014. Victor V. Saulon

Ban sought on microbeads

in personal care products
ENVIRONMENTAL groups are pushing legislators to pass a law that will ban the manufacture of products containing plastic microbeads, a practice that the organization claims
pollutes the aquatic ecosystem.
On Monday, the Ecowaste Coalition and
Oceana Philippines issued a statement calling 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 subsequently
polluting the oceans with minuscule, nonbiodegradable 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 personal 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

duction goal when compared to

those of Indonesia, Malaysia,
Thailand and Vietnam, according
to the ADB report.

Energy efficiency improvement is one of the

key options that need to be
exploited to reduce emissions. Of course energy efficiency 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
fuels and eventually
reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
The Philippines, along with
Vietnam, will likely benefit from
the proposed global carbon market by selling excess carbon emissions rights to other countries
like Indonesia.
If reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation credits are not allowed
to enter the global carbon market, increased carbon prices will
raise carbon permit export values to $160 billion in 2015, the
report said. Keith Richard D.
Mariano

Bond issue proposed to fund ships for South China Sea

PEZA to sign investment deal

with government of Osaka
OSAKA PREFECTURE, one of Japans
major industrial regions, has sent a business 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 memorandum of understanding with Lilia B. De
Lima, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (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
with strong development prospects,
the Trade department said. The visit
is scheduled from Jan. 12 to 14. Osaka
is on Japans main island of Honshu. It
is roughly in the center of the country

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
which are part of the benefits
derived from reduced climate
damage.
In the absence of climaterelated 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 emissions by 5.7% in 2030 from 2010
levels, the Manila-based multilateral lender said, citing targets
outlined by the countrys energy
sector.
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 Philippines has the
most stringent emission re-

AFP

ADB makes cost-benefit case

for curbing carbon emissions

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 implemented by the United States government,
which passed last Dec. 28 the MicrobeadFree Waters Act which provides for the
eventual phase out of microbeads in consumer products.
Under the US law, companies are required
to stop using these microbeads in their products by July 2017 and to stop selling them by
2018.
In the Senate, at least one proposed law
has been filed by Senator Miriam DefensorSantiago through Senate Bill No. 2135, otherwise 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

Under the 2016 budget, the Department of National

Defenses P116.1-billion budget includes another P25billion allotment for the CUP.
We have to invest in new warships to secure the
West Philippine Seas 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 countrys 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 administrations were only able to implement 45 projects
worth P31.75 billion.

Republic Act No. 10349 or the revised AFP Modernization 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

6/S1

Opinion

EDITOR ROBERT J.A. BASILIO, JR.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

EMPOWERING CONSUMERS
IN THE HEALTH SECTOR
M.A.P. INSIGHTS
RONALD 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.

f one looks back at the Aquino

administrations accomplishments, important reforms
related to human capital investments, notably in the health sector, will surely be part of its legacy.
For example, the passage of the
Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 triggers government programs to help
families remain manageable in size.
Eventually, one hopes this puts the
country in a better position to concentrate and deepen public sector
and household level investments
among fewer children.
In addition, the passage of
the Sin Tax Law of 2012 helps to

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The youth and its role in Filipino social
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mobilize and channel resources

for health sector investments,
including a more inclusive and
well-financed health insurance system (e.g. PhilHealth).
Already, the Sin Tax generated
$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 evidence generated by government researchers suggests that enrollment
does not automatically translate
to access. Other policy innovations are now underway to help

ALMA MARIA
O. SALVADOR

Matthew Keys

Beyond preparedness,
the climate-proofing of
local governance requires
the establishment of
climate change adaptive
communities.

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Erosion of the 1982 Forbes 400 listees and their

families in subsequent lists, relative to 1982

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RAUL L. LOCSIN
Founder

ROBY ALAMPAY
Editor-in-Chief

HEALTH SECTOR
COMPETITIVENESS

The health care and medical tourism sectors have been identified
among the potential sunrise industries of the Philippines. According
to Euromonitor, sales from health
and wellness tourism in the Philippines more than doubled from
2007 to 2012 these two sectors
combined increased by around
118% during this period. Medical
tourism alone grew by 155% with
sales reaching P52.4 billion in 2012
from P20.5 billion in 2007.
Bullish private sector demand
for health services is mirrored by
resurgence in public sector spend-

ing in this area. Challenges nevertheless remain, notably on the

inclusiveness of health care services
for the vast majority of poor and
low-income households. The largest
share of total health expenditure for
2012 is from out-of-pocket sources
at 58%. For a poor household, this
remains an effective barrier to
access, and in many cases curbs
health-seeking behavior itself.
Furthermore, it is well known that
many government primary health
care centers lag in quality services.

BETTER MARKET INFORMATION

Ultimately, through its impact on both quality and price,

Climate-proofing
governance
in the Philippines
BLUEBOARD

@MatthewKeysLive
With $1.3 billion you could buy Instagram at
Facebook value.

poor and low-income consumers

access the health system more
effectively, including efforts to
reduce out-of-pocket share of
spending, streamlined procedures and direct assistance to
navigate the health system and its
requirements.
The above reforms could be
a powerful force for inclusiveness in the health sector if further
steps are taken to achieve better
quality and more competitive services for the low-income market
segment. Both public and private
sector stakeholders in health
have an important role to play in
this regard.

increased competition in the

health sector could be good for
all consumers of health services, 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 innovations have recently been rolled
out by the Department of Health
(DoH), providing consumers,
civil society, and other health sector stakeholders with the means
to hold industry players much
more accountable:
Drug Price Watch (dpw.doh.
gov.ph/) is an online repository of
drug prices which allows health
sector consumers and practitioners to monitor the prices and
availability of medicines in different locations. This allows them
to weigh options; and this should
trigger more effective competition across drug outlets.
Drug Price Reference Index
(ncpam.doh.gov.ph/index.php/
drug-price-reference) has been

n the US presidential elections of 2000, Al Gore received more votes than

George W. Bush but it was Mr.
Bush who was inaugurated as
president of the United States
of America. There have been in
the history of that country three
other candidates John Quincy
Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, and
Benjamin Harrison who received fewer votes than their opponents but were the ones sworn
in as president. That is because
in the American electoral system, the voters do not directly
elect the president, a preselected
group of elite people called the
Electoral College does.
In many First World countries the United Kingdom,
Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia, Canada, and Japan
and in Thailand, Malaysia,
and Singapore, the leader of the
party that wins the most number of seats in the legislative
body or Parliament becomes
the 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

uring the Ateneo-GawadKalinga (GK) ceremony

that turned over German
Village GK St. Joseph houses to 21
families last Dec. 21, 2015, Nueva
Ecija Mayor Gloria Baby CrespoCongco said that the municipality
of Cabiao has never experienced
such destruction as did the damage wrought by the twin typhoons
Lando and Nona at the closing of
2015. As if the images of hectares
of drowned rice fields were not
enough, Congco shared stories that
highlighted the mesh of poverty
and hopelessness suffered by farmers when calamitous events such as
typhoons and floods damage their
livelihoods and drain local government financial resources.
What is missing from Mayor
Congcos speech is a perspective
of the climate change-driven security and governance challenges
that constantly confront rural local governments such as Cabiao
and Gabaldon. Behind these challenges is the limited capacity of
local governments to implement

disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) measures showing that no amount of planning
fully prepares them from extreme
events. Additionally, there is the
lack of local access to technical
know-how and funds to climate
change (CC), proof that the agricultural and fisheries sectors,
which are the backbone of peoples
livelihoods, but yet are the most
vulnerable to climate change risks.
Losses in agricultural production, in lives and infrastructure that
have accompanied the stronger and
more devastating storms, such as
Lando (Koppu) in Central Luzon
in 2015; Yolanda (Haiyan) in the
Visayas in 2013; Pablo (Bopha) in
Southern Mindanao in 2012; Ondoy (Ketsana) in Northern Luzon
in 2009 confirm the emergence of a
new (climatic) normal that requires
new local governance imperatives.
Given the extreme vulnerability of the rice granaries in Nueva
Ecija, Cagayan Valley and Mindanao, a National Climate Change
Action Plan, 2011-2028 assesses

Because we let
the people decide
character, a daughter of a former
president who was made to look
like a popular singer/actress, and
the son of the housewife who became president. Another actor
could have been elected president 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
from the entertainment industry
as their national leaders.
In 1987, they elected to the
Senate, where the voices of intellectual giants like Manuel L.
Quezon, Manuel A. Roxas, Jose P.
Laurel, Claro M. Recto, Lorenzo
M. Taada, and Jose W. Diokno
once reverberated, the man who
portrayed the notorious gangster
Asiong Salonga in several movies, 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 because the man ran as Jose Bautista, his real name.
In the 1992 senatorial race, the
same man ran again.
This time the people voted
for Jose Bautista because he ran
as Ramon Revilla, Sr., the actor
who gained a large following for
portraying another gangland
character, the infamous Nardong
Putik. He placed third in an election contest that saw former Cory
C. Aquinos Health Secretary Alfredo Rafael A. Bengzon, Trade
and Industry Secretary Jose S.
Concepcion, Jr., and SolicitorGeneral Francisco I. Chavez go
down in defeat.
In the five years Mr. Estrada
was in the Senate, he authored
one bill that passed into law
the banning of the slaughter
of carabaos. In cognizance of
that solitary accomplishment,
the people elected him vicepresident. They also sent to the
Senate other men and women

who distinguished themselves

in the entertainment industry.
There was Vicente Tito C.
Sotto III, star of the TV sitcom
Eat Bulaga, the No. 1 medium
of toilet humor. He must have
impressed the people the year
before with his dazzling participation in the Great Debate
on the extension of the RP-US
Military Bases Treaty. A rally
was organized by the proponents 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 costar Aiza Seguerra, then only
seven years old, sex symbol Nanette Medved, a non-Filipino,
and actress Sharmaine Ruffa
R. Gutierrez leading the chant
Yes na yes to the bases.
That unique display of erudition and eloquence got the people
to elect him senator in 1992. In
fact, he was the topnotcher among
the winning candidates.

WILFREDO G. REYES Managing Editor l ALICIA A. HERRERA, CATHY ROSE A. GARCIA, RICKY S. TORRE, BETTINA FAYE V. ROC Associate Editors l MARIA ELOISA I. CALDERON Editor-at-Large
ROBERT J.A. BASILIO, JR. Opinion and Engagement Editor FRANCISCO P. BALTAZAR Foreign News Editor l TIMOTHY ROY MEDINA Online Managing Editor l MIRA CATHERINE B. GLORIA Online Editor l BRIAN M. AFUANG Visual Editor

The brilliant lawyer and Harvard Law alumnus Juan Ponce

Enrile, who voted against the
extension of the RP-US-bases
treaty, decided not to run for reelection to the Senate that year
because he loathed the prospect
of debating with Mr. Sotto on the
floor of the Upper Chamber.
Another winner in the senatorial race of that year was
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. She
had one outstanding credential,
daughter of former president
Diosdado P. Macapagal. She ran
under the name Gloria Macapagal instead of Gloria Arroyo, her
married name. She won on that
basis but having placed only
13 th, 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 Aunor. She placed No. 1 that second time around.
In 1998, the people elected
the action star Estrada president, the Nora Aunor look-alike
vice-president, and reelected
Messrs. Revilla and Sotto senators. The people added another
celebrity from the sports
world, this time to the roster of senators, Robert Sonny
Jaworski. Failing election to
the Senate that year were Yale
master in law and former Com-

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established by the DoH for all

essential medicines in order to
guide national and local health
facilities in their more efficient
procurement of pharmaceutical products. This responds to
the well-known variability in
procurement prices in national
and local public health offices 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 information, the DoH could more effectively monitor which health
offices could dramatically improve their drugs procurement.
From a governance point of view,
civil society watchdogs and the
Commission on Audit could use
this information database to ferret out anomalous transactions
as well.
Hospital Advisor (HospitalAdvisor.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 allows smaller and more competitive players to showcase their
services and more effectively
amenities. For consumers, it
provides a searchable platform
from which they could more
effectively choose hospital services. It also provides them a
direct-feedback opportunity to
publicly rate their hospital services for quality and effectiveness. Think TripAdvisor.com for
hospitals.
Ultimately, many of these
information-based reforms
seek to empower consumers by
providing them a choice in the
health market. Quite understandably, many of these reforms are
disturbing parts of the industry
that have gotten used to years of
weak competition, leaving many
consumers poorly informed.
Greater access to market information could therefore serve as
a game changer.
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. With this in mind,
the approach of the DoH to empower consumers could be a very
effective strategy. n

and establishes the countrys vulnerability to climate change risks.

In support of this framework
are the emergent stories from the
ground that attest to the severe
impacts of excessive rainfall,
drought, temperature variabilities
and unpredictable seasonality
on cropping and harvesting (see
Oxfam-GBs Framework analysis
and action for the Rural Sector
at www.pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/
files/documents/efiles/webmaster/
rural-sector-climate-change-resilience.pdf) realities that are resonated in former Ateneo President
Fr. Ben Nebres, SJs most recent
call for humanitarian action for
the farmers of Cabiao, when 40%
of the rice crops and 100% of the
vegetable crops are gone.
Beyond preparedness, the
climate-proofing of local governance requires the establishment
of climate change adaptive
communities. It involves the
application of vulnerability and
adaptation assessments, local climate change development plans
and tools for equipping local governments with information and
measures to manage, cope and
adapt to climate change risks.
Climate-proofing the agricultural sector also requires the development of hybrid crop varieties
and the propagation of climateresilient planting, harvesting and
intercropping technologies. It entails the organization of alternative
cropping schedules and practices
as well as the institution of crop
insurance for farmers protection.
Rapplers Pia Ranadas discussion of a disaster-ready and
climate-resilient eco-town in San

Vicente, Palawan is instructive of

this emergent trend. In Cabiao and
Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, beyonddisaster relief measures are beginning to include the distribution
of rice seedlings for immediate
replanting, planting of alternative
crops such as sweet potatoes and
the mobilization of the communitys labor force to revisit traditional means of flood control.
During the Asia-Europe Meeting Conference on DRRM in 2014,
Philippine President Benigno
Aquino III spoke of the governments efforts to climate-proof
our path to progress.
Centered on how his government refused to be condemned to
a vicious cycle of construction and
reconstruction, his policy statement creates a platform that major
presidential contenders Senator
Grace Poe, Vice-President Jejomar
C. Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte and Manuel Mar
A. Roxas II should build on in
their campaigns (see Rapplers
Maria Ressas interviews of these
candidates, #TheLeaderIWant).
While the candidates platforms
reflect that an integrated CC-DRRM
in development and governance is
a non-debate, each should create
spaces that widen the discussion of
their respective disaster response
and climate change platforms.
Senator Poes election campaign
highlights her role in having filed
Senate Bill No. 2424 which seeks
the protection of watersheds that
support national irrigation systems.
The bill acknowledges the critical
role of watersheds as catch basins
for filling up irrigation systems and
in supporting agriculture which

it identifies as extremely vulnerable

to climate change and to mining.
Binays populist platform includes increasing to 50% the use of
renewable energy in the Philippine
energy mix by 2030. He spoke of
the implementation of DRRM, climate change laws, urban planning,
retrofitting, capacity building, and
resilient housing at the local level.
Roxas role as the former interior and local government secretary,
has given him an edge to change
and improve the processes of the
national DRRM office, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical
and Astronomical Services Administrations weather forecasting
and local governments preparedness even if he has to constantly
defend his performance during
the Haiyan disaster response in
Tacloban. In addition, he argues
for the recognition of farms and
rural enterprises, revival in the
agricultural sector and sustainable development goals based on
food and job security, education,
hanap-buhay and free(dom)
from calamitous events.
Finally, Dutertes record is presented by how he replicated his
experience and leadership role
in preparedness and response
in Davao City at the time of typhoon Pablo, in his mobilization
of search/rescue and response
teams to help the Yolanda-stricken victims of Tacloban. n

TO TAKE A STAND
OSCAR P. LAGMAN, JR.

The present generation of Filipinos seems to prefer people

from the entertainment industry as their national leaders.
mission on Elections chair
Haydee B. Yorac and University
of Michigan Graduate School of
Business alumnus and former
Secretary of Finance Roberto
de Ocampo.
Senator Sotto demonstrated
his vast knowledge and eloquence
once again in the celebrated Estrada impeachment trial. In his
solitary participation in those
historic proceedings, he rose to
ask a witness a question pertaining to a phone conversation the
witness had with Pres. Estrada.
He asked, Analog or GSM? He
then sat looking delighted at his
televised display of knowledge of
modern technology.
In that trial, he did not say yes
na yes to the dictates of Sen. Enrile. According to him, he sought
the counsel of former Supreme
Court justices on the issue of
whether the Jaime Dichaves envelope, which was believed to be containing incriminating evidence
against the impeached President
Estrada, should be opened or not.
When he, Senators Enrile, Jaworski and eight others voted not

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New Manila Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines 1112

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editor@bworldonline.com

to open the envelope, the much

better informed and politicized
sectors of Philippine society took
matters into their own hands and
chased out of the Palace the actorturned-president. Incidental to
that monumental event was the
elevation of the Nora Aunor lookalike to the presidency. Anak ng
EDSA sa labas, Inquirer columnist Conrad de Quiros aptly
described Gloria Macapagal.
In the elections of 2001, the
people elected to the Senate the
husbands of Box Office Queen
Vilma Santos and TV Megastar
Sharon Cuneta, edging out former
National Economic Development
Authority and candidate for PhD
in Economics at Cornell University Solita Winnie Monsod. In
2004, another actor greater in
stature than Messrs. Estrada and
Revilla as he is referred to as the
King of Philippine Movies, Fernando Poe, Jr. could have become
president if the Anak ng EDSA
sa labas had not influenced the
elections.
But action movie stars Manuel Lito Lapid and Ramon

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(The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does
not reflect the official stand of the
Management Association of the
Philippines or the M.A.P.)
RONALD U. MENDOZA, PhD, is the Executive
Director of the AIM Rizalino S. NavarroPolicy
Center for Competitiveness (AIM-RSN-PCC).
This article draws in part fromOpportunities
and Challenges in Health Tourism: The Case of
the Philippines co-written by the
author with staff
members of the
AIM Policy Center.
map@map.org.ph
RUMENDOZA
@aim.edu
ronmendoza
@gmail.com
map.org.ph

ALMA MARIA O.
SALVADOR, PhD
is assistant professor of
political science
at the Ateneo de
Manila University.

Bong Revilla, Jr. were elected

to the Senate.
In 2010 Mr. Estrada would
have been elected president again
had not the beloved housewifeturned president died before
election time, the outpouring
of sympathy thrusting her son
Noynoy to the presidency.
Let the people decide, now
cry Former President Fidel V.
Ramos, Retired Supreme Court
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, and thousand others.
So, we might just see this year
the election as president the adopted 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 reelection of the most outstanding
alumnus of Iskul Bukol, Senator
Sotto, who laughed off the accusation that he had plagiarized
Robert Kennedy. How could he,
said he, when what he said was in
Tagalog, a language Kennedy did
not speak. n
OSCAR P. LAGMAN, JR.
is a member of
Manindigan!, a
cause-oriented group
that takes stands
on national issues.
oplagman
@yahoo.com

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S1/7

Withholding
comment

n the corporate setting, rules on discussing particular issues can advocate

abstentions (they are not called recusals
here) as when these involve possible conflicts
of interest. The party with a pecuniary stake
on an item in the agenda may opt to leave the
room to allow a more freewheeling discussion,
without the distraction of the body language
of the interested party, say a glowering look at
opponents.
The effort to maintain an arms-length
detachment in the evaluation of an item that
involves an interested party, who may have
stepped out, does not always succeed. There
are after all minutes of the meeting to show
how the votes went and which executive was
opposing a particular proposal that benefits
the temporarily absent one maybe his
promotion. The latter is bound to find out who
the naysayers were and may exact his revenge
at a later date this has nothing to do with
your violent
opposition to
my promotion.
A.R. SAMSON
Early in
life, we learn
when it is
Withholding comment
appropriate
is not easy, especially
to speak out.
when one has something Around the
to contribute on a
family dinner
table, permistopic: an informed and
sion is needed
objective opinion.
to proffer
comments or opinions, depending on the
topic. The low-status kids may get asked about
digital matters, like what app to choose for the
music of the sixties or how to access Facebook.
This juvenile opinion is valued and assistance
actively sought. Subjects like the acquisition of
a property however are reserved for the ones
paying for it.
In other fora, say in the board meeting of
a mutual fund, subjects like the effect of the
Middle East crisis on OFW (overseas Filipino
workers) remittances, the exchange rate forecast by yearend, and the volatility of the stock
market are reserved for designated experts
from research or gray hairs around the table.
A revered one slumped on his chair, perhaps
dozing off, may be tapped and given the microphone to provide an opinion on Chinas gross
domestic product prospects or the quality of
the candidates in the elections. Everybody
is expected to hold his breath as the wisdom
pours forth softly to the receptive ears around
the table. (Please, no side conversations.)
Withholding comment is best done voluntarily. There should be no need for someone
to say youre out of line. Or, you dont know
what youre talking about. However, for a talk
show host with guests around the table some
order has to be imposed in soliciting comments.
The TV host (even females are seldom
referred to as hostesses) has to go around
the table and ensure that all panelists are
given a chance to pontificate. It is considered
bad form to have one guest brooding in silence
with only an audible shifting in the chair to
express his ennui. The realization that one
panelist has yet to speak up puts the host in a
mild panic, as she scrambles to ask a question
for our youngest one in the panel (read:
somebody who shouldnt be here and has
nothing to contribute) do the farmers feel
the benefits of the countrys high GDP growth
rate? Short answer: No, maam. (Lets take a
break for the last commercial.)
Prodding guests that have long pauses
between words and sentences (called dead
air in TV parlance) smacks of discourtesy
especially when cutting off icons in mid-cheer.
This can also result in depriving the audience
of possibly more valuable insights than those
offered by the host or her other glib and fasttalking guests.
As the forum of discussion gets more
formal, the rules for disengagement are more
prescribed. The highest level of adversarial
discussion can limit ones role in a judicial
proceeding. Nonparticipation can be invoked
Maam, these three are likely to vote against
us again. They are always smirking at me.
Withholding comment is not easy, especially when one has something to contribute
on a topic: an informed and objective opinion.
In the process of selecting leaders, a deep
study of issues and a review of precedents are
not expected, and neither are they available.
Voting with emotions, like pity for infants
abandoned on church doors, plays a big part.
Still, an overly persistent outsider who has
switched allegiances before can stretch the
patience (and attention span) of former fans.
Some ploys can go beyond the pale, such as the
exhumation of the corpses of possible relatives. This particular gambit to gain entrance
into the big tent seems a bit much
even for a circus. n

FENCE
SITTER

A.R. SAMSON is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

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8/S1

Technology
AFP

VICTROLA TURNTABLES with

vintage designs but modern
technology on display at the 2016
CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, as vinyl
records make a comeback.

