SAN FRANCISCO — The group overseeing Internet addresses is scrambling to balance the privacy of website owners and the right to know who is behind online pages.
The nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began a week-long meeting Monday focused on the fate of the public Whois database, which shows contact information for those who own websites.
A General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set to take effect in the European Union on May 25 could make revealing personal information about website owners in Whois illegal.
This week’s ICANN meeting in Puerto Rico is the last before the GDPR deadline.
“We will try to find a path forward,” ICANN global domains division president Akram Atallah told AFP in a telephone interview.
“There is a lot of work still to be done, but we are working as fast as possible.”
While the GDPR backs the right of people to “be forgotten” online, it raises the question of whether to shield personally identifying information about website owners listed in a Whois directory created by ICANN for transparency.
The GDPR applies to people, not organizations with fictitious names, but comes into play if individuals are somehow identified, according to ICANN.
Problems arise, for example, if a company name or e-mail address is the same as the person who owns it.
If ICANN were to simply discontinue the Whois index in Europe, that could create a haven for those from other parts of the world who want to hide which websites they own.
ICANN’s understanding is that Whois information can be published, as long as the nonprofit group can justify that doing so is in the public interest.
“We propose trying to keep as much of the policy we have unchanged while being in compliance with the law,” Atallah said.
WHO SEES WHOIS?
ICANN is refining a plan to divide Whois into two tiers — one open to the public as is currently the case and a second that could be accessed as needed by police, researchers or others with legitimate queries.
It remained to be determined whether journalists would get access, according to Atallah.
“We are asking data protection agencies in Europe for their advice on the plan and if it works,” Atallah said.
Some behind websites complain that having contact information available to the public at Whois brings the potential for spam or even physical violence, according to ICANN.
Meanwhile, much focus has been put being able to find out who is behind websites or services to guard against cons or malicious manipulation of public opinion.
“We are trying to strike a balance,” Atallah said.
ICANN contracts with registered website owners require them to provide identifying information for Whois, but that clause would be invalid if it was made illegal.
“We hope that we can actually get the ICANN community to agree on a middle ground,” Atallah said.“This is forcing the issue.”
BERJAYA Philippines, Inc. booked a single-digit growth in the quarter ending January 2018, as the company recorded higher sales in its luxury automobiles segment.
In a regulatory filing posted on Wednesday, the listed firm reported a net income attributable to the parent of P194 million in the three months ending January, up by 3% from the P188 million it booked in the same period a year ago.
Revenues grew at a faster pace, picking up 26% in the same period to P6.87 billion against P5.45 billion in the three months ending January 2016.
This pushed Berjaya Philippines’ nine-month attributable profit to P624 million, jumping 76.8% year on year, while revenues gained 9.33% to P21.3 billion. Earnings per share in the company stood at six centavos.
“The increase was primarily due to a higher revenue contribution from H.R. Owen in the financial period under review,” the company said, adding that it also benefited from fluctuations of the British pound to the Philippine peso during the period.
H.R. Owen PLC is an England-based luxury vehicle dealership operator, which distributes luxury car brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti. Berjaya Philippines’ equity ownership in H.R. Owen is currently at 98.38%.
Berjaya Philippines also engages in the sale and distribution of vehicles under the Mazda brand through a 28.28% interest in Berjaya Auto Philippines, Inc. The company further has a 20% interest in Ssangyong Berjaya Motor Philippines, Inc., which also sells and distributes vehicles under the Ssangyong brand in the Philippines.
Berjaya Philippines is also in the hospitality business through Perdana Hotel Philippines, Inc., which operates Berjaya Makati Hotel in Makati City.
Also under its portfolio is Berjaya Pizza Philippines, Inc., which runs pizza chain Papa John’s Pizza.
Earlier this month, the company invested in restaurant operator Berjaya Food Berhad, which operates the Starbucks and Kenny Rogers Roasters brands in Malaysia.
