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GOCC dividends surpass P30 billion in 2017, up 9.8%

DIVIDENDS received from state-run firms surpassed P30 billion in 2017, boosted by a major payment from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

The Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement that government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) remitted a total P30.45 billion to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), up 9.8%.

Dividends were generated by 53 GOCCs.

This included the CAAP — which had not remitted dividends in four years.

CAAP sent to the BTr some P5.39 billion, largely sourced from the P6-billion payment of Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) liabilities in October.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte demanded that the flag carrier settle its arrears, threatening to shut down the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, which the airline uses.

GOCCs are required to declare and remit at least half of their income as dividends to the national government, under Republic Act No. 7656, or the GOCC Dividend Law.

The national government on the other hand gives out subsidies to GOCCs to support their projects.

The increase in the dividend take comes despite an exemption granted to Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), which would have had to pay P6 billion to the Treasury.

LandBank needed capital to hit the 10% capital adequacy ratio requirement imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas this year, exceeding the Basel 3 standard of 8%, according to the DoF.

Topping the dividend list were the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) at P7.46 billion; Development Bank of the Philippines P2.51 billion; Manila International Airport Authority P2.22 billion; Philippine Ports Authority P1.95 billion; Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas P1.84 billion; National Power Corp. (NPC) P1.39 billion; Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. P1.18 billion; and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) P923.60 million.

The DoF also said that about “one third of the 2017 remittances” were from settled arrears in previous years from CAAP, PDIC, SBMA, and the NPC.

The other GOCCs that remitted to the National Treasury were the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, P622.91 million; PNOC Exploration Corp., P519.42 million; Clark Development Corp., P500 million; National Development Co., P428.19 million; Philippine Reclamation Authority, P323.76 million; Local Water Utilities Administration. P319.08 million; Cebu Port Authority, P294.69 million; Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, P240.59 million; Metropolitan Waterworks & Sewerage System, P232.63 million; and the Philippine Leisure and Retirement Authority, P210.44 million. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

China sent nuclear-powered sub to disputed isles — Japan

BEIJING — Japan said Monday that a Chinese naval submarine spotted in waters off flashpoint islands in the East China Sea was one of its new type of nuclear-powered attack vessels.

Tokyo’s statement comes on the same day that China announced three of its “Coast Guard vessels conducted a patrol in territorial waters off the Diaoyu Islands,” Beijing’s name for the contested isles called Senkaku in Japan.

Japan launched an official protest last Thursday after their navy spotted the 4,000-ton Jiangkai II class frigate and an unidentified submarine in waters surrounding the Tokyo-administered islands.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Monday the submarine has been determined to be “China’s Shang-Class nuclear-powered attack submarine,” which he said can be equipped with long-range cruise missiles.

“Nuclear-powered submarines can also cruise for long hours and it is more difficult to detect them because they dive deep,” Mr. Onodera said.

“We have serious concerns as the submarine’s underwater passing through our country’s contiguous waters is an act that unilaterally increases tension,” he added, noting that Japan would stay vigilant.

Contiguous waters are a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond territorial waters.

China has not confirmed that it had sent a submarine.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular press briefing last week “the Chinese naval vessels conducted surveillance over the activities of the Japanese side” and repeated China’s claim to the islands.

“As for the submarine, I’m not aware of the relevant issue,” he added.

Relations between Japan and China deteriorated in 2012 when Tokyo “nationalized” some of the islets.

Since then, the two top Asian economies have taken gradual steps to mend fences but relations remain tense.

Chinese coastguard vessels routinely travel around the disputed islands.

The incident came as Japan is pushing to host a trilateral summit with leaders from China and South Korea. — AFP

Network of roads and bridges mapped to connect Davao’s eight hot spots

DAVAO CITY — An initial urban master plan for Davao will involve the establishment of eight circumferential transport and development corridors, complete with key infrastructure facilities, that will help the region achieve its maximum potential as a growth area.

The company of urban planner Felino Palafox, Jr., Palafox Associates is set to unveil full details of the so-called Metro Davao Urban Master Plan within the next two months, but during his visit to the city last week, he said the corridors will become anchor of developments in the eight local government units that are part of the master plan.

Based on briefing materials provided journalists, the master plan “will cover the linear cluster of urban areas along the physical backbone of the Pan-Philippine Highway from the City of Digos to the Municipality of Maco traversing thru the Municipality of Sta. Cruz, Davao City, Island Garden City of Samal, Panabo City, Municipality of Carmen and Tagum City.”

