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NGCP faces right-of-way challenges in P52-B power interconnection project

DAVAO CITY — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is facing challenges in land acquisition for the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP), but assured that the P52-billion infrastructure remains on track for the 2020 target completion.
NGCP Communications and Public Affairs Officer Michael O. Ligalig said the challenges include valuation negotiations with landowners, and uncertain ownership due to absence of proper land titles with sometimes two claimants.
“We have to resolve first all the right-of-way concerns (to avoid stalling the project rollout),” Mr. Ligalig said at a media forum here.
He said they started negotiating with lot owners as early as 2017 and some cases have been filed in court to resolve conflicts.
The MVIP will link Mindanao to the interconnected Luzon-Visayas grid, creating a nationwide network for power supply.
The connecting points are southern Cebu in the Visayas and Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Lanao del Norte in Mindanao.
Mr. Ligalig said Zamboanga del Norte is one of the areas where there are right-of-way issues.
The MVIP will involve submarine cables spanning 184 circuit-kilometers and 526 circuit-kilometers of overhead lines.
NGCP plans to begin laying underwater cables by next year.
“There is no problem in underwater cabling, only inland acquisition,” Mr. Ligalig said. — Maya M. Padillo

‘Made in Cambodia’ may become new fashion label with tariffs hitting China

THE NEXT designer handbag you buy is less likely to bear a “made in China” label.
Fashion companies, eager to diversify their supply chains, were already expanding into production sites in Southeast Asia as alternatives to China. Then the trade war happened.
Now, with tariffs on products such as Chinese handbags set to rise, nations like Cambodia and Vietnam are looking more attractive than ever for consumer-goods makers such as Steven Madden Ltd. and Tapestry Inc.’s Coach. And while the Trump administration has slapped duties on goods from many of its largest trading partners this year, it’s allowed some Cambodian products to continue duty-free access to the US market.
“The shift has been under way,” said Steve Lamar, executive vice president of American Apparel & Footwear Association. The talk of tariffs has created “a lot of anxiety” and companies are gauging how fast they can make more changes to their sourcing, he said.
A study released in July by the US Fashion Industry Association showed that, while all of the companies participating in the survey sourced goods from China, 67% expected to decrease the value or volume of production in the country over the next two years. US trade protectionism was listed as the number one challenge for the industry.
MOVING OUTPUT
Steven Madden Chief Executive Officer Edward Rosenfeld said on the company’s most recent earnings call that it has been shifting production of its handbags to Cambodia from China. The maker of shoes and accessories sees 15% of its handbags coming from Cambodia this year, with this percentage doubling in 2019.
“That gives us frankly about a three-year head start on most of our peers, because many folks are just now trying to make that move,” Rosenfeld said at the July 31 conference call. “Our head of handbag sourcing is actually over there right now, working on a plan to ramp that up.”
Tapestry, the luxury company behind Coach and Kate Spade handbags, has adopted a similar strategy, boosting its Vietnamese production and leaving less than 5% of its sourcing from China. Vera Bradley, meanwhile, mentioned last December it is looking at sending manufacturing operations to Cambodia and Vietnam from China.
INVESTMENT INCENTIVES
“Cambodia does offer pretty good investment incentives like tax holidays,” said Matt van Roosmalen, country manager for Cambodia at Emerging Markets Consulting, an investment advisory firm focused on Southeast Asia. “As long as the tariff exemptions persist, companies will be more incentivized to invest production capacity in Cambodia.”
The moves to shift production have had an impact in China: Hong Kong-based Stella International Holdings Ltd. — which develops and manufactures footwear for brands like Prada SpA and Guess? Inc. — has seen its stock drop to its lowest point since 2009 as China and the US ratchet up the trade rhetoric.
Cambodia footwear exports rose 25% in 2017, while garment exports increased 8% in the same period, according to an annual report by the National Bank of Cambodia, which attributed the growth in part to increased demand from the US.
Vietnam, meanwhile, has enjoyed a foreign investor-led economic boom for years, attracting billion-dollar investments from the likes of Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. It is transforming from mainly an exporter of agricultural commodities, such as rice and coffee, to a Southeast Asian manufacturing hub.
“The country enjoys relatively low inflation, a stable currency, and political stability — all of which helps to attract foreign investment,” said Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi. “The opportunities are clear — Vietnam is a country of 95 million people traveling pretty quickly on the path from bicycles to motorbikes to BMWs.”
Even before China and the US escalated trade tensions, Cambodia enjoyed duty-free privileges for products such as handbags, suitcases and wallets, part of a US program to help boost development in low-income countries. This designation has so far been maintained by the Trump administration.
In addition to the tariff threat, wages have risen steadily in China, while Cambodia remains one of the lowest-cost countries when it comes to labor. According to estimates provided by Oxford Economics, labor cost in Cambodia is a quarter of China’s.
‘NOT EASY’
Lamar, of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, does recommend caution, however.
“The reality, unfortunately, is that shifting out of China is not easy,” he said.
One reason is that cheap labor does not necessarily equal effective production. Cambodia’s productivity rates are low compared to China, making it a challenge to manufacture more elaborate products. In a survey by the Hong Kong Development Council, which promotes trade and investment for the territory, factory managers suggested that the average labor productivity of Cambodian workers was about 50 to 60% that of Chinese workers.
Another reason is that Cambodia’s infrastructure is well behind China’s. The nation’s infrastructure ranked 106 out of 137, behind neighbors Vietnam and Laos, in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report.
This can cause difficulties in getting merchandise out of the country, Lamar said.
‘FLAWED’ ELECTIONS
Then there’s politics.
The US government recently said that Cambodian elections in July, in which the ruling party won all 125 seats in the National Assembly, were “flawed.”
As a result, the US and Europe could review their trade policies and “potentially stop giving tariff preference to Cambodia’s garment industry,” said Tommy Wu, senior economist at Oxford Economics. Such a move would be a blow for the nation, where garments make up 64 percent of total exports.
“Setting more output in Cambodia should be taken with caution until the political dust settles,” said Sophal Ear, associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College in Los Angeles. — Bloomberg