Waxing nostalgic over

vinyl records at CES
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 AudioTechnica 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, told
of vinyl records being all the rage after
years of digital tunes dominating the
music industry.
Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo said at the show that vinyl records
were on fire and that the Japanese
entertainment giants 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 Technology which has offices 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 generation 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 enjoying 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 appreciate the sound of music on vinyl, grainy
edges and all.

VINTAGE MEETS MODERN

Turntables 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 enjoying your records virtually anywhere in
the house, Crystal Griffith of AudioTechnica 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

For hoverboards at CES,

patents are a must feature
THE Consumer Electronics
Show is usually a place for technology 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
worlds largest gadget conference
this week were eager to point to
another feature: patents.
One Chinese maker of electric skateboards, Hangzhou Chic
Intelligent Technology, brought
along framed copies of its patents to CES in Las Vegas. The
patents, which were filed in the
US, Europe, and Japan, cover aspects of the devices design. The
company, 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 corporate booths on the outskirts of
the show floor, alongside selfie
sticks and low-cost drones. About
a dozen companies there were
hawking hoverboards and products resembling Segways. One
such company showing off a onewheeled skateboard had its booth
raided by US marshals and its
wares confiscated.
Chinese hoverboard companies are facing criticism for copying, which makes Chics patents
something to brag about. But
exactly who invented the hoverboard is something of a mystery.
Whats interesting here is the
speed at which a rather innovative device became commoditized
and improved upon in a decentralized manner, said Benjamin
Joffe, a general partner at Hax,

EDITOR MIRA CATHERINE B. GLORIA

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

a hardware incubator and investor 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 selling 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 companys vice-president of marketing
and business development. And
it wasnt a Segway; it was a hoverboard. Thats not OK.
In 2015, Chinas Ninebot
acquired Segway and is helping the brand make a renewed
push toward mass adoption,
something thats 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 Chics
booth at CES, Airwheel was demonstrating a two-wheeled board.
The company is in talks with
Wal-Mart Stores about carrying
its products, said Cilla Wu, Airwheels sales director. Airwheel
hopes its device does not infringe
on any competitors intellectual
property. To be honest, we dont
have patents for hoverboards or
single-wheel designs, Ms. Wu
said. Thats why we are going
with two wheels. Bloomberg

Tech firms fight to be the center

of your digital life at CES 2016
LAS VEGAS, US The battle to
be at the center of your digital
life has taken on a new dimension amid a proliferation of
connected devices.
A f t e r s m a r t p h o n e w a r s,
browser wars and platform wars,
a fight is on to be the hub which
connects the millions of connected objects from light bulbs
to wearable to washing machines.
At the 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 startups to big consumer electronics
giants are vying to be the control
center for the vast array of Internet of things in your home, car,
and elsewhere.
South Koreas LG unveiled its
Smart ThinQ home hub, a speaker
that lets a user communicate with
and get alerts from connected appliances, security systems and
even talk to cars.
This allows the smart home
and connected car to communicate 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, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and more.
Samsung announced its TVs
will act as command centers 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 starting 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-humanoid gadget which can control
home appliances.
Hes like a personal assistant
who can turn on your TV and all
your appliances, and when youre
not home he helps with surveillance, said Haiers Kristen Smith.
The ultimate goal is to simplify your life, to take care of the
things you worry about.

RESPOND AND ENTERTAIN

Segway, which is owned by Chinas Ninebot, unveiled a personal

transporter which morphs into a
cute robotic personal assistant.
The robot, made in collaboration with Intel and Chinas
Xiaomi, is open to developers
which could add on applications
for security, entertainment or
other activities.
After riding it, the device
sprouts arms and can navigate
and interact with users with its
sensors and artificial intelligence.

It is expected to be commercialized later this year.

More whimsical, Chinese
start-up UBTech Robotics unveiled Alpha 2, a prototype personal assistant humanoid which
can respond and entertain.
You can talk to him and he
will answer. He can give you the
weather, said UBTechs Jessica
Pan.
And he is very lifelike. He has
20 joints and can move like humans, 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 assistants as well as ecosystems for
connected homes and wearables.
And Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg said ahead of the show that
he wants to build a robot butler
like Jarvis in Iron Man which
can manage household tasks.
While Mr. Zuckerberg and
Facebook were not exhibiting
at CES, his comments and the
innovations at the show underscore the progress being made
in computing and artificial intelligence which can unleash
new innovations.

WEARABLE SIRI

Israeli-based start-up OrCam for

example unveiled a wearable artificial intelligence clip-on camera
which acts like a personal assistant like Siri or Cortana, but with
eyes and ears, says OrCam Marketing Chief Eliav Rodman.
The device can provide a realtime 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 quality of interaction you have with
friends and family.
Car makers dont want to be
left out either.
Ford for example unveiled an
alliance at CES with US online
giant Amazon aimed at allowing
people to connect their cars into
smart home networks.
The tie-up will enable drivers 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 WEST

These new systems offer new

connecting options but could cre-

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2016

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
Netflix stunned the show with the
announcement that it added 130 new
countries for its streaming TV service to
bring its total to 190, calling it the birth of a
new 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 to

produce the first consumer handset using
the US computing giants
Project 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 format

became the standard base for
manufacturers, which showcased thinner
and more spectacular displays for those
willing 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 spectacular

growth from products like a smart mirror
from Haier that delivers news and weather
and 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 get

more data about health, while making
inroads into the medical field: diagnosing
conditions and even offering treatment for
pain and other ailments. Shoes measured
steps 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 the

smartphone, but to the smart home and
other parts of the digital life.
Ford teamed with Amazon to link up the car
makers Sync vehicle hub with the online giants
smart home hub called Echo.

Virtual reality spread beyond video games to

touch sex, sports, sales and space
exploration. Facebook-owned Oculus began
taking pre-orders for its eagerly-anticipated
Rift VR headsets at a price of $599, and CES
was rife with companies scrambling to field
competing devices or content that could
draw people into faux worlds.
Startups turned attention to ways to tap into
the 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.
BUSINESSWORLD GRAPHICS: SAMANTHA GONZALES

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 architecture, so everyone is making

a land grab. Everyone wants to be
the hub.
Mr. Kay said that until players
such as Apple, Google and Microsoft agree on open standards,
its going to be difficult for this
market to move forward. AFP

Palm-sized $79 computer targets emerging markets

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 Electronics Show on Friday in Las Vegas.
For example, the Endless Mini
includes online encyclopedia
Wikipedia and courses from nonprofit educational organization
Khan Academy.
The computers, which require
keyboards, can be plugged into
any television to provide a display.
Dalio depicted the San Francisco-based start-ups mission as
a for-profit spin on the One Laptop
Per Child (OLPC) project launched
a decade ago by Nicholas Negroponte,
who has advised Endless.

OLPC originally aimed to create a $100

computer for children in developing countries, 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.

ENDLESS MINI

Instead of giving computers away to those

who cant afford them, Endless prices its
offering to be within reach of people with
just enough money to join the knowledge
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 whenever it is connected online. A larger and more
powerful model sells for $189.
Endless computers are powered by opensource Linux operating software with a simplified user interface.
Linux has historically been targeted
at 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 computers 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

World

The
EDITOR KATRINA PAOLA B. ALVAREZ

ELECTION BRIEFS
Media intimidated

GOVERNMENT 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 opposition 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 leader

CATALONIAS PARLIAMENT swore in

a new separatist leader on Sunday
evening, putting the pro-independence
movements 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 Kyriakos Mitsotakis as their new leader on

Sunday, hoping he can revive their
fortunes and challenge leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, still popular despite
opting for austerity.
Mr. Mitsotakis, a 47-year reformist
lawmaker and scion of one of Greeces
most influential political families, is
expected to pile pressure on 41-year-old
Mr. Tsipras ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote on pension reform, as part
of the first review of Greeces bailout
program. Reuters

Egypt parliament back

EGYPTS NEW PARLIAMENT convened

on Sunday, in its first session in three
years, after a legislative election dominated by pro-government candidates in
the absence of any opposition.
Hundreds of bills awaiting ratification have piled up since the last parliament was dissolved by a constitutional
court in 2012. AFP

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

S1/9

Obama to push hope in farewell SOTU

WASHINGTON Barack Obama
will use his final State of the
Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday, one of the last grandstand
occasions of his presidency, to
define his legacy and make the
case for optimism amid an angstridden election race.
Seven years ago, a youthful
President Obamas first address
to Congress surprised some with
gloomy talk of shaken confidence,
a weakened economy and uncertain times ahead.
His farewell State of the Union
address may surprise for its optimism.
Senior White House officials
promise an unorthodox speech.
Mr. Obama will ditch the traditional hour-long laundry list of
the years legislative priorities
and instead look beyond his
presidency.
For a president who has leaned
heavily critics say too heavily
on dazzling rhetorical skills to
push his agenda, it will be one
of the last chances to define his
presidency before a national audience.
Around 30 million viewers are
expected to watch live, an audience that may only be matched
during the Democratic nominating convention later this year,
when he passes the torch to the
next presidential hopeful.
To reach the broadest audience,
Mr. Obamas aides will amplify his
message across print, television
and innovative digital platforms
like Medium and Genius.
Mr. Obama will list his administrations 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 distance traveled since the throes of
the Great Recession and speak to

AFP

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama is photographed walking during a commercial break at a town hall meeting with CNNs Anderson Cooper on reducing gun violence, at
George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, on Jan. 7.
a present he will portray as rich in
promise.
Its about the power of possibility, said a senior White House
official. Its looking beyond his
time in office, in an attempt to
elevate the country.
The speech, under construction since the autumn, will also
challenge Americans to address
unfinished business, from dealing with racial tensions to gun
violence to drug abuse.
White House officials admit it
is a risky strategy.
For a president with a year left
in the Oval Office, misjudging the
nations 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
White House hopes to draw a
sharp contrast with Republicans.
We think that there is a lot
of noise coming from one party,
said one aide, insisting the negativity of the campaign trail does
not represent the broader nation.
If Mr. Obama manages to
kindle a sense of optimism, supporters hope it could help define
a political epoch, much as Lyndon Johnson did when declaring a war on poverty or when
John F. Kennedy announced the
moonshot.

A HOSTILE CONGRESS

Mr. 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 disdain 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 improve 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 Ladys guest box will
be left vacant for victims of gun
violence who no longer have a
voice because they need the
rest of us to speak for them.
Republican criticism is likely
to focus on Mr. Obamas handling

of foreign policy, in particular the

rise of the Islamic State group in
Syria and Iraq.
Offering a preview of the Republican response, House of Representatives 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 conservative American Enterprise
Institute. Dont slam him for
wanting great things for our
country.
Slam him for not talking
about how the last seven years
have seen an almost unprecedented decline not simply in our
nations security, but in our ability to combat enemies near and
far. AFP

10/S1

World

The

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

SEOUL The United States and

its ally South Korea were discussing on Monday sending more
strategic US weapons to the Korean peninsula, a day after a US
B-52 bomber flew over South Korea in response to North Koreas
nuclear test last week.
North Korea said it set off a
hydrogen bomb last Wednesday,
its fourth nuclear test since 2006,
angering China, the Norths 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 nuclearcapable B-52 bomber based in
Guam on a flight over South Korea.
North Koreas Rodong Sinmun
newspaper, the mouthpiece of the
ruling 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, nuclearpowered submarines and F-22
stealth fighter jets.

A South Korean defense ministry spokesman declined to give

details.
The United States and South
Korea are continuously and
closely having discussions on additional deployment of strategic
assets, the spokesman, Kim Minseok, said.
China called for all sides to
avoid raising tension.
Safeguarding the peace and
stability of northeast Asia accords
with all parties interests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in response
to a question about the U.S. B-52
flight.
We hope all parties can maintain restraint, proceed cautiously,
and avoid successively escalating
tensions.

HIGHEST-LEVEL READINESS

The chairman of South Koreas

Joint Chiefs of Staff warned that
North Korea was likely to carry
out further sudden provocations, a South Korean defense
ministry official said.

The commander of the 28,500

US troops in South Korea, General 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 military official 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 negotiator planned to meet his US
and Japanese counterparts on
Wednesday to discuss a response
to North Korea, and the next day,
he would meet Chinas 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 Koreas test, South
Koreas defense ministry said, in a
sign the Norths behavior is pushing
the two old rivals closer together.
South Korea has also resumed
anti-North propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers along
the border, a tactic that the North
considers insulting. It responded
with artillery 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 militarized
inter-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 impoverished North. Reuters

Deadly strike on Yemen MSF clinic draws ire

DUBAI A missile strike on a
Doctors Without Borders clinic in
Yemen killed at least four people
Sunday, the group said, condemning what it called a worrying pattern of such attacks.
The raid was the third of
its kind in four months in the
war-ravaged country, where a
Saudi-led coalition has been
battling Shiite Huthi rebels
who have seized territory from
the internationally-recognized
government.
It also follows a US strike in
Afghanistan on a facility run by
the Paris-based medical humanitarian 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 coalition 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-supported hospital in Saada, it said.

MSF director of operations

Raquel Ayora denounced the
strike and repeated that the organization 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 functioning health facility
supported by MSF, Ms. Ayora said.
We strongly condemn this
incident that confirms a worrying 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, wounding nine people including two
staff members.
The coalition said it would investigate 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 Afghan city of Kunduz. AFP

AFP

S. Korea: US might send more

strategic weapons to peninsula
A MOTHER and a grandmother put a coat on a child in Beijing on Jan. 1.

China to limit family size

for up to 30 years: official
BEIJING China will stick to
family planning restrictions for
up to 30 years, a senior Chinese
official said on Monday, rejecting
concern that limits on the number of children had shrunk the
pool of workers needed to support 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.
Chinas 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, officials would adhere to
family planning restrictions for
the long term, Wang Peian, viceminister of the National Health
and Family Planning Commission, 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 demographic changes, and
along with changes in the populations socioeconomic development situation, we will adopt a
different population policy.

He said it was difficult to give

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 danger the
two-child policy would prevent
China from getting rich before it
got old, Mr. Wang said an aging
population was a global problem
and an inevitable trend of a societys development.
Chinas 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 demographic 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 introduced 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 twochild policy, Chinas 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

Merkel under pressure as Cologne cases rise to 516

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

Mexico launches Guzmans

US extradition process
MEXICO CITY Mexican authorities launched on Sunday
the process to extradite drug
lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman 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
Pea Nietos refusal to send Guzman across the border prior to
his July escape from a maximumsecurity prison.
The attorney generals office
said in a statement that Interpol
Mexico agents went to Guzmans
prison near Mexico City to execute two arrest warrants for his
extradition, two days after he
was captured in a deadly military
raid.
Mexico received the US extradition requests last year on a
slew of charges, including drug
trafficking and homicide. Guzman is wanted in a half-dozen
US states.
A federal official told AFP the
process could take months, but
that authorities will likely try to
do it fast.

After judges rule on the extradition, 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
cells shower that led to a 1.5-kilometer tunnel outside the prison.
Officials defended the decision
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 outside the prison.
Guzman fled prison once before in 2001, but after his February 2014 capture, Mr. Pea Nieto
vowed to keep him behind bars
in Mexico. He escaped 17 months
later, and a dozen prison officials
were detained.
Analysts say the government
should extradite Guzman instead
of taking the risk of losing him
again. AFP

BERLIN Cologne police on Sunday said they had now recorded

over 500 cases of New Years Eve
violence blamed on migrants, piling 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.
Witnesses described terrifying scenes of hundreds of women
running a gauntlet of groping
hands, lewd insults, and robberies
in the mob violence.
Even though no formal charges have been laid, Cologne police
have said those suspected over
the New Years rampage near the
citys railway station were mostly
asylum seekers and illegal migrants from North Africa.
The scale of the Cologne assaults 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 sufficient protection,
while 57% did.
And just under half (49%)
believed the same sort of mob
violence could hit their hometown, 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 Saturday, 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.

Cologne has changed everything, people now are doubting,

said Volker Bouffier, vice-president of Ms. Merkels CDU party.

ASSAULTS WERE PLANNED

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said

he believed the violence in the western city of Cologne was organized.
For such a horde of people to
meet and commit such crimes, it
has to have been planned somehow, he told Bild am Sonntag.
No one can tell me that this
was not coordinated or planned.
The suspicion is that a specific
date and an expected crowd was
picked, he said.
Quoting confidential police reports, Bild am Sonntag said some
North Africans had sent out calls
using social networks for people
to gather in Cologne on New
Years Eve.
Separately in Hamburg, police
said they had received 133 criminal complaints for similar violence during the northern citys
own New Years Eve celebrations.
With thousands of asylum
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 reverse her opendoor policy to war refugees.
Critics have questioned Germanys 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 using her New Years address to tell
Germans that the record influx was
an opportunity for tomorrow.
But after Cologne, she has adopted a harsher tone, saying also
that we must speak again about
the cultural fundamentals of our
coexistence.

TURNING POINT?

Its not premature to speak of a

turning point, or at least the re-

Values need not be threatened

by migrant influx, Pope says
VATICAN CITY Pope Francis warned on Monday that the
recent huge influx of migrants
risked overwhelming European values and traditions, but
he said he was sure the continent could resolve the crisis
and emerge strengthened by
the new arrivals.
The present wave of migration seems to be undermining 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.
Acknowledging that the
flood of refugees, mainly
from the Middle East and Africa, was a difficult 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 ensure assistance and acceptance
to migrants. Reuters

AFP

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

inforcing of a trend that had already started to take shape lately,
Andreas Roedder, contemporary
history professor at Mainz University 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 had
earlier been waived.
And in Afghanistan, an advertising campaign is running 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, toughening the law, as what happened
in Cologne really has a political
dimension to it, said Tilman
Mayer, a political analyst at Bonn
University, speaking to Phoenix
television station.
Ms. Merkel is caught in a bind
as asylum seekers are still arriving at the rate of between 3,000
and 4,000 a day, despite the harsh
winter conditions.
The situation could degenerate very quickly for Ms. Merkel
within the CDU because resistance and nervousness is growing, said Mr. Roedder. AFP

Nation

The
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

S1/11

Comment to Poe petition has en banc signing up

By Vince Alvic A. F. Nonato
Reporter

THE COMMISSION on Elections

(Comelec) has responded to Senator Grace Poes petition against
the cancellation of her candidacy
with all seven commissioners
affixing their conformity amid infighting on unauthorized filings.
The 50-page comment asked
the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss
Ms. Poes petition challenging the
Comelec Second Divisions Dec. 1
resolution in favor of lawyer Estrella C. Elamparo. The poll body
denied committing grave abuse of
discretion when the en banc, voting 5-1-1, upheld the divisions action through a Dec. 23 resolution.
Saying the Comelec oppressed nobody, the poll body
responded that it clearly applied
the Constitution and the correct
law and jurisprudence in affirming the finding that Ms. Poe misrepresented her residency and
citizenship credentials.

The comment was filed by Second Division member Arthur D.

Lim, the acting counsel for the
poll body as regards the Elamparo
case. The signatures had annotations reflecting the voting pattern
behind the affirmation of the Second Divisions resolution.
Chairman Andres D. Bautista
who dissented from the en banc
resolution and voted in favor of
Ms. Poe wrote the note: Subject to the concurring and dissenting opinion dated 12/23/15.
Commissioner Luie Tito F.
Guia who concurred that Ms.
Poe misrepresented her residency 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 because she was a law associate).
The comment was submitted
Monday afternoon, four days past
the courts non-extendible deadline 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 briefing that morning.
Its an act of the commission
en banc and the seven signatures
will reflect that character, Mr.
Jimenez said. When the document is signed by all seven, it is
considered very clearly, without
question, an act of the en banc.

TWITTING ON TWITTER

This was the second comment

required by the SC on Ms. Poes
two electoral cases. The first comment was filed Thursday regarding the First Divisions Dec. 11
resolution (also affirmed 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 to
issue a memorandum asking Ms.
Guanzon to explain why she filed
the comment without his and the

other commissioners concurrence. 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 supposedly 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. Poes camp
moved for the consolidation of all
four petitions, but the two Comelec divisions thumbed down the
request. (Ms. Guanzons First Division 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 Comelec en banc
voted to affirm the two divisions
resolutions, Mr. Bautista allegedly sat down on the en banc rulings 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 deliberate what action to take on Ms.
Guanzons 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 SCs Jan. 7 deadline and
did not wait for Mr. Bautista to
be at the office to sign the comment.
In a separate development,
Rizalito Y. David, who unsuccessfully 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 senators favor.
In a 10-page manifestation, he
implored the high court to bear
in 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. Poes 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 welfare of the people is the supreme
law) should be invoked extraconstitutionally to render social
justice in favor of foundlings like
Ms. Poe.
Mr. Davids manifestation
read: Suffice it to state that this
act is as dangerous as the attempts of foreign governments to
influence the executive decisions
of the President of a republic.
Mr. Davids case against the
Senate Electoral Tribunals (SET)
Nov. 17 ruling upholding Ms. Poes
citizenship eligibility is currently
pending before the SC. Ms. Poe
had asked the high court to consolidate her electoral cases with
Mr. Davids case against the SET.

PHILIPPINE STAR_ EDD GUMBAN

Petition vs Dutertes candidacy still pending

Duterte, Cayetano to prioritize Mindanao rail system

By Alden M. Monzon Reporter

GUN RESTRICTIONS are in force again ahead of the May elections. This file photo
from the holidays shows policemens weapons are taped to ensure they do not fire
indiscriminately during the New Year.

Allow private gun owners

exemption from election
ban, Supreme Court asked
By Vince Alvic A. F. Nonato
Reporter

THREE licensed gun owners asked

the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday
to order the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to allow private gun
licensees to seek exemption from
the six-month election gun ban.
In a 43-page petition for mandamus, the three gun owners Eric
F. Acosta, Nathaniel G. dela Paz
and Rodrigo G. Moreno said the
Comelec should not limit electionseason authorization to certain
government officials, law enforcers,
security personnel and cashiers.
The petition asked the SC to
order the Comelec to entertain
applications from private licenseholders for the Certificate of Authority (CA), an exemption from
the gun ban.
The petition said Republic Act
No. (RA) 10591 (Comprehensive
Firearms and Ammunition Act)
gave private citizens holding Permits to Carry Firearms Outside
Residence (PTCFOR) the legal
right to carry firearms, which the
Comelecs 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
owners license to be suspended
or revoked.
Hence, RA 10591 gives PTCFOR 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
officers because of their duty or
exposure to safety threats but
not for private citizens.
[The Comelec] likewise violated 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 government officials
who are similarly situated as petitioners, the petition read.
Saying the Comelec resolution
undermined 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.

