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Good news from the manufacturing sector

Political noise may weigh heavy on business confidence but for so long as the manufacturing sector grows at a good pace, we can all be assured that the country is still headed towards the right direction.

In its third quarter economic report, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) announced that the manufacturing sector expanded by an impressive 9.4%, the highest growth rate in the region. Our manufacturing sector outpaced that of China and Malaysia, which grew by 6.8% and 5.8%, respectively.

The expansion of the manufacturing sector was driven by increased outputs of electronics, food and beverages, petroleum, chemicals and automobiles. Interestingly, the full effect of government’s infrastructure program has not yet been factored into the equation. Hence, we can expect even more robust growth in the quarters to come.

A strong manufacturing sector is the foundation of a strong economy. This is because manufacturing industries generate jobs by the millions while offering security of tenure, competitive salaries and opportunities for career advancement. It promotes stronger inter-industry linkages where all those connected to the supply chain benefit. Above all, it pushes innovation and technological development within an economy, allowing it to grow in sophistication.

No doubt, a resurgence in the manufacturing sector is upon us.

It started in 2011 when the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched a program called the Comprehensive National Industrial Strategy. At the heart of it are what they call “industry road maps.” These road maps provide the framework and chronological steps in which to elevate certain industries from its infant stage to a level of global competitiveness.

To date, more than 60 industrial road maps are in various stages of implementation. Those in advanced stages include the electronics, garment, textile, auto parts, chemical and food production industries. This is why they are competitive enough to compete in the export market.

The manufacturing sector has grown in good pace since the industry road maps were put into effect.

Between 2011 to 2014, the sector posted an average growth rate of 6%, accelerating to 7% in 2015 and rallying by 8.3% in 2016. Under the management of current DTI Secretary Mon Lopez, the sector is expected to realize double digit growth if not this year, then by 2018.

With growth at this pace, we can all look forward to becoming a full fledged industrial economy by the year 2025. This is significant because being an industrial economy will allow us to finally graduate from being a lower middle income society (which we are today) to an upper income one where per capita income exceeds $10,000.

INDUSTRIALIZATION IS FUNDAMENTAL TO INCREASE INCOMES
Policy makers in the ’80s and ’90s made a deliberate attempt to bypass the process of industrialization and make the country leapfrog from an agricultural economy to one based on services. They succeeded.

Today, the service sector makes up 59% of the economy and yes, we have graduated from being a low income society to a lower-middle income one.

We have done so by being the world’s preeminent provider of “low cost” employees such as call center operators, maritime staff, waiters, bellhops and retail front-liners. But unfortunately, this is as far as this policy will take us.

In a paper published by Changyong Rhee, Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank, he asserted that it is relatively easy for any economy to graduate from low income status to lower-middle income status where each household earns between $3,500 to $5,000 a year. But to take the economy to the level of South Korea or Taiwan, where per capita income is north of $10,000, is a different story. It necessitates technical competence in such fields as advanced sciences and engineering. All these require the presence of a strong manufacturing base.

“Advanced and sophisticated manufacturing is key to provide advance complimentary services,” says Rhee. So for as long as the manufacturing sector in the Philippines remains underdeveloped, the country will continue to languish in middle income purgatory.

This is painfully evident in our agricultural sector.

The Philippine’s failure to industrialize caused agricultural outputs to stagnate at 1970s levels. Our inability to manufacture even the most basic plowing, tilling, and cultivating machines have left farmers with no choice but to rely on animal driven methods which are highly inefficient. Farmers who can afford imported machines pass-on the cost to the consumer. This, in turn, has made most local agricultural products more expensive than those from Thailand.

It is also evident in the BPO sector.

With due respect to our call agents, call center services are considered to be the lowest wrung of the business outsourcing industry given its basic technical requirements. This is why call center agents earn just $20 a day, on average. In contrast, countries like India whose manufacturing sector have given its people competence in such fields as digital engineering, industrial design and applied chemistry, are able to command as much as $150 a day for their services.