Stars for all seasons

By Cecille Santillan-Visto
Concert Review
Season of GFriend in Manila
Aug. 26
Kia Theater, Cubao, Quezon City
“FULL FAN experience” best describes the concert of K-pop group GFriend in Manila over the weekend.
VVIP ticket holders were given the opportunity not just to watch the concert but to get access to pre- and post-event activities such as the red carpet, photo and hi-touch sessions, as well as the press conference and the sound check that followed. It was literally a whole day of GFriend interaction and for the group’s fans — called Buddies — it was well worth the money spent on the tickets.
The show was originally set for Aug. 19 but the airplane mishap at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport forced the producer, My Music Taste, to reschedule the concert for a week later.
The six-member girl group apologized for making its fans wait but the ladies made sure the show more than made up for the inconvenience. The three-hour spectacle had Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji singing some of their biggest hits, combined with solo performances that highlighted their individual dancing and singing skills.
There were five sets, with the ladies dishing out 28 songs, including two encore numbers, “My Buddy” and “Falling Asleep Again.” While the stage and the overall production were neither outlandish nor grand — there was only one LCD screen which served as the stage’s backdrop — the relative simplicity suited the size of the venue.
GFriend opened with “Fingertip” from its The Awakening album and “Navillera,” a cut from LOL. Wearing sexy, military uniform-inspired outfits, they followed these up with “Crush” and “Ave Maria.” To give themselves a breather, they slowed things by singing the ballad versions of “Summer Rain” and “Mermaid.”
During the brief press conference held at the Novotel shortly before the concert, the GFriend members said that, if given the chance, they would want to have an acoustic collaboration with award-winning Filipino singer Morissette Amon. Eunha also gamely shared with fans that opening a hamburger restaurant has always been in her bucket list.
Each had the opportunity to take the spotlight during their solo stages. SinB gyrated to BoA’s “No. 1” even if she was suffering from a shoulder injury and was unable to participate in the hi-touch that followed the concert. Sowon, meanwhile, danced to “Gashina,” an original of Sunmi. Umji, Eunha, Yuju and Yerin also sang “23” (IU), “Bloom” (Gain), “Heaven” (Ailee), and “U Go Girl” (Hyori), respectively. It would have been better if they had original solos but since GFriend is a relatively new group — they were launched only in 2015 — they will likely have more opportunities for separate projects in the future.
It was the second time that GFriend performed in Manila as the group was also here last year for the K-Pop Republic 2 concert. This was their first full solo concert in the Philippines.
“Filipino Buddies always welcome us with passionate and energy and (every visit) is very unforgettable,” Sowon said. Noticeably, male fans made up more than half of the audience and with fan boys in the crowd, the baritone chants that accompanied each of GFriend’s songs were a delightful sidelight.
With the recent disbandment of girl group, Sistar, GFriend wants to be known as the K-pop fandom’s “summer friends.” Sistar was best known as K-pop “queens of summer,” regularly churning chart-topping summer-themed songs. Last Saturday, the audience was pleasantly surprised when the group sang “Sunny Summer” as this song was not included in the regular show set list.
As Korea is experiencing its hottest summer in centuries, GFriend, during the Q&A session, reminded fans planning to visit Korea to keep themselves cool by eating naengmyeon (a type of cold noodle) and, if possible, avoiding spicy food.
Other well-applauded songs were “Me Gustas Tu,” “LOL,” “Glass Bead” “Rainbow,” and “Time for the Moon Night.”
GFriend songs are upbeat and easy on the ears. However, there were several segments during the concert when a dispassionate spectator may have felt that the tempo and melody of some of the songs were similar, if not the same.
But this has always been the trademark GFriend — light and airy and nothing heavy — so that their music can be enjoyed whatever the season.

