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Davao City plans sisterhood agreement with another Chinese city

THE DAVAO city government is planning to forge a sisterhood agreement with another city in China to further expand trade and cultural ties. The Davao City International Relations Board, in a statement Tuesday, said it is preparing the proposal for a deal with Qinhuangdao City to be submitted to the city council for approval. The city already has an agreement with Nanning City, while the sisterhood with Jinjiang City is already being processed. The board is part of the local government’s promotional system, together with the Davao City Investment Promotion Center (DCIPC). Lemuel G. Ortonio, DCIPC head, said the sisterhood agreements would strengthen links in “tourism and culture, trade and commerce, and education and technology.” City Planning and Development Office head Ivan C. Cortez, for his part, said these agreements would attract investments and trade, as well as encourage airlines to consider direct flights to and from Davao. “We need to explore the possibilities for us to be able to cash in on the interests that the Chinese investors have on us,” Mr. Cortez said. Early this month, Chinese Consul General Li Lin, who will be posted at the soon-to-be opened consulate in the city, said China is looking at the possible areas of cooperation between its investors and those in the city. Arturo M. Milan, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., told BusinessWorld that the Chinese are planning a trade mission to the city to assess possible joint venture projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism, among other areas. “We just need to prepare our local investors, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises so that they will able to take advantage of the interest of these Chinese traders,” Mr. Milan said. — Carmelito Q. Francisco

CA junks Ampatuan petition for bail

THE COURT of Appeals (CA) has upheld a Quezon City Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) decision denying the bail petition of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy U. Ampatuan for his involvement in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, where 58 people, including 32 journalists, were murdered.
CA Special Eight Division Associate Justice Marie Christine Azcarraga-Jacob, in a 23-page decision promulgated on April 18, dismissed for lack of merit Mr. Ampatuan’s plea to reverse the rulings of QC-RTC Branch 221 Presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes on Sept. 15 and Nov. 15 in 2015.
The orders denied Mr. Ampatuan’s petition for bail based on strong evidence against him.
Mr. Ampatuan took it to the higher court, accusing Ms. Solis-Reyes of “gravely abusing its discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” the CA decision read.
“(Mr. Ampatuan) contended that the prosecution failed to present any credible evidence in support of its allegation that (he) was in conspiracy with 196 other accused in accomplishing the massacre,” it read further.
The CA, however, was not persuaded: “(H)istory will never forget the atrocities perpetrated on 23 November 2009, when 57 (sic) innocent civilians were massacred in Sitio Masalay, Municipality of Ampatuan, Maguindanao Province.”
“The tenor of (the) testimonies (against Mr. Ampatuan) appeared to be uniform and has consistently shown that (he) joined various discussions on the execution of the crimes,” the CA said.
The CA explained, “when the grant of bail is discretionary, the prosecution has the burden of showing that the evidence of guilt against the accused is strong. On this score, the determination of whether or not the evidence of guilt is strong, being a matter of judicial discretion, remains with the judge.”
“In the instant case, the evidence on record would suggest that, while there may be doubts as to (Mr. Ampatuan’s) overt act that may result in his criminal liability by reason of conspiracy, the presumption is great that he is probably guilty of the charges, therefore, bail should be refused,” the CA ruled.
Several members of the Ampatuan clan were accused of plotting the massacre, intended to thwart the political plans of their rival, incumbent Maguindanao Governor Esmael G. Mangudadatu, in the 2010 elections. Mr. Mangudadatu’s wife was among those killed in the massacre.
Out of the 197 accused, 15 were from the Ampatuan clan. Of the suspects, 115 have already been arrested, while 103 are still awaiting trial. — Dane Angelo M. Enerio

Another civilian freed, 2 cops still held by Abu Sayyaf

ANOTHER CIVILIAN hostage of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was rescued on May 8 by the Marine Battalion Landing Team 3 led by Lieutenant Colonel Ramil DC. Holgado in Panglima Estino, Sulu. Blas Jackosalim Ahamad was recovered by the military based on the information relayed by the other civilian held captive, Faizal Ahidji, who was left blindfolded by the ASG in a forested area in Bangkal Village last May 5. Mr. Ahamad received medical examination and underwent custodial debriefing. As this developed, the military reported that two ASG members were killed on Wednesday as the 4th Special Forces Battalion conducted pursuit and rescue operations for the two police officers, Police Officer 2 (PO2) Benierose Alvarez and PO1 Dinah Gumahad, who are still with the abductors. High powered firearms were also recovered, including two M14, one R4 assault rifle, and one M203 grenade launcher. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

