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Woody Allen backlash grows as daughter says she’s telling the ‘truth’ about abuse

NEW YORK — Woody Allen faced a growing backlash Wednesday after his daughter revived child molestation allegations against the legendary director, asking the world to finally believe her as a sexual harassment watershed sweeps the United States.

Dylan Farrow’s claim that the director sexually assaulted her as a seven-year-old first surfaced a quarter of a century ago in the wake of her mother’s bitter split from Allen, who ran off in 1992 with his lover’s adoptive daughter from a previous marriage, Soon-Yi Previn, 21 years old at the time.

The famed American director of more than 50 movies, winner of four Oscars, and showered with awards in Europe, has always denied the allegations. The claims were never proven and the 82-year-old director has continued to enjoy a glittering career.

But the sexual harassment firestorm that has brought down Hollywood titans such as Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey has fueled a growing backlash against Allen.

In the wake of the Time’s Up movement launched by Hollywood women to counter sexual harassment and sexism, Allen’s estranged, adopted daughter said it was time for the world to finally listen.

“Why shouldn’t I want to bring him down? Why shouldn’t I be angry? Why shouldn’t I be hurt?” she told CBS This Morning in her first television interview, excerpts of which were broadcast on Wednesday. The full interview is to air Thursday.

“Why shouldn’t I feel some sort of outrage that after all these years, being ignored and disbelieved and tossed aside?” Farrow added.

Asked why people should believe her now, she replied: “I suppose that’s on them, but all I can do is speak my truth and hope, hope that somebody will believe me instead of just hearing.”

The film director’s agent did not immediately respond to an AFP request to comment.

It was a devastating expose of alleged rape, assault, and harassment published by Farrow’s brother, Ronan, the biological son of Allen and Mia Farrow, in The New Yorker last October that helped end Weinstein’s career.

Since then, a growing number of actresses, including Greta Gerwig, Rebecca Hall, Ellen Page, and Mira Sorvino, have announced they regret working with Allen.

‘MUST BE REEXAMINED’
“I believe Dylan,” Oscar-winner Natalie Portman told Oprah Winfrey in a recent group interview with other actresses who included Reese Witherspoon.

Hall, who appears in his upcoming movie A Rainy Day in New York and starred in his 2008 romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, announced on Instagram that she had donated her wage from his latest film to the Time’s Up movement.

“I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed,” she said.

Up-and-coming actor Timothee Chalamet, who also stars in A Rainy Day in New York followed suit and also announced he was donating his entire salary from the film to Time’s Up and other charities.

“We are in a day and age when everything must be reexamined. This kind of abuse cannot be allowed to continue. If this means tearing down all the old gods, so be it,” wrote Sorvino in an open letter to Farrow in HuffPost last week.

Actor Alec Baldwin, who won acclaim for portraying Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, is one of the few to publicly defend Allen in recent days, saying it was possible to support survivors of pedophilia and sexual assault, and also believe he was innocent.

Dylan Farrow detailed the alleged abuse for the first time in her own words in an open letter published on a New York Times blog in 2014.

In a follow-up New York Times op-ed, Allen repeated his denial and launched a furious attack on Mia Farrow, denouncing her as “more interested in her own festering anger than her daughter’s well-being.”

Last December, Dylan Farrow wrote another op-ed in the Los Angeles Times under the headline “Why has the #MeToo revolution spared Woody Allen?”

A New York judge who presided over the 1994 custody battle between Allen and Farrow ruled that the abuse allegations were inconclusive, but at the same time lambasted the director as “self-absorbed, untrustworthy and insensitive.”

A Connecticut police investigation also failed to result in any charges.

Allen remains with Soon-Yi and the couple have two children. — AFP

Gov’t slams Rappler anew

MALACAÑANG SEES the controversy over the Philippine Navy’s warship deal allegedly involving Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go as Rappler.com’s “defense by way of an offense.” At a press briefing in Legazpi City, Albay, on Jan. 18, Presidential Spokesperson Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr. said of the news site: “Let me start by saying that this allegation against Special Adviser to the President Bong Go appears to be defense by way of an offense. Please note that this allegation came out immediately after the decision of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) declaring that Rappler, Inc. and Rappler Holding violated ownership rules of the Constitution on mass media companies.” For his part, Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II called for “Rappler’s active participation in the NBI’s (National Bureau of Investigation’s) investigation” as it “will greatly help in bringing out the truth.” — Arjay L. Balinbin and Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz

Facilitating Philippine trade

Aside from the fact that global trade is picking up — despite the ever constant threat of protectionist revivals, mostly blamed (wrongly) on Trump — there is a clear dearth of substantial good news as far as the World Trade Organization is concerned. One sees that in peoples focus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

But another reason evidencing the WTO’s dry spell is from the way the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is celebrated. The TFA became effective Feb. 22, 2017, when 2/3 of the WTO’s members signed on to the agreement.