Bullet in the head

By Noel Vera
Television Review
Loving You
(Mou mei san taam)
Directed by Johnnie To
Available on Netflix
BACK in the mid-1990s I found myself hooked on a particularly intense habit: Johnnie To movies. I’d seen A Hero Never Dies and The Barefoot Kid (his one period martial-arts film) and had been digging through various DVDs ever since, hoping to find more.
Found this: Loving You (Mou mei san taam, 1995), what To considers his first real directing job (he’d made his first feature in 1980; by the time he did this he had some 16 films under his belt). A crime flick with an inordinate focus on a failing marriage, a marriage melodrama with a terrifically tense confrontation 30 minutes in — I mean how would you handle the situation where you’re pinned in an alleyway by a villain on a fire escape, gun pointed down at you? He’d already fired a shot at your head and in the confusion the bullet had somehow missed its mark. Then your nose starts bleeding.
To takes two genres (the crime thriller, the troubled marriage) and deftly caroms between to keep the viewer off-guard or at least interested. His cop Inspector Lau (Lau Ching Wan) is not just flawed but a downright bastard, picking up a woman while his wife waits at her mother’s. Lau takes his job more seriously — he turns down a request to look the other way at an arrest — but you sense a life just this side of out of control. James McNulty might take one look at this guy and give an involuntary nod — not out of admiration (by the end of The Wire he’s presumably learned his lesson) but out of reluctant recognition.
Two things strike you watching the rest of the film: To has done research on the effects of a bullet passing through the corpus callosum into the sinus passages (hence the horrific nosebleed) — or at least put enough imaginative thought into the possible effects of such a wound that you’re persuaded. And To, taking a screenplay by Yau Nai-Hoi (he’d done The Barefoot Kid for To, and would go on to write everything from A Hero Never Dies to To’s latest Three), fashions a remarkably nuanced portrait of a relationship suddenly rent apart, slowly healing. The head wound takes on metaphorical significance: the corpus callosum links the right and left hemispheres of the brain together, communicates between them; by partially severing contact, the two halves operate as two separate minds, almost. The injury to Lau’s brain isn’t so immediately grave (only some of the nerves have been damaged, leading to a loss of smell and taste), but the injury to his marriage is. Lau’s brain slowly recuperates with physical therapy and considerable outside help; his marriage is a different matter.
This was Lau Ching Wan’s first collaboration with To, and through the years the actor would prove as valuable to the filmmaker as Chow Yun Fat to John Woo, or Robert De Niro to Martin Scorsese. Lau’s large expressive eyes, plump cheeks, and small sullen mouth (that can stretch unexpectedly into an ear-to-ear grin) suggest an overgrown boy with shallow enthusiasms and at times something more dangerous, the thick brows gathering above his eyes like storm clouds. He’s the volatile mix that fuels much of the film’s plot.
As Lau’s wife Carman Lee operates under a handicap; she’s relentlessly sidelined, is given little to do at the film’s climax other than scream, and, as far as I can tell, doesn’t even have a proper name (A subtitling omission? HKDB lists her as “Carman”). She looks as if her main purpose is as plot function, but the actor is a quietly intelligent presence, no emotional bag of hormones but a tactful thoughtful woman feeling her way through the intricately knotted problem of her life — if she manages to puncture her husband’s swollen ego (her act of defiance seems to cause more pain to Lau than the bullet ever did) it’s not out of revenge but as an act of survival, a desperate bid for love in a desert of a relationship. Male braggadocio and emotional outbursts don’t sway her; when Lau showers her with extravagant attention, cooking her a full meal of fried fish and roast chicken, she’s skeptical: “Why are you being so nice to me? I know you’re angry.” She’s apparently more susceptible to a steady presence and soft-spoken appeal — but only susceptible; it’s her will that decides, not her heart.
As drug dealer Gwan, To Tsung Hua is sleek and impassive. Doesn’t do much, but with an economy of gesture sketches a ruthless villain with speed, ingenuity, imagination. Yes, he’s a plot function — the inevitable Other that inflicts wrenching stress on Lau’s marriage (ironic considering Lau inflicts plenty of stress on his own) — but for what he is, Gwan is elegantly done, and not a little memorable.
The ending is standard issue with thousands of gallons of igniting gasoline, but hopefully, by this time the viewer appreciates what To managed to pull off — a lovely little character study that cracks open an essentially self-centered, terminally macho soul, then builds him up into something more open, more vulnerable, ultimately more adaptable that you can actually care for, even perhaps root for. To will go on to more impressive displays of visual virtuosity (The Mission), broader explorations of politics and society (the Election films), but this, I submit, is an early masterpiece, gritty noir thriller and intimate human drama poised in delicate balance. Arguably my favorite To, till something better comes along.