Nation at a Glance — (05/10/18)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Bitcoin’s biggest rival faces overhaul as computing power rises

A fight is on for the soul of Ether.
With a market capitalization of $73 billion, the biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin has been hailed as the future of digital finance because of its ability to layer software applications on top of transactions. But as Ether rises in price and importance, powerful players within the virtual currency world such as equipment maker Bitmain are angling for greater control and profit.
What’s at stake is domination of the process known as mining, where scores of computers solve complex mathematical riddles to win newly minted coins in exchange for processing the transactions that allow the network function.
Ethereum developers have always wanted the project to be “a world computer,” in which millions of people’s PCs and graphics card-based machines run the digital ledger. Such a wide web of participants “gives Ethereum extreme levels of fault tolerance, ensures zero downtime, and makes data stored on the blockchain forever unchangeable and censorship-resistant,” according to Ethereum’s documents.
The range of participants could be about to shrink, as Bitmain and others move in with a new type of computing hardware that could give them disproportionate power when it comes to confirming transactions. The new hardware, which should become available in July or sooner, could push out smaller miners and is “a nightmare for decentralization,” said Lucas Nuzzi, a senior analyst at Digital Asset Research.
Ethereum developers are rushing to stop the invasion. During a call last month, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the risk will go away once the community deploys Casper — software that will get rid of miners altogether and confirm transactions in a different way, which would expand the number of people involved in the process. But the date of Casper’s deployment is uncertain, with the project having already been delayed for months.
Members of the community have also debated capping Ether supply or changing algorithms to combat miners using the so-called ASIC-based hardware.
ASIC, or application-specific integrated circuit-based computers, are more efficient than traditional PCs, phones or graphics cards in running specific algorithms used in confirming transactions — so they can earn tokens more cheaply and faster. They have long been used to mine Bitcoin. Later, they spread into Litecoin and Dash. Bitmain announced the first-ever ASIC computer able to mine Zcash in May, and an ASIC miner for Ether last month.
“That could have a negative impact on the Ethereum community and therefore on Ethereum price,” said Sam Doctor, managing director at Fundstrat Global Advisors who holds some Ether. The coin “may underperform the space,” though that may be short-lived, he said.
The greater mining power could let Bitmain — or other large miners that buys its gear — to gain control over the network in what is known as a 51-percent attack, in which they could falsify transactions and make away with other users’ coins.
“If Bitmain miners became so large that it would present a 51-percent attack risk, this could undermine prices,” Susquehanna Investment Group’s Christopher Rolland said.
Bitmain said the company has specifically made an effort to avert reaching the transaction processing threshold. Such a move “would not be in the economic best interests of any participant in a cryptocurrency ecosystem as it would weaken faith in the currency, causing its value to fall,” according to an emailed statement. “Further, in selling its Ethereum mining devices to its customers, Bitmain worked to ensure that no one participant received an undue allocation of units. This further reduces the possibility of any one party controlling the network.”
It’s not just Bitmain that looks to disrupt this market. At least three other companies are working on Ethereum ASIC miners as well, Rolland said in a recent note. And some of the makers may be deploying ASICs for mining Ether already.
“There’s a concern in the community that a lot of the ASIC manufacturers are hoarding a lot of chips and doing their own mining,” said Timothy Tam, co-founder of market intelligence platform CoinFi.
Bitmain’s $800 Ether miner will ship in July, according to the company’s website. It can deliver a hash, or processing, rate of 180 megahashes a second. By comparison, Bitmain’s own GPU-based machine used to mine Ether at 220 megahashes is for sale online for about $4,000. So the new gear is many times cheaper and more efficient than anything that current Ether miners use.
“These are the conservative estimates,” the company said on its website. “We expect the miners to deliver higher performance and efficiency when they are ready to ship.”
Many investors say ASICs are just something they may have to live with, as mining equipment makers grow more powerful.
“ASICs & Mining (and Bitmain) is certainly a reality in today’s market,” said Dave Balter, partner at Flipside Crypto, which runs investment vehicles for cryptocurrencies. “These things tend to create a lot of noise and news, but we tend to stay focused on the fundamentals. Ethereum is a great project, it will continue to be one, regardless of how fast it gets mined.” — Bloomberg

