Manila Standard - 2016 July 31 - Sunday

WEATHER

Solons doubt Reds’ sincerity

TROPICAL Depression “Carina” intensified into a tropical storm on Saturday as it threatened to hit the Cagayan Valley region Sunday afternoon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Next page

By Maricel V. Cruz LAWMAKERS on Saturday questioned the sincerity of the communist movement in the peace talks with the government and urged its leaders to reciprocate the goodwill shown by Next page

VOL. XXX • NO. 169 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 • WWW.THESTANDARD.COM.PH • EDITORIAL@THESTANDARD.COM.PH

Truce lifted; alert up

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Joyce Pangco Pañares

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte withdrew the truce he had earlier declared with the New People’s Army on Saturday, prompting Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison to slam the commander-in-chief of issuing a “hollow and empty” ceasefire.

cracked cement floor of an openair basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. Even then, bodies are packed like sardines in a can, with inmates unable to fully stretch out.

When it rains, the conditions are even worse as inmates cannot sleep on the basketball court, which is surrounded by the cells in

Duterte ordered the withdrawal after the CPP and the New People’s Army failed to declare a ceasefire after NPA rebels attacked a group of militiamen who were returning to base from a patrol in Davao del Norte.

“Let me now announce that I am hereby ordering for the immediate lifting of the unilateral ceasefire that I ordered last July 25 against the communist rebels,” Duterte said in an official statement.

“I am ordering all security forces to be on high alert and continue to discharge their normal functions and mandate to neutralize all threats to national security, protect the citizenry, enforce the laws and maintain peace in the land,” the President added.

Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya said the AFP immediately issued the appropriate guidance to all AFP units all throughout the archipelago.

“All our forces remain on high alert and will resume to discharge their normal functions and constitutional mandated

Next page

Next page

3D. An art museum in Cubao, Quezon City features three-dimensional, realistic images allowing its customers to take their photos with the artworks. EY ACASIO

Anti-drug War on crimes packs overcrowded jails in Metro campaign By Ayee Macaraig gets China aid pledge

By Francisco Tuyay CHINA has pledged to help the Philippines in its anti-narcotics campaign by providing intelligence information on Chinese nationals who are believed to be behind the P500-billion drug trade in the country.

Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said China made the pledge during the 36th annual conference of police chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia last Wednesday.

In fact, Dela Rosa said, Beijing has already provided information packets on two Chinese drug lords Peter Co and Peter Lim. Co is already detained at the National Bilibid Prison while Lim is the Cebu businessman

MARIO Dimaculangan shares a toilet with 130 other inmates in one of the Philippines’ most overcrowded jails, and conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime.

Security forces have killed hundreds of people and detained thousands more in just one month as they have followed the orders of

President Rodrigo Duterte, who has said the top priority at the start of his six-year term is to eliminate drugs in society.

Those detained appear doomed for lengthy stints in an underfunded and overwhelmed penal system, like in the Quezon City Jail where Dimaculangan has wallowed for 14 years while his trial over murder and robbery charges have dragged on.

“Many go crazy. They cannot think straight. It’s so crowded.

Just the slightest of movements and you bump into something or someone,” Dimaculangan told AFP in one of the jail’s packed hallways that reeked of sweat.

There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space.

Men take turns to sleep on the

Emergency powers for Du30 in the works

By Maricel V. Cruz

Next page

Party-list abolition impends

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said the party-list system has been abused by the country’s elite and vowed he will insist on its abolition when Congress begins to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Speaking at the wake of the militiaman who was killed in the ambush staged by the communist New People’s Army in Davao del Norte, Duterte said the party-list system has been turned into a mockery of the underprivileged sectors it was supposed to serve.

Next page

JAM-PACKED. Inmates sleep on the ground of an open basketball court inside the Quezon City jail at night in Manila in this picture taken on July 21, 2016. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. AFP

THE House of Representatives will begin deliberations on several proposed measures to grant President Rodrigo Duterte emergency powers to solve traffic woes in Metro Manila as soon as the Lower House finishes the committee assignments of congressmen.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the emergency powers will be among the first issues to be tackled in the chamber after the committee assignments of 293 House members are completed.

Alvarez, representative of Davao del Norte, acknowledged that the traffic problem in Metro Manila is already a “real crisis” and “not just an ordinary problem.” Next page

Dureza shields Yasay from flak over China

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

DUREZA twitter.com/ MlaStandard

PRESIDENTIAL Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza on Saturday lambasted two seasoned diplomats for airing undue criticisms against Foreign Affairs Secretary facebook.com.ph/ manilastandard

S

Perfecto Yasay Jr. Dureza said it was “unfair” for former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and former Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr. to blame Yasay for failing to convince the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to issue

thestandard.com.ph

a joint statement on the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration against China.

In a radio interview, Dureza said that the statement of these “seasoned diplomats” and “stalwarts of diplomatic service” were “unfair.”

On Friday, del Rosario sniped

at Yasay, saying that “Ideally he [Yasay] should have stood strongly for promoting the arbitration ruling as being part of the final statement.”

Cuisia, on the other hand, said that Yasay should have “encouraged Asean countries to come up with a statement.”

Next page

Missed your copy of Manila Standard Today? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circ@manilastandardtoday.com

News

A2

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Oslo peace gab still a go P

RESIDENTIAL Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said there is no supervening factor that will affect the resumption of the formal peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines on August 20 in Oslo, Norway.

“Let’s wait and see. But so far, as the moment, there is no supervening factor that will affect the upcoming talks in Oslo on August 20,” Dureza said in a text message to the Malacañang reporters.

Dureza made this reaction after President Rodrigo Duterte or-

dered on Saturday night the immediate lifting of the unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels after the CPP-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front failed to reciprocate within the Saturday’s 5 p.m. ultimatum.

In his first State of the Nation

Truce...

From A1

5 p.m. deadline on Saturday.

“We are talking here of just hours. If the gap was already month-long, then it is understandable for him to get angry and give an ultimatum,” he said.

But after heaping a barrage of insults on Duterte, Sison said he remains confident that the formal resumption of peace negotiations in Oslo this month will push through as scheduled.

“This exchange of words, regardless of the temperature, these are just words. What we are trying to resolve here is the very real fighting on the ground. If the Duterte administration really has political will, we can easily overcome this exchange of words,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, the resumption of the formal talks will continue,” Sison added.

The New People’s Army, on the other hand, said that it has placed its troops on “active defense mode” and refused to surrender its military initiative and diminish the authority of the communist rebels.

“While the NPA [Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command] is ready, willing and able to reciprocate the unilateral ceasefire in accordance to the parameters, guidelines and rules to be set by the national leadership of the NPA, CPP and NDFP, it cannot be harangued to reciprocate a unilateral ceasefire order that is overtly mocked by the AFP hierarchy and its ground troops and paramilitary forces,” the NPA said in a statement.

“The NPA and the people’s militia are ready to defend itself from enemy troops who are actively present in almost all villages in Southern Mindanao,” the statement read.

tasks,” Visaya said in his own statement.

“The NPA have missed a golden opportunity to manifest their commitment to the attainment of our citizen’s much sought peace throughout the land... This could have been what the Filipino nation had been waiting for,” the military chief said.

But Sison, who was a former professor of Duterte in college, slammed the President for being “ill-tempered” and for acting like a bully and treating the CPP like his personal servant.

“Masyadong butangero yang si Duterte at gusto niya ay gulo agad [Duterte is too quarrelsome and he immediately resorts to confrontation]. If he does not want peace, then so be it,” Sison said in a television interview via phone patch from Utrecht.

“That [unilateral ceasefire] is hollow, empty. It does not mean anything,” he added, saying the CPP was poised to announce a reciprocal truce at 8 p.m. yesterday but it was overtaken by Duterte’s statement.

“He thinks he has gotten himself a personal servant. That cannot be. Duterte can never order the revolutionary group to follow what he wants,” Sison added.

Sison also blamed the military for not following Duterte’s instructions, which he claimed led to the ambush in Davao del Norte on Wednesday that left a militiaman dead.

The unilateral ceasefire, announced by Duterte in his State of the Nation Address on July 25, lasted for all of six days.

Sison said Duterte should have waited for a few hours after the CPP failed to meet the President’s

Weather...

From A1

Anti-drug...

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council raised a ìblue alertî and advised local government units in Luzon and Visayas to heighten preparations as aviation authorities canceled six domestic flights on Saturday afternoon due to bad weather.

The center of Carina was spotted 290 kilometers northeast of Virac, Catanduanes at 4 p.m. Saturday and was expected to move north northwest at 18 kph with a diameter of 400 km bringing moderate to heavy rain.

Within 24 hours, Carina is expected to be 160 km east southeast of Tuguegarao, Cagayan and 250 km northwest of Laoag City in Ilocos Norte by Monday afternoon. The storm is not expected to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility until Tuesday afternoon.

Carina has maximum sustained winds of 65 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 80 kph and fishermen were warned against rough to very rough seas over the eastern seaboards of Camarines Norte and Quezon including Polillo Island.

The national disaster office, meantime, directed its regional and provincial offices to activate its detail officers submit their disaster preparedness reports.

The Department of Interior and Local Government also directed all concerned regional offices to activate their respective Disaster Monitoring and Reporting Systems to inform all concerned provincial directors and local chief executives.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, on the other hand, has prepositioned a total of P952 million in standby

whom President Rodrigo Duterte publicly identified as being behind the narcotics trade in the Visayas region.

Duterte said last July 18 that he would confront China about the involvement of Chinese officials in the illegal drug trade once “bigger issues” such as the country’s territorial dispute over the South China Sea are settled.

“When I come face to face with them, I will tell them all that is bothering me,” Duterte said in Filipino at a gathering of his San Beda College of Law classmates in Malacañang.

Duterte recently accused five police generals of protecting three big-time Chinese-Filipino drug lords and noted that four Hong Kong nationals were arrested

From A1

War...

From A1

decaying concrete buildings up to four stories high.

The cash-strapped national government has a daily budget of just 50 pesos ($1.10) for food and P5 (11 cents) for medicine per inmate, although with the bulk buying of supplies, Quezon City Jail detainees have a sustainable diet of soup, vegetables and meat.

Pales of water are used to flush the scarce toilets, with the stench compounded by the rotting garbage in a nearby canal.

Unthinkable conditions The jail’s management does what it can to make

Party-list...

From A1

AGAINST TRAFFICKING. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aquirre II and chairperson of IACAT, seals the Statement of Collective Commitement via a handshake with Social Welfare Judy Taguiwalo IACAT Co-Chair, during the observance of the 2016 World Day Against Trafficking on Friday, July 29,2016 at the PICC in Pasay City. PNA

“Those who win [the elections] are those who have money, representing what? Security guards,” Duterte said, noting that the system was meant to empower marginalized sectors.

“That’s a mockery of the law,” he said, noting that wealthy politicians win because they can afford to buy votes even if they only represent what Duterte called the United Idiots Association.

“This party-list will never come to be under a new constitution. I will insists, no partylist. That has been abused by everyone. They are all over the place,” Duterte said.

In the incumbent 17 th Congress, the Commission on Elections proclaimed 46 organizations as winners in the party-list elections and now occupy 59 seats in the House of Representatives.

Only the regional party Ako Bicol got the maximum 3 seats allowed while 11 organizations each got two seats each. The 34 other organizations got one seat each.

But party-list congressmen have also played a crucial role in pushing Duterte’s legislative agenda after 20 party-list representatives unified and elected Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez as House minority leader.

The party-list lawmakers said they backed Suarez to prevent the Liberal Party from getting the post and possibly obstruct Duterte’s legislative agenda.

The 20 party-list congressmen, who abstained from voting for the speakership, were told to elect the minority leader. They went for Suarez after they themselves tried to seek concession from House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

The 52-strong Coalition of Party-list Foundation, led by Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, earlier signed a coalition agreement with Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan signifying their support for Duterte’s candidate Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

of the communists and the government because it is a decisive requisite before the success of the peace talks.

“Otherwise, if the attacks continue, it would mean two things: one, they are not sincere in the talks, or two, they’re not one and thus have no control over their troops on the ground,” Alejano said.

“Either way, the President would have a clear indication to scuttle the talks,” Alejano, a former Marine officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said.

But Alejano stressed “it’s only talk and therefore words must be carefully chosen... However, there must be a limit to everything. Once

love, will be achieved in the near future,” he added.

Barbers, for his part, said the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front should sanction its members who ambushed the militiamen in Davao del Norte.

“The NPA should show sincerity in honoring ceasefire by castigating, reprimanding or even punishing [its] people who violated it,” Barbers said.

“However, just like in our Philippine National Police and Armed Forces, there are rogue cops, soldiers or government employees who simply do not respect order and our laws,” Barbers said.

Address last Monday, President Duterte declared a unilateral ceasefire with the communist rebels.

However, the NPA rebels attacked a group of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), killing one militiaman and wounding four others in Davao del Norte while the military troops were observing the unilateral ceasefire.

This prompted President Duterte to set last Friday a deadline until 5 p.m. Saturday for the communist rebels to reciprocate his offered unilateral ceasefire.

Earlier, the CPP said it was expecting to conclude three agree-

Solons...

From A1

the government in declaring a unilateral ceasefire.

In interviews with the Manila Standard, congressmen Gary Alejano of the Magdalo partylist, Jose Antonio Alvarado of Bulacan, Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte and Gus Tambunting of Parañaque City said it was wrong for the communists to attack militiamen in Davao del Norte despite the government’s unilateral ceasefire.

Alejano said that the ceasefire should be two-way on the part when police raided “floating shabu laboratories” in waters off Subic.

“They were cooking shabu on board Chinese-registered ships,” Duterte said. “[We will deal with this] at the proper time, but not now.”

Former secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government Rafael Alunan said the illegal drug trade in the Philippines is now a national crisis.

“The illegal drugs industry is a P500 billion a year business and 30 percent goes to bribery to police, and national and local officials, including the criminal justice system.

That’s P150 billion [for bribery]. That is no joke. That’s enough money to control the government and to ensure continuity of your business,” Alunan said.

Meanwhile, Department of Interior and Local Govern-

life bearable, such as running dance competitions and other rehabilitation activities.

Inmates also say there have been improvements in recent years, particularly with the food and more rehabilitation programs.

But Raymund Narag, a criminal justice scholar at the Southern Illinois University in the United States, said such conditions were unthinkable in Western nations.

“If this happened in America, there would be a riot every day. Courts would declare these jails unfit for human habitation,” Narag told AFP. The Philippine penal system is the third most congested in the world, accord-

ments—including one paving the way for an immediate ceasefire—during the talks in Oslo.

“There will be agreements on the release of the political prisoners, an interim ceasefire and a plan to accelerate the peace negotiations,” Sison told the Manila Standard in an interview from Utrecht.

“The interim ceasefire will take effect with the release of all political prisoners through a general amnesty until the successful conclusion of the peace negotiations. The formal peace talks will include a comprehensive and detailed agreement on the permanent end of hostilities,” he added.

ment said Filipino doctors working in the United States have offered to help in the rehabilitation process of drug dependents.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno said US-based Filipino psychiatrists will be arriving soon to render communitybased rehabilitation among drug dependents.

“We have lot of volunteers, some coming from the US Filipino doctors to render their support and help us in rehabilitation centers,” Sueno said.

Dela Rosa said other Asean police chiefs also promised similar cooperation in the country’s ongoing battle against narcotics but declined to disclose details.

Aside from Chinese bigtime drug syndicates, authorities are also tracking Nigerian and Mexican drug lords, Dela Rosa said.

ing to the University of London’s Institute for Criminal Policy Research.

Jails nationwide have nearly five times more inmates than they were built for, according to government data.

And the situation is set to get much worse, very quickly.

Under Duterte’s crime war, police have reported arresting more than 4,300 people for drug-related crimes since he took office on June 30.

Duterte has repeatedly urged his law enforcers to do more, calling on them to triple their efforts to eradicate the drug menace that he says is threatening to turn the Philippines into a narcostate. AFP

Dureza denied rumors that the Armed Forces of the Philippines plan to sabotage the peace process between the government and the communist rebels.

“I have not found any indication at all that the AFP is sabotaging,” Dureza said in an interview with state-run dzRB on Saturday.

“As a matter of fact, if you listen to the supportive statements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, they have fully supported the President in his declaration, in our efforts to resume the peace negotiations, they have supported even the call of the President for a unilateral ceasefire,” Dureza said.

they ignore the request and continue to attack our soldiers then the president must promptly withdraw the ceasefire,” Alejano said.

Alvarado said communist group should also declare their own ceasefire so that its members on the ground will be guided by the ceasefire declaration of the government while discussing peace on the negotiating table.

“It could have been better if they could have shown a gesture of goodwill by declaring their own version of ceasefire,” Alvarado said.

“The attack in Davao can be viewed otherwise. I still hope calmness prevails, and that peace, under a regime of justice and

Dureza...

From A1

“The ruling is recognized by many other major nations including the US, European Union, Japan, and so on.

What’s wrong with saying we welcome this decision and we hope to work together with ASEAN in trying to get China to come up with a reasonable stance on this South China Sea issue?,” Cuisia said.

Dureza said that before Del Rosario and Cuisia criticized Yasay the latter should have check first the position of the government.

“I think I expected something better from these two gentlemen that before they could have publicly criticized the incumbent secretary of foreign affairs of President Duterte, that they could have done due diligence first in finding out what is the real position of the government,” Dureza said in a radio interview over a state-owned Radyo ng Bayan.

Meanwhile, Yasay also on Saturday said it was his predecessors who failed

Emergency...

From A1

“We waste so many hours sitting in cars or buses or riding in jam-packed and rickety MRT and PNR trains instead of spending time at work or being with our families at home. The situation is, in most certain terms, a true crisis which needs emergency powers to enable the President to act,” Alvarez said in his acceptance speech after being elected as Speaker of the 17th Congress.

Alvarez stressed Congress will do “whatever it takes” to solve the traffic crisis in the metropolis but will also ensure there will be safeguards against abuses.

Alvarez himself authored the proposed Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 which calls for the creation of a “centralized traffic authority” both on air and on land that shall be empowered to address all traffic concerns.

to get the Asean to include the ruling of the Arbitral Tribunal.

“My predecessors failed to get this vital united statement from Asean because of their hard line approach not realizing that there are many ways to skin the cat,” Yasay said.

During the Asean’s foreign minister meeting on July 25 in Vientiane, the 10-member countries never mentioned the historic victory of the Philippines against China’s excessive claim over the contested West Philippine Sea in their traditional joint communiqué.

Apart from the Philippines, Asean countries, including Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, have overlapping claims over parts of the South China Sea. Yasay said that the Asean members have conveyed the same core message urging China to respect the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

“The united statement and joint communiqué of Asean as worded did not in any way weaken the legal foundations of our claim and the award given to us by the Arbitral Tribunal,” Yasay said.

A similar measure, or the proposed Metro Manila Traffic Crisis Powers Act, was filed by former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo seeking to authorize the President to enter into negotiated contracts for the construction, repair, rehabilitation, improvement or maintenance of critical infrastructure, projects and facilities, subject to certain requirements.

Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap also filed a measure empowering the President to reorganize the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Departments of Transportation and Public Works and Highways as well as appoint a traffic czar to attend to the traffic problem.

House deputy speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu also filed a measure that seeks to regulate the sale of motor vehicles in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao and other highly urbanized cities by requiring proof of parking space or facility as a prerequisite for the purchase of a motor vehicle.

News

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

A3

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

20 new flood pumps planned

By Joel E. Zurbano

C

HAIRMAN Emerson Carlos of the Metro Manila Development Authority said 20 new pumping stations will be built next year while 37 existing ones will be rehabilitated to address flooding in the National Capital Region.

The P22-billion project was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority to address the perennial flooding in Metro Manila and neighboring areas.

Carlos said the government

is now discussing with the World Bank the modernization of drainage, rehabilitation of existing stations with modern, efficient and high capacity pumps and construction of new pumping

stations in f lood-prone areas in the metropolis.

“We will build more pumping stations. The only reason why we don’t have flooding [these days] because of pumping stations. It keeps us afloat,” Carlos said of the planned Metro Manila Flood Management Project.

Local government units where pumping stations will be constructed are Quezon City with 13 new pumps, one in Mandaluyong, three in Muntinlupa, one in Taguig, and two in Valenzuela.

Pumping stations set for rehabilitation include 18 in Manila; 12 in Malabon, two in Quezon

City, one in Makati and Pasay, and four in Taguig City.

The project is divided into four components: Modernization of Drainage Areas (P15.5 billion); Minimizing Solid Waste in Waterways (P3.3 billion); Participatory Housing Resettlement and Project Management, Support, and Coordination (P1.998 billion).

To date, MMDA has 54 water pumping stations and these pumping stations were designed to pump between 80 millimeters and 90 mm of water per hour.

“As for the preparations, we have the Estero Blitz, upgrading

of pumping stations and the Effective Flood Control Operating System,” Carlos said but noted that the effects of La Niña could worsen flooding.

Carlos said these facilities, significant in monitoring and alleviating f looding in the metropolis, will be put to the test.

The rehabilitated pumping stations are Libertad, Quiapo, Tripa de Galina, Pandacan, Valencia, Binondo, Aviles, Paco, Makati, Sta. Clara, Balete, Arroceros stations and two rehabilitated floodwater pumping stations along Circumferential Road 6 in Barangay Wawa and

IN BRIEF

Farmers set to get cost-free irrigation FARMERS will finally see the day when they do not have to pay for irrigation services if Senator Cynthia Villar’s bill providing for free irrigation services will be enacted into law.

Senate Bill No. 140, or the Free Irrigation Reform and Restructuring Act of 2016, amends Republic Act No. 3601 prescribing the power and authority of the National Irrigation Authority to collect Irrigation Service Fees or other forms of charges for the use of irrigation systems.

“Given that farmers are among the country’s poorest, the present system where farmers who could not pay are deprived of irrigation services is unfair. Their income is already small and ISF is an added expense that we should remove and in its place put a system where farmers are empowered to manage irrigation facilities,” Villar said.

“In the wake of typhoons and drought that devastated farmlands, free irrigation service is the right step to revive the agriculture sector,” she added.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol has expressed his commitment to provide free irrigation to farmers starting next year.