“While the Master Plan will essentially focus on the urban areas along the transport backbone, it is expected that the study will also take into account the land use and the socioeconomic activities of the rural and sub-urban components of the municipalities and cities that compose Metro Davao, as well as the other areas around the Davao Gulf from Don Marcelino in Davao Occidental to San Isidro in Davao Oriental, especially as to how these impact and/or feed into the urban dynamics,” it added.

The development will transform neighborhoods into one that is “inclusive, smarter, more walkable, more bikable, more livable, mixed-income” with areas devoted for worships.

The region “must not commit the same mistakes that Metro Manila committed,” Mr. Palafox said as he likened the cities in the Philippines to the heart of a person whose veins and arteries are clogged because of development.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) tapped the company — whose business spans architecture, urban planning, town planning, site planning, engineering, development consultancy and environmental design — for the master plan.

Asked about the cost of the proposed master plan, Mr. Palafox said the contract he has with the MinDA does not include the detailed engineering of the project.

He said local legislators must be able to come up with a comprehensive land use and planning to ensure that the master plan is implemented as designed.

Mr. Palafox also proposed building a bridge between the Island Garden City and this city although this component was not included in the master plan.

Inspired by the Philippine Eagle, the proposed bridge will give those who cross it a good view of Mt. Apo, the Philippines’ highest mountain.

The national government set aside P25 million for the urban master plan whose goal, MinDA Secretary Abul Khayr D. Alonto said, is to produce a “collective vision for Metro Davao.” — Carmelito Q. Francisco

The best of 2017

The Chessbase Web site (www.chessbase.com) has announced the results of their poll on the 2017 Player of the Year, Female Player of the Year, Game of the Year, Endgame of the Year and Move of the Year. The Chessbase editors came up with a list of nominees and this was voted on by their members. You can go to the website to look at the results, or you can just read about the results year, as usual with my ten cents’ worth inserted.

For the GAME OF THE YEAR, I do not think there was ever much doubt that Ding Liren would win it for his queen+rook sacrifice against Bai Jinshi. The polling results show this as the second-placer, Aronian’s victory over Carlsen in Norway, scored less than half of Ding’s winning score.

Aronian, Levon (2793) — Carlsen, Magnus (2832) [D45]
Norway Chess 5th (4), 10.06.2017

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.0–0 Qe7 10.Bc2 Rd8 11.a3 Bxa3 12.Rxa3 Qxa3 13.c5 b6 14.b4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Rb8 17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Ng5+ Kg8 19.Qh5 Nf6 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Qc7 Bd7 22.Nf7+ Kh7 23.Nxd8 Rc8 24.Qxb6 Nd5 25.Qa7 Rxd8 26.e4 Qd3 27.exd5 Qxd2 28.Qc7 Qg5 29.dxc6 Bc8 30.h3 Qd5 31.Rd1 e5 32.Rd3 exd4 33.Qe7 Bf5 34.Rg3 Bg6 35.Qh4+

1–0

Wesley So vs Jeffery Xiong was also nominated (I wrote about this the other week) but finished 7th in the voting.

Here is Ding’s game. I had previously annotated this but will give it again with some additional comments. It was played in the Chinese League match between Hangzhou (this city, located between Shanghai and Ningbo, has the 4th largest metropolitan area in China. It is home to the IT company Alibaba and will host the 2022 Asian Games) and Zhejiang (this is the province to the south of Shanghai — Hangzhou city is part of Zhejiang).

Ding Liren personally annotated this game in New in Chess Magazine (2017, issue #8) and I have inserted some of his observations in the game below. Their Web site is www.newinchess.com. You should consider purchasing a subscription to that magazine. You won’t regret it — my idea of spending an enjoyable afternoon is going to the nearest Starbucks with the latest issue of their eight times a year magazine.

By the way, Ding’s opponent in the game, GM Bai Jinshi, 18 years old, is one of the fast rising stars in the Chinese horizon, known for his fighting stance and opening preparation. One day he will be in the forefront of the Chinese chess juggernaut, but on this occasion Ding Liren tells him “not yet.”

Bai, Jinshi (2553) — Ding, Liren (2774) [E21]
TCh-CHN 2017 China CHN (18.4), 04.11.2017

The Golden State Warriors have figured into the NBA World Championship Finals the last three years and won twice. Before the finals, of course, is an 82–game basketball season that takes each team several times across the country.

