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VR headset shipments peak as prices drop

VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) headset shipments are showing no signs of slowing, as the quarterly total exceeded 1 million units for the first time in the third quarter this year, data from a market analyst firm showed.

According to Canalys’ quarterly market tracker released on Nov. 27, Sony took the lead, shipping more than 490,000 PlayStation VR (PS VR) sets in the third quarter. It was followed by Oculus, which shipped 210,000 of its Rift headsets. HTC took third place, shipping 160,000 Vive VR units. Collectively, Sony, Oculus and HTC made up 86% of the total market in Q3 2017.

VR headset shipments peak as prices drop

Oculus increased shipments of its Rift headsets by cutting the price to US$399 for a limited time, matching that of the PS VR. “VR adoption in the consumer segment is highly dependent on price, and Oculus’ strategy of lowering prices has definitely helped drive adoption,” said Canalys Research Analyst Vincent Thielke in a statement.

Canalys defines a virtual reality headset as a device with a display designed to be worn on the face that immerses the viewer in a virtual world, and it excludes simple viewers, such as Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Daydream View.

SteelAsia pushes for steel industry council

STEELASIA Manufacturing Corp. is pushing for the creation of a council for the iron and steel industry, composed of the private sector and the government, to help ensure its competitiveness.

“It is time for Philippines to have its own – a council for iron and steel [where] the government will charter the policy and support a competitive market-driven environment, industrial policies [which] must be revised to be in favor of [a more] efficient, of more technologically driven enterprises,” SteelAsia Chairman and CEO Benjamin O. Yao said during the Manufacturing Summit 2017 in Makati City on Wednesday.

Mr. Yao noted the industry development council created by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is a “good start for the government and private sector to craft a policy and set standards for growth for these core industries.”

Citing other Asian countries as an example, Mr. Yao pointed out the need to have a coordinating council for “certain core industries” — such as iron and steel — which need more attention due to technical demands and special circumstances to monitor development and standards in its operations.

At the same time, Mr. Yao said they are in currently in talks with a former partner to build “an ecosystem of steel-based industry” which requires an investment estimated at $1.5 billion, and considered as the first step in forming an integrated steel industry.

“Those who venturing into manufacturing must be encouraged to build strong partnership not only to suppliers but also to customers and the present those with the best synergies will fly. Those who fail to build linkages will perish,” he added. — A.G.A. Mogato

Stranded whale rescued in Quezon

AN 11.9-meter whale, which was spotted seemingly stranded in the waters off Patnanungan, Quezon, was rescued on Nov. 28 by a joint team of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Municipal Agriculture Office, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Region 4A office in the town. The PCG Sub-Station Patnanungan reported that upon ocular inspection, the marine mammal, which could not be immediately verified to be sperm whale, had “bruises and wounds in different parts of its body.” The whale was successfully guided towards open water.

World Senior Championship

World Seniors +50 Championship
Acqui Terme, Italy
Nov. 7-18, 2017

Final Top Standings

1. GM Julio Granda Zuniga PER 2650, 9.5/11

2-3. GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. PHI 2431, GM Eric Prie FRA 2482, 8.5/11

4-10. GM Zurab Sturua GEO 2536, GM Giorgi Bagaturov GEO 2399, IM Evgenij Kalegin RUS 2426, GM Klaus Bischoff GER 2513, IM Alexander Reprintsev UKR 2361, IM Gerard Welling NED 2316, IM Stephen Mannon SCO 2294, 7.5/11

Total of 95 Participants

World Seniors +65 Championship
Acqui Terme, Italy
Nov. 7-18, 2017

Final Top Standings

1. Evgeny Sveshnikov RUS 2480, 8.5/11

2-10. Anatoly Vaisser FRA 2503, GM Vlastimil Jansa CZE 2425, GM Vladimir Okhotnik FRA 2434, GM Lothar Vogt GER 2398, GM Yuri Balashov RUS 2437, GM Eugenio Torre PHI 2465, IM Alexander Lisenko RUS 2372, IM Jan Rooze BEL 2314, GM Evgeni Vasiukov RUS 2404, 8.0/11

Total of 166 Participants

Time Control for both tournaments: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to your time after every move starting move 1

The World Seniors Championship were held amongst the hot Sulphur springs of the Northern Italian city of Acqui Terme. Filipino GM Eugene Torre tied for second behind Evgeny Sveshnikov in the 65 and over category while GM Joey Antonio tied for 2nd in the 50 and above tournament.

