Manila Standard - 2017 October 4 - Wednesday

NATIONAL MOURNING. President Donald Trump (inset) has ordered all flags on federal buildings to fly at half-staff following the mass shooting that left more than 50 dead in Las Vegas when the gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly opened fire Sunday (Monday in Manila) from the Mandalay Bay resort and Casino on an outdoor music festival. Investigation is ongoing but police say one suspect has been shot dead. AFP

Carandang faces raps amid Rody’s wealth probe

By John Paolo Bencito

VOL. XXXI • NO. 232 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

TWO separate administrative complaints were filed against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang before the Office of the President on Tuesday, seeking his removal from office after he announced he would investigate allegations that President Rodrigo Duterte and his family had billions in undeclared wealth.

Despite Duterte’s earlier threats to go after Carandang, the Palace denied having anything to do with the filing of charges.

In a complaint filed before the Office of the Executive Secretary, former lawmakers Jacinto Paras of Negros Oriental and Glenn Chong of Biliran accused Carandang of graft and committing grave misconduct and gross dishonesty, constituting betrayal of public trust when he “illegally” disclosed Duterte’s alleged bank deposits.

Another complaint was filed by lawyers Manuelito Luna and Eligio Mallari against Carandang and Deputy Ombudsman for Mindanao Rodolfo Elman, and members of the Ombudsman Fact-Finding Investigation Team in Next page

Vegas massacre: Why? Americans grapple for answers; PH condoles

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AS VEGAS—Investigators were desperately trying to establish the motive of a retired accountant who killed at least 59 people and wounded more than 500 after amassing a weapons cache in a hotel room and opening fire on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night.

Stephen Paddock

The Philippines condemned the deadly Las Vegas shooting and said there were no Filipino casualties following the incident.

ABS-CBN reported, however, that a Filipino-American, 21-year-old Arthur Andrade was shot in the stomach and underwent surgery

Marilou Danley

Gunman was Police clear ‘well-off,’doted Fil-Aussie of on 90-yr-old ma involvement LAS VEGAS—Stephen Craig Paddock, the retired accountant who smuggled an arsenal into a swank Las Vegas hotel and mowed down concert-goers from a 32nd story window, was a high-stakes gambler whose bank-robber father was once on the FBI’s most wanted list.

The 64-year-old had a home with his girlfriend in a tranquil golf course retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, 130 kilometers northeast of the US gambling capital, and regularly sent

SYDNEY—Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock’s “regular companion” was a Filipino-Australian woman who moved to the United States 20 years ago to work on the casino strip, the government confirmed Tuesday.

Marilou Danley, 62, was initially said to be a “person of interest” but has since been cleared of any involvement in the shooting that left 59 dead and more than 500 injured.

American authorities said she was

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at a local hospital.

Las Vegas is home to some 120,000 Filipinos, the Philippine General Consulate in Los Angeles, California said.

As America grappled with the deadliest mass shooting in its history, officials reacted cautiously to

By John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio-Morales said Tuesday she would continue to investigate allegations of illgotten wealth against President Rodrigo Duterte’s and

his family, despite the continuing attacks against her from the Palace.

“I will not be baited into abandoning my constitutional duties. If the President has charges against me, I am prepared to answer the charges against him in the Next page

Govt looks into ‘Yellow’ bank accts

NEARLY half of Filipinos, or 47 percent of 106 million people, mistakenly believe drug use is punishable by death, the latest Social Weather Stations released Tuesday said.

The latest survey, fielded among 1,200 respondents, revealed 47 percent of Filipinos think using illegal drugs was a crime punishable by death, while only 53 percent had correctly responded that it was not true.

A higher percentage of

BANK accounts of people identified with the political opposition are now subjects of an investigation by the government, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Tuesday.

Aguirre declined to provide details of the probe even as he admitted the investigation involved offshore bank accounts of “mostly yellow” personalities in Switzerland, Malaysia, and Australia.

“This is an ongoing investigation, I’m sorry, I

BAHAY PAG-ASA. President Rodrigo Duterte, making his sixth visit to Marawi City on

Monday, leads the inauguration of the Bahay Pag-asa Project at Barangay Bito Buadi Itowa, intended for internally displaced residents of the city when terrorists took over the capital town on May 23. The President witnessed troops from Task Force Marawi build bamboo houses for returning residents. Malacañang Photo

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where the shots were coming from.

“We saw bodies down. We didn’t know if they had fallen or had been shot,” said Ralph Rodriguez, an IT consultant from the Pomona Valley, near Los Angeles, who was at the concert with a group of friends.

“People started grabbing their loved-ones and just strangers, and trying to help them get out of the way,” Rodriguez said.

The Islamic State group claimed that Paddock was one of its “soldiers” but the FBI said it had found no such connection so far and the local sheriff described him as a lone “psychopath.” Next page

Morales vows to do job, dares Palace to sue her

Many believe death penalty for drug use

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an Islamic State claim that Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, had carried out Sunday night’s massacre on behalf of the jihadist group.

Police said Paddock, who had no criminal record, smashed windows in his 32nd floor hotel room shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Sunday and trained bursts of automatic weapons fire on thousands of people attending a country music concert below on the strip.

In video footage of the massacre broadcast on CNN, the rattle of long, sustained gunfire is heard as people scream and scurry for cover.

At first they did not not know

manilastandard.net

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CANDLELIGHT VIGIL. Mourners attend a stake-out at the corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard for the victims of the Sunday night’s mass shooting, which killed more than 50 and injured more than 500—one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history—after the gunman opened fire on a large crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music extravaganza. AFP

CA grills Ubial on foreign trips

By Macon RamosAraneta SENATE Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday questioned Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial over her “wasteful” foreign trips since she was appointed to

the Department of Health last year―even as the Commission on Appointments again deferred the voting on her appointment.

Sotto said Ubial’s trips had been too many and too often for the length of the Next page

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Disbarment of lawyer in CJ impeach case sought

By Rey E. Requejo TWO lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to disbar lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, the complainant in the impeachment case filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

In a letter addressed to Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Algamar Latiph and Musa Malayang said it had been more than a year since the high court ordered Gadon to comment on the disbarment complaint that he filed on April 6, 2016.

“To date, we have not received any comment from the respondent,” Latiph and Musa say in their letter.

“Or whether the case is submitted for resolution in view of respondent’s failure to file a comment assuming that he was duly served with a copy of the complaint.”

The letter was addressed to Carpio because he is the chairman of the Court’s Second Division, where the disbarment case has been assigned.

The disbarment case against Gadon arose from his supposed hateful remarks uttered against the Muslim population when the television networks interviewed him in his capacity as a candidate for the 2016 senatorial elections to present his platform of government.

Carandang...

From A1 Mindanao, accusing the Office of the Ombudsman of giving unwarranted benefits to private parties through manifest partiality.

Both complaints cited Carandang’s Sept. 27 interview over ABS-CBN with broadcaster Henry Omaga Diaz, claiming that he “maliciously and arbitrarily” disclosed details of Duterte’s bank records.

Paras insisted that the Office of the President had the authority to investigate the deputy ombudsman and the special prosecutor of the ombudsman under Section 8 of the Ombudsman Act of 1989.

The petitioners maintained that the President also had the concurrent authority to exercise discipline “on lower rank officials,” hence their prayer to have the Deputy Ombudsman removed from his post.

Paras, meanwhile, accused Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales, an appointee of President Benigno Aquino III, of working with “the yellows” to destroy Duterte.

CA..

From A1 time she had occupied her post.

“For example, six foreign trips in two and a half months,” Sotto said.

He further quizzed Ubial on the details of her foreign trips, including the number of Health Department officials who joined her.

He said it had also been reported that Ubial’s immediate family members and some relatives had been traveling with her abroad.

Ubial defended her travels.

“When they travel with me, we spend our own funds and I do not sacrifice the meetings for time with my family,” Ubial said.

“I only go with them when it’s outside the official time of the meeting and not a single centavo of the Department of Health is spent on my family’s travel.”

During the CA’s committee on health hearing, Sotto said his office had received reports that Ubial’s trips were “wasteful” because of the number of people who had joined her.

Many...

From A1 59 percent mistakenly believe the selling of illegal drugs is punishable by death.

In a related development, Senator Panfilo Lacson called on the Catholic Church to provide them details on policemen seeking refuge from the priests over frustrations in the government’s alleged extraju-

DILG's drop box 'tokhang' hit

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and John Paolo Bencito

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ENATOR Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday criticized the Interior department’s order to local government units to set up drop boxes for illegal drug reporting, describing it as a “foolish and dangerous” initiative.

Tuesday slammed the critics of the government’s war against illegal drugs.

“Ako, prangka ako na tao.

You can criticize us to high heavens, but I can tell you straight sa inyong mga mata, kayong mga critic, sabihan ko kayo, ingrato kayo,” Dela Rosa told reporters during an inspection at the Light Rail Transit Line 2.

He said those criticizing the government’s efforts against illegal drugs were actually benefiting from it.

“Alam ko nakikinabang din kayo sa peace and order na idinulot sa atin ng war on drugs, peace and order na tinatamasa n’yo ngayon na naidulot ng aming war on

drugs,” Dela Rosa said.

He declined to name the people or groups critical of the war on drugs.

• The poor drug users being killed as a result of President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody war on illegal drugs are the “ugly truth” that the public must contend with, Malacañang said Tuesday even as it explained that they were not the sole targets of the campaign.

“It is unfortunate that this [particular] drug [killings]… is accessible to that particular demographic. Again, it’s an ugly truth na ganoon nga,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters.

He urged the public to look into the war’s bigger gains.

“This ‘drug box tokhang’ is prone to malice and abuse. It is unilateral and arbitrary,” Hontiveros said.

“Lacking any credible system for vetting, case-building and exacting accountability, any name can be written down and dropped in the said drop box.”

Hontiveros said the order was equivalent to crowd-

sourcing possible victims of extra-judicial killings.

She warned it could lead to unnecessary deaths if pieces of paper became the sole basis for inclusion in the so-called drug lists, arrests and conduct of police operations against suspected individuals.

In other developments: • Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa on

Vegas...

From A1

“This individual is a lone wolf and I don’t know how it could have been prevented,” he said earlier in the day. “I can’t get into the mind of a psychopath at this point.”

President Donald Trump denounced what he called “an act of pure evil” and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday.

But the White House pushed back at calls to reopen the US debate on tighter gun controls.

“A motive is yet to be determined and it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don’t fully know all of the facts or what took place last night,” Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Lombardo said Paddock had apparently used some kind of hammer to smash the window of his hotel room before opening fire on the concert crowd of some 22,000 people.

IS described him as a “soldier of the caliphate,” saying he converted to Islam several months ago and went by the nom de guerre Abu Abdel Bar al-Amriki -- “The American.”

The group provided no evidence to back up its claims and the FBI said it had found no such link so far.

“We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group,” FBI special agent Aaron Rouse said.

CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said “the Intelligence Community is aware of the claim of responsibility by a foreign terrorist organization.”

“We advise caution on jumping to conclusions before the facts are in,” Liu said.

Witnesses said Paddock opened fire with an initial long burst of gunfire, and appeared to reload as he continued his spree.

Robert Hayes, a Los Angeles firefighter who was at the concert, said he first thought the shots were some kind of equipment malfunction.

Once he realized what was going on, he joined the first responders, donning one of their vests.

“It was pretty much like a war scene inside,” Hayes said, as emergency crews used tables and metal guard railings as makeshift stretchers.

The Las Vegas attack is the deadliest shooting in modern US history, exceeding the toll of 49 dead in an attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June 2016.

It was also the latest in a series of deadly attacks at concert venues.

Twenty-two people were killed after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England in May when a suicide bomber detonated a nail bomb in the foyer.

Ninety people were killed in November 2015 at the Bataclan theater in Paris during a concert

by US band the Eagles of Death Metal.

Pope Francis said he was “deeply saddened” by the “senseless tragedy” in LasVegas, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II offered her “thoughts and prayers” and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote Trump to voice condolences over the “shocking” crime.

Delivering televised remarks, Trump tried to offer consolation and called for unity -- an act that has become a grim rite of passage for modern US presidents.

Barack Obama wept as he tried to soothe the nation after the 2012 Sandy Hook primary school shooting, George W. Bush told Americans that the “nation grieves” after a similar outrage at Virginia Tech university.

Trump ordered that flags be flown at half-staff until sunset Friday, offered prayers for the victims and announced he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Later, he led White House staff on the South Lawn for a moment of silence.

“In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one—and it always has,” Trump said. AFP with John Paolo Bencito

“He had nothing to do with any political organization, religious organization, no white supremacists, nothing, as far as I know. And I’ve only known him for 57 years,” Eric Paddock said outside his Orlando, Florida home.

“We’re still just completely befuddled, dumbstruck,” he added. “It’s like I just said, an asteroid fell out of the sky.”

The gunman, who photographs showed as a greying man with a trimmed beard and moustache, was a former accountant and a licensed private pilot.

According to Eric Paddock, his brother was financially well-off, and had no criminal record. “He doesn’t even have parking tickets, probably,” he said.

He owned two houses in Nevada, one a two-story home in a desert-surrounded cul-desac in Mesquite, another on

the fringes of Reno, another gambling hub in the northern part of the state. Estimates put the value of the homes, both very recently built, at over $700,000.

At both he was seen with a regular companion identified as Marilou Danley, a 62-yearold Asian woman who was out of the country at the time of the shooting. The FBI has tracked her down and said she is cooperating with them.

Neighbors in Mesquite and Reno called him quiet, sometimes grumpy, but mostly keeping to himself, according to The Washington Post.

He was also a regular gambler. He mostly playing highstakes video poker, often thousands of dollars at a time.

“He sends me a text that says he won $250,000 at the casino,” Eric Paddock said.

But what police found in his Mandalay Bay Hotel room

after the horrifying massacre was not money but at least 16 weapons, including assault rifles. And they later found more weapons and explosives in the Mesquite home.

“Where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that,” his brother asked. Stephen was “not an avid gun guy at all.”

The brothers grew up in a broken home. Their father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, who also went by the name Patrick, was a violent bank robber jailed in the early 1960s for a series of heists.

He escaped prison in 1968, landing on the FBI’s “10 most wanted” list, which described him as “extremely dangerous” and “psychopathic.”

Eric Paddock said they barely knew their father. “I was born on the run,” he told the Post. AFP

same manner,” Morales said in a statement Tuesday.

On Sunday, Morales issued a terse statement that she would abide by her constitutional duty to act on the complaint of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV that the President had P2.4 billion in his bank accounts.

The investigation into Duterte’s wealth was announced

by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang, who said he observed that bank transactions in the President’s joint accounts with his children had come to more than P1 billion.

On Monday, the President said an employee of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas stole his bank details and gave them to

Carandang, but he provided no details.

He also said it was wrong to add up all the transactions to reach the P1-billion figure, and said he would not submit to the authority of the Ombudsman.

In an interview on the ANC news channel, lawyer Tony La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said Tuesday the President’s pronouncements are tantamount to saying the Office of the Ombudsman cannot investigate him despite allegations that he kept hidden wealth.

“Your words [as president] actually have a chilling effect. That for me is what’s problematic in what the President said because that was tantamount to saying, ‘I am above the law. I’m above your jurisdiction. You can’t investigate me,’” he told ANC.

Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said the President cannot be investigated for acts attributed to him before he was elected President.

“He can’t be investigated now as president for acts committed by him when he was mayor,” Panelo said.

Panelo insisted that the President can be investigated, but for purposes of filing an impeachment complaint “if the acts subject of an investigation refer to his acts as president” and “not on acts when he was not yet President.”

Even the President’s relatives, who were implicated in his alleged joint bank accounts cannot be investigated “since the President is also implicated,” Panelo said.

All other investigations

against Duterte can be pursued when he steps down as president, he added.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella, on the other hand, said Duterte would release details of his alleged bank transactions only “if necessary and at the right time.”

Abella also accused the Ombudsman of political bias.

“The Office of the Ombudsman is showing its true political color. We must remind them that it is an independent, antigraft body that is supposed to conduct an impartial and fair investigation,” Abella said.

“It should not play into the hands of those who cannot accept the fact that the President won in the 2016 election. It should not be a party to a demolition job. We have seen this before, this is déjà vu,” he added.

dicial killings as an offshoot of the government’s war on drugs.

“Church should provide details. We cannot guess on whom to invite. I am willing to coordinate with the Church and if they have the names of those willing to testify, why not?” he said.

“After all, we’re after the truth here. And it will help in our review,” also said Lacson, chairman of the Senate com-

mittee on public order and illegal drugs.

Asked if it can be proven that the killings are statesponsored if these policemen would testify on the EJKs, Lacson said “I’m also intrigued as anybody if there’s state-sponsored EJKs.” Across geographical regions, belief in the existence of death penalty for illegal drug use is the lowest in Metro Manila with 39 percent, followed

by the rest of Luzon with 44 percent and the Visayas and Mindanao, each with 52 percent.

The same survey, however, found no by-area differences in terms of the belief that selling illegal drugs is punishable by death, with 61 percent in the Visayas, 59 percent in Metro Manila, and 58 percent each in Balance Luzon and Mindanao.

Philippine law currently

does not allow death penalty for any criminal offense, with capital punishment effectively abolished in 2006 through passage of Republic Act No. 9346.

In the same survey, some 56 percent of respondents said they did not know about any program for drug rehabilitation dependents, and 44 percent saying that they do. John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Paddock fired through the door of his hotel room and hit a security guard in the leg.

But when a SWAT team stormed the room where Paddock had been staying since Sept. 28, they found he had killed himself.

A total of 23 firearms including automatic weapons were found in the hotel room, he said.

A search of Paddock’s house in Mesquite, Nevada, 130 kilometers northeast of Las Vegas, recovered 19 additional firearms, some explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo.

Lombardo said investigators had discovered several pounds of an explosive called tannerite in the Mesquite home, as well as ammonium nitrate, a type of fertilizer, in the gunman’s car.

He said the latest death toll was 59, while 527 people had been injured.

The motive of the massacre was not yet known, he said.

“We’re hunting down and tracing down every single clue that we can get on his background,” the sheriff said at a late-night briefing.

Lombardo said the authorities had found no manifesto or anything else to explain Paddock’s actions.

Gunman...

From A1 cookies to his 90-year-old mother in Florida.

According to his younger brother Eric Paddock, he showed no sign he was poised to commit one of the worst mass murders in American history.

The Islamic State group claimed Paddock was one of its “soldiers,” converting to Islam in recent months and carrying out the attack in its name, but the FBI said they saw no connection between the shooter and international terror groups.

Paddock was found dead, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, when a police SWAT team burst into his room in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, one of Las Vegas’s most recognizable landmarks.

Morales...

From A1

“Let us not be myopic. Let us not focus only on these small―let us see what the President is doing on the whole. And he’s truly addressing it,” Abella said.

Hontiveros said people whose names were written on pieces of paper could also become vulnerable to threats from vigilante groups.

“What would stop extrajudicial killers and vigilante groups from breaking the drop boxes and getting the submitted names?” she said.

It was reported that the order came via a DILG memorandum circular dated Aug. 29, which set up the guidelines for the DILG’s community-based program in battling

criminality and drugs: Masa Masid.

Under the program, the DILG called on the villages, municipalities and cities to set up drop boxes to receive information on drug dependents and peddlers.

She vowed to realign the P500 million in the proposed 2018 DILG budget from Masa Masid to other important allocations, such as strengthening the government’s public health approach in addressing the country’s drug problem.

“What we expect from the government is modern, rules-based and human rightscentric drug law enforcement and not witch-hunting,” Hontiveros said.

Maute using mosques as bomb factories—AFP THE ISIS-linked Maute Group is using the mosques in Marawi City as bomb factories, a military official said Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia of the Joint Task Force Marawi said they made the discovery after government forces recovered the Bato Mosque and White Mosque “Sa mga mosque sila gumagawa ng IED [improvised explosive devices],” Garcia said in a text message. “Sa Bato Ali Mosque nakuha ‘yung maraming components ng IED and it shows doon sila gumagawa ng IED. Pati sa ibang mosque gumagawa sila ng IED.” Troops recovered the Bato Mosque two weeks ago and the White Mosque last week.

Meanwhile, European Union Ambassador Franz Jessen and the ambassadors of 13 EU member states visited Cotabato City on Tuesday to reiterate the EU’s commitment to support the peace process and development in Mindanao.

Jessen said in a statement the EU’s visit to Mindanao demonstrated their continuous support and hopes for peace and stability despite the ongoing fighting in Marawi City between Philippine Authorities and the Maute Group.

“While there are still many challenges which lie ahead, we remain hopeful that peace and stability will be restored soon in Mindanao,” Jessen said.

He then called on all the stakeholders to “remain steadfast” in their commitment to help push for peace in the Southern Philippines.

Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ranao, said among the items seized from the Bato Mosque were six sacks of coins that were being used as shrapnels by the terrorists for their IEDs. “There have been instances already in the past where our troops have been hit by coins,” he said.

Despite the government troops’ retaking of the Bato and White mosques, Garcia said, there were other mosques still occupied by the Maute-ISIS. “Meron pa, kahit saan naman pwede gumawa ng IED,” he said.

Govt...

From A1 could not tell you but many in the opposition (are involved) we have dug (up) these bank accounts of opposition personalities,” Aguirre told reporters.