Stronger dollar hurts ICTSI first-quarter earnings

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) earnings fell 15% on the first three months of 2018 at US$44.1 million from US$51.7 million in the same period the previous year.
“[ICTSI] operates in a number of jurisdictions other than the Philippines and collects revenues in various currencies. Continued appreciation of the US dollar relative to other major currencies, particularly the Philippine peso, Brazilian Reais, Mexican peso and the Euro, may have a negative impact on the Group’s reported levels of revenues and profits,” the Razon-led company said in regulatory filing released on Wednesday, May 9.
ICTSI opened new terminals in Melbourne, Australia and Motukea Island, Papua New Guinea. These also pumped up the company’s cash operating expenses to US$129.1 million, 24% more than US$103.9 million in 2017. — Denise A. Valdez

Damaged property from Cebu fire drags Metro Retail profit down 6%

Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. reported a 6% decline in net profit at P90 million for the first quarter of 2018, a result of a fire that hit Ayala Center Cebu in January which lasted more than two days.
The listed company’s net sales also dropped 12.0% at P6.968 billion, from P7.92 billion in the same period the previous year, according to a quarterly report submitted to regulators.
“While we have encountered difficulties as the year opened, we are committed to rebuilding and recovering, maximizing the opportunities brought about by the booming retail industry,” Metro Retail Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank S. Gaisano was quoted in a separate statement as saying.
But the company said it is working on rebuilding the ravaged parts of its properties. Its first phase is the opening of a 900-square meter Metro Supermarket in the city’s central business district.
“We remain focused on our plans on sales and margin improvement efficiencies, and we are seeing encouraging results in our retail sales as we continue to strengthen our wholesale business,” Metro Retail President and Chief Operating Officer Arthur Emmanuel was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

Chelsea Logistics reports three-fold jump in Q1 profit

Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC) reported that its net income for the first quarter of 2018 reached P115 million, an increase by 326% from the P27 million it earned in the same period last year.
Its revenue also grew by 91.30% at P1.179 billion, from P616 million in the same period the previous year.
In a regulatory filing, the shipping company said its acquisition of Worklink Services, Inc. and Starlite Ferries, Inc. in November 2017 propelled its profitability.
“MV Archer – one of Starlite’s 14 RoPax (roll-on, roll-off passenger) vessels, recently started servicing the Matnog, Sorsogon – Allen, Northern Samar route in the South. As of end March 31, 2018, Starlite saw 33% higher contribution to the Group’s revenue at P241 million,” CLC said in a statement on Wednesday, May 9.
It added that Worklink has been providing logistics solutions to known dermatological clinics, generating P58 million revenue.
CLC’s tankers and tugs subsidiary, Chelsea Shipping Corp., added P522 million to the company’s overall revenue with its 60% increase on the first three months of 2018. It currently has 12 tankers and 4 barges.
It’s passenger and cargo subsidiary, Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, meanwhile contributed P370 million in revenue, up by 28% than in 2017, with its fleet of eight roll-on, roll-off passenger vehicles and seven cargo vessels.
“[W]ith the anticipated influx of passengers during the summer season and increase in cargo movements towards the end of the year in preparation for the Christmas holidays, we are confident that we can sustain the growth in revenues and earnings of the Group during the succeeding quarters,” CLC President and Chief Executive Officer Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