The Senior Chess Championship was started in 1991 and originally had an age floor of 60 years for men and 50 years for women. In 2014 the title was split into two age categories, the 50+ and 65+ which require the participants to reach the age of 50 and 65 years by Dec. 31 of the year of the event. Winners for the men’s event since 2014 were:

2014, Anatoly Vaisser 65+, Zurab Sturua 50+

2015, Vladimir Okhotnik 65+, Predrag Nikolic 50+

2016, Anatoly Vaisser 65+, Giorgi Bagaturov 50+

This year both defending champions were present to defend their crowns, although unsuccessfully.

Julio Granda Zuniga from Peru just turned 50 this year and was the highest rated player in the tournament. He won eight and drew three games for 8.5/11, a full point ahead of the silver medalist GM Joey Antonio. He is known as a “natural” player, with limited opening knowledge (remember, I said “limited,” not “non-existent) but with a feel for the position which marks him out as a chess genius. GM Granda has been competing since childhood and as late as 2014 was the American Continental Champion.

GM Joey Antonio, the silver medalist, was also undefeated with six wins and five draws. His opponent in the following game is FM Krishan Jhunjhnuwala, the strongest of the Jhunjhnuwala brothers (Krishnan, Ramesh, Naresh and Suresh) who used to represent Hong Kong in team tournaments back in the late ’70s and 1980s.

Antonio,Rogelio, Jr. (2431) — Jhunjhnuwala,Krishan (2340) [B30]
27th World Senior Chess Championship 20 Acqui Terme (8.3), 15.11.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Qb6

Jhunjhnuwala has his own theories in the opening. More common here is 3…g6, 3…d6, or 3…e6.

4.Nc3 e6 5.0–0 Nd4 6.a4 Ne7 7.d3 Nec6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.e5 d6 10.exd6 Bxd6 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.Qg4 Kf8 14.Qg3 c5 15.a5 Qc6 16.Bf4 Bb7 17.a6! Bxa6 18.Bd6

White is threatening 19.Bxe7+ Kxe7 20.Rxa6! Qxa6 21.Qc7+ Kf8 (21…Ke8 22.Nd6+ wins the queen) 22.Ng5 White has a mating attack.

18…Bxd6 19.Qxd6+ Qxd6 20.Nxd6 Bc8 21.Ra5 Ke7 22.Ne4 Bd7 23.Rfa1 Rhb8 24.b3 Rb7 25.f4 Bc6 26.Nxc5 Rc7 27.b4 Bd5 28.g3 Kd6 29.Ra6+ Ke7 30.Kf2 h5 31.R6a5 Kf6 32.h3 g5 33.fxg5+ Kxg5 34.Re1 Rb8? <D>

POSITION AFTER 34…RB8

Falls into the trap.

35.Rxe6! Rxc5

[35…fxe6 36.Nxe6+ wins the rook on c7]

36.Re5+ Kf6 37.Rxd5 Rxc2+ 38.Kf3

Material is equal but Black’s pawns are weak and will fall.

38…Rxb4 39.Ra6+ Kg7 40.Rg5+ Kf8 41.Rxa7

Intending Rf5.

41…Rc1

So that if 42.Rf5 then Rf1+

42.Rxh5 Rf1+ 43.Kg2 Rf6 44.Ra8+ Kg7 45.Rg5+ Kh7 46.Ra2 Rb3 47.Rd2 Rd6 48.g4 f6 49.Rf5 Kg6 50.Rf3 Re6 51.Rf4 Rd6 52.h4 Ra3 53.Kg3 Rb3 54.Re4 Ra3 55.Kf4 Rb3 56.Re7 Rb1 57.h5+ Kh6 58.Rf2 Rd1 59.Rf3 Rg1 60.Rf7 Rg2 61.Rf1 Rd2 62.Kg3 Rxd3+ 63.Kh4 Rd2

And now for the coup de grace.

