Manila Standard - 2016 August 2 - Tuesday

More and more Filipinos less resistant to Cha-Cha RESISTANCE to Charter Change has declined, with 44 percent of Filipinos saying they oppose amending the Constitution in the July 2016 survey of Pulse Asia Research Inc., down from 49 percent who were against it in November 2014.

Those opposed to Charter change, however, were still more than those who sup-

ported it (37 percent) or were undecided (19 percent).

The latest Pulse Asia survey was based on face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents from July 2 to 8, with a ± 3 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.

Less than half of Filipinos (41 percent)

said they were aware of proposals to amend the Constitution, while 73 percent admitted knowing little or nothing at all about the Charter.

Even among those aware of Charter change proposals, most (56 percent) said they had little or no knowledge at all about the 1987 Constitution. This lack of knowl-

edge was consistent in all geographic areas, Pulse Asia said.

The same survey showed that public opinion was split three ways on changing the form of government into a parliamentary form, with 37 percent being opposed to the proposal, 33 percent supporting it, Next page and 30 percent undecided.

WEATHER LEGAZPI CITY—The western and southern seaboards of Southern Luzon will have rough to very rough seas with the exit of tropical storm “Carina” from the Philippine Area of Responsibility, the weather bureau said Monday.

The agency made the announcement even as the Coast Guard cleared all vessels in the major ports in Bicol to sail after it ordered no sailing in the area as the storm approached on Saturday. PNA

VOL. XXX • NO. 171 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 • WWW.THESTANDARD.COM.PH • EDITORIAL@THESTANDARD.COM.PH

Hopes for truce remain—Rody

By Sandy Araneta

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said the government still hopes to pursue peace talks with communist rebels even after he called off a unilateral ceasefire that he declared during his State of the Nation Address last week.

“We are hoping that we can just talk. Maybe we did not understand each other,” Duterte said, during a statement delivered before newly appointed officials who took their oath inside Rizal Hall in Malacañang.

“The best way really is to talk again and maybe find out if it’s reachable or beyond our reach,” Duterte said, referring to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

The government and communist leaders had earlier agreed to resume formal peace talks on Aug. 20 in Oslo, Norway, before a rebel ambush killed a militiaman in Davao Del Norte, prompting Duterte to call off the ceasefire on Saturday.

“I hope we can proceed with the talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines,” Duterte said Monday.

Communist leaders led by CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison had said earlier they remained committed to peace talks on Aug. 20, despite the exchange of accusations over the Davao del Norte ambush, which came just two days after Duterte had declared the unilateral ceasefire.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said Monday the government will study all options and consult with all sectors regarding a ceasefire with the communist rebels.

“Let’s see. Let us not preempt the President. We will study all options,” Dureza said in Filipino during an interview on GMA-7.

Dureza said the government was surprised when the CPPNPA-NDF did not immediately reciprocate Duterte’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire during his State of the Nation Address last week.

In the past, he added, the communists were always swift in responding to a Christmas and New Year’s ceasefire. Next page

20-man panel eyed to rewrite Charter

By Maricel V. Cruz SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez said Monday he would propose to President Rodrigo Duterte the creation of a 20-member Constitutional Commission to help Congress, acting as Constituent Assembly, draft proposed amendments to the Constitution.

Alvarez told a radio interview that the creation of the commission would help address the concern among some quarters about changing the Constitution through a constituent assembly rather than an elected Constitutional Convention.

Alvarez said the commission would include constitutional law experts like former Supreme Court chief justice Reynato Puno, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., lawyer Reuben Canoy, and Dean of San Beda Law School Ranhilio Aquino, as well as representatives from non-governmental organizations, the academe, and other sectors of society.

“They will be tasked to study and review the present Constitution and then draft a new Charter, which will be submitted to the Constituent Assembly where it will be discussed thoroughly,” Alvarez said.

Next page

BONDING MOMENT. President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter Veronica snuggles close to her father as they watch an intermission number during the Presidential Security Group’s Fellowship Night at the PSG Compound in Malacañang Sunday night, July 31, 2016. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Makati held in contempt over dispute with Taguig THE Supreme Court has found the Makati City government in contempt for forum shopping in connection with its legal battle with Taguig City over which of them owns the Fort Bonifacio district.

The high court’s Second Division found the Makati local government unit guilty of direct contempt and fined the three lawyers that represented it in the case P2,000 each.

The tribunal also granted the petition of the Taguig local government, which has been seeking a modification of the 2013 rulings of the Court of Appeals.

Those rulings transferred the jurisdiction over the disputed residential and business district― including the Bonifacio Global City―from Taguig to Makati.

The high court sided with Taguig after it found that the Makati government violated the rule against forum shopping when it simultaneously pursued legal remedies before

‘Kill order’ out vs drug-dealing mayor, son PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the arrest of a town mayor in Leyte and his son for trafficking in illegal drugs or face being shot on sight, Malacañang said Monday.

Duterte demanded the arrest of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and his son Kerwin Espinosa within 24 hours “on the

grounds of drug-trafficking and coddling,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

“Otherwise an order of shoot on sight will be given if they resist and endanger the lives of arresting police officers.”

On Thursday last week, two bodyguards and three employees of Espinosa were arrested dur-

ing a buy-bust operation in which P1.9 million worth of shabu were recovered.

Four other suspects managed to escape after they ran inside the house of Espinosa’s son Kerwin and locked the gate, police said.

Kerwin’s house is located inside a compound where his father also lives.

Albuera Police Chief Jove Espinido said they had no authority to barge into the compound after the gate was locked.

The buy-bust operation was conducted around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the tennis court near the houses of the mayor and his son in Sitio Tinago Benolho Next page village.

TAKEOVER. Police commandos patrol the vicinity of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa on Aug. 1, 2016, days after the Special Action Force took over the NBP and raided the dens of convicted drug lords. DANNY PATA

Next page

INFO DRIVE. Puppet versions of National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa and President Rodrigo Duterte are presented during the 24th founding anniversary of the Police Community Relations Group at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Monday, Aug. 1. The puppets are among the materials police will use in its campaign against illegal drugs.

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Trafficking raps vs 16 AT LEAST 16 Immigration officers are in trouble over their possible involvement in human trafficking at the Ninoy Aquino International airport, Mactan International Airport, Laoag International Airport and Clark International Airport, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said Monday.

He said the case came into the open after five Filipinas were deported by South Korean authorities for overstaying and working without a permit. facebook.com.ph/ manilastandard

S

The names of the officers were withheld pending an investigation, but they were ordered to explain why they should not be charged for allowing the women to leave the country in 2014, Morente said.

“We will not hesitate to punish any of our employees who connive with human traffickers in preying on our women. That is unforgivable,” he said.

“They have been relieved from their airport counter duties and their immigration stamps confiscated.”

Next page

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Murder raps poised vs road rage suspect THE Justice Department will today hold its preliminary investigation into the criminal charges against Vhon Martin Tanto, the former Army reservist who shot and killed a cyclist in a road rage incident in Quiapo, Manila, last week.

Tanto will be brought to the department for a hearing on the murder and frustrated-murder complaints filed by the families of slain victim Mark Vincent Garalde and Rossel Bondoc, the 18-yearold student who was hit by a stray bullet during the incident.

Next page VHON MARTIN TANTO

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Hopes..

From A1

Dureza said the government would not respond to Sison’s harsh criticism of Duterte, because doing so would only make matters worse.

“He [Duterte] was really very presidential in all his statements.

You know, his main concern is really how to bring about sustainable peace in the country.

We will address this in the most strategic [way],” Dureza said.

Dureza, too, said peace talks would go on as scheduled, on Aug. 20.

“There is no difference here. It has not changed. August 20 is the resumption of the peace talks. Unless, of course, something happens along the way,” he said. “We are prepared to go to Oslo already for the official talks.”

After being called “thuggish” and a bully by Sison, Duterte said Sunday he remained friends with the communists because they are against those who oppress the people.

Speaking before members of the Presidential Security Group and their families on Sunday, Duterte said he offered to talk peace with every rebel group in the country so he could save lives.

More...

From A1

Among those with at least enough information about the Constitution, 41 percent were in favor of shifting to a parliamentary form of government, higher than the overall figure (33 percent).

Virtually the same percentages of Filipinos either favor (39 percent) or do not favor (33 percent) a shift to a federal system of government.

Support for a federal form of government was more pronounced among those who said they had a great deal or sufficient knowledge of the Constitution.

House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez expressed skepticism over the Pulse Asia finding that 44 percent of Filipinos were opposed to Charter change.

Suarez said discussions on the proposal to amend the Constitution have to be given a chance and that the public should also look at results of other surveys.

Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque, who opposes Charter change, said he would file a resolution that would subject the proposal to amend the Constitution to a referendum in 2019.

“Let us ask the Filipino people in 2019 whether they want changes in the Charter,” Roque said.

20-man...

From A1

Alvarez, a lawyer, said he sees no legal impediment against the creation of such a commission through an executive order of the President.

He said it is still Congress, acting as Constituent Assembly, that would discuss and approve the proposed Charter changes.

Under the present Constitution, Alvarez said, there are only three modes of amending the Charter: a Constitutional Convention, a Constituent Assembly, and a people’s initiative.

“And after Congress approves the proposed amendments, it’s not final yet. The public must still agree to the proposed changes [through a plebiscite]. That’s why it’s safe because in the end it’s the

Murder...

From A1 Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Monday paid for Bondoc’s hospital bills, which he did not disclose but which the girl’s relatives said was enough to cover the total amount due, which had almost reached P200,000.

The stray bullet grazed one of Bondoc’s kidneys and hit one of

“I am trying to save lives. I hit the ground running and offered peace to everybody,” Duterte said.

But the President said he drew the line with the Abu Sayyaf, saying there was no reason to negotiate with the bandits, saying there was “no redeeming factor” in talking with them.

His statement Monday contrasted with earlier remarks in which he said he understood the issues that drove the Abu Sayyaf to hold hostages for ransom.

Also on Monday, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, a fisherman’s group, urged Duterte to pursue peace talks with the communists in the name of national unity and interest in the midst of a territorial dispute with China.

“In these trying times, national unity through peace talks between the [government] and the revolutionary movement is crucial. No amount of diplomatic talks can resolve this long running sea row unless we as a nation will unite and collectively uphold our national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Salvador France, Pamalakaya vice chairman.

Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting said Congress should play an active role in enlightening the people on the proposed amendments to be done.

Tambunting filed House Resolution 32, or a “resolution calling on the House committee of constitutional amendments to study how the 1987 Constitution can best be revised considering the clamor for a shift to federalism and possible amendments to the constitution’s economic provisions.”

“Definitely, the way we will be amending our Constitution will affect the kinds of amendments we can get through. I hope the proper House committee can be convened to thoroughly study how best we can proceed,” Tambunting said.

Last week, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a staunch ally of Duterte, said the administration now favored a constituent assembly rather than an elected constitutional convention to amend the Constitution.

Charter Change is among the priorities of the 17th Congress.

During the term of former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2009 sought to convene Congress into a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution. But many lawmakers opposed the idea for fear that it would extend term limits of incumbent officials.

Maricel V. Cruz, Sandy Araneta

Party-list system needs finetuning, says Comelec C

OMMISSION on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista on Monday pushed for a refinement of the party-list system instead of scrapping it, as President Rodrigo Duterte wants to do.

He added that sectoral representation in Congress was important, but acknowledged there were problems in how this was carried out.

“I think it should be reformed. You know the saying that comes to mind: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The concept behind the party-list system is good, but there are problems in its implementation,” Bautista said.

The party-list system, he said, should not be used by the powerful and the wealthy as a backdoor into Congress, and amendments to the law could safeguard against such abuses.

The system, he said, should be reserved for the underrepresented and the marginalized.

Earlier, Duterte called for the abolition of the party-list system since it has become a shortcut for wealthy individuals to obtain seats in the House of Representatives.

But Bautista said the Comelec was merely implementing what was set by law and jurisprudence. For example, he said, the number of seats that

party-list groups can have are all in accordance with Supreme Court decisions.

Two party-list lawmakers also called for a review of the law rather than an abolition, as they cited numerous accomplishments of “true” party-list groups.

Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin said it would be more prudent to review the party-list system law to institute needed reforms.

Alejano said that while he did not support abolishing the party-list system, he agreed that the law should be amended “to weed out wealthy opportunists.”

“The Supreme Court aptly stressed that the party-list system is a tool for social justice.

To abolish it completely without conducting a comprehensive study of its implementation is to deprive the marginalized, the underrepresented voice in the highest lawmaking body of the Republic,” he said.

“It is a well-known fact that there are many well-meaning

party-list groups that have successfully and actively pursued the interests of the sector they represent in Congress,” Alejano said.

A comprehensive review of the implementation of the 21-year-old law may help in preserving the “true” intention of RA 7941, he said.

“I propose studying the background of the different party-list groups that participated in the election, the personalities that represent these party-list organizations as well as their performance in the previous congresses to ascertain that they have promoted the advocacies of their parties,” Alejano said.

Villarin said he fully supports calls for reform in the partly-list system and stressed that not all party-list groups are bad.

He said that as a party-list group in Congress, Akbayan has been successful in passing landmark legislation such as the Reproductive Health Law, the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Law, and the Philippine Competition Act. “We continue to push for our advocacies in public health, labor and citizen empowerment among many others. It would be better if the President pushes for the abolition of political dynasties and the banning of

ISSUES OF THE DAY. Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito (left) and Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon take turns fielding questions from newsmen regarding the intensified war on illegal drugs and the proposed Charter change at the Samahang Plaridel news forum on Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. Ey Acasio

people who would decide whether they agree or not with the proposed new Constitution,” Alvarez said.

But Alvarez said he has yet to inform President Duterte of his proposal to create a Constitutional Commission.

Alvarez said he and his fellow lawmakers must rise to Duterte’s challenge that as Filipinos they must work to uphold the interest of the people.

Duterte earlier said he would monitor the crafting of a new Charter to ensure it would be proFilipino.

The move to amend the Charter is meant to pave the way to change the present system of government to a federal one.

Initially, the President favored amending the charter though a Constitutional Convention but later changed his

mind in favor of Constituent Assembly to save money that could be used to fulfill his campaign promises, such as better pay for police and soldiers, increased benefits for the elderly and retirees, as well as pushing the fight against drugs and criminality.

Alvarez himself had filed a resolution seeking to amend the Constitution through a Constitutional Convention.

Alvarez said the voice of the people must be respected in connection with Duterte’s call for the abolition of the party-list system, which he said has been abused by moneyed people.

“I think we should listen to the voice of the people because in the end it’s the people who would decide whether or not they would agree to the proposal of President Duterte,” Alvarez said.

her veins, but one of her doctors said she could be discharged in 10 to 14 days.

Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva set the hearing on Tanto’s case at 2 p.m.

Lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles, who agreed to represent the accused for a “limited engagement,” will help Tanto, who was arrested in Masbate on Friday last week after a few days in hiding.

Angeles implied that since Tanto had already admitted shooting Garalde, they might pursue the lower charge of homicide.

Tanto was brought to the Justice Department on Saturday for inquest proceedings. However, he was not able to formally answer the charges because he did not have a lawyer, prompting the prosecutor to reset the hearing.

Tanto had earlier said he did

'Kill order'...From A1 Mayor Espinosa has been on leave since last week.

Those arrested during the buy-bust operation bodyguards Jessie Ocares, 34, and Marcelo Adorco, 40, and employees Jose Antipuesto, Jeffrey Pesquera and Ernesto Dumalat.

Antipuesto, 36, who took care of the mayor’s fighting cocks, had been the target of the buy-bust operation after the police received reports that he was selling shabu, Espinido said.

He said a poseur bought P300 worth of shabu from Antipuesto, and though Ocares and Adorco were armed they did not put up a fight.

Seized from Ocares were a .45-cal. pistol and a pack of shabu weighing 84 grams. A .45 cal. pistol and a packet of shabu weighing 121 grams were recovered from Adorco.

At least 14.8 grams of shabu were recovered from Antipuesto.

Pesquera, 39, a native of Cebu City, also worked for the mayor as caretaker of his fighting cocks. Shabu was also found in his possession.

Dumalat, 20, and another employee of the mayor was caught with two small packs of shabu weighing 3.7 grams.

The suspects denied owning the shabu recovered from them.

Sandy Araneta

not intend to shoot Garalde, but he lost his temper because of the cyclist’s arrogance during their altercation.

“I rolled down the window and said sorry. I told him to be more careful and that bikers should keep to the roadside,” Tanto said in a television interview.

“He suddenly cursed me. I asked him to stop cursing, but he did not stop. I had already apolo-

gized but he kept on cursing me.

We fought, and he had the upper hand because he was taller. That can be seen on the CCTV.” The altercation started when Tanto’s car was nearly hit by Garalde’s bicycle along Vergara Street, a few meters away from P. Casal Street where the fistfight and shooting took place on July 25. Rey E. Requejo and Sandy Araneta

political turncoats instead,” Villarin said.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the “voice of the people” must be respected in connection with the President’s call for the abolition of the party-list system.

“I think we should listen to the voice of the people because in the end it is the people who would decide whether or not they would agree to the proposal of President Duterte,” Alvarez said.

On Friday, Duterte expressed his dissatisfaction with the implementation of Republic Act No. 7941 or The PartyList System Act, saying that the party-list system has been abused by the rich and the powerful.

The President, said would support its abolition in the proposed Constitutional reforms.

“I will insist: No party-list.

The system has been abused.

The ones who win are the wealthy, representing what?

Security guards,” Duterte said.

PNA

Makati...

From A1

the Pasig City regional trial

court and the appellate court seeking the same relief.

The records showed that when the Pasig RTC ruled in favor of Taguig in the dispute, Makati filed a motion for reconsideration and at the same time brought the matter before the appellate court through a petition for annulment of judgment, with both seeking reversal of the RTC ruling.

The high court said Makati’s actions not only “vexed courts and an adverse litigant, but actually gave rise to conflicting decisions not only between different courts but even within the Court of Appeals itself.”

In its assailed July 2013 ruling, the appellate court’s sixth division held that Fort Bonifacio belongs to Makati City.

It declared as constitutional Presidential Proclamation 2475 issued by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, and Proclamation 518 issued by the late former President Corazon Aquino in 1990.

Both declared Fort Bonifacio as being under the jurisdiction of Makati City.

The appellate court also reversed a July 2008 ruling of the Pasig RTC that awarded to Taguig City territorial jurisdiction over a 729-hectare property covering the seven military villages and inner Fort villages, including the high-end Bonifacio Global City. Rey E. Requejo

Trafficking...

From A1

Morente ordered the probe after the Filipinas arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on July 23 after being deported from South Korea.

The women departed the country posing as tourists, and their Korean entertainers’ visas were placed on their passports only during their stop-over in Hong Kong.

They worked as nightclub singers in South Korea and were eventually deported for overstaying. Their promoter in Korea was likewise arrested.

The women’s identities were not revealed because the antihuman trafficking law forbids it.

Initial reports said the women separately left the country two years ago for various destinations before proceeding to South Korea.

They were allegedly cleared for departure by immigration officers despite their doubtful purpose of travel and presentation of questionable documents.

Vito Barcelo

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Govt opens 8888 & 911 action lines THE Philippine National Police on Monday officially launched the nationwide government hotline 8888 for citizen complaint and hotline 911 for emergency.

“During times of emergency or when in need of police assistance, call 911. For complaints against public officials, dial 8888,” a statement from Malacañang said on Monday, after the launching of the emergency hotlines.

The emergency hotlines is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to fight crimes and illegal drugs as well as eliminate corruption and red tape in the government bureaucracy.

Sandy Araneta

Metro cops acquire new Indian jeeps THE National Capital Region Police Office has acquired 16 new mobile patrol vehicles from the Indian vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra of Mumbai.

NCRPO chief Oscar Albayalde turned over 16 Mahindra Patrol Jeeps to various offices of Metro Manila’s five police districts— Southern, Northern, Eastern, Manila and Quezon City— following the blessings of the new vehicles.

Albayalde stated that the patrol jeeps will be used for mobility operations, public service and would greatly increase police presence in the different areas in the National Capital Region, especially after Albayalde earlier claimed that street crimes in Metro Manila have gone down.

Joel Zurbano

BoC officials under probe for X-ray deal SEVERAL ranking Customs officials are under probe for the acquisition of 30 China-made X-ray mobile machines installed at the Port of Manila and Manila International Container Port, a Customs official said.

The X-ray machines, purchased between 2007 and 2010 under then Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales, were bought through a Chinese government loan of P7.95 billion which was allegedly overpriced by over P4.2 billion and later found to be substandard.

The X -ray machines were acquired from the China-based Nuctech Co. at P7.95 billion although it cost only P3.7 billion from leading suppliers in Europe and the US, the Commission on Audit said in a report. Vito Barcelo

MINORITY REPORT. Minority members of the House of Representative, led Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, brief journalists about their position on the proposed abolition of the party-list system and Charter Change. Manny Palmero

House names key committee chiefs

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE House of Representatives on Monday night named the new chairmen of the most powerful committees in the lower chamber, according to Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas.

Fariñas said Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles will be chairman of the House committee on appropriations; Lord Allan Velasco of Marinduque, committee on energy; Franz Alvarez of Palawan, committee on legislative franchise; Lucy Torres-Gomez of Leyte, committee on tourism; and Ronaldo Zamora of

San Juan, House contingent head for the majority bloc of the Committee on Appointments.

Last week, Reps. Elenita Ermita-Buhain of Batangas was named chairperson of the committee on accounts while Romeo Acop of Antipolo City was tapped to lead the committee on public order and safety.

Angat Tayo party-list Rep.

Harlin Neil III also reported out in the plenary that Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez will be recognized as minority leader.

Meanwhile, former speaker and Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he has decided not to head any committee and will instead help in his capacity as former Speaker.

Belmonte told reporters that Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has given him a free hand in choosing whatever committee chairmanship he wished but Belmonte said he declined the offer and said he would only accept the chairmanship of a special committee on West Philippine Sea. Belmonte said he will just help the House leadership after his LP joined the supermajor-

ity, led by the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, where Alvarez is the secretary-general.

“I decided not to accept any committee chairmanships. I decided to just help in all committees,” Belmonte told reporters.

The former Speaker said he will propose to Alvarez the need to create more committees to address other pressing concerns, including the West Philippine Sea. “I will ask the House leadership to put up a special committee on the West Philippine Sea,” Belmonte said.

He said the creation of a special committee on the West Philippine Sea is very timely to help address the ongoing territorial dispute.

Oil firms roll back prices P0.90 Lakas: Solid vote for Duterte agenda

By Alena Mae S. Flores

OIL prices went down for the fifth consecutive week by as much as P0.90 per liter to reflect the movement of oil prices in the world market.

The oil firms cut diesel prices

by P0.90 per liter, gasoline by P0.75 per liter and kerosene by P0.90 per liter effective 6 a.m.

Tuesday.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines said oil prices declined due to “lower [Mean of Platts Singapore] due to lower crude prices because

of surplus supply.”

Among the oil firms that issued price cut advisories were PTT Philippines, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Flying V and Eastern Petroleum although other oil firms are expected to follow suit.

Last week, the oil firms also cut prices by P0.35 per liter for diesel, P0.30 per liter for kerosene and P0.10 per liter for gasoline.

On Monday, the oil firms also cut the price of cooking gas by P0.70 per kilogram and auto LPG

by P0.40 per liter.

Oil prices have been declining due to weak demand from US and China despite the abundant supply.

The World Bank last week slightly raised its forecast for crude prices to $43 per barrel in 2016 from $41 per barrel “due to supply outages and robust demand in the second quarter.”

The World Bank said oil prices jumped 37 percent in the second quarter due to disruptions to supply, particularly wildfires in Canada and sabotage of oil infrastructure in Nigeria.

By Maricel V. Cruz FORMER President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday met with Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to reiterate the commitment of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats in supporting the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Leyte Rep. Yedda Romualdez said the meeting was aimed at strengthening the Lakas-CMD’s alliance with the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan where Alvarez is the secretary-general.

“It is the interest of our constituents and Filipino people that is fore-

most. The meeting was designed to strengthen the alliance of LakasCMD and PDP-Laban and support the legislative agenda of President Duterte,” Romualdez said.

Romualdez is the wife of LakasCMD president Martin Romualdez, a former House Independent Bloc leader and ex-Leyte congressman, who is also the president of Philippine Constitution Association.

The meeting was also attended

by Martin Romualdez and the other Lakas members in the House—Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay and Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla. Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, also a PDP-Laban leader, also attended the meeting.

‘Natural food still best’

EXEMPLARY COP. Police Officer 3 Elson Banasan is conferred a medal of citation by Presidential

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar and Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa for the honesty he displayed when he returned P40,000 in cash he found.

THE Nutritionist-Dietitians Association of the Philippines reminded the public that natural, unprocessed food is still the best as the group marked Nutrition Month in July.

“There are, no doubt, good qualities of certain food supplements which have been capsulized or powdered, like mangosteen, guyabano, moringga, but if truth be told, something happens in the processing, in the heating, some precious elements disappear,” said NDAP president Dr. Adela Jamorabo-Ruiz.

“It’s always best to go natural,”

she said during a two-day seminar on nutrition care in celebration of the Nutrition Month 2016 at the Atrium Hotel on nutritional health during the first 1000 days of an infant.

The first 1000 days is the period from conception and the second birthday of the child. During this period growth faltering happens.

The seminar, co-sponsored by the Department of Health and the NDAP, was attended by some 75 nutritionist-dietitians from all over the country.

Airline probing slapping incident

By Joel E. Zurbano THE management of Cebu Pacific Airlines is investigating an incident over the weekend where a female passenger, purportedly the wife of a military general, slapped a flight attendant of the airline for insisting that the passenger properly stow her baggage before takeoff.

The incident went viral on social media after flight attendant Madel Ty posted photos showing her left cheek, ear and neck still red from what appeared to be a slapping.

Ty said she was the lead cabin crew on Cebu Pacific flight 5J955 from Manila to Davao last July 30 when the female passenger got into an altercation with another cabin crew member.

The airline said in a statement the passenger, whom it did not identify, “had expressed dissatisfaction, prior to departure, at having to stow their baggage appropriately as requested by the cabin crew member.”

“The cabin crew member then assisted the passenger in stowing the baggage in the overhead bin. Stowing cabin baggage in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of the passenger is a safety requirement mandated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.”

But when the flight landed in Davao, the woman passenger assaulted Ty saying it was the cabin crew’s job to assist passengers, “kumbaga sa bus, mga konduktor kayo! god da** it,” the woman was quoted as saying.

But the airline said the cabin crew’s primary duty is to ensure the safety and security of its passengers onboard the flight. It added cabin crew members are ready to assist passengers in carrying and properly stowing hand carried bags during boarding and deplaning.

“Separately, CEB is providing full support to the assaulted cabin crew member, who is now considering filing charges against the passenger,” the CEB said.

“CEB will always fully support its staff when they have been subject to abuse, physical or verbal, from disruptive passengers.

