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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

Parts of Cavitex upgrade to be completed in third quarter 2018

THE CONSTRUCTION of new lanes on the Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) as well as a southbound flyover along the carriageway are set for completion in the second half of next year, a company official said.

“Lane expansion and Pacific Drive flyover will be finished within the third quarter of 2018,” said Luigi L. Bautista, president of MPCALA Holdings, Inc., in a text message.

The lane expansion and the improvement of the surface of Pacific Drive, the small stretch from R1 to Macapagal Ave., are among the upgrades planned for Cavitex.

Mr. Bautista previously said during morning and evening peak hours, motorists encounter a long queue on the expressway, particularly near the Parañaque toll plaza.

Rodrigo E. Franco, president of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), previously said the company was spending P3.7 billion this year for the improvement of services along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) and Cavitex. Close to P1 billion had been allocated for Cavitex.

Mr. Bautista said about 140,000 transactions pass through Cavitex each day, up from the 90,000 recorded when the company took over the operations and maintenance through a government concession.

Once the Cavitex upgrades are completed, an increase in toll fees will be implemented as part of the investment plan. The increase is subject to approval by the Toll Regulatory Board.

MPCALA Holdings and MPTC are units of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT, Inc. and Philex Mining Corp.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

Family Mart to set up shop near BPO firms

PHOENIX PETROLEUM Philippines, Inc., the buyer of the local Family Mart convenience stores, is targeting employees of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms as its main market more than the customers in its gasoline stations all over the country.

“The priority is to put them in central business districts (CBDs),” said Henry Albert R. Fadullon, Phoenix chief operating officer.

He said that although there are opportunities to put the stores in existing gasoline stations, Phoenix is looking more at taking advantage in the shift in consumers’ lifestyle from commuting to dorming.

“There’s no place for you to cook, to eat, but positioning the Family Mart stores in CBDs you have the opportunity to serve that change in lifestyle,” he said.

He said Phoenix is reformatting Family Mart from convenience stores to provide more option for people to take out something ready to eat. Family Mart is a chain of convenience store that is franchised from Japan.

“In Japan, Family Mart is a major destination for food,” he said.

In October, Phoenix signed a memorandum of to acquire Philippine FamilyMart (PFM), the third-largest convenience store brand in the country. The deal is awaiting approval from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC).

“We have a different partner in Family Mart, a different partner in the gasoline stations. You cannot force a [gasoline station] partner to also franchise Family Mart,” said Ignacia S. Braga IV, vice-president for finance of Phoenix’s parent Udenna Corp. 

Ms. Braga said the plan for Family Mart, should Phoenix secure clearance from the antitrust regulator, is to locate in areas where BPOs are thriving, particularly in business districts of the country’s big cities.

She said about 70% of the gasoline stations are partnerships between Phoenix and dealer operators, thus the decision to put in the convenience stores is not within the company’s control.

Some partnerships also have gasoline station properties belonging to Phoenix but operated by dealers.

“You find somebody who will run it for you,” she said. “[There are] company-owned, company-operated or company-owned, dealer-operated, [or] dealer-operated, dealer-owned.”

She added that Phoenix had not taken over the operation of Family Mart yet because the acquisition is still subject to PCC approval.

“Hindi pa kami nakaupo [We haven’t sat in yet],” she said. “Then first-quarter [2018] would be a big move as soon as we are there.”

Phoenix previously said the acquisition of Family Mart complements its retail fuel business. The deal marks its entry into the fast-growing domestic convenience retail market. PFM has 67 stores in Luzon.