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 Elections (Comelec), its chairman clarified yesterday, in contrast to news reports quoting a lawyer 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 PhilippinesDiliman Student Council Chairman John Paulo G. de las Nieves has not been dismissed by
the poll bodys First Division. Mr. Bautista said
this was conferred to him by commissioner
Christian Robert S. Lim of the First Division.
Mr. de las Nievess 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 currently 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 Nievess 23-page petition, filed
last December, argued that Mr. Dutertes candidacy was null and void since the CoC of the
candidate he replaced, Martin B. Dio, was
defective.
Mr. de las Nievess petition is one of three
filed against Mr. Duterte. The others are by
presidential aspirant Rizalito Y. David and
Davao City broadcaster Ruben Castor.
Another hearing on Mr. Dutertes candidacy is scheduled today.

By Mark D. Francisco Correspondent

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY The running mate of Davao
City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo R.
Duterte has committed that, should they win, their administration 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 himself 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 president 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 Mindanao), 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 official of the Mindanao Development 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 office to put the Mindanao
rail in the priority list, but the project never took off.
Mr. Cayetano also hinted that if Mr. Duterte becomes
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 Manilacentric Cabinet, Mr. Cayetano said.
Other aspects of the planned regional economic
inclusiveness are: a P1-billion seed capital fund per
region; transfer of the central offices of certain agencies
outside the National Capital Region; establishment of
specialized medical centers in the Visayas and Mindanao; and developing growth centers in the countryside. with Carmencita A. Carillo

We want MMFF open to audit filmmaker

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 Authority) and therefore an accountable
public office, we would like Congress to
trace the flow of money from the ticket
buyers to theaters box office to MMFF
producers to beneficiaries, Honor 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 producers, the film workers and the taxpayers
who support them each year.
The hearing on Monday discussed the
reported disqualification of Mr. Mattis film
from the festivals Best Picture category.
The MMFF Executive Committee could
have disqualified Honor Thy Father from
the roster of films, MMFF Executive Committee Chairman Emerson S. Carlos, for his
part, told lawmakers.
Its very clear in the rules that the failure
to notify entry will be shown in other film
festival[s] merits the penalty of disqualification. However, MMFF chose to be magnanimous, Mr. Carlos said.

According to Mr. Carlos, the participation

of Honor Thy Father at the Hawaii International film festival was not disclosed. This is
a major infraction of MMFF rules, he said.
The MMFF committee has noted that
Honor Thy Fathers participation in the Cinema One festival was revealed to the MMFF
through their letter dated Nov. 5, 2015, [and
this was] received on Nov. 6, 2015, only two
days 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 films producer, 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

Survey shows food security, 4Ps among top concerns

By Kathryn Mae P. Tubadeza
Reporter

FOOD SECURITY, farmers needs,

and the Aquino administrations
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino
Program (4Ps) were among the
top concerns in a survey commissioned by an environmental group.
Results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted on
Sept. 2-5 last year among 1,200
adults nationwide with sampling
error margins of 3 points for national 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, Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma, Jr. said:
This affirms that there is broadbased acceptance by our people
of governments 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 environmentfriendly farming: +58 (70%, probably vote, for minus 12%,will not
vote for)
Continuation of Daang Matuwid: +50 (65%, probably vote
for, minus 15%, will not vote for)
Amendment of the economic
provisions of the Constitution:
+49 (64%, probably vote for, minus 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,
minus 23%, will not vote for)
Enactment of the proposed
Bangsamoro Basic Law: -3 (31%,
probably vote for, minus 34%, will
not vote for)
Enactment into law of divorce: -18 (26%, probably vote for,
minus 43%, will not 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 issues on food sufficiency,

and make farming climate resilient and environment-friendly,
Vigie Benosa-Llorin, Food and
Ecological Agriculture Campaigner, Greenpeace Philippines,
said in a statement on Monday.
While each candidate may have
their own lines about agriculture,
the voters are looking and demanding for more than mere rhetoric, but
rather real programs and policies towards 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.

BW FILE PHOTO

FEEDING PROGRAM by a charity group

12/S1

Nation

The

EDITOR RICKY S. TORRE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

By Daphne J. Magturo Reporter

THE METRO Rail Transit Line 3s
(MRT-3) German maintenance
provider denied allegations of a
sabotage after the train broke
down last Friday, saying the rolling 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. Bacar, authorized representative of
Schunk Bahn-Und Industrietechnik 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 Transportation department turned over

the maintenance of the rolling

stocks and signaling system from
SBI-CBT to South Koreas Busan
Transportation Corp. and its Filipino partners: Edison Development 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
doesnt happen on its own....
Something happened, but
stopped short of disclosing details.
We are being harassed. There
are silly notions and conclusions
of sabotage and Im including that
in the supplementals [for the graft
case], SBI-CBTs Mr. Bacar said.
Last month, he filed graft
charges before the Office of the
Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon
against Mr. Buenafe, Transportation Undersecretary Edwin Lo-

pez and three other MRT officials

for allegedly not paying for the
groups services in full.
The Transportation department had hired seven different
subcontractors to handle the
train line for six months. During the transition period last
week, the agency extended the
contracts for another month
except that of SBI-CBTs.
Mr. Bacar said napagi-initan
ako since meron akong finile na
case against sa GM (I was pressured because I filed a case against
the GM).
But Mr. Buenafe said the Korean group took over the German
groups duties because the rolling
stocks and signaling system are
the most crucial disciplines.
Mr. Bacar said these components are now definitely obsolete 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 unsolicited proposal during the negotiated procurement for the trains
long-term maintenance contract,
but was disqualified after submitting its documents 43 minutes
beyond the deadline.
The group will no longer appeal the disqualification, but proposed to be a technical adviser
as it has an agreement with the
trains original equipment manufacturer, according to Mr. Bacar.
The three-year P3.81-billion
contract with the Busan group is
the subject of an upcoming Senate investigation, amid reports
that the Korean group tried to
back out of the deal. The Transportation department denied the
reports.

PHILIPPINE STAR_MICHAEL VARCAS

Maintenance provider denies

sabotage in MRT breakdown

MRT CARS near Guadalupe station

Mindanao spot market to

open doors for renewables

Reversal of inhibition order on Sulpicio case sought

By Vince Alvic A. F. Nonato
Reporter

THE PUBLIC ATTORNEYs Office (PAO) asked the Supreme

Court (SC) on Monday to overturn the Court of Appeals (CA)
order for a Manila judge to inhibit 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 Regional 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 as
Philippine 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 appeals court affirmed the
decision on Dec. 18, additionally

ordering the Manila RTC to reraffle the case to a different judge.

But PAO argued the appeals
court cannot compel Mr. Villanueva to recuse from the case
because voluntary inhibition, according 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 Sulpicios
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 decision was arguably rendered final
and executory because Sulpicio
lodged a fatally defective appeal.
The petition also claimed
Sulpicio maliciously misinterpreted Mr. Villanuevas words
to show his alleged bias, stressing
the judge had remained unbiased 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.

Fuel prices cut anew

OIL COMPANIES have cut diesel
prices this week by 70 centavos
per liter, bringing the total reduction 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 reduction.
Gasoline prices also went
down by at least 10 centavos per
liter, reversing last weeks increase 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 gasoline at 20 centavos per liter.
Others have scheduled the
cuts at 6:00 a.m. today.
Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. said in its advisory it
was reducing prices to reflect the
downward 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

Hustisya na eh! Nanalo na

kami! Bakit may ibang taong
pumipigil pa dun?(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. RuedaAcosta said it was unheard of for the
appellate court to issue an inhibition order for a judge when the decision was already nearing execution.
Asked by reporters how the
CAs inhibition order would affect
the case, Ms. Acosta said the shipping firms inhibition petition
should have been rendered moot
and academic by the issuance of
the RTC decision.
Why would Justice Sorongon
have that reraffled? Having studied 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 CAs order to avoid setting a precedent.
The Manila court is set to hear
on Jan. 13 the PAOs 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 CAs inhibition order

or not.
The Manila RTC held in the
Sept. 18 decision that there was
sufficient proof of negligence on
Sulpicios part, when it allowed
the M/V Princess of the Stars
to set sail despite a Signal no. 3
storm warning hoisted over the
Romblon area. The missing captain 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 collision of M/V Doa 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 mishap in the Sibuyan Sea, off San
Fernando, Romblon.
The Maritime Industry Authority, on Jan. 23, 2015, canceled
the Certificate of Public Convenience of what is now known
as Philippine Span Asia Carrier
Corp., ten years into the 25-year
effectivity. Because of this, the
firms ships are now limited to
carrying cargo.

GASOLINE

DIESEL

KEROSENE

P0.60

P0.20

P0.40

P0.10

P0.15

P0.25

P0.10-P0.20

P0.70

P0.70

Dec. 28

Jan. 5

Jan. 12

Dec. 28

Jan. 5

Jan. 12

Dec. 28

Jan. 5

Jan. 12

Oil price adjustments in January (per liter)

Bill amending investment restrictions to go to bicam

By Kathryn Mae P. Tubadeza Reporter
A BICAMERAL conference committee will
meet in three weeks to reconcile the Senate
and House versions of a measure amending
investment restrictions in laws governing
adjustment companies, lending companies, financing companies, and investment
houses.
Im 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 Monday to draft a consolidated version of the

measure both filed by Mr. del Rosario and Isabela Rep. Giorgidi B. Aggabao (4th district)
seeking to amend investment restrictions in
specific laws governing said companies.
Were hoping we will be able to come up
with a final draft of the consolidated version
and on Tuesday well be having a committee
meeting. Ill be sponsoring this final draft
for approval on Tuesday, Mr. del Rosario
said, adding the main objective of the measure 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, somebody there must have probably brought up
the issue why we did not lift the restrictions
with regard to the other financing corporations 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 leadership of Senator [Joseph Victor G.] Ejercito
and Rep. del Rosario, Mr. Forbes said via text.
A similar measure, Senate Bill No. 3023,
has been approved on second reading on
Dec. 15, 2015.

By Carmelito Q. Francisco
Correspondent

DAVAO CITY Mindanao will

attract more investment in renewable energy (RE) and maximize their potential when a spot
market for power is implemented
here, a top official of the Mindanao Development Authority
(MinDA) said.
Romeo M. Montenegro, MinDA 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. Hopefully, 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 form
because 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 several new coal-fired
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 available 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 consisting of hydro, geothermal, solar
and biomass with a potential
capacity of at least 2,400 megawatts (MW).
Although several companies 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 distributors are currently fully contracted to existing facilities and
ongoing fossil fuel projects, which
restricts them from tapping the
proposed RE facilities through
bilateral contracts.
The top official of Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower), which
has both coal-fired and green
energy projects in Mindanao
through various subsidiaries, also
said a WESM will benefit the power source proponents, the electricity 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 access and other initiatives contemplated under EPIRA, said
AboitizPower Chief Executive
Officer Erramon I. Aboitiz on the
sidelines of last Fridays inauguration of the companys new 300MW 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 transformed 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 secure its power needs.
MinDA data show that Mindanao will have an expected combined capacity of 1,920 MW once
the committed coal plant projects
start operating between 2015 and
2018, enough to meet the islands
present average consumption
of 1,400 MW per day with a projected 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 Mindanao, 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-Allowance (FIT-All) charge, which
started in February last year, even
though the grid does not have access to existing RE projects that
are delivering supply to the Luzon and Visayas grids.
The P0.0406-per-kilowatthour FIT rate applies to all electricity consumers nationwide.
Electricity suppliers collect
this charge from consumers,
which is then remitted 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 because the (consumers through
the) government pays for that,
Mr. Diosma said.
The countrys RE law under
Republic Act 9513 provides for the
FIT program wherein the capacity of qualified green projects are
dispatched to the grid at a fixed
rate over a period of 20 years.

FULL STORY
Read the full story by scanning
the QR code with your
smartphone or by typing the link
<http://goo.gl/Fnl39K>

S2/1

VOL XXIX ISSUE 117 ISSN0116-3930

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

EDITOR BETTINA FAYE V. ROC

TUESDAY
JANUARY 12, 2016

Banking&Finance

BUSINESS
NEWSPAPER
OF 2014
AND 2015
Awarded by

ROTARY
CLUB OF
MANILA

More foreign insurers keen on PHL mart

MARKET WATCH
LENDING RATES

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016

High Low
UNIVERSAL BANKS

LOCAL BANKS
Asia United Bank
7.0000 6.2500
Banco de Oro Unibank
6.8360 4.0000
Bank of the Philippine Islands 6.8000 4.0000
China Banking Corporation
8.0000 4.2500
Reporter
Development Bank of the Phils. 7.5000 4.5000
East West Bank
6.2500 4.2500
Land Bank of the Philippines
7.6667 4.6667
MetroBank and Trust Co.
7.5000 5.0000
MORE FOREIGN firms are lookPhilippine National Bank
8.4000 7.4000
ing to enter the Philippine insurPhilippine Trust Co.
7.0000 4.5000
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. 7.7500 5.7500
ance industry, a top official of the
Security Bank Corporation
7.0000 5.2500
Union Bank of the Philippines 8.5000 6.5000
Insurance Commission (IC) said.
United Coconut Planters Bank 7.0000 5.0000
Deputy Insurance CommisAVERAGE
7.3716 5.0941

sioner Ferdinand George A. FloBRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
rendo said that in particular, the
ANZ Bank
6.0000 2.7000
Deutsche Bank
6.2500 3.2000
countrys insurance regulator
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank
6.2500 2.9000
received queries from companies
ING Bank
5.6000 3.6000
Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd.
6.8360 1.7000
present in Southeast Asia.
Standard Chartered Bank
4.6600 3.5550
Weve received a number of
AVERAGE
5.9327 2.9425

inquiries from our ASEAN (AsCOMMERCIAL BANKS
LOCAL BANKS:
Bank of Commerce
6.7500 4.2500
BDO Private Bank
6.8360 4.0000
Phil. Bank of Communications 7.0000 5.0000
Philippine Veterans Bank
7.3250 4.8250
Robinsons Bank Corp.
7.5000 4.7500
AVERAGE
7.0822 4.5650

BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS
Bangkok Bank
7.5000 4.5000
Bank of America
6.8360 4.8360
Bank of China
6.0000 2.8000
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
5.7500 3.7500
A CRITICAL pillar of Europes
Cathay United Bank Co., Ltd.

banking union is less than two

Citibank, N.A.
3.7500 2.7500
Industrial Bank of Korea-Manila

weeks old, but already plans to

JPMorgan Chase Bank
6.8130 6.8130
make bondholders share the pain
Korea Exchange Bank
8.0000 4.5000
Mega Intl. Comml. Bank Co. Ltd. 8.0000 3.5000
when lenders fail are running
AVERAGE
6.5811 4.1811
into old national habits.

SUBSIDIARIES OF FOREIGN BANKS
Creditors are supposed to take
Chinatrust Bank
6.6380 5.6380
losses
when European financial
Maybank
7.0000 6.0000
AVERAGE
6.8190 5.8190
companies collapse under rules
GENERAL AVERAGE
6.8713 4.4824

By Imee Charlee C. Delavin

sociation of Southeast Asian

Nations) neighbors. Theres a lot
of interest. Theres one ASEAN
big player that came who is very
interested, Mr. Florendo told
reporters recently.
Without naming the Asian
insurer, the IC official noted that
the company is looking at putting up both life and non-life operations in the Philippines and is
looking for a bank partner.
This interest from foreign insurers comes after the successful entry of two foreign firms last
year Ageas Insurance International 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 insurer.
Meanwhile, industry sources
identified the possible foreign
entrant as Bangkok-based Muang

Thai Life Assurance Public Company Limited. ICs 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 potential for insurance companies.
We have low insurance penetration, big population and our
economy is growing, he said.
A study made by Milliman,
Inc., a global actuarial and consulting firm, titled Potential
Implications of the ASEAN Economic Community for the Life

Source: BSP

FOREIGN INTEREST RATES

Percent per annum

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

FOREX RATE

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

s
25.2
ctvs

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan

PDS weighted
average rate

Current: P47.271
Volume: $582.90M
Previous: P47.019

INTERBANK RATES
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015
DEMAND RATE

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

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 Germany, private-sector protection
schemes mean bondholders may
never suffer imposed losses.
Nearly four years in the making, Europes banking union has
encountered turbulence every
step of the way, with Germanys
government resisting what it sees
as attempts to underwrite weaker
member states.
Finance ministers on Friday
will be briefed on the projects
status for the first time since
the new rules have been fully in
force.

PESO CROSS RATES

one unit of currency
Philippines
Australia
Bahrain
Canada
Hong Kong
source: BSP
Japan
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
EMU

EXCHANGE RATES

DAILY VOLUME

P14.380 B

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan

T-BILL 91-DAY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2015

January 10, 2011 December 7, 2015

Average yield

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

REGULATORY HAIRCUTS

Even 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 up
private-sector solutions that

dont require immediate taxpayer

funds.
Veron said these mutual protection schemes, present in all
levels of the German banking
sector, benefit from implicit government guarantees, while letting regulators say the industry is
successfully bearing its own costs.
Other tools like precautionary
government aid and privately arranged debt swaps allowed struggling banks in Greece and Italy
to steer clear of forced haircuts
while winning approval from
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 failure 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
Creditors, S2/ 3
Source: BSP

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

Phil Aussie Bahrain Canadian HKong Japan Saudi Spore Swiss

UK
US EMU
peso
dollar
dinar
dollar
dollar
yen
rial
dollar
franc
pound
dollar
euro
1.0000 0.0305 0.0080 0.0301 0.1651 2.5006 0.0798 0.0307 0.0212 0.0146 0.0213 0.0195
32.8230 1.0000 0.2629 0.9879 5.4190 82.0780 2.6202 1.0069 0.6944 0.4804 0.6981 0.6389
124.8679 3.8043 1.0000 3.7581 20.6155 312.2478 9.9681 3.8306 2.6416 1.8277 2.6557 2.4306
33.2266 1.0123 0.2661 1.0000 5.4857 83.0873 2.6525 1.0193 0.7029 0.4863 0.7067 0.6468
6.0570
0.1845
0.0485
0.1823
1.0000
15.1463
0.4835
0.1858
0.1281 0.0887
0.1288
0.1179
0.3999 0.0122 0.0032 0.0120 0.0660 1.0000 0.0319 0.0123 0.0085 0.0059 0.0085 0.0078
12.5267
0.3816
0.1003
0.3770
2.0681
31.3246 1.0000 0.3843 0.2650
0.1834 0.2664 0.2438
32.5978 0.9931 0.2611 0.9811 5.3818 81.5149 2.6023 1.0000 0.6896 0.4771 0.6933 0.6345
47.2695 1.4401 0.3786 1.4226 7.8041 118.2033 3.7735 1.4501 1.0000 0.6919 1.0053 0.9201
68.3186
2.0814
0.5471
2.0561
11.2793 170.8392
5.4538 2.0958
1.4453 1.0000
1.4530 1.3299
47.0190
1.4325
0.3765
1.4151
7.7628 117.5769
3.7535
1.4424 0.9947 0.6882 1.0000 0.9152
51.3730 1.5652 0.4114 1.5461 8.4816 128.4646 4.1011 1.5760 1.0868 0.7520 1.0926 1.0000

MONEY QUOTATIONS
Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan

The practical effect of this is

that people are going to get more
creative, said Nicolas Veron of
the Brussels-based Bruegel research group.
We have a banking union on
the books, but bankers are still
acting as if banking-sector soundness was assessed by the marketplace 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 embark on a banking union designed
to break the link between failing
banks and countries.
Dutch Finance Minister
Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on
Jan. 7 that hell use his nations
presidency of the EU to push for
the completion of controls that
would further integrate the blocs
financial system.

NEW 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
24.734/758
LONDON - 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 foreign currency
UK
0.5862 0.5866
Switzerland 0.8467 0.8478

BW FILE PHOTO

Europes bank creditors dodge losses,

suggesting loopholes in new regulation

Insurance Industry released last

August showed that the Philippine 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 economies, behind Singapore.
Countries were rated across
eight features product development, distribution, investment,
sophistication of capital regime,
Insurers, S2/ 3

BORROWINGS from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rediscount facility declined

last year amid ample liquidity in the financial system.