Don’t cross

By Richard Roeper
McCall
Movie Review
The Equalizer 2
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
AT LEAST half the time, Robert McCall is more of a Wish Granter/Life Saver than an Equalizer.
A kindly bookstore operator’s ex-husband and his evil henchmen have kidnapped her daughter and are taking her to Turkey. She’ll never see her little girl again! We’ll see about that, says the Life Saver.
A Holocaust survivor who was separated from his sister when they were children is convinced she’s alive, but nobody believes the sometimes confused old man. Give me a little time to look into this, says the Wish Granter.
Thing of it is, McCall’s beneficiaries often don’t even know the identity of their guardian angel. They just think of him as the unassuming neighborhood bookworm and Lyft driver who always has a kind word and carries himself with quiet confidence. He hardly looks the part of a superhero.
Ah, but we know the truth about the widower McCall. We know he’s a highly decorated former military man and ex-CIA Black Ops specialist. We know he was quietly spending his retirement in Boston, avoiding trouble — until he couldn’t look the other way anymore. Now he’s back in the game, but on his own terms, as a freelancer who works alone.
In The Equalizer 2, the great Denzel Washington hits a variety of notes reprising his role as McCall, in a brilliant performance that often rises above the pulpy, blood-soaked material.
When McCall is coping with his OCD and interacting with his neighbors and his Lyft customers, he’s funny and warm and a little bit sad at times.
When McCall is spitting fire while telling a gifted high school kid to make a choice between becoming a gun-totting gangbanger or doing something meaningful with his life, it’s as if we’re suddenly watching a powerful stage performance.
And when McCall (and presumably a stunt double or two) is dispatching garden-variety bro-jerks or heavily armed mercenaries, it’s all about cheering for the quality kills and cringing at some of the bone-cracking violence and even laughing at how coolly McCall bests his opponents — not only physically, but when it comes to action-movie one-liners as well.
Antoine Fuqua, who directed Washington’s Oscar-winning turn in Training Day (2001) and helmed the first Equalizer (2014), returns for the sequel. It’s slick, violent, fast-paced, well-acted but by-the-numbers summer fare.
This is the kind of movie where it’s OK to nudge the person next to you (if you know the person next to you) and whisper, “He’s not going to get out of this movie alive,” or, “It’s so obvious THAT guy is a double-crosser!” It feels as if the screenplay is designed to give you the satisfaction of always being right — not to mention how it stacks the deck by making each of McCall’s opponents so cartoonishly despicable, they deserve the street justice doled out by our guy.
EQ2 is pure B-movie in terms of plot, but we get A-list performances from wonderful actors such as Melissa Leo, who returns as McCall’s former boss, Susan Plummer; Bill Pullman as Susan’s husband, a historian and author; Pedro Pascal as McCall’s former partner in the CIA, who has long thought McCall was dead; and Ashton Sanders (who played the teenage Chiron in Moonlight) as Miles, a teenage neighbor of McCall’s at a pivotal crossroad in his young life.
Fuqua the stylist has never been one to shy away from ominous metaphors and impressively choreographed, extended action sequences — and, oh boy, is that the case here. For days, there’s talk of a storm coming. Ooh, double meaning! We get an actual storm that is close to hurricane level and, of course, the bleep-storm of justice McCall will eventually rain down upon those who dare cross him. (Yet even when the storm is raging and McCall’s main adversary is struggling to keep his balance and stop McCall, he still spits out standard Yapping Villain insults, eventually running out of verbal ammo and yelling, “F— you!”)
There’s no real story to speak of in EQ2. Many of the action sequences are self-contained vignettes in which McCall either quietly helps out someone he knows, or takes matters into his own hands when he happens upon a grave injustice.
The main plot line is put into motion when some hired killers take out a guy who seems to be some sort of diplomat or businessman and his wife in Belgium, and McCall eventually becomes involved. There’s not much effort to tie it all together with any kind of plausible, big-picture cohesion, but no matter.
All we need to know is some very bad people have crossed Robert McCall, and that’s almost always a deadly mistake. — Chicago Sun-Times/Andrews McMeel Syndication
Rating: Three stars
MTRCB Rating: R-13

