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US Q3 economic growth fastest in three years

WASHINGTON — The US economy grew faster than initially thought in the third quarter, notching its quickest pace in three years, buoyed by robust business spending on equipment and an accumulation of inventories.

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a 3.3% annual rate last quarter also boosted by a rebound in government investment, the Commerce department said in its second GDP estimate on Wednesday. That was the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2014 and a pickup from the second quarter’s 3.1% rate.

The economy was previously reported to have grown at a 3% pace in the July-September period. It was the first time since 2014 that the economy experienced growth of three percent or more for two straight quarters.

The growth pace, however, likely exaggerates the health of the economy as inventories, goods yet to be sold, accounted for nearly a quarter of GDP growth.

Excluding inventory investment, the economy grew at a 2.5% rate. When measured from the income side, output also expanded at a 2.5% rate.

“While welcomed improvement, the sustainability of growth has been reliant on pent-up demand and stockpiling of goods after grossly depleting inventories,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Fixed Income in Chicago.

Economists had expected that third-quarter GDP growth would be raised to a 3.2% rate. The brisk growth pace strengthens the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month. The US central bank has increased borrowing costs twice this year.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen told lawmakers on Wednesday “the economic expansion is increasingly broad based across sectors,” and that she expected that “the economy will continue to expand.”

Prices for US Treasuries fell on the data and Ms. Yellen’s remarks. The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies, while stocks were mixed.

The economic recovery since the 2007-2009 recession is now in its eighth year and showing little signs of fatigue. The economy is being powered by a tightening labor market, which has largely maintained a strong performance that started during former President Barack Obama’s first term.

Economists see a modest boost to growth from efforts by President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress to push through a broad package of tax cuts, including slashing the corporate income tax rate to 20% from 35%. Mr. Trump wants lower taxes to lift annual GDP growth to 3% on a sustained basis. The fiscal stimulus would, however, come when the economy is at full employment.

“Corporate and personal income tax cuts will have minimal impact on growth over the longer run,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC Financial in Pittsburgh. “In 2019 and beyond growth will settle in to its long-run average of 2-2.25%.”

The government said after-tax corporate profits surged at a 5.8% rate last quarter after rising at only a 0.1% pace in the second quarter.

Undistributed profits jumped at a 13.9% rate after declining for two straight quarters, suggesting that companies were anticipating deep tax cuts.

Businesses accumulated inventories at a $39 billion pace in the third quarter, instead of the previously reported $35.8 billion rate. As a result, inventory investment contributed 0.8 percentage point to third-quarter GDP growth, up from the previously reported 0.73 percentage point.

That suggests inventories could be a drag on growth in the fourth quarter. Data on Tuesday showed a drop in wholesale and retail inventories in October, leading economists to slash their fourth-quarter GDP growth estimates by as much as five-tenths of a percentage point to as low as a 2.3% rate.

The Fed on Wednesday in its Beige Book report of anecdotal information on business activity collected from contacts nationwide described economic activity as having “continued to increase at a modest to moderate pace in October and mid-November.”

Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the US economy, was revised down to 2.3% in the third quarter from the previously reported 2.4% pace. Consumer spending increased at a robust 3.3% rate in the second quarter.

The deceleration in consumer spending likely reflects the impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which struck Texas and Florida during the third quarter. Spending is also being constrained by sluggish wage growth, which is forcing households to dip into their savings to fund purchases.

The government cut its estimate for the increase in second-quarter wages and salaries by $26.5 billion. The saving rate decreased to 3.3% in the third quarter from 3.7% in the April-June period.

Economists say savings cannot drive consumer spending indefinitely. But they also believe that income growth is being understated, pointing to a 4.1% unemployment rate as well as strong business investment.

Growth in business investment in equipment was raised to a 10.4% pace, the fastest in three years, from the previously reported 8.6% rate. Businesses also increased spending on software.

But investment in nonresidential structures fell at a 6.8% pace in the third quarter, the biggest drop since the fourth quarter of 2015, instead of the previously estimated 5.2% rate. That is largely because of a slowdown in spending on mining exploration, wells and shafts.

Growth in government spending was raised to a 0.4% rate. Government outlays were previously reported to have declined at a 0.1% pace in the third quarter. Government spending had contracted for two consecutive quarters. — Reuters

NLEX-SCTEX earns finals berth

NLEX-SCTEX ran roughshod over R.Lapid’s/Tito Rex, 90-76, to reach the championship round of the Marikina City Basketball League at the Marikina Sports Center.