Yellow is the color associated with the former ruling Liberal Party, which President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly accused of plotting his removal from office.

Aguirre said the Anti-Money Laundering Council was the agency to make the proper representation with the foreign banks holding the alleged deposits.

Duterte earlier accused opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV of owning overseas bank accounts including in Singapore.

Trillanes Tuesday night identified the alleged “financial forensic expert,” who was the source of President Duterte’s expose of his “fake” offshore

bank accounts which the government paid for P10 million.

Trillanes said a certain Daniel “Snooky” Cruz was the source of information of Duterte’s claim he had maintained hidden wealth in bank deposits in several countries abroad.

He said Cruz claimed to have strong connections in the US Embassy.

He also said Cruz posed as well-connected in the US embassy, a former federal agent and capable of having access to any bank accounts in the whole world.

Trillanes said Cruz was well-connected in Malacañang, as he showed photos of Cruz with Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa and the President himself.

A check of Cruz’s Facebook page also showed him with PNP Spokesman Chief Supt.

Dionardo Carlos, whom he described as his “best friend.”

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Police...

From A1 out of the country at the time retired accountant Paddock, 64, unleashed his reign of terror on concert-goers from a hotel window.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop tweeted: “I understand US authorities have ruled out Australian Marilou Danley as a person of interest.”

She added to reporters that “US authorities were in contact with us about Marilou Danley”.

“There are reports her ID was used for booking the hotel or some such detail. Australia will support the US authorities in their investigation in whatever way we can, but we have not had contact with Marilou Danley directly.”

US reports and officials said she is either in the Philippines or Japan, although neither country was able to confirm her whereabouts.

Australian media said she was on holiday in the Philippines with three girlfriends.

News Corp Australia newspapers said the Filipino-Australian used to live on the Gold Coast tourist strip and still had a sister there.

“I can’t comment at the moment, I can’t say anything,” her sister Liza Werner told the Sydney Daily Telegraph, which said she was a grandmother.

The newspaper cited friends as saying she resided on the Gold Coast for more than a decade and was married to an Australian man who has since died.

She moved to the US about 20 years ago and reportedly shared a house with Paddock in a new golf course development in the desert just outside Mesquite, Nevada.

It was not clear if they were in a relationship or simply friends, with some reports referring to her as his “regular companion.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was unaware of Danley’s nationality. AFP with Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Emergency powers on BoC sought

By Maricel V. Cruz

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AWMAKERS on Tuesday pushed for emergency powers for President Rodrigo Duterte to address the decadesold corruption at the Bureau of Customs, noting that the government lost around P44 billion in revenues due to incompetent operations of the bureau.

In a committee report prepared by the House of Representatives’ committee on rules chaired by Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, it said an “immediate execution” of the grant of the

special powers to the President is needed to put an end to the problem.

“Corruption within the Bureau plays a bigger role than lost revenues,” the committee report said. “It

affects the country’s economy as a whole.”

The committee, which conducted a series of inquiry on the taxation aspect of the P6.4-billion shabu shipment controversy, said it is about time that the President “take over” the operations of the BoC. “This Committee recommends that Congress grant the President emergency powers to immediately take over the operations of the Bureau in order to ensure public safety and security,” the committee report said.

It added: “The occurrence of the national emergency may be considered when the Philippine first line of defense has been

compromised because of the Bureau’s corruption and incompetence in protecting and securing our border from entry of large scale contraband especially illegal drugs.”

The committee report acknowledged that “without an accurate measure of its current economic standing, the country’s economic managers are unable to properly plan and implement economic strategies.”

Cua, in an interview, expressed hope that the grant of emergency powers to the President would be the win-win solution to the rampant corruption in the bureau.

The House ways and means committee also rec-

ommended the abolition of the BoC and instead, it sought to replace the agency with a Bureau of Customs Service and the Bureau of Security Control.

The customs service shall take charge with the assessment and collection of import duties and taxes; while the customs security control shall be tasked to exercise police authority at all ports, in charge of customs border control, port security and communication and inspection and monitoring of cargoes.

“The replacement of the present Bureau with two new bureaus is no easy task. The complexity of the current system and the difficulty of the entire transi-

tion process can give rise to unforeseen difficulties. As such, this Committee recommends a two-year transition process to establish a fully operational system,” it said.

The House ways and means committee noted that the government lost around P44 billion in revenues due to corruption, incompetence, system flaws and willful neglect of duties of erring BoC officials.

“In sum, it is estimated that the government lost P43.8 billion in revenues from July 2016 to July 2017, while corrupt Bureau officials were able to amass over P7.7 billion from grease money,” the committee report read.

Sotto dares Faeldon: Pull out ethics complaint

By Macon Araneta SENATE Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday challenged former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon to pull out his ethics complaint against Senator Panfilo Lacson if he does not trust the senators who will decide on the case.

“He has no trust... pull it out,” said Sotto who rebuked Faeldon for questioning the partiality of the senators as the Senate committee on ethics and privileges has yet to decide on the form and substance of his ethics complaint.

Sotto, the ethics committee chairperson, also took a swipe at Faeldon over the latter’s claim that he appeared to have defended Lacson at the Senate ethics committee.

“I’m lawyering daw?

Eh ‘di i-disbar mo ‘ko,” Sotto told reporters in an interview.

Faeldon’s legal counsel, lawyer Jose Diño, filed a motion to transfer the ethics complaint from the Senate Ethics committee to the Senate committee of the whole after the ethics committee opted to hold in abeyance the complaint against Lacson.

In a 12-page motion, Diño said the remedy is sought “to prevent an impending miscarriage of justice.” It also mentioned Sotto who “vowed to be impartial with the instant complaint,” but later “sang an entirely different tune.”

“Sad to say and with all due respect, he almost sounded like a legal counsel for the respondent, the legal arguments of whom he merely parroted, ending up with a conclusion,” the motion said.

Sotto said the various ethics complaints pending before his committee are not a priority at the moment, citing the 2018 budget and the tax reform bill as the focus of the Senate.

A MANILA Regional Trial Court on Tuesday set for Oct. 20 the arraignment on the cases for drug trading and illegal possession of explosives and firearms against selfconfessed drug distributor Kerwin Espinosa.

Manila RTC Branch 26 Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. issued the schedule after Espinosa attended the hearing.

The Manila RTC Branch 26 will also hear on October 20 Espinosa’s motion to junk the cases against him.

THE government is set to upgrade and modernize 36 pumping stations and construct new facilities to mitigate the perennial flooding in Metro Manila during heavy rains.

This developed shortly after the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the World Bank approved late last month the P23billion loan to kickstart the Metro Manila Flood Management Project.

The project was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority in 2012 and will specifically address the structural measures to improve urban drainage in the metropolis.

It will be achieved through an integrated set of interventions to modernize existing pumping stations to accommodate urban expansion; increase short-term water retention capacity in the drainage areas; reduce the volume of the indiscriminately dumped solid waste into waterways; and support community—driven resettlement of Informal Settler Families encroaching in easements for drains and waterways linked to the project pumping stations to safer in-city locations.

Joel E. Zurbano

PWDs group slams NLRC decision

DAY IN COURT. Alleged drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa is escorted by agents of the Intelligence Service Operations Group or ISOG from the Department of Justice. Espinosa is slated to be arraigned on Oct. 20. Norman Cruz

Ex-BoC official vows to clear name from drug raps

By Rey E. Requejo A FORMER high-ranking official of the Bureau of Customs on Tuesday vowed to seek for the dismissal of the complaint for conspiracy to import illegal drugs and other charges filed against him and 11 others, in connection with the smuggling into the country of the P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment last May. Resigned BOC-Intelligence and Investigation Service chief, Col. Neil Anthony Estrella stressed that the charges filed against him by

the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency deliberately twisted the facts surrounding the shabu contraband in order to pin him down and his corespondents.

“This is not something we can ignore. Our lives are at stake here. This are very serious allegations based on lies,” Estrella said in a press conference.

Estrella also lamented the apparent lack of support coming from the government despite their sincere efforts to fulfill their duties in the antidrug campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“My men, my friends and my family are asking why it seems we are not getting strong support coming from the government. I cannot answer them categorically because this is part of our job,” Estrella stressed.

The former BoC official vowed to go into hiding if the DoJ will find probable cause to indict him for the said charges.

“These are non-bailable offenses. I don’t intend to spend my life in jail for the things I did not even commit,” Estrella said, adding that he would be “a fugitive

from justice” if the case is filed against us.

Estrella characterized as “a malicious mix of inaccuracies and half-truths” the PDEA complaint filed with the Department of Justice against the shipment’s importers and cargo forwarders, as well as BoC and National Bureau of Investigation personnel who participated in the successful operation to seize the shipment and apprehend the responsible parties.

Estrella , former BoC chief Nicanor Faeldon and 10 other customs officials have been charged before the DoJ

with graft, conspiring to import illegal drugs, coddling drug traffickers, negligence and tolerance.

Other respondents in the PDEA complaint are: BoC directors Milo Maestrecampo; intelligence officers Joel Pinawin and Oliver Valiente; Manila International Container Port district collector lawyer Vincent Phillip Maronilla; Faeldon’s fiance, lawyer Jeline Maree Magsuci; and BOC employees Alexandra Ventura, Randolph Cabansag, Dennis Maniego, Dennis Cabildo and John Edillor.

Palace assures Mabilog that it’s safe to come home

By John Paolo Bencito THE Palace on Tuesday assured Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of his safety amid his apparent fears that he might be the next target after being publicly named by President Rodrigo

Duterte as among the public officials coddling the illegal drug trade.

“This is a pretty democratic country. As far as the evidence shows, rule of law prevails,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said.

Mabilog, who left the country for Japan on Aug. 31 extended his “sick leave” after failing to report to work Monday, Oct. 2.

In an interview with community-based paper Panay News, Mabilog’s wife Victoria said that she was keeping her husband from

returning to the country amid the President’s open threats against him.

Mabilog has been at the receiving end of President Duterte’s verbal attacks since last year, as he repeatedly accused the mayor of an illegal drugs protector.

Kerwin arraigned in Manila on Oct. 30

By Bill Casas

36 pumping stations set for upgrade

Pampilo, meanwhile, dismissed the cases for possession of dangerous drugs, illegal drug trading and illegal possession of firearms and explosives against Espinosa’s father, Albuera Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., who died following a bloody police search operation at a jail facility in Leyte on Nov. 5 last year.

Under Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code, a person’s criminal liability is extinguished upon death.

The cases stemmed from the police raid on the Espinosa residence in Binolho

village in Albuera on July 28 last year where authorities seized illegal drugs and assorted firearms.

Judge Carlos Arguelles of the Baybay City Regional Trial Court Branch 14 handled the cases until the Supreme Court recently granted the request of both the prosecution and defense camps to transfer the trial to Metro Manila for security reasons.

“The prosecution witnesses, Kerwin and the judge expressed fears for their safety. They believed the cases should be heard in a neutral venue,” Pampilo said.

FOGGING. Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management South Caloocan City

personnel headed by chief Hilario Castro conduct a fogging operation in a public school in Caloocan City. Andrew Rabulan

A GROUP of persons with disabilities on Tuesday slammed the National Labor Relations Commission in Quezon City for “unjust decision” ordering them to pay 22 other PWDs some P29,826,04007.

Manuel Agcaoili of Tahanan Walang Hagdanan Inc., located in Cainta, Rizal, challenged the decision of labor arbiter Agnes Alexis Lucero-de Grano directing them to indemnify 22 members of the defunct Bahay Pangarap Sheltered Home formerly located in Novaliches, Quezon City.

He said there was injustice in the two orders of the NLRC. On Oct. 24, 2013, labor arbiter Arden Anni ruled in favor of the complainants and ordered Tahanan Walang Hagdanan founded by a missionary nun to pay them P16,629,263.63, prompting the respondent to file a motion for reconsideration. Rio N. Araja

Group backs SSS bid, but seeks reforms LABOR group Alliance of Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said it will support the state-run Social Security System planned increase in its members’ contributions in 2018, only if they will do away with unnecessary trips abroad, do away with excessive bonuses of its top executives, prosecute delinquent employers and improve its collection.

The SSS earlier said the proposed hike in members’ contributions would be rolled out next year, after it gets the needed amendments in its charter, in time for the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act. A bill seeking to amend the SSS Charter, as provided in Republic Act 1161 or the Social Security Act, is currently being deliberated in the Senate. The TRAIN bill is also being discussed in the Senate.

Vito Barcelo

A4

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Right to life

A

64-YEAR-OLD retiree armed with assault rifles rained bullets on an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, from a high-rise hotel window on Sunday, killing at least 59 people before killing himself in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.

More than 525 people were injured as terrified concert goers scampered for cover. Some were hit by gunfire while others were trampled in the ensuing panic as police scrambled to locate the assailant who was firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.

Police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. Despite claims by the Islamic State terrorist group that the shooter was a recent convert, authorities said they believed the shooter acted alone.

Police who broke into the room after Paddock killed himself found 16

rifles, some with scopes, and some that appeared to have been modified to become automatic weapons.

Police found at least 18 more guns, some explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition in Paddock’s home.

The carnage in Las Vegas, the latest in a string of shootings across the United States in recent years, sparked a renewed outcry from some lawmakers about the pervasiveness of guns, but is unlikely to prompt action in Congress, where a powerful lobby resists all forms of gun control.

Nevada, with one of the most permissive gun laws in the US, does not

even require firearm owners to obtain licenses or register their guns.

We have seen variations of this tragic scenario played out over and over again.

In Orlando, Florida, a heavily armed gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub on June 12, 2016, killing 49 people.

In the town of Blacksburg, a 23-year-old Korean student went on a rampage at Virginia Tech University in April 2007, killing 27 students and five teachers before committing suicide.

In December 2012, a disturbed 20-year-old man killed his mother in Newtown, Connecticut before blasting his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killing 20 children and six adults before killing himself.

In April 1999, two teenage boys shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher at the Columbine High

School in Littleton, Colorado, before killing themselves.

Each of these instances were followed—reasonably enough—with cries for tighter gun control. But not even the deaths of innocent children or the growing death toll were able to convince the rabid pro-gun lobby and their supporters to apply restrictions to their constitutional right to bear arms.

Our hearts go out to the people of Las Vegas, particularly the families of those killed or hurt in the latest shooting. But as surely as we get the government we deserve, we also get the security environment we allow.

From the outside looking in, it seems apparent that none of this would have happened if Paddock had been stopped from bringing 16 rifles into his 32nd-floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay hotel. That he was not speaks of the laxity with which the city and the state view le-

thal weapons.

Pro-gun lobbyists like to point to the Second Amendment of the US Constitution that says the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Yet they neglect to say that the First Amendment states that no law may abridge the right to free speech and a free press—yet libel, anti-hate and national security laws routinely apply limits to these rights. Is it truly so unreasonable to apply similar restrictions to their Second Amendment rights?

And in an enlightened society, wouldn’t the right to life trump the right to bear arms?

We welcome the occasional reminders from Washington that we need to respect human rights. But the Las Vegas shooting and many other tragic incidents like it remind us that the Americans, too, need to do much more to protect the right to life of their own citizens.

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Teachers

I SPEND two hours reading the news every morning. You would think we were living in a dangerous country when you read about people in power exchanging threats.

Santa Banana, you have the President threatening the Ombudsman, constitutionally mandated to investigate people in public office.

Not content with that, the President challenged Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to resign. He would resign, too, he said.

Now comes this allegation of Senator Jinggoy

I am also an unsung hero

Another Carandang LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES

I WANT to understand Deputy Overall Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang’s recent action of brazenly and deliberately spreading fake news.

But I really can’t, so I’ll leave him to explain himself before the proper authorities.

After all, Carandang, a cousin of that unlamented former top Aquino-era propagandist Ricky Carandang, is already the subject of an administrative complaint filed yesterday by two former congressmen.

And he is currently at the center of a controversy of

his own creation, when he claimed to be in possession of official documents purportedly detailing the alleged ill-gotten wealth of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The documents were fake, as even Carandang himself was forced to admit. This after the AntiMoney Laundering Council, which Carandang said was the source of the papers he presented to media, denied releasing any such data.

AMLC even evaluated Carandang’s claims of huge wealth stashed away by Duterte in local banks before washing its hands of the old Yellow tactic of adding inflows and outflows to come up with some outrageous figure. We don’t do that sort

of shoddy arithmetic, the court.)

Perhaps Carandang agency huffed, somewhat thinks he is still working self-righteously.

(The reader will for- for Noynoy Aquino, who give me if I take a slightly pushed for his appointment as the coundim view try’s secof AMLC’s ond-highest latest actuacor r uption tions. I still This is a investigator r e m e m b e r favored Yellow despite his how AMLC appointee being earlier was mischarged for used during still being robbery and the Renato protected ex t or t ion .

Corona im- by another, Or maybe peachment apparently he believes trial – though that his bethe agency bullet-proof ing immune was known Yellow from crimiat that time appointee. nal prosonly as “the little lady” ecution by who mysteanyone exriously and anonymously cept his boss, Ombdusman provided Corona’s bank Conchita Carpio-Morales, statements to the Senate will keep him from being

punished for his precipitate and totally boneheaded action.

Apparently, while Carandang is not an impeachable official like his boss Morales, he can only be charged criminally and removed by the Ombudsman herself. This is why the complaint filed against him before Duterte’s office yesterday was only administrative; even the President cannot remove a mere deputy Ombudsman.

Or it’s possible that Carandang thinks his lame excuse that he misspoke and actually meant he got his papers from a reporter instead of from AMLC will hold water. This is, after all, a favored Yellow appointee still being protected by another, appar-

ently bullet-proof Yellow appointee – they’ve been known to lie through their teeth and get away with it.

Hey, Carandang’s luck has held all these years, because he has kept his position even after the transfer of power from Aquino to Duterte. Maybe he thinks he’s still untouchable.

Or maybe, as Duterte advised him to do, Carandang has really stormed the heavens with prayer.

And maybe God advised Carandang, like he did Andy Bautista before him, to hang on because no harm will come to him.

I guess we shall see, won’t we? *** As I write this, the Turn to A5

Estrada that a prosecutor of the Ombudsman tried to extort money from him and downgrade his case from plunder to just graft and corruption.

And then I read that policemen involved in killings in the context of the war against drugs are now going to the Catholic Church for protection.

With all of these things happening and more, it would appear that our country is in chaos. But no, most of us continue to live our lives, go to work, deal with traffic.

I continue to ask myself why President Duterte must resort to a word war with Sereno and Morales when we have so many problems confronting us.

We have poverty and unemployment and terrorism. *** The Social Weather Stations’ recent survey says people believe drug pushers from poor communities are targeted in the war against Turn to A5

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Opinion From A4

*** National Teachers’ Month runs from Sept. 5 to Oct. 5 and this year it will culminate on Thursday.

Teachers are supposed to be unsung heroes, together with soldiers and policemen.

Whenever teachers are mentioned, I get nostalgic.

My parents were teachers, and I myself was a teacher at Ateneo High School and professor of law at the old Philippine Law School.

My parents believed there was no substitute to a good education. Every Ilocano family believes that having lawyers and doctors is the culmination of their ambitions. My parents achieved this among their four children.

The best years of my life were when I taught English, history and literature, Many of my students have become famous in business or politics and as professionals. I am proud because at one point in their life I was able to touch them.

In fact, last August, Ateneo High School gave me— with dramatics legend Onofre Pagsanghan—a dinner tribute. I am grateful. It was good to see my students again.

I am also an unsung hero. *** Now read this: Malacañang claimed that the United Nations Human Rights Council is being used to pursue partisan agenda. A group called for the ouster of the Philippines from the body because of drugrelated killing.

Other countries expressed concern over the alleged culture of impunity in the administration’s war against drugs. But how can partisan forces exert influence when they are merely expressing concern?

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella called one group self-styled watchdogs of the Philippines. But they are just doing what is expected of them.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told the UN that we would welcome a probe on the war on drugs, but not by Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard.

The bottom line is that the Duterte administration does not want the UN to interfere.

Another...

From A4

mainstream press has still not uttered a peep about the controversy that is now known as “Cocoygate,” the revelation that one – or maybe two – people identified with the previous administration owns and administers all the prominent (and many of the not-so-prominent) blog sites that are shrilly critical of the Duterte administration and its supporters. But perhaps today, when the Senate committee on media headed by Senator Grace Poe starts its investigation into the matter, that will change.

The man identified as the owner and administrator of the Yellow sites Silent No More, Pinoy Ako Blog, Madame Claudia and a host of others, Edward “Cocoy” Dayao, has been invited to attend the Poe committee’s first hearing. I have no information at all if Dayao, said to be a longtime IT consultant of the Aquino administration, will put in an appearance, but I intend to watch the hearing just the same.

I want to know, first of all, if people identified with the previous government really hid behind the easy (and easily exposed) anonymity of the Internet in order to systematically destroy the Duterte administration online. I will be waiting to find out if these people, who have wantonly attacked anyone who does not agree with their obvious partisan agenda, can be punished using laws already applicable to traditional media practitioners and known social media denizens who do not hide their names and circumstances.

And beyond that, I want to see if Poe and her panel will eventually craft legislation and other measures that will make anonymous bloggers more accountable for their actions. These hearings, I think, will be the perfect opportunity to do all of that.