As of the third quarter, Phoenix has a total 523 service stations, or 18 more than the end-2016’s 505, company officials said. — Victor V. Saulon

2017 Russian SuperFinals

70th Russian Chess SuperFinal 2017
St. Petersburg, Russia
Dec. 3-15, 2017

Final Standings

1-2 Peter Svidler 2765, Nikita Vitiugov 2722, 7.0/11

3-4 Daniil Dubov 2683, Vladimir Fedoseev 2718, 6.5/11

5-7 Vladimir Malakhov 2686, Evgeny Tomashevsky 2713, Alexander Riazantsev 2650, 6.0/11

8-9 Sanan Sjugirov 2650, Ernesto Inarkiev 2689, 5.0/11

10 Maxim Matlakov 2735, 4.5/11

11 Evgeny Romanov 2626, 3.5/11

12 Sergey Volkov 2645, 3.0/11

Ave ELO 2690 Category 18

Time Control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game with 30 seconds added after every move starting move 1.

Two St. Petersburg natives Peter Svidler and Nikita Vitiugov tied for first in the tournament proper and then Svidler defeated Vitiugov, 2-0, in the tie-break match to capture his 8th Russian Championship. With this victory GM Peter put some more distance between his record and “the rest of the world,” — Mikhail Tal and Mikhail Botvinnik had won it six times while the attacking fanatic Rashid Nezhmetdinov had done it five times.

Why do they call it SuperFinals? Well, two reasons. Aside from the fact that this is the strongest national champion in the world, the term came into use in 2004 when Garry Kasparov took part for the first time (some of our readers may point out that as a teenager Kasparov tied for first twice in the USSR Championships of 1981 and 1982, but that was for the USSR championship, not Russia) and with his participation it paved the way for moneyed sponsors to come in and give good prizes. For his victory in this tournament Svidler won the first prize of one million roubles (around P850,000) and also a motor vehicle — a Renault Captur.

The venue is the State Museum of Political History of Russia. The Web site of St. Petersburg avers that the “building which houses the museum itself played a significant role in history. This attractive art nouveau mansion was originally built for Mathilda Kshesinskaya, the prima ballerina at the Mariinskiy before the Revolution, and Nicholas II’s mistress before he became Emperor. “In 1917 the building was seized by the Bolsheviks and turned into their headquarters in the city. It became the center of their revolutionary activities, and Lenin made an historic speech from one of the balconies after his arrival in the city. It was later passed through a number of organizations, before eventually becoming the Museum of the Revolution in 1957.”

Playing chess among such history must have inspired the players to fight hard. Unlike the London Classic where only two games in the first five rounds were decisive (Caruana beat Karjakin in the fourth and Anand in the fifth, all other games were drawn), here in the SuperFinals two of the youngsters, Fedoseev and Daniil Dubov sprinted out of the starting line with 4/4 and 3.5/4 (including a win against Svidler), respectively.

Svidler, Peter (2765) — Dubov, Daniil (2683) [A37]
70th RUS-ch SuperFinal Men 2017 St. Petersburg (2), 04.12.2017

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.0–0 Bf5 7.h3 Qc8 8.Kh2 Nf6 9.d3 0–0 10.e4 Bd7

A bit of a strange setup. White has the Botvinnik English formation but with his knight on f3 instead of e2. It is generally considered that e2 is a better square for the knight, as he does not block White’s f-pawn and can himself go to f4 on occasion.

11.Be3 a6 12.Rc1 Rb8 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.b3 e6 15.Nc3 e5 16.Ng1 Nd4 17.Nge2

See what I told you?

17…b5 18.f4 exf4 19.gxf4 b4 20.Bxd4 cxd4 21.Nb1 Nh5 22.Nd2 f5 23.c5 dxc5 24.e5 g5 25.Rxc5 Qe7!

Black can win a pawn with 25…Nxf4 26.Nxf4 gxf4 because now White can’t take the pawn because of 27.Rxf4 Qe7 with …Bxe5 follow. This was probably what Svidler was trying to egg on Dubov to go for, because now 27.Qf3! (instead of 27.Rxf4) and it is White with the advantage.

26.Qc2

If the rook retreats then 26.Rc2 Nxf4 followed by 27…Bxe5.

26…Rbc8 27.Qc4+?

Svidler didn’t like 27.Rxc8 Rxc8 28.Nc4 Nxf4 29.Nxf4 Bxe5 but in jumping out of the frying pan he fell into the fire!