Rediscount loans drop

LOANS SECURED under the
central banks 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 BSPs rediscount 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

BSP REFERENCE RATE

from the BSP to meet short-term

liquidity needs by using promissory notes as the borrowers collateral.
For the year, bulk of the total
loans taken by banks went to commercial credits at 84.1%. Production credits made up 5.1% while
other types of loans accounted
for 10.8% of the total availments,
particularly housing (6.4%), permanent working capital (2.4%),
and capital expenditures (2%).
Only one universal bank took
out foreign currency loans under
the BSPs 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.
Rediscount, S2/ 3

Source: BSP

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

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
Source: REUTERS
Japanese yen
0.008506 117.564072
0.3999
2.500625
0.0078 128.452152
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016
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
SINGAPORE-in S$ per unit of foreign currency
Forwards & Deposits (Singapore)
Swiss franc
1.005328
0.994700
47.2695
0.021155
0.9201
1.086810
US
1.4424 1.4431
One month
0.9300
1.0600
Canada dollar
0.706664
1.415100
33.2266 0.030096
0.6468
1.546138
UK
2.0938 2.0955
Two months
1.0000
1.1200
Singapore dollar
0.693289
1.442400
32.5978
0.030677
0.6345
1.575967
Australia 1.0026 1.0037
Three months
1.0600
1.1800
Australia dollar
0.698080
1.432501
32.8230 0.030466
0.6389
1.565151
Per 100
Six months
1.1200
1.2500
Bahrain dinar *
2.655690
0.376550
124.8679 0.008008
2.4306
0.411419
Hong Kong
0.1857
0.1859
Nine months
1.1800
1.3100
Kuwait dinar
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Japan
1.2279 1.2288
One year
1.2500
1.3700
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
MONEY RATES
LIBOR RATE -London Interbank Offered
Indonesia rupiah
0.000072 13888.888889
0.0034 294.117647
0.0001 15151.515152
Prime rate-charged by large
Rates charged in US$ for Eurodollar loans
Thailand baht
0.027563
36.280521
1.2960
0.771605
0.0252 39.640068
comml banks to their best corp. borrowers;
Rates fixed at 11:00 a.m. London time
U. A. E. Dirham
0.272301
3.672407
12.8033
0.078105
0.2492
4.012471
Broker Loan Rate-charged to broker on stock
One Month
0.4238
E.M.U. euro
1.092600
0.915248
51.3730
0.019465
1.0000 1.000000
exchange collaterals; Federal Funds-reserves
Two Months
0.5150
South Korea won
0.000829 1206.272618
0.0390 25.641026
0.0008 1317.523057
traded among comml banks for overnight use
Three months
0.6211
China yuan **
0.151658
6.593783
7.1308
0.140237
0.1388
7.204351
Prime rate
3.2500
Six months
0.8508

Discount 0.7500
One year
1.1551
Broker Loan Rate
2.0000
Others (Not Convertible with BSP)
Argentina peso
0.072137
13.862512
3.3918
0.294829
0.0660
15.146237
Federal Funds Rate
0.2500
GOLD BULLION
Brazil real
0.247598
4.038805
11.6418
0.085897
0.2266
4.412790

WORLD BULLION-in US$ per troy
Denmark kroner
0.146368
6.832094
6.8821
0.145304
0.1340
7.464748
EURODOLLAR DEP (New York)
ounce, rupees/10 gms, won/gram
India rupee
0.014967
66.813657
0.7037
1.421060
0.0137 72.998029
One month
0.3800
0.4800
Ldn morning fix
1097.45
Malaysia ringgit
0.228571
4.375008
10.7472
0.093047
0.2092
4.780138
Two months
0.4500
0.5500
Ldn aftrn fix
1101.85
Mexico new peso
0.055772
17.930144
2.6223
0.381345
0.0510 19.590557
Three months
0.5700
0.7000
London close
109.00
.53
New Zealand dollar
0.65591
1.524599
30.8402
0.032425
0.6003
1.665778
Four months
0.6300
0.7300
New York
1098.20
1098.70
Norway kroner
0.11283
8.862891
5.3052
0.188494
0.1033
9.683636
Five months
0.6800
0.8000
Zurich
1,098.20 1,098.70
Pakistan rupee
0.009539 104.832792
0.4485
2.229654
0.0087 114.534418
Six months
0.8000
0.9000
Bombay 24 carat
20/
0.00
South African rand
0.061757
16.192496
2.9038
0.344376
0.0565
17.691913
Nine months
0.9500
1.1000
Karachi 24 carat
0.00
0.00
Sweden kroner
0.117621
8.501883
5.5304
0.180819
0.1077
9.289191
One year
1.1000
1.2500
Dubai 24 carat
0.00
0.00
Syria pound
0.004552 219.683656
0.2140
4.672897
0.0042 240.038406
MONEY RATES (London)
US Gold Prices ($/Troy ounce)
Taiwan dollar
0.030048 33.280085
1.4128
0.707814
0.0275 36.362314
Euro$ Depo
Engelhard gold (bullion)
1105.02
Venezuela bolivar
0.159129
6.284210
7.4821
0.133652
0.1456
6.866104
One month
0.5600
0.6600
Engelhard gold (fabricated)
1187.9
SDR Rate = $1.38434 SDR GOLD Buying: $1,106.95 SILVER Buying:
$14.00
Three months
0.7300
0.8300
Handy & Harman (base price)
1101.85
* Various banks in Bahrain as quoted in Reuters Screen
Six months
0.8900
0.9900
Handy & Harman (fabricated)
1223.054
** Asian Time Closing Rate as of January 8, 2015

One year
1.2100
1.4100
Krugerrand 1091.9 1094.9

Stock Market

The

2/S2

EDITOR BETTINA FAYE V. ROC

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

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

as a big shock was that this seeming aftershock from last weeks
tremor was just too wild and
wide, Justino B. Calaycay, 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 doesnt help that
regionally, the stock markets
remain weak, COL Financial
Group, Inc. Head of Research
April Lynn L. Tan said in a telephone interview.
Fears about a deep slowdown
in China continue to take the

when it ended at 6,193.97, according to bourse data. It was the local barometers 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 wasnt really unexpected. But what came

By Krista A. M. Montealegre
Senior Reporter

THE BENCHMARK Philippine

Stock Exchange index (PSEi)
dropped yesterday to its lowest
level in nearly two years, joining a
regional sell-off triggered by worries over the financial turmoil in
China.
The 30-company PSEi sank
287.17 points or 4.36% to close at
the sessions low of 6,288.26 its
lowest finish since Feb. 18, 2014

Philippine equities may need

domestic catalysts to get out
of this slump, Philstocks Mr.
Calaycay said, noting that the
major economic data and corporate 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 market to find a firmer footing before
making any commitments, he
said.

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 turnover improved to
P7.23 billion after 4.79 billion
shares changed hands, from P5.57
billion on Friday.
More than eight stocks declined for every issue that advanced, while 28 issues changed
hands.
Net foreign selling accelerated
to P1.16 billion from P1 billion in
the prior session.

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-

Philippine Index Charts

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

INDUSTRIAL: 10,125.99

FINANCIAL: 1,436.29

50.36
A

HOLDINGS: 6,012.77

249.21

422.06
A

PSE TURNOVERS AND AVERAGES

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

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

ODD LOTS VOLUME:

ODD LOTS VALUE:

TOTAL FOREIGN BUYING:

TOTAL FOREIGN SELLING:

1,480,430.00
318,651.06

Volume
3,159,000,000
456,900,000
242,500,000
184,700,000
92,100,000
80,177,000
53,620,000
38,000,000
23,933,500
23,486,000

Stocks
Ayala Land, Inc.
SM Prime Holdings, Inc.
GT Capital Holdings, Inc.
Universal Robina Corp.
Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.
Ayala Corp.
Megaworld Corp.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.
Bank of the Philippine Islands
SM Investments Corp.

LEADERS

Stocks
Yehey! Corp.
Liberty Flour Mills, Inc.
Oriental Pet. and Minerals Corp. A
Phinma Corp.
Alliance Select Foods Intl., Inc.
Leisure and Resorts World Corp.-Pref
Araneta Properties, Inc.
Starmalls, Inc.
Megawide Const. Corp. - Perpetual Pref.
Asia United Bank Corp.

LAGGARDS

Stocks
Keppel Philippines Holdings, Inc. A
Anglo-Philippine Holdings Corp.
Philippine Trust Co.
Anchor Land Holdings, Inc.
AbaCore Capital Holdings, Inc.
Paxys, Inc.
Abra Mining and Industrial Corp.
MEDCO Holdings, Inc.
Empire East Land Holdings, Inc.
A Brown Co., Inc.

PHL ABROAD JANUARY 8, 2016

PLDT
Manulife Financial Corp.
Sun Life Financial, Inc.

DIVIDEND UPDATE
Issue
Leisure and Resorts World Corp.-Pref.
Manila Broadcasting Co.
Far Eastern University

Volume
99,198
2,918,538
429,762

Stock

2,962,151,849.35
4,126,317,979.69

TOP 10 IN VALUE

TOP 10 IN VOLUME

Stocks
Abra Mining and Industrial Corp.
The Philodrill Corp.
Manila Mining Corp. B
Manila Mining Corp. A
Pacifica, Inc.
Megaworld Corp.
Premium Leisure Corp.
IP E-Game Ventures, Inc.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Ayala Land, Inc.

Value
710,951,415
438,586,924
427,359,170
405,163,001
320,435,165
314,665,790
290,200,470
281,422,515
279,379,918
253,225,940

Volume
34,000
400
1,000,000
33,600
13,000
57,000
39,000
7,000
100,020
22,800

Close
3.59
26.9
0.0097
11.60
0.72
1.10
1.12
4.80
109.00
45.80

Net
0.210
1.100
0.0003
0.340
0.020
0.030
0.030
0.100
2.000
0.800

%
6.21%
4.26%
3.19%
3.02%
2.86%
2.80%
2.75%
2.13%
1.87%
1.78%

Volume
1,000
6,000
20
3,700
2,940,000
32,000
3,159,000,000
730,000
20,000
2,091,000

Close
4.01
0.90
100.00
6.00
0.300
2.50
0.0041
0.400
0.67
0.61

Net
-1.980
-0.210
-22.000
-1.300
-0.060
-0.500
0.0008
-0.060
-0.100
-0.080

%
-33.06%
-18.92%
-18.03%
-17.81%
-16.67%
-16.67%
-16.33%
-13.04%
-12.99%
-11.59%

Close
$40.49
$13.43
$28.30

Source: PSE
Change
($0.42)
$0.05
$0.06

High
$41.38
$13.61
$28.79

Cash
P0.0425
P0.0625
P12.00

Low
$40.43
$13.40
$28.29

Ex-date
22-Dec.-15
16-Dec.-15
22-Dec.-15

Record
29-Dec.-15
21-Dec.-15
29-Dec.-15

Payable
12-Jan.-16
15-Jan.-16
15-Jan.-16

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS
Date Company
JANUARY
29
Primex Corp. (Annual)

FEBRUARY
02
Victorias Milling Co., Inc. (Annual)

Time & Place

3:00 p.m. Pasig Room, Valle Verde Country Club,

Capt. Henry Javier St., Pasig City

8:00 a.m. Victorias Golf & Country Club,

Victorias City, Negros Occidental
NOTE: These schedules are subject to change without any further notice.

MUTUAL FUNDS
MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

NAV
One Year Three Year Five Year
per share Return
Return* Return*
%
%
%

STOCK FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. *
235.17
ATRKE Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. *
1.0968
ATRKE Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. *
3.4648
First Metro Save & Learn Equity Fund, Inc. *
5.0067
PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc.* ********
44.4234
Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. *
484.3
Philequity Dividend Yield Fund., Inc. *
1.1209
Philequity Fund, Inc. *
32.1512
Philequity PSE Index Fund, Inc. *
4.3709
Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. *
733.21
Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. *******
0.8184
Sun Life Prosperity Phil. Equity Fund, Inc. *
3.6152
Sun Life Prosperity Phil. Stock Index Fund, Inc.* *******
0.8462
United Fund, Inc.*
2.9868
Exchange Traded Fund
First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. * *** 107.4421
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
ATR KimEng Asia Plus Recovery Fund, Inc. **
$0.8293
BALANCED FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc.* ****
1.6781
ATRKE Phil. Balanced Fund, Inc. *
2.0711
Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund, Inc.*
1.9486
First Metro Save & Learn Balanced Fund, Inc. *
2.5813
NCM Mutual Funds of the Phils., Inc.* *****
1.7463
One Wealthy Nation Fund, Inc.*
0.9572
PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. *
3.4767
Philam Fund, Inc. *
15.6021
Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc.*
3.4889
Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. *
0.8968
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. *
$0.03538
PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. *
$0.8446
Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. *
$3.0069
BOND FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. *
322.71
ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc.*
1.9189
Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. *
2.5429
Ekklesia Mutual Fund, Inc. *
2.042
First Metro Save & Learn Fixed Income Fund, Inc. *
2.2098
Grepalife Bond Fund Corp. *
1.338
Grepalife Fixed Income Fund Corp. * *****
P1.5965
Philam Bond Fund, Inc. *
3.9948
Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. *
3.4614
Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. *******
0.917
Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. *
2.7047
Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. *
1.5245
Primarily invested in foreign currency securities
ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. *
$419.83
ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. *
206.13
ATR KimEng Total Return Bond Fund, Inc. **
$1.0954
First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. * ****** $0.0243
Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp. *
$1.7196
MAA Privilege Dollar Fixed Income Fund, Inc.
N.S.
MAA Privilege Euro Fixed Income Fund, Inc.
N.S.
PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc. *
$1.0543
Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. *
$2.124
Philequity Dollar Income Fund, Inc. *
$0.0554873
Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. *
$2.8556
MONEY MARKET FUNDS
Primarily invested in Peso securities
ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. *
114.3
Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. *
1.1554
Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc. *
1.1402

-11.64%
-32.67%
-21.34%
-11.05%
n.a.
-12.19%
-11.56%
-14.23%
-10.8%
-10.71%
-14.06%
-12.41%
n.a.
-9.84%

PROPERTY: 2,545.52

1.22%
-3.69%
-1.44%
0.43%
n.a.
-2.39%
n.a.
2.79%
3.68%
3.33%
n.a.
-0.77%
n.a.
-3.61%

Y-T-D
Return
%

5.28%
n.a.
5.1%
8.06%
n.a.
5.89%
n.a.
10.37%
10.75%
10.31%
n.a.
7.54%
n.a.
1.25%

-4.8%
-6.22%
-5.42%
-5.15%
-5.14%
-4.42%
-4.73%
-5.22%
-5.56%
-5.82%
-4.55%
-5.88%
-5.56%
-5.15%

-9.74%

n.a.

n.a.

-5.79%

-15.43%

-5.97%

-6.15%

-7.23%

-13.57%
-12.22%
-5.08%
-8.41%
-7.29%
-8.91%
-8.3%
-8.47%
-7.89%
-11.31%

0.68%
1.38%
2.23%
-1.76%
-2.13%
n.a.
-2.79%
-2.4%
-0.02%
n.a.

7.41%
5.57%
6.76%
6%
4.66%
n.a.
4.31%
5.05%
6.52%
n.a.

-3.68%
-3.09%
-2.69%
-4.01%
-2.51%
-4.41%
-2.52%
-2.51%
-3.07%
-3.42%

2.11%
-13.28%
-4.31%

1.14%
-6.93%
1.06%

3.56%
-3.54%
2.27%

-0.03%
-4.68%
-3.46%

0.91%
-3.46%
4.94%
0.38%
1.04%
-2.41%
-2.7%
-1.37%
-1.24%
-4.87%
-0.44%
-1.42%

2.42%
3.01%
5.2%
3.23%
5.95%
0.08%
0.15%
2.28%
4.41%
n.a.
1.93%
0.78%

4.04%
4.13%
6.05%
5.49%
8.48%
3.22%
2.87%
5.09%
5.95%
n.a.
3.93%
3.01%

-0.01%
0.06%
0.04%
0.17%
0.24%
0.24%
0.03%
0.35%
-0.49%
-0.01%
0.07%
0.07%

2.69%
n.a.
2.96%
n.a.
0.78%
N.S.
N.S.
-6.47%
1.62%
1.31%
2.17%

1.73%
1.84%
0.86%
n.a.
1.01%
N.S.
N.S.
-4.62%
0.62%
1.01%
-1.04%

3.81%
2.89%
1.77%
n.a.
4.53%
N.S.
N.S.
-1.86%
3.22%
3.59%
2.43%

0.36%
0.04%
0.15%
0%
0.54%
N.S.
N.S.
0.46%
0.74%
0.04%
0.66%

1.15%
0.04%
1.32%

1.36%
0.29%
0.27%

2.09%
0.88%
0.31%

0.06%
-0.16%
0.05%

* - 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

SERVICES: 1,383.68

171.32

MINING & OIL: 9,249.42

56.18

ALL SHARES: 3,627.97

443.51
J

PSEi: 6,288.26

160.31

287.17

49.87
123.7
107
44.58
26.13
99.8
19.2
87
108.1
175
48.5
177
71.95

43.23
93
80.05
36.5
17.2
69
14.32
49.5
85
82.5
29.25
120
49.8

22,227 AUB
346,311 BDO
319,239 BPI
67,661 CHIB
25,800 EW
219,432 MBT
8,583 PBB
62,457 PNB
22,824 PSB
100,000 PTC
44,657 RCB
80,177 SECB
59,849 UBP

Banks
Asia United Bank Corp.
Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc.
Bank of the Phil. Islands
China Banking Corp.
East West Banking Corp.
MetroBank and Trust Co.
Philippine Business Bank
Philippine National Bank
Philippine Savings Bank
Philippine Trust Co.
Rizal Commercial Banking
Security Bank Corp.
Union Bank of the Phils.

Volume

Open

High

Low

Close

Prev Net Foreign

Close Trade (peso)
Buy(sell)

52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stock Stocks

High
Low (Pmil) Code

22,800
3,356,220
3,434,740
36,100
156,400
3,983,530
342,000
386,670
1,920
20
72,400
631,630
7,350

45
99.5
81.5
37
18
74.2
16
51
98
100
32
136
57

45.8
99.5
82
37
18
74.2
16.1
51
98
100
32.9
136.1
57

44
94.5
81
36.5
17.2
69
15.8
49.9
95
100
31.7
133
56.5

45.8
95
81.25
36.5
17.2
69
16
50
95
100
31.9
133
56.55

45
421,395
99.5
5,749,389
82
28,851,607
37
29,600
18.3
(208,784)
74.4 (127,085,357)
16.5
4,770,000
51
6,361,117
99
122
32.8
1,250,380
136
2,828,231
57
-

5.88
0.134
8.79
31.9
0.55
1.87
0.98
22.95
8.49
1.5
8.59

3.52
0.073
4.78
23.5
0.37
1.35
0.68
17.44
3.89
0.65
4.62

67.8
7.57
0.71

48.3
5.95
0.48

2,702
4.89
3,200

1,686
1.91
1,920

7.33
0.41
1.9
0.39
1.03
2.05
23.1
4.8

4
0.122
1.2
0.25
0.41
1.4
12.1
1.2

Information Technology
1,400 DFNN DFNN, Inc.
596 IS Island Info. and Tech., Inc.
960 ISM ISM Comm. Corp.
544 MG Millennium Global Hldgs., Inc.
956 NOW Now Corp.
335 TBGI Transpacific Broadband
29,893 WEB Philweb Corp.
998 YEHEY Yehey! Corp.

11.32
14.48
98.4
117.8
2.48
5.28
1.66

3.82
10.9
76
58
1.8
4.33
1.14

14,970 2GO
21,960 ATI
46,052 CEB
118,013 ICT
2,874 MAC
109,281 PAL
690 TUGS

1.26
0.12
45.9
0.4

1.02
0.037
16.9
0.165

386
444
1,128
775

12
0.74

9.5
0.4

3,564
3,912

2.3
1.15
2.17
14.2
0.35
630
0.9
275
1.43

2.49
1.18
2.41
14.4
0.44
630
0.93
276
1.7

2.5
1.18
2.41
14.9
0.44
635
0.93
276
1.7

2.17
1.15
2.41
14.2
0.4
630
0.92
275
1.54

2.3
1.15
2.41
14.2
0.4
630
0.92
275
1.55

2.5
1.18
2.45
14.4
0.46
655
0.93
278.8
1.7

4,600
(129,000)
(113,800)
-

2.27
46.5
8.96
31.2
106.2
343.8
33
10.62
4.16
2.47
25.5

1.29
39.1
5.2
20.4
61.25
260.4
20
5.85
3.15
1.66
19.4

Electricity, Energy, Power & Water

8,116 ACR Alsons Cons. Res., Inc.
1,206,000
289,929 AP Aboitiz Power Corp.
2,224,300
103,847 EDC Energy Devt. (EDC) Corp.
14,354,500
74,683 FGEN First Gen Corp.
4,005,200
33,920 FPH First Phil. Hldgs. Corp.
667,040
339,257 MER Manila Electric Co.
301,690
49,295 MWC Manila Water Co.
835,300
54,844 PCOR Petron Corp.
2,608,700
5,329 PNX Phoenix Petroleum Phils.
137,000
9,828 TA Trans-Asia Oil and Energy
3,695,000
23,028 VVT Vivant Corp.
2,400

1.36
40.5
5.7
21.1
63
309.2
24.95
6.44
3.56
2.05
22.5

1.37
40.55
5.7
21.2
63
309.2
24.95
6.44
3.76
2.05
22.5

1.28
39.4
5.51
20.1
60.8
301
24
5.84
3.56
1.99
22.5

1.29
39.4
5.54
20.4
61.25
301
24
5.85
3.73
2.02
22.5

1.35
40.9
5.7
21.1
63
310
24.9
6.46
3.8
2.06
22.5

4,564,220
15,095,606
(17,018,545)
8,817,084
13,594,092
639,580
(2,945,413)
2,856,360
54,000

5.15
20.55
15.09
11.43
11.9
1.28
15.7
235.8
37.92
60
34.4
210
4.94
6
0.203
230
0.86
4.8

1.25
15.48
9.49
7.31
6.99
0.7
10.52
180
16.33
38.95
16.76
115
3.24
3.88
0.129
173.6
0.56
4.2

2,487
34,553
21,375
52,214
135,730
1,800
3,228
207,516
4,035
41,614
18,219
19,333
11,968
13,652
245
378,709
1,560
13,255

Food, Beverage & Tobacco

Agrinurture, Inc.
1,336,000
Century Pacific Food, Inc.
222,500
Del Monte Pacific Ltd.
127,400
D and L Industries, Inc.
13,007,800
Emperador, Inc.
2,201,400
Alliance Select Foods Intl., Inc. 13,000
Ginebra San Miguel, Inc.
4,700
Jollibee Foods Corp.
917,740
Liberty Flour Mills, Inc.
400
Macay Hldgs., Inc.
3,700
Maxs Group,Inc.
346,200
San Miguel Pure Foods Co., Inc. 6,260
Pepsi-Cola Products Phils.
139,000
RFM Corp.
1,826,000
Swift Foods, Inc.
5,700,000
Universal Robina Corp.
2,328,470
Vitarich Corp.
383,000
Victorias Milling Co.
1,129,000

4.33
16
11.6
7.98
8.9
0.63
11.54
205
26.9
35.7
17.5
112.1
3.28
3.89
0.137
179.5
0.55
4.55

4.38
16
11.6
7.98
8.9
0.72
11.54
206
26.9
38.95
17.5
121
3.45
3.95
0.14
179.5
0.56
4.55

3.8
15.4
11
7.24
8.35
0.63
11.5
194
26.9
35.7
16.76
112.1
3.24
3.85
0.133
170
0.55
4.53

4
15.48
11
7.31
8.42
0.72
11.5
194
26.9
38.95
16.76
116
3.24
3.9
0.135
173.6
0.56
4.55

4.4
16
11.62
8
8.9
0.7
11.96
205
25.8
40
17.5
117
3.4
3.88
0.137
180.3
0.56
4.55

(109,420)
(18,576)
(2,344,824)
(971,739)
(44,616,438)
588,854
(304,658)
(214,580)
905,880
(33,750)
(51,146,845)
(46,750)
3,788,090

12.9
2.34
11.16
15.18
25.6
8.6
12.28
2.07
1.7

8.05
1.19
4.54
12
10.34
5.21
10.1
0.84
1

Construction, Infrastructure & Allied Services

2,036 ABG Asiabest Group Intl., Inc.
1,300
10.2
2,025 DAVIN Da Vinci Capital Hldgs., Inc. 7,587,000
1.93
5,482 EEI EEI Corp.
1,394,600
5.4
89,039 HLCM Holcim Philippines, Inc.
25,000
13.8
14,743 LBC LBC Express Hldgs., Inc.
37,100
11.64
13,197 MWIDE Megawide Const. Corp.
1,453,600
5.52
3,007 PHN Phinma Corp.
33,600
11.26
865 T
TKC Steel Corp.
31,000
0.96
1,465 VUL Vulcan Industrial Corp.
92,000
1.01

10.2
1.93
5.4
13.8
11.64
5.52
11.6
0.96
1.03

10.02
1.7
5.24
13.8
10.34
5.5
11.2
0.92
1.01

10.18
1.8
5.29
13.8
10.34
5.5
11.6
0.92
1.01

10.18
2
5.41
13.82
11.64
5.69
11.26
0.96
1.06

1,551,400
6,449,671
(5,294,650)
(48,636)
(1,840)
-

3.2
3.18
6
4.07

1.53
1.75
1.61
1.4

Chemicals
1,325 CROWN Crown Asia Chemicals Corp.
339 LMG LMG Chemicals Corp.
1,991 MVC Mabuhay Vinyl Corp.
4,400 PPC Pryce Corp.

