THE MANILA TIMES | JUNE 20, 2019

PH, Japan ink $202-M loan for road project ÂťStory on B1 ++

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THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 2019

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Lacson: Duque involved in PhilHealth irregularities S

%. 0ANkLO ,ACSON ON 7EDNESDAY ACCUSED (EALTH 3ECRETARY &RANCISCO $UQUE RD OF IRREGULARITIES AMID ALLEGATIONS OF MASSIVE FRAUD AT STATE OWNED 0HILIPPINE (EALTH )NSUR ANCE #ORP 0HIL(EALTH

Lacson claimed that Duque, who as Health chief is chairman of PhilHealth, owned a building in Dagupan, Pangasinan THAT THE STATE kRM WAS LEASING FOR ITS OPERAtions in the province.

The senator also questioned why the PhilHealth board under Duque, after se-

without prejudice to one reappointment.

The other CHEd commissioners are Lillian Lagas, Ronald Adamat and Perfecto Alibin.

In another development, Duterte also transferred former acting Social Welfare Secretary Virginia Orogo to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

FOUR Philippine universities made it to the top 1,000 of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020 published on Wednesday.

The University of the Philippines (UP) gained 28 notches, placing 356th from 384th last year. The Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) climbed to 601-650th spot from 651-700th last year, while De La Salle University (DLSU) and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) joined them in the top 1,000, both retaining the 801-1000th spot they occupied last year.

QS ranks top universities in the world using the following criteria: academic reputation (40 percent); employer reputation (10 percent); faculty/student ratio (20 percent); citations per faculty (20 percent); international faculty ratio (5 percent); and international student ratio (5 percent).

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curing a Court of Appeals win regarding the questioned suspension of a hospital earlier this year, decided to recall the order.

Duque and PhilHealth representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Last week, Lacson had asked why the

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DUTERTE NAMES NEW CHEd COMMISSIONER PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Aldrin Darilag as one of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) commissioners, MalacaĂąang said on Wednesday.

Darilag’s papers were signed by the President on June 13, but these were only released to the media six days later.

How the PhilippineAmerican War ended First word LEFT the historical narrative hanging in my previous column, “Filipinos’ last stand in the Philippine-American War: Authentic, national, valiant� (Manila Times, June 18, 2019).

I neglected to provide details despite the availability of several books on the historic events of June 19, 1902.

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OBSERVER YEN MAKABENTA

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Darilag will take the post vacated by Prospero de Vera 3rd, who was promoted as CHEd chairman in October.

A former associate professional lecturer at the De La Salle University (DLSU) and AN OFkCIAL OF 3T 0AUL 5NIVERSITY 3URIGAO and the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina, Darilag will serve as CHEd com-

missioner until July 21, 2020.

Darilag earned his Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Leadership and Research and Development Management from the DLSU. Under the CHEd Law (Republic Act 7722), the agency’s chairman and four commissioners serve four-year terms

Where corruption begins, command responsibility must end

BY MAURO GIA SAMONTE Columnist Second of 3 parts CLOSELY examining the contents of the “Memorandum of Facts� released by WellMed to the press, one notices a very striking element: that Edwin C. Roberto practically owned the business enterprise.

Consider this enumeration: “1. Sometime in July 2015, WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corp. (WellMed) hired

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UP, Ateneo, La Salle, UST among top 1,000 worldwide

SM JOINS ADOPT-A-CITY CAMPAIGN SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime), represented

by Board Director Hans Sy (seated, left), signed a memorandum of understanding with Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) and the National Resilience Council (NRC) in the implementation of the latter’s Adopt-A-City campaign. With Sy were CDO Mayor Oscar Moreno and NRC President Antonia Yulo Loyzaga (seated). Behind them were (from left) SM Supermalls’ Vice President for Corporate Compliance Liza Silerio and Chief Operating Officer Steven Tan, CDO local economic investment promotions officer Eileen San Juan and NRC Executive Director Malu Erni. Under the NRC’s three-year program, corporations can directly invest in reducing the city’s risk to old and new hazards.

REACH US AT: E-mail: newsdesk@ manilatimes.net Tel. Nos.: 524-5664 to 67 Address: 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Avenue, Intramuros, Manila 1002

What’s inside PAG-IBIG’S SALARY HIKE ILLEGAL – COA NewsA2 PACQUIAO IMPRESSES ROACH IN 8-ROUND SPARRING SESSION

SportsC1

STUPID HOTHEADSÂ Â

Ramon TulfoA5 A SILVER STAGING FOR FETE DE LA MUSIQUE

EntertainmentD1

OPPO RENO SERIES LAUNCHED IN PH

Creative leaders, trendsetters and tastemakers joined OPPO executives in launching the much anticipated Reno series on Wednesday at One Canvas Events Place in Makati City. At the launch were (from left) OPPO Collective Andre Chang, Daryl Chang, Treb Monteras, Daniel Lardizabal (Product Expert, OPPO Philippines), Jane Wan (vice president of Marketing), Damon Huang (chief executive officer), Zen Han (vice president of Channel Sales) and Dex Fernandez, and IV of Spades (Blaster Salonga, Badjao de Castro, Zild Benitez).

