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Annual motorcycle expo points to continued rise of café racers

THE recent EICMA, the motorcycle industry’s showcase of its best new models held annually in Milan, Italy, this year provided notable concept bikes like the Honda CB4 Interceptor, Moto Guzzi V85 and the Indian Scout FTR1200 Custom — a near-production prototype tracker. But what the show also indicated was the continued rise in popularity of café racers, with manufacturers introducing their varied interpretations of what a café racer is. The consensus among them, however, is that such bikes are “modern classics.”

Expectedly, not to be outdone on its home turf was Ducati, which unveiled the all-new Scrambler 1100. Ducati’s newest take on its wildly successful retro model — which, incidentally, was first available (and still is) in 803cc and 400cc cuts — boasts a new frame and a retuned version of the 1079cc L-twin motor found in the brand’s equally iconic Monster 1100.

Along with these come three riding modes, traction control and cornering ABS, all of which offered on the model’s three variants that are marked by each one’s different handlebar, saddle and paint job. Despite the larger power plant, the Scrambler 1100 tips the scales at 205 kilograms due to extensive use of aluminum.

The big Japanese brands came in full force as well. Kawasaki, which ahead of EICMA introduced at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show its decidedly nostalgic Z900RS, an homage to the brand’s legendary Z1, raised the retro factor further by releasing in Milan the Z900RS Café. Based wholly on the “regular” Z900RS, the Café gains a sexy bikini fairing, drop-style handlebar and a humped saddle.

Propulsion is delivered by a water-cooled, 948cc inline-four engine that makes 110 hp. The bike uses an adjustable 41-millimeter inverted fork and a mono shock in the rear. Its frame, according to Kawasaki, was designed to enhance the bike’s retro styling. Of course, the Z900RS Café’s lime-green-and-white palette ties it quite neatly with its illustrious Z1 forebear.

For its part, Honda brought out a more contemporary-looking, but still retro-inspired, bike. Leaning more toward the street fighter genre, the new CB1000R packs a potent 143 hp inline-four that has been fitted with three throttle maps and a ride-by-wire system. The engine is cradled within a new frame that’s propped by a fully adjustable Showa suspension. With all the components together, the bike weighs in at 212 kilograms.

The company that builds nothing but retro bikes, if not outright vintage bikes, pulled out a surprise in Milan by launching two new models. Royal Enfield unveiled its Interceptor 650 and Continental GT, which are powered by a new 650cc, parallel-twin, air-cooled engine developed in the UK. With a 270-degree crank, the engine is unsurprisingly similar to British-made Triumphs. But no scorcher, this: it spins out a mere 47 hp and 52 Nm.

True to tradition, it’s the Continental GT that’s more of a café racer between the pair. Kitted with a single saddle and clip-on handlebar, the bike had the distinction of being the sole café racer in EICMA that came rolling in genuine wire wheels. Matched with the vintage touches though are items like fuel injection and ABS-equipped disc brakes.

Modern bike classics live on.

Battling climate change

Last Dec. 12, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a climate summit, two years after the historic COP 21 Climate Change Agreement in Paris. Said gathering was called the “One Planet Summit,” where emphasis was placed on climate finance or how to ensure the availability of the reported more than $200-billion annual funding in compliance with the provisions of the Paris Agreement.

The call of the French leader was for nations, especially the developed ones, the private sector, the scientists and civil society groups to act faster in keeping the global temperature down. In response, several commitments were made, particularly from private corporate entities, thereby providing renewed optimism to make the Climate Pact work. Unfortunately, the government of the United States, under President Donald Trump, considering their huge contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and great capacity (and responsibility) to chip in into the climate fund, was sorely missing in the Summit.

Without question, the industrialized countries have the substantial accountability, along with the private sector, to address climate change. Calling the Summit “One Planet” is apt and should provide a realization that all of us, regardless of economic standing, will ultimately be adversely affected by the changing climate. Thus, the onus is for the “big boys” to lead the fight by looking inward first, as well as providing assistance to developing nations to build resiliency, most especially the vulnerable ones.

For the Philippines, such a gathering must again highlight the call for climate justice being a nation ranked among the most vulnerable to extreme weather, yet not a major source of GHG emissions. The availability of funding mechanisms will definitely go a long way in establishing the resilience of the country. Although entitlement to such funds cannot be mistaken, the Philippines’ pursuit of climate justice will have another dimension if the effects of the changing climate is linked to human rights. To this end, every nation is obligated to address human rights violations, including those brought about by extreme weather, held to be anthropogenic.