730,000
15,000
2,000
436,000

2.19
1.75
3.01
2.22

2.19
1.75
3.01
2.22

2
1.75
3.01
2.16

2.1
1.75
3.01
2.2

2.2
1.75
3.01
2.22

115,640
-

65.8
7
3.82
2.96
32.09

40
5.16
0.43
1.39
16.4

Electrical Components & Equipment

14,264 CIC Concepcion Indl. Corp.
17,600
9,842 IMI Integ. Micro-Electronics
1,968,300
1,833 ION Ionics, Inc.
5,523,000
3,009 PSPC Phoenix Semicon. Phils. Corp. 469,000
7,459 TECH Cirtek Hldgs. Phils. Corp.
216,700

41.5
5.5
2.33
1.47
18.2

42.05
5.52
2.34
1.49
18.7

41.5
5.2
2.1
1.35
17.8

42
5.3
2.14
1.39
17.8

42.1
5.5
2.31
1.5
18.7

730,000
10,159,235
(913,170)
17,880

2.65

1.56

1,527

2,276,000

2.48

2.58

2.46

2.5

2.59

25,000

0.49
821
59
27.3
7.24
1.62
0.34
9.72
16
4.85
6.6
0.42
1,446
6.88
9.96
75
6.78
0.89
9.18
16.84
0.7
5.44
0.057
2.35
1.68
1.31
970
80.75
1.08
3.18
124
0.62
0.28
0.37

0.3
665
51.95
14.6
6.2
0.9
0.206
6.5
10.7
3.6
2.76
0.176
1,097
5.18
4.9
62.1
4.01
0.54
5.14
9.89
0.45
4.21
0.028
0.65
1.02
1.1
769.5
44
0.61
2.15
63
0.25
0.162
0.21

956
412,041
302,708
149,939
15,500
2,703
777
56,281
155,612
39,133
1,639
364
225,196
3,190
6,762
469,166
155
444
26,673
148,686
570
141,100
1,160
4,048
713
2,004
617,951
123,683
631
388
21,238
397
609
632

Holding Firms
AbaCore Capital Holdings,Inc. 2,940,000
Ayala Corp.
468,350
Aboitiz Equity Ventures
2,299,040
Alliance Global Group, Inc.
7,074,400
A. Soriano Corp.
204,000
Anglo-Phil. Hldgs. Corp.
6,000
ATN Hldgs., Inc. A
540,000
Cosco Capital, Inc.
2,240,100
DMCI Hldgs., Inc.
5,497,700
Filinvest Devt. Corp.
551,000
F&J Prince Hldgs. Corp.A
146,200
Forum Pacific, Inc.
500,000
GT Capital Hldgs., Inc.
324,900
House of Investments, Inc.
171,000
IPM Hldgs., Inc.
1,411,200
JG Summit Hldgs., Inc.
2,336,350
Keppel Phils. Hldg., Inc. A
1,000
Lodestar Invest. Hldg. Corp. A 405,000
Lopez Hldgs. Corp.
403,200
LT Group,Inc.
1,309,200
Mabuhay Hldgs. Corp.
40,000
Metro Pac. Inv. Corp.
23,933,500
Pacifica, Inc.
92,100,000
Prime Orion Phils., Inc.
2,432,000
Prime Media Hldgs., Inc.
31,000
Solid Group, Inc.
430,000
SM Investments Corp.
323,470
San Miguel Corp.
543,850
South China Resources
133,000
Seafront Resources Corp.
32,000
Top Frontier Inves. Hldgs., Inc.
1,300
Unioil Res. And Hldgs. Co.
2,080,000
Wellex Industries, Inc.
740,000
Zeus Hldgs., Inc.
130,000

0.36
690
55.25
15.2
6.2
0.82
0.21
7.88
12.26
4.1
5.6
0.198
1,315
5.33
9.67
66.5
4.01
0.65
6.09
14.5
0.47
5.13
0.029
1.75
1.04
1.13
801
52
0.7
2.38
68
0.26
0.191
0.23

0.36
690
55.55
15.2
6.2
0.9
0.21
7.88
12.36
4.2
5.6
0.198
1,328
5.33
9.8
66.5
4.01
0.66
6.09
14.5
0.47
5.15
0.029
1.75
1.04
1.13
802.5
52
0.7
2.38
68.95
0.26
0.21
0.231

0.3
660
54.05
14.56
6.15
0.82
0.206
7.55
11.72
4.1
5.5
0.198
1,290
5.18
9.2
65
4.01
0.6
5.8
13.74
0.47
5.06
0.028
1.7
1.02
1.08
769.5
50.6
0.7
2.38
63.8
0.25
0.186
0.23

0.3
665
54.5
14.6
6.2
0.9
0.21
7.62
11.72
4.2
5.6
0.198
1,292
5.18
9.8
65.5
4.01
0.6
5.8
13.74
0.47
5.06
0.029
1.71
1.02
1.1
769.5
52
0.7
2.38
63.8
0.25
0.186
0.231

0.36
700
56.3
15.2
6.3
1.11
0.21
7.9
12.58
4.25
5.6
0.2
1,340
5.44
9.89
67.1
5.99
0.64
6.09
14.6
0.49
5.19
0.029
1.78
1.1
1.12
808
52
0.7
2.38
63.7
0.27
0.19
0.231

90,000
(102,537,150)
(36,546,207)
(1,691,646)
(1,240)
9,609,296
(18,313,006)
1,869,200
(18,158,090)
414,430
(75,460)
(72,021,741)
299,198
4,513,008
1,591,723
1,058,500
(82,159,115)
(244,382)
(25,670)
(346,250)
-

0.28
10.94
41
1.45
4.72
1.15
1.19
0.164
5.43
1.03
0.6
25.35
0.96
0.234
2.09
1.78
10.4
1.55
1.19

Property
0.18
1,064 ALCO Arthaland Corp.
5.72
6,240 ALHI Anchor Land Hldgs., Inc.
30 440,869 ALI Ayala Land, Inc.
1.03
1,748 ARA Araneta Properties, Inc.
2.47
25,978 BEL Belle Corp.
0.55
1,057 BRN A Brown Co., Inc.
0.95
3,429 CDC Cityland Devt. Corp.
0.1
1,496 CEI Crown Equities, Inc.
4.65
9,120 CHI Cebu Hldgs., Inc.
0.48
5,568 CPG Century Prop. Group, Inc.
0.38
2,655 CYBR Cyber Bay Corp.
7.26 45,264 DD DoubleDragon Prop. Corp.
0.67
9,833 ELI Empire East Land, Inc.
0.139
695 EVER Ever Gotesco Res.
1.56
37,830 FLI Filinvest Land, Inc.
0.9
9,887 GERI Global-Estate Resorts, Inc.
6.05
37,798 HOUSE 8990 Hldgs., Inc.
1.11
1,262 IRC IRC Properties, Inc.
0.81
1,072 LAND City and Land Developers

0.21
6
31.4
1.13
2.68
0.69
0.96
0.112
4.8
0.52
0.41
22.4
0.7
0.144
1.67
0.99
6.81
1.12
0.91

0.21
6
31.4
1.13
2.68
0.69
0.96
0.112
4.8
0.52
0.41
22.5
0.7
0.144
1.67
0.99
7.05
1.12
0.91

0.2
6
30
1.08
2.4
0.6
0.96
0.11
4.75
0.45
0.39
19.7
0.67
0.139
1.56
0.9
6.81
1.09
0.91

0.2
6
30
1.12
2.47
0.61
0.96
0.11
4.75
0.48
0.39
20.3
0.67
0.139
1.56
0.9
6.85
1.12
0.91

ANI
CNPF
DMPL
DNL
EMP
FOOD
GSMI
JFC
LFM
MACAY
MAXS
PF
PIP
RFM
SFI
URC
VITA
VMC

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

Other Industrials
Splash Corp.

110,000
3,700
23,486,000
39,000
5,053,000
2,091,000
10,000
4,050,000
17,300
4,536,000
530,000
3,492,000
20,000
830,000
20,569,000
5,437,000
67,900
327,000
64,000

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

Other Financial Institutions

602 AGF AG Finance, Inc.
110,000
1,758 BKR Bright Kindle Res & Inves., Inc. 122,000
5,212 BLFI BDO Leasing & Fin., Inc.
2,000
6,745 COL COL Finl. Group, Inc.
27,900
280 MED Medco Holdings
730,000
1,242,302 MFC Manulife Financial Corp.
180
1,954 NRCP National Reinsurance Corp.
879,000
20,180 PSE The Phil. Stock Exchange, Inc.
3,330
6,509 V Vantage Equities, Inc.
317,000

8.7
3.3
2.55
16.98
0.73
850
1.21
361.2
3.2

PROVIDED BY TECHNISTOCK

PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE

52Wk 52Wk MktCap Stock Stocks
High
Low (Pmil) Code

0.21
7.3
31.75 (147,043,365)
1.09
2.7
2,236,620
0.69
12,900
0.96
0.117
2,240
5
0.52
394,440
0.42
8,100
22.7
4,055,354
0.77
7,000
0.141
1.67 (10,074,220)
0.99
(95,000)
7
144,502
1.16
0.91
-

Volume

Open

High

Low

Close

Prev Net Foreign

Close Trade (peso)
Buy(sell)

113,483 MEG Megaworld Corp.

621 MRC MRC Allied Industries, Inc.
2,739 PRMX Primex Corp.
96,205 RLC Robinsons Land Corp.
1,895 RLT Philippine Realty & Hldgs.
8,258 ROCK Rockwell Land Corp.
6,620 SLI Sta. Lucia Land, Inc.
554,481 SMPH SM Prime Hldgs., Inc.
40,445 STR Starmalls, Inc.
1,665 SUN Suntrust Home Dev., Inc.
57,782 VLL Vista Land & Lifescapes

80,177,000
630,000
417,900
6,716,400
110,000
108,000
3,629,000
22,597,500
7,000
614,000
6,388,000

3.81
0.073
8.55
24.9
0.39
1.35
0.76
20.4
4.8
0.8
4.93

3.82
0.073
8.55
24.95
0.39
1.35
0.76
20.4
4.8
0.8
4.93

3.51
0.072
8.47
22.8
0.39
1.33
0.71
19.02
4.8
0.7
4.59

3.52
0.073
8.47
23.5
0.39
1.35
0.74
19.2
4.8
0.74
4.62

3.88 (98,667,760)
0.073
8.55
510,900
25 (64,611,355)
0.39
1.35
0.76
20.6 (201,520,607)
4.7
0.83
4.93
(8,318,180)

Media
50,963 ABS ABS-CBN Corp.
21,712 GMA7 GMA Network, Inc.
1,615 MB Manila Bulletin Pub. Corp.

41,130
240,300
55,000

61.1
6.6
0.5

61.1
6.6
0.5

59.9
6.4
0.48

59.9
6.46
0.48

61.1
6.6
0.5

86,120
1,466,000
113,955

1,758
4.4
1,949

1,758
4.48
1,949

1,685
4.24
1,920

1,686
4.48
1,920

1,758
4.41
1,958

(58,245,635)
(280,600)
(45,331,230)

589,900
2,990,000
1,322,000
1,080,000
4,713,000
40,000
24,800
34,000

5.65
0.129
1.38
0.26
0.67
1.51
21
3.3

5.68
0.129
1.38
0.26
0.68
1.51
21
3.6

5.5
0.122
1.3
0.26
0.62
1.51
19.96
3.15

5.61
0.122
1.34
0.26
0.63
1.51
20.85
3.59

5.56
0.136
1.38
0.26
0.68
1.51
21
3.38

(296,800)
7,530
67,190
(20,825)
-

178,900
100
562,770
2,518,270
10,000
22,000
129,000

6.55
10.98
78.15
63.1
2
4.4
1.17

6.65
10.98
79
63.55
2.33
4.5
1.17

6.1
10.98
75.95
57.8
2
4.4
1.14

6.12
10.98
76
58
2.33
4.4
1.14

6.55
11.7
79.75
63.7
2.32
4.35
1.17

(18,900)
(3,158,852)
(76,997,711)
4,500
46,700

ACE
BHI
GPH
WPI

Hotel & Leisure

Acesite (Phils.) Hotel Corp.
129,000
Boulevard Hldgs., Inc.
18,400,000
Grand Plaza Hotel Corp.
31,600
Waterfront Philippines, Inc.
130,000

1.13
0.038
21
0.32

1.15
0.038
21
0.32

1.12
0.036
21
0.31

1.12
0.037
21
0.31

1.12
0.038
21.45
0.32

(54,240)
11,400
-

CEU
STI

Education
Centro Escolar University
700
STI Educ. Systems Hldgs., Inc. 5,600,000

8.33
0.41

9.57
0.41

8.33
0.39

9.57
0.4

9.64
0.41

(25,350)

223,804
5,796
414,827

GLO
LIB
TEL

Telecommunications
Globe Telecom, Inc.
Liberty Telecoms Hldgs.
Phil. Long Dis. Tel. Co.

Transportation Services
2Go Group, Inc.
Asian Terminals, Inc.
Cebu Air, Inc.
Intl. Cont. Terml. Serv., Inc.
Macroasia Corp.
PAL Hldgs., Inc.
Harbor Star Shipping Serv., Inc.

29
20
13
3.51
0.016 0.0053
11.5
6.81
12.86
1.59
2.18
1.85
1.99
0.45
10
8.5
7.57
3.19

Casinos & Gaming

23,443 BCOR Berjaya Phils., Inc.
900
26.9
27
26.9
27
27
38,665 BLOOM Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
7,967,000
3.67
3.67
3.5
3.51
3.67
252 EG IP E-Game Vent., Inc.
38,000,000 0.0093 0.0093 0.0084 0.0084 0.0093
8,171 LR Leisure and Resorts Corp.
3,816,000
7.01
7.01
6.81
6.81
7.1
8,973 MCP Melco Crown Resorts Corp.
7,657,000
1.69
1.71
1.59
1.59
1.69
1,972 MJC Manila Jockey Club, Inc.
105,000
1.91
1.98
1.9
1.98
1.98
14,074 PLC Premium Leisure Corp.
53,620,000
0.47
0.47
0.44
0.45
0.47
5,172 PRC Philippine Racing Club
500,000
9.35
9.35
9.35
9.35
9.4
55,933 RWM Travellers Intl. Hotel Grp., Inc. 543,000
3.74
3.74
3.52
3.55
3.79

5.06
4.01
43
89
140.6
11.3

3.14
3.6
30
61.8
83.5
2.59

1,133
12,346
84,344
87,394
45,844
8,580

CAL
MRSGI
PGOLD
RRHI
SEVN
SSI

Retail
Calata Corp.
210,000
Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. 3,805,000
Puregold Price Club, Inc
4,166,200
Robinsons Retail Hldgs., Inc.
943,450
Philippine Seven Corp.
10,530
SSI Group, Inc.
6,262,000

3.15
3.79
32.8
64
100
2.87

3.15
3.79
33
64.5
100
2.87

3
3.5
30.4
62.4
100
2.55

3.15
3.6
30.5
63.1
100
2.59

3.14
3.78
33
65
100
2.9

24,290
(11,453,930)
18,000
22,994,022
(1,863,130)
1,195,200
(291,310)
1,484,340
(2,481,255)
(22,926,748)
103,000
(48,570)

0.83
3.78
0.73
7.23

0.41
2.5
0.43
4.12

3,077
2,871
876
5,520

APC
PAX
PHA
SBS

Other Services
APC Group, Inc.
1,080,000
Paxys, Inc.
32,000
Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. 530,000
SBS Phil. Corp.
3,033,300

0.43
2.53
0.43
5.2

0.43
2.53
0.46
5.2

0.41
2.5
0.43
4.6

0.41
2.5
0.44
4.6

0.44
3
0.47
5.2

(50,370)
9,000
(158,615)

Mining
10,587 APX Apex Mining Co., Inc. A
62,000
1.89
1.89
1.7
817 AR Abra Mng. and Indl. Corp. 3,159,000,000 0.0049 0.0049 0.004
8,139 AT Atlas Cons. Mng. & Devt.
216,000
4.01
4.01
3.9
1,960 COAL Coal Asia Holdings, Inc.
1,533,000
0.53
0.54
0.48
1,551 CPM Century Peak Metals Hldgs.
897,000
0.57
0.57
0.55
468 DIZ Dizon Copper Silver Mines
34,000
6.21
6.21
5.89
8,384 FNI Global Ferronickel Hldgs., Inc. 5,818,000
0.51
0.51
0.46
928 GEO GEOGRACE Res. Phils., Inc.
350,000
0.28
0.28
0.26
5,024 LC Lepanto Cons. Mng. A
7,200,000
0.169
0.169 0.163
3,822 LCB Lepanto Cons. Mng. B
1,060,000
0.187
0.187 0.186
1,558 MA Manila Mining Corp. A
184,700,000
0.01
0.01 0.0099
1,142 MAB Manila Mining Corp. B
242,500,000
0.011
0.011
0.01
2,896 MARC Marcventures Hldgs., Inc.
828,000
1.6
1.61
1.59
2,394 NI Nihao Min. Resources
64,000
2.54
2.54
2.36
33,882 NIKL Nickel Asia Corp.
2,897,000
4.92
4.92
4.45
536 OM Omico Corp.
157,000
0.53
0.53
0.51
3,080 ORE Oriental Peninsula Res.
414,000
1.14
1.14
1.07
21,244 PX Philex Mining Corp.
551,000
4.45
4.45
4.25
134,128 SCC Semirara Mng. and Power Corp. 312,820
130.3
130.3 124.4
1,829 UPM United Paragon Mng. Co.
14,000,000 0.007 0.007 0.007

1.7
1.84
0.0041 0.0049
3.9
4
0.49
0.55
0.55
0.58
5.92
6.21
0.48
0.51
0.27
0.27
0.163 0.167
0.186 0.202
0.01
0.01
0.011 0.011
1.59
1.62
2.37
2.43
4.46
4.86
0.51
0.54
1.07
1.15
4.3
4.45
125.5 130.9
0.007 0.007

288,500
24,000
100,000
27,700
31,790
610,240
16,830
5,550
(93,050)
328,218
63,000

Oil
507 BSC Basic Energy Corp.
90,000
0.198
0.198 0.198
1,164 OPM Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. A 1,000,000 0.0097 0.0097 0.0097
720 OPMB Oriental Pet. & Min. Corp. B 4,000,000 0.009 0.009 0.009
1,919 OV The Philodrill Corp.
456,900,000 0.012 0.012
0.01
1,335 PERC Petroenergy Res. Corp.
8,000
3.26
3.26
3.25
2,074 PXP Philex Petroleum Corp.
390,000
1.26
1.26
1.22
483 TAPET Trans-Asia Petroleum Corp.
313,000
2
2.01
1.93

0.198 0.195
0.0097 0.0094
0.009 0.0098
0.01 0.011
3.25
3.38
1.22
1.26
1.93
2.1

3.4
1.6
0.007 0.0038
10.22
3.9
0.97
0.49
1.14
0.55
9.26
5.62
3.47
0.48
0.47
0.27
0.3 0.163
0.32 0.185
0.018 0.0097
0.019
0.01
6.45
1.59
4.17
2.35
16.02
4.46
0.8
0.5
2.57
1.07
9.4
4.3
168.4
111.1
0.012 0.007
0.28
0.014
0.016
0.022
5.92
5.3
12.26

0.18
0.008
0.009
0.009
3.2
1.2
1.93

532
549
122
128
535
1.14
115.9
1,064
104
106.8
1,160
1,170
85.6
89.05
85
80
80.85

500
500
103
106.5
497
1.02
102.5
1,005
103
105.7
1,005
1,016
76
78.6
77
76
78

68
7.4

48
5.92

4.7

1.81

4.49
4.22
9.7
17.24

2.64
2.59
2.54
8.4

132

102.9

10,320
13,905
6,554
14,445
10,560
1,815
4,360
15,300
1,296
801
7,379
3,065
7,234
21,084
6,990
10,586
17,800

Preferred
Ayala Corp. Class B series 1 Pref. 6,730
Ayala Corp. Class B series 2 Pref. 5,040
First Gen Corp. Pref. F
10,000
First Gen Corp. Pref. G
22,700
Globe Telecom, Inc. - Perp. Pref.
520
Leisure & Resorts World-Pref.
57,000
Megawide Const. Corp.-Perp. 100,020
San Miguel Purefoods Perp. Pref. 2
55
Phoenix Petroleum-Non-Voting 3A 10,200
Phoenix Petroleum-Non-Voting 3B 3,610
Petron Corp.-Perpetual Pref. 2A
120
Petron Corp.-Perpetual Pref. 2B
1,030
San Miguel Corp. Series 2-B Pref. 15,400
San Miguel Corp. Series 2-C Pref. 47,900
San Miguel Corp. Series 2-D Pref. 11,000
San Miguel Corp. Series 2-E Pref. 60,250
San Miguel Corp. Series 2-F Pref. 86,810

525
507
104
110.5
528
1.09
108
1,022
104
106.8
1,035
1,077
80.75
82.7
78.2
79
79.8

532
515
104
117.5
528
1.1
109
1,022
104
106.8
1,036
1,077
81
83
78.25
79
79.8

516
507
103
107
528
1.09
108
1,020
103.7
106.7
1,035
1,065
78
82.5
78.2
78.5
78.5

516
515
103
108
528
1.1
109
1,020
103.7
106.8
1,036
1,065
80
82.5
78.25
79
79.7

525
530
103.4
110.5
526
1.07
107
1,029
104
106
1,030
1,077
81
82.5
79
79
79.8

(1,040,000)
(825,050)
(95,380)

39,750
18,000

61.05
6.5

61.05
6.5

60
6.35

60
6.4

62
6.5

(1,003,365)
(6,500)

Warrants
LRW Leisure & Resorts World-Wrnts. 157,000

1.87

1.87

1.78

1.81

1.92

Small and Medium Enterprises

978 ALT Alterra Capital Partners, Inc.
132,000
574 IDC Italpinas Devt. Corp.
386,000
532 MFIN Makati Finance Corp.
2,000
22,704 X Xurpas, Inc.
1,878,200

3
2.75
2.54
14.64

3.14
2.75
2.54
14.64

2.9
2.57
2.54
13.18

3.14
2.59
2.54
13.2

3.1
2.79
2.57
14.64

7,740
2,172,708

108

108

102.9

102.9

108

1,978,850

ACPB1
ACPB2
FGENF
FGENG
GLOPP
LRP
MWP
PFP2
PNX3A
PNX3B
PRF2A
PRF2B
SMC2B
SMC2C
SMC2D
SMC2E
SMC2F

Phil. Deposit Receipts

19,776 ABSP ABS-CBN Hldgs. Corp. PDR
5,417 GMAP GMA Hldgs., Inc. PDR
149

Exchange Traded Funds

1,225 FMETF First Metro Phil. Equity ETF

66,780

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Banking&Finance

S2/3

BW FILE PHOTO

Peso slumps on US data, China

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.

from S2/ 1
Hong Kong-based FWD Group
also established its presence in
the country in April 2014, becoming the first foreign life insurer to
enter the local market in 10 years.
It also has an existing exclusive
bancassurance tie-up with Security Bank Corp.
Bancassurance refers to the
selling of insurance products
within bank branches. Under
Republic Act No. 10607 or the
amended Insurance Code, banks
are no longer required to have a
5% equity in insurance companies to enter into a bancassurance
deal as long as they comply with
requirements set by the IC and
the central bank.

