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Russians, Chinese seek out Greek properties for bargains, visas

ATHENS — George Kachmazov, a Russian realtor, is buying up property in Athens.

The Moscow-based chief executive officer of real-estate platform Tranio.com has bought a building in the Greek capital and is in the process of acquiring five others with a view to selling apartments to international investors.

For Mr. Kachmazov, the sales pitch is clear: buying property in Greece can give an investor a so-called golden visa to the country — and with it an entree into much of Europe. What’s more, the country’s real estate market may be poised for a rebound, helping buyers make some money on their purchase.

“Greece’s real estate market is one of the remaining few in Europe that hasn’t recovered since the 2008 economic crisis,” Mr. Kachmazov said in an interview in Athens.

Prices in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Poland and Hungary are heading toward pre-crisis levels because of high liquidity in Europe, he said.

Mr. Kachmazov is among agents making a beeline for Greece to help property hunters from Russia, China, Turkey and elsewhere bet on a market that may be on the cusp of a revival as the country exits its bailout program in August 2018.

Property prices in Greece have fallen more than the 25% contraction in the economy since Europe’s sovereign debt crisis began in 2008. Prices of apartments in Athens more than five years old shrank by 45% between 2008 and June 2017, according to Bank of Greece data.

“The belief is that the worst is over and that this is a good time to take advantage of the low prices and to benefit from future capital gains as the market recovers,” said Carrie Law, chief executive officer of Juwai.com, a Chinese international property Web site.

Juwai this year signed an agreement with Warren Buffett’s real estate brokerage firm to advertise homes in the US.

The average price per square meter in Greece is €2,846 ($3,369), according to Germany-based statistics company Statista. That’s almost €1,000 cheaper than Portugal, which has a similar golden visa program for property buyers, one and a half times cheaper than in Spain and Germany, and almost three times cheaper than in Italy and Austria. Greece is more expensive than Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Estonia.

While Mr. Kachmazov’s targets are mainly Russian investors, they also include Turks, Arabs and Chinese buyers who want a golden visa for access to the European Union’s (EU) passport-free Schengen area and who want to “diversify away from local risks and get an income in hard currency,” by renting apartments out to tourists or students.

WHY ATHENS?
“The country’s residence-for-investment scheme is the best in Europe as it’s cheap at 250,000 euros; property in Greece is cheap; yields for short-term rentals are high, and the country’s growth potential is greater,” Mr. Kachmazov said.

In Portugal, an investment of €500,000 in any real estate project or of €350,000 in a 30-year-old property can get you a resident permit under certain circumstances.

Another draw for investors is the returns they can make from their Greek property. The country’s tourism industry is stoking an increase in demand for short-term rental properties, which combined with “significantly” low property prices, means there’s an opportunity to generate high rental yields and capital gains, Mr. Kachmazov said. Visitor numbers in the nine months to Sept. 30 rose 10.3% from the same period of 2016, according to the Bank of Greece.

Property inquiries in Greece from Chinese buyers rose almost 159% in the third quarter compared to the same period of 2016, Ms. Law said.

For Chinese investors, getting a resident visa is the key reason to invest in the country, she said.

“It’s one of the more lax visas that allows you to use property investment to get yourself onto the path toward EU citizenship,” Ms. Law said.

Additionally, Greece is three to four hours closer by air to China than Barcelona and Lisbon, two other popular cities in countries that also have appealing investor visas, she said.

Greece awarded 2,053 golden visas between 2013 and October 2017, with Chinese investors accounting for 43% of them, according to Enterprise Greece, the state agency responsible for promoting investments and exports.

Russians are in second place with 18.6% and investors from neighboring Turkey third at 8.4%. Greece has raised more than €513 million in foreign investments from the visa program.

Both Mr. Kachmazov and Ms. Law said that there’s a great deal of interest in properties that Greek banks are auctioning as part of efforts to shrink non-performing exposures.

Lenders are trying to meet bad loan reduction targets to avoid raising capital.

“We aim to participate in Greek real estate e-auctions and to acquire properties directly from banks,” Mr. Kachmazov said.

Ms. Law says she is seeing similar interest.

“We have some buyers who are very interested in Greece’s e-auction process,” she said. “They believe it will offer opportunities to purchase at the bottom of the market.” — Bloomberg

Celebrating the Service

From September to December, those merry months in what is known around the world as the longest Christmas season of all, Filipinos go through the preparations and the revelry of the joyful holidays with much gusto.

The unofficial start of the season is heralded by the all too familiar lines of the Jose Mari Chan classic: …“Let’s sing Merry Christmas and a happy holiday…” playing on the airwaves on the 1st of September. When the -ber months arrive, the décor and the music and the food choices all start to feel and smell and taste like Christmas.

