Bernardo leads 6-gold blitz chess rampage

PHNOM PENH—The Philippines scooped up six gold medals in chess yesterday (Thursday) in the 12th ASEAN Para Games at the Royal University here that carved the Filipinos’ historic performance in the biennial competition.

Darry Bernardo led the way by grabbing the men’s individual and team B2B3 gold with Arman Subaste and Menandro Redor to end up with a spectacular six-gold haul—the most by any Filipino here.

Cheyzer Mendoza likewise netted a couple of mints in the women’s individual and team PI with Cheryl Angot and Jean-Lee Nacita to finish with five golds and the second most bemedalled athlete by the country.

Also striking a couple of golds was Sander Severino, who bested Indonesian Maksum Firdaus to claim the individual triumphs as well as the team with Felix Aguilera and Henry Lopez.

The Filipino chessers thus wound up with 13 golds, three more than their effort last year in Surakarta, Indonesia.

“Para sa bayan at pamilya po ng team ito,” said national para chess team coach James Infiesto.

Chess’ magnificence propelled the Philippines’ best performance in the event after snaring 28 a year back in Surakarta, Indonesia.

The Philippines got its 28th gold medal from javelin thrower Andrei Kuizon in the 12th ASEAN Para Games at the Morodok Techo National Stadium here.

Kuizon, a 22-year-old Pampanga native who was plucked out of the wheelchair basketball team, took the mint after organizers decided to separate the winners of his F54 class from F34.

The reigning shot put gold winner was initially awarded the silver Wednesday with a 19.03-meter heave with Vietnamese Vivan Tung seizing the mint with a 21.33m heave.

In swimming at the Morodok Aquatics Center, Gary Bejino and Marco Tinamisan settled for a pair of silver medal finishes in the 100m freestyle S6 and S4, respectively. intermediate host, vector, or the environment; e. Ethnicity – refers to the characteristic of a person or group of persons sharing common and distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic, cultural and indigenous heritage; f. Gender Expression – is how a person publicly presents their gender. This can include behavior and outward appearance such as dress, hair, make up, body language and voice. A person’s chosen name and pronoun are also common ways of expressing gender; g. Gender Identity – the individual’s concept of self as male, female, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or a blend of the foregoing, or neither, and what they call themselves which may be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth; h. Mental Impairment or incapacity – any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities that substantially limits one or more major life functions; i. Physical disability – physical condition including an anatomical loss or musculoskeletal, neurological, respiratory or cardiovascular impairment which results from injury, disease or congenital disorder and which significantly interferes with or significantly limits one or more major life activity of a person; j. Political affiliation or belief – any idea or belief, or coordinated body of ideas or beliefs, relating to the purpose, conduct, organization, function or basis of government and related institutions and activities, whether or not characteristic of any political party or group; k. Profession – an occupation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain; l. Religion – a person’s relation to that which he or she regards as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual or divine, as expressed by his or her identification with, or affiliation, membership or nonmembership to organized religions including but not limited to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, among others; m. Sexual orientation – the inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people; n. Social status – the relative rank that an individual holds, with attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle, in a social hierarchy based upon honor and prestige.

Bejino, who captured two gold medals in record-breaking fashion entering the final day of pool competition, clocked a minute and 15.09 seconds in ending up behind eventual gold medalist Auyng Myint Myat of Myanmar, who timed in 1:14.90.

For Tinamisan, it was a bittersweet effort as he checked in at 1:47.45 and finished behind Vietnam’s Danh Hoa’s 1:36.23.