Villar, vice chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, said irrigation services is a vital government obligation to support the growth of Philippine economy, just like the network of roads being used for free.

“One of the most important components of a rice productivity program is irrigation. We want to improve the irrigation program to help our agricultural productivity and to address national food security concerns. If we free farmers from paying this unnecessary cost in production, agricultural products will be sold at lower prices,” she added.

Quiapo slay suspect says sorry for killing

SAFER KIDS. Children from Barangay Industrial Valley in Marikina City interview a policeman about his job during a community activity designed to persuade drug users and pushers to surrender to the authorities and change their lives. Manny Palmero

New rules set in probes of policemen THE National Police Commission enacted a new policy aimed at hastening the resolution of administrative cases filed against erring members of the police force.

This developed shortly after the commission issued memorandum circular 2016-002 on March 7 amending the uniform rules of procedure before the administrative disciplinary authorities and the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service.

The memorandum became effective last June 15, 2016 and was applied in the administrative cases against three of the five police generals allegedly coddling members of illegal drug syndicates and promised to come up with a decision after one month.

President Rodrigo Duterte identified the five as retired

generals Marcelo Garbo and Vicente Loot, former Metro Manila police director Joel Pagdilao, former Quezon City police chief Edgar Tinio and former Davao region police director Bernardo Diaz.

Napolcom Vice-Chairman and Executive Officer Rogelio Casurao said the commission amended certain provisions of Memorandum Circular No. 2007-001 particularly on summary hearings which has been the cause of the backlog of cases before different disciplinary authorities.

“Instead of a full-blown hearing, both parties are required to submit their respective verified position papers taking into account the summary nature of administrative proceedings. If necessary, a one-time clarifica-

tory hearing may be conducted where the parties shall be afforded the opportunity to be present and submit written clarificatory questions,” Casurao said.

The revised rules of procedure intends to expedite the resolution of cases by explicitly prescribing the reglementary period within which to resolve administrative complaints and cases filed against PNP members from the time of the filing of complaints to the final disposition of cases.

The new memorandum specifically provides for a reglementary period of 150 days for the different disciplinary authorities and the IAS to resolve administrative cases filed before their respective jurisdiction.

Only complaints that have been found to have probable cause dur-

ing the pre-charge investigation are submitted for summary proceedings where the PNP members complained of are formally charged; otherwise, complaints are dismissed.

If the complaint is dismissed, the complainant may file one motion for reinvestigation within three days from receipt of the resolution, which shall be resolved by the concerned disciplinary authority within 15 days from receipt of the motion.

To expedite the disposition of cases, the different administrative disciplinary authorities and the IAS shall not entertain request for clarification, bill of particulars, motion to dismiss or any other motion which are obviously designed to delay the administrative proceedings. Joel E. Zurbano

COP21 agreement bad for PH—Salceda THE Philippines should not ratify the 2015 Paris climate agreement that was forged during the 21st Conference of Parties last December 2015, because the country will be worse under it, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, former co-chairman of the United Nations Green Climate Fund.

Salceda has criticized the Paris accord as early as February when he branded it as a “bad agreement” because it shifts the responsibility of reducing carbon emissions to developing countries and away from industrialized nations that have “actually caused untold damage to the environment” in previous decades.

The Paris agreement is a compilation of pledges to hold the increase of global average temperature to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and “to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-

industrial levels.”

Salceda, however, said the global average of “well below 2°C limit of temperature increase” in reality would translate into much more than that in the developing world—with more than 4 degrees for Africa alone.

President Rodrigo Duterte himself has criticized the Paris deal and threatened not to have it ratified. He has ordered a review of the “crazy” commitments the Philippines may have made when it signed the accord last April. He said as much in his July 25 State of the Nation Address.

The Senate has issued a statement it will not ratify the treaty following Duterte’s pronouncement.

Salceda, who was among the first to voice opposition to the Paris deal, however, said Manila’s signature on it does not mean final commitment, for which reason it has to be ratified by the Senate.

resentatives from the Climate Change Commission, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine College of Physicians and civil society emphasized how climate change poses serious threats to public health.

“Climate change is now recognized as the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. We are seeing both its gradual and drastic effects on health, from subtle

THE suspect in the Quiapo road rage shooting who was captured in Masbate on Friday expressed remorse for killing cyclist Mark Vincent Garalde.

“Please forgive me. I know I can’t return the life of your loved one but I really didn’t mean to do that. I’m very sorry. I lost my senses and I did not want to do that,” said suspect Vhon Martin Tanto, who was identified by witnesses and through a closedcircuit television video footage.

Tanto was brought to the Department of Justice the same day for inquest proceedings. He is also facing frustrated murder for seriously injuring an 18-year-old student, who was hit by a stray bullet.

Tanto recalled that the altercation began when his car, a red Hyundai Eon, nearly collided with Garalde’s bicycle.

DOLE nabs fraudulent recruiter THE Department of Labor and Employment has intensified its campaign against illegal recruitment and human trafficking with the arrest of an alleged illegal recruiter who had victimized a number of overseas job applicants.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered the immediate prosecution of a certain Toca Jr., for large-scale illegal recruitment who was nabbed by combined elements from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Quezon City.

Toca was arrested through an entrapment operation in a fastfood chain in Quezon City, while collecting money from an applicant as payment for job placement in Canada.

“Our initial investigation disclosed that Toca Jr., promised complainants jobs in Canada under the direct hire scheme.

Each of them was collected an amount ranging from P15,000 to P40,000 for the processing of their travel documents,” according to POEA chief Leo Hans Cacdac. Vito Barcelo

LTO moves impounding facility

BULACAN MISSION. Over 850 residents of Guiguinto, Bulacan received free medical and dental services during a mission of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., FFCCCII Foundation Inc. together with Bulacan Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. Leading the activity were FFCCCII vice president William Yap Castro, board member Antonio Cosing, BFCCCII president Alex Sy and officers of the FFCCCII Social Responsibility Project Committee.

Climate change a public health threat, global group says HEALTH and environmental advocates came together to urge the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to come up with a cohesive and responsive health strategy that recognizes climate change as a threat to public health.

In a forum organized by international environmental health group Health Care Without Harm-Asia and the Laguna Lake Development Authority, rep-

Hagonoy in Taguig City.

Carlos said this will be the first year for the MMDA to use the newly-installed pump engines in preparation of the rainy season since it was upgraded.

MMDA officials said uncontrolled dumping of waste was one of the aggravating factors during the massive flooding brought by Typhoon "Ondoy" in 2009.

But they assured that all 54 pumping stations of MMDA are fully functional as per each engine had the capability to pump 350 drums of floodwater per second.

increases in infectious diseases to disability and death as a result of natural disasters,” explained HCWH-Asia director Ramon San Pascual.

San Pacual said the climate issue is also an issue of social justice, because it is the poor who are most affected by the drastic impacts of climate change.

“We appeal to the administration of President Duterte to heed

our call by upholding laws that protect both the environment and people’s health, promoting the use of renewable energy sources, and supporting climateresilient and environmentally sustainable hospitals and health systems,” he said.

During the 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva last month, the Philippines co-hosted a forum on climate and health as chairman

of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, which is represented by 43 developing countries most affected by climate change.

At the forum, participating nations agreed that governments worldwide should intensify policies, from implementing mitigation measures to reducing health sector’s carbon footprint and strengthening health systems to be climate resilient.

TO ENFORCE stricter discipline among public utility vehicle drivers, the Land Transportation Office is set to transfer its impounding facility from its Central Office in Quezon City to Tarlac City beginning Aug. 8.

“Notice is hereby given that the impounded vehicles at the LTO Central Office compound, East Avenue, Quezon City, shall be transferring to the impounding facility in Tarlac City on August 8, 2016,” the LTO said.

The LTO, meanwhile, urged owners of impounded vehicles to redeem their vehicles before Aug. 8 subject to payment of penalties and storage fees.

Additional expenses on the cost of transporting the vehicle will be charged to the owner when redeeming the vehicle in Tarlac City after the said date.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier mentioned his plan to transfer the impounding facility to Tarlac since the LTO headquarters has been overcrowded with impounded vehicles. PNA

A4

Opinion

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Cheap lives

EDITORIAL

I

N UTTAR Pradesh state in India, a couple was killed over a row over 22 cents’ worth of biscuits.

The man was beheaded while his wife was hacked to death by a grocer who became angry when they told him they could not yet pay their debt.

The couple were Dalits, who used to be known as Untouchables —the lowest among the castes in India. The grocer belonged to a

Adelle Chua, Editor

higher group.

The biscuits were bought on credit for the couple’s three young children. They said they could not produce the payment of 15 rupees until later that evening, when they collected their wages. The grocer apparently could not wait.

Back home this week, a cyclist died of gunshot after an altercation with a former Army reservist. Mark Vincent Geralde was biking

along P. Casal Street in Quiapo, Manila when Vhon Martin Tanto’s car sideswiped him.

The two engaged in a fistfight until Tanto drew his gun and shot the cyclist, killing him instantly. Videos of the encounter made the rounds in social media, showing Geralde alive one moment and sprawled lifeless on the ground the next. That Tanto was arrested on Friday in Masbate gives little comfort to Geral-

de’s bereaved.

Then, too, in the name of the Duterte administration’s fight against illegal drugs, hundreds of suspected drug dealers and users have been reported killed in less than a month. Often, the corpse would be left on the street with a sign hanging from its neck.

At first blush the apparent decisive action to rid the country of drug dealers sounds

good—until one realizes that those whose lives were snuffed out likely did not have the choice to reform their ways, or were even aware that they had that option.

Indeed the Duterte administration still has to strike that sweet spot between acknowledging rights that are universally shared and ensuring that the campaign against illegal drugs makes considerable dent. It’s a fight that

must be fought well but not mindlessly. The leadership must set the example of respect for life if it were to be credible in its quest to clean up what has to be cleaned up. Rage and unproven allegations do not justify any killing.

Human life, whatever the socio-economic class to which one belongs, is not cheap and dispensable, certainly worth more than a few packets of biscuits.

In US politics, the tribe comes first

By Clive Crook

Retiring the chase

LONG STORY SHORT

ADELLE CHUA TEN years ago I began a column which I called Chasing Happy. I did not have to agonize about that name for long. The phrase had been brewing in my head.

At that time, I believed that everybody was engaged in the pursuit of happiness—some more ardently than others, and to varying degrees of success.

Nonetheless, I believed that the chase was the essence of life.

I covered many topics over a decade, and each of the topics showed itself to be some pursuit in itself: Governance, gender, mobility, and everyday travails of ordinary people like you and me. I was partial to real stories of people I met either personally or online, or those I read about.

Many times, too, I talked about my life: Family, friends, habits, dilemmas, decisions and aspirations. Every time, I hoped that the reader would know it was not so much

about putting myself at the center of everything I wrote but asserting the universality of our thoughts and sentiment and hoping I could offer a fresh insight or two. Being able to inspire others was a bonus.

For a decade, Chasing Happy worked. It was an allencompassing heading for everything under this space, which conveniently fell under the pursuit of something higher, or bigger.

Until one day it dawned on me that the chase was a futile exercise.

Happiness, or anything we can equate to it, is so elusive it can never be chased, much less caught. Over the years, I have learned that happiness —for me a few seconds of pure, blissful sense of peace and content—descends upon one in the most unguarded circumstances, only to lift again before one can make sense of its coming.

Perhaps it is a way of

Published Monday to Sunday

by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 8325556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.thestandard.com.ph; E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

The Standard

ONLINE

sobering up. It seems more practical now to cut to the chase, get back to earth, and deal with what we can make sense of. At least, in this newspaper space.

Today seems like a good time to effect our own personal changes. =000= Making a long story short is one of the greatest challenges of a writer. We are surrounded by long and complicated stories that develop and change even as we tell them.

It is easy to fall into the temptation of telling these stories in a winding manner, focusing on details without ever realizing what the point is, to begin with.

But we serve as gatekeepers,

can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

choosing which facts to show and anecdotes to tell.

We choose whose voices to amplify, and how.

This is what I intend to do in the succeeding days.

Essentially, I will still be writing about the same things I have written about in the past 10 years. I will likely cover the same topics and speak in the same voice. The objective, however, will be different. No more pursuit of that which cannot be captured. It will be, instead, a story that has a clear beginning and a distinct end.

The result is not protracted, aimless rambling, but a point loud and clear and consistent.

Note, too, that the column name, when shortened, reads as LSS. A last-song syndrome is a tune you can’t quite get out of your ear. It is not necessary that you like it or agree with it. In fact, you can hate it. But it stays with you, anyway, like a bug in your head, for long hours even when you are about to go to sleep. I hope to

make that impression, too.

I will probably not say anything earth-shaking about the state of our politics and our society today. I leave that, as always, to the more seasoned columnists of this newspaper. What I promise though is an attempt to be different and simple and real.

I hope to linger, like a bug in the reader’s ear.

The change coincides with change in many aspects.

We just changed presidents, even as we cannot as yet tell whether the Duterte administration would be a smooth ride or a rough battle given the country’s many ills. This paper also reverted to its former name, Manila Standard, and its former broad-sheet format. So this seems like a good time to effect our own personal changes, as well. I look forward to telling short, simple—and compelling—stories. adellechua@gmail.com

IF NOTHING else, the past two weeks bear witness to the amazing resilience of America’s political parties – not as political or intellectual movements, but as tribes. Ideas come and go—but what do ideas matter, really? The parties, God help us, endure.

Donald Trump is neither a conservative nor a Republican, as President Barack Obama told the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. The Republican nominee’s program, such as it is, rejects mainstream conservatism in almost every particular. In taking over the party, he ran against it. Yet see how the party accommodated itself to the invader. The Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week celebrated his coronation.

Expressions of discontent weren’t tolerated, as Senator Ted Cruz found out: Republicans ditched everything except the imperative to unite against the enemy.

The remolding of the Democratic Party has been less dramatic, but there are similarities. Senator Bernie Sanders stands for a tendency within liberalism, not something entirely outside it, so he isn’t the Democratic equivalent of Trump. Even so, the demands of tribal politics have yielded a notable reordering of ideas.

To accommodate the Sandernistas, the Democrats are now offering full-spectrum economic populism—an essentially anti-globalist, anticorporate vision that has more than a little in common with Trump’s. (Bill Clinton and the New Democrats might never have happened.) On foreign policy, the party, despite the Sanders no-more-war faction, is moving to the right, into space traditionally occupied by Republicans, heavy on great-power rivalry and the duties of global leadership. Most striking of all, the encompassing Democratic theme is American values, American optimism, American exceptionalism—notions that the college-educated high-information types in the Democratic coalition would normally greet with a rolling of the eyes.

I’m hoping this vision Next page

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor

Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera Emil P. Jurado

Maan Ilustre Advertising and Marketing Head

Senior Deskman Art Director Chief Photographer Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

Opinion

A5

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Brussels can still sweat the small stuff

By Leonid Bershidsky

Ahmad and Adam, December 2015. AFP

The interview

By Serene Assir (Ahmad, Alia and baby Adam arrived in Europe in September 2015, at the peak of the continent’s migrant crisis. Survivors of a bomb attack in their native Baghdad, they decided to flee Iraq in search of a better life for the sake of their child, who was only four months old when they set out in a flimsy fishing boat from Turkey’s shores to Greece.

Ahmad tells of his asylum interview.)

HEERHUGOWAARD, The Netherlands—I had my asylum interview recently. We had been waiting for so long to get the chance to tell our story to the Dutch authorities, that when the day finally came, I was very nervous. I knew my whole life, and our fate as a family was going to be determined by this one interview.

I woke up extra-early that day and got ready to go. A government bus drove me and some 45 other asylum seekers to a detention center at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where the interviews were taking place. Alia and Adam came with me, but had to wait outside.

At 10 a.m. I was taken to a room with white walls and a single window. The interviewer had blond hair and rosy cheeks, and wore a white T-shirt. He was about the same age as me. He was decent and polite. He apologized in advance for having to ask me hard questions about my life before reaching the Netherlands. He said “please” and “thank you” for every question he asked.

I didn’t need to think hard after he would ask me a question, I just told the truth.

– What’s your name please?

– Ahmad.

– Thank you. Where were you born please?

– Baghdad.

– Thank you. When were you born please?

– 16 November 1988.

– Thank you. What was the name of your primary school please?

– Al-Zahf al-Kabir.

– Thank you. And your middle school?

– Al-Qaaqaa.

– Thank you.

There was a translator in the room, an Iraqi woman a couple of years older than me, and the interviewer would always look at her—

In US...

From A4 serves its purpose—defeating Trump—but it sure makes demands on one’s capacity for cognitive dissonance. In her speech on Thursday night, Hillary Clinton talked about places ravaged by addiction, regions hollowed out by greedy unpatriotic companies, “systemic racism,” an economy that’s broken because America’s democracy is broken, banks that are killing people’s dreams, and a one percent that’s grabbing everything. Without irony, she also criticized Trump for his dark vision, adding (to cheers), “America is great because America is good.”

Whatever. Such are the requirements of tribal solidarity— not to mention beating Trump.

And by that crucial test, Clinton’s speech was effective. As well as bringing the party together, she associated the Democrats’ steady and admirable faith in diversity with American patriotism, a connection that’s capable of appealing to wavering Trump supporters. And her attacks on

never at me—when reading out a question from his computer screen.

Judging from his questions, he didn’t seem to know much about Iraq—he just read out the questions on the screen and typed in my answers one by one. I told him about the dangers of living in Iraq, of knowing every minute of the day that you might be killed or kidnapped. I told him I had been kidnapped for 10 days by the Mahdi army (a powerful Shiite militia) during the sectarian war of 2006-2007.

Along with two of my cousins who were also taken hostage, I was beaten and blindfolded. But luckily our Shiite neighbors were able to help negotiate our release. Others never made it out alive. I don’t think the interviewer really knew how widespread the violence is in Iraq.

He asked me my parents’ names, the names of my four siblings, and the date of my marriage to Alia. The questions were detailed and exhaustive. After each answer came the ‘tap-tap-tap’ of the computer keyboard amid silence. I could barely see the interviewer’s face, since it was behind the computer screen most of the time.

After a few hours, the other 45 interviewees and I had an hour-long break. We were ushered to the corridor and given toast and frozen cheese to eat. We took turns to serve ourselves water and Nescafe in a little room on the same floor. But there was no microwave to heat the cheese, so we placed it next to the window of that room, hoping it would melt a little with the help of the sunlight streaming in. Luckily I had brought along an apple and an orange to eat.

After the break, the questions continued.

– When did you decide to leave Iraq please?

– I left Iraq for the first time in 2006, during the sectarian war. I went to Syria, then Turkey and Jordan.

– Thank you.

He then repeated one of his earlier questions, I can’t remember which one. I guess that was to see whether I would give the same answer. I did.

I told him my whole story from A to Z. I told him I didn’t become a refugee overnight, that I’ve been on the move for 10 years.

Trump’s character and temperament hit home. The most memorable line—“A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons”— makes a sufficient case against Trump all by itself.

In speaking to the country as opposed to the Democratic coalition, she especially needed to avoid the trap of attacking Trump in ways that insulted his supporters. You don’t win people over by disrespecting them. Few progressives seem to grasp this.

They express their contempt for Trump in ways that convey equal if not greater contempt for anybody who’d think of voting for him: The best they can do is express pity for anybody so stupid.

This relentless condescension is one of Trump’s most valuable assets.

Clinton mostly avoided the trap. At one point she said: “But right now, an awful lot of people feel there is less and less respect for the work they do. And less respect for them, period. Democrats are the party of working people. But we haven’t done a good enough

I told him that after fleeing to Syria during the sectarian fighting, I went back to Baghdad for a time, thinking that the situation might improve. But it did not. I married Alia and we had Adam. We waited until he was just four months old, and we left.

I told him of the explosion that Alia and I survived in Baghdad in February 2014. It was before we were married. We were out having dinner at a restaurant called Mr. Chicken. We were just discussing what we were going to have and I was about to get up to go place our order when the bomb exploded. Had I gotten up just a few seconds earlier I would have died. Many people at the restaurant lost their lives. Some lost their limbs. Others suffered severe burns. It was horrifying. The place was torn to shreds.

I showed the interviewer and the translator the scars on my face. The translator’s eyes welled up with tears. I told them that Alia’s scars were worse than mine.

“Thank God you’re alive, thank God you made it,” the translator said.

The interviewer did not react. “Tap, tap, tap,” went the keyboard of his computer.

I told them that an AFP team of journalists had written about us and was following our story.

– Why did they choose you?—the interviewer asked, while watching the AFP video of the journey.

– Because of Adam. The journalists were really moved by how we had risked everything just so that our baby boy could have a future.

– I believe you,—the interviewer said. I breathed a sigh of relief.

The whole interview process felt very clinical. Maybe he had heard so many stories from so many people that he didn’t have any feelings left for anyone.

When the questions were finally over at 5 p.m., he and the translator accompanied me back to the bus, where Alia and Adam were waiting. The translator started to play with Adam, while the interviewer held his hand.

Then he looked at me in the eyes and smiled.

“Now I understand why you have made this journey,” he said.

It’s been a long time since Alia, Adam and I set out, but I am hopeful. AFP

job showing that we get what you’re going through, and that we’re going to do something about it.”

That struck the right tone, and suggests she understands the issue. She slightly undermined this conciliatory note soon after when she turned to climate change and said, with a smirk, “I believe in science.” That’s a classic instance of the error I’m talking about. If you want to change people’s minds, don’t laugh at them or dismiss their opinions as markers of inferiority. But that was a rare lapse in a speech that managed to hit Trump repeatedly and hard, without sneering at his supporters.

It’s too soon, perhaps, to worry about what becomes of the program Clinton set out if she wins in November. Sanders supporters will suspect that she’ll abandon the economic populism she promised in her speech and revert to cautious market-friendly centrism. Let’s hope so. It’s another reason to want Clinton to win. There’s always a chance that, unlike her, Trump means what he says. Bloomberg

THE weeks since the Brexit vote have made it clear that the European Union is not going to take this opportunity to redefine itself. Rather, it appears to be settling into a status quo in which minor EU rules are observed while the big ones are often fudged.

Two cases illustrate the reality of what EU watchers might call a growing intergovernmentalism within the union, but what really amounts to bigger nations telling the Brussels bureaucracy that they will chose which rules to follow. One has to do with the EU’s limit on government budget deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic product, and the other with members’ commitment to democratic values and principles.