Ex-pro Jeckster Apinan sizzled for 21 points while Alfred Batino added 12. Import Ola Adeogun had another double-double performance, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the Road Warriors, who won their second game in the round-robin semifinals of this event.

Allen Bulanadi led R. Lapid’s/Tito Rex with 20 points.

The Road Warriors broke the game wide open after seeing their rivals coming to within five in the early part of the final quarter.

A triple by Mr. Bulanadi shoved R. Lapid’s/Tito Rex to within 66-61 with still 8:01 left.

But the Road Warriors answered back with a swift 10-0 run sparked by Dominic Fajardo’s back-to-back baskets.

Regardless of NLEX-SCTEX’s last semifinals game against Hobe Bihon-Macway, the Road Warriors are already assured of a finals berth.

FEU NRMF edged Hobe Bihon-Macway, 99-96, to keep its hopes for a finals seat.

The winner of the FEU NRMF-R.Lapid’s/Tito Rex showdown will face NLEX-SCTEX in the finals. — Rey Joble

Unlicensed pyrotechnics factory in Lapu-Lapu closed after 6 workers injured

A PYROTHECNICS factory in Lapu-Lapu City, found to be operating without a license, has been closed after six people, including an eight-year-old girl and two teenagers, were injured in an explosion last week. The Department of Labor and Employment-Central Visayas (DoLE-7) issued on Tuesday a work stoppage order against Jonathan Latorre Amistad, 36, the owner of a clandestine firecracker factory in Barangay Buaya. Based on the DoLE investigation, Mr. Amistad has no permit to manufacture and sell pyrotechnics and firecrackers, no fire safety inspection certificate, and no business permit from the city government. DOLE-7 Regional Director Cyril L. Ticao warned all pyrotechnics manufacturers to secure all the required permits to ensure safety, and refrain from using child labor. “They should get all the necessary permits… they should not employ children in this kind of activity because this is very dangerous,” he said. Among those injured in the factory explosion were the owner’s daughter, a niece and a nephew, and his wife. Mr. Amistad denied that the children were working at the illegal factory. — The Freeman

DoE to rule on river, biomass FiT before 2018

THE Department of Energy (DoE) will be coming out with a decision within the year whether it will approve a recommendation to extend the guaranteed feed-in-tariff (FiT) for run-of-river hydroelectric power and biomass projects, its top official said.

“We are reviewing it,” DoE Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi told reporters. “We will have to make a decision before year’s end.”

He said he was told by his staff that the proposal had been submitted to his office by the National Renewable Enery Board (NREB), which advises the agency on issues relating to renewable energy including the FiT.

“I was told it has been submitted to my office, but I haven’t read it,” he said.

The FiT system offers guaranteed payments on a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 20 years for emerging renewable energy sources, excluding power generation for the developers’ own use.

Consumers who are supplied with electricity through the distribution or transmission network share in the cost of the feed-in-tariff through a uniform charge per kWh.

The DoE has set a target of 250 megawatts (MW) each for run-of-river hydro and biomass although the agency’s records show only 34.60 MW and 138.61 MW, respectively, were taken up. The FiT for run-of-river hydro and biomass ends this year.

The proposal to extend the FiT for the two technologies comes after stakeholders raised the issues they met in developing their projects, including the long gestation period before completing a run-of-river hydro that are likely located in remote areas.

In a letter to Mr. Cusi dated Nov. 14, Philhydro Association, Inc. (Philhydro) requested clarification on the FiT mechanism “in view of the fact that the installation target for [hydropower] has not been fully subscribed due to factors beyond the developers’ control.”

“The clarification or any explanation of this policy would be very relevant to projects which are almost complete, those which have obtained confirmation of commerciality before December 2017 and projects that took into consideration the FIT in its investment decision prior to its construction,” said Philhydro, a non-government organization composed of hydropower developers, manufacturers, construction companies and consultants.

In the letter, Philhydro President Jose Silvestre Natividad said the organization had submitted its position paper to NREB on Sept. 3, 2017 seeking the extension of the FiT for hydropower projects “until 2020 or until the original installation target has been met.”

Earlier this month, NREB Chairman Jose M. Layug, Jr. said he will endorse the FiT extension to the DoE for at least three years. The extension should be enough to allow developers to finish their stalled projects, he added.

“We’re pushing for biomass and run-of-river hydro [FiT] extension primarily because we have seen the impact of FiT for the last three years. It benefited the consumers,” he said.

About 10 biomass and run-of-river hydroelectric power generation projects are set to benefit should the DoE approve the extension, Mr. Layug said.

