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AUGUST 17, 2018
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VOL. 8 NO. 333
MORNING TRAFFIC BLUES
Hundreds of passengers and slow-moving vehicles crowd the intersection of Marcos Highway and Mayor Gil Fernando Avenue in Marikina City. Story on page 7.
Duterte ready to resign if Escudero, Marcos to lead BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer THE PRESIDENT will only step down from his Chief Executive post if someone “like” Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero or former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will be his successor.
JOEY O. RAZON / PNA
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This was according to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the dinner with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) on Tuesday, August 14. This followed after his speech prior to the dinner in which he said he “had enough” and was ready to resign from his Presidency. “What is inside me is not really anger
Mayor Sara’s ‘Hugpong’ inks alliance with 9 political parties
16 The young karateka: Tiffany Jiloca
❱❱ PAGE 12 Duterte ready
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Report finds hundreds of Manitoba civil servants have experienced harassment
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Nothing illegal in P60-M ad placement deal, Teo asserts BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Former Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary, Wanda TulfoTeo, faced the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Tuesday and asserted that there was “nothing illegal” in the PHP60 million paid by the agency to place advertisements in state-run PTV-4’s program, “Kilos Pronto”, which is hosted by her brother, Ben Tulfo. “I can say that there is nothing illegal in the said contract. The transaction was between DOT and PTV-4. It is a government-to-government contract within the executive department and all payments were paid directly to PTV-4,” Teo said in her opening statement during the Senate Blue Ribbon panel hearing into the controversial ad placement deal. Teo said all DOT programs and activities under her term were conducted and implemented “within the bounds of law” and stressed that the ad placement deal went through “proper channels.” She said the proposal for the ad place-
ment went through the Bids and Awards Committee and was eventually approved until a memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed between the agency and PTV-4 on March 15, 2017. Ben Tulfo vowed to “uphold the truth” by clearing his name and in proving that “suspicions” about his involvement in corruption were false. He also lamented how his brother, Erwin Tulfo, was dragged into the controversy. Erwin admitted he was a “talent” of Bitag Media Unlimited, Inc., but did not participate in the decision-making process involving the ad placement deal. Unaware
Teo also claimed that she did not know that “Kilos Pronto” is a show hosted by her brothers and only knew that her brother, Ben Tulfo, owned the production company, Bitag. “Di ko po alam na si Ben Tulfo ay Kilos Pronto (I didn’t know that Ben Tulfo hosts Kilos Pronto). All I know is Bitag,” Teo said, adding that she had no time to watch television. She pointed out that the ad placements were done at PTV-4’s discretion
Former Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo.
DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM / FACEBOOK
since the show had high ratings. he added. “That contract was between PTV and DOT, beyond that ’di ko alam kung ‘Something good’ saan ilalagay ng PTV ‘yung ads namin (I DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulodidn’t know where PTV would place the Puyat, meanwhile, vowed to fully coopads). Had I known it, I would not have erate in the investigations conducted by signed the contract,” she added. the Commission on Audit (COA) and the PTV-4 General Manager Dino Apolo- Office of the Ombudsman (COA). nio confirmed that it was the state-run “As current DOT Secretary, I have television network that pitched the idea pledged, and will continue to pledge, my, of placing the advertisements in the as well as the whole DOT’s full cooperatime slot of “Kilos Pronto.” tion with these constitutionally desigSenator Richard Gordon, Senate Blue nated authorities, the Commission on Ribbon Committee Audit and Ombudschairperson, said he man,” Puyat said. found it “strange” She said that if that Teo did not know there was one good about her brother’s thing that came out TV show. It is a of the controverMeanwhile, oppogovernmentsial contracts and sition Senator Anto-government the DOT being untonio Trillanes IV contract within der scrutiny, it was said he found Teo’s the executive the need for certain explanation “hard to department reforms within the believe.” and all agency. payments were At present, she Not returning paid directly to said, the DOT has raAsked by SenaPTV-4. tionalized guidelines tor Risa Hontiveros on the grant of fiif she believed that nancial sponsorships her brothers should to tourism-related return the PHP60 events and on travel million paid by the DOT, Teo said they of DOT officials and employees. should not return it. The agency is also “more conscious” It may be recalled that Teo’s former on DOT’s compliance with Republic Act lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said the Tul- No. 9184 or the Government Procurefos were supposed to return the money ment Reform Act. although it was not clear as to which Puyat said her agency also remains agency. open to any suggestion for reforms that Ben Tulfo, however, said returning may be discussed during the hearing. the money was tantamount to admitting Earlier, the COA described the ad that he “did something illegal.” placement deal as a possible violation “That would extinguish the legality of of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices my contract with PTV-4. So now return- Act. ing the money is tantamount to saying COA said it was conflict of interest we did something illegal,” Tulfo said. since the DOT, then led by Teo, paid “Wala po sa isip ko ang pagsasauli da- PHP60 million for the ad placements in hil wala akong ginawang iligal (It did a show produced by her brothers. not cross my mind to return the money Teo eventually tendered her resignabecause I did not do anything illegal),” tion following the COA report. ■
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Philippine News
FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
PH ‘making ripples’ in gender works: PCW BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippines has made ripples in gender works for over a decade and since the Magna Carta of Women was passed nine years ago, a Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) official said Tuesday. Citing the 2017 Global Gender Gap Index, Emmeline Verzosa, executive director of the PCW, said the Philippines tops in Asia in terms of gender equality. “In my 18 years in PCW and three decades of GAD work, I can say that we have indeed created ripples, not just in the Philippine but also in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Pacific, we are recognized,” she said in a speech. In a separate interview, she told the Philippine News Agency that the ASEAN, in a way, had been looking up to the Philip-
pines in terms of gender mainstreaming. “It seemed they are looking up at us with the tools we have, for example the gender analysis tools and the frameworks we have in place,” she said. To recall, the Philippines, through the PCW, organized the “Senior Officials Conference on Gender Mainstreaming in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Sectoral Bodies” in June 2018. The conference was able to produce a gender mainstreaming action plan crafted by senior officials from 12 sectoral bodies of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). The initiative is among the series of conferences to be held in Manila, the other two for the bloc’s remaining pillars: the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). At domestic level, Verzosa listed accomplishments in the implementation of the Magna Carta of Wom-
en. Among them is that out of 42,000 barangays in the country, 90 percent now have violence against women desk in place as of June 2018. Nine years since the passage, Verzosa said the PCW remains committed in making the Magna Carta of Women tangible to its main beneficiaries. “We’ll continue to push forward the priorities for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. We hope that next years, we’ll see results,” she said. “Outcomes and results are what we expect to see next year, if the women’s lives have improved, if the men have been more respectful towards them, etc.,” she added. At the reception, the PCW also launched a gender mainstreaming tool called the “GADtimpala” for national government agencies, a reward system to offices that implement Gender and Development policies efficiently. ■
Lapeña rejects quit calls amid entry of P6.8-B shabu to PH BY FERDINAND PATINIO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Isidro Lapeña on Monday shrugged off calls for his resignation, noting that his stint as the bureau’s head is up to President Rodrigo Duterte. “I serve under the pleasure of the President,” he said in a press conference after the inspection of seized illegal rice shipment worth PHP125 million at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) Monday morning. Lapeña also said there is no communication gap between the BOC and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), in connection with the discovery of four magnetic lifters reportedly containing one ton of shabu estimated to be
worth PHP6.8 billion in Cavite. “I could have alerted all the container vans at that time if I just received that information,” Lapena said. According to reports, PDEA said that it did not pass the information to the BOC since they have to validate the raw data they received. Prior to the discovery of the magnetic lifters in Cavite, the BOC and PDEA presented two magnetic lifters containing some 500 kilos of shabu worth PHP4.3 billion seized at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) last August 8. The BOC was able to identify the consignee of the four magnetic lifters as SMYD Trading with office address at 6th floor, Suite 605A Victoria Building, 4239 UN Avenue, Barangay 666, Manila, based on their backtracking investigation. ■
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‘Trabaho’ bill reaches House plenary BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency MANILA — The administration’s second tax reform package which aims to lower corporate income taxes (CIT) and modernize incentives was sponsored before the plenary of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. House ways and means committee chairman Dakila Cua endorsed for plenary consideration House Bill No 8083 or the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher Quality Opportunities (TRABAHO) bill. During his speech, Cua said the Trabaho bill does not impose new taxes, but instead aims to create more jobs by attracting the right set of investments through incentives. “Ang layunin po nito ay ang paglikha ng mas maraming trabaho at oportunidad sa ating bansa sa pamamagitan ng paghikayat sa pribadong sektor na tumaya at mamuhunan sa Pilipinas at palaguin ang kanilang negosyo rito (The goal of this bill is to create more jobs and opportunities in our country by encouraging the private sector to bet, invest, and grow their businesses here in the Philippines),” Cua said. From the current base rate of 30 percent, the bill seeks to gradually lower corporate income tax to 20 percent by 2029. It proposes to bring down the CIT by two percentages per year starting in 2021. It aims to lower the CIT paid by some 95 percent of businesses. Cua said the proposed incentives regime will be biased to development outside urban areas. The bill gives new investments out-
Dakila Cua.
side urban areas an additional two years of incentives. “Ang gusto po natin ay trabaho sa bawat sulok ng Pilipinas. Kailangangkailangan po natin ng investments sa labas ng lungsod, lalong-lalo na sa agrikultura, upang sabay-sabay tayong makinabang sa paglago ng bansa (What we want is to create jobs in every corner of the Philippines. We really need investments outside of urban areas, especially in agriculture, so that all of us could benefit from the country’s development),” Cua said. Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, another sponsor of the measure, said the second tax reform package aims to “enhance fairness, improve competitiveness, plug tax leakages and achieve fiscal sustainability” by reforming the corporate income tax system. “This proposed measure is crucial and vital to the agenda of the Duterte administration, which includes infrastructure development, education for all, access to health care and social protection,” Suansing said. Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has cited the bill as a priority of the lower chamber. President Rodrigo Duterte, in his third State of the Nation Address, said the enactment of the Package 2 is what stands between today and millions of jobs in the near future. “I hope to sign Package 2 before the year ends. I urge Congress to pass it in a form that satisfies our goals and serves the interests of the many, not just the wealthy few,” he said. The President also asked Congress to pass all the remaining packages of the CTRP within this year. ■
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AFP welcomes relief of erring officials, personnel in health units BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday said it welcomes President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s relief and court martial order against the commanding officers of the AFP Health Services Command (HSC) and AFP Medical Center (also known as the V. Luna Hospital) and 20 others for their alleged involvement in anomalous transactions. “The AFP welcomes the pronouncement made by Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque relieving from his post Brig. Gen. Edwin Leo Torrelavega, the Commander of the AFP Health Services Command and Col. Antonio Punzalan, the Commander of V. Luna Hospital, for them and around 20 others to face court martial proceedings,” AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said. The relief of these officials stemmed from the outcome of two different but parallel investigations ordered by the AFP chief. “The task to thoroughly collect material and relevant information regarding the case started sometime in the month of May 2018. The results of which I transmitted to Malacañang by way of a letter to the President sometime this month (August),” the AFP chief added. The case will be tried under the military justice system and the accused will be proceeded against in court martial proceedings where they will be given the opportunity to be heard. Galvez said these personnel will be
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charged with violation of Article of War 95 (Fraud Against the Government). He, however, said this is without prejudice to other infractions of the Articles of War that may have also been violated; and the accused military personnel’s right to due process. “As the AFP chief-of-staff and like our Commander-in Chief, President Rodrigo Duterte, I am both saddened and offended by this report. I am not prejudging the named Officers and Enlisted Personnel as the would-be recommendations of the courts martial will be submitted to me for approval and further submission to the Commander-in-Chief for final approval,” he added. “But I commit to the members of the AFP, to the Filipino People, and to our beloved President and Commanderin-Chief that I will render justice to all concerned without undue haste. As the President said during the last SONA (State-of-the-Nation Address) corruption is corrosive. And the warning that— ‘I will get you!’ And I am one with him in that desire. At ito na yun,” Galvez said. In line with this and based on the investigation, the AFP chief bared that he will order that reforms be instituted in the AFPHSC along with a major revamp in that unit to address the systemic corruption. “I will cause the installation only of officers and staff with the necessary qualifications, competencies, integrity, and unquestionable reputation, to run this institution which is vital to the health and well-being of our personnel and their dependents,” Galvez added. ■
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Poe questions effectivity of single-passenger car ban on EDSA BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer METRO MANILA Development Authority (MMDA) should explain further to the public, especially the motorists, its proposal to ban single-passenger vehicles on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) during rush hours, Senator Grace Poe said on Tuesday, August 14. The public, according to Poe, should know what made the Metro Manila Council (MMC) think that the ban could really ease traffic congestion all throughout Metro Manila. “What makes them so absolutely sure that their proposal will work? What was the result of the trial conducted in December last year?” the senator asked. “Was it effective? Did it considerably reduce traffic?” she added. The MMDA earlier announced that only high occupancy vehicles (HOV) or vehicles carrying two or more passengers would be allowed to traverse EDSA during rush hours or from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The agency decided to propose the policy after it found that 70 percent of vehicles travelling along EDSA only had one driver.
Poe said the MMDA should have considered this 70 percent of EDSA motorists who will be affected by the ban. “They are probably the working solo parents, parents who have to drop their kids along their way to work, spouses who live in the same city but work in different cities, young professionals or workers who cannot afford to hire their own drivers and yet are required to be on time in their offices,” she stressed. The senator added that the MMDA better make sure that the inner city, barangay roads, and the main thoroughfares around Metro Manila, apart from EDSA, could handle the affected motorists because if not, “we will just be replicating the horrors of EDSA traffic everywhere.” Opposition Senator Leila de Lima earlier said the government cannot always try its ‘luck’ by conducting a trial-anderror in resolving the country’s unending traffic problem. She added that the MMDA’s latest traffic scheme might give rise to “passengers-for-hire” or the “car jockeys,” who are willing to risk their own safety by hopping into a stranger’s car just to get paid. Meanwhile, many Filipinos also took to Twitter their grievances and concerns about the
Hundreds of commuters along Marcos Highway in Antipolo City have a difficult time finding a ride. JOEY O. RAZON / PNA
ban. Twitter user @HowardStevennn posted, ”Natatawa ako sa single driver ban, single ka na nga ‘di ka pa pwedeng mag-isa (This single driver ban is funny. You are already single, yet you cannot be alone).” Another user @AnrolHere said, “In line with the new regulation on EDSA traffic, I am now developing a dating app called ‘Hitch;’ open lang para sa mga single driver at (open only for single drivers and) actively looking for dates.” “That single driver ban to prevent traffic is the most ridiculous thing ever. Ang tatamad
magisip ng konkretong solusyon (They are very lazy to think of a concrete solution). Make public transportation better dahil yan lang ang solusyon (because that is the only solution)!” netizen @marieSG19 tweeted. While some are criticizing the said proposal, others expressed support on the move. “Single driver ban during rush hour is actually a good idea. ‘Yung mga nag-iinarte, umalis ng mas maaga/mas late or magcarpooling (Those who do not want it, leave your house early/late or just do carpooling),” Twitter user @JoeGabJoeGab.
Netizen @randomsalt posted, “Good move on driver-only cars, but bad move on provincial buses. How will the gaps between the old and new terminals be closed? (Also: private cars are largely responsible for EDSA traffic jams by their mere existence, kthx).” Moreover, @iamwelldon tweeted, “I’m ok with single only car ban at Edsa if @MMDA wants it. I want space even for [a] few hours.” There is no advice yet on when will the scheme be implemented but the MMDA will start its dry-run on Wednesday, August 15. ■
Palace hails PH’s ‘very high’ UN e-Participation ranking BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang on Monday welcomed the “very high” ranking scored by the Philippines in the 2018 United Nations E-Participation Index where the country ranked 19th out of 193 countries. Data from the UN E-Participation Index showed the Philippines leaping 48 notches to 19th from the 67th ranking it posted two years ago. “We welcome the results of the 2018 United Nations E-Participation Index (EPI) where the Philippines scored a ‘very high EPI,’” Presidential
Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing. “Specifically, the country ranked 19th out of 193 countries. This is a huge improvement compared to the country’s 2016 EPI rank of 67,” he added. Roque said EPI specifically measures the government’s efforts in using online services/ tools to enhance access to information and public services, and to promote better public policy decision-making. He, meanwhile, expressed hope that the Philippines will get a “better ranking” with the passage of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act.
Last May, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 which amends the RA 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. Under the new law, government agencies are required to process simple transactions within three days, complete transactions in seven days, and highly technical transactions in 20 days. It will also limit to a maximum of three the number of signatories for applications for licenses, clearances, permits, certifications and authorizations. www.canadianinquirer.net
Duterte said one of the most important features of the law is “the standardization of the processing time for government transactions.” Coffee self-sufficiency
Roque, meanwhile, lauded the decision of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allot PHP354.6 million to boost the country’s coffee production to 214,626 metric tons by year 2022. He described this effort as “part of the goals of the Philippine Coffee Industry Roadmap 2017-2012 in achieving to make the country coffee self-sufficient.” According to Roque, this
roadmap is a collaboration between the DA and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) meant to help coffee farmers attain inclusive growth through a value chain approach. It will also increase and sustain yields and incomes, improve farm productivity and enhance farmer’s capabilities and skills. DA Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said his agency is also exerting effort to ensure that both traditional and additional interventions that are in line with the coffee roadmap are sufficiently funded. ■
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AUGUST 17, 2018
Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
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Mayor Sara’s ‘Hugpong’ inks alliance with 9 political parties BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency
in a media interview. Mayor Sara said the HNP was formed as a regional political party only last February after politicians outside Davao City expressed their intention to join the Hugpong ng Taong Lungsod. “Officials from other municipalities and cities in the region asked me if they can join the Hugpong ng Taong Lungsod but I told them we cannot help them because we are limited only to (our) area of responsibility (in) Davao (City),” she explained. The HNP, she said, eventually decided to ink an alliance with political parties outside Davao as more groups, this time outside the region, also expressed their intention to be part of HNP. “I brought it up with the leaders of the region and they said we cannot say ‘no’ to the people who wanted to help our President. So they said, and it (HNP) is their brainchildren, we will have alliances with national parties so that those who have no national parties, they can now choose if they want (to be an) NPC, NP or NU member,” Mayor Sara said. She told the media that President Duterte has no role in the new alliance agreement but “we would like to have an alliance” with the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
possible alliance with the Liberal Party of former President Benigno Aquino III, Mayor Sara replied, “The LP group is not supportive of the direction of President MANILA — Hugpong Ng Pagbabago Duterte.” (HNP), a young and fast-emerging re“So the reason why we have this alligional political party from Davao, on ance, the reason why we are united toMonday formally forged an alliance with gether is because we want to support the nine political groups, three of which term of President Duterte until 2022,” were national parties. she said. HNP chairperson and Davao City MayShe noted that she nearly cancelled or Inday Sara Z. Duterte clarified that the the signing of the alliance agreement alliance was made — not for her political to sympathize with the thousands of ambition — but to give different groups a people affected by widespread flooding chance to support the advocacies of her caused by the southwest monsoon rains father, President Rodrigo Duterte. in Metro Manila over the weekend. “I’m not running for senator. We’re “Many have complained because just really trying to unite everybody some were already here in Manila since who wants to help the administration of Saturday and they have already spent a President Duterte until 2022,” the preslot. So I would like to express my apolidential daughter said in her speech durogy for the timing,” she said, adding ing the signing of the alliance agreement that partners of the alliance have raised in Parañaque City. PHP1 million in financial assistance for The three national parties that have the flood victims, particularly in Quezon allied themselves with HNP are the NaCity and Pampanga. cionalista Party (NP), National Unity Mayor Sara handed the financial aid Party (NUP), and the Nationalist Peoto Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda of ple’s Coalition (NPC), which are among Kambihan and Quezon City Vice Mayor the biggest political parties in the counJoy Belmonte of SBP. try. Thanking the representatives and On the other hand, the six local politimembers of each political group for cal groups are the Bohol-based Alyansa coming despite the bad weather, she Bol-anon Alang sa said: “We truly apKausaban (KABApreciate your coming KA); Aggrupation of to support the alliParty for Progress ance signing.” (APP) from ZamboSo the reason why we have this alliance, the Aside from Pineda anga del Norte; Iloreason why we are united together is because and Belmonte, Senacano Timpuyog from we want to support the term of President tor Cynthia Villar Ilocos Norte; PamDuterte until 2022. also came over to panga Kambilan; Pasign the agreement Dayon Pilipino from for NP; Zamboanga Region 10 (Northern del Norte 1st District Mindanao); and Serbisyo sa Bayan Party “But our governors and other leaders Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos for APP; (SBP) from Quezon City. said they (PDP-Laban) have to settle Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos Mayor Sara said the alliance would (their) internal problem. So once it is for Ilocano Timpuyog; House of Rephelp politicians at the local level to find a settled by the President, then we will resentatives Deputy Speaker Fredenil national political party they would want open because we need other national Castro for NUP; Mark Llando Mendoza to join. parties that are allied (with the Presi- for NPC; Nadya Emano-Elipe for Pa“This is our solution to those who are dent),” the Davao City mayor said. Dayon Pilipino; and Norris Oculam for not residents of Davao region,” she said When asked if HNP is also open to ABAKA. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
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Federalism concerns ‘not insurmountable’: Palace BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte is “aware”of concerns of both his economic managers and business groups that a shift to federalism would be risky but noted that these concerns were “not insurmountable.” Earlier, Philippine economic managers urged lawmakers to carefully review the proposed shift to a federal system of government. Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III earlier said he found the fiscal provisions in the draft federal Constitution as confusing and sought for clarification on revenue and expenditure assignments. National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Ernesto Pernia also said the shift might be too costly and may disrupt economic momentum. At least seven business groups, in a joint statement, echoed concerns of the economic experts about “ambiguous provisions” on the division of revenue and expenditure responsibilities between federal government and its federated regions. These groups include Cebu Business Club, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., and Phil-
ippine Exporters Confederation Inc. “He is now aware of this concern. And he has said that it is not insurmountable,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told a Palace briefing. Roque said Duterte has been listening to all inputs and is “looking for solutions.” Although the President is the foremost proponent of Charter change towards federalism, Roque said he wants it done in a manner that will not “put the country in trouble.” “That’s why he is exploring now all options and has ordered that everyone should study it,” Roque said. Roqe said Duterte is asking members of the Congress to look into the matter very seriously because ultimately, it is Congress that will submit to the people the proposals. “Pupuwede naman po iyan pag-aralan at hanapan ng solusyon. Hindi naman po complete na balakid iyan para sa Charter change (It can be studied and we can find solutions. It’s not a complete obstacle to Charter change),” Roque said. Roque reiterated that discussions on federalism are always welcome from everyone. “We want this kind of discussion. We want people to think deeply about the ramifications. And we welcome all sorts of inputs from all members of society,” Roque said. “So this is, of course, an input that the President will consider. And we’re hoping that the legislatures who will tackle Char-
PH optimistic of ‘better ties’ with next UN rights chief BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang on Monday expressed optimism that the Duterte administration will forge better relations with the next United Nations’ High Commissioner on Human Rights. Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet was chosen by UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Gutteres to be the next UN rights chief, following consultations with the chairs of regional groups of member states. On Wednesday, he formally notified the UN General Assembly of the selection. In a press conference, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque congratulated Bachelet. “She was elected and we congratulate her.”