The European Commission decided this week not to recommend fines for Spain and Portugal for breaching the 3 percent limit. The deficit ceiling is supposed to be one of the most important tenets of the union, designed to keep the fiscally conservative nations of northern Europe, above all Germany, happy about being in the same economic organization with more profligate southern European nations.

During the 2011 debt crisis, 24 out of 27 EU nations had deficits above the 3 percent limit.

Now, only six out of 28 do, and one of them is the UK, which is probably going to ignore EU rules at will as it negotiates its exit. Spain’s is 5.1 percent of GDP and Portugal’s 4.4 percent.

In theory, both countries can be fined 0.2 percent of GDP for this, though the countries can submit “reasoned requests” for a reduction.

In 2015, the EU made some new rules on applying the Stability and Growth Pact, which sets the deficit ceiling. According to them, countries with excessive deficits must present a reform plan to fix the problem. France, with a 3.5 percent deficit, has done so and avoided fines, though doubts of its ability to reach deficit targets persist. The efforts of Spain and Portugal have been judged insufficient, and they appeared destined for the first fines under the tighter rules. Even European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, not a deficit hawk, was in favor of a crackdown, or at least forcing the member states to stand by their own rules rather than allow the Commission to take the blame.

But according to reports, Spain and Portugal received surprise help from one of Europe’s biggest austerity advocates— German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. “We must not be more Catholic than the Pope, but please make it known that the Pope wanted a fine of zero,” Juncker was quoted as saying in the Commission meeting. He presumably meant Schaeuble, who has made sure that Germany has a budget surplus and who has always demanded similar discipline from EU neighbors.

It appears that Schaeuble isn’t too interested in enforcing EU rules at this point—he’d rather

support an ally, Spain’s centerright Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is struggling to form a government after an inconclusive election that gave his party a plurality but little chance to put together a ruling coalition.

Angela Merkel’s government would rather deal with Rajoy than with a leftist Spanish cabinet (so the leftist coalition that rules Portugal simply got a free pass).

One could argue that the rule itself makes little sense in a world of negative or zero interest rates and that fiscal tightness has discredited itself; indeed, Spain is recovering in part thanks to the relaxation of its austerity regime. The deficit limits are a rule, though, and the European Commission is supposed to be the guardian of the EU treaties.

It’s failing at that because heavyweights like Schaeuble would rather work with their counterparts than through the Brussels bureaucracy.

Another test that the Commission may flunk is its standoff with Poland. The Commission is investigating whether or not that country’s nationalist government is infringing upon the rule of law—an even more basic commitment for EU members than fiscal prudence. This week, the Commission issued recommendations to Poland on how to restore independence to its constitutional tribunal, which the government has attempted to refit to its needs. On this matter, the Commission faces the open defiance of Poland’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS). Its leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has declared that the matter lies outside of the EU’s purview.

National leaders are not likely to support sanctions against Poland, one of the bloc’s biggest economies and an emerging leader of the eastern part of the union. Germany, for one, won’t risk giving rise to more antiGerman sentiment in the neighboring country. If the Commission investigation—based on solid legal foundations, whatever Kaczynski says—fizzles, it will be more proof that the Brussels bureaucracy is being shunted aside as the national leaders prefer multilateral dealings.

The Commission continues enforcing its rules on relatively minor matters—such as whether wine-growers on the Greek island of Samos should be forced to sell grapes to a cooperate or allowed to make their own wine —and its authority is generally recognized and obeyed. But increasingly, Juncker and the other technocrats in Brussels are likely to be overruled by the leaders of EU nations: They appear to believe they know better how to head off political challenges that make the post-Brexit EU fragile.

Of course, in many ways it has always been thus. The EU treaties are only as strong as the willingness of national governments to uphold them. But as the euro comes under greater strain and the Schengen guarantees of border-free travel—the EU’s most popular achievement—become more tentative, it’s worth wondering just how much ad hocism and decentralization the union can take. Bloomberg

Turkey’s crackdown on the economy POLITICAL turmoil in Turkey is putting new stress on an economy that was already coping with depressed export markets, weak investment and sagging business confidence. The economy has many strengths and great potential, but to make the most of these it also needs political stability, the rule of law and a commitment to international economic engagement. The July coup and its aftermath have put all three in doubt.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prevailed against the coup-plotters, drawing on support from much of the political opposition. Turks rallied to the government in defense of democracy. From this position of strength, Erdogan should make establishing the conditions for greater prosperity a main goal.

At the moment the prevailing mood among investors is alarm.

The lira plunged to a record low against the dollar and investors have dumped equities in the biggest sell-off since 2008. In a sweeping purge of suspected opponents, the government has dismissed tens of thousands of people from positions in the army, civil service, academia and judiciary.

Dozens of media outlets have been ordered closed. The scale of these measures is extremely disturbing.

In a new twist, this week the head of research at one of Turkey’s big financial firms was stripped of his license over a report on the impact of the attempted coup; he is now facing criminal charges.

The head of the banking regulator said it disapproved of “reports that would turn expectations and the atmosphere negative.” Efforts to prohibit such reports are far more likely to do that than anything analysts might say.

On Erdogan’s watch, the economy has made real progress. The proportion of people below the official poverty line has fallen from some 30 percent of the population in 2002 to less than 2 percent. Life expectancy, years of schooling, output and formal employment have all gone up at respectable rates. Growth recovered well after the crash of 2008, especially bearing in mind the slump in demand abroad. Turkey has been steadily closing the gap with the world’s advanced economies.

But there’s a lot still to do. Per capita incomes stand at less than half

of the industrial-country average, and inequality is high. Though Turkey is catching up, the pace of convergence has slowed. A persistent external deficit underlines the need to make Turkish producers more efficient, and to embed them more firmly in international production networks. That requires investment. Retaining the confidence of domestic and foreign investors will therefore be crucial.

At its best, the ruling AK Party has been an effective economic reformer. Recent policy announcements promise new spending on infrastructure, which is welcome so long as it’s done right, and ministers acknowledge the need for more ambitious structural reforms, including in the labor market. But creeping authoritarianism, pressure on the central bank, lack of transparency and failure to deal with corruption were holding Turkey back even before the attempted coup. Alarm aroused by the purge will make things worse.

Erdogan’s crackdown is cause for concern in its own right. If it hobbles the economy into the bargain, the government will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Bloomberg

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 A6 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sports

ELITE RIDERS, newbies share limelight in

Vermosa bike event

A young biker, complete with safety gears joins the competition.

By Randy Caluag

Banigued heads field at Alaska IronKids

V

ETERAN riders shone brightest in the first XDS Night CrossCountry Short Circuit Race, but it was all fun for bike enthusiasts, young and old alike, in the Vermosa Bike Night Festival held recently at the Bike Skills Park in Cavite.

Former national rider Alvin Benosa proved his dominance against younger rivals as he dominated the men’s elite division of the featured event in the biggest gathering of riders in South of Luzon.

Benosa shone alongside another veteran rider Mellisa Janoda, who topped the women’s side of the event that was part of the Big Night Carnival that coincided with the launching of the Vermosa Park inside Ayala Land’s 700-hectare estate.

Another elite rider, Niño Martin Eday, came out the big winner in the Lapierre Night Pump Track Challenge to bag a sponsored trip to Singapore for the Red Bull Dark Knights’ night time urban downhill biking competition.

The park further highlights Daang Hari, a long road that connects Muntinlupa and Cavite, as the hottest cycling spot in South Luzon, serving as the hub for the growing number of Filipinos going for

an active and healthy lifestyle.

The Carnival gathered cycling and biking enthusiasts from Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and as far as Visayas and Mindanao.

Also in attendance was professional cyclist, track builder, and Fox Athlete, Parabanne “Bans” Mendoza—who operated the skills’ tracks and shared his knowledge of the sport to the participants.

“I hope to encourage people towards an active lifestyle through biking. I have taken what I learned from training and competing abroad to design the Vermosa Bike Skills Park so more Filipinos can hone their skills and become world-class riders as well,” said Mendoza.

The Bike Night Carnival started with the Toddy Kid’s Bike Race, where participants eagerly tested the trail, while showcasing their skills.

Vermosa also brought in world-class professional riders Sam Flanagan and Ali Par-

Elite bike racer Josh Lewis flies high.

kin of Trippin’ Fellaz (Hope Technology Riders) and renowned Fox Athlete Josh Lewis to share their signature moves and tricks with local

Mellisa Jaroda of Team GroundZero (center) topped. the women’s XDS Night Cross-Country Short Circuit Race. She is joined by (from left) Vermosa Project Development Manager Jay Teodoro, Jr., 3rd placer Trisha Batigas, 2nd placer Gica Limnoco, and Ali Parkin.

WACKY Banigued will be the boy to beat in the coming 2016 Alaska IronKids Triathlon Cebu this year’s biggest and most important triathlon competition in the country for children six to 14 years old.

For starters he completely dominated the year-long calendar of Alaska IronKids triathlon races which culminates in the Cebu event. He ruled the first triathlon in Subic in March. He then won both duathlons first at The Village Sports Club, Parañaque last May and then again at the Subic Bay Wow Pool last June.

Not satisfied with competing locally Banigued along with the Trigear Triathlon team led by coach Ani Brown flew to Singapore to compete in the 2016 Singapore International Triathlon (sprint category) last weekend.

It served as the perfect preparation for the coming triathlon for children in Cebu.

Banigued trailed Russel Liew of Malaysia by seconds to win the silver medal. Lauren Plaza (silver) and Jana Macalalad (bronze), both products of Alaska IronKids program, also wound up with podium finishes.

More than winning the competition children participating in IronKids are already champions without winning medals.

Alaska IronKids teaches the importance of proper nutrition as an athlete. It also develops the role of parents and their coaches in a child’s success. The competition provides the challenges which the children learn from.

It encourages children to drop their video game consoles and cellphones, stop watching TV inside their living rooms and invites them to swim, bike and run outdoors to play instead.

More than just a race, Alaska IronKids is a venue for families to bond in a shared activity, giving the parents a chance to show their children that being physically fit and healthy is more fun. It also fosters the importance of starting the day right with a combination of exercise and proper nutrition.

riders in a one-of-a-kind bike clinic.

The Night Pump Track challenge’s top finishers for the novice and beginner categories won a Lapierre bike and a GT bike, respectively, while, the rest of the placers received Chaoyang Tires tshirts and special Red Bull gift packs.

The Bike Night Carnival was sponsored by Ayala Land Premier, The Courtyards, Fox, Cycles Lapierre, GT Bikes, Chaoyang Tires, Red Bull, Cherry Mobile, Cemmencal, KTM, Green Planet, Joe’s Brew, Dan’s Bike Shop, Gran Trail, Bike Town Cyclery, and DVO. With its bike skills park and other amenities, Vermosa serves as a premier destination for “new age” sports. Soon it will offer more events like free biking clinics. For updates on activities lined up for the rest of the year, like Vermosa Estate’s official Facebook page @Vermosaph or log on to ww.vermosa.ph.

Wacky Banigued acknowledges the cheers of fans while crossing the finish line at first place. Banigued is favored to rule the 2016 Alaska IronKids Triathlon Cebu on August 6.

Sports

A

LL the experts picked the Talk N Text KaTropa to be among the tournament leaders of the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors Cup. But absolutely nobody could have predicted the rise of the Mahindra Enforcers.

But this odd couple are indeed leading the pack this conference.

The unbeaten TNT KaTropa and Mahindra Enforcers are tied at the top of the standings with three wins. Following closely are Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (2-1), the Meralco Bolts (2-1), the San Miguel Beermen (2-1) and the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters (2-1).

The other teams include the Alaska Aces (1-2), the Blackwater Elite (1-2), the NLEX Road Warriors (1-2) and the Star Hotshots (1-2). At the bottom of the standings are GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-3) and the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters (0-3).

National team player and the consensus best point guard in Asia Jayson Castro lead TNT to a hard-earned 120-118 victory over Alaska July 29, Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Castro drilled 26 points, issued 10 assists and tallied five steals to lead TNT to victory.

The Aces led early but TNT KaTropa and seemed to have the game in hand after drilling seven triples in the fourth quarter alone to post a 118-112 lead with 21.1 seconds left.

TNT KaTropa also benefitted from critical but dubious non-calls by the referees in the dying seconds of the match.

With 23 seconds left to play and the score pegged at 116111 for TNT, Alaska’s Chris Banchero attempted the first of two free throws. Talk N Text had only four players inside the court: Ranidel De Ocampo, Mario Little, Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes.

Harvey Carey, who should have been the fifth player was on the Talk N Text bench.

No technical, which would have given Alaska another free throw, was called against TNT. With 21 seconds left to play and the score pegged at 116112 TNT inbounded the ball to De Ocampo who took three steps after receiving the inbound pass. No travelling violation call was made.

With 2.5 seconds left to play and TNT leading 120-118 Alaska had one final chance to win or tie the game.

Banchero threw the ball from the baseline to Alaska import Buck Henton at midcourt.

Henton could not even attempt a shot after he was tripped by Ryan Reyes. Henton fell to the floor as time expired. No call was made to preserve the TNT Katropa victory.

Meanwhile, Mahindra made an even bigger splash than TNT

A7

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

TNT, Mahindra make odd couple at top of standings

TNT KaTropa point guard Jayson Castro (17) prepares to take a jumpshot against Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters defender Maverick Ahanmisi (13). The unbeaten TNT KaTropa are tied with the Mahindra Enforcers at the top of the standings.

TNT KaTropa import Mario Little (23) tries to protect the ball against Alaska Aces defender Rome Dela Rosa (left). The unbeaten TNT KaTropa are tied with the Mahindra Enforcers at the top of the standings.

Mahindra Enforcers forward Niño Canaleta posts up against San Miguel Beer defender Ronald Tubid. The unbeaten Mahindra Enforcers are tied with TNT KaTropa at the top of the standings.

on Wednesday, July 27 as it stunned San Miguel Beer, 105103. The Enforcers withstood a late rally by the defending champion Beermen to prevail and tally their third victory this conference.

Mahindra import James

White did everything to power his team to victory. White tallied 34 points and grabbed 11 boards. Niño Canaleta and Paolo Taha chipped in 17 and 12 markers, respectively.

The Enforcers posted an early nine-point lead over an

obviously overconfident San Miguel Beer side. Late in the fourth period the Beermen scored 10 unanswered points, capped by a breakaway layup

by Alex Cabagnot to set the stage for a see-saw battle late in the game.

Taha then stepped up for the Enforcers. The former College of Saint Benilde Blazer scored on a fastbreak layup to give his team the lead for good, 103-102, with one minute and 17 seconds left. Chito Jaime converted two free throws — his only two points in the game — which proved to be the insurance points for the Enforcers.

The Beermen had plenty of chances to inch closer. June Mar Fajardo posted up, was blocked and fouled. He split his free throws to push the Beermen closer to Mahindra who led by two points.

The Beermen, who opted not to call a timeout in the final 12 seconds of the game, could not capitalize.

SMB import AZ Reid missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as Enforcers went on to post the shock victory and grab a share of the lead.

Pablo, Sy end years of frustration with Shakey’s V-League title romp OUTSIDE hitter Myla Pablo and setter Gyzelle Sy finally ended years title-less frustration after leading Pocari Sweat to the throne of the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference.

With De La Salle and Ateneo De Manila trading University Athletic Association of the Philippines ladies volleyball championships the past seven years neither the power hitting captain of the National University Lady Bulldogs Pablo nor the cerebral setter of the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws Sy tasted the sweetness of a championship with their respective schools.

That thirst for a championship was finally quenched after they led Pocari to the championship over the Air Force Lady Jet Spikers.

Pablo, adjudged as the league’s second best outside hitter, was unstoppable with her booming spikes and cannon ball serves. She would eventually win the Most Valuable Player of the championship award.

Pocari Sweat outlasted Air Force, 2927, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19, in the deciding Game Three to clinch the Shakey’s VLeague Season 13-Open Conference

title before a cheering crowd at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

Pablo fired a game-high 23 hits, including 21 on spikes, to power the Lady Warriors to a 2-1 championship series victory over the Lady Jet Spikers.

The former National U star was equally outstanding in Game 2. He pumped in 19 points in a 17-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-20 victory to cop the Finals MVP. Elaine Kasilag backed up Pablo with 15 points while team captain Michelle Gumabao chipped in 12 hits, including two blocks. Lutgarda Malaluan added eight markers and setter Sy scored seven points, the last two clinching the win and the championship for Pocari.

The Lady Warriors came out of the third and fourth sets with clutch hits then wore down the Lady Jet Spikers in tightly contested finish to seal the crown.

Pocari interim coach Rommel Abella praised his players for showing the heart of a champion.

“We were coming of a 0-1 deficit in the finals. We had never won a game against Air Force in our two games. We came back by fighting hard and we were

Pocari Sweat’s top hitter Myla Pablo holds her MVP trophy while teammates and team officials flash the No. 1 sign as they celebrate their four-set victory over Air Force in their sudden death for the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Open Conference crown at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

rewarded with a championship,” Abella said in a published report.

Air Force setter Wendy Ann Semana, also a former FEU volleyball star

like Sy, had more excellent sets. But Sy delivered the killer blows on dinks and dished the sets which led to more scoring opportunities for her team.

Pablo said her biggest disappointment was in failing to give her school a UAAP title which made the Shakey’s V-League triumph even more memorable. She said she was not thinking of the Finals MVP award. She was just thinking of winning the title for her team.

Sy on the other hand relied not just on sets to help her team win but on cannonball serves including a titleclinching service ace.

The pint-sized playmaker was instrumental in the Lady Warriors’ demolition of the Jet Spikers. She had eight points, including the title-clinching service ace for the league newcomer.

Sy said she will resume her coaching stint at Far Eastern University Diliman. However she has no plans of retiring and promise to suit up again for Pocari Sweat in the Reinforced Conference.

Joy Cases finished with 20 hits. Jocemer Tapic and May Ann Pantino each chipped in 13 points for the Jet Spikers, who emerged the surprise top seed team in the elimination round before foiling BaliPure in the Final Four.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

A8

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

A BIG SHOW is coming to town Wrestling superstars the Big Show and John Cena (below) will treat Filipino fans to an entertaining night on on Sept. 9 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

By Peter Paul Duran

W

HEN the World Wrestling Entertainment first hit Philippine shores seven years ago, it was already considered big by Filipino wrestling fans, but now that the WWE has returned, expect a gargantuan affair--literally.

The Big Show arrived in the country Tuesday morning for a one-day promotional tour to hype up the WWE Live Manila on Sept. 9 at the Mall of Asia Arena, and in a shock reveal, the 7-foot, 450-pound giant confirmed a match-up with SmackDown mainstay John Cena.

The “Largest Athlete in the World” and the man who can’t be seen, will headline a bevy of Raw superstars at the event with the likes of Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor and Chris Jericho.

WWE Live Manila will feature an eight-match card, with the inclusion of Show and Cena’s rivalry rekindled in its first and only event in Southeast Asia throughout the year.

“WWE is excited to return to the Philippines, giving WWE’s passionate fans the chance to see their favorite superstars in an energetic,

larger-than-life event for the first time in seven years,” said WWE International President Gerrit Meier.

“WWE Live Manila will deliver the same non-stop action and family fun that fans know and love from our TV programs on FOX Philippines and WWE Network.”

Tickets are listed at 15,840 for ringside, P12,680 for Premium Floor, Premium Patron and Premium Lower Box A, P8,450 for Lower Box B, P6,340 for Lower Box C, P3,170 for Upper Box, and P1,580 for General Admission.

Ringside ticket buyers will be able to keep the chair that they sit on as a souvenir.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.smtickets.com; by calling the SM Tickets customer hotline at +632 470 2222; or by visiting any SM Tickets outlet. Doors open up at 6 p.m. with the event scheduled to start at 8 p.m.

Fans attending WWE Live Manila will be able to see their favorite Superstars including WWE World Heavyweight Champion Reigns, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day; WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte; Kane; AJ Styles; Kevin Owens; Sasha Banks; Tyler Breeze; Neville; Bo Dallas and Zack Ryder.

“Dainty Group Asia & Wilbros Live are thrilled to bring WWE Live back to Manila,” said Paul Dainty, Founder and Executive Chairman of Dainty Group. “This one-night only show is a must-attend event for families to experience pure adrenaline.”

WWE programming, including Raw, SmackDown, Main Event, NXT, WWE Superstars, Vintage, BottomLine, AfterBurn, WWE Experience and This Week, airs every week on FOX Philippines.

WWE Network offers one-ofa-kind programming including all WWE pay-per-view events live at no additional charge plus groundbreaking original series, reality shows, documentaries, classic matches, exclusive coverage of special events and a robust video-on-demand library with more than 5,000 hours available to subscribers.

Espina joins ‘god of all endurance races’ THE grueling Spartathlon Race will feature runner Rolando “Junjun” Espina Jr. when it starts late September in Athens, Greece, marking the first time a Filipino is invited at the international event in its 33-year history.

Considered as the “god of all endurance races,” the 250-km marathon will see a total of 390 participants, one of whom is 42-year-old Espina vying to finish the race in under two days set from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 this year.

“I’m looking forward to the race. I’ll do my best and I’m so honored to be representing the Philippines,” said Espina in a press conference at Zark’s Burger in SM North EDSA. The Bacolod City native is all set for the arduous 36-hour race after clocking in qualifying times at the 2014 and 2015 UK

Eskraghman Ironman Distance Triathlon in Northern Ireland.

The Spartathlon, the toughest ultramarathon road race in the world, tests its runners in extreme conditions plus the pressure each has to face of making it in time in all of its 75 checkpoints.

Espina is just hopeful he can cross the f inish line, given the fact that only 40% of participants complete the course.

“If I finish this, it’ll be the best feeling. This is the hardest event ever that I will participate in, so I’ll run it smartly and hope na matapos ko,” said Espina who came back to Manila early Tuesday morning from the UK. “To be honest, 246.8 kms is unchartered territory for me, actually the farthest that I’ve ran was 161 kms, so that’s

Rolando ‘Junjun’ Espina Jr.—If I finish this, it’ll be the best feeling. This is the hardest event ever that I will participate in, so I’ll run it smartly and hope na matapos ko. Peter Paul Duran

just 84 more kms to go,” said Espina, currently a nurse back in Northern Ireland.

