History on ice

August 30, 2017 | 12:02 am

Competition in the 29^th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is now in the homestretch, and so far it has been a difficult one for Team Philippines, which has been stuck in the middle of the medal race and set to miss out on its goal of 50 gold medals in the biennial regional sporting meet. Worse, it is even poise to post one of its poorer showings in the Games as far as medals are concerned.

But while it has been a struggle for the Philippines in this year’s edition of the SEA Games, there were still some performance highlights from our team worth underscoring, one of which was fashioned out on ice, care of the Philippine national ice hockey team.

Featured in the Games for the first time, the Philippines made history by winning the first-ever gold in men’s ice hockey, defeating Thailand, 5-4, last Thursday in the gold-medal game played at the Empire City Arena in Damsara Perdana.

The gold conquest was a culmination of what was a great run for the Philippine national hockey team that saw it sweep its assignments in the lead-up to the finals — whipping Indonesia, 12-0, in its opening game before routing Singapore, 7-2.

The Philippines then had it tough versus host Malaysia but delivered in the end to win in a shoot-out, 2-1, and then beat Thailand for the gold.

Philippine players were also in their element throughout the competition with guys like Paul Sanchez, Steven Fuglister, Lenard Lancero and Carl Michael Montano figuring prominently in the scoring category.

But apart from the history-making that our ice hockey team made in the SEA Games, making it all the more special was that it was not really expected.

Of course, every time you go into international competitions abroad the aim is always to win.

But compared to say men’s basketball, boxing and taekwondo, ice hockey, entering the Games, was not top-of-mind gold medal source.

Excited we were for having an ice hockey team here in Tropical Philippines, fondly referred to as “Philippine Mighty Ducks,” in reference to the popular Disney movie, but if we fell short it was okay, I am sure most of us thought.

Heck, even when the team was starting to win in the Games there were still doubters if we can actually pull it off especially up against a solid Thai squad in the final game.

But lo and behold, from start to finish, our men in skates and sticks broke ice and showed who were kings in Southeast Asian ice hockey.

Not bad for a team which started out as a group that had hockey for a hobby in a skating rink inside a Manila mall and developed their skills.

The Philippines actually has a national hockey team, nay, a gold medal-winning national hockey team. Wow!

Congratulations team and thanks for the gold medal apple.

Michael Angelo S. Murillo has been a columnist since 2003. He is a BusinessWorld reporter covering the Sports beat.

msmurillo@www.bworldonline.com

Art & Culture (08/30/17)

August 30, 2017 | 12:02 am

Drilon at Duemila

ROCK DRILON’s newest exhibit, Homecoming: Works from Dumangas, will open on Sept. 9 at Galleria Duemila, and run until Sept. 30. The gallery is located at 210 Loring St., Pasay City.

Casa de Memoria auction

CASA DE MEMORIA’s Auction .0008: Interiors Auction, featuring storied pieces for unique spaces, particularly furniture, paintings, and home décor, will be held on Sept. 16, 2 p.m., at the Casa de Memoria showroom, 156 Jupiter Cor. Comet St., Brgy. Bel-Air, Makati City. There will be a preview of the pieces on sale from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

KoloWn at the CCP

AT THE beginning of the month of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 48^th anniversary, the CCP will be presenting an exhibit Low Pressured Areas at the Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater Lobby) and other spaces around the CCP from Sept. 6 to Oct. 22. KoloWn – a conglomerate established in 2007 in Cebu City which explores the concept of absurdity and contradictions – focuses on the spaces of the CCP and creates site speciﬁc interventions. There will be a special guided tour of all the exhibit sites on Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. For details, visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.