Shares in Berjaya were last traded on March 13, with a closing price of P4.92 apiece. — Arra B. Francia
SUMMER MEANS that the sun is out, and if it is, well, so should you. Sub-Zero and Wolf give you more reasons to be out in the sun for this season with its new outdoor kitchen suite, consisting of a refrigerator, an outdoor grill, and a warming drawer. Barbeque parties might never be the same again.
The grill was presented via a sunset barbeque party with chef Tony Boy Escalante, the man behind Tagaytay’s famous Antonio’s and Balay Dako. Using the tools given him, Mr. Escalante prepared Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad, Risoni Salad, Grilled beef slides with caramelized onions and gruyere, leg of lamb, smoked pork ribs, and grilled cinnamon pineapples.
The Sub-Zero outdoor fridge drawers have been engineered to take on ambient temperatures of up to 43° Celsius. It is clad in heavy-gauge stainless steel that withstands UV rays, salt, and moisture, elements that would corrode lesser quality materials. This unit is efficiently sealed to lock in cold air, ensuring maximum freshness for food stored inside. It was built to create an ideal low-temperature, high-humidity environment that’s key to optimum preservation. This is available in a 24-inch width.
An example given by Deneb Plazuela, brand manager for Sub-Zero and Wolf, about a key feature of this fridge drawer is that this one does not sweat while placed outside — unlike you, or other refrigeration units.
As for the grill, it heats up from direct heat from powerful gas burners that are evenly absorbed by a layer of ceramic briquettes that then distribute uniform heat to the top surface. It also has individually contained grill burners that give you the freedom to work with varying temperature zones, so you can crank up the heat while grilling burgers, and carefully brown buns on a more medium setting — all at the same time. Even better, models at 36-inches and wider have a dedicated infrared sear zone. It also comes with a rotisserie system powered by an infrared burner, so you can rotate a whole chicken or even a leg of lamb without a hitch. This is one of the features that Mr. Escalante likes, saying that with the infrared burner, he can do anything, even braise or stew while the action happens in the grill.
Wolf’s 42-inch Freestanding Outdoor Grill with side burner and cart.
The grill can cost up to six digits, and if you can afford that, then you can definitely afford help. However, Stephen Sy, president of Focus Global, Inc. (which distributes the products) argued that maybe inside the house one trusts the help to putter around the kitchen, but it’s a different case in less formal settings outdoors.
“For the outdoors, you’d want to do it yourself,” he said. Even the guests can dive in and help.
Also, little known fact, but HRH Prince Philip, the duke of Edinburgh likes to slap sausages and steak on a grill by himself when he and his family (who just so happen to be royal) take their summer holidays.
“Most of our clients already have a beautiful outdoor space, so the outdoor kitchen really brings out the aesthetics of the place, and also the functionality of the [space],” said Ms. Plazuela.
As for Mr. Escalante, he liked the camaraderie fostered by being outside. There, he says, he can talk to his guests, not be stuck inside the kitchen, and he can even get some help, when the guests want to grill their own food. “Everybody gets involved.”
Sub-Zero and Wolf showrooms can be found in The Residences at Greenbelt, Twenty-Four Secen McKinley, Pioneer cor. Reliance Sts. in Mandaluyong City, and The Design Center of Cebu. — JLG
THE INSURANCE Commission (IC) has shut down five non-life insurers for failing to meet the minimum net worth requirement.
In a statement on Wednesday, IC said it shuttered the operations of five insurance firms, namely First Integrated Bonding & Insurance Co., Inc., Investors Assurance Corp., Metropolitan Insurance Company, Inc., Plaridel Surety & Insurance Co., and Premier Insurance & Surety Corp., and were put under conservatorship.
As a consequence, these companies are no longer permitted to write new insurance policies. The commission will then appoint a conservator for each of these insurers mandated to take charge of the management of the companies and their assets and liabilities.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said the regulatory body ceased the operations of these insurers after they failed to comply with the P550-million minimum net worth requirement set by the agency.