27…Be6 28.Qxe6+ Qxe6 29.Bd5 Rxc5 30.Bxe6+ Kh8 31.Bc4 Nxf4 0–1

And still Black carries out the combination with …Nxf4 and …Bxe5. Completely disgusted with himself Svidler resigns.

In the second half of the tournament Fedoseev lost three games and Dubov went down in two games and it was Svidler (who finished with four wins) and Vitiugov (who played a calm tournament with no defeats and three wins) who finished tied for first at the end of 11 rounds.

Svidler’s exploits in the Internet Chess Club and also Chess.Com speedplay made him a heavy favorite to win the active tie breaks (15 minutes for the whole game with 10 seconds added to your time after every move), which he duly won.

I think this is Svidler’s best game.

Svidler, Peter (2765) — Malakhov, Vladimir (2686) [C49]
70th RUS-ch SuperFinal Men 2017 St. Petersburg (11), 14.12.2017

Malakhov is known for his deep positional style. Beating him is never easy.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3

Aha! Everybody has grown so used to the Berlin Wall with 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 that it is always a surprise for White to trot out the 4 Knights Defense.

4…Bb4

Black also has the Rubinstein line with 4…Nd4 and 4…a6. Another possibility is 4…Bc5. I remember back in 1999 when we were preparing for GM Joey’s stint in the Las Vegas World KO Championship. His opponent sometimes uses the 4 Knights and just to be on the safe side we prepared something for it. It turns out that the Four Knights is a very rich opening with lots of opportunities for attack or positional play. You should study it!

5.0–0 0–0

From one of my old chess books I remember this game, played at 10 seconds per move during the great international tournament in Carlsbad 1911. 5…Nd4 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.e5 dxc3 8.dxc3 Be7 9.exf6 Bxf6 10.Re1+ Kf8 11.Bc4 d6 (11…c6) 12.Qh5 g6 13.Bh6+ Bg7 14.Qf3 Qd7 15.Qf6 Rg8 16.Bxg7+ Rxg7 17.Bxf7! 1–0 (17) Nimzovitch-Tartakover Calsbad 1911.

6.d3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6 8.Bg5 Bd7

GM Victor Mikhalevsky suggests that Black play 8…Qe7 9.Re1 Nd8 10.d4 Ne6 11.Bc1 (11.Bd2!? is rare, but may be even stronger, see Cheparinov,I. — Jakovenko,D./Jermuk ARM 2009.; 11.Bh4 Nf4 followed by …h6 and …g5.) 11…c5 12.Bf1 Rd8 13.d5 Nf8 and Black is completely ok. Gallagher, J. (2521)-Lane, G. (2409) Scarborough 1999 1/2 24.

9.Rb1 a6 10.Ba4 Rb8 11.Bb3 h6 12.Bh4 b5 13.h3 Re8 14.Qc1 Na5 15.Re1 Nxb3 16.cxb3 Bc6 17.c4 bxc4 18.Qxc4 Bb5 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Qxc7 Rec8 21.Qa7 Bxd3 22.Rbd1 Bb5 23.a4 Ra8 24.Qb6! Bc6 25.Rc1 Bd7 26.Rxc8+ Bxc8 27.Qc6 Rb8 28.Qc7 Ra8 <D>

POSITION AFTER 28…RA8

Now that Svidler has immobilized Black’s pieces of the queenside he goes for the kill.

29.Qc6 Rb8 30.Qc7 Ra8 31.Re3!

Transferring the rook to the kingside.

31…Qg6 32.Nd2 Qe6 33.Qd8+ Kh7 34.Rd3 Bb7 35.Qc7 Qc8 36.Qxf7 Qc6 37.Nc4 Qxe4 38.Rg3 Rg8 39.Nxd6 Qb1+ 40.Kh2 Be4 41.Ne8 1–0

Vitiugov is not very well known but he has been 2700+ since 2010. As a sign of his very high class he was fourth in the 2007 SuperFinals and third in the 2009 edition. Nikita Kirillovich has written two books on the French Defense and is a much sought-after second.

