Manila Standard - 2016 August 21 - Sunday

VOL. XXX • NO. 190 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 • WWW.THESTANDARD.COM.PH • EDITORIAL@THESTANDARD.COM.PH

FEEL THE BEAT. Davao City residents dance on the streets during the Indak Indak sa Kadalalan competition during the penultimate day of the week-long Kadayawan sa Dabaw 2016 Festival. Roland Jumawan

Davao marks new era

By Funny Pearl Gajunera DAVAO CITY—The ongoing Kadayawan sa Dabaw appears to be one of the more successful editions of the harvest festival even if the city government decided to hold back on the grandiosity this year.

Perhaps it is because one of the city’s favorite sons, former mayor Rodrigo Duterte, is now President and has brought on his coat tails a slew of officials from all sectors of government, including the favor-seekers who follow in their wake.

Palace officials said more than half of Duterte’s Cabinet has been here since Thursday to attend the Social Development Summit organized by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, who is in charge of 12 key social service agencies.

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Pregnant Inday Sara feisty again

By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENTIAL daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte took to social media on Saturday to slam a forensic pathologist who claimed that her pregnancy was meant to draw media mileage for her father, President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The problem with you is you don’t like the grandfather that’s why you attack even my three unborn children,” Mayor Duterte said on her Instagram Next page

Govt declares ceasefire anew

By Joel Zurbano and John Paolo Bencito

T

HE Duterte administration again declared an indefinite ceasefire with the communist insurgent movement on Saturday, a day after the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army declared a seven-day truce on Friday.

AGREE TO PEACE. Young supporters of the communist movement marched on Claro M. Recto Avenue in Manila on Saturday to express support to the peace talks that will start in Oslo, Norway Tuesday. Danny Pata

Palace hits UN official’s meddling

By John Paolo Bencito MALACAÑANG on Saturday scored United Nations special rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard for her incomprehension of Philippine realities and imposing liberal Western values on an Asian nation.

“The President [Rodrigo Duterte] finds the pronouncements from cer-

DFA: Indonesians had authentic PH passports

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday said that it will conduct its own investigation on how 177 Indonesians got hold of authentic Philippine passports which they tried to use in going to Saudi Arabia.

“The DFA will conduct an investigation on the passport issue, just waiting for passports to be turned over by [the Bureau of Immigration] so they can be examined first hand,” DFA spokesman Charles Jose said.

Jose issued the statement after an official of the government printing office APO Production

Unit said the Philippine passports carried by the 177 Indonesians are the handiwork of a syndicate.

The BI intercepted 177 Indonesians carrying Philippine passport at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport before they boarded the plane bound to Saudi Arabia.

Aside from the Indonesians, five Filipinos were escorting the Indonesians who were purportedly undertaking a pilgrimage, said BI commissioner Jaime Morente said.

Jose, who had just announced on Thursday that the DFA would start issuing “untamperable” passports on Monday, confirmed that the passports were authentike, but were illegally issued to the Indonesians.

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tain bodies as unwelcome meddling in national matters,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement on Saturday.

“The liberal Western values being imposed [on] an Asian nation that places premium on common good is both insensitive and displays a lack of appreciation for the diversity of global culture,” he added.

Abella said the Philippines has

not extended any invitation to any international body to meddle into its national affairs. “We are capable of [conducting] our own internal dialogue,” he said.

Abella also clarified that there was nothing official in the remark of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo that Callamard should visit the country to see for herself.

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“The duration of the ceasefire will last for as long as necessary to bring peace in the land and also in order to provide an enabling environment for the success of the peace negotiations that will start in Oslo, Norway on July 22,” said Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza.

Dureza announced the ceasefire, which took effect midnight Saturday, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport where he called a press briefing before departing for the Oslo peace talks with the communist National

Democratic Front.

The NDF, for its part, also announced on Saturday the NPA would release more “prisoners of war” as another goodwill measure after five NPA captives were freed in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur. “We congratulate the custodial forces of the New People’s Army’s Front Operational Command 30 and 16 who continue to successfully ensure the safety of the POW’s,” the NDF said in a statement Saturday.

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Leila’s silence points to guilt, Panelo claims

By John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz A SENIOR Cabinet official said Saturday the continued silence of Senator Leila de Lima regarding her affair with her married driver suggested an admission of complicity as an accessory to adultery.

Chief Presidential Legal Adviser Salvador Panelo, in an interview over government radio dzRB, said: “In law, there is a provision under the Rules of Court that when a statement or a remark is made that requires a person being referred to [should]

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Dumaguete beauty bags Asian tiara

De Lima willing to resign

By Cathrine Mae V. Gonzales

By John Paolo Bencito

FILIPINA charm and intelligence once more gained international acclaim as Dumaguete beauty Trixia Maria Marana bagged the Miss Asia 2016 crown on Thursday night in Kerala, India.

The 23-year-old Marana bested 18 other contestants from countries across the region.

Yauheniya Vasilyeva of Belarus and Ankita Kharat of India were her runners-up.

Last year, the Philippines’ Alfe Marie Nathaniel Dagle Uy

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MISS ASIA 2016. Twenty-three-year-old Trixie Marie Marana of Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental is bussed by the court after she was crowned Miss Asia title at rites in Kerala, India.

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SENATOR Leila de Lima protested her innocence Saturday, declaring she is willing to resign from her post and even get shot in front of President Rodrigo Duterte if there is “real evidence” against her alleged involvement in the drug trade.

In a press briefing, De Lima also accused the Duterte administration of trying to fabricate evidence to implicate her and her driver-bodyguard, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, in the exchange of drug money in the New BiliNext page bid Prison.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Habagat to bring rains to W. Visayas—Pagasa T HE southwest monsoon or “habagat” will prevail again in a few days and bring rain to Western Visayas, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reported.