Office politics: How to rock the boat gently

I’m the human resource manager of a medium-size factory. We’re having trouble in getting the cooperation of people to attend our management programs, including our in-house seminars. This is due to office politics between two department managers. When Manager “A” initiates a training program with the help of HR, almost always, we can expect that Manager “B” will not participate, even to the extent of prohibiting his workers from attending. When “B” organizes another program, we can always expect “A” to do the same thing. It happens all the time. In the meantime, the CEO who is about to retire, is content to bury his head in the sand. Is there a cure for this? — Yellow Submarine.
A newly-elected congressman was visiting Washington D.C. to get acquainted with national politics. He was visiting the home of a friendly, seasoned senator who was trying to explain to his guest the bizarre wonders of the country’s capital. As they stood looking out over the Potomac River, an old, rotten, deteriorating log floated by.
The old-timer said: “This city is like that dead log out there.” The new legislator asked: “How’s that?” The senator replied: “Well, there are probably over 100,000 ants, bugs, and critters on that old log as it floats down the river. And I imagine every one of them thinks that he’s steering it.”
Your factory is like that old log floating down the river, except that it is being steered by the perpetual conflict between managers “A” and “B.” Office politics are a reality in any work situation, and your case is not unique. But one thing is sure — it is causing major problems for other departments, including HR.
In your case, the main protagonists are managers “A” and “B.” You’re in luck. Imagine the how much bigger the problem would be if these two managers rallied their supporters from other departments. Well, I hope not. Whatever the case, office politics shouldn’t be taken lightly even if your CEO is looking elsewhere. However, this doesn’t mean that you should take the place of the uncaring CEO. Therefore, the best cure that I can propose in managing office politics is as follows:
One, resist the appearance that you’re siding with any of the protagonists. As much as possible, politely turn down suggestions to go to lunch or socialize with any of the concerned managers. Get away from the apple-polishing attempts by either one, but without alienating the concerned manager. If the other side notices your excessive time with the other, chances are, you will be in big trouble, and the situation may further escalate animosity.
Two, make yourself busy so that you can avoid playing office politics. Do the same thing with your staff and colleagues in your department. Give them challenging tasks with rigid time lines, so that they will not have the extra time to talk about office politics and be bothered by it. Advise your staff and colleagues to avoid office politics at all costs, even if circumstances prove to be difficult.
Three, organize all programs without the help of other departments. Even if one manager initiates a program, make it appear that it comes from the HR department. If you do that, get the cooperation of the originating manager so that your action would not be misinterpreted. This way, even if you don’t necessarily make any friends out of the two, at least you avoid making enemies.
Four, understand where the real power lies. This is difficult to do when you have two managers holding almost equivalent job title and rank in the organization. At times, you don’t know who has the stronger influence on top management. But one thing is sure. You will know who has the upper hand. One of them may be constantly sought for advice and given more challenging assignments, while the other manager may be virtually ignored. Just the same, don’t be swayed by this because you don’t know how it will end.
Last, be careful not to be critical of any or both warring managers. The cardinal rule is not to criticize anyone behind his back, much more your uncaring CEO. In any organization, negative comments usually enter the grapevine and inevitably reach the person being criticized. If that happens, even if a neutral manager or office janitor should hear it, expect it to be held against you when the time comes.
Should you be playing office politics? It’s difficult to give a categorical answer. Office politics is a double-edged sword that an HR professional must handle carefully. Even if you don’t want to play politics as I’ve suggested in number one above, sometimes, it’s almost impossible to avoid under certain circumstances.
If one tries to edge his way into favor with you and fails, that person may not miss an opportunity to get his revenge when the time comes. On the other hand, if you play politics with another person, expect to find footprints on your back if you let him walk all over you.
Of course, the complexity and extent of office politics may vary from one company to another. The important point is to be aware of it and make at least a minimal effort not to be deeply involved.
 
Send questions or comments to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting

Embodying the CFO of Industry 4.0

GONE are the days when the chief financial officer (CFO) was the glorified controller who makes sure the books are right and the treasury is in robust health. In recent years, the role is increasingly being redefined in order for companies around the world to survive and stay sustainable in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Industry 4.0 is a tough place to navigate. It’s rife with smart technologies that redefine business models, automation that’s fast displacing manual work while creating new jobs, and huge amounts of data generating invaluable insight into the marketplace. CFOs are at the crossroads of this transformation and have to quickly hit the reset button.
In the Ayala-FINEX Finance summit held on August 15, 2018, various speakers invited by the Financial Executives Institutes of the Philippines (FINEX) shared their thoughts on how CFOs can stay ahead in this highly challenging environment. One of them, Mr. Yu Ming Chin, executive director of Viventis Search Asia, cited critical things that CFOs need to brave this new world.
One is to apply strong and agile management skills. Agile is everywhere, and it has turned into a true buzzword being talked about from the C-suite to the project management level. Its textbook definition is to move quickly and easily; in the CFO role, it entails having a strong sense of perspective sensing, able to observe as well as react to exogenous changes in the organization and industry.
“We, as CFOs, embody the body of inertia. We ourselves are the pillar of resistance to change,” Mr. Chin said, highlighting the need for a profoundly new a personal and professional mindset to develop agile thinking.
He explained that from merely presenting balance sheets and income statements, finance leaders are entering “a critical chasm” where they need to take a certain amount of risk to be a true partner in guiding the company’s strategy and direction. Mr. Chin encouraged a balance between risk taking and risk management, and worrying less about making a misstep than taking a leap of faith.
Another interesting suggestion is for CFOs to invest in ABC — for artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, and the cloud. Indeed, as explained by the other speakers from IBM and KPMG who were all experts in the field of technology, much of their true potential and applications are still to be fully realized, but AI, blockchain, and similar new technologies are likely to have a huge transformation impact on the finance function today and in the coming years.
Closely tied to investment in ABC is planning and managing workforce transformation by building a future of finance road map, which involves training and re-centering the intelligence of finance professionals to succeed in Industry 4.0. The success of any finance leader is built around a strong team so the CFO needs to employ people, not just for their technical know-how, but also their ability to strategize, problem-solve, and infuse rigorous technology into finance work.
Of course, the old-fashioned value of integrity is here to stay. CFOs are the de facto vanguards of integrity in the organization, whose failure is often a failure of its integrity. Thus, in a very unpredictable environment, they need to apply a strong leadership to maintain a cohesive team of the right people with the right solutions, right infrastructure, and right values in place.
Indeed, with robots and rapid digitalization already crossing over from science fiction to our industries, the CFO is better positioned to add significantly more value to the business in real time, at lower levels of risk and cost, and with greater levels of automated control.
There are more exciting times ahead. FINEX, together with ING Bank, continues to shine the spotlight on the country’s outstanding CFOs through the 12th ING FINEX CFO of the Year Award. The annual search, which is open to all qualified CFOs from the public and private sectors, publicly listed or unlisted companies, is accepting nominations until August 31, 2018. For those interested to nominate excellent CFOs they know, I invite you to go to the Search website, www.ingfinexcfooftheyear.com.
 