Putting in context the Philippine’s contribution to climate change should grant a good insight to policy makers on where to double efforts in combating extreme weather. The paper entitled: “Blameless in Stratosphere: Carbon Footprint, Manufacturing Growth, and the Fuel Mix Debate in the Philippines,” presented in a Stratbase-ADR Institute roundtable discussion, is most enlightening. In the presentation, Dr. Raul Fabella highlighted that the Philippines has a very small carbon footprint with a per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions even less than African countries such as Angola, Congo and Djibouti. Moreover, Dr. Fabella, et al. looked at other Asian countries in their respective years of comparable development to 2011 Philippines. Interestingly, the country’s 0.9 metric tons per capita CO2 emissions was significantly lower than 1968 levels in Singapore (2.7 metric tons), 1982 South Korea (3.6 metric tons), and 2004 China (4.1 metric tons). In this comparison, the Philippines, at 2011 development levels, was closest to Thailand in 1991 and Indonesia in 2008, both at 1.8 metric tons of per capita CO2 emissions. With such a small carbon footprint, the Philippines is said to have remarkably outweighed its CO2 emissions share by its renewables share from 1990-2014. Surprisingly, such renewables share is observed to even surpass almost all of the top 10 carbon emitting countries in the same period. Lastly, it is important to note that the transportation sector accounts for the largest average of CO2 emissions in the Philippines at 36.43%, followed by “other industry” at 20.22% in the same period of 1990-2014.

With this backdrop, our policy makers should focus the climate change mitigation efforts of the country on the transportation system. Obviously, the still worsening traffic situation in almost all urban centers uselessly burning away tons of fossil fuel, not to mention the dire public health implications.

Worse, the handful of rail transits we have in this country are not expanding, but in fact deteriorating. Thus, if we are to curb our share of CO2 emissions to help in the climate action, our government has to quickly make good on its promise of a massive infrastructure program that should introduce modes of transportation that are less dependent on fossil fuel. In this regard, mass transportation should be the priority.

On the climate change resiliency front, one cannot dismiss the value of adapting to extreme weather for such a vulnerable country like the Philippines. Again, being able to tap a fund to build resilient communities will be a tremendous step towards facing the so-called “new normal.” A significant action, however, which is independent of third-party action and immediately doable, to promote adaptation is effective dissemination of climate-related data, or any risk data for that matter.

The government can vastly improve our disaster risk management by enabling all concerned to readily and freely access data and information that will heighten the awareness of vulnerable communities and instill a mind-set of readiness for natural calamities. Used wisely, knowledge is power, but power in the wrong hands, in this case, is disastrous.

 

Lysander N. Castillo is an Environment Fellow at the Stratbase ADR Institute and Secretary-General of Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST).

Qatar sovereign wealth fund scouting possible investments

A DELEGATION from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), a sovereign wealth fund, met Philippine officials here on Friday to discuss investment opportunities, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a statement.

The QIA delegation was headed by Sheikh Abdulaziz Ali Al Thani, Head of Business Development.

Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno led the Philippine side, along with Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Alan L. Timbayan, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio B. Dizon.

Also represented were the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Al Amanah Islamic Bank, Department of Transportation (DoTr), Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

Mr. Diokno, in the statement, said: “[I]nfrastructure spending has constantly fallen below the suggested threshold of 5% of GDP (gross domestic product) for developing countries,” he said.

“In fact, government estimates show that it only averaged 2.6% over the past 50 years. In contrast, the Duterte administration aims to target at least 5% of GDP for infrastructure spending rising up to more than 7% of GDP,” he added.

The government plans to spend P8 to P9 trillion until 2022.

As of October, government expenditures rose 10% year on year to P2.241 trillion. This is equivalent to 77.04% of the P2.909 trillion disbursement program for the year.

“Clearly, we walk the talk and put our money where our mouths are,” Mr. Diokno said.

In 2016, Qatar ranked as the Philippines’ 32nd trading partner, with bilateral trade amounting to $241 million.

The Middle East remains the country’s second-largest source of remittances from overseas Filipinos, accounting for 28% of the total or almost $7.6 billion in 2016.