Should the biomass developers be able to start commercial operations this year, they qualify for the P6.5969 per kWh degressed FiT rate for the renewable energy.

For run-of-river hydro, the rate has been degressed this year to P5.8705 per kWh as called for by the FiT rules. — Victor V. Saulon

Music and laughter over the holidays

AFTER THE success of their earlier shows in Resorts World Manila (RWM) this year, comic Jon Santos and iconic band Aegis are at it again.

A two-hour comedy show might just be the break one needs from one’s hectic Christmas schedule.

After the success of Extrajudicial Kiddings and Live, Love, Laugh, Mr. Santos returns for Love Wins on Dec. 2 at the Marriott grand ballroom, which promises to be an evening of laughter and non-stop music featuring this year most talked about celebrities, events, and trending topics.

Mr. Santos’s humor was in full view as he arrived at the press conference on Nov. 27 at RWM’s Newport Performing Arts Theater Vestibule dressed as Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach wearing a sash with “Ex-Miss Universe” written on it.

“We are a very fortunate team of artists, experts, and writers. We’re always on the lookout for what’s hot and what’s in the news,” Mr. Santos said about the preparations for the show. He added that director Joaquin Valdes refers to the show as “same day writing.”

“The content is always new… It’s not like a stand-up comedy show or sketch comedy show wherein everything is fixed… A lot of it is spontaneous, and the jokes are happening as the current events are unfolding,” Mr. Valdes said.

The show’s guests include veteran comedian and singer Mitch Valdes, and Isprikitik Improv, a group of young artists who perform spontaneous comedy sketches.

“In comedy, if you hear something old, you will be disappointed… That’s why freshness and innovativeness is always top of the list,” Mr. Santos told BusinessWorld. He added that it is now more challenging to produce comedy content as audiences react differently to political jokes.

Mr. Santos said that Laugh Wins will look back at the events of 2017 — he mentioned APEC Vietnam 2017, ASEAN 2017, celebrity weddings, female superheroes in film, and “Empoy is the new gwapo,” as some of the topics to be tackled

“A live Pinoy comedy show has a place in a person’s ‘cultural diet,’” Mr. Santos said.

AEGIS AGAIN
“Heto ako, basang-basa sa ulan, walang masisilungan, walang malalapitan.” Pinoy rock band Aegis belted out one of its greatest hits at the same press conference, their strong and piercing voices still mesmerizing audiences 19 years since their debut.

Following the success of their major concert Aegis na Aegis: A Story of Us in September, the band returns onstage with Aegis Live! Birit Pa More on Dec. 20, at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, as part of RWM’s Grand Fiesta Manila: Fantasy Funfair celebrations.

“’Yun ang nasa isip agad [ng tao] kapag sinabing Aegis. (That’s what comes to people’s minds when you mention Aegis),” vocalist Juliet Sunot said about the concert title, Birit Pa More — birit means “belting out.”

The band will be performing its hits such as “Halik,” “Luha,” “Basang-basa sa Ulan,” and “Sinta.” Christmas songs are included in the lineup as well. The Voice Philippines champion Mitoy Yonting will be joining them at the concert.

The band is hoping to mark their 20th anniversary next year with a new album and concerts.

Asked about what keeps them going at this stage of their career, the band members said that making their audiences happy during concerts makes performing fulfilling for them in return.

Tickets to both shows are available at the RWM Box Office and all TicketWorld outlets. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Terminal

The Philippine crisis is reaching another acute stage 45 years after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. The country barely survived it then. But this time the affliction could very well be terminal.

Today as in 1972, authoritarian rule, whether through another declaration of martial law or the formation of a “revolutionary government,” is being falsely proffered as the solution to imaginary attempts to remove President Rodrigo Duterte from power (even the military has declared that there is no such plot), and even as a means of addressing the country’s many problems.

The phrase “revolutionary government” is totally deceptive.

Such an extra- and anti-Constitutional regime will almost certainly be regressive rather than progressive.

By concentrating power in the hands of a strongman who can then rule in furtherance of his, his kin, and his cronies’ personal, familial, and class interests, it will put an end to the chances of the country’s ever achieving the reforms it so desperately needs.

But keeping things the way they have always been may be the primary reason why Mr. Duterte is thinking of it, and he is, in that sense, merely echoing Marcos’s own reasons for placing the country under martial rule 45 years ago.

The claim that authoritarianism is both new and the quickest way to development is as false as it is deliberately misleading.