Actions that CEB will consider will be to refuse carriage of the passenger on any future CEB flight, along with legal support to its staff member if charges are deemed appropriate.”

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Opinion

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

mstdaydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Accustomed

T

HE Bureau of Customs, according to President Rodrigo Duterte, is one of the three most corrupt agencies in government along with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Land Transportation Office.

We don’t need the President to tell us that. For decades the public has known that the bureau suffers from a systemic weakness that corrupts its own people at worst and frustrates, at least, most other well-

meaning individuals who come to work for it, desire to change it, or even enlighten the men and women in it.

Adding to the bureau’s ill repute is its inability to achieve its mandate for the government—to provide much-needed revenues that would in turn fill up the national coffers. In April this year, for instance, there was a collection deficit of P8.47 billion.

The target was P40.92 billion but the bureau only

managed to collect P32.45 billion in import duties and taxes. In May, the shortfall was P8.83 billion.

Former Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina is just the most recent of bureau chiefs who came and left without meeting the targets. Upon his appointment—reappointment, really, because he has held the post in 2005—Lina had to fend off accusations of conflict of interest. The deficits do not help bolster his case that he was the

right man for the job.

Meanwhile, Mr. Duterte has placed former Marine officer Nicanor Faeldon at the helm of the bureau, in an attempt to introduce real changes.

Whether or not he can deliver as expected is not yet known. What is certain is that changing how things are done at Customs is a daunting task and it takes extraordinary will to introduce reforms that make a difference, and stay. The resistance, we imagine,

could be staggering—so staggering that increasing collections and meeting targets would be easier to achieve.

There is a lot of work to be done at the bureau, and boosting performance in terms of collection is just one of them. Breaking the decades-old notoriety, which is in fact the root of the underperformance, is a lot more daunting.

Faeldon needs a vigilant public to make the dent he needs to make.

EAGLE EYES TONY LA VIÑA

Injustice in Arroyo PCSO case

Trusting Congress

LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES WOULD you leave your teenage daughter alone in a room with a member of Congress? If not, why would you leave to our legislators the job of revising our 30-year-old Constitution?

Senator Panfilo Lacson doesn’t think so, either. Reacting to plans by the Duterte administration to go the Congress-dominated constituent assembly route in order to make sweeping changes to the 1987 Constitution, Lacson was his usual terse self: “I don’t trust us.”

Lacson’s concerns have everything to do with Congress’ penchant for serving self-interest instead of the interest of the nation. And if the unfortunately named “ConAss” is the way to revise the basic law, who knows what self-interested insertions and deletions may take place?

ConAss, of course, is one of two ways to make wholesale revisions to the charter. The

other way is what was used to craft the current Constitution —the Con-Con method, or the election of members of a constitutional convention who will deliberate and craft a new basic law full-time.

House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, who once advocated Con-Con because President Rodrigo Duterte was for it, has since decided to support ConAss, since that is what Duterte now wants. And if Alvarez’s waffling is not a reason why people should doubt Congress’ motives for doing anything, then I don’t know what is.

Duterte’s change of mind supposedly has to do with economics, because holding a Con-Con election and the subsequent care and feeding of the elected delegates will cost several times more than simply letting Congress do the same job.

The way Alvarez explained it to me in an interview is, Duterte

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What seems plain is that if you want something done, you don’t ask Congress to do it.”

figures that since congressmen and senators are already elected by the people, they’re already in perfect position to start working on revising the Charter—plus they already have the nice conference rooms and session halls where they can do it.

Like a good, servile House speaker, Alvarez’ job is to do what Duterte wants, the way he wants it done. And that goes the same for the Senate, apparBenjamin Philip G. Romualdez Former Chief Justice Renato S. Puno Anita F. Grefal Maan Ilustre Edgar M. Valmorida

ently, where the new president, Duterte ally Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, has the difficult job of not only selling ConAss but also of convincing his colleagues that they could each merit only one vote in combination with the much-bigger House.

Yes, there’s that old issue, as well, of what the charter means by the entire Congress voting on constitutional revisions— whether that means a one-manper-vote system or a one-voteper-chamber basis. No wonder there’s a real need to change the damn thing. *** At this point, what seems plain is that if you want something like revising the Constitution (or anything else, for that matter) done, you don’t ask Congress to do it. Already, Congress seems embroiled in every possible side issue that making big revisions to the charter en-

Chairman Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager Advertising and Marketing Head Circulation Manager

tails—except for the main reason why Duterte wants it done, in the first place.

And what Duterte really wants is to leave behind the centerpiece of his political reform agenda, which is to shift the form of government from unitary-presidential to federalparliamentary. Way before we can get to the point where the people themselves will agree or not to this radical shift in the way we are governed, through a national referendum, we seem to have already lost focus because of the side issues raised by the members of Congress themselves.

If it is really true that Duterte is a man of action, he may have noticed that his plan of letting Congress craft a new constitution to save on a couple of billions is mistaken. And our legislators, even if Lacson’s fears are proven unfounded, would

AFTER four years in detention, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is home at last. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court, voting 11-4, granted her demurrer to evidence and dismissed her case for insufficiency of evidence.

Personally, as someone who has served her government in minor capacities (as a panel member for the negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and as a climate change negotiator), I am happy that she is now free. However, as a Filipino, it is important to ask the question of whether justice was done in the decision of the Supreme Court. If it was, did the Aquino administration commit a grave and serious injustice to the former President by depriving her of her liberties for a good four or so years? On the other hand, if the Supreme Court erred, one can only conclude that an injustice was committed to the Filipino people.

The case stemmed from a complaint in 2012 by the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan for the crime of plunder in connection with the raiding of the Confidential/Intelligence Fund from PCSO’s accounts.

Earlier In 2015, the Sandiganbayan granted the demurrers to evidence of some of Arroyo’s co-accused and dismissed the charge against them. However, it denied those of Arroyo and two others. Claiming that the ruling on their demurrer to evidence was a blatant violation of the plunder law, Arroyo and her remaining co-accused elevated the matter to the Supreme Court.

After due consideration of the submissions by the parties, the Supreme Court ruled that the prosecution did not properly allege and prove the existence of conspiracy among Arroyo and her co-accused Benigno Aguas and Rosario Uriarte. On this score, the Court said: “Despite the silence of the information on who the main plunderer or the mastermind was, the Sandiganbayan readily condemned GMA in its resolution dated Sept. 10, 2015 as the mastermind despite the absence of

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Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Managing Editor Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate Editors Francis Lagniton News Editor Emil P. Jurado

Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Turn to A5 City Editor Senior Deskman Art Director Chief Photographer

Opinion

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s sudden change of mind in amending the 1987 Cory Constitution, either through a Constitutional Convention or through a Constituent Assembly, has given rise to a spirited debate on what method to restructure the unitary, presidential system that we now have into a federal system of government is best.

Obviously, President Duterte’s sudden change of mind came from his many advisers who must have told him that ConAss would be less expensive than a Con-Con, which they say can cost as much as P10 billion. The amount includes a plebiscite that would be called for that purpose at the end.

There are estimates that under ConAss, the government at most would spend only P2 billion to P3 billion.

Another point that led Digong to change his mind is the possibility that the ConCon mode of amending the Constitution would not only concentrate on restructuring the government, but could open the doors to an overhaul of the Cory Constitution considering its many flaws.

Santa Banana, remember that the 1987 Constitution, developed by delegates chosen by the late President Cory Aquino, was a reactionary charter.

The delegates gathered just after the 20-year dictatorship of the late strongman President Ferdinand Marcos.

In fact, the University of the Philippines Law Center identified at least 27 flaws in the Constitution that must be amended to conform to the needs of the times.

The problem of a ConAss as I see it is that those who would be making decisions have become lapdogs of Duterte. To have meaningful change, we need the input of all stakeholders, not from elected lawmakers who are only out to protect their own interests.

I cannot imagine a ConAss working to end political dynasties. I cannot also imagine a ConAss making the pork barrel system illegal and unconstitutional. That would mean the end of graft and corruption in Congress.

And then there is the problem of how the Constitution would be amended—by Congress, composed of both the Senate and the House as a whole, or voting separately?

Santa Banana, I cannot imagine the Senate conforming to what the House wants because it is outnumbered. That the Senate has far fewer members may raise the possibility of the abolition of the Upper House.

Not that I am for it.

President Duterte should not count the cost of having the Constitution amended. That would constitute real change that he had vowed to give the people, which many presidents before him had tried to do but failed. They did not have the people’s support like Duterte now does. In fact, he should capitalize on his 91-percent trust and acceptance rating by the people.

We have been under the presidential system of form of government from the late Emilio Aguinaldo. Santa Banana, that is a period of more than a hundred years!

We began from the provisional government of Biak-naBato to the Malolos Congress, to the Philippine Bill of 1902, to the 1935 Constitution, the Japanese-sponsored Constitution of the late President Jose P. Laurel, to the restored 1935 Constitution after our liberation from the Japanese military forces in 1945, to the 1973 Constitution under Marcos, to the Revolutionary Constitution of 1987, after Edsa 1, and to the current 1987 Constitution of Cory Aquino.

In fact, there was an attempt

to shift from presidential system to a parliamentary system during deliberations for the 1987 Constitution. It failed by one vote, my gulay!

In fact, the presence of party-list members of Congress is an anomaly. The party-list system contemplates a parliamentary system of government patterned after that of Germany where the marginalized could be represented.

This is an anomaly I think because members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and their affiliates have been able to get into the legislative branch of government.

I am glad that President Duterte wants the party-list system in Congress abolished.

It’s an anomaly since members of Congress, duly elected, already represent the marginal-

This is if we want real, meaningful and lasting change. ” ized sectors of the country.

The biggest argument against the party-list system that their participation in Congress has led to the election of the elite, the rich and the affluent contrary to the spirit of the law that marginalized groups should be represented by members of the marginalized groups.

Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile so eloquently said: “If we compare our national circumstance with those of our progressive neighbors in Asia, which by the way are all under the parliamentary system, a strong case can be made to support the conclusion that the presidential system has not worked well for us. Economically, our country has not advanced as much and as fast as our neighbors of Asia did in a far shorter period of time.

Their progress and modernity under the parliamentary system was way beyond what we have accomplished in more than a hundred years under the presidential system.”

Enrile further said that Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Japan are good examples. After World War II, choosing parliamentary government for their political system, these countries moved steadily forward at faster pace.

In our case, we plodded sluggishly during the last century while our neighbors rapidly developed to overtake us and left us behind.

What caused us to be left so far behind? Perhaps, our political system was far less efficient, resilient and innovative than theirs were, Enrile concluded.

Lee Kwan Yew, during his visit to the Philippines in 1992, said that “the Philippines has chosen the most difficult political system to operate, with its checks and balances and gridlock between the executive and the legislature. If this were the system chosen by South Korea, Hong Kong, or we ourselves, we would not have attained the status that we have now.”

Lee, the first prime minister of Singapore, led Singapore to cross over from the Third World to the First World.

It may be argued that there would be a revolving-door kind of leadership under a parliamentary-federal system of government when a vote of lack of confidence by the parliament could mean the ouster of a prime minister. But, my gulay, it is less expensive than what we have now when it takes no less than P5 billion to win the presidency. This is

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Justice has a price tag at the DoJ

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Con-Con is the best option

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA JUSTICE is a very important component in human life.

While a person has a high level of tolerance for poverty, there is a limit to the injustice he can bear. When the cup overflows, expect the unexpected.

During the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, people who filed criminal complaints with the Department of Justice were not required to pay any fees.

More importantly, the respondent—the person accused of committing the crime—was not required to pay any fee, either. The rationale—every person enjoys the constitutional right to be presumed innocent until the contrary is proved.

Requiring the respondent to pay a fee violates the presumption that he is innocent.

Likewise, a criminal accusation against a person got dismissed because there was no probable cause to charge him in court, and not because he did not pay a fee to defend himself.

Nobody in his right mind wants to be sued. That’s why if a person is sued, it is absurd to require him to pay a fee to defend himself, and in a suit he never wanted in the first place.

When Raul Gonzales was Justice Secretary during the administration of President Gloria Arroyo, the complainant was required to pay a filing fee before he can file a criminal complaint. If no fee was paid, the DoJ dismissed the case outright.

The respondent was also re-

Trusting...

From A4 still be the wrong people for the job because they have other, equally important things to do— like passing urgent measures on freedom of information, emergency powers for traffic management and tax reform, to name just three.

Trust issues aside, I don’t believe that Congress will be able to do a good job of working as

Injustice...

From A4

the specific allegation in the information to that effect. Even worse, there was no evidence that substantiated such sweeping generalization x x x In fine, the Prosecution’s failure to properly allege the main plunderer should be fatal to the cause of the State against the petitioners for violating the rights of each accused to be informed of the charges against each of them.”

The Court also noted that the Commission on Audit, though frowning upon PCSO’s comingling of funds, did not rule such co-mingling as illegal. As such, sourcing the requested additional CIFs from one account was not tainted with illegality.

The prosecution also erroneously assumed that the showing of irregularities would necessarily mean that Arroyo had known that Uriarte would raid the public treasury, and would misuse the amounts disbursed. The Court clarified that the application of the doctrine of command responsibility, as implied in this case, is limited, and cannot be true for all litigations.

In the case of Arroyo’s coaccused, Aguas, the Court had why a party in power can easily use government funds to have its candidate win the elections.

Graft and corruption in government is actually a vicious cycle under a presidential system of government. Big businesses contribute to a winning candidate. They do so not because they like the face of the candidate, but because they expect payback when they want their contracts signed.

This is why we should shift to another system of government rather than have Imperial Manila rule over 101 million Filipinos.

quired to pay a separate fee of P50 to be allowed to file his counter-affidavit. If that fee was not paid, the respondent was not allowed to submit his defense, and the complaint was decided solely on the basis of the complaint. That one-sided arrangement almost always resulted in a favorable ruling for the complainant, and a criminal case filed against the respondent. In other words, a respondent could actually end up being an accused in a criminal case in court, not because there is a valid ground to accuse him, but because he did not pay the fee required for him to defend himself! Good grief!

Gonzales explained that the P50 fee was to augment the salaries of the public prosecutors of the DoJ. That was downright anomalous. Under the law, fees collected by the DoJ must go to the national treasury. The DoJ is not allowed to use those fees to augment the salaries of its employees.

Because the public protested the illegal exaction, the DoJ eventually stopped imposing fees on all complainants and respondents.

Lately, however, something stinks in the DoJ, and it’s about fees.

According to the DoJ website which already bears the photograph of Vitaliano Aguirre II, the Justice Secretary of President Rodrigo Duterte, fees are charged for just about anything which prosecutors and investigators of the DoJ are required by law to do in the first place.

For instance, a party suing for estafa has to pay a filing fee pegged against the amount of money embezzled by the re-

spondent. If the amount embezzled is P500,000, the filing fee is P1,000. The fee increases by P10 for every additional P1,000 embezzled—the equivalent of one percent. Thus, if the amount swindled is P100 million, the complainant has to cough up a million pesos in filing fees! Yes, he has to pay a million pesos to get justice from the government!

That fee does not even guarantee a conviction. In all likelihood, the swindler will use part of the P100 million he embezzled to bribe his way through the justice system.

Since he’s a crook, that can’t be farfetched.

The message that the one percent imposition conveys to the criminal world is unsettling —if you want to steal money and get away with it, steal big so the prosecution will find it impossible to pay the filing fee to bring you to justice.

Where is the justice in that?

No wonder contemporary scams involve very large sums of money.

There are other anomalous fees charged by the DoJ. One who files a motion for reconsideration in a preliminary investigation has to pay P500. Huh? What if the initial ruling in the preliminary investigation was manifestly erroneous in the first place?

Why should a party-litigant be required to pay P500 for an error committed by the DoJ investigator? Is that justice?

A motion for reinvestigation costs P500, while a motion for the inhibition of an investigator costs P200. Why should a party-litigant be required to pay hard-earned money to rectify an erroneous investigation, or

to cause the inhibition of an investigator who should have inhibited himself to begin with?

Is that justice?

Criminal complaints involving intellectual property rights cost P5,000. That prohibitive price tag encourages intellectual piracy because most artists cannot afford that amount.

Pleadings filed in preliminary investigations have to be done under an oath administered by a prosecutor. For administering that oath, the party must pay P50. Why should one pay for his right to attest to the truth of his statements submitted to a government investigator? Is that justice?

The fee for a certified true copy of any document from the DoJ or its offices is P30 per page. Since most documents on file in the DoJ are voluminous, a party-litigant must pay almost P1000 per certified document. What happened to President Duterte’s official directive that fees for public documents should be reasonable?

The DoJ conveniently says that paupers are exempted from paying the required fees.

That’s hogwash! For one to avail of the exemption as a pauper, one will have to get various notarized certificates from his barangay and other government offices attesting to his status as a pauper. Since getting those documents costs so much time and money, there is hardly any difference between one required to pay the fees, and one exempted from doing so.

President Duterte should put an end to these illegal and unjust fees, unless he is ready to admit that justice in the DoJ has a price tag.

a charter-revising assembly simply because they already have too much on their plate.

And I’m sure Duterte’s idea of changing the Constitution does not include coming up with a half-assed document, whichever way is chosen to draft it.

Of course, as Alvarez and other supporters of Duterte have pointed out, there is little danger in that happening because it will still be the people who will approve the changes

in a referendum, as the charter itself provides. But wouldn’t it be a lot more efficient to let the people decide on changes that have been vetted and approved by experts on constitutional law, governance and economics instead of letting congressmen muddle their way through to a new charter that would have a greater chance of not getting the people’s support?

Perhaps this is why Noynoy Aquino never even considered

changing the Constitution. Like online relationships, the job of making revisions to the charter often gets too complicated.

When I think of how changing the Constitution under the new administration is falling into the same traps that prevented it from happening in governments past, I remember how Duterte once called for the abolition of Congress itself.

Now there’s an idea I could really get behind.

this to say: “that Aguas’ certifications and signatures on the disbursement vouchers were insufficient bases to conclude that he was into any conspiracy to commit plunder or any other crime. Without GMA’s participation, he could not release any money because there was then no budget available for the additional CIFs. Whatever irregularities he might have committed did not amount to plunder, or to any implied conspiracy to commit plunder.”

The Supreme Court also ruled that there is the absence of proof adduced against Arroyo and Aguas that they amassed, or accumulated, or acquired illgotten wealth of at least P150 million. There was also no evidence, testimonial or otherwise, presented by the prosecution showing even the remotest possibility that the CIFs of the PCSO had been diverted to either GMA or Aguas, or Uriarte. After the prosecution’s main witness conceded lack of any knowledge of the amassing, accumulating or acquiring of ill-gotten wealth of at least P50,000,000.00, there was nothing left of the criminal prosecution for plunder.

To the Supreme Court, the

Sandiganbayan wrongly asserted that the Senate deliberations removed personal benefit as a requirement for plunder.

Contrarily however, the Court stressed that what was removed from the coverage of the bill and the final version that eventually became the law was a person who was not the main plunderer or a co-conspirator, but one who personally benefited from the plunderers’ action. Hence, the requirement of personal benefit on the part of the main plunderer or his co-conspirators by virtue of their plunder was not removed. Accordingly, the Court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the predicate at of raiding the public treasury.

The Court clarified that in order to discern the proper import of the phrase raids on the public treasury, the key is to look at the accompanying words: misappropriation, conversion, misuse or malversation of public funds.

In other words, the prosecution failed to show where the money went or that Arroyo and Aguas had personally benefited from the same. In ruling such, the Court disagreed with the Sandiganbayan that in order to prove the predicate act of raids of the public treasury, there is no need

for the prosecution to establish that the public officer had benefited from such act; and that what needed to be proved only was that the public officer had raided the public coffers.

All told, the Sandiganbayan, according to the Court, gravely abused its discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it completely ignored the failure of the information to sufficiently charge conspiracy to commit plunder against Arroyo and co-accused; and failed to adduce evidence establishing the corpus delicti of amassing, accumulating and acquiring ill-gotten wealth in the total amount of at least P50 million through any or all of the predicate crimes.

On Saturday, I will summarize the dissenting opinions and weigh the question on to whom was the injustice was done in this case. Was it to Arroyo who had to suffer nearly five years of hospital detention, bereft of many privileges of a free person, or to the Filipino people who once again have not been able to exact accountability from their public officials?

As for the push for a federal structure, the President should form a group that could study it.

First of all, having a federal system of government dividing the country into several states cannot be achieved since our roots as a national is tribal. We belong to different tribes.

How can the Visayas, for example, be formed into several states when the Warays of Eastern Visayas (Samar and Leyte provinces) have dialects that are different from those of the Cebuanos of Cebu and Bohol? Likewise, there are the Ilongos of the

Panay and Negros provinces, who do not exactly love the Cebuanos; the former think they are superior than the Cebuanos.

In Mindanao, the Muslims are divided into the Maranaos of Lanao provinces, the Maguindanaons of Cotabato, the Tausogs of Sulu. There are also the indigenous tribes to contend with. And dialect is just one problem.

Throughout the archipelago, there are provinces that are more affluent than others. Thus, the problem of separating them into states under a federal sys-

tem becomes a big problem. In Mindanao alone, among the most poverty-stricken Filipinos are in Muslim provinces. That’s one root of the problem.

Lest I am misunderstood, I’m all for a parliamentary-federal system of government if only to abolish the unitary presidential system we now have.

But I think we should do it through Con-Con instead of ConAss since changing the Constitution should be done by those outside of Congress. This would bring us real, meaningful and lasting change.

Facebook: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylavs

Sports

A6

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Novak whips Kei, wins Toronto title

TORONTO—Minutes after completing a 6-3, 7-5 ATP Toronto Masters final win over Kei Nishikori on Sunday for his 66th career title, Novak Djokovic had already shifted his focus to the Rio Olympics.

The world number one, who claimed his fourth Canadian title with a command performance over Asia’s top player lasting less than 90 minutes, will waste no time in heading south to Brazil for the weekend start of the Summer Games.

“It’s the biggest event in the history of the sport, so to be part of it is already a huge privilege and honour that I will cherish, as I did in Beijing and London Olympic Games,” said the holder of a leading 30 Masters 1000 trophies.

“I had an honor of carrying the flag for my country in London 2012, one of the most unique and unforgettable moments of my life. So I look forward to that, honestly, just being part of it.

“I’m approaching the Olympic Games as any other tournament.

I’m trying to respect the same kind of preparation and routine that I have with my team and that I have respected for so many years.

“It has worked well for us this week and as most of the other weeks the last couple of years.”

Djokovic lifted his game in Canada as the week progressed, sweeping to the title without the loss of

a set and dispatching challenges from Gael Monfils in the semis followed by Japan’s Nishikori.

“The overall sensation (of Rio) is not going to be the same as the other tournaments, because it’s Olympic Games,” he said. “Of course you represent your country.

“You get to feel that you’re part of something much larger than just the tennis event. I look forward to that.

“I’m going to try to extract that positivity out of that huge attention and energy that will be directed into the Olympic Games and hopefully put myself in a position to battle for a medal.”

Djokovic won a bronze medal in Beijing and just missed the podium in London, losing to Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro in the bronze medal match.

‘Everything happens for a reason’ Sunday’s title erased memories of a third-round Wimbledon upset loss a month ago to Sam Querrey.

“Everything in life happens for a reason. The fact that I have lost in the first week of Wimbledon allowed me to have a week more of the time with my family and just the quality time off the tennis, thinking about other things, recharging my batteries, and then coming in here with plenty of motivation to do well. AFP

GATORADE PROMOTES PROPER TRAINING AT NBA FIT WEEK. For the third year in a row, the world’s no. 1 sports drink and the world’s

premier basketball league have teamed up to bring the Gatorade NBA Training Center—a platform that provides elite Filipino athletes and coaches advanced basketball instruction and best practices in fitness and nutrition. Gatorade and NBA flew in Phoenix Suns guard Brandon Knight (fourth from left) and former NBA player DeCovan “Dee” Brown to conduct the exclusive one-day training session at the Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong City. In photo with Knight are (from left) Pepsico Philippines Marketing Manager for Hydration Tony Atayde with Gatorade ambassadors and former Ateneo Blue Eagle Von Pessumal, FEU Tamaraw Mike Tolomia, former UST Growling Tiger Kevin Ferrer and UE Red Warrior Chris Javier.

Lady Tams overpower Benilde spikers in Shakey’s V-League F AR Eastern University overpowered reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association champion St. Benilde and came away with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-18 victory to join University of the Philippines on top of Group B in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Collegiate Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City Monday.

The Lady Tams, champions here in 2014, unloaded 34 attack points, 15 more than the Lady Blazers, who hardly showed the form that steered them past the San Sebastian Lady Stags for the NCAA crown last year.

Bernadeth Pons fired 11 hits while skipper Mary Joy Palma and Toni Rose Basas added 10 points each for the

Lady Tams, who joined the UP Lady Maroons, who swept the San Beda Lady Red Spikers in Saturday’s opener of the mid-season conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s, on top of Group B. The Morayta-based spikers did well in plugging the holes left by their former starting setter Gizelle Sy with coach splitting the role between Maria An-

gelica Cayuna and Kyle Angela Negrito.

Cayuna earned the starting spot and made 19 out of her team’s 36 excellent hits in an impressive start in the league backed by Mikasa as official ball and Accel as official outfitter.

“I just want to expose them both so that I will have two options when we compete in the UAAP,” said FEU coach Shaq delos Santos of her new pair of playmakers.

The Lady Tams took 12 of the first 15 points to set the tone for the rout in the match aired live over ABS-CBN Sports + Channel 17 and 23.

NCAA MVP Jeanette Panaga led St. Benilde with seven hits while Chelsea Santillan had

Games tomorrow

(Philsports Arena, Pasig) 10 a.m. – Perpetual vs PMMS (S Turf) 12 noon – Ateneo vs San Beda (S Turf) 4 p.m. – San Beda vs UST (V-League) 6 p.m. – NU vs SSC-R (V-League)

six points as the Lady Blazers struggled in the face of the Lady Tams’ solid net defense, which produced 10 blocks.

Over in the Spikers’ Turf Season 2 Collegiate Conference, University of Santo Tomas downed National College of Business and Arts, 25-18, 25-20, 25-13, and National U turned back FEU, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22, to earn a share of the early lead in their respective groups.

Arnold Bautista, Jr. and Manuel Andrei Medina unloaded 14 and 10 hits, respectively, as the Tigers outplayed

the NCBA Wildcats for a share of the Group B lead with the UP Maroons.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, drew 12 hits from Bryan Bagunas and 10 markers from Francis Philip Saura as they thwarted the Tams to join the La Salle Archers in the Group A lead.

NU’s win also marked the return of Fauzi Ismail, who won the Finals MVP plum after powering Air Force past Cignal to claim the Open Conference title last month.

Ismail, who missed last UAAP season due to academic reason, contributed seven points.

“We need all the help we can get and we’re happy he’s back,” said NU coach Dante Alinsunurin.

PH pool...

From A7

FEU’s Jemli Malabanan (right) fires away a kill against St. Benilde’s Ranya Musa during their Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference showdown at the Philsports Arena.