During the long holiday season, as the Filipinos engage in fun and frolic, family reunions, fellowship with friends and colleagues, the men and women in uniform are scattered all throughout the whole breadth and depth of the archipelago, guarding the frontiers, the high seas, and the air space above us, to insure and assure every Filipino the joy of uninterrupted celebration. As Filipino families come together in feast and laughter, those who have pledged to keep us safe and secure stand watch, away from their own families.

The holidays mean a different thing to the soldier, the policeman, the government worker, the public official. While the rest of us exchange gifts and savor noche buena treats in the company of family and friends, they keep watch, away from home, making it possible for peace on earth to be savored and celebrated.

And while they are made welcome in the communities they serve, they can only wonder how their kids performed during the Christmas program or what the spaghetti and the ham tasted like.

For that is the spirit of their service, that is their gift to the citizenry and the country. To be on the ready, to be on guard, all in the name of service. For while we have made strides under the leadership of President Duterte, there is still much to be done. Change has just begun.

The reality is that while the holiday season is upon us, we as a nation continue to face many burning issues, be it RevGov, EJK, impeachment, terrorism, war on drugs, corruption. The need for fidelity, loyalty and adherence to the duly constitutional authority become essential. These virtues form the fiber of a strong society.

Loyalty is a warrior’s virtue but it is not its exclusive domain. Patriotism is the best service that every citizen can offer to the flag and the country. The one noble thing that shines forth in the bloody pages of history is the capacity of men of loyalty to effect change, to defend life and liberty. This is the greatest service that can command respect, a guide that serves the greatest need of man, as well as the attributes of greatness. This love of country as manifested in the spirit of service are found in great measure in our soldiers, our policemen, our public servants.

In the spirit of the season, let us remember and recognize their dedication and sacrifice. The best gift is not wrapped in fancy paper, it is a simple word of thanks, an acknowledgement that what they do is of value, and appreciated.

For all that they do — for manning the ramparts to keep us free from fear, for being the shelter during storms and disasters, for the forays against terrorists and dissidents, for the labor of building bridges and opportunities — let the gratitude be expressed, let the support be manifest.

There is nothing that makes the soldier, the policeman, the public servant feel as good as when there is the opportunity to be of service. Christmas provides that opportunity in the most profound and meaningful of ways. Let us remember their service this Christmas and every day.

The article reflects the personal opinion of the author and does not reflect the official stand of the Management Association of the Philippines or the M.A.P.

 

Jaime S. de los Santos is a member of the M.A.P. National Issues Committee, was the Combined Task Force Commander that conducted offensive operations against the Abu Sayyaf, the group responsible for the carnage in Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur that killed 85 persons and destroyed and razed multi-million worth of properties in 1995. Tactical operations were conducted in the municipalities of Siraway, Sibuco, Siocon, and Baliguian, all in Zamboanga del Norte.

jaime_dlsantos@yahoo.com;

jimmydlsantos@gmail.com

map@map.org.ph

http://map.org.ph

Ad firms using tools to help them read your mind

NEW YORK — Why did you splurge on that new pair of shoes? Or that pricey smartphone? More and more advertisers are trying to tap into the unconscious to divine the invisible forces that drive those spending decisions.

Using gadgets to track eye movements, computer maps of faces to capture a momentary grin (approval) or squinting (anger), and sensors to measure perspiration or monitor brain activity, companies are mining consumers’ raw emotions for information.

Traditionally, ad firms have measured the success of their campaigns through consumer surveys, but that technique has its limits.

“It’s not that people won’t tell you, they actually can’t tell you why they’re making the decision they’re making,” said Jessica Azoulay, vice-president of the market intelligence practice at Isobar, a digital marketing agency.

The new techniques recognize that our purchase decisions are driven by both rational and emotional factors, and reflect research showing the brain takes in information on different levels.

“They enable us to capture many different types of emotions and to be able to profile the emotions that are happening very granularly on a second by second basis,” said Elissa Moses, chief executive of the neuro and behavioral science business at Ipsos, a consultancy and market research firm.

“People won’t be able to tell you that something irritated them in scene three or thrilled them in scene seven, but we’ll know from looking at the facial coding,” Moses said.

The technologies can help track if brands are maintaining their edge over competitors, and make ads more effective by determining what to highlight, for example whether to emphasize the distress of allergy symptoms or the relief of treatment when pitching medications.

And the techniques are being applied to other industries, such as retail, which is experimenting on ways to attract customers in the Amazon era.

“Ultimately there is a dance between the conscious and unconscious,” Moses said, noting that “in order to actually buy a product, you have to make a conscious decision.”

MEASURING IN MILLISECONDS
Some of the techniques were first employed in the 1970s, but now are being more widely adopted as equipment has improved.

An eye tracking test uses technology-enhanced glasses with a camera to record what a person is seeing on a television or in a store and read how long the eye settles on a particular cue.

That can be combined with other methods, such as galvanic skin responses with sensors applied to a person’s hand to read perspiration, and electroencephalography (EEG) which reads brain activity through sensors on a person’s head.