He will be backed in his bid in Greece by his Philippine Team crew composed of Platon Zarzoso, Amado Damot and Fermin Bantilan, who are are also Filipino nurses in Ireland.

“The main thing for me is you have to believe that you can finish it and then the next thing is to just run your race, it’s not always about finishing on top,” added Espina Espina is in the country to attend a fun-run organized by family and friends for his benefit, entitled “The Road to Sparta” this Sunday in his home town of Bacolod. Peter Paul Duran

Young CEO developing a La Union village B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

B1

Japanese CEO describes Filipinos as global people T

SUNENORI “Lee” Sawaki, an author and business leader who has headed various Japanese companies in Asia, sees the Philippines entering a golden age that will last 40 years, thanks to its demographic window.

“In Asia, the Philippines has the best opportunity. That is why I can emphasize that the Filipino people are very lucky now. Many Filipinos do not notice how lucky they are,” Sawaki says in an interview in Makati City.

Sawaki is a co-founder, chairman and chief executive of Jasean Co. Ltd., which stands for Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Jasean is a private consulting organization that helps Japanese businessmen explore opportunities in Asean countries.

He says while other Asian markets such as Japan and Taiwan are now shrinking because of their aging populations, the Philippines is just beginning to take off, given its massive and young productive labor force.

“The Philippines is just starting now and it will last 40 years. Among the Asean countries, the Philippines has the longest population bonus,” Sawaki says, referring to the demographic dividend that is expected to lead to a period of rapid economic growth.

“This is a very big advantage.

I don’t know if Filipinos notice it or not. During the period of population bonus, the country grows. Unfortunately, Japan’s population bonus was finished 20 years ago,” he says.

Sawaki defines population bonus as the period when the productive segment, or those in ages 20 to 65 years, is growing faster than the whole population. “The Philippines is now in that stage. In such situation, the economy is growing.

Japan, until 20 years ago, had been growing. Now, it is no longer growing,” he says.

The Philippines has one of the youngest populations in the world, with a median age of 23.5 years, compared to Japan’s 46.1 years, Hong Kong’s 43.2, South Korea’s 40.8, Taiwan’s 39.2, Thailand’s 36.2 and Singapore’s 33.8, according to CIA’s World Factbook 2014.

“Population bonus occurs only once in each country. If the economy is growing, income is also rising. People spend more money in beauty, health and

education. Naturally, people’s lives become longer. Before, Filipinos were spending only on food and they did not care about health or beauty. Now that people’s income is rising, people also start thinking about health such as organic food. As the economy grows, people’s lives also become longer,” he says.

Expenditures in other items propel the growth of various industries such as healthcare, education and other services, resulting in better circulation of wealth.

“After 40 years, Filipinos will also become an aging society or once population bonus is finished. But that is still 40 years from now. That is the longest population bonus period for any country. Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand had finished their population bonus,” says Sawaki.

Sawaki, who is married to a Filipino woman, says aside from the population bonus in the Philippines, the country’s global culture will enable it to thrive over the next decades.

“Filipinos are a global people.

My wife is Filipina. I am proud of the Philippines. Filipino people are a global people, naturally, because they can speak English and 10 million Filipinos are working all over the world,” he says.

Sawaki is based in Tokyo, but his family lives in Bel Air, Makati City. He first came to the Philippines as a 26-year-old tourist during the Martial Law and witnessed how the country transformed economically over the past 30 years, including the rise of the business process outsourcing sector that now employs more than a million Filipinos.

“The Philippines is a global country. Japan is not a global country. So I think the Philippines-Japan collaboration is very important. I strongly recommend that for Japanese small and medium enterprises to sell products globally, they come to the Philippines,” he says.

Sawaki says Jasean helps small and medium enterprises in Japan explore other markets, because the Japanese market is

Jasean Co. Ltd. chairman and chief executive Tsunenori Sawaki

shrinking. “We are a consulting firm. We are supporting Japanese SMEs to come to Asean market and help them succeed,” he says.

Jasean, which is headquartered in Tokyo, has offices in Metro Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong. Its Philippine office is located at GC Corporate Plaza in Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Sawaki says Jasean promotes the concept of global marketing hub in the Philippines among small and medium enterprises in Japan.

“Many Japanese companies are now interested in this concept. So my dream has come true. My home country Japan and my second home Philippines collaborate and help each other,” he says.

“Japanese companies

understand that the Filipino is the best. They want to hire them and they bring them to Japan and train them for one month or two months. After that, they can come back to Manila to our office. This is a win-win situation. Many Filipinos also want to work under Japanese companies because they pay nice salaries,” he says.

“This global marketing hub concept opens the door to Japanese companies. The Philippines is the best country to do the BPO,” he says.

Sawaki served top positions in the life insurance industry, among them being president of Prudential Philippines, president of Tokyo Marine Thailand Life Insurance, director of China Life Insurance and president

of Sony Life Philippines.

Sawaki and Kunitake Andō, former president and chief executive of Sony Corp. and the founding chairman of Sony Prudential Life Insurance Company established Jasean three years ago. “When Mr. Ando retired from the life insurance industry, he said to me let us help Japanese small and medium enterprises. We have already revolutionized the Japanese life insurance industry and with our mission done already, let us move on to the second stage, which is to help Japanese small and medium enterprises,” Sawaki says.

“What this means is that in Japan, there are at least three million small and medium enterprises. As you know, Japanese people are good in manufacturing and there are many, many nice companies.

But as you know, Japan is now shrinking populationwise. So it means the market is also shrinking. Let us say the Japanese market is not good now and for small and medium enterprises targeting only the Japanese market, their future is not good. That is why they must come to Asean market, like the Philippines and Indonesia,” he says.

“If Japanese small and medium enterprises can come to Asean market, eventually they can succeed. That is why I established Jasean organization to help support Japanese small and medium enterprises,” says Sawaki, who wrote a book on how to succeed in Asia.

“We have a very unique concept. The weakness of Japanese small and medium enterprise is very, very clear.

Even though they have nice products, they have no human resource to sell these products to the global market. Japanese people cannot speak English, cannot speak Chinese. Even though they have nice products, they can only sell in Japan. They don’t know how to go to other countries,” says Sawaki.

Vanessa Yabut, the senior executive partner of Jasean Philippines, says Jasean helps Japanese companies set up offices in Asean countries, from selecting their business name, incorporating the company, selecting the right people and advising them on the right ways to do business.

Yabut says Sawaki set up Jasean to help small and

medium enterprises in Japan.

“He saw the state of small and medium-sized companies in Japan that they have very good products but they do not know how to expand. It was that strong desire to be able to help the Japanese businesses. That is the reason why we have assisted several companies also in putting up their businesses here.

We have assisted a printing shop already. We have assisted another Japanese company in the food sector. We are in the process of helping even a solar construction company to set up their business,” says Yabut.

Yabut says Jasean has more than 700 members in Japan and many of them are interested in expanding overseas.

Jasean Philippines has already assisted more than 40 Japanese companies, including five that have tapped the global marketing hub concept.

Yabut says Jasean’s business matching activities between Japanese and Filipino companies have also contributed to the growth of bilateral trade. “We met a company that wanted to distribute sake. We introduced them to local companies that have already purchased from them. We have also assisted quite a big company in Japan that wanted to purchase virgin coconut oil. We assisted by introducing to them reliable suppliers,” she says.

“We refer to Jasean as a bridge that puts these two markets together, being able to help both countries,” Yabut says.

Yabut says more Japanese companies are expected to come to the Philippines, which offers more competitive labor cost than China.

Sawaki says this is because the Philippines offers good opportunities to both local and foreign companies. “My wife is Filipina. I first came here when I was 26 years old, under Martial Law. That time was terrible. But the situation of the Philippines has changed very much and the economy has been growing. It is now very nice here. You should be proud of it.

They only problem is the traffic jam,” he says.

Sawaki says Jasean will continue to introduce opportunities in Asean countries to more Japanese companies. “I encourage company owners and individual Japanese that now is the time to take action,” he says.

Roderick T. dela Cruz

Community bakery brings smiles to families

By Othel V. Campos BIG Smile Bread Station, Gardenia’s community bakery business, celebrates its first year of bringing bigger smiles to Filipino families.

With a theme “Isang Taong Sarap, Isang Taong Ngiti,” its first year highlights the value of accommodating, friendly service, wide variety of good quality, delicious and innovative bakery product offerings to the satisfaction it brings to valued consumers.

Gardenia’s business development manager and head of the Big Smile Bread Station operations Bienvenido Topacio reveals the secrets of the bread station’s first successful year.

“A mix of innovative, wide array of product offerings, warm and friendly service, clean and brightly-lit stores supported by aggressive marketing efforts, and continuous store expansions are the key ingredients of Big Smile Bread Station’s success on its first anniversary,” Topacio said.

Big Smile Bread Station has been

continually innovating its products and opening more stores to support the growing bread market demand in the country today.

Big Smile Bread Station is Gardenia’s first version of neighborhood bakery chain. It offers classic Filipino bread favorites such as pandesal, ensaymada, pan de coco, kababayan, spanish bread and the like.

The company is poised to set up 1,000 Bread Station stores in Luzon with additional 500 stores in the Visayas and Mindanao regions in the next few years.

The bread station has a variety of Filipino bread favorites classified into four categories—Big Smile Favorites, Say Cheese, Happy Filling and Ulam-napay.

Big Smile favorites are all-time classic choices served fresh every day like

Pandesal, Kababayan, Ensaymada (plain), Chiffon (sliced cake), Mamon and Crinkles.

Say Cheese, on the other hand, are cheese-filled varieties like Cheese Ensaymamon, Cheese Roll, and Cheese Bread.

While cheese-flavored bread lovers can enjoy Big Smile Say Cheese breads, Happy Filling bread will satisfy cravings for breads loaded with chocolate, coconut shred, etc. These are the likes of Chocolate Bread, Inipit, Pandecoco and Spanish Bread.

For those who want to snack on more filling bread varieties, the Ulam-napay is a bun filled with favorite Filipino dish like beef caldereta, chicken adobo, pork BBQ, pork asado and sisig.

Big Smile products are baked daily in a sanitized and pest-free central production facility using Gardenia’s advanced technology and baking expertise to assure consumers of better and consistent quality breads at affordable prices.

All are delivered to stores fresh daily using Gardenia’s logistics network,

a fleet of delivery vehicles doing the rounds daily.

Products are also sold hot-from-the oven at the point of sale as per request of consumers.

Apart from its wide array of product offerings, Big Smile aims to deliver a whole new customer experience.

The stores are clean, brightly lit and painted with vibrant colors thereby enhancing the store’s ambiance. Customers are greeted with a big smile and a happy, caring and friendly service upon entering.

As the business plans to expand with 1,000 branches in the next few years, Big Smile Bread Station is now open for franchise. Initial franchise fee starts at P350,000.

Three business models are available – full store, kiosk and cart. Each will be inclusive of Big Smile innovative products, support and services.

Big Smile Bread Station currently has stores in Pasig, Laguna, Taguig, Makati, Rizal, Batangas, Muntinlupa and Cavite.

B2

Business

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

25-year-old bachelor building Italian-style village in La Union

By Kathreen O. Abaya and Regina C. Lintag

K

henrik Tan, who belongs to the millennial generation, is not only contributing to the community. At 25, he is also building one—an Italian-inspired village in the surfing destination of La Union province.

Tan is the chairman and chief executive of Wynsland Development Corp., the developer of Tuscany Estates, which is rising to become an exclusive and luxurious residential project in San Fernando City, just 10 minutes away from the famous San Juan Beach.

Tan was entrusted to lead the expansion of the family business to property development and in the process becoming one of the youngest chief executives in the country. His family runs a food distribution company in northern Luzon.

Tan tapped Cova Construction Designs, the contractor of Thunderbird Resort La Union, to design and build the onehectare subdivision and RCL Realty & Consulting Services to market the project as an exclusive neighborhood which depicts the artistic architecture of central Italy.

After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Management from the University of Santo Tomas, Tan worked in Manila for a few months before taking on the challenge of handling one his family’s major projects in the northern part of Luzon.

“After graduation, I worked in Manila for around six to seven months just to gain experience.

Then I got called to La Union to handle the business because it expanded,” Tan says in an interview in Makati City.

Coming from a family of businessmen, Tan was tasked to expand the property development unit Wynsland Development Corp.

“The family was already into real estate and leasing even before Wynsland but we were more focused on cars specifically in Baguio. I was also born and raised in Baguio. Four years ago after graduation, the business was expanded so I was sent to La Union to manage the business and during that time, we saw a lot of opportunities and that’s how Wynsland Development Corp. came about,” he says.

Wynsland’s maiden project is a 9,566-square-meter property near the Diversion Road in Barangay Biday, San Fernando City. With the help of Cova Construction Designs and RCL Realty, Tan pursued

an Italian-style village concept for 59 house and lots, tree-lined roads, a clubhouse with swimming pool, basketball court, p i c n i c huts, multi-purpose hall and children’s playground.

“Actually, we bought that property before as an expansion for the warehouse of the distribution business. But the property was too ideal, so we had some consultations on what is best to do with the property and of course we did marketing research, then what the consultants came up with is to develop a real estate,” he says.

Tan is optimistic about the project in La Union, which emerges to be a high-growth province known as for its pristine beaches and surfing sprees.

“It’s in the middle of everything, just ten minutes away from San Juan beach, 10 minutes to San Juan and San Fernando town proper, and it’s just beside the CSI City Mall, which is the only mall in La Union so far. We provide luxury, exclusivity and security,” he says.

Tan says once completed, Tuscany Estates will have topnotch security and 24-hour closed-circuit television coverage, aside from the usual amenities of gym, pool and events area. He says as a lover of animals, he will make sure that Tuscany Estates will be a pet-friendly subdivision.

“It’s also the first subdivision in La Union that’s pet-friendly.

I love dogs. I have five huskies.

But of course, we have certain limitations. They shouldn’t make noise, they have to be vaccinated, etc. If they start making ruckus, then the bylaws will apply,” he says.

La Union’s laidback and classic lifestyle is the inspiration for Tuscany Estates. “Basically this is the suggestion of our consultants. That’s why they came up with Tuscany and the board approved it. It’s the first and only Italian-inspired village in the region,” he says.

He says Tuscany Estates is ideal for starting families, professionals, expats and balikbayans. It has model units for single-detached and duplex units. Lots range from 80 to 133 square meters.

“This is for the Upper B market, for those who can afford P4

Wynsland Development Corp. chief executive Khenrik Tan

million to P6 million for house and lots,” he says.

This early, Wynsland already considers the expansion of the project. “The target is to sell everything out within a year from launching. After phase 2, we’re already looking at some other properties to develop again in the future, then hopefully venture out more into the real estate business,” he says.

Tan believes that the project will be good for the whole of La Union. “I think it will contribute to the economy. It will help meet the housing backlog. It will generate more jobs, and of course if there are more houses there, there are more families which mean money will evolve in La Union,” he says.

Despite developing a residential project at a young age, Tan remains humble, ready to face bigger challenges that may come his way. At an early age, he learned the value of money and importance of hard work. He re-

calls how his parents instilled in him the traits of an effective and disciplined leader.

“I would give the credit to my parents. They trained us even before I started to work. They started teaching us when I was six or seven years old. When I was a kid, I kept on getting mad, asking ‘why can’t I play with my friends?’ But, when I grew up, I realized the value of money and hard-work, and the importance of family. So even when you ask me now, I don’t like sports cars.

That wasn’t how I was raised,” he says.

This has become evident after their parents entrusted to him the real estate businesses. His older brother, Kelwyn, is handling their estates in Baguio, particularly dormitories and commercial buildings.

Aside from his parents, Khenrik speaks highly of his elders and consultants who mentored him on his journey.

“There are pros and cons in

being young. When I ask elders, they are always one step ahead, one to give advice. So that’s a good thing. I basically learn from all my consultants.”

Despite the hectic schedule as a chief executive, Tan takes time to hone his management skills by taking a Master’s Degree in Marketing Communications at De La Salle University in Manila.

“Well I really have a passion for marketing. Right now when we associate marketing, the first thing that comes to mind is just sales. But it’s very broad. Everything we see now is marketing,” he says.

Tan says being a young bachelor, he still manages to balance work and play. “I’m dating. I also party and meet with my friends every once in a while,” he says.

He spends his free time playing sports such as basketball, golf and triathlons.

Being a young executive,

however, has its pros and cons. He faces the challenge of being taken seriously by his colleagues as a mature and dependable leader.

“People will really take you for granted. But over the years, I have to prove myself, learn from my mistakes, and what’s important is that I keep listening. So that’s what basically drives me and makes people listen to me now,” he says.

Tan shares some of the philosophies that guide him along the way. “First, I bank on ethics, learning and empowerment. On ethics, success is very important. But for me, it’s how you achieve success. For learning, I really love to learn.

Currently I am taking my Master’s. I took up real estate, I studied insurance, I learned stocks, I learned forex. For me, it’s better to learn something about everything rather than learn everything about something,” he says.

“Lastly is empowerment.

I’m the type of person to give credit rather than take credit.

So in my heart, I’m really happy if people grow under my guidance. That’s fulfilling,” he says.

Tan also considers the Ayalas as among the business leaders whom he look up to. “I was really inspired to go to real estate because of the Ayalas.

I went to a seminar before at AIM [Asian Institute of Management] and they are one of the speakers.”

He says that it was through the words of Enrique Ayala that he became conscious of his goal to not only to sell their products but also their brand.

“My family before was very traditional--- acquire, acquire, acquire, and never sell. But when I went to the seminar, I learned that their goal was to revolve their wealth. So if you sell it, it doesn’t mean it’s not yours. Technically, it’s still your brand. And that brand is yours alone. No one can buy it from you,” he says.

Tan says age is just a number and that it should not prevent one from achieving his or her dreams early. “What I can say about young entrepreneurs right now is that they’re very equipped. They’re younger, and very aggressive. They can easily adapt to change— technological, environmental, everything. They are very capable.”

“But at the end of the day, what’s important for me is the willingness to learn. So that’s basically what makes a successful entrepreneur, no matter what age,” he says.

Zalora opens second pop-up store

By Othel V. Campos ZALORA Group has launched the second edition of the highly successful click-and-mortar concept, providing online patrons a feel of virtual shopping in a physical store.

Zalora Philippines co-founder and chief executive Paulo Campos III says the pop-up store is a concept that would help the migration from the traditional brick-and-mortar stores to a seamless shopping experience via the web.

“In line with our goal to educate more Filipinos about online shopping, Zalora is introducing our second pop-up click and mortar store in BGC, a major part of our omni-channel approach to build confidence in a new way of shopping and in a young brand like Zalora. Last year’s pop-up store allowed us to get many traditional customers to try online shopping, and eventually become loyal Zalora customers. We are excited to do the same this year, with an even bigger, better pop-up store,” says Campos.

The pop-up concept is a platform that combines tangible shopping riding on the practicality of e-commerce. The concept is also a venue for the top online shop to increase clientele base and gain more loyal shoppers. To date, up to 2 million signed up for Zalora Newsletter on its website.

Located at the lower ground floor of C2 at Bonifacio High Street Central in Taguig City, Zalora Pop-Up 2016 opened last week and will run well into the holidays until the early weeks of January 2017.

The second edition highlights the flagship launch of in-house brands Zalora, Something Borrowed and 24:01.

Campos explains the creative effort and best craftsmanship behind each piece of apparel, a pair

of shoes, a unit of accessories or any house brand.

Despite the exciting appeal of the pop-up store, sales coursed through the platform is just a fraction of the sales generated on the net, he says.

“The pop-up store is not revenue generating for us in as much as it is an avenue to promote Zalora as the top online shopping site where good finds are just a click away,” he says.

The pop-up store will also serve as the venue where Zalora’s new collections for the year will be released. It reflects modernity both in its operations and design. The e-commerce store’s flagship is simple, sleek and spacious, enabling shoppers to see everything at a glance.

This year’s pop-up store has a brief runway where customers can walk, glide and sashay while fitting. They can also take photos with the cameras stationed inside the store.

Zalora customized the experience as virtual with relaxing feel. There is a lounge area with TV sets and a play station so that shoppers can hang out while doing some shopping.

Shopping is made easy by choosing the products where customers have the option to use Za-

lora App to scan for the price and save them in their accounts.

Instead of a cashier, shoppers are faced with several screens and tablets, where they can experience the Zalora online shopping process, from payment to shipment.

Customers walk out of the store bag-free, and with newly acquired knowledge of online shopping which they can continue at home in the future through their desktops or thru the Zalora app.

“We understand the hesitation customers may have towards online shopping before experiencing it for themselves. The pop-up store is really an opportunity for us to introduce fashion e-commerce to a traditional consumer base. They will soon learn how easy and enjoyable it is to shop online with Zalora. Moreover by converting consumers into e-consumers we are contributing to the growth of online shoppers and e-commerce in the country,” says Campos.

The pop-up store appeals to Zalora shoppers, who will enjoy being able to touch and feel the items before purchasing and to curious first-time online shoppers.

For pop-up store 2016, Zalora continues working with MasterCard, Globe and Sony. Partners have come up with sensible promotions for MasterCard cardholders, Globe subscribers and Sony Xperia Lounge members for the duration of the pop-up store.

The Zalora pop-up store is just one of their many efforts to encourage people to try online shopping. Aside from regularly having sale campaigns to provide customers with the best and biggest deals, they also collaborate with designers to host fashion shows and events, where they feature new collections and provide special discounts to customers.

The pet mover MOBER, the Philippines’ first mobile, on demand cargo service app, is now a one-stop shop for all shipping needs, whether big or small.

In fact, the company has recently started servicing pet stores, moving supplies and even live pets for its clients, with real time, reliable, and affordable services.

“Thank you Mober for making it easy, comfortable and secure for our dear clients to shuttle their pets. Mavi and Douglas of Caryn Bredenkamp made it to the airport on time!” BetterDog’s chief executive Tina Isorena commented on Mober’s social media page.

According to Mober founder and chief executive Dennis Ng, with its growing fleet of partner delivery vans and trucks, sky is the limit for the kind of deliveries the app can do.