It also hosts more than one million overseas Filipino workers. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

PT&T signs agreement with Chinese company

PHILIPPINE Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (PT&T) is looking to team up with a Chinese company to provide free wireless broadband services in public areas around the country.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, PT&T Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer Arturo T. Falco said the company has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Chengdu Zhongxing Tiantong Technology Corp. The MoA will be effective for 90 days.

“The purpose of the agreement is to explore the feasibility of engaging in a project that will provide free wireless broadband services in designated public areas before, during and after the occurrence of disasters in any part of the country,” he said.

PT&T and Chengdu Zhongxing Tiantong Technology will conduct a feasibility study on the project.

“Actual participation of the each party shall be discussed after the conclusion of the said study and will be reflected in the definitive agreement that may be reached by the parties,” Mr. Falco said.

In an interview with BusinessWorld last week, PT&T Chairman Salvador B. Zamora II said the company will tap Chengdu Outwitcom, a wireless communication and networking technology provider and a wholly owned subsidiary of Chengdu Zhongxing Tiantong Technology Co. for the broadband network.

Mr. Zamora said Chengdu Outwitcom was able to roll out Wi-Fi service in the outdoor areas of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex during the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and meetings last month.

“It was their contribution for ASEAN 50. Their signal was so strong that even the delegates who were inside the ASEAN 50 were using their Wi-Fi. Most delegates ended up using their facilities,” he said, adding the company was able to roll out the service in just one week.

PT&T is also in “preliminary” talks with China Telecom, which Malacañang earlier said the Chinese government picked to enter the Philippine market.

While hopeful of a deal with China Telecom, Mr. Zamora said they will still continue its national broadband network rollout “with or without” the Chinese company.

Returning PBA chairman Ricky Vargas calls for healing, reforms in Board

ON the night the PBA board accepted the resignation of Chito Narvasa as commissioner and appointed Willie Marcial as the officer-in-charge of the league, the board of governors also saw swapping of duties between two gentlemen belonging to the MVP Group of Companies.

Ricky Vargas, board of governor of Talk ’N Text and a former chairman of the PBA board, took over the chairmanship position from Ramoncito Fernandez of NLEX.

Mr. Fernandez was supposed to assume as chairman for the league’s 43rd season, but gave way to the more experienced Vargas, also a former executive of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Executives from NLEX confirmed this development to interaksyon.com.

“I think it’s part of the deal,” said NLEX general manager and head coach Yeng Guiao said in a text message.

The same was confirmed by Ronald Dulatre, team executive of the Road Warriors.

“It’s a swap with TNT,” added Mr. Dulatre.

As the new chairman, Mr. Vargas said reforms in the league and changes in the constitution and by laws are needed to avoid another impasse, one that saw the board split into two with seven calling for the non-extension of Mr. Narvasa as commissioner and five giving support to the embattled former head of the league.

But Mr. Vargas is calling on his fellow members to work together.

“My main objective is the complete healing and reforms to our constitution and by laws,” added Mr. Vargas. — Rey Joble

Fancy a Marquis de Sade erotic novel, or Titanic souvenirs?

PARIS — Fancy some 232-year-old pornography, written in the Bastille and hidden behind a stone?

Or something more intellectually stimulating? How about mathematical equations sketched by quantum theory pioneers Erwin Schroedinger? Or poems from the pen of Arthur Rimbaud?

All yours if you have the money.

One of the world’s largest collections of historic letters, musical scores, notes and manuscripts — including the Marquis de Sade’s Bastille-written 120 Days of Sodom — will be auctioned in Paris this week.

The vast collection was assembled by Aristophil, a French company set up in 1990 that raised funds from investors and art lovers, granting them in exchange a share in a trove of documents, drawings and objets d‘art acquired around the world.

Aristophil’s founder, Gerard Lheritier, appeared to be doing well, earning the moniker “the king of manuscripts.” But the firm went bankrupt in 2015 having spent hundreds of millions of euros on some 130,000 pieces.

Lheritier, 69, was detained and put under investigation for fraud, a charge he has denied.

The entire collection is now being liquidated, a process that is expected to take six years spread over more than 200 auctions, partly to avoid saturating the market and suppressing prices.

All will be handled by auctioneers Aguttes, with the first taking place at the Drouot auction house in Paris on Dec. 20.

Among the most high-profile lots is De Sade’s manuscript, written on 33 pieces of scroll while he was imprisoned in 1785.