This proves that a strong manufacturing sector is a basic requirement to achieve high incomes.

STRUCTURAL REFORMS
The good news is that we are on the right track. Our growth rates affirm it. Moving forward, a few structural reforms are necessary to sustain the growth trajectory we are on.

When the DTI drafted its industry road maps, it had a vision to make the Philippines a fully integrated manufacturing economy with forward and backward linkages by the year 2025. The goal was to make the Philippines either a manufacturing hub and/or part of international supply networks of such companies as Hewlett Packard, Toyota, and Nestle. In addition, the DTI aspired to increase the value-added ratio of our manufactures from 23% today to 30%, by 2025.

So what remains to be done to realize these goals?

The first is to rid the manufacturing sector of its impediments to growth. They are: High power cost, smuggling, insufficient/inefficient infrastructure, and a lack of foreign direct investments (FDIs), particularly those that infuse new technologies.

There is light at the end of the tunnel in as far as FDIs are concerned.

In a recent pronouncement, President Duterte declared his full support towards relaxing the industry black list and equity ownership limitations for foreign investors. This single move could unleash an avalanche of FDIs that can change the manufacturing sector tremendously.

Since this will require an amendment of the constitution, we hope the members of the legislature will cooperate.

Other structural reforms that must be addressed consist of elevating the skills of our work force, filling the remaining gaps in the supply chains of key industries, increase spending in research and development and having our manufacturers migrate to clean technologies.

In a private chat I had with DTI Sec. Lopez a few months ago, the secretary reiterated his commitment to hasten the development of the manufacturing sector. The DTI has our full support. Done right, we can find ourselves as a upper middle income economy with advanced manufacturing industries in just eight years.

 

Andrew J. Masigan is an economist.

Charitable holiday traveling

BOOKING a holiday and traveling to your destination this December can be both enjoyable and charitable thanks to the “See the World” campaign.

This fund-raising initiative by AirAsia in partnership with World Vision — an advocacy organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children, families, and communities in the Philippines — aims to raise at least P1 million for World Vision’s child sponsorship program.

“We want to use our platform (as an airline) for the first time in the Philippines to do something good, and to embark on a new partnership with people who are like-minded,” AirAsia regional chief operating officer Pete Chareonwongsak said of the campaign at its launch on Nov. 18 at the H20 hotel in Manila.

Five pesos will automatically be donated to World Vision’s child sponsorship program for every AirAsia seat booked in the Philippines from Dec. 1 to 31, regardless of travel dates.

World Vision Philippines National Director Rommel Fuerte said that the initiative is in line with the organization’s 60th anniversary.

Mr. Fuerte noted that the sponsorship program entails giving the child access to education with the addition of child protection, community health programs, safe food and water, disaster risk programs, and livelihood opportunities for their families.

“In World Vision, we believe that education is an equalizer… We invest a lot of our resources in making sure that the children are in school, fulfilling their dreams,” Mr. Fuerte said. He added that beyond education, the organization provides values formation in order for children to understand the value of helping and giving back.

For information, visit www.airasia.com and www.worldvision.org.ph. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

America First or America Alone? The withdrawal agenda

WASHINGTON — Since President Donald J. Trump took office in January, the US has abandoned or threatened to quit several international accords under his “America First” policy.

Mr. Trump’s advisors insist the slogan does not imply any new isolationist stance, but a pattern of disengagement from multilateral commitments has emerged.

On Saturday, the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing the US from a United Nations pact to improve the handling of migrant and refugee situations, deeming it “inconsistent” with its policies.

Richard Haass, former head of State Department policy under George W. Bush, has dubbed the Trump administration’s pattern the “withdrawal doctrine.”

Here are some of the accords that Mr. Trump has abandoned or threatened:

WITHDRAWAL
— The US mission to the United Nations announced Saturday that the United States was ending its participation in the Global Compact on Migration.

In September 2016, the 193 members of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a non-binding political declaration, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, pledging to uphold the rights of refugees, help them resettle and ensure they have access to education and jobs.