The state weather bureau’s Eastern Visayas, as well as Luforecaster Gladys Saludes said a zon’s Bicol Region and Aurora,

ate coming from the southwest to west, with slight to moderate seas,” Pagasa added.

Citing latest data, Saludes said three tropical cyclones are outside the PAR at present.

“However, those tropical cyclones have a low chance of entering the PAR and are too far to enhance the ‘habagat,’” she said.

Saludes said Pagasa expects one of the tropical cyclones to move northwards and create the Pacific conditions that can lead to the formation of the LPA that will likely enhance the “habagat.”

“The chance that that LPA will enter the PAR is still low,” she said.

There is only a 30 percent to 40-percent chance at present for such an LPA formation, Saludes continued.

However, west-lying Visayan communities must still brace for the possible formation of the LPA and enhancement of the “habagat,” she noted.

“While expected rain there may

low-pressure area can form in the Pacific near the Philippine Area of Responsibility, either on Sunday or on Monday and enhance the “habagat.”

“That enhanced ‘habagat’ can bring moderate to occasionally heavy rain to the Visayas’ western areas, so communities there must prepare for this possibility,” Saludes said.

She also said winds from the expected intensified “habagat” will likely fan moderate to rough seas in the area.

In its 24-hour forecast released Saturday, Pagasa warned of cloudy skies with light to moderate rain and thunderstorms in

Rizal and Quezon provinces.

Saludes, however, clarified that the “habagat” is not prevailing.

“The monsoon trough is bringing rain to east-lying areas in Luzon and the Visayas at present,” she said.

The weather bureau also forecast partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms in Metro Manila and remaining areas of the country.

“Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest to west will prevail over Luzon and its coastal waters will be moderate to rough while elsewhere, winds will be light to moder-

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Tajon explained that the added security features of the new passport are beyond the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, making it difficult to duplicate them.

The Indonesians who were bound for Medina, Saudi Arabia, on Friday were stopped by immigration authorities at the Naia when it was discovered that they could not speak the vernacular.

The interception of the 177 individuals alerted airport officials to tighten security due to intelligence reports that international terrorists were planning to enter the country through Mindanao and conduct bomb attacks.

“The new passport, which was officially launched last Monday, has additional security features which are very difficult to copy,” DFA Assistant Secretary Charles Jose told reporters in a press briefing last Thursday.

The security features of the new passport include different Philippine scenery, tourist spots and artifacts in every page of the passport.

Immigration Morente expressed surprise at the scheme, which appears to be on a much larger scale with the discovery that five Filipinos, and not two as they earlier thought, were escorting the Indonesian nationals.

The bureau also increased its vigilance against a passport racket involving foreigners who used Philippine passports to join the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The 177 Indonesians and their escorts were about to board Philippine Airlines Flight PR 8969 to Madinah at 12:30 a.m. Friday when the BI Intelligence Division saw through their bogus claim of being Filipinos.

Leila's...

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Dumaguete...

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preciated while climbing to the greatest heights,” she added.

Marina received from the Asian College of Science and Technology a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration majoring in Management. She currently works as an auto loan assistant.

Before winning the Miss Asia crown, she also joined the Mutya ng Pilipinas in 2014 and won local titles including Miss Dumaguete 2009 and Miss Negros Oriental in 2015.

Miss Asia from the House of Pegasus in India is now on its second year of searching for “the most beautiful and talented women from the Asian and Eurasian region.”

De Lima...

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Pregnant...

defy the odds it will be a PR fiesta and you will still be Miss Bittermelon,” the mayor said.

Within hours after the mayor posted her remarks, Fortun again took to Twitter to clarify that she was misinterpreted and wished the presidential daughter well.

“Came from work haven’t read everything on my (timeline) yet.

I never doubted your pregnancy Mayor Duterte I do wish you well. Had 2 miscarriages myself,” she added.

Fortun made the posts after Sara announced on Friday she could not join the Kadayawan festivities because she was “having a hard time with the symptoms as well as the complications of a multi-fetal pregnancy.”

She explained that she was seven weeks on the way with triplets although she vowed to work as much as her doctor allows.

“Those are not fake passports,” Jose said, surmising that the passports must have been provided by the group’s Filipino escorts.

The Indonesians allegedly paid $6,000 to $10,000 each to join the pilgrimage under a quota the Saudi government reserves for Filipino pilgrims.

“Other nationals who can’t be accommodated in their country’s quota, use Philippines’ quota to join pilgrimage, using spurious documents to acquire Philippine passport,” Jose added.

Jose said the DFA will conduct its separate investigation to determine who in the DFA issued the passports.

As soon as they arrested the Indonesians, the immigration chief ordered the immediate filing of immigration charges against them for misrepresenting themselves as Filipinos and for being undesirable aliens.

They are being detained at the bureau’s detention center in suburban Taguig City.

Meanwhile, APO Production Unit official Dominic Tajon said the passports are the handiwork of a syndicate.

“It is the handiwork of a syndicate. I can assure you, the passports were not original,” Tajon said.

Tajon said it would be very difficult for anyone to slip original copies of old passports because they are kept in a high-security vault controlled by the DFA. The department had distributed the remaining old passports to different consular offices here and across the globe and has begun using the new ones.

was the first runner-up in the Miss Asia beauty pageant. Danika Kapur of India won the title then.

In her Facebook post, Marana said her feat was “not a success but the fruit of how I rose above the trials.”

“For me it’s not reaching the mountaintop that makes you a success. It’s the climbing, it’s the falling, the slipping, the trying again,” Marana said.