“These companies are not operating on net losses. Based on the respective 2016 annual statements of these companies, all have positive net worth but short of the minimum amount required under the Insurance Code,” Mr. Funa was quoted as saying in the statement.
However, Mr. Funa clarified that the insurers will continue to process and pay claims of their policy holders.
“This means all insurance contracts issued before the conservatorship order remain valid and the obligation of the company towards its policyholders still exists until the expiration of their policies.”
The insurance commissioner explained that the purpose of placing the insurers under conservatorship is “ to preserve the going concern value of the company, returning it to health or ultimately resulting in a receivership.”
“There are several routes that may result in the lifting of the conservatorship order including entering in a merger or consolidation with an existing insurer or a purchase and assumption agreement with an investor,” Mr. Funa said, adding that existing shareholders or new investors may infuse additional capital to meet the minimum net worth requirement.
Last month, seven insurers — six non-life and one life insurance firm — voluntarily surrendered their licenses to the IC for failing to meet the P550-million minimum net worth requirement, and were issued individual servicing licenses for the orderly run-off of their businesses.
As a result, the previous 66 non-life insurers in 2016 is now reduced to 55.
Under the amended Insurance Code, the minimum net worth of insurance companies shall increase every three years.
From the previous P250-million minimum net worth, IC required the insurers to have P550 million net worth effective end-2016.
The capitalization requirement will again increase to P900 million in 2019 and P1.3 billion in 2022.
In preparation for the next increase in net worth requirement, the commission will be requiring all insurers to submit their respective capital build-up plan.
Meanwhile, Mr. Funa assured the insuring public of the financial strength of the insurers despite their decrease in number. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
Washington — Security researchers said Tuesday they discovered flaws in chips made by Advanced Micro Devices that could allow hackers to take over computers and networks.
Israeli-based security firm CTS Labs published its research showing “multiple critical security vulnerabilities and exploitable manufacturer backdoors” in AMD chips.
CTS itemized 13 flaws, saying they “have the potential to put organizations at significantly increased risk of cyberattacks.”
The report comes weeks after Intel disclosed similar hardware-based flaws dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, sparking widespread computer security concerns and a congressional inquiry.
CTS said the newly discovered flaws could compromise AMD’s new chips that handle applications in the enterprise, industrial and aerospace sectors, as well as consumer products.
In a 20-page white paper, the researchers said the AMD Secure Processor, the gatekeeper responsible for the security of AMD processors, contains “critical vulnerabilities” that “could allow malicious actors to permanently install malicious code inside the Secure Processor itself.”
“These vulnerabilities could expose AMD customers to industrial espionage that is virtually undetectable by most security solutions,” the researchers said.
CTS said AMD’s Ryzen chipset, which AMD outsourced to a Taiwanese chip manufacturer, ASMedia, “is currently being shipped with exploitable manufacturer backdoors inside.”
This could allow attackers “to inject malicious code into the chip” and create “an ideal target” for hackers, the researchers said.
“CTS believes that networks that contain AMD computers are at a considerable risk,” the report said.
“The vulnerabilities we have discovered allow bad actors who infiltrated the network to persist in it, surviving computer reboots and reinstallations of the operating system.
“This allows attackers to engage in persistent, virtually undetectable espionage, buried deep in the system.”
AMD, one of the largest semiconductor firms specializing in processors for PCs and servers, said it was studying the latest report.
“At AMD, security is a top priority and we are continually working to ensure the safety of our users as new risks arise,” the California-based company said in a statement.
“We are investigating this report, which we just received, to understand the methodology and merit of the findings.”
Analysts at the security firm enSilo said the AMD flaws could be worse than those affecting Intel chips.
“The impact of these vulnerabilities is more severe than Meltdown/Spectre as it allows an attacker to execute highly privileged code and persist on the victim machine,” enSilo said in a blog post.