Roque said the election may have been the result of a “compromise,” after the withdrawal of the United States from the UN Human Rights Council. “I would say that the entire community of states perhaps elected her for a reason, noting that the United States opted to withdraw from the UNHRC. I think the election of the new high commissioner of human rights is a result of compromise,” he said. “We’re optimistic we will have better relations with the new high commissioner,” he added. Bachelet served as the President of Chile between 2006-2010 and from 2014 to 2018. She will succeed Jordan’s Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, who will step down by end of August after a four-year stint at the UN office. ■
Despite the rain, President Rodrigo R. Duterte boards the carabao jeep to lead the trooping of the line during the 117th Police Service Anniversary at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters. Joining the President is PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde. RICHARD MADELO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
ter change will also consider the position of the business community,” he added. The Consultative Committee (ConCom), which drafted the federal constitution, earlier allayed fears of the economic managers, noting “the fiscal administration is quite clear in the draft Constitution.” ConCom spokesperson Ding Generoso said under the ConCom’s draft federal charter, the federal (national) government retains the taxation power, except for selected taxes and fees wherein the
collection of which will be transferred to the regional governments. Sharing of the collections from top four sources of revenues shall be 50 percent for the federal government and 50 percent for the regional governments, he said. Internal revenue allotment will no longer be a concern of the federal government since the power to distribute the shares of local government units will belong to the regional government, he added. ■
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Philippine News
Gov’t to finalize federalism jingle this week BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency
PCOO Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson is still welcome to help promote federalism awareness as long as it is within the interMANILA — A new jingle pre- agency’s “official line.” pared by the government to “Nobody’s excluded from promote federalism may be fi- this. It’s everyone’s right to join nalized this week, Presidential the campaign on federalism. Communications Operations Volunteers are welcome as long Office (PCOO) Secretary Mar- as we follow the official line tin Andanar said Tuesday. of the inter-agency,” Andanar “We’re finalizing our inputs said. sa jingle. Kailangan may hook “No one is being asked to stay yung kanta (in our jingle. The away. Federalism is for every song needs a hook),” Andanar Filipino. Basta kung ano ‘yung told reporters in an interview mapag-usapan sa inter-agency, before the start of the Sen- yun lang ang masusunod (But ate Blue Ribwe’ll be stickbon Committee ing to what is hearing into the agreed in the inPHP60 million ter-agency),” he ad placement added. deal between the It’s Malacañang, Department of everyone’s for its part, said Tourism (DOT) right to it is taking the and state-run join the controversial PTV-4. campaign on federalism jingle “We should be federalism. as a challenge to able to finalize “transform” new it this coming interest on fedWednesday,” he eralism into exadded. plaining how this According to proposed system Andanar, the new jingle will be of government will benefit Filiprepared by the Department of pinos. the Interior and Local Govern“That’s the challenge now — ment (DILG) with inputs from How to transform this new inthe PCOO. terest on federalism spurned by He also assured that the new this controversy in explaining jingle will have to receive ap- why we want this change to the proval from the inter-agency Constitution towards federaltask force on federalism before ism,” Roque said. it is released. “Try to make the most out of “Any media tactic, strategy, the controversy and explain the content that will go through positive side of federalism — e federalism campaign will have naririyan na iyan eh. Hindi mo to go through the inter-agency,” naman mababalik ang panaAndanar said. hon ‘no para burahin iyan (It’s Asked if the new jingle will already there. We can’t turn also have dance moves, he said: back time and erase what hap“It’s possible.” pened),” he added. ■ Andanar, meanwhile, said
AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
Palace alarmed over ‘new modus’ in drug trade BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang on Tuesday expressed alarm over the discovery of the multibillion-peso “shabu” shipment last week. “Nakaalarma po dahil meron silang (drug syndicates) bagong modus na ginagawa ngayon. (This is alarming because they have new modus now),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing. He urged the authorities to be more vigilant to prevent the entry of illegal drugs into the country. “So sa atin po, kinakailangan na laging alisto dahil meron talagang bagong pamamaraan na gagamitin para makapasok ang droga (So we need to always be alert because there are doing new ways to bring illegal drugs into the country,” Roque said. Roque said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a thorough investigation on the smuggled shabu in the country. “The Executive Secretary has ordered the NBI to conduct a thorough investigation on this matter. This was personally relayed to me by the ES yesterday (Monday) afternoon,” he said. Roque said he has yet to know how President Rodrigo Duterte reacted on the discovery of four magnetic lifters reportedly containing one-ton of approximately worth Php6.8 billion in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite last week. “Well hindi ko po alam kung nagalit siya, dahil quite frankly I did not see the President yesterday; I will see him today. Pero my understanding is of course, this is a reason for alarm dahil
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Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. PCOO
malaki po iyong nahuli (I still don’t know if he is angry because quite frankly I did not see the President yesterday. I will see him today. But my understanding is of course, this is a cause for alarm because this is a big catch),” Roque said. Last week, agents of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have also intercepted Php4.3 billion 500 kilograms of shabu also hidden inside two magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in Manila. The shabu shipment in Cavite reportedly originated from the same port that the joint BOC and PDEA agents seized the contraband containing Php4.3 billion worth of shabu. According to initial investigation of the Customs bureau, the consignee of the four magnetic lifters discovered in Cavite has been identified as SMYD Trading with office address in Manila.
In 2016, government agents seized Php6.4 billion of shabu in a warehouse in Valenzeula City three days after the contraband reportedly left the MICP. Roque said the government will continue to strengthen its war against illegal drugs launched by the Chief Executive right after he assumed presidency in July 2016. “So kami po nagagalak kami na nahuli itong napakalaking shipment na ito, at titingnan po natin kung paano nga maiiwasan itong mga pangyayaring (We are happy that this big shipment was seized and we will look into how these incidents will be prevented),” Roque said. ■
Philippine News
FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
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Roque: Uson to become ‘irrelevant’ if she disregards criticism BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON Harry Roque Jr. believes that Assistant Secretary (ASec) Margaux “Mocha” Uson of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) will become ‘irrelevant’ if she would continue to disregard public disagreement over her actions. “She will pay a very heavy price if she does not control herself because I think a very big chunk of the population have expressed disagreement over what she’s doing and if she continues to ignore this, she will become irrelevant,” Roque told ANC’s Headstart on Monday, August 14.
“So if she wants to be equally popular today as she was in the past, then she will attune her communication to what the public needs and wants,” he added. Asked if Uson is “above reproach,” Roque answered, “She’s not. Why? Because people have been very vocal about their disapproval of her actions and I think that is the way to hold her responsible for her acts.” “That’s the philosophy behind the free market place of ideas, which is important in freedom of expression. You are free to say anything and everything, but don’t expect the public to love everything that you say,” he continued. Uson and blogger Drew Olivar recently drew flak from
the public and some government officials—including senators — over their controversial ’Ipepe-dede-ralismo’ video, where Olivar was seen singing and dancing as he gestures to his crotch and chest areas. Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Director General Harold Clavite earlier found Uson’s video not only an ‘insult’ to their profession in communication and public information, but also ‘degrading’ women and mothers. He then urged the ASec to issue a public apology and go on leave. Aside from Olivar, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo also said Uson and Olivar were not helping the image of President Rodrigo Duterte. Uson, for her part, previously clarified that the viral video was
Communications ASec Mocha Uson.
taken even before the Consultative Committee (Con-com) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) asked her to help in the federalism campaign.
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Olivar also responded to the criticisms saying that there were a lot of trivia about federalism that was mentioned in the video. ■
Info in nat’l ID system secured: DOJ BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — The information that will be stored in the national ID system cannot be accessed by anyone unless they get permission from concerned owner. This, according to Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a text message sent to the Philippine News Agency (PNA). “Under this new law, registered information can only be accessed by third parties if the registered person gives his/her consent, or if there is a court order,” Guevarra said. With a national ID system, a large database for all Filipinos and even for resident aliens is created, he added. “Identity theft will be prevented, making it harder to commit crimes and acts of terrorism. Law offenders can be identified and located more easily, “he added. For his part, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar emphasized the various benefits of the national ID system including its main
objective, which is to make government transactions easier and faster for all Filipinos. The PCOO chief said a national ID could also help curb corruption and red tape, especially for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had to return to the Philippines just to renew their IDs. Andanar also stressed the importance of the national ID in promoting national security, particularly in preventing terror threats. The Philippine Identification System Act or Republic Act 11055 was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on August 6. Duterte signed into law the Philippine Identification System Act, which seeks to integrate the various government IDs of all citizens and foreign residents in the country. Under the bill, a foundational ID system dubbed as PhilSys, will be in place. It will have three components: the PhilSys Number (PSN), PhilID and PhilSys Registry. PSN is a randomly generated, unique and permanent identification number for each individual, to be incorporated in all identification systems of government agencies.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
It will remain with the person even after death. PhilID is a non-transferable card with the PSN and basic information. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is mandated to act as the PhilSys Registry. Under the national ID law, the PSA will collate the full name, sex, birthdate, address, citizenship and blood type of Filipino citizens and encode www.canadianinquirer.net
TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
them in a centralized database. The law ensures that the individual’s right to privacy is protected. Duterte earlier allayed fears that the National ID would infringe privacy and the personal data of the Phil-ID holders, noting that the information that will be included in the Phil-ID will not be any different from the information already in the possession of the PSA and other
agencies that gather personal data. He assured that the PSA will work closely with the National Privacy Commission, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the multi-agency PhilSystem Policy and Coordination Council to ensure the national ID system’s privacy and security. While getting a national ID is not compulsory, it will integrate some 30 redundant government IDs by merging these into a single national ID system. The PhilID will be a nontransferable card containing on its face the PSN (PhilSys Number), full name, facial image, date of birth, address and fingerprints of the owner. The PSA earlier said the entire population is expected to be registered with the Philippine ID System (PhilSys) in two to five years. A pilot launch will take place late this year and a mass rollout in the beginning of 2019, with a target enrollment of 25 million Filipinos on an annual basis, the PSA said. The PSA will initially enroll the first one million, who are beneficiaries of the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT). ■
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Philippine News
AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
PRRD urges China to temper 21 solons call for behavior in disputed waters resumption of peace talks with NDFP
BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has called on China to “temper” its behavior in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) amid reports that China warned Philippine military aircraft while flying over its man-made islands in the disputed region. Duterte said that China should ‘rethink’ of warning other countries from flying the airspace above the artificial island China built in the WPS or South China Sea. “Well, they have to rethink that because that would be a flashpoint someday. And even you know, warning others. You cannot create an island. It’s man-made and you say that the air above this artificial island is yours,” Duterte said in his speech during the launching of the Go Negosyo’s “Pilipinas Angat Lahat” program on Tuesday in Malacañang Palace. Last Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said an investigation will be conducted if the Chinese military has repeatedly ordered the Philippine military aircraft to “leave immediately or you will bear responsibility for all the consequences.” The Chinese military also reportedly issued warning to the US military aircraft which also conducted over flights over the South China Sea.
BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency
ACE MORANDANTE / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
The US military aircraft pilots have been told that China has “sovereignty of the Nashan Islands, Spratlys including inaudible reef and its adjacent waters.” “That is wrong because those waters are — what would consider international sea and the right of innocent passage is guaranteed. It does not need any permission to sail through the open seas. And if it’s nearby a territorial water, you guarantee what you would call the right of innocent passage,” Duterte told his audience, which included US ambassador to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim. “So I hope that China would temper its — at least its behavior. I do not want to quarrel with China. But at this time, because you will create… America instead of avoiding — “get out, get out,” China would say “we go in, we go in,” he added. The Philippines-China re-
lations has hugely improved under the Duterte administration with both countries taking steps not only to bolster economic and trade ties but to discuss contentious issues particularly territorial dispute in a peaceful manner. Duterte had even temporarily shelved a 2016 arbitral tribunal’s ruling that nullified China’s nine-dash line map that covers nearly whole of South China in favor of friendly relations. The Filipino leader, however, said he would raise the verdict of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) before his six-year term end in 2022 despite China’s rejection of the ruling. “So it’s very clear that the gambit really is the China Sea. But one of these days I said before my term ends, I assure you that I will talk to them,” Duterte said. ■
Marcos,” Duterte said. He, however, clarified that he has nothing against the Vice President. “Panalo na ako. Hindi ako nakikipag-away ng babae. Hindi nga ako sumasagot kung ano ang sinasabi nila (I already won. I do not fight with women. I am not even answering whatever they are saying),” the President added. This was not the first time for Duterte criticize Robredo’s capabilities with respect to the possibility of her being the president of the country. Earlier in July, the President fired at Robredo for being ‘incompetent’ to lead the Philip-
pines. “I don’t think she will be ready to govern a country. Reason? Incompetence. She is not capable of running a country like the Philippines,” the President told reporters in Clark, Pampanga then. Robredo’s response to the President’s criticism came as, “Ayoko na sana i-dignify pero siguro sabihin ko na lang na imbes na insultuhin ako o ang Diyos, asikasuhin na lang muna ang mga problema ng ating ekonomiya (I did not really want to dignify him but let us just say that instead of insulting me or God, he should fix the problem in our economy.” ■
Duterte ready... ❰❰ 1
kasi wala ka talagang magawa eh (because I really cannot do anything anymore). It’s the frustration that I cannot comply with my promise number one– corruption,” he said in the speech. While this was the case, Duterte said in his honest opinion, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo is not good for succession. “I think deep in my heart… if you follow the succession and Robredo takes over, hindi niya kaya(she cannot handle it)… that’s my honest opinion ko lang. Kung sino lang sana d’yan (Hopefully it is someone) in the likes of Escudero or Bongbong
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MANILA — Some 21 lawmakers of the House of Representatives have filed a resolution calling for the immediate resumption of the peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). The legislators filed House Resolution No. 2065 during the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) on Thursday. “As representatives of the people, members of the House of Representatives are duty bound to express the sentiments and interests of our constituents for the immediate resumption of the stalled peace talks and for the determined effort to find peaceful and just resolution to the armed conflict between GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and NDFP,” the resolution read. The resolution stated that the stand-down agreement signed on June 8 binds the military, the police, and the New People’s Army (NPA) from hostilities as “goodwill and confidence-building measures” for the supposed resumption of the fifth round of formal peace talks set to be held last June 28-30. It also noted that the “standdown shall be declared and announced simultaneously by both Parties one week before the agreed date of resumption of the formal talks.”