Incidentally, there are three ways to sign on to the TFA:

Category A: Provisions that the Member will implement by the time the Agreement enters into force (or in the case of a least-developed country Member within one year after entry into force)

Category B: Provisions that the Member will implement after a transitional period following the entry into force of the Agreement

Category C: Provisions that the Member will implement on a date after a transitional period following the entry into force of the Agreement and requiring the acquisition of assistance and support for capacity building.

The Philippines opted for Category A in 2016.

Remember that trade facilitation was one of the so-called Singapore Issues (i.e., trade and investment, competition policy, government procurement, and trade facilitation) that spectacularly derailed the Doha Round completion, most notoriously during the Cancun Ministerial in 2003.

But like all things, perhaps change is inevitable.

Back in 2014, I wrote that the Philippines could make the necessary customs improvements on its own, without the need of an international multilateral agreement tying it up to other countries.

After all, by doing it unilaterally, no country can hold the Philippines liable under the WTO dispute settlement system, assuming something in our customs rules do not come up to par in that country’s view.

Neither do we need a trade facilitation agreement for improving trade with other countries as most of our major trading partners are richer ones anyway with quite developed and transparent customs procedures.

In fact, most of the provisions contained in the Trade Facilitation Agreement are conceivably implemented already by these developed countries, leaving it only to the poorer countries (like the Philippines) to shoulder the additional burden of accelerating the upgrade of their customs procedures (which, as I said, could be better done unilaterally).

To emphasize, what is being objected to here is not trade facilitation itself but the multilateral mode (e.g., the TFA) in which it is to be applied. The consensus is that trade facilitation itself helps developing countries the most:

“Unduly complex processes and documentation raise costs and cause delays not only for businesses, but also for the consumers, and finally for the whole economy. This is true for all economies, but today affects particularly the developing countries. Based on a series of trade facilitation indicators, designed to measure the relative economic and trade impact of the measures under negotiation in the WTO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that lower middle income countries stand to gain the most from a comprehensive trade facilitation reform, which could reduce trade costs in this group of countries by 15.5%. Potential cost reductions are almost 14.5% for low income countries and 13.2% for upper middle income countries (1), while they can reach 10% for OECD countries (2). Keeping in mind that a reduction of global trade costs by 1% would increase worldwide income by more than $40 billion (3), these are reforms that could bring a very welcome boost to developing countries’ economies.” (see Moïsé, E., The impact of trade facilitation on developing countries. GREAT Insights, November 2013)

There are admittedly, two issues that could be of interest. The first is the problem of language, particularly with regard to China (and perhaps, Japan). But both are parties with the Philippines in regional trade deals (e.g., ASEAN-China, JPEPA, and ASEAN-Japan), of which trade facilitation is included.

The other is that the TFA does declare that developed countries are entitled to “assistance and support for capacity building,” with capacity building being defined as “technical, financial, or any other mutually agreed form of assistance.” Yet with the Philippines choosing Category C, it would be interesting how that goes.

In any event, the value of the TFA for the Philippines is still hazy for me.

After all, we just had the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act, which was touted as being not merely a revenue raising measure but also one of trade facilitation.

The CMTA, remember, took into account developments regarding related party transactions (with the application of “test values” and “circumstances of safe analysis” concepts, designed to better gauge the arms length nature of certain business transactions), as well as increased surcharges for misdeclarations, misclassifications, and undervaluations (i.e., technical smuggling). Nevertheless, customs risk management procedures, duty drawback, and rules of origin compliance remain further areas of improvement.

 

Jemy Gatdula is a Senior Fellow of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations and a Philippine Judicial Academy law lecturer for constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence.

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Consistency a big concern for Talk ’N Text — Racela

TALK ’N TEXT is considered as one of the title favorites in the All-Filipino, but consistency has been the problem of this team in its first four outings.

Against the Blackwater Elite on Wednesday night, the KaTropa struggled in the early goings before getting their bearings in the second half on their way to scoring their second win in four matches.

“Up to this point, we’re still looking for consistency. But that’s not only the factor. It also depends on the opponents you’re facing. Sometimes, you get consecutive games facing not the best teams in the league. We played the best teams the last time out. We were not really successful that game. One thing we want to avoid is losing games to teams which should need to beat. We haven’t established a winning run yet, like getting consecutive wins, but we also want to avoid back-to-back losses,” Talk ’N Text coach Nash Racela told BusinessWorld.

The KaTropa were pushed to the limit by a team that has never won against them since they joined the PBA. The more experienced Talk ’N Text squad kept its poise and held on to win.

