By Lorenz S. Marasigan Conclusion ‘W E are pumping in money to finance our infrastructure, be- cause we know that it is spring to economic growth. If our roads are paved, the transport of goods and services to the market would be faster, improving businesses that create jobs, ultimately leading to comprehensive growth,” President Aquino said during his visit in Romblon this month. For his part, Public Works Secre- tary Rogelio L. Singson said his of- fice aims to increase infrastructure spending through 2016, explain- ing that the government has set its sights on spending the equivalent of 5 percent of GDP, totaling as high as $18 billion by 2016, from $4 billion in 2011. “We commit that, by 2016, all national roads and bridges, esti- mated to measure 32,000 kilometers, will have been paved,” he said. PPPs to sustain infrastructure reforms FOR Luz, the key to achieving the target of eradicating the logistical nightmares lies on two things: higher public infrastructure spending and quickly implementing the public- private partnership (PPP) projects. See “ECB’s QE,” A2 www.businessmirror.com.ph n TfridayNovember 18, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 40 P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 32 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK n Wednesday, January 28, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 111 A broader look at today’s business BusinessMirror THREE-TIME ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDEE 2006, 2010, 2012 U.N. MEDIA AWARD 2008 PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 44.0820 n JAPAN 0.3721 n UK 66.5153 n HK 5.6875 n CHINA 7.0484 n SINGAPORE 32.7967 n AUSTRALIA 35.0358 n EU 49.5482 n SAUDI ARABIA 11.7255 Source: BSP (27 January 2015) Continued on A2 Continued on A4 SPECIAL REPORT INSIDE MICROSOFT WANTS YOU TO LOVE WINDOWS AGAIN RAFA OUT! PROPERTY OF THE MONTH: GREEN LIVING IN ALABANG Life Wednesday, January 28, 2015 D1 BusinessMirror Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • [email protected] P RAISE and thanksgiving be to You, oh God, for this new day that You have made. Let our heart rejoice and be glad in it. May we serve the Lord with gladness and come before Him with joyful songs. May we know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people the sheep of His fold (Psalm 100). Amen. Let our heart rejoice BEWARE OF ‘RANSONWARE,’ NEW REPORT WARNS »D2 B M D | The Seattle Times S EATTLE—Microsoft upped its bid to capture the hearts and minds of technology consumers with Windows 10, announcing everything from free upgrades for the majority of Windows users to support for nascent holographic display technology. The company’s executives also showed off an interface for its operating system that they hope will bridge the gulf separating laptops, tablets and smartphones and will allow Microsoft to expand beyond dependence on the personal computer market. At a daylong event held last week on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, outside Seattle, chief executive Satya Nadella summed up his goals for Microsoft’s most famous product in terms that would surprise people used to thinking about Windows as a utility akin to a computer’s plumbing. “We have bigger hopes, higher aspirations for Windows,” Nadella said. “We want to move from people needing Windows to choosing Windows, to loving Windows. That is our bold goal.” Love wasn’t a term often associated with Windows 8, the last major release of the operating system. Windows 8 was widely panned by users confused by its jarring transition between a new touch-optimized interface and the traditional, familiar Windows desktop. Microsoft started its public road to redemption in San Francisco last September with the announcement of Windows 10 and the release of a preview of the software. At that event, operating systems chief Terry Myerson and user experience leader Joe Belfiore made their pitch largely to business customers. Last week’s gathering of journalists and analysts, featuring hours of presentations and demonstrations, was billed by Microsoft as an effort to show individual computer users what they can expect when the software is released at a date to be announced later this year. “Undoing some of the damage around Windows 8 is probably the immediate goal” with Windows 10, said J.P. Gownder, an analyst with Forrester Research. “But you also want to make sure people don’t defect to Chromebooks or Macs. [Microsoft] needs to solidify the ecosystem, and make sure that Windows 7 isn’t the last Windows machine people have.” Windows 7 powers 56 percent of personal computers, according to data from Web analytics firm Net Applications. Windows 8 and its Windows 8.1 update together account for 15 percent. Microsoft said on Wednesday it will offer free upgrades to Windows 10 to hook both sets of users. For the first year after the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft will offer users of Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 7 free upgrades to the new operating system, Myerson said. For those not enticed by free software alone, Microsoft has loaded Windows 10 with bells and whistles. The operating system will feature a new Web browser, code-named “Spartan,” that allows users to freeze and share Web pages. Cortana, the search assistant released for Windows Phone last year, will be embedded in Windows 10, allowing users to use voice commands to find files, write e-mails, and other tasks. Microsoft also unveiled a wildcard: support for interaction with holographic objects. [Microsoft[ announced its HoloLens headset—a wireless, see- through display that projects holograms into the world around its user. “It sounds like they’re pulling all the stops to make this a successful Windows release,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst with researcher IDC. “When Nadella said explicitly that they want to be loved, that’s sort of a deliberate new Microsoft strategy to connect with users.” The coming test, Hilwa said, is whether the software is able to help Microsoft make up ground in smartphones and tablets, where the company badly lags rivals Google and Apple. Windows-powered smartphones and tablets have a single-digit share of the global market, in part because of a dearth of applications compared to the other main operating systems. Developers don’t see much of a need to spend the hours coding applications for Windows Phone or the Windows store after already releasing versions for Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. Microsoft brass hope Windows 10 will make it easier for developers to write applications that can be relatively painlessly repurposed for the operating system’s smartphone, laptop and tablet variants. “The big deal here is making sure that interface works well between tablets and phone,” Hilwa said. “Because mobile developers have a hard time supporting even two operating systems.” ■ TRAVEL WITHOUT THE WORRIES A LOT of us think that ticking that extra box when we book our flights to get travel insurance is “extra baggage” to our wallet. This shouldn’t be the case. With travel insurance, we get the protection we need as a traveler to cover medical expenses, trip cancellations, and other losses incurred while traveling. For those with insatiable wanderlust who are subscribed to a postpaid account with Globe Telecom, not only is travel insurance something they won’t have to worry about but they also get to enjoy data-roaming services minus the fear of having to face “bill shock” at the end of their vacation. Simply avail of the latest P599 flat rate for data-roaming services, and you automatically get free TravelCare with up to P200,000 worth of protection from travel inconveniences such as flight delays, lost baggage and more—and you also get to do all the e-mail, social media and Web surfing you like off-shore. Globe is the first telco in the Philippines to provide free travel insurance with its data-roaming offer, giving its customers a complete and worry-free travel experience abroad. Loss of luggage and/or travel documents, delayed or canceled flights, damage to baggage, medical emergencies and even accidental death, TravelCare has got you covered. With the telco’s expanded coverage of its P599/day data roaming offer to over 70 countries around the globe, data roaming has become more accessible and available, connecting travelers to the Web anytime, anywhere. Simply turn on your data roaming, and you will be automatically latched on to a Globe partner carrier in your current destination to enjoy data roaming in a quick click or tap, with an added value of free TravelCare insurance. Avoiding bill shock due to excessive data charges is now possible with P599/day flat rate. Customers can also surf for a full 24-hour cycle without the need to register or memorize promo codes, making the experience easy and hassle-free. “Worry-free data roaming is now a must-have for travelers who need easy access to their e-mails, maps, hotels, airline reservations, and their social-media accounts any time of day. Recognizing this as a travel essential, Globe Telecom is expanding its P599/day flat rate for all-you-want mobile surfing to more than 70 countries in our worldwidest roaming network. In addition, this comes with free TravelCare insurance, giving our customers more value for their money,” said Coco Domingo, vice president for Platinum Business and Roaming. Learn more about Globe Telecom’s data-roaming offer, its partner countries and the full TravelCare insurance coverage by visiting www.globe.com/roamingor call the Globe Roaming Hotline at +6327301212 (toll-free even while abroad). CES 2015 A SNOOZE? IF you followed this year’s just-concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas hoping to get glimpses of upcoming hotness in mobile technology, you may have come away a tad disappointed. None of the biggest names in consumer electronics unveiled shiny-and-new smartphones and tablets, save for Dell with its Venue 8 7000 tablet that we chatted up briefly in this corner of the page. Perhaps the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015—coming up in Barcelona, Spain, this March—will whet your appetite, as the usual suspects (LG, Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, et al) are supposedly gearing up for their respective big reveals. Fans of Sony’s best-selling Android- powered Xperia Z smartphones might be in for a disappointment, however. The word going around the blogosphere is that the company won’t be unveiling its upcoming flagship, presumably to be called the Xperia Z4, at MWC. Instead, the newest mobile hotness from the Japanese consumer electronics giant will be revealed in the summer during a big Sony- only event. SAMSUNG GEARING FOR A REBOUND? IF you ask wireless communications executives around these parts about how Samsung’s flagship smartphone is doing, they will invariably tell you that the Galaxy Note 4 is doing rather well, thank you very much. Of course, you do know that the Galaxy S5 is the South Korean company’s flagship, right? Perhaps the caginess of wireless communications executives around here is a reflection of recent news reports that tell of the troubles facing Samsung’s mobile phones division elsewhere—or perhaps not. Regardless, the company is no doubt hoping its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6, will be more enthusiastically received in the global market. Supposedly, the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be toting a screen much bigger than 5.1-inch display of the S5—and may even boast of the curved edge that the company introduced with the Galaxy Note Edge. Other rumors going around about the S6 is that it will have not only a faster CPU but also a stylish all-metal body, which hopefully will put to rest criticisms regarding the plastic material the company has chosen to house its flagships. Needless to say, we’ll know more when MWC comes around. A VERY EXPENSIVE PS4 YOU can get the Sony PlayStation 4 from around here for about P17,000, but somebody in Japan just bought this latest-and-greatest in home gaming for ¥15,135,000. That would be almost a quarter of a million in US dollars, if our math and conversion skills are not shot in hell. Why would anyone pay such an outrageous amount for a PlayStation 4? Well, this wasn’t just another PS4. It was a limited-edition 20th Anniversary PS4 in original- PlayStation gray, which Sony put up for a bidding war on Yahoo! Auctions. The company produced just 12,300 units of the anniversary edition, and the one put on the auction block had the serial number 00001. No wonder the bidding frenzy. Proceeds from the auction, according to Sony, will be donated to Save the Children Japan. Microsoft wants you to love Windows again Sports C1 | W, J28, 2015 [email protected] [email protected] Editor: Jun Lomibao BusinessMirror M ELBOURNE, Australia—Fireworks lit up the sky above Rod Laver Arena the moment Venus Williams completed her fourth-round win at the Australian Open on Monday night. It’s been that kind of tournament so far for the 34-year-old, seven-time Grand Slam winner. Williams advanced to her first quarterfinal in a major since Wimbledon in 2010 and she’ll be joined by her younger sister, Serena, in the final eight. As multicolored pinwheels and other fireworks celebrating the Australia Day holiday cascaded from the sky, Venus took time on court to credit Serena for her support and inspiration. In 2011 Venus was diagnosed with the energy-sapping Sjogren’s syndrome, a major reason for her absence from the late stages of big tournaments—until now. “Definitely my sister Serena, she’s just the ultimate champion, and definitely a lot of inspiration from all my fans who have stayed behind me through thick and thin,” Venus said. On the men’s side, No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic, defending champion Stan Wawrinka, US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori and Canadian Milos Raonic won their fourth-round matches. That sets up a pair of compelling quarterfinals: Djokovic vs. Raonic, and Wawrinka versus Nishikori. Venus Williams, asked if her 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Agnieszka Radwanska was her biggest in a while, said “from the outside looking in, I guess it could be like that. “[But] I feel like I’ve been here before so it’s not like I’m jumping up and down for joy.” Venus will next face Madison Keys, a 19-year-old American who was inspired to play tennis by watching the Williams sisters. “It’s definitely been an experience, really playing well, kind of living up to what people have been saying,” Keys said. “I’m just really happy that it’s finally here and that I’m doing so well.” Serena Williams had a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Garbine Muguruza, motivated by a loss to the Spanish player at the 2014 French Open. “She made me play a lot better,” Serena Williams said. “I had to play the best match of the tournament or else I was going to be out.” The five-time Australian Open winner next faces Dominika Cibulkova, who beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Keys advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-4 win over good friend and fellow American Madison Brengle. Serena Williams had difficulty breathing at times on Monday and coughed throughout. “When I got down, I was thinking, ‘What can I do now?’” Williams said. “Whatever happens, I thought, I’ve won this five times.” Looking for No. 6, she’ll need to get past Cibulkova, who hit 44 winners and broke former No. 1-ranked Azarenka’s serve seven times. The No. 10-ranked Cibulkova lost in the final here last year to the now-retired Li Na. Wawrinka advanced by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8), and No. 8 Raonic posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3 win over No. 12 Feliciano Lopez. Spurred on by hundreds of flag-waving Japanese supporters at Rod Laver Arena, No. 5-ranked Nishikori had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 9 David Ferrer. Wawrinka saved four set points in the last tiebreaker, while trailing 6-2, and then saved a fifth before clinching it on his second match point. The win helped Wawrinka gain some payback against Garcia-Lopez for an unwanted record. Last year at the French Open, the Spanish player beat him in the first round, making Wawrinka the first first-time major winner to lose his opening match at the subsequent Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt lost at the 2002 Australian Open after winning the 2001 US Open. “I knew once I came back to 6-5, he’d been getting nervous,” Wawrinka said of the tiebreaker. “I hit a passing shot along the line. They always know I go along the line.” After Venus’s match on Rod Laver, Djokovic beat Gilles Muller, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5, to advance to his 23rd consecutive quarterfinal in a Grand Slam tournament, a feat which appears to dwarf Venus Williams’s first in nearly five years—unless you’re Venus. “Any win gives you that rush, whether it’s a first round or the last round,” Williams says. “I’ll be back out on Wednesday trying to play my heart out again.” AP FIREWORKS FOR VENUS Rafael Nadal’s lack of match fitness from nearly six months of injuries and illness finally catches up with the 14- time major champion in his quarterfinal match against seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych on Tuesday. B D P The Associated Press M ELBOURNE, Australia— Two rounds after Roger Federer’s unexpected exit from the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal has joined him the sidelines. Nadal’s lack of match fitness from nearly six onths of injuries and illness finally caught with the 14-time major champion in his arterfinal match against seventh-seeded mas Berdych on Tuesday. He was never uch of a factor and lost in straight sets, 6-2, 0, 7-6 (5). The third-seeded Nadal said before the urnament that his inactivity over the last lf of 2014 made him unlikely to win more an a few rounds. Coming into the Australian en, Nadal had played only eight matches ce last June because of a right wrist injury d appendix surgery in November. Federer, who has 17 major titles, including ur in Australia, departed Melbourne Park er an upset third-round loss to Andrea ppi. Nadal said he was surprised to have vanced as far as he did in Melbourne. “It is obvious