Stand-down was defined as a “temporary cessation of hostilities in which the contending armed units and personnel of the Parties stay where they are (‘as is where is’), take an active defense mode, and shall not commit any offensive action or operation against combatants and civilians.” The lawmakers said the stalled fifth round of peace talks seeks to forge an Interim Peace Agreement, which contains key provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER), and general amnesty of political prisoners, among others. “The Stand-Down Agreement and the agenda to forge an Interim Peace Agreement reflects the aspirations of the Filipino to advance the peace process that will address the root cause of the armed conflict and put an end to the armed hostilities,” the resolution said. Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza earlier announced the postponement of the resumption of formal peace talks with the communist rebels as the government conducts public consultations. President Rodrigo Duterte will soon issue an executive order for “localized” peace talks with communist rebels. Lawmakers who led the filing of the resolution include members of the Makabayan bloc composed of Gabriela Reps. Arlene Brosas and Emmi de Jesus, ACT Teacher Reps. Antonio Tinio and France Castro, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao, and Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago. ■
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Philippine News
FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
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Trillanes to pursue slapping Tulfo siblings, PTV-4 officials with plunder raps BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer HIS FILING of plunder charges against former Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo, her brothers Ben and Erwin, as well as officials of state-run People’s Television Network (PTV-4) would still continue, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said on Wednesday, August 15. “Tuloy-tuloy ang pagsampa ko ng kasong plunder laban sa kanila (I would pursue the filing of plunder charges against them),” Trillanes said. His remark came after the Tulfo siblings showed up at a Senate inquiry on Tuesday, August 14, for the controversial advertisement deal between the Department of Tourism (DOT) and PTV-4. Facing the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Teo, with confidence, maintained that there was
“nothing illegal” in the contract, adding that the deal is a government-to-government contract within the executive department and that all payments were given directly to the governmentowned media outlet. She also stressed that the DOT advertisement placement into PTV-4’s blocktimer show “Kilos Pronto,” hosted by Ben and Erwin, had gone through “proper channels” and that the proposal went through the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), which was then approved. “All programs and activities have been conducted and implemented within the bounds of law,” Teo told the Senate panel. However, Trillanes did not buy this. “Maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na lahat ng elemento ng krimen na plunder ay ginawa ng magkakapatid na sina Ben Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, at Wanda Teo at ilang opisyales ng DOT
at PTV4 (It is clearer than the sun’s rays that all elements of plunder have been committed by the siblings, Ben Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, and Wanda Teo and some officials of the DOT and PTV-4),” he said. The senator did not believe the former Tourism chief when she said she was unaware that her brothers were the hosts of “Kilos Pronto,” a show produced by Bitag Media Unlimited, Inc (BMUI) owned by Ben. “Dagdag pa rito, napaamin si Erwin Tulfo na nakinabang siya sa transaksyong ito dahil siya ay kumikita ng P150 thousand na sweldo kada episode o mahigit 3 milyon kada buwan (In addition, Erwin Tulfo admitted that he benefitted from this transaction because he earned P150,000 per episode or more than three million per month),”the opposition senator noted. In an audit report on the DOT
Sen Antonio Trillanes.
for 2017, the Commission on Audit (COA) earlier said there was a “possible conflict of interest” in the contract, considering that the former DOT secretary and the producer of “Kilos Pronto” are siblings. Of the P120 million project, the state auditors said, 75 percent or P89.9 million went to the program. Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson, agreed with this saying, ”Tama ‘yung sinabi ng COA [na] may liability. Lahat ng sinabi ng COA tama ‘yun (The COA was right that there is a liability. Everything
SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK
that the COA said was correct). Liability on the part of the Tulfos, on the part of PTV-4, on the part of all other people.” “Kahit na isoli ang pera, may liability pa rin ‘yan (Even if they return the money, there is still a liability),” he added. Gordon also said the accused should be charged with graft and not plunder since the Tulfo siblings did not “pocket the money” and used it for the advertisement. He also spared Erwin from accountability as the latter was only a talent of the BMUI and not actually part of the company. ■
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Philippine News
AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
Duterte leads send- Albayalde implements off rites for PH team Ombudsman order vs. cops to Asian Games in anomalous AK-47 deal BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency
mittee president Ricky Vargas presented to the President the “gallant” 272 athletes who will represent the Philippines in the MANILA — President Rodrigo quadrennial event slated from Duterte on Monday led the Aug. 18 to September 2. send-off rites for Filipino ath“I’m honored to present letes bound for the 18th Asian to you Mr. President our naGames in Indonesia. tion’s gallant athletes who will In his speech, Duterte re- proudly compete and fight for minded the athletes that their flag and country in 2018 Asian goal is not only to win for them- Games,” Vargas said. selves but to carry the pride of Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, a the entire Filipino nation. silver medalist in the 2016 Rio “As we send our best men Olympics, led the invocation and women to the 18th Asian where she thanked God for givGames, remember that you do ing them the opportunity to not only comrepresent the pete for yourcountry. selves, but also Philippine carry with you contingent Chef the pride of your de Mission and families, your Do your best Ormoc City communities, and that you Mayor Richard and the entire do it fair and Gomez presentFilipino nation,” square. ed a tracksuit to Duterte said. the President. “I join the FiliClad in their pino people in dark-colored wishing you all tracksuits, the the best as you uphold the val- Filipino athletes gamely did ues of integrity, resilience and Duterte’s signature fist as they sportsmanship in your pursuit posed in batches for a photo opof the gold,” he added. portunity with the President He urged them to “do your inside the Rizal Hall of Malacabest and that you do it fair and ñang Palace. square.” The country is hoping to sur“In return, trust that we in gov- pass the country’s performance ernment will continue to support of one gold medal, three silvers, the development of our athletes and 11 bronzes in the 2014 meet and intensify our commitment in Incheon, South Korea. towards sports excellence, global The Filipino athletes will parcompetitiveness and the greater ticipate in 35 different sports, glory of your country, the Philip- including basketball where pines,” the President said. the Philippines nearly failed to “Every victory you bring back send a team. home is shared by the entire naThe 2018 Asian Games will be tion. We pray for your well-be- held in the cities of Jakarta and ing and hope that your success- Palembang, marking the first ful trip — and also a safe return time in the history of the Asian to the country,” he added. Games that two cities will host Philippine Olympic Com- the multi-sports event. ■
BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Sanctions ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman against senior police officials and civilian personnel who approved the release of 1,004 AK-47 assault rifles to private mining and security firms took effect Tuesday. This was confirmed by Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde in an interview with reporters. The rifles, which were released with undue haste by the PNP in 2011 to private firms despite incomplete or falsified applications and supporting documents, were later found to have been resold to communist rebels over a two-year period from 2011 to 2013. Speaking to newsmen, Albayalde confirmed that his office handed down the implementing orders following the decision of the Ombudsman on the case for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. “May (There is an) order ang (from the) Ombudsman dismissing them, so we have to implement yung utos (the order). Tayo naman ay nagi-implement lang ng utos (We are just implementing the order.) We issued the order of dismissal effective today (Tuesday). Lahat ng tao na na-involved ay dismissed na (All those who were involved are already dismissed),” Albayalde said. The orders covered active and retired officials and civilian personnel, the PNP chief said. “Dun sa retired na penalty,
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PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde.
pinapa-retrieve na one year salary from the accrued leave nila, yung active ay automatic dismissed na (For those who are now retired, they still have a penalty which is equivalent to one year salary which will be sourced from their accrued leave. Those in active service are now dismissed),” he added. “Wala silang makukuhang (They will not get) retirement benefits,” he added. Among those sanctioned by the Ombudsman was retired Chief Supt. Raul Delfin Petrasanta, who previously headed the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office. Petrasanta opted for early retirement in June 2017 after he was ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman for his involvement in the PHP100-million government contract for the delivery of gun licenses. Another retired official, Chief Supt. Allan Parreño, who left following his compulsory retirement on Dec. 9, 2015, was fined an amount equivalent to his salary for one year, along with accessory penalties. Likewise dismissed was SPO1
JOEY O. RAZON / PNA
Eric Tan. Due to his dismissal from service on Feb. 8, 2018, a fine equivalent to the respondent’s salary for one year was imposed. Non-uniformed personnel Nora Pirote, who opted for retirement on Dec. 31, 2014, was also fined equivalent to her salary for one year. The fines, payable to the Office of the Ombudsman, may be deducted from accrued leave credits or any receivable from his office that is not forfeited, or she may opt to directly pay the fine. The penalty carries with it the forfeiture of retirement benefits, cancellation of eligibility, and perpetual disqualification from holding office. Earlier reports said among those who were dismissed were Chief Supt. Regino Catiis of the PNP Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development; Supt. Nelson Bautista of the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit; Supt. Ricky Sumalde of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group; Chief Insp. Ricardo Zapata Jr. of Police Regional Office 3 (Central Luzon); and Senior Supt. Eduardo Acierto. ■
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Canada News Gun used in Fredericton killings is legally obtainable, suspect had licence BY MORGAN LOWRIE The Canadian Press FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick man charged with killing four people in one of the deadliest shootings in the province’s history had a firearms licence and allegedly used a gun that can be legally obtained in Canada, police said Monday as they urged the public to be patient during the ongoing investigation. Matthew Vincent Raymond, 48, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder after a shooting Friday at a Fredericton apartment complex that left two civilians and two police officers dead. Police said the long gun investigators believe was used in the attack is commonly available for purchase, and is not a prohibited or restricted weapon. “It’s a firearm that can be purchased here in Canada and the suspect does have a licence,” Deputy Chief Martin Gaudet told reporters at a news conference outside the Fredericton Police Department, where a memorial with flowers, cards and teddy bears has been set up. “It’s a shouldered weapon — a long gun.” Residents of the New Brunswick capital appeared emotional Monday as they dropped off items at the memorial and signed a book of condolences at city hall. The shooting deaths of four people — Bobbie Lee Wright, Donnie Robichaud, and responding officers Const. Robb Costello and Const. Sara Burns — has deeply shaken this usually placid city. Police Chief Leanne Fitch acknowledged that people want answers about what happened, but she stressed that the police investigation is “very much active and is focused on finding facts.” “I understand that there is a desire to find out what hap-
pened. We all want to know that,” Fitch said. “But you have to understand that some of that will only be released through the court process.” Fitch did confirm, however, that one of the officers who responded to the shooting on the city’s north side was wearing a camera, although she wouldn’t say which one. “One of our officers was wearing a body-worn video at the time of the call,” she said. “There was a body cam video and that is part of the evidence that our investigators are looking at.” Gaudet added that the body camera evidence was downloaded and provided to the RCMP as part of its homicide investigation. Fitch also confirmed that police officers in Fredericton are equipped with body armour and carbine rifles. Robichaud’s wife, Melissa Robichaud, has said in multiple media interviews that her husband, from whom she was separated, had previously been a member of the Bacchus motorcycle club, but left the club about a year ago. “We are aware of that information that has been shared publicly as well,” Fitch said. “At this time, we are just working through the investigative process. Again we’re not going to speculate on any connections or motives there.” Nancy Slade, home for a visit from Petawawa, Ont., came to lay sunflowers outside police headquarters with her six-yearold daughter, Molly, and threeyear-old son, Dane. Slade, the daughter of a Fredericton police officer who was friends with Costello, said she wants her kids to understand the sacrifice made by officers. “It’s just not supposed to happen here,” she said, her voice catching. “It’s never happened here, so it’s just really hard.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his son Hadrien went Sunday to police head-
quarters to lay flowers at the memorial and offer words of solidarity. At Fredericton City Hall on Monday, a steady trickle of visitors arrived to sign books of condolences for the fallen police constables. Many left in tears after seeing the simple display, which featured photos of the officers set next to two candles and a bouquet of white flowers. Jane Abernathy, who lives in Fredericton, said she felt compelled to show her respect. “Such a senseless tragedy, we never want this to happen again,” she said. “It was the least I could do, to sign my name.” Thousands of people turned out to a public event Monday evening to express their grief and show support for their city. Jessica Millier said she organized Hands Across the City as a way to bring people together. People, holding hands, were lined across the walking bridge that spans the St. John River and along the walking trails that hug the shorelines on the north and south sides of the city. “My city is hurt, and they’re grieving, and they’re hurt deeply,” said Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien. “This is a collective grief, a collective mourning and we will collectively heal,” he said. Meanwhile, a Fredericton business owner who knew alleged shooter described him as a “lonely person” who spent much of his time cycling and playing first-person shooter video games. Brendan Doyle, the former owner of the recently closed Read’s Newsstand & Cafe in Fredericton, said he also asked Raymond to stop frequenting his coffee shop after he allegedly expressed Islamophobic views and shared his dislike for Syrian refugees with patrons. “He’d been coming in on almost daily for a coffee since 2010 and often stayed for an hour or two on the patio in the evenings,” Doyle said in a Facewww.canadianinquirer.net
Police said the long gun investigators believe was used in the attack is commonly available for purchase, and is not a prohibited or restricted weapon.
book message Sunday evening to The Canadian Press. “While in the cafe, Matt also looked at magazines about bikes and about guns,” Doyle said. “He expressed an interest in owning the various high-end bikes in the magazines, but his interest in guns seemed to be related to his video games.” He said Raymond had been coming in almost daily for coffee from 2010 up until 2017, when Doyle asked him to find coffee somewhere else. “His discussions with fellow customers and staff turned more political around the same time we had an influx of Syrian refugees into the city,” Doyle said. “I saw him one weekend in front of city hall with a sandwich board sign that said ‘No Sharia,’ and other anti-Islamic sentiments.” He said he spoke to Raymond to determine how extreme his views were. “I determined he was ignorant and misinformed,” Doyle said. “He really just seemed to be parroting the talking points from some videos he’s seen.” Raymond previously worked at an Atlantic Superstore grocery on the city’s south side, the company confirmed Monday. “I can confirm only that he is a former employee with Atlan-
tic Superstore. He was an employee a number of years ago,” said spokesman Mark Boudreau. Raymond is set to appear in court on Aug. 27. Fredericton police have announced that a regimental funeral “to celebrate the lives of our fallen members” will be held on Saturday at the University of New Brunswick. An obituary for Burns said the 43-year-old mother of three boys fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a police officer three years ago, after more than 14 years as a stay-at-home mom. “Not a day would go by when she didn’t say aloud, for everyone to hear, ‘I love my job,’” the obituary published on the McAdam’s Funeral Home and Crematorium website said. An obituary for Robichaud said he is survived by a wife and three children, and there will be no visitation or funeral, in keeping with his wishes. Also Monday, the province’s Court of Queen’s Bench issued a publication ban on certain court documents in the case, hours after media reported their contents. ■ With Kevin Bissett in Fredericton and Keith Doucette and Brett Bundale in Halifax
Canada News
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AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
Report finds hundreds of Manitoba civil servants have experienced harassment BY KELLY GERALDINE MALONE The Canadian Press WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said government culture has to change after a study showed hundreds of civil servants experienced sexual harassment while working but most did not report it. “We really take seriously the need to change the culture because people should not be afraid to report instances of harassment, they should not fear reprisal,” Pallister said on Thursday. The report focused on what was heard during consultations with more than 3,000 employees about a culture of sexual harassment in government. More than 500 said they had experienced harassment. The most frequent types of harassment were things like leering or invading space, but many others reported inappropriate physical contact such as touching, patting or pinching. Ten per cent said they were currently experiencing sexual harassment. Most employees said they didn’t re-
port it because they were afraid of reprisal or hurting their career. For those who did report the harassment, 24 per cent of employees said nothing was done. Only 13 per cent said they were satisfied with the resolution. A second report, by an external consultant, included 25 recommendations to improve policies and practices. The reports were commissioned in February following allegations by several women that former NDP cabinet minister Stan Struthers tickled and groped female staff or made sexual remarks. Two women said they complained about the behaviour but were later informed they would have to “suck it up.” In June, the province released statistics for the first time on the number of complaints related to harassment, bullying and misconduct among the civil service in the last fiscal year. There were 20 allegations of sexual harassment and hundreds of accusations of other misconduct. The government has since made it mandatory for managers to forward any complaints of harassment to the civil service commission.
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Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister.
Pallister said many other changes have been implemented, including a “no wrong door” approach to reporting any harassment. But he said it would take time to show people they can come forward. “We are ready to help and want to help but I understand that there was a culture that wasn’t like that before and I understand that some of the people who have been harassed have worked for years under that culture,” he said. “I know its not going to be an easy thing but it’s important that we take those steps that we’ve taken today and will continue to take to change that culture.” Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for the status of women, said it was “heartbreaking” but not surprising that most people who say they experienced harassment were women. “We know that the Manitoba civil ser-
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vice is not alone in this phenomenon. We are seeing around the globe with the MeToo campaign, we are hearing instances of women in all ranks and echelons of society that are being harassed,” she said. Squires said she wants women to know the government is acting to create a better workplace. New Democrat Opposition Leader Wab Kinew said the report showed there are issues with the “no wrong door” policy and employees are confused about who it applies to. He called for an independent office to receive and investigate harassment allegations. The recommendations for improving the government’s policy include providing regular training and clearer guidelines for responding to harassment complaints. The government said they will be acted on in the coming months. ■
To solve interprovincial conflicts, first find common ground, says new minister BY TERESA WRIGHT The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The key to unlocking an ever-tightening knot of policy disputes between the provinces and the federal government will be to focus on those areas where everyone can agree, says the minister whose new job is to help do exactly that. Last month’s Liberal cabinet shuffle handed Dominic LeBlanc the brand new portfolio of intergovernmental and northern affairs and internal trade — a position that makes the veteran New Brunswick MP the minister in charge of minding the priorities of the provinces and territories.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who until earlier this month had served as his own minister of intergovernmental affairs, wanted someone in cabinet to focus full-time on “working collaboratively with provinces,” LeBlanc told The Canadian Press in an interview this week. “The prime minister’s instruction to me was to do so in a collaborative, constructive way,” he said. “I certainly don’t start with the view that it should be adversarial.” The Trudeau government is finding it increasingly difficult to fulfill some of its signature policy commitments thanks to a growing list of ideological tensions with — and among — the provinces, including: — A standoff between Alberta and B.C. ❱❱ PAGE 20 To solve
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FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
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Trump can’t reach NAFTA deal without Canada: Quebec chief negotiator BY GIUSEPPE VALIANTE The Canadian Press STOWE, VT. — The Trump administration doesn’t have the legal authority to sideswipe Canada and sign a bilateral trade deal with Mexico, Quebec’s chief NAFTA negotiator said Monday. Raymond Bachand, an exQuebec finance minister, said “there is no worry whatsoever” the current one-on-one talks between the United States and Mexico will end in a trade deal signed without Canada. Bilateral NAFTA negotiations between the two countries have been building momentum in recent weeks, while Canada has yet to return to the table this summer. U.S. President Donald Trump recently stated a deal with Mexico “is coming along nicely” and “Canada must wait.” The president has also said he would be interested in signing
separate deals with both countries. Even if Trump really wanted that, Bachand said, he couldn’t get it. “If the U.S. wanted a bilateral deal — and they don’t, they’ve repeated often they want a trilateral deal — they don’t have legal authority. “They have the authority from Congress to negotiate a trilateral NAFTA deal in a fasttrack way — meaning Congress votes yes or no on the final deal once it’s been reached. They don’t have that (fast-track) authority for a bilateral deal.” Bachand made the comments in Stowe, Vt., during the twoday annual conference between governors of New England states and the premiers of Quebec and the eastern Canadian provinces. Not a single U.S. governor or senator has asked to pull their country out of NAFTA, Bachand said, which is Canada’s true trump card in the negotia-
tions, he added. “So all the so-called modernization attempts the president wants with NAFTA, there is a kind of red line,” Bachand said. “NAFTA will continue because the power in the U.S. Senate is very strong in commercial decisions, and governors also have a big influence.” On Sunday, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard signed a joint declaration on economic co-operation, despite the trade tensions between the two countries. Scott said the agreement “acknowledges our intertwined economies and solidifies our commitment to building crossborder trade.” Couillard said Monday one of the ways a new NAFTA deal will be reached is by convincing Americans who live outside the states that border Canada of how critical trade is for the economies of both countries. Quebec’s premier said he had
Raymond Bachand.
breakfast with the eastern premiers and New England governors Monday and they “almost exclusively” talked about NAFTA. “The border states under-
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stand well the level of integration of our economies,” he said. “It’s the rest of the country and the White House we have to work on.” ■
New guidelines recommend hepatitis C testing for those born between 1945 and 1975 HEPATITIS C is a serious and significant liver disease which can lead to life-threatening consequences. It is estimated that 250,000 people in Canada have hepatitis C, and it is the number one cause of illness and death among infectious diseases in the country. Fifty-nine-year-old Carol was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008 after attempting to donate blood. “I can’t think of when I could have contracted the hepatitis C virus, so it never occurred to me that I should ask for this test,” says Carol. “When I found out I had hepatitis C, I was shocked.” Hepatitis C is caused by a virus that attacks the liver and puts individuals at risk of complications including cirrhosis, liver cancer and potentially death from liver failure. As common as hepatitis C is, it’s also known as a silent killer because it’s a liver disease that rarely comes with a warning and symptoms often don’t appear until the liver is severely damaged. It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of people with chronic hepatitis C in Canada don’t even know they have it. The greatest number of Canadians with hepatitis C are those born between 1945 and 1975, which makes it critically important for those in
this age group to understand their increased risk, and for all adults born in this age bracket to be tested. Additionally, people born in regions where hepatitis C is more common, such as in the Philippines where approximately one million people have hepatitis C, should also talk to their doctor about getting tested. The Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver recently published new guidelines on managing hepatitis C urging that Canadians be tested based on their age – not only their possible risk factors. The hepatitis C antibody test is a simple blood test, and if you have hepatitis C, new treatments are available that can cure the liver disease in as little as eight to twelve weeks. People born between 1945 and 1975 should ask their doctor about being tested, so if needed, they can get treated and be cured. For more information about hepatitis C, and to find out if you may be at risk, access the Canadian Liver Foundation’s hepatitis risk questionnaire and visit www.liver.ca/ ThisIsYourWarning.
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World News
AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
Clues but no answers in one of Syria war’s biggest mysteries BY BASSEM MROUE The Associated Press DOUMA, SYRIA — Razan Zaitouneh earned enemies on all sides of her homeland’s civil war. One of Syria’s most wellknown rights activists, she was bold, outspoken and defiantly secular. Perhaps most dangerously, she was impartial. She chanted in protests against President Bashar Assad, but was also unflinching in documenting abuses by rebels fighting to oust him. Then she vanished. Her fate has been one of the longest-running mysteries of Syria’s long conflict. There has been no sign of life, no proof of death since a cold December evening in 2013 when Zaitouneh, her husband and two colleagues were abducted by gunmen from her office in Douma, a rebel-held town on the outskirts of Damascus. Five years later, bits of clues are emerging: a handwritten
threat vowing “I will kill you;” a log-on from her computer after the kidnappers stole it from her office; possible sightings by witnesses and reports of graffiti on a prison cell wall reading, “I miss my mother — Razan Zaitouneh, 2016.” The clues give strong indications that Zaitouneh was taken by the Army of Islam, the most powerful rebel faction in Douma at the time, and was then likely held in its feared Tawbeh Prison. The Army of Islam vehemently denies any role in her disappearance. It is also likely she was killed, though how long after the abduction is unknown, several friends and colleagues told The Associated Press. The small hope that she and the others were kept alive in detention was shaken in April, when Syrian government forces retook Douma. The Army of Islam’s fighters, their families and thousands of civilians were evacuated north in buses. Prisoners were released. But Zaitouneh and her colleagues did
not surface. An AP team recently toured the abandoned Tawbeh Prison, a compound that once was a desertification research facility for the Agriculture Ministry. The complex was transformed into a dark maze of cells where the Army of Islam held hundreds of people over the years, including opponents. Graffiti were scrawled on cell walls — names, greetings to families and crude calendars as inmates counted days. Solitary confinement cells were tiny, a meter wide and two meters long with a latrine hole at one end. The complex was laced with tunnels connecting the buildings and leading outside the compound. The AP interviewed a dozen activists, rebels and acquaintances of Zaitouneh and locals from Douma to assemble what is known about her disappearance. Many spoke on condition of anonymity because they were concerned about upsetting the families or feared reprisals.