Ma. Victoria C. Españo is the President of the Financial Executives’ Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) and the Chairperson and CEO of Punongbayan & Araullo Grant Thornton, one of the leading Audit, Tax Advisory and Outsourcing firms in the Philippines.
marivic.espano@ph.gt.com

Hyundai to ship China-made cars to Southeast Asia amid recovery

SEOUL/BEIJING — Hyundai Motor Co. plans to ship China-made cars to Southeast Asia, its China joint venture and two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as a plunge in Chinese sales has left much of its massive local manufacturing capacity idled.
Hyundai once ranked third by China sales alongside affiliate Kia Motors Corp. But just as it opened its fifth factory in the country last year, a diplomatic dispute saw Chinese consumers turn against South Korean goods, damaging Hyundai’s sales and brand image.
Diplomatic ties have since normalized but Hyundai’s recovery has been erratic. The automaker booked China sales of 30,018 cars in July, down 40% from July last year and its lowest monthly total since the 2008 global financial crisis. Yet sales for January-July are up 17%.
“A China recovery will take time. Hyundai needs a survival plan,” said one of the people with direct knowledge of Hyundai’s China operations, who were not authorized to speak to the media and so declined to be identified.
The experience exposed South Korean companies’ reliance on the Chinese market, pushing the Seoul government to court counterparts in Southeast Asia where the number of Korean cars is paltry compared with those of neighboring Japan.
“Hyundai is considering (exporting China-made vehicles) to emerging markets such as Southeast Asia,” the person said. “Europe may also be a consideration.”
Most vehicles foreign automakers build in China with local joint-venture partners are destined for the domestic market. Among those that export China-made vehicles, General Motors Co. (GM) ships to the United States and Volkswagen AG (VW) plans to export to Southeast Asia.
A spokesman at Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. — Hyundai’s Chinese joint venture with Beijing Automotive Group Co. Ltd. (BAIC) — confirmed the export plan.
“Yes, we plan to export cars to Southeast Asia. The earliest could be the end of this year,” he said. The automaker will decide on models depending on local demand, he said.
Hyundai in a statement said the plans are not yet finalized.
“Our main focus is on further developing our businesses in China, but we are also considering different options which may include exports of China factory-specific models,” Hyundai said.
TARIFFS
China was once the biggest market for Hyundai-Kia, whose local production was exceeded only by VW and GM. Yet their data showed a market share of 4.4 percent compared with 8.1 percent before the diplomatic spat, and as high as 10.5% in 2012.
Exacerbating Hyundai’s plight is the increasing popularity of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) — a segment in which the automaker has relatively few models — as well as heightened price competitiveness of domestic rivals.
Hyundai recently replaced the head of its China venture and gave its research-and-development vice chairman the added responsibility of overseeing China product development. It aims to sell 900,000 cars in China this year versus 785,000 last year, however the target is almost half of its 1.65 million vehicle capacity.
Should it export from China to Southeast Asia, it may avoid tariffs of up to 78% in Vietnam, for instance, on cars built in South Korea versus 50% for those made in China.
It was unclear what impact any export plans would have on Hyundai’s current Southeast Asia strategy, under which it is considering building a factory in Vietnam or Indonesia.
South Korea’s trade minister said, to help reduce dependence on China as well as the United States, the government would support firms expanding in Indonesia, where Korean automakers’ market share is 0.1 percent versus Japan’s 98.6%.
Across ASEAN, sales of South Korean cars are growing, with those of Hyundai-Kia rising 26% on year to 71,847 cars in January-June in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, showed data from LMC Automotive.
The data provider forecast overall vehicle sales in those five countries to grow 5 percent to 3.29 million vehicles this year from 2017, reaching 3.41 million vehicles in 2019.
“Given Japanese firms’ dominance in Southeast Asia, it will be difficult for Hyundai to fully offset China’s excess capacity with exports,” said analyst Kang Dong-wook at Hi Investment & Securities. “It needs to improve product competitiveness in China.” — Reuters

Your Weekend Guide (August 31, 2018)

Beautiful Strangers

THE Ikarus Theater Collaborative and Storyboard Junkies present two-time Palanca Award winning playwright Jay Crisostomo IV’s play Beautiful Strangers on Sept. 1 and 2, 7 p.m., at DITO: Bahay ng Sining in J. Molina St., Concepcion Uno, Marikina City. It is a story about five people with their own varying states of beauty and ugliness. For ticket inquiries and reservations, send a message to 0917-863-2364, or an e-mail to ikarusbeautifulstrangers@gmail.com.