1335 Mabini’s new space

1335MABINI is opening its new exhibition space in Karrivin Plaza, Makati City with a preview show from Sept. 1 to Oct. 7 featuring works by Poklong Anading, Ernest Concepcion Kiri Dalena, Tad Ermitano, Soun Hong, Miggy Inumerable, Ian Jaucian, Manny Montelibano, Peter Moosgaard, Indy Paredes, Yoshinori Niwa, Issay Rodriguez, Mark Salvatus, and Dexter Sy, among others. Representing several of the Philippines’ most successful international visual artists, 1335MABINI continues to broaden and develop its outstanding program of exhibitions, screenings, workshops, talks, and residencies that will extend to the 245-sq.m. space in Karrivin Plaza, a compound that has fast become one of the main creative hubs along Chino Roces Avenue, which is also home to other notable contemporary art galleries. The space will serve as an extension of 1335MABINI’s headquarters based in Casa Tesoro, Manila City. Ongoing until Sept. 8 at the Casa Tesoro gallery is Order-Building, an exhibit of works by Joven Buan, Pin Calacal, ND Harn, Faye Pamintuan, Therese Nicole Reyes, and Jone Sibugan.

4 at Vinyl on Vinyl

FOUR EXHIBITS will open at Vinyl on Vinyl on Aug. 31. These are: Too Old for MTV, Too Young to Die, a solo show by Curro Gonzalez, curated by Manuel Ocampo; How to Paint When You’re Happy by Miguel Paulo Borja; Proof of Presence by Erick Encinares; and, Unknown Quantity by Bato. The neighboring gallery, Archivo, will also be holding its inaugural exhibit on Aug. 31. Vinyl on Vinyl is at 2441 Pasilyo 18, La Fuerza Compound 1, Chino Roces Ave., Makati City.

B&W film in a digital age

IN HIS first solo exhibition, photographer Richie Macapinlac explores an art that is nearly lost in this day and age: black and white film photography. Entitled Time Figures, the collection revisits a more contemplative and careful pace of taking photographs. The exhibit will be on view in Artes Orientes, Bonifacio Global City, from Sept. 17 to 27. Selected from many photographs Macapinlac has taken through the years, the works in Time Figures celebrates shadow, light, detail, and contrast.

Group show at Artery

ARTERY ART SPACE presents Gentlemen Take Polaroids, an exhibit of works by Allan Balisi, Lec Cruz, Luis Santos, and Cos Zicarelli which is ongoing until Sept. 16. The title of the exhibit is taken from an album by the British avant-rock band Japan from the 1980s, which puts to mind an assertive tone of style over obsolescence. Artery Art Space is a contemporary art gallery plus a store and a snack bar located at 102 P. Tuazon Blvd., Cubao, Quezon City.

North Korea’s Kim has third child — reports

August 30, 2017 | 12:02 am

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has fathered another child, reports said Tuesday, after his wife dropped out of the public eye for several months.

First lady Ri Sol-Ju delivered the couple’s third child in February, the Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by the National Intelligence Service.

Ms. Ri had disappeared for an extended period last year, raising speculation that she could be pregnant.

News of the new arrival emerged as North Korea fired a ballistic missile over northern Japan.

According to previous intelligence reports from Seoul’s spy agency, Ms. Ri married Mr. Kim in 2009 and gave birth to their first child the following year, with their second born in 2013.

Mr. Kim is the third generation of his dynasty to rule North Korea, but little has been revealed about the country’s first family.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, following his trip to the North in 2013, has been the only source of information about the couple’s second child — a baby girl named Ju-Ae.

Saying that he had held Mr. Kim’s daughter in his arms, Mr. Rodman described the North Korean leader as “a good dad” who has “a good family.”

While more of a public personality than his introverted father Kim Jong-Il ever was, Mr. Kim’s own personal details remain little known. Even his exact birthday and the date of his wedding have not been confirmed.

South Korean intelligence reports have described Ms. Ri as coming from an ordinary family, with her father an academic and her mother a doctor.

She visited South Korea in 2005 as a cheerleader for her country’s squad in the Asian Athletics Championships. — AFP

Domestic chicken inventory buildup seen in NMIS data

August 30, 2017 | 12:02 am

THE INVENTORY of dressed chicken rose year on year in the third week of August and rose sharply compared with a month earlier, the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) said.

chicken-poultry — Visitors, mostly women, buy discounted frozen chicken at a food-oriented consumer exposition for small and medium merchandise stores in this file photo taken on October 11, 2013 — BW FILE PHOTO

In its latest inventory report, the NMIS said dressed chicken in cold storage totaled 25,649.75 metric tons (MT) in the week ending Aug. 21, up 6.20% from a year earlier.