Section 4. Prohibited Acts. Commission of the following acts on the basis of actual or perceived gender identity and sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, profession, social and civil status, political affiliation or belief, disease, physical disability and mental impairment or incapacity, when applicable, constitute discrimination and are therefore punishable: a. Refusing admission to any public or private educational and/or vocational institution, or subjecting said person to terms and conditions for his acceptance in the said institution which are not imposed on applicants or students similarly situated as him, or limiting the access of a student to any benefit or privilege provided by said educational or vocational institution; b. Denying admission to or expel, dismiss, or prevent a student from graduating or issue clearances to a person from educational institutions including imposing disciplinary sanctions higher than customary or similar penalties, restrictions or prohibitions. The non-admission or expulsion of students and faculty due to pregnancy outside of marriage is likewise punishable under this ordinance; c. Refusing employment to a job applicant, payment of lesser salary, or imposing onerous or additional terms or conditions which are not imposed on another similarly situated; d. Denying or limiting access to an employee, opportunities for promotion, transfer, training, schooling or to any other benefit which are not imposed on another similarly situated; e. Denying benefits or access to public programs and services, including medical and other health services; f. Refusing to provide goods or services including transport, and/or imposing onerous terms or conditions as requisite for providing goods or services where such terms and conditions are not imposed on another person under the same circumstance; g. Refusing or failing to allow any person to avail services or accommodations in stores, theaters, malls, spas, parlors, studios, or apartments, condominiums, townhouses, flats, hotels, inns, dormitories and any other places of dwelling being rented out to the public or for a fee; refusing or failing to attend to or serve the orders of food, drinks, beverages, and other goods, consumable and non-consumable, to any person; h. Revoking any accreditation, recognition, registration of any organization in educational institutions, workplaces and communities; denying an application for a license, clearance, certification, or any other document issued by government authorities or other private juridical entities; i. Subjecting either by verbal or written word or publication, to ridicule or insult or attributing despicable behavior and habits or associating with violence and criminal activities, any person or group of persons; subjecting a person to physical or verbal harassment, profiling, unjust detention and involuntary confinement; j. By doing any other analogous act which demeans the dignity and self-respect of a person or impairs, mars, reduces, or nullifies the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of his human and legal rights and basic freedoms in the political, labor, economic, social, cultural and educational spheres;

Section 5. Where and How to file a complaint. Any person, whose rights against discrimination as defined under this Ordinance has been violated, may file a complaint before the barangay in whose jurisdiction the acts of discrimination took place, or where the complainant or any of the parties reside; PROVIDED, that the parties are residents of this Province, or are residents of adjoining barangays one being one municipality and the other in another municipality and the parties thereto agree to submit their differences under the jurisdiction of the barangay within the province. Whereupon, the complaint shall undergo the process of mediation, conciliation or arbitration as provided for under the provisions of Katarungang Pambarangay as enshrined under Chapter 7, Title One, Book III of Republic Act No 7160, known as the Local Government Code of 1991, which shall govern the procedure on the initiation and filing of the formal complaint before the courts for the violation of this Ordinance.

Section 6. Direct Filing with the Court. If under the attending circumstances, the case is one which cannot be taken cognizance by the barangay under Section 408 of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code and other relevant circulars and issuances of the Supreme Court, the complaint shall be filed directly with the Municipal Trial Court, the offense not being one which requires preliminary investigation;

Section 7. Prosecution of Offenses on behalf of Minor Victims. In the prosecution of offenses under this ordinance, the provisions of the Rules of Court in the prosecution on behalf of the victims who are minors, or are mentally incapacitated, shall apply.

Section 8. Anti-Discrimination Programs. The Province of Davao del Sur shall endeavor to ensure that discrimination is prevented and effectively addressed through capacity building, information campaign, encouraging studies on nature and prevalence of discrimination, data banking, discrimination and stigma monitoring, policy review and conducting anti-discrimination seminars.

Section 9. Creation of the Anti-Discrimination Council. There shall be created an AntiDiscrimination Council at the Provincial Level and Municipal/City Level which shall oversee the effective implementation of this Ordinance.

The different Municipality/City Councils shall submit quarterly monitoring reports to the Provincial Council which shall serve as the basis of the Provincial Anti-Discrimination Council in coming up with measures or policies, revisions or amendments as necessary.