“I personally have hit major peaks and the deepest valleys in coming here. We should think that the valleys need to be ap-

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account a day forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun posted something in her Twitter account that many people felt to be ill-meant.

“Too early to rejoice over seven weeker, especially for triplets.

Wait for delivery and spare oneself from heartache. PR for Lolo [PR for Grampa]?” she said.

But Mayor Duterte, who once punched a court sheriff for refusing to stop a demolition of squatters, slammed Fortun for her supposed ill wishes.

“Turn off your twitter, do your work, mind your own business and spare yourself the heartache,” the mayor said in Visayan.

“Please take note, that public officials need to explain their absence in important events. And [if] I do get the heartache, it will still be a media blitz and when we

make a comment--if she fails to make a comment--it means that all the accusations against her were true.”

Earlier, Panelo said De Lima, former chief of the Department of Justice, should answer the allegations by the President instead of grandstanding before media.

“The question that the good senator should respond to is: Is the information given by President Duterte on her true or not? In her press conference she called she did not deny nor refute the information,” Panelo told the Manila Standard.

Meanwhile, House leaders gave assurances that Congress will carry out a fair and objective probe on Senator De Lima and the proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prison during her tenure as Justice secretary.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on illegal drugs which may handle the congressional investigation, said he supports the action of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to file House Resolution 105 to find out the reasons why there had been an abundance of illegal drugs inside the national prison under De Lima’s watch.

“We support the call of the House leadership to conduct a congressional investigation in aid of legislation as to reasons why the rampant drug use inside the New Bililid Prison coincidentally happened during the stint of then Secretary and [now] Senator De Lima,” Barbers told the Manila Standard.

Duterte had said De Lima was the only one who was not aware that she had a “driver-lover” whom she failed to acknowledge all this time while facing the media.

On Saturday, De Lima admitted, however, that Ronnie Dayan was indeed her long-time “driver-

“I am willing to resign, to be shot in front of the President if drug allegations against me are proven true.

I’m pretty confident. I will stand by my innocence,” De Lima told a news briefing in Quezon City.

On Wednesday, the President called De Lima an “immoral woman” and an “adulterer” for having an affair with her longtime driver-bodyguard.

The President said the driverbodyguard collected drug money for the former Justice secretary from drug lords in the New Bilibid Prison.

De Lima said Friday she opted to remain silent at first because it was difficult for her to be publicly engaging in a piecemeal explanation.

However, De Lima said there were “some snippets of facts, snippets of truths” in the statements of the President, but the bulk of it were distortions, exaggerations, and lies.”

De Lima, replying to reporters’ questions, said Dayan was indeed her bodyguard--but the alleged property that she gave to Dayan in Urbiztondo, Pangasinan, their links to the drug trade, and a rumored sex video “were not true.”

The closest admission that she can say about her alleged affair, however, was she indeed became “close” to her bodyguard, adding she does not want to go into details about her widelypublicized personal life.

“The Ronnie Dayan that they are saying, he was really my driver-bodyguard even before I was a private practitioner, before I entered government,” De Lima said.

not be as intense as the ‘habagat’ downpour Metro Manila experienced this month, it is still best to prepare for possible inclement weather,” Saludes advised.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) earlier reported that several people died, six persons sustained injuries and seven others were reported missing in Metro Manila, Luzon’s regions IV-A and IV-B and the Visayas’ region VI. A total of 32,220 families or 154,988 persons were affected in regions I, III, IV-A, VI and Metro Manila due to the “habagat,” the council noted.

Some areas in Pangasinan, Bataan, Bulacan and Pampanga provinces, as well as some parts of Metro Manila were submerged in floodwaters measuring up to six feet, the council further reported.

It recorded spillway overflow, footbridge wash-out, tornado onslaught and drowning during the heavy downpour. PNA

Govt...

From A1 “Their release signifies the revolutionary movement’s serious intent in pursuing peace talks between the NDF and the government and as a gesture of goodwill for the resumption of formal talks in Oslo,” the communist rebels added.

PO1 Richard Vaz Yu of the PNP in Carmen, Surigao del Sur were abducted by the NDF’s armed wing, the New People’s Army in Brgy. San Vicente based on reports of his involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs in the municipality.

Four other policemen, PO2 Caleb Sinaca, PO3 Jayroll Bagayas and Rodrigo Angob of the Malimono Municipal Police Station and SPO3 Santiago Lamanilao of the Surigao City Police Office were abducted in Surigao del Norte were arrested in Brgy.

Cagtinae in Malimono town.

But the ceasefire was called after the the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested a ranking CPP in Cebu.

The rebel leader was identified as Amelia Pond, alias Adelfa Toledo, considered a high-value target.

Pond was arrested at 1:30 p.m. on August 19 in Barangay Luz, Cebu City “on the strength of warrant of arrest for double murder and frustrated murder,” said Senior Supt. Marlon Tayaba of the CI-

bodyguard” even before entering government, but kept mum about her alleged affair with him.

“The Ronnie Dayan that they are saying, he was really my driverbodyguard even before I was a private practitioner, before I entered government,” De Lima told reporters Saturday.

“Napalapit po siya sa akin pero kung gaano man siya kalapit sa akin, ipagpaumanhin ninyo pero ayoko na po munang pwedeng [He became close to me, but how close, I would have to beg off going into details]—I don’t want to touch on that kasi personal na mga bagay na po yan at ayaw ko pong nalilihis sa aking trabaho [this is already personal and I do not want to be derailed in my job],” she said.

“Wala na po siya sa akin pero may komunikasyon pa rin kami hanggang ngayon [He is no longer with me but our communication lines are open],” she added.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said she had only herself to blame for the scandal that has befallen her. “[De Lima] created the scandal; she know she’s a public official —but she kept on making scandals herself [when she was chairperson of the Commission on] Human Rights, and doing the same as secretary of Justice,” Duterte told reporters during a visit at Camp Sinsuat in Maguindanao.