Today he fell behind early to Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski and never contended, getting blown out, 9-4.

Notable names who survived to play another day include Germany’s Ralf Souquet, China’s Wang Can, the Philippines Carlo Biado, Poland’s Karol Skowerski and Japan’s Naoyuki Oi. The winners’ side matches in the afternoon presented some brilliant face-offs that would be worthy of a semis and even a finals any day of the week.

Defending Champion Ko Pin Yi once again looked completely impervious as he took down Austria’s Mario He, 9-5.

Several big names failed to qualify today as 2012 World 9-ball Champion Darren Appleton and the Philippines’ Dennis Orcollo both went down to defeat.

Appleton couldn’t fend off the spirited play of Taiwan’s tiny Chu Hong Ming—nicknamed “Peter Pan”—losing 9-7.

Orcollo faced fellow Filipino veteran Ramil Gallego. Orcollo couldn’t get a groove and got swept aside, 9-4. Both players will be back for another go on Judgement Day. The Philippines will be well represented in the knockout stages as along with Gallego, Lee Vann Corteza, Warren Kiamco, Alex Pagulayan (Can-PH) and young gun Johann Chua all advanced.

Ronnie Nathanielsz

Jamili, Parcon top dancesports mid-year ranking tourney GERARD Jamili and partner Cherry Clarice Parcon and German Enriquez and partner Ma. Danella Renee Publico won the 2016 DanceSports Council of the Philippines Inc.’s Midyear Ranking Competition at the Philsports Multi-Purpose Arena in Pasig City recently.

Jamili and Parcon snared the Latin Amateur Grade A title by besting Michael Angelo Marquez and Stephanie Sabalo, (third placer) Wilbert Aunzo and Pearl Marie Cañeda and (fourth placer) Bert Kevin Diluvio and Jam Flores.

Enriquez and Publico captured the Standard Amateur Grade A by beating second placer Tristan John Ducay and Willanne Rose Ducay, third placer Sean Mischa Aranar and Ana Leonila Nualla,

fourth placer Mark Jayson Gayon and Mary Joy Renigen.

This DanceSport event organized by president Becky Garcia was sponsored

by Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Flawless, Calata Corporation, Michelle Lee, Muebles Italiano, Manila Pianos Inc., Caruso Ristorante Italiano, Vitug Beach Resort, Villa Brockman, Giordano, Retro DCG-FM 105.9 and The Greenery Bulacan.

The next DanceSport events are on Sept. 10 for the Cebu Open 2016 and Oct. 15 for the DSCPI Midyear Ranking and Competition at the Philsports MultiPurpose Arena. For inquiries, call the DSCPI Secretariat at 637-2314.

Wanheng eager to retain WBC belt

By Ronnie Nathanielsz WORLD Boxing Council minimumweight champion, unbeaten Wanheng Menayothin is determined to retain his title, which is the only one left of the last two remaining world crowns held

by Thai fighters when he faces Mexican Saúl “Baby” Juárez in Chonburi, Thailand on Tuesday.

The Menayothin title defense comes after WBO bantamweight champion Pungluang Sor Singyu lost his title by a spectacular 11th-round knockout to Filipino southpaw Marlon Tapales in the historic city of Ayyutha last July 27.

Menayothin, who has an impressive record of 42-0-0 with 17 knockouts, is “raring and ready” to take on Juarez, who has a record of 23-4-1 with 12 knockouts, according to the WBC, with both going face to face and eyeball to eyeball, during a tense final press conference.

Menayothin is aware of the approaching Mexican mandatory contender’s challenge, insisting there’s been a “meticulously magnificent preparation.”

On the other hand, Juárez, said he`s calm and very confident of returning to Mexico with the Green and Gold belt on his lap.

Menayothin is defending that prized belt for the fourth time after defeating Japanese contender Go Odaira by a fifthround TKO last March 3 in Thailand.

Juarez, who dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to flyweight contender Milan Melindo on Nov. 15, 2014 in Cebu, scored back-to-back victories over tough Adrian Hernandez and is coming off a unanimous 10-round decision win over former world champion Oswaldo Novoa last March 19.

Forum takes a Rio break

Winners of the 2016 DanceSports Council of the Philippines Inc.’s Midyear Ranking Competition are shown with Flawless Senior Brand Associate Ellisha Aliño, PSC Commissioner Arnold Agustin and DSCPI President Becky Garcia.

THE Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum won’t be having its regular session starting Tuesday to give way to the country’s campaign in the Rio De Janeiro Olympics.The public sports program resumes its weekly forum by August 23, or a few days after the conclusion of the Summer Games.

Sports

A7

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Elite field braces for Aboitiz golf T

HE crack Asian Development Tour field primes up not only for a four-day duel of shotmaking, iron play and putting with the local aces in the Aboitiz Invitational firing off Wednesday but also with the Wack Wack East course that has been spruced up to championship form for a true test of golf.

Although relatively flat, the par-72, 7053-yard layout remains as tough as ever with its tight fairways, hazards that lurk in every corner and trifling putting surface tipped to bring out the best and worst from every player

in the $100,000 event put up by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. It will also be a battle of wits with some holes requiring conservative play and patience, including the signature par-3 188yard No. 8 with an elevated green

more than 5 meters high with six bunkers, long considered as the “make-or-break” hole even for the season pros.

“We have been taking care of the East over the past months and have maintained its tough conditions up to this day,” said Sen. JV Ejercito, also the president of the former home of the Philippine Open.

“At least four holes would require conservative,” he added, referring to No. 8 and the last three holes at the back. “The usual long carry is needed but the fairways are tight, the roughs are in medium cut and the greens are difficult but fair.”

That should guarantee an action-packed duel among the men of the ADT, headed by all but one of the Top 10 players in the current ADT Order of Merit ranking and the country’s leading players, including two-time champion Elmer Salvador and former titlists Jay Bayron and Tony Lascuña.

Jobim Carlos also primed up for the championship, leading his team composed of Mulong Santos, Adrian Tan and Danny Flores to pro-am victory with a 16-under 56 yesterday. Jerson Balasabas, with partners Stephen Gan, Oliver Gan and Chris Tiu pooled a 60 then nipped Indonesian Ian

Andrew and partners Tootsie de Jesus, Hubert Lim and SP Sumulong in the countback for second.

Some of the leading players tested the course in yesterday’s pro-am while the rest will take their turn today, all hoping to at least familiarize themselves with the toughest holes, particularly from the first timers.

“It’s going to be tough but the Filipinos have the edge here, given our local knowledge of the course,” said Lascuna, taking the cudgels for the hosts in the absence of Rio-bound Miguel Tabuena, Angelo Que and last year’s champion Juvic Pagunsan.

Hamilton extends F1 lead in Germany

Cebu’s top league to air on Aksyon TV

By Ronnie Nathanielsz CEBU Basketball’s biggest and fiercely competitive collegiate basketball league—the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.—kicks off its 2016 season with a colorful opening ceremony and the main game between defending champion University of San Jose Recoletos and former champion University of Cebu on Saturday at the Cebu Coliseum.

The games will be telecast over Aksyon TV nationwide, as well as on Cignal, tentatively on a Monday thru Friday schedule, from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

As Viva Sports TV analyst Rico Navarro noted: “Every time August rolls around, Cebu basketball fans are up and excited for Cebu’s most established tournament that traces its roots all the way back to the past 50 years (or more). It remains to be the only long-running basketball show in town, a testament to its rich history and tradition.”

CESAFI’s most popular product is back-to-back PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, who played for the University of Cebu during his

college days.

Also in the star-studded PBA, which has continued to draw large crowds are the likes of former PBA Rookie of the year Greg Slaughter of the University of Visayas and Alaska’s remarkable shooting star, the ageless Dondon Hontiveros of the University of Cebu.

There were several more PBA superstars, who emerged from Cebu such as four-time PBA Most Valuable Player Ramon “El Presidente” Fernandez of University of Cebu, two-time PBA MVP Abet Guidaben of USJR, the late Arnie Tuadles, Bernie Fabiosa, Jojo Lastimosa, Dondon Ampalayo, Al Solis and Boy Cabahug, among others.

As CESAFI gets the wider exposure it richly deserves through the tie-up with Viva Sports and Akyson TV, under the umbrella sponsorship of SMART, the country kicks off another season that would hopefully produce the future stars of Philippine basketball.

It’s game time for CESAFI 2016 on a new and widely watched TV network with a major sponsor in SMART, long associated with Philippine basketball.

OCEAN TRAINING. A Harlequin rugby player swims in the ocean during a Harlequin’s Rugby Club training session at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California. AFP

PH pool stars carry fight in Final 64 of World 9-Ball DESPITE the absence of “The Magician” in Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, the aging superstars of Philippine pool, several Philippine pool stars are in the thick of the fight for World 9-Ball glory at the Al Arabi Sports Club in Doha on Day 2 of the 2016 WPA World 9-ball Championship as 32 players headed for

the exits, while 32 others booked their place in the Final 64 knockout stage.

WPA press officer and ace pool journalist Ted Lerner reported that “misery and joy danced a sultry tango today as 32 players headed for the exits, while another 32 booked their place in the final 64 knockout stage.”

He said all 32 losers-side

matches in the group stage were do-or-die.

“All 32 winners-side matches offered the victor a massive sigh of relief, and a day off as they await the start of the single elimination knockout stage which begins on Tuesday,” he added.

For the 64 players remaining in this year’s World 9-ball Championship, Lerner told the Manila Standard it sim-

ply means that Monday is the “dreaded Judgement Day, when every roll of the ball could spell the difference between a career defining run at glory, or a career sullying walk into the lonely Qatari desert, head in hand, never wanting to show your face in public again. Yes, pool at this level can deliver the ultimate prize and the ultimate shame, and all at the same

time. It’s why fans around the world love world championship 9-ball.”

Easily the biggest shock of the tournament so far came when former World 9-ball Champion and Hall of Famer Mika Immonen quickly got the big boot.

Surprisingly, the always-ready for primetime Finn couldn’t get himself into the thick of the action this year.

Turn to A6

Dubs’ Green apologizes LOS ANGELES—-American basketball star Draymond Green’s build-up to the Rio Olympics hit another snag Sunday after he had to apologize for posting a picture of his penis on social media.

Green dismissed the incident by saying he pushed the wrong button which resulted in the photo being displayed for about 10 minutes on Snapchat before it was taken down.

“We are all one click away from placing something in the wrong place,” said Green, who will represent the USA at the Rio Summer Games in Brazil.

Green’s first reaction after the photo went public was to say on Twitter that he had been hacked.

“Hacked..... Can’t win right now,” he tweeted.

He later told reporters at the USA’s practice facility in Houston that the photo was “meant to be private”.

Earlier this month, the Golden State Warriors player reached a plea agreement that allows him to avoid jail time after he allegedly slapped a football player from Michigan State University. He will have to pay $60 restitution and was hit with a $500 fine for the incident. AFP

JONES CUP CHAMPS HERE. Mighty Sports Apparel, representing the Philippine basketball team, which

won the recent 38th Jones Cup Championship in Taipei, arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday from Taipei. The team, headed by team manager Jean Michael Alabanzo and head coach Bo Perasol, told newsmen that they owe it to overseas Filipino workers based in Taipei, who supported them in the tournament. Perasol said the team, which only had two weeks of preparation, became the first champion team from the Philippines since 2012 when Gilas Pilipinas won. Eric Apolonio

Gingoog hosts Football for a Better Life on Aug. 6, 7 THE city of Guingoog becomes the football center in the region this weekend (Aug. 6, 7), with the opening of the initial leg of the 2016 Football For A Better Life program, a 10-leg, nationwide grassroots football development series featuring football clinics and pocket age-group competitions.

Aside from the host prov-

ince of Misamis Oriental, participants in the two-day program to be held at the People’s Grandstand and organized by Spears Activiation and PR and sponsored

by PRU Life, in cooperation with different local government units and local football associations and Gawad Kalinga, are expected to come from Cagayan de Oro,

ADT OOM frontrunner Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand, winner of the Yeangder ADT in Taiwan last March, is spearheading the foreign challenge along with No. 2 Johannes Veerman of the US, No. 3 Gavin Green of Australia, No. 4 Itthipat Buranatanyarat and No. 5 Poom Saksansin, both of Thailand.

The Filipinos have ruled the first five editions of the annual event backed by ICTSI and co-organized

by ADT and Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. but the hosts could be in for a tough week with the elite foreign field all focused for the top $17,500 purse staked in the 72-hole championship.

Butuan, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Bukidon, Malabalay, Valencia, Camiguin, Cabadbaran, and El Salvador City.

The football clinic scheduled on the first day will be supervised by Project Director and former Azkal skipper Chieffy Caligdong.

It will have selected participants from Balay Pan-

garap and other DSWD shelters, from public and private schools and barangays that have been invited.

For the competition on the second day, the different age groups are 8-under, mixed, 10-under, mixed, 12-under boys, 14-under for boys and girls, 16-under , also for boys and girls, and 18-under , boys and girls plus men’s and wom-

en’s, according to competition chairman Stephen Boy Pascual from the local organizing group, the Misamis OrientalCamiguin-El Salvador-Cagayan de Oro. The FFABL is on its second year already and aside from talent identification, the program also supports the U-14 national boys’ team and the Azkals.

HOCKENHEIM, Germany— Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship to 19 points after winning the German Grand Prix with ease on Sunday, as Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg toiled to fourth.

Home hero Rosberg surrendered his lead from pole with a dreadful start to the Briton, who stormed away to claim his sixth win in seven races and strengthen his grip in the title chase.

Second was Daniel Ricciardo, with Max Verstappen, his young Red Bull team-mate, third.

Reigning world champion Hamilton took full advantage of the poor start by Rosberg, who also received a five second pitstop penalty for an over-aggressive passing move, to deliver a flawless drive.

“I had a great start and my engineers gave me a perfectly balanced car,” Hamilton, who started second on the grid, told the Hockenheim crowd from the podium.

“I am so happy to be here and to win for Mercedes Benz—I have been with them since I was 13.

“Today it was about staying cool and I didn’t make any mistakes and in my heart I felt I did a great job. For me, yesterday wasn’t perfect, but you learn from those things.”

For Rosberg, who was seeking to repeat his 2014 triumph, it ended up as a day of bitter disappointment.

“A tough one, yes, very tough,” said the 31-year-old. “Really difficult. For me, the start went completely wrong—none of it was good. There was a lot of wheelspin and it caught me by surprise.

“It was not like that in the practice starts before the race and it was very difficult for me after that.”

The home fans had another German to cheer as four-time champion Sebastian Vettel finished fifth ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, who was seventh on home turf for Force India.

Briton Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, finished eighth ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India.

Rosberg toils In front of a big race-day crowd who had come to see Rosberg grab back the title lead, it was Hamilton who was to seize the initiative from the off.

As the lights went out, the 31-year-old produced a perfect departure to dash past his team-mate.

The German’s poor start also allowed both Red Bulls to surge past him with Verstappen squirming wide to the left to pass Ricciardo and take second as they rushed into the sweeping right-hander Turn One. AFP

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

P0 M+ P0 M

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

A8

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

Sports

Perpetual tries to stay near leader San Beda

By Peter Atencio

Everything clicked for Walker Jimmy Walker of the United States celebrates his eagle on the 17th hole during the final round of the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. AFP

S

PRINGFIELD—Jimmy Walker said he never would have dreamed after missing the British Open cut two weeks ago that he would be the next man to hoist a major golf trophy.

But the 37-year-old American pulled off the astonishing feat Sunday at the PGA Championship, sloshing 36 holes across soggy Baltusrol and outdueling top-ranked defending champion Jason Day down the stretch to win.

“It’s surreal,” Walker said. “I just had not quite played as well as I would have liked to this year.

“Just to be in it and be there and have a chance and then to finish it off is just so gratifying.

It’s amazing.”

Walker had not won since the US PGA Texas Open 16 months ago, falling from the top 10 to 48th in the world rankings. But when he shared 21st at the Canadian Open between the British Open and

PGA, Walker had an epiphany.

“Some stuff kind of clicked last week, literally in the last like nine holes,” Walker said.

“Everything felt good. I kept it going. Finished off the round.

Finished off the nine holes. It felt big to me. Like everything worked, like my head was there.

I was in every shot.”

In the final round, Walker chipped in from 45 yards to birdie the 10th hole. When Day answered with a 22-foot birdie at the 11th, Walker rolled in a 30-footer on the same hole minutes later to reclaim a two-shot lead.

Walker sank an eight-foot birdie putt at 17 only to have Day eagle the 18th, forcing Walker to save par from the greenside

rough. He sank a tense 3-foot par putt and the Wanamaker Trophy was his, along with $1.8 million (1.6 million euros).

“Incredible finish, it really was. Just puts a smile on my face,” Walker said. “Has not even really sunk in yet. It has been a whirlwind. But it’s awesome.”

And totally unexpected, Walker said.

“I wouldn’t have called this, but it’s huge,” Walker said. “It’s nice to get in the position and keep the hammer down and keep making birdies and keep playing well.

“Kept working hard. It’s just nice to see it pay off.”

It helped that Baltusrol was where he met his caddie, Andy

Sanders, at a US Amateur practice round.

“We’ve been together a long time. And to win our sixth event, first major, here where we met, that’s just cool,” Walker said. “It’s special for both of us. It’s pretty emotional. He grinded it out this week.

He did a great job.

“He reads putts great.

Didn’t let me hit a shot until I was ready. Made sure everything was good. We did a great job this week communicating and talking shots. Just we were in sync.”

Day, Walker are bus buddies Adding to the chemistry— Day is another of Walker’s pals as the two park beside each other at events in their motor homes.

“We’re the bus guys out here,” Walker said. “We park next to each other every week and we see each other and we’re good friends.”

Day is a happy member of the bus buddies club.

“Me and him have been like bus partners for awhile now,” Day said. “We text each other all the time about him getting a new bus and I’m showing him mine.

We’re always parked right next to each other, always hanging out. We see each other all the time. He’s a top bloke.”

Walker joined Masters winner Danny Willett of England, British Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden and fellow American Dustin Johnson, the US Open winner, as the first foursome of first-time major winners in the same year since 2011.

“It shows that everybody is really good and everybody’s got a chance to win,” Walker said. “It’s just a matter of time.

That’s what I felt about myself and winning something like this.”

Phelps lives up to ‘Destroyer’ tag

By Jeric Lopez AFTER scoring 52 points in his debut for Phoenix in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup last Sunday, Eugene Phelps impressed a lot of people instantly.

His own coach Ariel Vanguardia also was convinced that he can do more serious damage in the PBA to make a name for himself and help the campaign of the Fuel Masters, who went on to list their first win the tournament, a 120-107 triumph over GlobalPort.

“He (Phelps) is ‘El Destructor’ and ‘The Destroyer’. He

immediately showed why he’s the destroyer,” said Vanguardia of his prized new import. “If he can dominate Puerto Rico, he can dominate the PBA as well.”

Vanguardia shared that former Talk ‘N Text coach and now Indiana Pacers’ assistant coach Bill Bayno lent him a hand and was the one who recommended Phelps.

“It was Coach Bill Bayno, who suggested Phelps and he was right about him,” said Vanguardia.

The rookie coach said that he regretted not tapping Phelps immediately as the team’s reinforcement.

“Malaking bagay itong bagong import namin. It was my mistake not bringing him in earlier,” said Vanguardia.

Phelps replaced the ineffective Marcus Simmons three games into Phoenix’s bid in the conference and he quickly introduced himself with a bang.

His 52-point production, the most in the league this season, led Phoenix to its first victory of the tournament.

And this he did after losing a tooth from a wayward elbow

by GlobalPort import Mike Glover in the third quarter of their game.

Eugene Phelps made a lot of heads turn with his 52-point debut, powering Phoenix past GlobalPort, 120-107, Sunday night.

STAYING close to the sololeading San Beda Red Lions will be the goal of the University of Perpetual Help Altas and the Arellano University Chiefs when they confront separate rivals Tuesday in the 92nd National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

The Altas, behind Nigerian big man Bright Akhuetie, are out to extend their three-game winning run when they clash with the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals at 12 noon.

Their string of victories included a 71-68 triumph over the Lyceum Pirates Friday, giving the Altas a share of second spot with a 5-2 card. The Red Lions are up ahead with their 7-0 slate.

Akhutie has been leading the Altas with his averages of 18.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game.

He will face off with 6’11” Cameroonian Hamadou Laminou, who is coming off a game, where he made 18 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks to power the Generals to a 73-67 triumph over the San Sebastian Stags, Friday.

“It wil be a good game because we expect them to play us strong as they also have a good import in Laminou,” said Perpetual Help coach Jimwell Gican.

The Chiefs, who need to beat the Lyceum Pirates in their 2 p.m. showdown, found themselves in a four-way tie at second with Perpetual Help, Mapua and defending champion Letran after routing the St. Benilde Blazers, 70-59, also last Friday.

The Chiefs are not expected to take it easy against the Pirates.

“We can’t underestimate Lyceum because we can also see how well they’re playing the past few games,” said Arellano mentor Jerry Codinera of Arellano.

Later, Jose Rizal University (2-4) goes up against San Sebastian (1-6) at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Arellano University Braves and the Junior Pirates pulled off a pair of big wins.

The Braves survived a closely fought encounter with the defending champion San Beda Red Cubs and escaped with an upset, 93-90, while the Lyceum Junior Pirates clobbered the University of Perpetual Junior Altas, 117-93, to move in contention for a Final Four slot.

The Braves fortified their hold on the solo lead with their eighth straight win, putting the Red Cubs in an unfamiliar situation, which is in second spot with their first loss in eight matches.

Teodoro Cecilio Jr. shot 18 points, including 10 in the third period as the Junior Pirates finally tightened on their fullcourt pressure defense and claimed their fourth win in eight outings, moving to a share of fourth with the La Salle Greenhills Greenies, the Junior Altas and the Letran Squires.

PH boxers get Aussie support

Marestella shooting for a memorable finish

RIO DE JANEIRO—The head coach of the Australian boxing team in the Rio Olympics will help man the Philippine corner when the competition begins Aug. 6 at the Riocenter Convention Center.

Kevin Smith, who comes from Liverpool, will assist Filipino coach Nolito “Boy” Velasco when Filipino boxers Rogen Ladon and Charly Squarez see action on opening day.

Or until the Filipino boxers remain in the medal hunt.

Velasco is the lone Filipino coach who was accredited to the Rio Games which fires off on Aug. 5 at the Maracana Stadium.

The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines lobbied hard for an additional coach to assist Velasco but was

RIO DE JANEIRO—Longjumper Marestella TorresSunang wants to make sure that her third and last Olympics will be the most memorable.

Sunang is in her mid-30s and is now a mother.

But she said this did not stop her from making it to her third straight Olympics since 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in London.

In both her previous tries, the 2009 Asian Championships gold medalist and four-time champion in the SEA Games fell

denied in their appeal.

Velasco needs of a helping hand.

Smith, who served as consultant with the Philippine boxing team a couple of years ago, has agreed to assist Velasco out in the Philippine corner.

If needed, another Australian coach, Don Abnett, will be on hand to lend assistance.

Velasco, in turn, will also reinforce the Australian corner, and serve as cutman for the Aussie squad fielding two entries in the men’s division and one in the women’s side.

“Tulungan lang,” said Velasco.

The ABAP, headed by Ricky Vargas, has planned to send an assistant coach, Romeo Brin, here to Rio at the last minute.

short of expectations.

This time, she said Sunday here in Rio de Janeiro, should be different.

“Sana maka-perform ako ng maganda (I hope to perform well),” said Sunang, who drew all the support from track and field chief Popoy Juico in her long road to Rio. “She really wanted this and I saw how hard she worked to get to her third Olympics. She deserves to be there,” said Juico from Manila.

Sunang, the most senior

member of the 12-strong Philippine team to this Rio Games, is leaving no stone unturned.

“Sobra ang hirap na pinagdaanan ko sa training (I went through hardships in training),” said Sunang, who will compete in the long jump event here on Aug. 16.

With a new personal best of 6.72 meters, Sunang said she has a chance of making it to the finals of the Olympics for the first time.

“Ang target ko talaga is malampasan ang personal

best ko (I want to surpass my personal best). Para may chance umabot sa finals (Then there’s a chance to get to the finals),” she said.

Torres knows who’s around when the competition begins, and they include competitors who can do 7s on any given day.

“As long as ma-match or malampasan ko personal best ko, I have a chance to reach the finals,” she insisted.

“That will be the best finish in the Olympics. Eto na ang last ko (This is my last),” she said.

SM Prime’s income grows 12% to P12.6b B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

B1

Dominguez rejects VAT hike

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

T

HE Finance Department said Monday it will not support an increase in the 12-percent value added tax rate, which was proposed by some sectors to offset possible revenue losses from the reduction in income and corporate taxes.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said he was “inclined against” the proposal to increase the VAT rate and that he preferred to improve the collection efficiency of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“There has been a proposal to increase the VAT rate to 14 percent [from the current 12 percent] to offset the income and corporate rate cut. I am inclined against that proposal,” Dominguez said during the 112th founding anniversary of BIR in Quezon City.

“By some estimates we could double VAT collections simply by being more efficient in collecting it,” Dominguez said.

President Rodrigo Duterte in his first State of the Nation Address announced a plan to reduce income and corporate tax rates.

Dominguez said the coming years would be more difficult for tax-collection agencies particularly the BIR, following Duterte’s pronouncements.

He said the proposed tax cuts were necessary to improve the public’s purchasing power and make companies more competitive.

“We should be able to compensate for this rate reductions by rapidly broadening the tax base and improving VAT collection efficiency,” he said.

Dominguez told BIR employees the country needed more infrastructure, moderate population growth and more investment to create more jobs.

“How can the BIR contribute to that? We need more revenues to spend on infrastructure. We need help and encouragement from the BIR to our taxpayers so that we become a more investment-friendly country,” Dominguez said.

BIR is tasked to collect about P2.026-trillion revenues in 2016 to fund most of the P3.002-trillion budget.

Aside from improving the efficiency in tax collection, the Finance chief also pushed for the reorganization of the Large Taxpayers Unit, which was responsible for the bulk of collections of the government.

“I can not imagine that we only have 2,800 so-called ‘large taxpayers.’ The number should at least be double that,” he said.

“We have to grow our rev-

enues faster. The current tax efforts among our neighbors run as high as 17 percent. The last time we reached that, I think the first and the last time we reached that, was under the leadership of Commissioner [Liwayway-Vinzons] Chato, and I think we should congratulate her for that. We should challenge Commissioner Dulay to reach and improve that record,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said if BIR could fix its “image problem” as one of the most corrupt offices in government, it could emerge into a more trustworthy agency.

He also proposed to bring down the average age of BIR employees to a 35 years old by hiring younger people.

“It might help if BIR is able to hire younger people into its service. I think we should bring that down to probably 35, have big efforts towards hiring young, well-educated college graduates. I think it should be a major program,” he said.

BDO’s net income climbs 13% to P13b

By Julito G. Rada BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender controlled by tycoon Henry Sy, said net income in the first half jumped 13 percent to P13.2 billion from P11.7 billion a year ago on the strength of core businesses.

