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PHL interested to join transpacific trade deal

THE PHILIPPINES has expressed interest in joining a transpacific trade deal, or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez has written to the New Zealand government, the depositary of the agreement, to say the Philippines plans to accede to the deal, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said in an online event on Tuesday.

The agreement was signed in 2018 by 11 member countries Japan, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

The United States pulled out of its earlier version in 2017.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in November last year said China is “actively considering” joining the pact, while Taiwan has been conducting informal talks with the member countries.

A year after it formally left the European Union, the United Kingdom at the end of January said it would request to join the free trade area and start negotiations this year.

The Philippine Trade department started studying potentially joining CPTPP after the November signing of another mega trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Mr. Rodolfo had said the department can now devote its resources on new trade deals after concluding years of negotiations for the 15-country agreement.

Mr. Rodolfo said the department is also in talks with India, Chile, Pakistan, and Turkey for potential preferential trade agreements.

“Both the Philippines and India, we have already agreed that we will start exploration of negotiating a preferential trade agreement,” he said.

India had opted out of RCEP due to concerns about the deal’s potential repercussions on its local farmers and small businesses.   

The Trade department plans to complete both its ratification process for RCEP and get the Senate’s concurrence this year.

Negotiations on the free trade agreement with South Korea are in their final stages, Mr. Rodolfo added. Talks had earlier stalled on items like bananas, for which Philippine producers are seeking lower tariffs, and South Korean auto exports, for which Seoul is seeking greater access. — Jenina P. Ibañez

Gov’t seeks P9.7-billion loan from WB to address malnutrition

CAUSES of undernutrition in the Philippines stretch across multiple sectors, from poor quality of diet served to children in their own households to insufficient access to health and environmental services. — BW FILE PHOTO

THE GOVERNMENT is looking to tap the World Bank (WB) for a $200-million (P9.73-billion) loan to expand and improve nutrition programs in local government units (LGUs), a document from the multilateral bank showed.

The World Bank said the proposed “Philippines Multisectoral Nutrition” project loan will be acted upon by its board on Nov. 25.

“The proposed project would support the government of the Philippines to adopt a bold, multisectoral nutrition approach to deliver a coordinated package of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions across the various LGU platforms,” the document published on Wednesday read.

The main implementing agencies of the proposed project are the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Nutrition Council.

The multilateral bank said 30% of Filipinos under five years old are stunted to date, 19% are underweight and 6% are wasted, or those experiencing severe weight loss due to starvation or illness.

Children are considered stunted if the height relative to age is below than the population’s average because the body’s growth was severely slowed down by the lack of nutrition.

The social and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic pose “grave risks to the nutritional status and survival of young children” as the rate of hunger in the country climbed when the crisis hit, it added.

It said 30.7% of Filipino families suffered hunger and 8.7% reported severe hunger during the crisis, the highest in 20 years, based on a September 2020 survey by the Social Weather Stations.

As more Filipino families went hungry because of the crisis, the World Bank said more children will suffer from undernutrition this year, report poor performance in school, and be less productive when they become adults if there is no intervention.

“The persistence of very high levels of childhood undernutrition in the Philippines, despite the country experiencing decades of economic growth and poverty reduction, could lead to a staggering loss of the country’s human and economic potential,” the multilateral lender said.

It estimated that the burden of high childhood undernutrition on the economy was valued at $4.4 billion or equivalent to 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015.

Causes of undernutrition in the Philippines stretch across multiple sectors, from poor quality of diet served to children in their own households to insufficient access to health and environmental services.

The bank said the proposed project should boost the capacity of LGUs to effectively implement programs promoting nutrition among Filipino children.

The $200-million project loan is divided into three components, with the first part supporting LGUs to improve their capacity to rollout their nutrition and healthcare services.

The second component aims to help nutrition-related efforts of the government across selected communities to be more coordinated, while promoting healthy behaviors in these areas.

The loan will also strengthen the management capacity of implementing agencies, provide technical assistance to the newly established Bangsamoro autonomous government, and proper monitoring of the project’s progress.