I have no doubt in my mind that the people want to know these things, as well. After all, when the popular blogger who exposed Cocoygate, RJ Nieto (also known as Thinking Pinoy), was the main guest on our radio show “Karambola sa DWIZ” yesterday, the online viewership on Facebook Live soared to a record high.

If the media still do not cover the Poe hearing, that will convince me that a conspiracy to bury the Cocoygate story is in the works. And mainstream media will be the real loser, if this is so.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

What if

Teachers... illegal drugs.

We have known this all along. But it does not mean that there are no drug abusers or dealers in exclusive villages in Metro Manila.

The findings of the SWS did not also say that there are no drug users in exclusive schools.

The poor are targeted because no one can prevent the police from staging raids in their communities.

In my years as vice president in former priest Bob Garon’s DARE Foundation, I observed that many of those who come to us for rehabilitation are from affluent families. They could afford the cost of rehabilitation.

Many of those who came to DARE Foundation later died of overdose. Some recovered. Our batting average was 75 percent.

That is the reason why those who go into rehab are just isolated. Give them three or six months—they are likely to fall back into the habit.

This is why I keep saying rehabilitation is the most crucial aspect of President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO LIKE the mouse that roared, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte dared both Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and himself to resign together. It was a signature Duterte knee-jerk reaction to those whose positions are diametrically opposed to his policy. Duterte even said he would not submit to the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman in any investigation being conducted against him. Instead, he said, he would form a presidential commission to investigate the Ombudsman who, together with Sereno, have allowed themselves to be used by political forces who want to oust him from power.

Both CJ Sereno and Ombudsman Morales said they would not resign because they have not committed any wrong doing for them to vacate their posts.

What if the two heads of these two constitutional bodies had accepted the President’s challenge?

That would leave Duterte red-faced. This is brinkmanship on the part of the President. Would a constitutional crisis or power vacuum result with all three resigning their posts?

The Constitution provides for an orderly succession mechanism in case of such unprecedented event. The Vice President, in this case Maria Leonor Robredo, takes over the helm of government and she can then appoint the replacements of Sereno and Morales. The presidential successor can then form a new government as those appointed Cabinet officials will have to resign. Heads of government corporations and political ambassadors will have to do the same as they are coterminus with the appointing power.

This is a golden opportunity for Robredo to form a government not based on political affiliation.

We do not want to see the Aquino-led Liberal Party’s return to power. Robredo

should appoint people to government position regardless of political ties or label. It’s also a chance to amend the charter through a constitutional convention with elected delegates and not a constituent assembly that power-hungry Congress wants.

For sure, the country will experience a sea change with a sweeping government reorganization. What is there to fear when there are many who believe they are already in the abyss of a disparate society?

What sectors of society?

These are the millions of unemployed, underemployed, victims of crime and official corruption.

We were not the one who broached the idea but the President himself. He has painted himself into a corner if Sereno and Morales decided to do a great service to the nation and take him up on his challenge for all three of them to resign. Will Digong keep his word?

The President claimed Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has bank accounts abroad but when a Singapore bank officially denied

such an account existed, Digong sheepishly admitted in his own words he only “invented” the bank account number!

In his war of words with Trillanes, the President in a bantering mood said “I’m in the early stage of insanity but he is already in stage three.”

Speculation is rife President Duterte is seeking medical attention in China whenever he disappears from the public view for a day or two.

Is President Duterte really sick and doesn’t want the people to know?

We are not going to add to speculation about his health and well-being. If at all, the man ‘s affliction is a simple case of foot in mouth disease—of saying outrageous things without thinking of the consequences of his words.

The President, some people fear, is under pressure from the awesome burden of the presidency.

The possibility of reactionary forces is there if he does not change his confrontational and divisive style . He went ballistic when the Integrated Bar

of the Philippines president said he should not be onion-skinned.

So far, Digong has been unleashing vitriolic words against Chief Justice Sereno, Ombudsman Carpio Morales, Chito Gascon of the Commission on Human Rights, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the United Nations, the US and the European Union on the issue of extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs.

The President’s problem is that he does not listen to advice and the people close to him are afraid to give him any lest they incur his wrath. Is close-in confidante and long-time friend Bong Go the only one who can? Bong Go, however, is silent as the Sphinx and mum as a mummy—which is probably why he has been with Digong since their Davao days.

The people, for sure, would like to see a head of state who’s more conciliatory and less aggressive against those who differ with his policy and style of governance.

Duterte and PAL VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ THIS week, officials of Philippine Airlines meet with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to work out a compromise agreement on some P6.63 billion in allegedly unpaid navigational charges CAAP sent the bill to PAL in August 2016, a month after President Duterte took power. Last week, addressing the Philippine Constitution Association on its 56th anniversary, Duterte suddenly remembered the socalled unpaid bill.

At Philconsa, the President was talking about illegal drugs, the killings, his success in Davao as mayor, and law enforcement when he suddenly blurted out something about the elite being allowed to rule this country.

“You know, I’m not trying to—there will never be a time that the elite of this country will have their way,” he said. “It has always been the elite, the rich people, the rich politicians,” he elaborated.

“Me, if you supported me, I do not have debts of gratitude to pay,” Duterte asserted.

“Ito, mag-prangkahan tayo. We are all lawyers. Do you think the Republic of

the Philippines would ever get back the Mile Long?

The property of the people that was taken away by the elite of this country.”

Addressing the RufinoPrieto families that own Mile Long and the Inquirer, Duterte growled, “You know, you were collecting taxes on a property owned by the people already. The contract to occupy it was— has long gone.” He threatened to charge them with economic sabotage, which he said, “will not give you any right to bail.”

Then he declared a general policy: “I’m telling you now, everybody who owns property of the government, return it now na wala pa tayong kaso [so we don’t have an issue] because I will personally arrest [you].

It would give me extreme pleasure to do the honor.”

He bristled at the thought that media moguls are criticizing the illegal drugs killings in the name of press freedom. He said: “Ipahiya ninyo ang tao, you put the guy to shame, humiliation. O, tapos, you are occupying a property of the government, making your self rich at the expense of the—. Sabi ko, return it or —. And henceforth, there will be no special privileges for anybody. Wala. Walang pakiusap dito. Even ‘yang mga ano. I do not—do not talk to me. I do not talk to

businessmen. You want to talk to me? You talk to the Secretary.”

“Mga abogado man tayo lahat dito [We are all lawyers here],” he told Philconsa. “You tell your clients, ‘Pay the tax correctly’.”

Duterte remembered Lucio Tan. “Yung isa dito ano, sabi niya—. I did not accept. I did not accept his money. He is a contributor. At sabihin ko na.

Lucio Tan. Donor of funds.

Sabi ko, ‘No!’.”

Duterte elaborated: “Sabi ko, ‘you are using government buildings, airport, you have a back… back— [debts] for the runway [use] ‘di mo binabayaran. (which you are not paying).”

The President said: “You solve the problem yourself.

I will give you 10 days.

Bayaran mo. ‘Pag hindi mo bayaran, eh ‘di sarhan ko.

[Pay it]. If you don’t pay, then I close down [the airport].”

“Wala nang airport (No airport?) So what?” Duterte shrugged.

Kayo Pilipino [you people] have to travel overland from Luzon to Davao. [so] just pay [the arrears].”

“I do not mind [if the airport is shut down],” he said.

“If we sink, we sink. We have to enforce the law.”

“So guys, you guys, if you are put into a great discomfort, sorry. Wala akong magawa [I can’t do anything]. The law is the law.

It is the law. And that is what makes me unpopular [among the elite],’ Duterte said.

CAAP last year sent letters to PAL demanding payment of unpaid navigational charges in the amount of P6.63 billion.

This issue on alleged unpaid navigational charges, clarified PAL, “involves complex legal issues, which PAL has been trying to thresh out with the Authority for years. In fact, the same legal issues were the subject of a court case between PAL and the MIAA years back where the court ruled in favor of PAL. Despite the favorable ruling, PAL then opted to settle amicably with the MIAA as a manifestation of its full support to the government.”

Also, PAL has earlier manifested its willingness to amicably settle with the CAAP as a manifestation of its continued support for the Authority. Communications have been open between the parties as regards this matter. In fact, PAL stressed that CAAP created an interagency panel of negotiators for the proposed settlement via CAAP Authority Order 149-17.

PAL formally submitted its offer to CAAP which offer is more than the amount covered by the CAAP supporting invoices received by PAL. To date however, PAL has not

received any official response from CAAP on its offer.

“We look forward to meeting the negotiating panel and we are ready to submit a Compromise Agreement to settle this issue once and for all,” said PAL VP Legal Atty. Clara de Castro.

NAIA has four terminals which are widely dispersed.

The largest, Terminal 3, was designed for 13 million annual passengers. Terminals 1 and 2 could serve no more than 14 million annual passengers combined. The smallest facility, Terminal 4, can handle a mere 3 million.

All told, the entire Naia complex has the handling capacity for a maximum of 30 million passengers per year.

The stark reality, says PAL president Jimmy Bautista, is airlines surpassed the 30 million “limit” around 2012.

Today, Naia’sAIA’s four terminals host 42 million passengers per year—12 million or 40 percent more than their design capacity.

PAL wants to invest $ 400 Million to construct the Terminal 2 Annex to increase the capacity of T2 from 7.5 million to 20 million passengers per year. In doing business with the Duterte government, PAL takes the long view. biznewsasia@gmail.com

Alan’s debut SO I SEE LITO BANAYO THE newly-minted Secretary of Foreign Affairs recently spoke before the United Nations General Assembly, subbing for the country’s foreign affairs policy-maker, President Rodrigo Duterte.

Normally, heads of government are invited to the annual hegira at New York.

But the President was yet anxious about the crisis in Marawi, and asked his foreign secretary to represent the country.

Alan Peter S. Cayetano has of course been to several capitals in the past, in Europe, in China, in South Korea and elsewhere. But facing the General Assembly and defending the rather controversial Philippine “war” on drugs is

his first real debut on the world stage.

Both in his East Side address and subsequent interviews and statements in New York, Cayetano, defended the actions of the Duterte government in addressing a problem that the rich countries of the world would rather view in terms of the rose-tinted glasses of rehabilitation and humanitarian consideration rather than the brutal cost to peace and order that bedevils the poorer countries confronted by this evil pandemic of illegal drugs.

And when the rich countries, particularly the members of the European Union pressed for an investigation of the alleged human rights abuses consequent to Duterte’s mission to eradicate or at least bring to a minimal level the prevalence of drugs in our country, Secretary Cayetano said fine, but not

on your terms.

Be fair, Cayetano said.

And being fair means sending a mission that has not prejudged my country, he added, without specifying Agnes Callamard, the UN’s special rapporteur who has already condemned the government just as the war on drugs was starting yet.

Alan Peter, the Senate’s resident graft-muckraker in the past, has learned to be quite diplomatic.

Meeting with the UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres in New York, Cayetano said that “we will fully cooperate and work with you on a rational, open, fair dialogue on our campaign against crime and illegal drugs”.

“There are real problems but perceptions have overtaken us in Western media that make it appear the situation is worse than it actually is,” he explained.

Cayetano assured Gutteres that the campaign against crime and illegal drugs is not intended to violate human rights. “It is intended to protect the human rights of our people”, he said, a nice play on words that is vintage Alan.

As Duterte supporters say, “paano naman yung mga karapatan ng mga biktima ng droga?” *** On something that matters more to locals, particularly those who need a passport to the proverbial greener pastures, Alan Cayetano as the new foreign affairs top honcho has instituted quick measures to shorten the long lines and cool the rising tempers in the DFA’s consular affairs division.

In my last visit to Manila, I chanced upon some of his staff huddled with systems professionals in a BGC

hotel where I was meeting with economic zone executives. Their topic: how to make the system easier for Filipinos applying for a passport.

Two or three weeks later, while in Taipei, I read about the new rules that DFA is implementing to alleviate the plight of passport applicants and cut down on the processing time. That was quick!

That’s focusing on systems, which this column consistently advocates, in whatever agency of government. Be it Customs, or the NBI, or the LTO, or the DFA, wherever and whatever insofar as transacting with government is concerned, one should look at the systems, what ails it, and how to improve upon it.

From motor mouth to quick doer, the metamorphosis of Alan Peter Cayetano is quite remarkable.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

News

Manila

Standard TODAY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 A6 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF STATE

For fast ad results, please call

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late ANGELITO CALUZA DE GUZMAN was extrajudicially settled by and among his heirs as per affidavit executed on January 30, 2017 and entered as Doc. No. 301, Page No. 62, Book No. 116 Series of 2017 of the notarial registry of Atty.

Mary Jean R. BernabeTonco, a notary public in Santa Maria and for the Province of Bulacan.

Advertising Department 832-5547

(MS-OCT. 4,11 & 18, 2017)

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

InvItatIon to BId for the Procurement of hotel accommodatIons for casIno Guests under ITB No. PB17-008PAV-09 The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming public bidding for the Procurement of hotel accommodations for casino guests under ITB No. PB17-008PAV-09.

Brief Description

Procurement of hotel accommodations for casino guests

Delivery Schedule Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC): Source of Funds:

Within one (1) year commencing from the date of receipt by the winning contractor of the Notice to Proceed.

The total ABC for the project is in the amount of Twelve Million Pesos (PhP 12,000,000.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction.

Corporate Budget for CY 2017

Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

PAGCOR will hold a Pre-Bid Conference, which shall be open to prospective bidders. OR PAGCOR shall no longer hold a Pre-Bid Conference.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of bidding activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference

Date, Time and Venue October 4, 2017 to October 23, 2017 October 11, 2017 1:00 p.m, Conference Room Executive Office Second (2nd) Floor Casino FilipinoManila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids

October 23, 2017, 1:00 p.m Executive Office Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

October 23, 2017, 1:00 p.m, onwards Executive Office Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Procurement Section (PS), acting as the BBAC Secretariat, of Casino Filipino-Manila Bay and/or inspect the Bidding Documents at BBAC at Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita, Manila during office hours of PAGCOR from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos (PhP 25,000.00).

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee not later than the date of the submission of bids.

Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Second (2nd) Floor Casino FilipinoManila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from Procurement Section (PS) or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents.

Bidders shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of his bid, and PAGCOR will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process.

Bidders should note that PAGCOR will accept bids only from those that have paid the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the venue of the bid opening. Late bids shall not be accepted.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - Tie-Breaking Method, Casino Filipino-Manila Bay Branch Bids and Awards Committee (BBAC) shall use a non-discretionary and nondiscriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: a) In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper. b) The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

Please address all communications to the Branch Bids and Awards Committee thru the BBAC Secretariat, Casino Filipino – Manila Bay, Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita, Manila Tel No. 804-8700 local Nos. 5021,5022 and 5024.

CORNELIUS M. GOZE (SGD) Chairperson Branch Bids and awards committee (BBac) (MS-OCT. 4, 2017)

BONIFACIO DRIVE, SOUTH HARBOR, PORT AREA, MANILA 1018, PHILIPPINES P.O. BOX 436, MANILA, PHILIPPINES Tel. No. (0632) 527-8356, Fax. No. (0632) 527-4855 HTTP://WWW.PPA.COM.PH

INVITATION TO BID

Palparan arrest upheld

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Court of Appeals has sustained the validity of the arrest warrant issued by the Malolos, Bulacan Regional Trial Court against former Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan for kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges filed against him, in connection with the 2006 abduction and disappearance of two University of the Philippines students.

In a 15-page decision, the CA’s Fourth Division, through Associate Justice Carmelita Salandanan Manahan, denied the petition filed

by Palparan seeking the recall of the arrest warrant, as well as the dismissal of the charges filed against him.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) FORTHEPROCUREMENT OF CONSULTING SERVICES FOR ESTIMATING PROVINCIAL INCOME ACCOUNTS FOR SIX PROVINCES IN BICOL REGION The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) intends to apply the sum of Eleven Million Three Hundred Thousand Pesos (PHP11,300,00.00), inclusive of all applicable government taxes and charges, professional fees, and other incidental and administrative costs, as the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC), to payments under the Contract for the subject consulting services. Proposals received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of the Financial Proposals.

The NEDA now calls for the submission of EOI and eligibility requirements for the conduct of Estimating Provincial Income Accounts for Six Provinces in Bicol Region. The contract shall be completed within twelve (12) months.

EOI and Eligibility Documents of interested Consultants must be duly received by the NEDA Bids and Awards Committee for Consulting Services (NBAC-CS) on or before13 October 2017, 12:00 NN, at the following address: Asst. SecretaryCarlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos NBAC-CS Chairman 5/F NEDA-sa-Pasig Building, #12 Saint Josemaria Escriva Drive Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605 Interested Consultants may obtain further information from NEDA and acquire a complete set of Bidding/Proposal Documents at the address given above from Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., starting 20 September 2017 upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding/ Proposal Documents in the amount of PhP25,000.00. The Bidding/Proposal Documents may also be downloaded free of charge from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and NEDA websites, provided that Consultants shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding/Proposal Documents not later than the submission of their proposals.

A Pre-Proposal/Bid Conference will be held on 26October 2017, 12:30PM at the 5/F NEDAsa-Pasig Building, #12 Saint Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605, and will be open only to Consultants who have paid the corresponding fee for the Bidding/Proposal Documents. Representative/s should bring a letter addressed to the NBAC-CS Chair certifying that the representative/s has/have authority to speak for and in behalf of the Consultant.

Interested Consultantshave the option to submit their Legal, Financial and Class “B” Eligibility Documents (1 original copy and 4 copies), as applicable, in advance (on or before 03 October2017, 5:00 P.M.) for preliminary evaluation by the NBAC-CS in terms of completeness/ compliance. The NBAC-CS, however, shall only proceed with the preliminary evaluation upon payment of a participation fee of PhP2,000.00.Note that said amount shall cover the attendant administrative cost for the eligibility check and shortlisting process and shall be deducted from the cost of the Bidding/Proposal Documents. The NBAC-CS, after its preliminary evaluation of advance submissions, shall inform the participating Consultantsof any deficiency in their respective submissions at least three (3) calendar days prior to the deadline for submission of Eligibility Documents set in this Request for EOI. The NBAC-CS shall draw up the short list of Consultants from those who have submitted EOI, including the Eligibility Documents, and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the relevant provisions of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (GPRA), and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The short list shall consist of three (3) to seven (7) prospective Consultants who will be entitled to submit proposals. The criteria and rating system for shortlisting are as follows:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Criteria I. Experience and Capability of the Firm II. Qualification of Consultants who may be assigned to the project III. Current workload relative to capacity Total Hurdle Rate

The Philippine Ports Authority now invites bids for A. Preparation and Submission of Audit Plan B. Issuance of ISO Certificate C. Preparation and Submission of Audit Report Detailing Observations, Opportunities for Improvement and any Nonconformity with ISO Standards. Contract Duration is for three (3) years from the receipt by the successful bidder of the Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act.” Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Philippine Ports Authority’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on 04 October 2017 from the address below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Five Thousand (P5,000.00) Pesos.

The Philippine Ports Authority reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

(MS-OCT. 4, 2017)

Lawmaker to colleagues: Use ‘recess’ to educate

By Maricel V. Cruz A DUTERTE ally in the House of Representatives on Tuesday urged fellow lawmakers to take advantage of the legislative recess to educate their constituents on the present effort to amend the 1987 Constitution in the shift towards federalism.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, head of the House committee on appropriations, said lawmakers—whether for or against the measure—should be able to thoroughly explain to their constituents the advantages and disadvantages of shifting from the present unitary form of government to federal form.

This, Nograles said, will help the people decide properly when the proposed constitutional amendment is presented to them in a referendum.

“Filipinos have never been more aware of the concept of federalism until now. Thanks to the efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte. As we return to our districts in the coming weeks, let us fortify this awareness of federalism among our constituents as we prepare for the big switch,” Nograles said.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate will be on break from Oct. 12 to Nov. 12, in time for the annual observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Nograles said the month-long break should give solons ample time to bring their constituents up

to speed on Congress’ imminent action on federalism.

“It is our job as partners for change of the Duterte administration to explain to our people the benefits of having federal states instead of the overly centralized government that we have under the unitary set-up,” Nograles said.

Nograles noted the biggest drawback on the current unitary form of government as experienced by common persons was over-centralization, which more often than not forces individuals to travel all the way to Metro Manila just to complete a government transaction or avail themselves of a service.

“Through federalism, the country’s future federal states would be given the necessary leeway to solve the various problems specific to their region,” Nograles said.

He said the proposed shift to federalism would also help solve longstanding problems, such as insurgency, terrorism and poverty.

To make the switch to federalism, the three decades-old 1987 Constitution must first undergo amendments.

The House leadership’s preferred method to accomplish this is via Constituent Assembly.

Nograles said he expected House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to follow through with his vow last July that he would ask both Houses to convene into a Constituent Assembly should Malacañang fail to form a Constitutional Commission within the year.

(SGD) CARLOS BERNARDO O. ABAD SANTOS Assistant Secretary and Chairperson, NBAC-CS

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

request for exPressIon of Interest for the consultInG servIces on develoPInG a roadmaP of mIlestones towards a dIsaster and clImate chanGe resIlIent BIcol reGIon The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)intends to apply the sum of Six Million Pesos (Php 6,000,000.00), inclusive of all applicable government taxes and charges, professional fees, and other incidental and administrative costs, as the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the Contract for the subject consulting services. Proposals received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of the financial proposals.