The first six months’ performance was also slightly ahead of the bank’s net income target of P26 billion this year.

BDO said in a statement this was a result of broad-based improvement across the bank’s businesses and a one-time gain from the consolidation of BDO Life.

“The bank’s core lending, deposit-taking and fee-based businesses drove the bank’s performance during the period,” it said.

Customer loans grew to P1.4 trillion, outpacing the industry with a 21-percent increase. Total deposits went up by 17 percent to P1.8 trillion, driven by the 23-percent jump in low-cost deposits. As a result, net interest income advanced 17 percent to P31.7 billion.

Fee-based service income rose 18 percent to P10.6 billion, generated from the bank’s investment/wealth management, payments/ electronic banking, capital markets and insurance businesses.

Trading and foreign exchange income normalized and contributed P2.9 billion in the semester.

Other income inclusive of one-time gain from the consolidation of the bank’s life insurance business settled at P8.6 billion. Without consolidation effects and one-off gains, other income grew 13 percent.

IN BRIEF Japan firm buys SPi

RELIA Inc., one of the largest business process outsourcing companies in Japan, acquired the customer relationship management business of SPi Global in the Philippines, the United States and Nicaragua.

“SPi CRM is a natural and strategic fit for Relia. Maulik [Parekh] and his management team has built a strong company with a culture similar to ours focused on creating significant value for its employees, its clients and its investors,” Relia president Jun Nakagome said.

Parekh is the president and chief of executive of SPi Global.

“With our combined strengths, we will give birth to one of Asia’s biggest BPO providers with over 30,000 employees in over 40 locations serving 700 clients globally, many of them Fortune 100 companies,” Nakagome said.

PLDT Inc. earlier sold 80 percent of SPi Global to CVC Capital Partners for $300 million in 2013 while the country’s largest telco kept a 20-percent stake in the BPO service provider that started in the Philippines.

Darwin G. Amojelar

P9b spent in Quezon plant

SAN BUENAVENTURA Power Ltd. Co., a company led by Meralco PowerGen Corp., spent an initial P9.4 billion to build a 455-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon.

Meralco PowerGen senior vice president Angelito Lantin said construction of the stateof-the-art super-critical coal-fired power plant started and was expected to be completed by 2019.

A notice to proceed was issued to the main engineering and procurement contractors Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd. of South Korea and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan.

A separate notice to proceed was issued to the contractors for the transmission line and switchyard upgrade.

“The P42.1-billion financing was secured in 2015 following the signing of a project finance agreement with a consortium of local banks,” Lantin said.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held in December 2015, which signaled the start of construction of the power facility that would provide baseload supply in Luzon.

Alena Mae S. Flores

New coal station rising

THE Energy Regulatory Commission granted a provisional certificate of compliance to Palm Concepcion Power Corp. for the 135-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Iloilo province.

Palm Concepcion, a joint venture of Palm Thermal Consolidated Holdings Corp., a subsidiary of A Brown Company Inc. and Jin Navitas Resource, Inc., owns the 2-by135-MW circulating fluidized bed combustion coal-fired power plant in Barangay Nipa, Concepcion, Iloilo.

“PCPC was granted the provisional COC after careful determination by ERC of the company’s compliance with the financial, technical, and environmental requirements,” Palm Concepcion senior vice president Winifredo Pangilinan said in a statement.

The provisional certificate will be eventually replaced by a final certificate as advised

by ERC. Construction of the power plant was already 99.5-percent completed as of end July while commissioning was expected to be completed by first week of August.

The power plant will supply electricity to the Visayas Grid. Alena Mae S. Flores

AUSTRALIA

B2

Business

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market rises; banks advance

T

HE stock market jumped Monday on fading expectations of a US interest rate increase this year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index surged 106.70 points, or 1.3 percent, to 8,069.81 on a value turnover of P7.3 billion. Gainers beat losers, 120 to 82, with 41 issues unchanged.

Banks drove the market higher, led by BDO Unibank Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands and Security Bank Corp. BDO, the biggest lender in terms of assets, rose 1.3 percent to P114.70, while BPI, the fourth-largest, advanced 2.6 percent to P98.50.

Security Bank Corp., the sixthbiggest lender in terms of capital, gained 1.4 percent to P222.

PLDT Inc., the largest tele-

communications company, climbed 2.1 percent to P2,136, while Cebu Air Inc., operator of the biggest budget airline, advanced 4.3 percent to P113.70.

Shanghai equities, meanwhile, took a hammering from weak Chinese manufacturing data.

Friday’s report showing the world’s number one economy expanded just 1.2 percent yearon-year in April-June poured cold water on speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates before year-end.

It also came hours after the Bank of Japan disappointed investors by deciding against

ramping up its stimulus programme.

The two events stung the greenback, which ended Friday just above the 102 yen mark, well down from levels around 106 yen touched the day before.

In afternoon Asian trade, the dollar edged up slightly against the Japanese currency to 102.47.

But it lost ground against the South Korean won, Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit, which jumped 0.8 percent.

“The [US growth] was a massive miss, so I’m not surprised by the huge dollar selloff that ensued,” Thomas Averill, a managing director in Sydney at Rochford Capital, told Bloomberg News.

“The immediate risk at the moment is for a bit of further

weakness in the US dollar on the moderated monetary tightening view.”

Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.4 percent, having recovered from early losses fuelled by the strong yen, while Taipei and Singapore posted healthy gains.

Hong Kong closed up 1.1 percent, Sydney ended 0.5 percent higher and Seoul jumped 0.7 percent.

But Shanghai ended down 0.9 percent after China’s official purchasing managers’ index of manufacturing activity indicated the sector shrank last month.

It was the first time since February that the official figures have shown a contraction. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had predicted it would flat-line. With AFP

SSS members urged to pay stock accounts

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE Social Security System said Monday pension fund members should take advantage of recent stock market gains to settle their overdue accounts.

SSS officer-in-charge of the member loans department Esperanza Salvado said borrowers with delinquent accounts under the previously-offered Stock Investment Loan Program and Privatization Fund Loan Program should capitalize on the bullish market.

“The stock market performance

THE STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 0.92 2.6 890 1.01 100 1.46 91.5 137 80 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 0.74 1.02 625 0.225 78 0.9 62 88.35 52 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

AG Finance 3.69 Asia United Bank 47.4 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 113.20 Bank of PI 96.00 China Bank 38.1 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 4.06 Bright Kindle Resources 1.75 COL Financial 16.5 Eastwest Bank 20.9 Filipino Fund Inc. 7.00 First Abacus 0.7 I-Remit Inc. 1.96 Manulife Fin. Corp.

590.00 MEDCO Holdings 0.610 Metrobank 94.95 Natl. Reinsurance Corp. 0.92 Phil. National Bank 62.80 Phil. Savings Bank 101.7 Philippine trust Co. 460 PSE Inc. 282 RCBC `A’ 32.3 Security Bank 219 Sun Life Financial 1450.00 Union Bank 71.60 Vantage Equities 1.5

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92

20.6 125 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 3.95 4 74 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.86 7.34 1450 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17

15.32 62.5 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 1.06 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 2.3 1.63 33 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 1.65 5.9 801 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 1.2

Aboitiz Power Corp.

45.25 Agrinurture Inc. 3.5 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.89 Alsons Cons.

1.9 Asiabest Group 12.9 Cemex Holdings 11.9 Century Food 16.78 Chemphil 152 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 163 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 22.2 Concepcion 58 Crown Asia 2.33 Da Vinci Capital 5.77 Del Monte 12.88 DNL Industries Inc. 9.930 Emperador 7.44 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.87 EEI 9.70 Euro-Med Lab 1.83 First Gen Corp.

25.9 First Holdings ‘A’ 70.8 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.00 Holcim Philippines Inc. 16.46 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.74 Ionics Inc 2.400 Jollibee Foods Corp.

255.00 LMG Chemicals 2.1 Mabuhay Vinyl 4 Macay Holdings 32.00 Manila Water Co. Inc. 25.95 Maxs Group 28.5 Megawide 11.18 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 324.00 MG Holdings 0.270 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.42 Petron Corporation 10.68 Phil H2O 3.4 Phinma Corporation 11.60 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 5.98 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.73 Pryce Corp. `A’ 3.55 RFM Corporation 4.28 Roxas and Co. 2.3 Roxas Holdings 3.78 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 216 Splash Corporation 3.04 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.151 TKC Steel Corp.

1.96 Trans-Asia Oil 2.33 Universal Robina 200.4 Victorias Milling 4.51 Vitarich Corp.

1.39 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.28

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 911 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 5.29 9.25 0.85 381,000 17.3 5.53 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 974 1.66 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.225 0.23 634.5 260 7.390 12.8 2.6 1.15 2.26 0.152 837 5.3 49.55 3 4.84 0.59

Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.395 Aboitiz Equity 78.00 Alliance Global Inc. 16.16 Anglo Holdings A 1.25 Anscor `A’ 6.20 ATN Holdings A 0.390 ATN Holdings B 0.395 Ayala Corp `A’ 870 BHI Holdings Inc. 1250.00 Cosco Capital 8.04 DMCI Holdings 13.02 F&J Prince ‘A’ 6.15 F&J Prince ‘B’ 6.3 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

6.91 Forum Pacific 0.230 GT Capital 1540 House of Inv. 6.75 JG Summit Holdings 83.50 Keppel Holdings `A’ 5.82 Lopez Holdings Corp.

7.64 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

FINANCIAL 3.7 3.5 47.5 47.2 115.40 113.50 98.70 96.35 38.3 38 4.10 4.05 1.72 1.66 16.5 16.2 20.9 20.3 6.86 6.86 0.7 0.7 2 1.96 590.00 580.00 0.660 0.610 95.4 94.9 0.92 0.91 63.30 62.75 101.5 101.5 450.2 450 284.6 279 32.6 32.2 223 219.2 1460.00 1430.00 72.70 71.90 1.54 1.5 INDUSTRIAL 45.55 45 3.56 3.49 0.9 0.85 1.89 1.85 12.9 12.5 12.18 11.76 16.78 16.52 140.1 140.1 163 160.1 22.45 21.85 58 56.8 2.34 2.32 5.95 5.76 13.04 12.88 10.080 9.880 7.50 7.44 5.90 5.81 9.70 9.55 1.73 1.73 25.8 25.6 71.8 70.7 12.00 12.00 17.18 16.50 5.77 5.72 2.510 2.400 259.80 251.00 2.1 2.1 4.19 4 32.00 32.00 26.45 26.1 28.95 28.45 11.2 10.68 325.00 323.00 0.270 0.265 3.42 3.42 10.84 10.66 3.35 3.1 11.66 11.52 6.05 5.89 1.73 1.70 3.55 3.5 4.34 4.26 2.3 2.3 3.8 3.8 216 215 3.05 3.04 0.157 0.149 2.02 1.96 2.34 2.33 204.8 202 4.6 4.4 1.57 1.38 1.29 1.28 HOLDING FIRMS 0.405 0.385 79.55 77.40 16.26 16.02 1.27 1.23 6.29 6.20 0.410 0.390 0.410 0.400 887.5 870.5 1600.00 1010.00 8.18 8 13.08 12.84 6.95 6.34 7.2 6.95 7.10 6.91 0.226 0.221 1597 1550 6.88 6.70 85.00 83.60 5.82 5.82 7.78 7.63 0.75 0.77

12 4.2 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 751 1.13 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

LT Group Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion San Miguel Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

15.6 7.5 0.0340 1.250 1.970 82.00 689.00 1.26 193.000 0.3200 0.2040 0.305

15.98 7.58 0.0350 1.250 1.950 83.00 709.00 1.28 194.500 0.3300 0.2040 0.305

10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 5.6 7.1 1.44 1.97 1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94

6.74 12 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 2.8 4.6 0.79 1.1 0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13

8990 HLDG Anchor Land Holdings Inc. A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings Cebu Prop. `A’ Cebu Prop. `B’ Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld

7.850 6.90 1.27 2.360 0.280 39.500 3.22 5 5.8 5.76 0.630 1.09 1.040 0.162 0.650 57.4 0.830 1.11 1.95 1.20 5.03

8.000 6.94 1.29 2.450 0.275 40.100 3.27 5.02 5.6 6.3 0.64 1.09 1.060 0.184 0.680 57.6 0.830 1.13 1.98 1.23 5.08

15.74 7.36 0.0340 1.240 1.930 81.55 691.00 1.26 193.500 0.3250 0.2000 0.300 PROPERTY 7.820 6.50 1.26 2.360 0.275 39.500 3.23 5.02 5.6 6.35 0.610 1.09 1.060 0.160 0.650 55.25 0.820 1.08 1.94 1.20 5.02

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.68 47.5 114.70 98.50 38.1 4.05 1.68 16.3 20.35 6.86 0.7 2 580.00 0.630 95.25 0.92 63.30 101.5 450 283 32.5 222 1430.00 72.65 1.54

-0.27 0.21 1.33 2.60 0.00 -0.25 -4.00 -1.21 -2.63 -2.00 0.00 2.04 -1.69 3.28 0.32 0.00 0.80 -0.20 -2.17 0.35 0.62 1.37 -1.38 1.47 2.67

79,000 26,800 2,188,240 1,392,680 74,700 121,000 510,000 30,400 253,400 3,700 4,000 19,000 540 3,599,000 2,450,900 90,000 108,330 350 60 2,030 224,300 1,903,490 325 567,160 9,000

70,000.00 920,825.00 136,650,786 50,414,672.50 114,600.00

45.5 3.53 0.88 1.85 12.5 12.16 16.78 140.1 160.1 22.25 57.2 2.33 5.78 13 10.000 7.47 5.90 9.55 1.73 25.75 71.5 12.00 16.88 5.74 2.420 251.00 2.1 4.01 32.00 26.2 28.95 11.12 323.80 0.270 3.42 10.72 3.35 11.66 5.95 1.70 3.55 4.27 2.3 3.8 216 3.05 0.157 1.97 2.34 204.4 4.4 1.5 1.29

0.55 0.86 -1.12 -2.63 -3.10 2.18 0.00 -7.83 -1.78 0.23 -1.38 0.00 0.17 0.93 0.70 0.40 0.51 -1.55 -5.46 -0.58 0.99 0.00 2.55 0.00 0.83 -1.57 0.00 0.25 0.00 0.96 1.58 -0.54 -0.06 0.00 0.00 0.37 -1.47 0.52 -0.50 -1.73 0.00 -0.23 0.00 0.53 0.00 0.33 3.97 0.51 0.43 2.00 -2.44 7.91 0.78

1,722,800 630,000 366,000 708,000 11,000 11,571,300 320,900 10 1,610 9,933,200 1,650 2,111,000 94,000 591,100 4,329,600 1,012,300 4,326,100 475,000 2,000 1,212,500 167,310 5,700 725,600 152,200 4,787,000 633,860 5,000 96,000 4,500 814,500 119,800 7,993,600 78,640 90,000 215,000 2,334,700 2,000 50,100 681,700 754,000 124,000 135,000 1,000 4,000 330 138,000 13,210,000 1,092,000 1,511,000 2,066,480 71,000 103,265,000 129,000

0.400 77.90 16.26 1.24 6.29 0.400 0.400 886.5 1448.00 8.15 13.08 6.6 7.2 7.00 0.221 1590 6.85 83.70 5.82 7.78 0.73

1.27 -0.13 0.62 -0.80 1.45 2.56 1.27 1.90 15.84 1.37 0.46 7.32 14.29 1.30 -3.91 3.25 1.48 0.24 0.00 1.83 0.76

850,000 1,394,600 3,731,500 40,000 5,100 8,690,000 300,000 274,880 325 5,570,600 5,931,300 991,800 44,800 600,900 690,000 139,000 26,300 1,400,870 100 1,654,000 1 .

15.9 7.58 0.0350 1.240 1.940 81.55 708.50 1.27 193.500 0.3250 0.2040 0.300

1.92 1.07 2.94 -0.80 -1.52 -0.55 2.83 0.79 0.26 1.56 0.00 -1.64

5,437,600 40,685,900 27,700,000 8,000 423,000 63,800 334,320 307,000 2,820 2,260,000 300,000 420,000

25,458,460.00 61,525,974.00 68,000.00

7.880 6.94 1.26 2.450 0.275 40.000 3.25 5.02 5.6 6.35 0.610 1.09 1.060 0.180 0.660 55.25 0.820 1.12 1.96 1.23 5.08

0.38 0.58 -0.79 3.81 -1.79 1.27 0.93 0.40 -3.45 10.24 -3.17 0.00 1.92 11.11 1.54 -3.75 -1.20 0.90 0.51 2.50 0.99

519,000 8,100 1,262,000 1,157,000 10,000 6,001,100 5,240,000 2,000 99,100 200 10,988,000 1,000 5,000 260,120,000 11,815,000 2,095,250 1,249,000 5,069,000 10,945,000 47,000 21,047,000

1,098,789.00

-1,779,715.00

42,700.00 27,325,340.00 9,100.00 1,595,602.50 -309,850.00 5,215,400 30,026,674.00 817,905.00 -9,009,795.00 77,450.00 34,800.00 21,965,032.00 -3,599,418.00 1,178,140.00 566,440.00 49,064.00 16,279,682.00 4,044,010.00 5,999,625.00 228,679.00 6,912,670.00 3,680,679.00 1,915,424.00 -123,051.00 -10,240.00 -11,264,916.00

-10,433,370.00 -1,182,725.00 4,244,704.00 -2,690,168.00 735,300.00 4,122,414.00 667,250.00 35,860.00 277,950.00

365,900.00 -22,800.00 498,620.00 168,307,086 -5,576,000.00

-13,550,461.00 -20,116,020.00

-12,760,095.00 1,047,755.00 24,837,248.00 -23,040.00 210,000.00 38,178,845.00 3,894,787.50 3,722,703.00 3 3

733,255.00 37,291,335.00 16,250.00

-270,690.00 26,737,590.00 1,097,380.00

-15,280.00 -124,750.00 -1,154,760.00 17,583,630.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 900 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59 10.5 66 1.44 1.09 28.5 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 2.6 7.67 4 1700 2720 8.41 70.5 1.97 119.5 7 5.8 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 2.53 3.2 1 2.46 15.2 1.040 22.8 6.41 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1 11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9 0.0098 5.45 17.24 0.330 12.7 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016 70 8.21 12.28 1060 1047 78.95 84.8

6.98 15 12.88 130.7

STOCKS

Close

High

0.090 0.290 0.39 23

MRC Allied Ind. 0.119 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2900 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.475 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

0.125 0.2900 0.475 39.00

0.114 0.2900 0.475 38.10

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

0.122 0.2900 0.475 38.05

17.24 16.02 17.24 33.00 32.00 32.50 1.81 1.79 1.79 3.44 3.25 3.38 30.00 28.85 29.85 0.95 0.93 0.95 1.060 1.030 1.040 6.100 5.910 6.060 S E R V I C ES 1.97 2GO Group’ 7.35 7.35 7.3 7.3 35.2 ABS-CBN 49.4 50 49.2 50 1 Acesite Hotel 1.23 1.25 1.23 1.23 0.63 APC Group, Inc. 0.610 0.610 0.590 0.590 18.2 Berjaya Phils. Inc. 5.8 5.8 5.72 5.72 8.6 Bloomberry 5.60 5.75 5.56 5.75 0.0770 Boulevard Holdings 0.1140 0.1140 0.1070 0.1090 2.95 Calata Corp.

2.87 3.08 2.9 2.98 56.1 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 109 114 108 113.7 1.6 Discovery World 1.86 1.9 1.9 1.9 4.8 DFNN Inc. 5.55 5.50 5.25 5.50 2.58 Easy Call “Common” 3.26 3.28 3.26 3.28 830 FEUI 939.5 949.5 949.5 949.5 1600 Globe Telecom 2268 2260 2236 2252 5.95 GMA Network Inc. 6.33 6.34 6.30 6.30 Golden Haven 16.18 16.18 15.60 16.12 17.02 Grand Plaza Hotel 22.00 21.95 20.30 20.30 1.23 Harbor Star 1.19 1.22 1.16 1.20 102.6 I.C.T.S.I. 64 65.1 64.5 64.7 3.01 Imperial Res. `A’ 21.30 21.25 19.84 19.92 4 Imperial Res. `B’ 175 175 165.1 175 0.011 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.0090 0.0090 0.0088 0.0089 IPM Holdings 9.38 9.38 9.35 9.35 0.041 Island Info 0.335 0.345 0.335 0.335 1.200 ISM Communications 1.7500 1.7800 1.7300 1.7600 2.34 Jackstones 2.66 2.73 2.73 2.73 LBC Express 12.8 13.96 12.8 13.18 6.5 Leisure & Resorts 6.54 6.50 6.38 6.39 1.91 Liberty Telecom 3.02 3.07 3.02 3.03 1.01 Lorenzo Shipping 1.06 1.08 1.06 1.06 1.95 Macroasia Corp.

2.55 2.58 2.57 2.58 0.650 Manila Bulletin 0.580 0.620 0.580 0.620 1.8 Manila Jockey 2.02 2 2 2 6 Melco Crown 3.21 3.48 3.2 3.48 Metro Retail 5.59 5.60 5.39 5.50 0.37 NOW Corp.

3.400 3.430 3.380 3.400 14.54 Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 12.04 12.08 11.94 11.94 3 PAL Holdings Inc. 5.32 5.35 5.30 5.30 79 Phil. Seven Corp.

137.50 137.50 136.00 136.00 4.39 Philweb.Com Inc. 15.66 15.56 15.00 15.00 2748 PLDT Common 2092.00 2144.00 2092.00 2136.00 0.435 PremiereHorizon 0.455 0.490 0.455 0.465 1.2 Premium Leisure 1.120 1.140 1.100 1.110 31.45 Puregold 48.00 48.85 47.80 48.00 60.55 Robinsons RTL 86.10 87.00 85.00 85.50 SBS Phil. Corp.

6.34 6.43 6.34 6.39 7.59 SSI Group 3.19 3.24 3.16 3.24 0.63 STI Holdings 0.640 0.650 0.630 0.640 5 Travellers 3.6 3.59 3.57 3.57 0.315 Waterfront Phils.

0.330 0.330 0.330 0.330 1.14 Yehey 6.660 6.700 6.500 6.700 MINING & OIL 0.0043 Abra Mining 0.0043 0.0043 0.0041 0.0042 1.72 Apex `A’ 3.19 3.29 3.12 3.12 6.47 Atlas Cons. `A’ 4.25 4.26 4.25 4.26 0.236 Basic Energy Corp.

0.230 0.234 0.230 0.234 6.5 Benguet Corp `A’ 6.8500 6.95 6.55 6.9500 0.85 Century Peak Metals Hldgs0.62 0.62 0.6 0.61 0.77 Coal Asia 0.485 0.485 0.480 0.485 5.99 Dizon 8.56 8.56 8.03 8.51 1.17 Ferronickel 0.870 0.880 0.870 0.870 0.305 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.290 0.295 0.290 0.290 0.2130 Lepanto `A’ 0.230 0.233 0.230 0.232 0.2160 Lepanto `B’ 0.245 0.244 0.242 0.244 0.013 Manila Mining `A’ 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 0.014 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 3.240 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 1.79 1.79 1.75 1.75 18.96 Nickelasia 5.72 5.79 5.68 5.79 2.11 Nihao Mineral Resources 2.92 2.95 2.83 2.9 0.365 Omico 0.5600 0.5600 0.5600 0.5600 1.54 Oriental Peninsula Res. 1.0900 1.0900 1.0900 1.0900 0.012 Oriental Pet. `A’ 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.013 Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 5.4 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 4.13 4.10 4.10 4.10 7.26 Philex `A’ 8.70 9.06 8.70 8.79 2.27 PhilexPetroleum 4.00 4.10 3.98 4.00 0.015 Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 115.9 Semirara Corp.

119.40 121.00 119.20 120.00 3.67 TA Petroleum 3.65 3.79 3.67 3.7 0.0100 United Paragon 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 PREFERRED 33 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 49.3 51.5 49.1 49.2 DD Pref 104.5 106 104.4 104.6 5.88 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.1 6.1 6.09 6.09 6.5 Leisure and Resort 1.07 1.07 1.06 1.07 997 PCOR-Preferred A 1045 1043 1043 1043 PCOR-Preferred B 1125 1125 1125 1125 1011 PF Pref 2 1021 1025 1025 1025 PNX PREF 3B 115 108.7 108.7 108.7 74.5 SMC Preferred B 76.5 77.5 77.5 77.5 75 SMC Preferred C 81.7 81.7 81.1 81.1 SMC Preferred E 79 79 79 79 SMC Preferred F 79 79 79 79 SMC Preferred H 77 77.15 76.95 76.95 SMC Preferred I 77.1 77.25 77.2 77.25 WARRANTS & BONDS 0.8900 LR Warrant 2.680 2.650 2.500 2.590 SME Alterra Capital 4.89 5.2 4.89 5.02 3.5 Makati Fin. Corp.