“Going to this game, we knew we’re going to have a hard time against Blackwater. We knew it’s not going to be easy getting a win against them. It would take an absolute best and they were really able to challenge us. Good thing in the second half, our shots started to fall,” added Mr. Racela.

One of the reasons why the KaTropa struggled in the early goings was the fact that they missed Kelly Williams, who was caught in traffic and was forced ride a habal-habal (motorcycle for hire) just to make it to the game.

“We missed Kelly in the first half. He was supposed to start in the game, so we were off a bit. There was a fire in C-5. Kelly comes from the south, so he was stuck in a traffic. Going here, he was forced to ride a habal-habal. The last message I got, he was looking for a motorcycle,” added Mr. Racela.

“A loss is not going to be an option for us. All teams got stronger. We really had to put value in every game. That puts you in a good position. If we went 1-3, we’re going to have a hard time.” — Rey Joble

Meralco, Solar Philippines seek ERC go-signal for supply deal

MANILA ELECTRIC Co. (Meralco) and Solar Philippines Tarlac Corp. (SPTC) are seeking provisional authority to implement their power supply agreement (PSA) that will bring down the cost of solar energy to a record low P2.9999 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

“Considering that SPTC’s solar power plant is expected to achieve commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2017, an immediate implementation of the PSA would redound to the benefit of the consumers in terms of environmental benefits and would also contribute to the government initiative of encouraging the development of renewable energy in the country,” read the companies’ joint filing to secure provisional authority from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

They also said the P2.9999 per kWh offered by supplier Solar Philippines to Meralco is “significantly lower” than the prevailing feed-in-tariff (FiT) rates and the lowest tariff offer that the power distribution utility had received thus far for a solar technology.

The ERC has set the hearing on the application next month.

Meralco sought the power supply contract based on its power situation outlook for 2017 and succeeding years where it foresees a peaking capacity deficit in its portfolio because of an expected high demand as well as possible occurrences of scheduled maintenance shutdowns and forced outage of power plants.

Meralco’s distribution development plan from 2015 to 2024 forecasts a capacity requirement that will grow by a compounded average of 3.7%.

Meralco executed the PSA with SPTC on Oct. 6, 2017 for the purchase of electricity generated by the latter’s 150-MW solar farm in Concepcion, Tarlac. The contract called for 75 MW and up to 85 MW from the first to fifth year, then 85 MW from the sixth to 20th year.

The two companies forged the agreement after Meralco on June 28, 2017 invited price challengers to an offer made by another entity at a price bested by SPTC’s lower offer. The original power supplier did not exercise its right to match SPTC’s proposed price.

Based on the provisions of the companies’ power supply contract, if the ERC provisionally accepts the filing for the approval of the PSA by Oct. 20, 2017, then beginning Jan. 26, 2018, Meralco will be deemed to have sourced replacement energy from the wholesale electricity spot market at the cost offered by SPTC.

SPTC’s offered price is significantly lower than the price set by the regulator when the Department of Energy opened solar power for subscription initially at P9.68 per kWh, then at P8.69 per kWh when it expanded the target capacity to 500 MW. The FiT scheme, which guarantees payment of the fixed rate for 20 years, was fully subscribed long before the end-2017 deadline.

Meralco’s controlling stakeholder, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc., is partly owned by PLDT, Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Victor V. Saulon

The return of Cynthia Alexander

By Susan Claire Agbayani

FORMER RADIO station manager and disc jockey (DJ) George Mercado, a.k.a. “George Boone” distinctly remembers having persistently wooed Cynthia Alexander — following her around in gigs at 70s Bistro as early as 1995 for instance — into signing up with a record company when he was its chief operating officer (COO).

“I’d always wanted to sign her up, so I used all my convincing powers to get Dyna Records management to believe,” he told this writer via Facebook Messenger.

“Recording of Insomnia and Other Lullabyes was incredibly smooth with Maly Andres of Violent Playground producing, and Angee Rozul on the faders. She insisted on a Taylor guitar for one of the songs which I had to rent from Litos Benavidez. She also didn’t want to settle for synths, and wanted a string quartet for a couple of songs.

A diva? No.

“Perfectionist is the word,” Mr. Mercado said.

Mr. Mercado is now CEO of CloudReady, a cloud tech company based in Singapore; he also teaches at John Robert Powers, and plays keyboards for a retro band.

Ms. Alexander went on to perform at Sanctum, Survival Café, and Conspiracy, among other venues, and released three other albums which she produced and released independently: Rippingyarns (2000), which contains most of her hit songs, Comet’s Tail (2005), and the live album Walk Down the Road (2009).