The NEDA now calls for the submission ofEOI and eligibility documents for developing a roadmap of milestones towards a disaster and climate change resilient Bicol Region. The contract shall be completed within twelve (12) months.

EOI and eligibility documents of interested consultants must be duly received by the NEDA Bids and Awards Committee for Consulting Services (NBAC-CS) on or before 13 October 2017, 12 NNat the following address: Asst. Secretary Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos NBAC-CS Chairman Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning 5F NEDA-sa-Pasig Building 12 Saint Josemaria Escriva Drive Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605 Applications for eligibility will be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion.

Interested Consultants may obtain further information from NEDA and acquire a complete set of Proposal/Bidding Documents at the address given above from Mondays to Fridays, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, starting 20 September 2017 upon payment of the applicable fee for the Proposal/ Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 10,000.00. The Proposal/Bidding Documents may also be downloaded free of charge from the Philippine Government Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and NEDA websites, provided that consultants shall pay the applicable fee for the Proposal Documents not later than the submission of their proposals.

Interested Consultants have to option to submit their Legal, Financial, and Class “B” Eligibility Documents (1 original and 4 copies), as applicable, in advance (on or before 3 October 2017, 5:00 PM) for preliminary evaluation by the NBAC-CS in terms of completeness/compliance.

The NBAC-CS, however, shall only proceed with the preliminary evaluation upon payment of a participation fee of Php 2,000. Note that said amount shall cover the attendant administrative cost for eligibility check and shortlisting process and shall be deducted from the cost of the Proposal Documents. The NBAC-CS, after its preliminary evaluation if advance submissions, shall inform the participating Consultants of any deficiency in their respective submissions at least three (3) calendar days prior to the deadline for submission of Eligibility Documents set in this Request for EOI. The NBAC-CS shall draw up the short list of consultants from those who have submitted EOI, including the eligibility documents, and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act (RA) No, 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act” (GPRA), and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The short list shall consist up to seven (7) prospective Consultants who will be entitled to submit proposals.

The criteria and rating system for short listing are as follows: Rating Factor (Hurdle Rate: 70)

I. II.

III. Total

6.

BAC Secretariat, Philippine Ports Authority 5th Floor, PPA Bldg., A. Bonifacio Drive, South Harbor, Port Area, Manila

7.

Telephone/Fax No. 527-47-35 527-83-56 to 83 loc. 539

8.

PPA Website: www.ppa.com.ph 9.

M. Standard – Oct. 4, 2017

appellant should be able to establish the lower court issued the judgment or order without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion.

“Petitioner did not show that the trial court had no jurisdiction or exceeded its jurisdiction in denying the motion to quash, or gravely abused its discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in its denial,” the CA noted.

Besides, the appellate court stressed that the allegations raised by Palparan in his petition for certiorari are factual and evidentiary in nature, which should be ventilated in a full-blown trial.

NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

For further information, please refer to:

ADRIAN FERDINAND S. SUGAY Chairperson, PPA Head Office Bids and Awards Committee for the Procurement of Goods and Consultancy Services (HO-BAC-PGCS)

Firms 20 70 10 100 60

remedy against the denial of a motion to quash is for the movant accused to enter a plea, go to trial, and should the decision be adverse, reiterate on appeal from the final judgment and assign as error the denial of the motion to quash,” the CA pointed out.

“The denial, being an interlocutory order, is not appealable, and may not be the subject of a petition for certiorari because the availability of other remedies in the ordinary course of law,” it said.

In order for the petition for certiorari questioning an interlocutory order to prosper, the CA said the

3/F NEDA-sa-Pasig Building #12 Saint Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1605 (02) 631-3724 / (02) 631-0960 to 65 local 312 Fax Nos. (02) 631-2192 Issued on 19 September 2017.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before 26 October 2017 at 1:00 p.m. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the bidding documents.

Bid opening shall be on 26 October 2017 at 2:00 p.m. at the 7th Floor, PPA Building, A. Bonifacio Drive, South Harbor, Port Area, Manila. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend. Late bids shall not be accepted.

80 20 100 60

The selection process will be conducted through through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the IRR of RA 9184. This procurement activity is open to all interested Consultantssubject to the conditions for eligibility provided in said Revised IRR. 8. Proposals shall be evaluated using the Quality-Cost Based Evaluation/Selection (QCBE/ QCBS) procedure at a weight ratio of 70% for the Technical Proposal and 30% for the Financial Proposal. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of proposals shall be provided in the Instructions to Proponents/Bidders.

9. NEDA reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, including that of a single eligible proponent, waive any minor deviation in the submitted documents which will not materially affect the substance of the proposal, annul the procurement/bidding process, or not award the contract without thereby incurring any liability to the affected participating Consultant/s.

10. For further information, please contact the NBAC-CS Secretariat:

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Philippine Ports Authority, provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The Philippine Ports Authority’s Bids and Awards Committee will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 12 October 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at the PPA Function Room, 7th Floor, PPA Bldg., Bonifacio Drive, South Harbor, Port Area, Manila, which shall be open to all prospective bidders.

Individuals forming a JV

7.

FOR THE ENGAGEMENT OF SERVICES OF A CERTIFICATION BODY FOR THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF PPA The Philippine Ports Authority, through the Corporate Budget of the Authority for CY 2017, intends to apply the sum of P 3,500,000.00 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Engagement of Services of a Certification Body for the Quality Management System of PPA (BAC-PGCS-09-2017). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The CA rejected the assertion of Palparan the Malolos RTC disregarded his constitutional right to due process when it denied his motion to quash information and warrant of arrest on the same day it was filed on Aug. 18, 2014.

The lower court, in denying Palparan’s motion, held the motion was just a repetition of his earlier motion, which was already denied by it in its order dated April 3, 2012.

The RTC stressed the grounds and issues mentioned in the said motion to quash information and warrant of arrest were already passed upon in its April 3, 2012 resolution.

In ruling against Palparan, the appellate court said an order denying a motion to quash was merely “interlocutory” and, thus, not appealable nor could be the subject of a petition for certiorari.

“Stated differently, the

Applicable Experience of the Firm a.

Years in the services industry b.

Related (similar or relevant) experience/previous engagements Qualification of Individual Consultant or Firm-nominated consultant who may be assigned to the project a. Education b. Training c. Experience (i.e. previous engagements in similar and/or relevant ontracts) Overall Work Commitments of Individual Consultant or Firm-Nominated Consultant

Weight JV of Individuals

70

Firms 60 30

30

10

100

100

The selection process will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, cooperatives, and partnerships or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

Proposals shall be evaluated using the Quality-Cost Based Evaluation/Selection (QCBE/ QCBS)procedure at a weight ratio of 70% for Technical Proposal and 30% for the Financial Proposal. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of proposals shall be provided in the Instructions to Proponents/Bidders.

NEDA reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, including that of a single eligible proponent, waive any minor deviation in the submitted documents which will not materially affect the substance of the proposal, annul the procurement/bidding process, or not award the contract without thereby incurring any liability to the affected participating Consultant/s.

For further information, please contact the NBAC-CS Secretariat: 5th Floor, NEDA-sa-Pasig Building 12 Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, 1605 Telephone: 6354829 / 6310945 to 56 loc 501 Issued on 19 September 2017 (SGD) CARLOS BERNARDO O. ABAD SANTOS Assistant Secretary and Chairperson, NBAC-CS

(MS-OCT. 4, 2017)

COMMITMENT. The National Resilience Council, a public-private partnership committed to building a disaster resilient Philippines through risk-sensitive investments and governance, held its first organizational meeting at the Tower Club on Sept. 19. Its lead convenor and founding members are: The Carlos P. Romulo Foundation, NDRRMC-OCD, DILG, DPWH, the Zuellig Family Foundation, ARISE Philippines, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Makati Business Club, the National Competitiveness Council and the Manila Observatory. The following appointments were made: DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, co-chairman (government); Hans SY of SM Prime and ARISE Philippines , co-chairman (private sector); Ed Chua of Makati Business Club, vice chairman (private sector); DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero, vice chairman (government); Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, vice chairman (science and technology sector); and, Enesto Garilao, vice chairman representing the CSO sector. Also appointed were Antonia Yulo Loyzaga as Council president and Malu Erni, as its executive director. The Council looks forward to increasing its membership through regional resilience councils composed of partners in industry, local governments, CSOs and the academic and research community.

NBI to file criminal charges vs Israeli national and firm

By Bill Casas THE National Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said it was set to file criminal charges against an Israeli national and his private company for violations of R.A. 8799, also known as the Securities Regulations Act, in relation to R.A. 10175 (Cyber Crime Prevention Act of 2012) against a private company.

NBI Director Dante Gierran identified the Israeli national as Ariel Altaraz, owner and manager of the company S&L Services, Inc., a private corporation allegedly involved in the illegal business activity of bogus/artificial currency and stocks trading and selling securities through the internet, also known as “boiler room” activities.

The case stemmed from the complaint of a former customer service representative of the company who al-

leged that S & L Services, Inc. was engaged in illegal business activities and selling securities through the internet, victimizing Filipino overseas contract workers and foreign nationals.

A series of confidential verification and investigation by the NBI turned out to be positive.

Likewise, a check from the office of Markets and Securities Regulations Department of the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that S & L Securities Services, Inc. was not duly registered and have not been issued a permit to sell securities.

After securing a search warrant from the court, operatives of the NBI-International Operations Division served the search warrant against the company in its office in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, resulting in the seizure of 12 sets of computers used by the company in its illegal business operations.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports THE HOARSE WHISPERER JENNY ORTUOSTE

SG hosts SEA beach volleyball; Lakan wins Marho race THE country’s bets failed to make the semi-finals of the 29th SEA Beach Volleyball Championships last week at Palawan Beach, Sentosa, Singapore.

On Day 1, Sept. 28, Thailand’s Rumpaipruet Numwong and Khanitta Hongpak trounced Cherry Ann Rondina and Bernadeth Pons, 2-1. The Thai pair later defeated the other Filipino ladies’ pair Fiola Ceballos and Patty Jane Orendain in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis. Pons and Rondina also bowed out to Indonesia’s Dhita Juliana and Putu Utami in the quarterfinals.

The lone Filipino men’s pair of did not fare well either. Anthony Lemuel Arbasto and Jude Garcia lost 2-0 to Candra Rachmawan and Mohamad Ashfiya of Indonesia.

Teams from Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia moved into the semifinals.

Rondina, however, said that there were valuable lessons learned. “We were very down after losing,” she said, “but there is a reason behind everything and we now have gathered a lot more experience which we can bring back to the Philippines.”

Pons said, “We didn’t have any expectations coming here, knowing the competition is strong. We just made sure to give our best and we did!”

We are proud of our kababayan’s efforts and are sure that their exposure to opponents from other countries will serve to hone their skill.

The tournament was organized by the Volleyball Association of Singapore, a non-profit organization established in 1961 to “advance the professional development of, and increase interest in and access to, the sport in Singapore.”

Singapore was also the venue of the recent Merlion Cup, one of the country’s programs to develop home-grown and regional talents in basketball. *** Lakan won the 3rd leg of the Road to the Marho Breeders’ Championship Classic at Santa Ana Park last Sunday (Oct. 1). There were only five runners in the 1,800-meter race. The placers were, in order, Bite My Dust, Heiress of Hope, Hot and Spicy, and Subterranean River. The winner stopped the clock at 1:50.4 (13’-23’-24-24-25’).

The Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners has traditionally held its annual championship races every November. This race is one of several that tests the capabilities of horses that may be entered in the Marho races. *** Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer and researcher. Facebook: Gogirl Racing and Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @gogirlracing and @jennyortuoste

A7

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Gin Kings shoot for 2-0 lead

By Jeric Lopez

H

AVING a 1-0 advantage in a bestof-five semifinals is both an edge and a challenge according to Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

As the Gin Kings shoot for a commanding 2-0 lead in their semis duel against TNT KaTropa in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup playoffs, Cone is well aware

of what to expect.

The Gin Kings and the Texters meet again at 7 p.m. today to resume their semis series, with the venue shifting to the Batangas City Coliseum in Batangas.

In a sprint of a series, Cone knows the importance of his team being ahead early but he also knows the effect it can have to the opposition.

“Game 2 is going to be exciting. That’s for sure,” said Cone. “We’re happy we played like that to start the series, but on the other hand, we just filled their bag with a whole lot of motivation to bounce back.”

Ginebra opened the series with a big bang, producing a 27-point massacre, 121-94,

Game Today (Batangas City Coliseum) 7 p.m. Barangay Ginebra San Miguel vs TNT Katropa

of TNT in a lopsided Game 1 stand Monday night.

The Gin Kings fired from all cylinders as the Tropang Texters simply had no answer, allowing the former to easily take a 1-0 edge in the series and draw first blood.

Knowing the need to bounce back to avoid a huge

0-2 hole, TNT coach Nash Racela knows his team needs to be at its best to beat Ginebra, just like when it was the one who manhandled the Gin Kings in their elimination round encounter.

“We were outplayed, outcoached and outhustled. It’s a reversal from our game in the elimination round. We now have to respond,” said Racela. “If we’re not better, we’ll lose two straight.”

Ginebra imposed its will down low as its size advan-

tage is clearly taking TNT out of its comfort zone.

The gigantic interior core of Joe Devance, Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter and Justin Brownlee is reigning supreme and it is for the Texters to find a way to slow them down to be able to have a better shot.

“We want to take advantage of our size. That’s for sure. We got Greg and Japeth down there and we look to continue to have an advantage there,” said Brownlee.

Premier Volley League semifinals under way

San Beda Lady Red Spikers’ Middle Blocker Satrriani Espiritu scores against the towering defense of Adamson Lady Falcons Lee- Ann Perez and Bernadette Flora during the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference at The Arena.

The Lady Falcons won, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 21-25, 15-11. Sonny Espiritu

UNBEATEN top seeds National University and Adamson try to move closer to a projected title clash as they take on separate rivals at the start of the Final Four of the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan today (Wednesday).

The Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Falcons swept their respective groups in the single round elims and are hoping to sustain their charge against the Arellano Lady Chiefs and the Far Eastern U Lady Tams, respectively, for the big psychological edge in the short best-of-three series.

NU, which trounced Ateneo in four last Saturday to finish on top of Group A with a 5-0 card, collides with Arellano at 4 p.m. while Adamson, which survived San Beda in five last Monday to cap its domination of Group B, squares off with Far

Prolific Stalzer to reinforce Petron in PSL tourney A PROLIFIC American spiker will be making her return but will be tested by a sturdy new group of powerful spikers when the 2017 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix fires off on Oct. 21.

On her fourth PSL tour of duty, Lindsay Stalzer suits up for Petron in a bid to knock the crown off the head of her former team, Foton, in the season-ending conference of the country’s most prestigious club league.

After steering the Tornadoes to a pair of Grand Prix titles, Stalzer will be back to connive with veteran international campaigner Hillary Hurley of the United States and libero Yuri Fukuda of Japan, who served as one of seven foreign players for PSL Manila in the FIVB Women’s Club Championship last year.

With Stalzer crossing enemy line, the Tornadoes recruited three European stars in Dra-

gana Perunicnic of Montenegro and Sara Klisura and libero Katarina Vukamanovic of Serbia.

Perunicnic, Klisura and Vukamanovic are said to be personal choices of Serbian coach Moro Branislav, making Foton a heavy favorite to clinch its third consecutive Grand Prix title.

“This is turning out to be the biggest and most competitive PSL Grand Prix ever,” said PSL president Ramon “Tats” Suzara, adding

that they allowed teams to recruit up to three imports for the first time to increase the level of excitement and competitiveness among a record of nine competing teams.

“The mere fact that almost all teams will parade three imports means that they are serious in winning the title. This is going to be very exciting,” Suzara added.

Not to be outdone, Cignal, Cocolife, Sta. Lucia, GenerikaAyala and F2 Logistics also did

good scouting jobs in recruiting their respective reinforcements.

Overflowing with firepower at the wing spot with the presence of Honey Royse Tubino, Janine Marciano, Rachel Anne Daquis, Paneng Mercado and national team member Jovelyn Gonzaga, the HD Spikers tapped a pair of middle blockers in Beth Carey of Australia and Alexis Matthews of the US as well as libero Mami Miyashita of Japan.

PSC to spruce up PH Arena, Rizal Complex, Philsports

By Randy Caluag PHILIPPINE Sports Commission Chairman Butch Ramirez has announced plans to rehabilitate the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and the Philsports Arena, which will come in handy when the country hosts the Southeast Asian Games in 2019.

Ramirez said they have yet to meet with Foreign Affairs secretary Peter Cayetano, the appointed Chairman of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games, to discuss plans for the hosting of the regional meet.

“But with or without the meeting, we are now making preparations to rehabilitate these venues,” said Ramirez.

Priority venues to be spruced up are the bowling center, Philippine Center for Sports Medicine building, Ninoy Aquino Stadium and the Olympic swimming pool located inside the age-old Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

At the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, the PSC will repair the track oval, fencing center and the high-performance gym.

Due to its poor condition, the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex was considered for sale to a private developer.

Former athletes, through the Philippine Olympians Association, opposed the sale and the National

Taipei batters crush PH bets HOST Chinese Taipei came off with five runs in the third inning to beat the Philippines, 12-2, on opening day of the 28th BFA Asian Baseball Championship in Taiwan.

The Philippines got off with two runs in the second inning to tie the contest at 2-2. but the Taiwanese batters took charge in the third 7-2.

In the first match, Korea defeated Sri Lanka by 18-0.

Japan shut out Hong Kong, 30-0, in the day’s other game.

The Philippines, which is in Group A will next play against Sri Lanka. Peter Atencio

Historical Institute intervened, declaring the site as a cultural heritage, preventing it from being sold.

The infrastructure rehabilitation, including the financial aspect, will fall under the care of the newly appointed PSC executive director Sannah Frivaldo.

A practicing lawyer, Frivaldo was sought by Ramirez due to her sterling track record in procurement and bidding process, owing to her long years of experience in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in various capacities.

Frivaldo, replaced another lawyer Carlo Abarques, who will join the private sector.

“Kinausap ko talaga siya na sana ay tulungan naman niya kami with the procurement, and she considered.

Sinabi ko sa kanya na matagal na walang canteen para sa mga atleta, pati na rin sa uniporme at iyung mga kailangan ng atleta,” sabi ni Ramirez.

The PSC will play a major role in the 2019 Philippine SEA Games, especially in providing the venues as well as the provision of the needs of the Filipino athletes.

“There will a lot on our plate so I really need the expertise of the chief of staff to help me out,” added Ramirez, referring to Dino Badilla, who recently replaced Ronel Abrenica.

PSC officials (from left) Commissioner Celia Kiram, Chairman Butch Ramirez and Arnold Agustin, Christine Majadillas and Allan Majadillas of Under Armour Philippines are with AIMAG gold medalists in jiu-jitsu Meggie Ochoa and Annie Ramirez during the PSC press conference on Tuesday.

Tough sked for Adamson Falcons

By Peter Atencio IT’S a tough and busy week for the Adamson Falcons.

And they hope to come out of it in flying colors.

Falcons’ coach Franz Pumaren said this as the San Marcelinobased dribblers prepare to meet University of the Philippines at 2 p.m. today at the Araneta Coliseum. Hurdling the Fighting Maroons will allow the Falcons to claim their fourth win in six games in the 80th UAAP men’s basketball tournament.

“For us to be successful, it will have

to be a collective effort from the players,” said Pumaren.

The Falcons have a three-game schedule this week that’s expected to take its toll on the team’s endurance.

So far, they have beaten the University of the East Warriors, 79-60, last Sunday. They are now on a two-game winning streak.

The Fighting Maroons share a 3-2 slate with the Falcons after they absorbed a 59-78 setback at the hands of the Tams last Sunday.

Later, the defending champion La Salle Green Archers will clash with the UE Warriors at 4 p.m.

GM Short to banner Negros International Open FORMER World Challenger Nigel Short of England will spearhead a strong international cast clashing in the 2017 Negros International Open Chess Championship set Oct. 11 to 19 at the Ikthus Oshron Hall in Bacolod City.

The 52-year-old Short, who lost to Gary Kasparov in a world title showdown in 1993, looms as the player to beat in the 9-round Swiss system tournament owing to his current FIDE rating of 2698.

The event, hosted by the Piaya Network Broadcasting Corp. in

cooperation with the A&V Negros Chess Club, offers a top purse of US$3,000.

Other GMs vying in the event, sponsored by Antonio Ivan Aguirre, Hugo Villanueva, Elvira Ezekwe, Cris Samson and Joefre Panagdato, are Tuan Minh Tran and Duc Hua Nguyen of Vietnam and GM Srinath Naranayan of India.

Bannering the local challenge in the tournament are GMs Joey Antonio and Darwin Laylo, and International Masters Ronald Dableo, Oli-

ver Dimakiling and Haridas Pascua.

Other notable masters participating are IMs Kim Steven Yap, Chito Garma, Joel Pimentel, Ronald Bancod and Richellieu Salcedo.

The second to fifth placers will receive US$2,500, $2,000, $1,5000 and $1,000, respectively.

Also on tap is the Challenger division with the winner pocketing P25,000.