The data is used to produce a “heat map” with yellow, orange or red “hot spots” that show where the person’s eye fixated.

Techniques measuring arousal can signal whether an ad stands out amid today’s media avalanche.

Other tests that are becoming more popular seek to shed light on unconscious associations with products or shopping needs.

Johnson & Johnson has tested thousands of consumers about Tylenol pain relief and other over-the-counter products, showing them quick-fire images or words that connote a particular emotion.

Responses are tracked to the tens of milliseconds, said Eric Dolan, associate director for global strategic insights at Johnson & Johnson.

The insights can help determine “whether we want to dig in and reinforce those emotional spaces,” or rethink the marketing to convey a different message, he said.

PICKING THE PITCH
Tivity Health turned to many of these techniques for its “Silver Sneakers” fitness program for seniors, hiring Isobar to help it devise a marketing strategy based on a psychological profile of potential members.

Isobar had more than 1,000 seniors review a series of rapidly presented images and words about exercise. Based on their clicks, the report showed the population most valued exercise because it made them feel empowered or “ready to go.”

The finding was important as Tivity weighed potential marketing campaigns, including “Living Life Well,” which featured images of age-defying seniors, such as a grandfatherly figure balancing a toddler on his back while doing push-ups.

These ads performed better than an alternative campaign showing groups of smiling seniors together in swim class and in a gym which emphasized the social aspect of Silver Sneakers.

That campaign appeared to fall flat with seniors who view exercise as a means of staying independent, or who may be intimidated at the thought of immediately exercising in a group.

The results countered Tivity’s assumption that the social aspect of the program was the “key motivating driver for members,” said Elizabeth Rula, who directs research for Tivity Health. “We were a bit surprised.” — AFP

Pope, on Christmas Eve, says faith demands respect of immigrants

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis strongly defended immigrants at his Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday, comparing them to Mary and Joseph finding no place to stay in Bethlehem and saying faith demands that foreigners be welcomed.

Francis, celebrating his fifth Christmas as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, led a solemn Mass for about 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica while many others followed the service from the square outside.

Security was stepped up, with participants checked as they approached St. Peter’s Square even before going through metal detectors to enter the basilica. The square had been cleared out hours earlier so security procedures could be put in place.

LIKE MARY AND JOSEPH
The Gospel reading at the Mass in Christendom’s largest church recounted the Biblical story of how Mary and Joseph had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered for a census ordered by Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus.

“So many other footsteps are hidden in the footsteps of Joseph and Mary. We see the tracks of entire families forced to set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not choose to go away, but driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones,” Francis said.

Even the shepherds who the Bible says were the first to see the child Jesus were “forced to live on the edges of society” and considered dirty, smelly foreigners, he said.

“Everything about them generated mistrust. They were men and women to be kept at a distance, to be feared.”

‘NEW SOCIAL IMAGINATION’
Wearing white vestments in the flower-bedecked church, Francis called for a “new social imagination… in which none have to feel that there is no room for them on this earth.”

The 81-year-old pope, who was born of Italian immigrant stock in Argentina, has made defense of migrants a major plank of his papacy, often putting him at odds with politicians.

Austria’s new chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, has aligned himself with central European neighbors like Hungary and the Czech Republic in opposing German-backed proposals to distribute asylum seekers around European Union member states.

In elections in Germany in September, the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made significant gains, with electors punishing Chancellor Angela Merkel for her open-door policy and pushing migration policy to the top of the agenda in talks to form a coalition government.

Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League, whose leader Matteo Salvini often gives fiery speeches against migrants, is expected to make gains in national elections next year.

A law that would give citizenship to children born in Italy to migrant parents is stalled in parliament.

In his homily, Francis said, “Our document of citizenship” comes from God, making respect of migrants an integral part of Christianity.

“This is the joy that we tonight are called to share, to celebrate and to proclaim. The joy with which God, in his infinite mercy, has embraced us pagans, sinners and foreigners, and demands that we do the same,” Francis said.

Francis also condemned human traffickers who make money off desperate migrants as the “Herods of today” with blood on their hands, a reference to the Biblical story of the king who ordered the killing of all newborn male children near Bethlehem because he feared Jesus would one day displace him.

More than 14,000 people have died trying to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe in the past four years.