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Zaitouneh was already wellknown before the war as a defence lawyer for political prisoners. She became one of the faces of the early days of Syria’s uprising in 2011, when unarmed protesters took to the streets calling for Assad’s removal. With long blonde hair and blue eyes, she chanted and sang at demonstrations. At one rally shown in an online video, she shouts through a loudspeaker, “Civil disobedience will continue until we bring down Bashar Assad’s regime.” Under the government’s crackdown, the opposition eventually took up arms, and the conflict slid into civil war. Zaitouneh founded the Violation Documentation Center as well as a network of activists, the Local Coordination Committees. She received a string of internationalhonours; in 2013, then-U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry honoured her as an International Woman of Courage.
“She is a woman of principles,” said opposition activist Mazen Darwish, who has known her for nearly 18 years. “She is a woman who loves life, open minded and is a good friend.” Zaitouneh went into hiding as Syrian authorities arrested opposition activists in Damascus. In early 2013, she escaped into rebel-held Douma, the largest town in the eastern Ghouta region. There, she stood out — in appearance and advocacy. Zaitouneh and her colleague Samira al-Khalil went in public without a headscarf in the conservative town, where almost all women wear the headscarf or face veils. She also worked on creating a local administration to provide civilian authority amid the armed groups. Zaitouneh got funding from abroad, money that she used to help victims of the conflict, apparently upsetting the Army of Islam rebels. ❱❱ PAGE 22 Clues but
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FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
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Trump lashes out at ‘Wacky Omarosa’ over book, tapes BY BROOKE LEFFERTS The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out at Omarosa Manigault Newman Monday, saying the former White House adviser — who is promoting a tell-all book and airing secret audio recordings —”got fired for the last time.” On Twitter, Trump labels Manigault Newman “wacky” and says Kelly called her a “loser & nothing but problems.” He adds: “I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me – until she got fired!” Trump’s pushback comes after Manigault Newman released another audio recording Monday. Aired on NBC’s “Today” show, it is purportedly an excerpt of a phone conversation between Trump and Manigault Newman after she was fired from the White House. It appears to show Trump expressing surprise, saying “nobody even told me about it.” On Sunday, Manigault Newman told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she surreptitiously recorded a number of conversations in the White House for her own protection. The show aired portions of a recording of her firing by chief of staff John Kelly in the high-security Situation Room. Critics have denounced the recordings as a serious breach of ethics and security. The voice on the recording released Monday appears to be Trump’s. The White House has not denied it, but The Associated Press has not independently verified it’s Trump. The AP has independently listened to the recording with Kelly. Trump acknowledged Monday that the occupant of the Oval Office should perhaps not engage in a public war of words with an ex-employee, saying he knows “it’s “not presidential” to take on “a lowlife like Omarosa.” But he added: “this is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!” While the latest recording appears to show Trump was unaware of her firing, Manigault Newman said on “Today” that Trump may have instructed Kelly to do it. She offered no evidence. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Monday: “I’m not going to get into the tick-tock of who knew what when, but the president makes the decisions.” Manigault Newman, whose book is out this week, suggested there was more to come: “There’s a lot of very corrupt things happening in the White House
and I am going to blow the whistle on a lot of them.” Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said on “Fox and Friends” Monday that Manigault Newman may have broken the law by recording private conversations at the White House. “She’s certainly violating national security regulations, which I think have the force of law,” Giiuliani said. In the recording with Kelly, which Manigault Newman quotes extensively in her new book, “Unhinged,” Kelly can be heard saying that he wants to talk with Manigault Newman about leaving the White House. “It’s come to my attention over the last few months that there’s been some pretty, in my opinion, significant integrity issues related to you,” Kelly is heard saying, citing her use of government vehicles and “money issues and other things” that he compares to offences that could lead to a court martial in the military. “If we make this a friendly departure … you can look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation and then you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation,” he tells Manigault Newman, adding: “There are some serious legal issues that have been violated and you’re open to some legal action that we hope, we think, we can control.” Manigault Newman said she viewed the conversation as a “threat” and defended her decision to covertly record it and other White House conversations. “If I didn’t have these recordings, no one in America would believe me,” she said. The response from the White House was stinging. “The very idea a staff member would sneak a recording device into the White House Situation Room, shows a blatant disregard for our national security – and then to brag about it on national television further proves the lack of character and integrity of this disgruntled former White House employee,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. The Situation Room is a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, where the nation’s most consequential foreign policy decisions are made, and staff are not permitted to bring in cellphones or other recording devices. “I’ve never heard of a more serious breach of protocol,” said Ned Price, who served as spokesman of the National Security Council in the Obama administration. “Not only is it not typical, something like this is unprecedented.” Price said there is no one checking
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staffers for devices at the door, but there is a sign outside the room making clear that electronic devices are prohibited. “The Situation Room is the innermost sanctum of a secure campus,” he said, describing the breach as part of a culture of disregarding security protocols in the Trump White House. He also questioned why Kelly would ever choose to have such a meeting there. In the book, being released Tuesday,
Manigault Newman paints a damning picture of Trump, including claiming without evidence that tapes exist of him using the N-word as he filmed his “The Apprentice” reality series, on which she co-starred. Manigault Newman wrote in the book that she had not personally heard the recording. But she told Chuck Todd on ❱❱ PAGE 20 Trump lashes
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Sunday that she later indeed.” was able to hear a White House counsellor recording of Trump Kellyanne Conway told ABC’s during a trip to Los Angeles. “This Week” on Sunday that “I heard his voice as clear as “the first time I ever heard you and I are sitting here,” she Omarosa suggest those awful said on the show. things about this president are The White House had pre- in this book.” viously tried to Manigault discredit the Newman had book, with Sandbeen a staunch ers calling it defender of the “riddled with lies president for and false accusayears, including tions.” If I didn’t pushing back, Katrina Pierhave these as the highestson, an adviser to recordings, profile AfricanTrump’s re-elecno one in American in the tion campaign America White House, on who served as a would accusations that spokeswoman believe me. he was racist. for his 2016 camShe now says paign, said she she was “used” had never heard by Trump, callTrump use the ing him a “con” kind of derogawho “has been tory language Manigault New- masquerading as someone who man describes. She said in a is actually open to engaging statement that she feels “pity with diverse communities” and for Omarosa as she embarrass- is “truly a racist.” es herself by creating salacious “I was complicit with this lies and distortions just to try White House deceiving this nato be relevant and enrich her- tion,” she said. “I had a blind self by selling books at the ex- spot where it came to Donald pense of the truth. ‘Unhinged,’ Trump.” ■
over Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion plans that has forced Ottawa to step in and ultimately buy the pipeline for $4.5 billion; — The refusal of Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut to permit the home cultivation of legal cannabis, despite a newly passed federal law making it legal; — Alberta’s disappointment with Ottawa’s decision to unilaterally renew its formula for equalization, a system that requires wealthier provinces to share revenues with poorer, “have-not” provinces; — Several provinces have expressed persistent complaints about the impending federal carbon pricing plan — in particular the newly elected Conservative premier in Ontario, Doug Ford, who has also been clashing with the federal government over the burden posed by asylum seekers from the U.S. Asked whether his role in cabinet will be as Trudeau’s “Tory whisperer,” LeBlanc provided little more than a hearty laugh, saying he plans to adopt a positive attitude and a focus on building bridges, rather than
points of conflict. In fact, he insisted, he has so far heard more consensus than dissent from provincial leaders. When it comes to Ford’s hardline philosophy on carbon pricing, LeBlanc wants to hear the nascent Ontario government’s other ideas for tackling climate change. And he hopes their difference of opinion over curbing emissions by making polluters pay will not interfere with other areas where they can work together. “Putting a price on carbon pollution is a critical part of the commitment we made to tackling climate change, but we also recognize that is but one of a number of measures. That alone will not take us to the our objectives in terms of greenhouse gas emission reductions,” LeBlanc said. “I think, to be fair, we need to have those conversations with the Ford government about what are their ideas in terms of a plan to tackle climate change — and we may find in their suggestions and their ideas a number of areas that we agree with them can be very constructive.” In handing him the new cabi-
net post, LeBlanc said Trudeau flagged internal trade between the provinces as another key area where “urgent and quick attention” is called for. Over the years, governments across the country have, in some cases inadvertently, placed more restrictions on the movement of goods and services between Canadian provinces than on those from some foreign countries with which Canada has trade agreements. Such policies make no sense and must be fixed, LeBlanc said — especially when it comes to alcohol. As part of the annual meeting of provincial and territorial leaders last month, premiers agreed in principle to reduce barriers limiting the amount of alcohol that can move across their borders, but failed to produce clear timelines or details around personal limits. More progress is possible, LeBlanc said. “It is one of the most visible examples where we can make progress…. Some premiers told me they thought they could have gone a lot further so I want to figure out how we can play a more constructive role.” ■
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FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:
The young karateka: Tiffany Jiloca BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer WHAT STARTED as mere curiosity for a young Filipina turned her into a champion in the 2018 Canada National Karate Open Championships. An 11-year-old’s very first national Karate competition in Canada was graced by a goldmedal-victory on June 2 to 3 this year in the 10 to 11 year old Girls Individual Kata event black belt or the advanced category. But make no mistake; this cannot be a beginner’s luck when through her focus and fruitful training, she was able to conquer the different rounds of her division with the competition having almost a hundred Karate clubs participating. With awe and applause here and there, who exactly is this young Tiffany Jiloca? Wearing the gi
Before bagging the gold medal, this young karateka was just like any other child hooked by curiosity. “It all started when I saw my dad doing some kicks and punches in our living room when I was five or six years old,” Tiffany told Philippine Canadian Inquirer. What seemed to look like some form of dance for her bright eyes as her sight landed on her dad, Rei’s movements, was something she soon learned as something called “kata.” “I asked him what he was doing and he told me that it was Karate, a form of a Japanese martial art,” she recalled. The young girl soon found herself fascinated with asking more questions about the martial art – not knowing what really drew her to it in the first place. Any form of martial arts for someone who is not practicing it may seem like a type of lesson one would learn in hopes of self-defense. But what Rei taught Tiffany is that karate is not all about a shield of protection in times of danger but it also promotes patience, selfdiscipline, focus, and physical and mental fitness. Wishing to try out the mar-
ing to qualify for the Junior Black Belt exams in Spring 2019. “My long-term goal in terms of karate as a sport is to represent Canada in the 2024 Olympics,” she said, also hoping to perhaps visit Japan and join a training camp of one of the grandmasters in the country. Once upon a time…
LEFT: Tiffany practicing at home. RIGHT: Rei and Tiffany Jiloca. SUPPLIED
tial art, Tiffany tried to throw some kicks and punches which earned a nod from her father. “We would be using our pillows as kicking and punching bags whenever we practice at home,” she added. This fascination developed to passion when Tiffany realized that she wanted to compete and be in the Olympics. Her patient father of course supported her as if passing down a legacy to his young daughter, as it was also his long-time dream to represent the Philippines in the sport. He started looking for a karate school that would hone her potential. “My dad wanted me to try the karate classes through the City of Surrey recreation programs. At first, he was hesitant because the style was Goju-Ryu, different from the style he has been practicing. He had a point for being hesitant as it would be a challenge for him to teach me the katas of Goju-Ryu, but according to him, the basics of karate are the same. So in May 2014, I attended my first karate class with the Ku Yu Kai club and our classes were being held at the Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre in Whalley, Surrey,” the 11-year old narrated. While it was through Rei’s influence that Tiffany loved karate, she revealed that her passion for it became stronger to the point of shedding tears. “Sometimes I would cry if we are coming in late or if either
my mom or dad won’t be able to bring me to my karate classes,” she said. After all, the joy she felt while practicing is something really different that not doing it had the opposite effect. Tiffany then said, “I enjoyed the classes as I learned new things and I met new friends. The atmosphere in the dojo was supportive of learning. The instructors were fair and willing to teach. My colleagues and the higher coloured belts were also supportive. It was a fun environment. I enjoyed every time we do the katas, then do the bunkai (or the application of the katas), and most especially the kumite or sparring.” But another remarkable thing about her love for karate is that even after classes, she spends 30 more minutes with her dad to review the lessons that day. “He would correct my forms and give me some tips. I think that reinforcement at home really helped me a lot,” Tiffany added. However, these additional practice sessions are sandwiched with her own initiative to practice by herself when she is waiting for her parents to arrive home. Perhaps seeing bits of himself in her, Tiffany recalled how her dad encouraged her to keep going. “He shared his experience that it took him 10 years, more than 25 tournaments, a cut www.canadianinquirer.net
in the eyelid and with injured knuckles and knee before he won a medal. He added that if he did it, why can’t I,” she remembered his words. Through the karate tournaments organized by her club, Ku Yu Kai, Tiffany bagged more awards which fueled her to do better and devote more time for practicing. But Rei believed that to really bring out her highest potential, she needed to join other tournaments outside of her club. This was when she was registered to join the 2018 Canada National Open Karate Championships. Two months of practice with her dad, Ku Yu Kai instructors, and her Shihan, Tiffany revealed that a week before the tournament, she wanted to withdraw out of nervousness. “My parents said they would respect my decision if I wanted to withdraw but also encouraged me to go on. They reminded me that if I wanted to be an Olympian, it was a good starting point. So I said to myself, if they can do it, I can do it, or even better,” she said. What was supposed to simply be an exposure for her to experience a national competition gave her something more than what they aimed for. And if Tiffany chose to withdraw then, she would never know that she was capable of being the tournament’s champion in her division. For now, Tiffany aims to advance in the art of karate, hop-
When an Iloilo-born kid winning the competition hit the headlines, apart from this feat, one would ask how she stepped foot to the Great White North. For Tiffany’s story, both her parents planned the immigrant life a long time ago even before she was born. Before she was brought to the world, and even before tying the knot, they already had ongoing permanent residency (PR) applications. In 2007, her family was living in Singapore then when their PR visas were approved. “We were supposed to settle in Edmonton, but a friend of my dad advised to try it first in BC and then decide if we still want to move to another province,” she started saying. “When I asked my parents why we moved to Canada when everything was going well in Singapore, they said it was a long-term plan and it was for my future. Another reason was they wanted to have a work-life balance and to avail of the many social benefits that Canada has to offer especially the universal health care,” she continued. Tiffany added that as nonspeakers of Mandarin or Malay, settling in Singapore might be a problem. Many immigrant families face different risks and challenges and for their family’s case, her parents had no friends or relatives in Canada. But just like how Filipino culture gives importance to close ties and communities, Tiffany said that while still in Singapore, her dad already built connections in an organization. “When we landed, some of his colleagues from his organization who have been in Canada for a while met us at the airport and helped us settle in,” she said, adding that they received aid from cable and internet, to ❱❱ PAGE 22 The young
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At the time, the Army of Islam, made up of religious hardliners, was consolidating its power in Douma, squeezing out other rebels and imposing strict Shariah rules. On Dec. 9, 2013, gunmen stormed the Violation Documentation Center. They took the then-36-year-old Zaitouneh, her husband Wael Hamadeh, al-Khalil and another colleague, Nazim Hammadi, as well as all computers and electronic devices. They left untouched a pile of Syrian pounds worth about $60,000 sitting on a desk. Hamza Bayraqdar, an Army of Islam official, denied his group had any role in the kidnapping. Speaking to the AP, he said Army of Islam brought Zaitouneh to Douma to protect her from the Syrian government. “Eastern Ghouta was facing major violations by Assad’s forces against civilians. The work of Razan and her friends was mostly to document such acts,” he said. But several of those who spoke to the AP said the Army of Islam saw her documenting of abuses as a threat and resented her local administration plan as an encroachment on their power. Zaitouneh received a series of threats that friends and activists say trace back to Army of Islam. Weeks before the kidnapping, a gunman opened fire in the air outside the VDC office. Soon after, Zaitouneh received a handwritten note giving her three days to leave. Otherwise, “I will kill you. I will kill you. I will kill you. I will kill you, Razan Zaitouneh,” it read. An Army of Islam official, Hussein al-Shazli, later confessed in a local court that he delivered the note on orders of the group’s command, Darwish said. But the court released alShazli after Zahran Alloush, the Army of Islam’s leader, intervened. Despite the threats, Razan refused protection, said Mohammed Kattoub, a dentist living in Douma at the time who was in contact with the VDC team. He saw the handwritten threat. “She has a very strong personality and said, ‘I can protect myself.’” A witness later told VDC members that, the morning
Razan Zaitouneh.