that I needed something more be more competitive,” Nadal said. “As I said hen I arrived here, the process always is not sy. When you have injuries, comebacks are ficult. But without being at my top level of nnis, I was able to be here in quarterfinals. Is t a bad result at all for me.” Nadal saved two match points in the 12th me of the final set, sending it to a tiebreaker. t Berdych raced out to a 5-2 lead in the decider d finally ended the match on his fourth match int when Nadal netted a return of serve. “I was ready for everything and I think at was the difference,” Berdych said. “I arted pretty well, but when you’re playing fa you have to keep going to the last point.” Berdych, who had lost 17 straight atches to Nadal before Tuesday, will ay the winner of the night quarterfinal tween Andy Murray and local hope Nick rgios. The other men’s semifinalists will determined on Wednesday, when top- eded Novak Djokovic plays Milos Raonic d defending champion Stan Wawrinka kes on US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori in quarterfinals in the other half of the draw. Earlier Tuesday on Rod Laver Arena, Maria Sharapova moved closer to another Australian title, defeating 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Sharapova made all the big points look easy against Bouchard and advanced to a semifinal against Ekaterina Makarova, who earlier beat third-seeded Simona Halep, 6-4, 6-0. “I felt pretty good from the start, didn’t feel I had too many letdowns,” Sharapova said, adding that her close call in the second round—facing two match points against a qualifier—sharpened her focus for the rest of the tournament. “When you are down and out in the second match, I don’t want to face that call with my father too many times during a tournament,” she said. The last time Sharapova and Bouchard met—in the semifinals at the French Open last year—Bouchard won the first set before Sharapova came back to take the next two. The Russian then won the title at Roland Garros. This time, Bouchard, who made the finals of Wimbledon and two other Grand Slam semis last year, didn’t come close to taking a set, looking flat from the outset while being broken in her opening service game. The Genie Army, a group of young Australian men who croon about the Canadian player, was left to sing another day. “She didn’t give me many chances, and against the great players you have to take any chances you can get,” Bouchard said. “If you don’t have time, you have to go for riskier shots, and I made a few too many unforced errors because I was under pressure.” Sharapova, the 2008 Australian Open champion and a two-time finalist, has a 5-0 record against Makarova, including wins in the quarterfinals here in 2012 and 2013. In four of those losses, Makarova has failed to win a set. The other women’s semifinalists will be determined on Wednesday, when No. 1-ranked Williams plays last year’s finalist, Dominika Cibulkova, and Venus Williams, playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in nearly five years, takes on 19-year-old American Madison Keys. If the Williams sisters play each other in the semifinals, it would be their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament since the Wimbledon final in 2009—won by Serena. AS Rafael Nadal heads for the exit, Tomas Berdych (top left) celebrates perhaps the biggest upset victory in his career. AP MARIA SHARAPOVA moves closer to another Australian Open title. AP WILLIAMS BusinessMirror sin Wednesday, January 28, 2015 E1 Editor: Tet Andolong Located at the finest locale, Botanika is designed for the privi- leged few who want to savor a relax- ing atmosphere amid the bustling metropolis. “Inspired by New York’s Central Park, Botanika’s centralized garden system offers scenic walks through the 1.55-hectare property with three towers that gives a very different identity compared to the other ultra-high-end devel- opments in Makati and Boni- facio Global City,” according to Catherine Ilagan, executive vice president of Filinvest Alabang Inc., Botanika project developer. “Open green spaces are get- ting scarcer in the metropolis. Our planners thus thought of offering Botanika residents a system of gar- dens that would allow them to enjoy nature’s healing properties right at their doorstep,” Ilagan added. Experts in the social and en- vironmental sciences noted that nature can reinvigorate and reju- venate an individual’s mind and become more productive. “Nature is the perfect setting for a walk or a swim. It encourages movement and discovery.” Botanika will veer away from the conventional residential condo environment which highlights the space limitation. In Botanika, an owner can enjoy comfortable space from its 369 units ranging from 123 square meters to 343 sq m and spread out over three towers. Botanika will be offering the best of both worlds with privacy and na- ture enjoyed by the owner. According to Ilagan, “Botanika is the first of the Filinvest Group’s Exclusive Collection, the newest and highest-end brand category. Each project with the Exclusive Collection brand is envisioned to be an iconic, top-end and one-of- a-kind residential space that will add prestige to the group’s large- scale projects. e buildings have a nature- centric design. From the top, each of the buildings takes the shape of a leaf, a unique configuration which will mean that none of the units will peer directly into a unit of a neigh- boring tower. When a resident looks out his window, he will not have a direct sightline into a unit in the neighboring tower because of the curving walls of the tower. ere will be an atrium at the center of each building. is will en- able the natural light to go through the structure. Further, the atrium will also force air through the edifice offering passive ventilation. From the ground level, the atriums will be interconnected to each other and to a central pool area through a paved walkway that naturally blends with the lush tropical landscape. Leandro V. Locsin Partners and international firm AEcom are the two organizations that worked tre- mendously to ensure the natural or- der of things will be retained such as the property’s sloping terrain. e pool thus has various levels with the waters from one level dropping down to form a waterfall curtain setting for a lower level. “e plan- ners weren’t afraid to compartmen- talize spaces to create greater inter- est in the landscaping,” Ilagan said. “We’ve designed Botanika to appeal to captains of industry, self-made entrepreneurs and mul- tinational CEOs seeking quick ac- cess to Makati, as well as Laguna’s industrial estates through the Sky- way,” Ilagan said. “ey may not al- ways have the time to walk through Botanika’s nature sanctuary or to enjoy the lavish amenities of the developments. But just knowing that it’s there for them to use when they want them should be reasons enough to consider living there.” True to its mission, Filinvest has strictly followed the guidelines set by the Philippine Green Building Council to ensure every detail re- quired by the Building for Ecologi- cally Responsive Design Excellence (Berde) will be followed. Botanika is a Berde-registered project. e first building has 13 storys boasting of above-par facilities. With only 101 units for Tower 1, resi- dents get to enjoy much sought-af- ter exclusivity that other residential developments could only promise. Being all about gardens, Botan- ika’s e Courtyard, e Sculptural Garden and Central Gardens pro- vide the property’s outdoor ameni- ties that support green living. With huge abundant space, e Courtyard allows residents to do whatever they want—read a book, feel the morning breeze, gaze at the night sky, or even enjoy a sumptuous outdoor feast with the family. e Greenhouse is, like- wise, open for anyone who likes to commune with nature especially in the mornings. With uniquely tiered, stylized swimming pools, a buyer is given a new experience. e Veranda, a canopied area by the pool, can also be used for intimate al-fresco gath- erings. Other amenities in Botanika include tiered swimming pools, kiddie pool, lap pool and changing rooms Further, other major amenities include sun-roofed central atrium, grand lobby, reception lounge, roof decks, administration office, mail room, fire safety features, key card access for boom gates and floor ac- cess, and underground parking. All these are artistically splashed with greens to further wash away the stresses of the day. GREEN LIVING IN ALABANG B R R R T ODAY, living in a garden atmosphere is one of the aspirations of modern Filipinos. ey want to get a break from the rage and frenzy of urban living. In response, Filinvest launched the Botanika Nature Residences—a high-end, low-density residential enclave in Filinvest City in Alabang. S TA. Lucia Land Inc. sustains the expansion of its real-es- tate portfolio in Davao with subdivision project, Alta Monte Residential Estates. e devel- oper brings its legacy of develop- ing properties in Metro Manila to the Davaoeño housing market that wants community-based, in- tegrated residential living near lifestyle centers, but without the congestion notoriously present in densely populated cities. Located in Tigatto, Buhangin Dis- trict, Alta Monte will offer residen- tial lot owners the privilege of building their dream home in a 14-hectare gated neighborhood that’s a mere 15 minutes away from malls, hospitals, airport, and other civic spaces, and commercial and business centers. Prospective property owners are invited to come home to an en- hanced living environment in Alta Monte. e residential project will have a multipurpose clubhouse amenitized with a swimming pool and an open tennis court. Every- day will give a sense of having ar- rived because of well-thought out community features: landscaped entrance gate with guardhouse; underground storm drainage sys- tem to keep the property flood- free; a perimeter wall, concrete sidewalks, curbs and gutters; a centralized water system with overhead tank and deep well; 8- to 12-meter-wide concrete road; and complete electrical facilities. “We want to tap into the market of those who want to upgrade their status in life,” Sta. Lucia President Exequiel Robles said. “Discipline among Davaoeños is very profound so, we have private and secure com- munities like Alta Monte that main- tain that character.” Sta. Lucia started in Davao as a high-end marketer for a residential- golf and country club development: “We were the first major developer in the area, injecting the idea of brand identity. We continue to de- velop properties in Davao because we’ve been successful there.” e leading real-estate firm is a good fit for Davao with an ever- growing economy, according to Ro- bles. “It is one of the biggest cities in the Philippines so there is huge po- tential for development.” While Sta. Lucia keeps loyal to a niche subdivi- sion market that has delivered im- pressive growth for the company, it also intends to enter other markets. “ere are still a lot of avenues for expansion of Sta. Lucia,” Robles said. “As people earn, as the middle market grows, the desire for homes will always be there.” C ITYSTATE Properties and Management Corp. (CPMC) turned over the Transfer Certificate of Title to Irene Rose V. Ortega and Loo Soon Wai on January 3 for the two lots they purchased at Nalé, Sta. Lucia maintains growth New homeowners receive TCT at Sandari Maria Guia C. Buenaventura (from left), vice president for sales of Citystate Properties and Management Corp.; Irene Rose V. Ortega (lot owner); Loo Soon Wai (lot owner); Mercedita V. Ortega (lot owner’s mother); and Irineo H. Ortega (lot owner’s father) Cheaper oil to hike PHL imports BALISACAN SAYS WINDFALL FROM FUEL SAVINGS TO CREATE RIPPLE EFFECT IN CONSUMPTION-DRIVEN ECONOMY LIFE D1 SPORTS C1 PROPERTY E1 From rails to ports, poor infra planning burdens Pinoys ‘ECB’s QE TO BENEFIT EMERGING MARKETS’ LAO PDR’S NATIONAL HERO Benjamin Ramos (from left), president of the BUSINESSMIRROR; Her Excellency Malayvieng Sakonhninhom, ambassador of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) to the Philippines; and Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, founder of the BUSINESSMIRROR and former Philippine ambassador to the Lao PDR, grace the handover of the bust of Lao’s national hero, former President Kaysone Phomvihane, to the Asean Garden in a ceremony held in Intramuros, Manila, on January 27. This is the first time that the Lao PDR donated a bust of its national hero to a friendly country. STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS CARDINAL TAGLE IN PBSP MEET Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (left) welcomes keynote speaker Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle during the PBSP’s 44th Annual Membership Meeting in Makati City. NONIE REYES By Cai U. Ordinario T HE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) expects the lower oil prices to drive up the country’s importation this year, with the windfall from fuel savings seen to trigger a ripple effect in consumption. By David Cagahastian T HE quantitative easing (QE) program announced by the European Central Bank (ECB) would mean additional portfolio inflows to emerging markets like the Philippines, an official of the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Tuesday. Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil S. Beltran said “The continuing low prices of oil bode well for the country’s consumer activity, given the relief from hikes in fares, utility costs and other consumer items. Indus- trial activity also benefits from the reduction in operating costs,” Neda Director General and Eco- nomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said. In November 2014 cheaper oil ac- tually slashed the country’s import payments by 10.8 percent to $4.989 billion, from $5.593 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.
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By Lorenz S. MarasiganConclusion
‘We are pumping in money to finance our infrastructure, be-
cause we know that it is spring to economic growth. If our roads are paved, the transport of goods and services to the market would be faster, improving businesses that create jobs, ultimately leading to comprehensive growth,” President Aquino said during his visit in Romblon this month. For his part, Public Works Secre-tary Rogelio L. Singson said his of-
fice aims to increase infrastructure spending through 2016, explain-ing that the government has set its sights on spending the equivalent of 5 percent of GDP, totaling as high as $18 billion by 2016, from $4 billion in 2011. “We commit that, by 2016, all national roads and bridges, esti-mated to measure 32,000 kilometers, will have been paved,” he said. PPPs to sustain infrastructure reformsFoR Luz, the key to achieving the target of eradicating the logistical nightmares lies on two things: higher public infrastructure spending and quickly implementing the public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
See “ECB’s QE,” A2
www.businessmirror.com.ph n TfridayNovember 18, 2014 Vol. 10 No. 40 P25.00 nationwide | 7 sections 32 pages | 7 days a weekn wednesday, January 28, 2015 Vol. 10 No. 111
A broader look at today’s businessBusinessMirrorthree-time
rotary club of manila journalism awardee2006, 2010, 2012u.n. media award 2008
Peso exchange rates n us 44.0820 n jaPan 0.3721 n uK 66.5153 n hK 5.6875 n china 7.0484 n singaPore 32.7967 n australia 35.0358 n eu 49.5482 n saudi arabia 11.7255 Source: BSP (27 January 2015)
Continued on A2
Continued on A4
SPECIAL REPORT
INSIDE
microsoft wants you to love windows again
rafa out!
ProPerty of the month: green living in alabang
Life Wednesday, January 28, 2015 D1BusinessMirrorEditor: Gerard S. Ramos • [email protected]
P RAISE and thanksgiving be to You, oh God, for this new day that You have made. Let our heart rejoice and be glad in it. May we serve the Lord
with gladness and come before Him with joyful songs. May we know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people the sheep of His fold (Psalm 100). Amen.
Let our heart rejoice
VIRGIE SALAZAR AND LOUIE M. LACSONWord&Life Publications • [email protected]
BEWARE OF ‘RANSONWARE,’
NEW REPORTWARNS »D2WARNS »
B M D | The Seattle Times
SEATTLE—Microsoft upped its bid to capture the hearts and minds of technology consumers with Windows 10, announcing everything from free upgrades for the majority of Windows users to support for
nascent holographic display technology.The company’s executives also showed off an
interface for its operating system that they hope will bridge the gulf separating laptops, tablets and smartphones and will allow Microsoft to expand beyond dependence on the personal computer market.
At a daylong event held last week on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, outside Seattle, chief executive Satya Nadella summed up his goals for Microsoft’s most famous product in terms that would surprise people used to thinking about Windows as a utility akin to a computer’s plumbing.
“We have bigger hopes, higher aspirations for Windows,” Nadella said. “We want to move from people needing Windows to choosing Windows, to loving Windows. That is our bold goal.”
Love wasn’t a term often associated with Windows 8, the last major release of the operating system. Windows 8 was widely panned by users confused by its jarring transition between a new touch-optimized interface and the traditional, familiar Windows desktop.
Microsoft started its public road to redemption in San Francisco last September with the announcement of Windows 10 and the release of a preview of the software. At that event, operating systems chief Terry Myerson and user experience leader Joe Belfiore made their pitch largely to business customers.
Last week’s gathering of journalists and analysts, featuring hours of presentations and demonstrations, was billed by Microsoft as an effort to show individual computer users what they can expect when the software is released at a date to be announced later this year.
“Undoing some of the damage around Windows 8 is probably the immediate goal” with Windows 10, said J.P. Gownder, an analyst with Forrester Research. “But you also want to make sure people don’t defect to Chromebooks or Macs. [Microsoft] needs to solidify the ecosystem, and make sure that Windows 7 isn’t the last Windows machine people have.”