Panelo said the President was fed up with De Lima, who served six years as Justice secretary under the Aquino administration but failed to prove her allegations that Duterte was linked to the Davao Death Squad.

“She never filed any criminal complaint against the President.

As an official policy, the President welcomes any investigation by any entity or any branch of the government on the extra-judicial killings as in fact he has directed the PNP to investigate the same,” he added.

Barbers said in case the Alvarez’s

resolution is referred to his committee, along with several other committees which may conduct the joint investigation, he would ensure the probe will not be based on personalities.

Barbers said: “Of course the investigation will not solely focus on the lady senator. We will dig deeper and [look for] answers why and how the illegal drugs proliferated at the NBP which coincidentally happened during her time.

“There might be other personalities who may be responsible; we will be fair to everybody.”

Alvarez’s resolution noted the NBP has become an “asylum for drug lords, gambling lords, and local ‘mafiosi,’ operating freely within the enclosed facility, imposing control on the inmates, and operating side by side with institutional workers and security personnel.”

Alvarez said he would want the appropriate committees to carry out a “comprehensive” investigation, “in aid of legislation,” on the abundance of illegal drugs at the NBP despite the “Oplan Galugad” operations launched by De Lima during her stint as Justice secretary.

Alvarez, representative of Davao del Norte and secretary general of PDP-Laban, stressed the need for the House to conduct the probe on De Lima despite imminent criticisms that his action may constitute a breach in the long-standing tradition of inter-parliamentary courtesy between the two chambers of Congress.

But Alvarez maintained the House probe will not touch on “extra-judicial killings” of drug suspects as sought by critics of the Duterte administration.

He said it will solely focus on the abundance of illegal drugs inside the national prison under De Lima’s watch.

The House, in plenary session on Monday, is expected to adopt the resolution before referring it to proper committees to begin a probe.

Citing what she described as her unimpeachable sources, De Lima said there are people who were trying to “manufacture evidence” against her, saying some people are trying to convince convicts inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City to sign statements linking her to the illegal drug trade.

“They were trying to access certain convicts, and their motive was to link me in as a coddler, that I was a protector of illegal drugs, that I received campaign money during the elections, that Ronnie [Dayan] served as my bagman-that’s not true,” De Lima claimed.

“If they see any speck of dirt, they will link it to me. What if they succeed in digging dirt?

They will say that these are the works of Secretary De Lima.”

While there were no takers at the time, she said she would not be surprised if they have already found a drug lord who is willing to speak against her.

The senator divulged that, around three or four weeks ago, she received an S.O.S. call from Dayan in panic, asking for help. “[Ronnie] said he could not go home because there were persons hunting for him. Local police sources had told him to keep a low profile, your house could be raided and you made to appear to have a cache of arms, that you put up resistance. You could be killed or abducted,” she said.

De Lima warned President Duterte not to accuse or manufacture evidence against her that she is a drug coddler, saying no evidence can link her to the illegal drug trade.

Addressing the President, De Lima asked him to carefully look at the evidence. “If you insist [on the truth of] accusations that I was a coddler, or protector of illegal drugs, you will be confounded and I don’t want to happen that to you.”

She also warned authorities not to “touch Ronnie Dayan unless you have an arrest warrant.”

On Friday, whistleblower Sandra Cam tagged De Lima’s driver of allegedly collecting more than P5 million in drug money weekly from high-profile inmates inside the New Bilibid Prison, including gang leader Jaybee Sebastian and Peter Co, whom the President linked to the drug trade.

Cam, who had informed President Rodrigo Duterte of De Lima’s alleged affair, criticized De Lima for denying her links to the illegal drug trade, since her loverdriver was her bagman inside the New Bilibid Prison.

But De Lima the so-called pieces of “evidence” by Cam and the President were not true at all.

“I don’t listen to her,” De Lima said. “Whatever evidence you have, these aren’t true. They were fake, bogus, manufactured, fabricated, perjured.”

De Lima said she had wondered why Duterte was “fixated” on her, and came to the conclusion that it was because of her investigation on the so-called Davao Death Squad.

“I think he has not forgotten or forgiven me,” she said, recalling she had lectured him on human rights in the court.

“Whatever my mistakes to him were, I don’t want him to come into this point, that she ought to destroy me,” she added.

DG-Region 7 who led the arrest.

The CIDG said Pond is allegedly a member of the Executive Committee of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, Komisyon Mindanao of the NPA. “Our citizens deserve no less.

They wish to live peaceful lives bereft of the costs and tragic consequences of conflict and violence. The enabling environment brought about by this silencing of the guns will hopefully go a long way in bringing about an expeditious and early resolution to our differences and aspirations that have long divided us as a people,” Dureza said.

“As we all know, in full support for the orderly and effective conduct of the peace negotiations, President Duterte has caused the unprecedented release from detention of 20 prisoners who are needed in the peace negotiations. As we speak, there is continuing effort to make available in the Oslo peace talks resumption as many of them as possible,” he said. “I say again... the Duterte government will walk the extra mile for peace.”

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“In an unofficial exchange between the Legal Counsel and UN mouthpieces, the latter assumed they were offered an invitation to come and investigate the spike in drug related deaths being labeled as extra-judicial, or a license to kill freely,” Abella said.

“The so-called investigations by third parties are objectionable interference in the household affairs of a nation whose citizens welcome the change that the President and his people-friendly policies and programs have set in place,” Abella said.

Abella said the “seeming incomprehension by local and international observers” was “more alarming than the pandemic use and trade of illegal drugs in the Philippines.”