64.R1xf6+ Rxf6 65.g5# 1–0

I couldn’t believe GM Eugene Torre is already past 65. Whereas a lot of us are already winding down, however, he still keeps a very busy schedule playing, teaching, coaching, giving exhibitions. He is truly the Philippines’ greatest ambassador of chess.

Playing White in the following game is IM Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk of Brazil. He has had a long and distinguished career: 3-time Champion of Brazil and has represented his country 11 times in the chess Olympiad from 1972 up to 1998. Van Riemsdijk currently keeps himself busy coaching Brazilian junior players and has written a book on pawn endings.

Van Riemsdijk, Herman C. (2284) — Torre, Eugenio (2465) [C80]
27th World Senior Chess Championship 20 Acqui Terme (10.4), 17.11.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 6.Re1

This was the way White usually played against the Open Spanish in the 19th century. This is also a favorite of Van Riemsdijk, so I imagine GM Eugene was not surprised when 6.Re1 appeared on the board. Of course, nowadays it is the rule rather than the exception that White continues 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6.

6…Nc5 7.Bxc6

If White wants to test Black’s theoretical knowledge then he should try 7.Nc3 when after the most obvious move 7…Nxa4? (7…Be7 is correct) White can lash out with 8.Nxe5! and now Black has three possible moves: (1) 8…Be7, (2) 8…Nxe5 and (3) 8…Nxc3 and only the first alternative does not lose.

Let us go through the lines quickly.

8…Be7! 9.Nd5 Nc5 10.Nxc6 dxc6 11.Nxe7 Be6! Black holds

8…Nxc3? loses to 9.Nxc6+ Be7 10.Nxe7! Nxd1 11.Ng6+ Qe7 12.Nxe7 White wins a piece as Black’s knight has no escape;

8…Nxe5? 9.Rxe5+ Be7 10.Nd5! 0–0 11.Nxe7+ Kh8 12.Qh5 d5 (There is another pretty finish possible: 12…g6 13.Qh6 d6 14.Rh5! gxh5 15.Qf6#) 13.Qxh7+! 1–0 (13) Voronova,T-Phuong,V (LAT vs VIE) Istanbul Olympiad 2000.

7…dxc6 8.d4 Ne6 9.Nxe5 Be7 10.Be3 0–0 11.c4 f6 12.Nd3 Re8 13.Nc5 b6 14.Nb3 a5

White has wasted a lot of time with his knight and Black with his two bishops soon takes over the game.

15.a4 Bb4 16.Bd2 Bf8 17.Bc3 Ng5 18.N1d2 Bf5 19.Nf1 Rxe1 20.Bxe1 Qd7 21.Ne3 Bg6 22.Nc1?!

Not a good move as it blocks the communication between white’s queen and rook. Black immediately takes advantage of it.

22…Rd8 23.Bc3

White is weak on the d-file so Black can reposition his dark-squared bishop to d6 via …c5 and …d6.

23…Ne4 24.Ne2 c5 25.d5

Not 25.dxc5? Qe8 26.Qc1 Bxc5 Black has very strong pressure. His immediate threat is 27…Nxf2! 28.Kxf2 Rd1! White cannot take the rook because of mate: 29.Qxd1 Qxe3+ 30.Ke1 Qf2+ 31.Kd2 Be3#.

25…Bd6 26.Be1 Re8 27.f3 Ng5 28.Ra3 Be5 29.Qd2 Bh5

With the idea of 30…Bxf3 — White cannot recapture because of the coming knight fork on f3.

30.h4 Nxf3+ 31.gxf3 Bxf3

Black intends to follow-up with …Qh3, forcing mate.

32.Ng3 Bd4 33.Kh2 Re5 34.Nef5?

White has to continue defending passively, for example with 34.Bf2.

34…Rxf5! 35.Nxf5 Qxf5 36.Bg3 h5 37.Bxc7 Qb1 38.Rxf3 Qg1+ 39.Kh3 Qg4+

Black does one repetition to gain some time on the clock before he takes the rook.

40.Kh2 Qg1+ 41.Kh3 Qg4+ 42.Kh2 Qxf3 43.Bg3 Qf1

GM Eugene misses a faster win: 43…Bg1+ 44.Kxg1 Qxg3+ 45.Qg2 Qxh4 the three connected passed pawns on the kingside guarantee the win.