3.56 3.7 3.56 3.7 Italpinas 5.55 5.62 5 5.24 5.95 Xurpas 17.98 18.08 17.74 18 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 105.6 First Metro ETF 131 132.3 130.9 132

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

15,925,201

INDUSTRIAL

183,704,704

HOLDING FIRMS

111,424,116

PROPERTY

371,658,862

SERVICES

441,018,461

-10,744,110.00

MINING & OIL

1,132,365,495

49,182,593.00

GRAND TOTAL

2,264,939,858

16.32 32.00 1.78 3.26 29.20 0.94 1.050 6.000

Low

2.52 0.00 0.00 38.10

11,090,000 50,000 190,000 - 2 . 3

5.64 1.56 0.56 3.68 2.23 1.06 -0.95 1.00

1,833,200 799,300 704,000 24,000 11,744,300 549,000 865,000 5,940,900

-343,800.00 -4,020,995.00 -359,540.00

-0.68 1.21 0.00 -3.28 -1.38 2.68 -4.39 3.83 4.31 2.15 -0.90 0.61 1.06 -0.71 -0.47 -0.37 -7.73 0.84 1.09 -6.48 0.00 -1.11 -0.32 0.00 0.57 2.63 2.97 -2.29 0.33 0.00 1.18 6.90 -0.99 8.41 -1.61 0.00 -0.83 -0.38 -1.09 -4.21 2.10 2.20 -0.89 0.00 -0.70 0.79 1.57 0.00 -0.83 0.00 0.60

305,500 43,000 200 1,042,000 17,000 3,505,300 284,300,000 10,270,000 2,152,180 2 779,100 5,000 10 110,480 208,100 600,200 1,300 140,000 508,410 78,700 410 42,000,000 40,000 11,450,000 736,000 10,000 125,800 925,300 43,000 28,000 26,000 80,000 9,000 7,091,000 11,298,500 2,203,000 191,600 22,700 13,640 138,100 174,720 18,010,000 30,966,000 2,130,100 731,820 231,600 1,075,000 2,649,000 762,000 20,000 17,900

-1,881,355.00

-2.33 -2.19 0.24 1.74 1.46 -1.61 0.00 -0.58 0.00 0.00 0.87 -0.41 -7.69 0.00 -2.23 1.22 -0.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.73 1.03 0.00 -7.69 0.50 1.37 0.00

1,060,000,000 306,000 9,540.00 14,000 570,000 2,000 766,000 120,000 6,800 5,631,000 964,830.00 120,000 11,680,000 1,050,000 2,100,000 8,100,000 1,100,000 35,800.00 6,287,300 -5,700,675.00 6,000 10,000 193,000 21,100,000 200,000 33,000 7,644,800 1,906,992.00 2,930,000 5,630.00 900,000 482,350 13,714,923.00 84,000 -72,250.00 900,000

-0.20 0.10 -0.16 0.00 -0.19 0.00 0.39 -5.48 1.31 -0.73 0.00 0.00 -0.06 0.19

17,800 178,430 187,500 602,000 300 1,850 9,980 5,000 96,180 15,500 339,100 2,500 147,100 32,700

-3.36

1,513,000

-56,100.00

2.66 3.93 -5.59 0.11

2,637,000 33,000 5,141,500 1,015,000

-126,250.00

0.76

5,820

1

-2,617,320.00 -11,143,330.00

-5,203,842.00 -114,830.00 354,210.00 94,205,952.00 1,900.00 1,235,885.00 -47,538,730.00 100,480.00 -6,076,301.00 -17,500.00

86,500.00 1,819,924 -54,180.00 -497,180.00 31,847,869.00 68,200.00 -20,310.00 41,310.00 7,010,440.00 -43,200.00 -17,371,340.00 27,779,455.00 -13,760,500.50 635,460.00 46,580.00

20,290.00 -1,567,500.00 -596,313.00

-7,453,950.00 -812,412

585,036.00 -3,186,200.00 -47,544.00

VALUE 1,839.51 (up) 23.32 1,368,712,523.9243 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 12,189.83 (up) 53.62 1,572,624,432.951 HOLDING FIRMS 7,971.78 (up) 116.40 1,687,460,263.46 PROPERTY 3,618.02 (up) 47.96 1,664.88 (up) 18.38 1,040,391,999.305 SERVICES MINING & OIL 11,167.62 (up) 24.62 1,396,446,467.552 PSEI 8,069.81 (up) 106.70 190,919,813.95 All Shares Index 4,791.96 (up) 41.15 7,315,650,875.349 Gainers: 120; Losers: 82; Unchanged: 41; Total: 243

this year has been highly encouraging. We call on delinquent SILP and PFLP borrowers to avail now of the Option to Sell Shares of Stocks Program to secure generous gains from unloading their stocks.

More importantly, it helps stop their debt burden from further ballooning,” she said.

Launched in February 2015, the program enables borrowers to sell their stocks using their SILP and PFLP loans at the prevailing market price as determined by an SSS-accredited stock broker.

The resulting proceeds, net of the broker’s commission, taxes and other fees, would be applied to the outstanding SILP or PFLP loan balance, and to other delinquent member and housing loans, if any. Any excess amount from the sale of stocks would be refunded to the borrower.

“If the generated funds from the sale of stocks are inadequate to cover the overdue SILP or PFLP loan balance, the member can pay the remaining amount in cash, or through deduction from salary loan renewal or from final benefit claims. But until the loan is fully paid, the usual monthly penalties and interest will apply,” Salvado said.

The SSS has registered 1,115 accounts that have benefited from the option to sell stocks program as of the end of June 2016, with collections from the overdue SILP and PFLP payments reaching P63.56 million.

“However, there are still nearly 7,700 SILP and PFLP accounts that remain unpaid. If their loans remain delinquent, the borrowers’ principal, penalties and interest would be deducted from their final benefit claims such as retirement, total disability or death,” Salvado said.

Globe rollout starts

By Darwin G Amojelar GLOBE Telecom Inc. said on Monday it submitted a three-year coverage rollout plan to the National Telecommunications Commission as part of the conditions set by the regulator when it acquired the assets of San Miguel Corp.

Under the three-year plan, Globe committed to provide mobile services, including voice, texts and data to 95 percent of municipalities and cities in the country by the end of 2018, using the additional spectrum it acquired from San Miguel.

Globe lawyer Froilan Castelo said his company started to implement the rollout plan in June and would deploy about 4,500 multiband, multimode software defined radio base station equipment and capacity upgrades to improve overall customer experience in terms of speed and reliability of its mobile services.

Globe currently provides mobile broadband services across its entire network, having fully upgraded to 100 percent 4G network, while more than 60 percent of its sites are now equipped with LTE for mobile broadband services.

Just after two months of gaining access to the spectrum assets, Globe has already upgraded over 25 cell sites with LTE 700 megahertz and more than 600 cell sites with additional 2600 MHz spectrum and about 1,500 cell sites with additional 1800 MHz spectrum as part of the company’s commitment to improve mobile internet speeds within one year.

Business

B3

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

UnionBank’s profit climbs 30% to P3.9b

By Julito G. Rada

Responsible mining is not an oxymoron IT IS imprudent and inappropriate for a Chief Executive to appoint as head of a Cabinet department an individual who is a declared critic of the institutions and people who comprise his or her constituency. That is a formula for disaster, at the very least. Yet, President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed an established critic of the Philippine mining industry, Regina Lopez, as head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which is the mother agency of MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau).

Secretary Gina Lopez has never made any bones about her disdain for Philippine mining people and their operations. She believes that they now are, and always have been, ravagers of the environment.

She thinks that the Philippine mining industry is incapable of operating responsibly. In her opinion, responsible mining is an oxymoron.

That is the Secretary’s opinion, and she is entitled to it. But it is an incorrect opinion. The Philippine mining industry as a whole does not have a record of irresponsibility. Responsible mining is not an oxymoron in this country.

Zeal in a person is a wonderful thing and Secretary Gina is to be commended and praised for her zeal in protecting this country’s environment. But like many things in life, zeal can often be excessive.

The Secretary’s zeal appears to have gotten the better of her where the Philippine mining industry is concerned. Borrowing an expression from the shipping industry, we seem to have a case of “woman overboard” here.

Filipinos should be proud of the fact that their country is a major player in the world markets for gold, copper, nickel and chromite and a significant player in the world markets for a number of other metals.

The Philippine supply position always figures in the setting of world market prices for gold, copper, nickel and other important metals.

And all that Secretary Lopez has to say is that responsible mining is an oxymoron in this country.

From the day that it exported its first shipment of gold early in the 20th century, the company that was founded by American judge John Hausermann, Benguet Consolidated Mining Co. Inc., has been regarded with respect in world mining circles. The same has been true in the Philippine capital and securities markets, where Benguet Consolidated has always been regarded as a blue-chip stock.

Benguet Consolidated was joined by several leading copper producers—ACMDC (Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp.), Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corp., Philex Mining Corp. and Marinduque Mining and Industrial Corp.—in the blue-chip section of thenManila Stock Exchange when mining shares dominated the securities market. The record of these mining companies was never marred by charges of irresponsible behavior and unethical operating practices. Canadian Philippine joint venture, Marcopper Mining Corp.,which began operations in the 1970s, was charged and found guilty—rightly—of pollutive practices in Marinduque.

Mineral products exports, especially copper concentrate, were one of the main props of the Philippine economy in the four decades following World War II, joining coconut products, sugar and timber in the Big Four of Philippine export trade. Not only has the mining industry been instrumental in the development of the national economy but its operations provided the impetus for the development of the areas in which the likes of Benguet Consolidated have been operating. The fortunes of municipalities like Mankayan in Benguet, Toledo City in Cebu and Masinloc have strengthened and the lives of their residents have improved because of the revenues—for the local governments as well as for the local citizenry—that the mining companies have created. Without the economic difference that the companies have made, these places would likely have remained fifth-class and sixth-class municipalities.

The individuals behind the major gold and copper, nickel and iron ore industries—the Hausermanns, the Sorianos, the Brimos, the Cabarruses and the Elizaldes—and their people took care of the communities and citizenries in which the companies operated. They practiced responsible mining. They showed that mining and a sense of responsibility can go together.

So did the mining industries in the countries that depended on, and became prosperous from mining: Canada, South Africa, Australia, the US, Chile and others. Some companies in those countries have from time to time been charged with environmentally harmful behavior, but I do not recall anyone in those countries—not in their countries, not on their private sectors—declaring, in blanket fashion, that responsible mining is an oxymoron. It is not.

This is not to say that there have been no cases of irresponsible mining in this country. Doubtless there have been. Truth to tell, this country’s mining laws appear to have been administered with considerable laxity in recent decades. Irresponsible mining is not fatherless; its father is bad administration of the mining laws. With Bureau of Mines (now the MGB) officials approving every mining application that is placed under their noses, irresponsible mining is bound to ensue.

But now there is Secretary Gina on her high white horse, declaring “Responsible mining is an oxymoron” to all and the world. Please get off your high horse, Gina, and take a long hard look at the overall situation. Many people admire your courage and your devotion, but the nation’s mining policy is too important a matter to be left to one person, no matter how well-meaning. =000= Correction. Many columns ago, I stated that the late popular Makati mayor Maximo Estrella was convicted in connection with a street-reflectors case. I was wrong and I sincerely apologize to his family and friends.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

FRENCH AMBASSADOR’S VISIT. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez

(left) meets with French Ambassador to the Philippines Thierry Mathou to discuss future plans and programs in strengthening the two countries’ economic ties. France, as the third largest economy in the European Union is among the countries which support the Philippines’ advocacy on developing small and medium enterprises especially in the creative services and startup sector. Both countries look forward for the next Philippines-France Joint Economic Commission that will be held in the Philippines in 2017.

UNION Bank of the Philippines, the financial arm of the Aboitiz Group, said net income rose 30 percent in the first half to P3.9 billion from P3 billion a year ago.

The bank attributed the significant growth to recurring income from net interest as well as fee-based profits.

“This significant increase shows that our income is definitely sustainable. Loans, investment, total deposits and digital channel growth – channels for our core income – were the key drivers,” Union Bank president and chief operating officer Edwin Bautista said in a statement.

“With this, we have been able to demonstrate the scalability of our infrastructure as well as our drive to further improve our products and services that take on a more customer-centric approach,” he said.

Net interest income rose 30 percent to P7.3 billion as a result of the year-on-year expansion in loan portfolio. Fee-based income grew 11 percent to P2 billion which came from an expanded customer base in both loans and deposits.

Meanwhile, other non-interest income fell because of lower trading gains. Expenses grew 6 percent to P5.3 billion as the bank focused on business and branch expansion in the first six months.

Total assets hit P439 billion as of end-June, which came in as relatively flat compared to year-end 2015.

Higher yielding assets in the form of loans and investment securities posted a double-digit growth. Loans and other receivables grew12 percent to P202 billion, on robust growth across all business segments.

Investment securities, which are mostly at amortized cost, increased 10 percent to P121 billion. Deposits grew 8 percent to P336 billion, with demand deposits posting a 10 percent year-todate increase to P115 billion.

The bank allocated P1 billion for capital expenditure this year.

UnionBank currently has 300 branches nationwide.

SM Prime’s income grows 12% to P12.6b

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

M PRIME Holdings Inc., the leading integrated property company owned by the Sy family, said core net income grew 12 percent in the first half to P12.6 billion from P11.2 billion a year ago, on higher revenues from mall operations and residential developments.

SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock exchange first-half consolidated revenues increased 9 percent to P39.2 billion.

Mall operations, which accounted for 60 percent of total revenues, rose 9 percent to P23.6 billion from P21.7 billion in the previous year, while the residential group, which accounted for 34 percent of consolidated

revenues, posted a 6-percent increase to P13.2 billion from P12.5 billion.

“SM Prime’s integrated development program in the Philippines that is geared more towards provincial expansion sustained its financial performance in the first half of the year. SM Prime is wellpositioned for higher growth given that the Philippines’ economic

upturn is starting to spread in the provinces,” SM Prime president Hans Sy said.

SM Prime said the growth in mall revenues was driven by the 7-percent rise in same-malls sales and contribution from the new retail space that were added in the past two years.

Mall operations in China, which accounted for 9 percent of mall revenues, rose 8 percent to P2.1 billion from P1.9 billion in the first half of 2016.

SM Prime has a total of 58 malls in the Philippines and six in China with total gross floor area of 8.5 million square meters.

The company is scheduled to open two more malls this year, including Cherry SM Congressional in Quezon City and SM

City East Ortigas in Pasig City.

SM Prime is also expanding SM Center Molino in Cavite and SM City San Pablo in Laguna this year.

Meanwhile, SM Prime’s residential group posted reservation sales of P22.6 billion in the first six months, up 20 percent from a year level.

It also posted an 18-percent increase in the number of units sold to 8,091 units from 6,868 units in the same period last year.

SM Prime’s commercial properties group also recorded a 51-percent increase in revenues to P1.1 billion, boosted by the opening of SM Cyber West in Quezon City and Five E-Com Center in Pasay City, with a combined GFA of 171,000 square meters.

Duterte appoints mining director

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

MDH-LAWSON PARTNERSHIP. Manila Doctors Hospital signs a memorandum of agreement with Japanese convenience store operator PG Lawson Company Inc. Shown during the signing of the agreement are (from left) MDH business development division head Noel Jonathan See, hospital director Hian Ho Kua, PG Lawson assistant to the chief executive Kimihiko Shinagawa and authorized representative Maricel Joyag

More counterfeit cigarette traders fall LAW enforcement agencies continued the crackdown on fake cigarettes as more traders of the contraband were arrested in separate operations in Quezon province and Zamboanga City.

National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Zhiyi Yang (alias Teddy), a Chinese national, in a buybust operation at Ipil Public Market in Barangay Ipil, Zamboanga City.

The suspect, who was found with an expired visa, was caught selling fake Mighty and Marvels brand cigarettes.

In Quezon province, policemen from the PNP Pagbilao, Quezon station arrested three traders who were also found selling fake Mighty and Marvels cigarettes.

Arrested were Rowena Marino Navarro, 35; Rosele Marino Culla, 38; and Pedrita Digno Dalisay, 57, during a buy-bust operation at

Pagbilao Public Market.

Representatives from Mighty Corp., manufacturer of Mighty and Marvels brands of cigarettes, confirmed that the suspects in Zamboanga City and Pagbilao, Quezon were selling fake products with a total of 160,000 sticks of Mighty and Marvels cigarettes.

Meanwhile, Nueva Ecija policemen arrested Marty Maliwat, 41, in another buy-bust operation of the same fake cigarette variants in Barangay Sto. Rosario, Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija. The suspect was immediately placed in police custody for proper disposition.

Authorities said the suspects will be charged with violating Republic Act 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code. They said the suspects were also liable for violating RA 7394 or the Consumer Protection Act.

Several persons were arrested in the past few months for selling fake Mighty and Marvels cigarettes including a certain Arnel Contado in Quezon, Isabela province, who was nabbed by barangay officials in a public market.

Policemen arrested Kevin Co Ong, a store owner in Barangay Sta. Teresita, Quezon City, for selling fake Mighty Menthol soft pack and Mighty Full Flavor King Size variants.

NBI operatives from the bureau’s Cabanatuan District Office in Nueva Ecija arrested Jeffrey de Guzman Castro, alias Puroy de Guzman, of Esguerra Village, Barangay Esguerra in Talavera, Nueva Ecija for possession of large quantities of fake Mighty Full Flavor, Mighty Menthol 100s, Marvels Filter Kings and Marvels Menthol 100s.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte appointed Mario Luis Jacinto as the new head of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, replacing long-time mining chief Leo Jasareno.

Duterte issued Presidential Directive No. 002, Series of 2016, designating Jacinto as MGB director corollary to his appointment as undersecretary at the Environment Department.

Jacinto will have the authority and supervision over the organization and operations of the Environmental Management Bureau and oversee the effective and successful implementation of its programs, activities and projects.

He was also tasked to assist the DENR Secretary by ensuring that all actions pertaining to permits, clearances, certificates, personnel recruitment, movements and appointments are authorized to be signed, issued by, or delegated to the DENR Secretary.

The directive was signed on July 26, 2016.

Jacinto earlier served as MGB regional director in Region 11.

He also earlier served as city planning officer in Davao.

MGB is an attached agency of DENR which is in charge of taking direct charge in the administration and disposition of mineral lands and mineral resources. It also promulgates rules and regulations, policies and programs relating to mineral resources management and geosciences developments.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

B4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

Business

Dollar near one-month low as Fed pauses hike

By Kevin Buckland and Netty Ismail

T

HE dollar was near its weakest level in a month after traders pushed back expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase until September next year.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed following a 1.7 percent slide last week, its biggest since April, after an official report showed second-quarter US gross domestic product expanded at less than half the rate economists had forecast. Morgan Stanley warned the worst is still to come for the greenback as the economy deteriorates further. The won and the ringgit each rose at least 1 percent Monday with the South Kore-

an currency touching the strongest since June 2015.

“The GDP was a massive miss, so I’m not surprised by the huge dollar selloff that ensued,” said Thomas Averill, a managing director in Sydney at Rochford Capital, a currency and rates risk-management company. “The immediate risk at the moment is for a bit of further weakness in the US dollar on the moderated monetary tightening view.”

The dollar’s gauge rose less

than 0.1 percent at 7:32 a.m. in London from Friday, when it slid 1.3 percent and touched the lowest level since July 1. The US currency advanced 0.1 percent to $1.1164 per euro. The greenback rose 0.4 percent to 102.50 yen, after tumbling 3.1 percent in the previous session. The US currency has dropped at least 0.6 percent against 16 major peers since Thursday.

The Bank of Japan said Friday it will almost double its annual exchange-traded fund purchases to 6 trillion yen ($59 billion), while leaving bond buying and its negative deposit rate unchanged. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to unveil a 28 trillion yen fiscal stimulus package Tuesday. That plan will now shoulder the main burden of stoking expectations for growth

and inflation.

“Dollar-yen is rebounding after being sold off too aggressively,” said Takuya Kanda, a senior researcher at Gaitame. com Research Institute Ltd. “But, if upcoming data strengthens the scenario where a rate increase next month isn’t possible, dollar-yen could break 100 this week.”

Futures signal 36 percent odds of higher US rates by year-end, down from a 48 percent probability a week ago. The first month where traders see better than even odds for an increase has been pushed back to September 2017 from March.

Investors are underestimating how many times the US central bank will raise interest rates this year and next, but they are probably right about the pace being

slower than previously thought, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said. “It is premature to rule out further monetary policy tightening this year,” he said in remarks prepared for a speech Monday at a conference in Bali.

The dollar tumbled 1.2 percent to 4.0232 ringgit, set for its biggest drop since March 30. It slid 1.1 percent to 1,108.18 won, after weakening to 1,108.05 won.

“A lot of the G-4 currencies are at negative yields,” said Kelvin Tay, regional chief investment officer at UBS Group AG’s wealth management business in Singapore, referring to the Group of Four. “That means that the emerging-market currencies, especially the higher yielding ones, will be more attractive.”

Bloomberg

Uber opts to merge with rival in China BEIJING—Ride-sharing giant Uber is to give up its ferocious battle for market share in China by merging its operations with local rival Didi Chuxing, reports said Monday.

The deal will give Uber a 20 percent share in the combined firm, which will be valued at $35 billion, Bloomberg News reported.

Both companies have spent billions of dollars on subsidies for drivers and passengers, as well as trading vitriolic accusations, as they fought for dominance in the potentially lucrative market.

As reported, the structure of the agreement leaves Didi Chuxing in unquestioned control of the sector in the world’s second-largest economy.

By “shedding its massive losses” in the country, Uber will help clear its way to a future flotation, Bloomberg said.

The Wall Street Journal said a formal announcement could come as early as Monday.

A blog post circulating on Chinese social media purportedly written by Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said: “I’ve learned that being successful is about listening to your head as well as following your heart.”

Uber China had “exceeded even my wildest dreams” as “most US technology companies struggle to crack the code there,” he said.

But both firms were “investing billions of dollars in China and both companies have yet to turn a profit there”, he added.

“Getting to profitability is the only way to build a sustainable business that can best serve Chinese riders, drivers and cities over the long term.”

China-based spokesmen for both Uber China and Didi Chuxing did not immediately respond to requests for comment by AFP. The reports come days after Chinese authorities announced new rules governing ridesharing, making clear for the first time that they may operate legally in the country.

The new rules will also forbid ridesharing platforms to operate below cost, possibly restricting their scope to offer subsidies. AFP

France air strike worsens PARIS―Thousands of people faced flight cancellations in France on Sunday, the fifth day of a strike by Air France flight crew at the height of the holiday travel period, the airline said.

So far the strike has affected around 150,000 people, the airline said.

Some 900 flights, or about one in five, have been canceled since the action began on Wednesday, the airline said, estimating the cost to the company at “tens of millions of euros.”

Some flights have gone ahead but with a reduced passenger load for security reasons as there were not enough flight attendants.

Millions of people are returning home from their July holidays this weekend as millions more set off for an August break, causing long tailbacks on the roads and frenetic scenes at rail stations and airports.

Unions representing around half of the Air France strikers called the stoppage after marathon talks failed to reach a breakthrough on renewing a collective labor accord on rules, pay and promotions that expires in October.

Management wants to limit the extension of the agreement to 17 months, while unions are asking for between three and five years.

Talks are at an impasse, union leader Christelle Auster said Sunday, threatening a new strike following the current action, which ends Tuesday.

Air France has also grappled with pilot strikes. The last one took place June 11-14, right at the start of Euro 2016 football championships. The airline estimated that stoppage cost it some 40 million euros ($45 million). AFP

Singapore forms unit vs illegal fund flows

HK housing rebound likely to be short-lived HONG KONG’S secondary property prices rose in the second quarter, marking a pause in a correction that analysts said may resume amid higher supply and weaker demand.

Secondary property prices advanced 1.6 percent in the three months ended June 30, compared with a drop of 4.8 percent in the prior three months, according to figures released Friday by the Rating and Valuation Department. Analysts from Nomura Holdings Inc., CIMB Securities Ltd. and CLSA Ltd. are among those predicting that the rebound would be short-lived.

Home prices in Hong Kong have fallen 11 percent from a peak in September and sales have tumbled, amid slower growth and economic uncertainty. While diminished concerns about a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and a stock market rebound improved buyer sentiment in the second quarter, there are many headwinds including looming supply, analysts said. The government forecasts that 18,203 new units will be completed this year, part of a pipeline of 93,000 expected in the next three to four years.

“This correction is multi-

year, not several quarters,” said Jeffrey Gao, a property analyst at Nomura, who expects prices will need to drop 25 percent to 35 percent from last year’s peak before the market stabilizes. “In the upcoming months sentiment will be better and volume and price could edge up, but it’s not really bottoming out.”

Raymond Cheng, a property analyst at CIMB Securities, said that the overall downward trend remains in place in light of the large expected increase in supply as part of government drive to make housing more affordable.

“In the past two months sentiment has improved because of the equity market and the US didn’t raise rates, but on the fundamental side, especially the supply side, there haven’t been any changes,” Cheng said.

Sellers of existing homes will also have limited pricing power in a market where they have to compete for buyers. Developers including Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. and Henderson Land Development Co. are engaging in aggressive marketing techniques offering discounts of as much as 20 percent and mortgage financing of 120 percent Ronnie Chan, chairman of Hang Lung Properties Ltd., said the market is entering a phase of “relative stability,” despite nervousness about conditions outside Hong Kong including the rise of terrorism, the pending US election, a slowdown in China and Brexit.

“Looking ahead, I don’t see prices rising sharply, nor do I see prices precipitously dropping,” he said.

Nicole Wong, head of property research at CLSA in Hong Kong, said the secondquarter rebound was driven by people who jumped into the market when prices didn’t plunge as much as they’d expected.

SINGAPORE―Singapore’s central bank on Monday formally launched a unit to fight money laundering, strengthening the financial hub’s safeguards against illicit fund flows.

Officials of the Monetary Authority of Singapore have said plans to create the special unit predated a continuing scandal involving state fund 1MDB in neighboring Malaysia and banks operating in Singapore.

“But these recent developments have indeed underscored the merits of bringing together supervisory resources from across MAS to give a centralized focus on combating money laundering,” a spokesman for the MAS said in June when it announced the creation of the unit.

Singapore last year opened an investigation into fund flows linked to 1MDB. In May this year it expelled Switzerland’s BSI Bank for “gross misconduct” related to the Malaysian fund.

Last month, Singapore revealed it had seized nearly $180 million in assets through its investigations into suspected fraud and money-laundering linked to 1MDB. Half those assets were connected to Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian businessman close to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The MAS on Monday confirmed it was examining the extent of Goldman Sachs Singapore’s involvement in 1MDB bond deals.

US regulators last week said they had issued subpoenas to the American investment bank asking for documents related to its dealings with 1MDB. “As our financial center grows in scale, sophistication, and connectivity, so does the risk of criminal elements abusing our financial system,” MAS managing director Ravi Menon said in June. AFP

LGUs

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

C1

ROMANCE. Two lovers enjoy the breathtaking sunset in Punta De Disembarco de Rizal in Dapitan City. Lance Baconguis

Pangasinan gets 2 BSP ‘eagle’ awards

By Dexter A. See LINGAYEN—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas conferred two ‘eagle’ awards to the provincial government of Pangasinan in recognition of its contributions to the bank’s currency program and support for the BSP public information campaign.

The two awards, Outstanding Regional Partner of BSP Dagupan branch for the demonetization of new design series and Outstanding Regional Partner the conduct of Public Information Campaigns, were received by Executive Assistant IV Ramon Morden, on behalf of Gov. Amado Espino III, during the 2016 Awards Ceremony and Appreciation Lunch for BSP Stakeholders (Region I and Cordillera Administrative Region) at the BSP La Union regional office.

The eagle awards were dedicated particularly to the Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial Federation, previously led by then-board member Espino, who successfully convened about 1,400 village chiefs and other stakeholders in the province on four phases of a public information campaign to advance the programs and advocacies of BSP last year.

The BSP public information campaign among barangay leaders, which formed part of the National Statistics Month celebration of the provincial government, focused on lectures on New Design Series (NDS) demonetization, New Generation Currency (NGC) fa-

miliarization, clean note policy, and discussion on the different kinds of fraud and scams.

During the awarding ceremony, Diwa Guinigundo, the BSP deputy governor on monetary stability, thanked stakeholders for supplying information needed by the BSP in monetary and financial policy formulation.

“The stakeholders are being recognized and awarded with the eagle because they have been providing us with the very critical information that gives us the idea of what is happening on the ground,” Guinigundo said.

Meanwhile, Ma. Lourdes Manaois, BSP Dagupan branch head of Economic and Financial Learning Center, noted that the support the Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial Federation has extended to the BSP has strategically processed the information they needed to cascade their programs down to barangays.

“They are very participative and supportive of our lectures,” Manaois said as she added that some village chiefs have asked them to bring their public information campaign in their barangays.

The BSP completed its public information campaigns in city and municipal LGUs in the province from 2014 to 2015.

Other awardees from Pangasinan include: Era Gas Corp.