“It’s a real time service for everyone, so whether it’s pets or any other precious cargo, we can assure clients we can deliver it safely and on time, at affordable rates,” Ng said.

To ensure the safety of live cargo, every Mober partner has a dedicated checklist before taking on any delivery. This includes readying the vehicles for the special needs of its clients.

“Every vehicle we have is customizable, and the service we offer clients can also be scaled, from vans, we also have trucks to move bigger cargo. The clients can rest assured that their cargo is safe because they can track us via our app on their mobile phones,” Ng said.

Rates start at P500 per shipment, with additional costs depending on the distance and delivery time for each item.

Business

B3

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Biggest pension fund bares $51-b loss T HE world’s biggest pension fund posted the worst annual performance since the global financial crisis, with losses exacerbated by unfavorable currency moves and a foray into equity markets.

PHOTO BY WIKIPEDIA

Il Sereno is Lake Como’s best new hotel and Europe’s most luxurious

By Nikki Ekstein DIDN’T snag an invite to crash with George and Amal Clooney at their villa in Lake Como this summer? Shrug it off. All the cool kids are staying somewhere else this year anyway.

Opening on August 1, Il Sereno Lago di Como is one of 2016’s most hotly anticipated hotel debuts―and perhaps the buzziest, most stylish new place to stay in all of Europe.

It’s a spinoff of the exclusive Le Sereno in Saint Barthélemy, built by the same owners; it’s on the edge of a cliff in a quiet and secluded Como town called Torno, set on the southwestern corner of the glamorous, horseshoe-shaped lake.

But this isn’t just another Lake Como grand dame, filled with century-old antiques or crushed velvet window drapes. This is Lake Como for the next generation. It’s less Oscar de la Renta and more Alexander Wang.

The hotel’s 30 suites run upwards of $800 per night and are already sold out for the first few weeks. For those who can get in while it’s still peak season, here’s a primer on the hotel’s most impressive design features.

Pocket the intel and your fellow jetsetters will think you’re already a regular.

Custom Pieces Everywhere Milan-based designer Patricia Urquiola is known for many things. She’s designed furniture collections for Louis Vuitton and B&B Italia, has work in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and earned royal distinction in her home country of Spain. She’s been called “the most important female designer in the world today” by the CEO of the Italian home design brand Boffi. So when you tell an interior design aficionado that you’re sleeping in rooms of her design, as you will at Il Sereno, their ears will perk up, guaranteed.

Owner Luis Contreras and his partners gave Urquiola two main mandates: create the same open concept feel that makes the St. Barths property so special, and use as many local artisans as possible. (Milan, after all, is less than 40 miles away―and the

countryside between the fashion capital and Como is home to many of the world’s best furniture makers.)

In the airy, living room-like lobby, Urquiola and a local builder have created a 22-foot-tall walnut wood staircase where each step looks like it’s floating in mid-air.

As if it wasn’t dramatic enough, the whole thing is shrouded by a boxy structure made from copper pipes.

Nearly all of the furniture in the lobby and suites comes from top Italian names like B&B Italia, Cassina, and Molteni―much of it purpose-designed by Urquiola and then manufactured locally. “Even the mattresses for the bed are made a few miles from Como,” said Contreras in an interview.

The most special pieces to look out for: geometric “Silverlake” armchairs designed

by Urquiola and produced by Moroso (testdrive them in the lobby and buy here for $1,700, if you so desire); and sculpted wood tables in all of the suite’s terraces. They tables are made in Botswana―one of the few exceptions to the all-Italian rule―and run a cool $7,000. The tally for 30 of them: nearly a quarter-million dollars.

Dinner in Bellagio No trip to Como is complete without zipping around the lake, James Bondstyle, in a gleaming, all-wood motorboat. Il Sereno has two of them, custom-designed by Urquiola and crafted by boatbuilding legends at the 250-year-old Cantiere Ernesto Riva.

Their distinctive feature? Extra tall cabins, so you can comfortably stand up to take in the scenery. Use them to zip up to Bellagio, a half hour north of Torno town―no license needed.

Most Serene Place Sit on the hotel’s main terrace, lined with plush couches and nest chairs in ivory and wood tones, and you’ll have picture-perfect views in every direction. Straight ahead: the wide open expanse of Lake Como, with terracotta roofs peeking out from the mountains along its shores. Above you: open skies, or retractable shades in a brilliant

Being lazy costing US $27.8b annually

By Amrith Ramkumar IT’S been deemed one of the 10 leading risk factors for death, but it turns out that physical inactivity also comes with a hefty tab―$67.5 billion, to be exact.

The first study quantifying the global costs of sloth was published Thursday in the scientific journal The Lancet, finding what researchers labeled a conservative estimate of the economic burden caused by inactivity.

More than 40 percent of that total, $27.8 billion, is attributed to the US, illustrating a gap between high- and low-income countries. Lowerand middle-income countries shared 75 percent of the disease burden but less than 20 percent of the economic burden, said Melody Ding, lead author of the study and a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney’s school of public health.

“The most striking finding is not the actual number, it’s the distribution of the economic burden across regions,” Ding said. “In wealthy countries, people pay with their pockets. In less wealthy countries, they’re paying with their lives.”

The researchers estimated the costs by looking at expenses, productivity losses, and disability-adjusted life-years for five major diseases related to inactivity―coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer. Type 2 diabetes was the most expensive disease, accounting for $37.6 billion of the economic burden, a 70 percent share of all direct health costs. In the US, direct costs represented a slightly bigger piece of inactivity-related expenses, 88.8 percent, compared with 79.7 percent globally.

To make sure the costs were attributable to physical inactivity, the researchers used previous estimates of how physical inactivity affects the diseases and the prevalence of inactivity in each country to calculate country-specific costs. Bloomberg

white fabric. And behind you: Le Mirroir Vert du Lac (“The Lake’s Green Mirror”), one of two vertical gardens created for the hotel by world-class botanist Patrick Blanc.

It’s made up of 2,000 individual plants and more than 130 individual species, according to Contreras.

Quick History Lesson About a half-mile from Il Sereno, the Contreras family is operating another, more traditional exclusive-use property called Villa Pliniana, which also bears design from Urquiola. It dates to the 16th century and is set on 18 lakefront aces, with 19 bedrooms and three stand-alone villas on its grounds.

(The whole place sleeps 39 guests.) If you’re thinking “celebrities and their entourages” or “wedding of the century,” you’re spot on― not least because of the villa’s incredible history.

According to a rep for the hotel, the villa’s site was noted in the history books as early as the first century A.D., when Pliny the Elder wrote about a fountain in its courtyard.

Among its later admirers: Napoleon and Lord Byron. Leonardo da Vinci and Percy Shelley both wrote about its beauty. Said Percy in a letter to a friend dated 1818, “On one side is the mountain, and immediately over you are clusters of cypress-trees of an astonishing height, which seem to pierce the sky. Above you from among the clouds, as it were descends a waterfall of immense size, broken by the woody rocks into a thousand channels to the lake. On the other side is seen the blue extent of the lake and the mountains speckled with sails and spires...”

Not checking in with 38 of your closest friends and family? No matter. Get a glimpse of the spectacular property while you’re sailing around the vicinity.

A Gift for Each Guest Those fabulous silk scarves in each room aren’t just decorative objects. They’re made with local silk, in patterns designed by Urquiola―just like all the staff uniforms― and serve as souvenirs to take home. Beats stealing the bathrobe. Bloomberg

Japan’s $1.3-trillion Government Pension Investment Fund lost 3.8 percent in the year ended March 31, or 5.3 trillion yen ($51 billion), the retirement manager said Friday in Tokyo.

That’s the biggest drop since the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. GPIF lost 10.8 percent on domestic equities and 9.6 percent on shares in other markets, while Japanese bonds handed the fund a 4.1 percent gain.

The annual loss—GPIF’s first since doubling its allocation to stocks and paring domestic bond holdings in October 2014— came during a volatile stint for markets. Japanese shares sank 13 percent in the year through March while the yen climbed 6.7 percent against the dollar, reducing returns from overseas investments. The only asset class to post a profit was local debt, which jumped in value as the Bank of Japan’s adoption of negative interest rates sent yields tumbling.

“The results are painful,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, a senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “Because it’s a pension fund, they need to have a longterm outlook, so I don’t think we can say yet that they took on too much risk. It was a harsh investment environment for most of us.”

In a press briefing in Tokyo after the results were announced, GPIF president Norihiro Takahashi said he will reflect on the performance, but that the current portfolio has enough flexibility to adapt to different market conditions and he wants to run the fund steadily.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief government spokesman, said GPIF’s management shouldn’t be influenced by short-term moves and there is absolutely no issue with its financing.

The fund also disclosed individual stock holdings and the issuers of the bonds it held as of March 2015, the first time it’s divulged such detail.

GPIF’s biggest investments in stocks were Toyota Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. in Tokyo and Apple Inc. outside Japan. The fund’s largest debt holdings included Japanese government bonds

and US Treasuries. GPIF plans to announce its holdings as of March this year on Nov. 25, and is staggering the releases to avoid impacting markets, fund official Hiro Mitsuishi said on Monday.

Asset Weightings GPIF held 22 percent of investments in local stocks at the end of March, and 38 percent in domestic bonds. Its overseas equity holdings made up 22 percent, while foreign debt accounted for 13 percent of its assets. Alternative investments were 0.06 percent of holdings, up from 0.04 percent at the end of 2015. GPIF targets allocations of 25 percent each for Japanese and overseas stocks, 35 percent for local bonds and 15 percent for offshore debt.

“They have more than enough room to increase their weighting to Japanese stocks,” said Makoto Sengoku, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Center.

Almost 80 percent of GPIF’s holdings were passive investments, according to the statement. While GPIF’s losses can be mostly attributed to rocky markets and an index-hugging investment approach, its peer in Canada has done better. The $212 billion Canada Pension Plan Investment Board had a 3.4 percent return for the year ended March, with its biggest gain coming from private emergingmarket equity investments and real estate.

Losses Expected Investors “have been fully aware that there would be losses,” Akio Yoshino, chief economist at Amundi Japan Ltd. in Tokyo, said before the fund posted earnings. “What’s more interesting is how this will be used politically, or even misused.”

GPIF’s performance was announced three weeks later than usual, sparking speculation Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was holding off on releasing bad news until after upper-house elections held earlier this month.

Opposition lawmakers have been critical of Abe’s decision to increase riskier assets, with the Democratic Party of Japan pledging to return GPIF’s investments to safer assets in its election manifesto. Bloomberg

Brazil is largest seller of beef to China

By Gerson Freitas Jr. CHINESE consumers are eating more beef than the country can produce, and that’s led to a sales bonanza for exporters in Brazil.

About a year after recovering from a madcow scare, Brazil has supplanted Australia as the biggest seller of beef to China, where a production deficit is widening and imports are heading for a record. Brazil’s ample supplies and low prices helped companies including JBS SA, Minerva SA and Marfrig Global Foods SA to boost exports to China by 65 percent in the first half of the year.

While the Chinese eat far more pork than any other meat, consumption per-capita is falling while beef demand rises. Only the US imports more beef than China, where rapid growth over the past decade created the world’s second-largest economy and an expanding middle class that can afford more protein in their diets. At the same time, Brazil has plenty of surplus beef, as domestic demand stagnates, and the country’s exports are appealing to buyers after its currency plunged last year.

“China will have a major impact on the beef trade,” said Miguel Gularte, head of JBS’s Mercosul beef unit. “It’s a fantastic market for Brazil” because the Asian country has “hundreds of millions of people moving to consume red meat,” he said.

Per-capita consumption of beef in China will reach a record 3.864 kilograms (8.5 pounds) this year, compared with 3.029 kilos a decade ago, according to estimates by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. But production hasn’t kept pace, so imports this year will jump 22 percent to 1.225 million metric tons, including purchases by Hong Kong, US Department of Agriculture data show. That’s an almost fourfold increase from 2012, and imports now account for 36 percent of demand, up from 25 percent last year.

Supplanting Australia Australia had been China’s top foreign supplier, but its output declined. That created an opportunity for Brazil, where a 33-percent plunge in its currency last year because of a recession and political scandal made its exports more appealing to buyers.

Shipments to China and Hong Kong in the first six months of this year were a combined 265,800 tons, up from 161,000 tons a year earlier, industry data show. Total exports to all countries rose 12 percent to 736,000 tons.

“There’s a lot of tailwinds for the Brazilian industry at this moment,” Justin Sherrard, an animal-protein global strategist at Rabobank, said in a telephone interview from Utrecht, Netherlands.

Brazil almost missed out. A single positive test for mad-cow disease in 2012 led to import bans by China and other countries, including South Korea and Japan.

The case was considered a “negligible risk,” based on criteria established by the World Organization for Animal Health, because the animal never made it into the food chain.

That meant a quicker path to lifting the ban, which China did in May 2015.

‘Prime’ Target While some forms of Brazilian meat are still restricted, like organs or boned meat, China now permits most common meat cuts including steaks and ground beef, though most of the purchases are the lowend cuts used in processed meat products.

With most of the so-called premium markets including Japan and South Korea still closed to Brazilian beef, most of the country’s shipments of prime cuts like steaks end up in Europe. Bloomberg

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

B4

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

Property

CLASSICS REVISITED.The Anadem Villa One provides an expansive dining space that suggests epicurean genteel, rather than “dude food”, and ceiling-to-floor views of the city CBD.

Up in Park Central

Ayala Land Premier builds P20.5 B project in Makati

By Joel Lacsamana

A

YALA Land Premier (ALP), the luxury property brand of developer Ayala Land Inc., launched last week one of its biggest projects to date, replacing a site where an iconic hotel once sat.

Kapitolyo surprise. Rockwell Primaries recently broke ground for its first integrated high-rise

condominium in the city, The Vantage, at the corner of West Capitol Drive and United Street in Kapitolyo, Pasig City. The project is composed of two residential towers with a central amenity deck and a two-storey retail row . In 2013, Rockwell Primaries launched its first project 53 Benitez, a mid-rise residential development in New Manila. This year, the company launching another project in the south of Metro Manila. At the groundbreaking were (from left to right) Rockwell Land president and CEO Nestor J. Padilla; Rockwell Land chairman and former Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez; partner Hubert U. Young; Rockwell Primaries SVP Malou L. Pineda; and Rockwell Land SVP for office and commercial Mike L. Lopez.

WHERE MOVERS AND SHAKERS ROOST. The 69-storey Park Central South Tower fetches “serious” prices, with units costing from P32 million to a unprecedented P477 million. Only deep checkbooks need apply.

Beyond the green. Ore Central in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) recently earned a pre-certified gold rating from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the United States Green Building Council, as well as best office development, best landscape architectural design, and highly commended in best office architectural design categories in the 2016 Philippines Property Awards. The 32-storey building, developed by Monte de Tesoro Corp. and designed by Gensler, the architectural firm behind the Shanghai Tower and Incheon Airport, brings together function, future-proof design, and sustainability. Real estate analyst Leechiu property consultants (LPC) foresees more green developments like this in future. “In the middle of congestion, pollution, and climate change issues, businesses should now consider going into spaces that are built, designed, and constructed to minimize their environmental impact,” he said.

The company said it expects Park Central Towers to sell at P20.5 billion. The project will be built on the same spot where the Mandarin Oriental Manila had regaled foreign visitors and the country’s pick and perfection for decades with its unique brand of elegant hospitality and architectural gravitas.

The first of the twin towers, Park Central South, will have 69 stories with 281 spacious private residences.

The tower has unit sizes starting from a two-bedroom unit at 138 square meters to a threelevel penthouse unit, called Anadem Villa One, at around 1,635 sqm. Turnover is targeted by 2024.

It will rise across Ayala Triangle, and will have 12 unit designs and layouts.

“Park Central South Tower will sell for an average price of about P300,000 per square meter (sqm),” Ayala Land Premier managing director Jose Juan Jugo, told The Standard. “Unit prices range from P32 million to an unprecedented P477 million, with an average unit costing close to P80 million.

Jugo said that his company sold more than 40% or 116 units

of the South tower to date, accounting for about P8.3 billion.

A luxurious condo property priced at P477 million is “the highest-value primary condo sold in the market today,” Jugo said.

Target market With these unit prices, the Ayala Land Premier executive said the property is targeted for “high-networth people in their 40s or 60s” but he said this project had drawn interest from young affluent people and recent buyers were mostly endusers rather than investors who intent to lease out the units.

The luxury apartments in Park Central will come with distinct features. There are fiftyfour Aquaview Villas, which feature their own private elevators and a 5.7 meter high living room area that flows out to a private plunge pool and lounge deck. At the corners of the tower are fifty-four Skyview Villas.

The Skyview Villas will not have private elevators or pool areas, but they feature floor-toceiling and wall-to-wall windows that wrap around a 5.7 meter high living room space.

Sheathed in glass Meanwhile, fifty-four Gallery

Villas will have their own private elevators opening up to a gallery where homeowners can feature works of art. The one hundred twelve Glass Suites are aptly named because all of the rooms feature floor-to-ceiling and wallto-wall windows maximizing views and bathing these luxury apartments with natural light.

“There are only five units per floor. Since most units have their own dedicated private elevators, residents will likely not see each other in the elevator lobbies or lifts,” said Jugo.

The building’s unique architectural design includes special four-storey high common spaces called Sky Terraces that will house either a gym, swimming pool, residents’ lounge or spa.

These Sky Terraces are distinctly visible from a nearly all-glass facade that sheathes the towers.

Anchoring the appointments and central location is an upscale retail podium that will house shops and restaurants.

The Leandro V. Locsin & Partners collaborated with Singaporean architectural firm, Soo Chan Design Associates (SCDA), and Japanese design group, Studio Taku Shimizu to come up with the design.

Exempt fire trucks from LTO fees–reso A QUEZON City Council resolution is urging the Land Transportation Office to exempt fire trucks of volunteer firefighting brigades from payment of vehicle registration fees.

“It is timely and just to waive the vehicle registration fees of their fire trucks as a token of gratitude from government,” Councilor Allan Benedict Reyes said.

Reyes, the main proponent of Resolution SP 6795, S2016, said waiving registration fees of the fire trucks will increase the spirit of volunteerism in the government and private sectors.

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

C1

PH gets GeoCloud in Nov.

By Dexter A. See

L

INGAYEN, Pangasinan—Disaster management-useful technology GeoCloud Integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) is all set for its pilot run in the country on Nov. 9 in partnership with the province of Pangasinan and three other local government units within the province.

The project steering committee bared this on its first meeting recently at the Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Operations Center here.

In the verification survey conference among team members, project team leader Noriaki Ishibashi from the Geocloud developer, Informatix Inc., said the Japan International Cooperation

Agency (JICA)-funded project is hitting target dates leading to the 10-month formal run with full-blown operation following afterwards.

Ishibashi noted that Pangasinan, among other provinces in the country, is the most ideal model to run the technology owing to its being disaster-prone.

Its cooperative, skilled personnel and administration under Gov. Amado Espino III play crucial part in the continuity of the project.

Through the Japanese Geocloud system, local governments can access, utilize and dissemi-

nate crucial data resulting in a more comprehensive disaster risk reduction and management in all of its phases—preparedness, response and rehabilitation.

The coastal city and towns of Dagupan, Lingayen and Binmaley have also been chosen as recipients of this first-of-its-kind Integrated GIS venture in the country.

JICA local partner Philippine National Information Technology Standards Foundation (PhilNITS), which provides technical assistance using the GeoCloud tools, is set to complete map arrangement by Au-

gust and installation of hardware and software in the four local governments this September.

A three-part training is also scheduled for the respective local governments’ Integrated GIS personnel in handling the system: the first part, on Oct. 3-14 and the third part on June 1418 next year. The second part, a study of three cities in Japan where the use of Integrated GIS have long been established, will take place in November.

Separate workshops on data summarization and disaster risk reduction and management, both using the system,

are set on Feb. 12 and on May 15, respectively.

Comprising the steering committee are: Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services, Office of Civil Defense-Region 1, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Information and Communications Technology, PhilNITS, CTI Engineering International Corp., Ltd., the LGUs of Dagupan City, Binmaley, Lingayen and the Provincial Government of Pangasinan, with Col. Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro as the deputy project leader.

Tesda reaches out to marginalized Pinoys

By Jun David THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority on Wednesday unveiled its long-term plans for thwarting poverty by increasing the marginalized sector’s access to technical vocational education and training (TVET).

“We will seek out those who have been neglected and have experienced little or no attention from the government, introduce them to skills training, and help them realize their potential to be productive members of society,” Tesda director general, Secretary Guiling “Gene” Mamondiong, told a news conference.

Through a two-pronged thrust of TVET for Global Competitiveness and TVET for Social Equity, the government agency largely known for setting training standards in the country and producing globally competitive workers through quality training, plans to offer more training services to the urban and rural poor, to farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous people, women, rebel returnees/combatants, drug dependents, repatriated overseas Filipino workers, out-ofschool youth, micro, small and medium enterpreneurs, family businessmen, and local government units.

“We will continue to offer and promote our industry-led and widely recognized programs and services but we will make more of these services available to those who need them the most,” Mamondiong said.

With the training given by more than 4,000 TVET providers in the country, Tesda will use approaches such as community-based training, expanded scholarships, a Mobile Training Program, the Tesda Online Program, Baran-

gay Empowerment thru TVET, Compact Mobile Units and Onsite Training and Assessment.

The Authority’s 12-point Reform and Development Agenda for the next six or more years include: Technical Audit; Linkages with Government Schools and Training Institutions; a Drug Dependents Training Program; a Barangay Skills Training Program; a Moral Renewal Program; Linkages with Foreign Skills Training Institutions; Global Access to the List of TVET Graduates and Certified Workers; a Continuing Program for Tesda Alumni; an Expanded Training Program for Women; Special Skills Training for Individual and Family Enterprises; the Establishment of Online Scholarship Application and; Transparency.

Mamondiong said the agenda is the framework on which programs for expanded access to TVET by the identified groups would be implemented. The planned steps, he said, would require very close coordination with relevant government agencies (such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine National Police), local government units, social organizations and private training centers.

“This administration’s urgent call for crime and poverty reduction and nationalistic value renewal is one that should be heeded by the entire country. Through the TVET, we plan to reach even the most isolated communities in the archipelago,” Mamondiong said.