His opponent in the next game was Russian Champion in 2000 and bronze medalist in the European Championships twice (2002 and 2008). Also an expert in the French Defense, Volkov is a creative and aggressive player whose games are always enjoyable to follow.

Volkov, Sergey (2645) — Vitiugov, Nikita (2722) [E20]
70th RUS-ch SuperFinal Men 2017 St. Petersburg (11), 14.12.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 dxe4 7.fxe4 c5

More usual is to open up the Black squares for him to operate against. 7…e5 8.d5 (8.dxe5 Qxd1+ 9.Kxd1 Ng4 regains the pawn with at least an equal game) 8…Bc5 9.Nf3 and now both 9…Bg4 or 9…Ng4 are playable.

8.d5 exd5 9.exd5

White has close to a 100% score with 9.cxd5 here and as a matter of principle I always frown on people taking with the e-pawn instead of the c-pawn in such formations. My take is that by taking with the c-pawn White opens up b5 and c4 for his bishop and maintains a strong center. Taking with the e-pawn forfeits these advantages.

9…0–0 10.Bf4?!

And now White should hurry up and castle.

10…Re8 11.Be2 Bg4 12.Qd2 Nh5 13.Be3 Bd6 14.0–0–0? Rxe3!

The obvious point here is that 15.Qxe3 is met by 15…Bf4. Volkov had foreseen this and prepared an ambush …

15.Bxg4 Rxc3+!

That’s right — Vitiugov had seen all of this as well and prepared an ambush to the ambush!

16.Qxc3

We are back to Black’s original idea if 16.bxc3? Bf4.

16…Qg5+ 17.Kb1 Qxg4 18.Nf3 Nd7 19.g3 a6 20.Rhe1 Nhf6 21.Nd2 b5 22.a4 bxa4 23.Qa5 Rb8 24.Ka2 Be5 25.Rb1 Qd4 26.Qc3 Nxd5! 27.cxd5 Qxd5+ 28.Qc4 Qxd2 29.Red1 Rxb2+ 30.Ka3 Qb4+ 31.Qxb4 cxb4+ 32.Kxa4 Nc5+ 0–1

We will try to squeeze in some more annotated games from this SuperFinals in the coming weeks.

 

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

Tax lobby backs TRAIN vetoes, urges further reforms, amendments

THE TAX preparation lobby said it supports the President’s line-item veto of five tax perks in first package of the tax reform law, but pressed the government to pursue more reforms.

Lawyer Maria Lourdes P. Lim, president of the Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP) said that the line-item vetoes issued for Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN), are expected to make the tax system more fair and equitable.

However, she said that the veto on reduced income tax of employees in regional operating headquarters (ROHQ) may need a repealing clause to effectively implement the measure.

“The effect of vetoing the proposed amendment in the enrolled bill means there is no amendment of the existing provision of the law, in effect, (leaving matters at) status quo,” she said via e-mail.

“While we laud the intention premised on fairness and equity, a process of amendment still needs to be followed. The President cannot just automatically remove the affected employees’ entitlement to the preferential rate as he is not the legislature. To effect the intention, Section 25 (C), (D) and (E) of the Tax Code needs to be specifically amended removing such incentive,” Ms. Lim added.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte in his veto message disallowed ROHQ employees from enjoying a 15% special tax rate, and instead put them in the regular tax schedule, putting them at par with non-alien resident taxpayers to promote fairness in the tax system for individuals performing similar work.

Ms. Lim also noted that despite the veto on value-added tax (VAT) zero-rating of sales of goods/services to entities in separate customs territories and outside tourism enterprise zones, it does not simplify the refund system.

“Under the enrolled bill, it is only when an effective VAT refund system is in place will the sale to the affected entities be subject to 12% VAT. But why do they need to go through the roundabout process of refund, i.e. suppliers will pass on the 12% VAT which the registered enterprises can eventually refund since they are exporters whose sales are zero-rated?,” she said.

“Might as well give to them the entitlement at the onset and save on resources for both government and the exporter,” she added.