Additionally, some of the flaws may be nearly impossible to patch.
“We estimate that without patches from AMD, protection against the vulnerabilities can be limited at best,” enSilo researchers said. “The best protection is to block malware that attempts to leverage these vulnerabilities.” — AFP
BEIJING — China’s financial watchdogs are pushing for harsher rules and stepping up action against miscreants, spurred on by official pressure on them to curb risk in the financial system, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Officials at the central bank, as well as at the banking, insurance and securities regulators, have been stepping up their enforcement activities, which have been under increased scrutiny since late last year, the sources told Reuters.
Regulatory officials worry they may get into trouble for not acting fast enough or being tough enough on financial institutions, the sources said.
But senior industry sources say some of the new regulations, such as the central bank’s new rules restricting asset management, are unnecessarily harsh and can may hurt the development of the financial system and the economy.
President Xi Jinping has made it clear that the Communist Party must strengthen its leadership of the financial industry, which he says is key to national security.
The party is preparing a major overhaul of the country’s financial regulatory structure as it makes prevention of financial risk a top priority for the next three years. On Tuesday, China said it would merge the banking and insurance regulators and transfer some of their current roles to the central bank.
Much of the political pressure is coming from officials from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) who were installed at the regulators late last year, according to the sources with knowledge of the situation.
Originally tasked with rooting out officials engaged in corrupt practices, the inspectors are now expanding the scope of their activities, the sources said.
The inspectors are now also participating in internal discussions on drafting rules and implementing policy, they said.
Financial regulatory officials are being told to submit work materials unrelated to corruption to graft busters for review, sources with three different regulators said. Some officials have been criticized for lacking “teeth”, one of the sources said.
“They’re looking at almost everything, from regulation to the dining hall,” the source said. “It’s not just corruption-related. It’s everything. Where is the boundary?”
The CCDI, central bank, and the banking, insurance and securities regulators didn’t immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Xu Jia’ai, who in September was named head of the central bank’s disciplinary inspection unit, wrote in a report in February that collusion between “cats and rats” — referring to regulators and the financial institutions they oversee — had become a major risk in financial regulation.
The sources also said that many of the appointees had little experience in the financial sector.
“These people have no exposure or existing relations with the financial industry,” said Chen Long, China economist at Gavekal Dragonomics, speaking generally on the appointments. “That means they are more free to implement the anti-corruption mandates.”
In the past senior officials were typically drawn from relevant sectors or government bodies.
Xu established his credentials as a Zhejiang official, most recently serving as the head of the province’s Politics and Law Committee.
At the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Zhou Liang, a former official with the discipline commission without finance experience according to his official resume, was appointed vice chairman in November.
AVOID RESPONSIBILITY
At the regulators, there is now a sharper focus on issuing greater volumes of tough financial regulations, the sources with knowledge of the situation said.
“The anti-corruption campaign is binding the hands and feet” of regulators, said one source at a financial regulatory agency.
At the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which said in November that it was stepping up supervision of officials responsible for initial public offering (IPO) approvals, the approval rate of IPO applications had markedly declined, two people working closely with the regulator said, citing applications of similar quality.
“They are trying not to approve IPO applications in order to avoid responsibility,” said one of the people, referring to the officials at the regulator. “But China will lose many good companies to Hong Kong and New York capital markets if they continue to work this way.”
REGULATION, NOT DEVELOPMENT
The anti-corruption drive has been particularly intense at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, whose former chairman, Xiang Junbo, last April became the highest-ranking finance industry official to be investigated for corruption.
Since then, the commission has launched an internal movement calling for “cleaning up Xiang Junbo’s residual poisonous influence”.
Internally, Xiang was accused of loosening supervision for “financial crocodiles” with whom he was involved and held up as a cautionary tale for officials, two sources with knowledge of the situation said.
Staff were cautioned to avoid any personal interactions with the institutions they supervise, the sources said.