On Christmas Day, Francis was to deliver his twice-yearly “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and to the World) blessing and message from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. — Reuters

House to continue probe

THE House committees on good governance and public accountability and on health are set to invite former health secretary Janette L. Garin when it resumes its joint inquiry into the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine, according to Surigao del Sur Representative Johnny Ty Pimentel. “We will finalize (the list of resource persons) once we resume session but definitely ex-Secretary Garin will be included (because) she did not attend the last hearing,” Mr. Pimentel, who chairs the committee on good governance and public accountability, said in a text message to BusinessWorld. Ms. Garin had attended an earlier inquiry by the Senate blue ribbon committee but has yet to take part in the inquiry of the House, where she had previously served as a representative. Asked what will be the points of discussion in the next hearing, Mr. Pimentel said: “Actually, we have already asked the pertinent questions but some (congressmen) would like to grill Garin.” Present in the House inquiry before Congress went on a recess were Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, Sanofi Pasteur executive Thomas Triomphe, Anthony C. Leachon of the Philippine College of Physicians Foundation, Inc., and officials of the Formulary Executive Council (FEC). The probe centered on the alleged irregularities in the procurement of the dengue vaccine. Dr. Leachon said that the protocol in the acquisition of the drug was not properly followed by government agencies involved. — M.N. dela Cruz

Spending the 2018 billion-peso budget for overseas Filipinos

During his second State of the Nation Address last July, President Duterte declared that he had “ordered the increase of our assistance to the OFWs from P400 million to more than P1 billion” because the OFWs are “our heroes” and “have sacrificed much for the country.” On Dec. 18, the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (OUMWA-DFA) held a “ceremonial signing of the revised guidelines” of the promised budget.

As a member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), an NGO that has been active for 15 years, and, as co-convenor of the Working Group on Migration (WGM) of the Department of Political Science of Ateneo de Manila University, I had the opportunity to attend this event. In this piece, I share the information I gathered and my thoughts on what the 2018 budget could mean for Filipino citizens, in general and overseas Filipinos (OFs), in particular.

GENEROUS PACKAGE
According to the DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, the aim of the budget increase of 150% for the assistance to nationals or ATN fund (from P400 million to P1 billion) and 100% for the legal assistance fund or LAF (from P100 million to P200 million) is to “serve our kababayans abroad — whether documented or undocumented — much quicker and better.” Details of the “revised guidelines” for the new ATN fund were presented by OUMWA Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola while guidelines for the LAF were presented by OUMWA Executive Director Raul Dado.

ASSISTANCE TO NATIONALS (ATN) FUND
The guidelines signal a very generous package for OFs especially OFWs. The ATN fund will now be available for services such as(i) door-to-door repatriation for distressed OFs (i.e from host country to the residence of the OF and not just the airport in Manila), (ii) cremation/embalming services and burial assistance in case of death, (iii) care packages and family visits for OFs on death row or life imprisonment or with life-threatening diseases, (iv) medical and hospitalization expenses for distressed OFs (including expenses of next-of-kin).

The fund may also be used for infrastructure support and capacity-building purposes of the DFA such as (i) opening and maintenance of shelters for OFs, (ii) hiring of additional staff and/or translators here or abroad, (iii) security needs in high-threat areas, (iv) ATN missions, mapping of operations and registration of OFs, (v) paralegal training for ATN personnel, and (vi) online case management system.

An expanded ATN fund is beneficial because existing funds such as OWWA funds are often available only for OWWA members and for registered/documented OFs. With the revised guidelines, even undocumented OFs are now assured of assistance. The increase is also warranted given that OFs in distress have been on the rise. As per data from OUMWA, the reach of ATN funds increased from 11,544 OFW-beneficiaries in 2016 to 14,995 OFWs in 2017, as of Dec. 12.

In 2016, ATN funds were also extended to 348 victims of human trafficking, and, from January to November 2017, to 9,140 “walk-in clients” with various needs.

LEGAL ASSISTANCE FUND (LAF)
In many countries, legal costs are very prohibitive.

The expanded LAF is thus beneficial especially for those who are detained in foreign host countries who cannot afford to pay for legal support.

According to OUMWA, as of December 2016, “18,641 Filipinos were detained in various parts of the world” and as of August 2017, there were 71 Filipinos on death row. Moreover, cases of OFs are wide-ranging: murder, “illegal recruitment, assault with a dangerous weapon, attempted rape, sexual abuse, drug trafficking, human trafficking, assault and battery, estafa, immorality.” The number of LAF beneficiaries have also been increasing, from 312 in 2016 to 685 in 2017, as of Dec. 12.

Like the ATN, the LAF is available for both documented and undocumented OFs who are “unable to engage the services of private counsel, and who is in a country where there is no system of legal aid or public defenders, or where there is no counsel de officio, or any lawyer provided by the foreign host government.” “Utmost priority” is given to “victims of trafficking in persons.”

The revised guidelines for the expanded LAF budget mean a more extensive coverage of services: (i) interpreters/translators, database and case management systems, (ii) public information campaigns and legal advice, and (iii) assistance for cases on appeal. Furthermore, the new guidelines “removed the caps for professional fees, filing and other court fees, incidental litigation expenses, bail bonds, preservation of evidence, witness protection, etc.”

IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING ISSUES
While the fund is clearly generous, there are at least three attendant, potential problems that government, overseas Filipinos and migration-related civil society groups must look out for: (i) corruption, (ii) politicization, and (iii) coordination issues.