Silent Film Festival

THE Goethe-Institut, Japan Foundation, and Instituto Cervantes present the 12th International Silent Film Festival Manila which is ongoing until Sept. 2 at Cinema 2, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. This year, the eight participating countries — Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the USA, and the Philippines — will screen eight silent films, to be live-scored by local musicians. Admission is free. For screening schedules, visit www.facebook.com/InternationalSilentFilmFestivalManila/.

Side Show

ATLANTIS Theatrical Entertainment Group presents the musical Side Show from Aug. 31 to Sept. 23 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City. Nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Side Show is about love, loss, sisterhood, and what it truly means to be unique. Gab Pangilinan and Kayla Rivera star as the conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton. For tickets and schedules, contact TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

History Comes Alive

HISTORIAN and columnist Ambeth Ocampo is back with another History Comes Alive! lecture series starting with “Villains in Philippines History” on Sept. 1, 3 p.m., at the Ayala Museum in Makati. For inquiries e-mail education@ayalamuseum.org or call 759-8288 loc 8272.

Balag at Angud, a Musical

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and Tanghalang Pilipino present Balag at Angud, a Musical from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16 at the CCP Little Theater. Directed by Audie Gemora and written by Layetta Bucoy, the play is an original Filipino musical based on the struggles and challenges in the life of Filipino sculptor Junyee. For tickets and schedules, visit TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!

9 WORKS THEATRICAL presents Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!, a musical comedy featuring the music of the Apo Hiking Society. Performances are ongoing until Sept. 2 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater, BGC Arts Center in Taguig City. For tickets and schedules, visit TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

Comedy nights

COMEDY MANILA presents Funny Fridays: State of Hilarity on Aug. 31, 8:30 p.m., at the Teatrino at Promenade, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan. For tickets (P500), visit TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

Ang Huling El Bimbo

FULL HOUSE Theater Company presents Ang Huling El Bimbo, a musical featuring the songs of the Eraserheads, until Sept. 2 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila, Pasay City. The musical tells a story of friends who reunite after 20 years and look back on the things that brought them together and kept them apart. For tickets and schedules, visit TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

Rak of Aegis

PETA brings Rak of Aegis back until Sept. 2. The musical, featuring the music of the jukebox band Aegis, tells the tale of a perpetually flooded barangay and how its inhabitants adapt. The PETA Theater Center is at No. 5 Eymard Dr., New Manila, Quezon City. For tickets and schedules, visit TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

Iconic 1.0 and 2.0

BALLET MANILA presents a double header, Iconic 1.0 on Sept. 1 and 2, and Iconic 2.0 on Sept. 8 and 9 to open its 23rd season. The two performances will have completely different repertoires. For tickets and schedules, visit TicketWorld (www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999).

What to see this week

7 films to see on the week of August 31-September 6, 2018

Heneral Luna


DURING the Philippine-American war, the short-tempered Filipino general faces not only foreign enemies but his own treacherous countrymen. Directed by Jerrold Tarog , the film stars John Arcilla, Arron Villaflor, and Mon Confiado.
MTRCB Rating: R-13

Kin


AN ex-convict and his adopted teenage brother, the feds, and otherworldly soldiers are being chased by a vengeful criminal. They go on the run with a mysterious weapon as their only protection. Directed by Jonathan and Josh Baker, it stars Myles Truitt, Jack Reynor, Zoe Kravitz, and Carrie Coon.
MTRCB Rating: R-13

The Curse (Malicious)


COLLEGE professor Adam, his pregnant wife Lisa, and her sister Becky, find out that they have become connected to a malicious entity after suffering a traumatic incident. Upon Adam’s call for assistance to Dr. Clark, a parapsychologist, they begin to discover the truth behind the entity. Directed by Michael Winnick, it stars Bojana Novakovic, Josh Stewart, Delroy Lindo, and Melissa Bolona.
MTRCB Rating: R-16

The Hows of Us

A COUPLE in a long-term relationship plan out their future together. Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, the film stars Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, Darren Espanto, Jean Garcia, and Ria Atayde.
MTRCB Rating: PG