The Global Compact, based on the declaration, is due to be presented at the UN General Assembly next year.

But the US mission said the declaration “contains numerous provisions that are inconsistent with US immigration and refugee policies and the Trump Administration’s immigration principles.”

— Washington said in October it was pulling out of the UN’s Paris-based culture and education body, UNESCO, accusing it of “anti-Israel bias.”

The withdrawal is to take effect at the end of next year, when the US will establish an “observer mission” to replace its UNESCO representation.

— Mr. Trump announced in June that the US will withdraw from the 196-nation Paris agreement on climate change and seek to negotiate a new global deal.

Declaring he was “elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Mr. Trump complained that the accord gives other countries an unfair advantage over US industry and destroys American jobs.

The US pullout will not take effect before November 2020.

— Within days of taking office, Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was billed as the world’s biggest trade pact when signed in February 2016 with 11 other Asia-Pacific nations but not China.

The US pullout killed the deal before it could even be implemented. Mr. Trump pledged to negotiate bilateral pacts that would be more favorable to his country.

RENEGOTIATION
— In October, Mr. Trump withdrew his support for the nuclear agreement signed in July 2015 by Iran and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany.

The pact’s fate is now in the hands of Congress, which may decide to break it by imposing new US sanctions on Iran, and Mr. Trump has warned that he may unilaterally quit it at any time.

— Mr. Trump has ordered a renegotiation of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, which he has called the worst trade deal ever signed.

Talks began in August but Mr. Trump has threatened to pull out of the pact and negotiate bilateral deals if his country did not get a fairer shake by the end of this year.

— The US president wants reform of the United Nations “bureaucracy,” accusing the world body of bad management. Washington is the largest financial contributor to the world body.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has stressed that Washington would continue evaluating its role in UN agencies.

CRITICISM
— On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “obsolete” before qualifying his remarks and demanding that members of the alliance increase their defense budgets.

Once in office, Mr. Trump caused jitters among US partners by waiting almost six months before clearly stating his support for Article Five of the alliance’s treaty, which states that an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

— The US president regularly denounces “protectionist” measures by the European Union and the US trade deficit with Germany. Washington targeted Germany and six other nations in March with punitive anti-dumping duties on steel plates.

— Talks, began in 2013, for the proposed US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) have been suspended, but US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has made it clear that the US side is only interested in a deal that would reduce US trade deficits.

— The World Trade Organization (WTO) is also in the Trump administration’s sights. At a July meeting of the G20 group of major economies, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did not exclude renegotiating multilateral accords.

Mr. Trump has said a border adjustment tax, which has been advanced by some Republicans to favor exports, could be a job creator. But it could also be at odds with existing rules under the WTO. — AFP

Exciting NCRAA 25th season

There was a time when the National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA) was considered as among the big three collegiate tournaments in the country.

La Salle was among the school participants as well as St. Francis of Assisi, Lyceum of the Philippines and Emilio Aguinaldo College.

Lyceum and Emilio Aguinaldo College had gone a long way as both schools are now members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the country’s oldest collegiate league. In fact, the Pirates even made it to the championship round of the season just passed before losing to the more experienced San Beda Red Lions.

St. Francis has produced some of the local big men who played in the PBA the past few years.

We’ve seen how the De Ocampo brothers — Ranidel and Yancy — won championships in the PBA.

Ranidel is still considered as the best stretch four forward while Yancy remains valuable with his towering 6-foot-9 that made him an able back up for June Mar Fajardo at San Miguel Beer.

Lyceum has produced Gary David, who before Terrence Romeo, was the acknowledged scoring champion in the PBA.

Emilio Aguinaldo College? Well, there’s Ronjay Buenafe, a member of the 2012 Rain or Shine champion squad who is on his way to making his return to the PBA via the NLEX Road Warriors and be reunited with his old coach, Yeng Guiao.