“It’s a book written on a 12-meter (yard) long roll which if it’s rolled up tightly can be hidden in your hand,” said Claude Aguttes, the chief auctioneer. “Sade used to hide it every night behind a stone in the Bastille.”

When he was forcibly taken from the prison in 1789, the scroll, a pornographic novel telling the tale of four noblemen who resolve to experience every sexual perversion, was left behind and only later discovered. It is expected to sell for between €4 million and €6 million ($4.75-$7.10 million).

Other lots include a 40-page first-hand account of the sinking of the Titantic by survivor Helen Churchill Candee, whose dramatic testimony helped inspire the movie Titanic.

There are original manuscripts by Alexandre Dumas and Honore de Balzac, emotional correspondence from Admiral Nelson and Napoleon I, and operatic scores drafted by Richard Strauss, among many others.

The first sale is expected to raise between €12 and €16 million. The bidding will be closely watched by the 18,000 people who invested in Aristophil and lost everything.

They hope to recoup some of those losses via the liquidation, but the prices may never match what Lheritier paid — he said the Marquis de Sade’s manuscript cost €7 million, but it is not expected to reach that sum.

Among the most notable 20th century pieces are four manuscripts by Andre Breton, a founder of surrealism, that are being sold together for the first time. They include his famous definition of the movement from the Surrealist Manifesto.

The manuscripts together are expected to sell for between €4.5 and €5.5 million, the auctioneers estimate. — Reuters

Printing shop found making counterfeit copies of REX Book Store publications

 

A PHOTOCOPYING and printing establishment in Dasmariñas, Cavite was raided on Monday, Dec. 18, by a team from the National Bureau of Investigation-Intellectual Property Rights Division (NBI-IPRD) and was found to be reproducing and selling counterfeit copies of REX Book Store, Inc.’s published books. Acting on a complaint filed by REX Book Store, the raid was conducted at the Sha-I Copy Center owned by a certain Edgar dela Cuesta. Another Sha-I branch located in Crossing East, Tagaytay City was also raided. REX Book Store, in a statement, said the counterfeit books were seized along with photocopying machines and other equipment and accessories. The NBI-IPRD also searched the residence of a certain Edgar Dizon, an online seller of counterfeit books, in Silang, Cavite.

Trump ‘America First’ national security strategy sees China, Russia as US rivals

WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump called Russia and China “rival powers” to the US but said he’ll continue to try to partner with them as he outlined a muscular foreign policy that attempts to turn his “America First” campaign pledge into statecraft.

Mr. Trump’s first official national security strategy is in some ways little different from those of his predecessors. Its four broad goals — to protect Americans and their homeland, promote national prosperity, preserve “peace through strength” and advance American influence — are essentially noncontroversial.

But Mr. Trump departed from former President Barack Obama in declining to maintain climate change as a national security threat, and to a greater extent than his immediate predecessor, he fused economic and military threats.

Growth in gross domestic product is “one of America’s greatest weapons” Mr. Trump said, declaring that past US leaders he didn’t name had failed to effectively protect US interests in areas including trade, defense and counterterrorism.

“For many years, our citizens watched as Washington politicians presided over one disappointment after another,” Mr. Trump said in a speech to military and homeland security officials in Washington. “Our leaders in Washington negotiated disastrous trade deals that brought massive profits to many foreign nations but sent thousands of American factories and millions of American jobs to those other countries.”

At points, Mr. Trump’s speech struck a different tone than the official document that was released by the White House outlining his “America first” foreign policy — especially in his discussion of Russia and China.

The strategy document takes a tough line on Russia, accusing the country of trying to undermine “the legitimacy of democracies.” In his remarks, Mr. Trump called Russia a rival but also described the country as a potential partner.

He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him Sunday to thank him for information the CIA shared that helped to thwart an alleged terror attack planned for St. Petersburg.

“That is the way it’s supposed to work,” Mr. Trump said.

STRATEGIC COMPETITORS
Mr. Trump said that China seeks “to challenge American influence, values, and wealth.” But he did not call the country a “strategic competitor,” as senior administration officials said he would the day before the speech.

“Any nation that ends up trading its prosperity for security will end up losing both,” Mr. Trump said. “We recognize that weakness is the surest path to conflict and unrivaled power is the most certain means of defense.”

The strategy document makes one reference to “strategic competitors” without specifically applying the term to China. Former President George W. Bush used the phrase to describe China when he initially took office. The Chinese found the term deeply offensive and lobbied Washington to drop the phrase, which it eventually did.