44.Qg2 Qxc4 45.d6 Qe6 46.Qa8+ Kh7 47.Qf3 Kg6 48.b3 f5 49.Qd3 Kf6 50.Qd2 g6 51.Bf4 Qe4 52.Kg3 Ke6 53.Qg2 0–1

White gives up. Black will soon force the exchange of queens after which the endgame is an easy win.

 

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

DoE’s Cusi signs order modifying retail supply rules

ENERGY Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi signed on Wednesday a circular that allows big energy users to source their power voluntarily from a licensed retail electricity supplier (RES), doing away with the mandatory provisions of the stalled retail competition and open access (RCOA) rules.

“I have signed the department circular on RCOA,” Mr. Cusi told reporters on the sidelines of a Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) hearing on updates on the regulation that remains under Supreme Court temporary restraining order (TRO).

“Effectively signed and hopefully it can be published tomorrow,” he added.

As soon as the circular is published, the Department of Energy (DoE) will submit the new circular to the Supreme Court, Mr. Cusi said.

“From there we will calibrate how we will move forward, so that I will not be held in contempt,” he said.

The new circular will reverse contentious provisions of a previous DoE circular as well as resolutions from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that required contestable customers — or those whose electricity consumption for the past 12 months has reached the thresholds set by the regulator — to move away from being part of the captive market of a distribution utility.

The switch to a licensed retail electricity supplier is meant to allow greater participation from new players, thus spurring competition and lowering power costs. RCOA is called for under Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA), the law that restructured the power sector, as well as its implementing rules and regulation.

The new circular will also allow the ERC to continue issuing licenses to retail electricity suppliers, which was among the provisions placed on TRO as sought by a number of education institutions and a business group. The TRO was issued by the high court in February.

During the JCPC hearing, DoE Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said the circular would move RCOA further as the threshold will be lowered further to 500 kilowatts (kW).

At present, consumers using an average of one megawatt for the past year are still allowed to switch to an RES from a distribution utility. Those in the 750-900 kW threshold failed to do so because of the TRO.

Aside from the lower threshold, the new circular will expedite the timeline for electricity end-users within a contiguous area whose aggregate average demand is not less than 500 kW for the past year to voluntarily enter into a retail supply contract with “aggregators.” — Victor V. Saulon

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle to marry in Windsor in May

LONDON — The wedding of Britain’s Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle will take place next May in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, a venue with royal associations going back centuries.

The fifth-in-line to the British throne, 33, and the American actress, 36 — previously best known for her starring role in the TV legal drama Suits — announced their engagement on Monday, sparking a trans-Atlantic media frenzy.

The couple have chosen to marry in Windsor, west of London, because it is “a special place for them,” Harry’s spokesman told reporters.

Queen Elizabeth, the prince’s 91-year-old grandmother, will attend the ceremony.

“The wedding will be a moment of fun and joy and reflect the characters of the bride and groom,” he said.

The couple’s first official engagement together will take place on Friday in the central English city of Nottingham, where they will raise awareness of charities working to prevent HIV/AIDS and youth crime.

“Prince Harry has spent a significant amount of private and public time in (Nottingham) and His Royal Highness is looking forward to introducing Ms. Markle to a community that has become very special to him,” Kensington Palace, Harry’s official residence, said in a statement.

Ms. Markle, who attended a Catholic school as a child but identifies as a Protestant, will be baptized and confirmed into the Church of England before the wedding, Harry’s spokesman said.

She intends to become a British citizen, though she will retain her US citizenship while she goes through the process.

“Miss Markle will be compliant with all immigration requirements at all times,” the spokesman said.

The Gothic St. George’s Chapel is located in the grounds of Windsor Castle, which has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years.

Within the chapel are the tombs of ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, and Charles I.

In more recent memory, it was the venue of the wedding of Harry’s uncle Prince Edward to Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, and of a service of prayer and dedication to mark the wedding of Harry’s father, Prince Charles, to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.

The year 2018 looks likely to be a busy one for the British royal family, with Harry’s older brother Prince William and his wife Catherine, known as Kate, expecting their third child in April.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kate said she and William were “absolutely thrilled” about Harry’s engagement.

“It’s such exciting news. It’s a really happy time for any couple and we wish them all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment,” she said.