For all the agencies, the paramount task is now regulation, rather than development of their industries, said Chen Xingdong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas.
That assessment was echoed by a senior official at one of the financial regulatory bodies. “My job now is to regulate, not to develop,” the official said.
In the past, a primary focus of regulators was attracting businesses in order to seek rapid expansion of the industries they oversaw, according to sources within the agencies.
The new focus on tough regulation has led to some rare pushbacks by the financial industry. Last year, 10 banks objected to the People’s Bank of China’s move to tighten rules for the asset management sector, saying it could cause a rush of redemptions among other risks.
Analysts say they expect the tough regulatory stance to continue this year.
“2018 is the clean-up year,” said Chen at BNP Paribas. “The real challenge is to balance the clean-up and moving forward.” — Reuters
YAMANASHI, JAPAN — Admittedly, I never thought much of Japanese wines. I had on quite a few occasions, either it be during my travels to Japan or in Japanese restaurants within Asia, tasted Japanese wines, mostly the ones made from omnipresent varietals of Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Unfortunately though, none of the previous wines I tried managed to stick out as really good, and thus I have no single recollection of a brand I thoroughly enjoyed.
I do remember that the wines I tried were all decent, but closer to the New Zealand wine profile, as opposed to European counterparts. The Japanese Merlot in particular was like a juicy Marlborough NZ version. Then came my opportunity to visit Chateau Mercian, arguably Japan’s most awarded winery, and also the most high profile among the growing number of Japanese wineries at present.
HISTORY OF JAPANESE WINE CULTURE
Japan has traces of vineyards as early as the first century, found in Katsunuma, Yamanashi prefecture. But it was the arrival of Jesuit missionaries from Portugal in the 16th century that made wine consumption a more regular tradition. Saint Francis Xavier (a Spanish Catholic missionary, and cofounder of the Society of Jesus) led a Portuguese mission to Asia including Japan, and was the first known guest to bring wines as gifts to the feudal lords of Kyushu, the Daimyos. The Daimyos were the most powerful feudal rulers, controlling Japan from the 10th to the middle of the 19th century.
The wines consumed earlier in Japan were reds that the locals called Chintashu — a portmanteau created from the terms “tinto” (meaning red in Portuguese) and “shu” (Japanese for liquor). As expected, during the early, more primitive stages, wines were mostly imported and on the sweeter side, like ports, or port-like. Because of the unfamiliar taste of astringency and acidity, most imported bulk wines had some sort of sweeteners like honey and sugar added to them to make the finished wines more palatable to the local taste.
Over time, things started to change and this applied too to the wine consumption habits of a more well-traveled populace as well as better adoption of Western culture. The 1970s-1980s were the true start of Japan’s higher quality wine making and vineyard management, and the sprouting of new wineries. And 1970 was also the year Chateau Mercian as a brand was first marketed. Yamanashi remains the prefecture with the largest vineyard holdings in Japan, accounting for over 40% of wine production. Japan is the second largest wine consumer in Asia, second only to Mainland China.
The horizontal tasting of different Chateau Mercian Koshu wines.
CHATEAU MERCIAN
Yamanashi is just around 120 kilometers, or less than two hours, southwest of Tokyo, and encompasses the northern part of the famous Mount Fuji. The Chateau Mercian winery is located in Koshu-shi, and has a very nice visitor center — the visitor center is very similar to the Australian cellar door, complete with food menu and exclusive wines not found in other retail shops.
The winery actually started in 1877 under the Dainihon Yamanashi Wine Co. The company sent two highly motivated individuals, Masanari Takano, one of the company’s shareholders, and Ryuken Tsuchiya, the eldest son of one of the founders, Katsuemon Tsuchiya, to France to learn wine making techniques and methods. The two gentlemen would bring back their learned skills and techniques and share them with the other employees. But the company encountered disaster when the cuttings and seedlings they brought back from France were infested and would not grow on Japanese soil.