She moved to Washington state in the US in 2012 with her daughter Tala and her wife Stacey, and there she found peace and quiet. It was a place where she was “able to hear my thoughts.” According to an essay she wrote on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com, she has “played the stages, coffee shops, and parks” of her new home.

“… Since the release of my last album in 2009, I’ve gone through a personal sea change that culminated in my move to the Pacific Northwest. All this time, I’ve been writing songs that reflect my experiences. Now that I’ve set down roots and built a small home studio, I’m ready to record those songs and share them with you!” she said on the site.

Ms. Alexander wrote most of the songs on Even Such is Time (save for the adaptations of her mother’s poems). She also wrote the music, and performed and arranged the tungkaling, coral, lava rock, tungatong, gandingan, gangsa, rainstick, goats horns, kalimba, guitars, bass, synths, and piano on the new album which she produced in Tacoma, Washington. It was, however, mixed by Matthew Brown in Hamburg, Germany, and mastered by Levi Seitz of Black Belt Mastering in Seattle, Washington.

During the concert-cum-album launch of Even Such is Time at San Juan’s Music Museum on Jan. 13, she thanked “168 funder friends from the USA (including Guam), Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines” who made the mixing, mastering, and manufacturing of her latest album possible.

One such fan is Alden Copuyoc, a writer and entrepreneur who met Ms. Alexander when he edited Music Channel magazine in early 2000 and eventually became her good friend. “I followed Cynthia around. I love Tori Amos and Joni Mitchell. When I idolize artists I look for three things: poetic lyrics, instrument mastery, and distinctive sound.” He said Ms. Alexander has all three.

Her ardent admirers among the concert goers were pleased to have heard hits from her second album Rippingyarns such as “Walk Down the Road,” “U & I,” “Knowing There’s Only You,” “Daisy Chain,” “Weather Report,” and “Intertwyne”; Insomnia and Other Lullabyes (1997) such as “Wait,” “Malaya,” and what is probably her most popular song, “Comfort in Your Strangeness.”

Apart from guestings on broadcast media, last Saturday’s concert was the first time that Ms. Alexander performed songs from her new album for local audiences with a band. Aside from “Dressed for Nowhere,” “St. Cecilia,” and “Dreams,” she also performed “Snowhills,” which is an adaptation of “Love Poem” by her poet-mother Tita Lacambra-Ayala from the book Ordinary Poems which was written in 1967.

Ms. Alexander acknowledged her older brother Joey Ayala’s presence during the concert — even inviting him to go onstage for some “joke time.” She revealed how he was a crucial influence on her, having taught her “my first three chords in life,” and giving/lending her her first guitar at age 13, and, eventually, also giving her first bass guitar (never mind that it was “matigas tugtugin” — hard to play). And what an investment that was, as she eventually emerged as the best bassist in the World Band Explosion finals in Tokyo, Japan.

Among those who played with Ms. Alexander during last weekend’s concert were Mlou Matute on darboukka and piano and Abby Clutario on piano and chapman stick (both also did backup vocals); CJ Wasu on tabla; Zach Lucero on drums; Sancho Sanchez and Kakoy Legaspi on guitars; and Louie Talan and Yuna Reguerra on bass.

Ms. Alexander performed with the singer-songwriter twins Paolo and Miguel Guico from the young and promising nine-piece world/folk-pop band Ben&Ben. They sang the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” and “Dumaan Ako,” a song which was written by the late poet Maningning Miclat, set to music by Mr. Ayala.

Fresh from a sold-out concert and album launch at Teatrino Music Hall — right across the Music Museum in the Greenhills Shopping Center — Ben&Ben was Ms. Alexander’s front act, singing their own songs “Maybe the Night,” “Sa Panaginip,” and “Dahilan,” as well as “Ride Home,” “Leaves,” and their hit, “Kathang Isip,” which have “notched over a million streams each on music platform Spotify,” according to a press release issued by the concert organizers.

The fraternal twins, who are both engineering graduates from De La Salle University in Manila, don’t have musicians as parents. But their folks’ love and appreciation for music rubbed off on them such that they decided to jump into a career in music right after college.

“Growing up, our dad made us listen to a lot of artists from the 1950s and 1960s such as Dave Clark 5, Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel, a lot of standards, and, of course, the entire discography of The Beatles. He’d also load concert videos of bands like The Eagles from time to time. Mom, on the other hand, listened to a lot of church and worship music during mornings,” said Paolo Guico in an interview via Messenger.

“We felt really nervous days prior to meeting Cynthia, since there was so much pressure to be at our best musically for the rehearsals and eventually for the show,” he said. “However during the rehearsals, we found ourselves enjoying the whole process because the music just flowed out of everyone,” he added.