But the document does accuse China of unfair trade practices that put the US at a disadvantage.

China’s embassy in Washington called Mr. Trump’s speech “contradictory,” saying the US wants to develop a partnership for cooperation while also viewing China as a rival.

“Putting one’s own interest above that of others and the international community is complete selfishness which will lead to self isolation,” the embassy said in a statement.

‘YOU WIN I LOSE’
China’s official Xinhua News Agency issued a commentary in response to Mr. Trump’s speech entitled “The US Should Give Up ‘You-Win-I-Lose’ Mentality.” It urged Mr. Trump to shift his stance and called on the US to take more global responsibilities.

While the president did not outline potential economic actions that could target China during his speech, other US officials have signaled a shift from the more conciliatory approach Mr. Trump has taken with Chinese President Xi Jinping since being elected a year ago.

“We are in economic competition with China,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on the Fox News Sunday program. “This isn’t about trade wars. This is about reciprocal fair trade. And if we have to protect American workers and put on tariffs or other things, where they don’t have fair trade with us, the president will do that.”

Mr. Trump has had to balance his zeal to confront China over its trade practices with his need for Mr. Xi’s support in combating North Korea’s nuclear threat.

During his speech, Mr. Trump called on US allies to increase pressure on North Korea to further isolate the country and achieve denuclearization.

“This situation should have been taken care of long before I got into office, when it was much easier to handle,” Mr. Trump said Monday. “But it will be taken care of. We have no choice.”

Mr. Trump, who has also sought Russian help to pressure North Korea, did not mention the country’s attempt to interfere with the 2016 US election. The strategy document said Russia “interferes in the domestic political affairs of countries around the world” and “uses information operations as part of its offensive cyber efforts to influence public opinion” — including through social media “trolls.”

An opportunity to modernize Parañaque

If EDSA has become known as “carmageddon” (or the Armageddon of cars) because of the horrible traffic, Sucat Road aka as Dr. A. Santos Avenue in Parañaque easily qualifies as “zonageddon” or the Armageddon of zoning.

If the concept of zoning had ever crossed the minds of Parañaque officials, that must have been in the distant past. Since then, no one has bothered to exhume the zoning plans from the archives.

Where else can you find on one stretch of road, three SM branches — SM Sucat, SM BF, and SM Hypermart — two Puregold supermarkets (plus a third inside BF Homes), a Walter Mart facility, a Virra Mall branch, a Lianas supermarket and a Shopwise supermarket, on top of ad hoc wet markets or talipapa, three hospitals, several schools and colleges, including Olivarez College, a branch of virtually every known bank in the country, dominated by several branches of Banco de Oro, multiple branches of every conceivable fastfood chain, in addition to several restaurants, two memorial parks, and who knows how many shops providing all kinds of services, from car repair to cargo forwarding to money remittance, some factories, plus an Elorde sports center — and all these on top of several subdivisions, including BF Homes and the San Antonio Valley subdivisions, plus churches (and two more supermarkets) in the residential areas.

And, oh yes, further down Sucat Road, there is NAIA 1 and a short distance from there is NAIA 2.

The result is a chaotic traffic situation to rival EDSA. Worst of all, the Parañaque city hall is located in San Antonio Valley One, just off Sucat.

As if this is not bad enough, vehicles (including trucks) wanting to avoid the traffic on Sucat take what they foolishly think is a short cut to South Superhighway by driving through San Antonio Valley into Better Living Subdivision to Bicutan (which qualifies as zonageddon part two, SM also has a Bicutan branch).

But wait. It gets worse. Maynilad, the water provider, has been digging up Sucat Road and the subdivision streets and has not bothered to do a decent patch up job on their diggings.

But wait. It gets much, much worse. The Parañaque city government has been allowing Maynilad to get away with it.

I remember Sucat Road in 1968 when my wife and I built our house in San Antonio Valley 8. Back then, there were salt beds along the rutted, cogon-lined stretch, the beach resorts near Kabihasnan were still the destination of choice for company excursions, one could actually safely swim in Manila Bay and one could also buy freshly caught fish from fishermen bringing in their early morning catch. This was before the full-scale reclamation project along Roxas Boulevard. South Superhighway was just being built.

When the Parañaque municipal building was moved from the town proper to San Antonio Valley One, we welcomed it because of the convenience the new location offered.