Windows 7 powers 56 percent of personal computers, according to data from Web analytics firm Net Applications. Windows 8 and its Windows 8.1 update together account for 15 percent.
Microsoft said on Wednesday it will offer free upgrades to Windows 10 to hook both sets of users. For the first year after the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft will offer users of Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 7 free upgrades to the new operating system, Myerson said.
For those not enticed by free software alone, Microsoft has loaded Windows 10 with bells and whistles. The operating system will feature a new Web browser, code-named “Spartan,” that allows users to freeze and share Web pages. Cortana, the search assistant released for Windows Phone last year, will be embedded in Windows 10, allowing users to use voice commands to find files, write e-mails, and other tasks.
Microsoft also unveiled a wildcard: support for interaction with holographic objects. [Microsoft[ announced its HoloLens headset—a wireless, see-through display that projects holograms into the world around its user.
“It sounds like they’re pulling all the stops to make this a successful Windows release,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst with researcher IDC.
“When Nadella said explicitly that they want to be loved, that’s sort of a deliberate new Microsoft strategy to connect with users.”
The coming test, Hilwa said, is whether the software is able to help Microsoft make up ground in smartphones and tablets, where the company badly lags rivals Google and Apple.
Windows-powered smartphones and tablets have a single-digit share of the global market, in part because of a dearth of applications compared to the other main operating systems. Developers don’t see much of a need to spend the hours coding applications for Windows Phone or the Windows store after already releasing versions for Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS.
Microsoft brass hope Windows 10 will make it easier for developers to write applications that can be relatively painlessly repurposed for the operating system’s smartphone, laptop and tablet variants.
“The big deal here is making sure that interface works well between tablets and phone,” Hilwa said. “Because mobile developers have a hard time supporting even two operating systems.” ■
TRAVEL WITHOUT THE WORRIESA LOT of us think that ticking that extra box when we book our flights to get travel insurance is “extra baggage” to our wallet.
This shouldn’t be the case. With travel insurance, we get the protection we need as a traveler to cover medical expenses, trip cancellations, and other losses incurred while traveling.
For those with insatiable wanderlust who are subscribed to a postpaid account with Globe Telecom, not only is travel insurance something they won’t have to worry about but they also get to enjoy data-roaming services minus the fear of having to face “bill shock” at the end of their vacation. Simply avail of the latest P599 flat rate for data-roaming services, and you automatically get free TravelCare with up to P200,000 worth of protection from travel inconveniences such as flight delays, lost baggage and more—and you also get to do all the e-mail, social media and Web surfing you like off-shore.
Globe is the first telco in the Philippines to provide free travel insurance with its data-roaming offer, giving its customers a complete and worry-free travel experience abroad. Loss of luggage and/or travel documents, delayed or canceled flights, damage to baggage, medical emergencies and even accidental death, TravelCare has got you covered.
With the telco’s expanded coverage of its P599/day data roaming offer to over 70 countries around the globe, data roaming has become more accessible and available, connecting travelers to the Web anytime, anywhere. Simply turn on your data roaming, and you will be automatically latched on to a Globe partner carrier in your current destination to enjoy data roaming in a quick click or tap, with an added value of free TravelCare insurance.
Avoiding bill shock due to excessive data charges is now possible with P599/day flat rate. Customers can also surf for a full 24-hour cycle without the need to register or memorize promo codes, making the experience easy and hassle-free.
“Worry-free data roaming is now a must-have for travelers who need easy access to their e-mails, maps, hotels, airline reservations, and their social-media accounts any time of day. Recognizing this as a travel essential, Globe Telecom is expanding its P599/day flat rate for all-you-want mobile surfing to more than 70 countries in our worldwidest roaming network. In addition, this comes with free TravelCare insurance, giving our customers more value for their money,” said Coco Domingo, vice president for Platinum Business and Roaming.
Learn more about Globe Telecom’s data-roaming offer, its partner countries and the full TravelCare insurance coverage by visiting www.globe.com/roaming or call the Globe Roaming Hotline at +6327301212 (toll-free even while abroad).
CES 2015 A SNOOZE?IF you followed this year’s just-concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas hoping to get glimpses of upcoming hotness in mobile technology, you may have come away a tad disappointed. None of the biggest names in consumer electronics unveiled shiny-and-new smartphones and tablets, save for Dell with its Venue 8 7000 tablet that we chatted up briefly in this corner of the page.
Perhaps the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015—coming up in Barcelona, Spain, this March—will whet your appetite, as the usual suspects (LG, Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, et al) are supposedly gearing up for their respective big reveals.
Fans of Sony’s best-selling Android-powered Xperia Z smartphones might be in for a disappointment, however. The word going around the blogosphere is that the company won’t be unveiling its upcoming flagship, presumably to be called the Xperia Z4, at MWC.
Instead, the newest mobile hotness from the Japanese consumer
electronics giant will be revealed in the summer during a big Sony-only event.
SAMSUNG GEARINGFOR A REBOUND?IF you ask wireless communications executives around these parts about how Samsung’s flagship smartphone is doing, they will invariably tell you that the Galaxy Note 4 is doing rather well, thank you very much. Of course, you do know that the Galaxy S5 is the South Korean company’s flagship, right?
Perhaps the caginess of wireless communications executives around here is a reflection of recent news reports that tell of the troubles facing Samsung’s mobile phones division elsewhere—or perhaps not. Regardless, the company is no doubt hoping its upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S6, will be more enthusiastically received in the global market.
Supposedly, the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be toting a screen much bigger than 5.1-inch display of the S5—and may even boast of the curved edge that the company introduced with the Galaxy Note Edge. Other rumors going around about the S6 is that it will have not only a faster CPU but also a stylish all-metal body, which hopefully will put to rest criticisms regarding the plastic material the company has chosen to house its flagships.
Needless to say, we’ll know more when MWC comes around.
A VERYEXPENSIVE PS4YOU can get the Sony PlayStation 4 from around here for about P17,000, but somebody in Japan just bought this latest-and-greatest in home gaming for ¥15,135,000.
That would be almost a quarter of a million in US dollars, if our math and conversion skills are not shot in hell.
Why would anyone pay such an outrageous amount for a PlayStation 4? Well, this wasn’t just another PS4. It was a limited-edition 20th Anniversary PS4 in original-PlayStation gray, which Sony put up for a bidding war on Yahoo! Auctions. The company produced just 12,300 units of the anniversary edition,
and the one put on the auction block had the serial number 00001.
No wonder the bidding frenzy. Proceeds from the auction, according to Sony, will be donated to Save the Children Japan. TNS
Microsoft wants youto love Windows again
corner of the page.Perhaps the Mobile World Congress
(MWC) 2015—coming up in Barcelona, Spain, this March—will whet your appetite, as the usual suspects (LG, Samsung, Lenovo, HTC, et al) are supposedly gearing up for their respective big reveals.
Fans of Sony’s best-selling Android-powered Xperia Z smartphones might be in for a disappointment, however. The word going around the blogosphere is that the company won’t be unveiling its upcoming flagship, presumably to be called the Xperia Z4, at MWC.
Instead, the newest mobile hotness from the Japanese consumer
from around here for about P17,000, but somebody in Japan just bought this latest-and-greatest
dollars, if our math and conversion skills are not shot in hell.
Why would anyone pay such an outrageous amount for a PlayStation 4? Well, this wasn’t just another PS4. It was a limited-edition 20th Anniversary PS4 in original-20th Anniversary PS4 in original-20th Anniversary PS4PlayStation gray, which Sony put up for a bidding war on Yahoo! Auctions. The company produced just 12,300 units of the anniversary edition,
A SCREENSHOT of how the upcoming Windows 10 is going to look like on your desktop.
Spor
tsSp
orts
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| W
EDN
ESD
AY, J
AN
UA
RY 2
8, 2
01
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irro
r_sp
orts
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hoo.
com
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spor
ts@
busi
ness
mir
ror.
com
.ph
Edit
or: J
un L
omib
ao
Spor
tsBusinessM
irror
MEL
BOUR
NE, A
ustra
lia—
Firew
orks
lit up
the s
ky ab
ove R
od La
ver
Aren
a the
mom
ent V
enus
Willi
ams c
omple
ted h
er fo
urth
-roun
d win
at
the A
ustra
lian O
pen o
n Mon
day n
ight.
It’s
been
that
kind o
f tou
rnam
ent s
o far
for th
e 34-
year-
old, s
even
-tim
e Gran
d Slam
wi
nner.
Willi
ams a
dvan
ced t
o her
first
quar
terfin
al in
a majo
r sinc
e Wim
bledo
n in 2
010 a
nd
she’l
l be j
oined
by he
r you
nger
sister
, Sere
na, in
the f
inal e
ight.
As
mul
ticol
ored
pin
whe
els a
nd o
ther
fire
work
s cel
ebra
ting
the A
ustra
lia D
ay
holid
ay ca
scad
ed fr
om th
e sky
, Ven
us to
ok ti
me o
n co
urt t
o cr
edit
Sere
na fo
r her
su
ppor
t and
insp
iratio
n. In
201
1 Ven
us w
as d
iagn
osed
with
the e
nerg
y-sa
ppin
g Sj
ogre
n’s sy
ndro
me,
a m
ajor
reas
on fo
r her
abse
nce f
rom
the l
ate s
tage
s of b
ig
tour
nam
ents
—un
til n
ow.
“D
efin
itely
my s
ister
Sere
na, s
he’s
just
the u
ltim
ate c
ham
pion
, and
def
inite
ly a l
ot o
f ins
pira
tion
from
all m
y fan
s who
hav
e sta
yed
behi
nd m
e thr
ough
thick
an
d th
in,” V
enus
said
.
On th
e men
’s sid
e, No
. 1-s
eede
d No
vak D
joko
vic, d
efen
ding
cham
pion
Stan
W
awrin
ka, U
S Ope
n ru
nner
-up
Kei N
ishiko
ri an
d Ca
nadi
an M
ilos R
aoni
c won
their
fo
urth
-roun
d m
atch
es. T
hat s
ets u
p a p
air of
com
pelli
ng q
uarte
rfina
ls: D
joko
vic vs
. Ra
onic,
and W
awrin
ka ve
rsus N
ishiko
ri.
Venu
s Willi
ams,
aske
d if h
er 6-
3, 2-
6, 6-
1 win
over
Agnie
szka
Radw
ansk
a was
her
bigge
st in
a whil
e, sa
id “fr
om th
e out
side l
ookin
g in,
I gue
ss it
could
be lik
e tha
t.
“[Bu
t] I f
eel l
ike I’
ve b
een
here
bef
ore s
o it’
s not
like
I’m ju
mpi
ng u
p an
d do
wn
for j
oy.”
Ve
nus w
ill ne
xt fa
ce M
adiso
n Key
s, a 1
9-ye
ar-o
ld Am
erica
n who
was
insp
ired t
o pla
y ten
nis by
wat
ching
the W
illiam
s sist
ers.
“It
’s defi
nitely
been
an ex
perie
nce,
reall
y play
ing w
ell, k
ind of
living
up to
wha
t pe
ople
have
been
sayin
g,” Ke
ys sa
id. “I
’m ju
st re
ally h
appy
that
it’s f
inally
here
and t
hat
I’m do
ing so
well
.”
Sere
na W
illiam
s had
a 2-
6, 6-
3, 6-
2 win
over
Gar
bine M
ugur
uza,
mot
ivate
d by a
loss
to th
e Spa
nish p
layer
at th
e 201
4 Fre
nch O
pen.
“S
he m
ade m
e play
a lot
bette
r,” Se
rena
Willi
ams s
aid. “
I had
to pl
ay th
e bes
t mat
ch
of th
e tou
rnam
ent o
r else
I was
going
to be
out.”
Th
e five
-tim
e Aus
tralia
n Op
en w
inne
r nex
t fac
es D
omin
ika C
ibul
kova
, who
be
at tw
o-tim
e cha
mpi
on Vi
ctor
ia A
zare
nka,
6-2
, 3-6
, 6-3
. Key
s adv
ance
d to
her
fir
st G
rand
Slam
qua
rterfi
nal w
ith a
6-2,
6-4
win
ove
r goo
d fri
end
and
fello
w Am
erica
n M
adiso
n Br
engl
e.
Sere
na W
illia
ms h
ad d
ifficu
lty b
reat
hing
at ti
mes
on
Mon
day a
nd co
ughe
d th
roug
hout
.
“Whe
n I go
t dow
n, I w
as th
inking
, ‘Wha
t can
I do n
ow?’”
Willi
ams s
aid. “
Wha
teve
r ha
ppen
s, I t
houg
ht, I’
ve w
on th
is fiv
e tim
es.”
Lo
oking
for N
o. 6,
she’l
l nee
d to g
et pa
st Cib
ulkov
a, wh
o hit
44 w
inner
s and
brok
e fo
rmer
No.
1-ra
nked
Aza
renk
a’s se
rve s
even
tim
es. T
he N
o. 10
-rank
ed Ci
bulko
va lo
st in
the f
inal h
ere l
ast y
ear t
o the
now-
retir
ed Li
Na.
W
awrin
ka ad
vanc
ed b
y bea
ting
Guill
erm
o Ga
rcia
-Lop
ez, 7
-6 (2
), 6-
4, 4
-6,
7-6
(8),
and
No. 8
Rao
nic p
oste
d a 6
-4, 4
-6, 6
-3, 6
-7 (7
), 6-
3 w
in o
ver N
o. 1
2 Fe
licia
no Lo
pez.
Spur
red
on b
y hun
dred
s of f
lag-
wavin
g Ja
pane
se su
ppor
ters
at
Rod
Lave
r Are
na, N
o. 5
-rank
ed N
ishiko
ri ha
d lit
tle tr
oubl
e in
a 6-3
, 6-3
, 6-3
win
ov
er N
o. 9
Dav
id Fe
rrer.
W
awrin
ka sa
ved f
our s
et po
ints i
n the
last
tiebr
eake
r, whil
e tra
iling 6
-2, a
nd th
en
save
d a fif
th be
fore
clinc
hing i
t on h
is se
cond
mat
ch po
int.
Th
e win
helpe
d Waw
rinka
gain
som
e pay
back
again
st Ga
rcia-
Lope
z for
an
unwa
nted
reco
rd. L
ast y
ear a
t the
Fren
ch O
pen,
the S
panis
h play
er be
at hi
m in
the f
irst
roun
d, m
aking
Waw
rinka
the f
irst f
irst-t
ime m
ajor w
inner
to lo
se hi
s ope
ning m
atch
at
the s
ubse
quen
t Gra
nd Sl
am si
nce L
leyto
n Hew
itt lo
st at
the 2
002 A
ustra
lian O
pen a
fter
winn
ing th
e 200
1 US O
pen.
“I
knew
onc
e I ca
me b
ack t
o 6-
5, h
e’d b
een
getti
ng n
ervo
us,” W
awrin
ka sa
id
of th
e tie
brea
ker. “
I hit
a pas
sing
shot
alon
g th
e lin
e. Th
ey al
ways
know
I go
al
ong
the l
ine.”