Marcos took that route before, and, by declaring martial law, first of all assured himself in 1972 of remaining in power beyond 1973 when his second four-year term under the 1936 Constitution would end. But martial law was also the means through which he tried to crush the burgeoning movement for the democratization of political power that has always been the key to the achievement of social change and authentic independence. Both would have finally addressed and ended the poverty, inequality, and many other afflictions that have haunted this country and its unfortunate people for centuries.

Together with a promise to “save the Republic,” Marcos also vowed to “reform society,” but did neither.

By the time he was overthrown, the country had instead so regressed it was heavily indebted, its foreign debt having ballooned from less than a billion US dollars when he assumed the Presidency in 1965 to $30 billion in 1986; 100,000 people had been arrested and detained; thousands had been tortured, murdered and forcibly disappeared; perennial hunger had become the lot of millions more; thousands of the best sons and daughters of the people were dead; and employment opportunities had become so limited the export of Philippine labor had morphed into an undeclared State policy.

Marcos had pushed the country to the very brink of ruin.

Despite his claims, authoritarian rule through martial law was not the solution to the problems of Philippine society: it was the very opposite. But it wasn’t only part of the problem. From 1972 to 1986, his dictatorship was the problem.

When the Marcos terror regime was thankfully overthrown by the EDSA civilian-military mutiny in 1986, it was widely thought that together with the restoration of the institutions of liberal democracy — a free press and fair elections, among others — it would also pave the way for the democratization of political power that had been the call in the country’s streets, factories and countryside before martial rule.

Instead, the same political dynasties, including the Marcoses, that had monopolized political power since the Commonwealth period regained control of the government to the exclusion of the young professionals, the liberated women, the awakened workers, the indigenous people and the organized farmers who comprised the core of the anti-dictatorship resistance.

The handful of dynasts that had regained power made sure, together with the remnants of the Marcos kleptocracy, that the demand for the changes that would usher in the making of a just, prosperous and truly democratic society — among them the abolition of the tenancy system, the country’s industrialization and its liberation from its status as a neo-colony — would not prosper.

The political dominance of what has been described as the descendants of the principalia class that collaborated with the Spanish and US colonial regimes and with US imperial interests is both the source and the cause of the Philippine crisis. The consequence of their continuing control of the Philippine state is the underdevelopment of the political, economic, and social structures that are responsible for the poverty of millions of Filipinos in both city and countryside, and which fuel the social unrest of centuries.

The poverty, social injustice, and mass misery the crisis has spawned have naturally compelled both its victims as well as those other men and women committed to the betterment of their country and people to address its consequences and to propose solutions. These attempts are driven by the same spirit that moved the reformists and revolutionaries of the late 19th century to correct what they saw was a state of things that through hard work and with careful thought, honesty and good faith could be changed for the betterment of all.

But because it would mean putting an end to dynastic rule, the struggle for an alternative state and society has been met with derision and marginalization, and with outright suppression in 1972 as well as during the regimes that followed that of Marcos’s.

The country’s experience during the last seven decades (1946-2017) should by now have made it obvious except to the willfully blind or intellectually challenged that only the implementation of fundamental political, economic, and social reforms can put a stop to the political instability that has made the threat of authoritarianism a perennial concern, and end the conflicts, wars, and rebellions that have characterized Philippine history and society for over 300 years.

That is why the Duterte regime’s resumption of peace talks, the conclusion of which was premised on the adoption of the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) renewed hopes not only for peace, but even more fundamentally, for the achievement of those reforms that would address the causes of the near-perpetual conflicts that have long divided Philippine society.

Unfortunately, both the regime’s termination of the talks and Mr. Duterte’s threat to impose a “revolutionary government” have dashed those hopes to pieces, and brought the Philippine crisis to its most acute stage since 1972.

Having terminated peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), should Mr. Duterte make good his threat to concentrate in himself the unlimited power that he craves and with which he will then savage the Constitution, particularly its provisions on free expression, freedom of assembly and association, and those other rights through which free men and women can contribute to the making of a just and prosperous society, the opposite of its announced aims — to address the problems of Philippine society and end the destabilization plots Mr. Duterte claims are directed against him — will happen.

It will instead further destabilize an already volatile political system, in the course of which Mr. Duterte himself can be among its victims. And like martial law in the 1970s and 1980s, the “revolutionary government” Mr. Duterte is thinking of imposing won’t be the solution either. It will instead be the problem, and for who knows how long.