Imports accounted for 43.20% at 11,080.05 MT, down 34.22% from a year earlier.

Domestic produce accounted for the remaining 14,569.70 MT, nearly double the 7,308.97 MT recorded in the same period last year.

On a month-on-month basis, dressed chicken inventory as of Aug. 21 grew 43.02%.

The NMIS survey covers accredited cold-storage facilities.

Fresh-chilled chicken and mechanically deboned meat were not included in the NMIS data.

Frozen pork inventory grew 33.72% year on year to 26,821.45 MT.

Imported frozen pork accounted for 89.37% of the total, up 31.76% from a year earlier.

On a month-on-month basis, frozen pork inventory rose 23.34%. — Janina C. Lim

Aguirre dismisses priest’s resignation call

August 30, 2017 | 12:02 am

JUSTICE SECRETARY Vitaliano N. Aguirre II on Tuesday dismissed the Catholic priest Robert Reyes’ call for his resignation amid his alleged prejudice in the slay case of Grade 11 student Kian Loyd delos Santos. “I serve at the pleasure of the President po, while I respect the view of everyone to express themselves freely, I will stay for as long as I enjoy the trust and confidence of the President,” Mr. Aguirre said in a statement. Mr. Reyes, known as the “running priest”, together with student leaders, went to the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday morning to file a petition asking Mr. Aguirre not get involved in handling the murder raps against Caloocan City Chief Inspector Amor Cerillo and three other policemen behind the Aug. 17 slay of the teenager. Mr. Aguirre, however, fired back at Mr. Reyes, saying, “I am just wondering why in the face of reports of Filipino priests molesting minors, of Filipino priests fathering children, of Filipino priests molesting sacristans, the good Fr. Reyes is surprisingly silent on these serious matters involving Filipino minors.” — Kristine Joy V. Patag

Renewables and energy security redux

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

By Viking Logarta

SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian discussed his idea of energy security over breakfast with renewable energy advocates earlier this month. A controversial concept, much like food security, the chair of the Senate energy committee acknowledged. (Most economists would say that income security rather than secure access to any specific necessities, including electricity, would be a sounder goal).

But his low-hanging fruits for security were geothermal and hydro energy. Those are even more controversial, because these two energy resources are generally going to be more expensive than wind and solar. In any case, energy security is a concept that has to be handled with care.

The fact that Senator Gatchalian is willing to consider longer-term and nonfinancial considerations in the country’s power mix is refreshing, and runs counter to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi’s obsession with the cheapest short-run electricity prices, no matter what the cost, in terms of mortality and morbidity effects on local populations exposed to air pollution, and to global impacts from greenhouse gas emissions from thermal, mainly coal plants.

Moreover, the cheapest short-run electricity costs might burden the Filipino people in the future. As a result of the falling power prices of solar and wind driven by the deflationary nature of renewables and accelerating policies on competition, the electricity transition towards renewables is taking root in countries around the world. It is attracting large investors. The Philippines cannot afford to be left behind, not this time.

Back in the days when there was a real power development plan, before the Electric Power Industry Restructuring Act or EPIRA, the National Power Corporation (NPC) regularly conducted least-cost planning exercises to determine the electric power capacity additions year by year to deliver electricity to ratepayers. It would generally make a forecast of peak and energy demand based on a top-to-bottom approach, using forecast GDP growth and an estimate of electricity demand growth with respect to GDP growth. Back then, NPC’s plans were real plans because it had the most important control levers, the investment budget and the power to contract with independent power producers, as a monopoly.

Reviewing former Energy Secretary Geronimo Z. Velasco’s Trailblazing, a history of his role in the energy sector, cum memoir, during the Marcos dictatorship, I am reminded that he made good and bad bets in terms of policy. He and his team helped the country wean itself away from an overdependence on fossil fuels, but bet incorrectly on nuclear power, whose stranded costs took taxpayers over two decades to pay. That plant was sold as a matter of energy security, too.