Harry’s stepmother Camilla, now known as the Duchess of Cornwall, was equally enthusiastic.

“America’s loss is our gain,” she said of Ms. Markle. — Reuters

Millennial property buyers prioritize value

MILLENNIALS are more value-conscious and prioritize convenience when choosing properties to buy, said Avida Land Corp. President Christopher Maglanoc.

“The millennials look for two basic factors. First, they are value-conscious,” Mr. Maglanoc said in a discussion during The Outlook, an event by online real estate marketplace Lamudi.

Since they are first-time buyers and don’t have a lot of purchasing power, Mr. Maglanoc said millennials want value for money when buying properties.

Millennial buyers also consider convenience when deciding on which property to buy, particularly those which are near their workplace.

“They are also looking for convenience, convenience in terms of where they look for developments,” Mr. Maglanoc said, noting this is especially true for the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector workers, who prefer mixed-use developments. “This is very significant with the BPOs. After they’re done with their shift, they go to their home, walk, and rest.” 

With millennials comprising the largest part of the Philippine population, they are the real estate sector’s largest market.

“We’re talking of millennials — around 35 years old. In terms of size and potential, this is the largest market right now in the real estate segments,” Mr. Maglanoc said.

Avida Land is also focusing on its digital sales efforts, given the shift from traditional sales channels to online channels.

“We have bits of investments on the seller side, we didn’t have this five years back. We have channels specialized in digital sales. Their main mandate is to work on the digital channel, for chat facility, inquiries, etc. It’s a very distinct channel versus the traditional brokers,” Mr. Maglanoc told reporters.

“We really expect it to grow, the thinking before is traditional aided by digital, but more and more, it’s digital and traditional working alongside one another,” he added. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

Farmgate palay prices rise in 3rd week of Nov.

FARMGATE prices of palay, or unmilled rice, rose in the third week of November on a year-on-year and week-on-week basis, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The agency’s report, “Updates on Palay Price and Corn Prices” released on Nov. 28 showed the average farmgate price of palay rose 7.13% and 0.48% from a year earlier and from a week earlier, respectively.

Meanwhile, the PSA noted that “continuous upward price adjustments are observed at both wholesale and retail trades of well-milled rice.”

At the wholesale level, prices rose 0.15% to P39.21 per kilogram, compared with the second week of November, and rose 2.96% from a year earlier.

The average retail price of well-milled rice during the week was P42.19 per kg, down 0.02% from a week earlier and up 1.89% from a year earlier.

As for regular-milled rice, the PSA said the average wholesale price rose 0.18% from a week earlier to P35.71 per kg and was up 3.85% from a year earlier.

The average retail price of regular-milled rice was at P38.02 per kg, up 0.04% from a week earlier and up 2.34% from a year earlier.

For yellow corn, the PSA said the average farmgate price was  P12.04 per kg, down 0.17% from a week earlier and up 11.30% year on year.

The average farmgate price of white corn grain rose 0.99% from a week earlier to P16.34 per kg and was up 49.86% year on year. — Janina C. Lim

VECO assures no disruption in services as labor union threatens to go on strike

MEMBERS OF the Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) Employees Union have threatened to go on strike if no compromise is reached on salary increase. Meanwhile, VECO, in a statement, assured customers and stakeholders that the ongoing labor issue between the management and its employees’ union will not affect operations and services. Rolando Jimenez, union president, told The Freeman on Tuesday, Nov. 28, that negotiations on their collective bargaining agreement started in March this year and it was initially agreed that economic provisions like free hospitalization, one sack of rice monthly, and insurance coverage, among others, be given to the union members. However, negotiations on the salary increase are still ongoing. Mr. Jimenez said VECO declined their request for a 9% increase, or P9,100 staggered for five years. A 4% increase is now on offer, he added, but the union is haggling for 5.5%. He warned that if the deadlock is extended, the union, which has 157 members composed mainly of linemen and other rank-and- file employees, has no other recourse but to go on a strike. VECO Chief Operating Officer Anton Mari G. Perdices, on the other hand, said the management offered a reasonable salary and benefit package that is above what other companies normally give employees. Mr. Perdices said no matter the outcome of the mediation, the company’s services would be unaffected. VECO, owned by Aboitiz Power Corp. and Vivant Corp., is the second-largest utility in the country covering major cities and four towns in Cebu. — The Freeman

Central bank releases new design for P5 coins featuring Bonifacio

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has unveiled the new design for P5 coins to be released next month in time for Bonifacio Day, to be followed by the rollout of new generation coins by January 2018.