“The collaboration with Ms. Cynthia was surreal. It actually felt like a dream for us to be able to share the stage with one of our biggest influences while singing one of our ‘life songs,’ which is Ms. Cynthia’s version of ‘Dumaan Ako’ by Maningning Miclat and Joey Ayala,” Miguel Guico said.

The concert was presented by the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM) and SOS Movement, in partnership with Gabi Na Naman Productions and Vandals On The Wall.

Even Such is Time is available online starting at $7 for a digital download at cynthiaalexander.bandcamp.com/album/even-such-is-time.

Power suppliers to explain TRAIN impact

THE Department of Energy (DoE) has directed all distribution utilities to require their power suppliers to explain any additional charges that may arise from the tax reform program, in effect since the start of the year.

“This includes the explanation on the implementation of excise taxes vis-a-vis the minimum inventory requirement for both coal stocks and diesel stocks,” DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said in a statement on Thursday.

Under Republic Act 10963 or Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, the excise tax on coal is to be increased from P10 per metric ton to P100 in the first year, P200 in the second and P300 in succeeding years.

The DoE said the secretary had called for a meeting with distribution utilities to discuss “the effective and appropriate” implementation of the power-related provisions of the TRAIN law.

It said the major items that were discussed were the price adjustments coming from the value-added tax (VAT) on the transmission sector; the VAT on cooperatives registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA); and the excise tax on coal and diesel that are used to run power plants.

The DoE has also met with representatives from the Department of Finance, Energy Regulatory Commission, National Electrification Authority, National Power Corp., Philippine Electricity Market Corp., Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc., Manila Electric Co. and Pangasinan Electric Cooperative I, which is a CDA-registered electric cooperative.

In its meetings with stakeholders, the DoE said it aims to clarify the salient provisions of the TRAIN implementation in the sector and to gather feedback on issues and concerns on the first package of the Duterte administration’s tax law.

The Energy and Finance departments agreed on the next steps to address the concerns of the energy stakeholders and the protection of energy consumers.

Mr. Cusi said the “ultimate objective” of the TRAIN law of “consumption-to-investment, better infrastructure and social services for the people will be achieved with this strong collaboration” between the two departments. — Victor V. Saulon

Key Azkals game to be played at Rizal Memorial Stadium

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

MANILA residents will get to see after all the Philippine national men’s football team play in a key match in March as its scheduled AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers game against Tajikistan had been reset at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

Initially set to be played at the Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) confirmed early this week that it already received the confirmation for the change in venue from Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Cited as reason for the change was “difficulties in securing fully equipped training venues.”

“We announce that the AFC has approved the PFF’s request to move the final match of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers back to Manila,” said PFF President Mariano V. Araneta, Jr. in a statement.

“This match will be a crucial match as it will decide the Philippine Men’s National Team’s chances of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup,” he added.

The “Azkals,” as the Philippine men’s national team is collectively referred to, currently leads their grouping in the qualifiers with a record of two wins and three draws with nine points.

They just need, for good measure, to win in their final game against Tajikistan in March to formalize their entry into the Asian Cup.

Trailing the men’s team in the qualifiers are Tajikistan (2-1-2) and Yemen (1-4-0), which are tied at second spot with seven points apiece.

“We hope all football stakeholders and supporters rally behind the Men’s National Team,” said Mr. Araneta. Adding, “Qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 will be a historic moment in Philippine football.”

The PFF said ticket details for the match will soon be announced.

US accuses Russia of helping North Korea evade sanctions

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump complained on Wednesday that Russia was helping North Korea to evade international sanctions, signaling frustration with a country he had hoped to forge friendly relations with after his 2016 election victory.

“Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea,” Mr. Trump said during an Oval Office interview with Reuters.

“What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing.”

China and Russia both signed onto the latest rounds of United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea imposed last year.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian embassy in Washington on Mr. Trump’s remarks.

During a 53-minute interview with a fresh Diet Coke near at hand on his desk, Mr. Trump also said he was considering a big “fine” as part of an investigation into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property; that he has lost all trust in the chief Democratic Party negotiator on immigration in the Senate; and declined to clear up conflicting reports about his use of the phrase “shithole countries” in a White House meeting, which caused an international outcry.

MAJOR GLOBAL CHALLENGE
With North Korea persisting as the major global challenge facing Mr. Trump this year, the president cast doubt on whether talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be useful.

In the past he has not ruled out direct talks with Mr. Kim.

“I’d sit down, but I’m not sure that sitting down will solve the problem,” Mr. Trump said, noting that past negotiations with the North Koreans by his predecessors had failed to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

He blamed his three immediate predecessors — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — for failing to resolve the crisis and, a day after his doctor gave him a perfect score on a cognitive test, suggested he had the mental acuity to solve it.