Not for everyone


By Alexander O. Cuaycong and Anthony L. Cuaycong
THERE CAN be no denying that FromSoftware’s Dark Souls is brutal and difficult, often bordering on the sadistic in terms of its capacity to challenge players. That said, it’s beatable, and while its gameplay borders on the unforgiving, it succeeds in its objective. You get a massive sense of achievement in persevering through it and conquering the even-tougher-than-tough parts. It’s an acquired taste, a pain to get into, really. It’s also harder to put down once you’re hooked.
In no small measure, the near-Sisyphean context in which Dark Souls presents itself is why it has held up well over time. Originally released on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 in 2011, it was later ported to the PC under the title Dark Souls: Prepare To Die a year later, featuring hitherto-unseen extra content. Fast forward to 2018, during which time the series’ continuing popularity has prompted the release of a remastered version of the founding title on the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Featuring enhanced graphics, better framerate and resolution, quality-of-life fixes, and all downloadable content off the shelf, Dark Souls Remastered positions itself as the definitive edition of Dark Souls. It has you taking control of an undead spirit in Lordran. Darkness has consumed the Kingdom, and all sorts of creatures now lie in wait throughout its ruins. Controlling the game’s silent protagonist, you must take up the sword and unearth the cause of the darkness, slaying monsters and delving deeper into the shadows from whence they came en route.
The premise is simple, to be sure, and one that Dark Souls Remastered is able to convey in visual splendor. On the PS4, it looks stunning, with better-resolution textures and graphics all across the board vis-a-vis its source material. The framerate is at the highest possible, and, more importantly, a constant, representing a massive improvement that provides a better overall experience. It just feels and handles better from the get-go.
Which is a decided plus, because, needless to say, Dark Souls Remastered makes no pretensions on the level of commitment it requires of you. Compared to its elder sibling, it does very little to change the gameplay, and aside from much-welcome QoL adjustments, it’s the exact same romp through Lordran, with a distinct emphasis on exploration, combat, and skill improvement. The mechanics are unchanged; the focus is still on dodging traps and striking enemies and bosses (a whopping 26 all told), necessitating countless hours’ worth of investment.
Parenthetically, the scope of familiarity is both good and bad. Dark Souls Remastered manages to keep intact the experience of going through and beating the game. At the same time, the problem isn’t in what it has done, but in what it has failed to do. Because the core gameplay experience is the same, it doesn’t offer anything new. It’s an updated version of Dark Souls, optimized to play well under current-gen technology, but little else.
In sum, Dark Souls Remastered isn’t for everyone, and especially not at $39.99. Even for previous owners of the original and of the Prepare To Die Edition on the PC, the price point may be a big ask. On the flip side, it delivers on its promise; it’s a severe — if beautifully rendered — test of skill that pushes the boundaries of the action-role-playing genre in a way that no other game in the market can.

Compassionate care for people in their advanced years

PALLIATIVE care aims to improve the quality of life of people with serious illnesses by preventing or treating symptoms and side effects of disease and treatment. It also addresses emotional, social, practical, and spiritual problems that illnesses can bring up.*
On the other hand, hospice care is designed to give supportive care to people in the final phase of a terminal illness and focuses on comfort and quality of life, rather than cure. It aims to enable patients to be comfortable and free of pain, so that they live each day as fully as possible.**
Dr. Rumalie Alparaque-Corvera is passionate about improving the quality of palliative and hospice care in the country. “The number of senior citizens in the country is growing more rapidly than the growth of the total population. In 2000, there were 4.6 million senior citizens, representing about 6% of our total population. The Philippine Statistics Authority projects that by the year 2030, senior citizens will make up around 11% of our total population,” Dr. Corvera said during the 2018 “Health for Juan and Juana: Making Universal Healthcare Happen” Forum.
The current president of the Philippine Society for Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PSHPM), Dr. Corvera is also the president and founder of the Ruth Foundation for Palliative and Hospice Care. “We formed the Ruth Foundation in 2012 to enhance the quality of life for those facing advanced illness and age through skilled and compassionate home-based care, palliative and hospice care education and advocacy.” As a nonprofit organization, the foundation relies on funds raised from a variety of sources, including private donations, corporate sponsorship, and fund-raising events.
In 2013, the foundation’s home care nurses, with the support of a multidisciplinary care team of doctors, social workers, clergy, counsellors, therapists, and volunteers, started making home visits to patients. To date, the Ruth Foundation has had 5,547 patient encounters and made 4,037 nurse visits and 2,039 physician visits for patients in 98 barangays in 18 municipalities, mostly in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The foundation’s patients are referred by the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), barangay officials, social service departments, and private physicians.
Working with partner hospitals and educational institutions, the foundation has provided training in palliative and hospice care to over 800 nurses, volunteers, and other community-based health professionals. In April 2018, the Ruth Foundation signed a Memorandum of Agreement with De La Salle University — Dasmarinas to provide palliative care training for the school’s nursing students in both the undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
“We will continue to partner with local government units, the academe and private health care facilities to enhance the quality of palliative and hospice care in the country,” Dr. Corvera said. “Our goal is to form compassionate communities that will care for people in the final chapters of their lives.”
Dr. Corvera’s presentation was part of the Health for Juan and Juana session on “Private Sector Innovations in Service Delivery Network — Enabling Primary Healthcare.” With her in the session were Dr. Troy Gepte who discussed the Palawan Access to Medicines Partnership Program-Tulay sa Kalusugan, and Dr. Paul Darroca who spoke about FamilyDoc’s contributions to providing access to health care.
* https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000536.htm
** https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=24267
 
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP). Medicine Cabinet is a weekly PHAP column that aims to promote awareness on public health and health care-related issues. PHAP and its member companies represent the research-based pharmaceutical and health care industry.
medicinecabinet@phap.org.ph

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