Except in the rarest of instances, authoritarian rule has never led to peace, progress and stability, but to further conflict, retrogression, and political uncertainty. Those in the corporate press and media who have expressed support for a “revolutionary government” on the argument that it hasn’t been tried before are wrong. It has been, but they called it martial law and “constitutional authoritarianism” then. Its consequences — the poverty, the injustice, the violence, the human rights violations and the continuing deterioration of Philippine society — are among the most putrid legacies of one-man rule to a country in perpetual crisis.

 

Luis V. Teodoro is on Facebook and Twitter (@luisteodoro). The views expressed in Vantage Point are his own and do not represent the views of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.

www.luisteodoro.com

Job seekers doing more research on employers

ONLINE employment platform Jobstreet.com said usage of its company review feature increased 85% since its launch in 2016, which it said indicates that job seekers are looking for more information on prospective employers.

In a statement, Jobstreet.com said that since the feature in May 2016, growth in review submissions for JobStreet.com Company Reviews in the Philippines continues to be encouraging.

The feature is user-generated, allowing job seekers to gain insight into prospective companies, which can influence their career choices — particularly information on company culture, work-life balance and development opportunities.

The feature allows former and current employees of a company to give ratings on a five-star scale, and to give feedback on the company. Any registered user of Jobstreet.com can access the company reviews.

“Companies and candidates seem to have trouble finding the right fit… The company culture may not match the candidates’ career aspiration at hand. Looking at this, we realized that information gaps may prevent the right candidate from ever learning about a company’s culture that might be a right fit,” Philip Gioca, Country Manager of JobStreet.com Philippines,  said in a statement.

“There is no good or bad job. There are only jobs that will be aligned to candidate needs, bringing the right fit and professional fulfilment. A job can be much more than a pay check if you let it, and we believe everyone deserves to have the information they need to build a career that brings them joy and excitement.”

JobStreet.com and jobsDB are part of SEEK Asia, a leading online employment marketplace in Asia. SEEK Asia covers seven markets — Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

NFA says rice price increases seasonal, more subdued this year

THE National Food Authority (NFA) said an uptick in rice prices is part of the normal operations of the rice market and is not due to lack of supply.

“We have adequate volume of industry-wide rice inventory at this time. The country’s rice stocks, at 1.944 million metric tons (MT), are good for 61 days based on the average national daily requirement of 31,462 MT,” the NFA said in a statement.

Rice varieties whose prices were observed to have increased for the past weeks by P1-P2/kilogram included premium, special and aromatic rice, or those with five to 15% brokens, and not the regular and well-milled varieties traditionally consumed by the majority of consumers.

The NFA also attributed high prices to the gradual depletion of low-priced stock held by traders and retailers.

“Traders are now milling and starting to sell their newly-harvested stock bought at higher ex-farm prices. This harvest season, for example, traders were buying palay from P18 to P24/kg. Thus, when processed into rice, the higher wholesale and retail prices will be passed on to retailers and consumers,” the grains agency added.

Also, the main harvest that started in late September is nearing conclusion and the lean months, when there is very little or no harvest — typically December to February — are set to kick in.

“A review of the past three-year period showed that rice prices indeed tend to register slight increases at this period, although this year’s increase is observed to be even lower than during the same period in previous years,” the NFA added.

Citing its own data, the grains agency said that in November 2014, the prices of regular-milled and well-milled rice were at P40.74 and P43.63/kg.; in 2015 — P38 and P42/kg; and in 2016 — P35.97 and P41.80.

This month, the average retail prices for regular and well-milled varieties were at P37 and P40/kg.

The NFA said it continues to sell at competitive levels to stabilize prices.

“We continue to sell low-priced NFA rice at P27 and P32/kilogram through our accredited retailers so that consumers will have an option to buy good-quality but lower-priced rice,” the NFA said, adding that rice prices are expected to “eventually settle down to its previous levels” as private-sector import shipments on Dec. 20. — Janina C. Lim

For Congress, corporate world holds important lessons on sexual harassment

WITH ALLEGATIONS of sexual misconduct swirling on Capitol Hill, US lawmakers are poised to make anti-harassment training mandatory in their ranks, following in a path taken decades ago by the business world — to what experts say are mixed results.

Harassment claims have ensnared several high-profile US lawmakers, most prominently Senator Al Franken who has apologized after being accused of unwanted kissing and touching, and Congressman John Conyers who quit a leadership post over claims he sexually harassed staff.

Spurred to act by the allegations surfacing on Capitol Hill and in more than a dozen state legislatures around the country, the Senate recently made anti-harassment training compulsory for lawmakers and staff alike, with the House of Representatives to vote on a similar measure Wednesday.