“I guess they all realized they’re going to have to leave it to a president that scored the highest on tests,” he joked.

He declined to comment when asked whether he had engaged in any communications at all with Mr. Kim, with whom he has exchanged public insults and threats, heightening tensions in the region.

Mr. Trump said he hoped the standoff with Pyongyang could be resolved “in a peaceful way, but it’s very possible that it can’t.”

Asked whether he thought the United States needs more missile defense systems, he said, “Yes, yes I do. We’re ordering more missile defense and we’re ordering more missile offense also.”

Mr. Trump praised China for its efforts to restrict oil and coal supplies to North Korea but said Beijing could do much more to help constrain Pyongyang.

The White House last week welcomed news that imports to China from North Korea, which counts on Beijing as its main economic partner, plunged in December to their lowest in dollar terms since at least the start of 2014.

‘CLOSER EVERY DAY’
Mr. Trump said Russia appears to be filling in the gaps left by the Chinese.

Western European security sources told Reuters in December that Russian tankers had supplied fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months by transferring cargoes at sea in violation of international sanctions. Russia has denied breaching North Korea sanctions.

North Korea relies on imported fuel to keep its struggling economy functioning. It also requires oil for its intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear program.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly blamed a US investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election for hindering an improvement in US-Russian relations.

“He can do a lot,” Mr. Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“But unfortunately we don’t have much of a relationship with Russia, and in some cases it’s probable that what China takes back, Russia gives. So the net result is not as good as it could be.”

Andrew Weiss, vice-president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Moscow does not share the depth of US concerns over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs. “It’s simply not the case, if Mr. Trump’s hands were not tied on Russia, that he and Putin could magically work together to solve the Korea crisis.”

Mr. Trump said Pyongyang is steadily advancing in its ability to deliver a missile to the United States.

“They’re not there yet, but they’re close. And they get closer every day,” he said.

North Korea said after its last intercontinental ballistic missile launch in November that the test had put the US mainland within range. Some experts agreed that based on the missile’s trajectory and distance it had the capability to fly as far as Washington DC.

They said, however, that North Korea had not yet offered any proof that it had mastered all technical hurdles, including development of a reentry vehicle needed to deliver a heavy nuclear warhead reliably atop an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Mr. Trump said he welcomed talks between North and South Korea over the Winter Olympics to be held in the South next month and said this could be an initial phase in helping defuse the crisis.

He would not say whether the United States has been considering a limited, preemptive attack to show the North that the United States means business.

“We’re playing a very, very hard game of poker and you don’t want to reveal your hand,” he said.

‘TOUGH-TALKING’
Mr. Trump also gave the clearest indication yet that his administration will take retaliatory trade action against China.

Mr. Trump and his economic adviser Gary Cohn, who was also in the Oval Office, said China had forced US companies to transfer their intellectual property to China as a cost of doing business there.

The United States has started a trade investigation into the issue, and Cohn said the United States Trade Representative would be making recommendations about it soon.

“We have a very big intellectual property potential fine going, which is going to come out soon,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump said the damages could be high, without elaborating on how the numbers were reached or how the costs would be imposed.

‘A MEAN PLACE’
Mr. Trump was also asked about a private gathering with a bipartisan group of senators last week at which he was reported to have used a vulgar term to describe Haiti and African nations. He would not confirm whether he had said “shithole countries,” but described it as a “tough-talking” meeting.

He said he had “lost all trust” in Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, one of the participants who later talked publicly about Mr. Trump’s comments during the meeting.

Mr. Trump criticized a proposed bipartisan deal on protecting children of illegal immigrants from deportation, calling it “horrible.” A deal was still possible by a March 5 deadline but that “time is running out,” he added.

Speaking a day after his doctor recommended diet and exercise to lose 10-15 pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kilograms), Mr. Trump said he would prefer dieting by eating smaller portions than exercise.

“I get exercise. I mean I walk, I this, I that,” Mr. Trump said.

“I run over to a building next door. I get more exercise than people think.”

As for the central lesson he has taken away from a year in the White House, Mr. Trump said: “I love Washington, but it’s a mean place, it’s a very deceptive place.” — Reuters

Comin’ around again

By Noel Vera

Video Review
A Ghost Story
Written and directed by David Lowery

I’M NOT a fan of David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon — in retrospect the picture probably had too much Disney in it and not enough Lowery to suit me.

But I heard good things about his latest, A Ghost Story, though, so — thanks to the various recommendations, the pull of the intriguingly elemental title, the sparsely beautiful publicity stills (mostly involving a single slightly creepy figure in white sheet gazing at an empty room) — I decided to take a look.