Section 10. Composition of the Provincial Anti-Discrimination Council. The Anti-Discrimination Council shall be composed of the following:

Chairperson : Governor

Vice Chairperson : Vice Governor

Members : Sangguniang Panlalawigan - Chairperson of the Committee on Education

Sangguniang Panlalawigan - Chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Employment

Sangguniang Panlalawigan - Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights and Social Welfare

Sangguniang Panlalawigan - Chairperson of the Committee on Indigenous Peoples

Sangguniang Panlalawigan – Chairperson of the Committee on Women, Family, Children and Senior Citizens

Provincial Legal Officer

Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer

Provincial Employment Service Office Manager

Provincial Governor’s Office – Office of the Special Programs

Gender and Development Provincial Focal Person

Provincial SK Federation President

Provincial ABC President

Provincial President-Philippine Councilors League

Provincial Director, Philippine National Police

Provincial Prosecutor

Schools

Division Superintendent of Davao del Sur

Representative from State and Private Colleges

Representative from DOLE Provincial Office

Head of the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO)

Representative, Provincial Chaplaincy

Representative, Office of Muslim Affairs

Representative, Philippine Youth Association

Section 11. Functions of the Anti-Discrimination Council: a. Monitor complaints concerning violations of any provisions of this Ordinance; b. Facilitate and assist the victims of stigma and discrimination to ensure that they have legal representation, counseling and psychological assistance; c. Maintain discrimination documentation, case monitoring system, and setup a databank to easily access various cases and experiences of stigma and discrimination; d. Recommend to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan anti-discrimination policies and programs; e. Draft the anti-discrimination campaign, education and action plan; f. Monitor or review all policies embodied in resolutions, ordinances and codes and other policy documents to determine if they are free from discriminatory statements and provisions and undertake necessary amendments of those provisions to effectively eliminate discrimination; g. Such others as may be necessary to carry out the mandate as provided for under Section 8 of this Ordinance.

Section 12. Regular Meeting of the Council. The Provincial Anti-Discrimination Council shall meet at least once every quarter, or as often as the Chairperson may summon or convene the members to tackle important matters.

Section 13. Implementing Agencies. The Provincial Anti-Discrimination Council through the Provincial Social Welfare & Development Office, in coordination with other Government Agencies and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) supporting anti-discrimination advocacy, shall be directly and primarily responsible for the implementation of the provisions of this Ordinance.

Section 14. Commemoration of Anti-Discrimination Advocacy Programs. The last week of the Month of May is hereby declared as Anti-Discrimination Week in the entire Province to commemorate significant events in the implementation of the province’s advocacy programs established to eliminate discrimination.

The Commemoration of significant events shall also include those advocacy programs implemented by the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), Provincial AIDS Council, and advocacy campaign of the LGBTQ community in the Province.

Section 15. Penalties. Except for violations under the Labor Code of the Philippines involving the rights of women workers and employees which shall be punishable under the Law, and for violation under Republic Act 7610, otherwise known as Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act involving the rights of children of Indigenous Communities which are punishable under the said Act, offenses under this Ordinance shall be penalized with a fine of Five Thousand (5,000.00) Pesos and/or imprisonment of not less than three (3) months but not more than one (1) year, in addition to undergoing a mandatory Anti-Discrimination Seminar.

Section 16. Person Liable. If the violator is a juridical person, the penalty of imprisonment as the case may be, shall be imposed on the president, manager, executive officer or person responsible for its operation, or head of the Local Government Unit. In the case of residential building or household, the penalty shall be imposed on the head of the family or household.

Section 17. Appropriation. For the effective implementation of the Programs and Activities of this Ordinance, the Provincial Anti-Discrimination Council shall be provided with personnel and equipment from available government funds and resources, subject to existing government budget, accounting and auditing rules and regulations.

Section 18. Information Campaign. Within thirty (30) days from the approval of this Ordinance, the Provincial Information Office shall conduct a Province-wide information campaign to appraise the public of the provisions of this Ordinance.

Section 19. Effectivity. This Ordinance shall take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of local circulation.

Certified True and Correct:

Attested and Certified to be Duly Ordained:

Approved by:

Date Approved: _____________________________