The Warriors always have a more difficult time than the other teams when navigating the 82 games, as being the defending world champions, their opponents always bring their “A” game — they carefully study videos of the previous Golden State games, pinpoint weaknesses, map out strategies to counter the Warriors’ known plays, etc. etc.

When Ding Liren surprised the chess world by qualifying for the FIDE World Cup Finals last September he virtually painted a target sign on his head — everybody now wants to take him down and get bragging rights of defeating a World Cup Finalist. This is one such attempt. Bai Jinshi prepared something special for Ding, but this was refuted over the board.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0–0 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.Qxd4

This is a rare move obviously prepared for the occasion.

7…Nc6 8.Qd3 h6 9.Bh4 d5 10.Rd1 g5 11.Bg3 Ne4

Very tricky, with …Qa5 as a follow-up. White cannot take the d5–pawn because of 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Qxd5 Nxc3.

12.Nd2!

White has some tricks of his own. Usually Black will be following up 11…Ne4 with 12…f5, but if he plays it now White will counter with 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Ndxe4 and now Black cannot play 14…dxe4 because of 15.Qc4+.

12…Nc5 13.Qc2

In his notes to the game in “New in Chess” Ding remarks that Bai was still playing very quickly showing that he was still in his preparation.

13…d4 14.Nf3

[14.exd4 Nxd4 15.Qb1 e5 16.Bd3 f5 White’s king position is looking dangerous]

14…e5

Ding: Now he (Bai) thought deeply for about 25 or 30 minutes, but I had also spent quite some time already.

15.Nxe5

[15.Bxe5 was also possible, and after 15…Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Ding points out that he would have played 16…Re8 and gives a lot of mind-bending variations stretching up to the 34th move showing that ultimately, if both players give their best, it will be a draw. We won’t go into that — let us keep our mind in the game]

15…dxc3!

Ding: Taking the knight and sacrificing my queen. When I decided to sac the queen I didn’t see everything, of course, but I did see 18…Na4 and I realized that Black should be better.”

16.Rxd8 cxb2+ 17.Ke2?

It looks like Black’s best continuation is 17.Rd2 Rd8 18.Nf3 Bg4 the most probably ending now is 19.Qxb2 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Rxd2 21.Qxd2 Bxd2+ 22.Kxd2 Rd8+ with equal chances.

17…Rxd8 18.Qxb2 Na4!

White probably expected 18…Rd2+ 19.Qxd2 Bxd2 20.Nxc6 Bc3 21.Ne7+ Kg7 22.Nd5 when White is better.

19.Qc2 Nc3+ 20.Kf3

No choice. If 20.Ke1 Nb1+ 21.Ke2 Rd2+ the queen is gone.

POSITION AFTER 20.KF3

How does Black continue the attack?

20…Rd4!!

With the idea of 21…g4+ 22.Nxg4 Bxg4 mate.

21.h3

He can’t take the rook: 21.exd4 Nxd4+ 22.Ke3 Nxc2+ and it is now Black who is material up.

21…h5 22.Bh2 g4+ 23.Kg3

And now, with his King out of the knight’s forking range, White really is threatening the rook.

23…Rd2!

Nope! The White King is not yet out of the knight’s forking range. If 24.Qxd2 Ne4+ the queen still goes.

24.Qb3 Ne4+ 25.Kh4

[25.Kf4 Rxf2+ 26.Nf3 (26.Kxe4 Bf5+ 27.Kd5 Rd8+ and mate) 26…gxf3 27.gxf3 Nd2 attacking b3 and f3]

25…Be7+ 26.Kxh5 Kg7 27.Bf4 Bf5 28.Bh6+ Kh7 29.Qxb7 Rxf2

Intending Ng3 checkmate.

30.Bg5 Rh8! 31.Nxf7 Bg6+ 32.Kxg4

Another great finish would have been 32.Kh4 Kg8+! 33.Nxh8 Bxg5+ 34.Kxg4 Ne5#

32…Ne5+! 0–1

The finish will be 32…Ne5+ 33.Nxe5 (33.Kh4 Kg8+! 34.Nxh8 Bxg5#) 33…Bf5+ 34.Kh5 Kg7+ (this is why Black had to check on e5, to get White’s f7 knight out of the way so it can’t block on h6. 35.Bh6+ Rxh6#

Ding Liren says that this is his most beautiful game ever. Interestingly enough he goes further to say that for him, the most beautiful game ever is still the famous Kasparov vs Topalov game — Kasparov had to take crucial decisions on practically every turn after his sacrifice, whereas in Ding’s game it was only 18…Na4 and 20…Rd4.