“The proposed financing remains highly relevant to the World Bank Group’s twin goals to reduce poverty and promote shared prosperity as it continues to focus on service delivery at frontline levels and by incentivizing integrated outreach services in reproductive, maternal and child health, and nutrition services,” the World Bank said. — Beatrice M. Laforga

DoubleDragon REIT makes ‘challenging’ PSE debut

By Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

THE real estate investment trust (REIT) of DoubleDragon Properties Corp. has debuted at the stock exchange on Wednesday to hold the record number of small investors, which its top official described as mostly from the provinces.

Edgar “Injap” J. Sia II, chairman of DDMP REIT, Inc. (DDMPR), said the initial public offering (IPO) during the pandemic “is definitely not a walk in the park.”

“We believe this is our share of also promoting a more inclusive economy, and that what we can achieve together now during these challenging, never-been-chartered territories, brought about by this pandemic,” he said during the listing ceremony at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

In attendance for the listing ceremony were PSE officials, DDMPR directors, and officials from DoubleDragon Properties.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III commended DoubleDragon’s business resilience amid the pandemic, as it also launched the IPO of its grocery retailer MerryMart Consumer Corp. last year.

“As with the previous [IPOs] made during the pandemic, DoubleDragon’s REIT listing reflects the strong confidence of our investors in our economic recovery,” Mr. Dominguez said in his recorded message.

Some 17.83 billion shares of the company are now listed.

DDMPR is the second REIT to debut at the local bourse, after Ayala Land, Inc.’s REIT offering last year.

PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon said he hopes more real estate firms will consider offering REITs.

“With more REIT issuances, we are not only providing companies a platform to raise capital for their expansion, we are also giving investors more investment options and we are helping the country through the reinvestment policy required from REIT issuers,” Mr. Monzon said in a taped message.

Mr. Dominguez said “REITs are indispensable to rebuilding a strong and truly inclusive economy for our people.”

“These will make available huge volumes of capital to our financial system that will help fund our long term growth,” he added.

DDMPR told the exchange on Monday that it needed an additional day to complete the lodging of its shares, after over 50,000 investors subscribed to its IPO.

Shares of DDMPR were priced at P2.25 apiece with a projected yield of over five percent. The company said these were decided for “the fragmented small and medium investors from across the country.”

PSE’s Mr. Monzon noted that DDMPR now holds the record for the highest number of local small investors for an IPO, with some 12,073 seen to be invested in the REIT listing.

“I was merry to have observed that it looks like majority of the DDMPR IPO subscribers could be from thousands of provincial investors who normally just park their passive funds in bank time deposits,” Mr. Sia noted.

The DDMPR chairman said he hopes to see “the access to investing would become far wider and more inclusive than it is.” He called DDMPR shares a “pamana stock,” which features freehold titled land and developed buildings.

DDMPR’s portfolio includes the first six completed buildings in DD Meridian Park at the Bay Area, corner of Macapagal Avenue and EDSA Extension in Pasay City. It offers some 280,000 square meters of office space.

“DoubleDragon’s REIT offering is worth as much as P14.7 billion, [which is] the largest REIT issuance in the Philippines so far. The investment portfolio is very compelling,” Mr. Dominguez noted.

The company said in November that the majority of sale proceeds will be used as equity into Central Hub Industrial Centers, Inc.

In its first day of trading, DDMPR’s intraday high was at P2.40 and shares were traded for as low as P2.24.

“It has been volatile, particularly in the first 30 [minutes],” Philstocks Financial, Inc. Research Associate Claire T. Alviar said in a Viber message.

“We think that its performance was still good and allows long-term investors to have a slice of [a] REIT in their portfolio at its IPO price but with a few charges this time. REITs are good for dividend play with a long term holding period,” Ms. Alviar added.

DDMPR shares at the stock exchange closed at its listing price of P2.25 apiece on Wednesday.

SEC seeks stricter rules on cross-shareholding

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed to ban subsidiaries from acquiring shares of their parent firm in a draft set of rules on cross-shareholding structure for publicly listed companies.