For details, contact, Leo Romitman at 0917-721-9094 or Jose Albao at 0933-276-0249.

Games today

(Semifinals) 8 a.m. - ADMU vs UST (men’s) 10 a.m. - FEU vs NU (men’s) 4 p.m. - AU vs NU (women’s) 6:30 p.m. - FEU vs AdU (women’s)

Eastern U at 6:30 p.m.

Both matches can be viewed live via streaming on www.sports.abs-cbn.com/ livestream/pvl.

Ateneo, meanwhile, tries to keep its win run going in the men’s side of the seasonending tournament organized

by Sports Vision as it clashes with UST at 8 a.m. while FEU and NU face off in the other semis pairing at 10 a.m.

The Eagles ripped the Tigers in three in their elims meeting with the former going all the way to sweep the elims, making them the favorites to repeat over the España-based squad behind Marck Espejo, Gian Glorioso and John Rivera.

Red Lions nail 14th triumph Games Thursday

(The Arena in San Juan) 12 noon Arellano vs LSGH (jrs) 2 p.m. Arellano vs CSB (srs) 4 p.m. Mapua vs Perpetual Help (srs) 6 p.m. Mapua vs Perpetual Help (jrs)

ROBERT Bolick Jr. came up with another scintillating performance as defending champion San Beda College eased University of Perpetual Help out of contention yesterday at the Arena in San Juan.

The 6’1” guard, who averages 12.5 points, topscored for 15 points for the Red Lions, who picked up their 14th triumph in 15 games in the 93rd NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Bolick came up with his best game in the second period, knocking in eight points to lead the Red Lions out of an 11-all deadlock in the first canto.

Holding down the Altas to nine points, the Red Lions had little problems taking a 27-19 halftime edge.

Donald Tanokoua backed up Bolick with 14 points and nine boards, while AC Soberano drilled in 9.

“They (Altas) are a good defensive team. We really had a hard time so we’re happy we got this one,” said Red Lions coach Boyet Fernandez.

This is the second straight season that the Red Lions knocked the Altas out of running for the Final Four semifinals.

The Altas with Jeff Coronel, Keith Pido and Gab Dangangon hitting nine points each, now tote a 4-10 record. Peter Atencio

LOTTO RESULTS 6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0 M+ P0 M

AirAsia opposes move to cap air ticket prices B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

B1

Stock index tops 8,300 level S

TOCKS jumped for a third day, with the benchmark index closing above the 8,300-point level for the first time, following fresh records on Wall Street, as investors cheered the release of strong economic data in the US.

IN BRIEF ABS-CBN, GMA top TV ratings

ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc. on Tuesday both claimed higher television ratings in September.

ABS-CBN, according to data from Kantar Media, registered an average audience of 47 percent or 14 points higher than GMA’s 33 percent. ABSCBN ruled the primetime with an average share of 51 percent, a 20-point lead over GMA’s 31 percent.

ABS-CBN also led other networks in other time blocks such as the morning block, where it scored an average audience share of 40 percent versus GMA’s 31 percent the noontime block where it hit 47 percent versus GMA’s 35 percent.

In the afternoon block, ABSCBN had 43 percent versus GMA’s 39 percent.

GMA Network, meanwhile, kept its nationwide ratings advantage over competition in September based on data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

From September 1 to 27, GMA said it garnered more viewers in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement with an average total day people audience share of 41.9 percent. ABS-CBN just managed 38.8 percent. Darwin G. Amojelar

PH fully supports infra fund

RESILIENT ECONOMY. The Philippine economy continues to be resilient as it catches up with the rest of the growth in the Asian region, says SM Investments Corp. vice chair Teresita Sy-Coson (second from left) in a recent panel discussion at the Milken Institute 2017 Asia Summit in Singapore. With Sy-Coson are (from left) Serge Pun, chairman of real estate firm Serge Pun & Associates of Burma; and Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Singapore’s Banyan Tree Holdings in a panel with the theme “Wisdom and Worldviews: Perspectives from Asia’s Leaders.”

DTI unit clears Montero of technical defects

By Othel V. Campos

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III assured China of the Philippines’ full support to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road program, saying these initiatives will benefit the countries in the region and result in a more comprehensive trade environment.

Dominguez thanked China for its generosity in supporting the Duterte administration’s ambitious infrastructure modernization program, noting that “over the past few years, we have developed numerous bilateral mechanisms that will allow closer coordination between our two countries across a broad range of issues and concerns.”

“There is much to look forward to in our trade and investment partnership. There is much ground for optimism in the vitality of this partnership,” Dominguez said at a briefing on the Philippine economy organized by the Bank of China at the Shangri-La, Pudong in Shanghai. Julito G. Rada

PLDT’s initiative lauded

A UNIT of the Trade Department did not find any technical defects on the automatic transmission units of Montero Sport released between 2010 and 2015, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Wednesday.

Lopez said based on the latest technical findings, the department would practice fair judgement on the case filed by a group of Mitsubishi Montero owners on the so-called “sudden unintended acceleration.” Lopez said the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau, through

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, October 3, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

51.0360

Japan

Yen

0.008869

0.4526

UK

Pound

1.327900

67.7707

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128005

6.5329

Switzerland

Franc

1.026273

52.3769

Canada

Dollar

0.799552

40.8059

Singapore

Dollar

0.734592

37.4906

Australia

Dollar

0.782500

39.9357

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652098

135.3525 13.6096

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266667

Brunei

Dollar

0.731904

37.3535

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000074

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.029922

1.5271

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

13.8972

Euro

Euro

1.173400

59.8856

Korea

Won

0.000873

0.0446

China

Yuan

0.150218

7.6665

India

Rupee

0.015313

0.7815

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.236295

12.0596

New Zealand

Dollar

0.719400

36.7153

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032899

1.6790 Source: PDS Bridge

transmission units of Montero Sport released from 2010 to 2015, allegedly due to a defect in its pedal displacement design. MMPC, however, filed an appeal and the case was elevated to the Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau which ruled out any technical defects on the vehicles.

Lopez assured that the final verdict of the department would be just and fair.

The Consumer Protection Group earlier ordered Mitsubishi to recall about 60,000 units of A/T Montero Sport, because of al-

legedly defective pedal displacement design.

About 10 Montero owners were still claiming for remuneration or unit-swapping after their units allegedly exhibited instances of SUA. Sales of Montero Sport accounted for 25 percent to 28 percent of Mitsubishi’s annual sales. MMPC expects vehicle sales to hit 75,000 units this year, up 22 percent from 62,400 units it delivered in 2016.

MMPC is the second largest vehicle distributor in the Philippines, after Toyota Motor Philippines.

Ex-finance chiefs endorsing original tax reform version

By Julito G. Rada

The PLDT Group’s efforts to improve the lives of overseas Filipino workers have earned the notice of the prestigious Asia CEO Awards.

The group’s OFW program, implemented by PLDT subsidiary PLDT Global, is shortlisted under the Heart for OFWs category of the largest business awards event in the Philippines. Winners of the Asia CEO Awards will be announced on October 17 at Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay.

PLDT Global implements professional development and livelihood programs which help prepare OFWs for the possibility of going back to the Philippines to find employment or start a business here.

It also has several information programs for OFWs. These include an anti-illegal recruitment campaign, as well as a publication for the Filipino community in Hong Kong, which features content about legal matters, country policies and updates and wellness.

a technical analysis, found out there was no basis for the so-called SUA case filed by a group of Montero owners against Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp.

“I was informed in an update, about two weeks ago, that FTEB did not find any technical defect on any Mitsubishi Montero unit sent for evaluation by the bureau. They even brought engineers and even other car brands for comparison and testing,” Lopez said.

The Trade Department’s Consumer Protection Group in June ordered MMPC to recall automatic

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company bellwether, climbed 56 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 8,312.93 Tuesday, eclipsing the previous record of 8,286.86 on Sept. 21. It also reached an intra-day high of 8,321.22 Tuesday.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 24 points, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 4,892.00, on a value turnover of P7.3 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 105 to 94, while 55 issues were unchanged.

Seventeen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by oil exploration company PXP Energy Corp. which surged 15.5 percent to P7.99. Alliance Global Group Inc., the holding company of tycoon Andrew Tan, climbed 3.7 percent to P17, while Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group advanced 3.3 percent to P103.30.

BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender, rose 3 percent to P133.90, while Security Bank Corp. added 2.9 percent to finish at P253.

Meanwhile, the Philippine peso slightly gained Tuesday. It rose 0.1 percent to close at 51.05 against the US dollar, on a volume turnover of $792.8 million.

Other Asian equities markets also advanced Tuesday, with Tokyo closing at a two-year high following fresh records on

FORMER top officials of the Finance Department on Tuesday asked the Senate to preserve the original form of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act or Train to support the government’s massive investment program.

Roberto de Ocampo, a former Finance secretary and a member of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, said during a recent hearing of the Senate ways and means committee that he was supporting the proposal in its original form as the measure would improve tax compliance and bring in more investments to create more jobs.

Former Finance undersecretary Romeo Bernardo, who also attended the hearing, asked the senators “to preserve as much as possible the original revenue require-

ments” under the original Train package as proposed by the DoF. He said this would support government programs such as the law on providing free tuition and other fees for enrollees in state universities and colleges, the pension for uniformed personnel and the increased social security benefits for retirees.

Former Finance chief Margarito Teves underscored the “importance and urgency” of passing Train in its original form to “enable the government to finance our growing needs as a developing country, such as accelerating infrastructure development, closing the gaps in health and education and improving social protection programs for the poor and marginalized,” while staying within the manageable deficit level of not more than 3 percent of gross domestic product.

BSP closes Cabanatuan rural bank

FIRST GEN-PREHC DEAL. First Gen Corp. and Philippines Renewable Energy Holdings Corp. mark the start of their strategic partnership as substantial shareholders in Energy Development Corp. It follows the success of a voluntary tender offer launched by PREHC in August 2017 to acquire up to 31.7 percent of EDC’s total outstanding voting shares from existing shareholders for $1.3 billion, the largest single foreign direct investment under the Duterte administration. PREHC is a consortium of investors comprising funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and Arran Investment Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of GIC Pte. Ltd. Shown are (from left) Mira associate director Christopher Low, EDC president and chief operating officer Richard Tantoco, GIC vice president Nicole Goh Phaik Khim, Mira senior managing director David Luboff, First Gen chairman and chief executive Federico Lopez, First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno and First Gen executive vice president Jon Russell.

PH cities need better infrastructure, services—World Bank THE World Bank said Tuesday cities in the Philippines and other Asian countries need better infrastructure, jobs and services.

The bank said in a report titled “Expanding Opportunities for the Urban Poor” that said cities across East Asia and the Pacific—the world’s most rapidly urbanizing region—were not delivering infrastructure, jobs and services at a pace as rapid as urban development, leading to widening inequalities that might hamper economic growth and lead to social divisions.

It said the region’s average annual urbanization rate of 3 percent helped lift 655 million people out of poverty in the last two decades. “Yet the region also has the world’s largest slum population: 250 million people with poor-quality housing, limited access to basic services, and at risk to haz-

Wall Street. All three US indices ended at records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.7 percent Monday.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.05 percent to finish at 20,614.07 on Tuesday, its best close since August 2015, with a weaker yen boosting Japanese exporters.

Analysts said the markets were unaffected by a mass shooting from a Las Vegas hotel that left at least 59 dead and hundreds injured.

“The global markets trudge on searching for opportunities realising these tragedies are becoming all too commonplace,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at Oanda.

“And as cynical as that may seem, that is the reality we’ve come to accept,” he said.

US manufacturing activity rose to its highest level in 13 years last month, making investors bullish about the third-quarter US earnings season, which begins in around 10 days.

Companies in the S&P 500 are projected to report a five percent year-overyear gain in operating earnings-per-share, according to CFRA Research.

US President Donald Trump’s market-friendly tax reform proposals, including a plan to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, have also buoyed investors.

With AFP, Bloomberg

ards such as flooding,” it said.

“Currently, 75 million people in the region live on less than $3.10 a day. Three countries account for the bulk of the region’s urban poor: China, Indonesia and the Philippines. By 2018, half of the region’s population will be urban—more than 1.2 billion people in all, or onethird of the world’s urban population,” the World Bank said.

It said among the challenges faced by the urban poor was the lack of access to jobs, public transport and other infrastructure and affordable housing. In Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, low-income commuters can spend as much as 36 percent of their monthly expenses on bus fare, due to inefficient public transit routes.

“In Indonesia and the Philippines, 27 percent and 21 percent of

the urban population, respectively, have no access to effective sanitation facilities. Slum residents are also more at risk to disasters, as the communities are often in low-lying flood-prone areas,” it said.

The report encouraged city governments to have a multi-dimensional approach to planning, incorporating aspects of economic, spatial and social inclusion to foster economic growth and reduce poverty.

“Failure to expand opportunities for the urban poor impacts the countries’ growth potential. In highincome countries, such as Japan and Korea, inclusive urbanization created the space for higher economic growth. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Singapore’s economy grew at an average of 8 percent annually, largely due to an urban planning

strategy that delivered effective infrastructure, affordable housing, and social services,” it said.

Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank vice president for East Asia and the Pacific, said cities across East Asia propelled the region’s tremendous growth. She said the collective challenge was to expand opportunities to all in the cities —from new migrants living in the peripheries to factory workers struggling to pay rent—so that they could benefit more from urbanization and help fuel even stronger growth.

The World Bank said while six out of the world’s 10 mega-cities are in East Asia, urban poverty was more prevalent in secondary cities, which were growing in importance.

As of 2010, small and medium cities accounted for a quarter of all cities in the region. Julito G. Rada

THE Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, shut down financially ailing Cabanatuan City Rural Bank Inc., the seventh lender it closed this year.

The Bangko Sentral said in a statement the board prohibited the bank from doing business in the Philippines. Under Resolution No. 1631 dated Sept. 28, the board directed state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to proceed with the takeover and liquidation of the bank. PDIC took over the bank the following day.

Cabanatuan City Rural Bank is a seven-unit rural bank with head office located at Liwag Building, P. Burgos Ave., Barangay Padre Burgos (Poblacion), Cabanatuan City. Its six branches are located in Bongabon, Rizal, San Antonio, San Jose, Talavera and Zaragoza, all in Nueva Ecija.

Latest available records showed that as of June 30, 2017, Cabanatuan City Rural Bank had 3,983 deposit accounts with total deposit liabilities of P310.8 million. Total insured deposits amounted to P273.8 million, or equivalent to 88.1 percent of total deposits.

The Monetary Board earlier closed six small banks since the start of the year because of unsound financial condition. Julito G. Rada

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

First Gen, 2 new owners begin partnership in EDC

By Alena Mae S. Flores FIRST Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group and Philippines Renewable Energy Holdings Corp. marked Tuesday the start of their strategic partnership as major shareholders in Energy Development Corp.

PREHC successfully completed its voluntary tender offer to acquire up to 31.7 percent of EDC’s total outstanding voting shares from existing shareholders for approximately $1.3 billion.

PREHC is a consortium of investors comprising funds managed

by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Mira) and Arran Investment Pte. Ltd. (Arran), an affiliate of GIC Pte. Ltd. (GIC).

Mira and GIC own and operate a combined installed capacity of over 11,000 megawatts of power globally.

“We believe Mira and GIC are the right partners for this juncture in our corporate history: they’re long-term and astute capital, they have complementary perspectives and they’re willing to help us push the frontiers of innovation as we build EDC into a platform that’s wellpositioned for a dynamically changing energy landscape,” First Gen and EDC chairman Federico Lopez said in a statement.

The partnership of First Gen and PREHC will bring together the local company’s significant experience in the power, utilities and energy sectors in the Philippines and PREHC’s extensive global infrastructure expertise to support the long-term growth of EDC.

AirAsia opposes move to cap air ticket prices

By Darwin G Amojelar

T

HE Philippine unit of Southeast Asia’s largest budget airline is opposing the government’s plan to put a price cap on domestic air tickets that may dampen the local air travel industry.

AirAsia Philippines legal counsel Julius Polinga said in a position paper to the Civil Aeronautics Board that the agency’s draft resolution to regulate airfare “could lead to the demise of smaller carriers and dampen the tourism industry in the Philippines while the rest of the Asean continue to flourish under liberalized environment.”

“The imposition of a floor and ceiling rate on domestic fares may unnaturally screw average domestic fares to higher levels while fares for international flights will remain as is,” Polinga said.

He said the proposal to put a cap on domestic fares could impact on the local aviation industry as passengers would opt to travel internationally where fares were lower.

Sought for comment, CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the regulator was finalizing the draft resolution.

“It’s not yet final. We are still studying it,” he added.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said PAL would submit its inputs on the issue accordingly.

“Let it be known that our fare applications are always filed with CAB for approval, in compliance with their regulations,” she said.

Cebu Pacific vice president for corporate affairs JR Mantaring said the airline gave its comments to the CAB and asked the agency to seriously consider its side. He did not elaborate.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 4.53 34,000 59.8 15,460 101.8 1,424,210 132.2 4,148,890 2.77 4,878,000 35.6 98,100 16 800 32.45 1,353,600 8.5 7,400 1.7 30,000 950 120 0.69 3,129,000 88.7 2,149,600 0.87 109,000 25 2,500 58.4 63,450 238 1,260 120 4,020 89 80 48.8 29,900 252 624,870 1,900 140 86.65 19,380 1.35 244,000

154,020 922,753.50 144,951,945 550,398,418 13,021,200 3,484,210 12,800 44,388,610 62,900 51,490 114,000 2,158,370 190,863,386.50 94,860 62,475 3,709,846 302,340 470,788 7,047.50 1,459,060 157,186,460 266,000 1,678,335 319,730

659,840 -21,074,686 -21,218,967 23,470 -783,795 -17,206,620.00 1,720 207,000.00 -17,279,926.50 -3,305,839 -890 -92,585 67,017,338 616,592 1,360

41.85 10.06 0.77 1.39 19.12 0.221 110.6 5.14 16.82 41.55 19.62 67.65 74 1.93 6.32 11.22 10.02 15.08 13.48 7.1 5.51 1.61 18.8 67.3 14.3 12.38 18.6 1.85 241 60.45 4.55 3.15 30.45 19.7 15.42 283.6 0.223 11.4 2.94 6.75 10.32 5.81 9.81 1.75 11.9 66.3 6.53 308 4.4 4.44 2.64 13.02 4.5 0.141 1.17 152 3.41 2.08 26.7 0.97

INDUSTRIAL 42.9 2,227,800 10.54 3,455,200 0.77 344,000 1.41 690,000 19.84 3,300 0.238 7,250,000 110.6 30 5.15 4,383,600 16.92 526,400 42 743,900 19.7 4,600 67.9 3,490 74 120 1.93 132,000 6.4 392,100 11.38 32,700 10.02 7,545,100 15.1 194,800 13.52 1,051,000 7.3 356,200 5.64 48,959,900 1.61 64,000 19.16 4,684,900 67.5 129,720 14.3 22,200 12.4 41,500 19.42 3,694,900 1.87 521,000 242 777,440 60.45 300 4.6 315,000 3.15 48,000 30.5 2,940,800 19.94 91,900 15.42 3,112,400 284 239,030 0.227 90,000 11.72 303,000 2.94 24,000 6.85 6,600 10.46 1,204,900 6.1 30,000 9.83 28,100 1.76 835,000 12.18 713,100 66.45 106,060 6.53 108,900 308 2,640 4.41 24,000 4.45 2,000 2.7 267,000 13.06 1,422,000 4.52 5,000 0.141 820,000 1.22 480,000 152.5 1,003,670 3.5 156,000 2.14 2,584,000 26.7 200 0.97 391,000

95,610,650 35,555,244 266,220 961,880 65,588 1,669,050 3,318 22,717,055 8,941,992 31,088,940 90,752 236,908 8,880 255,480 2,529,002 372,130 75,751,422 2,943,612 14,253,778 2,587,801 276,309,891 104,000 89,136,798 8,766,240 317,460 515,902 71,000,966 971,990 188,240,112 18,135 1,473,140 152,820 89,955,990 1,827,878 49,369,288 67,874,936 20,350 3,618,614 71,700 44,900 12,494,820 180,183 276,101 1,468,040 8,575,006 7,047,883 713,127 813,390 106,220 8,890 713,640 18,571,994 22,560 115,700 567,490 153,041,385 543,080 5,502,070 5,340 384,080

13,730,930 -3,047,160 139,000 -99,640 -6,056,062 -2,020,602 5,998,250 202,958 -1,940 -190,114 -68,508,802.00 359,500 -10,957,482 1,013,910 -165,092,475 -8,026,732 54,987 -260,216 11,272,840 -24,210 -99,651,966 267,940 -48,875,125 861,220 -22,581,378 -6,833,852 -47,900 -2,394,372 -3,014 -26,400 714,596 -1,614,433.00 -39,749.00 -332,900 -7,968,796.00 2,440 -19,592,442 15,240 627,750 -

0.355 75.2 17 1.06 7 0.35 0.365 985 8.4 15.76 7.8 5.05 0.199 1,220 7.8 79 5.05 0.88 6.23 17.88 6.89 3.26 0.049 1.5 2.1 98 2.6 908 0.92 1.45 293 0.193