after the kidnapping, he saw three hooded women being held in an apartment near Douma’s main Martyrs Square, said Ossama Nassar, a close aide to Zaitouneh who ran her office in Douma after her kidnapping, until he left the town earlier this year as part of the evacuation. Nassar believes the prisoners were in fact Zaitouneh, alKhalil and Hammadi, who had long hair. The apartment was likely a stopover before they were moved elsewhere. Shortly after the incident, the man who lived in the apartment was found dead, Nassar said. Also found dead was the owner of a refrigerator truck used as a getaway vehicle in the kidnappings, said Ahmad Taha, the commander of a rebel group that was later crushed by the Army of Islam. The killings raised suspicion that the culprits were covering their tracks. Those who follow the case believe Zaitouneh and her colleagues were held in Tawbeh Prison. One former prisoner said she saw Zaitouneh there, and when VDC members showed her a line-up of pictures, she picked out Zaitouneh, Nassar said. Nassar said several witnesses reported the prison message allegedly scrawled by Zaitouneh about her mother, dated 2016 — which, if confirmed, would mean she lived for several years after the kidnapping. Also, one of the computers taken from the VDC was activated from inside Tawbeh prison, according to one prominent figure from Douma who spoke to the AP, saying the IP address
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE
was traced to the Army of Islam. Al-Khalil’s husband, Yassin Haj Saleh, made a similar claim in an article he wrote in 2014. Haj Saleh refused to comment when contacted by the AP. Attempts to reach other relatives of the missing were unsuccessful. Zaitouneh’s sister and mother did not respond to requests for an interview. Almost all who worked with or knew Zaitouneh are scattered, either elsewhere in Syria or abroad, meaning there is no one to search for her — or her grave. There are multiple reports on where she and the others may be buried. One figure in Douma said his information was that Army of Islam buried them in al-Ebb, a nearby farm area. Another said he believed they were buried in Housh Nasri, a nearby village. Another possibility is Nashabiyeh, a town several miles away. An official with a pro-government group said his group and the Syrian military were digging up a mass grave filled with bodies of their fighters, killed by the Army of Islam. He said he had information Zaitouneh could be there too. He spoke on condition he and his group not be named because their presence in the area is sensitive. Darwish said there is proof Zaitouneh was in the Army of Islam’s jails until early 2017, after which all information was cut. “After the Army of Islam left Douma, regrettably, the possibilities are headed more and more toward the worse,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
beds and couches, and even food. “This is the reason why my parents are active in helping new immigrants to settle in as a way of giving back. They help the new immigrants by looking for a place to stay, asking for some used items like microwaves, toasters, bed, winter jackets, etc. while my brother and I would play with the kids of the new immigrants and donate some of our clothes and toys,” Tiffany shared. Though their family got a good ‘starting pack’ in venturing the immigrant life, her parents struggled in landing a job that was related to their work experiences – which was in the legal field. She said that both her mom and dad had to go to school again to ‘upgrade.’ New chapter
As this new chapter unfolds for the family, her parents juggled matters on their livelihood, grabbing job opportunities and their education, and getting accustomed to the new life. But Tiffany had her own struggles to face. She grew up being in the daycare most of the time for her parents were working. “One of them would bring me to the daycare in the morning, then another one will pick me up in the afternoon. I met new friends and played with them but I would always want the comfort of home,” Tiffany said. She also had to deal with the challenge of communicating with other immigrant kids who did not speak English. “Whenever my parents would register me for recreational activities, at the start I would feel like a stranger as it seems that the other kids know each other. So my parents would always encourage me to make the first move and approach and play with them. They would always say, ‘don’t be shy,’” she admitted the memory. Tiffany then added, “So I think the encouragement from my parents helped me overcome the challenges as they explained to me that everything will be okay and that we are in the process of blending in our new environment.” Outside the dojo
While Tiffany is capable of creating fabulous and strong
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moves that could turn down an opponent, she is just like any other kid who have fun in building snowmen and imprinting snow angels. In fact, despite being a karateka, she knows the responsibility that knowing the martial art does not mean that she should use it anytime. “I think it’s just normal that kids from the same ethnicity will tend to group together. There were times especially in playgrounds or in the park that some kids tried to bully me or for example to go ahead of me on the slides. But I was taught at home and at school to use my words and stand up against bullying. And if gets physical, then that’s the only time I can apply what I learned from karate,” the young one wisely stated. Aside from her beloved sport and art, she also ventures the waters as part of the Surrey Knights swimming club. Tiffany is also a member of the North Surrey Skating Club. Combining these two, she is able to maintain a physically fit and graceful form. Just to add to this sporty line-up, she also loves biking. Despite being in foreign countries mingling with nonFilipinos and flying to the Philippines for only a few times, Tiffany’s family was able to preserve several Filipino practices and bits of culture in their dayto-day lives. She and her brother take turns in leading the prayers before eating their meals, they still use ‘po’ and ‘opo’ though she confessed that it is difficult to speak in Filipino when they have a lot of dialects in the family. What Tiffany could assure as the very evidence that the Filipino heritage is alive at their home is on the dining table. “I like the sausage longganisa, tocino, pan de sal, rice and egg, polvoron, barbeque, pansit, chicken adobo, etc. My dad would even have rice and pansit as his viand. My mom loves to eat green mangoes with bagoong. My brother loves eating using his bare hands,” she shared. Tiffany plays the role of not just a karateka, but also a daughter, an elder sister, a student, and a kid. But more than that, she is a young girl with big dreams who remains youthful. ■
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Entertainment Dingdong expresses dismay, concern to Ang Probinsyano prod BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer WITH A lot of people having their eyes glued to their screens and their hands attached to their phones, almost anything can be posted on the internet for netizens to feast on. The Kapamilya network’s “Ang Probinsyano” is one of these things that join regular trending topics online; but instead of being the talk of the town for its latest plot twists and turns, jokes and memes, and cast and characters, this time it is trending for something different. As the show is currently on people’s television screens at night, despite the many episodes and the fact that it is airing on the rival network, fans of Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera – or the DongYanatics – did not miss out a very important detail. In a Facebook post by Dingdong in his personal account which was shared by his official page, he revealed that DongYonatics brought to his attention some photos supposedly used by the “Ang Probinsyano” staff in certain episodes. The said
photos were of his and his family but were photoshopped to fit the scenario of the teleserye. “In two episodes of Ang Probinsyano, our wedding photo and a photo taken during Zia’s baptism were edited and featured without the consent of our photographer and our family,” he wrote. “I have been deeply thinking about disclosing my response to the public. However, I owe it to the DongYanatics, to other friends who also expressed their concern, and to our family, to share our action regarding this,” he added. In the August 8, 2018 episode of the action serye, Dingdong and Marian’s wedding photo was used – printed in a frame in one of the scenes. However, instead of having their smiling faces for the wondrous occasion, Edu Manzano’s and Alice Dixson’s face were placed on top of their faces – to fit the role of a wedded couple. This was not the first time for the “Ang Probinsyano” production staff to use a photoshopped image of the Dantes family, because back in its November 9, 2017 episode, a photo of Joko Diaz and Mickey Ferriols holding a baby was used. But again,
this was manipulated with editing tools for the original photo was actually that of Dingdong and Marian with their child Maria Letizia Dantes. Though Joko’s and Mickey’s faces were pasted on the couple bodies, Maria Letizia’s face was left untouched. The Kapuso actor expressed deep dismay and concern over the incident, prompting him to air out his statement on Facebook. According to him, a letter has already been forwarded to the teleserye production team. “Courtesy and fair practice must always be observed especially in an established industry like ours. But whether or not it is done within the entertainment sector, we should always be reminded of the basic etiquette for online photo use and sharing that includes asking permission and/or citing sources,” Dingdong further said, hoping that it will not happen again not only to him but to anyone. Attaching a video edited by the Dongyonatics to showcase the specific “Ang Probinsyano” episodes which had the subjected photoshopped photos, Dingdong then ended his post by an excerpt from his letter.
DINGDONG DANTES / FACEBOOK
“I appreciate that you found artistic inspiration from the original photos. Unfortunately, there is the inescapable consequence that legal and moral rights were violated here. And as you may very well be aware of, established industry practice is against such act as it amounts to disrespect. Worst of all, as a father and husband,
I cannot help but feel offended and deeply hurt by such actions, which happened not just once, but twice. Basic rules of courtesy, in this case, dictate that you first secure permission from the photographer and my Family,” he wrote. As of writing, the camp of Coco Martin’s “Ang Probinsyano” has yet to respond. ■
Alyssa Milano, Debby Ryan talk ‘Insatiable’ and fat shaming BY BROOKE LEFFERTS The Associated Press NEW YORK — After the trailer was released for the new Netflix series “Insatiable,” some on social media voiced concern: Was the dark comedy fat shaming? The show, which drops Friday, follows the return to high school of a girl named Patty, who loses a lot of weight after years of bullying. Having lost the weight, she’s out for revenge. Debby Ryan and co-star Alyssa Milano agreed that while the
subject matter was difficult, “Insatiable” serves a purpose in stirring conversation. Twitter’s response is evidence of that. “It was hurtful that people thought that we were doing it just as a joke,” Ryan, 24, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “And confirmed how important it was for us to …” “Do it,” Milano said, finishing the thought. Ultimately, Milano said, the series is a classic tale of growing up. “I think it is a coming-ofage story not only for Debby’s
character Patty, but all of the characters in the show,” said Milano, who plays a driven, conniving housewife with a heart. “And I think it is a satirical look at what happens at the point in life when you have accepted your own truth and your truth has empowered you to then move past it and what you have to do to move past it.” As for the social media controversy, Milano, 45, said she’s “of the school that it is much better to talk about these things and at its best, entertainment should be a conversation starter.” As the show progresses, the www.canadianinquirer.net
Twitterverse “will have more to probably shame us about and be upset about.” Ryan, a former child star on the Disney Channel series “Jessie,” said fat shaming is “one of the last unspoken prejudices that people just blatantly do all of the time and almost don’t get slapped on the wrist for it.” Her character is taunted as “Fatty” Patty, leading to a confrontation that forces her to have her jaw wired shut. Consequently, she loses weight. Ryan wore prosthetics for the role and learned something about
the experience firsthand. “As a woman, when people, kids who are playing the bullies, or crew members would see me walking around in prosthetics they would laugh and be like ‘that’s crazy,’” she said. “The rage of being treated so differently when the same person is in there,” Ryan added. “That was so scary because I thought, ‘Well am I thin enough to play the thin version of her? Are we now making a definition of what is officially considered, how much weight is considered fat and how much weight is considered thin?’” ■
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Wu’s fight for ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ part of a bigger crusade BY LINDSEY BAHR The Associated Press BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Constance Wu had resigned herself to the fact that “Crazy Rich Asians” was not going to work out for her. She was under contract for her sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat”, both were filming in the fall, and that was that. “Crazy Rich Asians” would be the first studio-made Asian-American movie in 25 years, and Wu, who has established herself as a crusader for AsianAmerican representation in Hollywood, would have to sit this historic moment out. But then, feeling “kind of dramatic,” and thinking about the significance of the project to her and untold number of Asian-Americans who make it a point to tell her their stories because of her tweets and “Fresh Off the Boat,” Wu decided to give it one last shot and composed an email to director “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu. “I said, I know the dates don’t work out and whoever you cast, I will be the first in line and I will be their No. 1 fan
and supporter, but I did want to let you know that I would put 110 per cent of my heart into this project and I know what to do with it and how to carry a movie and if you can just wait for me, I don’t think you’ll regret it,” Wu, 36, said. “I did NOT think this email would work. I did it more for me so that I felt that I had told my truth. But then he read it and said, “You guys, we’ve got to push the production.” Sitting in a restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire, a hotel famous for co-starring in another “Cinderella” story, “Pretty Woman,” and sipping on a “cocktail” of grapefruit juice and sparkling water, Wu is describing how “Crazy Rich Asians,” out nationwide Wednesday is also a kind of “Cinderella” story. Based the first book in author Kevin Kwan’s popular trilogy, Wu’s character Rachel Chu is a middle-class economics professor from the U.S. who finds herself navigating the upper echelons of Singapore’s wealthy classes when her boyfriend Nick Young takes her home for a wedding and to meet his disapproving family and all the jealous women also vying for the attention of the “prince.”
Constance Wu.
DISNEY / ABC TELEVISION GROUP / FLICKR
“It’s a fairy tale, it really is,” Wu said. opportunities. “And there are a lot of different shoes in Wu once heard from a friend that her the movie!” liberal boyfriend said he didn’t like Wu’s A native of Richmond, Virginia, and a politics. classically-trained theatre actress with a “I’m like, ‘Does he not like my politics passion for musicals, Wu has been work- or does he not like that I have politics?’ ing toward a moment like this her whole And she asked him and he was like, “Oh I life, and taking it very seriously. During guess it’s that,’” Wu said. the shoot, she wouldn’t go out with her Fame, she said, is silly in that reco-stars for karaoke gard. She thinks it’s nights or have a drink “dumb” that she has a after a long day of bigger voice than othwork. She wanted to er people, like jourbe clear of mind and nalists or academics she’d already promI did NOT who are more studied ised her director that think this email in discourse on race she was going to give would work. I and intersectionality. it her all. did it more for But, she also realized She knew how unme so that I felt that while she has likely it was that she’d that I had told this platform, she can ever get an oppormy truth. But at least do some good tunity as an Asianthen he read it with it. American woman to and said, “You Henry Golding, lead a studio movie. guys, we’ve who plays Nick, is in “Even a terrific acgot to push the awe of Wu’s fortitude. tress like Sandra Oh production.” “She’s such a role was always No. 2 or model for so many No. 3 in the movie, people. She has a she was never No. 1 backbone, which a lot unless it was an indeof people don’t. She’s pendent movie,” said Wu, who is not shy not afraid of saying what’s on her mind about saying that she only wants to go and really driving home what she thinks out for roles where she is the No. 1 star. should be done, or what’s not happening It’s a drive that has made some uncom- in the industry that should be happening,” fortable. said Golding. “She’s going to go down as a “People are like, ‘Who do you think real fighter and someone who can act the you are? And it’s like, I guess I think I’m socks off anything. She is Rachel Chu.” a talented actor and I guess I’m not a As for what’s next, Wu said she thinks person who is going to let you make me she’s going to have a lot of choices in the feel small anymore,” she said. coming years. But Wu isn’t interested in making “I’m very privileged and lucky and I’m people feel comfortable at the expense at a point where I can sort of get to deof her truth, which is why at least part of cide where I want to go with my career,” her time is spent amplifying underrep- Wu said. resented voices on twitter, even knowAnd first up on her wish-list? A musiing that it’s affected her employment cal. ■
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Former WWE star Jim Canadian members of Oscars academy “The Anvil” Neidhart, weigh in on changes to the show member of hart Foundation, dies at 63 BY VICTORIA AHEARN The Canadian Press
BY DAN GELSTON The Associated Press WESLEY CHAPEL, FLA. — Jim (The Anvil) Neidhart, who joined with brother-in-law Bret Hart to form one of the top tag teams in the 1980s with the WWE, has died. He was 63. The Pasco Sheriff’s Office said Neidhart fell at home, hit his head and “succumbed to his injury” on Monday in Wesley Chapel, Florida. No foul play was suspected. Neidhart’s daughter, known as Natalya, wrestles for the WWE and is a former women’s champion. Neidhart made appearances with his daughter in the WWE reality series, “Total Divas.” Neidhart, Bret (Hitman) Hart and manager Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart made up the Hart Foundation stable in the 1980s and 1990s and the tag team won two WWE championships. “What a great run we had. I couldn’t believe how it took off,” Jimmy Hart told The Associated Press. “But the reason why was, Neidhart was such a great character back then. Bret was more cool, the girls loved him. Neidhart and myself were kind of the evil twins.” Neidhart married Hart’s sister, Ellie, and became part of the famed family wrestling dynasty in Canada. Stu Hart trained his sons, including Bret and former WWE star Owen Hart, as well as Neidhart in the 1970s. Neidhart started his pro wrestling career in Stu Hart’s Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion and eventually signed with the WWE in 1985. Hart posted a picture on social media of himself with Neidhart and the WWE tag team belts around their waists with the caption, “Stunned and saddened. I just don’t have the words right now.” Neidhart wrestled mostly for WWE from 1985 to 1997 and was known for his pink and
black gear, maniacal laugh and goatee. Ross Hart, his brother-in-law and a former pro wrestler, told The Associated Press that Neidhart suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and it was believed he suffered a grand mal seizure on Monday. “He got up (Monday) morning and went to lower the temperature on the air conditioner and he just collapsed and I think died pretty quickly,” Hart said. “I was think this was stemming from Alzheimer’s which he’d been battling for some time. It’s a struggle he’s been going through.” Jimmy Hart said Neidhart seemed in good health when they last saw each other in April on WrestleMania weekend. “He was witty, he was funny. He seemed sharp as a tack,” Hart said. Neidhart was a shot put start in high school in California in the early 1970s and had brief tryouts for NFL teams before becoming a pro wrestler. The Hart Foundation started as bad guys in WWE and won their first tag team championship in 1987 with the help of a crooked referee. They won the tag titles again in 1990 but split up not long after their second reign ended. Bret Hart was the wrestling technician of the team while Neidhart brought the raw force and power that made them fan favourites later in their run. As a singles wrestler, Hart would become one of the biggest stars in WWE history and made the promotion’s Hall of Fame. Neidhart foundered for most of the 1990s before aligning again with Hart, Owen Hart, Brian Pillman and the British Bulldog to form a new Hart Foundation and become the top faction in WWE. Hart is the only wrestler from that incarnation still alive. “He was very gifted athletically, even though Bret got more of the credit,” Ross Hart ❱❱ PAGE 30 Former WWE
TORONTO — If there’s one Canadian who understands the consequences of an Oscars show that runs too long, it’s J. Miles Dale. The Toronto producer’s bestpicture acceptance speech for “The Shape of Water” at this year’s Academy Awards was unceremoniously cut off by music because the show was running too long and needed to squeeze in a comedy bit involving a Jet Ski at the very end. As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences attempts to shorten the show to three hours and add a “popular film” category as part of changes announced earlier this week, Dale and some other Canadian academy members question the direction the Oscars are headed in. Dale says while he understands the academy is trying to include more mainstream fare with the new category and reach more Oscars viewers after years of slumping ratings, it’s also possibly compromising what it stands for. “I think the academy has to decide what it is and what purpose it serves,” Dale says. “These are people working at the top of their craft who are deciding what they think about these movies…(but) for Disney and ABC, it’s about TV ratings. So what is it about? That’s a conflict. “This isn’t the People’s Choice Awards, and if it was, that would be a different story.” The academy announced plans for a shortened broadcast and new film category on Wednesday, along with an earlier Oscars airdate on ABC of Feb. 9 for 2020. The changes are among several the academy has made in recent years as it attempts to diversify its membership and keep itself and the Oscars “relevant in a changing world.” While the academy has yet to reveal details on the new category, many in the industry say it’s an attempt to boost ratings and include box-office tentpoles such as the kind ABC owner Disney makes. www.canadianinquirer.net
J. Miles Dale.
FEATUREFLASH PHOTO AGENCY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
“I think it’s counterintuitive to what the Oscars represent,” says Glen Gauthier of Toronto, who was nominated for an Oscar for sound mixing on “The Shape of Water.” “I don’t understand the point of the popular vote. Isn’t that what the Golden Globes does? You can have a best picture that’s also the most popular picture, so why now do you need to separate them?” Dale notes “The Shape of Water” was actually quite popular, making about $65 million in the U.S. and almost $200 million around the world. “We’re an art movie and a commercial movie and I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive,” Dale says. Toronto production designer Paul Austerberry, who won an Oscar for his work on “The Shape of Water,” says he doesn’t think there should be a new category but understands that it might lure in more viewers. “The one thing is, I now imagine that a blockbuster will probably never win best picture, because it will have its own category,” Austerberry says. Burlington, Ont.-based animator Nancy Beiman, who has been in the academy since 1996, supports the popular film category. She says she doesn’t think it’s that different from the current Academy Honorary Award, which is given at the discretion of the Board of Governors and not necessarily awarded every year. “It’s just a matter of nomenclature, because by saying ‘popular film,’ it’s to me a little
patronizing,” says Beiman, who is also a producer and director. “I thought, ‘Popular? Who votes on it?’ Well, if you made it an honorary Oscar, it would be the governors. The idea of the award is great.” But Beiman and others are concerned that the shortened broadcast will result in certain smaller categories being cut from the broadcast and presented during commercial break. “It is a tremendous boost to the independent short film, if it wins; it can actually make or break a career,” Beiman says. She and the others also say there are ways of shortening the broadcast to three hours without eliminating categories, such as cutting out many of the musical numbers and comedy bits and paring it down to mostly just awards, like the BAFTAs does. Dale notes this year’s show could have been shorter if host Jimmy Kimmel hadn’t taken a group of A-list actors across the street to a packed theatre that was screening of Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” Perhaps he would have had time to give his speech, too. “The fact is, academy members don’t pay dues, which is great, and the academy gets a vast percentage of their revenue from the broadcast,” Dale says. “So I don’t want to say it’s an irreconcilable issue but it’s kind of an issue. They just they need to decide what purpose they serve and I think that’s the big thing.” ■
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Lifestyle How to reduce plastic, foil and other kitchen disposables BY KATHERINE ROTH The Canadian Press DISPOSABLES HAVE become a mainstay of many American kitchens — plastic baggies, plastic wrap, paper towels, aluminum foil, plastic straws and more. Reducing or even eliminating them can save you money in addition to cutting down on trash that ends up in landfills. “It’s easy to be overwhelmed by it all, but little differences really do add up,” says Lauryn Tyrell, food editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine. “I spend about 75 per cent of my time in the test kitchen and so I’m an excellent candidate for creating a ton of kitchen waste. But we’ve learned some tricks to reduce the amount of trash we produce,” she says. (Remember that in addition to reducing and reusing, recycling is an easy option for many items, including glass, plastic containers, bottles, cans, clean aluminum foil and batteries.) A few kitchen tips from the pros: Paper towels
“Keeping paper towel use to a minimum is one of the things Martha Stewart is really serious about,” Tyrell says. Each workspace in the magazine’s test kitchen features cloth tea towels, bar towels (similar to rags) and a roll of select-a-size paper towels, she says. The latter is used sparingly. Tea towels are great for drying hands or dishes, or folding
up to use as a hot mitt. Bar towels can be used for most messes. Paper towels are reserved for messes like juice from meat or raw egg. “It helps to have all your towel options in one place, so I’d recommend keeping rags or bar towels near where you keep the paper towels,” Tyrell says. If cloth towels aren’t handy, you probably won’t use them, she advises. And if you can’t wean yourself off paper towels, there are now several types of reusable ones made of bamboo and other sustainable materials that can be used numerous times before tossing them out, says Brandi Broxson, articles editor at Real Simple magazine. Cleaner paper towels can be recycled. Plastic shopping bags
Carry your own canvas or string tote bags for groceries and other purchases. The key, as with bar towels, is to keep them handy. “There are so many types of reusable bags out there that there’s really no excuse for bringing home single-use plastic shopping bags anymore,” Tyrell says. Americans throw away around 100 billion plastic bags a year, she says. Plastic produce bags
Avoid plastic produce bags by keeping a few lightweight mesh bags — often sold as “multi-use straining bags” — in your purse when you head to the grocery store, Tyrell says. “They’re also great for mak-
ing nut milks or straining yogurt,” she adds. If your grocery store doesn’t use compostable produce bags, you can always bring some of your own. To avoid plastic wrapping on meat or fish, try asking the butcher at the grocery store to wrap it instead in paper, which is biodegradable. Or bring a reusable container to put it in. Plastic baggies
There are a variety of new products that can be used as an alternative to baggies. Broxson, at Real Simple, recommends one called Stashers . They’re like zip-top plastic bags but are made of Silicon, and can be washed in the dishwasher and reused. They are watertight, and can go from freezer to microwave.