The fund for 2018 is “more than 1 billion” and while the DFA Secretary and the OUMWA officials have vowed to “make sure there is no abuse and the funds are used progressively,” the fact of the matter is, corruption is endemic in this society, especially in government.

At first glance, having several budget items is commendable because it means that all needs of OFs are covered, but, it could also mean more opportunities for wastage and leakage. There must be mechanisms to make transactions transparent and government personnel accountable. One way to ensure transparency and accountability is to enhance the role of “independent” bodies (i.e non government and non-beneficiaries) in monitoring fund use — for example, through a participatory performance audit as what CMA did vis-à-vis POEA and OWWA services in the recent past. Said kind of audit is useful because the methodology for coming out with findings and conclusions about government performance is agreed upon by all involved and implementation is participatory. The end result is not simply to ascribe blame or find fault but to create spaces for public conversations — and ultimately, public decision-making — regarding improvements in service delivery.

Politicization of the fund is a problem because taxpayers’ monies are supposed to go to intended beneficiaries, regardless of political affiliation or loyalties. That foreign-based “Duterte diehard supporters or DDS” groups seemed to be the only OF groups represented at the Dec. 18 ceremonial signing (although I could be wrong) was not a very good sign of things to come. While these DDS groups certainly have a stake in the mobilization of the fund, they should not be allowed to monopolize it to the exclusion of non-DDS Overseas Filipinos. DFA will have to devise ways to make sure that said monopoly does not happen. Non-DDS groups like CMA must also continually engage DFA to make sure this does not happen.

Non-DDS overseas Filipinos must not feel that they are not entitled to said fund just because they have divergent political views (or no strong views about politics).

The final issue is also a longstanding one.

Mobilizing funds for OFs involves an array of government agencies here (DoLE-attached agencies such as POEA and OWWA and DFA-attached agencies such as OUMWA) and abroad (Embassies and attached agencies such as the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices or POLOs). Filipinos abroad are not supposed to bother with the delineations between these offices as Philippine embassies are said to be under the “one-country team approach” of Philippine government. This doesn’t mean, however, that coordination problems between offices have already been resolved. In this case, the OUMWA-DFA, as the lead administering agency, must make sure that said problems are avoided and that fund mobilization is done smoothly and effectively.

Aside from abovementioned potential problems, Philippine government will also have to consider the “bigger picture” in terms of rationalizing and improving domestic policy alongside foreign policy.

For example, if free (state subsidized) legal assistance is expanded for overseas Filipinos, should it not be expanded as well for Filipinos who have stayed behind? If legal assistance is made available for OFs accused of drug-related crimes, shouldn’t those accused of the same crimes here also be given their day in court instead of being subjected to tokhang operations, or worse, extrajudicial killings? If government is bent on assisting and freeing OFs who are on death row abroad, why is it pushing for the reimposition of the death penalty law here at home?

Our experience in protecting OFs in-distress must also inform how we treat vulnerable Filipino citizens here at home — and vice-versa. Government must seek not just to protect OFs and manage migration but also to achieve coherence in the local-national-international nexus.

The billion peso fund is a welcome development as it is a big deal for OFs particularly those needing assistance in situations of abuse or life-threatening harm.

Raised through taxpayers’ contributions, the fund should be directed at showing solidarity and seeking justice for distressed overseas Filipinos, instead of being framed as primarily an act of generosity by Philippine government. It must also be viewed in terms of the broader task of protecting Filipinos no matter where they may be — here or abroad.

 

Carmel V. Abao is a faculty member of the Political Science Dept of the Ateneo de Manila University. She teaches political theory and international political economy.

Laguna chocolate maker sources Davao City cacao

By Carmencita A. Carillo,
Correspondent

DAVAO CITY — In 2014, Jackie and Wilson Go, owners of Fabtech Industrial, Inc., a leading supplier of commercial kitchen solutions, were looking to develop a social enterprise and settled on a chocolate venture.

They set up a factory at Filinvest Industrial Park in Calamba City, Laguna for what is now sold under the brand Auro Chocolates — made with cacao beans from Calinan in Davao City.

“We originally planned to build our factory here in Davao but at that time, the city had power (supply) problems and there was no PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority)-accredited zone here,” Auro Chocolates Davao Manager Louie D. Cena, told BusinessWorld in an interview at the sidelines of the Kakao Konek 2017 conference held in Davao City on Dec. 5-6.

Mr. Cena said despite the distance between the raw material source and the production site, the company is sticking to cacao beans from Davao City because of the quality and the ability of farmers to produce their required volume.

Among the sources of Auro Chocolates are the Subasta Integrated Cooperative in Calinan, Fardecosa Cadalian in Baguio District, and the Paquibato Tree Development Cooperative.

Mr. Cena said the company buys cacao beans only from farmer cooperatives who enter into an exclusive contract.

“If they don’t follow our protocols, especially in post-harvest, then we don’t get their cacao as we only want the best ones,” he said.