Af
ter V
enus
’s mat
ch on
Rod L
aver,
Djok
ovic
beat
Gille
s Mull
er, 6-
4, 7-
5, 7-
5, to
ad
vanc
e to h
is 23
rd co
nsec
utive
quar
terfi
nal in
a Gr
and S
lam to
urna
men
t, a f
eat w
hich
appe
ars t
o dwa
rf Ve
nus W
illiam
s’s fir
st in
near
ly fiv
e yea
rs—un
less y
ou’re
Venu
s.
“Any
win
give
s you
that
rush
, whe
ther
it’s a
first
roun
d or t
he la
st ro
und,”
Will
iams
says
. “I’l
l be b
ack o
ut on
Wed
nesd
ay tr
ying t
o play
my h
eart
out a
gain
.” AP
FIREW
ORKS
FOR V
ENUS
RAFA
OU
T!RA
FA O
UT!
RAFA
OU
T!
Rafae
l Nad
al’s l
ack o
f mat
ch fit
ness
from
near
ly six
mon
ths o
f injur
ies an
d illn
ess f
inally
catch
es up
with
the 1
4-tim
e majo
r cha
mpio
n in h
is qu
arte
rfina
l m
atch
again
st se
vent
h-se
eded
Tom
as
Berd
ych o
n Tue
sday
. Be
rdyc
h on T
uesd
ay.
B D
P
Th
e Asso
ciate
d Pr
ess
MEL
BOUR
NE, A
ustra
lia—
Two r
ound
s afte
r Rog
er
Fede
rer’s
une
xpec
ted
exit
from
the A
ustra
lian
Open
, Ra
fael
Nad
al h
as jo
ined
him
on
the s
idel
ines
.
Nad
al’s l
ack o
f mat
ch fi
tnes
s fro
m ne
arly
six
mon
ths o
f injur
ies an
d illn
ess f
inally
caug
ht
up w
ith th
e 14-
time m
ajor c
ham
pion i
n his
quar
terfi
nal m
atch
again
st se
vent
h-se
eded
To
mas
Berd
ych o
n Tue
sday
. He w
as ne
ver
muc
h of a
facto
r and
lost
in str
aight
sets,
6-2,
6-0,
7-6 (
5).
Th
e thi
rd-se
eded
Nad
al sa
id be
fore
the
tour
nam
ent t
hat h
is ina
ctivit
y ove
r the
last
half o
f 201
4 mad
e him
unlik
ely to
win
mor
e th
an a
few
roun
ds. C
omin
g int
o the
Austr
alian
Op
en, N
adal
had p
layed
only
eight
mat
ches
sin
ce la
st Ju
ne be
caus
e of a
righ
t wris
t inj
ury
and a
ppen
dix s
urge
ry in
Nov
embe
r.
Fede
rer, w
ho ha
s 17 m
ajor t
itles
, inclu
ding
four
in Au
strali
a, de
parte
d Melb
ourn
e Par
k af
ter a
n ups
et th
ird-ro
und l
oss t
o And
rea
Sepp
i. Nad
al sa
id he
was
surp
rised
to ha
ve
adva
nced
as fa
r as h
e did
in M
elbou
rne.
“It
is ob
vious
that
I nee
ded s
omet
hing m
ore
to be
mor
e com
petit
ive,”
Nada
l said
. “As I
said
when
I arri
ved h
ere,
the p
roce
ss alw
ays i
s not
ea
sy. W
hen y
ou ha
ve in
juries
, com
ebac
ks ar
e dif
ficult
. But
with
out b
eing a
t my t
op le
vel o
f te
nnis,
I was
able
to be
here
in qu
arte
rfina
ls. Is
no
t a ba
d res
ult at
all fo
r me.”
Na
dal sa
ved t
wo m
atch p
oints
in th
e 12t
h ga
me o
f the f
inal se
t, sen
ding i
t to a
tiebr
eake
r. Bu
t Berd
ych r
aced
out t
o a 5-
2 lea
d in t
he de
cider
an
d fina
lly en
ded t
he m
atch o
n his f
ourth
matc
h po
int w
hen N
adal
nette
d a re
turn
of se
rve.
“I
was r
eady
for e
very
thin
g and
I thi
nk
that
was
the d
iffer
ence
,” Be
rdyc
h said
. “I
starte
d pre
tty w
ell, b
ut w
hen y
ou’re
play
ing
Rafa
you h
ave t
o kee
p goin
g to t
he la
st po
int.”
Be
rdyc
h, w
ho ha
d los
t 17 s
traig
ht
mat
ches
to N
adal
befo
re Tu
esda
y, wi
ll pl
ay th
e win
ner o
f the
nigh
t qua
rterfi
nal
betw
een A
ndy M
urra
y and
loca
l hop
e Nick
Ky
rgio
s. Th
e oth
er m
en’s
sem
ifina
lists
will
be de
term
ined
on W
edne
sday
, whe
n top
-se
eded
Nov
ak D
joko
vic pl
ays M
ilos R
aoni
c an
d def
endi
ng ch
ampi
on St
an W
awrin
ka
take
s on U
S Ope
n run
ner-u
p Kei
Nish
ikori
in
quar
terfi
nals
in th
e oth
er ha
lf of
the d
raw.
Ea
rlier
Tues
day o
n Rod
Lave
r Are
na, M
aria
Shar
apov
a mov
ed cl
oser
to an
othe
r Aus
tralia
n tit
le, de
feat
ing 2
0-ye
ar-o
ld Eu
geni
e Bou
char
d, 6-
3, 6-
2, in
the q
uarte
rfina
ls. Sh
arap
ova m
ade
all th
e big
poin
ts loo
k eas
y aga
inst
Bouc
hard
an
d adv
ance
d to a
sem
ifina
l aga
inst
Ekat
erina
M
akar
ova,
who e
arlie
r bea
t thi
rd-se
eded
Sim
ona H
alep,
6-4,
6-0.
“I
felt
pret
ty g
ood
from
the s
tart,
di
dn’t
feel
I had
too m
any l
etdo
wns
,” Sh
arap
ova s
aid, a
ddin
g th
at h
er cl
ose c
all
in th
e sec
ond
roun
d—fa
cing
two m
atch
po
ints
again
st a
qual
ifier
—sh
arpe
ned
her
focu
s for
the r
est o
f the
tour
nam
ent.
“W
hen y
ou ar
e dow
n and
out i
n the
se
cond
mat
ch, I
don’t
wan
t to f
ace t
hat c
all
with
my f
athe
r too
man
y tim
es du
ring a
to
urna
men
t,” sh
e said
.
The l
ast t
ime S
hara
pova
and
Bouc
hard
m
et—
in th
e sem
ifina
ls at
the F
renc
h Op
en
last
year
—Bo
ucha
rd w
on th
e firs
t set
be
fore
Shar
apov
a cam
e bac
k to t
ake t
he
next
two.
The R
ussia
n th
en w
on th
e titl
e at
Rola
nd G
arro
s.
This
time,
Bouc
hard
, who
mad
e the
fina
ls of
Wim
bled
on an
d two
othe
r Gra
nd Sl
am
sem
is las
t yea
r, didn
’t com
e clos
e to t
akin
g a
set,
lookin
g flat
from
the o
utse
t whil
e bein
g br
oken
in he
r ope
ning
serv
ice ga
me.
The
Geni
e Arm
y, a g
roup
of yo
ung A
ustra
lian m
en
who c
roon
abou
t the
Cana
dian p
layer,
was
left
to si
ng an
othe
r day
.
“She
didn
’t give
me m
any c
hanc
es,
and a
gain
st th
e gre
at pl
ayer
s you
have
to ta
ke
any c
hanc
es yo
u can
get,”
Bouc
hard
said.
“If
you d
on’t h
ave t
ime,
you h
ave t
o go f
or ri
skier
sh
ots,
and I
mad
e a fe
w to
o man
y unf
orce
d er
rors
beca
use I
was
unde
r pre
ssure
.”
Shar
apov
a, th
e 200
8 Aus
tralia
n Ope
n ch
ampio
n and
a tw
o-tim
e fina
list, h
as a
5-0
reco
rd ag
ainst
Maka
rova
, inclu
ding w
ins in
the
quar
terfi
nals
here
in 20
12 an
d 201
3. In
four
of
thos
e los
ses,
Maka
rova
has f
ailed
to w
in a s
et.
Th
e oth
er w
omen
’s sem
ifina
lists
will
be de
term
ined
on W
edne
sday
, whe
n No.
1-ra
nked
Willi
ams p
lays l
ast y
ear’s
fina
list,
Dom
inika
Cibu
lkova
, and
Venu
s Willi
ams,
play
ing i
n her
first
Gra
nd Sl
am qu
arte
rfina
l in
near
ly fiv
e yea
rs, ta
kes o
n 19-
year
-old
Amer
ican M
adiso
n Key
s.
If the
Willi
ams s
ister
s play
each
othe
r in th
e se
mifi
nals,
it wo
uld be
their
first
mee
ting i
n a
Gran
d Slam
tour
nam
ent s
ince t
he W
imble
don
final
in 20
09—
won b
y Ser
ena.
AS R
afae
l Nad
al h
eads
for t
he
exit,
Tom
as B
erdy
ch (t
op le
ft)
cele
brat
es p
erha
ps th
e big
gest
up
set v
ictor
y in
his c
aree
r. AP
MAR
IA SH
ARAP
OVA
mov
es cl
oser
to an
othe
r Au
stra
lian
Open
title
. AP
WIL
LIAM
S
BusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorBusinessMirrorWednesday, January 28, 2015E1 Editor: Tet Andolong
Located at the � nest locale, Botanika is designed for the privi-leged few who want to savor a relax-ing atmosphere amid the bustling metropolis.
“Inspired by New York’s Central Park, Botanika’s centralized garden system o� ers scenic walks through the 1.55-hectare property with three towers that gives a very di� erent identity compared to the other ultra-high-end devel-opments in Makati and Boni-facio Global City,” according to Catherine Ilagan, executive vice president of Filinvest Alabang Inc., Botanika project developer.
“Open green spaces are get-ting scarcer in the metropolis. Our planners thus thought of o� ering Botanika residents a system of gar-dens that would allow them to enjoy nature’s healing properties right at their doorstep,” Ilagan added.
Experts in the social and en-vironmental sciences noted that nature can reinvigorate and reju-venate an individual’s mind and become more productive. “Nature is the perfect setting for a walk or a swim. It encourages movement and discovery.”
Botanika will veer away from the conventional residential condo
environment which highlights the space limitation. In Botanika, an owner can enjoy comfortable space from its 369 units ranging from 123 square meters to 343 sq m and spread out over three towers. Botanika will be o� ering the best of both worlds with privacy and na-ture enjoyed by the owner.
According to Ilagan, “Botanika is the � rst of the Filinvest Group’s Exclusive Collection, the newest and highest-end brand category. Each project with the Exclusive Collection brand is envisioned to be an iconic, top-end and one-of-a-kind residential space that will add prestige to the group’s large-scale projects.
� e buildings have a nature-centric design. From the top, each of the buildings takes the shape of a leaf, a unique con� guration which will mean that none of the units will peer directly into a unit of a neigh-boring tower. When a resident looks out his window, he will not have a direct sightline into a unit in the neighboring tower because of the curving walls of the tower.
� ere will be an atrium at the center of each building. � is will en-able the natural light to go through the structure. Further, the atrium will also force air through the edi� ce o� ering passive ventilation. From the ground level, the atriums will be interconnected to each other and to a central pool area through a paved walkway that naturally blends with the lush tropical landscape.
Leandro V. Locsin Partners and international � rm AEcom are the two organizations that worked tre-mendously to ensure the natural or-der of things will be retained such as the property’s sloping terrain. � e pool thus has various levels with the waters from one level dropping down to form a waterfall curtain setting for a lower level. “� e plan-ners weren’t afraid to compartmen-talize spaces to create greater inter-est in the landscaping,” Ilagan said.
“We’ve designed Botanika to appeal to captains of industry, self-made entrepreneurs and mul-tinational CEOs seeking quick ac-
cess to Makati, as well as Laguna’s industrial estates through the Sky-way,” Ilagan said. “� ey may not al-ways have the time to walk through Botanika’s nature sanctuary or to enjoy the lavish amenities of the developments. But just knowing that it’s there for them to use when they want them should be reasons enough to consider living there.”
True to its mission, Filinvest has strictly followed the guidelines set by the Philippine Green Building Council to ensure every detail re-quired by the Building for Ecologi-cally Responsive Design Excellence (Berde) will be followed. Botanika is a Berde-registered project.
� e � rst building has 13 storys boasting of above-par facilities. With only 101 units for Tower 1, resi-dents get to enjoy much sought-af-ter exclusivity that other residential developments could only promise.
Being all about gardens, Botan-ika’s � e Courtyard, � e Sculptural Garden and Central Gardens pro-vide the property’s outdoor ameni-ties that support green living.
With huge abundant space, � e Courtyard allows residents to do whatever they want—read a book, feel the morning breeze, gaze at the night sky, or even enjoy a sumptuous outdoor feast with the family. � e Greenhouse is, like-wise, open for anyone who likes to commune with nature especially in the mornings.
With uniquely tiered, stylized swimming pools, a buyer is given a new experience. � e Veranda, a canopied area by the pool, can also be used for intimate al-fresco gath-erings. Other amenities in Botanika include tiered swimming pools, kiddie pool, lap pool and changing rooms
Further, other major amenities include sun-roofed central atrium, grand lobby, reception lounge, roof decks, administration o� ce, mail room, � re safety features, key card access for boom gates and � oor ac-cess, and underground parking.
All these are artistically splashed with greens to further wash away the stresses of the day.
GREEN LIVING IN ALABANG
B R R R
TODAY, living in a garden atmosphere is one of the aspirations of modern
Filipinos. � ey want to get a break from the rage and frenzy of urban living. In response, Filinvest launched the Botanika Nature Residences—a high-end, low-density residential enclave in Filinvest City in Alabang.
STA. Lucia Land Inc. sustains the expansion of its real-es-tate portfolio in Davao with
subdivision project, Alta Monte Residential Estates. � e devel-oper brings its legacy of develop-ing properties in Metro Manila to the Davaoeño housing market that wants community-based, in-tegrated residential living near lifestyle centers, but without the congestion notoriously present in densely populated cities.
Located in Tigatto, Buhangin Dis-trict, Alta Monte will o� er residen-tial lot owners the privilege of building their dream home in a 14-hectare gated neighborhood
that’s a mere 15 minutes away from malls, hospitals, airport, and other civic spaces, and commercial and business centers.
Prospective property owners are invited to come home to an en-hanced living environment in Alta Monte. � e residential project will have a multipurpose clubhouse amenitized with a swimming pool and an open tennis court. Every-day will give a sense of having ar-rived because of well-thought out community features: landscaped entrance gate with guardhouse; underground storm drainage sys-tem to keep the property � ood-free; a perimeter wall, concrete
sidewalks, curbs and gutters; a centralized water system with overhead tank and deep well; 8- to 12-meter-wide concrete road; and complete electrical facilities.
“We want to tap into the market of those who want to upgrade their status in life,” Sta. Lucia President Exequiel Robles said. “Discipline among Davaoeños is very profound so, we have private and secure com-munities like Alta Monte that main-tain that character.”