Abella said the President has made it clear that arresting officers are allowed to defend themselves, their lives or their teams.

The same police enforcers are subject to rule of law should they go beyond their mandate.

“The President operates under the presumption of regularity in the drive against drugs,” he said.

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From A1 Aside from Duterte and Evasco, other Cabinet present are Presidential Management Staff chief Christopher Go, Deputy Cabinet Secretary Peter Laviña, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

But despite the surge of official and foreign visitors, city officials are trying to focus on the original purpose of the festival which was conceived in the 1970s by Manobo datu Joseph Sibug who later represented cultural minorities as a congressman.

“We hope to give meaning to the celebration by looking at the lives of our brothers and sisters, lumad and Muslim. This celebration is about them and will be for them,” said Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

The vice mayor stressed that the lumad and the Muslims are “the heart and the soul” of Kadayawan although Davaoeños do have a lot to be thankful for this year.

In fact, said city information officer Jefry Tupas, the last-day Pumulak sa Kadayawan on Sunday will gather the biggest number of participants.

“The f loral festival only gathered f loats in past years,” Tupas said, adding 50 f loats will be joining the competition and non-competition categories this year, plus 11 tribal groups and a dozen drum-and-bugle groups.

But one of the country’s grandest festivals did not become what it is today overnight and, just like the indigenous waling-waling (Vanda sanderiana), went through some dry seasons.

Unknown to many, Kadayawan is not originally a Davao City festival and originated from the UboManobo tribal festival “Kalibongan” in nearby Kidapawan City.

Kalibongan was a festival initiated by the Mindanao Highlanders Association Inc., an organization led by Sibug, a prominent and respected tribal leader in Kidapawan.

Kalibongan was transferred to Davao City after it was renamed the Apo Duwaling festival--a name derived from words “Apo,” “durian” and “waling-waling,” all identified with Davao City.

The first Apo Duwaling was held in 1986 under the leadership of then Mayor Zafiro Respicio and was turned into a spectacle for foreign and domestic tourists.

News IN BRIEF More rewards for Hidilyn RIO Olympic silver medalist AW1C Hidilyn F. Diaz will be presented the “Outstanding Achievement Medal” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Monday morning.

Diaz will also be given a “Plaque of Recognition” for her “extraordinary achievement and distinguished service rendered as the first female Filipino athlete to win a silver medal,” AFP public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

The awarding ceremony will be held at the GHQ Canopy Area, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City at 7:30 a.m. The silver medalist was given a hero’s welcome by the Philippine Air Force on Thursday in an awarding ceremony at the Villamor Air Base.

Part of Edsa closed Sunday

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

Estate tax amnesty eyed

By Maricel V. Cruz and Joel Zurbano

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HOUSE leader on Saturday pushed for the passage of a measure granting tax amnesty for all unpaid estate taxes of P3 million at the maximum.

“The proposal provides for a graduated tax rate, which is only a fraction of the property being transferred. The proposed rates under the estate tax amnesty bill are also much lower than those in the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC),” Deputy Speaker Miro Quimbo of Marikina City said in filing his House Bill 3010.

At the Senate, however, Senator Ralph Recto urged the government to come up first with the implementing rules and regulations of the law granting tax breaks and other

benefits for persons with disabilities and laws exempting balikbayan boxes before it rolls out its tax proposals.

Quimbo, who chaired the House committee on ways and means in the 16th Congress, said the tax amnesty granted shall cover all unpaid estate taxes as of the time this act shall have taken effect, and those that shall be due within three year henceforth.

“The current policy on estate taxes creates a double whammy: The government is not able to derive revenue from the dece-

dent’s property due to the heirs’ non-payment of taxes; and the heirs are not able to productively use it. Thus, the economy is at a losing end with diminutive tax collection and stagnant properties. It is a stalemate we want to immediately unlock through the proposed bill,” Quimbo said.

Quimbo also cited “complicated scheme of filing estate taxes” as among major reasons for taxpayers’ non-compliance.

Quimbo said that apart from the grief of losing a family member, the heirs are faced with the obligations of complying with the filing of returns and payments, especially for the family home.

Recto, on the other hand, said releasing the long-delayed IRR of Republic Act 10754 (Act Expanding the Benefits and Privileges of Persons with Disability), according to Recto, will allow its provisions to be enjoyed by mil-

lions of PWDs. The law exempts PWDs from all sales taxes on certain goods and services, like transport fares, medicines, medical and dental services and laboratory fees, raising the total discount to 32 percent.

It also grants a P25,000 annual income tax deduction to relatives within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, who are caring for and living with a PWD. Signed by then President Benigno Aquino III last March 23 or almost five months ago, the law’s implementation has been stymied by the lack of the implementing rules.

Recto said Malacañang should order the IRR’s immediate release “before conspiracy theorists go to town with the speculation that its release is being delayed to pave the way for the

reported delisting of PWD privileges” in the tax reform package it would unveil soon.

Another law facing the same predicament of “being effectively frozen by red tape” is RA 10863, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which raises the tax-exempt value of balikbayan boxes and other personal belongings shipped home by overseas Filipino workers.

The law allows OFWs to send up to three P150,000 worth of tax- and duty-free balikbayan boxes in a year, provided that the goods are not in commercial quantities nor intended for barter or sale.

It further allows Filipinos, who have lived in a foreign country for at least 10 years and are returning to the Philippines, to bring with them, tax-free, personal and household effects valued not more than P350,000.

Quezon governor sacks 59 over drugs

A PORTION of the southbound lane of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue in Pasay City will be closed to traffic on Sunday to give way to the unloading and assembly of two new vehicles of the Metro Rail Transit-3.