This I liked. Casey Affleck plays the man “C,” Rooney Mara the woman “M”; they live in a house somewhere in suburban Texas and in the opening scene are briefly spooked: they’d heard a sound in the living room late at night, and venture out of their bedroom to investigate.

And then — without even a moment to say farewell — C is gone (car accident) and M has to pick up the pieces. Only C isn’t really gone; lying in the morgue under a sheet he suddenly sits up and (still covered) walks away.*

(Oh, and that sheet used to cover the corpse? Little secret: after the body has been sent to the funeral home or crematorium or a medical school [if it hasn’t stood up and walked away in the meantime], hospitals launder the sheet and hand it to the next patient, living or dead, that needs one.)

C ends up back at their house — and here we notice the eye holes. C’s still silent ghost is an unsettling figure, the way he stands often in the center of a room, the way he shifts (quietly quietly) to follow M as she patters about engaged in the business of living — but eye holes? He’s dead; he doesn’t need to see. The silly holes had the silly effect of throwing me out of a for-the-moment silly film.

It took a while to pull me back in (I’d paid for my ticket after all) and accept (with considerable difficulty) that Lowery, for whatever reason, needed a classic ghost figure — sheet and eyeholes and all — but eventually I managed to focus on the fact that M does move on, does start dating again, does bring her date home to the same bed husband and wife had slept in… and so forth (Lowery isn’t graphic but impolite questions — as they did with the eyehole issue — do pop up in your head). The rare instance when C looks away from M to peer at a neighboring house, he sees a fellow ghost looking out the window at him; subtitles helpfully give us the gist of their non-conversation (“I’m waiting for someone.” “Who?” “I don’t remember.”).

What does it all mean? Lowery doesn’t say a thing and I doubt if C has any clue. At a certain point C is lost in some unspecified city set in some unspecified future (I’m assuming still rooted in the same spot in Texas). The ghost leaps off a high roof, lands somewhere in the distant past; settlers roll forward in a wagon and set up camp. Again pop the questions: Why stop at a future city — because C jumped off a roof? Why did he jump then and not earlier, or later? Couldn’t he sit through the whole thing, from the heat-death of planet Earth to the eventual collapse of the universe back to the Big Bang, starting the cycle over again? And why when he does leap off that roof, does he end up in that specific period in the past? (Why doesn’t he go directly back to the aforementioned Big Bang?) Because this is when the plot of land was first inhabited? Too many questions left unanswered and the rare occasion when they are answered it’s rarely a satisfactory reply — Lowery is trying for an air of mystery but sometimes his kind of mystery is expressive, sometimes numbingly inert.

When the film’s timeline starts whizzing forward then back (H. G. Welles much?) is when the film really soars — in these passages Lowery seems to pull away from his monomaniacal focus on one man’s/spirit’s predicament to take in if not all of time and space, then huge swathes of it, on a scale that evokes Olaf Stapledon if he suffered from a mild case of ADHD. When C crosses his own timeline mysterious phenomena are finally explained and C’s rather kinkily passive voyeurism starts to take on the keen nostalgia and quiet desperation of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (“Do any human beings realize life while they live it — every, every minute?”)

There’s power here and poetry, if you’re willing to let yourself see it. I see it — some of it anyway — though I can also see that this was material Tim Burton covered early in his career, with considerably more inventiveness (and if you don’t think his afterlife had any poetry, remember his vision of a vast bureaucracy, as if Dante had collaborated with Chuck Jones: dead-tired caseworkers explain arcane rules to uncomprehending clients, each distinguished by his or her cause of death (one has a chicken bone sticking out his throat; another has tire marks across his flattened body). Lowery’s notions aren’t quite in the same league — they aren’t anywhere near as funny — but they’ll do for now.

 

A Ghost Story is available on YouTube, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, and iTunes.

PHL seeks clemency from Malaysia for Filipinos on death row

THE GOVERNMENT is currently requesting clemency for Filipinos on Malaysian death row, according to Presidential Spokesperson Herminio Harry L. Roque, Jr. “Lahat na po ay ginagawa natin para matulungan ang mga kababayan natin d’yan sa (We are doing everything we can to help our countrymen in) Sabah,” Mr. Roque told reporters at a televised press briefing in Legazpi City, Albay yesterday, Jan. 18. He added, however, that the decision ultimately rests on the Malaysian government. Last Monday, Jan. 15, it was reported that the highest court of Malaysia has upheld the death sentence for nine Filipino men involved in the 2013 standoff in Lahad Datu District in Sabah, Malaysia. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Going beyond the backstage drama

Movie Review
All the Money in the World
Directed by Ridley Scott

By Richard Roeper

YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, Mr. Grinch — I mean, Mr. Getty.

You’re a 20th-century American version of Ebenezer Scrooge, scowling and mumbling your days away in your palace-sized mansion, which looks to be ice-cold even when the fireplace is roaring.