Just for the sake of completely here is the Kasparov game.

Kasparov, Garry (2812) — Topalov, Veselin (2700) [B07]
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee (4), 20.01.1999

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 c6 6.f3 b5 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Bh6 Bxh6 9.Qxh6 Bb7 10.a3! e5 11.0–0–0 Qe7 12.Kb1 a6 13.Nc1! 0–0–0 14.Nb3 exd4 15.Rxd4 c5 16.Rd1 Nb6 17.g3 Kb8 18.Na5 Ba8 19.Bh3 d5 20.Qf4+ Ka7 21.Rhe1 d4 22.Nd5! Nbxd5

[22…Nfxd5? leaves his f-pawn vulnerable: 23.exd5 Qd6 24.Qxf7+]

23.exd5 Qd6 24.Rxd4! cxd4 25.Re7+!! Kb6

[25…Qxe7? 26.Qxd4+ White mates]

26.Qxd4+ Kxa5

[26…Qc5 27.Qxf6+ Qd6 28.Be6!! Bxd5 29.b4 and now if 29…Bxe6 30.Rb7#]

27.b4+ Ka4 28.Qc3 Qxd5 29.Ra7 Bb7 30.Rxb7 Qc4 31.Qxf6 Kxa3 32.Qxa6+ Kxb4 33.c3+! Kxc3 34.Qa1+ Kd2

[34…Kb4 35.Qb2+ Ka5 (35…Qb3 36.Rxb5+) 36.Qa3+ Qa4 37.Ra7+]

35.Qb2+ Kd1

[35…Ke3? 36.Re7+]

36.Bf1! Rd2 37.Rd7!

[Breathtaking.]

37…Rxd7 38.Bxc4 bxc4 39.Qxh8 Rd3 40.Qa8 c3 41.Qa4+ Ke1 42.f4 f5 43.Kc1 Rd2 44.Qa7 1–0

 

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

SMC to open new Skyway runway toll plaza on Jan. 26

SAN MIGUEL CORP. (SMC) unit Skyway O&M Corp. is set to open on Jan. 26 its newly completed runway toll plaza in Skyway. In a statement, SMC said that the new toll plaza, consisting of three lanes dedicated to faster Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system and four cash lanes, is designed to better handle increased traffic volume, by facilitating faster toll collection. “At Skyway, traffic volume is a reality we all have to contend with. But for our part, we continue to look for ways to manage traffic better. This new toll plaza is an enhancement to the Skyway that we initiated in order to facilitate more efficient toll collection. With dedicated ETC lanes and Cash lanes that can accommodate more tellers per lane, we’re hoping to improve traffic throughput at the toll plazas,” Ramon S. Ang, president of SMC, said in a statement SMC however acknowledged that the transition to a modified system might cause some delay and confusion. — P.P.C. Marcelo

Indonesia eyes foreign banks after MUFG-Danamon deal

BANKS from countries including China are looking to follow the example of Japan’s largest lender and buy stakes in Indonesian financial institutions, according to the head of the Southeast Asian nation’s Financial Services Authority.

After the agreement last month by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MUFG) to purchase a $1.2-billion stake in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, the government in Jakarta wants to see similar investments as it seeks to boost lending and fund ambitious infrastructure projects, according to Wimboh Santoso, who was appointed in June as chairman of the regulator, known locally as the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or OJK.

“A lot of international banks are intending to come to Indonesia. The reason is that we have a big market here. And we have a large population, we have rich natural resources,” he said in an interview at his Jakarta office on Friday. “We are happy to entertain them — to have more contribution to lending and to finance all the infrastructure for Indonesia.”

The Indonesian government has been grappling with a revenue shortfall and rising debt even as President Joko Widodo seeks to fund hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure projects. Economic growth has fallen short of the 7% target set by Jokowi when he came to power three years ago.

BANKING CONSOLIDATION
As well as Chinese banks, lenders from India and South Korea are keen to invest in Indonesia, Santoso said. “Under my chairmanship we are very friendly” to any ideas that help to improve business, technology and the economic development of Indonesia, he said.