Rediscount,
from S2/ 1

The yen rediscount window,

meanwhile, remained unused for
both 2014 and 2015.

RATES

Peso facility rates stood unchanged since September 2014,

as these merely follow the BSPs
policy-setting Monetary Boards
stance on overnight lending and
borrowing rates which has been
kept steady since.
Meanwhile, rates for borrowings from the dollar rediscount
window have been hiked to
2.6127% for loans with a tenor of
one to 90 days; 2.6752% for 91- to
180-day loans; and 2.7377% for
181- to 360-day loans.
Rates under the yen rediscount 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

Creditors,
from S2/ 1

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 euroarea creditors made a special
point of putting senior bondholders in line for losses in exchange
for rescue funds.

RISKY INVESTMENTS

The EUs new bank resolution

chief wants exemptions to be a
last resort under the blocs 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 small
banks in November, when some
of the nations big banks lent
money to the public resolution
fund to shield creditors from taking losses. This move earned a
public guarantee, but no censure
from EU competition authorities
as long as the government credit
line isnt used.
Going forward, regulators
need to do more to prevent retail customers from buying risky

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 unseasonably warm weather.
The US central bank last
month raised overnight rates by
a quarter percentage point to between 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 trader said the peso could
move within the P47.15 to P47.35per-dollar band today, while another put support at P47.20 and
resistance at P47.40.
Most emerging Asian currencies extended losses on Monday
despite Chinas stronger guidance
on the yuan as the outlook for the
renminbi remained weak amid
uncertainties over Beijings exchange rate policy.
The yuan rose after the Peoples
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 renminbis
rebound as doubts lingered over
whether and how long China will
continue to support the currency.
Imee Charlee C. Delavin with
Reuters

investments, Koenig said. Rather

than using workarounds to shield
family savings tied up in bank
bonds, governments should focus on keeping that money out of
harms 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,
will make all bank resolution
processes more serious, and
Koenig said the industry needs
to take note.
Im very much in favor of having very clear rules, at the same
time, Im also very much in favor
of giving a bit of leeway to the
authority, Koenig said. Hopefully were not getting started
with such messy questions.
Bloomberg

CENTRAL BANKERS are no longer the circuit breakers for financial markets.
Monetary-policy makers,
market saviors the past decade
through the promise of interestrate reductions or asset purchases, now lack the space to cut
further or buy more. Even those
willing to intensify their efforts
increasingly doubt the potency of
such policies.
Thats leaving investors having to cope alone with shocks
such as last weeks rout in China
or when economic data disappoint, 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 Carmignac Gestion SA, an asset-management company. With central
banks becoming increasingly restricted in their stimulus policies,
2016 is likely to be the year when

the markets awaken to economic

reality.
Even against the backdrop of
this weeks 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 ultimately need to intensify economic-aid programs.
They have only themselves to
blame for becoming agents of volatility, according to Christopher
Walen, senior managing director
at Kroll Bond Rating Agency Inc.
He told Bloomberg Television
last week that officials willingness to keep interest rates near
zero and repeatedly buy bonds
and other assets meant they became 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 exhausted monetary and foreignexchange policies, he said.
Government action must
take over from central-bank policies, triggering more confident
private-sector investment and
spending.

INFLUENCE

The influence of central bankers

was underscored by a report this
week from currency strategists at
HSBC Holdings Plc, which calculated foreign-exchange markets
are more sensitive to interestrate decision-making than at any
time in the last 15 years.
FX markets are likely to remain hypersensitive to rate ex-

pectations until we are past the

current era of extremely accommodative monetary policy, the
strategists led by David Bloom
wrote.
Even if more stimulus does
end up being delivered by the
ECB or B0J, Chinas increased
willingness to devalue the yuan
will blunt the effect of it by limiting 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 Stephen Jen, founder of Londonbased hedge fund SLJ Macro
Partners LLP.
My guess is that this will not
be a tranquil year, Jen said.
Bloomberg

Britain starts hearing

1st Euribor rigging case
LONDON Eleven former
Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Societe Generale employees are due
on Monday to become the first
people charged formally with
conspiracy to rig Euribor, an international 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 appear at Westminster Magistrates
Court in London to be charged
with plotting to manipulate Euribor or the Euro interbank offered
rate.
Global investigations have
so far culminated in banks and
brokerages paying about $9 billion in regulatory settlements and
more than 30 individuals being
charged.
The former middle managers,
traders and Euribor rate submitters appearing in court on Monday span six nationalities and
are resident in countries ranging
from the United States to Denmark and Singapore.
Frenchman Christian Bittar,
a Singapore-based star trader
who was once one of Deutsche
Banks most profitable money
markets manag ers, will be
joined in court by former German colleagues Achim Kraemer,
Andreas Hauschild, Ardalan
Gharagozlou, Joerg Vogt and
Kai-Uwe Kappauf.
Also in the dock are four former Barclays employees: Frenchman 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

AFP

In the same statement yesterday, the central bank also came

out with the rediscount rates for
January 2016.
Rates under the Rediscount
Window I meant for universal
and commercial banks remain at
6.125% for 30-day loans, 6.1875%
for 90-day loans, and 6.25% for
180-day loans.
Under the Rediscount Window 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.

Traders interviewed yesterday

attributed the dollar strength yesterday to the US non-farm payroll
(NFP) print, which showed jobs
created in the worlds 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 upbeat NFP data which gave the dollar 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 investment 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 exceeded market expectations and

End of monetary illusion magnifies shocks for marts

Insurers,

policyholder 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 Banking Corp. to put up a new life insurance company.

THE PESO succumbed to the dollars strength at the start of trading 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 continued to shy away from riskier assets 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 versus the greenback, and dropped
to as low as P47.35-per-dollar. It
however recouped its earlier losses, 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.

their clients would contest the

rate-riigging allegations vigorously.
Lawyers for Vogt and Palombo,
former employees of Deutsche
Bank and Barclays, respectively,
have declined to comment and
others did not respond to requests for comment.

FOURTH PROSECUTION

Designed 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 trillion of financial products.
Mondays proceedings represent the fourth rate-rigging
prosecution launched by the
UKs Serious Fraud Office since
it joined the global inquiry belatedly in 2012.
US and British prosecutors
have each concluded one jury
trial to date, with one trial continuing in London and another
scheduled to begin in London
next month.
The cases are coming to court
more than three years after Barclays became the first bank to
reach a global settlement with authorities 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 United
States for their role in the saga, including UBS, Lloyds, JPMorgan,
Citigroup and ICAP.
Deutsche Bank was fined a record $2.5 billion last April.
As part of that deal its London-based subsidiary pleaded
guilty to criminal wire fraud and
the parent group entered a deferred prosecution agreement
to suspend criminal charges.
Reuters

PEOPLES BANK of China Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng answers questions

during a press conference on March 13, 2013.

PBoC deputy governor to

head currency regulator
PEOPLES BANK of China
(PBoC) Deputy Governor Pan
Gongsheng will replace Yi Gang
as head of the State Administration 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 regulators
work in 2015 and outline goals for
2016, the statement said, adding
that the regulator will proceed
with plans to make the yuan convertible in an orderly fashion
and will tackle violations of
foreign-currency regulations.
China has relatively abundant foreign-exchange reserves,
the regulator said. Chinas foreign
reserves fell for the first time last
year since 1992, slumping $513
billion, or 13%, to $3.33 trillion
as of Dec. 31, the PBoC said last
week.
SAFE is Chinas top currency
regulator and operates under
the State Council, or cabinet. A
deputy central bank governor
traditionally serves concurrently
as the agency director.
Pan replacing Yi doesnt
signal a big shift on the yuan,

also known as the renminbi or

RMB, Larry Hu, head of China
economics at Macquarie Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong said after
the appointment was initially
reported by Caixin magazine in
December.
SAFEs function includes
studying and proposing policies
on the reform of the foreign exchange 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 regulator said. The central bank, led by
Governor Zhou Xiaochuan since
2002, has six deputy governors.
Pan previously worked at the
Agricultural Bank of China and
before that held a number of positions at Industrial & Commercial
Bank of China Ltd., the nations
largest lender, including general
manager of financial planning
and secretary of the board of directors, according to his PBoC
biography. He earned a Ph.D in
economics at Renmin University
of China. Bloomberg

Sports
World

4/S2

EDITOR FRANCISCO P. BALTAZAR

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Alaska out to give

GlobalPort the boot
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo Reporter
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. game
and make their return trip to the finals of the
season-opening Philippine Basketball Association 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 scoring 107 points in their Game One
win, the Batang Pier have been limited to just
76.3 points in their last three games, affecting
greatly their ability to keep in step with the Aces,
last years 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 Im proud of

what they did. They are playing with their hearts
out and I cant 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, respectively, and
seven three-pointers between them.
While their backs are against 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 deliver in every possible way to give themselves the
chance to compete and keep their Philippine Cup
campaign alive.
In the last game, the explosive backcourt duo of
Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle paced GlobalPort with 24 and 16 points each. Veteran forward 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 Elastopainters. As of this writing they were to play
Game Four with the ROS leading the series, 2-1.

ALVIN S. GO

ALASKA IS OUT to finish off GlobalPort in Game Five today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Players, coaches see semifinals series far from over

By Rey Joble
FOR THREE straight games, Alaska
asserted its dominance over upstart GlobalPort to move within striking distance
of making the championship round for
the third time in four conferences.
But that doesnt 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.

Im the guy whos 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 dont believe its over until that
buzzer sounds and weve 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 its 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 dramatic 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
Guiaos 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.

Ive 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 didnt 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.

Elastopainters Jireh Ibaes: Hard work pays off

Shares some of his thoughts with BWs Michael Angelo Murillo

AFP

DIRK NOWITZKI #41 of the Dallas Mavericks controls the ball against Johnny
OBryant III #77 of the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half at American Airlines
Center on Dec. 28, 2015 in Dallas, Texas.

Dirk Nowitzki makes the

difference for Mavericks
It was his fourth straight
20-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
didnt have a lot of guys who were
shooting the ball especially well,
but I thought defensively we kept
battling.
Second-year guard Andrew
Wiggins led the Timberwolves
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 converted a three-point play with 1:30
remaining, and Dallas held on.

STREAKING CLIPPERS

The 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 Pelicans.
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

am committed and would do everything that

is asked of me.
BW: You are known as a defensive specialist, 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 gunner 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 season 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 as
coaching, 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 when we are taking on
stronger opponents. We may be
a bunch of no-namers, they say,
but we will continue to prove
them wrong.

RAIN OR SHINE
veteran Jireh Ibaes

ALVIN S. GO

LOS ANGELES Dallas forward

Dirk Nowitzki, 37 years old and
with more than 1,300 NBA games
under his belt, is still the Mavericks go-to guy.
The German veteran scored a
game-high 29 points on Sunday
as the Mavericks edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 93-87 in
Minneapolis, taking up the slack
on a night when many of his teammates struggled offensively.
Hes a guy thats prepared
himself for greatness virtually every night, Mavericks coach Rick
Carlisle said of Nowitzki.
One of the things we want to
try to do is take some of the burden off of him, but theres nights
like tonight where its unavoidable.
Dallas forward Chandler Parsons added 14 points and center
Zaza Pachulia scored 13, but it
was Nowitzkis scoring touch that
made the difference.
He hit four of seven threepoint 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.

HE MAY NOT BE a top-of-mind Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) star, but for 10 years,
veteran guard Jireh Ibaes of the Rain or Shine
Elastopainters has built for himself a solid career, 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 University 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 Philippine Cup?
Jireh Ibaes (JI): I am not really surprised with how our team is performing in the
ongoing conference. At the start of the tournament we made big moves, letting go of some
players, and some people felt that our ability
to compete would be affected. But things 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 delight on my part. I feel I am very much part of
the teams history as I was there when we were
losing to now. As far as my role, it has evolved
significantly 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. Thats 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

Sports

World
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

OPINION

Welcome change

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
ANTHONY L. CUAYCONG desire up with an unprecedented allocation of resources, leading to a record
Prokhorov is serious in
payroll in 2013. And, for all
making the Nets competitive, the follies of his win-now intentions, its clear that his inand for the long term. He
has learned to chuck instant clination to keep bankrolling
his sports investment hasnt
gratification for patience,
abated; in the offseason, he
realizing from experience
forked over yet another $400
that the Larry OBrien Trophy million and change to buy
out the minority and claim
cant be bought by the
full control of the Nets. In
stockpiling of free agents.
other words, theyre set in
These days, he is more
terms of finances even as
their output continues to
circumspect with how his
much to be desired.
checks are cashed, although, leave
Make no mistake;
on the court, regression
Prokhorov is serious in makseems to be evident of late; ing the Nets competitive,
and for the long term. He
his NBA team is wallowing
has learned to chuck instant
at the bottom of the Eastern gratification for patience, reConference barrel.
alizing from experience that
the Larry OBrien Trophy
cant 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, dont 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 latters 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 making 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 Prokhorovs latest moves will impact 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, its no coincidence that the hot seat has already been occupied by five otherwiseable bodies since he came on board. In any case, hes moving the
pieces on the board, hopefully based on a well-thought-out strategy
that will, at some point, bring him victory.

COURTSIDE

Spieth blitzes field to win Tournament of Champions

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 closing round of six-under 67, capping an
incredible week of precision golf to win
by eight strokes.
He finished at 30-under 262, becoming 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 continue
exactly 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 tournament open only to the prior seasons
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 doesnt turn 23 for another six months, says he is uncomfortable with comparisons to 14-time major
champion Woods.
I am no where near him. I dont
think there is any reason to compare,

he said. It is awfully early. What Tiger

has done I cant 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 certainly a goal I have had since I was a kid.
Spieth finished with seven birdies
and one bogey at the par-three
eighth 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

Packers and Seahawks

advance in NFL playoffs
WASHINGTON A dramatic missed field goal
saw the Seattle Seahawks edge past the Minnesota Vikings as the Green Pay Packers demolished 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.
Walshs miss was the final act of an icy afternoon in Minnesota, where sub-zero temperatures 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 the
Green Bay Packers, where the temperature was
minus 13 at kickoff.
I can tell you this: Its my fault. I dont care if
you give me a watermelon (to kick), I should be
able to put that through, Walsh said afterwards.
Im the only one who didnt do my job there.
Thats on me.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was in no mood
to sugarcoat the miss for Walsh.
Its a chip shot, hes gotta make it, Zimmer
said, insisting that his team had done enough
for victory.
Ive probably never been more proud of a
football team than I am of this team, he said.

The Seahawks, runners-up in last seasons

Super Bowl and champions two years ago, now
advance to a meeting with the National Conference number one seeded Carolina Panthers
next week.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll paid tribute to his
teams never-say-die approach.
This was really a survival game for both
teams, Carroll said. It was an amazing defensive effort on both sides; it was one of those
all-day jobs.
Added Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman: The football gods were with us today.
In Washington meanwhile, the Redskins unlikely 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 yardage 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

QUARTERBACK Aaron
Rodgers #12 of the
Green Bay Packers
makes a pass during
the third quarter of the
NFL game against the
Arizona Cardinals.

AFP

ANTHONY L. CUAYCONG has been writing Courtside since

BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior
Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

S2/5

OPINION

Gems from Qatar

Qatar Masters Open
Doha, Qatar
Dec. 19-30, 2015

FINAL TOP STANDINGS

1-2. 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 Sanan Sjugirov RUS 2646,
GM Ni Hua CHN 2693,
GM Vassily Ivanchuk
BOBBY ANG
UKR 2710, 6.5/9
Total of 132 players
Time Control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes
play-to-finish with a 30-second increment
added after every move starting move 1.

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

Nf6 5.c3 d6 6.Bb3 a6 7.00 h6 8.Re1
00 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 is 27.Rxd4 Nxd4 28.Qxd4+
with a winning game.
26Re6?
Surprisingly, the
only defense is 26Qc8
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 intends to play f6 after the queens long
diagonal check, but it turns out to be not
enough.
27.Rxd4! Nxd4 28.Qxd4+ f6
[28Kf8 29.Qh8#; 28Kh7 29.Nf6+
Rxf6 30.Qxd7 Rxd7 31.Rxd7 White has a
winning end game]
29.Nc7!!
Beautiful. Now 29Qxd4 30.Nxe6+
wins for White.
29Re7 <D>

CHESS PIECE

SEXY CHESS

GM 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 Championship of 2009 and 2013. Aside from
his strength as a player he has seconded
Peter Svidler in two Candidates Tournaments 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 following 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 countrys
colors in international competition.
***
Vitiugov, Nikita (2724) - Sasikiran, Krishnan (2638) [C50]
Qatar Masters Open 2015 Doha
QAT (7.9), 27.12.2015

30Kf8 31.Qxf6+ Kxe8 32.Qxg6+ Rf7

33.Rxd7 Rdxd7 34.Qxh6;
30Kh8 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: 42Qg6 43.exf6+
Rxf6 44.a5 hopeless.

SHAK ATTACK

GM 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. To
remove 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.

***

POSITION AFTER 29RE7

And now comes the unbelievably

sexy move.
30.Ne8+! Qxe8
If the king moves to h7 or g8 then
Nxf6+, and if:

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
c8bishop into play then he would be
doing very well.

10Ne5 11.b3 Qa5 12.Rc1 00

13.00 a6 14.Rfd1 Ba3 15.Rc2 Rb8
Planning b7b5 and then bringing
his c8bishop 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 19d5? 20.cxd5
exd5 21.Nxd5 Rxd5 22.Bxd5 Qxd5
23.Nxc6 Black can resign.
20.Rcc1 Nc6
This is completely in keeping with
Lendermans 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 22bxc6 then 23.Nxc6 forking queen
and rook, and if 22dxc6 then 23.Nxc6
Rxd3 24.Nxa5 and White has won a pawn.
22Bxc1?
In his video commentary GM Jan
Gustafsson points out that Whites
combination has a hole. After 22dxc6!
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) 25Bxd7
26.Rd1 Be8 the a5knight is in a difficult
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 !
24fxe6
[24Qxc3 25.Bxh7+ Kh8 26.Nxd8
Qxd3 27.Bxd3 Kg8 28.Bf5 Bf6 29.Nxf7
Kxf7 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 26Kxh7 27.Nf6+ Kh6
28.Qh7#;
26Qh5 27.Ng5 followed by Bg6 and
Nf7+ is also not satisfactory;
Trying to get his bishop back to the
kingside might be the best. 26Bf6!
27.Nd6! (27.Nxf6 gxf6 28.Qg6 Qxa2+

29.Kg1 Qe2 forces White to take the draw

by perpetual check) 27Rf8 28.Bg6 followed by Qe2, f5 and Qh5 looks very dangerous but this gives the most chances.
27.Bg6
The idea is Qd3e2h5+, inserting
either c4c5 or f4f5 to cut-off the black
queen from the kingside.
27Kg8
[27d5 28.Qe2! dxe4 29.b4! Blacks
queen has to leave the 5th rank clearing
the way for Whites mating combination
starting Qh5+]
28.Qe2 Bf6 29.c5
Now White is getting in Qh5, and the
game is over.
29Bc3 30.Qh5 Rf5
[30Rd8 31.Qh7+ Kf8 32.Qh8+ Ke7
33.Qh4+ Kf8 34.Nxc3 Qxc3 35.Qxd8#]
31.Bxf5
A shorter win was 31.Qh7+ Kf8
32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qe8# But you know
how it is once you see a mate you dont
have to look for another one.
31exf5 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Ng5+ Kh6
34.Rd6+ Bf6 35.Qh8+ Kg6 36.Qh7# 10
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.

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.
bobby@cpamd.net

6/S2

Bulletins

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Cebuana Lhuillier to hold disaster resilience forum on Jan. 27

THE 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 held
this 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 presenting 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

Jardine presents Optimum Flex

JARDINE Distributions 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 permanently 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 mixed
according 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.

Emirates releases
new fares for 2016

Outgoing Australian Ambassador feted

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 Australias
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.

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
societys progress. For 2016,
we invite people to Be There by
travelling and exploring places
they have never been before
and help make new experiences 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). Meanwhile, 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.

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 fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit or
GIZ, which specializes in international development
advocating pro-poor protection.

Touching on the Marikina Valley Fault and the

countrys 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 face
the challenges ahead with more hope and certainty.

KPMG, UA&P launch annual investment guide

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 Borders: The Philippines and
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 countrys top
companies, University of Asia and
the Pacifics University Professor and
Center for Research and Communication 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, Chief Operating Officer
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,

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 currently 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 (mjavier@kpmg.com) or
Cristina Roxas (mroxas@kpmg.com) for
copies of the investment guide.

Consumer Guide

LG Smart TV offers Netflix viewing experience in PHL

Briefs
Berkeley, Ateneo de Davao
win Sportsmanship title

BERKELEY School and Ateneo de Davao

University won the Sportsmanship award in the
SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament 2015 National
Finals. The Sportsmanship Award recognizes not
only players but also their fans, coaches, school
officials and parents, 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 basketball 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 Passerelle division.

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.

ePLDTs ABM Global Solutions

inks agreement with NetSuite

ABM GLOBAL Solutions (AGS), ePLDTs end-to-end

business solutions management unit, joined forces
with NetSuite to provide local companies cuttingedge enterprise resource planning solution that will
help 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 companys ICT needs, said Ernesto
R. Alberto, ePLDT CEO and PLDT EVP and Head of
Enterprise and International & Carrier Business.

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 information, visit www.lg.com/ph.

IN 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 global
business 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 Netflixs acclaimed original TV show
series are Marvels 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
LGs 4K HDR OLED TVs for having the purest

Sun Life sponsors new gallery at National Museum

The Sun Life Financial Philippines Foundation, Inc. is sponsoring the
construction of a new gallery at the National Museum 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 Museum
of 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 Sun Life Foundation Executive
Director Anne Zillah Flores.

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
bulletins@bworldonline.com. Materials sent become BW property.

Japan Foundation, Manila

sets Spinning Manila concert

THE 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! on
Feb. 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
spinningmanila.eventbrite.com. Aside from
the concert, there are two other things to get
excited about. Theres the Facebook Cosplay
Photo Contest to be launched this week. Also,
all three artists will make an appearance at
the JFMs annual event showcasing Japanese
language, arts and culture: Nihongo Fiesta
2016, on Feb. 27 at Shangri-La Plaza.