But what makes NCRAA, which opens on Dec. 5, more exciting today is that 16 teams will compete and for the first time in the history of the league, the league has drawn participation from the provinces nearby, which also means that participants will also need to travel and play in a home and away game.

The 16 teams will be divided into two groups – Asian Institute of Maritime Studies and University of Luzon will be in Group A together with De Ocampo Memorial College, Olivarez College, Philippine School of Business Administration-Quezon City, Saint Francis of Assisi College, Technological Institute of the Philippines and New Era University while AMA and PMMS are in Group B along with De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, Emilio Aguinaldo College-Cavite, National College of Business and Arts, PATTS College of Aeronautics, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa and University of Makati.

This season’s NCRAA has also strengthened its front office following the inclusion of long-time basketball executive Buddy Encarnado while tournament commissioner is Bai Cristobal, a former member of the fabled Crispa Redmanizers.

As the silver season unfolds, the NCRAA is trying to get its billing as the third best collegiate league in the country and with the exciting concept, it won’t be surprising the league will be able to achieve it.

There’s more than meets the eye in the celebration of the league’s 25th season.

 

Rey Joble has been covering the PBA games for more than a decade. He is a member of the PBA Press Corps and Philippine Sportswriters Association.

reyjoble09@gmail.com

PHL, Hong Kong exploring way forward after FTA

THE PHILIPPINES and Hong Kong are studying investment collaboration opportunities, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, after his official visit to Hong Kong on Friday.

“We talked about opportunities to further strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, labor, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, especially with the signing of the ASEAN-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement (FTA),” Mr. Cayetano said in a statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) after his meeting with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

“We are optimistic about the future of Philippine-Hong Kong relations and we look forward to taking giant steps in various areas of cooperation,” Mr. Cayetano said.

Mr. Cayetano said that he offered to assist investors from Hong Kong to explore opportunities in the Philippines and encouraged the opening of an Economic and Trade Office in Manila, noting that tourism was a potential area for growth that Hong Kong investors should take a serious look at.

Mr. Cayetano, on behalf of the Philippines, expressed gratitude to Ms. Lam for the hospitality that Hong Kong extends to the close to 219,000 Filipinos working in the special administrative region.

For her part, Ms. Lam said that she “wants Filipino workers to work and live in Hong Kong happily,” citing the contribution of Filipinos to Hong Kong’s economic growth and development.

Incoming Consul General Antonio Morales, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for International Economic Relations Manuel Teehankee, Presidential Adviser on Investments Atty. Antonio Cablitas, and other DFA officials accompanied Mr. Cayetano during the visit. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Internet must have security, humanity, Apple CEO tells China

BEIJING — Apple, Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook has called for future internet and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to be infused with privacy, security and humanity.

Mr. Cook made the comments on Sunday at the opening ceremony for China’s World Internet Conference — an event designed to globally promote the country’s vision of a more censored and controlled internet. It’s the second Chinese appearance in two months for the executive, who met with President Xi Jinping in October.

“The theme of this conference — developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits — is a vision we at Apple share,” Mr. Cook said. “We are proud to have worked alongside many of our partners in China to help build a community that will join a common future in cyberspace.”

Mr. Cook’s comments come at a pivotal point for the company’s future in China, which is now its biggest market outside of North America. It relies on the sale of hardware and services in the world’s most populated country to propel revenue and profit growth. But the efforts required to stay in China’s good graces are causing tensions with civil libertarians and politicians at home.

He said Apple’s operations in the country began three decades ago with a handful of employees. Today, it helps support more than five million jobs in China, including 1.8 million local mobile app developers, he added.

Apple has come under fire for cooperating with Chinese authorities in removing apps that give users there uncensored communications. In November, Apple complied with government orders to pull Microsoft Corp.’s Skype phone and video service from the Chinese version of its popular app store. Mr. Cook used an earnings call with investors to justify such moves, saying it obeyed the laws of the markets where it operates.