“Studies show that the ill-effects of cross-shareholding outweighs its benefits,” the corporate watchdog said in a proposed memorandum circular.

Cross-shareholding, as defined by the SEC, refers to a structure where a subsidiary company owns or acquires a stake in its parent company. This may be done directly or indirectly through intermediaries.

The commission said cross-shareholding in complex networks may cloak beneficial ownership. It may also lead to “anti-competitive business practices favoring only existing networks.”

“[It] may result in conflict of interest situations wherein the same ownership over shares is shared by parties with conflicting interests, thereby resulting [in] inefficient use of capital,” the SEC said.

Subsidiaries that acquired shares before the passage of the circular will be exempted. The proposed circular will also not apply to companies that bought shares before becoming subsidiaries in their parent firms.

“In both cases, the parent company shall cause the conversion of the subject shares into non-voting shares within 12 months from the effectivity of this memorandum circular,” the commission said.

Stockholders will also be allowed to dispose of or exercise their right to appraise their shares within the same timeframe.

Transfer agreements or subscription to shares violating the rule will be considered void.

“If, after due notice and hearing, the commission finds that any provision of this memorandum circular has been violated, the commission may impose any or all of the sanctions provided under Section 158 of the Revised Corporation Code,” the SEC said.

The administrative sanctions include a penalty fee of P5,000 to P2 million, and not more than P1,000 to P2 million for each day of continued violation.

Violators may also be issued a permanent cease-and-desist order, face suspension or revocation of their certificate of incorporation, and/or the dissolution of the corporation and the forfeiture of its assets.

The SEC will be accepting comments from the public regarding the memorandum circular until April 2. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

In preparation for when people can travel, Singapore pushes Zi Char-style cooking

AKIN to our very own bihon, rice vermicelli is the centerpiece of this tasty dish which is usually served with many toppings: shrimp, pork, and veggies.

AS WE remain in our homes thanks to new restrictions, we long for a taste of the world beyond.

The Singapore Tourism Board is launching a new campaign called “Singapore Reimagined,” designed to give virtual tourists a view of Singapore they may not have experienced before. “Studies have shown that the first wave of travel for people will be domestic travel,” said John Conceicao, Executive Director for Southeast Asia of the Singapore Tourism Board. “The next wave of travel, when we open to international travel, the interesting thing is that the studies have shown that people will actually start travelling in the proximity regions that means in our Southeast Asian region.”

He also said that when people travel again, they will choose familiar and safe destinations. “I think Singapore has these two characteristics: familiarity to Filipinos as well as safety will be very attractive to tourists.”

In relation to dining, they’re anchoring the campaign on Zi Char, a less well known Singaporean cooking style that is “influenced by home-cooked food,” noted a press release from the Singapore Tourism Board.  The cooking style unique to Singapore is predominantly Chinese, with imprints of Malay, Indian, and Peranakan; reflective of Singapore’s multicultural nature. Zi char is molded by home and family, shown in its big servings and its familiarity in hawker stalls where the dishes are regularly seen. The cooking style gave the world dishes such as Cereal Prawns, White Bee Hoon, and Coffee Pork Ribs.

“Zi Char dishes are cooked to order and customized to one’s liking and are hearty yet easy on the pocket — food meant for sharing. And sharing a meal is one thing Filipinos love doing,” noted the press release.

Zi Char is pronounced something like “tzu-cha,” as they showed in a video starring Filipino actor turned chef and restaurateur Marvin Agustin, husband-and-wife celebrities Yael and Karylle Yuson, and comedian Victor Anastacio.

“It’s a popular go-to for many Singaporeans, like myself,” said Ruby Liu, Area Director for the Philippines of the Singapore Tourism Board. According to her, it’s a pick-me-up after work, or else eaten with friends and family. “Sometimes they want to eat something really hearty and share. Zi Char is really something we would choose for such a meal,” she said in a webinar on Mar. 12.