Sta. Lucia started in Davao as a high-end marketer for a residential-golf and country club development: “We were the � rst major developer in the area, injecting the idea of
brand identity. We continue to de-velop properties in Davao because we’ve been successful there.”
� e leading real-estate � rm is a good � t for Davao with an ever-growing economy, according to Ro-bles. “It is one of the biggest cities in the Philippines so there is huge po-tential for development.” While Sta. Lucia keeps loyal to a niche subdivi-sion market that has delivered im-pressive growth for the company, it also intends to enter other markets.
“� ere are still a lot of avenues for expansion of Sta. Lucia,” Robles said. “As people earn, as the middle market grows, the desire for homes will always be there.”
CITYSTATE Properties and Management Corp. (CPMC) turned over the Transfer Certi� cate of Title to Irene Rose V. Ortega and Loo Soon Wai on January 3 for the two lots they purchased at Nalé,
Sandari Batulao. � e turnover took place at the Sandari Batulao sales and marketing o� ce.
CPMC is the developer of Sandari Batulao, a luxurious eco-centric mountainside residential and leisure development with majestic Mount Batulao as its backdrop. Sandari Batulao is 10 minutes away from Metro Tagaytay and 15 minutes away from the beaches of Nasugbu, Batangas.
www.sandaribatulao.com.
Sta. Lucia maintains growth
New homeowners receive TCT at Sandari
Maria Guia C. Buenaventura (from left), vice president for sales of Citystate Properties and Management Corp.; Irene Rose V. Ortega (lot owner); Loo Soon Wai (lot owner); Mercedita V. Ortega (lot owner’s mother); and Irineo H. Ortega (lot owner’s father)
GREEN LIVING IN ALABANG
Cheaper oil to hike PHL importsbalisacan says windfall from fuel savings to create riPPle effect in consumPtion-driven economy
life d1
sporTs c1
properTy e1
From rails to ports, poor infra planning burdens Pinoys ‘ecb’s Qe
to benefitemergingmarKets’
lao pdr’s NaTioNal Hero Benjamin ramos (from left), president of the BusinessMirror; Her excellency Malayvieng sakonhninhom, ambassador of the lao people’s democratic republic (pdr) to the philippines; and ambassador antonio l. cabangon chua, founder of the BusinessMirror and former philippine ambassador to the lao pdr, grace the handover of the bust of lao’s national hero, former president kaysone phomvihane, to the asean Garden in a ceremony held in intramuros, Manila, on January 27. This is the first time that the lao pdr donated a bust of its national hero to a friendly country. STEPHANIE TUMAMPOS
cardiNal TaGle iN pBsp MeeT philippine Business for social progress (pBsp) chairman Manuel V. pangilinan (left) welcomes keynote speaker Manila archbishop luis antonio G. cardinal Tagle during the pBsp’s 44th annual Membership Meeting in Makati city. NONIE REYES
By Cai U. Ordinario
The National economic and Development Authority (Neda) expects the lower oil prices to
drive up the country’s importation this year, with the windfall from fuel savings seen to trigger a ripple effect in consumption.
By David Cagahastian
The quantitative easing (Qe) program announced by the european Central Bank (eCB)
would mean additional portfolio inflows to emerging markets like the Philippines, an official of the Department of Finance (DoF) said on Tuesday. Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil S. Beltran said
“The continuing low prices of oil bode well for the country’s consumer activity, given the relief from hikes in fares, utility costs and other consumer items. Indus-trial activity also benefits from the reduction in operating costs,” Neda Director General and eco-
nomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said. In November 2014 cheaper oil ac-tually slashed the country’s import payments by 10.8 percent to $4.989 billion, from $5.593 billion recorded during the same period a year ago.
The lower oil prices brought down the country’s crude-import payments in November 2014. However, the Neda believes there will be an increase in oil imports toward the end of 2014 and the whole of 2015. “The prevailing low-oil-price environment, which is expected to persist until 2015, may further increase the country’s total oil im-portation for the remaining part of 2014 and for the whole of 2015 given the country’s high dependence on imported oil,” Balisacan said. “Imports of consumer goods will, likewise, remain positive for the remaining month of the year, mainly supported by the uptick in domestic consumption primarily of food,” he added. Balisacan said low oil prices is a welcome development in the Phil-ippine economy, which is primarily consumption driven. The World Bank estimates that 80 percent of the Philippine economy is ac-counted for by consumption, with household consumption account-ing for 70 percent and government spending, 10 percent. The Neda official said this is contrary to what is happening in the global economy. He said the fragile state of the global economy is causing uncertain-ties such as deflation and slowing consumer demand. He added that the low-inflation environment should encourage agencies to encourage backward linkages among domestic indus-tries. Programs that improve pro-
ductivity must be instituted to take advantage of this, he said. “These include programs that improve productivity through the use of technology and that facili-tate access to credit, such as those of the Departments of Trade and Industry and Science and Technol-ogy,” Balisacan said. Economists from private banks even expect inflation to moderate to 3.6 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2016. These are lower than the central bank’s inflation projections. The PSA said import payments for Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials accounted for 18.8 percent of the country’s im-port bill. The payments for these prod-ucts decreased by 23.1 percent to $939.41 million in November 2014 from $1.222 billion in No-vember 2013. The PSA said petroleum crude contributed the biggest share of imports in this commodity group and accounted for 10.2 percent of total imports.
Apart from lower oil import payments, the Neda attributed the double-digit decline in the country’s import bill to lower imports of capi-tal goods, which accounted for 15.8 percent of the total import bill.
Payments for capital good im-ports posted a decline of 59 percent to $789.41 million in November 2014 from $1.924 billion in No-vember 2013.
The import of transport equip-ment is included in the import of capital goods. Data showed that transport equipment imports ac-
counted for 7 percent of total im-ports reached $347.78 million, a 65.2 percent decline from $1 bil-lion in November 2013.
“The negative performance of capital goods imports was largely due to the decrease in imports of aircraft, ships and boats, which partly reflects the trough period of the massive refleeting program of major air-lines, as well as to the reduction in the import value of telecommu-nication equipment and electrical machinery,” Balisacan said. Meanwhile, the country’s import payments between Janu-ary and November 2014 amount-ed to $58.549 billion, a 2.8- percent increase compared with $56.965 billion in the same pe-riod of last year. Electronic Products, the coun-try’s top import product, account-ed for 28.2 percent of the aggregate import bill. Electronic product im-ports amounted to $1.408 billion, a 21.8- percent growth from $1.156 billion in November 2013. Among the major groups of electronic products, Components/Devices or Semiconductors, ac-counted for the biggest share at 24.4 percent. Last November there was a 48-percent increase in semi-conductor import payments to $1.220 billion from $824.10 mil-lion in November 2013. Oil extended losses to trade near an almost six-year low as Organization of Petroleum Ex-porting Countries’ (Opec) warn-ing that prices may surge without new investment in production failed to shift the market’s focus
from more immediate signs of a global supply glut. Futures fell as much as 0.6 percent in New York. A spike to $200 a barrel is possible without adequate spending for the long term, Opec Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri said. US crude inventories probably rose to 402.1 million barrels last week, the most in records dating back to August 1982, a Bloomberg News survey shows before a government report on Wednesday. Oil slumped almost 50 percent last year amid the fastest pace of US crude production in more than three decades while the Organi-zation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) resisted calls to reduce output. Prices may drop to as low as $30 a barrel, Gary Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview with CNBC on Monday. “Supply is still the issue, we need to see that cut back,” David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “The po-tential is still for the downside in the near term because of that need to see a reduction in current pro-duction. Demand doesn’t improve rapidly on the falling price, it does take a while to kick in.” West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery declined as much as 27 cents to $44.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $45.04 at 3:55 p.m. Singapore time. The contract lost 44 cents to $45.15 on Monday, the lowest close since March 2009. The volume of all futures traded
was about 43 percent below the 100-day average.
US suppliesBRENT for March settlement slid as much as 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $47.79 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Eu-rope exchange. It decreased 63 cents to $48.16 on Monday. The European benchmark crude trad-ed at a premium of $2.96 to WTI. Opec, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, is open to a meeting with nonmember producers to tackle the global glut, El-Badri said in an interview in London on Monday, estimating the surplus at 1.5 million barrels a day. He didn’t offer a time frame for when oil could reach $200 a barrel and said the market will be brought back into balance by a reduction to supply, rather than an increase in demand. US crude stockpiles probably climbed 4.25 million barrels in the week ended January 23, accord-ing to the median estimate in the Bloomberg survey of eight analysts before a report from the Energy In-formation Administration. The nation’s oil boom has been driven by a combination of hori-zontal drilling and hydraulic frac-turing, which has unlocked shale formations from Texas to North Dakota. Production averaged 9.19 million barrels a day through January 9, the most in weekly records compiled since January 1983, data from the Energy De-partment’s statistical arm show.
With Bloomberg News
SUNRISE SUNSET
FULL MOON6:25 AM 5:53 PM
MOONRISEMOONSET
12:30 AM 12:26 PM
TODAY’S WEATHERMETROMANILA
LAOAG
BAGUIO
SBMA/CLARK
TAGAYTAY
LEGAZPI
PUERTOPRINCESA
ILOILO/BACOLOD
TUGUEGARAO
METROCEBU
CAGAYANDE ORO
METRODAVAO
ZAMBOANGA
TACLOBAN
3-DAYEXTENDEDFORECAST
3-DAYEXTENDEDFORECAST
CELEBES SEA
LEGAZPI CITY24 – 30°C
TACLOBAN CITY22 – 29°C
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY
METRO DAVAO24 – 33°C
ZAMBOANGA CITY24 – 34°C
PHILI
PPIN
E ARE
A OF R
ESPO
NSIB
ILITY
(PAR
)
SABAH
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY 25 – 30°C METRO CEBU
24 – 30°C
ILOILO/BACOLOD
24 – 31°C
25 – 31°C
23 – 29°C 23 – 28°C 23 – 29°C
22 – 29°C 22 – 28°C 23 – 29°C
24 – 32°C 24 – 31°C 24 – 31°C
24 – 32°C 24 – 33°C 24 – 34°C
24 – 33°C 24 – 34°C 24 – 33°C
Watch PANAHON.TV everyday at 5:00 AM on PTV (Channel 4).
Weekday hourly updates: 6:00 AM on Balitaan, 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM on Good Morning Boss!, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM
on News@1, 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM, and 6:00 PM on News@6
www.panahon.tv
@PanahonTV
JANUARY 28, 2015 | WEDNESDAY
HIGH TIDEMANILA
SOUTH HARBOR
LOW TIDE
9:09 AM0.24 METER
TUGUEGARAO CITY 18 – 28°C
LAOAG CITY 18 – 29°C
TAGAYTAY CITY 18 – 28°C
SBMA/CLARK 22 – 29°C
20 – 31°C 21 – 31°C 23 – 31°C
19 – 29°C 20 – 29°C 19 – 28°C
19 – 29°C 19 – 30°C 21 – 30°C
13 – 22°C 12 – 21°C 12 – 23°C
19 – 28°C 19 – 29°C 19 – 29°C
24 – 30°C24 – 31°C 24 – 31°C
25 – 30°C 23 – 30°C
22 – 29°C 22 – 31°C
25 – 32°C25 – 31°C 24 – 30°C
Partly cloudy to at times cloudy withrain showers and/or thunderstorms
HALF MOON
12:48 PMJAN 27
7:09 PMFEB 4
BAGUIO CITY12 – 22°C
24 – 30°C
4:54 AM0.79 METER
JAN 29THURSDAY
JAN 30FRIDAY
JAN 31SATURDAY
JAN 29THURSDAY
JAN 30FRIDAY
JAN 31SATURDAY
Cloudy skies with rain showers and/or thunderstorms
22 – 30°C
Partly cloudy to at times cloudywith rainshowers
NORTHEAST MONSOON AFFECTING LUZON.(AS OF JANUARY 27, 5:00 PM)
METRO MANILA19 – 30°C
Northeast Monsoon locally known as “Amihan”. It affects the eastern portions of the country. It is cold and dry; characterized by
widespread cloudiness with rain showers.
DMCI. . . Continued from A8
BusinessMirror [email protected] Wednesday, January 28, 2015A2
NewsContinued from A1
Cheaper oil to hike PHL imports
documents for the auction. The winning concessionaire will be given the right to operate and maintain the whole LRT east line for 10 to 15 years.
The DOTC’s bids and awards committee aims to announce the qualified groups by the end of February. The bidding is ex-pected to be held in the second
half of the year. The O&M of the LRT Line 2 is one of the projects that the government wants to implement under the public-private partner-
ship (PPP) scheme. The government has award-ed nine PPP contracts since the program was launched in 2010.
in an economic bulletin that ECB’s QE program will generate additional port-folio inflows although at a lower level than what the US QE program had generated for emerging markets like the Philippines. “The ECB QE program will generate additional portfolio flows equivalent to a fraction of the levels that benefit-ed the country under US QE program. It will probably approximate the net portfolio flows from EU [about 2 per-cent of GDP annually or $3B] from 2007 to 2009, the only years when EU data are available from the BSP,” Beltran said. ECB President Mario Draghi said the ECB’s QE program will consist of a monthly release of €60 billion from March 2015 to September 2016. This would amount to some €1 tril-lion that the ECB would have spent buy-ing securities such as sovereign bonds and injecting liquidity to the economy to stave off fears of deflation and revive the European economy. Beltran said that while the ef-fectiveness of QE and its effects are debatable, the effects on the Phil-ippines of the US QE program can provide a glimpse of what the ECB’s QE program would have in store for emerging markets (EM). He also noted that when the US QE had tapered off, the result was the out-flow of portfolio investments from the Philippines, which resulted in a net out-flow of $300 million in 2014. “For emerging markets, the US QE policy has translated into hot money inflows. The low American interest rates have also exerted pressure on EM currencies to appreciate. In EMs them-selves, interest rates have been kept low,” Beltran said. The tapering of the US bond-buying program also resulted in an outf low of portfolio investments last year. Beltran said net inflows in 2014 plunged by nearly a quarter to $21.8 billion. This decrease in in-flows resulted in the country seeing net outflows of portfolio investments of $300 million. ECB’s Draghi committed to a QE program to counter the threat of a deflationary spiral in the euro zone.
ECB’s QE. . . Continued from A1
“Iginagalang natin ang proseso ng mga mambabatas at mauunawaan namin ang kanilang pasya dahil nga sa pinakahuling kaganapan, pero patu-loy pa rin ang pagtataguyod natin ng prosesong pangkapayapaan, dahil ma-halaga ang pagpapasa ng Bangsamoro basic law,” Communications Secre-tary Herminio B. Coloma Jr. said.
Coloma told Palace reporters that the Office of the President will abide by the legislative process, even as it affirms the importance of forging a new peace deal with Moro rebels and passing the BBL granting greater autonomy to the Muslim community in the South. He said this was the reason Presi-
[email protected] Editor: Dionisio L. Pelayo • Wednesday, January 28, 2015 A3BusinessMirrorThe Nation
dent Aquino dispatched Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to the massacre site in Mama-sapano town in Maguindanao to conduct an on-site inquiry and re-port to him immediately.