Beyond providing finance for infrastructure, OJK sees foreign investment as a way to encourage consolidation among the country’s more than 100 lenders, which serve a population of 260 million.

Foreign banks are restricted from purchasing stakes of more than 40% in Indonesian lenders, a regulation imposed in 2012 when Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings Ltd. was involved in an earlier attempt to acquire control of Danamon. DBS abandoned the plan in 2013.

MUFG plans to seek regulatory permission to increase its stake to the 40% limit later this year, before applying for approval to exceed the cap and make an offer to all other Danamon shareholders, it said last month. Tokyo-based Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. is also asking to raise its 40% stake in PT Bank Tabungan Pensiunan Nasional, Heru Kristiyana, the Indonesian regulator’s commissioner for banking supervision, said earlier this month.

“It is too soon to discuss on this,” Santoso said when asked whether he will allow foreign banks to acquire control of Indonesian lenders. He said OJK will look at each deal on a case-by-case basis, with the key factor being the foreign bank’s plans to develop their local partner.

SEEK COMMITMENT
“The issue is not about lifting or lowering the bar. But when we discuss with individual banks, we usually ask what they are going to do,” Santoso said. “We are not happy if you keep the bank as it is. We are not happy when you have no ‘quantum leap’ to support the economy.”

Referring to coming talks on MUFG’s Damanon purchase, Santoso said: “We will ask to have more commitment about how to contribute to development in infrastructure, lending, and of course technology.”

Santoso, 60, joined OJK from Indonesia’s largest lender, state-owned PT Bank Mandiri, where he was chairman.

He previously worked at the International Monetary Fund and as head of the New York branch of Bank Indonesia, the nation’s central bank, where he started his career as a banking supervisor.

Because the top state-owned banks are already so large, Indonesia is looking to the nation’s private lenders and foreign firms for the planned consolidation, Santoso said. “Without additional capital, it will be very difficult for Indonesian banks” to become more competitive and to grow into regional lenders, he said. — Bloomberg

Knicks woes

Blown leads aren’t new in the National Basketball Association. In fact, the regularity with which they occur is precisely what makes pro hoops compelling; no advantage is safe, and nothing elicits reactions from fans more than unlikely outcomes. Still, the Knicks can’t possibly be thrilled with their swoon; it’s one thing to lose a given match after being ahead early on or even late, and quite another to lose after being ahead big early on and proving unable to stay afloat late. Yesterday’s setback, their third straight and 11th in the last 14 games, was particularly galling; after building a cushion that stood as high as 19 in the second half, they bowed to the middling Pelicans in overtime, much to the chagrin of the 19,812-strong Garden crowd.

Needless to say, the Knicks are stinking up the joint. Offensively, they aren’t good enough to trade baskets with two-thirds of the league, especially with top dog Kristaps Porzingis crashing back to earth after a sterling start. Meanwhile, their defense leaves much to be desired, in no small measure because only a handful can play both ways. It’s why the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis managed to torch them for 48 and 17, and why Jrue Holiday, norming an already robust 18 by his standards, could erupt for 31.

In the immediate term, the good news is that the Knicks will be facing relatively lighter competition. They’ll be kicking off their two-week road trip against the Nets, Grizzlies, Jazz, and Lakers, who are a whopping 44 games under .500 all told, and whom they should dispatch with ease. If anything, how they deal with adversity through the remaining matches of the month will inform their strategy heading into the trade deadline.

In any case, one thing’s sure: The Knicks can’t pin their January swoon on departed president Phil Jackson. This time last year, they blamed their poor record on the executive, ostensibly because of an ill-informed insistence on running the outdated triangle system, not to mention an unhealthy tiff with 10-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony. Thusly, the onus is on head coach Jeff Hornacek to prove his style of management and execution works. Otherwise, it will again be a colorful offseason marked by finger pointing.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

DTI targets more halal exports in 2018

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be boosting its marketing of halal exports this year, in compliance with Republic Act (RA) 10817 or the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Act of 2016, signed in 2017.

Assistant Secretary for the Trade and Investment Promotions Group (TIPG) Abdulgani Macatoman on Monday said that with the increasing worldwide market for halal products, the Philippines has an opportunity to sell more.

“In the Philippines, we have an $800-million market for halal, not counting the domestic consumption of the 11% Muslim population. But because of the passage of the RA 10817, we are expecting this to increase to $1 billion for 2018,” he added.