In an advisory posted Saturday in the official Twitter page of the Metro Manila Development Authority, the agency said the innermost lane of Edsa southbound near the MRT-3 Taft Avenue Station will be closed to traffic from Sunday noon until 5 p.m.

The road closure seeks to ensure the safety of motorists during the operation.

The MMDA advised the public and all concerned motorists to take alternative routes to avoid traffic congestion in the area. PNA

By Manuel Palmero

Habagat caused P256-m damage CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Damage to agriculture and infrastructure in areas devastated by recent monsoon rains in Central Luzon has been estimated at P256.91 million.

The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said agriculture suffered about P256.89 million in losses, while damage to facilities used for fishing was initially reported at P11,000.

Agricultural losses covered rice, corn, high-value crops, fish and livestock in the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.

The rice sector took the biggest hit with losses running into P135.85 million, followed by the fishery sector with P100.28 million; corn, P12.15 million; highvalue crops, P8.05 million; and livestock, P500,875.

Pampanga was the hardest hit among the provinces in the region with damage to agriculture reported at P104.86 million, and the fishery sector, P88.43 million. Its rice sector sustained P15.59 million in losses; corn, P739,050; and high-value crops, P96,200.

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THE BEST OF QUEZON. Quezon Governor David 'Jay-jay' Suarez (left) confers awards on Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre and Milada Dealo-Vande for their outstanding service to Quezon Province which marked the 138th birth anniversary of Manuel L. Quezon for whom the province is named. Also present at the ceremonies at the Queen Margarette Hotel in Lucena City were Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez and Quezon Vice Governor Samuel Nantes. Manny Palmero

DFA dispatches aid teams to Saudi

By Sara D. Fabunan THE Department of Foreign Affairs has dispatched Assistance to Nationals (ATN) teams to Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia to complement the efforts of the Philippine Embassy to assist Filipinos stranded in the kingdom.

The team was immediately sent

by Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., said DFA spokesman Charles Jose after complaints from Filipinos who were stranded with unpaid wages, allowances and benefits from their companies.

There are 106 OFWs who work for the Mohammad Al-Mojil Group (MMG), 28 from Moham-

mad Hameed Al Barghash & Bros. Trading and Construction Co., and 129 from Saudi Oger.

“They were all recently met by our DFA-ATN team in Al Khobar,” Jose said.

The DFA team explained the ongoing efforts of the Philippine and Saudi governments to resolve the problems of the OFWs with their employers, including the engagement of Saudi lawyers to pursue the labor related claims of the OFWs. The team then visited the Saudi Ministry of Labor Office in Dammam to follow-up on the assistance for the affected OFWs. This included the immediate issu-

ance of exit visas for the OFWs requesting to be repatriated back to the Philippines. The Saudi MOL Director in Dammam assured the DFA team that the MOL will assist the OFWs in the said companies and others who are in a similar situation.

Last May 2016, the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) Rapid Response Team visited OFWs in various work camps and accommodations of construction and maintenance companies across Saudi Arabia.

The DFA RRT learned that around 11,000 OFWs were no longer receiving their salaries, allowances and benefits on time

primarily due to the difficult financial condition of their respective companies.

On Thursday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced that it will shoulder the expenses of the overseas Filipino workers who were laid off and stranded in the oil-rich country.

Through the Saudi Embassy in the Philippines, it announced that King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has provided SR 100,000,000 or P1.2 billion to provide the OFWs housing, food, sanitary and health services, provision of free airline tickets to those who desire to be repatriated and facilitation of new job opportunities.

LUCENA CITY—Quezon Governor David “Jay-jay” Suarez has ordered the dismissal of 59 employees who had tested positive for illegal drug use as part of the provincial government’s part in the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

“There are those which oppose our potential to be great— criminality and illegal drugs,” said Suarez at a ceremony recognizing the province’s outstanding citizens as part of the Niyogyugan Festival.

“We have long been fighting this in our province and two years ago, we started conducting random drug testing which led to 59 employees losing their jobs,” Suarez said.

“And now, under President [Rodrigo] Duterte, we have witnessed for our selves how aggressive our government in its campaign to put a stop to the scourge of illegal drugs,” said the governor.

“Your governor is behind the President in his goal to make the whole country drug-free and this starts in our provincial capitol grounds,” the governor averred.

Suarez said the recent report of the Philippine National Police revealed crime rates in Quezon province had decreased by 58 percent.

“Congratulations for our accomplishment. In one side we can be great if we have been given the opportunity to be great. Let us not put to waste the sacrifices of our countrymen to put us where we are now especially the one whom we look up to as the father of our province—Manuel Luis Quezon,” said Suarez.

Special teachers’ privileges proposed

By Maricel V. Cruz LAWMAKERS have filed a measure granting discount privileges in transportation fares and health services to public school teachers.

In filing House Bill 801, AkoBicol party-list Reps. Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Christopher Co proposed that government-owned and -controlled corporations or private entities, owning, operating or managing public transport facilities be required to give public school teachers a 20-percent dis-

count on all transportation fares within the country.

The bill to be known as “An Act Granting Discount Privileges And Other Benefits To Public School Teachers And For Other Purposes” also mandates drugstores and drug companies to extend to public school teachers a discount of not less than 20 percent on the cost of medicines and supplemental vitamins.

The bill defines “public school teacher” as a Filipino citizen who is a permanent resident of the

Philippines, an employee of the Department of Education, whether permanent, temporary, casual or contractual, with an income of not more than P60,000 per annum and does not own real property with an aggregate assessed value of more than P20,000.

Garbin said the measure, if passed into law, public school teachers shall also enjoy a minimum discount of 20 percent on rentals for lodgings in hotels, motels, inns, pension or other lodging houses, as well as on the cost of

food served in cafes, cafeterias, refreshment parlors, restaurants, soda fountain bars and other similar establishments.