Auro Chocolate, which was presented at the Salon du Chocolate in Paris in November as part of the Philippine delegation, boasts of being the “finest” from the country, produced with some of the best machinery from Germany.

“We produce the finest chocolates in the country because we have invested in a steel roller machine… so our chocolates have a smooth texture,” Mr. Cena said.

Auro, with more than 20 employees at its Laguna factory, produces two to three tons of chocolates per day. It considers itself a medium-scale artisanal chocolate company.

Mr. Cena said almost 90% of the output is sold domestically, mainly in shopping malls, but the company is targeting global consumers eventually.

He said domestic processors’ output remains small.

“Since we are a PEZA-located company, our goal is really to export so we find innovative ways for chocolate lovers all over the world,” Auro Marketing Manager Kelly S. Go said during the same interview.

Ms. Go said the company is practicing ‘crowdfarming,’ where consumers can adopt a tree.

The crowdfarming concept gained popularity following a Kickstarter campaign that involved 15 countries in Europe and the United States. Auro is the only non-European producer that participated in the agricultural adaptation of crowdfunding.

“Consumers who adopt a cacao tree… get two kilos of chocolate every year,” she said.

The concept, which was recently launched here, had an initial offering of 1,000 trees at P5,000 per tree. Auro sees this as a sustainable farming model.

Ms. Go said this is the “ultimate Farmville” as investors can have their own virtual farm. Auro has equipped its participating farm with a GPS through which investors can easily check their trees online.

Ms. Go said the company has also formed a partnership with Rolando ‘Serge’ Bueno, a retired Philippine Marine from Calinan, for a movement called “arms to farms,” in which retired marines learn the process of cultivating the Criollo cocoa variety.

Mr. Bueno, now a senior citizen, said he has found a new life as a cacao farmer.

Former soldiers, he said, make for good farmers as military discipline easily applies to growing high-quality cacao.

British designer Philo quits fashion label Celine

PARIS —British-born designer Phoebe Philo said Friday that she is quitting Celine, the French fashion house that she has led for the last decade.

Rumors had been swirling since October about the 44-year-old designer, who created a cult following at the label for her hip minimalist style.

Many have talked of her as a possible successor for Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, despite there being little sign that the 84-year-old is ready to surrender his scissors.

Off the catwalk, Philo was also a trendsetter, with her love of white adidas Stan Smith tennis trainers helping to popularize the vintage look.

“It’s been amazing. Working with Celine has been an exceptional experience for me these last 10 years,” Philo said in a statement announcing her departure.

Her exit is the latest in a merry-go-around of departures at the top of the fashion world, with some fearing that the hectic pace of the industry is burning designers out.

Philo made her name as number two to the young Stella McCartney at Chloe, and was known for her no-nonsense, back-to-basics approach.

‘SOBER AND SOPHISTICATED’
She later took over from McCartney at Chloe when she left to set up her own label, before taking two years out to be with her family and have a second child.

Like McCartney, she is a vegetarian who banned fur from her collections, though she continued to use leather at Celine.

Fashion critic Sophie Fontanel of the French L’Obs magazine mourned her departure, saying she was the “opposite of marketing… it’s her clothes themselves that are the thunder.”

“Everything is practical and original, sober and sophisticated, of the moment and yet ageless…. It is hard to see Celine without Phoebe Philo,” she added.

Having boosted sales at both Chloe and Celine despite refusing to have an Instagram account until last year, she is a hot fashion property, particularly admired for her bags.

Philo reportedly flirted with taking the helm at Louis Vuitton in 2011 after the departure of Marc Jacobs, but decided to stay on at Celine.

Bernard Arnault, the owner of the LVMH luxury goods empire which owns Celine, said he was still committed to the brand despite her exit.

“What Phoebe has accomplished over the past 10 years represents a key chapter in the history of Celine.

“A new era of development will now start and I am extremely confident in the future success of this iconic house,” he added.

Several designers have been mooted as possible successors including fellow Brit Christopher Bailey of Burberry, Natasa Cagalj, who also worked with McCartney, and Celine’s ready-to-wear director Michael Rider. — AFP

Local celebrities eyeing sixth ColorManila Paradise Run

CELEBRITIES and athletes can’t wait for the biggest and most colorful run to take place in the country — ColorManila’s CM Paradise Run, scheduled on Jan. 7, 2018, at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Event Grounds, in Pasay City.

Bb. Pilipinas 2017 4th Princess Zara Carbonell says, “The best part of the ColorManila experience is its ability to keep you in the moment, reminding you that it is worth celebrating. Above all, it is the warmth of everyone who joins. It definitely feels like coming home.”

While rugby player Chris Everingham of the Philippine Volcanoes says, “I love it! It gets better and better every year! The best way to start the year!”

TV Host Sam YG, who also regularly hosts the post-New Year run says, “It’s always mas fun, pag may ka-ColorManila run.”