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PH, Japan ink $202-M loan for road project C

BY MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

LARK, Pampanga: The Philippines and Japan have sealed a $202.04-million Japanese yen loan agreement for a road network project that aims to revitalize the local economy OF AND REDUCE POVERTY IN -INDANAO S CONlICT AFFECTED AREAS /N THE SIDELINES OF THE TH (IGH ,EVEL -EETing of the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economy Cooperation here on Tuesday night, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Senior Vice President Yasushi Tanaka signed on behalf of Manila and Tokyo, respectively, the deal for the Road Network Development Proj-

ECT IN #ONlICT !FFECTED !REAS IN -INDANAO This project “involves the construction, rehabilitation and improvement of 176.6-kilometers (km) of [roads linking] the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to the trade centers of Mindanao,� Dominguez said in a press conference after the signing.

Its implementation is targeted to start at the

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Q (From left) Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd and Hiroto Izumi, special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, pose for photos after signing a $202.04-million Japanese yen loan agreement for the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao in Clark, Pampanga province, on Tuesday night.

PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE

Costly projects get top priority – Pernia

BSP: BoP surplus hits 4-month high in May 4(% COUNTRY S BALANCE OF PAYments (BoP) surplus hit a fourmonth high in May, boosting the year-to-date tally to surpass the central bank’s target for 2019.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Wednesday THAT THE MILLION POSTED last month was higher than the $467-million surplus in April and REVERSED THE MILLION DEkCIT recorded a year ago.

It was also the largest since January, when the payments position stood at a surplus of $2.704 billion, and also boosted the yearto-date tally.

The January-May balance was a $5.193-billion surplus, also a TURNAROUND THE BILLION shortfall posted a year earlier.

The five-month tally already surpassed the central bank’s upwardly revised forecast of a $3.7-billion surplus for this year. g)NlOWS IN -AY STEMMED

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CLARK, Pampanga: The government will prioritize costly infrastructure projects while the Philippines remains eligible to borrow funds at a lower cost, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said here on Tuesday night. “What we have to do now is to prioritize projects, such that those that are more costly than others‌.. The more costly ones — we

Q Creative leaders, trendsetters and tastemakers joined OPPO executives in launching the much anticipated Reno series in Makati City on Wednesday. At the launch are (from left) Andre Chang and Daryl Chang; filmmaker Treb Monteras 2nd; Daniel Lardizabal, product expert at OPPO Philippines; OPPO Philippines Vice President for Marketing Jane Wan, CEO Damon Huang and Vice President for Channel Sales Zen Han; Dex Fernandez; and IV of Spades (Blaster Salonga, Badjao de Castro and Zild Benitez). PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

OPPO LAUNCHES RENO SERIES SMARTPHONE brand OPPO launched its new flagship product series Reno, which features the OPPO Reno and OPPO Reno 10x Zoom models, in Makati City on Wednesday.

During the launch, OPPO Philippines Vice President for Marketing Jane Wan said the new smartphones aimed

to help content creators maximize and execute their creative visual outputs with the camera’s improved features.

According to her, it was important to innovate product offerings amid the fast-changing smartphone landscape, and developing new smartphone features would help the company stay at

What’s inside DOMESTIC TRADE IN Q1: VOLUME UP, VALUE DOWN

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PH 2ND FASTEST-RISING BOND MARKET IN E ASIA

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TRUMP-XI MEET RAISES TRUCE HOPES

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DICT: Mobile portability service to start next year TELCO subscribers may start applying for mobile number portability in January, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced on Wednesday.

According to Acting Information Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr., mobile-service providers have asked the government for a six-month adjustment period to create the platform and software needed to allow their subscribers to keep

their numbers permanently. “Six months ang hinihingi nila (is all they ask), which is quite REASONABLE 4HE kRST TRANSFER WILL be six months from now,� Rio said.

This comes after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued on Monday Memorandum Circular 03-062019 on the “Rules and Regulations Implementing Republic Act 11202� or the Mobile Number

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Never-ending water woes ROUGH TRADE BEN KRITZ

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ARELY three months after a water shortage of near-apocalyptic proportions, residents and businesses in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces have again been told to prepare for supply interruptions by the two water companies serving the metropolis.

According to Maynilad and Manila Water, about 12.3 million customers will be affected by the impending “rotational service interruptions.�

The culprit, as before, is dry weather. In March, the El NiĂąo drought was blamed for lowering the La Mesa reservoir (from

which Manila Water draws its supply) below a useful level. This time, a lack of rain – even though Pagasa has already DECLARED THE OFkCIAL START OF THE RAINY SEAson – has reduced the level of the Angat reservoir, which is the main source of 96

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Taxation and other issues of REITs

CEBU PACIFIC ORDERS 31 PLANES FROM AIRBUS

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the forefront. The OPPO Reno 10x Zoom is equipped with full-focal-length triple camera system, made up of a 48-megapixel main camera, and 8MP wide-angle and 13MP telephoto cameras. “We can help you see beyond your

want them to move faster than the [less] costly ones,� Pernia said at A BRIEkNG AFTER THE TH (IGH ,EVEL Meeting of the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

This strategy, he explained, is based on the government’s projection that the country is likely

MORE TO FOLLOW (MTF)

EUNEY MARIE MATA-PEREZ

(First of 2 parts) T has been almost ten years since the pasSAGE OF 2EPUBLIC !CT .O OR !N !CT Providing the Legal Framework for Real Estate Investment Trust and for Other Purposes 2%)4 !CT OF (OWEVER UP TO THIS DATE

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no REIT has been established in our country.

In the recent 3rd APAC REIT Investment Summit held in Solaire Resort & Casino, most of the discussants expressed their view that the Philippines is already ripe for the REIT.

Are we?

With our fast-growing real estate market and real estate sector, and the recent recording of highest prices in land and

ÂłMTF B4

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