AI-powered tool helps PHL companies build customer communities

By Janina C. Lim, Reporter
Telco firms said a marketing platform powered by artificial intelligence helped improve their business decisions, in turn, boosting their revenues and performance in bringing customer satisfaction — all, while cutting down on cost.
Vision Critical, a company based in Vancouver, has developed a cloud-based platform that helps companies obtain real-time feedback and insights from their customers.
The platform, named Sparq 3, has a so-called relationship memory feature which connects existing customer data with intelligence collected from insight communities.
“We know so much about our customers we can start predicting their responses,” Peter Harris, EVP and Managing Director, for Vision Critical’s APAC region, told BusinessWorld on Wednesday, May 9.
The platform has been adopted by more than 700 companies around the world including Yahoo, Allure, LinkedIn, Discovery Communications and ESPN. Most clients, however, engage in the finance, banking, insurance, airline and telco industries.
On the local front, six firms have so far been making use of the system. These are namely Smart Communications, Inc., PLDT, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., AXA Life Insurance Corp. (AXA Philippines), Jollibee Corp., and Cebu Air, Inc.
Emerson ‘Sandy’ Roque, AVP and Head of PLDT’d Enterprise Analytics said the firm’s adoption of Vision Critical’s products made a “big” impact on the company’s revenues.
“It’s really scaling our marketing research and making sure that we have higher response rates through our surveys and limiting our budgets because we used to spend a lot on market research,” Mr. Roque said in an interview with BusinessWorld at the New World Makati Hotel Wednesday.
After adopting the software in late-2016, PLDT was able to cut the practice of hiring third party companies that gather data.
This enabled the firm’s Enterprise Analytics division to trim by half its annual operating cost while survey results are delivered three times faster, according to Mr. Roque.
“We’re looking at renewing this moving forward,” Mr. Roque said in an interview on Wednesday in Makati City, noting that PLDT has renewed its one-year contract with the firm late last year.
For her part, Jennifer Jane G. Echevarria, Vice-President of Globe Telecom’s Analytics, Market Research, and Portfolio Management, said since partnering with Vision Critical, the division has cut down its annual cost on marketing surveys by 20%.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, parang consistent na whenever they ask how engaged you are, do you like it, the score has always been 8.2, higher than the normal average of 7,” Ms. Echevarria.
Compared to the previous practice wherein they can only view market insights months after customer responses are collated, the telco firms said Vision Critical has allowed them to view these consolidated results real time.
Companies conduct surveys to measure their satisfaction of their customers toward their products and services, seeing these as a way to improve their offering and make customer-centric decisions.
For his part, the firm is looking “to do more business” with its current clients.
“We look for markets where technologies work really well. In the Philippines, technology works well. It is very mobile and oriented platform,” he said in an interview in Makati City yesterday.
Mr. Harris said the firm continues to explore ways to expand its machine-learning system in its software, seeing AI as “a lot more powerful in the future.”
“By using AI to our platform, we will be able to answer more important questions,” he noted.
“We will improve our knowledge, quickly and predict more. So we might have to ask less questions because more will be known about customers based on integrating other information,” Mr. Harris added.

Unilever opens new facility in Laguna

Unilever Philippines had inaugurated a new facility in Cabuyao, Laguna, its largest distribution center in the Philippines.
The company said the growing market demand drove it to expand in order to “accelerate delivery of goods, create economies of scale, and generate local jobs across the whole supply chain.”
“It serves as the distribution and transport hub for products from all its manufacturing sites potentially generating more than 10,000 jobs nationwide,” it said in a statement.
Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever President for Southeast Asia and Australasia, was quoted in the statement as saying that the facility is “not only a future-ready infrastructure to facilitate delivery of goods, but a story of well-loved brands with a deeper societal purpose.”
The fast-moving consumer goods giant claimed that Cabuyao City Mayor Rommel A. Gecolea is in full support of the company, and is coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways to construct roads to accommodate trucks coming to and from the facility. It also said, the local government is looking into the possibility of opening a direct road leading to the Silangan exit of the South Luzon Expressway.
“We want to ensure that this new relationship can benefit not just the people of Cabuyao but the entire business of Unilever for the long haul,” Mr. Gecolea was quoted as saying. — Denise A. Valdez

Warriors, Rockets advance to finals

LOS ANGELES — Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors will face the Houston Rockets for a place in the NBA finals after the Western Conference heavyweights wrapped up series wins on Tuesday.
Curry led the scoring for the reigning NBA champion Warriors in a 113-104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in Oakland, sealing the best-of-seven series 4-1.
The Warriors will now travel to top-seeded Houston for game one of the Western Conference finals on Monday.
The Rockets had earlier booked their place in the conference finals with a 112-102 win over the Utah Jazz to take the series 4-1.
While Houston will have home court advantage after finishing the regular season on top of the Western Conference, the Warriors once again showed signs they are peaking at the right time.
The fit-again Curry played 37 minutes, and was heavily involved in a devastating burst of scoring in the third quarter which ultimately took the game away from the Pelicans.
Curry finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists while Kevin Durant had 24 points and Klay Thompson added 23 points.
Draymond Green, meanwhile, produced another commanding all round performance, with 19 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.
After being restricted to a three-point lead at halftime, the Warriors outscored the Pelicans by 36-19 in the third quarter, giving them a 20-point cushion heading into the fourth.
There was a late scare for Steve Kerr’s side, however, as the Pelicans staged a late rally, stitching together an 18-2 spurt to close within seven points at 107-100 with 1:43 left.
But Green came up with two crucial late scores to see the Warriors home safely.
“We thought we had the game in hand,” Kerr said. “We got a little tired and a little rattled and we didn’t finish the game we wanted to,” he added.