“Much has been said of the potential downsides of AI, but I don’t worry about machines thinking like humans. I worry about people thinking like machines,” he said. “We all have to work to infuse technology with humanity, with our values.”

Technology of the future should have openness, creativity and safeguards to protect users while providing privacy and decency, he added.

It’s a goal that, according to Mr. Cook’s Chinese hosts, can only be accomplished through more laws and regulations that control what can be shared online. Politburo member Wang Huning called for a global emergency response team that would respond in times of crisis using new and undetermined measures.

NEW ORDER
“What we propose is we should promote a controllable security and build a new order,” Mr. Wang said through a translator. “Cybersecurity is a serious challenge. Cyber crimes and cyber terrorism has grown more rampant. The world’s destiny has become more intertwined in cyberspace.”

Unlike Apple’s Cook, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai did not deliver a keynote speech and was instead on a panel to discuss the digital economy. Confusion among some of the conference staff on the ground meant many didn’t know when the session would begin — much of the vast hall remained empty partway through the session.

Wuzhen holds special significance for the search giant, whose AI program defeated the world’s top-ranked player of the ancient board-game Go at the same venue earlier this year — a point Mr. Pichai alluded to as he promoted the company’s kit of AI software tools called TensorFlow.

“There are many small and medium businesses in China who take advantage of Google to get their products to many other countries outside of China,” he said. “Technology is giving opportunities at a global scale, driving interconnectedness and cooperation and I think it’s a big trend and I think it’s almost irreversible at this point.”

Other leading technology executives who took part include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma, Cisco Systems, Inc.’s Chuck Robbins, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Pony Ma and Baidu, Inc. co-founder Robin Li. — Bloomberg

The board and the SC en banc

Isn’t it just like a corporate Board of Directors, this en banc of the 15 Supreme Court Justices that must have a collegial decision arrived at by a majority vote on major issues? It can challenge simple logic why, if even in the Machiavellian business corporation that would protect only a particular and limited group of stakeholders, internal procedures and protocols would be respected and complied with, while in the administration of the Supreme Court of the country, such working procedures in consensus-decision making would seem to be less rigid?

In a private corporation, “Directors or trustees can only bind the corporation by action taken at a board meeting (in quorum) so that… any action may be adopted only after full discussion; … (because) as agents of the corporation managing its affairs, directors or trustees… cannot act individually or separately… (and) have no power other than as a Board (Hector de Leon and Hector de Leon, Jr., The Law on Partnerships and Private Corporations, 2013, p. 312).”

But it can happen that some director or trustee, say the Chairman, would, by some personal motivation or willful deceit, or sometimes by sheer autocratic management style, act individually and separately from the collegial board, without the knowledge and consent of the other directors and trustees.

However, for every major collegial decision, the Board Secretary (unless in collusion) would draft the Board Resolution confirmed by the Board attesting to the quorum at an announced board meeting, and the majority (carried) decision on the issue or action of the corporation. Resolutions and minutes must reflect the discussions, motions, objections, voting, and resolutions for corporate records that must be available to stockholders, regulators and other publics.

The concept of collegial decision making in the Supreme Court en banc bases on the “primus inter pares” role of the Chief Justice as “first among equals,” meaning although the Chief Justice is the titular leader, she/he has only one vote like the 14 Associate Justices have one vote each when deciding full-bench (all present) on major issues or actions. Like the private corporation board of directors/trustees, no individual, not even the Chief Justice can decide or act alone and without the consent of the Supreme Court en banc, where there would have been discussions, motions, objections, voting and the final resolutions.

Comes now a complaint on Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, filed by lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon for her impeachment, listing supposed instances of delays and falsification of resolutions and temporary restraining orders (and misdeclarations on her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth [SALN]). Gadon also lists Sereno’s alleged manipulation of the Judicial and Bar Council shortlist for vacancies in the Sandiganbayan and Supreme Court (Rappler, Nov. 28, 2017).