Mr. Macatoman in a separate interview told BusinessWorld that the top halal exports are dried fruits, which are shipped to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and the Middle East.

Undersecretary for TIPG Nora K. Terrado said the department hopes to consolidate the halal industry.

“There are conversations in the community to build the ecosystem for it. There’s a lot of demand for halal food, fashion, and textiles.”

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said that the consumption of halal products is not limited to Muslims, since the industry is also now sold  as a “lifestyle” product in places like Singapore.

“Because of the untapped potential for that market, we want to do it also here… for more than the 11% Muslim population because of the potential also for tourists looking for halal products in the food and non-food segments,” he added. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

Data dumping is not just for computers

“Data dump” is defined as the transfer of large amounts of data from one system or location to another. It refers to a machine-to-machine transaction. But, does data dump have a social counterpart?

The modern problem of “information overload” is growing. It has to do with getting streams of data from all sources, especially from the Internet and social media. It’s a bombardment of news, opinion, gossip, and statistics. As in a buffet table, the prospect of indigestion is all too real. Attempting to eat everything, just because it’s available and we can, is bound to result in the embarrassment of a messy table that needs to be cleaned up afterwards.

When dealing with limitless information, screening has become a matter of necessity. A decision needs to be made on what articles to read, books to pick up, and movies to see. Even with short blogs and video clips (I have a pen; I have an apple) and the hits they elicit, selectivity is still essential.

As in an art exhibit featuring, say social realism, it is critical to have a proper curator to choose significant works and give them their proper setting. Not all works can make it to the show. So what to leave out is just as important as what to include.

In small talk, no information on the weather, political views, and social relationships is considered irrelevant. The layers of detail invite the expression “too much information (TMI).” There is an implicit plea to provide just sufficient information to keep conversation flowing, without sacrificing interest and plot lines.

Informational efficiency is achieved when a specific inquiry is addressed to someone who can provide the analysis and the facts. If you need to confirm the current status of a former associate or ascertain the gravity of someone’s illness, the required input is quite defined. On the Internet, this straight-to-the-point search may entail checking the source and wording of a quotation, the name of an author of a book, or the year a particular historical event happened.

Focusing only on a particular area of common interest specifies the needed information. Would you discuss office politics and the perfidy of associates or impossible revenue targets being foisted on you by your boss with your cousin from Massachusetts in a family reunion? He couldn’t care less about your career challenges, or even successes. In the matter of social graces, we need to instinctively avoid imposing on the attention span of others. Maybe gossip on other relatives and effective ways to avoid traffic (just stay at home) would be more apropos.

Of course, it is still possible to wander off into farfetched topics which seem irrelevant, like the intricacies of The Last Jedi or the intricacies of tax reform. Isn’t this what small talk is about? If the performance of the stock market comes up, for example, it is enough for an intelligent conversation to drop words like rallies and corrections. You don’t need a power point presentation to show how conglomerates behave differently from stand-alone corporations.

It is clear then that the best way to handle information overload is to simply ignore most of it. Just because it’s there doesn’t mean it needs to be digested or even browsed. Like packing for a vacation, needs determine the clothes and items to bring to avoid taking along too much and being overweight even before the shopping. Indifference and the readiness to be considered out of the loop are a small price to pay for sanity.

Still, the functional use of information only applies to surfing the net on the computer or smart phone. The pragmatic approach to information can be discernment, especially when it comes to fake news (he fainted twice in his office) and conspiracy theories — guess who’s waiting in the wings?

An avid reader is prepared to be surprised and delighted with areas of knowledge some may consider worthless like stoicism, Philippine history, the randomness of success, or landscape architecture. We should also try not to be deprived of the joys of understanding how the Roman Empire fell, what civil wars can teach us about fanaticism, or why bit coins shouldn’t pique our interest.

Information which does not seem to serve any practical value may save us from being bored. What we should avoid is being boring… and the fear of missing out (FOMO).

 

A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.

ar.samson@yahoo.com

US embassy’s new ‘off location’ digs

LONDON — The new US embassy in London is located in a former post-industrial wasteland on the south side of the River Thames — a world away from its historic home in the capital’s luxurious Mayfair district.

Announcing on Friday that he would not come for the embassy’s inauguration, US President Donald J. Trump said it was in an “off location” and that the former embassy had been sold to Qatar for “peanuts.”