In a live interview for ANC, ColorManila VP Justine Cordero says, “When you start joining a ColorManila race, you go through the race route, we don’t want you to hurry up and just aim for the finish line. It’s not about that. You enjoy the journey, you enjoy each color station, you roll in the streets, we see runners do ‘color angels’ and take photos. Because these memories are going to last forever.”

CM Paradise Run includes four race distances, 3K, 5K, 10K and 21K. The experience will take runners through various color stations with palm trees, garlands and hammocks. This will be capped off with the CM Color Festival where runners will get to groove and dance to the music of the DJ, as they simultaneously throw colored powder in the air.

Runners may also take advantage of the ongoing promotions that CM Paradise Run has, such as — kids under seven years old get to run for free, the Buy 4 Take 1 Rockstar Kit Promo and the 50% discount for OFWs.

As for the kits, runners can choose from the Deluxe Kit, Rockstar Kit, 21K Kit and the VIP Kit. Deluxe Kit, which is priced at P950, comes with a dri-fit shirt, sunglasses, race bib, color packet and finisher’s medal.

While the Rockstar Kit, priced at P1,500, comes with a dri-fit shirt, sunglasses, race bib, color packet, finisher’s medal, drawstring bag and headwear.

The 21K Kit is priced at P1,900 and comes with a singlet, sunglasses, race bib with timing tag, color packet, finisher’s medal and a finisher’s shirt.

Finally, the VIP Kit, which is priced at P2,500, comes with a dri-fit shirt, VIP sunglasses, race bib, color packet, finisher’s medal, drawstring bag, headwear, and VIP Access.

VIP Access includes the following: Access to the Premium Lounge with a changing tent, portalets, special redemption area for baggage, hydration, color packet, and medals. Also, exclusive 10% discount in all CM Merchandise. It also allows access to designated VIP parking at the SM Mall of Asia grounds.

Registration is still ongoing, for more information, visit at colormanila.com.

Putin critic clears first hurdle for presidency

MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Sunday cleared the first hurdle towards taking part in next year’s presidential election, even though the central election commission has ruled him ineligible to run.

Mr. Navalny, 41, is a fierce opponent of President Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to win reelection in March, extending 17 years in power.

A veteran campaigner against corruption among Russia’s elite, he won the initial support of 742 people at a gathering in a district of Moscow — above the minimum 500 required to initiate a presidential bid.

“There is no large-scale support for Mr. Putin and his rule in this country,” Mr. Navalny told the meeting, describing himself as a “real candidate” for election and threatening a boycott of the vote by his supporters if he is barred from running.

On Sunday evening, Mr. Navalny submitted the documents to the central election commission needed to be registered as a candidate.

The commission, which extended its working hours on Sunday to take the documents, has five days in which to decide whether Mr. Navalny will be registered.

The commission has previously said he is ineligible due to a suspended prison sentence that he says was politically motivated.

“We are capable of opposing the current authorities. Our key demand is to be allowed to take part in the elections,” Mr. Navalny told reporters as he was leaving the election commission building in the central Moscow.

Mr. Navalny has been jailed three times this year on charges of repeatedly organizing public meetings and rallies in violation of existing laws.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in October that Mr. Navalny’s conviction for fraud in 2014 was “arbitrary” and ordered Moscow to pay him compensation.

The ruling party United Russia meeting on Saturday pledged “all possible support” to the 65-year-old Mr. Putin in his bid to win a further six years in power in the March election.

The Communist Party, which came second after United Russia in a parliamentary election last year, named Pavel Grudinin, 57, as its candidate, dropping veteran party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

Another politician who has run before, Sergei Mironov from A Just Russia party, said his party had decided to support Mr. Putin instead and not propose its own candidate.

Property developer Sergei Polonsky, who has been convicted of defrauding investors, also secured enough initial backing to seek clearance from the election commission to take part in the presidential race.

Others planning to run include television personality Ksenia Sobchak, whose late father was Mr. Putin’s boss in the early 1990s, journalist Ekaterina Gordon. — Reuters

Woman lost at sea rescued on Christmas Day

A WOMAN was rescued Monday off Antique by a passing international cargo ship, surviving her four-day ordeal in the wake of Tropical Storm Vinta as she kept afloat on a piece of debris detached from her house in Antique. The cargo vessel spotted Diana Salim, 25, at sea at 3 a.m. on Christmas Day 900 kilometers north of her hometown. The rescuers immediately coordinated with the Philippine Coast Guard, and she was taken to a hospital in Antique for treatment for dehydration and sunburn. — philstar.com

See full story on https://goo.gl/EBL1hb

East Coast’s biggest mall looks beyond retail space

NEW YORK — The scene at the East Coast’s largest mall one recent Friday morning would seem to fly in the face of the doomsday narrative surrounding US retail centers.