The Authority recently partnered with the Mindanao State University System to offer more TVET programs in the Southern Philippines.

WACKY. The Philippine Army Officer Candidate Course ‘Kadasig’ Class 47-2016 held a silent drill exhibition at the Leyte Normal University in Tacloban City. The drills included the popular Quack-Quack Dance after which the cadets gave roses to the LNU students. Mel Caspe

BCDA leads in corporate governance

By Dexter A. See BAGUIO CITY— The stateowned Bases Conversion and Development Authority and its subsidiaries, collectively known as the BCDA Group, ranked among the top 25 of the 90 state firms that were evaluated by the Governance Commission for Governmentowned and -controlled corporations (GCG) based on corporate governance standards.

“We are pleased with the results but the challenge is to do better,” BCDA presi-

dent and CEO Ar nel Paciano Casanova said.

BCDA subsidiary Poro Point Management Corp., in charge of managing the Poro Point Freeport and Special Economic Zone in La Union, ranked third among the 90 government-owned and -controlled corporations, with a total assessment score of 86 percent.

The BCDA ranked sixth with a score of 79.5 percent; the Clark Development Corp. ranked 12th (71 percent); and John Hay Management Corp. ranked 23rd (59.5 percent).

of the 90 state firms is 43.34 percent.

The BCDA has been a consistent top revenue earner for the government. It remitted P4 billion to the National Treasury in 2015, a 25-percent increase from the P3.2 billion it remitted in 2014.

The BCDA belongs to the socalled “Billionaires’ Club” or the top GOCCs that remitted P1 billion or more to the National Treasury. The BCDA has consistently remitted more than P2 billion yearly to the Bureau of Treasury.

Respect rights of drug suspects—CHR

STORYTIME. Street children listen to a Quezon City Library and Information Center employee who teaches them how to read.

QC Library volunteers also listen to the children’s life stories and sentiments and give them inspiring advice.

By Mel Caspe

QC library teaches street children to read THE Quezon City Library and Information Center is giving street children a chance to learn to read kiddie books such as “The Little Mermaid” or “Ibong Adarna.”

The QCLIC organized the Lib and Rary book club for out-of-school youth and street children, mostly non-readers.

The club already has 87 active members.

Casanova said the recognition was won by the consolidation of the BCDA Group’s businesses and resources.

“We now work as one unit in synergy and in complementarity, in a more aggressive effort to promote development and inclusive growth within the properties under BCDA’s domain.”

The GCG measured the state firms’ stakeholder relations, disclosure and transparency, and board responsibilities. Although there is no passing or failing mark, the average score

Everyday, the QCLIC serves at least 10 non-studying kids, mostly street children, who visit the library’s reference corner to read books, color pictures, watch educational videos and play with one another under the guidance of an office staff.

According to QCLIC head, Emelita Villanueva, caring for and molding street children “is a heart’s mandate that we consider

extraordinary.”

Villanueva said “these small library guests who usually visit the QCLIC in slippers, shorts and tank tops, enjoy learning new words. They explore the world through reading and learn the values they will hold when they grow up.”

She added that “aside from teaching them how to read, we listen to their life stories

and sentiments, give inspiring advice when needed. We also serve them a little snack because most of the time they come to the library with an empty stomach.”

The QCLIC has a collection of 2,617 books, which includes textbooks, Disney collections, Filipino folklore and fables, coloring books and value-forming references.

TACLOBAN CITY—The Region VIII office of the Commission on Human Rights announced that it will make sure that the rights of alleged drug users and pushers who surrender voluntarily are not violated in the campaign against crime and drug abuse.

In fact, lawyer Paquito Nacino, CHR regional director, said they will look into cases of human rights violations by police authorities in the antidrug campaign being waged in the region. “Police authorities are carrying out Operation Tokhang cannot just barge into the houses of the alleged drug users or pushers if they do not have a court order or warrant,” Nacino said.

He cited the case of an alleged drug suspect in one of the barangays of Tacloban went to their office to report policemen who trespassed on his house.

Nacino said that the right to domicile is being upheld and respected by the Constitution.

Thus, even police authorities

are expected to also observe the constitutional right of the owner.

Operation Tokhang, taken from the Visayan words “knock and appeal” is the code name used by the authorities to encourage alleged drug users and peddlers to voluntarily surrender to them.

“The mere fact that they knock on the houses is an indication that they have to seek the permission of the owner regardless of suspicion of involvement in the illegal drug trade. If the owner of the house refuses them entry, they cannot force themselves in. Otherwise, they will be committing a violation against the owner,” the CHR regional director said.

Since the campaign started on July 1, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte formally assumed the presidency, more than 6,000 drug personalities in the region have voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. Requiring those who surrender to sign an “affidavit of surrender” does not constitute to any human rights violations, Nacino said.

C2

LGUs

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

LGU execs trained vs disasters

By Dexter A. See

L

INGAYEN—To more strongly involve the provincial and local government units in flood management, local disaster managers in the province embarked on a hydrometeorological study at the San Roque Power Corp. office in San Manuel.

Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive officer Col. Rhodyn Luchinvar Oro said the two-day Information, Education and Communication Campaign and Coordinating Conference was anchored on Gov. Amado Espino III’s “safety in unity” concept of calamity response.

“We trained the disaster managers in dam operations, flood and weather forecasting as well as how the San Roque Dam [SRD] is being run and what agencies are involved,” said Oro. As the newly elected Pangasinan Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Federation president, he said the study, along with the recent Basic Incident Command System Course training, was a way to enable the city and municipal disaster managers to function on their own and unify efforts towards a more prepared, responsive and resilient Pangasinan during calamities.

Aside from the SRD, the Agno River Basin was also included in the study as both bodies of water have f looded of the province in the past.

Lecture topics included ARB flooding mechanisms, flood forecasting and warning systems; SRD flood forecasting and warning systems for dam

DOST pushes food research

HARVEST. Jessie Polanang shows his catch after spear fishing for four hours along Dumaguete City’s famous Boulevard.

Lance Baconguis

operations and safety; ARB flood control initiatives; and provincial-level DRR initiative with the July-December 2016 climate outlook and weather systems briefers.

The local disaster managers took an educational survey of the fourth largest dam in Asia to know how it operates.

Oro said the SRD emergency action plan was also presented, a part of which was slated to be tested for a simulation of the Early Warning System application of the towns of Bautista and Bayambang, Alcala and Sto. Tomas.

In the simulation, the PDRRMC will check the preparedness of the towns and villages near the riverine areas affected by the SRD’s water release and their observance of protocols as the frontline responders.

Oro said the council continues dredging operations on the ARB to brace the province for the four tropical storms forecast by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomic Services Administration this month.

The study was sponsored by the SRPC, Pagasa, the Department of Science and Technology, the Agno River Basic Flood Forecasting and Warning Center, the Agno Flood Control System-Department of Public Works and Highways and the National Power Corp.

THE Department of Science and Technology in Iloilo City is aiming to establish food innovation centers in every province of Western Visayas in the next two years, regional director Rowen Gelonga said.

Currently, there are only two functional food innovation centers in the region. The first was the food innovation center in the regional office of the DOST and the recently opened Western Visayas Food Innovation Center at the Guimaras State College.

Gelonga said they are working on the other food innovation centers at the Capiz State University, which will be launched before the end of this year.

“We already have basic equipment there. We are just customfitting the equipment so it can be used more for marine and fishery product development,” he said.

Next year, Gelonga added, they will be working on the establishment of the food innovation centers at the University of Antique and Aklan State University.

“Within two years, each of our provinces will have their own food innovation center with each of them coming up with specialization,” he revealed.

Food innovation centers support local food processing industries by providing research and development, training and consultancy, laboratory testing, packaging and labeling assistance. PNA

Pasar CSR aided Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ victims

A USEFUL guide to corporate social responsibility is for businesses to adopt particular sustainable development goals, according to the chief executive officer of the Leyte-based Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.

Adam Purkis, president and CEO of PASAR, shared this thought during the recently held CSR EXpo organized by the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF), which coincided with the latter’s 20th anniversary celebration, at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel in Makati.

Located in the town of Isabel, Leyte, PASAR is the only copper smelter and refinery in the Philippines and the first in Southeast Asia, Purkis said. Glencore, one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies, is its major shareholder.

PASAR also processes and exports refined copper and precious metal by-products such as gold and silver. Its president stressed that it strictly adheres to environmental laws and promotes sustainable development programs in host communities.

A much-awaited portion dur-

ing the conference where Purkis spoke was the topic on “CEO’s Thoughts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Role of Business Sectors.”

In his talk before business leaders, CSR practitioners, academicians, public officials, and representatives of around 80 of the country’s largest operating and grant-making corporate foundations, Purkis underscored the need for the business sector to develop a network of support organizations in the event of future national disasters.

During the panel discussion, Purkis recalled the contribution made by PASAR Foundation Inc. (PFI), the company’s CSR arm, in augmenting logistical and humanitarian aid during the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Haiyan”, known as Yolanda in the Philippines.

PASAR’s plant in the town of Isabel was itself severely damaged which prompted the cessation of its smelting and refining operations for three months following the catastrophe.

Through the PFI―which operates in the adjacent municipalities of Isabel, Palompon and Merida in Leyte―PASAR mobilized its re-

sources and joined the multi-sectoral relief and rehabilitation efforts.

“I asked the company’s workforce, engineers and managers to volunteer and help right after the typhoon, and to use our tools, machineries and warehouses while people await government intervention,” Purkis said.

Just a day after Yolanda, PFI also formed and managed the Yolanda Rehabilitation Fund (YRF) composed of employee-volunteers and representatives from the local government units and NGOs. After conducting damage assessment, PFI and the YRF provided relief assistance―including the much-needed emergency shelter kits and housing materials, held medical missions and psycho-social interventions to teachers and students, and partnered with other organizations such as the Philippine Business for Social Progress, EEI Corp., Rotary Club of Manila Bay, and the UP School of Economics, among others.

“We also built and distributed bancas for the fisherfolk in support of their livelihood recovery,” Purkis said.

When asked what roles

should the business sector play in ensuring its contributions to the sustainable development goals, he readily referred to “the organization that fills the gap” which may be effectively realized, he said, with good coordination on the ground or a full grasp of the needs assessment of target communities and beneficiaries.

For instance, the PFI “fills the gap” by focusing on projects to provide scholarship grants to deserving indigents often left out because of either the scarcity or inefficiency with the government’s social services programs.

The best practices in CSR, according to Purkis, pertain to good corporate governance and stewardship, by working hand-in-hand with government and NGOs, including the promotion of SDGs and their inclusion in the corporate goals and in various agenda among business partners.

“Genuine CSR remains an empty rhetoric unless it creates a lasting empowerment in people’s lives and sustains communities.

That, for me, is the true measure of CSR success,” Purkis said.

DAR to beneficiaries: Stop selling your land

By A. Perez Rimando

INSPIRATION. Balanga Vice Mayor Vianca Venzon-Gozon delivers a message during the city’s Barangay Learning Week Program. Butch Gunio

PAGADIAN CITY, ZAMBOANGA del Sur—The Department of Agrarian Reform Region IX Director Felix Aguhob said the department is providing the necessary assistance including provision of farm equipment and livelihood and the construction of farm-to-market roads to discourage farmer-awardees from selling their lands.

Some farmer-beneficiaries in several rural communities of the Zamboanga Peninsula have been found selling the lands awarded to them, a top DAR official here said.

Aguhob said agrarian field personnel disclosed that more than 1,000 farmer-beneficiaries had sold their lands from May 2015 to April 2016, based on the number of transfer orders he had signed during the 11-month period.

He disclosed that some farmer-

awardees sell their lands due to poverty or to purchase medicines for sick members of their families.

“Farmer-beneficiaries who had sold their lands “have been disqualified from the government’s agrarian reform program,” Aguhob said, adding that the agency have also screened the purchasers to determine if they were qualified to avail of the program and are willing to continue the unsettled amortization of the previous farmer-beneficiaries.

According to him, “each farmer-beneficiary of the agrarian reform program is awarded an average of 1.6 to two hectares of land to be amortized in 30 years.”

The DAR director stressed that the agency “is reaching out to our agrarian reform awardees to discourage them from selling their lands which they should make more productive and profitable for their families.

World

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

C3

Habre fined millions of euros D

akar, Senegal—Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, sentenced to life in May for crimes against humanity, was ordered Friday to pay what could amount to tens of millions of euros to his thousands of victims.

A special African Union court ruled he should give up to 30,000 euros ($33,000) to each victim who suffered rape, arbitrary detention and imprisonment during his abusive 1982-1990 rule, as well as to their relatives.

“We will spare no effort to locate and seize Habre’s assets and make sure the victims are compensated,” said Human Rights Watch lawyer Reed Brody, who spent 15 years trying to bring

him to justice.

Habre was sentenced to life in jail on May 30 by the court set up to try him a quarter century after he fled to Senegal following his 1990 ouster by Chad’s current president Idriss Deby.

The landmark conviction was seen by rights campaigners as a victory in the fights against impunity.

It set a global precedent as the first time a country had prosecut-

ed the former leader of another nation for rights abuses. It was also the first such trial by the African Union.

Friday’s financial compensation order was issued by the court’s presiding judge, Burkina Faso’s Gberdao Gustave Kam, who did not detail how many people would win redress.

But the main lawyer for victims of Habre’s rule, Jacqueline Moudeina, told journalists that 4,733 civil plaintiffs were involved in the case.

Of those, 1,625 were direct victims of regime brutality, having been jailed without trial or taken prisoner of war. Around a dozen women could claim for rape or sexual abuse, she said.

The court ordered Habre “to

pay each of the victims of rape and sexual slavery the sum of 20 million CFA francs (30,490 euros), to each victim of arbitrary detention, or prisoners of war ...

15 million CFA francs; and to indirect victims, 10 million,” Kam said.

One of the civil plaintiffs, jeweller Abdourahmane Gueye who says he was jailed for several months on charges of spying, said the compensation was far too low.

“I lost more than 30 million,” he said.

- ‘Africa’s Pinochet’ “Money will never bring me back my friends,” said former detainee Souleymane Guengueng.

“But it helps to heal the wounds, to support those who became poor and it shows we have rights

that must be recognised.”

The 73-year-old former leader, who refused to recognise the court throughout the nine-month trial, did not attend the hearing.

His court-appointed lawyers said they would appeal.

A group of Habre victims, including lawyer Reed Brody, said they estimated total compensation at around 53 billion CFA francs, almost 80.8 million euros.

The court has already frozen some of his assets, including a house in an upscale Dakar neighbourhood thought to be worth about 680,000 euros as well as some small bank accounts. But Habre is thought to have much more extensive assets.

Often known as “Africa’s Pinochet”, Habre was accused of the

H. No. 5601

deaths of 40,000 people, charges he denied.

Witnesses recounted the horror of life in Chad’s prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre’s feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Habre’s defence team unsuccessfully sought to cast doubt on the prosecution’s argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Congress of the Philippines Metro Manila Sixteenth Congress Third Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-seventh day of July, two thousand fifteen.

[REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10894] AN ACT EXTENDING TO ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS THE FRANCHISE GRANTED TO THE PHILIPPINE TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION (PT&T) TO ESTABLISH, INSTALL, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE WIRE AND/OR WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, LINES, CIRCUITS AND STATIONS THROUGHOUT THE PHILIPPINES FOR PUBLIC DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4161, AS AMENDED Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: SECTION 1. Nature and Scope of Franchise. - Subject to the provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution and applicable laws, rules and regulations, the franchise granted to the Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (PT&T),. under Republic Act No. 4161, as amended by Republic Acts Numbered 5048 and 6970, and hereunder referred to as the grantee, its successors or assignees, to construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain for commercial purposes and in the public interest, wire and/or wireless telecommunications systems, including all other telecommunications systems technologies as are at present available or will be made available through technological advances or innovations in the future; and/or construct, acquire, lease and operate, or manage transmitting and receiving stations, lines, cables or systems in the Philippines, for domestic and international communications, is hereby renewed for another twenty-five (25) years from the effectivity of this Act. SEC. 2. Manner of Operation of Stations or Facilities. – -The stations or facilities of the grantee shall be constructed and operated in a manner as will, at most, result only in the minimum interference on the wavelengths or frequencies of existing stations or other stations which may be established by law, without in any way diminishing its own right to use its selected wavelengths or frequencies and the quality of transmission or reception thereon as should maximize rendition of the grantee’s services and/or the availability thereof.

SEC. 3. Authority of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).–The grantee shall secure from the NTC a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction, installation, and operation of its telecommunications systems/facilities. In issuing the certificate, the NTC shall have the power to impose such conditions relative to the construction, operation, maintenance, or service level of the telecommunications systems. The NTC shall have the authority to regulate the construction and operation of its telecommunications systems. The grantee shall not use any frequency in the radio spectrum without authorization from the NTC. Such certificate shall state the areas covered and the date the grantee shall commence the service.

The NTC, however, shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of any such authority, permit or license.

SEXY. Photographer Kyoichi Tsusuki stands before his erotic photos at the Erotopia Japan exhibition in Tokyo on Thursday. The sex exhibi-

tion shines a nostalgic light on Japanese erotic art. AFP

40,000 join pro-government rally in DR Congo KINSHASA, DR Congo—Tens of thousands of people rallied in Kinshasa on Friday in support of Congolese President Joseph Kabila just two days after his leading opponent returned home to a massive welcome.

Political tension is high in the country as the opposition fears that Kabila, whose mandate ends in December, will delay elections in a bid to cling on to power.

“We came here to affirm our support for Joseph Kabila,” Aubin Minaku, secretary general

of the ruling majority and president of the national assembly, told a crowd estimated at over 40,000, an Agaence France Presse correspondent at the scene reported.

“Kabila, stay as long as possible,” the crowd shouted, alluding to the political controversy raging in Democratic Republic of Congo.

In power since his father’s assassination in 2001, Kabila is suspected by opponents of eyeing a third term which would involve changing the constitu-

tion’s two-term limit.

Opposition protests erupted after the Constitutional Court ruled in May that Kabila could remain in office in a caretaker capacity beyond the end of his current mandate ending December.

But now the DRC’s opposition has achieved the rare feat of rallying behind a single figure, the immensely popular Etienne Tshisekedi who returned home Wednesday from Belgium where he had been medevaced in 2014.

The 83-year-old first emerged as a leading opposition voice as far back as the 1980s when he became a critic of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

In the DRC’s last presidential election in 2011, he ran second to Kabila but contended he was denied victory by massive fraud.

Thousands of supporters flanked his motorcade as it crawled its way into the city of 11 million people on Wednesday. An opposition rally is scheduled for Sunday. AFP

SEC. 4. Excavation and Restoration Works. - For the purpose of erecting and maintaining poles or other supports for said wires or other conductors for the purpose of laying and maintaining underground wires, cables, or other conductors, it shall be lawful for the grantee, its successors or assignees, with the prior approval of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) or the local government unit (LGU) concerned, as may be appropriate, to make excavations or lay conduits in any of the public places, roads, highways, streets, lanes, alleys, avenues, sidewalks, or bridges of the provinces: cities and/or municipalities: Provided, however, That a public place, road, highway, street, lane, alley, avenue, sidewalk,. or bridge disturbed, altered, or changed by reason of erection of poles or other supports or the underground laying of wires other conductors or conduits, shall be repaired and replaced in workmanlike manner by the said grantee, its successors or assignees, in accordance With the standards set by the DPWH or the LGU concerned.

Should the grantee, its successors or assignees, after the ten (10)-day notice from the said authority, fail, refuse or neglect to repair or replace any part of a public place, road, highway, street, lane, alley, avenue, sidewalk, or bridge dlsturbed, altered, or changed by the said grantee, its successors or assignees, then the DPWH or the LGU concerned shall have the right to have the same repaired and placed in good order and condition at double expense to be charged against the grantee, its successors or assignees.

SEC. 5. Responsibility to the Public.– The grantee shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise and not use its stations/facilities for obscene or indecent transmission or for dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.

The grantee shall provide basic or enhanced telephone service in any city and/or municipality in the Philippines where it has an approved Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of a local exchange service, without discrimination to any applicant therefor, in the order of the date of their applications, up to the limit of the capacity of its local telephone exchange and, should the demand for the telephone service at any time increase beyond the capacity thereof, the grantee shall increase the same to meet the demand: Provided, That in case the total demand to be satisfied by the expansion is less than the smallest viable local exchange available in the market as determined by the NTC, the grantee shall not be obliged to furnish such service unless the applicant for telephone service defrays the actual expenses for the installation of the telecommunications apparatus necessary for the services and in such case, the NTC may extend the time within which the grantee shall furnish the service.

The grantee shall operate and maintain all its stations, lines, cables, systems, and equipment for the transmission and reception of messages, signals, and pulses in a satisfactory manner at all times, and, as far as economical and practicable, modify, improve, or change such stations, lines, cables, systems, and equipment to keep abreast with the advances in science and technology.

SEC. 6. Rates for Services. – The charges and rates for telecommunications services of the grantee, except the rates and charges on those that may hereafter be declared or considered as nonregulated ser vices, whether flat rates or measured rates or variation thereof, shall be subject to the approval of the NTC or its legal successor. The rates to be charged by the grantee shall be unbundled, separable, and distinct among the services offered and shall be determined in a manner that regulated services do not subsidize the unregulated ones.

SEC. 7. Right of Government. – A special right is hereby reserved to the President of the Philippines, in times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance of peace and order: to temporarily take over and operate the stations, transmitters, facilities, or equipment of the grantee; to temporarily suspend the operation of any station, transmitter, facility, or equipment in the interest of public safety, security, and public welfare; or to authorize the temporary use and operation thereof by any agency of the government, upon due compensation to the grantee, for the use of the stations, transmitters, facilities, or equipment during the period when these shall be so operated.

The radio spectrum is a finite resource that is part of the national patrimony and the use thereof is a privilege conferred upon the grantee by the State and may be withdrawn any time after due process.

US calls for more peacekeepers in South Sudan

SEC. 8. Term of Franchise.–This franchise shall be in effect for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date of effectivity of this Act, unless sooner cancelled. This franchise shall be deemed ipso facto revoked in the event the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years.

UNITED NATIONS, US—The United States urged the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Friday to back a regional force for South Sudan to shore up UN peacekeepers unable to cope with the violence.