While Mr. Agustin demonstrated how to cook the White Bee Hoon meal sent to us for a taste of Singapore (you’re supposed to saute the noodles first), we’re bound to see more of Mr. Agustin in a web series demonstrating how to make Cereal Prawn, Coffee Pork Ribs, and Seafood White Bee Hoon. He’s co-starring with Singaporean chef Bjorn Shen, one of the judges for the first two seasons of MasterChef Singapore.

The video for the correct pronunciation of Zi Char is on facebook.com/VisitSingaporePH, as well as the announcements for the series’ premiere.

“We want to bring a slice of Singapore to Filipinos despite the lockdown. We hope that during this period, we can show you lesser-known aspects of Singapore and that you can get to know us a little bit better, so that in the future, when you visit Singapore, you can try something totally new and fresh,” said Ms. Liu. —  Joseph L. Garcia

AREIT identifies 10 properties in P15-B swap deal with Ayala Land

AYALA LAND, Inc.’s real estate investment trust AREIT, Inc. has identified 10 properties included in the P15-billion property swap deal.

In a disclosure to the exchange on Wednesday, AREIT said the deal totaled 250,000 square meters (sq.m.) of leasable space, which includes: Vertis North Commercial Development; One and Two Evotech in Nuvali Santa Rosa, Laguna; Bacolod Capitol Corporate Center; Ayala North Point Technohub; office condominium units at BPI-Philam Life buildings in Makati’s Central Business District; and the Madrigal Business Park in Alabang.

“This transaction demonstrates the priority of a well-designed REIT, which is to generate compelling yields for its shareholders. At the same time, it allows AREIT to grow its assets significantly and increase shareholder value,” AREIT President and Chief Executive Officer Carol T. Mills said in a statement.

The largest of the properties is based in Quezon City, Vertis North. The commercial development includes 125,000 sq.m. of leasable space and a 39,000-sq.m. retail podium.

The development’s retail component is operated by Ayala Land subsidiary under the Ayala Malls brand.

“[It] will pay a monthly guaranteed building lease to AREIT for a period of 36 years, ensuring stable income to AREIT,” the company said.

Vertis North’s three office buildings are 97% occupied. These spaces are currently leased to large business process outsourcing companies, as well as Google Services Philippines, Inc., Teleperformance, Telus Corp., and Global Payments, Inc.

The Nuvali Evotech properties meanwhile offer 23,000 sq.m. of leasable area. It is currently occupied by Concentrix CVG Philippines and IBM Business Services.

In Negros Occidental, Bacolod Capitol Corporate Center features 11,000 sq.m. of leasable area, which is currently occupied by ARB Call Facilities. Meanwhile, the 5,000-sq.m. Ayala North Point Technohub is housing iQor.

“Furthermore, the office condominium units in the BPI-Philam Life Buildings in Makati and in Alabang have a total of 1,500 sq.m., 100% occupied and leased to Oberthur Card Systems in Makati and Amaia Land, an Ayala Land subsidiary headquartered in Alabang,” AREIT said.

The property-for-share deal with Ayala Land is still subject to the approval of shareholders and regulatory bodies.

AREIT’s board of directors also approved the increase in the company’s authorized capital stock to P29.5 billion from P11.74 billion on Tuesday.

The board has also approved the subscription of Ayala Land to 483.25 million primary common shares of AREIT at P32 per share to swap for the Ayala Land commercial developments valued at P15.46 billion.

The transaction will bump AREIT’s outstanding common shares to 1.51 billion from 1.02 billion shares. Ayala Land will own some 66% of the total shares.

AREIT’s deposited property value will also bump to P52 billion from P37 billion. The company’s leasing portfolio will increase to 549,000 sq.m. from 344,000 sq.m.

“The properties are expected to contribute further to its operating cash flows, boosting dividends per share,” AREIT said.

AREIT shares at the stock exchange rose by 0.61% on Wednesday to close at P33 apiece from P32.80. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

What is seitan? The vegan protein alternative going viral online

THE TREND towards vegetarian and vegan diets means more people are looking for meat-free protein alternatives.

Enter seitan (pronounced say-tan), the latest food trend that’s going viral online.