That was many decades ago. What has happened to Parañaque and the Sucat Road area epitomizes the horrible state of public infrastructure in the country. It’s like having a grown man still struggling to fit into a pair of pants made for him when he was a little boy.

It serves no useful purpose to heap the blame on the current Parañaque government for a problem that began years back and became progressively worse over several municipal administrations and, subsequently, several city administrations (the town became a city in 1998).

In fact, I think that the situation is a golden opportunity for the current mayor, Edwin L. Olivarez, to imbue real meaning to his much-advertised slogan, Serbisyo Lang Po (with the letter “e” in “Serbisyo,” the letter “l” and the letter “o” in “po” highlighted to spell the mayor’s initials).

Olivarez has an opportunity to add genuine meaning to an otherwise clumsy attempt at self-promotion — the opportunity to modernize Parañaque city, to make it look even more modern than Manila, Makati City, Taguig City, Las Piñas City, or Pasay City.

Olivarez should move city hall out of the terribly congested Sucat Road neighborhood and transplant it in the reclamation area now populated by plush casinos and the humongous SM Mall of Asia, the new entertainment and cultural hub of Metro Manila, located right within Parañaque’s jurisdiction.

Frankly, this is a solution to a disgraceful zoning situation that should have been attended to by mayors past. But they did not. Now Mayor Olivarez has a chance to prove that he is a much better visionary than his predecessors.

For months, all kinds of patchwork solutions have been conceived to ease the Sucat Road traffic problem, but it took an appeal on social media by my eldest son, Ringo to prompt me to pursue this matter. He is the only member of my immediate family still occupying our old house in San Antonio Valley 8 and every day he has to suffer the torment of negotiating Sucat or Bicutan traffic to get to his job in Taguig City.

This is what my son posted on Facebook:

“Mayor Edwin Olivarez — It’s high time to think about the worsening traffic situation in San Antonio Valley. This is only going to get worse. Maynilad projects have no end in sight and have left our roads in shambles, traffic volume will never go back to manageable levels, and Sucat is now a major thoroughfare. Short-term solution is getting Greenheights to allow passage to vehicles for those going towards SM Sucat and beyond, and Barangay Village allowing passage for vehicles headed towards the highway to free up San Antonio Avenue. Long-term solution is to start considering relocating the Parañaque City Hall somewhere in the reclamation areas. Having it in Valley 1 was okay back in the ’70s-’80s. This is no longer feasible. The new rubber humps at City Hall and San Antonio Church serve no purpose except to slow down what already is a crawl through congestion, potholes, and badly made concrete humps. (And by the way, do we really need that many to begin with?)”

Opening up the subdivisions to public vehicular traffic was one of the short-term solutions conjured by Sec. Art Tugade which met stiff resistance from homeowners, especially in the exclusive villages. At any rate, it really is a band-aid solution to an infrastructure deficit problem.

But the idea of relocating Parañaque City Hall to the reclamation area, ahead of Pasay City, (which also has jurisdiction over parts of the area) would be a coup. It would also be a lasting monument that will bear Olivarez’s name. It would be a shame if the mayor does not get this done during his tenure.

 

Greg B. Macabenta is an advertising and communications man shuttling between San Francisco and Manila and providing unique insights on issues from both perspectives.

gregmacabenta@hotmail.com

SMC voluntarily halts trading of shares

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) has voluntarily submitted itself to a trading suspension following its subsidiary’s $1.9-billion acquisition of the Masinloc powerplant on Monday.

The trading suspension was implemented starting 9:10 a.m. on Tuesday, and set to be lifted once SMC submits disclosure requirements through Form 5-1 necessary for the acquisition.

Form 5-1 covers the details needed to be disclosed in substantial acquisitions.

“The Company is requesting for a voluntary trading suspension pending the completion of the submission of information through Form 5-1 in relation to the acquisition by SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. of 100% of the shares in Mason-AES Pte. Ltd. which, through its subsidiaries, owns operates the 2×315 MW (megawatts) coal-fired power plant,” SMC disclosed.

A trading suspension is implemented to allow investors to digest material information that may otherwise affect the performance of the company. This further gives the trading public time to decide whether to invest in the company or not.

The affected stocks in the suspension are those with tickers: SMC, SMCP1, SMC2B, SMC2C, SMC2D, SMC2E, SMC2F, SMC2G, SMC2H, SMC2I.