A minimum of 20 percent on admission charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert halls, circuses, carnivals and other similar places of amusement shall likewise be granted to public school teachers, he said.

They also get to enjoy 20-percent discount on any hospital, gym or other facility offering physical fitness programs.

US officials laud Albay disaster tack

ALWAYS WITH YOU. Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez wheels 89-year-old Felicitas Macalalag out of her Tacloban City home after she was given a wheelchair that the lawmaker acquired from the Department of Health. Ver Noveno

LEGAZPI CITY—Top US Navy officers who led the 2016 Pacific Partnership humanitarian engagements here last June have praised Albay’s robust disaster risk reduction (DRR) program, a strategy the whole world, even the United States, must learn from.

US Navy Pacific Commander Commodore Tom Williams told reporters, during a recent teleconference in Malaysia, the 2016 Pacific Partnership’s fourth stop, that during their stay in Albay, known for its zero casualty goal during natural disasters, they learned “great ideas.”

“I learned how robust and how capable the disaster response system Team Albay has.

It is a model for the way that I think many countries in the Pacific should operate,” Williams stressed to reporters.

Albay was chosen as the Philippine’s host province for the humanitarian mission on June 27 to July 11 this year, which involved some 900 troops from the naval forces of partners powers in the Pacific region, aboard the world’s largest hospital ship, the USNS Mercy.

The Albay Provincial Safety and Emergency Management Office, with its emer-

gency mobile group Team Albay, hosted the two-week mission, which involved medical and dental, engineering and sports activities.

The mission had visited Timor Leste before docking in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Capt. Peter Roberts, USNS Mercy commander, said Albay which is prone to various kinds of disasters, including strong typhoons and volcanic eruptions, has been able to incorporate disaster preparedness consciousness and lessons in the people’s day-to-day activities.

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Opinion

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2016 SUNDAY, AUGUST 21,20, 2016

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Adelle Chua, Editor

Shortchanged

EDITORIAL

Quality of growth

A T

SENATOR has filed a bill seeking to The concern has plagued the millions of We get by, anyway, as we often do—don’t prohibit the expiration of prepaid and mobile phone subscribers in the Philippines, they say Filipinos are a resilient lot? electronic load. an estimated 80 percent of which use prepaid It will be interesting to see how far this newest Senator Ralph Recto, Senate credit for theirofaccounts, for so long. the previous bill leaderprogresses. all, opportunities.” did not the President HE economy grewthe 6.9author per- ofThat the administration Presi- —something cessAfter to these Bill 848, consumers to be abledent to use up Duterte Howeverhas much they complain, the to himself express derision of the centwants in the second quarter, Rodrigo assured ship was however, not inclined do with This sounds likeoligarchy—the a real plan all theaided load they put into their mobile accounts status quo has held sway.

There is not much very few members of the elite who by the spending that the public of consistency and con- its own immediate predecessor. to sustain the growth, determine and not and without having to be mindful of a period choice between the two giant telecommunicathe condition and course of the rest of us? accompanied in the May elections tinuity in its policies is expected to It is a source of comfort that So- just in absolute terms. Previous beyond their side, money companiesofthat provide the service.

Leave Secretary Lowly prepaid consumers not emphasis complain and, on which the supply thegoes goodto waste. maintain thetion confidence busicioeconomic Planning presidents have do given The bill mandates to refund one, and thealike. otherThe mayErnesto just be as bad—even all that muchtobecause they need servicebut so performance of the companies industry and nessessuband consumers Pernia said: “The chalachieving high the growth scribers sectors. their lost credit. ViolatorsPresident will facehasworse. may be put, and muchincluand see alternatives.

Butthat it does not services talkedThus, aboutitplans to smarter lenge istotostay make this growth didnolittle to ensure wealth the possibility of fine, imprisonment, and a remean we must easy on demanding basic The strong showing offset the further relaxsuffer. business restrictions sive so that more people contribute and go opportunity are more justly vocation of license. production and cut taxes The same telco have responsible respect fromdistributed. the telco providers even as we drop in agricultural to attract moregiants in- to, andbeen benefit from it. For this, we The measure not new. in pre-and forhence the dismal quality ofmust internet service the know it’s domination and profits they are brought by isthe El Similar Niño bills vestment spur employimprove theincompetitiveness The Duterte government is truly stylvious congresses have been filed but have not country amid relatively high costs.

Again, after. phenomenon. ment for long-term growth. of our markets and business cli- ing itself as one that breaks old gone beyond first reading.

We suppose big leaving one brand for the other is not an at- of Perhaps government can stand up for its The gross domestic product Notably, the economic manag- mate to take advantage the new the patterns and occasions genuine businessgrowth has itsmakes way ofthe making politicians toe administration tractive optioncredited for consumers. givein the people, for change. once, byWe ensuring business (GDP) Philipers of this surge ofProviders investments region. shouldbig watch how at it the line. equally poor quality, anyway. the very least plays fair. pines the fastest-growing country the previous administration of Importantly, we must look at the would make good on its word to in Asia and the achievement of the President Benigno Aquino III for sectors and geographic areas that achieve the kind of growth that full-year target of 6 percent to 7 putting in place sound macroeco- have been lagging behind and de- is actually experienced—not just percent likely. nomic, fiscal and monetary policy termine how to improve their ac- read about in the papers.

Suburban voters shun HAIL TO TrumpTHE inCHAIR 3 key states VICTOR AVECILLA

By Albert R. Hunt

The narco-city of Bistek and Hero Bautista

Leisure

LONG STORY SHORT

ADELLE CHUA IN A recent Facebook post, I conducted a poll by asking friends what they would do if they had just one day to do anything they liked.