(Business Expectation SurveyOutstanding Respondent among small firms) and Metro Dagupan Cycling Club Inc. (Advocacy Support on Coin Recirculation).

Buluan reforms 6,000 drug users

By A. Perez Rimando

B

ULUAN, Maguindanao—Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu announced that more than 6,000 drug pushers, dealers and users in the province have surrendered in the past two weeks, adding that the surrenderees were scared of being killed in the ongoing nationwide antidrug police operations initiated by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The announcement was con- rector, who disclosed that 6,097 firmed by Senior Supt. Nikson drug offenders gave themselves up Muksan, police provincial di- in various Maguindanao munici-

palities. The latest surrenderees numbered 917 adults and adolescents from Pandag town last week.

Muksan said the Pandag mass surrender was preceded by the yielding of notorious drug trafficker Abdulatip Pendaliday who turned over an M16 Armalite rifle and a .50-caliber Barret sniping rifle.

He noted that Pendaliday operates a province-wide drug syndicate that distributes methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu to different barangays in all Maguindanao big towns.

Muksan told the media that

Aboitiz Park saves turtles, birds THE Aboitiz Cleanergy Park, an eight-hectare biodiversity park jointly managed by the Aboitiz Foundation and Davao Light that is home to 66 species of wildlife, is fast becoming a sanctuary for birds and a nesting site for hawksbill turtles or pawikan.

Thirty-six bird species, some of them endangered, were found to be living in the park by the Davao Wild Bird Photographers and the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

The presence of two more bird species, the endangered Spotted Imperial Pigeon (Duclua Carola) and the Brown Noddy (Anos Stolidus), were observed. The former is native to the Philippines while the latter has never been seen in Davao City before.

Aboitiz Foundation executive vice president and chief operating officer Sonny Carpio said “we believe in creating a sustainable environment for nature to thrive. We will try to ensure our feathered friends will call the park their

home for years to come.”

The park in Punta Dumalag showcases urban-based habitat conservation and biodiversity management. It is one of the few nesting places of the endangered pawikan.

The Aboitiz Foundation earlier this year launched “#BetterWorld for the Pawikans” to raise funds for the protection and conservation of the turtle. Part of the funds goes to information dissemination on climate change and environmental degradation.

Zambo City builds 3 new high schools

CRUISE. Senator Cynthia Villar (right) and Diwa Party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar (left) lead the launching of the Las PiñasZapote River Cruise to promote tourism. Lino Santos

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The number of public high schools in this highly urbanized city increased to 32 after three more were added through the initiative of Rep. Celso Lobregat.

Lobregat said the three bills he earlier filed in the Lower House during the 14th congress were later approved by the House Committee on Basic Education chaired by Rep. Kimi Cojuangco and the Senate committee on education, arts and culture headed by Senator Pia Cayetano, and finally signed into law by then President Benigno Aquino III. Enacted into law on May 11, 2016, Lobregat said, was Republic Act No. 10835, converting Barangay Tulungatung National High School into an independent school. It was previously annexed to Ayala NHS. Pasonanca National High School, formerly annexed to Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial NHS, also became independent institution via RA No. 10836, while RA No. 10812 established San Roque National High School into a new learning center.

The Zamboanga solon thanked Aquino, Cojuangco and Cayetano for their support for thousands of rural high school students and their farmer parents.

A few years ago, Lobregat also authored five similar measures which created as many local independent national Schools enabling the city to accommodate its fast rising number of rural and urban high school students. A. Perez Rimando

Maguindanao “now accounts for the most number of drug pushers and users that gave up to the police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s four other provinces of Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.”

The provincial police chief credited Mangudadatu, his younger sibling ARMM regional assemblyman Khadadeh and the Maguindanao-based Army 6th Infantry Division for helping carry out Police Chief Director Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s anti-narcotics campaign in the province and other areas of the country.

Zambo Sur town dad, militiaman shot dead CAMP ABELON, Pagadian City—A newly elected municipal councilor and a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) were shot dead by unidentified armed men on Friday afternoon at Barangay Nian, Dinas town, this city, police said.

A belated report received here by Senior Supt. Michael Nicolas, police provincial director, identified the fatalities as Rodelio Digan, 48, a resident of barangay Guiniculalay, who was recently installed a member of the Dinas Sangguniang Bayan, and Angelito Baul, 35, a militiaman-neighbor.

An unconfirmed report said Digan and Baul were riding in tandem on the former’s motorcycle when a group of three armed men hiding behind a bush fired at them at Barangay East Migpulao.

Both Nicolas and Baul, who suffered gunshot wounds in different parts of their bodies, later died at the Dinas Emergency Hospital where concerned passersby took them when the suspects fled.

In a related development, a 57-year-old man was strangled to death by his wife last Saturday after a serious quarrel in their house at Barangay Betinan, San Miguel town.

A police report said Marciano Apiag had a heated argument with his wife Trinidad over a family problem.

The feud later turned violent until Trinidad, a burly woman, took a hanging rope and strangled her husband until he died. A. Perez Rimando

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

supply of five (5) MW baseload power to SAMELCO I, to assure the adequate and reliable supply of power to SAMELCO I’s franchise area; 14. Subsequently, through the Amendment Letter, SAMELCO I requested for a one (1) MW increase in Contracted Capacity, which GNPOWER accepted and conformed to on 14 January 2016; ABSTRACT OF THE PSA AND OTHER RELATED INFORMATION 15. The following are the salient features of the PSA: A. Term The Agreement shall be effective from 18 September 2015, the date of the execution of the PSA. For the delivery of the contracted capacity, it shall have a term of one (1) year, starting on 26 December 2015 (12:00 A.M.) to 25 December 2016 (12:00 M.N.) B. Contracted Capacity GNPOWER shall sell and deliver, or cause to deliver to SAMELCO I a contracted capacity of six (6) MW at the delivery point of the facility.

Unutilized Capacity. The unutilized capacity of the Buyer may be made available for utilization of other Region 8 ECs or sold to the WESM. Exchange of Contracted Capacities. To maximize capacity utilization, Region 8 ECs may exchange quantities of their Contracted Capacities. (Exchange in MW Capacity Protocol annexed to the PSA) C. Contract Price Under Schedule 1 of the PSA, the Total Monthly Charge, before taxes, for a Billing Period shall be computed according to the following: Total Monthly Charge = Capacity Charge + Energy Charge C. 1. Capacity Fee and Capacity Charge The Capacity Fee is the component of the Contract Price allocated to pay for the cost, as well as, the operations and maintenance of the Facility and is designated as the Capacity Fee in Schedule 1 of the PSA, as amended, as such may be adjusted from time to time based on SAMELCO I’s Capacity Utilization Factor.

TODAY Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Ave., Pasig City

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF THE POWER SUPPLY AGREEMENT (PSA), AS AMENDED, BETWEEN SAMAR I ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC. AND GNPOWER LTD. CO., WITH PRAYER FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF INFORMATION AND THE ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ERC Case No. 2016-028 RC SAMAR I ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (SAMELCO I) AND GNPOWER LTD. CO. (GNPOWER) Applicants. x-------------------------------------------------------x NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: On 15 March 2016, Samar I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SAMELCO I) and GNPower Ltd. Co. (GNPower) filed their joint Application for approval of their Power Supply Agreement (PSA), with prayer for confidential treatment of information and issuance of provisional authority.

In support of said Application, SAMELCO I and GNPower alleged, among others, the following: 1.

Applicant SAMELCO I is a non-stock, non-profit electric cooperative existing under the laws of the Philippines, with principal office address at Brgy. Carayman, Calbayog City. It is authorized to distribute and provide electricity services to its member-consumers in the Municipalities of Gandara, Matuguinao, San Jorge, Sta. Margarita, Tarangnan, Pagsanghan, and the City of Calbayog, all in the Province of Samar (collectively, the “Franchise Area”);

2.

Copies of SAMELCO I’s Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws, Certificate of Registration, and Certificate of Franchise are attached to the Application as follows: Document SAMELCO I’s Articles of Incorporation SAMELCO I’s By-laws Certificate of Registration with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) Certificate of Franchise

Annex “A” “B” “C” “D” 3.

Applicant GNPOWER is a duly registered limited partnership existing under Philippine laws, engaged in the business of developing, constructing, operating, and owning power generation facilities and in the sale and trade of electric power.

Its principal office is at 28th Floor, Orient Square Building, Don Francisco Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City;

4.

GNPOWER’s pertinent documents evidencing its due registration as a limited partnership are appended to the Application, as follows: Annex Document Certificate of Registration issued by the Securities and “E” Exchange Commission (SEC) “F” GNPOWER’s Amended Articles of Partnership 5.

Applicants may be served with orders, notices, and other legal processes of the Commission through its counsels of record; The instant Application is filed pursuant to Sections 23, 25, 43 (u), and 45 (b) of Republic Act No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA Law), its Implementing Rules and Regulations, and other pertinent rules and regulations. A copy of the PSA signed by Applicants on 18 September 2015, as amended by a letter of agreement dated 16 December 2015 (Amendment Letter), are attached as Annex “G” and “G-1”, respectively, and forms an integral part of the Application;

6.

Where: QACTUAL

=

CC HT

= =

Contract Year

Contract Duration

2015 2016 2017 2018

Dec. 26, 2014 – Dec. 25, 2015 Dec. 26, 2015 – Dec. 25, 2016 Dec. 26, 2016 – Dec. 25, 2017 Dec. 26, 2017 – Dec. 25, 2018

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

=

the sum of the duration, in Equivalent Hours, of Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in such Billing Period CFCUF = the Capacity Fee in PhP/kWh for a given CUF in a Billing month.

LCRCUF = the local component of the Capital Recovery Fee in PhP/kWh at the given CUF. LFOMCUF = the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PhP/kWh at the given CUF. PHCPIn-1 = Philippine Consumer Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, for All Income Households – All Items (2006=100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or its substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be). = the base Philippine Consumer Price Index for the month PHCPI0 of December 2014. PHCPI0 = 140.5.

CUF = the Capacity Utilization Factor between 70% and 100%, provided that if the actual CUF is below 70% (the “Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor”), the Capacity Price shall be calculated based on the Capacity Fee and quantity associated with the Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor.

The corresponding Capacity Fee price component for a given Capacity Utilization Factor is set forth in the Table below: Capacity Fees for Specific Capacity Utilization Factor EHTO

100% 99% 98% 97% 96% 95% 94% 93% 92% 91% 90% 89% 88% 87% 86% 85% 84% 83% 82% 81% 80% 79% 78% 77% 76% 75% 74% 73% 72% 71% 70%

The contracts of most of the Electric Cooperatives (ECs) in Region 8 with the National Power Corporation — Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (NPC-PSALM) expired on 25 December 2014; On 07 November 2013, the eleven (11) ECs of Region 8 participated in the bidding for PSALM’s 200 strips of energy from the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant, but lost; Typhoon Yolanda hit the region on 08 November 2013 stalling any efforts to contract additional power supply and shifting the focus instead on the massive restoration efforts in the area; Thus, the Region 8 ECs decided to bid out their power supply requirements for the period 2015 - 2018. In the middle of 2014, the Region 8 ECs conducted a Joint Power Supply Planning.

Later, the Region 8 ECs decided, through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), to conduct a joint procurement of their shortterm aggregated baseload requirement, specifically, their power supply needs beginning 26 December 2015 until 25 December 2016. From September to December 2014, the competitive bidding for the region’s power requirements was held; For such purpose, a Bids and Awards Committee was created to conduct the Region 8 Joint Competitive Power Supply Procurement (“R8 JCPSP”) as follows: 12.1.

Annex “H” “H-1” “H-1-a” “H-2” “H-3” “H-4” “H-5” “H-6” “H-7” “H-8” 13.

Document Invitation to Bid Copy of the page of the newspaper where the Invitation was published Affidavit of Publication of the Invitation to Bid Memorandum of Agreement among Region 8 ECs Emails confirming participation of interested suppliers in the bidding Final Instruction to Bidders Bid Forms Bid Evaluation Slips Comparison of Bids Notice of Award On 18 September 2015, SAMELCO I and GNPOWER executed the subject PSA, providing the terms and conditions for the

Capital Recovery (LCRCUF) 2.2944 2.3176 2.3412 2.3654 2.3900 2.4152 2.4409 2.4671 2.4939 2.5213 2.5493 2.5780 2.6073 2.6372 2.6679 2.6993 2.7314 2.7643 2.7980 2.8326 2.8680 2.9043 2.9415 2.9797 3.0189 3.0592 3.1005 3.1430 3.1867 3.2315 3.2777

C.U.F.

Aggregated Baseload 65 MW 78 MW 83 MW 93 MW

The Region 8 ECs initially prepared their respective least-cost power supply plans and subsequently their aggregated baseload demand for competitive bidding; 12.2.

The competitive tender was published and announced in the coverage areas of the Region 8 ECs. In addition, prospective bidders (Generation Companies, IPP Administrators and Wholesale Aggregators whose names are listed on the Department of Energy [DOE] website) were invited; 12.3.

The capacity offered by the winning bidder/s was allocated among the eleven (11) Region 8 ECs in proportion to their declared demand. A bidder was allowed to offer to supply capacity that is less than or equal to the aggregated baseload requirement in any or all of the contract years in increments of 1MW. In the event that some winning bidders offered less than 11 MW, the loads were optimally allocated in such a way that the blended price of generation resulting from the R8 JCPSP transaction is almost the same for all ECs. In the event multiple bidders who collectively satisfy the total baseload demand of R8 ECs are declared winners for any contract year, all winning bidders entered into individual PSAs with each of the 11 ECs; 12.4.

Bidders who signified their intention to join by buying the bid documents, attended pre-bid conferences where they gave their comments and sought clarification on the bidding requirements and process.

The BAC issued bid bulletins and the Final Instruction to Bidders; 12.5.

The process followed the 2-envelope system the legal requirements and proof of financial and technical capability in the first, and the commercial offer in the second. Bids were evaluated based on an Evaluation Framework and Evaluation Methodology released to the Bidders; 12.6.

After evaluating the bids of each supplier, on 14 November 2014, the BAC declared Applicant GNPOWER as a winning bidder of a total of 43 MW for Contract Year 2016, with a Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid with a Base Price offer of PhP5.0481/kWh and an evaluated Effective Price of PhP6.6658/kWh; 12.7.

On 14 September 2015, GNPOWER and the Region 8 ECs commenced the final negotiations for the other commercial and technical terms and conditions of the PSA and negotiated the further reduction of the Contract Price from PhP5.0481/kWh to PhP4.9653/ kWh and for the increase in capacity to 52MW; Attached to the Application are copies of the relevant documents issued relative to the Joint Competitive Selection Process undertaken by the Region 8 ECs for the supply of their aggregated base load demand:

=

ICIn-1

=

ICI0

= D.

Currency of Payment The Contract Price shall be paid by SAMELCO I in Philippine Peso only.

E. Scheduled and Unscheduled Outages Under the PSA, as amended, GNPOWER shall be allowed Scheduled and Unscheduled Outages not to exceed forty-five (45) days per Contract Year, during which time reduced or no delivery will be available to SAMELCO I. Unutilized Equivalent Hours for Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in the Contract Year cannot be carried forward to subsequent Contract Year.

F. Replacement Power During any Scheduled or Unscheduled Outages, GNPOWER and SAMELCO I shall cooperate to arrange for Replacement Power from, including but not limited to, other facilities of GNPOWER, third parties and the WESM. GNPOWER, at its own cost and in consultation with SAMELCO I, shall negotiate on behalf of SAMELCO I for the supply and delivery of capacity and energy from third parties for a price as close as possible to the Contract Price.

G. Prompt Payment Discount Provided SAMELCO I has no arrears from previous billings, including the Security Deposit or any unpaid charges or penalties, if SAMELCO I pays the invoice amount in full within 10 days from its receipt of the invoice, SAMELCO I shall be credited on the next subsequent bill a PPD equivalent to eight centavos per kilowatt-hour (PhP0.08/kWh).

H. Security Deposit In the event of SAMELCO I’s failure to pay on Due Date, GNPOWER shall draw, at its option, from the Security Deposit on the working day immediately following the Due Date. Within thirty (30) Business Days from the Start of Delivery Date, SAMELCO I shall establish the Security Deposit and submit to GNPOWER documentary proof sufficient to allow GNPOWER to draw therefrom. The Security Deposit shall be in the form of cash and or irrevocable letter of credit and shall be equivalent to SAMELCO I’s projected maximum electricity bill, to be determined not later than sixty (60) calendar days prior to Start of Delivery.

COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGE OF THE GENERATION RATE AND IMPACT ON SAMELCO I’S RETAIL RATES 16.

SAMELCO I, together with the other Region 8 ECs, needs to address the insufficiency of its power supply due to the increasing demand within its franchise area and the expiration of its contract with NPC-PSALM; Currently, SAMELCO I receives a total of 7MW from its existing suppliers, out of its peak requirement of 11MW. With an annual average growth rate of 4%, SAMELCO I forecasts that its peak demand from 26 December 2015 to 25 December 2016 will be 12MW; The additional supply from GNPOWER will significantly augment the supply deficiency of SAMELCO I and will decrease the adverse effects thereof by providing a stable and adequate source of electricity; Among alternative suppliers capable of providing additional energy to SAMELCO I and the rest of the Region 8 ECs, GNPOWER’s rates proved to be more reasonable and competitive. While GNPOWER’s offer is primarily intended for its base load requirements, the Capacity Factor Pricing under the PSA, as amended, provides flexibility in the DUs’ utilization of the Contracted Capacity; SAMELCO I simulated a rate impact analysis which resulted in a PhP0.1198 decrease with the execution of the PSA, as amended, with GNPOWER, to wit:1

17.

18.

19.

20.

CAPACITY FEE LOCAL PRICE COMPONENTS (PHP/kWh)

STATEMENT OF FACTS The aggregated uncontracted baseload demand of Region 8 for years 2015 to 2018 is continually increasing as shown in the table below:

7.

the actual energy delivered, in kWh, to the Buyer at the Delivery Point for the Billing Period. is the Contracted Capacity in kW. is the total number of hours in the Billing Period.

PHCPI0

Fixed O&M (LFOMCUF) 0.6204 0.6267 0.6331 0.6396 0.6463 0.6531 0.6600 0.6671 0.6743 0.6818 0.6893 0.6971 0.7050 0.7131 0.7214 0.7299 0.7386 0.7475 0.7566 0.7659 0.7755 0.7853 0.7954 0.8057 0.8163 0.8272 0.8384 0.8499 0.8617 0.8738 0.8863

1. Rate impact with GNPower PSA Power Supplier

Forecasted 2015 Quantity (kWh)

Amount (PhP)

Percent Share (%)

FDCUI TRANS-ASIA GNPOWER WESM TOTAL

17,520,000.00 17,520,000.00 52,560,000.00 (12,862,185.60) 74,737,814.40

78,007,800.00 93,279,984.00 260,976,168.00 (36,831,078.56) 395,432,873.44

23.44% 23.44% 70.33% -17.21% 100%

LFOM CUF =

Where:

LCR@100% CUF

LFOM

LFOM @100% CUF

LCRCUF

—

is the local component of the Capital Recovery fee in PHP/kWh at the given CUF.

LCR@100%

—

is the local component of the Capital Recovery fee in PHP/kWh at 100% CUF.

LF0MCUF

—

is the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PHP/ kWh at the given CUF.

LFOM@100% —

is the local component of the Fixed O&M fee in PHP/ kWh at 100% CUF.

—

is the Capacity Utilization Factor between 70% and 100%, provided that if the actual CUF is below 7o% (the “Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor”), the Capacity Price shall be calculated based on the Capacity Fee and quantity associated with the Minimum Capacity Utilization Factor.

CUF

The Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) shall be computed as follows: CUF = max

Where: QACTUAL

=

CC

=

HT EHTO

= =

the actual quantity of energy, in kWh, delivered to SAMELCO I at the Delivery Point in the Billing Period the Contracted Capacity, in kWh, as set forth in Schedule 1 the total number of hours in such Billing Period the sum of the duration, in Equivalent Hours, of Scheduled Outages and Unscheduled Outages in such Billing Period

C. 2. Energy Fee and Energy Charge The Energy Fee is the component of the Contract Price allocated to pay for the coal, including Government Charges, designated as the Energy Fee in Schedule 1 of the PSA, as amended, as adjusted from time to time due to changes in the delivered price of coal and Governmental Charges. The Energy Fee shall be computed in accordance with the following formula: Energy Charge = QACTUAL x EF EF = 0.2874 x

+ 1.5256 x

+ 0.2375

Where: QACTUAL

=

Actual energy delivered by GNPOWER to SAMELCO I, in kWh, for the Billing Period

EF

=

Energy Fee in PhP/kWh

PHCPIn-1

=

Philippine Consumer Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, for All Income Households – All Items (2006 = 100),

Resulting Capacity Factor (%) 100% 100% 100%

2016 Average Rate (P/kWh) 4.4525 5.3242 4.9653 2.8635

Weighted Average Rate (kWh) 5.2909

Resulting Capacity Factor (%) 100% 100%

2016 Average Rate (P/kWh) 4.4525 5.3242

Weighted Average Rate (kWh) 5.4107

2. Rate impact without GNPower PSA Power Supplier

Forecasted 2015 Quantity (kWh)

Amount (PhP)

Percent Share (%)

FDCUI TRANS-ASIA GNPOWER WESM TOTAL

17,520,000.00 17,520,000.00

78,007,800.00 93,279,984.00

26.55% 26.55%

30,937,814.40 65,977,814.40

185,699,452.74 356,987,236.74

46.89% 100%

3. Rate Reduction with GNPower PSA Rate impact with GNPower PSA Rate impact without GNPower PSA

5.2909 5.4107

Generation Rate Impact

-0.1198

21.

22.

For the resulting CUF which is not a whole number, the corresponding Capacity Fee Price C6mponent shall be computed using the formula below:

LCRCUF =

as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or as substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be) base Philippine Consumer Price Index for the month of December 2014 for All Income Households – All Items (2006 = 100), as published by the Philippine National Statistics Coordination Board (or its substitute or replacement agency, as the case may be) Indonesian Coal Price Index of the calendar month prior to the month corresponding to the Billing Period, in US$/Mton Base Indonesian Coal Price Index for the month of December 2014 = US$67.28/Mton

ANNEX “I” “J” “K” “K-1” “L” “M” “N” “O” “P” “Q” “R” “S”

”T”

6.0023

In addition to the lower generation cost of the power supply from GNPOWER, SAMELCO I is also entitled to a Prompt Payment Discount (PPD), if conditions are met, equivalent to PhP0.08/kWh; In compliance with Rule 20 of ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure relative to the submission of supporting documents and information for the approval of the PSA, as amended, and the rate structure embodied therein, Applicants attached to the Application following documents to form integral parts thereof: DOCUMENT Executive Summary of the PSA, as amended Rate Impact Simulation Sources of Funds/Financial Plans with Cost Assumptions Compact Disc containing a soft copy of Annex “K” Breakdown of the Contract Price Sample Computation of Power Rates GNPOWER’s Audited Financial Statement for 2014 GNPOWER’s Certificate of Registration No. WA-13-01-001 valid until January 2018 SAMELCO I’s Distribution Development Plan (DDP) SAMELCO I’s Actual and Forecasted Energy and Demand SAMELCO I’s Average Daily Load Curve SAMELCO I’s Board Resolution No. 80-S-2015 authorizing the filing of an application with the ERC for the approval of PSA, as amended, and designating its General Manager to represent SAMELCO I in such filing GNPOWER’s General Partner’s Certificate attesting to the resolution of the Board to execute the subject PSA with SAMELCO I, as amended, designating signatories thereto

23.

Applicants reserve their right to submit other documents, either in the course of the hearing or as may be required by the Commission; COMPLIANCE WITH PRE-FILING REQUIREMENTS 24. Applicants manifest compliance with the pre-filing requirements mandated under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the EPIRA and Rule 6 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, to be established by the following: 24.1 Certifications acknowledging receipt of the Application with annexes to be issued by the Legislative Bodies of Pasig City, Calbayog City, and the Province of Samar, to be appended as Annexes “V”, “W” and “X”, respectively; 24.2. Notarized Affidavit of Publication stating that the Application was published in a newspaper of general circulation within SAMELCO I’s Franchise Area, to be appended to the Application as Annex “Y”; and 24.3. Complete newspaper issue where the Application was published, to be appended to the Application as Annex “Y-1”, and the relevant page thereof where the Application appears, as Annex “Y-2”; MOTION FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT OF ANNEXES “H-2” to “H-8”, “K”, and “K-1” 25. Under Rule 4 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, a party to any proceeding before the Commission may request that certain information not be disclosed and be treated as confidential, by describing with particularity the information to be treated as confidential, specifying the ground for the claim of confidential treatment of the information and, if applicable, specifying the period during which the information must not be disclosed; 26. SAMELCO I requests for the confidential treatment of Annexes “H-2” to “H-8” of the Application, consisting of the MOA among Region 8 ECs, e-mails confirming participation of interested suppliers in the bidding, Final Instructions to Bidders, Bid Forms, Bid Evaluation Slips, Comparison of Bids, and Notice of

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8 ECs, SAMELCO I included, are bound by their undertaking to secure and keep in confidence the offers and the proposed terms of supply, so as not to prejudice or pre-empt any future CSPs in which these bidders will participate. Otherwise, SAMELCO I and the rest of the Region 8 ECs may be held liable for damages for breach of confidentiality, and eventually, risk their good relations with the suppliers concerned; Similarly, GNPOWER respectfully moves for the confidential treatment of Annexes “K” and “K-1” hereof, consisting of GNPOWER’s Sources of Funds and Financial Plans with Cost Assumptions. These annexes, exclusively owned by GNPOWER, contain information which are considered part of its business and trade secrets. As such, GNPOWER has the sole proprietary interest and will be unduly prejudiced should they be disclosed to the public; These annexes contain numbers, data, formula, methodology, and calculations involving valuable and sensitive commercial, financial information reflecting GNPOWER’s business operations and financial trade secrets. Therefore, GNPOWER’s confidential, proprietary, and private information included in the aforesaid annexes should be protected from public dissemination. Otherwise, such information can be illegally and unfairly utilized by business competitors who may use the same for their own private gain and to the irreparable prejudice of GNPOWER. Negotiations with prospective customers may also be affected.

The information contained in Annexes “K” and “K-1”, constitute “trade secrets”, for which GNPOWER has actual and valuable proprietary interest. As explained by the Supreme Court, a trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information that is used in one’s business and gives the employer an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not possess the information2. It is indubitable that trade secrets constitute proprietary rights and jurisprudence has consistently acknowledged the private character of trade secrets3. Further, as ruled in Garcia vs. Board of Investments4, trade secrets and confidential, commercial and financial information are exempt from public scrutiny; Accordingly, Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” be accorded confidential treatment. As such, they are to be used exclusively by the Commission and for the sole purpose of evaluating this Application, thereby protecting these data from unnecessary public disclosure; In accordance with Section 1(b), Rule 4 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, Applicants submit one (1) copy each of Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” in a sealed envelope, with ‘the envelope and each page of the documents stamped with the word “Confidential”; PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY All the foregoing allegations are re-pleaded by reference in support of their prayer for the issuance of Provisional Authority (PA) to implement the subject PSA, as amended;

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Award, respectively. These annexes show the individual offers Standard of the bidders which participated in the R8 JCPSP. The Region

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Sokor govt e-mails hacked by Nokor S

EOUL—Seoul prosecutors believe North Korea hacked into the email accounts of dozens of South Korean government officials this year—the latest in a series of suspected cyberattacks by Pyongyang—the South’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday.