SAF commander relieved THe Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, relieved on Tuesday the commander of the elite Special Action Force (SAF) as it began looking into the massacre on Sunday of police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, that resulted in the death of more than 40 policemen.
PNP Officer in Charge Deputy Di-rector Leonardo espina said Director Getolio Napenas was relieved of his post as the Board of Inquiry (BOI), which espina himself heads, inves-tigates the death of the police com-mandos in the hands of Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces.
“I personally talked to Napenas about his administrative relief…I
would like to get to the bottom of things, how this happened,” said espina during a briefing, which was also joined by Roxas.
“The BOI will determine what re-ally happened and its investigation will entail both internal and external. What is the culpability, liability of the officers who led the SAF operation?” espina added.
The BOI, whose members in-cluded Director Benjamin Magalong of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, will also deter-mine the criminal liability of those who killed the policemen after they served the warrant of arrest for Jemaah Islamiyah leader Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan.
espina said Napenas is replaced by Chief Supt. Noel Talina, deputy commander of the SAF.
The PNP officer in charge said he would recommend the highest pos-sible medal to be given to those who died during the operation, and it is the equivalent of Gold Cross medal in the military. At the same time, they
would also be promoted.“Full state honors, benefits [to
the slain policemen] will be given,” espina assured.
Roxas said the final death toll for the police in the botched opera-tion was 44 killed and 12 wounded, adding that the total number of commandos who participated in the serving of the warrant was 392. As to what the other policemen did during the incident, he did not say.
“They all came from different units within the SAF,” the secretary said of the policemen.
Call for sobrietySuPReMe Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno on Tuesday ex-pressed solidarity with the families of the policemen who were killed in the recent clash with the MILF forces, even as President Aquino continues to keep mum over the incident.
In a statement released to the media, Sereno said his fellow mag-istrates “deeply” mourn the death of the police officers but, at the same
time, are calling for sobriety.“No words are enough to console the
families for their loss, perhaps even the promise of earthly justice will sound hollow at this time. But I ask them now to cling to the hope that there is always the eternal realm,” Sereno said.
“A call for war and retribution should never be made lightly and should remain always a final option. It should certainly not be made in the heat of the moment and in the face of, as yet, unclear facts and confus-ing narratives,” she added
CBCP issues condemnationTHe Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) deplored the Mamasapano massacre as an “utterly senseless act of violence” in Mindanao. CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Vil-legas, however, clarified that "while the CBCP condemns such violence, we cannot side with those who call for the discontinuance of peace talks.” With Rene Acosta, Joel R. San Juan
Palace still pushing for peace process, BBL despite eroding support in CongressBy Butch Fernandez
Malacañang remains firm in pushing the peace process, as well as the passage
of the Bangsamoro basic law (BBl), despite the decision of irate lawmakers to withdraw support for it in protest over the weekend “massacre” of police special forces by Muslim rebels in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao.
Glutton’s deliGht A mother and daughter team prepares, cooks and sells an assortment of glutinous rice delights, known as kakanin, to shoppers and pedestrians along Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila for P10 to P15 apiece. NoNie Reyes
BusinessMirror [email protected] A4
Economy
Banking on their sustainable economic growth, inclusive development strategy and in-
creasing young population, the Phil-ippines and Bangladesh explore their growing trade and investment poten-tials to look for synergies and give a boost to bilateral economic relations.
“We are similar in terms of [eco-nomic] growth and export dependency, wherein 40 percent of our exports are electronics,” Trade Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr. said during a recent call by a six-member Bangladesh business delegation to the Philippines. Manalo added that the Philippines has a lot to learn from Bangladesh, and vice versa.
The delegation is led by Bangla-desh Philippines Chamber of Com-merce and industry (BPCCi) Presi-dent Rashed Maksud khan, and composed of top executives of key businesses in Bangladesh.
Manalo noted that the Philippines needs to build on sectors such as gar-ments, tourism and processed food since these employ most of the coun-try’s population.
“We come with this business delega-tion mainly to promote our bilateral trade and investment. We look forward to have good business with the Phil-ippines,” khan said in an interview at the sidelines of the call.
khan added that the Philippines is a very good potential since it has its own resources, people are highly educated and trained, and known for various products in electronics, media and service industry.
“We want to develop our agriculture with your expertise and knowledge for your people have developed the skills in food production, processing, can-ning and packaging. We would like to collaborate with your country on this field,” khan said.
khan noted that Bangladesh is strong in ready-made garments and is the no. 2 exporter to US and Europe.
“i think we can meet your require-ments. We can set up a facility in the Philippines or in our country [Bangla-desh]. We made the offer to your inves-tors whichever they like,” khan said.
khan said they initially talked to some members of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Com-merce and industry and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and industry on possible tie-ups in the garments industry. PNA
Contact Center association of the Philippines (CCaP) President Benedict Hernandez said, at the sidelines of the international Con-
tact Center Conference and Expo in Pasay City on Tuesday, that there will be faster demand in nonvoice BPO than voice services as the in-
Continued from A1
“We should see a surge in infra-structure spending and PPP proj-ects,” he said. The key infrastructure program of the aquino administration has made a good impression among its peers in asia, due to its “sound poli-cies and structure.” Since its inception in 2010, the gov-ernment has awarded only nine deals under the program, which has a robust pipeline of more than 60 projects. The government is currently auctioning off 11 contracts as of press time. Diokno, however, was not too happy of the program, calling it a “disappointment.” “The credibility of the aquino administration will diminish as its term ends. Some contractors might choose not to participate and just wait for the next administration. You see the same companies com-peting for the various PPP projects. Their capacity may be near their limits,” he said. But for PPP Center Executive Di-rector Cosette V. Canilao, the govern-ment has done a great job in facilitat-ing the program that seeks the help of the private sector in plugging the infrastructure gap in the Philippines. “We have a lot of projects in the pipeline and we are seeing a lot of interest from foreign bidders. There
are new players in our projects. Those that are already participating in our bids are large corporations, which form consortiums, and they should really invest in our infrastructure,” she said. The PPP chief said the aquino administration hopes that the next administration would continue im-plementing the key infrastructure thrust in order to address the infra-structure woes in the country. “We all want the PPP Program to be sustainable and to go beyond 2016. So what we are doing now is we’re strengthening the regulatory framework and making the process more efficient and fool-proof of the PPP act,” Canilao added. Essentially, the PPP act is an amendment of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) law, which is the very cornerstone of the program. “The technical working group meetings will start at the lower house on the 28th of January and on the Senate. We are talking with the Senate President and we’re hoping that their technical working com-mittee meetings would start really soon,” Canilao said. When approved, the PPP act would institutionalize the Project Development and Monitoring Facil-ity, the PPP governing Board and the contingent liability fund. The pro-posed amendments include the sepa-
ration of regulatory and commercial functions of government-owned and -controlled corporations and create a list of projects called “Projects of national Significance.” By virtue of being included in the list of projects of national sig-nificance, projects will be “insulated” from local laws, among others, by lo-cal government units. The proposed amendments also include allowing time-bound tem-porary restraining order and the extension of the period for the Swiss Challenge to six months, from the current two-month period. The amendments are seen ap-proved within the term of Presi-dent aquino. Address woes practicallyMORE than increasing infrastruc-ture spending for the next couple of months, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and industry Presi-dent alfredo M. Yao said the gov-ernment must also act quickly to address the woes in the country’s much-needed facilities. “We need to work double time. These problems are a result of poor planning from past administra-tions—a confluence of poor plan-ning. We should have improved our rail systems by this time, our airports should have been modern-ized, and our ports should have
been improved,” he said. The short-term measure address-ing the congestion at naia and the Manila-based ports, he said, should force the port operators and airlines to move to secondary gateways up north and down south. “We have seaports in Batangas and in Subic, which are ready. We just have to improve them, add more berths to lessen the queues. For the airport, we cannot really use our ex-isting. We have a runway problem, so we have to bite the bullet. We have to get out from them and make an alternate airport in naia. We really have to go to Clark, but the problem is we need a bus rail, or an airport rail that would run efficiently,” Yao, who owns a majority of budget car-rier airasia Zest, said. But, more than forcing commer-cial airlines to get out of the naia, the government should exercise the political will to remove private planes out of the main gateway. “if they would do that, naia’s runway would improve by 20 per-cent to 30 percent. These planes should be transferred to Clark or Sangley. imagine, these planes that carry only two to three passengers would have the same waiting time as a commercial airplane that car-ries 200 to 300 passengers. They should have the political will and power to do it,” Yao said.
Bear the consequence for nowBUilDing the infrastructure now, luz said, would mean fur-ther addressing the problem of congestion. “We must accelerate building more infrastructure, but as we build the infrastructure at the same time, the public would have to suffer inconvenience because of the construction, but at least we could reap the benefits in the future,” he said. at present, the government is building more bridges, paving more roads, and is trying to improve the state of the railways, aviation gate-ways and seaports around the coun-try, implementing the P4.76-trillion Roadmap for Transport infrastruc-ture Development for Metro Manila and its Surrounding areas, oth-erwise known as the Dream Plan, crafted by the Japan international Cooperation agency. it lists the transport infrastruc-ture the Philippines needs to remove potential losses and gain from pro-spective savings. Some of the projects under the PPP Program—a number of which have been awarded al-ready—were under the Dream Plan, but almost five years into the aquino administration, not one had been completed. “We must understand that
infrastr ucture projects have long gestation periods,” Canilao explained. Slated for commercial operations is one of the smallest projects in the pipeline, the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South luzon Expressway link, a four-kilometer thoroughfare awarded to ayala Corp. luz said he has high hopes that the government would address these problems sooner or later, as this would have a direct impact on the overall ranking of the Philip-pines in terms of competitive-ness, which is a barometer that tells investors whether or not to risk their money in the Southeast asian economy. “Overall we rank 52nd at the World Economic Forum. We used to be in the 80s three or four years ago. it’s a big improvement, imag-ine when we fix these logistical problems, imagine the increase,” luz said. The government and the private sector might be working closely to eradicate the congestion and help lessen the load of commuters, but that might be far from a hand’s reach as of the moment. For now, the woman who passed out while riding the MRT could do with what is available, even if it means risking her life just to earn a living.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015 • Editors: Vittorio V. Vitug and Max V. de Leon
From rails to ports, poor infra planning burdens Pinoys
Philippines, Bangladesh seek business synergies
PHL urged to expand in nonvoice BPO
By Lenie Lectura
THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has expressed concern over the frequent
incidents of power-plant outages as this may have an adverse impact on consumers’ electricity bills. “We are monitoring with con-cern the prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market [WESM], which appears to be affected by multiple simultaneous outages of power plants,” Meralco Utility Eco-nomics Head larry Fernandez said in a text message. latest data showed that a to-tal of 2,532 megawatts (MW) of power have already been shaved off from the luzon grid due to forced and scheduled shutdown of power plants. among the power plants that are on scheduled maintenance shut-down include Malaya Unit 1 (300 MW), gn Power Unit 2 (300 MW), Masinloc Unit 2 (315 MW) and Que-zon Power (460 MW). Meanwhile, the power plants that went on forced outage include the limay 6 (60 MW), due to high tur-bine vibration; limay 8 (100 MW), due to undetermined cause; Malaya 2 (350 MW), due to main fuel heater leak; gn Power 1 (300 MW), due to actuation of generator fault problem; Tiwi 2 (27 MW), due to low vacuum; ilijan a, due to undetermined cause; and BacMan 2 (20 MW), due to still-undetermined cause. “On top of around 1,000 MW of capacity under scheduled mainte-nance, another 1,400 MW is under forced outage or unscheduled out-age,” Fernandez added. Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho
l. Petilla said there are still no re-ported power outage incidents in lu-zon amid the high number of power plants going offline because demand is still manageable. “The grid’s condition is still white, meaning normal. The cool weather keeps the demand low. We are hop-ing for the best,” he said. in the meantime, Meralco is closely monitoring prices at the spot market. “We are awaiting the billing of WESM to see how all these out-ages affected spot market prices,” Fernandez added. in the January billing rates, Meralco customers saw a drop in their bills following a decrease in generation charge, the largest com-ponent of the bill. January power rates went down by P0.19 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). a Meralco bill is made up of many charges. generation charge, or the portion of the bill that goes to the generation companies or power producers, has further decreased by P0.22 centavos, from P4.94 last December to P4.72 this January. This is the lowest generation charge in 15 months. The reduction in the generation charge was mainly driven by lower charges from the power facilities under the Power Supply agree-ments (PSas), which registered a reduction of P0.73 per kWh due to the normal operations of the power plants during the Decem-ber supply month and the lower cost of fuel. Coal prices of some suppliers went down by almost $2 per metric ton. The lower PSa charges more than offset increased charges from inde-pendent Power Producers (iPPs) and
WESM, which increased by P0.24 and P1.68 per kWh, respectively. The higher WESM charges were primarily due to the additional pay-ment and compensation to power generators affected by the admin-istered and secondary price cap implementation for the February to July 2014 supply months.
in terms of share to Meralco’s total power requirements for the December supply month from PSas, iPPs and WESM accounted for 52 percent, 45 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Meralco, however, said this se-ries of lower generation charges over the past few months may be
difficult to sustain, especially as warmer temperatures set in, co-inciding with the shutdown of the Malampaya gas facility sometime from March to april this year. add to this the upward adjustment and longer threshold reference period before the secondary price cap in the WESM is triggered.
By Kris M. Crismundo | Philippines News Agency
Business-process outsourcing (Bpo) companies in the philippines need to expand in
nonvoice services as rapid growth in this sector is seen in coming years.
dustry’s client markets are moving toward nonvoice process.
Contrary to voice-based process wherein customers’ queries are han-dled over phone, nonvoice services are via e-mail, chat or social media.
“There will be faster growth in nonvoice, while growth in voice ser-vices will be minimal,” Hernandez told reporters.
“We need to make sure to posi-tion ourselves in nonvoice services,” he said.
With this trend, the country may lose its competitive advantage of speaking the English language
clearly than other markets, as non-voice services will be looking into e-mail, chat, and social-media ca-pabilities of talents.
“That will be a new challenge for the industry; how we could be differ-ent in offering non-voice services,” he mentioned.
Currently, 90 percent of the local market are services, while the re-maining are nonvoice process.
Meanwhile, global services con-sulting firm Everest group Vice President Hanumantha karthik said annual global spending on contact services has reached the $300 billion
to $350 billion mark. Only 20 percent, or around $60
billion to $75 billion, of the total global spending on contact-cen-ter industry is outsource-based services.
The 20-percent share of out-source-based services is expected to grow by 6.0 percent to 8.0 percent in the next three to five years, while spending in this sector is seen to expand by 10 percent to 12 percent.
This means the Philippines still have market to grow its contact cen-ter industry with this global trend according to the CCaP chief.