My own recollections of interactions with the NPC planning management and staff is that certain technologies were favored because these were thought to enhance energy security and self-reliance (two terms used interchangeably). In planning parlance, certain power plants were “forced” into the solution or taken as given, thereby giving them status in a “constrained” optimum.

I also recall debates in the early 1990s when the tariff reduction program for imported coal was being considered, from 20% then to the low single digits now. Back then, I argued for imported low-sulfur, low-ash, high heating value imported coal, over local coal with the opposite attributes.

I asked what energy security threats were posed by imported coal as there was no coal cartel then, and there is no cartel now. Local coal mines, I argued, could be mothballed and mobilized in case of an international coal supply crisis.

The point is that energy security may be a valid and popular concern. But policy makers need to be careful as well, as this concept can also be easily hijacked by vested interests that have sunk costs and want to avoid stranded assets, much like local coal producers then, and those dependent on coal imports now.

Any criterion that does not lead to easy monetization needs to be more clearly defined in the public sphere. Many equate energy security with energy independence. Others equate it with reliability and low cost. The debate can easily get muddled.

Urgent reforms are clearly needed in the power sector that consider local and global responsibilities right now. But how can we determine what is politically feasible, in a dysfunctional democracy, dominated by oligarchic politics?

The ball is clearly in this administration’s court.

Viking Logarta is the Energy Policy Advisor of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.

To save money, rich dudes are buying brand-new luxury cars this year

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

The title is not a typographical error, or the result of some late-night libation. If you haven’t been paying attention, the biggest news in the automotive industry these days is the expected adjustment of excise duty levied upon motor vehicles sold in the Philippines. The Department of Finance (DoF), tasked to implement a progressive tax reform that seeks to help the Duterte administration with its ambitious infrastructure projects, has submitted a proposal to overhaul automobile excise rates, which Congress has already approved.

The ball is now in the Senate court, where the chair of the committee on ways and means wants DoF to consider imposing higher taxes on a household’s third and fourth vehicles instead. DoF wants to execute the reform as early as Jan. 1, 2018.

The proposal, understandably, sent the industry into a panic. Theoretical figures floated on social media, many of which were grossly exaggerated. Which prompted DoF to issue a clarification earlier this month with regard to the tax reform’s impact on car prices.

First, the department wants to assure car buyers that mass-market models will be the least affected. A Hyundai Eon currently priced at P508,000, for instance, will sell for just P517,103 under the revised excise scheme. A P680,000 Mitsubishi Mirage, meanwhile, will go for P692,186, and a P902,000 Toyota Vios will cost P942,678. DoF argues that the price increases for these car models will ultimately be offset by lower personal income taxes under the tax reform program.

Second, DoF wants to point out that commercial vehicles used for businesses (pickups, buses, cargo vans, jeepneys and trucks) are “excluded from the proposed auto excise tax adjustments.”

The price adjustment increases as you go up the model hierarchy, but for mass-market brands the pricing revision should still be manageable even for their more premium offerings. A P1,739,000 Ford Everest is seen to go up to P1,994,898. While that’s a P255,898 surge, customers in this price range might not even notice the increase with a multiyear financing arrangement.

“We expect a dip in sales for the likes of the Camry and the Alphard, but not by much,” says Toyota dealer principal Rene O. So. “Honestly, we’d be happy with a 20% drop [for the premium models].”

The biggest impact of the tax reform, then, will be heavily felt in the luxury segment, where prices are bound to shoot up anywhere from P2 million to P10 million, depending on the model. DoF reckons that a P6,590,000 BMW X5 will have an adjusted price of P8,409,328 — a considerable increase of P1,819,328. A luxury car that is currently priced at P10 million, according to DoF, will sell for P13,194,240, while one that now goes for P20 million will cost P27,226,240.

These are not inconsequential amounts, even among the insanely affluent.