In September, the House Committee on Justice voting 30-4 found lawyer Gadon’s impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice sufficient in form and substance (GMA News, Sept. 13, 2017). Last week, the Committee commenced hearings to determine whether the impeachment rap against Sereno has sufficient ground to be brought up to the Senate for the formal and final impeachment proceedings (The Philippine Star op. cit.).

On Wednesday, Associate Justice Teresita De Castro, after having been authorized by the Supreme Court en banc, appeared with Court Administrator Midas Marquez before the House panel to shed light on the allegations of Gadon against Sereno such as the supposed falsified temporary restraining order and administrative orders said not to have the backing of the court en banc (Ibid.).

Justice De Castro said that Chief Justice Sereno acted beyond her authority when she issued a “blanket” temporary restraining order on party-list proclamations during the 2013 polls, when the recommendation of de Castro’s panel was only for the Senior Citizen’s Party-list (Philstar.com, Nov. 29, 2017).

De Castro protested against Sereno’s alleged misrepresentation of the en banc’s Nov. 27, 2012 deliberations on the creation of the Regional Court Administrator’s Office (RCAO) Region 7, and Sereno’s alleged fabrication of a resolution that created a new office (under the Judiciary Decentralization Office [JDO]) when the en banc merely decided to study the issue further (Interaksyon, Nov. 29, 2017). De Castro told the House Committee that “no one” among her peers tried to correct her on her written protest (The Philippine Star, Nov. 30, 2017).

Sereno’s making questionable decisions without consulting fellow magistrates might be deemed serious grounds for impeachment by the House, now that first-hand confirmation (and not just Gadon’s hearsay) has been testified by de Castro. But Sereno had already publicly replied in September that it was false to say she acted unilaterally in reviving RCAO 7 because the order had already been approved through Supreme Court resolutions, and that the full court had not issued a resolution scrapping the resolutions that created the office (inquirer.net, Sept. 26, 2017).

Sereno also denied tampering with De Castro’s draft temporary restraining order (TRO) in the leadership dispute of the Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines to benefit other party-list groups affected by a Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution. She reasoned that upon her evaluation, a Comelec resolution could not be restrained in favor of one group but not the others (Ibid.).

The Chief Justice further stated that “it was not unheard of for a Chief Justice to issue administrative orders because as ‘head of the entire judiciary,’ her ‘broad administrative powers’ had been supported by ‘long-standing practice and tradition (Ibid.).’”

So, it has been “long-standing practice and tradition” that has given the “primus inter pares” more “primus” than inter-pares, as often the chairman is, in practice, the most powerful in the board of directors. Detailed and specific internal rules for collegial decision making and a strictly abided Code of Good Governance and Ethics seem to be lacking more in the workings of the Supreme Court en banc than in the money and profit-oriented and more down-to-basics corporate board of directors and trustees.

It behooves the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, to streamline its en banc decision making to best practices in private corporations. Why, those accusations of tampering of resolutions and unilateral decisions by Chief Justice Sereno are of 2012 and 2013 vintage! Why did the en banc let those slide with no definite resolutions until now?

And, again, learning from the Corporation Code (Sec. 25): there should be an independent “Board Secretary” to record the minutes and draft the resolutions on major decisions and actions of the SC En Banc. Not the Chief Justice, as it is now.

Perhaps the complaints against Chief Justice Sereno on unilateral and unauthorized actions in the En Banc and by her primus inter pares position should be dealt with internally in the Supreme Court first, before these can be roused up by outsiders.

 

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

He’s back

As expected, Tiger Woods was both spectacular and so-so in his first tournament since April and fourth over the last two and a quarter years. With brisk weather helping the otherwise-inviting championship course of the Albany Golf Club in The Bahamas present more of a challenge yesterday, he looked flustered and rusty in posting a 75 marked by five bogeys against just two birdies. Considering that he put up a heady 68 the day before, he was understandably disappointed.