But experts — pointing at the experience of the private sector — warn that real progress may require a cultural shift.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal anti-discrimination agency, sexual harassment has long been widespread in the US labor force — ranging from degrading remarks, to unwelcome advances and demands for sexual favors in exchange for preferential treatment or under threat of dismissal or demotion.

“We have seen it everywhere for more than 30 years,” said Christine Saah Nazer, an EEOC spokeswoman, citing examples in all sorts of industries, from factories and retail to the white-collar sector.

The American business world has long tried to raise awareness of the persistent problem, using online questionnaires and videos and inviting lawyers to explain where victims and harassers stand under the law.

The aeronautics giant Airbus in the United States, for instance, has instituted what it calls a “zero tolerance” policy with online training that tests employees on case studies and examples of what constitutes harassment.

But Eden King, professor of psychology at Rice University, said teaching workers about the law was not enough.

“They have to change the organization’s culture,” she told AFP, noting that hyper-masculine work environments often exacerbate the problem of harassment and abuse.

“I think we have to change men’s and women’s roles in society.”

Saah Nazer of the EEOC likewise acknowledged that harassment training programs adopted in past years had failed to stem the phenomenon.

She said her organization was now focused on promoting “a more civil workplace… instead of saying this is illegal and that is not illegal.”

The problem is most serious, she told AFP, in industries with the greatest disparities in power and pay between men and women, where senior male staff may feel empowered to take advantage of underpaid women.

An aggravating factor, she said, was that very high earners may enjoy a degree of impunity with regard to sexual misconduct — because they are such a financial asset to their employer.

Work environments where day-to-day business can involve a degree of wining and dining — such as law, PR firms and the financial industry — appeared particularly prone to harassment, she said.

According to a study conducted by her agency between 2015 and 2016, sexual harassment in the workplace is not only persistent but also likely to be under-reported, as many victims fear retribution for coming forward to complain, she said.

That is something Congress is moving to address, with a bill under examination that would overhaul the antiquated process for filing harassment complaints to allow for greater transparency, accountability, and victim support.

Under current congressional rules, accusers are required to sign non-disclosure agreements to initiate complaints, and any financial settlement reached is secret and paid for by US taxpayers.

The bill would do away with such requirements, and force a lawmaker who settles such a claim to reimburse the government. — AFP

Newly reopened Hungarian embassy holds film festival this weekend

BEFORE CineLatino: Latin America Film Festival is held next week, fans of World Cinema will get to watch four Hungarian films on Dec. 1 and 2, as the Hungarian Embassy to the Philippines present its first Hungarian Film Festival.

With a film industry which traces its roots in the early 20th century, Hungarian cinema produced prominent film producers such as William Fox of Fox Studios and Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures, something the Hungarian Embassy to Manila (which reopened just last March) wants to introduce to the Philippine populace.

Among the films to be shown during the two-day film festival — admission is free — is Laszlo Nemes’s Son of Saul (2015), which won Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Award. Set in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, the film follows a day-and-a-half in the life of Saul Ausländer (played by Géza Röhrig), a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, a special forced labor unit made up of prisoners.

Meanwhile, Gabor Herendi’s Kincsem-Bet on Revenge (2016) is a historical drama about the world’s most successful racing horse, while Arpad Sopsits’ Strangled (2016) is a psychological thriller set in post-war Hungary where a series of atrocious murders shock a small town.

Finally — and on a lighter note — is Robert Adrian Pejo’s Paw (2015), a family film about a world-famous rescue dog and his family.

The Hungarian Film Festival will run on Dec. 1 and 2 at the Shang Cineplex, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City. — ZBC

Where has the flower power gone?

By Sujata S. Mukhi

Theater Review
Hair
Till Dec. 17
By Gerome Ragni
and James Rado
Directed by Chris Millado
Onstage Theater, Greenbelt 1,
Makati City

IT HURTS that this 50-year-old, rabble-rousing musical is still relevant. It cuts deep, especially in Act 2 where a surreal montage is full of acts of state-sponsored violence and death.

Hair, which closes Repertory Philippines’ season in its own 50th year, is the company’s most political play, staged by director Chris Millado in the most apolitical manner. In the Q&A portion on opening night, Mr. Millado revealed that they had the option to maintain the milieu of this play about peace-loving hippies in the late 1960s, or contemporize it with peace-loving hipsters.

By keeping the production in its original time capsule, it keeps the production safe from anyone’s slow release hit list. As the Buddhist saying goes, the finger pointing to the moon is not the moon. Let’s then just look at this as a staging of a musical set in the ’60s, even as its glorious opening song “Aquarius” places that moon in the seventh house, signifying the dawning of the age when humanity finally takes control of its destiny, according to astrological study. A cosmic People Power.