Monsanto unveils animated

version of childrens book

MONSANTO Philippines launched the animated

version of the only Filipino childrens book on
biotech corn seeds titled Linas Town Rises
Again. Linas Town Rises Again was written for
elementary 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 farmers 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 accreditation

THE 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 students
to be professionally competent in established
industries and emerging fields of specialization.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd)
certified as Center of Excellence (COE) the colleges Business Administration and Hotel and
Restaurant Management courses. The designation issued by the CHEd identified colleges and
universities around the Philippines that continuously demonstrate excellent performance in
the areas of instruction, research and publication, extension and linkages and institutional
qualifications.

AFP

Good night,
Rocket Man

With jazz turn, Bowie proves mastery of innovation

This review was released before the news of David
Bowies death on Monday.
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 doggedly 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.
McCaslins 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 album, runs for nearly 10 minutes and is guided firmly by
Bowies 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 BOWIE

Blackstar is the second album since Bowies reemergence 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, according to a report last year that quoted 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. He
composed 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 musicians who werent necessarily going to play jazz.
If we used rock musicians trying to play jazz, it
would have been a very different album, he 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.
Bowies 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 PAST

Despite 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 Londons gay underground.
Bowie turns wistful, if still abstract, on the albums
final songs as keyboards converge into a dreamlike aura.
Seeing more and feeling less / Saying no but meaning less / This is all I ever meant, Bowie sings, concluding aptly: I cant give everything away. AFP

Star Wars overtakes

Jurassic World for
rd
3 place in global sales
WASHINGTON Star Wars:
The Force Awakens has surged to
third place in all-time global box
office receipts, overtaking Jurassic World after a blockbuster debut 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.
It dominated the North
American box office for a fourth
consecutive weekend, becoming
that markets top grossing film
of all time with $812 million in
cumulative sales.
China led the way as the final international market to open
with an estimated two-day weekend (total) of $53M, making it
the highest Sat/Sun opening of
all-time there as well as the biggest industry opening Saturday
of all-time, a statement from
Disney said.
Disney said the China numbers put the films 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 in total box office receipts,
but it fell to the Star Wars onslaught.
Disney noted that The Force
Awakens also was in record territory 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 topgrossing film of all times there.

CRUCIAL CHINA

Success in China, the worlds second-largest movie market, is becoming increasingly crucial for
Hollywood studios as analysts
predict ticket sales in the country will overtake those of the US
as soon as next year. Receipts at
Chinas box office surged nearly
50% last year, compared with

AFP

ACCORDING TO official 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
official 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 familys
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

S2/7

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

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.
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 hurdles in matching its US success in
China and other Asian countries,
where the Star Wars franchise
isnt as well known or have as big a
following as in Western countries.
For example, the movie didnt
even open as No. 1 in South Korea
and Vietnam.
Nomura Holdings, Inc. estimates The Force Awakens will
gross as much as 1.5 billion yuan
($228 million) in China, which
would fall short of breaking records 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 OFFICE

Such was The Force Awakenss

hold on American moviegoers
that it overshadowed what otherwise would have been a phenomenal North American performance for The Revenant.

Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzlez Irritus dark

tale of survival in the American
frontier, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, took in $38 million over
the weekend, lifting it to second
place in the North American
rankings.
This was the third week The
Revenant has been in North
American movie theaters, but
only its first week in wide release.
Third place went to Daddys
Home, a sharp-edged comedy
about the uncomfortable competition between a stepfather,
played by Will Ferrell, and the
biological father, Mark Wahlberg.
Also in its third week in theaters, it made $15 million.
Number four was The Forest,
a low-budget horror film starring
Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney, which made just over $13
million its first weekend in theaters, 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); Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road
Chip ($5.5 million); Joy ($4.5 million); and, Concussion ($3.1 million). AFP/Bloomberg

Red carpet,
from S2/ 8

CLEAVAGE LOTS OF IT

Viola Davis, an Emmy winner and a

Globes nominee for her portrayal of law
school professor Annalise Keating in
ABCs 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 years
Pantone color of the year, rose quartz.
And Jaimie Alexander, the star of
NBC hit drama Blindspot and a preJENNIFER LAWRENCE

senter at Sundays ceremony, wowed

fashionistas in her emerald and black
Genny gown, which featured geometric 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 Vuitton with a sweet ruffled neckline
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 offered glimpses of skin thanks to side
cutouts.
Jennifer Lopezs 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 snaking diamond necklace. AFP

Sudoku Pacific

Complete the grid so that every row, column

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

TOM FORD AND JULIANNE MOORE

1/12 DIFFICULTY RATING

Crossword
KATY PERRY

AFP

VIOLA DAVIS

ACROSS
1 Church area
5 Dear Mama rapper
10 Fleet makeup
12 Visibly stunned
13 Party bowlful
15 a deal!
16 Musics Yoko
17 Tennis court divider
18 Twosome
20 Dunham of Girls
21 Binge
22 Vegas number
23 Bring together
25 Checkout act
28 Colorful flowers,
for short
31 Walking aid
32 Mount St.
34 Paris pal
35 Had lunch
36 By way of
37 Computer RAM
components
40 Practical joke
41 Alleviates
42 Sea dogs
43 Lamarr of Hollywood

MONDAYS PUZZLE ANSWER

2015 Universal Uclick

By Thomas Joseph

DOWN
1 Jellied dish
2 Snapshots
3 Takes notice
4 Clean Water Act org.
5 Tex-Mex snack
6 Thats gross!
7 Grimacing, perhaps
8 Tack on
9 Jai alai baskets
11 Hot, in a way
14 Complete turnaround
19 Wrinkly fruit
20 Faithful

MONDAYS ANSWER

24 Jasons quest
25 Rascals
26 Phone feature
27 Zoo resident
29 Dream up

30 Made malicious remarks

33 Fresh
35 Sacred chests
38 Torontos prov.
39 Derisive cry

1-12

8/S2

Stars strut
their stuff
on Globes
red carpet

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

The Revenant tops the Golden Globes

THE REVENANT, a brutal
American frontier story starring
Leonardo DiCaprio that suffered
through a challenging film shoot,
won the Golden Globe awards
for best drama, best director and
best actor.
DiCaprio took home the
statuette for best actor in a
drama, while director Alejandro
Gonzlez Irritu picked up
the award for best director. The
Martian won the award for best
comedy and best actor in a comedy for Matt Damon at the annual
Golden Globes ceremony Sunday
in Beverly Hills, California.
The awards, handed out annually by the Hollywood Foreign
Press Association, honor the past
years achievements in film and
television. While not as prestigious as an Academy Award, a
Golden Globe can provide a boost
to movies that are still in theaters.
That may be especially important 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 benefit. The Globes wins create a
launch pad of publicity for the
movie, which has been in limited
release since Christmas and expanded across the US this past
weekend. It took in $38 million
ahead of the Globes ceremony,
almost toppling Star Wars: The
Force Awakens from its perch
atop the box office.
Set in the 1820s, The Revenant
features DiCaprio as frontiersman Hugh Glass, who is seeking
revenge against companions who
left him for dead. The violent
drama comes from the filmmakers behind last years Oscar bestpicture winner, Birdman.
Co-produced by New Regency
Pictures, the film is directed and
co-written by Irritu, who took
home last years best director
Oscar, with two-time Oscar
winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Tom Hardy
and Domhnall Gleeson also star.
Filming was particularly difficult for the cast and crew, who
shot in grueling conditions.
Everyone in this room knows
pain is temporary, Irritu said
in accepting his award. Film is
forever. So who cares, right?
DiCaprio, who got a standing 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 corporate interests and from people
that are out there to exploit
them, said the 41-year-old actor,
who critics believe may finally
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 position as Hollywoods annual awards
season heats up, leading to the allimportant Oscars on Feb. 28.
Other winners that may benefit from a win include Creed, a
modern, multiracial update to
the Rocky series that brought
Sylvester Stallone a supportingactor award and standing ovation
from his peers. He thanked his
imaginary friend, Rocky Balboa.
Quentin Tarantinos The Hateful
Eight won for best original score.
Jennifer Lawrence won best actress, comedy, for Joy.
Lesbian drama Carol and Wall
Street comedy The Big Short,
which had led nominations going into Sundays ceremony, came
home empty handed, as did admired Catholic Church sex abuse
probe Spotlight.
The Golden Globes, chosen by
about 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, also highlighted the growing
competition between traditional
television networks and newer
digital distributors Netflix, Inc.,
Amazon.com, Inc., and Hulu LLC.
Amazons 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-

LADY GAGA
LOS ANGELES Hollywoods
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:

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

STRAPLESS GLAMOUR

Gina Rodriguez, who won a Globe

last year for best actress in a comedy 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 supporting role on the wildly popular 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 certainly not a fashion Trainwreck,
the name of her hit film, nominated 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 Marilynesque style.

THE BLING RING

Brie Larson, who took home

the prize for best actress in a
motion picture drama for her
searing portrayal of a woman in
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 sequined gown by Tom Ford and
had Ford on her arm.
Red carpet, S2/7

AMY SCHUMER

AFP

And the winners are...

HERE ARE the winners in key categories for the 73rd Golden Globe Awards,
which were handed out on Sunday in
Beverly Hills:

FILM

Best lm, drama: The Revenant

Best lm, musical or comedy: The
Martian
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 Gonzlez
Irritu, The Revenant
Best foreign language lm: Son of
Saul (Hungary)
Best animated feature: Inside Out
Best screenplay: Steve Jobs
Best original score: The Hateful
Eight
Best original song: Writings on
the Wall (Spectre)

TELEVISION

Best drama series: Mr. Robot

Best drama actor: Jon Hamm, Mad

Men
Best drama actress: Taraji P. Henson, 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

JAIMIE ALEXANDER

Gervais promised to be nice... but couldnt

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA Comedian Ricky Gervais
promised to be nice but wasted no time in tweaking
Hollywoods 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 pilloried 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 nd me, Gervais joked in
his monologue. He took a swig of beer and added Snitch.
Penn was not in attendance.
Relax, Im going to try and be nice, he said after a few
quips. Ive changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously. 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.
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 womanizing 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 Golden 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

Gervais created the smash hit comedy The Office and

has built a career with his razor-sharp take on peoples
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 Office 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 Sorias abililty to
get you all depressed with a speech.
After Gervais last hosted the show in 2012, many Hollywood 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

three-year absence. His previous

appearances as host were controversial for caustic remarks
about Hollywood actors and
the HFPA itself, and he was at it
again Sunday.
In his opening monologue,
Gervais skewered the head of
the HFPA and suggested NBC
could be impartial because
the network wasnt up for
any awards (Mr. Robot airs on
NBCUniversals USA Network).
He also poked fun at some of
Hollywoods favorite causes,
including equal rights for transsexuals 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 condemned
for a number of anti- Semitic
statements, by saying he wanted
to find something nice to say
about the Mad Max actor. Gervais offered up that hed rather
have a drink with Gibson than
with Bill Cosby.
I love seeing Ricky once
every three years, Gibson responded. It reminds me to get
a colonoscopy. Bloomberg/
Reuters/AFP

JOANNE FROGGATT

BRIE LARSON AND ALICIA VIKANDER

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

ENTREPRENEWS

S2/9

Hot off the plate

By Erika Denise L. Dizon
Special Features Writer

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, Maginhawa St. in Quezon City and Aguirre St. in BF
Homes, Paraaque. 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 Conchos
Home of Sisig Goodness (Conchos).
Conchos is a Filipino casual dining restaurant that serves local favorites including what else? sisig. Sisig is a popular
appetizer first introduced in the countrys
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 BusinessWorld, cofounder Kathy Hernandez stated that Conchos 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 Callalily), opened their first branch in a humble
space along the food street.
Conchos aims to attract families and
friends who want to experience straightup 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-making.
She said that Conchos greatest challenges
are always maintaining the best quality of
food, keeping its customers interested, and
ensuring its team sustains the business
work ethics and standards at all times.
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. Thats
how youll keep your competitive edge in the
industry, she explained.
While there is a pre-set notion that working
with friends is a recipe for disaster, the guys
behind Conchos defies the stigma.
There are really more ups than downs
with managing business with friends because 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! Dont forget the friendship even before you started the
business venture. It will help you get through
tough and challenging times.
Conchos looks forward to opening its next
branch in Maginhawa St. early this year.
For more information, e-mail to: conchosisig@yahoo.com or visit facebook.com/conchosisig.

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

30 AND UNDER

BIG IDEA

Crab heaven
By Francis Anthony T. Valentin

I think what makes our

patrons enjoy eating crabs
here is that we encourage
them to eat with their
bare hands, Ms. Delos
Reyes said, adding that
their restaurants tagline is
Lets get our hands dirty!.
They will be able to crack,
peel and devour every
crab meat.

Special Features Writer

IN THE SUMMER of 2011, Erika Delos

Reyes and a few of her friends paid a visit
to another friends 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. Thats when we thought, What if we
bring this to the Metro? Isnt 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-Lanuza, Renee Jose,
Zachary Puno and Vonnet Estaris, opened
Crab n Crew Restobar in Quezon City.
Its a place where crab is not in short
supply in other words, a crab heaven.
Anyone who can shell out P799 is at
liberty to wolf down as many crabs as
ones tummy can hold in one sitting. (The
price is P400 for a child whos less than
four 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,
which are widely cultured across the
Philippines. They are known for their
tasty flesh. Owing to their abundance,

OWNERS OF Crab n Crew Restobar

Ms. Delos Reyes said that they can purchase them at a reasonable price and
that their suppliers are able to meet
their demand.
I think what makes our patrons enjoy
eating crabs here is that we encourage
them to eat with their bare hands, Ms.
Delos Reyes said, adding that their restaurants tagline is Lets 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 Crews menu, such as oysters, shrimps,
mussels, baby back ribs, buffalo wings and
chicken inasal with sinamak.

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

Paramount to every committed restaurant is customer satisfaction. Ms. Delos Reyes assured that they maintain the
freshness and flavor of their dishes and
that their staff are friendly and accommodating.
But she admitted that keeping
customers satisfied is a tricky business.
You cant please them all but were 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 long-term plan, if everything
works well, well be opening a couple
of branches around the Metro and if
possible, around the country, she said.
In a span of three years, Crab n Crew
has 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 information, contact 7093740, e-mail to: crabncrew@gmail.com or
visit facebook.com/CrabNCrew.

TRISHA SAGUIN

From hobby to trade

By April Paulyn B. Roque
Special Features Assistant Editor

WITH THE GROWING number of

digital channels and a broadening
online marketplace, its becoming
easier for any aspiring entrepreneur
today to establish and run a business
of 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.
Fo 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 Panic Baking Desserts
(Pa nic Ba k ing ), 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. Saguins classes
piqued her interest in baking.
We were requ ired to t a ke
a ba king 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

inter v iew w ith BusinessWorld.

Eventua lly, though, I star ted
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 thats when
I saw the opportunity to turn what
I considered as a hobby into a fullfledged 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 f lavors or
products, Ms. Saguin said she takes
the market into consideration in
trying out new recipes, but she
always likes baking her staple treats.
For instance, Ive made matcha
revel bars when matcha was at its
height among consumers, and Ive
made stuffed cookies when everyone
was into it, but I also have my staples
revel bars, sugar cookies, acai
Hobby, S2/ 10

10/S2

ENTREPRENEWS

EDITOR JOSIELYN B. LUNA

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

ELIMINATE, SIMPLIFY, INTEGRATE

By Jovy J. Jader

Supply chain infrastructure

challenges and opportunities
THE SUPPLY CHAIN infrastructure
consists of the assets and systems
that drive the network of suppliers,
manufacturers, and logistics functions. It includes the information
and organizational structures that
support the supply chain.
Recent studies show that outright
savings can be realized in improvements in the design of the supply
chain infrastructure, such as in materials sourcing, manufacturing capabilities, and distribution systems.
Whats 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 yet
grasped that supply chains are not only
about processes but that they are also
about assets and structures.

MATERIALS SOURCING

Large 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 managements recognition that ones materials 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 CAPABILITIES

GE likewise has shifted

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 their customers are and what

additional costs will be incurred if
distances between production sites
and its customers widen.

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

As online sales multiplied versus instore revenues in North America this

past Christmas, retailers have immediately moved to change their distribution infrastructures, consciously
aware that if they dont, they will be
left behind.
Amazon has already introduced
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 products
to customers within hours.
Amazon also has invested 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 Amazons key
freight partners, notably UPS and
FedEx.
Focus on the supply chain
infrastructure is not limited to
conglomerates or American firms.
There are plenty of opportunities in
Asia-Pacific and the Philippines.
Some Philippine firms, for
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 congestions and bureaucratic red tape have
made it difficult for companies to expand materials sourcing options.
Whereas firms have continued to
work to improve the infrastructure
side of logistics and materials, it has
been observed that firms have not
been as hardworking in the manufacturing side.
Many Philippine factories are far
from efficient. Whereas information
technology and human resource advances have been seen in the service
industries, they have yet to be fully
tapped for manufacturing. From hybrid manufacturing designs to shopfloor information systems, there is
much potential for factory infrastructure 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 ones supply
chain could be the best solution to
attaining ones business goals.
The author is a business consultant
and regional speaker on supply chain
management. He has directed and implemented supply chain 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 formerly with Procter
& Gamble Philippines and Coopers
& Lybrand/PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Should you have questions or comments, e-mail to: jjjader@prosultsconsulting.com.

The millenials business

MILLENIALS have become a significant
force in the countrys small-business segment, veering from the traditional career
path of seeking employment, and skipping
the rank and file. And as many young entrepreneurs 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 businesses, and look at all angles before starting our own enterprise, Alvin Tsoi, 24, coowner 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 restaurants 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 people can relax, have a drink, 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.
Admittedly, Mr. Tsoi and the other owners
do not have formal culinary training, but he
asserted that customers will enjoy our food
and bar chows. He said that they are all
into cooking and have long been practicing
the craft themselves, particularly co-owner
Alvin Ang who prepared 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
familys businesses, so weve taken all that we
have learned there here.
While the business is only on its second
month, the owners of the bar already have the
future in sight. Mr. Tsoi said that they are eyeing an expansion and the opening of a Chinese
restaurant 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.
Asked about his thoughts on millenials
who are starting to be more bent on building their own businesses rather than starting careers, Mr. Tsoi shared that it is an
oversimplified standardized image of the
demographic cohort.
To each his own, he said. I graduated
w ith a degree in Pharmacy from UST
(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.
For more information, contact 09178177127.

BEARD N BELLY bar is a place where people can

relax, have a drink, and enjoy good food amid a
cozy ambiance.

Hobby,
from S2/ 9
berry cookies, and cookie shots that are
always available regardless of the trends, she
explained. My revel bars and sugar cookies
sell best, Ive 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
Bakings launch. She ran the brand and
managed 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 dont feel like its work
at all, but the one thing I found challenging in
becoming a food entrepreneur was manpower.

For years I was accomplishing everything by

myself from buying the ingredients and
baking the products, to driving to do meetups. 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 doesnt
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.
For more information, contact 09158438882 or visit facebook.com/PanicBaking.

PANIC BAKINGs revel bars and sugar cookies are among its customers favorites.

VOL XXIX ISSUE 117 ISSN0116-3930

Tuesday, January 12, 2016
In partnership with

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.

A new direction
of travel
By Tim Bradshaw, Richard Waters
and Andy Sharman

AFP

THE FARADAY FUTURE FFZERO1 Concept car is displayed on the first day of the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,
Nevada.

Last week, the worlds biggest

car maker contemplated a world
beyond cars.
While most companies facing digital disruption like to
pretend it is business as usual,
Toyota wants the world to
know that it is ready to think
the unthinkable: a future in
which cars are no longer its
main business.
Gill Pratt, head of the Japanese
companys robotics and artificial
intelligence research unit, envisaged 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 beginning 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 ownership
on a broad scale and turn cars
into interchangeable shared utilities, 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 Fords case, that means being
able to connect cars to homes,
and to drones. Should the urge
take them, customers would be
able to check their fuel efficiency
from the kitchen table or control
a drone from their drivers seat.
Roland Berger, the consultants,
estimate that the size of the market for autonomous driving technology will be $40 billion-$60
billion by 2030.
Such a start to the year might
suggest that the industry is preparing to move decisively beyond
designing, making and selling
cars. Yet with car makers set to be
competing not just against each

other but with the likes of Google,

AI developers and the robotics
industry, there is a notable caution beneath the public gestures.
The car industry is still feeling its way towards an uncertain
future, said John Leech, head
of automotive at KPMG, the
consultants. Of the experiments
that have characterized early approaches to things like driverless
and connected cars, he adds: Its
a very risk-averse approach to the
technology.
Car makers are not yet ready
for an end game that would involve placing definitive bets on
which forms of personal transport 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.
Well see more Googles and
more Teslas.
The mood among big car makers was summed up this week by
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of
Renault and Nissan. Asked about
Toyotas willingness to imagine
such a radical change in its business, he brushed it off as a largely
rhetorical response to an unprecedented technological upheaval:
the near-simultaneous arrival of
Travel, S3/2

Expat life: from kale shakes

and sun to gossip and icy reality
By Matthew Garrahan

There was a moment, shortly after I moved

my family from one American coast to the
other, when the magnitude of what we had
done finally hit me.
While gingerly walking down the steps
that lead from our Brooklyn street to another 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, aching 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 of
New York City.
Before both moves, we had to contend
with friends and colleagues who weighed in
with unsolicited advice and warnings.
Youre mad, one Los Angeles friend said
before the move east.
Youre supposed to move from New York
to LA, not the 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 predictions about plastic people and traffic 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 way
through the rush hour on the subway to the
Financial Times office.
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 seasons blur into each other whereas in New
York there are clear seasonal differences.

The extremes are greater, with stultifying 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-sized bag
of salt the previous tenant had left in our
basement so I set about the ice with a hammer. 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 dietobsessed dining companions (on one of my
final meals there a friend ordered a kale
shake and a soy-cheese omelette).
In LA, I didnt have to commute because I
worked from home, which was a big change
from working in the FTs London office. 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 office
adjoining the garage. There I would settle
down to work at my desk alone.
With no colleagues to exchange gossip
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
Nicholsons character in The Shining.
In New York I was once again working in a
real office, which required another period of
Expat, S3/2

VISIT

LIKE

FOLLOW

FOLLOW

@BWHighLife
www.highlife.com.ph
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www.youtube.com/user/BWHighLifeTV
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S3/2 Tuesday, January 12, 2016

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.