Plant breakdowns, WesM price may affect consumer power bill, Meralco exec says
[email protected] Wednesday, January 28, 2015 A5BusinessMirrorEconomy
By Estrella Torres
B udget Secretary Florencio B. Abad on tuesday said the depart-ment of Budget and Management
(dBM) has already released 78 percent, or P2.037 trillion, of the P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015 to recipient gov-ernment agencies and departments to ad-dress procurement delays and fast-track project implementation.
He said under the new budgetary-reform program, dubbed as gAA-as-Release docu-ment (gAARd), government agencies are required to obligate funds on the start of the fiscal year to facilitate the spending upon budget release.
the new scheme also allows government agencies and departments to enter into con-tracts and kick-start the procurement process from the start of the fiscal year.
“this is because the disaggregated budget items in the gAA—specifically under the gAARd regime—are already considered re-leased to their respective agencies,” said Abad in a news statement.
the new budgetary reform is being imple-mented under National Budget Circular 556 on the Release of Funds for 2015.
“In keeping with the gAA-as-Release-doc-ument regime we started last year, the release of a major component of the 2015 budget at the start of the year will ensure greater ef-ficiency in public spending. With the gAA standing as the official budget release docu-ment, we’re able to address previous issues in transparency, delays in project implementa-tion, and accountability in the expenditure process,” Abad said.
DBM’s Abad bares GAARD scheme to increase spending
“In 2013 total oil production was 26,000 barrels per day while the country consumed 299,000 bbl/d. In May 2014 the government invited tenders for 11 oil and gas blocks in the Palawan Basin and nearby areas, includ-ing one in the South China Sea. this explo-ration bid round could push oil production up to 39,000 bbl/d by 2019,” the eIA said. the department of energy (dOe) launched last year the Fifth Philippine energy Contracting Round (PeCR 5), in which 11 blocks covering a total area of 47,840 square kilometers are being offered to potential investors. Most of the oil-and-gas exploration blocks are near the Philippines’s main island of Luzon, while most of the coal blocks are in southern Philippine provinces. ten of the 11 oil and gas block on offer are offshore. the blocks are mainly in frontier regions, and cover an average size of 4,350 sq km
per block, with the largest covering 5,760 sq km in the east Palawan region. the areas for petroleum exploration include Area 1 in Southeast Luzon; 2 and 3 in Masbate-Iloilo; 4 and 5 in Northeast Palawan; 6 in Southeast Palawan; 7 in West Palawan; and 8 to 11 in West Luzon. two of the blocks are close to the Spratly Islands, of which a portion is claimed by both the Philippines and China. the eIA
PECR 5 to boost PHL’s oil, coal output by 2019–US-EIA report
By Lenie Lectura
AN ongoing auction on the exploration of potential coal and petroleum areas in the Philippines could increase the
country’s oil production to 39,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) by 2019, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest report.
PETILLA: “As we live within international laws, we seek all
diplomatic recourse to assert our claims to the areas in the
West Philippine Sea.”
estimates that the South China Sea contains approximately 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas in proved and probable reserves. “the area we are offering in the West Phil-ippine Sea is near Palawan,” energy Secretary Carlos Jerico L. Petilla said. Area 7, according to the dOe, holds an estimated resource potential of 165 million barrels of oil and about 3.5 tcf of natural gas. “As we live within international laws, we seek all diplomatic recourse to assert our claims to the areas in the West Philippine Sea,” Petilla said. the Philippines imported roughly 270,000 bbl/d of crude oil and petroleum products in 2013, with 35 percent of their crude-oil imports coming from Saudi Arabia and Russia. Further, the country possesses the capacity to refine 290,000 bbl/d. Shell Philippines and Otto energy play significant roles in the upstream sector, while Petron Corp. operates the largest refinery in the country, supplying nearly 40 percent of the country’s oil needs. the Philippines exports nearly all the crude oil it produces. “the Philippines is a net energy importer in spite of low consumption levels relative to its Southeast Asian neighbors. the coun-try produces small volumes of oil, natural gas and coal. geothermal, hydropower and other renewable sources constitute a sig-nificant share of electricity generation,” the eIA said.
ABAD: “The goal of the budget’s early release is to give
agencies a head-start in the procurement process for their
projects. But we also plan to aggressively clear spending
bottlenecks by working closely with agencies, and making sure
they make the most of the funds released to them.”
the budget chief said that the remain-ing 22 percent of the national budget, worth P568.7 billion, will be considered for later release and will be done through the special allotment release order subject to compliance with required documents and clearances.
Abad explained that the increase in the initial fund release is due to the adoption of the “no lump-sum policy” in the general Appropriations Act and the comprehensive release of budgets in most departments, including the department of Agriculture’s provision for farm-to-market roads and national programs for rice, corn and livestock.
“the goal of the budget’s early release is to give agencies a head-start in the procurement process for their projects. But we also plan to aggressively clear spending bottlenecks by working closely with agencies, and making sure they make the most of the funds released to them,” Abad said.
under the circular, agencies need to ex-ecute priority programs and projects within one year so they can deliver public goods and service at the soonest possible time.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
OpinionBusinessMirrorA6
Exporting to halal marketseditorial
A cAll recently made by the Department of Trade and Industry to local food exporters to get Ha-lal certification so that they can increase their share of the global halal market is an extremely
important one and should be heeded by those concerned.
Production for export, especially where the market is more or less assured, is one of the fastest ways of growing for business and of creating employment opportunities by the government.
As the DTI indicates, the global Muslim population in 2013 stood at 1.6 billion, or 23 percent of the world total. The global halal market stood at ap-proximately $2.3 trillion and the food halal market at about $700 billion.
The halal market is vast, by any reckoning. can Philippine exporters benefit from this challenge? No doubt they can. The room for the expansion of ex-ports in the Philippines is practically infinite. consider the following numbers:
Exports per capita, 2013; Singapore: $76,448; Indonesia: $734; Brunei: $28,190; cambodia: $611; Malaysia: $7,662; Philippines: $543; Thailand: $3,351; laos: $390; Vietnam: $1,479; Myanmar: $185
The numbers shown above are humiliating. We are superior only to laos and Myanmar. As far as the possibilities of increasing Philippine exports are concerned therefore, we can say the sky is the limit.
The DTI informs us that contrary to the common notion it covers only meat and food products, halal in fact includes cosmetics and pharmaceu-ticals. Halal is also interconnected with the services sectors such as food manufacturing and service industries, logistics and shipping, Islamic bank-ing, finance and standards, auditing and certification, tourism, retail and health and wellness sectors.
The DTI reports the Philippines exported in 2013 a total of $480.27 million worth of products to Islamic countries. These exports included fruits, nuts, cereals, meat, fish and seafood preparations.
The potential for expansion includes sugar products, canned tuna and sar-dines, processed fruits and drinks and snack foods and biscuits.
The certification system in the Philippines consists of the National com-mission for Muslim Filipinos (NcMF) that provides accreditation to halal certifiers through the Halal Development and Accreditation Board or Halal Board. As of February 2014, the NcMF has accredited three halal certifiers in the country. As of 2013, the DTI has listed over 200 Philippine-based firms belonging to various agri-food and agri-fishery sectors that have secured halal certification, an indication that the Philippines has the capacity to be a lead-ing producer of halal products.
At the same time, the DTI underscores the need to further strengthen the halal accreditation and certification system. In particular, “there is the need to develop other Philippine standards parallel to international standards per-taining not only to food products but also to non-food products.”
The DTI is calling on the private sector to carry out more information cam-paigns, conferences and seminars to inform stakeholders of the advantages of participating in the halal industry.
We urge our exporters to respond to this challenge of the DTI to partici-pate in the halal industry not just for their own benefit but for the benefit of the nation as a whole.
Basics of reinsurance
Social media changes speech
REINSURANcE is “a transaction whereby one insurance company (the ‘reinsurer’) agrees to indemnify another insurance company (the ‘reinsured’, ‘cedent’ or ‘primary’
company or ceding company) against all or part of the loss that the latter sustains under a policy or policies that it has issued.”
By John KunzaThe Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tennessee
THE president wanted to make this year’s State of the Union address an “experience.”
channeling prime-time television, the president’s address had all the hallmarks: celebrity appearances, catchphrases and a social media hashtag.
And, just like in any other insur-ance transaction, the ceding com-pany has to pay the reinsurer a pre-mium. In other words, reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies.
The purpose of reinsurance is to further spread risk. The rationale can be better appreciated in times of extraordinary or catastrophic losses. In a catastrophic fire of an industrial proportion, an insurance company can be financially crippled without reinsurance. From a business stand-point, reinsurance enables an insur-ance company to expand its capacity to underwrite.
On the other hand, a reinsurer may in turn cede to another rein-surer called retrocessionaire. This is called retroceding, which is the act of a reinsurer of reinsuring with another reinsurer. In such a case, the ceding reinsurer will be known as the retrocedent. And, just as in direct insurance, there are reinsur-ance intermediaries, i.e. reinsurance brokers. ceding is the act of passing “on to another insurer (the reinsurer) all or part of the insurance written by an insurer (the ceding insurer) with the objective of reducing the possible liability of the latter”.
There are two general types of reinsurance agreements: facultative
and treaty reinsurance. In the facul-tative type, reinsurance is transacted on an individual risk basis where “the ceding company has the option to of-fer an individual risk to the reinsurer and the reinsurer retains the right to accept or reject the risk.” In treaty or obligatory reinsurance, however, the reinsurer must accept all busi-ness included within the terms of the reinsurance contract. There is no individual risk scrutiny by the reinsurer. One contract encompasses all subject risks.
Both facultative and treaty re-insurance can be grouped into two main categories: pro rata and excess of loss reinsurance. Pro rata, or ‘pro-portional,’ is a form of reinsurance in which the reinsurer shares a pro-portional part of the original losses and premiums of the ceding compa-ny. It is, in other words, a “sharing concept” where the ceding company and reinsurer share premium and losses in a determined percentage. Excess of loss or non-proportional reinsurance provides that a rein-surer indemnifies a ceding company against the amount of loss in excess of a specified retention, subject to specified limits.
A concept that needs to be un-derstood in reinsurance is the term
The days of a stuffy speech filled with polite claps are over; the address has been upgraded.
critics chiming in are using phras-es commonly used to review other prime-time television moments and most are in agreement that it was a good mash-up of television meeting the Internet.
For the first time the White House posted the entire copy of the speech ahead of time on a blog. Readers got a 10-minute head start and were shar-ing it across the World Wide Web. In
fact, the White House was one of the most shared websites in the world the night of the speech.
Part of this new experience in-cluded viewers chiming in on social media with the hashtag #SOTU. This was a move straight out of television’s bag of tricks. Move over, #Scandal, #BigBangTheory and #IDOl, because #SOTU is trending globally. In fact, #SOTU was so popular it was used in some 1.3 million tweets while the speech was still being made. In all, around 2.6 million State of the Union
“retention.” This refers to the por-tion of a risk which the direct insur-er is willing and able to carry itself. Beyond this retention, the risks will have to be ceded. ceding insurers have to regularly submit reports to the reinsurer. One such report is the bordereau report which provides premium or loss data with respect to identified specific risks. This report is periodically furnished to a reinsurer by the ceding insurers or reinsurers.
The underlying principle making reinsurance possible is the duty of utmost good faith or Uberrimae Fidei. Under this doctrine, the reinsurer has to rely on the good faith of the cedent specifically on material facts pertaining to the ceded business. The reinsurer is not intimately involved in underwriting the ceded business. On this matter, the reinsurer has to rely on the cedent.
corollary to this doctrine is the basic tenet of lack of privity of con-tract between the reinsurer and the original policyholder. The reinsurer is ordinarily not liable to the original policyholder of the ceding insurer, “it is not a co-signer of the policy issued to the original policyholder, and it is not jointly and severally obligated to make good on the benefits the poli-cyholder sought to obtain under the insurance contract”.
Resulting from the doctrine of utmost good faith is the ‘Follow-the-Fortunes Doctrine,’ which provides that a reinsurer must indemnify a reinsured “for any payments made by the reinsured for claims covered by the underlying policy, by settle-ment or adverse judgment, as long as those claims are not fraudulent, collusive or made in bad faith.”
Under this rule, a reinsurer can-not dispute the good faith deter-minations that a risk was covered
under the underlying policy, or a good faith interpretation of the policy terms.
However, it must be pointed out that the reinsurer’s obligation is not the same as the obligation of the re-insured to the original policyholder. “A reinsurer will not be held liable beyond the terms of the reinsur-ance contract merely because the ceding insurer has sustained a loss. The fact that the direct insurer has paid a claim does not establish that it is entitled to indemnity from the reinsurer because the claim might have been one for which the insurer was not bound to make payment.” Thus, “cedents that make ex gratia or ‘voluntary’ payments (payments made in the absence of any legal ob-ligation to pay) are not entitled to in-demnity from their reinsurers unless the reinsurance contract provides to the contrary.”
There are four crucial reasons justifying the importance of rein-surance, which all must remember. First, it protects an insurer against very large insurance claims. Second, it maintains a balanced set of under-writer results annually, avoiding the frequency of peaks and troughs. Also, reinsurance helps spread the risk among insurers and internationally. lastly, it increases the capacity of the direct insurer, allowing them to insure a large risk through the help of other insurers.
With all the complexities of both insurance and reinsurance, at the end of the day, their existence has been so designed to keep the industry thriv-ing and the insuring public protected.
Dennis B. Funa is presently the Deputy Insurance Commissioner for Legal Services of the Insurance Com-mission. E-mail [email protected] for comments.
tweets were sent last Tuesday evening.Zignal labs dug deeper into the
social media chatter and determined the most active metro areas on so-cial media in the country were New York, Washington D.c., los Angeles, Dallas and San Francisco.
One of the benefits of using so-cial media was that it got everyone involved in real time. The Twitter-sphere erupted with both praise and criticism after President Barack Obama’s ad-libbed quip about elec-tions, “I know, because I won both of them.” One thing that united both sides of the aisle was the hashtag #IWonBothOfThem.
The conversation wasn’t just con-tained to Twitter. Facebook says 5.7 million people made 13.8 million in-teractions on the day of the address. Facebook calls an interaction a like, post, comment or share.
For Facebook the most active ar-
eas of the country were North caro-lina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and South carolina.
People also logged on to fact-check the president. Google says its most searched questions related to the State of the Union Address were:
1. What is the middle class in-come?
2. Why are gas prices dropping?3. How much does the president
make?With all eyes on the 2016 presi-
dential race, we were also busy talking about potential candidates. According to Zignal labs, the most frequently mentioned 2016 White House contenders on Twitter were Rand Paul, Elizabeth Warren and Marco Rubio. Paul dominated the online conversation and was men-tioned 48 percent of the time, War-ren was mentioned 17 percent of the time and Rubio 8 percent.
Dennis B. Funa
INSURANCE FORUM
HOM
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Wednesday, January 28, 2015
How do immigrants become Americans?
Real men can make quiche (and cut wood)
By Robert P. GeorgeThe Philadelphia Inquirer
How do immigrants become Americans?It goes beyond becoming a citizen, and even formally
signing on with the American political creed. The key ingredient is something I know intimately from my own fam-ily’s experience, namely, gratitude. It is, typically, an immigrant’s feelings of gratitude to America for the liberty, security, and op-portunity our nation affords him and his family that leads to his appreciation of the ideals and institutions of American cultural, economic, and civic life.