You’re a flinty, hard-eyed, coldhearted, nearly joyless penny pincher. You’re not only the richest man in the world, you’re also the richest man who ever lived — and yet when your grandson is kidnapped and a ransom is demanded, you claim you have no money to spare and you refuse to pay a dime.

You’re a monster, Mr. Getty. And you’re the most entertaining and fascinating character in All the Money in the World.

In Ridley Scott’s well-paced, great-looking and nimble take on one of the most famous kidnapping cases of the 20th century, the legendary Christopher Plummer disappears into the role of the billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and delivers a powerful, magnetic, scene-stealing performance.

Plummer is playing someone we love to hate, and yet he infuses Getty with just enough humanity, just enough tragic (albeit self-inflicted) loneliness and unhappiness, we almost feel sorry for him even as we want to shake our fists at him for being such a miserable cuss.

This is no drop-in cameo. Plummer is in nearly two dozen scenes. He might not have as much screen time as Charlie Plummer (who is not related to Christopher Plummer) as the kidnapped teenager, John Paul Getty III; Michelle Williams as Abigail Harris, Paul’s mother; and Mark Wahlberg as Fletcher Chase, the security specialist tasked with bringing Paul home, but it is Christopher Plummer’s performance that resonates the strongest. Even when his character is off-screen, he casts a long shadow over everyone else’s actions.

And, yes, the performance is all the more remarkable because Mr. Plummer was in essence asked to save this movie, which had been completed with Kevin Spacey as Getty before the multiple allegations of criminal sexual abuse by Spacey.

To the credit of the studio, the filmmakers and many prominent cast members, everyone agreed to a hasty reshoot, which cost a reported $10 million and took place over a series of 18-hour days.

How surreal it must have been for Wahlberg and Williams to find themselves back in their 1970s period-piece wardrobes, gearing up for a number of intense, dialogue-heavy scenes they’d already played out with Spacey. How challenging it must have been for Plummer to engage in quick rehearsals and learn his lines and become a pivotal character in a major motion picture in just a matter of weeks.

And what a triumph for all concerned that if you didn’t know Spacey originally had been cast as Getty and you saw All the Money in the World as is, you wouldn’t notice the faintest ripple in the fabric of the film. It’s a good old-fashioned ripping yarn, based on an incredible true story, filled with fine acting and leaving us marveling at the enormous footprint J. Paul Getty left on the world — and shaking our heads at a man who seemed incapable of truly enjoying his staggering wealth and power, and unable to appreciate the true meaning of family.

All the Money in the World opens in Rome, 1973, with one of the most dazzling set pieces I’ve seen in many a year. The sweet-faced John Paul Getty III, aka just “Paul,” walks through the bustling streets, with everyone and everything bathed in gorgeous black-and-white. Gradually the colors of the night begin to bleed through, as Paul wanders into a dicey neighborhood, trades good-natured barbs with some ladies of the night, and is then abducted by the Red Brigade, a ragtag band of communist thugs.

Working from a script by David Scarpa, director Scott hops back and forth on the timeline — perhaps a little too frequently.

We get flashbacks to John Paul Getty’s business dealings with Arabian oil sheiks in the 1940s. We get domestic scenes set in the mid-1960s, when Getty’s estranged son, John Paul Getty II (Andrew Buchan), and his loving wife, Gail (Michelle Williams), are raising a brood of adorable kids and seem to be deeply in love, despite having no money and despite John’s alcohol (and eventually substance) abuse.

And we learn about Wahlberg’s Fletcher Chase, a former black-ops spook who now handles the old man’s security, and so much more. (Let’s put it this way: When Chase is asked if he carries a gun, he scoffs and says if you’re carrying a gun you’re a nobody who doesn’t know how to really get things done.)

When Paul is kidnapped, it makes international news, but things take a bizarre twist when Getty refuses to pay the $17-million ransom. As Fletcher finds himself becoming increasingly sympathetic to Abigail (even though he’s on the old man’s payroll) and the months drag on, poor Paul is actually sold to an even nastier bunch of bad hombres, who cut off Paul’s ear and send it in the mail, warning they’ll continue sending pieces of Paul if their demands aren’t met.

All the Money in the World is “inspired by real events,” and though most of the major developments indeed happened, there’s plenty of dramatic license, especially in the climactic final chapters. One dramatic (and totally fictional) flourish seems particularly unnecessary and cheapens the impact, but just a little.

For a time, this movie will probably be best known for the behind-the-scenes drama. But the work itself deserves to endure as one of the better films of 2017. — Chicago Sun-Times/Andrews McMeel Syndication

Rating: Three stars and a half
MTRCB Rating: R-13

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