I nvestigations showed 56 people— including officials at the foreign, defense and unification ministries—had their email passwords stolen by a “North Korea-operated group” from January to June,

Yonhap said, citing the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.

The prosecutors’ office could not be reached for comment

by Agence France Presse.

Yonhap said the hackers set up 27

phishing sites using a free web-hosting server in January and posed as portal sites run by the foreign ministry, universities and defense-related companies to steal the passwords.

An investigation is

still ongoing to see if any confidential information may have been leaked.

The latest cyber attack comes just days after South Korean police said the North stole the personal data of more than 10 million customers at South Korean online shopping mall Interpark.

Interpark was unaware about the attack until July 11, when it was blackmailed with threats to publicize the leaked data unless the company

paid three billion won (US$2.6 million).

On Thursday, the National Police Agency said the North’s main spy agency— the Reconnaissance General Bureau—was behind the attack which used the same codes and internet protocol addresses previously used in online attacks

by North Korea.

The police said the digital breach was likely an attempt by the cash-strapped regime to obtain for-

eign currency.

Tensions on the divided Korean peninsula have been running high since Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a series of ballistic missile tests.

The provocations have put North Korea under the toughest sanctions yet from the United Nations as well as mounting individual sanctions by countries like the US, South Korea and Japan. AFP

33.

SAMELCO I and GNPOWER pray for the issuance of a PA or interim relief prior to final decision pursuant to Rule 14 of the ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, to wit: “Section 3. Action on the Motion. — Motions for provisional authority or interim relief may be acted upon with or without hearing. The Commission shall act on the motion on the basis of the allegations of the Application or petition and supporting documents and other evidences that applicant or petitioner has submitted and the comments or opposition filed by any interested person, if there be any.”

34. Considering that a substantial amount of time is needed to evaluate the documents submitted to support the approval of herein Application, Applicants seek consideration of the Commission to approve the instant Application, immediately, albeit, provisionally; 35. Owing to the short term of the contract, which is only for a period of one (1) year, a PA is all the more imperative to allow the timely delivery of energy by GNPOWER to SAMELCO I, which is set to start on 26 December 2015 at 12:00 A.M.; 36. The Region 8 EC’s, including SAMELCO I, after careful evaluation if they will defer the commencement of the delivery due to delayed filing, decided and required GNPower to commence its delivery immediately after its previous power supply agreement expired last 25 December 2015, this being the reasonable plan to mitigate the risks of WESM exposure, specially with the assumption that the 2015 occurrence of El Nino has an adverse impact on the supply of electricity and the WESM price, particularly during the summer season.

SAMELCO I, Moreover, it was projected, as shown in the table below,5 that the exposure to volatile market prices will cause significant increases in prudential guarantee payments which will constrain Region 8 ECs to avail of high interest-bearing loans in order to comply with PEMC requirement;

RUINS. Foreign security and Afghan security personnel investigate at the site of a powerful truck bomb blast that targeted a hotel used by foreign contractors, on the outskirts of Kabul on Monday. A powerful Taliban truck bomb struck a hotel for foreigners in Kabul, triggering a seven-hour gunand-bomb assault that highlighted the deteriorating security situation in a capital still reeling from its deadliest attack for 15 years. AFP

37.

The additional power from GNPOWER is needed to curtail any power interruptions that may be experienced by SAMELCO I’s member-consumers due to inadequate power supply in the region;

38.

To further support the prayer for PA, an affidavit emphasizing the necessity thereof is attached to the Application as Annex “Z”, and form an integral part thereof; PRAYER

39.

Applicants SAMELCO I and GNPower pray before the Commission that: i.

All information attached as Annexes “H-2” to “H-8”, “K” and “K-1” to the Application be treated as confidential; ii. Pending hearing on the merits, a PA be issued authorizing the immediate implementation of the subject PSA including the rate structure therein, as applied; iii. After due notice and hearing, the instant Application, the PSA, and the rate structure contained therein be duly approved; and iv. In the event that a Final Authority shall be issued after GNPOWER starts actual delivery of power to SAMELCO I under the terms of the subject PSA, said Final Authority be retroactively applied to the date of such actual delivery.

The Commission has set the Application for initial hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and presentation of evidence on 18 August 2016 (Thursday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at SAMELCO I’s Main Office, Brgy. Carayman, Calbayog City.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the ERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the Application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before Applicants conclude the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the Application may request from the Applicants that they be furnished with the same, prior to the date of the initial hearing. Applicants are hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the Application and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the Application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the standard office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairman, JOSE VICENTE B. SALAZAR, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA,, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 18th day of May 2016 in Pasig City.

Republic of the Philippines required to appear and show cause why REGIONAL TRIAL COURT the petition should not be granted.

National Capital Judicial Region Branch 98, Quezon City, Metro Manila The Branch Clerk of Court is ordered to cause the service of copies of this order IN THE MATTER OF CORRECTION on the Philippine Statistics Authority OF THE ENTRY IN THE BIRTH CERTIFICATES OF THE MINORS (National Statistics Office), Local Civil JOHN STEPHANO CARLO CABADA Registrar of Quezon City, Office of the REGINALDO AND JOANNA CLARISSE CABADA REGINALDO IN City Attorney of Quezon City, Office of THE OFFICE OF THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRY OF QUEZON CITY the City Prosecutor of Quezon City and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for R-QZN-16-05166 SP their comment/report.

CRISTINA CABADA REGINALDO Petitioner, THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF QUEZON CITY, Respondent. x--------------------------------------------x

ORDER

Before this Court is a verified petition filed by petitioner through counsel on May 26, 2016, praying that an order be issued directing the correction of the abovementioned entries in the birth certificates of said minor children of herein petitioner by ordering the deletion of the middle name CABADA as erroneously appearing thereon.

The petition, being sufficient in form and substance, is hereby given due course and set for initial hearing on December 5, 2016 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning before this Court sitting at Rooms 207-208, 2/F, Hall of Justice, City Hall Complex, Quezon City at which date, time and place all interested persons are

On the other hand, the petitioner is directed to serve a copy of the petition on the government agencies abovementioned, and to submit proof of compliance thereof and to have this Order be published in a newspaper of general circulation to be chosen by raffle, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks at least two (2) weeks before the date of hearing.

In the event that hearing should not take place on the said date due to fortuitous event or if the aforesaid scheduled date is declared a non-working holiday, it shall be held on December 12, 2016 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning at the same time and place without further notice.

SO ORDERED. Quezon City, Metro Manila, June 13, 2016.

(Sgd.) MARILOU D. RUNES-TAMANG, MNSA Presiding Judge (MS-Aug. 2, 9 & 16, 2016)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT N AT I O N A L C A P I TA L J U D I C I A L R E G I O N O F F I C E O F T H E E X- O F F I C I O S H E R I F F QUEZON CIT Y R C B C S AV I N G S B A N K , Mor tgagee/s, F R E N O . 112 6 5 -versusSPS. RICARDO C. DARI A AND ERLINDA C. DARI A (A I F), Mor tgagor/s.

NOTICE OF E X TR A- JUDICI AL SALE OF RE AL PROPERT Y UNDER ACT 3135 (AS AMENDED) Upon ex tra - judicial petition under ACT 3135, as amended by ACT 4118, and pursuant to the ter ms and c onditions of the Deed of Real Estate Mor tgage executed on Febr uar y 28, 2013 by SPS. RICARDO C. DARI A AND ERLINDA C. DARI A (AIF) – 11B Jose Car los Street, Wilson Ville, Brgy. Culiat, Quezon Cit y / 11 Le Car los Street, Wilsonville Subdivision, Quezon Cit y / 18 8 Landc om Village, Mindanao, Avenue, Tandang Sora, Quezon Cit y, Mor tgagor/s in favor of RCBC SAVINGS BANK , Mor tgagee/s to satisf y the mor tgage debt in the amount of P351,636.09 as of July 11, 2016 inclusive/exclusive of interest, penalties, at tor ney ’s fees and other charges together with all the law ful fees and expenses of foreclosure sale, the E x- O f f icio Sherif f of the Regional Trial Cour t of Quezon Cit y and/or his duly authorized Deput y Sherif f, hereby announc es that on AUGUST 30, 2016, bet ween the hours of 9:0 0 A .M. to 4:0 0 P.M., at the O f f ic e of Clerk of Cour t & E x- O f f icio Sherif f, Regional Trial Cour t, Hall of Justic e Bldg., Elliptic al Road, Diliman, Quezon Cit y, will SELL through public auction to the highest bidder and for c ash, in Philippine cur rency the following described real proper t y/ies with all the improvements existing thereon, to wit: T R A N S F E R C E R T I F I C AT E O F T I T L E N O . N - 3 0 9 3 31 Registr y of Deeds- Quezon Cit y

“A parcel of land (Lot 4 - B of the subdivision plan, Psd - 0 0 - 0 42467, being a por tion of Lot 4 , B lock 1, Psd - 0 4 - 0 0 4127, LRC Rec. No. 5975), situated in the B rgy. Culiat, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Island of Luzon, B ounded on the N E., along line 1-2 by Road Lot 1, Psd - 0 4 - 0 0 4127, on the SE., along line 2- 3 by Lot 4 - A , of the subdivision plan, on the SW., along line 3 - 4 by Lot 6 8 3 , Fls -225 3 - D Amd. O n the NW., along line 4 -1 by Lot 4 - C, of the subdivision plan xxx containing an area of Six ty Five Square Meters and Fif ty Square Decimeters (6 5 .5 0),more or less.”

A ll sealed bids must be submit ted to the undersigned at the aforesaid O f f ic e on the above stated date and time.

Interested par ties are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title/s to the said proper t y and the encumbranc es thereon, if there be any.

ATTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGAN Chief of Staff Office ffice of the Chairman and CEO

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2.

3.

4.

5.

2 3 4 5

Analysis and simulation is based on SAMELCO I Forecasted 2016 hourly load profile FDCUI’s contract to SAMELCO I, 100% Load Factor TRANS-ASIA contract to SAMELCO I, 100% Load Factor GNPOWER’s proposal to SAMELCO I, with 100%-70% CUF GMCP rate is based on (i) Capacity Fee at Resulting Capacity Factor; (ii)November 14 coal and shipping prices; (iii)AVERAGE FOREX from Jan 2014 - Dec. 2014; (iv)PPD not included 6.

WESM Prices is based on 2012 Average prices of Nodal Points of SAMELCO I plus 3% Inflation Factor for 2016 Simulation Air Philippines Corporation vs. Pennswell Inc., G.R. No. 172835, December 13, 2007.

Ibid., 177 SCRA 374 (1989 Additional equivalent rate due to additional Prudential Guarantee required by PEMC (for the undelivered contracted capacity from GNPower) with a conservative loan interest of 6% per annum and baseload load factor of 81%.

(TS-JULY 26/AUG. 2, 2016)

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In the event that public auction should not take plac e on said date due to for tuitous event of if the same be declared a non -working holiday, it shall be held on SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 at the same time and plac e without fur ther notic e.

Quezon Cit y, Metro Manila, JULY 27, 2016.

(Sgd.) ARNULFO O. LI M Sherif f IV (Sgd.) GREGORIO C. TALLUD Clerk of Cour t VI & Acting Clerk of Cour t and E x- O f f icio Sherif f WARN ING It is absolutely prohibited to remove, deface or destroy this Notice of Sherif f ’s Sale on or before the date of the auction sale under penalt y of the law.

Copy Furnished : RCBC SAVINGS BANK 31 Floor, RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Center, 26 th & 25 th Streets, Bonifacio Global Cit y, Taguig Cit y SPS. RICARDO C. DARIA AND ERLINDA C. DARIA (AIF) 11B Jose Carlos Street, Wilson Ville, Brgy. Culiat, Quezon Cit y 11 Le Carlos Street, Wilsonville Subdivision, Quezon Cit y 188 Landcom Village, Mindanao Avenue, Tandang Sora, Quezon Cit y ( M S - A u g . 2 , 9 & 16 , 2 016)

Malaysia security law draws flak KUALA LUMPUR—Tough new security legislation came into force in Malaysia Monday, with critics saying the “draconian” law threatens democracy and could be used against opponents of the scandal-tainted premier.

The National Security Council Act was pushed through parliament in December by the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who for more than a year has faced calls to resign over a huge alleged corruption scandal.

The legislation gives the government power to declare virtual martial law in areas deemed to be under “security threat.”

Critics accuse Najib and his government of enacting the law, and other tough recent legislation, to ward off political and legal challenges.

“The law will definitely put fear in people planning to participate in street protests,” said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, head of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a Malaysian think

tank.

“The public perception in terms of the timing of the draconian law is that Najib wants the law in order to stay in office.”

The legislation allows a National Security Council headed by the prime minister essentially to suspend civil liberties in designated “security areas,” giving security forces sweeping powers of search, seizure and arrest.

Najib has defended the law as necessary to combat terrorism, but its passage came amid the ongoing furor over allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from a state investment fund he founded and oversaw.

The corruption scandal swirling around Najib has spawned a cross-party alliance, including even members of his own ruling party, demanding he be removed and investigated.

Najib and investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) deny wrongdoing.

Amnesty International said the National Security Council Act “empowers the Malaysian authorities to trample over human rights and act with impunity.”

“There is good reason to fear that the act will be yet another tool in the hands of the government to crack down on peaceful protests under the guise of national security,” said Josef Benedict, its deputy director for South East Asia and the Pacific, in a statement.

Authorities in several countries are investigating allegations that 1MDB was looted over several years.

Najib has stifled domestic pressure by cracking down on critics within his ruling party, scuttling domestic probes, and arresting whistleblowers and journalists.

The UN’s human rights agency and other rights organizations have pilloried the National Security Council Act as a potentially frightening step backward. AFP

Sunnis bomb 16th-century mosque ADEN, Yemen— Sunni Islamist radicals in Yemen have blown up a 16th century mosque housing the shrine of a revered Sufi scholar in the city of Taez, a local official said Sunday.

Gunmen led by a Salafist local chief known as Abu alAbbas blew up the mosque of Sheikh Abdulhadi al-Sudi on Friday night, the official told Agence Fresse Presse, confirming media re-

ports of the attack.

Yemen’s commission for antiquities and museums condemned the destruction of the site that is considered the most famous in Taez.

It said the mosque’s white dome was “one of the biggest domes in Yemen and one of the most beautiful religious sites in old Taez.”

Images of the site before destruction showed a white square-shaped, sin-

gle-storey structure topped by a large central dome circled by smaller ones.

Sufism is a mystical movement of Islam that is frowned upon by the ultraconservative Salafist brand of Islam.

Taez city is besieged by Shiite rebels, but the city itself is controlled by a combination of forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and allied militias.

Residents have

complained of the growing influence of radical Salafists, who have been imposing curbs on mixing between men and women.

While Al-Qaeda and Islamic State group jihadists have been under attack by both government and rebel forces as well as US drones, Salafists operate under the banner of pro-government militias fighting the Iran-backed Shiite rebels. AFP

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ARIA. Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho, as Violetta, performs during the opera “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by Louis Desire and conducted by Daniele Rustioni, on July 31, 2016 in Orange, southern France, during the Choregies d’Orange festival, dedicated to opera, lyrical art and symphonic concert. AFP

Italy, Germany rescue 6,500 Libyan refugees R

OME—The Italian coastguard said the bodies of five migrants were recovered from the Mediterranean Sunday, while more than 6,500 people had been rescued off Libya since Thursday.

In one operation by the Italian and two were already dead,” the navy vessel Vega, “five migrants coastguard said on its Twitter acwere picked up out of the sea, count. three people were resuscitated The German aid group Jugend

Rettet added that its ship Iuventa had taken part in the same operation to save 130 people packed onto a rubber dinghy that was taking on water, and had also recovered two bodies.

A fifth body was found aboard a fishing boat from which some 470 migrants were rescued by the Italian navy and the Malta-based aid group MOAS. Sunday’s rescue missions off

the Libyan coast brought 1,100 migrants and refugees to safety overall, bringing the total to 6,530 since Thursday, said the Italian coastguard which coordinates the operations.

According to the latest figures from the United Nation’s refugee agency earlier this week, more than 89,000 people, most from sub-Saharan Africa, have arrived in Italy by sea since the start of

the year in search of a better life in Europe.

The tally is comparable to the total of 93,000 recorded for the January-July period last year.

More than 3,000 migrants have died trying to make the crossing, an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the same period in 2015, according to the International Organization for Migration. AFP

Nigeria militants blast Shell pipeline WARRI, Nigeria—Nigerian militants on Sunday blew up a crude pipeline operated by Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell in the restive oil-producing south, residents said.

“The incident occurred at about 1:00 a.m. near Odimodi community in Delta State with the velocity of the blast shaking apartments in the community amidst a huge ball of fire,” said local resident Endoro Newworld.

“The trunk line known as Trans Ramos belongs to the Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC), he said.

“At sunrise, a group from the community in company of the SPDC surveillance team was able to locate the site of the blast,” he said.

Another resident who did not want to be identified told Agence France Presse the pipeline had been previously targeted by militants.

“Precisely on the 22nd of this month, there was a failed attempt to attack the same facility, hence we were expecting that security in the area would have been tightened, but we are really disappointed that they succeeded this time,” he said.

There were no details available about the damage or any possible casualties.

Shell officials could not immediately confirm the incident and no group has claimed responsibility.

The Niger Delta Avengers militant group has claimed a string of attacks against the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. as well as oil majors Shell, Chevron, Exxon and Eni since February.

The attacks have slashed output at a time when Nigeria is grappling with low global crude prices which have hammered government revenues, weakening the naira currency and pushing up inflation to near 11-year highs.

The Avengers want oil majors to leave the Niger Delta, blaming them for contributing to widespread poverty and under-development of the region.

The group also wants selfdetermination for the oil-producing states and political autonomy.

The rebels have spurned dialogue to end the violence, prompting the government to warn of an imminent military showdown with the insurgents. AFP

Brazilians party for Europe youth pushed to extremism—Pope president’s ouster RIO DE JANEIRO—Protesters turned out Sunday for lightly attended demonstrations in Rio against embattled President Dilma Rousseff five days before the start of the 2016 Olympic Games.

About 4,000 protesters gathered on the beach at Copacabana in a festive atmosphere with sound trucks blasting out a mix of samba and the national anthem.

Marchers carried an enormous banner that read “Dilma out and prison for Lula,” a reference to former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was charged Friday with obstruction of justice in an ongoing corruption probe.

“We want our country back and for these people to go,” said Vilma Moniz Portella, a lawyer carrying a small inflatable doll of the judge leading the probe into bribes and kickbacks at state oil giant Petrobras.

The scandal has shaken Brazil’s political and business establishment, casting a shadow over the August 5-21 Olympic Games, the first ever held in a South American country.

Marchers said the turnout was smaller in Rio than at past protests calling for Rousseff’s impeachment that have attracted hundreds of thousands of people.

Rousseff’s impeachment trial for alleged violations of budgeting rules is set to begin August 29. A two-thirds vote by the Senate would remove her from office.

Suspended from office May 12, she was replaced on an interim basis by Vice President Michel Temer. If Rousseff is ousted, he would finish out her mandate, which runs until the end of 2018.

In Brasilia, about 3,000 protesters dressed in the green and yellow colors of the Brazilian flag took part in a demonstration against Rousseff outside the Congress, according to police estimates.

Similar anti-Rousseff protests were called in other cities, including Sao Paulo, Recife, Salvador and Belo Horizonte.

Rousseff’s supporters, meanwhile, turned out to rally against Temer in several cities.

Many heeded the call of a leftist umbrella group called the “Fearless People’s Front” and demonstrated in cities such as Sao Paulo where thousands clad in red chanted “Temer, get out!”

“Sure, the Workers Party (of Rousseff) is not having its best moment. There is corruption in all the parties.

But Temer’s government is even worse,” said Eunice Mariano, a 61-year-old retiree. AFP

POPE Francis said Sunday that Islam could not be equated with terrorism and warned Europe was pushing its young into the hands of extremists.

“It’s not true and it’s not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism,” he told journalists aboard the papal plane during the return journey from a trip

to Poland.

“I don’t think it is right to equate Islam with violence.”

Francis defended his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal jihadist murder of a Catholic priest in France in the latest of a string of recent attacks in Europe claimed by the Islamic State (IS)

group.

“In almost every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. We have them too.”

“If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his

mother-in-law, and these are baptized Catholics.”

The pontiff was speaking after Muslims attended Catholic mass in churches around France on Sunday in solidarity and sorrow following the murder of the priest, whose throat was slit at the altar of his church. AFP

Armenian siege ends as 20 gunmen surrender YEREVAN, Armenia—Twenty antigovernment gunmen who were holed up in an Armenian police station for two weeks surrendered on Sunday, security services said, ending a tense stand-off that left two police officers dead and triggered mass protests.

The armed men gave themselves up a day after police warned they would storm the building to draw a line under the crisis, which had sparked at times violent demonstrations by opposition supporters in the capital Yerevan.

“The security forces’ anti-terrorist operation has ended and led to the members of the armed group laying down their weapons and surrendering to the authorities,” the national security service said in a statement.

“Twenty terrorists were arrested,” it said.

“The territory of the police station has been liberated.”

During the fortnight-long drama the armed men also took hostages, freeing the final two, both medics, late Saturday.

They said they were demanding the release of jailed opposition leader Zhirair Sefilyan and the resignation of President Serzh Sarkisian, a former communist party leader who came to power in 2008.

An Armenian website had earlier Sunday published what it said was a statement from one of the gunmen inside the police station, saying they were ready to surrender.

“We will continue our struggle from prison. We believe that we have achieved our goal: we became the spark that allowed people to rise up and it makes no sense to spill blood,” Varuzhan Avetisyan was quoted as saying.

He also said that overnight security forces had “40 shooters lying in wait” for the assault to take back the station and if his group had resisted it would have led to “a bloodbath.”

The gunmen plunged Armenia into turmoil when they stormed the police station in Yerevan on July 17, killing an officer and taking several others hostage.

They let the officers go but then seized four medical workers before gradually freeing them too.

On Saturday a second officer was killed by a sniper who authorities said was firing from inside the seized police compound, a claim denied by the gunmen.

The crisis also brought thousands of pro-opposition demonstrators to the streets, calling for President Sarkisian to step down. AFP

HIGH-FLYING. A Eurofighter aircraft performs aerobatics during the

Torre del Mar International Air Festival in Torre del Mar, near Malaga, on July 31, 2016. AFP

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

ARTS, CULTURE, TECH & MEDIA

Maurizio Cattelan

D1

TASTE DRIVE. Maurizio Cattelan and BMW mark the opening of Rencontres d’Arles Festival of Photography by presenting a BMW i3 Spaghetti Car

‘Spaghetti Car’

creates

O

n the occasion of the opening of this year’s Rencontres d’Arles Festival of Photography (from July 4 to Sept. 25), its long-term partner BMW and Toilet Paper, a bi-annual avant garde picture-based publication, and brand created by artist Maurizio Cattelan together with photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari announced the joint creation of a BMW i3 “Spaghetti Car.” Lest there be any confusion, it must be officially clarified that what Cattelan created is not an official BMW Art Car. The artist’s design will be destroyed according to Cattelan’s wishes sometime after Rencontres d’Arles. As for the next BMW Art

Cars following up on the one Jeff Koons created in 2010, a BMW M6 GT3 is currently being turned into a “rolling sculpture” by US West Coast legend John Baldessari as well as young Beijing-based multimedia artist Cao Fei – with upcoming racing

events and world premieres in late 2016/2017.

Cattelan has still officially retired from “art” since his 2011 retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, although he only recently created a toilet bowl made of solid gold for the Upper East Side institution. All of which did not stop his auction results to climb to over 15 million dollars earlier this year, creating doubt of how long precisely he can keep up with mounting pressure from many sides not to create “art.”

True to his own words in regard to the “Spaghetti Car,” here’s what Cattelan had to say about neither creating “art” nor creating a BMW Art Car, Serge Naudin, president of BMW France, was also delighted to collaborate.

“The long-term cultural commitment of BMW France evolves around photography. It comes natural to count us among the admirers of Maurizio Cattelan. As for creating “art,” we love what he does and we love it just as much when he does not do anything.”

The “Spaghetti Car” is part of Toilet Paper’s “Hors Cadre / Out of context.” The exhibition will invade public space in Arles during the time of the festival. The BMW i3 becomes a mobile piece of this outdoor media installation including XXL wall murals and deck chairs. The BMW i3 was launched in 2014 as part of BMW i, the BMW brand standing for visionary vehicle concepts and technologies, connected mobility services as

well as a new understanding of pre premium defined by sustainability.

BMW was thrilled to entrust a BMW i3 to Cattelan, as the car manufacturer and the artist had already teamed up for the Berlin Biennial in 2006, which he co-curated. Since 2010, BMW France has been a partner of Les Rencontres d’Arles. This year, the most recent recipient of the Résidence BMW scholarship, a cooperation with the Musée Nicéphore Niépce, will be announced.

An exhibition of the 2015 laureate, Alinka Echeverría, will take place at the Commanderie Sainte Luce in Arles as well during Paris Photo at the Grand Palais, Paris, in November 2016.

MEDIA

‘The Duterte Manifesto’

proceeds go to House Of Hope WITH the nation always drawn to President Rodrigo Duterte’s intriguing yet entertaining speeches and press statements, ABS-CBN Publishing Inc. (API) releases The Duterte Manifesto, a compilation of quotes, jokes and stories from and about President Duterte. Part of the proceeds of the book will be donated to the Davao Children’s Cancer Fund Inc. - House of Hope, one of the president’s favorite charities since the time that he was still a mayor.

“Do not control my mouth! This is my mouth! God given gift to!” “Sinabi mo, gawin mo. ‘Pag di mo napanindigan ‘yan, ay…Patay kang bata ka.”

“I believe in love, yes. Forever, nah.”

These are just some of the witty lines from President Duterte that are included in the book. The book aims not just to entertain but to impart learning and insights to the public as well.

Just recently, API president Ernie Lopez flew to Davao to visit the House of Hope to meet people behind the char-

ity. House Of Hope is a SEC registered non-stock, nonprofit charity organization for children with cancer since May 2014. Its mission is to bring hope, promote better survival rates, and achieve excellent, holistic care for children with cancer through advocacy, quality improvement and better resources.

The Duterte Manifesto: Mga Aral Mula Sa Mga Banat At Talumpati Ni President Rodrigo Duterte” is now available at National Book Store for only P149.00.