While Republican Trump put the blame on his Democrat predecessor Barack Obama, the decision to move from Mayfair to Nine Elms was in fact taken by the administration of Republican former president George W. Bush in 2008.

It followed the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya and the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, which made security considerations paramount.

The most striking feature of the new embassy is a half-moon shaped moat surrounding it, which gives the 12-storey cube building a fortress-like feel.

It has had its share of critics even before Mr. Trump.

“Those desperate to find a symbol of the current American administration in the new embassy in Nine Elms will find one all too easily: it is a squat, fortified cube inside a moat,” The Economist magazine wrote.

Peter Rees, the City of London’s former head of planning, was quoted by The New York Times newspaper as saying that it was “like moving from New York’s Upper East Side to New Jersey.”

Mr. Trump said the building cost $1.2 billion (€990 million) — a price tag that reportedly makes it the most expensive embassy building in the world.

Architects Kieran Timberlake, based in the US city of Philadelphia, were selected to build it in 2010.

‘CENTER STAGE’
The new embassy is located in a formerly rundown area now seeing vast construction projects where there were once warehouses and railyards.

Asked whether British Prime Minister Theresa May shared Mr. Trump’s views about the area, her spokesman on Friday said it was “a vibrant and important part of London.”

Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth Council, the borough where the area is located, rejected Mr. Trump’s comments about being “off location.”

“It is certainly center stage today,” he said.

Mr. Govindia called it an “iconic new zone,” pointing out that Apple were moving their offices to the area.

He said a £15-billion ($20.5-billion, €17-billion) regeneration of the area would bring 20,000 new homes and 25,000 permanent jobs.

The Dutch embassy is also planning to move to the area and luxury apartment buildings are sprouting up, including one which will have a glass-bottomed swimming pool spanning a void between two towers.

‘WEAR AND TEAR’
Embassy staff have gradually been transferred to the new building in recent months and it is due to open officially for consular services.

The US flag was lowered for the final time on Tuesday from the top of the former 600-room embassy in Grosvenor Square, where US General Dwight Eisenhower had his headquarters during World War II.

The area became known as “Little America” at the time.

Current ambassador Woody Johnson, a Trump appointee who owns the New York Jets American football team, called the lowering of the flag “a poignant moment.”

The modernist embassy building by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen was completed in 1957 and sold in 2009 to Qatari Diar, the real estate investment arm of Qatar’s government.

The price tag for the deal was never disclosed and Qatari Diar plans to turn it into a luxury hotel.

At the time of the selection, then ambassador Louis Susman said the old building was “over-crowded, does not meet modern office needs and required security standards” and was showing “wear and tear.”

Asked about the prospect of Mr. Trump’s visit, current ambassador Johnson said he was looking forward to it, adding: “I think he will be very impressed with this building and the people who occupy it.”

He said the new embassy was a “signal to the world that this special relationship that we have is stronger and is going to grow and get better.” — AFP

Coco guitars all the rage in Mexico

PARACHO DE VERDUZCO, MEXICO — Salvador Meza has been making guitars since he was a boy, but his leathery hands have never had to churn them out as fast as now — thanks to the hit movie Coco.

Meza, 41, is one of many renowned guitar-makers in the Mexican town of Paracho, which has been producing artfully crafted guitars since the 18th century.

But the sleepy colonial town has never seen a boom like this — all because of Coco, this year’s Golden Globe winner for best animated film and a box-office smash that has grossed more than $500 million so far.

Set in Mexico, the movie tells the story of Miguel, a young boy who secretly longs to be a musician but is growing up in a family where music is forbidden.

Fate thrusts into his hands a white guitar incrusted with mother-of-pearl, topped with gold tuning pegs and a stylized black skull.

The skull, like the film itself, is a playful tribute to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, a festival of colorful costumes, decorations and sweets during which, according to tradition, the dead come back to visit the living.

Director Lee Unkrich has called the film a “love letter to Mexico,” and Mexico loves it back: it is the country’s highest-grossing movie of all time.

The animators at Pixar, the studio behind the film, based Miguel’s guitar on a real-life version made by an artisan from Paracho — and demand for replicas now has the town’s luthiers working in overdrive.

“I usually work out of my home with my wife and a friend. But now, I’ve had to call up my godmother, my nephew, my cousin,” said Meza through the cloud of sawdust in his workshop.