The central bank yesterday revealed the new design for the five-peso coin in time for the 154th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio — who is dubbed as the Father of the Philippine Revolution — ahead of the Nov. 30 holiday.

The new coin design will carry the hero’s face on one side and a stylized rendition of the Tayabak plant and the BSP logo on the reverse, replacing former President and General Emilio Aguinaldo.

Another major change is that the P5 coins will be “nickel plated” instead of gold, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said, which will mean a harder surface and long-lasting brilliance.

The new P5 coins will be released for general circulation starting December 2017, the BSP said in a statement, which will be accepted as legal tender.

New designs for other coin denominations will be released and circulated by January 2018, and will carry “enhanced” features to guard against counterfeiting and more durable versus wear and rusting.

The current coin designs have been in use since 1995.

Mr. Guinigundo has said that the new set of designs will exclude the 10-centavo coin, in line with plans to rationalize the volume of coins produced in terms of its usage. To be retained are the one-centavo, five-centavo, 25-centavo, P1, P5, and P10 denominations.

The central bank prints bills and mints coins at its Security Plant Complex along East Avenue in Quezon City. The new coin series is expected to reduce minting expenses for the BSP, as it allows them to avoid “unexpected volatile swings in metal prices” which could raise production costs.

This follows the New Generation Currency bills released by the BSP starting 2010, which replaced the 1985 design series for paper money.

The BSP has the sole authority to issue money for general use. As practiced, central banks regularly change the design of bills and coins to elevate security standards against counterfeiting.

Under the New Central Bank Act, the BSP can replace money which have been in use for over five years.

The central bank also released commemorative P10 coins carrying General Antonio Luna last week, with the limited supply circulated in time for his 150th birth anniversary. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Federalism revisited

By Benjamin R. Punongbayan

THE advantages of federalism that accrue to federal countries around the world today cannot be denied. To convert unitary Philippines into several states and then federate them, however, will not bring the same results. On the contrary, doing so will set back our political and economic development for decades.

Federalism and our current state of political development do not fit together.

For federalism to work, federal states should be able to govern themselves competently from the start. The reality is that the government of the entire Philippines is still far from reaching the desired level of competence as shown by our successful peers.

The United States and Germany are good examples of a federal system.

The United States came into being by the federation of the original 13 colonies. These colonies had been governing themselves separately from each other for about a century under the reign of the British King. They had their own respective constitutions and government structures. They decided to bind themselves together for a common cause — to cut their ties with Britain. When they did so, each of them retained their right to govern themselves. In fact, it took several years after proclaiming independence before they accepted and adopted the present US Federal Constitution. All that the 13 former colonies did was to create a higher level of government — the federal government — that served to unite them and protect them from external threats.

Germany today is composed of many previously self-governing states that had their respective reigning royalty. These states were separately governing themselves for centuries, and had organized themselves under a loose German confederation before and after Napoleon. In 1871, these states formed a much closer federal union under the leadership of Prussia to project German power.

In both the cases of the United States and Germany, each of the states composing the federal union had long years of experience in governing themselves autonomously before federating. Other federal countries in the world today have also developed in a similar way, because each component part was previously autonomous and wanted to retain its autonomy under the federal union.

Clearly, the federal political system does not apply to unitary Philippines, as the country started and developed differently.

The various Philippine regions do not have any experience at all in governing themselves autonomously. It is naive to assume that, by simply dividing the country under its present state of political and economic development into federal units, the parts and the whole will achieve accelerated development. The two systems, federal and unitary, simply follow separate paths of political development. Converting from one structure to the other is inconceivable. In fact, there is still no unitary country in the world that has converted into federalism. One may try, but it does not make sense.

There are two important reasons converting unitary Philippines into a federal country is insensible. One is the current poor state of the country’s political development. The Philippines is beset by widespread corruption, not only at the national level, but more so at the local level. The governing class is oligarchic; the country continues to be governed by 100 or so families.