“I don’t care if you’re obscenely rich, you’re going to balk at the prospect of a P10-million sports car suddenly selling for P15 or 18 million,” shares Autostrada Motore chairman and president Wellington C. Soong, who imports and sells Ferrari and Maserati cars in the country.

Obviously, if you’re in the market for a brand-new luxury vehicle now or in the near future, the wise decision is to make the purchase before the adjusted excise rate for automobiles kicks in. And that’s exactly what’s happening in the exclusive segment.

“Based on feedback from our customers and dealer partners, purchases are being advanced to avoid the pending price adjustment,” reveals Asian Carmakers Corp. (BMW) president Maricar C. Parco. “We’ve experienced growth in the sales of our flagship model, the 7 Series. There are also a few corporate clients who have advanced their car plan schedules to take advantage of current prices.”

In July and June this year, BMW sold 180 and 152 units, respectively. During the same months in 2016, the German brand made do with 45 and 70 units. Auto Nation Group, which distributes Mercedes-Benz vehicles locally, reported 152 sold units for July this year, versus just 69 for the same month last year.

Another luxury marque enjoying a huge jump in sales in 2017 is Lexus, Toyota’s opulent nameplate. Business is so good that its seven-month tally from January to July this year (683 units) has already exceeded its 12-month performance last year (670). Lexus moved 101 units in May, 156 in June, and 116 in July. Comparatively, the numbers were 33, 68 and 45 last year.

“Our sales have doubled, and yes, you can say that this is due to the anticipated price increase next year,” confirms former Lexus Manila president Danny M. Isla, who is still the company’s consultant for its high-profile clients. “Those who have plans of buying a luxury car next year deem it practical to buy now rather than later.”

Ms. Parco agrees, “If you’re looking to purchase a premium vehicle in the next six months, now is a good time to do it.”

It therefore makes natural sense on the part of luxury car distributors to launch their latest models this year. A slew of ritzy automobiles have already made their way to our shores in 2017, including the Audi Q2, the BMW 5 Series, the Ferrari 488 Spider, the Lexus LC500, the Mercedes-Benz GLA and the Volvo V90. After all, no one wants to turn away a loaded customer ready to take home a luxury car today — and drive said customer to the competition.

“We’re seeing a sales increase the past three quarters primarily because we’ve had two model launches, and the buyers are thinking of the impending excise adjustment,” admits Scandinavian Motors Corp. (Volvo) president Albert B. Arcilla. “We expect to see more inquiries toward the end of the year. Hopefully, we will be able to bring in the units before the [tax reform] implementation.”

The problem for luxury car distributors, however, arrives in 2018, when the adjusted automotive excise takes effect. “This will certainly have an impact on sales next year,” warns Mr. Isla. “A significant impact.”

For now, the rich just want to save some money.

You may e-mail the author at vbsarne@visor.ph.

Sham

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

As expected, the farce that doubled as a boxing match between a convicted criminal and a racist ended with the shady characters laughing their way to the bank. Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor were already counting the cash long before the bell rang over the weekend; with guaranteed purses of $100 million and $30 million, respectively, their only concern going in was how to keep their egos — and their mugs — unmarked. After all, they knew the outcome from the onset; notwithstanding a two-year break from action, the best defensive pugilist of the current generation, and perhaps of all time, was simply not going to lose to a veritable neophyte aiming for a knockout blow.

Certainly, the one-sided nature of the affair brought about the numerous empty seats at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, never mind the penchant of the city’s denizens to take in any and all forms of entertainment. It likewise explained the lopsided numbers seen by sports books; around 85% of the wagers representing just 35% of the value on aggregate went to McGregor, as clear an indication as any that his puncher’s chance appealed to casual bettors. No wonder the venue couldn’t get turnstiles to move despite the deep discounting: The fix was in, and no amount of pre-fight hype could mask it.

To be sure, organizers were banking on pay-per-view returns to provide the wellspring of greenbacks, and rightly so. Even with all the technical issues plaguing PPV access, buy-ins look to have exceeded the record haul Mayweather’s bout with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 generated. That said, few found cause to consider their $100 well spent. McGregor was game, but he couldn’t overcome his technical deficiencies early and ran out of gas late. And not only were there no surprises; the occasional trading of blows whet appetites that were subsequently lost to long and frequent sequences of nothingness inside the ring.