Should an employer ask about

a candidates grades in school?
By Lucy Kellaway

I was thinking of changing

jobs and I went online to apply
to one of the big five consulting firms. I was put off by the
first question: what grade had
I achieved for my degree? I
have more than 10 years experience, two masters degrees,
several professional certificates and enough to show professionally. I just dont feel it
should matter whether you
worked hard at university
when youre mid-career or
even in your first job. Do you
agree? 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 slogging their guts out (or not lifting
a finger).
But even if an employer knew
which one, it still wouldnt be
much the wiser.
This is because academic intelligence doesnt 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 doesnt 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 idled their way through
university and have akhanovites ever since.
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 predicting who got what, there was
not necessarily a correlation be-

tween the best degrees and the

finest journalists.
Yet despite all this I dont think
that the question is quite as idiotic as you evidently do.
Or at least I dont 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.
Its possible that they didnt
want to hear that you got a top
degree at all.
A couple of years ago the scientist Lord Winston announced that
he only hired people with 2.1s.
Anyone who did better than
that, he reasoned, hadnt spent

enough time at university turning into the sort of broad, curious

person he was looking for.
As an aside, it is obvious from
your question that you didnt 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 didnt get a first
class degree. Its simple. When
I was 21-years old I was building social skills (read partying
too much). Im now approaching
50 and party less but Im 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, its the
wrong company. CEO, male
With more than 20 years experience in markets, I was approached 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 of
my course had been and why. Boxticking 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 experience you say you do, I wonder
why you are fooling around with
an online application. First expand your network to get an interview 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 theyre not the
right employer for you. It should
not matter if you were tending
a cobblers 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 have
done. Its marginally interesting
to employers who are looking for
PLUs (People Like Us), which is
why its a red flag to anyone looking to join a forward-thinking

Travel,

As an employer who has made

costly hiring errors, I have concluded that its easier than one
would expect for stupid/incompetent people to build up a CV
of work experience which makes
them seem a lot more capable
than they actually are. Although
its obviously only one data point,
we do pay attention to where a
candidate did their undergrad
degree and what grade they got.
Anonymous
Mid career at 36?!?!?! Would
you mind sharing the details of your pension plan?
Anonymous

Expat,

from S3/ 1
electric vehicles, driverless car
technology and ubiquitous internet connectivity.
Some people will tell you we
dont 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 supplying 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 question 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 services and business approaches will
one day expand to be as significant,
whatever form those may take.
Becoming a supplier of mobility makes it possible for car makers to conjure up a rosier-sounding future even if it does little to
answer how they will adjust to
technological change. While Ford
estimates that a total of $2.3 trillion 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.

organization. When you get to

interview, ask with a laugh why
they do it. If they squirm, youll
know why. Anonymous

from S3/ 1
We, as well as the rest of the industry, get virtually none of that,
he said in an interview with the
Financial Times. Its 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 expansivesounding 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 individual car ownership for many people.
But he adds that the other
great technological driver of the
moment pervasive internet
connectivity 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 were trying to do with the
connected car is make it an extension 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 increases. This is probably against
sharing, he adds.
This points to an attractive
vision for car makers: 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 considerable emphasis on controlling
vehicle data that can be used to
deliver valuable new services.
Yet the analogy is also an ominous one. Turning an everyday
object into a connected digital
device opened the mobile phone
industry up to powerful competitors from technology, undermining 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 cars technology is often 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 installments that
include a variety of services.
Youll 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 industry reinvents itself on a fairly
regular basis, said Andy Barratt,
head of Fords British unit. We
wont 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 instance, has brought a stream of
enhancements, from ABS brakes
to collision-warning systems.
This has led to an almost unanimous stance among car makers
that casts driverless technology as the extension of todays
software controls, pointing to a
gradual shift that will see cars
progressively take over more of
the driving without undermining 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 unnoticed until, five years from
now, the car has taken over completely 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 arrival of touch screen
smartphones showed, years of
planning and research for internet-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 cars own brain
and the human driver.
Yet, if car makers succeed in
adapting their business models
while embracing an unprecedented series of technology
shifts, they will have truly succeeded in bucking the digital
trend.
And if all that fails,
there are always the domestic robots.

transition. For the first few weeks

I would jump every time someone 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, the
commuting, 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 environment again to the extent that I
felt comfortable throwing balls of
paper at the banking editor when
he wasnt looking.
Yes, the Yorkshire terriersized rats I see frolicking on
the subway tracks take a bit of
getting used to and, yes, the
sweltering summer streets
of 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.

EDITOR FRANCISCO P. BALTAZAR

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

World Business

S3/3

KHOBAR, SAUDI ARABIA/

DUBAI Saudi Arabia is considering selling 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, sources familiar
with official 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 holding company that would group
together Aramcos stakes in the
downstream subsidiaries, one
source said. Shares in the parent 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 Mohammed bin Salman appeared
to indicate in an interview with
The Economist magazine last
week that Saudi Arabia might
sell shares in Aramco, as part of a
privatization drive to raise money
in an era of cheap oil.
On Friday Aramco, the worlds
largest oil company, issued a brief
statement saying it was considering options including the stock
market listing of an appropriate percentage of the companys
shares and/or the listing of a
bundle (of ) its downstream subsidiaries.
Aramco has crude reserves
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 Aramco said its massive size, and the
confidentiality surrounding it as
the main instrument of the kingdoms 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 looking at accelerating plans that have
been in the works for many years
to sell shares in part of Aramcos
vast refining and petrochemicals
empire, which by itself is estimated to be worth tens of billions
of dollars.
A precedent for the sale already exists: PetroRabigh 2380.
SE, a refining and petrochemicals venture in which Aramco
and Japans 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 reached
for comment on Sunday, a day off
for the companys employees.

VENTURES

It 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 with China Petrochemical 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 Motiva in the United States, which is
a venture with Shell.
Prince Mohammed told The
Economist that he expected a decision on the Aramco privatization to be made over the next
few months. But an actual sale of
shares would probably take much
longer to happen as it would involve reorganizing Aramco.
This is still at a very preliminary 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 foreign partners did not agree. An
industry source said Aramcos
foreign partners had not yet been
consulted on the idea; at present,
they are like a deaf man at a wedding, he said.
At the right price, foreign investors might be keen on grabbing a chunk of Saudi Arabias
refining operations, which have
been growing even as global oil
prices have plunged in the last
18 months, squeezing upstream
producers.
But Saudi political sensitivities may influence any sale. Traditionally, shares in state firms have
been sold at discounted prices
exclusively to Saudi investors as
a way of sharing the kingdoms 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, participation in an IPO might well be limited to local investors; foreigners
would have to buy the shares 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 Its part and parcel of Mohammed bin Salmans drive to alter the structure of the economy,
said John Sfakianakis, a Riyadhbased economist. Reuters

Asahi to submit bid next week for

SABMillers Grolsch and Peroni
TOKYO Japanese beverage maker
Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. will submit
a bid as early as next week to buy
SABMiller PLCs Grolsch and Peroni
beer brands for as much as 400 billion ($3.41 billion), the daily Yomiuri
reported.
If accepted, it would be the biggest
overseas beverage acquisition ever by
a Japanese company, topping Kirin
Holdings Co. Ltd.s $3.3-billion takeover
of Australias Lion Nathan in 2009, the
paper said.
Asahi Holdings officials could not be
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 European portfolio that already includes
Corona and Stella Artois, the sources
said.
Indicative offers are due in midJanuary, 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 million to 150 million and a possible
multiple of around 12 times EBITDA.
Reuters

REUTERS

Saudi Arabias Aramco

would sell downstream
operations, not upstream

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.

With luxury Acura makeover,

Honda aims for brand survival
BEIJING As part of a broader
makeover, and even the survival,
of its stalled luxury Acura brand,
Japans Honda Motor Co. will
launch a new small crossover
sport utility vehicle (SUV) this
year in China to compete with
BMW and Audi in the worlds biggest 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 decade ago, Acura has struggled,
selling just over 4,000 cars last
year compared with BMWs
460,000 and Audis 554,000.
And in the United States, where
Acura debuted three decades
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
were 179,000, around half the
number of cars sold by both
BMW and Toyota Motors Lexus
luxury marque.
That revival effort will kick off
with production mid this year of
a China-only subcompact crossover SUV at a jointly-run plant
with Guangzhou Automobile
Group. The new model will have
a crisp, more expressive style
the result of four years of effort 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 dont have a strong brand
with Acura in China. Our next
move could be make or break,
one of the individuals said.
A Beijing-based Honda spokeswoman said the new Acura crossover SUV is being developed specially for China and demonstrates
the companys commitment to
that market. One of the knowledgeable individuals said Acuras
China sales unit reckons it could
eventually sell about 30,000 of the
new crossover SUVs a year.
But the new models significance 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 styling should be on show in Detroit
on Tuesday.
In an e-mailed response to
queries, California-based Honda
spokeswoman Jessica Fini declined to comment on Acuras
product plans, but noted a new
concept model to be unveiled at
the Detroit autoshow previews
the (brands) future design direction, and expresses performance through design.

NO MORE SMILEY FACE

Hondas leadership, already battling a crisis over potentially lethal 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 differentiate 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
Acura cars have become more
and more common, said one of
the knowledgeable individuals.
Some Honda cars strong character lines, he said, are often quickly
borrowed by Acura, or the other
way around, giving both brands a
family resemblance.
Wheres our discipline in
that? he said.
The new styling direction under Acuras 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 DOORS

Beyond styling, the new Acura

model for China is likely to pack

more luxury technologies and features, 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, adding it was aimed at taking on rival
BMW X1 and Audi Q3 models.
Honda wants Acura to compete better in Chinas growing
market for small, premium crossover SUVs market, but acknowledges 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 crossover will be loosely based on
Hondas 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 availability also in Canada and a few
other countries.
Industry experts are puzzled
at Hondas failure to make Acura a
stand-out performance car especially given its relative success
as a Formula One engine supplier.
Its strange it has taken this
long for Honda, said Bumsuk
Lim, a Shanghai-based consultant
who worked at Hondas Tokyo
design studio during the 1990s.
Its not as if Acura doesnt
have a design heritage. They had
this great second-generation
Acura Legend coupe, which was
seen at the time as a Japanese
BMW. Reuters

Detroits auto industry is changed Washington

DETROIT When US President
Barack Obama visits Detroits annual auto show on Jan. 20, exactly
one year before he leaves office,
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 citys annual auto
show will not reflect the greentransport revival the president
envisioned.
The Detroit Three automakers 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 Detroits bailout, pickups and SUVs accounted
for nearly 70% of last years sales.
In 2016, one of the SUVs GM sells
in America the Buick Envision will be, for the first time,
imported from China, to the chagrin 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 bigger slice of US truck market profits.

Nissan Motor Co. and Honda

Motor Co. are using auto show
press previews on Monday to
promote new versions of their
full-size pickups, the Titan and
the Ridgeline, respectively.
The big splash from bailout
beneficiary Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 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 vehicles to be unveiled: a revamped
Lincoln Continental is expected
from Ford Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co.s new flagship
luxury sedan, the G90.
Mr. Obama has made boosting fuel efficiency a cornerstone
of his energy and climate policy.
Mandates from California and
other states are prodding automakers to continue rolling out
zero emission electric vehicles,
such as GMs Chevrolet Bolt, even
if sales remain slow.
In his 2011 State of the Union
Address, Mr. Obama renewed
a call he made as a candidate in
2008 to get 1 million plug-in electric 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 sales
forecasts.
The next president will decide
the fate of Mr. Obamas goal of
boosting average fuel efficiency to
54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) (23.2
kilometers per liter) by 2025.
A decision on whether the final
2021-2025 regulations are feasible 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 Detroit. While the US automakers
still 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 connected cars that ultimately will lead
to self-driving, or autonomous
vehicles powered by batteries.
The contrast will be stark between last weeks Consumer Electronics 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 mobility will not be completely ignored.
The new Mercedes-Benz EClass from German automaker
Daimler AG will offer so many
advanced driver assistance
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 Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is
willing to allow extended handsfree driving, albeit with more limitations as of Sunday than before,
and Mercedes executives are not.
Forecasts for the widespread
adoption of autonomous cars range
between 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 Sunday at an automotive event.
If self-driving, shared cars become 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

World Markets

4/S3

EDITOR WILFREDO G. REYES

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016

Asian stocks fall with oil, rand

as China equity slump deepens
ASIAN STOCKS extended last
weeks global rout, oil dropped
and the South African rand led a
slump in emerging market currencies as Chinas efforts to stabilize the yuan failed to halt a slump
in equities. European stock index
futures slid for a fourth day.
The Shanghai composite index 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 markets
has sapped risk appetite globally,
sending equities worldwide down
the most in more than four years
last week and hobbling commodities. While data Friday showed US
payrolls surged in December, the
focus has now returned to China
DOW JONES

after the country posted a record

46th monthly decline in producer
prices, Nobel-prize-winning
economist Joseph Stiglitz said
the nation isnt facing a cataclysmic slowdown and the turmoil
was more about badly designed
stock market circuit breakers.
The market is concerned
about Chinas 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 outlook. China is certainly slowing
on a very gradual path down. A
lot of people are fearing a hard
landing is in play, but thats not
our central scenario.
The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding 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. China cut trading short on two days
last week as sell-offs in equities

NASDAQ COMPOSITE

FTSE

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

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 Singapore. 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.
Its 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.
Singapores Straits Times index lost 2% and the Jakarta composite index slumped 1.9% and
the KOSPI index in Seoul dropped
1.2%. Australias S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.2%, led by mining stocks
and energy producers.
DJ EURO STOXX

OPEN: 4,722.02 CLOSE: 4,643.63

OPEN: 5,954.08 CLOSE: 5,912.44

OPEN: 3,087.42 CLOSE: 3,033.47

OPEN: 17,562.23 CLOSE: 17,697.96

OPEN:

1,897.18 CLOSE: 1,894.84

HIGH: 16,651.89 NET:

-167.65

HIGH:

4,742.57 NET:

-45.80

HIGH:

6,013.38 NET:

-41.64

HIGH:

HIGH:

-69.38

HIGH:

1,907.43 NET:

-22.78

16,314.57 PREV: 16,514.10

LOW:

4,637.85 PREV: 4,689.43

LOW:

5,912.44 PREV: 5,954.08

LOW:

LOW: 17,509.64 PREV: 17,767.34

LOW:

1,892.69 PREV:

1,917.62

LOW:

3,114.45 NET:

-51.21

3,033.47 PREV: 3,084.68

17,975.31 NET:

ASIA-DUBAI

NEW YORK-WTI

(JANUARY CONTRACT)

LONDON-BRENT

(FEBRUARY CONTRACT)

(FEBRUARY CONTRACT)

DOLLARS PER BBL

30 days to January 8, 2016

30 days to January 8, 2016

DOLLARS PER BBL

DOLLARS PER BBL

30 days to January 8, 2016

Jan.
4
5
6
7
8
$/bbl 32.40 31.20 30.20 27.20 29.20

Jan.
4
5
6
7
8
$/bbl 36.76 35.97 33.97 33.27 33.16

Jan.
4
5
6
7
8
$/bbl 37.22 36.42 34.23 33.75 33.55

Average (Jan. 4-8)

Average (Dec. 1-31)

Average (Jan. 4-8)

Average (Dec. 1-31)

Average (Jan. 4-8)

Average (Dec. 1-31)

$30.04
$34.64

$34.63
$37.33

$35.03
$38.86

Source: REUTERS

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 commodities, Singapore Exchange (SGX)
said on Monday in its 2016 commodity 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 volatility to stage a return, SGX said.
Oil market speculators have
increased their net-short posi-

LME FINAL CLOSING PRICES, US$/MT

Peso/100kg

Buyer/Seller

Lag/Qzn/Luc

3,400/3,410

Coconut Oil - Crude

64.50/65.50

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

Crude CIF, NY Nola March / April

TIN

13,950.00

13,750

Crude FOB rail Nola March

ZINC

1,478.50

1,509

LIFFE COFFEE

LIFFE COCOA (Ldn)-10 MT-/ton

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

New Robusta 10 MT - $/ton

High
Low

Sett

Psett

Jan.

1442

1437

1440

1434

Mar.

1492

1480

1485

May

1522

1510

1513

July

1550

1537

1541

1538

High

Low

Sett

Mar.

2158

2111

2155

Psett
2107

1479

May

2156

2115

2154

2109

1509

July

2153

2113

2151

2106

Sept.

2147

2108

2145

2101

Copper yields further

to ebbing China demand
MELBOURNE London copper
sank to its lowest since 2009 on
Monday as persistent concerns
over Chinas economic growth
dimmed prospects for metals demand and dented risk appetite.
Chinas major stock indexes
opened down on Monday after
weak December inflation data
were released at the weekend, further souring sentiment towards
metals after last weeks stock market rout raised concerns Beijing
was failing to boost its economy.
Expectations coming into
2016 were for a better macro environment, but the likelihood is
that were 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 disappointment 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 modest physical buying. Premiums

Oil drops over 2% as China slowdown weighs

SINGAPORE Crude oil prices
fell over 2% on Monday as Chinas
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 Intermediate (WTI) crude was down about
2.3% to $32.39.
Mondays decline adds to last
weeks more than 10% drop in
both Brent and WTI prices to
start the year. Traders and investors have wondered how long and
deep the slide may go with Goldman 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 Chinas slowdown,

FOOD
COCOA ICCO Dly (SDR/mt)
2,182.48
COCOA ICCO $/mt
3,021.27
COFFEE ICA comp 79 cts/lb
112.09
COFFEE mild arabica NY cts/lb
147.19
COFFEE mild arabica Bmen/Hburg 145.3
COFFEE robusta NY cts/lb
83.67
COFFEE robusta Le Havre/Marseilles 75.2
SUGAR ISA FOB Daily Price, Carib. port cts/lb 14.46
SUGAR ISA 15-day ave.
14.56
GRAINS
(FOB Bangkok basis at every Thursday)
FRAGRANT (100%) 1st Class, $/ton
789
FRAGRANT (100%) 2nd Class, $/ton
761
RICE (5%) White Thai- $/ton
366
RICE (10%) White Thai- $/ton
363
RICE (15%) White Thai- $/ton
362
RICE (25%) White Thai- $/ton (Super) 358
BROKER RICE A-1 Super $/ton
329

LONDON METAL EXCHANGE

MANILA COPRA (based on 6% moisture)

30 days to JANUARY 11, 2016

OPEN: 16,519.17 CLOSE: 16,346.45

207.15
355.35
389.85
42.5
13.5
8.95
87
61
49
34.03
41.9
499.5
505
881.5
884
1,091.9
22.5
7
510
630

COCONUT

KOSPI

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016

METAL
COPPER Merchant,US cts/lb
COPPER No. 2 Refined, US cts/lb
COPPER Bare Bright,del US cts/lb
LEAD battery scrap, del US cts/lb
LEAD Premium, del US cts/lb
ALUMINUM Premium, del US cts/lb
ALUMINUM Alloy, spot, US cts/lb
ALU Mixed Clips, del US cts/lb
ALU Turnings, del US cts/lb
TIN Premium/Grade A, US cts/lb
TIN Premium/Low Lead, US cts/lb
PALLADIUM free $/troy oz
PALLADIUM JMI base, $/troy oz
PLATINUM free $/troy oz
PLATINUM JMI base $/troy oz
KRUGGERAND, fob $/troy oz
NICKEL Premium, del US cts/lb
ZINC Premium, del US cts/lb
IRIDIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz
RHODIUM, whs rot, $/troy oz

The rand was down 2.6% at

16.72 per dollar, after rebounding
from its steepest intraday slump
since October 2008. The magnitude of the move had analysts
scratching their heads.
We unfortunately dont have
any major pinpoint reasoning
as to whats going on, but its
very scary, said Evan Lucas, a
Melbourne-based market strategist at IG Ltd. South Africa is
so heavily tied to China in terms
of what it does that, could it be
another signal that theres 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 littlechanged for a second day, following an eight-day run of weakening. The yuan also gained 0.3% in
Hong Kong at 6.6619 per dollar.
The cost of borrowing yuan in
Hong Kong jumped by the most
on record, reflecting tighter supply of the currency following suspected intervention by the Chinese central bank. Bloomberg

225-NIKKEI

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

SPOT PRICES

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 government agency that tracks commodity markets activity showed
on Friday.
At the same time speculators
have cut their net-long positions
to fewer than 50,000 contracts, or
the equivalent of 50 million barrels, 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 mid2014 as soaring global production
sees hundreds of thousands of
barrels produced every day without a buyer, leaving storage tanks
filled to the brim. Adding to overproduction 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

for bonded copper in Shanghai

climbed $2.50 to $85-$95, the
latest data showed, which is the
highest since November.
But given Chinas rocky economic outlook, investors remain
to be convinced on the prospects
for the metal.
Hedge funds and money managers added to a bearish bet in
copper in the week to Jan. 5, US
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission data showed on Friday.
China will face great difficulty
in achieving economic growth
above 6.5% over the 2016-2020
period due to slowing global demand 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-based
trader 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 continue 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

Bullion firm on safe-haven demand as stocks face headwinds

SINGAPORE Gold edged higher on Monday, trading close to
last sessions nine-week high as
pressure on Asian stock markets
supported safe-haven bids for the
metal.
Asian share markets swept
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 factors 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 missteps by Chinas authorities in

controlling their share market

and currency have led to concerns
Beijing might lose its grip on economic policy too.
China will face great difficulty
in achieving economic growth
above 6.5% over the 2016-2020
period due to slowing global demand and rising labor costs at
home, the China Securities Jour-

nal quoted a top state adviser as

saying.
Investment appetite for bullion showed signs of picking up
last week. Holdings of the worlds
largest gold-backed exchangetraded 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 $488.25 an
ounce. Reuters
Source: REUTERS

US COMMODITY FUTURES
30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

Dollars per ounce

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

OPEN:
HIGH:
LOW:

1,111.10
1,111.10
1,093.00

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

Dollars per ounce

1,097.80
-9.90
1,107.70

OPEN:
HIGH:
LOW:

14.06
14.06
13.92

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

OPEN:
HIGH:
LOW:

2.019
2.019
2.009

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

OPEN
HIGH:
LOW:

119.60
119.90
118.25

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

119.00
0.55
118.45

OPEN:
HIGH:
LOW:

14.75
14.98
14.44

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

(MARCH CONTRACT)

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

US cents per pound

US cents per pound

US cents per pound

2.017
0.001
2.016

WHEAT

(MARCH CONTRACT)

(MARCH CONTRACT)

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

Dollars per ounce

13.91
-0.43
14.34

COCOA

SUGAR

(MARCH CONTRACT)

(JANUARY CONTRACT)

30 days to JANUARY 8, 2016

Dollars per ounce

877.10
0.70
876.40

COFFEE

COPPER

(JANUARY CONTRACT)

(JANUARY CONTRACT)

(JANUARY CONTRACT)

876.60
883.90
872.00

SILVER

GOLD

PLATINUM

OPEN:
HIGH:
LOW:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016

14.46
-0.29
14.75

OPEN:
HIGH:
LOW:

2,985.00
3,025.00
2,975.00

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

Dollars per bushel

3,017.00
54.00
2,963.00

OPEN:
HIGH
LOW:

468.25
480.00
467.50

CLOSE:
NET:
PREV:

478.50
10.00
468.50