Jo-Ann Diosana, Action for Economic Reforms (AER) senior economist, meanwhile backed the veto on the earmarking of revenues from the tobacco tax hike, as it would boost health care funding.

“We welcome this line veto on the tobacco tax earmarking in TRAIN, as it is a strong indication that the President and this administration, despite the strong tobacco industry lobby, will ensure the continued allocation of 85% of the incremental revenue of tobacco taxes to universal health care,” she said in a statement.

The original proposal supposedly subjected incremental revenue from the tobacco tax hike to Republic Act No. 7171, which provides financial support to tobacco farmers.

The tax reform law increases tobacco taxes to up to P40 per cigarette pack by 2023, from P30 currently.

However, the group is still supporting further increases in tobacco taxes for the succeeding packages of the tax reform program.

“As such, we encourage the President and Congress to push for even higher tobacco taxes so that there could be more funds for health, a reduced number of smokers, and even fewer deaths associated to tobacco use,” Ms. Diosana said.

She added that the proposals of Senators Emmanuel D. Pacquiao and Joseph Victor G. Ejercito to raise tobacco taxes to P60 and P90 per pack, respectively, would generate about P40 to P70 billion more funds for the health sector, and prevent one million new smokers by 2022.

The Department of Finance has said that it would discuss the Senator’s proposed bills as it drafts its fifth tax reform package — covering health-related measures.

“This will be an even bigger gift for the Filipino people,” AER said.

Other items that the President vetoed include the exemption from the 3% percentage tax for professionals and self-employed with gross receipts not exceeding P500,000, and the exemption of petroleum products from excise tax if the products are used as inputs, feedstock or raw material. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Probe launched after deadly mall fire

AUTHORITIES ordered a criminal investigation Monday into a shopping mall fire that killed dozens of people, most of them call center staff from an American firm. Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II announced the inquiry as the government raised the toll from Saturday’s NCCC mall fire in the southern city of Davao to one dead and 38 missing. US-based market research company SSI confirmed on its Web site late Sunday that 37 of its 500 employees were “lost” from its Davao unit, which leased the four-storey building’s top floor. The company said it has arranged for counseling for its employees, and will support funeral arrangements and set up a fund to assist the bereaved. The building’s administrators on Sunday denied allegations from survivors that there were inadequate emergency fire exits and that some of them were locked, while some relatives of those missing criticized rescuers for what they felt was the slow pace of recovery efforts. “They seem so relaxed,” said Jolita Basalan, weeping as she waited for news of her missing 29-year-old son Jonas who worked at the call center. “They are not pained because they don’t have a child there. They told us to come here but no one is moving,” she said. — AFP

Franciscan monks put baby Jesus on bed of bullets to press for peace

ASSISI, ITALY — Franciscan monks have put the baby Jesus in a crib made of bullet shells in a yearly “provocation” nativity scene designed to draw attention to those suffering in the world.

The successors of St. Francis of Assisi, who invented the nativity scene, craft a different scene each year outside the basilica in the Italian hill city of Assisi, the burial place of the 13th century patron saint of peace and the environment.

The monks said the bed of 445 bullet shells honors the estimated 445 Roman Catholic priests, nuns, monks, and lay religion teachers killed for their faith around the world since 2000.

“People of peace, people of dialogue are killed, tortured, and massacred for peace because they want to change the unjust systems in many societies,” said Father Enzo Fortunato, a senior monk at the basilica and convent complex.

Each year the monks choose a different theme for the nativity scene as part of what they call a “provocation” to underscore the need for peace, he said.

Last year they made the scene using stones from the Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia, also in the Umbria region, which collapsed after a series of earthquakes that killed about 300 people.

The year before, they made it from the remains of a boat that had carried migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean. More than 14,000 people have died trying to make the perilous crossing to Europe in the past four years.

The first nativity scene was assembled by St. Francis in 1223 in the small Italian town of Grecio to represent the Biblical story of Jesus’ birth in a manger in Bethlehem. — Reuters

Guatemala to transfer embassy to Jerusalem

GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala is to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, President Jimmy Morales said Sunday, following US President Donald Trump’s controversial lead on the holy city.

After speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr. Morales wrote to Guatemalans on his Facebook page that “one of the most important topics was the return of Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem,” from Tel Aviv where it is currently located.

“For this reason I am informing you that I have given instructions to the foreign ministry that it start the necessary respective coordination to make this happen,” Mr. Morales wrote.

Guatemala’s leader made the announcement on Christmas Eve, three days after two-thirds of United Nations (UN) member states rejected Mr. Trump’s decision to have the United States recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

In all, 128 nations voted to maintain the international consensus that Jerusalem’s status can only be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Only eight countries stood with the United States in voting no to the resolution held in the UN General Assembly, among them Guatemala and fellow Central American country Honduras.

Guatemala and Honduras rely on US funding to improve security in their gang-ridden territories. They are, along with El Salvador, in what is known as the Northern Triangle of Central America. Violence, corruption and poverty have made them the main source of illegal migration to the US, which is giving them $750 million to provide better conditions at home.

Mr. Morales, like Mr. Trump, was a television entertainer with no real political experience before becoming president of Guatemala in 2016.

On Friday, Mr. Morales foreshadowed the decision he was to make regarding Jerusalem, as he defended his government’s vote at the UN backing the United States.

“Guatemala is historically pro-Israeli,” he told a news conference in Guatemala City.

“In 70 years of relations, Israel has been our ally,” he added.

“We have a Christian way of thinking that, as well as the politics of it, has us believing that Israel is our ally and we must support it. Despite us only being nine in the world (in the UN vote), we have the total certainty and conviction that this is the right path.”

Mr. Morales’ position has become fragile in recent months because of allegations of corruption against him being investigated by a special UN-backed body working with Guatemalan prosecutors.

The United States ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had said her country would “take names” of the states opposing its position, and Mr. Trump threatened to cut funding to countries “that take our money and then vote against us.”

Several significant US allies abstained from the UN vote, among them Australia, Canada, Mexico and Poland.

Others, such as Britain, France, Germany and South Korea were in the majority of 128 nations denouncing any unilateral decision to view Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The eight countries on the US side of the vote were: Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo.

Following the US decision on Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said he would “no longer accept” any peace plan proposed by the US, dealing a preemptive blow to a new initiative expected by Washington next year.

Mr. Trump has tasked his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had no prior experience in government, with spearheading the complicated peace plan efforts. — AFP

The resident jesters of the Court of DU 30 made us laugh again

In the spirit of Christmas I will engulf you with the twisted yet funny web of comedic utterances of the resident jesters of DU 30’s Court.

For starters, there is PNP Chief Ronald “Bato dela Rosa admission in January, that he would rather be “a clown because clowns make people laugh.” That was in reaction to Inquirer columnist Mon Tulfo’s comment that Dela Rosa has not inspired respect among the PNP officer corps and the rank and file because they look at him as a clown instead of being serious in his work.

Well, he said recently that “As far as I am concerned I brought back the trust and confidence of the people in the PNP.” That’s funny because in a hearing by a Senate committee, he cried unabashedly that much as he tried, he could not reform the PNP.

Then there is that usual articulation of twisted logic of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. When President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao, Aguirre said it was necessary, adding that “Those who oppose the decision are doing so since they view it as an obstacle to their own agenda.” It is the other way around. Those who opposed the decision viewed martial law as the removal of the obstacles to the President’s personal agenda.

Another warped statement is that of Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque. In reaction to Senator Leila de Lima’s comment on his reminding the International Criminal Court to respect local legal processes, Roque said: “We should no longer give credence to anything that comes from de Lima as this is from a polluted source who was accused of drug trafficking by at least 13 witnesses.” It is the 13 witnesses who accused Senator De Lima of drug trafficking who are polluted witnesses as every one of them has been convicted of murder, kidnapping, rape, or other crimes involving moral turpitude.