There is widespread inefficiency, as evidenced by long-unsolved traffic problems; long delayed infrastructure project execution; poor-performing bureaucracies, including the police; poor public education system; long-delayed justice system; prevailing selfishness of members of Congress; and many more. All these are strong impediments to sustainable economic growth.

If the present national government cannot deal effectively with these poor conditions, how is it possible for the governments of the designated inexperienced federal states to deal with them in a better way?

Would splitting the country into federal states turn government personnel into becoming more skillful and efficient? Would government systems and processes at federal and state levels become more efficient and effective? Would corruption be substantially reduced? Would oligarchy disappear? Would legislators be less selfish? These developments are highly unlikely.

On the contrary, the likelihood is that the overall government function will become worse — the development of the government organizational structures and systems, especially at the state level, will necessarily take a long time and suffer downturns before they become better; qualified personnel will be hard to find and attract at the state level; there will be expanded opportunities for corruption; and above all, each designated state lacks the experience to govern itself autonomously. Do we want proof? Let us examine the performance of those national services that were devolved to the local governments under the present local government code. The results will be indicative of how effective the government of the designated states will be.

The other important reason is the widely uneven economic development of the various Philippine regions. NCR, Region III, and Region IVA generate about 63% of the country’s GDP, while having only 39% of the population.

The fundamental premise of the proposed federalism is for each designated state to drive its own development with the expectation that the poorer regions will achieve accelerated economic growth and be at par with other regions. How can that be achieved under the current widely uneven economic development of the various regions?

Without substantial money transfers, the economic gap between the rich states and poor states will become much wider and, thus, will drive a massive population shift. On the other hand, if substantial money transfers are made, then the fundamental underlying principle of federalism will become irrelevant. Moreover, such money transfers will only make it clear to the rich states the magnitude of the amount of wealth they are forgoing and may try to hold them back and, thus, create serious disputes.

A good case in point about the likelihood of substantial money transfers is a provision in the existing Bangsamoro law proposal. This bill provides for an annual block grant from the central government to Bangsamoro equivalent to 4% of the net internal revenue collections of the BIR less LGU allotments (about P40 to 50 billion of grant based on available 2017 budget information) in addition to expanded local taxes and 25% share of national taxes collected locally. Under federalism, we may have to give similar block grants to several poor states. If so, where will the money come from? What then have we accomplished?

Clearly, maintaining and continuing the present unitary government will provide a much better chance of overcoming the persisting problems that seriously hinder our political and economic development, as opposed to conducting a federalism experiment.

As an alternative to the proposed federalism, maybe we should allow independence to those regions which would like to acquire it, à la Czechoslovakia. These regions will be strictly on their own. However, we should anticipate that there will be winners and losers among the former parts of the Philippines, and such resulting condition may create a geopolitical risk within the former Philippine geography. Nevertheless, I can support that proposal as opposed to federalism, where everyone become losers.

 

Benjamin R. Punongbayan is practically a retired accountant. He is the founder of Punongbayan & Araullo.

ben.buklod@yahoo.com

Hackers could get nastier in 2018

WASHINGTON — After a year marked by devastating cyberattacks and breaches, online attackers are expected to become even more destructive in 2018, security researchers said Wednesday, Nov. 29.

A report by the security firm McAfee said the ransomware outbreaks of 2017 offer just a taste of what’s to come as hackers develop new strategies and “business models.”

McAfee researchers said that as ransomware profitability fades in the face of new defenses, hackers will turn to new kinds of attacks that could involve damage or disruption of computers and networks.

Attackers will also look to target wealthy individuals and aim at connected devices which offer less security than computers and smartphones.

“The evolution of ransomware in 2017 should remind us of how aggressively a threat can reinvent itself as attackers dramatically innovate and adjust to the successful efforts of defenders,” said Steve Grobman, McAfee’s chief technology officer.

McAfee’s 2018 Threats Predictions Report also said privacy is likely to be eroded further as consumer data — including data involving children — is gathered and marketed by device makers.

“Connected home device manufacturers and service providers will seek to overcome thin profit margins by gathering more of our personal data — with or without our agreement — turning the home into a corporate store front,” the McAfee report said. — AFP

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