‘Healthy Options News Digest’ highlights building strong immunity EVER wondered or felt like the main disease-fighting nutrients are missing in your diet? Mineral deficiencies can lead to a host of health problems, such as digestive problems, weak bones, tiredness, tingling in the extremities, muscle cramps, abnormal rhythms of the heart, or a decreased immune system.

The latest issue of Healthy Options Lifestyle News Digest focuses on building strong immunity.

Some individuals may recognize the telltale signs of nutritional deficiencies. Health experts advise listening to body cues or discomforts, signaling potentially bigger problems. Get the heads-up from the feature article, “Do You Have a Mineral Deficiency?” which lists some of the symptoms and treatment options for common nutritional deficiencies.

Any of a wide range of immune system offenders may severely suppress the human immune sys-

tem. These range from sugary and processed food, to unhealthy fats, chemical additives and preservatives, a sedentary lifestyle, to frequent and repetitive stress. Studies have found that sleep deprivation also tends to lower the body’s ability to fight off disease-causing pathogens. Learn the other factors that may have a blunting effect on immune system cells, by perusing the article, “6 Things That Weaken Your Immune System.”

Indeed, a growing body of evidence points out that people can take steps to keep their immune system functioning well. On the other hand, you do not want your immune system working overtime.

The key is to strike a balance.

With the cold and flu season upon us, you can build stronger defense against the germs lurking in the common areas in your workplace, malls and other public spaces, or right in your own home.

Browse the article, “Avoid Colds

and Flu This Monsoon Season” for easy tips to minimize catching sniffles or infections.

Another insightful article is “Take a Break From Cosmetics,” which details the findings of a new study pointing out how chemically laden products like cosmetics and shampoos may have a negative impact on the body in the long run.

Other enlightening articles in the news digest are “Why breastfeeding is best,” “Natural Remedies for Full and Healthy Hair,” and “Irresponsible Mining Damages the Environment.”

Also featured is an article on the “6 Health Issues of Younger People.” Uncover the six conditions that are trending in younger people in the past few years.

Incorporate healthy habits, including eating well and doing regular exercise, in your regular schedule, and increase your body’s disease-fighting capability.

Life

D2

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

TECH

The best of ‘Pokemon GO’

F

ILIPINOS keenly anticipating the launch of Pokemon GO can now stay updated on the upcoming release of the game in the Philippines and fully enjoy the game when it launches with the help of freenet and PayMaya.

Now a certified worldwide phenomenon, Pokemon GO is a location-based mobile game developed by Niantic Labs in partnership with Nintendo affiliate The Pokemon Company. The mobile game allows players to catch Pokemon or “pocket monsters” as if in real life using the GPS and camera of their smartphones.

The game is currently available in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK, and select European countries. It has yet to launch in any Asian country, including Japan where the original Pokemon game originated.

Those who want to stay updated on news about the upcoming release of the game in the Philippines may now download the freenet app on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Through freenet, Smart, TNT and Sun subscribers will be able to read the latest news and social media feeds from the local Pokemon GO community for free and with no data charges.

This is part of freenet’s mission to enable communities such as those who are eager to play Pokemon GO to stay active and participate in various activities and discussions through digital platforms.

Meanwhile, once the Pokemon GO app launches in the Philippines, players will be able to fully enjoy the game through in-app purchases with the help of PayMaya, the easiest way to pay online even without a credit card.

Players only have to download the PayMaya app on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, load up their accounts with at least P60.00 to cover the standard app store verification fee, and link their virtual VISA card to their app store accounts to be able to make in-app purchases for Pokecoins, the inapp currency used inside the Pokemon GO game.

With the help of Pokecoins, players will be able to purchase various items that will help them easily navigate the game, such as Pokeballs to catch Pokemon with, Pokemon eggs that allow them to “hatch” Pokemon, Potions to restore the health of their Pokemon, and Incense and Lure Modules that make it easy to attract wild Pokemon to their immediate vicinity.

In-app purchases are made more convenient with PayMaya as mobile game players can easily load up at any of the over 15,000 PayMaya reloading stations nationwide that include SM Malls Business Centers, Robinsons Department Stores, Bayad Centers, 7-Eleven stores with Cliqq kiosks, TouchPay Kiosks, and Smart Padala Centers, on top of online banking via BDO. Aside from the mobile app, PayMaya customers can also opt to have their own PayMaya physical prepaid card, which can be used in brickand-mortar stores worldwide that accept Visa. A variant also comes with its own beep TM wallet, allowing users to ride the MRT, LRT, some city buses and other beep TM powered transportation

CATCH ‘EM ALL. Filipinos waiting for the arrival of today’s hottest mobile game Pokemon Go can now stay updated on news about its much-anticipated release via the freenet app

for their daily commute, so they can easily explore the city in search of wild Pokemon.

Users who upgrade their PayMaya account can use their PayMaya for peer-to-peer money transfers and ATM withdrawals.

For more information about PayMaya and how users can get their own PayMaya card, visit www.paymaya.com. To know more about the free and fun way to connect through freenet, visit www.freenet.ph.

New designs to empower ‘One Life’

By Enna Hermoso TECH giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) launched its latest computing innovation that combines the work and life of this generation’s professionals. With work and life converged into “One Life,” (HP’s mobile lifestyle campaign) workplaces are more than the typical office spaces but are extended to anywhere with the Internet connection.

Since this generation’s professionals consist of millennials that crave for devices that they could have both for their personal and business use, “One Life” device fulfills this for today’s workforce.

“Millennials want the device they use to be stylish and stunning, and which gives them the freedom to create and express their aspirations. If they use the device for work, they also want to be sure that it is secure enough and lets them collaborate effortlessly,” said Albert Mateo Jr., managing director of HP Philippines, Inc. The HP EliteBook Folio is the perfect combination of commercial-grade performance in a notebook design. It is the thinnest and lightest businessclass notebook that HP has produced. It is 12.4 mm thin and it is under 1kg.

It also has a 180–degree piano hinge and it comes with the full-size, highly acclaimed

HP premium keyboard, a Windows 10 gesture-enabled clickpad, and two USB-C™ ports and Thunderbolt™ 3 for fast data transfers and 4K displays.

The EliteBook Folio also has an optional Ultra HD (UHD) 4K display with a pixel density of 352 pixels per inch that provides a paper–like display.

The UHD panel also enables 95 percent of the Adobe RGB gamut to make more vivid and life-like images.

Aside from the EliteBook Folio there are the HP Elite x2, a versatile tablet that offers the productivity of a full notebook and HP Elite x3—the first built-for-business mobile device running on Windows 10 that revolutionizes the mobile computing experience.

It is 8.1 mm thin and weighs less than 840g and has a built-in kickstand with 150 degrees of adjustability which allows users to set the device upright for viewing and keyboard typing or laying it back with onscreen typing.

“At HP, we are constantly pushing the envelope in

design, productivity, security and entertainment to build innovative products for ‘One Life’, so our customers get an enhanced computing experience whether for work or play,” said Mateo.

Adding up to the set of “One Life” devices are the HP PageWide Enterprise Color MFP 586, the HP PageWide Pro 477, and the HP PageWidePro 577dw Multifunction Printer with the PageWide Technology that delivers the fastest speeds and deepest security for the lowest total cost for up and coming businesses.

For more information about HP Inc., visit http://www.hp.com/ph.

The HP Elite x2 is a versatile tablet that offers productivity to its users

APPLIANCE DEALS

Easy and affordable digital appliances WHEN it comes to home appliances, modern Filipino households search for the perfect partners in taking care of their family. Samsung Philippines offers a suite of digital appliances that makes daily life

more comfortable, convenient and timeefficient for today’s millennial parents.

With their innovative features, these appliances are designed to meet each family member’s unique lifestyle needs.

The Flexi Home Deals promo offers consumers flexible payment options for Samsung appliances

Samsung’s innovative products are now within reach of more customers with the Flexi Home Deals promo, which offers flexible payment packages for a limited time.

The Flexi Home Deals cover a wide range of models of Samsung digital appliances —refrigerators, washing machines and microwave ovens.

Customers can choose to avail of Samsung digital appliances in payment options they are most comfortable with. They can enjoy discounts of up to P30,000.00 on digital appliances for one-time cash payments.

For those who opt for easy deals on installment, discounts are also available for payment periods of six months, 12 months, and 18 months at 0 percent interest.

“Through the Flexi Home Deals, we are able to provide customers with the opportunity to decide how they want to avail of their dream home appliances. We want more Filipino families to experience the unparalleled convenience and comfort of using Samsung Digital Appliances. Through this, we can fulfill our mission to be the Filipino home’s perfect partner in taking care of the family,” said Stephanie Chua, head of Product Marketing, Digital Appliances.

The Flexi Home Deals promo runs until Sept. 30 at selected Samsung dealer stores nationwide.

Acer Aspire V15–professional and stylish forged in metal EVERY intuitive computer user knows and expects to get impressive performance every time he or she uses the computer.

Better yet if the computer is truly fit for a professional and stylish at the same time, like Acer’s Aspire V15—sophisticated, polished, stylized and powerful—qualities forged in metal that only global tech titan Acer can pull off when it comes to making computers.

As soon as you lay your hands and catch sight of this digital wonder, you can’t be blamed for your “oohhh” and “aaahhhh” reaction, for it is expected.

The premium aluminum cover with its nano-imprint pattern by itself is definitely worth your purchase already, an elegant style you can see and feel.

But the Acer Aspire V15 is not just about aesthetics for it packs a lot.

In terms of display, the Acer BluelightShield is what makes the Acer Aspire V15 a true champion for your eyes as it helps reduce harmful blue light eye strain when watching

through its full HD display screen.

But then again, it works wonders for your ears’ audio appreciation, courtesy of its Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater Sound as it brings life to your movie and music experience.

Meanwhile, a spacious backlit keyboard does wonders to make you work seamless and highly productive even in low-light surroundings, with a precision touchpad and 10-point touch display to boot completes the Acer Aspire V15 package of features.

The incredible Acer Liquid Leap Active Smartwatch has a 1-inch OLED (128 x 32) touchscreen display and is completely compatible with Android 4.4 systems and above, iOS 7 and iOS 8 and Windows 8.1. It is IPX4 waterproof certified and can last five to seven days on a full charge.

For more about the Acer Aspire V15 and other innovative Acer products, go to www.acer.com.ph, follow Acer via Twitter (twitter.com/acerphils) or www.Facebook.com/AcerPH. MORE THAN JUST LOOKS. Acer Aspire V15 features a stylish aluminum cover and whole suite of features that makes it a powerful device for professionals

Showbiz

D3

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

23 vie for Jewel of the Philippines 2016 title THE inaugural Jewel of the Philippines 2016, another fresh addition to the evergrowing national beauty searches, was recently launched with its first batch of candidates introduced before media members. Dubbed the search for the “modern Filipina, new generationCinderella,” Jewel of the Philippines is the brain child of John de la Vega, stage/pageant director and beauty queen-maker, which aims to celebrate the power of the beauty of modern-day Filipina with a passion for community service.

The Jewel of the Philippines 2016 winner will compete at the inaugural Jewel of the World pageant, organized by Orientscape Productions and produced by Goldcraft Promo Corporation, which will be held in the country in early 2017.

Three other beauty titles will be at

R

ESORTS World Sentosa (RWS) hosts Irish superstar and Decca recording artist Ronan Keating for a special acoustic performance at Universal Studios Singapore on Aug. 24.

The exclusive performance will feature tracks from his 10th studio album, Time of My Life and a selection of signature hits as part of the partnership between Resorts World Sentosa Singapore and Universal Music Group’s New Business division, Universal Music Group & Brands.

Fans can attend the performance by purchasing regular park admission or special after-5 p.m. tickets bundled with drinks, whilst enjoying thrilling rides and attractions in the theme park, open until late.

Jason Horkin, senior vice president for Attractions at Resorts World Sentosa, said, “This is the first time Ronan Keating

stake at the Jewel of the Philippines 2016 finals, winners of which will represent the Philippines in Miss World Peace in Beijing, China; Miss Bikini Universe, also in China and Miss Charity Queen International to be held in Taiwan.

Wearing swimwear by Pegarro Swim of Juluis Jaguio and Domz Ramos, the 23 candidates are Prexie Mae Balunggay, Fel Sharae Banaybanay, Princess Malyka Belgica, Angela Beatrice Cecilio, Andrea Delgado, Rizelle Mea de Guzman, Cindy Devera, Marjorie Esguerra, Inna Patricia Gita, Anna Domenique Igos, Honey Rose Jayawon, Sarah Margarette Joson, Novie Shane Leonario, Bayerana Liong, Natasha Angela Manuel, Thea Faith Nortez, Romellean Joy Pontino, Gladys Louise Santos, Jean Grey Santos, Mavi Anne Sunga, Marvie Talanay, Florinda

Talosig, and Megan Vinasoy.

“We decided to use one-piece to bring back its era with floral designs for the spring summer. Then we put beads and stones for our trademark,” said Domz Ramos.

De la Vega expressed hope that the first Jewel of the Philippines search will be a success as the pageant aims to be relevant to produce beauty queens who will be “Beauty Advocates for Social Change and Nation Building,” women of substance who will spend their reign using their titles to campaign for worthy causes, especially, the protection of children’s welfare, youth development and women empowerment.

Jewel of the Philippines 2016 pageant will culminate in the grand coronation night on Aug.10, in Tanghalang Pasigueño Theater in Pasig City. GMA News TV will air a delayed telecast, 9 p.m. on Aug. 28 at 9. Eton B. Concepcion

BEVY OF BEAUTIES. The official candidates in this year’s

Jewel of the Philippines beauty pageant during a press presentation held recently in Quezon City

Ronan Keating at Universal Studios

Singapore

is performing at Universal Studios Singapore and we are thrilled to organize this special acoustic performance for fans old and new. We look forward to bringing top entertainment acts and iconic international events to the park such as The Huntsman: Winter’s War Red Carpet so that guests can enjoy a world-class experience while getting the adrenaline rush from our

exciting rides.”

Released in February this year, Time of My Life finds Keating at his very best, delivering songs that speak of celebration, l o v e , loss and h o n e s t y.

Worldly wise with a bevy of self-penned, heart-felt compositions and a

revealing repertoire of songs, the 12-track album moves between touching acoustic moments on lead single “Let Me Love You,” to the anthemic “Think I Don’t Remember” and uplifting second single “Breathe”.

Ronan Keating said, “This is the music I have always wanted to make. This is who I am and it feels absolutely right. To go out with all this material, and playing guitar, will be so exciting. These songs were written for live performance, and I am really looking forward to sharing my music with everyone at Universal Studios Singapore on Aug. 24.”

Keating’s 22 years on the international music scene have yielded an impressive tally of achievements including 40 million album sales with Boyzone, 22 million sales of his nine solo albums, Ronan Keating fans in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia can win the chance to meet their idol in person by participating in a regional contest organized by RWS and Universal Music Group

& Brands through media partners Mediacorp Station Class95 (Singapore), 101 JAKFM (Indonesia), E! Channel (the Philippines), and New Idea (Australia). To win, participants have to describe in no more 25 words why they deserve to experience the “Time of My Life” at RWS. One winner each from Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia will get a Time of My Life trip to RWS including return air tickets for two to Singapore, a stay at the resort, admission passes to Universal Studios Singapore and S.E.A. Aquarium, and VIP seats for the live performance.

The Singapore winner will arrive for the performance chauffeured in a luxury car, enjoy a VIP tour of Universal Studios Singapore and receive a pair of ‘RWS Invites’ membership cards with S$400 in dining vouchers. All winners will also get to meet Ronan Keating himself as well as receiving autographed CDs. RWS will also run a Facebook contest to give away tickets to the live gig.

Visit www.facebook.com/ ResortsWorldatSentosa for more details.

During his visit at RWS, Keating will shoot a promotional video documenting his experience in Asia’s premium lifestyle destination resort that includes luxury hotel getaways, Michelin-star fine dining and premium offerings at our attraction. The resort also features ESPA, an awardwinning luxury destination spa.

Visit http://www.rwsentosa. com/ronankeating/ for information on getting tickets to this special acoustic performance at Universal Studios Singapore.

Park operating hours will be extended to 9 p.m. on Aug. 24.

Relive the music of Boyzone’s frontman, Ronan Keating, in an intimate acoustic session at the Resorts World Sentosa

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, August 2, 2016

ACROSS 1 Cartel 5 Grinds to a halt 10 Manage OK 14 Gamblers’ mecca 15 Surpass 16 NCAA Bruins 17 Campus org.

18 Hibachi supply 20 Wails 22 Not a soul 23 Heists, slangily 25 Novelist — Ferber 26 High-pitched 27 Goodall subject 28 Unfeeling 32 Harbor warning 33 Swung offcourse 35 Toddler perch 36 Zero in on 37 Fannie — 38 Chocolatecolored dog 39 June celebrant 41 Rodeo prop 43 Opera set in Egypt 44 To be, to Brutus 45 Volcanic emission 46 Bearing 48 In conclusion 50 Very intelligent 51 Mark a page

(hyph.)

54 “— Davis Eyes” 55 What everybody knows (2 wds.)

57 Number of Muses 61 Hum 62 Baggy 63 Lois Lane portrayer — Neill 64 — -majeste 65 Put in crops 66 Samberg or Murray DOWN 1 Shivery comment 2 Zodiac sign 3 Mich. neighbor 4 Pilot’s place 5 Without a smile 6 Pivots 7 Singer — Redding 8 ASAP 9 Dived, as a whale 10 Reduction 11 Prefix for eight 12 Implored 13 A piece of cake 19 Many centuries 21 Sushi morsel 23 They may be at your service

24 Luncheonette lures 25 “En garde” weapons 26 Phase 27 Overflowing 29 Surfing the Web 30 Like some crystal 31 Blackball 34 Pile up 40 Political thaw 41 Mountain flowers 42 Skipped over 43 Cricket organ

47 Toward the stern 49 Bought 50 They fly in formation 51 Cutie-pie 52 Mayberry kid 53 Thickens 54 Place for a wreath 56 Pigeon talk 58 Na+. for one 59 Dime novelist — Buntline 60 England’s Isle of —

Push Awards voting now open Entertainment website PUSH.com. ph once again honors the people who power digital media—stars and fans alike—as it once again opens the biggest digital media awards in the country, PUSH Awards.

To vote and see the complete list of nominees, just log on to PushAwards.com and register using your Facebook account.

Only one vote per category will be accepted per day.

Like in last year’s format, celebrities who have a high influence on Facebook are nominated as PUSH Like Female Celebrity, PUSH Like Male Celebrity, PUSH Like Group/ Tandem, PUSH Like Newcomer, and PUSH Like Music Artist.

The most retweeted, most favorited, most followed, and most mentioned personalities who can make anything trend on Twitter are also recognized in the competition as PUSH Tweet Female Celebrity, PUSH Tweet Male Celebrity, PUSH Tweet Group/Tandem, PUSH Tweet Newcomer, and PUSH Tweet Music Artist nominees.

Instagram users who have the most number of followers and engage their fans with their posts are also up for competition in the PUSH Gram Female Celebrity, PUSH Gram Male Celebrity, PUSH Gram Group/Tandem, PUSH Gram Newcomer, and PUSH Gram Music Artist categories.

Finally, famous YouTubers who create videos with the most hits will be honored in the PUSH Play Female Celebrity, PUSH Play Male Celebrity, PUSH Play Group/Tandem, PUSH Play Newcomer, and PUSH Play Music Artist categories.

Winners of these Digital Media categories via online voting will then be deliberated on by a distinguished judging panel to receive the Push Elite Awards: Push Female Celebrity of the Year, Push Male Celebrity of the Year, Push Group/Tandem of the Year, Push Newcomer of the Year, and Push Music Artist of the Year.

For the list of nominees, log on to PUSH.com.ph.

Showbiz

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

D4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2016

Everyone becomes

Angeline Quinto in another comedy movie playing the role of Shirley, a trying hard singer and event specialist

R

EGAL Entertainment dishes out a different tale of love and romance in this year’s “hugot comedy,” That Thing Called Tanga Na, opening in theaters nationwide on Aug. 10.

The movie is under the direction of multi-awarded Joel Lamangan with Eric Quizon, Billy Crawford, Kean Cipriano, Martin Escudero and Angeline Quinto leading the cast.

That Thing Called Tanga Na revolves around the lives of five friends – four gays and a lady - each has a story to tell about the sacrifices they did in finding true love.

Eric (Ronnie Chui) is a rich lawyer and Pinoy movie fan. He freaks out when he discovers that his young boytoy is having an affair with a gay talent manager younger than he is.

Billy, meanwhile, is a closet gay working as a security guard. His live-in partner suffers a medical condition that drives him to take care of him like a dutiful “wife.” Despite this, the guy’s mother treats him shabbily when live-in partner dies.

Kean (C.C.) plays the character of an online clothing company owner.

He and his boyfriend have been on for five years. Thus, he goes out of his way and plans their wedding in Central Park, New York City.

‘tanga’ for love

HAPPY AND GAY. (From left) Kian Cipriano, Eric Quizon and Billy Crawford are ‘bekis’ in this Joel Lamangan-helmed flick

MORE than a habit, Eat Bulaga is almost synonymous to “breathing” not only for millions of viewers throughout the years, but for the people behind the show, on and off the camera. Last Saturday, July 30, the country’s longest-running noontime program on television turned 37, celebrating close to four decades of serving happiness to viewers all over the world.

“Is it 37 years already?” asks Joey de Leon, a third of the trio of faces associated with the program. The two others are Senator Tito Sotto and his brother Vic, collectively known as Tito, Vic, & Joey or TVJ. “It makes me proud, really proud. Hindi lahat ng television shows umaabot ng 37 years ha, at daily pa!,” remarked Joey, who also happens to have the bragging rights to coining the title Eat Bulaga.

When Eat Bulaga aired first on July 30, 1979, TVJ did not expect to be in it for the long haul. After all, they were in it for the exposure and the income. The former was easy. It was the latter that literally took time to materialize. Months worth of salaries for the hosts were delayed because its producer then, Production Specialists, Inc., was in the red.

“When we started, my main goal was to earn money and save for a car. I never really imagined we’ll go this far,” shared Vic. “It’s true that we weren’t paid on time for months but fortunately we had Iskul Bukol na then. The first time we were to receive our salary, the money was left in a taxi.”

More than the exposure, it was the bond created within the Eat Bulaga circle that made it possible for them to stick it out through the years.

“We were like a family already. Our producer was like a brother to us,” said Vic referring to Antonio Tuviera, T.A.P.E., Inc. president and CEO. “We enjoy each other’s company, dabarkads eh, it’s the true meaning of dabarkads na one family kayo, na hindi mo napapansin ang trabaho while you’re at it.”

From a small group of five hosts when it was launched, Eat Bulaga grew to become a large family of 18 whose members see each other for six days a week with one goal: to put a smile on the faces of its viewers.

37

years of ‘Eat Bulaga’

The cast of the longest-running noontime show in the country celebrates another year of fun and laughter bringing joy to all Filipinos from Batanes down to Tawi-Tawi

“We respond to the changes in the people’s tastes,” said Creative Head Jenny Ferre, the brains behind the phenomenal segment Kalyeserye. “We cater not just to the entertainment needs of the viewers but generally to the need to make them happy, make them complete.”

If there is a formula to it, Tuviera credits Eat Bulaga’s decades of supremacy to their endless pursuit to be relevant to keep up with the ever-

The hilarious cast of ‘That Thing Called Tanga Na’

Unknown to him, his boyfriend will wed a Korean and he has been tapped to design and execute the bride’s wedding gown.

Martin, on the other hand, is a transgender named Georgette/George. He supports financially his boyfriend and his family.

George and his boyfriend form a union sans the church’s blessing and Georgette is able to fulfill his dream through the help of his boyfriend’s wife.

Angeline as Shirley is a trying hard singer/events specialist. She is married to an irresponsible guy who sires her a child. She is a living witness to her friends’ craziness when it comes to love. However, her life turns crazier vwhen she learns that her husband had a one night stand with one of her gay friends.

Eric, Billy, Kean, Martin and Angeline not only deliver funny hugot lines, crazy scenes and foolish adventures in That Thing Called Tanga Na. As direk Joel says, “Martin is a very good actor. I’ve handled him before sa TV. First time kong idirek si Kean. Dedicated siyang actor. Walang hang up si Billy kahit laiaki siya. Eric is always competent. Si Angeline, ang galing ng timing sa comedy.

May ritmo siya.”

Gays and gay men will most definitely be able to relate to the characters in the film.

So riotous are the scenes in the movie that its trailer has earned countless hits on the Regal YouTube channel and other social media accounts.

That Thing Called Tanga Na shows us that, indeed, all is fair in love.

“Mahusay silang lahat. Nakakatawa!

Makaka-identify ang lahat sa movie maski hindi bading. Universal ang approach namin sa pelikula,” assures Direk Joel, who is also responsible for such blockbuster films like Manay Po 1, Manay Po 2, Happy Together, and Pusong Mamon to name a few.

As the cliche goes, It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Catch That Thing Called Tanga Na premiere screening on Aug. 8.

Watch the full trailer on the Official Youtube channel of Regal Films and on their official Facebook Page - Regal Entertainment Inc. Follow their official Twitter @regalfilms, Instagram @regalfilms50 for more updates about the film.

changing taste of the viewers. The trick of the trade: transforming the old into something new.

“We always try to be relevant to our audience,” said Tuviera.

Every time we try to do innovations, it’s not really something original, but if we have an old idea, which is very familiar to the audience, we sort of sugarcoat it in a different way then add some trimmings. Akala mo parang bago pero it’s something na medyo at the back of their minds, Parang kilala ko ‘to, pero parang mas masaya na siya ngayon, parang bago.”

It may well be the secret to the program’s seamless crossover to the age of new media. One might think that the emergence of digital technology might mean bad news to mainstream media, including television what with most TV programs already available for online download or are being taken over by webcasts. In Eat Bulaga’s case, it’s good news. Social media made it possible for the program to widen its reach, making it possible to move out of its boundaries “mula Batanes hanggang Jolo” to the far corners of the world.

The record-breaking 41M tweets on AlDub, the accidental love team of heartthrob Alden Richards and dubsmash queen Maine Mendoza, for its “Tamang Panahon” special attests to this.

“Who could’ve imagined a certain accident can fill up the largest indoor arena in the world?,” asked Alden Richards, himself overwhelmed with the viewers’ reception of Eat Bulaga.

To accommodate more live audiences, the show will be moving to its new studio in a 3,000-square-meter property in Cainta by the end of the year. Treating its loyal viewers like VIPs is the show’s way of giving back to those who have made it a part of their daily lives.

“While the others are entertainment shows disguising themselves as public service programs, Eat Bulaga is the opposite: it is—and has been—a public service program disguising itself as an entertainment show,” he said. “Everything that we do, every new segment we introduce is always created in the light of public service.”

Whether for entertainment or public service, it is clear that Eat Bulaga has perfected the longevity formula and has strummed just the right strings in the heart of every Filipino viewer; causing more laughters than the “isang libo’t isang tuwa” it had originally promised its avid fans from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi, and to the rest of the world.