To be sure, Woods was not alone in hitherto waxing optimistic about his comeback. With booming drives and confident putts back in his arsenal, he showed significant improvement through his first two rounds in the Ernie Els-designed layout. The 69 and 68 he signed for certainly belied his world ranking and reflected both the intrinsic talent he possessed and the extent of his convalescence. Which was why other players could not help but keep tabs on him and be buoyed by his progress.

That said, it was fair for skeptics to wonder about Woods’ stamina. And, in this regard, his output yesterday showed his need for more reps before being declared in tip-top shape. He labored through the excess of wind inside the ropes, and seemingly with a lack of it inside his lungs. And for all the strength he showed off the tee, he struggled with accuracy, compelling him to scramble time and again, to mixed results. Meanwhile, his deft touch on the greens was offset by his tentativeness off them.

No matter how Woods does today, though, it’s clear that he’s back. And the scary part is that he will get better with time. He’s already swinging without restraint, as if he didn’t go under the knife to repair a damaged back for a fourth time a mere 10 months ago, as if he didn’t fret about his future in early October. And he’s not just pain-free; he’s worry-free — as best an indication as any that his return to form is a matter of when, not if.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

Families considering themselves mahirap

Families considering themselves mahirap

Catwalk goes online with runway auction

LOS ANGELES — The catwalk has met the auctioneer’s gavel and gone online.

In a streaming fashion show Saturday, a California auction house aimed to modernize the auction format with what it calls the “first ever runway fashion show auction.”

GWS Auctions offered for sale a vast collection of Chanel-labeled fashion and accessories, along with items formerly belonging to late Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor.

The entire collection would be worth more than $25 million if bought in stores at current prices, organizers said, though the seller wished to keep final selling prices private.

During the sale in Beverly Hills, models wore the main pieces while the show was streamed online “so bidders from around the world can participate,” GWS said.

Prior to the sale, event organizer Brigitte Kruse told AFP it would not be a stereotypical auction “where people show up and see things laying out or hanging up.”

“We’re actually going to provide a live visual for our bidders,” she said.

The firm put up for sale a collection of 225 pieces, including 139 labeled Chanel. They are from the collection of a former honorary consul of Liechtenstein, Mary Jean Thompson.

Also on offer was jewelry and other articles from a Californian family who are descendants of Vietnamese royalty.

GWS calls it “one of the largest personally owned Chanel collections,” but the auction also included pieces labeled Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Valentino.

Among the items is a ring estimated to be worth more than $300,000. It is set with a yellow diamond and belonged to the Nguyen dynasty of Vietnamese royals.

Another ring, which Kruse said Thompson obtained at an AIDS fund-raiser, belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, the movie queen whose works included National Velvet and Cleopatra. She died in 2011.

The ring is valued between $20,000 and $40,000 but Kruse said it has small diamonds and was not one of the actress’s “quintessential pieces.”

“There are no photographs of her wearing it,” Kruse said.

Without Taylor’s name associated with it, the ring would be worth no more than $1,500. — AFP

Shares to take cue from tax reform bill progress

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

LOCAL EQUITIES are expected to get a push from the final version of the government’s tax reform program as the country’s legislators accelerate deliberations ahead of the Christmas break. 

The 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi)stayed in negative territory last week, closing 1.33% or 110.01 points lower at 8,144.02 on Friday.

Week on week, the local bourse dropped 221.09 points or 2.71%.

“Our market didn’t manage to stay above (the 8,200 level) so I’m expecting the tax reform deadline this month may provide a cushion to this volatile market and it might push our market a bit higher before yearend,” Timson Securities, Inc. equities trader Jervin S. de Celis said in a text message last week. 

RCBC Securities, Inc. equities trader Jeffrey Lucero noted the same, saying he would “want to see a package that is not significantly watered down.”

The bicameral conference committee, composed of members from both the Senate and House of Representatives, are hopeful that they can reconcile the two versions of the bill before Congress goes on break on Dec. 15. 

Stark differences between the two draft bills include the revenues expected to be generated during its first year of implementation, where the Senate version computed around P130 billion against the House’s P133.8 billion. The two versions also have different tax rates on automobiles, sugar-sweetened beverages, fuel, mining, coal, cosmetic procedures as well as prescription drugs.