Seitan can be made by washing the starch off flour, so what you are left with is mainly gluten. Wheat gluten has been used as a substitute for meat in Asian countries for centuries, particularly among Buddhists who prefer not to eat meat. George Ohsawa, Japanese advocate for the “macrobiotic” diet, coined the term seitan for wheat gluten in the early 1960s.

Seitan’s versatility and “meatiness,” combined with the need for tasty, vegan protein options have contributed to its huge increase in popularity world-wide in recent years.

As well as being flavorsome and reminiscent of meat, seitan is relatively high in protein and non-haem iron compared to other vegetarian protein foods.

One serving around the size of the palm of your hand contains about 75 grams of protein, enough for most adults for a day. Gram for gram, that’s about three times as much protein as beef or lamb.

With about 5 milligrams of iron per 100 grams, seitan has as much iron as kangaroo meat or beef. But as for other plant-based foods, the non-haem iron in seitan is not as readily absorbed as the haem iron in meats.

A small serve of seitan (100 grams) contains about 14 grams of carbs, which is about the same as one slice of bread.

Seitan doesn’t contain any soy, unlike tofu or tempeh. So it’s a good option for people with a soy allergy.

You can make seitan just from flour and water, but it does take about an hour from start to finished product.

To prepare seitan, combine flour with a little salt and water to form a soft dough. Then keep kneading the dough under cold running water (to remove the starch) until it becomes a very stiff and stretchy dough.

If you’re in a hurry, you can cheat by mixing commercially available “vital wheat gluten” with water.

Either way, once you’ve got the gluten dough, flavor it with spices or sauces and then pan fry or boil it.

You can serve it as a steak substitute, sliced and stir-fried, “pulled” like pork, or crumbed and made into a vegan schnitzel. Seitan meals have been known to be mistaken as meat by some fairly serious carnivores!

It might be worth taste testing ready-made seitan from a shop to check whether you like it before making it yourself, but this often contains added salt as a preservative. Make sure the sodium content is under 400 milligrams per 100 grams. It’s a good idea to limit your sodium intake, and the Heart Foundation recommends no more than 2,000 milligrams per day.

Well, it’s definitely not suitable for people diagnosed with celiac disease or with a known adverse reaction to the gluten proteins in wheat.

If that’s you, then tofu and legumes are suitable meat substitutes. Another sustainable, gluten-free option is Quorn, a protein-rich food made by fungi.

If you get a bloated tummy or gut pain after eating bread or pasta, but definitely don’t have celiac disease, it would be interesting to know whether you tolerate seitan. If you do, it could be you don’t tolerate the carbohydrate part of wheat, but can tolerate gluten. A research team at the University of Newcastle, of which I am a part, is investigating whether people who report gut pain after eating wheat are sensitive to the gluten or to the fermentable carbohydrates (FODMAPs) in wheat.

For everyone else who wants to decrease or avoid meat, seitan is versatile and one of the closest in texture and flavour to meat of any vegetarian protein options — so break out the mixing bowls and get kneading. — Reuters

 

Kerith Duncanson is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Medicine and Public Health at University of Newcastle

Puregold posts nearly 19% net income growth

LISTED grocery operator Puregold Price Club, Inc. reported an unaudited consolidated net income of P8.05 billion in 2020, which is an 18.9% increase from its 2019 net income of P6.77 billion.

“Our company has [achieved] a record breaking year in 2020 despite [a] lot of challenges due to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic,” Puregold Chairman Lucio L. Co said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company’s unaudited consolidated net sales also inched up to P168.63 billion in 2020, up by 9.2% from P154.49 billion seen in the previous year.

Puregold Stores network accounted for 73% of the company’s total revenues, while 27% were contributed by S&R Membership warehouse clubs and S&R New York Style Pizza stores. The company did not disclose specific figures.

The company’s unaudited consolidated income from operations grew by 17.3% to P13.4 billion from P11.4 billion in the same period last year.

Without disclosing figures, the company reported that Puregold Stores posted a same store sales growth (SSSG) of 2.4% in 2020, while S&R grocers recorded an SSSG of 8.7%.