This was just an exuberant musical to me when I saw the Broadway revival in 2010. I watched it because I was thrilled to see American Idol alums Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young in lead roles. But experiencing it in the current Philippine political and cultural environment has made all the difference. Although now the issue of dodging draft cards is non-existent (well, for now at least), the musical tackles grabbing of ancestral lands, warmongering and profiteering, social and economic injustice, racism, gender inequality, misguided patriotism, immoral political leadership, environmental degradation. And it hurts that all of these things — ALL of them — are still the prevailing issues of the day. Still just an innocuous show set in the ’60s?

FLIPPING OFF ‘THE MAN’
Inspired by their personal and imagined encounters with protesters and draft-dodgers at the height of the Vietnam war, when the Western civil rights movement was gaining momentum, creators James Rado and Gerome Ragni collaborated with composer Galt MacDermot to develop what was touted to be the first rock musical.

Less plot- and more concept-focused, Hair follows a tribe of social dropouts in New York that gesture a collective up yours to the reigning institutions of government, business, education, and the military. Young men grew their hair long and wild, and refused to sign up for required military service. Women sloughed off their roles of subservience, and left creature comforts of home and controlling parents to love who they will, regardless of gender or race. “Make love not war” was the mantra of the heart; “Peace Now,” its urgent demand.

The first act seemed like one frenetic, overlong exposition of characters and conflicts through profane lyric, the haze of incense and bong, and lots of Kama Sutra-style limb entwining. Consider that just within the first 20 minutes of the opening, after the exultant number “Aquarius,” loincloth-clad Berger (George Schulze) ran up and down the audience aisle and sang about his desire for his 16-year-old virgin lover Donna, or My Donna, or irreverently, the Madonna?

Shortly after, the cast ecstatically, in almost religious fervor, ejaculated in song a litany of recreational pharmacopoeia. After all, drugs for millennia have been used to s(t)imulate spiritual experiences. The scene then segued into another list, this time of sexual indulgences (such lyrics you may have never heard in any other musical), then another evocation of racial epithets, particularly for black Americans.

The audience seemed stone cold, perhaps offended, befuddled, uncomfortable, and fully judgmental at what seemed to be a deliberate attempt to provoke for pure shock value.

True, there is this real-life president that pleasures himself with his oral fixation for expletives, with a deliberate attempt to provoke. You would think that would have thickened the skin of the citizenry by now. But you could feel the burden of the actors to carry the weight of a resistant audience that couldn’t, or wouldn’t connect. (As a side note, I couldn’t help but compare how generous the audience was with Kinky Boots, a musical about a shoe-loving drag queen, and how primed they were to love it right from the get-go.)

I have to admit that I had to make a conscious choice to overcome my upbringing of so-called middle-class propriety, see beyond my own impatience at what I perceived to be indulgent hedonism and carelessness. But I couldn’t shake off the knotted feeling in that ode to drugs: rather dangerous bait for trigger-happy double-barrel wielders, especially in these times.

“But this was the ’60s,” Rep President and CEO Mindy Perez-Rubio said in the Q&A. “The hippies were peace-loving, didn’t mean any harm.” And in the Philippines, only partook of less harmful drugs like marijuana and one other, I don’t remember which (though that may be a bit of revisionist nostalgia).

But it wasn’t just the ’60s. This was a time in the US when colored minorities did not yet have the same legal rights as the whites; where a male student sporting long hair could be kicked out of school; same-sex love and interracial love could warrant social exile, and in some states oral sex was illegal. Making a public stand against the Vietnam War labeled one unpatriotic, even a traitor, and could have resulted in imprisonment. To question corporate economics made one a communist, un-American. Flouting convention wasn’t fanciful, it was dangerous.

It was in this environment that the counterculture of the hippies and the flower power movement started to bloom. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll were not tools of immoral escape, but instruments that fashioned a new moral code ruled by affinity rather than enmity.

The production of Hair itself on Broadway in 1968 (its previous incarnation ran for a few weeks off-Broadway the year before, thus 2017 being its 50th year) featured onstage nudity for the first time ever in any Broadway production.

The lyrics used words previously reserved for backrooms and brothels. Racial slurs were sung under spotlights in New York City. The music was loud, rhythmic and eclectic, used jazz and rock. There was a semblance of a plot, but the songs centered more on themes. Times were indeed a’ changin’. The production, like the movement itself, sought to provoke, stimulate, to get people woke.