0.35 74.25 16.5 1.06 6.9 0.32 0.35 979.5 8.22 15.6 7.8 5.05 0.199 1,200 7.64 76.2 5.04 0.85 5.9 17.4 6.81 3.17 0.048 1.29 2.06 97.1 2.6 897 0.92 1.42 282 0.193

HOLDING FIRMS 0.355 140,000 75.2 1,464,040 16.84 9,126,600 1.06 2,000 7 5,600 0.345 7,350,000 0.35 1,300,000 985 146,480 8.39 493,900 15.66 6,443,700 7.8 1,200 5.05 180,300 0.199 10,000 1,205 196,340 7.8 58,000 79 808,520 5.05 3,800 0.87 1,193,000 5.9 1,710,300 17.7 652,600 6.81 20,637,000 3.2 61,000 0.048 700,000 1.37 952,000 2.09 70,000 98 176,290 2.6 24,000 902 374,040 0.92 13,000 1.43 222,000 293 7,360 0.193 100,000

49,200 109,469,563.50 153,594,248 2,120 38,650 2,476,500 456,450 144,104,225 4,134,149 100,928,726 9,360 910,515 1,990 236,607,805 451,904 63,273,888.50 19,173 1,022,430 10,263,890 11,535,932 141,229,780 195,460 34,200 1,288,910 146,090 17,203,768 62,400 338,034,435 11,960 319,370 2,155,756 19,300

-4,232,689.50 58,411,386.00 22,611,485 2,069,752 -769,348 -9,360 10,164,420 1,514,826 -1,178,347 -8,632,240.00 -45,417,683 -612,886.50 -8,115,275 14,200 -1,760,930 -

5 1.14 2.38 1.06 44.4 3.82 5.16 5.33 0.52 1.38 1.48 0.237 0.475 43 0.69 0.146 2.05 1.51 0.91 5.35 0.365 0.475 0.49 6.75 30

4.97 1.11 2.3 1.03 43.4 3.76 5.08 5.3 0.5 1.35 1.35 0.229 0.46 41 0.68 0.146 1.99 1.49 0.91 5.27 0.34 0.445 0.48 6.38 30

2,120,260 6,941,750 9,360 1,109,430 413,542,970 2,650,130 10,421,026 135,276 6,754,620 563,690 2,213,770 11,652,560 1,026,650 113,711,170 10,511,550 5,840 21,243,890 5,950,080 240,240 153,805,794 28,681,650 4,542,500 948,150 38,833,442 48,000

-1,621,690 -180,538,280 465,750 253,000 1,370 14,000 -44,100 14,961,460 -5,460,360 7,036,390.00 -26,179,563 352,800 24,000 6,686,839 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

AG FINANCE ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

4.53 59.8 101.9 130 2.8 35.7 16 33.4 8.5 1.72 950 0.69 89 0.86 25 58.4 240 119.8 88 48.8 247.6 1,900 86.6 1.31

4.53 60 102 134 2.8 35.7 16 33.6 8.5 1.72 950 0.7 89 0.88 25 58.6 240 120 89 48.85 254.4 1,900 86.75 1.36

4.53 57.6 101.3 130 2.54 35.4 16 32.3 8.5 1.7 950 0.68 88.4 0.86 24.95 58.4 238 114 87.95 48.75 246 1,900 86.6 1.31

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT EUROMED FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VIVANT VULCAN INDL

41.85 10.06 0.77 1.43 19.88 0.221 110.6 5.2 17 41.55 20.35 67.7 74 1.94 6.48 11.78 10.08 15.18 13.6 7.1 5.52 1.67 19 67.7 14.3 12.64 18.6 1.89 242.6 60.45 4.8 3.2 31 20 16.2 284 0.227 11.6 2.99 6.85 10.4 6.14 9.9 1.76 12.12 66.5 6.53 309 4.45 4.44 2.65 13.04 4.5 0.143 1.19 152.6 3.52 2.1 26.7 0.98

43.05 10.54 0.78 1.43 19.98 0.238 110.6 5.25 17.1 42 20.35 67.9 74 1.94 6.55 11.78 10.1 15.18 13.66 7.31 5.75 1.67 19.24 67.95 14.3 12.64 19.44 1.9 243.6 60.45 4.87 3.31 31 20 16.56 284.8 0.227 12.5 3 6.85 10.46 6.14 9.9 1.78 12.28 66.7 6.56 309 4.45 4.45 2.7 13.2 4.52 0.143 1.22 152.9 3.52 2.15 26.7 1

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV MJC INVESTMENTS PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION SAN MIGUEL CORP SEAFRONT RES SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS

0.355 74.95 16.5 1.06 6.9 0.35 0.35 980 8.22 15.68 7.8 5.05 0.199 1,200 7.64 77.1 5.04 0.87 6.23 17.6 6.82 3.26 0.049 1.4 2.06 97.5 2.6 897 0.92 1.45 282 0.193

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP

4.99 1.12 2.38 1.05 43.4 3.78 5.08 5.3 0.51 1.38 1.4 0.235 0.475 41.95 0.68 0.146 2.04 1.51 0.91 5.3 0.345 0.46 0.48 6.55 30

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

26.1 1.81 35 1.06 7.44 0.87 6.4

26.25 1.82 35.05 1.08 7.45 0.87 6.4

25.5 1.81 34.85 1.05 7.4 0.87 6.36

25.6 1.81 35 1.07 7.45 0.87 6.4

1,422,200 180,000 7,726,200 7,386,000 500 106,000 612,400

37,012,285 326,300 270,304,515 7,864,690 3,709 92,220 3,911,665

20,526,145 233,490 -31,160,390 -107,000 819,911

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PAXYS PHIL RACING PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

20.15 40.65 1.73 0.57 0.045 11.02 5.3 10.46 0.073 108 8.61 9.98 7.95 2.23 2,050 6.02 16.9 2.38 2.95 104 8.43 0.158 1.33 3.11 15.7 4.24 1.31 14.64 0.56 2.96 7.81 4.25 18 2.4 11.1 5.09 2.86 8.1 169.5 9.75 1,668 1.59 0.4 53 100 6.23 4.3 1.54 1.97 4.3 1.21 8.9

20.2 40.7 1.77 0.57 0.049 11.02 5.3 10.6 0.073 108 9.03 10.18 7.95 2.35 2,060 6.05 16.98 2.38 2.95 105 8.43 0.159 1.34 3.15 15.9 4.3 1.34 15.5 0.56 3.05 7.96 4.28 18 2.43 11.1 5.13 2.99 8.15 170 9.8 1,674 1.64 0.4 54.9 105 6.27 4.32 1.54 2.09 4.34 1.23 8.9

20 40.6 1.68 0.55 0.044 11.02 5.3 10.46 0.07 107 8.61 9.96 7.6 2.23 2,038 6.02 16.9 2.3 2.94 104 8.39 0.157 1.32 3 15.7 4.18 1.27 14.64 0.55 2.85 7.72 4.21 17.88 2.39 10.98 5.08 2.86 8.1 165 9.5 1,652 1.58 0.4 52.35 100 6.18 4.24 1.51 1.97 4.05 1.2 8.68

SERVICES 20.1 40.6 1.76 0.56 0.049 11.02 5.3 10.5 0.071 107.3 9.03 10 7.8 2.35 2,050 6.03 16.98 2.34 2.94 104.6 8.42 0.157 1.34 3.14 15.9 4.18 1.34 15.1 0.56 3.02 7.77 4.21 17.88 2.4 11.1 5.12 2.99 8.1 165.2 9.5 1,660 1.64 0.4 54.9 105 6.2 4.24 1.52 2.09 4.05 1.22 8.7

31,400 51,600 310,000 2,118,000 361,100,000 110,300 100 9,052,300 22,560,000 86,450 15,000 754,700 192,800 29,000 33,080 342,300 58,300 1,628,000 10,000 1,805,030 255,600 2,220,000 104,000 15,000 6,400 763,000 1,179,000 4,906,000 251,000 1,506,000 1,673,400 7,628,000 1,400 757,000 2,800 7,200 15,000 80,000 700 1,091,400 68,825 5,682,000 100,000 3,698,510 2,905,450 307,600 7,288,000 941,000 2,000 9,257,000 5,650,000 4,569,900

631,665 2,096,420 535,740 1,171,470 17,001,100 1,215,506 530 95,287,952 1,598,620 9,275,510 132,430 7,549,075 1,487,789 67,120 67,810,650 2,065,476 989,162 3,795,020 29,430 188,923,482 2,151,372 349,670 138,720 46,020 100,720 3,208,790 1,545,110 74,467,146 140,370 4,453,150 13,050,214 32,138,070 25,164 1,821,460 30,996 36,713 44,150 648,080 116,358 10,458,506 114,382,945 9,218,820 40,000 199,718,250.50 299,347,307 1,915,040 30,938,840 1,437,800 4,060 38,549,350 6,827,900 39,802,523

22,165.00 16,800 -44,200 0 12,308,056 170,400.00 -3,891,411 91,996 -3,945 -25,843,680 -108,678 -55,470,579 -78,500 -15,900 -1,813,220 -7,000 -14,405,950 -290,660 -5,290,992 -21,200 -477,980.00 -41,513 13,360 31,736,775 568,770 72,524,729 -98,474,717 -2,294,100 685,440 -969,810 8,470 -1,185,534

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK BENGUET A BENGUET B CENTURY PEAK COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PHINMA PETRO PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING

0.0026 1.78 4.9 16.76 1.91 2 1.54 0.385 8.62 2.87 0.265 0.179 0.188 0.01 0.011 1.97 6.83 1.68 0.52 1.04 0.012 0.013 0.012 2.6 8.16 6.8 46.6

0.0026 1.99 5 18 1.91 2 1.57 0.385 8.68 2.88 0.265 0.18 0.19 0.011 0.011 2 6.9 1.68 0.52 1.06 0.012 0.013 0.012 2.6 8.16 8 46.6

0.0025 1.75 4.9 16.76 1.91 2 1.5 0.38 8.36 2.76 0.255 0.178 0.186 0.01 0.011 1.97 6.58 1.63 0.52 1.02 0.012 0.013 0.012 2.55 8.03 6.35 45.9

MINING & OIL 0.0026 54,000,000 1.95 29,578,000 4.9 2,198,000 17 53,300 1.91 60,000 2 47,000 1.55 2,282,000 0.38 910,000 8.6 5,500 2.84 6,190,000 0.255 360,000 0.179 770,000 0.186 490,000 0.011 50,100,000 0.011 105,000,000 1.99 361,000 6.62 2,027,800 1.68 3,000 0.52 265,000 1.04 285,000 0.012 31,800,000 0.013 1,500,000 0.012 209,600,000 2.55 95,000 8.13 1,039,100 7.86 39,306,800 46.1 1,354,300

137,600 54,663,500 10,859,020 906,976 114,600 94,000 3,527,900 350,250 46,480 17,456,520 93,150 137,810 91,520 501,100 1,155,000 718,780 13,462,868 4,990 137,800 294,950 381,600 19,500 2,515,200 245,020 8,419,678 275,160,762 62,455,760

865,080 -29,450 45,600 423,690 -3,800 995,323 -13,000 154,800 -1,502,922 5,467,709 -16,770,175

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 DD PREF FGEN PREF F FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2A PCOR PREF 2B PNX PREF 3A SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

40.5 527 530 106.5 105 118 540.5 5.75 1,030 1.06 107 1,070 1,175 105 75 80.5 77 78 81 78.5 80

40.5 527 530 106.5 105 118 540.5 5.8 1,030 1.06 110 1,070 1,175 105 75 80.5 77 78 81 78.5 80

40.4 527 525 106.1 105 118 540.5 5.75 1,030 1.05 107 1,070 1,175 105 75 80.1 77 78 80.2 78.5 80

PREFERRED 40.4 30,500 527 200 525 3,770 106.1 20,220 105 10 118 24,010 540.5 5,000 5.76 344,700 1,030 800 1.05 5,000 110 330 1,070 5 1,175 20 105 30 75 100 80.5 137,180 77 450 78 1,000 80.25 26,720 78.5 13,800 80 47,720

1,234,220 105,400 1,982,900 2,152,970 1,050 2,833,180 2,702,500 1,986,745 824,000 5,260 35,430 5,350 23,500 3,150 7,500 11,005,658 34,650 78,000 2,152,309.50 1,083,300 3,817,600

-384,720 -1,890,503 -7,500 -804,240 172,645 -8,000

LR WARRANT

2.58

2.58

2.49

WARRANTS 2.54 360,000

905,560

-

30,735,000 253,180 2,822,274

-41,450 -36,101

2,815,937

-

11,000

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 4.99 1.11 2.38 1.05 43.8 3.8 5.1 5.33 0.51 1.38 1.35 0.23 0.47 43 0.68 0.146 2.04 1.5 0.91 5.33 0.365 0.475 0.48 6.7 30

425,000 6,203,000 4,000 1,062,000 9,441,300 700,000 2,042,100 25,500 13,255,000 414,000 1,604,000 50,280,000 2,200,000 2,654,100 15,423,000 40,000 10,466,000 3,964,000 264,000 28,866,500 80,030,000 9,920,000 1,950,000 5,875,200 1,600

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

4.84 4.75 5.93

5.26 4.78 5.94

4.84 4.48 5.75

FIRST METRO ETF

124.9

126

124.9

USD DMPL A1

11

11

11

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

18,613,656

INDUSTRIAL

106,765,058

HOLDING FIRMS

57,222,197

PROPERTY

278,249,663

SERVICES

464,446,693

MINING & OIL

539,861,211

GRAND TOTAL

1,471,796,743

4.92 4.78 5.82

SME

6,071,000 54,000 482,700

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 126 22,520 11

DDS

1,000

VALUE 1,996.97 (up) 20.46 1,137,759,597.23 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,115.77 (up) 9.25 1,447,451,885.99 HOLDING FIRMS 8,427.25 (up) 44.05 1,486,362,107.03 PROPERTY 3,901.92 (up) 14.89 SERVICES 1,731.38 (up) 20.1 1,282,580,267.818 MINING & OIL 13,879.19 (down) -8.6 1,408,385,947.77 PSEI 8,312.93 (up) 56.65 453,988,551.843 All Shares Index 4,892 (up) 24.64 7,253,193,000.26 Gainers: 105; Losers: 94; Unchanged: 55; Total: 254

Under the CAB’s draft resolution, the floor rate would be fixed in a rate not lower than 20 percent of a current ceiling rate.

Polinga said the draft resolution to put a cap on air ticket would only benefits 1 percent of the traveling public, while the majority would adversely affected by the rise in the lower tiered due to the 20 percent cap of the highest fare.

The AirAsia lawyer cited that the introduction of promo fares by low-cost carriers revolutionized the aviation industry in the Philippines.

“We hope that the government continues to pursue a liberalized regime like the neighboring Asean countries, Polinga said.

Data from CAB showed that domestic passenger traffic rose 12.8 percent to 12.79 million in the January-to-June period from 12.26 million passengers year-on-year.

International passenger traffic, meanwhile, increased 9.57 percent to 12.36 million passengers in the first half of the year from 11.28 million passengers.

Cirtek gets nod to raise capital

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Securities and Exchange Commission approved an increase in the capital stock of Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. to P860 million from P560 million, a move that will allow the company to raise fresh funds through the sale of preferred shares.

Cirtek said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the higher capital would create 270 million new preferred B shares with a par value of P1 apiece and 700 million preferred A shares at P0.10 per share.

“Since the authorized capital stock of the corporation is almost fully subscribed, the corporation has very limited ability to raise equity capital for its business needs. The proposed resolutions to increase the authorized capital stock will give the corporation the flexibility to source funds for its expansion program,” Cirtek said.

The company earlier announced plans to issue 200 million preferred shares at an offer price of $1 apiece to raise as much as $200 million to fund expansion plans.

The features of the planned preferred shares offering are still being finalized.

Cirtek in July said it acquired a 100 percent stake in Quintel, a leading provider of advanced high-efficiency, high-performance antenna solution headquartered in New York, USA for $77 million.

The acquisition, Cirtek said, would give the company a significant presence in the large and rapidly growing base station antenna market, estimated to be more than $14 billion by 2020.

Quintel is a leading innovator of spectrum and spaceefficient base station antennas for wireless networks. It designs, develops and delivers advanced high-efficiency and high-performance antenna solutions that help mobile operators to increase efficiency, enhance quality-of-service, slash costs and accelerate return on investments.

World Dillemma for Nobel after Dylan ST O C K H O L M ―W h o will win the 2017 Nobel Literature Prize, after Bob Dylan last year? The Swedish Academy likes to stun the world with its pick, but, wary of its reputation, it is seen going with a more traditional choice this year.

The overall buzz, from literary circles to fortune tellers, is that the 18 Academy members in Stockholm will pick a laureate most people agree is Nobel-worthy.

“The Academy is actually a very discreet society and we shouldn’t expect anything sensational” this year, Clemens Poellinger, literary critic for Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, told AFP. After Gao Xingjian won in 2000 and Mo Yan in 2012, another Chinese-language author is seen as a strong contender: Yan Lianke.

He won the 2014 Franz Kafka Prize―just like Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek and others often mentioned as potential winners, such as Philip Roth, Amos Oz, Haruki Murakami and Claudio Magris. AFP

Global pact on natives’ land rights STOCKHOLM—Native peoples struggling to retain or regain stewardship of forests that sustained them for countless generations may finally have backing from an organization with both swag and sway.

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility―the first and only global institution dedicated to securing the land rights of indigenous communities worldwide―was formally launched in Stockholm on Tuesday.

Funded by Sweden, Norway and the Ford Foundation, a major US philanthropy, the Tenure Facility has already provided grants and guidance for pilot projects in Peru, Mali, and Indonesia, helping local communities leverage rarely enforced laws to protect their land and resources.

Disputes over land rights in tropical forests teeming with exploitable resources -- from hard woods to precious stones to oil -can quickly escalate into deadly conflict, and local peoples more often than not wind up on the losing end. AFP

Rock star Tom Petty dies at 66 NEW YORK―Tom Petty, the Southern-accented rocker whose classic melodies and dark storytelling created 40 years of hit songs, died Monday of cardiac arrest, his family said.

He was 66.

Petty, who sold 80 million records, passed away Monday evening surrounded by loved ones after a confusing day in which several media outlets reported and then retracted premature news of his death.

“On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty,” a family statement said.

Early on Monday, Petty suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, exactly a week after he triumphantly put on what would be his career-capping concert. AFP

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

US offered help on gun laws S

YDNEY― Australia offered to help the United States reform its gun laws Tuesday after a successful twodecade clampdown on firearms in the wake of its own worst mass shooting.

PROTEST. Demonstrators flip ballots as they protest in front of the Catalan Popular Party headquarters during a general strike in Catalonia called by Catalan unions in Barcelona on October 3, 2017. Large numbers of Catalans are expected to observe a general strike to condemn police violence at a banned weekend referendum on independence, as Madrid comes under growing international pressure to resolve its worst political crisis in decades. AFP

United in sadness over police violence, Catalans want dialog BARCELONA―For or against independence, Catalans are reeling from police violence during an independence referendum banned by Madrid but far from locking horns with the Spanish government, they call for dialogue.

At the entrances to their offices, in front of press kiosks, in cafes and in queues at the market, the talk of the town in Barcelona is Sunday’s vote that was marred

by police use of force.

Madrid was against the referendum and had long told Catalan separatist leaders they could not go ahead with it, but they did anyway.

Riot police moved in on polling stations in towns and cities across Catalonia to stop people from voting, in some cases baton-charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

Antoni Crespo, 85, chats to a friend at the University

of Barcelona, where this retired shoemaker is studying for a masters in philosophy.

“I’m really pained, really sad, really anxious, really disillusioned, really concerned about what happened,” Crespo, a supporter of independence, tells AFP. Footage of police grabbing those who were preventing them from closing polling stations, dragging some by the hair or hitting them with batons have

spread through the media and social networks.

According to regional authorities, close to 900 people received medical attention.

The interior ministry said close to 40 police agents also needed medical aid.

“This has hurt this country’s spirit, I don’t want to say it was a humiliation because that’s a very serious word... but we’re hurt, those in favour of the ‘yes’ and those for the ‘no’,” Crespo adds.

He was referring to the question of the referendum: “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?”

“What happened yesterday has no name, it’s a disgrace,” says Sergi Capell, 50, the boss of a design studio and communications agency, at the entrance to Barcelona’s Real Circulo Artistico, an arts institute where he is about to speak at a conference. AFP

French MPs ready to pass tough anti-terrorism law PARIS―French lawmakers are expected Tuesday to pass a tough new counterterrorism law designed to end the country’s two-year state of emergency, with critics saying it will expand police powers at a cost to civil liberties.

The vote follows a string of attacks in France since 2015 and comes just two days after more bloodshed, in the southern port city of Marseille, when a suspected Islamist man stabbed and killed two women.

In Paris, a homemade bomb attached to a suspected cell phone detonator was found in a building hallway in the wealthy 16th district on Saturday, prompting an anti-terror investigation.

Five people were arrested, including one who is on France’s terror watch list.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the incident

“shows that the threat level in France is extremely high.”

“We are still in a state of war even if Daesh has suffered some military defeats,” he added, using an Arabic acronym of the Islamic State group IS. The group, which claimed responsibility for the Marseille stabbings, is under attack and fast losing turf across the remaining parts of its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

Collomb has defended the anti-terror bill as a “lasting response to a lasting threat”, but it has come under fire from the French left and human rights groups.