Puregold has a total of 470 stores nationwide as of December 2020, including 403 Puregold stores, 20 S&R membership shopping grocers, and 46 S&R New York Style Pizza shops.

“We are committed to drive sustainable growth in 2021 [through] continued store expansions and innovations in grocery retailing.” Mr. Co said.

Shares of Puregold at the stock exchange went up by 1.13% or P0.45 on Wednesday to close at P40.45 per share. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

Common causes of kitchen fires and how to stop them

THE BUREAU of Fire Protection lists electrical connections and open flames as two of the country’s most common causes of fires. And in the kitchen where food is cooked over fire, electrical appliances stand in every corner, and gas leaks can happen, it’s easy to see how the area can be hazardous.

While we learned as children that fire can be put out with water, this isn’t always the case. There are different types of fires, and for some, pouring water may spread the flames instead of extinguishing them.

One of the most common types of kitchen fires is fire caused by cooking oils and grease.

The most important thing to remember: don’t put it out with water — that will just spread the fire. Instead, turn off the burner first. Oxygen encourages fire so deplete it by covering the cooking pan with a metal lid. Don’t use a glass lid since that can shatter from the heat, and make sure you protect yourself with oven mitts before touching any of the scalding hot items. You can also use a lot of baking soda to smother small flames, but never use flour as it can worsen things.

Avoid grease fires by keeping cooking surfaces clean. Oils spatter when cooking fried foods, covering the stove and kitchen counters with grease. An easy way to clean a stovetop is to wipe it down with a mix of baking soda, salt, and dish soap. Meanwhile, stove grates and burners can be washed or soaked with hot water and soap.

Another common fire is an electrical fire from kitchen appliances. These can happen inside appliances like microwave ovens, toasters and such. In this case, keep the appliance door closed and cut off the fuel source, which means unplug the appliance.

It goes without saying that since electricity is involved, don’t use conductors like water to extinguish the fire. Also, have the appliance checked and repaired before attempting to use it again. The fire may have damaged some parts and made it more dangerous.

To prevent electrical fires, make sure that your appliances are installed correctly and maintained regularly. Unplug them when not in use, and keep water away from sockets and plugs at all times.

Then there is fire or an explosion ignited by gas leaks. A small gas leak in an LPG tank, if not tended to immediately, can fill the kitchen with flammable gas. And once a heat source is turned on – a lighter, a match, or a burner – fire will catch and spread quickly. If you detect a gas leak, open all doors and windows fully to let the gas out and call a professional to handle it for you.

Fires caused by gas leaks are usually too big to put out on your own, so it’s best to evacuate and seek help.

The best way to prevent LPG accidents is to buy only quality kitchen fuel like Solane LPG. There are many illegal sellers of fake LPG that can cause the very explosions you’re trying to avoid, so make sure that you only buy from authorized distributors.

Just as there are several kinds of fires, there are also different types of fire extinguishers. For the kitchen, the most common ones to have ready is Class B for flammable liquid and gas fires and Class C for electrical fires. Invest in these extinguishers and place them in an accessible area.

It’s also a good idea to install a fire alarm system and come up with an evacuation plan. Familiarize yourselves with your building’s emergency protocols, too, if you live in one.

Remember that these are just basic steps and are meant for smaller fires. As soon as you feel like a fire is out of your control, evacuate immediately and call for professional help.

Order Verified Solane LPG through Solane’s Metro Manila hotline 8887-5555 or send a message to their Facebook page or nationwide mobile 0918-887-5555.

Senate approves DITO franchise on final reading

THE Senate on Wednesday approved on third and final reading the measure granting franchise renewal to third telco player DITO Telecommunity Corp. for another 25 years.

With 17 affirmative votes, two negative votes and one abstention, the senators approved House Bill No. 7332 or the franchise renewal application of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company Inc., now known as DITO.

Senators Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel and Francis N. Pangilinan voted against the franchise renewal of DITO, while Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Jr. abstained.