“But if that catalyst fails to buoy investor sentiment if the index fails to stay above 8,100 then we might see the start of the downtrend soon,” Mr. De Celis noted.

Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com meanwhile attributed last week’s downward trajectory to “typical changing of hands.”

“Encountering skeptics is part of the trading process, especially for players who run short of their view of the entire picture of regional economies’ healthy mix of return and risks,” the online brokerage said in a weekly market note.

The bourse ended the week with all sectoral indices in the red, with the property subindex posting the biggest decline at 1.52% or 59 points to 3,808.92. The services sector meanwhile had the least losses at 0.78% or 12.62 points to close at 1,597.78.

The index likewise held a net foreign selling position of P190 million, from a net inflow of P1.22 billion recorded in the previous trading day.

“At the end of the day, it all boils down on expected yields, and aggressive capex (capital expenditure) line-up is among fund managers will be aiming for. The capex plan will help support growth outlook for 2018 and fundamental merits will be considered,” according to 2TradeAsia.com.

Analysts pegged immediate support of the market to be within 8,000 to 8,100, with resistance at 8,300 to 8,400.

Smart on track to complete LTE rollout by end-2017

SMART Communications, Inc. said it is on track to complete the upgrade of more than 4,200 3G and long-term evolution (LTE) sites across the country by the end of the year.

“Our commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is to meet 90% municipality coverage next year for 3G and 4G mobile broadband, and we are well on-track to meet this,” Joachim Horn, chief technology and information advisor for PLDT and Smart said in a statement.

Mr. Horn said the coverage upgrade is already at 89%, “so we will definitely meet that target early next year.”

Last year, Smart’s parent PLDT, Inc. submitted to the NTC a three-year network rollout plan, promising to make LTE available to 95% of the country’s cities and municipalities by the end of 2018.

“This year, we more than doubled the number of sites which are capable of LTE,” Mr. Horn said, noting 90% of Metro Manila’s sites already have LTE.

Smart said improvements in Internet speed are seen in Metro Manila.

“Recent internal tests in Parañaque, for example, recorded median LTE download speeds of 17.9 megabits per second (Mbps) and median upload speeds of 12 Mbps, while median download and upload speeds of 27.6 Mbps and 16.1 Mbps, respectively, were posted in Caloocan. In Taguig, Smart LTE recorded median download speeds of 18.6 Mbps, while median upload speeds were at 13.7 Mbps,” Smart said.

The upgrades are part of the comprehensive network modernization and expansion program at the heart of the PLDT group’s digital pivot.

Smart has completed its LTE deployment in Metro Davao and Metro Cebu, in the island of Boracay, and in the province of Rizal, with deployment underway in Metro Manila and in key cities in other parts of the country.

It began deployment of LTE sites using the 700 megahertz (MHz) band last year, after PLDT and Globe teamed up to buy the telecommunications assets of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for P69.1 billion.

Smart has also started deploying four-component carrier (4CC) aggregation technology in its Metro Manila network, which it says can provide “very high” LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) mobile data speeds.

Carrier aggregation is the combination of multiple frequency channels to provide a much wider highway for the flow of mobile data.

“We already tried this in Boracay, and we have just completed the upgrade of Marikina, where we have upgraded all base stations with 4-carrier aggregation. The benefit for the customer is much higher capacity, and much higher speeds. So if you go to Marikina, you will easily be able to achieve more than 100 Mbps on your phone,” Mr. Horn said.

Mr. Horn said Quezon City will be the next target area followed by other parts of Metro Manila.

Earlier this year, Smart activated 4CC in Boracay, and said the technology reached average speeds of 280 Mbps.

Smart said that after the initial deployment of 4CC technology in Metro Manila, its internal tests showed consistent delivery of speeds going above 300 Mbps in a single-user scenario, and above 200 Mbps in a multi-user, daytime setup.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo

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