The council adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the UN mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, until August 12 to allow time to negotiate another measure authorizing the new force.

The proposed resolution is also expected to slap an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on those seen as responsible for the violence.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said the proposal by the African regional IGAD bloc to send an intervention brigade to Juba should be supported by the council.

“We all need to support them,” said Power.

“The United States believes the region’s proposal offers a basis to re-establish a secure environment in Juba, which is critical for the parties to make progress on implementing the peace agreement” and allowing aid deliveries, she said.

Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting in early July between government forces and those loyal to rebel chief Riek Machar, the latest upsurge in the two and half year war.

Nearly 300 people died in the violence and two Chinese peacekeepers were killed in an attack on a UN base, where thousands of civilians rushed for safety.

Since the flare-up, there have been at least 120 cases of rape.

UN peacekeepers are accused of standing by and doing nothing to help victims who were assaulted near the UN base’s gates. AFP

SEC. 11. – Gross Receipts. – The grantee, its successors or assignees, shall keep a separate account of the gross receipts of the business transacted by it and shall furnish the Commission on Audit (COA) and the National Treasury a copy of such account not later than the thirty-first (31st) day of January of each year for the preceding twelve (12) months.

SEC. 9. Acceptance and Compliance. – Acceptance of this franchise shall be given in writing to the Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Senate, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act. Upon giving such acceptance, the grantee shall exercise the privileges granted under this Act. Nonacceptance shall render the franchise void.

SEC. 10. Right of Interconnection.–The grantee is hereby authorized to connect or demand connection of its telecommunications systems to other telecommunications systems installed, operated, and maintained by any other duly authorized person or entity in the Philippines for the purpose of providing extended and improved telecommunications services to the public, under the terms and conditions mutually agreed upon by the parties concerned; this right shall be subject to the review and modification of the NTC.

SEC. 12. Books and Accounts.– The books and accounts of the grantee, its successors or assignees, shall always be open to the inspection of the COA and its duly authorized representatives. It shall be the duty of the grantee to submit to the COA two (2) copies of the quarterly reports on the gross receipts, the net profits and the general condition of the business.

SEC. 13. Warranty in Favor of the National and Local Governments. – The grantee shall hold the national, provincial, city, and municipal governments of the Philippines free from all claims, accounts, demands, or actions arising out of accidents or injuries, whether to property or to persons, caused by the construction or operation of the stations, transmitters, facilities, and equipment of the grantee.

MIDEASTERN. Lebanese-Armenian musician, composer and pianist Guy Manoukian performs during the Beiteddine International Art Festival on Friday, in tribute to late Lebanese composer, singer and songwriter Zaki Nassif who has led the Lebanese music scene over five decades. AFP

UN wants to control Russian escape routes from Aleppo ALEPPO, Syria—The United Nations on Friday urged Russia to give it control of humanitarian passages out of Aleppo in northern Syria where besieged residents cowered indoors afraid to use what some called “death corridors.”

A monitoring group, meanwhile, reported that at least 18 civilians were killed in air strikes in the city of Aleppo and in the provincial town of Atareb.

The Britain-based charity Save the Children said

a maternity hospital it supports in northwestern Idlib province was bombed Friday, killing two people and injuring babies in incubators.

Syrian regime ally Russia has said three humanitarian passages would be opened for civilians and surrendering fighters seeking to exit Aleppo’s eastern districts.

Only a dozen of Aleppo residents trickled out through one passage Friday, while others wanting to flee were turned back by rebels, the Syrian

Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

An Agence France Presse correspondent in east Aleppo said streets were empty with residents holed up indoors and shops shuttered.

Ahmad Ramadan from the opposition Syrian National Coalition accused Russia and the regime of forcing civilians to flee through continued bombing raids.

“Aleppo residents are calling the corridors that Russia is talking about ‘death corridors’,” he said. AFP

SEC. 14. Sale, Lease, Transfer, Usufruct, or Assignment of Franchise. – The grantee shall not sell, lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, nor assign this franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any other corporation or entity, nor shall transfer the controlling interest of the grantee, whether as a whole or in parts, and whether simultaneously or contemporaneously, to any person, firm , company, corporation, or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines: Provided, That Congress shall be informed of any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, or assignment of franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder, or of the merger, or transfer of the controlling interest within sixty (60) days after the completion of said transaction: Provided, further, That failure to report to Congress such change of ownership shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked: Provided, finally, That any person or entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of this Act. SEC. 15. Dispersal of Ownership. – In accordance with the constitutional provision to encourage public participation in public utilities, the grantee shall offer to Filipino citizens at least thirty percent (30%) or a higher percentage that may hereafter be provided by law of its outstanding capital stock in any securities exchange in the Philippines within five (5) years from the commencement of its operations: Provided, That in cases where public offer of shares is not applicable, establishment of cooperatives operating public utilities, must be implemented.

Noncompliance therewith shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked.

SEC. 16. Reportorial Requirement. - The grantee shall submit an annual report to the Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Senate, on its compliance with the terms and conditions of the franchise and on its operations on or before April 30 of every year during the term of its franchise . The reportorial compliance certificate issued by Congress shall be required before any application for permit or certificate is accepted by the NTC. SEC. 17. Penalty Clause. – Failure of the grantee to submit the requisite annual report to Congress shall be penalized with a fine of five hundred pesos (P500.00) per working day of noncompliance. The fine shall be collected by the NTC from the delinquent franchise grantee separate from the reportorial penalties imposed by the NTC. The collected funds shall accrue to the monitoring fund of the NTC in line with its supervisory and regulatory functions.

SEC. 18. Equality Clause. – Any advantage, favor, privilege, exemption, or inimunity granted under other existing franchises, or which may hereafter be granted, upon prior review and approval of Congress, shall become part of this franchise and shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the herein grantee: Provided, That the foregoing shall neither apply to nor affect the provisions of telecommunications franchises concerning territory covered by the franchise, the life span of the franchise or the type of service authorized by the franchise.

SEC. 19. Separability Clause. - If any of the sections or provisions of this Act is held invalid, all other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid.

SEC. 20. Repealability and Nonexclusivity Clause. - This franchise shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires and shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.

SEC. 21. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved, FRANKLIN M. DRILON President of the Senate

FELICIANO BELMONTE JR. Speaker of the House of Representatives

This Act which originated in the House of Representatives was passed by the House of Representatives on October 9, 2015 and May 23, 2016, respectively.

OSCAR G. YABES Secretary of the Senate

MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP Secretary General House of Representatives

BENIGNO S. AQUINO III President of the Philippines

(TS-JULY 31, 2016)

C4

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

World

Trump, Clinton trade barbs in poll campaign H

arrisburg, US— Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump traded insults at opposite ends of the country Friday, taking their fight for the White House to rival battleground states and portraying starkly different visions of America.

One of the most divisive US campaigns in modern history is entering a new chapter with Republicans and Democrats having selected their nominees, leaving the candidates slogging it out before election day on November 8.

Clinton followed her historic acceptance speech on Thursday as the first woman presidential nominee for a major party with a rally in Philadelphia before embarking on a bus tour of Rust Belt states Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Meanwhile, US Democrats said Friday they had been targeted by yet another cyber attack, while Hillary Clinton’s campaign confirmed that an analytics program it used was breached in an earlier intrusion.

A hack on Democratic National Committee servers resulted in last week’s embarrassing leak of emails that revealed how party leaders sought to undermine Clinton’s Democratic White House rival Bernie Sanders.

In Colorado, a key western state, her Republican opponent promised “no more Mr Nice Guy.” He trashed Clinton’s speech as “average,” called her a liar and promised to end the migration of Syrian refugees.

“I’m starting to agree with you,” the 70-year-old told supporters chanting “lock her up, lock her up” in Colorado Springs. “I’m taking the gloves off,” he said. “Just remember this Trump is going to be no more Mr Nice Guy.” Just over 100 days before the election, Americans are being asked to choose between two sharply polarized visions—and between two monumentally unpopular candidates.

“I can’t think of an election that is more important, certainly in my lifetime,” Clinton told supporters at the rally in Philadelphia.

The 68-year-old Democrat portrays Trump as a threat to democracy, and is seeking to both woo moderate Republicans repelled by the former reality TV star and shore up a coalition with progressives on the left of her party. AFP

OPERA. (From L) Alain Coulombe (Il Commendatore), Carmela Remigio (Donna Anna), Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Don Giovanni), perform during the rehearsal of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as part of the Salzburg Festival in the House for Mozart on July 29, 2016 in Salzburg. AFP

Brazilian drug lord’s jail cell a luxury suite ASUNCION, Paraguay—Paraguayan authorities were surprised when they raided a Brazilian drug lord’s jail cell and found a three-room luxury suite complete with library, kitchen, conference room and plasma TV. Jarvis Chimenes Pavao, considered one of South America’s most dangerous drug traffickers, had been serving an eight-year sentence for money laundering at the Tacumbu prison in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion.

But little did anyone on the outside know what kind of lifestyle that really meant—until a powerful bomb was discovered

inside the prison.

Chimenes Pavao, who was due for release next year but facing extradition back to Brazil on drug charges, had allegedly planned to use the plastic explosives to blow a hole in the prison walls and escape.

But his plan backfired when police poured into the prison to investigate and discovered his pimped out cell.

The “VIP cell,” as it was known to prisoners, had three rooms with en suite bathroom, a kitchen and conference room, air conditioning, stylishly tiled walls, plush furniture and a li-

brary complete with a DVD collection to watch on the bigscreen plasma TV, Agence France Presse reporters saw during a visit.

The DVDs included the full collection of “Pablo Escobar,” a TV series on the feared Colombian kingpin who was killed in 1993, a hero of Chimenes Pavao’s.

The raid, which took place Tuesday night, has already shaken up the Paraguayan penal system.

Chimenes Pavao’s lawyer, Laura Acasuso, told reporters the corruption that enabled her

client to turn his cell into a luxury suite reached all the way to the top.

“Six or seven justice ministers and six or seven prison directors” took bribes from Chimenes Pavao, she said.

Justice Minister Carla Bacigalupo was sacked almost as soon as the scandal broke. Her replacement, Ever Martinez, vowed a crackdown.

“We’re going to demolish Chimenes Pavao’s cell and take measures against the prison directors who allowed this inmate to enjoy these privileges,” he said. AFP

New York judge rejects claims of 29 Prince ‘heirs’

VIOLINIST. Musician Joshua Bell performs onstage during the ‘PBS Arts Fall Festival/Live from Lincoln Center

presents Joshua Bell’ performance at the PBS portion of the 2016 Television Critics Association Summer Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 29, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. AFP

NEW YORK—A judge has rejected claims by 29 people that they are heirs to pop legend Prince’s vast fortune but ordered genetic testing that could confirm two more descendants, court documents showed Friday.

Among the claimants were five people who said they were children of Prince and, because the rocker had no recognized offspring, could potentially have gained his entire estate estimated to be worth more than $300 million.

Minnesota judge Kevin Eide, in a decision Thursday that was made public Friday, said the five claimants did not make strong enough cases to proceed.

One said his mother had a brief sexual relationship with Prince but Eide said that any right of inheritance was voided as the alleged son was legally adopted by another family.

The court document did not identify the five purported children.

The court has not announced a finding on an heirship claim by

Carlin Williams, a little-known rapper from Kansas City.

Williams, who is serving a sentence in a high-security prison in Colorado for gun possession, has testified that his mother had sex with Prince in a hotel room in 1976.

The “Purple Rain” icon— whose estate includes vast troves of unreleased material— died in April at his Paisley Park complex of a painkiller overdose at age 57 and left no will.

His immediate heirs are his sister Tyka Nelson and five half siblings, who agreed after Prince’s death to appoint a professional administrator to handle the estate.

Eide, a judge in Carver County in the suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul, ordered genetic testing to ascertain the claims of two potential heirs.

One is Brianna Nelson, who says she is the daughter of Prince’s half-brother Duane Nelson, who headed security for the singer but grew estranged and died in 2011. AFP

Terror raps filed against Nov attack suspects PARIS—French authorities filed terror charges on Friday against two suspected members of the same Islamic State cell that massacred 130 people in Paris last November, a judicial source said.

The 29-year-old Algerian Adel Haddadi and the 35-year-old Pakistani Mohamad Usman were charged with “criminal conspiracy with terrorists,” the source said of the men turned over earlier Friday by Austrian authorities.

Investigators believe they traveled to the Greek island of Leros on October 3 on the same boat full of refugees as two men who took part in the November 13 attacks.

Those two, thought to be Iraqis, blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium, one of a series of brazen assaults by around 10 people around the French capital.

But Haddadi and Usman were held up, detained by Greek authorities for 25 days because they had fake Syrian passports.

Once let go, they followed the main migrant trail and made it to Salzburg in western Austria at the end of November—after the Paris attacks.

Austrian police commandos then arrested them in December at a migrant centre a few hours after French authorities informed them the men could be in the country.

Austrian police said on Friday “that during the entire journey and until their arrest the men remained in constant contact with the terror group ‘Islamic State’.”

After his arrest, Haddadi told investigators that he wanted to go to France to “carry out a mission,” according to a statement seen by Agence France Presse.

A source close to the investigation said that Haddadi “was meant to take part in the Paris killings with his traveling companions.”

After France filed a European arrest warrant, a court in Salzburg approved at the beginning of July the transfer of the two men to France.

Usman is reportedly thought to be a bomb maker for Pakistani extremist organisations including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). AFP

US denies complicity in Turkey coup try WASHINGTON—A top military chief and other officials insisted Friday that the United States was not involved in the attempted military coup in Turkey, underscoring tense relations between the allies.

Long-standing partners in NATO and officially fighting side-by-side against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the US and Turkey have endured severe strains in recent months that were aggravated by the foiled coup in mid-July.

The commander of US forces in the Middle East, General Joseph Votel, issued a statement Friday asserting that he had no link to the coup attempt in Turkey, an unusual move by one of the highest-ranked US military leaders.

“Any reporting that I had anything to do with the recent unsuccessful coup attempt in Turkey is unfortunate and completely inaccurate,” Votel said.

“Turkey has been an extraordinary and vital partner in the region for many years. We appreciate Turkey’s continuing cooperation and look forward to our future partnership in the counter-ISIL fight,” the general said, referring to the Islamic State group.

Votel’s comments came after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in the day directly linked him to the overthrow attempt.

President Barack Obama’s administration also weighed in, with White House spokesman Eric Schultz saying of Erdogan’s accusation: “It is entirely false.”

Obama considers Erdogan “a close ally,” the spokesman said.

“We work together on a number of the president’s international priorities” including the fight against the Islamic State, he added. AFP

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

SUNDAY LIVING

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

D1

Multifunctional furnishings and furniture—such as tall shelves and coffee table with stools—help maximize space in the house

Live Large

in a Small Space

C

ITY living may not be able to afford us as much space as we’d like, but you can still achieve your stylish dream home in the space you have.

“You don’t always have to downsize your furniture to fit into your home. The trick is to make the most out of the space by choosing double—or even triple—duty pieces,” shares SB Furniture Merchandising Manager Jackson Cue. You can have all the necessities, and even have room to spare, if you choose clever pieces that work hard for your home.

Living Room Your living room should be able to function as a space for unwinding and entertaining. You will want to make as much room as you can for your guests.

For maximum utility, SB designers recommend a piece like SB’s Winning Coffee Table, which stores small cushion stools under it. A few extra seats go a long way when family and friends are around. If you have someone staying overnight, the Canny Sofa Bed erases Bedroom Your bedroom is your most per- the issue of storing an extra mattress. sonal space and a reflection of who you are. The focal point of this room Dining Room A few people would argue that the is also the most used piece of furniture in the home—the bed. Because kitchen or dining area is the best part of you’re going to be spending a lot of the home. For us food-loving Filipinos time relaxing and resting on it, you that may be true since this is where we wouldn’t want to sacrifice size and usually share our most joyous occasions, comfort when picking out a bed. and even our simple get-togethers. You Look for multi-functional pieces such don’t need to fit a banquet hall in your as SB Furniture’s Spazz Twin Bed, home to enjoy a fine meal; a good sturdy which houses an outlet, LED night and stylish table that fits your needs will light and niche for your gadgets and do just the trick. SB Furniture’s Minimo books. This investment piece, follow- Dining Table is functional in more ways ing SB Furniture’s European stand- than you expect. Its leg serves as a comard quality, is sure to last a long time. partment for little things, such as kitchen

utensils. Plus, it’s foldable, allowing for space-saving when not in use.

Putting it all together Finally moving in all your things is another challenge. Make sure you have space to put even the smaller items like books and trophies. SB designers suggest to put up tall wall shelves that serve as both decorative and functional piece.

The brand’s wide range of trendy, stylish collections ensure that no matter the design of your home, there’s a piece to help you maximize your space and declutter a room.

When you’ve bought all the furniture, it’s time to assemble and position them in the best way possible. Thankfully, SB Furniture offers free Furniture Layout Consultancy (FLC), which allows you to work with the SB in-house designers as a friend and partner to create the space that reflects who you are.

These experts have helped thousands of homeowners design their dream homes and maximize their living spaces—and they can do the same for you.

Following these tips on choosing stylish, multifunctional pieces, your dream space is already well on its way to being a reality. To get an expert’s hand in helping you style your home, check out SB Furniture’s trendy and quality pieces.

Spazz Minimo Dining Table

Visit the SB Furniture Showrooms in Waltermart Makati and Market! Market! BGC, log on to www.sbfurniture.com.ph and like SB Furniture Philippines on Facebook for more details.

CONTEST INSPIRES HUMANITY IN DESIGNERS

Nippon Paint (Coatings) Philippines General Manager Michael Chung (front) leads the ceremonial thumbs up celebrating the re-launch of the Nippon Paint Young Designer Award as the Asia Young Designer Award

IDr. Vincent Louie Tan, executive director for education of the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (left), places one piece of the AYDA 2016 theme logo puzzle on stage while Nippon Paint Philippines color stylist Hazel Gotan, United Architects of the Philippines President Ar. Guillermo Hisancha and contest judge IDr. Belen Morey look on

SUSTAINABLE architecture and interior design have become more relevant these days with the concern over climate change.

But contemporary architects and interior designers are not just paying homage to Mother Nature through their works. They come up with eco-efficient designs that ultimately benefit humanity. The same trend in the Philippines has strong support from businesses and the academe.

“At Nippon Paint, we are passionate in encouraging the design leaders of tomorrow to create innovations that address crucial needs well beyond expectations,” Michael Chung, general manager of Nippon Paint (Coatings) Philippines, said at the recent media launch of the 2016 Asia Young Designer Award (AYDA) at the Manila Peninsula in Makati City.

AYDA is an annual architecture and interior design contest for students that is organized and sponsored by Nippon Paint since 2008 starting in Malaysia, where the mother company is based. Formerly named Nippon Paint Young Designer Award (NPYDA), it was re-launched as AYDA this year as the competition turned Asia-wide to include national editions in 15 Asian countries. Nippon Paint (Coatings) Philippines has been conducting the contest in the country since 2014.

Through AYDA, Nippon Paint advocates design innovation along the principles of sustainable development.

“A good design is an enabler for sustainable future, helping people to become healthier and more productive,” according to Chung. “It also inspires creative thinking leading towards more innovations that make people’s lives better.”

Endorsing the practice of sustainable design in the Philippines are institutional supporters of AYDA such as the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID), the Council of Interior Design Educators, college of fellows, and the Council of Deans and Heads of Architecture Schools in the Philippines, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

At the AYDA event, UAP National President Guillermo Hisancha, said the youth of tomorrow should design society in a way that it will address real world challenges like population increase and urbanization. Dr. Vincent Louie Tan, executive director for education PIID, added that

designers are responsible for putting the welfare of the people and nature in mind.

Meanwhile, students are learning to put a touch of humanity in design. Jose Agustin Ricarte, winner in the architecture category of the NPYDA 2015, admitted learning so much about designing not just for himself, courtesy of the mentorship and educational trip in Bangkok, Thailand offered by the competition to national winners.

“In school, we were tested on how we will design for ourselves. But in this competition, we were challenged to design for others with heart,” said the UST architecture student at the AYDA event. “That really changed my design philosophy and process. It’s not only purely for my interest alone but also for who would be using the project.”

Ricarte’s mentor, architect Charisse Ong, said that local schools support humanity in design.

“Before, when I was a student myself, architecture was for the architects, for their egos, for their portfolios. But what’s happening now is that students are being taught to design with a heart, design with a purpose,” shared Ong. “Not to know what to design but to start off with why; why are you designing this?”

CHED National Capital Region Director Dr. Leonida Calagui said AYDA has the full support of the agency and called on schools to motivate their students to join the competition to also help them prepare for the professional world.

Under AYDA rules, designs must adhere to this year’s theme of “Be Bold, Be Free, Be You.” To win the top prize of P50,000.00 cash, internship and learning abroad, interior design contestants must show the most unique way of improving space and the lives of people who use and move in it while participating architecture students should present in their entry the best solution to problems on human habitation.

The criteria include judging entries based on the environmental impact of the design’s materials, maintenance, energy usage, water and waste management. Another criteria is the creative use of color through Nippon Paint products.

The deadline for submission of entries to the 2016 AYDA Philippines is on Oct. 15.

For more information on the contest mechanics and to download an entry kit, visit www.youngdesigneraward.ph.

Life

D2

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Caritas Manila’s Segunda Mana projects get a boost

I

N line with its commitment to uplift the wellbeing of Filipino communities through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. (MRSGI) has partnered with Caritas Manila to support the organization’s Segunda Mana project.

A fundraising program launched in 2007, Segunda Mana aims to collect in kind donations that will then be sold in charity outlets. The sale proceeds are used to fund Caritas Manila’s Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YSLEP) to sustain its educational financial assistance and servant leadership trainings to more than 5,000 underprivileged youth from all over the country.

To aid the program, MRSGI will have the Segunda Mana collection boxes located in select Metro stores in Luzon and Visayas, where customers can drop off their donations. Items that are ac-

cepted include new and used apparel, footwear and accessories; repairable furniture, appliances, gadgets, and other electronics; and old stock or slowmoving inventory items.