The measure allows the company to “construct, establish, install, maintain and operate wire and/or wireless telecommunications systems in the Philippines.”

It also calls for the firm to offer 30% or higher of its common stocks to Filipinos within five years. Failure to do so will render the franchise revoked.

The company is required to submit an annual report on compliance with terms and conditions of the franchise to the Congress on or before April 30. DITO will be penalized with a P1 million fine each day it fails to comply with the annual report to Congress.

The senators last week approved the inserted provision of Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon requiring the company to report to the President and the Congress any disclosure of data, information, assistance, support or cooperation to foreign government and its instrumentalities. Failure to report will be a ground for franchise revocation. 

They also approved the amendments of Ms. Baraquel to require DITO to submit regular security audits of network and facilities to the Congress and subject its frequencies to review at regular intervals.

Ms. Baraquel said she welcomes more competition in the telecommunication sector, but “this should not come at the expense of vital national security interests, and against a rival claimant in the West Philippine Sea.”

“DITO seems merely the Filipino mask over China Telecom and true face of what we call the third Telco,” she said, referring to DITO’s partner China Telecommunications Corp.

“A company that has been described as ‘indirectly and ultimately owned and controlled by the government of the People’s Republic of China,’” she said in the explanation of her vote.

“Allowing it to interconnect to our existing networks and to use our radio spectrum at a point in time when we are estimated to be some 25 to 30 years behind other countries in cybersecurity and cyber-defense is, I would say with great respect, a risk we cannot afford to take,” she added.

Mr. Pangilinan also raised concerns over national security issues, while recognizing the need for more telecommunications providers.

“We understand that a third telco or a fourth or a fifth or a sixth telco, these are vital to improve our telco industry, but we should not close our eyes to the national security issues as well as the threats to our sovereignty surrounding this particular telco,” he said.

He noted that DITO is 40% owned by state-owned China Telecom and the Chinese government has the power to compel China Telecom “to monitor and investigate foreign individuals and institutions and conduct espionage activities on them” under China’s intelligence and counter-espionage laws.

DITO’s franchise will expire on April 24, 2023. It launched its services on March 8 in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Touch of Class actor George Segal, 87

GEORGE SEGAL, the Oscar-nominated actor who sparred with Richard Burton in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, romanced Glenda Jackson in A Touch of Class, and won laughs in the TV sitcom The Goldbergs, has died at the age of 87.

“The family is devastated to announce that this morning George Segal passed away due to complications from bypass surgery,” his wife Sonia Segal said in a statement on Tuesday.

Charming and witty, Mr. Segal excelled in dramatic and comedic roles, most recently playing laid-back widower Albert “Pops” Solomon on the comedy series The Goldbergs.

“Today we lost a legend,” Adam F. Goldberg, who created the TV series that was based on his own life, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “It was a true honor being a small part of George Segal’s amazing legacy. By pure fate, I ended up casting the perfect person to play Pops. Just like my grandfather, George was a kid at heart with a magical spark,” Mr. Goldberg added.

Mr. Segal’s long time manager Abe Hoch said in a statement that he would miss his friend’s “warmth, humor, camaraderie and friendship. He was a wonderful human.”

Mr. Segal’s acting career began on the New York stage and television in the early 1960s. He quickly moved into films, playing an artist in the star-studded ensemble drama Ship of Fools and a scheming, wily American corporal in a World War Two prisoner-of-war camp in King Rat in 1965.

Two years later he earned an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor in the harrowing, marital drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

“Elizabeth and Richard were the king and queen of the world at that moment and there was a lot of buzz about it,” Mr. Segal told The Daily Beast in 2016. “For me, there was a great satisfaction of being involved with it.”

But it was in comedies that Mr. Segal cemented his star status in a string of films in the 1970s with A-list directors and co-stars such as Ms. Jackson, who won an Oscar for her performance in A Touch of Class.

Mr. Segal played a lawyer in the 1970 dark comedy Where’s Poppa with Ruth Gordon, a gem thief along with Robert Redford in 1972’s The Hot Rock, an out-of-control gambler in Robert Altman’s California Split, and a philandering Beverly Hills divorce attorney in Paul Mazursky’s Blume in Love in 1973.