There was also the problem of selling wines in general, as wines were not popular in Japan during those days. The company dissolved in 1886, but Kotaro Miyazaki, one of Dainihon’s shareholders, decided to continue the business and took over its equipment. Miyazaki then teamed up with Ryuken Tsuchiya and his younger brother Yasuyuki to form Kaisan Winery. Miyazaki registered the illustration of “Daikokuten” as a trademark and “Daikoko,” the God of Wealth and Commerce, and one of the Seven Lucky Gods, as a brand for Kaisan Winery in 1891. Daikoku would become the first breakthrough wine brand in Japan.
In 1949, the Mercian brand, a more marketing savvy name was created. The name coined from the words “merci” — French for “thank you” — and “an,” meaning a “person.” “Chateau” was added to the name in 1970, and in 2006, Chateau Mercian became a part of the huge Kirin Group conglomerate. In 2010, the Mercian Katsunuma Winery was rebuilt and became Chateau Mercian which is now a modern state-of-the-art winery.
THE KOSHU EVOLUTION
Koshu is a grape varietal native to Japan, and found primarily in the Yamanashi prefecture. It is a pink-skinned grape varietal most likely imported from the Caucasus through the Silk Road around a thousand years ago. Koshu is actually the former name for Yamanashi, but is now known as the wine varietal.
Shigueo Masugi, Chateau Mercian Visitor Center senior wine advisor, explains the koshu grape.
The Koshu wines piqued my interest over other varietals made by Chateau Mercian primarily because it is truly and authentically Japanese. I tried Koshu wine many years back when chef Gene Gonzales invited me to taste some of the Japanese wines brought in by visiting Japanese businessmen at Café Ysabel restaurant. I remember the wines to be quite crisp, light and flinty, with nice citrusy aromatics. But that was sadly the last time I encountered Koshu till this present day visit to Chateau Mercian.
According to Chateau Mercian, the winery took a chance on the wine making process by experimenting on the sur lie process in 1983. Sur lie which in French means “on the lees,” is the process of allowing a finished wine to continue to sit on the lees in order to extract more flavors. Lees refer to deposits of dead yeast or residual yeast after fermentation, and is a popular method in Loire, especially for Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine AOC. This Mercian way created a Koshu wine that is crisper, dry, and much fuller in flavors. Chateau Mercian shared the sur lie method on koshu with other wineries in Katsunuma to spearhead the improved quality of Japan’s only true varietal wine.
When I was in Chateau Mercian, I opted to do a horizontal tasting of the four different Koshu wines in order to better understand this less well-known varietal.
Here are my customary tasting notes:
• Chateau Mercian Koshu Kiiroka 2016 — “this is a stainless steel-aged version; very fresh, crisp, slightly herbaceous and leafy, longan fruit, with mineral notes on a dry finish; a very easy and subtle flavored wine”;
• Chateau Mercian Tanzawa Single Vineyard Koshu 2016 — “this is a wine exclusively available in the visitor center only, and extremely limited with [a] tiny [run of] 545 bottles made; the wine is aged half in stainless steel and half in oak cask; vivacious, more acidity, tangy, with nice creamy backbone, butter, grapefruit-citrus, slate, white pepper and a dry minerally finish”;
• Chateau Mercian Barrel Fermented Koshu 2016 — “this barrel-fermented version shows more power, the nose is more savory, meatier, rich but acid, quite crisp on the palate, very clean, and [with a] nice slightly spicy finish”;
• Chateau Mercian Gris de Gris (skin-fermented) 2016 — “Gris de Gris means ‘grey from grey’ in French, but in this case, it means there is skin contact during fermentation with the pinkish-skinned Koshu grape; the skin fermentation stayed on for two weeks to extract not only some color, but also more flavors; the color is more pale salmon rather than rosé, but the nose has more character, and is the most aromatic among the four Koshu wines; cantaloupe, lemon-citrus, more green in terms of presence of bitterness, but round out quite well with [a] dry fresh cut grass finish.”