“We’re all going crazy over Coco!”

Since Coco had its world premiere in Mexico on Oct. 20, 2017, Meza says he has been sleeping three hours a night and has doubled his output from 50 guitars a week to 100.

Paracho, the “guitar capital of Mexico,” makes nearly one million classical guitars a year, many exported to the United States.

Typically, they are elegant and understated masterpieces of burnished brown wood.

At least, that was the case until the town caught what guitar shop owner Maria Eugenia Gomez calls “Coco fever.”

Now, she says, she can’t keep up with demand for the flashy white guitars.

“If I had 1,000 of them, I’d sell them all,” said Gomez, 76.

‘STRAIGHT OUT OF A MOVIE’
The man behind the original Coco guitar is German Vazquez, a Paracho native who emigrated to the United States 25 years ago, slipping over the border to chase the American dream.

The state where Paracho is located, Michoacan, was until recent years swept by grisly violence unleashed by the Knights Templar drug cartel. It is among the states with the highest rates of emigration to the US.

After Vazquez crossed the border, he found work, eventually became a US citizen and finally managed to open his own guitar workshop in Los Angeles — which is where Pixar found him.

Now 64, he reminisces with a hint of nostalgia about his trek across the desert a quarter-century ago.

“It was hard. You arrive with nothing but the clothes on your back, with no money, nothing but your desire to work,” said Vazquez, a critic of US President Donald Trump’s planned border wall.

He said he sees a little bit of young Miguel in his own life’s story.

“He wants to be a musician, and he searches for a way to make it happen. He fights and fights until he achieves it. I think in that way I’m also like little Miguel… in love with guitars,” he told AFP.

“My life is straight out of a movie.” — AFP

Stocks track Wall St.’s rise on positive sentiment

LOCAL EQUITIES climbed on Monday to track the positive finishes of international markets last Friday.

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) saw a 0.48% uptick or 43.10 points to 8,857.72 on Monday.

The broader all-shares index likewise added 0.54% or 27.84 points to 5,126.59.

“Local stocks took cue from bullish US markets over the weekend and bullish regional markets, expectations of higher OFW (overseas Filipino workers) remittances for the last two months of 2017, as well as optimism ahead of local fourth-quarter earnings reports,” PCCI Securities Brokers Corp. Research Head Joseph James F. Lago said in an e-mail.

International markets ended mostly higher last Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 0.89% or 228.46 points to 25,803.19. The S&P 500 index was up 0.67% or 18.68 points to 2,786.24, while the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.68% or 49.29 points to 7,261.06.

AB Capital Securities, Inc. Senior Equity Analyst Lexter L. Azurin attributed the market’s performance to continued positive sentiment on the Philippine economy on the back of the recently enacted tax reform program.

“These continue to be favorable to listed companies. What’s also adding to the positive sentiment is government planning to pass the second round of packages, reduction in corporate income tax,” Mr. Azurin said in a phone interview yesterday.

Four sectoral counters moved to positive territory, while two ended on a negative note. The mining and oil sub-index led gainers with an increase of 1.3% or 152.74 points to 11,905.55, followed by industrials, which rose 1.04% or 119.66 points to 11,591.15. Holding firms gained 1.02% or 92.10 points to 9,087.58, while property added 0.49% or 19.96 points to 4,040.63.

Meanwhile, the financial sector gave up 0.87% or 20.28 points to 2,305.37 and services dropped 0.05% or 0.96 point to 1,618.62.

A total of 735.82 million issues valued at P5.58 billion changed hands, dropping from Friday’s P7.95-billion value turnover.

Decliners trumped advancers, 109 to 99, while 52 issues were flat.

Mr. Azurin also noted that foreign funds continue to push the market up, with net foreign buying recorded at P419.91 million on Monday, higher than the P141.94 million recorded the previous trading day.

Megaworld Corp. was the most actively traded stock on Monday, albeit losing 4.31% to P4.88 each. Jollibee Foods Corp. meanwhile saw a 3.45% increase to P263.80 each, while BDO Unibank, Inc. shed 1.15% to P163 apiece.

For today, PCCI Securities’ Mr. Lago said investors will look at “other economic reports that will further point to global economic growth for 2018.”

Other Southeast Asian stock markets also climbed on Monday as broader Asia drew confidence from record-setting gains on Wall Street, with Thailand scaling a fresh all-time peak. — Arra B. Francia with Reuters

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