Shares in SMC closed at P108.80 apiece on Monday, down by 1.27% from Friday’s close.

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., which holds the conglomerate’s investments in the power sector, said it is acquiring the plant after two sets of bids last September and October.

The transaction would bring SMC Global Power’s total installed capacity to 3,693 MW.

SMC Chairman Ramon S. Ang said in an interview on Monday that they have yet to finalize plans for the project, adding the transaction will still be subjected to a review by the Philippine Competition Commission. 

SMC saw its attributable profit decline by 19% to P20.89 billion in the first nine months of 2017, amid a 19% climb in revenues to P596 billion.

Aside from power, SMC has core investments in food and beverage, fuel and oil, infrastructure, and food packaging. Earlier this year, Mr. Ang said the company will also foray into electronics manufacturing in the future. — Arra B. Francia

US businesses see easing ownership rules, infrastructure keys to PHL investment appeal

POTENTIAL INVESTORS from the US view the Philippines’ moves to ease foreign-ownership rules and ambitious infrastructure plans as the key elements of the country’s attractiveness as a place to do business, the head of the US-ASEAN Business Council said.

In a statement issued by the Philippine embassy to Washington, Alex Feldman, the council’s chairman and CEO, was quoted as saying: “The impressive economic growth that the Philippines has experienced over the last year and the predictions that it will continue into 2018 are the types of economic fundamentals that have attracted over $3.3 billion in American foreign direct investment to the Philippines and which will continue to attract US companies to the Philippines in the months and years ahead.”

“Major initiatives to improve the business environment, such as the ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure development program and efforts to ease restrictions on foreign ownership in key sectors, will only make the Philippines an even more attractive destination for American corporations,” he added.

Mr. Feldman was speaking at a year-end economic briefing hosted by the Philippine embassy.

At the Dec. 18 briefing, Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez said: “The economy’s growth rate can be attributed to a number of factors. Strong growth in exports, improvements in public spending, and boosted performance in traditionally well-performing areas such as the manufacturing subsector and services sector.”

He added that preliminary internal consultations have begun on a potential bilateral Free Trade Agreement. The statement did not elaborate.

Politically, Mr. Romualdez added that government-to-government relations with Washington are expected to focus on counterterrorism and counter-narcotics in 2018, describing these areas as areas of mutual interest for both countries.

US Navy chief says forces in Asia may be reinforced with warships from the eastern Pacific

YOKOSUKA — The US Navy’s top officer on Tuesday said that vessels from eastern Pacific could be brought forward to reinforce US naval power in Asia as Washington contends with increased threats in the region and accidents that have weakened its maritime force.

“We will continue to assure that we meet all of our missions here in the Asia Pacific area. It could be something coming forward from Third Fleet or something like that to meet those requirements,” Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said at a briefing aboard the USS Ronald Reagan carrier in Japan. He declined to say when or how many ships could be transferred.

The growing threat posed by North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapon advances coupled with operations to counter China’s increasing military might in the South China Sea and other parts of Asia is putting an increased burden on the US Seventh Fleet.

That added pressure on crews has been blamed for contributing to a series of accidents involving naval vessels this year including collisions by two destroyers with merchant ships that killed 17 US sailors.

In August, the USS John S. McCain guided missile destroyer was struck by a merchant ship near Singapore, while its sister ship, the Fitzgerald, almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after colliding with a Philippine container ship.

Mr. Richardson spoke after US President Donald J. Trump unveiled a new national security strategy based on his “America First” vision that singled out China and Russia as “revisionist powers.” For its part, China is attempting to revise the global status quo by its aggression in the South China Sea, a US official said.

Beijing is building military bases there on manmade islands in waters claimed by other nations.

“One can only draw certain conclusion about what are the intentions of the Chinese with respect to those islands. We will respond as we have always done, which is that we are going to continue to be present down there,” Mr. Richardson said.

For now, he said, North Korea was the “most urgent” task for the US Navy in Asia as it became “more and more capable” with every new missile test. The latest ballistic missile tested on Nov. 29 reached an altitude of more than 4,000 kilometers (2485.48 miles), giving it enough-range, Pyongyang claims, to hit major US cities including Washington DC.

Mr. Richardson said his task in 2018 is to build a navy “more lethal” and “dangerous” to potential US foes.

“There is a near unanimous consensus that we need more naval power than we have now,” he said. — Reuters

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