When Supreme Court Justice Teresita de Castro appeared before the House Justice Committee, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said: “I enjoin everybody to ask relevant questions, and give her the respect according to the office.” Committee Chair Umali suggested that they “show deference to a Supreme Court associate justice by refraining from asking her questions that impute ulterior motives to her testimony.”

Yet, the two ranking officers of the House of Representatives showed no respect for the members of the Supreme Court, an equal branch of government, by asking some members to appear before them to explain the administrative process of the Court. What more brazen display of degradation of justices of the Court than requiring them to swear to tell the truth and the whole truth, not before God but before the ComSec (the committee’s secretary). Preposterous if not pathetic was the scene of Supreme Court justices swearing under oath before members of the House of Ill Repute.

As for Justice De Castro, during her testimony she asked rhetorically, “What kind of justice am I if I just accept what is happening that is not in accordance with the law?” That drew derisive laughter because during the time when Renato Corona was chief justice, she just accepted what Corona decided even if they were not in accordance with the law, such as the appointment of Renato Corona as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the breakup of the district of Camarines Sur into two, the dismissal of the disqualification complaint against Mikey Arroyo who was running for Congress as the candidate of the party list of tricycle drivers, the order to stop the impeachment proceedings against then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, the flip-flop on the conversion into cities of 16 municipalities, and the creation of the province of Dinagat Islands.

Going back to Umali, he got irked by resource person Clerk of Court Felipa Anama’s evasive responses to a congressman’s line of questioning. He admonished her for being uncooperative. After the session, he told reporters that Anama cannot hide behind the cloak of confidentiality or anonymity in impeachment hearings.

That is the same Umali who in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona hid behind the cloak of anonymity.

In one session of the trial, he narrated that he was handed an envelope containing the bank records of Corona’s dollar deposits. When asked who handed him the envelope, he said a “small lady.” Pressed to identify her, Umali adamantly said all he knew was she was a “small lady.”

Another ludicrous statement is that of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno. “The budget is a political tool to reward administration allies and punish political enemies. If you’re with us, then you get something. If you’re not with us, then you don’t get something.” That is the same Diokno who in his column in this paper constantly criticized President Benigno S. C. Aquino III for using the budget as a political tool, pontificating that combining politics with the distribution of funds is wasteful and bad governance.

There is another somersaulting court jester.

As the Senate began its deliberations on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, Senate President Koko Pimentel said: “I agree with the Minority Leader (Senator Franklin Drilon) that the supreme law is our Constitution. We have no choice but to follow the Constitution. That will be our primordial task … and all our energies will be geared towards making the measure constitutionally acceptable.” He added, “Lawmakers also are not expected to unknowingly pass an unconstitutional measure.”

Laugh out loud. When the resolution extending martial law in Mindanao was being deliberated on, Drilon said: “We cannot continuously place Mindanao under martial law… without an actual rebellion in the region. Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution states that martial law may only be extended ‘if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.’” The government declared the end of hostilities in Marawi City in October.

But as expected, Pimentel and his fellow lawmakers knowingly pass the unconstitutional resolution to extend martial law in Mindanao to the end of 2018.

Senator Richard Gordon would not be outdone by his fellow court jesters. Reacting to the bashing he got from netizens for monopolizing the interrogation of resource persons in the hearing on dengvaxia, he quipped, “The public’s reaction may have been due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of Senate proceedings.” Laugh out loud again.

The netizens have seen many televised investigations of various committees of both Houses of Congress to know that a resource person cannot ask questions, he can only answer questions asked of him by members of Congress. But the supposed know-it-all Gordon not only allowed a resource person to interrogate another resource person, he even allowed a non-resource person to read a statement that cast aspersion on President Aquino without any basis.

He even rebuffed Minority Leader Franklin Drilon when the latter told a resource person that it was his (Drilon’s) turn to ask questions as the resource person is not only not supposed to ask other resource persons questions, he had spoken more than enough. Gordon cut in, “I am still the chair of this Committee.” Who lacks knowledge of Senate proceedings and who is not dominating Senate hearings?