In the aftermath, Mayweather and McGregor had kind words to say to each other. And why not? Every single minute they were inside the ring seeking to trade blows of which their faces ultimately bore little to no vestiges, they literally earned millions. One dominated, the other tried, and the rest of the world is left with no choice but to go back to reality.

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.

Uber to end post-trip tracking of riders as part of privacy push

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA — Uber Technologies, Inc. is pulling a heavily criticized feature from its app that allowed it to track riders for up to five minutes after a trip, its security chief told Reuters, as the ride-services company tries to fix its poor reputation for customer privacy.

The change, which restores users’ ability to share location data only while using the app, is expected to be announced on Tuesday and rolled out to Apple, Inc. iPhone users starting this week. It comes as Uber tries to recover from a series of crises culminating in the ouster of Chief Executive Travis Kalanick and other top executives.

Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of travel-booking company Expedia, Inc. is set to become Uber’s new chief executive, sources have told Reuters.

The location-tracking update is unrelated to executive changes, said Joe Sullivan, Uber’s chief security officer, in an interview with Reuters. Sullivan and his team of about 500 have been working to beef up customer privacy at Uber since he joined in 2015.

“We’ve been building through the turmoil and challenges because we already had our mandate,” said Sullivan, who is a member of the executive leadership team that has been co-running Uber since Kalanick left in June.

An update to the app made last November eliminated the option for users to limit data gathering to only when the app is in use, instead forcing them to choose between letting Uber always collect location data or never collect it.

Uber said it needed permission to always gather data in order to track riders for five minutes after a trip was completed, which the company believed could help in ensuring customers’ physical safety. The option to never track required riders to manually enter pickup and drop-off addresses.

But the changes were met with swift criticism by some users and privacy advocates who called them a breach of user trust by a company already under fire for how it collects and uses customers’ data. Uber said it never actually began post-trip tracking for iPhone users and suspended it for Android users.

Sullivan said Uber made a mistake by asking for more information from users without making clear what value Uber would offer in return. If Uber decides that tracking a rider’s location for five minutes is valuable in the future, it will seek to explain what the value is and allow customers to opt in to the setting, he said.

Sullivan said Uber was committed to privacy but had previously suffered “a lack of expertise” in the area.

The change comes two weeks after Uber settled a US Federal Trade Commission complaint that the company failed to protect the personal information of drivers and passengers and was deceptive about its efforts to prevent snooping by its employees.

Uber agreed to conduct an audit every two years for the next 20 years to ensure compliance with FTC requirements.

The location-tracking changes will initially only be available to iPhone users, but Uber intends to bring parity to Android devices, Sullivan said.

The changes are part of a series of updates expected in the coming year to improve privacy, security and transparency at Uber, Sullivan said. — Reuters

Trump to visit deluged Texas to survey response to Harvey

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

HOUSTON — US President Donald J. Trump planned to visit Texas on Tuesday to survey the response to devastating tropical storm Harvey, the first major natural disaster of his White House tenure.

The slow-moving storm has brought catastrophic flooding to Texas, killed at least nine people, led to mass evacuations and paralyzed Houston, the fourth most-populous US city.

It had also roiled energy markets and caused damage estimated to be in the billions of dollars, with rebuilding likely to last beyond Mr. Trump’s current four-year term in office.

“My administration is coordinating closely with state and local authorities in Texas and Louisiana to save lives, and we thank our first responders and all of those involved in their efforts,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.

Mr. Trump was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday morning in Corpus Christi, near where Harvey came ashore on Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years. The president will later go to the Texas capital Austin to meet state officials, receive briefings and tour the emergency operation center, the White House said.

Forecasters could only draw on a few comparisons to the storm, recalling hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and killed 1,800 people in 2005.

The administration of then-President George W. Bush faced accusations that his response was slow and inadequate — criticism that dealt a serious blow to his presidency.