The law would give authorities the power to place people under house arrest, order house searches and ban public gatherings without the prior approval of a judge. AFP

More than 10,000 Rohingya at border for another exodus YANGON-More than 10,000 Rohingya have massed near a crossing point with Bangladesh, Myanmar media said Tuesday, as an exodus continues to swell with food supplies low and the hostility towards them surging.

The ongoing flight, which has already seen over 500,000 Rohingya enter Bangladesh since last month, casts doubt on the practicality of a Myanmar proposal aired Monday to begin repatriation of the Muslim minority.

Rakhine state has been emptied of half of its Rohingya population in weeks, and more are on the move as insecurity presses them to leave villages that have

so far been spared the worst of the communal violence to rip through the state.

Over “10,000 Muslims are arriving at the western grove between Letphwekya and Kwunthpin village to emigrate to the neighboring country,” the state-backed Global new Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

Myanmar’s government refuses to recognize the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group, instead calling them “Muslims” or “Bengalis”―code for illegal migrants.

Authorities have tried to reassure fleeing Rohingya that they are now safe in Rakhine, the report added, but they want to leave “of their own accord.” AFP

WAITING. This picture taken on August 14, 2017 shows Vietnamese bride Huynh Thi Thai Muoi waiting her South Korean husband Kim Kyeong-Bok at a bus terminal after their arrival at Incheon airport, west of Seoul. Thousands of Vietnamese brides move to South Korea every year, lured by the promise of wealthy husbands, good jobs and a better life. Instead, many find the language barriers, loneliness and homesickness too much to bear and return home. AFP

The US is reeling after at least 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured when retired accountant Stephen Paddock opened fire on thousands of concert goers in Las Vegas before killing himself.

The shocking tragedy has sparked renewed calls for weapons control, a sensitive subject in a country where the pro-gun lobby― the National Rifle Association―is a powerful political force.

“What we can offer is our experience,” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tuesday, pointing to a 1996 gun buyback and ban on semiautomatic and automatic weapons.

“But at the end of the day it’s going to be up to the United States legislators and lawmakers, and the United States public, to change the laws to ensure this type of incident doesn’t happen again.”

Australia was rocked in 1996 when gunman Martin Bryant went on the rampage armed with semi-automatic weapons at the historic Tasmanian colonial convict site of Port Arthur.

Thirty-five people died in the massacre, a turning point for a nation that traditionally had a high rate of gun ownership.

Then center-right Liberal prime minister John Howard swiftly enacted tougher gun laws, including bans on certain weapons, a minimum ownership age, and licenses.

More than 600,000 weapons were destroyed in the aftermath and while controversial at the time, gun control measures now have strong public support.

In the first national amnesty since then, which started in June and ended last weekend, more than 26,000 guns were surrendered.

While gun violence has not disappeared, there have been no further mass shootings, in contrast to the United States where they remain common.

A survey published in 2016, which examined intentional firearm death rates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, found gun-related deaths and suicides had declined since 1997.

James Carouso, the acting US ambassador to Australia, admitted his country could learn from Australia when it comes to gun policy. AFP

Vietnamese brides say ‘I do’ to South Korea and a new life CAN THO, Vietnam― When baby-faced Huynh Thi Thai Muoi left her home in rural Vietnam to begin a life in South Korea with a man she barely knew, she feared it was a gamble.

She didn’t speak the language, her new husband was nearly twice her age, and she knew little about her new home, but the 23-yearold high school dropout was looking for love―and a fresh start.

“I want a new life, I want

to challenge myself and see whether I can thrive or not,” said Muoi, whose chubby, acne-marked cheeks make her look younger than she is.

Muoi was introduced to 43-year-old bachelor Kim Kyeong-Bok through her cousin, who is also married to a Korean, and the couple wed within days of meeting.

She is one of some 40,000 Vietnamese brides in South Korea, a top destination for women looking for love and a ticket out of poverty. Many

know little about the country beyond K-pop bands or Korean movies and end up marrying virtual strangers.

But for Muoi, her new life in the city of Gwangju―and her new husband―have, so far, surpassed her hopes.

“My husband really loves me, more than I expected,” she gushed.

Despite the language barrier, Kim is teaching her to shop and cook, and hopes she will make friends at a nearby community center

for foreign brides.

“When I first met her, I thought to myself, ‘this is the woman who will become my wife’. I was very happy,” explained Kim, who had rejected the first Vietnamese girl presented to him as a bride option.

But Muoi is one of the lucky ones. Many other Vietnamese women have found their new lives are not what they dreamed: thousands have returned home divorced and unhappy. AFP

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

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wednesday, october 4, 2017

Taguig to DSWD: Fund will be used

LocaL government units

By Joel E. Zurbano

PCSO IN TAGUM. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander F. Balutan (second from left) and Mayor Allan Rellon (center) of Tagum City, Davao del Norte hold up the

documents they signed to seal an agreement for the establishment of a PCSO branch office in the city. Also in photo are (from left) PCSO Davao assistant branch manager lawyer Ravena Joy Rama, Tagum City Vice Mayor Geterito Gementiza, and PCSO OIC-branch manager lawyer Elvie Ann Uy.

Manila steps up drug drive

By Bill Casas

M

ANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada is aiming to clear more than 400 drug-infested barangays in the city by the yearend.

Estrada said the city government’s barangay drugclearing operation is well on its way to achieve its target of 424 “drug-free” barangays on or before the end of December; 24 have so far been officially declared drug-free last July.

“Barring any hitches, we could accomplish this goal before the year ends,” said Estrada, following the recent joint meeting of the Manila Peace and Order Council and Manila AntiDrug Abuse Council.

“I am confident we can

make the City of Manila the first-ever drug-free city in the country,” Estrada stressed.

During the MPOC-Madac meeting at city hall, the Manila Police District reported that Estrada’s directive to clear at least 50 percent of the city’s remaining 872 barangays is achievable.

“Of the 896 [total] barangays in Manila, at least 50 percent of barangays will be cleared and declared drugfree by December 31, 2017,” MPD Operations, Plans and Divisions head Supt. Rogelio

Ramos, Jr. said.

This would be on top of the 24 barangays already declared drug-free by Estrada, Ramos added.

“On the level of the MPD, we could say some of the barangays are already cleared.

But of course we need to validate this and have assistance from the PDEA [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency],” Ramos pointed out.

In coordination with MPOC and MADAC, MPD’s monthly target is 90 barangays in July; August,

80; September, 73; October, 68; November, 59; and December, 54, for a total of 424.

The 896 barangays in Manila are served by 11 police stations of the MPD that spearhead the drug-clearing operations in their respective jurisdictions in close cooperation of the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils, according to Ramos.

In the next few weeks, 56 barangays are set to be officially declared drug-free, the policeman announced.

Saying that Manila is vir-

tually drug-free, Ramos cited the absence of drug dens in the city, which he attributed to the intensified anti-drug operations ordered by the City Hall.

“Also, we never had any [illegal drug] laboratory here,” he said.

Of the five police districts under the National Capital Regional Police Office, MPD has the highest number of drug-cleared barangays as of July, at 24; 85 of the 1,705 barangays in Metro Manila have so far been cleared of illegal drugs.

Davao eyes More tourists coming, but Ifugao dilemma remains city mental health arm

By Sara Susanne S. Fabunan have been able to uphold their Innug and women like Gloria Ifugao—an hour’s drive from (Conclusion, continued from yesterday)

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera DAVAO CITY—The City Council is planning to establish a Mental Health Division under the City Health Office to help cure those who have mental problems.

Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte, the committee chair on health, said the division “will cover all those who need psychological treatment to avoid escalating their illness.”

The division would also give free medication to all kinds of mental diseases, Villafuerte added.

“We really want to give out free medicines and to ensure that the treatment will not only be (for) acute (patients) but the goal is to make them well,” she said.

Villafuerte said the mental health ordinance also passed the city council’s first reading, and is now on the committee hearing level.

“On October 12, we will have a meeting together with the different concerned agencies like the CHO, City Social Services and Development Office, Central 911 and Davao City Police Office, among others, to identify their role in the establishment of the mental health division,” she said.

Based on their initial meeting, the agencies have agreed that the division will be needing a halfway house for people with mental problems and those who have been abandoned by their families.

Villafuerte, a doctor by profession, said the most common cause of mental problem is depression and stress.

HAPAO, Ifugao—Indigenous people around the world are considered the last remaining guardians of the forests, flora and fauna, minerals, and water sources of the earth.

In the Philippines, based on the last census, about 14 to 17 million of the country’s total population are indigenous peoples belonging to 110 ethno-linguistic groups, mainly concentrated in Mindanao (61 percent) and Northern Luzon (33 percent), with a few groups in the Visayas region.

Department of Tourism accredited tour guide Maria Victoria Cometa said many IPs in the Philippines, such as the Ifugaos in the Cordillera mountains, continue to thrive in relatively remote yet self-sufficient communities.

In nearby Kiangan and Hungduan, for instance, Ifugaos

traditions up to the present—not just in their care of the worldrenowned rice terraces here but also in their music, dances, rituals, folklore, wood carving, agriculture, and forestry practices.

Majority of the natives remain as animists—those who attribute a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena. For instance, Cometa said the Ifugaos believe many endemic trees here are associated with spirits or “anito,” so they preserved them.

It’s only fitting that the province, one of the six in the Cordillera Administrative Region, has been named after the tribe.

The Ifugao have mastered living in the mountains 2,523 meters above sea level, and first built the rice terraces that are synonymous to the Cordillera over two thousand years ago.

But with younger Ifugaos fleeing the mountains for the white-collar jobs and conveniences of modern living—leaving elders like the 90-year-old

Belange to tend to the terraced paddies—sustaining an authentic Ifugao heritage tour has become a growing concern for local tourism officials.

Susan del Mundo, Tourism Promotions Board domestic tourism promotions chief, said the heritage tour has been offered for almost ten years, and through her leadership as the Tourism Attaché to New York, it will be promoted to the United States and the growing Canadian market.

Just last month, the TPB, the Department of Tourism, and Batanes Wakay Travel and Tours Inc. inaugurated a new flight from Clark, Pampanga to Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya to bring the Cordilleras and its IPs closer to international tourists and people from the lowland cities.

In the past, it took tourists the better part of a day to commute from Manila to Bagabag, then take another long bus trip up the Cordillera mountains. Now, it takes just three hours to get to

Manila to Clark, followed by the 30-minute Clark-to-Bagabag flight, and finally a 90-minute bus ride to the rice terraces.

Jerry Cabalce, owner of Batanes Wakay Travel and Tours, said the new flight will operate thrice a week. The firm’s manager, Joel Cataluña, said their service would also allow tour operators to showcase the other tourist destinations in the region, like Banaue, Sagada, Kalinga, and especially Kiangan.

“This flight gives vacationers the fastest way to visit CAR,” Cataluña said, noting that the fare on their 31-seater chartered plane costs P4,900 one way, with light snacks included.

“For an estimated three hours’ trip, you are already in Banaue,” del Mundo added.

But the dilemma remains: without a new generation of Ifugaos or IPs to take care of the rice terraces, this “Eighth Wonder of the World” may not be around for tourists to enjoy much longer.

agement office head, said Mayor Herbert Bautista launched the program to promote efficient disaster management techniques among local government units, especially “now that the entire world is affected by the climate change phenomena.”

“This is in preparation for the mayor’s directive to enable the barangays with medical trainings, assistance, or response.

They will be undergoing training to become effective responders,” he said.

According to Marasigan, the city government plans to put up satellite offices to allow for smooth coordination within the communities. Rio N. Araja

In BrIef PDEA creates first icaD in cagayan TUGUEGARAO CITY—The Region 2 office of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has created the country’s first provincial chapter of the Inter-Agency Committee on AntiIllegal Drugs or ICAD here.

Led by PDEA Regional Director LaurefeI Gabales, the Cagayan ICAD supports President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 15, creating both the committee and an Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force to suppress the drug problems in the country.

“We have to double our effort to curb the issue in the province of Cagayan, which is widely affected by the occurrence of illegal drugs in the region,” Gabales said.

The creation of Cagayan ICAD would fast-track programs related to the suppression of illegal drugs in the province, he added.

Provincial police director Senior Supt. Warren Gaspar Tolito said the Cagayan ICAD is an initiative to address the pressing drug issues through the collaborative efforts of its member agencies. Jessica Bacud

caloocan donates P1m to ormoc city

QC launches responders’ training for six villages QUEZON City’s Risk Reduction And Management Office recently facilitated the first responders’ program to train and educate barangays on disaster preparedness.

Responders from Barangays Pansol, Commonwealth, Batasan Hills, Bagumbuhay, Central and West Kamias went through a three-day program covering first aid, basic life support and ambulance operations.

The training was conducted for first responders who would man the new city ambulances to be distributed to the city’s 142 barangays.

Karl Marasigan, the city’s disaster risk reduction and man-

THE city government of Taguig on Tuesday assured the Department of Social Welfare and Development that the city is spending the P17.639-million fund from the agency intended for children under its daycare feeding program.

City officials made the assurance on the heels of reports that Taguig was among the cities in the country that failed to liquidate funds for the program.

The DSWD said that as of June, Manila topped its list with P47.480 million, followed by Cebu City with P23.432 million in unliquidated funds. Next is Iligan City with P20.502 million, and then Taguig.

But Taguig explained that the fund was “downloaded only last December 2016, and as of this date the same is being utilized to carry out the feeding program. Hence, it cannot yet liquidate the amount.”

Natividad Jimenez, head of Taguig’s Local School Board that is implementing the supplemental feeding for daycare students, disclosed that the bidding for the program would take about two months.

Since the funds were downloaded only last December, the program could only be implemented in February or March, by which time classes would be over.

The end of classes would mean abbreviating the 120-day timeline of the feeding program, Jimenez said.

WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT. Paraňaque City First Lady Janet

Olivarez (center) was the main speaker in the recent ‘Women and Election: The Gender and Development Focal Point System’ seminar at city hall. Olivarez said she will spearhead the preparation of the annual performance-based plans, programs, projects, activities and budgets related to women and gender issues of the city hall employees and in the barangays. Other guests during the event were (from left) former Civil Service Commission chairman Corazon Alma de Leon, City Councilor Roselle Nava-Tan, District I-Election Officer IV Rosalinda A. Albia-Radin, and District II- Election Officer lawyer Kimberly Joy Alzate-Cu.

CALOOCAN City Mayor Oscar Malapitan on Monday personally handed a P1-million donation to Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez to help the Leyte metropolis rebuild from a recent earthquake.

Malapitan, who gave the same amount to Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra last month, said “it is better to share blessings to other cities who were severely damaged by calamity, than to experience such destruction.”

In November 2013, Malapitan extended Caloocan’s P2-million donation to Tacloban when it was hit by Typhoon “Yolanda.”

Gomez presented Malapitan with a plaque of appreciation for Caloocan’s assistance. He said the financial aid would be of great help to repair more than P300 million worth of damages in Ormoc. Jun David

CH

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

fashion & beauty

wednesday, octoBeR 4, 2017

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Carolina Herrera now in Manila

MODERN ELEGANCE.

Luxury label CH Carolina Herrera opens its flagship store in the Philippines on the ground floor of Greenbelt 5.

A

nD many naysayers predict that the luxury market in fashion and accessories is nearing its end.

Well, not in Manila dahlings, as one society columnist puts it.

And, I’m sure this latest news in the retail market has caused a lot of raised eyebrows.

Well, if you haven’t been to Greenblet 5, then you’re not aware of the new fashion store of Ch Carolina herrera, the lifestyle brand of the new York-based designer Carolina Herrera, its flagship store.

Ch Carolina herrera is a modern lifestyle brand for men, women, and children, embodying the effortless elegance and refinement of Carolina herrera herself. The brand stands for luxury, quality, and heritage, and its collections exude elegance and integrity with a fashion-forward vision.

“I love the idea of elegance and intricacy, but whether it’s in a piece of clothing or a fragrance, the intricacy must appear as simplicity,” says herrera, who made the ubiquitous white shirt the icon that it is today.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, herrera was always recognized for her elegant yet modern style. It’s no wonder that when she decided to translate her style into her own fashion line, the world took notice. Today, the Carolina herrera lifestyle brand is present through more than 178 exclusive stores and more than 250 shop-in-shops in europe, United States, Latin America, Middle east, and Asia.

“I have a responsibility to the women of today, to make her feel confident, modern, and above all else beautiful,” she says.

Located on the ground floor of Greenbelt 5, the Manila store was built to be a beautiful space that is both evocative and welcoming with the use of simple and elegant materials. The inspiration of the Ch Carolina herrera stores highlights the sophistication and the complete universe of house of herrera.

Intriguing dressing rooms, split glass displays, and brilliant furniture create a personal and intimate environment.

The Manila store creates the perfect house for Carolina herrera in Philippines, maintaining the exclusive ambience the brand has been known for. Its white and red walls, gilded moldings and beautiful ceilings reflect signature design elements from the brand’s global store concept, such as the use of diverse grained woods and a color scheme of brown, black and grey, and of course the brand’s iconic red accents.

The store’s interiors evoke a warm and sensual feeling upon entry, as different atmospheres are created within the same space. Faithful to the master brand lines, the new store in Manila includes collections for Women, Men, and Accessories in a perfect environment.

The Carolina Herrera brand brings to its first store in Manila its collections for Men, Women, and Accessories; the items are displayed in the elegant store that highlights the exclusive ambiance the brand has been known for.

Descendants mania takes over the Philippines

The Fashion Institute of the Philippines presented a special collection of street wear and formal attire based on the styles of the Villain Kids.

The Villain Kids are back!

Just two years after the characters of Disney Descendants burst onto TV screens, they made their much-anticipated return in Descendants 2 on Disney Channel.

The film brings back all of its original characters, plus all-new songs, a new villain and of course, its edgy fashion style.

Since the original film premiered, the “Descendants look” has inspired a following among kids and teens not just in the Philippines, but around the world.

Taking its cues from the film’s signature “wicked” look, Disney Channel has collaborated with selected students of the Fashion Institute of the Philippines to produce a special collection of street wear and formal attire to mark the sequel’s premiere. Chosen for their expressed admiration for the first film, the four talented student designers have provided their own unique take on the

cutting edge styles of the Villain Kids: Mal, evie, Jay, Carlos, and Ursula’s daughter, Uma. Brad Shilver chose to highlight Mal’s strong, empowering personality through the use of structured, ruffled pieces accented by leather and bustier details Einer Nicdao showcases evie’s flirty yet confident style through a blend of blues and blacks in his design Dylan Funa Gallaza, who was inspired by Jay’s quick witted, determined and charming personality, channels this through his design in standout details such as structured cuts and a unique urban athlete style Jay Tillo takes inspiration for Uma’s ensemble from her affinity with the sea, featuring an ocean washed look accentuated by sea shells and other nautical pieces The bespoke collection made its debut at Disney Channel’s Isle of the Lost Party, an advanced screening event of Descendants 2 in One Canvas, Makati.

Life

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wednesday, october 4, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

Waterproof makeup

perfect for rainy days and beach trips

B

EhInD the world’s favorite films and television shows is a dressing room filled with Cargo Cosmetics staples, which have also been welcomed into women’s makeup bags, beauty brand trusted by makeup professionals and consumers. In its latest collection, Cargo Cosmetics has a new line of water-resistant, long-wear beauty products called Swimmables, which, for the Philippine market, is perfect for its tropical climate—whether rain or shine.

The latest collection includes four innovative Swimmables products: The Longwear Eye Shadow Sticks, Longwear Matte Liquid Lipstick, Waterproof Mascara Top Coat, and the Dare to Flair Mascara.

The Longwear Eye Shadow Sticks collection includes lightweight, crease-proof, and water-resistant eye shadows in a cream formula that glides on smoothly for a flawless finish and locks that pop of color into place. To use these, apply lightly for a sheer wash of color or layer it on to intensify.

Once applied, women have 20 seconds to blend the cream before it sets.

The Longwear Matte Liquid Lipstick is a smudge-proof lip color that follows the recent trend of ultra matte lip colors. This high coverage long-wear formula dries quickly and doesn’t smudge or transfer, even when submerged in water. To solve women’s woes, these lipsticks do not settle into fine lines or crack and flake on lips. In fact, they even have a pleasant lightweight feeling with a moisturizing texture. On-the-go women need not worry when drinking their morning coffee or stepping out on a rainy day.

To complete any makeup look, one needs defined lashes that can only be produced by a hard-

Swimmables Waterproof Mascara Top Coat and Longwear Eye Shadow Stick

Cargo Cosmetics’ Swimmables collection

working mascara. Cargo’s answer is the Swimmables Waterproof Mascara Top Coat, which transforms any mascara to a waterproof formula in seconds. This transparent top coat sets and protects your mascara without clumping or drying your lashes.

In the Philippines, Cargo Cosmetics is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc., and is available in Beauty Bar stores at Central Square in Bonifacio High Street Central, Alabang Town Center, Eastwood, Glorietta 2, Greenbelt 5, Power Plant Mall, Shangri-La Plaza, and TriNoma.