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Plastic wrap
Both Broxson and Tyrell recommend Bee’s Wrap as an alternative to typical plastic cling wrap. It’s made of fabric coated in a mixture of wax, oil and tree resin, and sticks to the top of bowls and jars. Like plastic wrap, it conforms to all sorts of shapes. Unlike plastic wrap, it can be washed and reused, and remains sticky for months, Bronson says. “It’s not great for wrapping something drippy like a tuna sandwich, where maybe parchment paper or aluminum foil might be preferable. But as a container covering, or to wrap drier types of foods or sandwiches, it’s great,” she says. Aluminum foil
“Luckily, unbleached parchment paper works great for baking and roasting, and also
for wrapping sandwiches and snacks,” and is biodegradable, Broxson says. “If you must use aluminum foil, you can wad it up into a ball and reuse it as a scouring sponge for baking dishes to get one more use out of it before throwing it away,” she suggests. Clean aluminum foil can be recycled if it’s free from food residue. And many stores now sell recycled aluminum foil. Plastic straws and utensils
The test kitchens at Martha Stewart Living have switched from plastic to stainless steel straws, says Tyrell. “I carry my own titanium fork and spoon, with a nylon connector so they can even be used as tongs. They’re superlightweight, and kind of cool,” she says. “Way nicer than plastic.” ■
Lifestyle
FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
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Spa and beauty industry Dads on diaper campaign hopes to fill 30,000 jobs duty demand more change tables in restaurant bathrooms BY BETH J. HARPAZ The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The spa and beauty industry is growing so fast that 30,000 jobs are going unfilled. A “Get Your Dream Job” campaign is aiming to change that. Lynnelle Lynch is president of Beauty Changes Lives, a foundation committed to “elevating the perception of careers in beauty and wellness and make it a first choice,” she said. The foundation provides scholarships from $1,000 to $15,000, and spas and salons across the country are helping to get out the message. The campaign was a focus of the annual International Spa Association show held Tuesday in New York to showcase trends, treatments and new spas. Spas are now a $17.5 billion industry in the United States, up 4 per cent in a year, according to iSPA statistics, with 187 million visits to spas in nearly 22,000 locations, and more than 370,000 employees, about half of them full-time. “We’re opening our fifth Kohler Water Spa in Chicago next year as a result of how hot the industry is right now,” said Garrett Mersberger, director of wellness and Kohler Water Spas at Kohler, a Wisconsinbased company. Mersberger is also chairman of the iSPA board, and noted that the industry’s recordbreaking boom includes “spa visits at an all-time high,” along with record average revenue of nearly $94 per customer visit. Lynch emphasized that the industry welcomes workers in every stage of life, from students just out of high school to older workers looking for new opportunities, to those returning to the workforce after raising kids — along with military spouses looking for skills they can take with them if they move. But Lynch feels the industry does not always get the respect it deserves. She even encourages parents to get kids considering careers in the industry if college isn’t the right fit. “If they’re creative, if they
BY CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI The Canadian Press
love wellness, if they love beauty, why not allow them to take an alternative path?” she said. “The skills are portable. And it’s short term — five months to a year — to get this training.” Jobs include estheticians who provide facial skin care and body treatments, and cosmetologists who do hair styling, makeup and nails. Lynch pointed out that celebrities often owe their looks to “people behind the scenes,” and that beauty school is a good steppingstone for entrepreneurialminded professionals to launch products or open salons. As an example of a behindthe-scenes profession that’s booming, an eyelash artist from Borboleta, the largest educator of lash artists in the world, was at the spa show to demonstrate the application of lash extensions. Borboleta trains nearly 3,000 lash artists annually in beauty schools across North America and Brazil. “Consumers will pay $200 to $500 for a lash service, with $75 to $200 for a fill (lash maintenance) every two to three weeks,” said Kainoa Clark, vicepresident of marketing for Borboleta. “We’re one of the fastest-growing segments within the beauty industry and it’s still in its infancy.” Other spa show participants included: —Hippocrates Health Institute, West Palm Beach, Florida, demonstrating “vibrational sound therapy” with the resonating sounds of a didgeridoo, the long wooden Australian aboriginal wind instrument, blown on the skin. —Yo1 Luxury Nature Cure,
a new $300 million property with 131 guest rooms that opened in June on the grounds of the defunct Kutsher’s Resort in Monticello, New York, in the Catskills. Programs and services include yoga and aryuvedic massage. —Hilton Hotels, launching a “5 feet to fitness” program with fitness equipment installed in standard king rooms. So far the program is in 12 hotels in San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago, among other cities, with more in the pipeline. —Elements Massage, with 250 franchise locations, offering a new aroma ritual treatment that combines aromatherapy, essential oils and a light-touch massage. —Aspira the Spa in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, showcasing organic food from its gardens. Aspira champions healthy eating as a foundation of wellness and grows 5 to 6 tons of food annually. A tasting menu at the spa show included chia seed pudding, lavender cookies, heirloom tomato salad and beet quinoa. —Glen Ivy Hot Springs, Corona, California, demonstrating a “tranquility pro sleep ritual” to “rebalance the senses.” For sound, participants listen to music through headphones with bass notes that mirror the resting heartbeat. For scent, there’s an oil and spray that smells like sweet orange and damask rose. And for a relaxing touch, a special brush is applied to the skin. But spas are “not just a place to relax,” Mersberger said. “People are seeing spas as a place to go for healing.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
TORONTO — A Quebec dad’s fight to get a change table in his local Tim Hortons has reignited a campaign by some fathers to make the folding baby stations a standard feature in men’s bathrooms across the country. Jeremy McCall of the London, Ont.-based parent group Dad Club London says he’s inspired by the story of Chris Webb, the Montreal-area father whose complaints about a local cafe were followed by a move from Tim Hortons to quickly install a change table for dads who visit the Pincourt, Que., location. McCall says it’s a battle he and other parents have been waging against local businesses in southwestern Ontario for two years, when they set up an online petition urging eateries to add change tables if they had none in their men’s bathrooms. “It’s reignited our spark,” McCall says of the Tim Hortons flap, vowing to target other large companies. “I never thought that we would convince people on a national level that this is necessary so actually we reached out to Chris and we’re going to see if we can formulate a plan together to maybe approach other national chains that do attract families and see if we can make this a standard.” It soon will be standard for Tim Hortons, a spokeswoman says. Devinder Lamsar says the coffee giant is spending $700 million to redesign the interior and exterior of its Canadian outlets, and that includes ensuring change tables are accessible to both men and women. She says that could either mean change tables in both men’s and women’s bathrooms or a shared family room accessible by all. She adds that the four-year plan was announced back in March and was not related to
Webb’s complaint. Webb says he’s happy change is underway at Tim Hortons, but says his complaint was “about bigger issues,” noting he’s also frustrated by a lack of change tables at some malls and community centres he’s visited. He’d like to see changing facilities provided for men and women in every public washroom in the country. “Tim Hortons was the tipping point for me,” says Webb, the father of a three-year-old girl and 14-month-old boy. “This is a story across the board. It doesn’t matter where you’re going, what’s happening, it seems to be that the expectation is that moms look after the baby and that dads are kind of along for the ride. It seems very inconsistent as to where you can find the change table and where you can’t find a change table to use as a man.” McCall, whose registered non-profit group has 1,700 members, says his group has approached about a dozen small businesses with similar complaints. The outlets have been quick to comply once they see his group’s petition, which includes 760 signatures. “The biggest backlash we got was the cost. ‘How can you force this on a small business owner?’ The reality is the change table is $332 last time we checked. And we usually … can bring out 20, 30, 40 people for a recognition event and they can make the money back pretty quickly,” says the 34-year-old McCall, who has three kids younger than six. Restaurants Canada says that while most large national chains offer “some accommodations” for parents, customers do occasionally have to ask for family-friendly facilities — whether it’s change tables, high chairs or a comfortable spot to breastfeed. There are no municipal ordinances, or provincial or federal regulations that require ❱❱ PAGE 28 Dads on
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Lifestyle
AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
9 expenses to pack in your moving budget BY LAUREN SCHWAHN The Associated Press MOVING COMES with a long, expensive to-do list. The average cost for a local move from a two-bedroom apartment or three-bedroom house ranges from $400 to $1,000, according to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide . While you’re choosing a place to live and deciding what to pack, having a plan for expenses can ensure your budget doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. “It’s very easy to overlook minor details because when you’re moving, you’re looking at getting your stuff from point A to point B,” says Jessica Nichols, a director at Avail Move Management, a relocation and transportation service in Evansville, Indiana. Preparing for moving costs can help alleviate emotional and financial strain. Consider these less-obvious expenses.
Peak surcharges
Many moving and truck rental companies raise rates during busy times like summer and weekends. If you have the flexibility, relocate in an off-peak period to save money. Packing materials and equipment
Buying items like boxes, bubble wrap and packing tape can add up. For example, U-Haul sells large moving boxes for $1.63 to $1.99 each, depending on how many you buy. Be realistic about the number you need. Or seek free materials from friends or online. Additionally, consider the items you’ll need to safely transport your belongings, including furniture covers, hand trucks and bungee cords. If your movers don’t provide them, or you aren’t hiring professionals, renting or
borrowing is more affordable than buying.
ey by doing some or all of the work yourself.
you likely have some coverage. Check your policy.
Excess cargo
Utilities
Tips
The more stuff you schlep, the more you’ll pay. Movers usually factor the number and weight of items into the bill. Expect additional fees for valuable or large items like pianos that require extra time, space or labour. Hauling everything yourself? A bigger load can require a larger vehicle or more gas-guzzling trips. To save money, donate or sell what you can before you move. Cleaning
You’ll likely need to tidy up your current place, especially if there’s a security deposit at stake. Housecleaning services typically charge $200 to $300 for a one-time cleaning, according to HomeAdvisor. You’ll save mon-
Watch for deposits, taxes, and connection and installation fees when setting up utilities at your new address. These could range from $10 to $200 or more. Ask power, internet and other service providers about charges in advance. Food
Food expenses can pop up, too. Think snacks for the road, restocking the refrigerator and pantry, and feeding friends who’ve helped. Shopping wholesale clubs could be a smart strategy to feed a crowd. Lost or damaged items
Some belongings might not survive the journey. Depending on what you’re transporting and how far, it may be worth purchasing protection to repair or replace property. “Nobody wants to think about their items getting broken. Ideally that would never happen, but in the real world that’s something you need to plan for,” says Nichols. Most movers provide basic valuation coverage, which limits their liability to 60 cents per pound, per item. For a 40-pound TV valued at $500, that’s $24. Toptier options and separate insurance plans offer higher or full values, but it will cost extra. If you have homeowners or renters insurance,
Movers appreciate tips after a long day of heavy lifting. Give tips based on your satisfaction level, but a good rule of thumb is 5 per cent of the total bill. Storage
If you can’t immediately move your possessions into your new home, you might have to rent a self-storage unit. Costs vary by size and location. Public Storage units in Austin, Texas, for example, range from about $30 to $300 per month. The less time and space you need, the less expensive the unit. Make your budget move-in ready
Mentally walk through your moving process from start to finish. Outline the potential items and services you’ll need at least a month ahead. Then, research prices and get multiple estimates for the best deals and service, Nichols says. Leave wiggle room for unexpected costs and take your time purchasing new home furnishings, says Daria Victorov, a certified financial planner at Abacus Wealth Partners in San Mateo, California. Remember, you don’t have to buy everything at once. “When you move into an empty house it feels like you need everything right away,” Victorov says. “Before you move, figure out what those essential items are, the things that you use every day, and that’ll help you figure out your budget, too.” ■ This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.
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change tables in restaurants, says vice president David Lefebvre, whose not-for-profit association represents more than 30,000 food service professionals. But he is loathe to suggest a blanket policy on such a wideranging industry. “I’m not sure this is something that can really be legislated or regulated because it’s
hard to have a solution that can apply everywhere,” Lefebvre says from Gatineau, Que. “(But) I think there’s some market-driven solutions that are really efficient right now. Not to say that everything is perfect, but I think it’s moving in the right direction and you cannot expect everything to change in a few years.” Cost and space are the two
biggest barriers outlets may face, he says, noting that some restaurants are so small that a retrofit would be “prohibitive,” or make it “impossible to install a changing table.” “It’s a little bit expensive because you figure you’re in an industry with an average pre-tax margin of 4.2 per cent,” he adds, nevertheless admitting that customer demand ultimately www.canadianinquirer.net
dictates what a business owner will do in order to stay afloat. “Just by the sheer number of people that go to some restaurants, this is the real power — the power they get when they spend or choose to go elsewhere to spend.” Webb says a lack of space is not a valid argument, and he urges the industry to get with the times.
“If you can put a change table in an airplane bathroom you can put one anywhere in the world, pretty much,” says the 34-year-old teacher. “Yes, it might be the world’s smallest change table, but you know what? I’d rather have a tiny surface that was a change table than nothing at all.” ■
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Sports Davao Aguilas stun Ginebra import Brownlee champ Ceres Negros open to be naturalized with 3-0 win BY NANETTE GUADALQUIVER Philippine News Agency
and this performance into the next competition,” he added. The Azkals striker shared he is glad to play again before the crowd in Bacolod, where he first BACOLOD CITY — Phil Youn- played for the Philippine men’s ghusband scored a brace while football team 13 years ago. Jason de Jong struck another “This field means a lot to me. goal to give Davao Aguilas It’s where the first time I reprean emphatic 3-0 victory over sented the Philippines in 2005. reigning Philippines Football It’s always great to score, but it’s League (PFL) champion Ceres even more special to score in Negros at Panaad Stadium on the place where it all started,” Sunday night. he said. However, the match no lonMeanwhile, Ceres Negros asger had a bearing on the home sistant coach Ian Treyes said it team’s standing since Ceres is “very difficult” to motivate already secured the 2018 PFL the Busmen to still give their title last July 25 after earning all in the remaining matches, 54 points. knowing they are already the The victory champions. was Davao’s Still, those first over Ceres who played were in a total of five ready to face matches. This is our Davao, he said. Head coach first win Ceres’ starting Melchor An(against lineup included zures gave credit Ceres). newly-signed to the Aguilas’ We’re Blake Powell, team work. disappointed Curt Dizon, Paul “We’re very it has taken Mulders and happy. The team this long, Jerry Barbaso, worked together, but Ceres is but without key it paid off. We a very good players Bienwon the match,” team. venido MaraAnzures said ñon, Stephan during the postSchrock, Patrick match press conReichelt, and Ott ference. brothers, Manny and Mike. He added that the win was a “They showed a lot of heart, I morale booster and will moti- don’t know what happened. We vate them to work harder to win conceded three goals,” Treyes their succeeding matches. said. Younghusband, who was Ceres Negros’ debacle startnamed “Man of the Match,” ed about 15 minutes into game found the back of the net in when head coach Risto Vidathe 27th and 31st followed by a kovic was sent off after pushthird goal from De Jong seven ing away referee Clifford Dayminutes later. puyat, as the Serbian mentor “This is our first win (against protested an incident between Ceres). We’re disappointed it Toni Doblas and James Younghas taken this long, but Ceres husband. is a very good team,” YounghusFour days earlier, Ceres Neband said. gros, which has two remaining “This will be good for our games in the 2018 PFL season, confidence, coming into the also lost to Singapore’s Home (PFL) Cup. Hopefully, we United in the AFC Cup ASEAN would be able to take this form Zonal Finals. ■
BY IVAN STEWART SALDAJENO Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Ginebra import Justin Brownlee expressed his desire to become a naturalized Filipino. No less than San Miguel Corporation sports director Alfrancis Chua, the team’s representative to the PBA board of governors, relayed the news to the public during the team’s victory party for its PBA Commissioner’s Cup championship at the Metrotent in Pasig. “He told me many times na kung matapos siya ng paglalaro (if he finishes playing), he wants to stay in the Philippines and he wants to be naturalized,” Chua said. “To make the story short, Brownlee loves the Philippines; he wants to stay here for good.” However, the former coach clarified that the naturalization is just for mere permanent residency and has nothing to do with a possibility of the sixfoot-five American guard-forward suiting up for Gilas Pilipinas. In fact, he expressed his
JUSTIN BROWNLEE / FACEBOOK
doubt for a Brownlee call-up to happen anytime soon. “Ang usapan nila (SBP and its stakeholders) ay yung mga malalaki, ‘di ba? Out of the question siguro yun dahil si Brownlee, maliit (They were talking about big men. Brownlee is out of the question because he is small in height),” Chua added. “Ang kinakailangan nila talaga, malaki dahil’ yun ang advantage. Height is might in international [competitions].” But if in case the SBP decides
to push through with the tedious naturalization process on the 30-year-old Brownlee to make him eligible for Gilas, Chua assures that Ginebra’s resident Governors’ Cup, who was named the Best Import for the Commissioner’s Cup, also embodies the “puso” mantra that the national team has been showing. “Ang puso ni Brownlee, malaki pa sa Pilipinas (His heart is bigger than the Philippines),” Chua added. ■
Etheridge makes penalty save in Premier League debut BY IVAN STEWART SALDAJENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Neil Etheridge became the first Southeast Asian player to start in a Premier League game, and despite his Cardiff squad losing at Bournemouth, the Azkals keeper made an impression. Etheridge saved Callum Wilson’s penalty attempt, which was his brightest moment in an otherwise not-so-bright perforwww.canadianinquirer.net
mance by Cardiff, which lost, 0-2, at Bournemouth late Saturday night (Philippine time). Etheridge chose the right spot as he got a hand on Wilson’s low right kick that kept Bournemouth from pulling away. Wilson, however, bounced back as he scored the dagger goal in stoppage time of the second half for the final tally. He also assisted in the match’s opening goal, a 24th minute attack by Ryan Fraser. Bournemouth joined open-
ing day winner Manchester United, which pipped Leicester, 2-1, at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester early Saturday (Philippine time). Meanwhile, Chelsea scored the biggest win in the Saturday games, blanking Huddersfield on the road, 3-0. In the other games, Tottenham pipped Newcastle, 2-1, Crystal Palace beat Fulham, 2-0, and Wolverhampton settled for a 2-2 draw with Everton in the nightcap that took place early Sunday (Philippine time). ■
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Business PH still enjoys cushions from Feds to launch external shocks: Espenilla talks on safeguards to keep steel from flooding into Canada
BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said the domestic economy’s proven resiliency shelters it from the full brunt of external problems, such as Turkey’s ongoing financial crisis. In an interview Monday, the central bank chief said the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain “very good” on the back of strong domestic expansion and sustained improvement of fiscal and monetary policies. The country’s external position, he said, remains good since the government’s budget deficit is “moderate” and “indebtedness is low.” He said the economic managers’ “policy response is quite dynamic and strong,” as shown by the tax reform program on the fiscal side, as well as policy rate decisions to address rising inflation on the monetary side. “So our policy-making is dynamic, and our exchange rate is flexible,” Espenilla said, citing these factors as the country’s second line of defense against external factors. The third line of defense, he said, includes the high foreign exchange reserves and the strong banking system. “For those three main reasons — fundamentals, sound policy, buffers — the Philippine economy is quite resilient to external factors,” he said, pointing out, however, that “that’s not to
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Nestor Espenilla Jr.
BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS / FACEBOOK
say that we won’t be affected by what’s going on outside.” Espenilla noted that the country will still “be affected but we’d like to think the impact would be relatively moderate and manageable.” The domestic economy’s resiliency has been proven, especially during the global economic crunch a decade ago. While growth in some advanced economies contracted during the global financial crisis, the Philippine economy remained strong, with average domestic growth rising to about 6 percent from about 3 percent before. In the second quarter of 2018, growth, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), slowed to 6 percent from 6.6 percent in the previous quarter. Espenilla, however, attributed this slowdown mainly to the small contribution of the agriculture sector as a result of weather-related factors. Agri-
culture expanded by only 0.2 percent from April to June this year due to the weather disturbances. Meanwhile, the central bank chief said the impact of the monsoon rains on inflation of agricultural items, in particular, will have short-term impact and will be transitory. “They normalize as soon as supply normalizes,” he said. “The challenge is when all these things come together at the same time. People may fear that there’s already widespread inflation that’s persistent,” he said, hence, the monetary officials’ move to always explain to people the reasons for the uptick of inflation. Espenilla noted that “depending on the drivers of inflation, not all of them require monetary policy action.” “For many of these, the best response is really to deal on the supply side, so the supply normalizes,” he added. ■
other wrestling promotions and had brushes with the law and spent time in drug rehabilitation later in life. But he found a second act as comic relief on “Total Divas” and was filmed going shopping with his daughter and teaching
wrestlers how to golf. Neidhart is the latest in a string of big wrestling names who have died in 2018, including Bruno Sammartino, Vader, Brian Christopher and Nikolai Volkoff. ■
Former WWE... ❰❰ 25
said. “He was more of the power behind the team but at times he did some incredibly gifted things in the ring. He was like a water buffalo. He was tough to control and tame.” Neidhart wrestled briefly for
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union stakeholders are not unanimous on the issue and he expects debate on how — or if — OTTAWA — The federal gov- the federal government should ernment will announce the proceed with safeguards. start of consultations today on He said the coalition, which how best to address concerns represents construction steel that cheaper foreign steel is en- suppliers, fabricators, service tering the Canadian market, in- centres, and importers, is calling dustry representatives say. on Ottawa not to initiate a safeJesse Goldman, a lawyer rep- guard on construction steel. The resenting the Canadian Coali- coalition also has support from tion for Construction Steel, says labour unions and other groups the group has been informed from the construction industry. by federal officials that Finance It warns that any measures Minister Bill Morneau will the government takes to protect make the announcement during the country’s steel producers an event at the ArcelorMittal must be carefully designed to Dofasco steelmaker’s offices in ensure they avoid putting more Hamilton, Ont. than 60,000 Goldman, a Canadian conpartner at Borstruction jobs at den Ladner Gerrisk and causing vais, says the fedThe harm to the naeral consultation government tional economy. period on safeneeds to be “The governguards will last really cautious ment needs to for 15 days and he about this. be really cauexpects the govtious about this,” ernment to study Goldman said. the information “They’re doing for a few weeks the right thing by before making a decision. consulting, but it’s going to be In June, U.S. Commerce very important that they take a Secretary Wilbur Ross said broad look at the industry and American tariffs on steel and they hear from as many stakealuminum against Canada and holders as possible... other allies were designed to “We’re convinced that their force them into action to ad- hearts and minds are in the dress the world’s overproduc- right place. We just want to tion and overcapacity of steel. make sure they get to the right Foreign Affairs Minister conclusion on this.” Chrystia Freeland has insisted The retaliatory steel tariffs inthat Canada introduced stron- troduced by Canada against the ger safeguards on steel well be- U.S. in response to the American fore the U.S. imposed the tariffs levies are already providing a lot — but Ottawa has also acknowl- of protection for the steel indusedged it has more work to do. try, Goldman said. The federal government has He warned that imposing said it would consult with in- safeguards on the rest of the dustry so even more can be world — through a combinadone to address the diversion tion of quotas and surtaxes, or and dumping of steel into the surtaxes only — would likely Canadian market. cause a supply shortage of steel Goldman said industry and in Canada. ■
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Weed’s want ads longer, marijuana job searches up as industry grows: study BY ANDY BLATCHFORD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The growth of Canada’s soon-to-be-legal recreational pot industry is starting to create a small buzz among job hunters. The job website Indeed has released new numbers that show cannabis-related searches, while still small, were more than four times higher last month compared to the year before. The data say weed-related searches increased to 26 out of every 10,000 searches, up from six. Employers, the data found, have also been looking for more help within the expanding cannabis industry — from retail “budtenders,” to production assistants, to quality assurance. New help-wanted ads in the sector were up three-fold last month, compared to a year ago, and now make up 25 out of
every 10,000 new jobs on the website. “Cannabis-related searches and job postings remain a small corner of the Canadian labour market, but they’re growing rapidly,” Indeed economist Brendon Bernard wrote in the report. The economic possibilities and job-producing prospects of the cannabis industry have been rising in the leadup to Oct. 17, the date Canadians will be legally allowed to purchase and consume recreational marijuana. The growth potential is sure to attract workers on its own, but some could be lured by the opportunity to make a living in an industry emerging after decades of prohibition. Job seekers’ searches for cannabis-related work spiked at the start of 2018, which coincided with media headlines about surging stock prices of several Canadian marijuana firms, the
report said. From there, a greater number of employers moved into hiring mode in the months that followed. There was a 50 per cent jump in cannabis-related job postings between April and early May. More than half the country’s pot-related want ads were for jobs in Ontario, which the report notes is also home to the headquarters of major players in the industry. “With aggressive hiring plans, Canadian cannabis companies are posting openings across a wide range of job types,” Bernard wrote. “The main roles in demand are for workers to grow the product and for others to sell it.” The most-advertised cannabis roles on the website included quality assurance, retail workers, production assistants, maintenance technicians, executive assistants and nurses,
PH economy to get back on track after Q2 ‘breather’: DOF BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Department of Finance (DOF) is still optimistic that the Philippine economy’s momentum will get back on track after it “took a breather” in the second quarter of 2018. From April to June this year, the economy registered a 6 percent expansion, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), slower than the previous quarter’s 6.6 percent. In an economic bulletin, the department said the slower growth in the second quarter was due to the deceleration of the manufacturing sector from 7.6 percent from January to March this year to 5.6 percent; and the agriculture sector, which grew by 0.2 percent from 1.1 percent in the previous quarter. Despite this development the bulletin said “there is a sil-
ver lining” after noting the 20.7 percent rise in capital formation on the back of the 28.6 percent increase of durable equipment. Also, it cited the recovery of exports after it grew 13 percent from quarter-ago’s 6.5 percent. “These imply that the economy will be able to recover lost ground in the next quarters as the equipment and factories set up in the second quarter will start operations,” it said. With faster output needed in the second half of the year to meet the government’s seven to eight percent target, the bulletin said investment needs greater focus. “Government should keep its focus on enhancing the country’s long-term prospects by increasing the economy’s productive capacity (through infrastructure and social services) while maintaining macroeconomic stability,” it said. The current government has identified 75 priority proj-
ects under its infrastructure program called “Build, Build, Build” and these are seen to ensure sustained and long-term growth of the domestic economy. It targets to spend at least PPH8 trillion until the end of its term in 2022 for these projects, some of which will be financed by official development assistance (ODA) funds. DOF’s bulletin added that “while CPI (consumer price index) inflation has remained elevated, the broader GDP deflator-based inflation shows a 3.1 percent price increase for all consumer and investment goods.” ■
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ANTHONY TENORIO / FLICKR
which is likely connected to the existing medical marijuana market. Want ads in the recreational market will also add to opportunities in the already established medicinal pot industry. With recreational weed’s move towards legalization, even the terminology used by
job searchers has experienced an evolution, the report said. “Last summer, about as many Canadian job seekers on Indeed looked up the word marijuana as cannabis,” it said. “A year later, cannabis has left marijuana in the dust, outnumbering it in searches more than five to one.” ■
Peso, PSEi dragged down by Turkey’s financial woes BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippine peso and the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed Monday as investors troop to safer grounds on jitters generated by the financial crisis in Turkey. The peso ended the week’s first trading day at 53.37 from 53.09 Friday last week. A trader said the US dollar strengthened as a result of concerns on Turkey, thus, the general weakness of currencies in Asia. Corporates’ mid-month dollar demand added to the peso’s weakness during the day, the trader said. For the day, the local unit opened at 53.18, sideways from the 53.13 in the previous session. It traded between its opening level and 53.375, bringing the day’s average at 53.307.
Volume for the day reached USD786.4 million, higher than the USD664.3 million a day ago. The currency pair is seen to trade between 53.10 and 53.30 Tuesday. Also, the main equities index shed 2.17 percent, or 169.71 points to 7,635.27 points, which another trader pointed to the Turkey-factor. All the other counters mirrored the main gauge, with the broader All Share down by 1.74 percent, or 82.16 points, to 4,632.53 points. The sectors were led by the Property, which fell 2.89 percent, and was followed by the Holding Firms, 2.82 percent; Industrial, 1.21 percent; Financials, 1.19 percent; Services, 0.91 percent; and Mining and Oil, 0.81 percent. Volume reached 1.44 billion shares amounting to Php5.2 billion. Losers led gainers at 140 to 58 while 39 stocks were unchanged. ■
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Technology Tech giants still stumbling in the social world they created BY BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press NEW YORK — Who knew connecting the world could get so complicated? Perhaps some of technology’s brightest minds should have seen that coming. Social media bans of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have thrust Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others into a role they never wanted — as gatekeepers of discourse on their platforms, deciding what should and shouldn’t be allowed and often angering almost everyone in the process. Jones, a right-wing provocateur, suddenly found himself banned from most major social platforms this week, after years in which he was free to use them to promulgate a variety of false claims. Twitter, which one of its executives once called the “free speech wing of the free speech party,” remains a lonely holdout on Jones. The resulting backlash suggests that no matter what the tech companies do, “there is no way they can please everyone,” as Scott Shackelford, a business law and ethics professor at Indiana University, observed. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and crew, and Google’s stewards of YouTube gave little thought to such consequences as they built their empires with lofty goals to connect the world and democratize discourse. At the time, they were the rebels aiming to bypass the stodgy old gatekeep-
ers — newspaper editors, television programmers and other establishment types — and let people talk directly to one another. “If you go back a decade or so, the whole idea of speech on social media was seen as highly positive light,” said Tim Cigelske, who teaches social media at Marquette University in Wisconsin. There was the Arab Spring. There were stories of gay, lesbian and transgender teens from small towns finding support online. At the same time, of course, the companies were racing to build the largest audiences possible, slice and dice their user data and make big profits by turning that information into lucrative targeted advertisements. The dark side of untrammeled discourse, the thinking went, would sort itself out as online communities moderated themselves, aided by fastevolving computer algorithms and, eventually, artificial intelligence. “They scaled, they built, they wanted to drive revenue as well as user base,” said technology analyst Tim Bajarin, president of consultancy Creative Strategies. “That was priority one and controlling content was priority two. It should have been the other way around.” That all got dicier once the election of President Donald Trump focused new attention on fake news and organized misinformation campaigns — not to mention the fact that some of the people grabbing
these new social-media megaphones were wild conspiracy theorists who falsely call mass shootings hoaxes, white nationalists who organize violent rallies and men who threaten women with rape and murder. While the platforms may not have anticipated the influx of hate speech and meddling from foreign powers like Russia, North Korea and China, Bajarin said, they should have acted more quickly once they found it. “The fact is we’re dealing with a brave new world that they’ve allowed to happen, and they need to take more control to keep it from spreading,” he said. That’s easier said than done, of course. But it’s particularly difficult for huge tech companies to balance public goods such free speech with the need to protect their users from harassment, abuse, fake news and manipulation. Especially given that their business models require them to alienate as few of their users as possible, lest they put the flood of advertising money at risk. “Trying to piece together a framework for speech that works for everyone — and making sure we effectively enforce that framework — is challenging,” wrote Richard Allan, Facebook’s vice-president of policy, in a blog post Thursday. “Every policy we have is grounded in three core principles: giving people a voice, keeping people safe, and treating people equitably. The frustrations we hear about our policies — outside and internally as well — come from the inevitable tension be-
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tween these three principles.” Such tensions force some of the largest corporations in the world to decide, for instance, if banning Nazis also means banning white nationalists — and to figure out how to tell them apart if not. Or whether kicking off Jones means they need to ban all purveyors of false conspiracy theories. Or whether racist comments should be allowed if they are posted, to make a point, by the people who received them. “I don’t think the platforms in their heart of hearts would like to keep Alex Jones on,” said Nathaniel Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School. “But it’s difficult to come up with a principle to say why Alex Jones and not others would be removed.” While most companies have policies against “hate speech,” defining what constitutes hate speech can be difficult, he added. Even governments have trouble with it. One country’s
free speech is another country’s hate speech, punishable by jail time. Facebook, Twitter, Google, Reddit and others face these questions millions of times a day, as human moderators and algorithms decide which posts, which people, which photos or videos to allow, to kick off or simply make less visible and harder to find. If they allow too much harmful content, they risk losing users and advertisers. If they go too far and remove too much, they face charges of censorship and ideological bias. “My sense is that they are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks,” Persily said. “It’s a whack-a-mole problem. It’s not the same threats that are continuing, and they have to be nimble enough to deal with new problems.” ■ AP Technology Writer Mae Anderson contributed to this story.
Technology
FRIDAY AUGUST 17, 2018
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NASA spacecraft rockets toward sun for closest look yet BY MARCIA DUNN The Associated Press
SAMSUNG MOBILE / FACEBOOK
Samsung’s new phone shows how hardware innovation has slowed BY ANICK JESDANUN The Associated Press NEW YORK — Samsung’s new smartphone illustrates the limits of innovation at a time when hardware advances have slowed. The new phone, the Galaxy Note 9, will be faster and will last longer without a recharge. But while earth-shattering new features are in short supply, it will carry an earth-shattering price tag: $1,000. The minor improvements reflect a smartphone industry that has largely pushed the limits on hardware. Major changes tend to come every few years rather than annually, and this isn’t the year for anything revolutionary in the Note. The new phone will get some automatic photo editing and a stylus that can serve as a remote control. But the highlights will be a bigger battery, a faster processor and improved cellular speeds. “You don’t see massive breakthroughs anymore from a hardware perspective,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies. “Everything is a little bit better, but nothing’s revolutionary.” A 21 per cent boost in battery capacity from last year’s Note 8 should translate to more than a day of normal use without a recharge. Samsung has been conservative on battery improvements ever since its Note 7 phone in 2016 developed a tendency to burst into flame, prompting an expensive recall and delivering a hit to the company’s reputation. Since then, Samsung has sub-
jected its phones to multiple inspections, including X-rays and stress tests at extreme temperatures. The company is also sending phones to outside labs, including UL, for independent safety tests. “We’re three generations removed now,” Samsung’s director of U.S. product marketing, Suzanne De Silva, said of the company’s renewed confidence in the battery. “This is the right innovation at the right time.” Although Samsung’s Note phones are large, niche products intended for power users, they offer a preview of what’s to come in the mass-market Galaxy S line. A dual-lens camera, with better zooming, came to the Note 8 months before the S9 Plus got it, for instance. The Note also got curved edges before that became standard on Samsung’s flagship phones. Even though the improvements from last year aren’t huge, Technalysis Research analyst Bob O’Donnell said they will come across as major for those who haven’t upgraded for a few years. Thursday’s announcement in New York comes about a month before Apple is expected to unveil new iPhones. There’s been speculation — unconfirmed by Apple — that all new iPhones will ditch the home button and fingerprint sensor and rely entirely on facial-recognition technology found in the iPhone X. The Note 9 will still have a fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone. In a jab at Apple, Samsung execu❱❱ PAGE 38 Samsung’s new
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. — A NASA spacecraft zoomed toward the sun Sunday on an unprecedented quest to get closer to our star than anything ever sent before. As soon as this fall, the Parker Solar Probe will fly straight through the wispy edges of the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, that was visible during last August’s total solar eclipse. It eventually will get within 3.8 million (6 million kilometres) of the surface in the years ahead, staying comfortably cool despite the extreme heat and radiation, and allowing scientists to vicariously explore the sun in a way never before possible. No wonder scientists consider it the coolest, hottest mission under the sun, and what better day to launch to the sun than Sunday as NASA noted. “All I can say is, ‘Wow, here we go.’ We’re in for some learning over the next several years,” said Eugene Parker, the 91-year-old astrophysicist for whom the spacecraft is named. Protected by a revolutionary new carbon heat shield and other high-tech wonders, the spacecraft will zip past Venus in October. That will set up the first solar encounter in November. Altogether, the Parker probe will make 24 close approaches to the sun on the seven-year, $1.5 billion undertaking. For the second straight day, thousands of spectators jammed the launch site in the middle of the night as well as surrounding towns, including Parker and his family. He proposed the existence of solar wind — a steady, supersonic stream of particles blasting off the sun — 60 years ago. It was the first time NASA named a spacecraft after someone still alive, and Parker wasn’t about to let it take off without him. Saturday morning’s launch attempt was foiled by last-minute technical trouble. But Sunday gave way to complete success. The Delta IV Heavy rocket thundered into the pre-dawn darkness, thrilling onlookers for miles around as it climbed through a clear, star-studded sky. www.canadianinquirer.net
NASA needed the mighty 23-story rocket, plus a third stage, to get the diminutive Parker probe — the size of a small car and well under a ton — racing toward the sun. From Earth, it is 93 million miles (150 million kilometres) to the sun, and the Parker probe will be within 4 per cent of that distance at its closest. That will be seven times closer than previous spacecraft. “Fly baby girl, fly!!” project scientist Nicola Fox of Johns Hopkins University urged via Twitter. It was the first rocket launch ever witnessed by Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. He came away impressed, saying it was like looking at the Taj Mahal for years in photos and then beholding “the real thing” in India. “I really have to turn from biting my nails in getting it launched, to thinking about all the interesting things which I don’t know yet and which will be made clear, I assume, over the next five or six or seven years,” Parker said on NASA TV. NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, was thrilled not only with the launch, but Parker’s presence. “I’m in awe,” Zurbuchen said. “What a milestone. Also what’s so cool is hanging out with Parker during all this and seeing his emotion, too.” Parker, the probe, will start shattering records this fall. On its very first brush with the sun, it will come within 15.5 million miles (25 million kilometres), easily beating the current record of 27 million miles (43 million kilometres) set by NASA’s Helios 2 spacecraft in 1976. Zurbuchen expects the data from even this early stage to yield top science papers. By the time Parker gets to its 22nd, 23rd and 24th orbits of the sun in 2024 and 2025, it will be even deeper into the corona and travelling at a record-breaking 430,000 mph (690,000 kilometres per hour). Nothing from Planet Earth has ever hit that kind of speed. Even Fox has difficulty comprehending the mission’s derring-do. “To me, it’s still mind-blowing,” she said. “Even I still go, really? We’re doing that?” Zurbuchen considers the sun the most important star in our
universe — it’s ours, after all — and so this is one of NASA’s big-time strategic missions. By better understanding the sun’s life-giving and sometimes violent nature, Earthlings can better protect satellites and astronauts in orbit, and power grids on the ground, he noted. In today’s tech-dependent society, everyone stands to benefit. With this first-of-its-kind stellar mission, scientists hope to unlock the many mysteries of the sun, a commonplace yellow dwarf star around 4.5 billion years old. Among the puzzlers: Why is the corona hundreds of times hotter than the surface of the sun and why is the sun’s atmosphere continually expanding and accelerating, as Parker accurately predicted in 1958? “The only way we can do that is to finally go up and touch the sun,” Fox said. “We’ve looked at it. We’ve studied it from missions that are close in, even as close as the planet Mercury. But we have to go there.” The spacecraft’s heat shield will serve as an umbrella, shading the science instruments during the close, critical solar junctures. Sensors on the spacecraft will make certain the heat shield faces the sun at the right times. If there’s any tilting, the spacecraft will correct itself so nothing gets fried. With a communication lag time of 16 minutes each way, the spacecraft must fend for itself at the sun. The Johns Hopkins flight controllers in Laurel, Maryland, will be too far away to help. A mission to get close up and personal with our star has been on NASA’s books since 1958. The trick was making the spacecraft small, compact and light enough to travel at incredible speeds, while surviving the sun’s punishing environment and the extreme change in temperature when the spacecraft is out near Venus. “We’ve had to wait so long for our technology to catch up with our dreams,” Fox said. “It’s incredible to be standing here today.” More than 1 million names are aboard the spacecraft, submitted last spring by space enthusiasts, as well as photos of Parker, the man, and a copy of his 1958 landmark paper on solar wind. “I’ll bet you 10 bucks it works,” Parker said. ■
AUGUST 17, 2018
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CANADA
HIRING
NANNY/BABYSITTER
LOCATION: BRAMPTON Employer: Romelo Perez for 2 children (15 & 11 y.o.), Mon-Fri, $14/hr for 40 hrs/wk. 3 year-contract Requirements: LanguageEnglish. Education- Completion of secondary school (min.) Experience- 1-2 yrs. child care/babysitting exp; criminal record check, in good health. Duties: Supervise and care for children, prepare and serve meals, assist with feeding, grooming, hygiene, homework and school projects. Perform light housekeeping & cleaning duties including wash/iron clothes and household linens. Take children to and from school and appointments, travel with family if needed.