Chris Paul
Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul (#3) dribbles against Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (#27) in the second half in Game Five of the second round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. — THOMAS B. SHEA-USA TODAY SPORTS

‘IT FEELS LIKE HE’S BACK’
“But our guys have reached the conference finals four years in a row now so they should be really proud of themselves.”
Kerr, meanwhile, was happy with the form of Curry, who looks to be back to full fitness following his knee injury layoff.
“If he can play 37 minutes in a playoff game then I think he’s okay,” Kerr said. “It feels like he’s back now.”
Meanwhile in Texas, Chris Paul scored 41 points as Houston made sure of their place in the conference finals.
Paul’s haul included 20 points in the fourth quarter. The 33-year-old’s game-winning display left him contemplating his first career appearance in a Western Conference finals.
Rockets star James Harden, who was kept quiet with a relatively modest haul of 18 points, paid tribute to Paul’s performance.
“He was unbelievable,” Harden said afterward. “He went out there and took over the game. He put us all on his back in that fourth quarter and said ‘Listen — I got this.’ That’s a big-time performance.
“He had a look in his eyes. And if he has that look in his eyes, he’s a problem.”
Paul, meanwhile, played down his personal contribution to the win, even though his 41 points marked a career high in a playoff game.
“It’s just fun,” Paul said. “It’s not about points, it’s about the process.”
Paul had finally led Houston to safety in the fourth quarter, reeling off four three-pointers in a row before a brilliant pull-up jumper put Houston 107-98 ahead with just under two minutes to play. — AFP

Stakeholders look forward to Philippine national men’s team in Asian Cup setting

THE Philippine national men’s football team’s groundbreaking appearance in next year’s AFC Asian Cup took further form last week after the official draw for the high-profile event was made in the United Arab Emirates.
Held on May 4 at the Armani Hotel in Dubai, the Azkals had been drawn along with Korea Republic, China and Kyrgyz Republic in Group C of the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Asia organized by the Asian Football Confederation.
The grouping is one of six involving four teams each per group where the eventual champion will come out from.
The Philippines will make its Asian Cup debut against Korea Republic on Jan. 7, 2019 at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai before facing China on Jan. 11 at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Kyrgyz Republic will be the last opponent of the Azkals in group play on Jan. 16 at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai.
The 2019 Asian Cup marks the first time the Philippines is going to be a competing team, something local football stakeholders are very proud of and excited about.
“We dreamt that one day we will have a team in the AFC Asian Cup, and now it has become a reality. We are thrilled that the Philippine men’s national team will be participating in Asia’s most prestigious tournament for the very first time,” said Philippine Football Federation President Mariano V. Araneta, Jr.
“The group of Korea Republic, China PR, and Kyrgyz Republic will be a challenging task for the team, but as we have witnessed every time the players take it to the field, our players will fight hard,” he added.
Long-time Azkals manager Dan Palami, for his part, said Group C is a tough grouping to be in but underscored the Azkals should have a fighting chance.
“It’s a good draw for a debutant team like the Philippines in the AFC Asian Cup. It’s the toughest tournament in Asia. We have to prepare well for the teams we are going to face. We played against China PR before and did not get a good result, but we know how to prepare for them. Korea Republic will always be a tough nut to crack. We played against Kyrgyz Republic in the past and I am sure they will prepare as well. Hopefully we get a good preparation that’s all we need to do and we’ll leave no stone unturned,” Mr. Palami said.
The Philippines secured qualification to the final round on March 27 with a 2-1 win over Tajikistan at the Rizal Memorial Stadium to win Group F of the qualifiers with 12 points.
In the final round of the Asian Cup, the top two teams in the grouping, along with the four best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout stages. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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