A part of me has assumed that a performance piece that is complete unto itself is superior than one that needs to be explained. But I realize that for pieces that are game-changers, it’s important to arm oneself with the back story to fully appreciate new directions and standards they bring to the stage.

Knowledge about Hair’s context is needed to appreciate how radical and pioneering both its form and content was, so as not to get consumed by one’s own judgments that everyone is just permissively tripping in la la land. Ragni’s and Rado’s lyrics were both esoteric and hard core, lyrical and lascivious.

The set, designed by Joey Mendoza, was playful, and made use, as backdrop, of tassels and fringe that was a trademark of ’60s casual wear. Choreography by PJ Rebullida was energetic and the orchestration, enlivening.

In the Q&A, musical director Ejay Yatco said that the score provided to Repertory Philippines by its owners were only chords, and the music was meant to be expanded and interpreted according the vision of the production. The volume mixing was inconsistent though, and there were several times that the voice of the singer would get drowned out and key lyrics were not heard.

John Batalla’s lighting was moody and, of course, psychedelic. No need for hits, Timothy Leary, if Mr. Batalla can recreate the hallucinogenic effect for you! But this writer is not sure if it was deliberate that Markki Stroem, who plays Claude, didn’t get his spot when he was interacting with the audience.

And you have a cast that gave it their all, even as they pulled the audience’s weight, particularly in the first act. Mr. Schulze’s Berger was so full-blown wild and crazy, and he sustained his energy to the end. Berger demands that Claude burn his draft card, and this plunges Claude into an identity crisis of who he is and what he believes in.

It is to the handsome Mr. Stroem’s credit, and I say this with much appreciation, that he is not afraid to look ugly. As he agonizes and writhes in the Act 2 montage of war and death, you see this man in a living hell, a painful transformation from his devil-may-care persona in Act 1.

I loved the openness (no pun there) of Caisa Borromeo in The Vibrator Play. As the activist Sheila, she is easy and fluid in this one. She sings a poignant “Easy to be Hard” as she is rejected by one of her two lovers. (That song is also an insightful statement on how do-gooders can respect and love all of humanity as a concept, but be lousy at honoring and respecting individual relationships.) Standouts are once again Maronne Cruz who plays the pregnant Jeanie, and Cara Barredo and Naths Everett as tribe members Crissy and Dionne, respectively. No matter how big or small the roles they take on, these actors bring a compelling intensity and commitment. More of them please in future productions anytime, anywhere!

It took a while for the audience to warm up, but Act 2 draws us in despite our own judgmental hang-ups. The tragic, surreal, complicated war montage was masterfully directed. It culminated in a powerful, desperate plea, the urgent call for decency and hope in “Let the Sunshine In.” The anguish etched on each actor’s face was almost too much to bear.

The mood of the song was so vastly different from the version covered by the soul group The Fifth Dimension. The year after Hair opened on Broadway, The Fifth Dimension released their medley of “Aquarius”/”Let the Sunshine In.” It was celebratory and mystical, and that version was what was popular in the Philippines then. But this one. This was pain.

And the pain lingers. I wonder, where has all the flower power gone? Those against the establishment once upon a time, are now part of it. Those that trusted that they would be taken care of like the lilies in the field, are now the ones that build gentrified condominiums and malls over those fields. It is a cynicism hard to shake. I need to remember that the Age of Aquarius has just started, and since each age lasts two thousand years, harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding will be taking their time.

PBA champion Barangay Ginebra to host thanksgiving party for fans

FOLLOWING their historic back-to-back championship win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings will be holding a thanksgiving party for their die-hard fans today at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

Admission to the thanksgiving party is for free but on a first-come, first-served basis. Gates will open at 11 a.m. However in the interest of safety, the company discourages pregnant women, elderly, persons with disability from attending. Children below 12 years old will be admitted if accompanied by parents or legal guardians.

“This is going to be our second celebration and this one is for our fans. This is our way of giving back to them. They’re the ones who bring life to our team and we’re not going to be here right now if not for them,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.

“Everyone knows that we have the best fans in the league and we want to do everything we can to make them happy. The team and I are looking forward to spending time with everyone,” said Mark Caguioa.

During a recent victory party at San Miguel Corp. headquarters in Mandaluyong City, SMC President and COO Ramon S. Ang also acknowledged the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel fans for their continued support to the team. “We would like to thank all the Ginebra fans. You are an inspiration to us. And if not for you we will not be here,” said Mr. Ang.

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