A steady stream of holiday shoppers walked the lacquered halls, browsing stores from Gap to Gucci. By noon, a line was snaking out of an outpost of the Shake Shack burger chain.

In the background, changes are afoot to ensure the crowds keep coming. King of Prussia Mall, a 2.8 million-square-foot (260,000-square-meter) shopping wonderland northwest of Philadelphia, is the type of destination center that mall defenders say can defy the rise of online shopping. It’s a sprawling complex that houses stores from all corners of the retail universe, more than 50 food venues and a concierge lounge.

Yet, it still has to grapple with today’s reality, such as a J.C. Penney that shut down in July and left a hole in a key anchor spot.

Owner Simon Property Group, Inc., the largest US mall landlord, sees the closure as an opportunity — to bet on non-retail uses.

For the first time since Woolworth’s and E.J. Korvette opened their doors more than 50 years ago, a sizable chunk of land at King of Prussia will be dedicated to something other than stores and restaurants.

Simon is planning a mixed-used development for the 17-acre (6.9-hectare) site of the J.C. Penney and its parking lot, part of an eventual transformation that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Simon has likened to a suburban version of Hudson Yards, the massive complex of offices, shops and residences on Manhattan’s western edge.

“I don’t think people appreciate how dynamic these properties are and how they evolve over a long period of time,” said Rick Sokolov, Simon’s president and chief operating officer.

It’s a sign of the times that even King of Prussia — which ranks in the top three percent of malls in the country, according to Green Street Advisors — is turning what was once retail space into other uses. With the rise of e-commerce imposing a rapid reckoning on retailers and their landlords, mall owners are turning to everything from restaurants and bowling alleys to apartment buildings and hotels to Internet-proof their properties.

Retail landlords have spent $8 billion in the past three years on updates that focus on experiences that can’t be found online, according to brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.

King of Prussia already is a destination unto itself. The complex sits at the crossroads of four major highways about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside Philadelphia. It serves local well-heeled shoppers from the Main Line yet also attracts visitors from northern Maryland to southern New Jersey, Mr. Sokolov said. It’s the second-largest mall in the US behind the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to the Directory of Major Malls, though Mr. Sokolov said King of Prussia has more pure retail space.

“King of Prussia fits in a unique bucket,” said DJ Busch, an analyst at Green Street. “Every retailer under the sun is at King of Prussia.

It’s a catchall, and that has a lot of value.”

Mr. Sokolov declined to divulge details of the proposed plan for the mall. On a conference call with analysts in October, CEO Simon said the project could include a hotel, apartments and office space, and had the potential to increase the property’s value from $2 billion to more than $3 billion.

“We’re very excited about the opportunities to implement and add mixed-use components to King of Prussia,” Mr. Sokolov said. “We are working with Upper Merion township to come up with an acceptable scope of redevelopment.”

ATLANTA OVERHAUL
Developers are increasingly turning to mixed-use developments to fortify their retail holdings, sometimes building on the underlying stores to create a downtown atmosphere.

In Atlanta, Simon is embarking on an overhaul of Phipps Plaza in the upscale Buckhead district. It will have the city’s first Nobu hotel, including a restaurant featuring its signature high-end Japanese dining.

It’s not easy to pull off a large-scale mixed-use project, according to Green Street’s Busch. It can be hard to meld different property types, and it’s not likely to work if a landlord is trying to save retail that is already failing, he said.

And it costs money. Lower-tier malls and cash-strapped owners won’t be able to keep up.

Simon, with a market value of almost $53 billion, is better positioned than many of its peers to weather the turbulence.

The Indianapolis-based company is spending $1 billion annually to upgrade its properties, and plans on doing so for the next several years, according to Mr. Sokolov.

He rejects the idea that the redevelopments are a defensive response to the unrelenting growth of the online marketplace.

“A defensive position to me is if you have no choice, and if you don’t spend the money, your property will no longer be relevant,” Mr. Sokolov said.

“We’re spending money to make our properties incrementally more relevant and more attractive to retailers, and generating returns while we do it. I think that’s very different.”

NOT IMMUNE
Even the most successful properties aren’t immune to the forces reshaping the retail landscape, according to Haendel St. Juste, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA LLC.

Landlords can’t afford to sit on their hands and wait.

“It’s probably fair to assume that they wouldn’t be doing this unless they had to,” St. Juste said.

“You have to reach beyond your group of historical tenants to figure out the highest and best use of your portfolio in a world where there is too much retail.”

It seems unlikely that King of Prussia, where finding a parking spot on a busy holiday weekend is a common complaint, is in danger of spiraling into obsolescence anytime soon. The center has been a work in progress since it opened in 1963, and almost half of the stores have turned over just in the past decade, Mr. Sokolov said. The way he describes tenant turnover is akin to the process of natural selection, leaving the strongest retailers standing.

“Every day every one of our properties is either getting better or getting worse,” Mr. Sokolov said.

“We are totally focused on making sure they get better.” — Bloomberg

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