These Koshu wines are best enjoyed with sushi and sashimi, and it makes a lot of sense! The concept is no different than regional wines in Europe pairing well with their regional cuisines. I hope to see more Koshu wines coming to our side of Asia as we attempt to further demystify this exotic grape from Japan.
The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at twitter.com/sherwinlao.
CHINESE PHONE manufacturer Xiaomi is optimistic it will regain traction in the Philippine market as it taps local online distribution channels and plans to open flagship stores outside Metro Manila.
“Actually, our main goal for the Philippines this time is to come back. We want to make a comeback so we didn’t really set how much we want to do. We want to, firstly, make the confidence of our movement first because we know we have been away for some time,” Regional Director John Chen told reporters on the sidelines of Xiaomi’s launch of new mobile phones on Monday, March 12. He added that they do not have any specific goals for sales so far.
Xiaomi stopped bring its products to the Philippines in 2015 in order to focus its resources on the Indian market.
“The goal for us is to actually make confidence in the market step by step so we want to make our channel partners, our online partners, our new friends, know that we are good and we are bringing a lot of product,” he added.
Xiaomi has partnered with online shopping companies Shopee and Lazada to market its products. The company is also opening its second flagship store, the Mi Store, in SM Megamall on March 17. It also plans to open three more Mi Stores, one in Metro Manila and two outside the city.
The company will be capitalizing on its status as the fourth largest smartphone vendor, according to the International Data Corporation, and its recent overtaking of Samsung as the number one vendor in India for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Its main smartphone offerings include the Redmi 5A, launched Monday and priced at P4,390 and the Redmi 5 Plus priced at P9,990, to be launched this week.
The entry-level Redmi 5A has a 13-megapixel rear camera, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and a 3,000 mAh battery, while the Redmi 5 Plus features 4 Gb RAM and 64 Gb internal storage.
Mr. Chen emphasized the importance of the Philippine market in its expansion strategy for Southeast Asia.
“I think it’s one of the… equally important as other major markets in the region for me,” he said.
Mr. Chen added the company plans to put up more Mi Stores depending on its performance this year.
“We are not afraid of the competition. I think our only competitor is ourselves. We are going to outpace ourselves last year.” — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
THE GOVERNMENT expects the national ID to hurdle the Senate next week ahead of its adjournment.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said on Wednesday that he was optimistic about the approval after the bill entered the plenary deliberation stage.
“Senate deliberation will continue this week, I’m hopeful that the bill will be passed into law as early as next week,” Mr. Diokno said during a press conference yesterday.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson sponsored Senate Bill No. 1738 on Monday, saying that the measure would enhance the delivery of government services as it eliminates other forms of identification when transacting business.
Mr. Lacson has said that his target for the bill’s approval is within the first quarter.
In a social media post yesterday, Mr. Lacson said: “The days of multiple ID’s in our wallets are numbered. It’s only a matter of time for Filipinos to have a valid proof of identity as a means to simplify public and private transactions.”
A counterpart bill in the House of Representatives was approved in September.
Mr. Diokno said that the ID will have more advanced security features and includes biometric data. A total of P2 billion has been allotted for the development of the system by a third-party contractor together with the Department of Information and Communications Technology but will be rolled out by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Mr. Diokno said that he is “confident” that the system will be up and running within the year.
“Some people do not get services because they do not have any ID. This is long overdue many countries have done this… we need this,” he said.
The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council identified the measure as “urgent” in August.
The national ID system is a key component of the plan to make unconditional cash transfers to low-income families affected by higher prices from the tax reform program, with reliable ID helping ensure the benefits will go only to those entitled to them.
The P24.5 billion for the cash transfers has been released by DBM to Land Bank of the Philippines for distribution, Mr. Diokno said it will no longer wait for the enactment of the national ID before the funds are mobilized. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