When the President said he might set up a revolutionary government, Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto said in a text message to reporters: “The President has information not available to us. He probably feels the country’s stability could be in jeopardy that’s why he is thinking of ways to protect it just in case.”

But the information had been made available to the public by the President himself and it is not the country’s stability that the President will protect with a revolutionary government, it is his hold on power. The President had categorically stated that he would declare a revolutionary government if his opponents try to topple him from power.

Well, that is Sotto, who in his rabid defense of whatever the President does and says comes up with unthinking remarks characteristic of Iskul Bukul graduates.

By the way, what could be the funniest statement of this year is President Duterte’s remark that, “Declaring a revolutionary government at this time is like looking for a headache.” Mr. Duterte had already found his headache when he sought the highest office of the land and won. He is at present constantly and immensely bothered by the grating noise raised by the Human Rights Commission, Liberal Party, Office of the Ombudsman, Inquirer, ABS-CBN, and now the Makabayan bloc. Declaring a revolutionary government would silence all those irksome noisemakers and relieve him of his headache.

Merry Christmas!

 

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. is a member of Manindigan! a cause-oriented group of businessmen, professionals, and academics.

oplagman@yahoo.com

Hong Kong’s house-price curbs aren’t working — Carrie Lam

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s red-hot housing market can’t be tamed.

For the first time since taking office last July, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam has said that government measures to cool the world’s most-expensive property market haven’t worked.

“It’s impossible for the government to curb property prices,” Ms. Lam said in an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong. “Despite the several rounds of cooling measures by the government, prices didn’t drop. Some even suggested that those measures had pushed up prices instead.”

Secondary housing prices have climbed 14% this year, fueled by cheap money and demand from mainland buyers.

After taking the city’s top job, Ms. Lam said meeting the public’s housing needs remains the “top priority,” yet her maiden policy speech in October failed to spell out proposals to boost land supply or detail a highly anticipated plan to accelerate the conversion of farm land into homes.

She reiterated her intention to resolve the shortage of housing supply in the RTHK interview though didn’t specify that would arrest price rises. — Bloomberg

SN Aboitiz Power targets double-digit growth for retail electricity business

SN ABOITIZ Power-RES, Inc. expects a double-digit increase in the number of its retail electricity supply (RES) contracts next year as it looks forward to the resumption of rules that will allow suppliers to serve consumers under the 1-megawatt (MW) threshold.

“I’m pretty bullish on it [RES business]. It’s heavily based on the confidence I have on our team,” said Joseph S. Yu, president and chief executive officer of the SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) group.

“I’m quite convinced that we will be able to carve out a very successful business for competitive customers,” he said.

Mr. Yu said the company’s RES business unit remains among the small players given the overall scope of the industry.

A total of 28 retail electricity suppliers are currently competing for a piece of the “contestable” market made up of 862 customers whose consumption has reached an average of at least 1 MW for the past year.

Aside from competing among themselves, the retail electricity suppliers are also competing with 12 “local” RES, or the retail supply businesses of distribution utilities that serve their respective franchise areas.

For now, the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court put on hold rules on retail competition and open access (RCOA) and prevented the contestable market to expand and include the next level in the threshold — the 750 kilowatt (kW)-999 kW customers. This left players competing tightly to hold on to their 1-MW customers.

“We’re looking forward to when the TRO is eventually lifted and resume open competition for the contestable customers,” Mr. Yu said.

He declined to disclose the company’s latest contracted capacity, although he admitted that is probably among those in the bottom.

“I just looked at the performance of our sales team … Despite the fact there is a TRO, they made a lot of progress in the 1-MW-and-up [market segment],” Mr. Yu said.

As of June, the industry was dominated by the local RES of Manila Electric Co., which had a 31% share in the number of contracted contestable customers. SNAP affiliate Aboitiz Energy Solutions, Inc. had a share of 18%.

“I believe that the guys that we have on the ground and the way they’re approaching the market is actually the right way of doing it,” Mr. Yu said. — VVS

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