MRSGI is the retail arm of Cebu-based Vicsal Development Corporation. Present in key cities in the Visayas, Central Luzon, Metro Manila, Calabarzon and the Bicol Region, MRSGI operates 49 stores in the supermarket, department store and hypermarket formats.

To know more about Caritas Manila’s Segunda Mana project, visitwww.caritasmanila.org.ph.

Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. and Caritas Manila team up to support the latter’s Segunda Mana project

Pawlympics fun at Pet Express DOG lovers of all ages had a lot of fun as cool canines competed in the recent Pet Express Doggie Pawlympics 2016 at the SM Mall of Asia- Dock Diving and Dog Agility Competitions.

Jojo Isorena of the Philippine Dog Athletics Association encouraged all pet parents to have their dogs try different dog sports like dock diving and dog agility, and train them for these. The introduction of the teacup dog agility for small dogs helps them become smarter and healthier.

This year, the Gerald Anderson Foundation joined in the fun as

Ken Anderson with dog Koda join Pet Express’ Pawlympics

QUEZON City’s Central Business District (CBD) has always held a lot of promise, being at the center of urban growth. And Ayala Land further realizes its potential by bringing new energy to it through the development of Vertis North—the City Center that nurtures and inspires enterprise and activity.

Vertis North, the 30-hectare mixeduse and sustainable estate, features a broad range of facilities, including a hotel establishment, which makes it the ideal address for a redefined modern urban living. As a city center, Vertis North will be the home of offices, retail spaces and residential developments such as High Park by Alveo Land.

High Park is a signature development of Alveo Land, a subsidiary of Ayala Land, with a singular vision of providing innovative homes for living well.

The two-tower high-rise condominium, poised to rise in Vertis North, promises to deliver an exclusive and distinctive living experience in the prime Quezon City lifestyle hub, by offering the combination of a natural and urban environment in a vertical living experience.

An enriching life at the core of the city is guaranteed at High Park. The twin tower with 40 floors in its first

tower and 50 floors in its subsequent tower, and over 800 units in total, allow residents to enjoy the perks of city living, with all the nearby urban comforts provided in Vertis North, as well as the refreshing view of the estate’s iconic Vertis Park, the two-hectare land of green space.

High Park invites the grace of greens from the ground all the way up with Tower One’s stimulating Sky Gardens on every three floors and Tower Two’s lush Sky Park cradled on the roof deck. On top of that, the development is well-complemented by its impressive amenities and refreshing al fresco dining scenes.

The intertwining of green spaces into the building design makes High Park the most iconic residential condominium of Alveo to date, and a vital element to the dynamic hub, Vertis North.

Vertis North is set to take the heart of Quezon City on a vertical rise with contemporary residential developments such as High Park, as well as other favorable facilities within it.

This includes distinct work spaces with an integrated parking area, a premium retail block offering over 200 top-tier retail brands and dining op-

they competed in the Dock Diving competition with their K9 dog Koda and other dog pawlympians. Ken Anderson, brother of Gerald, encouraged pet parents to train their dogs to perform services like searching for missing persons during calamities and other emergencies. He added dogs can also be of service to persons with disabilities.

Veteran pawlympian Katara with her parent Vicky Ortega won the first place in the Dock Diving competition. Meanwhile, Joe Claret with his mini pin Max, Vicky Arseo with her Shealty Pasha and Lisa

Kulp with Rajah, won the Teacup Dog Agility Competition.

The Pet Express Doggie Pawlympics event was held in partnership with Kibbles n’ Bits, Maynilad Water, and the Philippine Dog Athletics Association; with special participation of the Gerald Anderson Foundation.

For more info, visit Pet Express stores at SM Cubao, SM Hypermarket Makati, SM Mall of Asia, SM City North Edsa, SM City Fairview, SM City Masinag, and SM City Dasmariñas. Become a fan of PetExpress on Facebook to get updates on exciting events and promos.

A Shetland Sheepdog ascending the see-saw

A Jack Russell Terrier going through the bar jump

Dock diving activity

Harlow runs through the tunnel course

Discover the height of city living

Vertis North is a 30-hectare mixed-use development that features a several establishments and facilities

tions, the single tower but largest Seda host many recreational activities. at Vertis North, and truly discover the Hotel, and a sprawling patch of green Reimagine the opportunities present- height of city living in the midst of it all in the form of the Vertis Park that can ed by the modern life in the urban city in High Park.

Showbiz

A

DAY at the movies is a day of escape.

Seated in the dark cinemas, moviegoers allow themselves to be transported to a different world and time. For a couple of hours, they become part of something else, and enter an exciting world wildly different from their own. Whether it’s action, romance, horror or suspense, each story brings a newfound appreciation and thrill.

Elevating and making the movie experience more entertaining for audiences in the North, U.P. Town Center ups the ante with its stateof-the-art cinemas and modern tech upgrades.

Local celebrities along with other media and guests experienced firsthand the new and improved entertainment hub in Quezon City, which now features four modern cinemas, fitted with ultracomfortable recliner seats; two Dolby digital theatres, and a cutting edge 4DX cinema.

U.P. Town Center’s first movie theater houses the recliner seats with Dolby Atmos Technology. Thanks to this innovative sound technology, audiences will find themselves more captivated by the script and dialogue as sound is delivered through audio objects and overhead speakers. The powerful movie audio will allow viewers to hear and feel every sound and vibration.

A first to be experienced in the North, the 4DX cinema also engages your five senses with its high-tech motion seats and realistic environmental effects. The 4DXTM was developed in partnership with CJ 4DPlex, the world’s first 4D cinema company for feature films.

Each 4DXTM movie title becomes a cinematic marvel thanks to the carefully choreographed dance of movement, breeze, rain, and scent.

Adding more realism to the movie, bottom and back shakers, water,

‘Adult Swim’

makes a splash on Warner TV

Ayala Land and Ayala Malls Cinemas top guns, (from left) Rolly Dueñas, Robert Lotho, Amir Precilla and Mr. Mark Sablan

New cinematic experience at U.P. Town Center fog, wind, lightning, face air, bubbles, and leg ticklers are used. Audiences will be amazed, and each movie will assuredly become a memorable one.

By fully engaging the audience through visual effects, sounds, motions and scents, U.P. Town Center breaks the barrier and brings the cinematic experience to a whole new level of appreciation.

To enjoy the movies further, The Movie Snackbar offers an array of delicious snacks and refreshments. Nibble on your

favourite munchies such as popcorn, nachos, French fries, mozzarella sticks, hotdogs, sandwiches and more.

For added convenience, viewers can reserve their seats and purchase their tickets in advance on www.sureseats. com. You can choose to secure your movie tickets through three convenient ways. You can reserve online and pay at the counter 45 minutes before the movie, use your credit card, or purchase via Ayala Malls Cinemas’

MPass card. The MPass card is a reloadable prepaid movie card that lets you pay for your tickets online and over the counter. The MPass card is also your ticket to exclusive promo offers at Ayala Malls Cinemas.

For a new kind of cinematic thrill, find yourself thoroughly entertained and engaged at U.P. Town Center, your one-stop, allaround entertainment hub in the North.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ uptowncenterayalamalls.

‘positiviTEA’ revolution

multi-faceted, full of inspiration and brimming with positivity despite the challenges along the way. PositiviTEA is all about choosing to see the bright side and focusing on the good instead of sulking over the bad.”

Lipton Ice Tea, which comes in three variants—lemon, red tea and green tea—is made from real tea with no artificial flavors and with low calories. In fact, the top-selling Red Tea variant is only 30 calories per 100 ml bottle. Because of its authentic tea formulation, it packs the known health benefits of tea in a refreshing taste.

Paras added, “Lipton Ice Tea’s unique formulation and world-class taste can certainly uplift anyone’s mood, and with Sarah on board, we’re excited to jumpstart the ‘positiviTEA’ revolution with her.”

Sarah G. reveals her choice of bottled ice tea

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Sunday, July 31, 2016

ACROSS 1 Golden-haired 6 Explorer — Polo 11 Moves swiftly 16 Salts away 21 Designer Nina — 22 The Ewoks’ moon 23 — — in the bucket 24 In the dark 25 D’Artagnan’s friend 26 Mr. Amundsen 27 One of a strand 28 Dry-heat bath 29 Ernesto Guevara 30 Quicklime 32 Pounces 34 Turban wearer 36 Cold mo.

37 Patio 39 Major artery 40 Rozelle of football 41 Furniture buy 42 Suffix for forfeit 43 Ruffle 44 Narrow pillow 46 — theft auto 49 — -duddy 50 Daughters’ brothers 51 Grouchy 55 Ride the rapids 56 Ceremonies 57 Whey opposite 58 Imposing estate 59 Call — — day 60 Toxic gas 61 Mme.’s daughter 62 Attack of the flu 63 Flee hastily 64 On the wrong track 66 Dandy 67 “Star Trek” speed 68 Carpe —!

69 Reasons 70 Rackets 71 New Haven campus

72 Thick with cattails 73 Motel offering 74 Noted music festival 76 “Ben- —” 77 Behind bars 80 — the weather?

81 Othello’s betrayer 82 Radiator’s must (2 wds.)

86 Be a party to 87 Mountain pool 88 NCAA Bruins 89 Narrow passage 90 Hwys.

91 Woman, but not she 92 Footnote abbr.

(2 wds.)

93 Prizefight events 94 Mess up 95 Posse’s quarry 97 Command to Fido 98 Paddock papas 99 Therefore 100 Laundry-room item 101 Word plays 102 Sorrow, to poets 103 Violin holders 104 Without doubt 106 Part of BLT 107 California’s Big — 108 Fawn’s father 111 In a frenzy 112 Luxury furs 113 Horse-drawn cabs 117 NASA counterpart 118 Red-waxed cheese 119 — Hawkins Day 120 Brick oven 121 Compost 122 Less courteous 124 Full of pep 126 Sidled past 128 Infuse 130 Dainty pastries 131 Port for Pompey

132 133 134 135 136 137

Cotton thread Boom-box issue Driving hazard Tree homes Crackles Community type

DOWN 1 Moss leaf 2 Agile 3 Yellow pigment 4 Sgt. 5 Deep-six 6 — Haggard of music 7 Strong as — — 8 Vitamin amt.

9 Lab suspensions 10 Neat 11 Frank or Moon Unit 12 Lyric poems 13 Zoologists’ mouths 14 Bites 15 Divides 16 Hindu — range 17 Actress — Hartman 18 Dodge 19 Coniferous trees 20 Mound 31 Queen beater 33 E. Coast ocean 35 Hot dog gowith 38 Anagram for “turn” 39 Bard’s forest 40 Ducks’ haunt 41 Confound it!

43 Fold-up mattress 44 Tiresome talker 45 Q.E.D. part 46 Fairy tale brother 47 Math figure 48 Pull — — one 49 Bona — (credentials) 50 Kirk’s helmsman 52 Gainsay 53 Bleated 54 Tasty

56 Did a fall chore 57 Like Mozart’s music 58 Heart 60 Carried on about 61 Repair 62 Show reluctance 65 Where Lhasa is 66 Resume cousins 67 Baylor site 68 Run for the roses 70 Soft plumage 71 Exercise system 72 Viking letters 74 Tattered 75 Like redwoods 76 Luminous auras 77 Imitation chocolate 78 Kareem — -Jabbar 79 Medieval tale 80 Herr’s abode

YOU’VE been warned! The most ridiculous, insane, craziest TV is about to invade your homes. Adult Swim has been described as a life-changing pseudo-network. It’s not just television – to its loyal fans, it’s a way of life. Nothing is sacred and nothing is safe, and viewers can certainly expect the unexpected. Adult Swim shows typically rip everything up and spit them on the floor.

In the US, for more than a decade, Adult Swim has ranked no. 1 among adults 18 to 34.

There it sits as a programming block from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Cartoon Network, but in the Philippines, Adult Swim has found a home on Warner TV. It airs late night, 11:05 p.m., on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

When it launched in 2001 on Cartoon Network, Adult Swim was positioned as the home to all things pleasantly absurd.

Many of today’s young adults may remember its ubiquitous commercials for pioneer shows like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, an animated parody talk show hosted by the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost, as well as Aqua Teen Hunger Force,

which features a floating box of fries, a milkshake and a ball of meat who team up to solve mysteries. Both shows captured the imaginations of the late-night crowd, which is assuredly nothing short of wonderfully nonsensical fun.

Its brand of humor includes the whole comedy spectrum, from satirical to snarky, from pop-culture to anarchical, and from slapstick to complete absurdity. And it is this hodgepodge of shows that cater to various types of humor, which appeals to its target audience. In a way, Adult Swim has gained their audience’s trust, ensuring their dedicated viewers that they will always have something—in incredible animation or stylized live-action—to keep their eyes occupied and glued to the screen.

Warner TV is available on SKYcable Channel 77, SKYcable HD Channel 197, Cignal HD Channel 119, Destiny Cable (Digital) Channel 77, Destiny Cable (Analog) Channel 80, and Cable Link Channel 30. For more updates on the best in action, comedy and drama, follow on Facebook. com/WarnerTVAsia.

Adult Swim’s superhero anime is never short of snarky humor

GCash for online movie ticket purchase for SM Cinemas

Sarah Geronimo’s THE country’s one and only Popstar Princess has chosen her one and only bottled ice tea.

Sarah Geronimo is officially the new face of the world’s no.1 tea brand for its bottled ice tea products in the Philippines.

The phenomenal star—whose impressive career has spanned widely successful albums and concerts to box office-smashing films—joins the world-renowned brand in spreading ‘positiviTEA’ through the refreshing taste of Lipton Ice Tea. “As a global brand committed to the best quality product and services, Lipton is honored to welcome one of the country’s most successful and well-loved artists into our growing family,” Katrina Paras, Lipton Ice Tea brand manager, said. “Sarah embodies the best traits of many millennials today—dynamic,

D3

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

82 83 84 85 87 88 89 91 92 93 96 97 98 99 101 102 103 105 106 107

Aviator Big pitchers Huge Amateurs Brunette’s opposite Arapaho foes Slugger Hank — Table salt’s formula ___ meeny ...

Metric pounds Shortage Rusted-out ship Fogbound (2 wds.)

Maize units Vow Webster and Boone Like a fox Hippolyta, for one Auction action Mineo of old

108 109 110 112 113 114 115 116 118 119 120 123 125 127 129

films Lahr and Parks Ordinary Skilled force Chichen Itza founders Lays low Circle the Earth Black eye, slangily Fiery horse Formerly, formerly Kind of curl Brown seaweed Cousteau’s summer Qt. parts Cookie-selling org.

Kiwi’s extinct cousin

GCash, the mobile money service of Globe Telecom, is now accepted for online movie ticket purchase at all SM Cinemas nationwide via the GMovies app, giving Globe and TM customers who do not own credit cards an alternative way to reserve and pay for cinema seats without having to fall in line.

The partnership makes GCash the first mobile money operator to be accepted by SM Cinemas through GMovies in tandem with ePLUS, SM’s integrated e-wallet and loyalty system. At present, SM Cinema operates over 300 2D and 3D screens, 8 IMAX Theaters and 13 Director’s Club Cinemas for a total market share of over 50 percent.

“This development is a big boost to GCash given that the country is now shifting to a digital lifestyle. We want GCash to remain relevant to our customers, thus, we continue to look for ways to make their lives easier —from paying for goods and services, transferring money, sending remittances, making donations, among other things,” said Albert Tinio, GCash President.

To use the service, Globe and TM customers only need to download the GMovies app on their Android or iOS device

for free and book a movie schedule. A GCash prompt on the payment options will appear. Just click on GCash and enter the four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) to complete the transaction.

There are currently an estimated 95 percent of Filipinos who do not have credit cards while 75 percent do not have bank accounts, making online purchases limited to a limited number of people.

Through GCash, ordinary consumers, even those unbanked and underserved, can easily pay their bills, buy prepaid load, as well as send and receive money for a fraction of the cost charged by traditional remittance centers, anytime and anywhere. They can also apply for a debit beep Mastercard which can be used to shop and dine in almost 33 million establishments worldwide, shop online, and pay for MRT/LRT ride.

GCash is operated by GXchange, Inc., a company under Mynt which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom that aims to build a unified Globe financial services structure. For more information about GCash, visit: https://www.globe.com.ph/ gcash.

Showbiz D4

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016

T

HE country’s most loved kiligserye, Dolce Amore, continues to rule its primetime slot amidst a new rival program last Monday.

According to data from Kantar Media, the ABS-CBN-produced series, top-billed by Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, hit a national TV rating of 35 percent, while GMA’s Descendants of the Sun posted only 15.5 percent.

In the episode, Tenten (Gil) was forced by his parents to apologize to Serena (Soberano) for how he has been mistreating her in the past days.

He even granted his old flame her request of setting up a meeting with him for a business proposal.

Fans online seem to be very pleased by the plot development as positive comments poured on social media earning more than a million tweets and making the episode hashtag #DolceAmorePatigasan trend nationwide.

Dolce Amore is a story of two young wandering souls, both in search of who they really are, who will be brought together by destiny and feel an infallible connection with each other.

It continues to captivate the Filipino audience with its top caliber production with scenes shot in Italy, powerhouse cast led by one of the hottest love teams in the country, and valuesoriented narrative that truly resonates Filipino culture.

To show gratitude to the fans’ unwavering support, the show will stage the “#ChooseLove The Concert” on Aug. 20 at the Kia Theater where the cast gives a one night show filled with fun, kilig, and songs personally chosen by fans online.

RECONNECTION.

Tenten and Serena, played by Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, in a scene from the romantic series ‘Dolce Amore’

More Filipinos like

‘Dolce Amore’ Bongbong and media friends FORMER Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. took his “Pasasalamat Tour” to the members of the Entertainment media.

Over lunch of Ilocano dishes at Victorino’s, he thanked the writers for their continuing support since he launched his bid to be the Vice President of the country till the elections in May and up until these days when he has filed an electoral protest questioning the results of the elections.

His wife, Atty. Liza Araneta Marcos and son, Ferdinand Alexander (Sandro), as well as his spokesman, Atty. Vic Rodriguez joined him in a cordial exchange of ideas where he verbalized his plans as a public servant.

Marcos, Jr. said he is ready to take up the challenge if and when the President (Rodrigo Duterte) appoints him to a cabinet position, or in any position at that while waiting for the resolution of his electoral protest.

The former Senator is taking his “Pasasalamat Tour” around the country to express his profound and sincere gratitude to the people who supported him in his Vice Presidential bid. “When I was Governor of Ilocos Norte, I used to go on a motorcade around the province to thank the people.

So this (“Pasasalamat Tour”) has become a habit I suppose.

It’s the least I can do for all your help. It’s a great honor for me to be voted by you and be given the kind of trust you have given me,” he told members of the showbiz press. **** The laughter never stops as

ISAH V. RED

GMA Network’s comedy shows A1 Ko Sa’Yo and Bubble Gang continue to tickle the funny bone of Kapuso viewers every Thursday and Friday nights.

A1 Ko Sa’Yo, which is headlined by Jaclyn Jose together with Gardo Versoza, Sef Cadayona, Benjamin Alves, Roi Vinzon, Ervic Vijandre, Denise Barbacena, Gee Canlas, Mara Alberto, and Solenn Heussaff, gives everyone a hearty laugh with its naughty and funny storylines and characters.

It was another one hilarious yet sexy episode last Thursday with guests Ashley Ortega, Bryan Benedict, Dexter Doria and April Gustilo.

A sex video scandal has gone viral and everybody thinks that Tintin (Gee) was the girl involved, but she couldn’t remember what went down during the strip poker game they played when the incident happened. Determined to prove otherwise, Tintin asked Enzo (Sef) and company to try and find the identity of the girl to clear her name.

Meanwhile, Digna (Jaclyn) tried hard to keep the agency’s reputation as wholesome as possible as she attempted to convince a conservative mother to allow her model daughter to enter into contract with the agency. Things seemed to go as planned until they saw

THANKFUL. Former Senator Bongbong Marcos (second from right), with his spokesman Atty. Vic Rodriguez (leftmost), is joined by his wife Liza (second from left) and eldest son Sandro (first from right), while he ardently talks about his “Pasasalamat Tour” something on the net that proved to be a huge dealbreaker.

Meanwhile, Bubble Gang remains to be the favorite comedy gag show of Filipinos for more than 20 years now.

It has made everyone roll over with laughter with its commercial spoofs, amusing gags, sketches and parodies.

Last Friday, it was another riot and fun-filled episode with celebrity guests Barbie Forteza, Arra San Agustin, and Jak Roberto. **** An inexpensive but beautiful toy car keeps you from buying another remotecontrolled toy car.

How can you make it run faster is what Chris Tiu, host of I-Bilib, will teach you in the Remote Car Experiment.

In Life Hacks, the I-Bilbi team will tell you the secret of Borax and why its effective in cleaning a computer keyboard that’s thick with dust. That’s the Borax Keyboard Cleaner.

In the Magnetic Slime Experiment, are these cute magnets real monsters?

Can lemon fuel your car? Well, we’ve got to watch this Lemon Car Experiment to know how we can stay longer on the road.

All these only on I-Bilib on GMA-7. ****

Things are getting complicated, yet exciting, in ‘Conan My Beautician’ starring Mark Herras and Megan Young

The cast of ‘A1 Ko Sa ‘Yo ‘ continues to bring laughter on the boob tube

Can Mark Herras stop Megan Young from marrying Rodjun Cruz in this Sunday’s episode of Conan My Beautician?

It looks like there is no way out for Conan (Mark) as he continues to pretend to be a gay beautician so that he can support his family. While he lives the life of the bubbly and most talented beautician at Salon Paz, Conan remains a straight guy outside of Salon Paz. In fact, he can’t help himself from falling for Ava (Megan). It seems Cupid is plotting something for Conan and Ava to be together.

Left with no choice, Ava goes through the arranged marriage

with Prince (Rodjun). As fate would have it, Conan is Ava’s make-up artist on her wedding day. With his dream girl in front of him, can Conan still pretend to be gay or will his feelings for Ava blow his cover?

Meanwhile, the world is getting smaller as well for Conan and Chika (Cacai Bautista). As it turns out, Prince is a cousin of Chika and the latter is invited to the wedding. Will Chika be able to find out that the beki beside her is Conan—the guy she’s been looking for all along?

Catch this exciting episode of Conan My Beautician today after GMA Blockbusters on GMA-7.