LUCKY SUPERMARKET 10628 King George Blvd, Surrey B.C is hiring all positions such as: store manager, grocery manager, produce manager, office administration, file maintenance clerk, head cashier, cook, BBQ chef, meat cutter, baker, bakery clerk, grocery clerk, frozen clerk, meat clerk, produce clerk, cashier, truck driver and kitchen helper.
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Electronic Technicians Needed Experience in Low Voltage Electrical System installation and Servicing Computers with Networking Email resume to suda@alarmboss.com Call 416-432-1902
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Travel Kayak in Indian Arm waters Rediscovering the off of B.C.’s Deep Cove and metro through feast on famous doughnuts ‘Ikot Manila’ BY ALEKSANDRA SAGAN The Canadian Press DEEP COVE, B.C. — About halfway through a kayaking tour on the waters of Indian Arm, expect the Deep Cove Kayak instructor to whip out a bag of the area’s famous doughnuts for a snack while taking in the view of the fjord and likely spotting some wildlife. Kayaking in North Vancouver’s Deep Cove area offers breathtaking scenery and an abundance of wildlife. The village is a short trip from Vancouver and visitors can enjoy many other outdoor activities in the area, including hiking, if they wish to stay longer. Deep Cove is close to Vancouver and the waters are calm, making it a great kayaking spot for locals and tourists, said Joel Viehweger, 23, who has worked as a kayak instructor at Deep Cove Kayak for three seasons. “There’s a bunch of other neat stuff to do,” he said, highlighting the area’s eateries and nature. It’s nice “just being out where it doesn’t seem like you’re in a big city,” he added. “It has a really small-town vibe.” The most popular tour is a three-hour exploration of the area that Viehweger says runs three times a day during the high season months. Participants receive a quick demonstration on land, teaching them how to paddle effectively and get in and out of the boats — a not-so-glamorous process that involves straddling the kayak and popping in butt first so as not to damage the boat. Once on the water, instructors discuss the area’s flora, fauna and history. The water there is brackish, meaning a mixture of salt and fresh water, making for a slightly salty taste. They can
BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency
Deep Cove in Vancouver.
point out harbour seals, great blue herons and moon jelly fish — don’t worry, they don’t sting. As paddlers pass through the small, scattered islands they’ll learn about the folklore of Jug Island. Some say the island was a drop-off spot for bootleggers during prohibition. At some point during the journey, instructors will treat the guests to doughnuts from Honey’s Doughnuts & Goodies, which has been a fixture on Deep Cove’s main shopping drag for decades. “That’s the tradition,” Viehweger said. The cafe, known mostly for its decadent doughnuts, hit a new level of fame when actor Kate Winslet raved about the treats during an interview at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. “I pine for Honey’s doughnuts,” she said, before repeating herself, heavy emphasis on the word “pine.” The bakers make the preservative-free, high-quality ingredient doughnuts fresh, said co-owner Ashak Saferali, and sometimes customers have to wait for a new batch. They come in plain, maple
ANDY / FLICKR
chocolate, maple bacon, coconut and cinnamon flavours, he said, and the recipe remains unchanged since he bought the original business in 1996. It helps the business when Hollywood celebrities like Winslet call attention to the cafe, Saferali said, adding she’s not the only actor to have dropped by the store. He also believes the tranquility of Deep Cove helps bring patrons to the restaurant. “The area is really beautiful… It’s like going into a small village.” If you go…
— Group tours cost between $75 and $120 per adult, plus GST. The company also offers private tours and lessons. — Viehweger recommends bringing lots of water — even on cloudy days — and wearing athletic clothes. Leave the jeans and cotton shirts at home. — If kayaking with a romantic partner, know the doubles kayaking is jokingly referred to as “the divorce boat” sometimes because it can prompt some heated arguments. But Viehweger swears he’s never seen anything too serious. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
MANILA — Foreign and local tourists alike may now rediscover old and new must-see places in Metro Manila through the Ikot Manila tourism campaign of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the LRT-1, which has options for guided and unguided tours. “IkotMNL” features an updated list of sites and thematic tours that fit all markets. For do-it-yourself (DIY) or unguided tours, tourists can choose from over 70 must-see places near LRT-1’s 20 stations. Those inspired to go on a religious trip may alight at the Baclaran station, which is a walking distance from the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help; or at the Carriedo Station, a few meters away from Quiapo Church that houses the Black Nazarene, which is also near the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros and the San Sebastian Church known for its gothic architecture. The Masjid Al-Dahab, commonly known as the Golden Mosque, is also located a few walks away from Quiapo Church. For guided tours, visitors
Ikot MNL Challenge participants.
may contact DOT’s official tour partners, Tralulu, Walk This Way, Old Manila Walks, and Kapitbahayan sa Kalye Bautista, which offer tours that provide riders facts about Manila’s historical and cultural heritage while traversing the train route. The campaign was formally launched on Saturday with DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and LRT-1 operator Light Rail Manila Corporation President and CEO Juan Alfonso signing a memorandum of agreement for the initiative. Puyat is optimistic that the campaign will be a hit to all ages who want to see Manila on a different perspective. She said the DOT is currently conducting development projects to further improve Intramuros, and other national parks surrounding Manila. “We have a lot of projects with the private sector, soon you’ll be seeing it,” she told reporters in an interview. Alfonso, for his part, said the initiative recognizes the role LRT-1 plays in promoting tourism in Manila and its sustainable growth. “As the LRT-1 operator, we are in a unique position to connect local and foreign tourists to the city’s most important and historic places in the quickest land travel possible,” he said. ■
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Travel
AUGUST 17, 2018
FRIDAY
Laughlin River Regatta organizers aim to keep it clean THE CANADIAN PRESS LAS VEGAS — Organizers have stepped up trash collection for the Laughlin River Regatta tubing event, two years after 31,000 people left piles of garbage in and around the river. Marnell Gaming, which owns Colorado Bell and Edgewater in Laughlin, paid $100,000 for rights to the tubing event’s trademarks, social media accounts, website, logos and use of the land from Bullhead City, Arizona, according to city documents. The new organizers employed more than four times as many trash-collecting resources than previous events, including staffers with nets and garbage bags to collect trash during the race and a slew of additional divers who will scour the river after the event for any remaining waste, the Las Vegas Sun reported. In three separate pre-trash collection dives from December to May, Marnell’s company has already collected and disposed of over 3 tons of trash. The regatta, which launched in 2007 with fewer than 500 participants, will be capped at 22,000 this year. City Manager Toby Cotter said Bullhead City could permit the number to
increase if the new owners prove they can successfully run the regatta without the mess left behind in 2016. “To cancel this event after 10 years of success because it did get too big, I use the analogy it’s like cancelling the Super Bowl because you can’t clean up the tailgate parties,” Marnell told the Mohave County Board of Supervisors in January. The regatta brought between $16 million and $22 million in direct economic spending over the weekend to Laughlin and Bullhead City in 2016, according to independent analyses conducted by Bullhead City-based economists. Its inception 12 years ago played a major role in salvaging the area’s then-flailing economy, Cotter said. “It has a polarizing effect, that’s for sure,” Cotter said. “The regatta showed the world that there is a beautiful asset here in Bullhead City and Laughlin in the Colorado River.” All attendees also are required to carry trash-collecting sacks with them while floating down the river — one of two mandatory items along with a Coast Guard-approved life jacket. The event runs all day Saturday along a 13-mile (21-kilometre) stretch of the Colorado River. ■
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Yosemite to reopen Tuesday, 14 days after blaze choked air BY OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Yosemite National Park will reopen Tuesday, 14 days after a wildfire choked the park with smoke at the peak of tourist season, officials said Friday. “This is truly a historic and unprecedented event in park history, and we are thrilled to welcome back visitors to Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove,” said Michael Reynolds, the park’s superintendent. Visitors should expect limited hours and visitor services as the park returns to normal, spokesman Scott Gediman said. “Park visitors should be aware that there is still active fire and smoke on the roads, and people should drive with extreme caution,” he said. The scenic Yosemite Valley, 350 campsites and all the park hotels have been closed since July 25. Officials also declared a half-dozen other sites off-limits, including the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias, Tunnel View (a scenic spot on California Route 41) and Glacier Point Road. The Mariposa Grove will reopen Monday. But Tunnel View and Glacier Point Road will remain closed as fire crews continue to battle the wildfire. Though the blaze didn’t reach the heart of the valley, it burned in remote areas of the park about 250 miles (400 kilometres) from San Francisco, making roads inaccessible and polluting the air with smoke. The 150-square mile (388-square kilometre) fire that started on July 13 was 80 per cent contained Friday. This week, 200 park workers who live
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in Yosemite’s popular Valley region were allowed to return, and officials lifted most mandatory evacuation orders for nearby communities. But the park’s air remains hazy. Timelapse video by the Yosemite Conservancy, a group that supports the park, shows smoke enveloping and partly obscuring Half Dome, an iconic rock formation. It is Yosemite’s longest and most extensive closure since 1997, when floods shut the park for two months, officials said. Tourists wanting to visit Yosemite, a crown jewel of the National Park System, have to book nearly a year ahead of time to secure a coveted hotel room inside the park, where hotels and campsites fill up months in advance and are typically booked through October. The closure has dealt a financial blow to Yosemite and gateway communities like Oakhurst and Mariposa at the height of the summer season and caused upheaval for thousands of tourists whose summer trips were cancelled. Dylan Shull, who manages the Monarch Inn and the Best Western Yosemite in Mariposa, said the two-week closure has hit the town hard He said his hotels have hosted some of the emergency personnel involved in fighting the blaze, tourists who hadn’t heard news of the closure, and visitors who showed up with the hope the park would open. “June, July and August are the peak season and to see 30 per cent occupancy was a huge hit for us,” he said. “We’re all very excited. The whole town is looking forward to the reopening and hoping there are no hiccups,” Shull added. ■
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Food Facing a glut of cherry tomatoes? Turn ’em into a cobbler BY ELIZABETH KARMEL The Associated Press THIS TIME of year, I could live on tomato sandwiches. But it’s hard to make a sandwich out of cherry tomatoes, and I have loads of cherry tomatoes. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t resist buying them when I see them at the farmer’s market. If you are like me and have a glut of cherry tomatoes, this recipe is for you. Often, I make a simple fresh tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes, but this week, on a rainy day, I was craving summertime comfort food. There is nothing more comforting than homemade biscuits and I had all those cherry tomatoes. so I decided to combine them and make a biscuit-topped cobbler. Just the idea of it, hit the spot. To be honest, I had never made a tomato cobbler or even tasted one, but it made so much sense. Once I decided to make the savory cobbler, I thought of one of my favourite childhood sandwiches; a hot open-face pimento cheese and tomato and so, pimento-cheese biscuits it would be! I wanted the cobbler to be simple and showcase the fresh vine-ripened local tomatoes, so I kept it to basically two ingredients, leeks and tomatoes. I sweated three leeks with olive oil, salt and white pepper, but you could use about half as many shallots instead. Once they were soft and fragrant, I de-glazed the pan with balsamic vinegar which would be the “tang” in the cobbler. I gently mixed in the clean whole cherry tomatoes and seasoned them with salt and granulated garlic–not wanting to add any more “wet” ingredients. Finally, I added some corn starch to thicken the juices. I wanted the cherry tomatoes to cook in a similar manner to a berry cobbler. Since the filling was so simple, I decided to up the ante on the biscuit topping. When I make a sweet cobbler, I make sweet cream biscuits but since the tomato cobbler was savory, I decided to make my “Praise the Lard” biscuits and add pimento cheese turning the biscuit topping into pimento-cheese biscuits. Depending on the size of your biscuit cutter and your pan, you may need to cut some of the biscuits in half to fit. You want the biscuits to be close together, but leave a little room for rising. Make sure to bake the cobbler long enough so that the biscuits are cooked all the way through. If you have any extra dough,
you can make extra biscuits on the side while you are baking the cobbler–but remember that the biscuit will only take about 10-15 minutes to bake. After nearly an hour in the oven, I was more than rewarded. Although the ingredients were few, the combination of the leeks, farm-fresh cherry tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar baked into a luscious complex filling that was perfectly accented by the flaky pimentocheese studded biscuits. I may never eat cherry tomatoes any other way–this is one dish that I am going to have on rotation until the vines run out of cherry tomatoes! Tomato cobbler with pimento-cheese biscuits
Servings: 6-8 Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours
• 5-6 cups cherry tomatoes, any variety • Extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons • 3 leeks, chopped • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, divided • 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar • 2 tablespoons cup corn starch • 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic • For the biscuits: • 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour, divided • 1/2 (generous) cup favourite pimento cheese, preferably homemade (see my Classic Pimento Cheese recipe below) • 1/4 pound cold (1 stick) lard (or cold butter that you grate with a box grater in a pinch) • 1/2-3/4 cup real buttermilk such as Kate’s • 1/2 stick salted butter, melted Heat oven to 375 F. Place parchment paper in cookie sheet or half- sheet pan. Pick the stems off of the cherry tomatoes and rinse them under running water. Do not cut the cherry tomatoes–you want to keep them whole so they cook and collapse on themselves but do not become a liquid-y sauce. Warm the olive oil in a heavy-duty skillet over medium-high heat. When warm, add the leeks and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Saute until the leeks are very soft and tender, at least 10 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Turn off the heat. Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and granulated garlic together. Add the corn starch
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mixture to the leeks and mix well. Add the cherry tomatoes to the hot leeks. Stir gently until the leek mixture is evenly mixed with the tomatoes. Let sit for an hour. Pour the cooled leek-tomato mixture into a square baker and set aside. To prepare biscuits: place 2 cups of flour in large bowl. Add the pimento cheese. Cut in shortening, using a pastry blender or blending fork (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture resem-
bles coarse crumbs. Add 1/2 cup of buttermilk; stir with fork until soft dough forms and mixture begins to pull away from sides of bowl. If the dough is too wet, add the extra 1/4 cup of flour, little by little. If it is too dry, add the extra 1/4 cup of buttermilk, little by little. On lightly floured surface, knead dough 1-2 times, or just until smooth. Do not over-work the dough. Roll out ❱❱ PAGE 38 Facing a
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Make taco night into an easy one dish meal with a beef bake AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN OUR SPICY beef taco bake packs all the great texture and flavour of taco night into an easy one-dish meal that could easily be prepped ahead of time. We used 93 per cent lean ground beef instead of the usual 90 per cent because we found that excess grease pooled on the bottom of the dish if stored overnight. We flavoured the beef with onion, garlic, chili powder, and oregano, blooming the seasonings in oil to bring out their complex flavours. Both the chili powder and some Ro-tel tomatoes gave this dish multilayered heat. Layers of Colby Jack cheese helped to bind the beans and the meat. Taco shells broken into pieces and even more cheese made the perfect topping. If you can’t find Ro-tel tomatoes, substitute one 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, and one 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, drained, reserving 6 tablespoons of the tomato juice and 2 tablespoons of the chili juice. Colby jack cheese is also known as CoJack; if un-
available, substitute Monterey jack cheese. Be sure to buy 93 per cent lean ground beef or the finished casserole will be too greasy. Serve with sour cream, chopped red onion, shredded lettuce, and/or salsa. Spicy beef taco bake
Servings: 6 Start to finish: 50 minutes (40 minutes active) • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • 1 onion, chopped fine • Salt and pepper • 3 tablespoons chili powder • 4 garlic cloves, minced • 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried • 1 1/2 pounds 93 per cent lean ground beef • 2 (10-ounce) cans Ro-tel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, drained with 1/2 cup juice reserved • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar • 1 teaspoon packed brown sugar • 1 (16-ounce) can refried beans • 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro • 6 ounces colby jack cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups) • 12 taco shells, broken into 1-inch pieces • 2 scallions, sliced thin
Samsung’s new... ❰❰ 33
tives also frequently emphasize that their phones have standard headphone jacks, which newer iPhones no longer do. The camera in the Note 9 will use artificial intelligence to detect what’s in a scene — whether that’s food, flowers or a sunset — to automatically tweak images to make them pop. It’s much like applying filters with an app, except that the phone will do this itself, much the way Google’s Pixel phones already do. As with the Pixel, the Note won’t be saving a version without the tweaks. Purists can turn the feature off to get images that reflect what the eye sees — an option unavailable with Pixel. The camera will also offer a warning if someone blinked in a shot, or if the image is blurry. The Note’s stylus will now have Bluetooth, allowing people
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 F. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, garlic, and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in half of tomatoes, re-
served tomato juice, vinegar, and sugar. Bring to simmer and cook until mixture is very thick, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, combine remaining tomatoes, refried beans, and cilantro and spread evenly into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 cup colby jack over the top. Spread beef mixture into baking dish and sprinkle with 1/2 cup colby jack. Scatter taco shell pieces over top, then
sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup colby jack. Bake until filling is bubbling and top is spotty brown, about 10 minutes. Let casserole cool slightly, sprinkle with scallions, and serve. ■
ed salted butter. Transfer from sheet pan to a cooling rack and let the cobbler rest for at least 15 minutes before eating.
cheese and pimentos together. If it is too dry, add more mayonnaise. Grind 2-3 coarse rotations of fresh black pepper on the pimento cheese and mix well. Taste for seasoning and adjust with pepper or mayonnaise as needed. I find that the cheese and mayonnaise are salty enough and you will not need to add any salt. Spoon pimento cheese into a glass jar with a fitted lid–I like to use a wide mouth mason jar which then makes a nice serving dish as well. The pimento cheese good immediately but is even better the next day. ■
Nutrition information per serving: 499 calories; 215 calories from fat; 24 g fat (10 g saturated; 2 g trans fats); 95 mg cholesterol; 1383 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 7 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 37 g protein.
Facing a... to control phones and apps from up to 30 feet away. This will let people control music or snap selfies just by clicking the stylus. Samsung also said the popular shooter game “Fortnite” is coming to Android and will be exclusive to Samsung phones until Sunday. Samsung also previewed a new voice-assisted speaker, the Galaxy Home, using its homegrown digital assistant, Bixby. It promises quality sound, in a potential challenge to Apple’s Siri-based HomePod speaker. Samsung said more details would come later this year. Samsung’s current speaker, the Invoke, uses Microsoft’s Cortana assistant. Samsung also announced a new smartwatch and a partnership with Spotify intended to make it easier to switch music playback between phones, TVs and the company’s new speaker. ■
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dough to about 1/3inch thickness. Cut straight down with a floured biscuit cutter (2-3-inch round cutter)–do not twist the cutter. You will need 7-9 biscuits to cover the top of the baking pan, depending if you use an 8 x 8 or a 9 x 9 baking pan and how big your biscuit cutter is. Bake the extra biscuit dough to serve on the side. Place the biscuits over the tomatoes. You may need to cut some of the biscuits in half to fit the pan. Brush the biscuits with a little melted butter. Place the baking pan on the sheet pan to catch drips, and then transfer to the pre-heated oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the tomatoes are very bubbly and the tops of the biscuits are nicely browned. When the cobbler comes out of the oven, brush tops again with the meltwww.canadianinquirer.net
Classic Pimento Cheese: • 1 8-ounce block of extrasharp yellow cheddar cheese • 1 8-ounce block of extrasharp white cheddar cheese • 1 4-ounce jar of Dromedary pimientos with liquid • 2-3 generous tablespoons of real mayonnaise such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s • Fresh Ground black pepper to taste Grate cheese into a deep bowl using the largest holes on your grater. Pour the entire jar of chopped pimentos on the cheese. Scoop 2 generous tablespoons of mayonnaise out of the jar and stir everything together with a fork, mashing the
Nutrition information per serving: 453 calories; 263 calories from fat; 29 g fat (13 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 45 mg cholesterol; 874 mg sodium; 39 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 9 g protein.
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