He starred opposite Jane Fonda in Fun with Dick and Jane, fell for the charms of Barbra Streisand in The Owl and the Pussycat, and played Natalie Wood’s husband in The Last Married Couple in America.

“I always try to find the humor and the irony in whatever character I am playing because I think of myself as a comedic actor,” Mr. Segal said in an interview with the online movie journal filmtalk.org in 2016. “So that makes drama a lot more fun for me by not taking it so seriously, you know.”

He credited an early appearance on the late-night talk show The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson for his switch to comedic roles. “It was the first time that the people who make movies saw me doing comedy and having this funny interchange with Carson,” Mr. Segal told the Orlando Sentinel in 1998.

He said he considered himself lucky in a business that he compared to gambling because you’re always waiting for your lucky number, or a great part, to come up.

He also had a life-long passion for the banjo and performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1981 with his group, the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band.

HITS AND MISSES
George Segal was born on Feb. 13, 1934, in Great Neck, Long Island in New York. Although his ancestors were Russian Jewish immigrants, his family was not religious. In interviews Mr. Segal summed up his Jewish experience as going to a Passover Seder at Groucho Marx’s house where the comedian asked, “When do we get to the wine?”

Mr. Segal was a shy child but said he felt free on the stage. After seeing the film This Gun for Hire  when he was nine years old, he knew he wanted to act. Following a stint in the Army and graduating from Columbia University with a drama degree, he made his film debut in The Young Doctors in 1961.

Two of Segal’s most acclaimed performances — in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and as Biff Loman in the 1966 TV movie of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman — were in roles that actor Robert Redford had turned down.

“I owe Redford a lot. I think I may have thanked him when we did The Hot Rock,” he told Variety in 2017.

When Mr. Segal’s film career waned in the 1980s he appeared in TV films and series before returning to the big screen in supporting roles that included Look Who’s Talking in 1989 and 1996’s The Cable Guy with Jim Carrey.

He found a younger generation of fans as a women’s magazine publisher in the hit TV comedy Just Shoot Me! which ran from 1997 to 2003.

“He could make characters who should have been jerks seem lovable,” producer Steve Levitan, who worked with Mr. Segal on Just Shoot Me, told Variety in a 2017 interview.

Mr. Segal said he did not contemplate retirement because people kept offering him interesting roles. “Being in your 70s is OK but, when you get to your 80s, you get creaky,” he told Variety. “I’ve got my second wind — although I’m not going as fast as I used to.” — Reuters

SMC says northbound section of Skyway Extension ‘structurally complete’

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) on Wednesday said the northbound section of the Skyway Extension project is “structurally” complete.

“I’m happy to announce that soon, we can open the northbound section of the Skyway Extension for our motorists coming from the south,” SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang said in an e-mailed statement.

He said the nearly four-kilometer, three-lane expansion will have an additional capacity of 4,500 vehicles per hour, which should ease congestion and allow motorists to bypass the Alabang viaduct.

“Those coming from SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) or MCX (Muntinlupa–Cavite Expressway) can go up the ramp at Susana Heights, and directly go to Makati, Manila, Skyway 3, all the way to Quezon City and North Luzon Expressway,” Mr. Ang added.

He noted that motorists should be able to reach NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) in 25 to 30 minutes instead of two to three hours. They can also “bypass the usual traffic chokepoints such as Alabang, Magallanes, and EDSA.”

The project aims to extend the Skyway from Susana Heights on SLEX to Sucat and back and provide direct access to the elevated section of the Skyway. Construction of the four-kilometer elevated viaduct started in June 2019.

SMC said the project’s 3.8-kilometer southbound section is now 52.31% finished. Full completion is expected in July this year.

“We would not be where we are today, nearing the full completion and opening of this project, without the cooperation of our motorists, who have had to adjust to new traffic schemes, and the support of our stakeholders in government, as well as the private sector, which accommodated the necessary traffic rerouting schemes,” Mr. Ang said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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