Flood damage in Texas from hurricane Harvey may equal that from Katrina, one of the costliest natural disaster in US history, an insurance research group said on Sunday.

In Texas, thousands of National Guard troops, police officers, rescue workers and civilians raced in helicopters, boats and high-water trucks to rescue the thousands stranded in the flooding, which turned streets into rivers and caused chest-high water build-ups in scores of neighborhoods.

The last Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in Texas since Harvey was Carla in 1961. It packed winds and rains that destroyed about 1,900 homes and nearly 1,000 businesses, the National Weather Service said. — Reuters

Taguiwalo on funding NPAs: ‘Not a single peso of 4Ps program passed through my hands’

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

FORMER SOCIAL WELFARE chief Judy M. Taguiwalo on Tuesday denied reports that she funded the communist armed group New People’s Army (NPA) using government budget, an accusation given credence by President Rodrigo R. Duterte himself. “For the record and for the President’s own awareness, not a single peso of the 4Ps (cash transfer for the poor) program passed through my hands,” Ms. Taguiwalo, known for her left-leaning background, said in a statement a day after Mr. Duterte claimed that he has received reports that some 4Ps funds were granted by Ms. Taguiwalo to NPA members. Ms. Taguiwalo, however, asserted that the list of beneficiaries were simply adopted from the previous administration and that funds are distributed directly through the government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines. Ms. Taguiwalo said the allegations “are being made to pass off as justifications of her rejection” by the Commission on Appointments. In a speech in Malacañang yesterday, Mr. Duterte said an envelope containing money supposedly from the 4Ps program was found at an NPA camp and what bothers him most is the fund being used to purchase guns and ammunition. “I’m not so concerned about money reaching the hands of the NPAs, especially if that money bought something to eat,” he said. — Kristine Joy V. Patag

PhilRice touts benefits of genetically modified Golden Rice in fighting Vitamin-A deficiency

August 30, 2017 | 12:01 am

THE Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) said it is counting on field trials for genetically modified Golden Rice to demonstrate the benefits of delivering Vitamin A through the staple grain.

“Our goal is to develop Golden Rice varieties suitable for Filipino farmers, help assess the safety of Golden Rice, evaluate whether consumption of Golden Rice improves Vitamin A status, and explore how Golden Rice could reach those most in need,” Roel Suralta, Golden Rice Project Leader at PhilRice, said in a statement.

Golden Rice is being developed as a potential solution to address Vitamin A deficiency (VAD).

The rice variety contains beta carotene, which is converted to Vitamin A as needed by the body.

The field trials will run for one crop season at a primary trial site at the PhilRice-Central Experiment Station in Barangay Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija and a back-up site in PhilRice Isabela Station, Barangay Malasin, San Mateo, Isabela.

The trials will be conducted under the guidelines of the department circular jointly approved last year by the Department of Agriculture, Health, Environment and Natural Resources, Science and Technology, and Interior and Local Government.

“Our research so far indicates that Golden Rice is as safe and nutritious as ordinary rice. Analysis of its nutritional composition reveals that Golden Rice contains similar nutrients to that of ordinary rice, except for its beta carotene content as intended. Golden Rice is also free from any toxic or allergenic properties and is therefore safe. The beta carotene in Golden Rice is also safe as it is similar to what is found in orange-colored fruits and vegetables,” Mr. Suralta added.

“Golden Rice has a very great potential to help address the problem of Vitamin A deficiency since we Filipinos are rice lovers,” he added.

World Health Organization data show that 190 million preschool children and 19 million pregnant women are Vitamin A-deficient globally.

In the Philippines, VAD among preschool children has increased from 15.2% (1.7 million) in 2008 to 20.4% (2.1 million) in 2013 based on the latest survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute

However, various health and environment groups oppose Golden Rice, citing the negative impact and uncertainty of releasing genetically modified products into the field.

Mr. Suralta said that the government is conducting consultations to keep the public well-informed on the technology and arrive at a science-based decision. — Janina C. Lim

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