Take a dip in a pool or brave a rainy day without worrying about your eye shadow smudging with Cargo Swimmables Longwear Eye Shadow Sticks

Real restoration of youth

Remain zit-free with Proactiv

Proactiv’s 30-day and 60-day Kit systems make it easier for users to create and adjust their own skin care routine

CLEar skin is just another beauty counter away. The acne clearing system’s effectiveness in dealing with stubborn acne has garnered a loyal following in the country, and consumers can enjoy extensive skin care by dropping by at any Watsons and SM Department store branch nationwide.

The US brand offers a solid collection of individual products that cover the skin care needs of Filipinos struggling with acne and blemishes. Each item in the Proactiv kit is developed to treat the whole

face, clearing problematic spots and preventing acne before it starts. What’s more, Proactiv also offers a 30-Day and 60-Day Kit system to make it easier for users who find it challenging to create their own skin care routine.

Such is the popularity of Proactiv in the US that its fame reached the Philippines. Filipinos are known to be extra discerning when it comes to their beauty choices and Proactiv, with its strong suit of products and proven effectiveness, fits the bill.

Thankfully, consumers can enjoy easy access to their favorite skin care system with the brand available nationwide. What’s more, Proactiv is still offering its money-back guarantee for those who are not satisfied with its results.

Get your own Proactiv system at (P2,495) for the 30-day kit and (P3,995) for the 60-day kit. Just visit any Watsons and SM department store branch to get your golden ticket to clear, beautiful skin.

International beauty expert to Manila

International beauty expert Kristi Burns

CLarEnCE anti-aging, Slimming and Dermatology Centre, the first and only one in the Philippines to have the PicoWay technology, brings international beauty expert Kristi Burns to the country.

Burns is a Clinical application Manager in Queensland, northern Territory and new Zealand at Syneron Candela Corporation australia Pty Ltd. She has extensive background in the beauty, medical and aesthetic skin industries and expertise in skin care and stakeholder relationship development.

In the last 10 years, Kristi specialized on the entire Syneron Candela product range as well as cosmeceutical skin and treatment after care. In her clinical educator role, she works closely with several respected medical physicians and clinic owners both domestically and internationally.

Kristi is currently looking after Syneron-Candela customers in australia and new Zealand. With her excellent understanding of the skin and its behavior, she advises customers on how vital it is to manage the expected out-

come of the various laser treatments including various pigmentation disorders and conditions, acne, vascular conditions, skin resurfacing, and tattoo removal procedures.

Kristi ran her own aesthetic Clinic business in 1999, and has since worked for several prestigious organizations, where she specialized in cosmeceutical active result driven skin care and advanced aesthetic laser, skin resurfacing and IPL procedures. Kristi has been using advanced medical grade technology for over 15 years and became the subject matter expert for Medical Grade Laser’s and IPL devices.

“The coming of Kristi Burns to the Philippines is an honor for Clarence as we both believe that beauty is attainable through state-of-the-art but costefficient procedures,” says Dr. Joan Clarence Morallo, head of Clarence Slimming and Dermatology Centre.

Clarence Centre is a one-stop center with a variety of non-invasive, safe and proven methods to enhance body shapes and improve appearances..

– Robbie Pangilinan

WITh the introduction of viable Stem Cell Therapy, the saying age is just a number is now truer than ever.

Far from being a means to simply look and feel younger through quick fixes, exercise, and nutrition, Stem Cell Therapy is a whole new scientific paradigm in anti-aging that has sweeping benefits.

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t age because of wear and tear. We age because, at a genetically pre-determined point in our lives, cellular division slows down, our bodies slowly start losing more cells daily than we recover, hence the visible appearance of wear and tear; as well as the gradual and perceptible decline in our other physical faculties.

“The secret to the efficacy of Stem Cell Therapy is that unlike previous anti-aging techniques that focus on preserving and optimizing cellular health, or on simply “masking” the visible effects of aging, Stem Cell Therapy significantly restores your body’s ability to regenerate cells to a degree it could only have done when you yourself were younger.” Explains Dr. MJ Torres, practitioner of anti-ageing and Integrative Medicine and owner and Medical Director of the popular medical spa and longevity center chain The Zen Institute. already gaining popularity as an aesthetic procedure, Stem Cell Therapy is so much more. In adipose derived stem cell therapy, the stem cells are harvested from your own tissue. The functional cells are filtered and isolated and then added to your plasma. The activated cells are then administered back to the body. at The Zen Institute, Stem Cell Therapy is performed by a team of skilled, experienced surgeons, aesthetic doctors, and anesthesiologists.

Stem Cell Therapy has been proven to address every aspect of aging, on every front. “It delivers benefits dramatically such as reduced neck and back pain, reduced fatigue and tiredness, improved energy, emotional balance, mental alertness, reduced stiffness of joints. it also helps to boost the immune system, improves libido, reduces symptoms and complications of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, liver disease, Parkinson‘s disease, spinal cord injuries, alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and many others, almost just as a bonus, it also delivers younger appearance, and fewer wrinkles,” Dr. MJ enthuses.

“Put as simply as possible, the science of Stem Cell therapy can be summarized like this: all multicelled living things have stem cells, essentially these are undifferentiated cells that can become anything (bone, skin, organs, etc.), the mechanism isn’t fully understood, but what

The Zen Institute founder Dr. MJ Torres

is proven is that when stem cells graft to differentiated cells, regeneration is stimulated. Stem cell treatment essentially involves redistributing these stem cells throughout the body through the blood stream so that the stem cells can graft to other cells, differentiate, and then stimulate regeneration by restoring faster cell division,” says Dr. MJ. as a practitioner of Stem Cell Therapy, Dr. MJ is not only a believer in the process, she herself has undergone it, and can personally attest to its benefits. “Pre-disposition to cancer runs on both sides of my family, I am a firm believer that Stem Cell Therapy is the absolute best evidence-based preventive measure science currently offers, by far,” Dr. MJ concludes.

The Zen Institute now offers Stem Cell Therapy at nearly half the price of the industry standard, as a part of a unique five-step process known as “My Journey to Ultimate Wellness.”

With branches in Quezon City, Bonifacio Global City, Batangas City, and Binondo Manila, The Zen Institute has earned a reputation for combining medical science and aesthetics in pursuit of beauty as a result of good health. The programs that are part of the MJ Ultimate Wellness were designed with a holistic approach, that combines healthy living, and sustainable lifestyle changes with scientific, and evidence-based solutions. The result is improved quality of life, healthy aging, increased productivity and ultimately longevity.

For more information, go to www. thezeninstitute.com/myjourneytowellness/contact-us/, or call Veronica Laforteza 09175328983 or Vanessa Loresto 09178206397 or email marketing@ thezeninstitute.com

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

3Style World Tour IS BACK

ZOREN and CARMINA

satisfied with their twins

THE LEGASPIS. (From left) Cassy, Zoren, Carmina and Mavy are all smiles when they were introduced as brand ambassadors of the competitive pharmacy and convenient store, CitiDrug

T

HE Legaspi family is one celebrity family we just can’t keep our eyes off. Zoren Legaspi and Carmina Villaroel spawned not only good-looking twins, but also young achievers, smart, talented and active.

The Legaspi family recently met with members of entertainment press in Taguig City, where the four appeared flawless as usual.

Zoren and Carmina were in their smart casual outfits while the twins Mavy and Cassy were in jeans and matching white sneakers.

The amiable bunch was out to make another announcement, an endorsement that would add to the long list of products and services they, as a family, collectively promote.

Stoked with their presence, a few scribes teased the couple why they

didn’t decide to have more kids since it’s obvious that they make good-looking babies.

“It’s kind of late to have more children now and they (the twins) don’t like to have siblings anyway,” Carmina shared and quipped that she’s already good with taking care of pets rather than having more children.

The actress and TV host then turned to Mavy and Cassy and asked them why they didn’t want to have another addition to their family. Both said their very satisfied with one another.

“Before I wanted to have a baby brother or baby sister, but now I no longer want to have another sibling.

Not for some selfish reason but I’m quite satisfied with my sister,” Mavy said while Cassy nodded to express her approval.

Zoren, on the other hand, conveyed that parental responsibilities can

become increasingly challenging especially now that the twins are now 16 and have become very opinionated.

“It’s actually harder to take care of teenagers because this phase of their lives is a different chapter.

How we tackle our problems is more psychological because we have to know where they are coming from,” the actor related.

He added that it’s inevitable for them to have arguments at times but they still observe the value of respect.

“We don’t want them to just say ‘yes, yes.’ We want them to also think because that’s how they would deal with other people when they’re outside,” Zoren explained.

The 45-year-old actor said that as parents they raised their kids to express their opinions because they didn’t want them to just accept any idea without knowing the reason behind it. And Zoren and Carmina couldn’t be any less content on how their kids have grown and matured while still being understanding and obedient.

“We’re very grateful that our kids,

Cassy and Mavy, are mababait and very obedient. We really don’t have any issues or problem with these kids. But when you say na perfect and ideal kami, we also go through the same problems. Pero we don’t make it public. Everything is settled privately,” Carmina shared.

Perhaps their being a perfect example of caring and nurturing family is the main reason why numerous brands trust them as celebrity ambassadors. For instance, CitiDrug executives recognize the Legaspi family for being strong and united because these characteristics match how their brand wanted to position itself.

As a competitive generics and branded medicines pharmacy with added convenience of food and bills payment services, CitiDrug believes that the showbiz family best exemplifies the core values set by their company.

Meanwhile, the showbiz couple is grateful for this new opportunity to instill further health care awareness among the “Pamilyang Pilipino” as the CitiDrug slogan proudly says.

DZMM ‘Radyo Patrol Sais Trenta’ tops Metro Manila radio survey

ABS-CBN’S flagship AM radio station continues to lead the field in serving Filipinos through both news and public service.

DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 recently intensified its public service efforts by bringing its pioneering public service programs Buntis Congress and DZMM TLC outside Luzon last month.

Based on the KBP-Kantar Media Radio Survey in Metro Manila for the second quarter of 2017, DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 topped all AM radio stations with an audience share of 42 percent.

True to the message of its current station ID entitled “Una Ka Pilipino,” the station delivered public service to Filipinos once again through Buntis Congress and DZMM Teaching Learning Caring classroom-on-wheels and clinic-onwheels activity held in Cebu.

Now on its 15th year, DZMM’s seminar for mothers and pregnant women brought new information, helpful tips, and freebies to almost 300 mommies who gathered at Robinson’s Mall in Cebu on Aug. 25. One of the topics was teenage pregnancy, which was very

DZMM Station Manager Marah Capuyan and radio anchor May Ceniza (in blue shirts, seated) led the recently concluded Buntis Congress in Cebu

relevant as some of the participants were teenage mothers, including a 14-year-old.

Through Buntis Congress, these young moms learned how to keep themselves and their kids healthy during and after pregnancy. It was also a time to relax for the mothers as Kapamilya singer Michael Pangilinan was present to serenade and bond with them.

DZMM TLC, on the other hand, served three barangays in Cebu that have never been visited

and served by a non-government organization before. Residents of Brgy.Kinawahan, Brgy. Victoria, and Brgy. Tacup benefited from the medical consultations, minor surgeries, dental and optical check-ups, blood-typing, CBC, urinalysis, and blood sugar test, and HIV screening and counseling that DZMM and its partner organizations have offered to them for free on Aug. 26.

While over 1,300 people availed of the free medical services,

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Wednesday, October 4, 2017

ACROSS 1 Heats up 6 Glass-raised salute 11 Physique 14 Savor 15 Vine support 16 Regret deeply 17 Gully 18 Torah reciter 19 Catch cold 20 Try for a job 22 Movie mutt 24 Islands off Portugal 27 Bamboo eaters 28 Plato’s malls 29 Specialty 31 Bombay attire 32 Musical work 34 Pitcher in a basin 38 Gael republic 39 Noah’s vessel 40 Florence’s river 41 In a short time 42 Hair conditioner 44 Muddy tracks 45 Saturday morning fare 47 Egyptian sun god (hyph.)

49 Mogadishu dweller 52 Hidebound 53 Offspring

54 Kathmandu locale 56 Groovy, today 57 Rousseau novel 59 Henry VIII’s house 64 Distinct period 65 Chili pepper dip 66 Nail-groomer 67 “Scream” director — Craven 68 Fine-tune 69 Prom DOWN 1 Roll of bills 2 “Exodus” role 3 Spoil 4 XXI times C 5 Vast desert 6 Rain-delay rollouts 7 Spoken 8 Column “Dear —” 9 Express grief 10 Of clan groups 11 Label 12 — board 13 Sandwich shops 21 Tijuana coin 23 Won over 24 A second time 25 Don Diego de la Vega

26 Kind of rug 27 Green shade 28 Between ports 29 Spore producers 30 Annoys 33 Twinge 35 Removed water 36 Item on a list 37 Diva — Ponselle 42 French king 43 I could — — horse!

46 Most senior 48 Lost feathers 49 Tool box item

50 Windy City airport 51 Golden-touch king 52 Talk 54 World’s longest river 55 “Born Free” lioness 58 Gullet 60 Ms. Thurman of “Pulp Fiction” 61 Rec room 62 Killer whale 63 Type of whiskey

children from the barangays also enjoyed a storytelling session with DZMM’s Dra. Bles Salvador and an arts and crafts activity. Almost 200 elementary students also got snacks and toiletry packs.

With a strengthened programming, DZMM also remains untouchable when it comes to delivering news with almost half of the listening audience preferring it over other AM radio stations. Its audience share of 42 percent in the survey conducted in June in Metro Manila is two times higher than second placer DZBB’s 21percent, followed by DWWW (1percent), DZRH (6 percent), and DZRV (5 percent).

DZMM is the pioneer in the simultaneous broadcast of radio on TV with DZMM TeleRadyo celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. It is also the first in producing station IDs as a way to celebrate milestones and communicate its commitment to its listeners and viewers, and has also been awarded by prestigious award-giving bodies such as the Philippine Quill and Anvil Awards for its unique concepts in public service.

THE Red Bull 3Style World Championships has returned to the Philippines and has chosen six DJ’sKouta Kutsuma, Novel Fortich, Jan Musa, Charles Angeles, Gary Bonita Bonita, and Katsy Lee- to compete in the National Finals on Oct. 19 at The Valkyrie Nightclub, in Uptown Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Each finalist will be given 15 minutes to excite the crowd and judges with a mix that features three different musical styles.

There can only be one Philippine Champion to represent the country in the world finals. Join us on the Journey to Krakow.

Participating DJs applied online at http://www. redbull3style.com/and uploaded a five minute performance video playing at least three different genres of music. Each entry was judged by a panel of internationally acclaimed DJs on originality, skills, and music selection.

Several countries have already announced their top six regional finalists, including Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Netherlands, and France. With a collection of the best DJ’s

from all over the world, the 2017 Red Bull 3Style World Championships VIII – Krakow, Poland, promises to be the biggest, most exciting edition yet.

Since 2010, the Red Bull 3Style World DJ Championships has advanced the culture of DJing, entertaining audiences all around the world. 3Style is set to embark on its 8th year as a global event and

will for the first time see a change in format.

Since its debut in the Philippines, the competition was dominated

by DJ Carlo Atendido, crowned regional champion twice. The time is now for a new face to step up and represent the Philippines.

Who will it be? Who will bring the best beats and represent the Philippines this year? #redbull3style #playwithmusichttp:// www.redbull3style.com

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

"Papa's Shadow" is a short film about a young girl that seeks help instead from the shadow puppets her father left her, to cope and understand the meaning of life and death

Filipina filmmaker in Iraq filmfest A

FILIPINA filmmaker’s work is being exhibited in Slemani International Film Festival in Iraq, happening now until Oct. 7.

Papa’s Shadows, a film by Inshallah Montero, a De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) film alumna, chronicles young Mia’s effort to overcome grief, and understand the meaning of life and death, following the passing away of her

father, and her mother’s subsequent spiral into sadness.

Montero’s 19-minute film had previously won the Jury Prize in the short film category in last year’s Quezon Cinema Film Festival.

The movie features Pintig Santos and Roence Santos.

It is dedicated to her late inspirations, her mentor, visual artist and shadow puppeteer Don Salubayba, and her favorite cinematographer, Egay Navarro.

“Don’s influence in shadow play, how he introduced the craft to me at a young age, and a conversation with Egay’s little son on his concept of death inspired me to write this story,”

she shared.

Both of her role models left their children too early.

Montero was a Creative Writing scholar and an Artistic Excellence Awardee at the Philippine High School for the Arts in Makiling, Laguna.

She graduated with honors at DLS-CSB’s Digital Filmmaking Program.

Established last year, the Slemani International Film Festival has separate categories for entries from the Kurdish region, and the international community.

Divisions include feature, short, documentary, and animation. The winners will be announced on Oct. 7.

NUTAM says GMA Network

remains most watched in September

IN CHARACTER. Kapuso Primetime Queen Marian Rivera plays superhero in weeknight fantasy drama, "Super Ma'am"

GMA Network, Inc. (GMA) kept its nationwide ratings advantage over competition in September, according to data Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

From Sept. 1 to 27 (with Sept. 17 to 27 based on overnight data), GMA had more viewers in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) with an average total day people audience share of 41.9 percent. ABS-CBN, according to the data, only managed 38.8 percent.

The Kapuso Network ruled both morning and afternoon time blocks according to NUTAM, even posting a solid 10.3-point lead over ABS-CBN in the latter.

In Urban Luzon, the Network maintained its dominance across all time blocks with a total day people audience share of 48 percent beating ABS-CBN’s 33 percent.

The Kapuso Network also posted an impressive lead in Mega Manila (based on Sept. 1 to 23 data) with 50.7 percent total day people audience share; way ahead of ABS-CBN’s 29.3 percent by 21.4 points.

Urban Luzon and Mega Manila respectively account for 76 and 59 percent of all urban viewers in the country.

Kapuso shows dominated the list of top programs in the NUTAM survey with Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho as the most watched GMA program nationwide in the said period. GMA, in turn, claimed nine of the top 10 programs in Urban Luzon; while sweeping the top 10 spots in Mega Manila.

Consistent top-rating Kapuso shows include the Network’s flagship newscast 24 Oras, followed by Daig Kayo ng Lola Manaloto and Magpakailanman.

Ko, Pepito Manaloto, Meanwhile, newly launched series Super Ma’am with Marian Rivera-Dantes, Ma’am, immediately landed a spot in the list of most watched programs. Closely following is the returning hit musical game show All-Star Videoke Videoke,with Solenn Heussaff and Betong Sumaya Sumaya.

Also making it to the list are Alyas Robin Hood, Mulawin vs. Ravena, Ika-6 Na Utos, and 24 Oras Weekend.

Kapamilya actor Zanjoe Marudo is nominated at the International Emmys for his role in an episode of "MMK"

International Emmy Nomination for Zanjoe Marudo

KAPAMILYA actor and Star Magic artist Zanjoe Marudo is the only Asian artist nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor category in the 45th International Emmy Awards.

The model-turned-actor is competing against actors Julio Andrade (Brazil), Kenneth Branagh (United Kingdom), and Kad Merad (France) in the category.

“This recognition from the iEmmys is a personal milestone for me as an actor and as a Filipino. This is a dream come true. I thank the jurors, the show MMK, ABS-CBN and Star Magic,” said Zanjoe.

Zanjoe is nominated for his exceptional portrayal of a father with paranoid schizophrenia in the “Anino” episode of ABS-CBN’s weekend drama anthology MMK. This real life story, brought to life by Zanjoe, is among the many unique stories that have given Filipino viewers inspiration, hope, and life lessons in the 25 years that MMK has been on air.

Dubbed as the longest drama anthology in Asia, MMK is hosted by actress and ABS-CBN’s Chief Content Officer Charo Santos-Concio, who was gala chair for the International Emmy Awards in 2015.

This year’s winners will be announced at a black-tie ceremony on Nov. 20 at the Hilton New York Hotel. The International Emmy® Awards are given by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

FEU short film wins Precious Pelikula grand prize "All-Star Videoke" hosts Solenn Heussaff and Betong Sumaya

Dingdong Dantes as Alyas Robin Hood

FOR the second straight year, a short film made by Far Eastern University students got the top prize at the Precious Pelikula Film-making Contest, the awarding ceremony was held during the 38th Manila International Book Fair at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, on Sept. 17.

Victor Elijah Gador directed the winning short film My Fat Chanc Chance based on the Precious Hearts Romances novel by Sofia ((Jernalie Dumapay).

It followed last year’s grand prize winner and fellow Tamaraw Richmond Cadsawan who adapted Jamie Black Me, Myself and PerBlack’s egrine egrine.

My Fat Chance won Best Film and Best Screenplay along with the Best Actress award for Jenny Yeo. The short film bested 10 other entries made by amateur and student filmmakers who

were given a production grant of P15,000 each to make their respective films.

The winning team, which also pocketed P100,000, was made up of Gador, production manager Isha Dalabajan, director of photography Vince Catacutan, production designer Joma Velasco, assistant director Rhuss e l Famy, Shayne Salilican and Peter Bacatan and cast members Yeo, Austin Tan, Sabrina San Diego, Charles Cruz, Kevin Biol and Ron Alos.

Precious Pages Corp., publisher of Precious Hearts Romances, organized the competition by calling on and selecting amateur filmmakers who will translate a Precious Hearts story into a short film, without sacrificing the romance that these novels are famous for.