By Charles M. MadiganChicago Tribune/TNS
A SET of chisels I bought at a sale on the East Coast came home to me a few months ago after they were sent “out west” someplace to be properly sharpened.
From this appreciation comes an immigrant’s belief in the goodness of American ideals and the value of the constitutional structures and institu-tions by which they are effectuated. And from this belief arises his aspi-ration to become a citizen together with his willingness to shoulder the responsibilities of citizenship and even to make great sacrifices for the nation —his nation—should it come to that.
My own immigrant grandfathers came to the United States a little more than a hundred years ago. Like most immigrants, they were not drawn here by any abstract belief in the superior-ity of the American political system.
My father’s father came from Syria fleeing oppression visited upon him and his family as members of a rela-tively small ethnic and religious minor-ity group. My mother’s father came to escape the poverty of southern Italy. They both worked on the railroads and in the mines. My maternal grandfather settled in west Virginia and saved enough money to start a little grocery store, which became a flourishing busi-ness. My paternal grandfather spent his entire life as a laborer. He died of emphysema, no doubt as a result of the pulmonary health hazards of coal
mining in those days.Both men were exceedingly grate-
ful for what America made possible for them and their families. Their gratitude was not diminished when times got hard in the Great Depres-sion. Although both my grandfathers encountered ethnic prejudice, they viewed this as an aberration _ a failure of some Americans to live up to the na-tion’s ideals. It did not dawn on them to blame the bad behavior on America itself. on the contrary, America in their eyes was a land of unsurpassed bless-ing. It was a nation of which they were proud and happy to become citizens. And even before they became citizens they had become patriots—men who deeply appreciated what America is and what she stands for.
I suspect that as I tell these stories, many readers are thinking of their grandparents or great-grandparents. The amazing and wonderful thing is that a family story like mine of immi-grant ancestors becoming Americans is not the exception; it is the norm. (of course, the story of Africans brought to America as slaves and then sub-jected to segregation and discrimina-tion even after slavery was abolished is a radically different one—a story
of injustice and a stain upon our na-tion’s history. Yet the great efforts to right these wrongs and live up to our national ideals of liberty and justice are also part of our heritage.)
I believe that immigration has been a great strength for America and that it will continue to be so. I certainly hope that immigrants will continue to want to be Americans. Does this mean that I reject what is known as “multiculturalism?
It depends. I certainly see no need to encourage immigrants to abandon their customs, traditions, and ethnic or religious identities; on the contrary, I think it is good for families, and good for America, for immigrants to honor their ethnic customs and identities and pass them along to the next generation. Im-migrants have always done this, and it is fine and good —a source of strength. of course, this is to be distinguished from an ideology that promotes the rejection of a primary and central political alle-giance to the United States and its ide-als and institutions. And it is certainly to be distinguished from any ideology that denies the fundamental goodness of America’s principles of political and civil liberty.
Now, where a culture of opportu-nity flourishes, immigrants will feel, as my grandparents felt, gratitude for the opportunities they are afforded to lift themselves up, and make a better life for their children, by dint of hard work and determination to succeed. However, it appears to be a brute fact of human psychology that where a cul-ture of entitlement prevails, gratitude even for charitable assistance will not emerge. A culture of entitlement ends up reinforcing an attitude that impedes the gratitude that enables immigrants to become Americans.
As I said, I want immigrants to be-come Americans. I want them to believe in American ideals and institutions. I want them to “hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I want them to believe, as I believe, in the dignity of the human being, in all stages and conditions of life; in limited govern-ment, republican democracy, equality of opportunity, morally ordered liberty, private property, economic freedom, and the rule of law. I want them to be-lieve in these ideals and principles not because they are ours, but because they are noble and good and true.
But the transmission of American ideals to immigrants and, indeed, to anyone, including new generations of native-born Americans, depends on the maintenance of a culture in which these ideals flourish. The maintenance of such a culture is a complicated busi-ness—one with many dimensions. But in this democratic nation of im-migrants in which “we the People” have the privilege and responsibility of governing ourselves, it is every citi-zen’s business.
And it is certainly the special busi-ness of institutions of higher learning. For such institutions, civic education —education that advances the under-standing of our nation’s constitutional principles and institutions—is a high calling and a solemn obligation. If, as James Madison said, “only a well-edu-cated people can be permanently a free people,” then civic education is vital to the success of the grand experiment in ordered liberty that Madison and the other founding fathers bequeathed to us and our posterity.
R AGHURAM RAJAN’S recent surprise rate cut was what central bankers call an “insurance move.” In a highly uncertain and deflationary world, the Reserve Bank
of India governor decided he’d rather risk higher inflation in hopes of boosting growth. More quietly, Rajan is taking out another policy that could pay even bigger dividends in years to come. He’s hoarding dollars.
India’s swelling stash of dollars
on Fr iday, the day before Barack obama flew to New Delhi for his lovefest with Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi, the RBI announced that India’s foreign-exchange reserves had risen to a record $322 billion. while the news couldn’t compete with the Modi-obama hug at the airport, a nuclear deal and talk of coop-eration on climate change, that swelling stash greatly increases the odds that Modi’s reform pro-gram will succeed.
Rajan’s shock rate move on January 15 was itself a boost to so-called Modinomics. By slashing the benchmark rate to 7.75 percent from 8 percent, the RBI governor made clear the central bank was ready to guard India’s economy against a fast-mounting number of risks around globe. Equally impor-tant, says Marc Chandler of Brown Brothers Harriman, was the “vote of confidence” the decision sig-naled about Modi’s government.
Now Rajan’s stockpiling of currencies should help catalyze change in New Delhi. As recently as September 2013, when Rajan started at the RBI, India was spi-raling toward crisis. An economy once celebrated as one of the su-perpowers of the future–Brazil, Russia, India and China, or the BRICs–was being grouped among the world’s most “fragile” nations. Hedge funds bet India would be the first of the BRICs to be down-graded to junk.
Rajan moved fast to halt a run on the rupee, shore up the bank-ing system and cap inf lation. More recently, he’s been building up India’s defenses as emerging nations brace for Federal Reserve rate hikes and a new euro crisis.
Nizam Idris, a Macquarie Group strategist, reckons that Rajan has stockpiled about $59 billion of re-serves since taking charge at the RBI, or an average of $4 billion per month.
while India’s reserves are still a fraction of China’s $3.8 trillion, they’re substantial enough now to “create a stronger firewall against external account shocks and build greater international confidence,” says Rajiv Biswas of IHS Global Insight.
India represents something of an outlier in the region. while Asian peers devalue to boost ex-ports, Rajan has clearly decided
that a stable, strong rupee is the key to cementing trust in India’s economy, which still suffers from a sizable current-account deficit and relies on short-term capital flows. A firm currency should at-tract overseas capital to support equities, upgrade infrastructure and pay down government debt.
This offers an opening for Modi; the question is whether the prime minister will seize it. In July, the prime minister’s first budget avoided “big bang” reforms like al-lowing foreigners to hold majority stakes in key sectors like insur-ance and defense. His government sidetracked a world Trade orga-nization deal to cut tariffs. And while he harnessed the plunge in oil prices to trim subsidies, Modi has been slow to dismantle budget-busting support programs.
Modi needs to get serious with his first full budget, expected in late February. He enters the pro-cess with a rare economic tailwind. By stabilizing the financial system and shoring ups its defenses, Rajan has given Modi considerably more latitude not only to restructure the economy, but to take risks like selling state assets and welcoming more foreign involvement in the economy.
once India reforms and moves beyond the boom-bust cycles of the past, it should be able to turn around and use its reserves to in-vest in education and healthcare as well as roads, bridges, ports and the power grid.
Dominic Bunning of HSBC says “an improving policy framework and the positive reform momen-tum we are seeing” make him in-creasingly bullish on India. He’s not the only one. while China is growing faster—7.3 percent ver-sus 5.3 percent—India is widely expected to pull ahead in 2016. Both countries have seen stock gains in 2014 in the 40 percent or more range, even as markets in Brazil and Russia have sagged. “I might be tempted to call it just ‘IC’,” Jim o’Neill, the economist and Bloomberg View columnist who coined the term “BRICs,” quipped recently.
All Rajan has done, though, is prepare the ground. The onus still lies on Modi to push forward the politically difficult reforms he’s avoided thus far. He’s now got 322 billion good reasons to do so.
BLOOMBERG VIEWWilliam Pesek
A dull chisel is a troubling thing.“Be careful,” the guy at the knife
place said. “They are like razors.”And he was right. The four I had
sent away with scratches and chips in their blades came back mirror sharp, sharp enough to shave hair from your arm without even a little push.
when I was unpacking them, I found myself putting my thumb over the leading edge of each of them as I shifted them from the package to the spot in my workshop where they stand like cold steel soldiers waiting
for a battle.I heard a voice: “That’s how you
carry a chisel!”why did I do that?Mr. wray.Mr. wray was the manual arts
teacher at the Altoona, Pa., junior high school we visited once a week to be properly instructed in two impor-tant manual arts: basic woodworking and drafting. You were not a complete young man without those skills.
Many viewed Mr. wray as a beast because he had no patience with
fools. He knew that a chisel could just as easily slice a finger off as it could shave a thin slice of hard-wood. Caution was the rule, and the thumb over the leading edge was the reminder.
one wrong move and you would get a genuine chisel cut to remem-ber. Then Mr. wray would paddle you with the walnut beating tool he made himself, complete with nickel-size holes that left welts like red communion wafers on the back of your legs. You would not do that again.
we need manual training again.I understand we have technical
schools and post-high school train-ing schools and all kinds of other plac-es to learn how to do things well. The roofers have a facility where they can train you in the proper roofing skills.
But none of that is for kids.Manual training and home eco-
nomics for kids–bring them back.And de-sexify them.A young man who cannot make
a quiche will never make a woman happy. (or a man, either.) Neither will he be competent if he can’t put a button on a shirt.
And who wants a woman who can’t frame?
Skills are good, and once learned, as my chisel experience teaches us, are not soon forgotten.
we were, what, 14 or 15 years old when we first ran into Mr. wray?
There were two assignments in shop class, which we took at the pub-lic school because the Catholics had no tool shop. we had to prepare the joint to make a tight cross from two pieces of wood. Then we had to build
a bookcase out of whatever wood we wanted to use.
But these tasks came in order.Mr. wray would let you start your
cross in white pine, because it was soft and easy to work. If you could not make a good joint with that, then he would search for harder wood.
If the worst thing happened and you could not make a good joint out of any of the common woods, he would bang a couple of pieces of black walnut in front of you and tell you to chew on that for a while.
Then he would whack your butt.This was both informative and
character building.And, obviously, important.I don’t know how you feel about
chisels, but they are among my favor-ite tools. You can fix a lot of mistakes with them, fit things that don’t natu-
rally fit, finish finely and cut a clean space for placing a hinge.
Is that important?I would say yes, not in itself but
because we are becoming a nation of functional idiots when it comes to these common trades. My thought has always been that if journal-ism failed me, I could always frame houses!
or teach college.But I still want to frame houses
and work with my tools.And even though my butt stings at
the very thought of the man, I need to thank Mr. wray now for the time he spent teaching us how not to chop off our fingers.
Not a sweet man at all, but a man who knew the value of an edge and how to use it, and that is well worth the knowing.
A8
2ndFront PageBusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.phWednesday, January 28, 2015
BSP confident PHL bankscan withstand headwinds
DMCI wins ₧2.27-BLRT Line 2 Antipoloextension contract
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
The P2.27-billion contract to construct the guideways for the extension of the Light
Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2 to Antipolo City has been awarded to a local con-struction company, the Department of Transportation and Communica-tions (DOTC) said on Tuesday. Transportation Secretary Joseph emilio A. Abaya said the multibillion-peso deal was granted to D.M. Con-sunji Inc. (DMCI), which was given 18 months to complete the civil works for the 3.9-kilometer elevated via-duct of the east train line to Masinag Junction in Antipolo City. “Our projects for LRT 2 will make fast, affordable and conve-nient transportation accessible to residents of the densely populated parts of Rizal, such as Antipolo and Cainta,” Abaya said. The contract is part of the P9.7-billion program, which also seeks to increase the capacity of the train line. It will take the government rough-ly a year and a half to complete the
construction of the railway extension and make it operational. Under the LRT Line 2 east exten-sion project, two additional stations will be constructed: the emerald station in front of Robinsons Place Metro east in Cainta, Rizal; and Ma-sinag station at the Masinag Junc-tion in Antipolo City. LRT Line 2, which ferries 240,000 passengers daily, will be able to serve an additional 130,000 commuters once the extension is completed. The 13.8-km LRT Line 2 traverses the cities of Manila, San Juan, Quezon City, Marikina and Pasig. Meanwhile, four consortiums are keen on joining the auction for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of LRT Line 2. Transportation Spokesman Mi-chael Arthur C. Sagcal said Aboitiz equity Ventures-SMRT Transporta-tion Solutions Consortium, DMCI-Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd. Consortium, the Light Rail Manila Consortium, and the San Miguel Corp.-Korail Consortium submitted qualification
By Bianca Cuaresma
The Bangko Sentral ng Pili-pinas (BSP) said the banking system needs to be handled
with extreme care this year in light of homegrown or external shocks that may affect the local financial system in 2015. At the recent annual bankers’ re-ception held at Fort Abad, BSP Gov-ernor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said that while the banking system has a history of strength and resilience, the industry must not be complacent but must remain mindful of risks that could surface down the line. “I have learned in my almost 10 years as governor of the Bangko
Sentral [ng Pilipinas] that each year is different. While our mandate re-mains the same, our operating envi-ronment is constantly shifting and changing. Sometimes, it turns on its head. So, how do we navigate in un-charted waters? Well, with extreme care,” Tetangco said. Tetangco further said that along with extreme care, one must ensure
TETANGCO: “I believe, therefore, that even
as episodes of stormy weather develop, the
Philippine banking community can face 2015
with confidence given its strong balance sheet,
solid capital base that exceeds global standards,
product innovations and adherence to
international standards for governance and risk
management.”
the banking system is in shipshape condition and properly equipped to deal with the unfolding of events in the financial system. The central bank in the second half of 2014 started implementing a wave of reforms even when the banks were at their strongest. At the start of 2014, the BSP implemented the Basel 3 Accord on
capital ratios. Later that year the BSP also let out a series of man-dates, including the higher capital requirements for banks, the regula-tions for so-called domestic systemi-cally important banks and the shift from the banks’ focus on collateral to the clients ability to pay. Likewise, the BSP subjected the real-estate sector to stress tests and monitored the banks’ exposure to the property sector, whose maiden results should soon come out. “Our stress tests indicate that our banks have enough capital to with-stand extreme shocks in credit and market risks,” Tetangco said. “I believe, therefore, that even as episodes of stormy weather devel-op, the Philippine banking commu-nity can face 2015 with confidence given its strong balance sheet, solid capital base that exceeds global stan-dards, product innovations, and ad-herence to international standards for governance and risk manage-ment,” Tetangco added.See “DMCI,” A2
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