The answersPOWER did not vary much: My friends would like POINT to catch up on sleep and go to ELIZABETH the spa for a massage.

ANGSIOCO Some would like to catch up on their reading, see a Imovie ASKED the watch participants in or binge their fathis reproductive health forum vorite TV series. if they know of young girls who Exercise (or yoga) comes have gotten pregnant. There was up more than once, as well. a chorus of yesses. I again asked Some would go toage theofbeach, about the youngest these go on a food trip or cook for girls. A group of young people their loved ones. loudly said: “Ten years old!”

Yet alone another wouldwhy loveproto This explains tidy groups up herarehome, rearrange RH not stopping on things andimplementation. perhaps organize the law’s We those shetohad too busyand to continue go been to provinces attend to. cities to help local government Onein said did not want units theirshe efforts to make to think of anything at all.their this important law benefit constituents.

The provincial The question is relevant for government of Benguet those of us who, for fiveheaded or six by Governor Cresencio Pacalso days a week, find ourselves is one of these LGUs. bogged down by the things write to thisdointhat Baguio City weI have we have where by theto PhilneitherI was timeinvited nor energy do ippine Legislators Committee the things we want to do. on And Population and Development increasingly now, in

responding to the question what we want to do, the emerging answer seems to be... “nothing.” entation on Reproductive Health I do not mean that there is and Sustainable no answer.

I meanDevelopment that the anGoals where I tackled swer is(SDGs)” “nothing.”

“Issues and Challenges in the “Nothing”—“wala” in TaRH Law Implementation.” galog—has been underrated were beall forThe tooother long.speakers We always among the leaders in the RH lieve all the spaces have to be movement including filled, and that there hasIfugao to be Representative Teddy some agenda writtenBaguilat on the Jr.; DIWA Representative and blank spaces of our organizChair of the House Committee ers. on Women and Gender Equality think silence is Nanot EmMany Aglipay-Villar; UNFPA desirable—it has to be broken tional Programme Officer for by music, or,and infinitely worse, Population Development mindless chatter.

Advocacy Vic Jurlano; PresiWeekends and for holidays dent of the Forum Family must beand celebrated Planning Development, and Inc. spent outside, going Exto Ben de Leon; and PLCPD’s places, meeting people, ecutive Director, Rom Dongeto. crammingLGUs up were so amply many Different things to doand thatyoung “vacation” represented people losesamong its essence and turns were the participants.

Because barriers and chalinto hard work. lenges to who the full Those do implementanothing are tion of the law remain, and beeither boring or lazy, missing cause arethings LGU that officials out onthere many life who defy the law, has to offer.

The particularly more sucthe provision modern cessful peopleofare those famwho ily planning to their poor have a full plate, live lifeconto

I have not yet read the book but subscribe to the thinking that leisure—moments of unburdened conof the Benguet govtemplation, of provincial absolute presernment are commendable. ence with the universe To illustrate the fact thatand we within one’s own mind need to remain on guard to in absolute attentiveness defending ourthe RHsame gains,asI beinlife—is not cluded in my talk the actual ing devoid of activity. timeline of legal hurdles faced A tragedy, according to and continue to be faced by Popova, that leisure is not the Consider to these: it was seenlaw. as essential the human signed into law on December spirit but a self-indulgent lux21, 2012. However, on January ury reserved for the privileged 2, 2013, the first work day afor deplorable idleness reter New Year, anti-RH groups served for the lazy. already started petitioning the But who’s being We Supreme Court on lazy? assailing wear ourselves out most days the law’s constitutionality. Just of thetwo week that after it is incomover months (March prehensible we can go 19, 2013), the that SC issued a Stafrom day to day without needtus Quo Ante Order on the RH ing a This breather.

That is Law. meant thebreather law could leisure. not be implemented yet. On July waking on Saturday 16,It’s 2013, the SCupextended SQA morning and to indefinitely.

It wasdeclaring only in April 2014 afterand prolonged oral arguyourself to everyone that ments, the to SCbedecided that today isthat going your “lazy RH Law is NOT day”—you willunconstitutiondo exactly al save a few provisions. just theforthings you’d like to do,We andrejoiced nothingbecause more. at last, theOften, law’s implementation these are the could most already start.

However, are rewarding things we canwethink

of: catching up on sleep, getting a massage, reading, tidying up, spending time with loved ones, conversing with decision friends. has put a major legal impediment in effectively adIn my case it is writing dressing teenage things that do not pregnancy, have a dead-a most we have line, serious but areproblem as compelling now.

Our girls gettinghottest pregand urgent as are today’s nant left and right.

Our adolesnews. And staring out the cent pregnancy areand among window, feelingrates small inthe highest, if not the highest in significant and yet so alive the world.

In virtually all counamid the view. tries, numbers of say teenage I dothenot mean to we pregnancies are going down— should give in to the leisure of but NOT in the Philippines. doing nothing all the time. We The High Court’s decision to are adults—we commitonly allow accesshave to contracepments to honor, reputations to tives to minors who have been uphold, bills to pay.

But how given consent by their parents busy we are does not itdefine and/or guardians makes very us. difficult for government to adIt the is, problem instead,ofinvery theyoung few dress precious hours when we allow girls becoming mothers. Minors ourselves to docontexts. exactly Some what have different we already feel likesexually doing, whatever it are active, even is, that we with are most alive. cohabiting their boyfriends andLet’s no longer living their be kind to with ourselves parents or guardians. no and assert our claim Having to leisure access to modern family reasonably regularly.

It’s planhow ning methods a problem for we keep sane, isand it’s how we them. create Teenage wonders.pregnancy must

Going local on RH Law implementation It’s how use contraceptives, it is always we keep sane, heartwarming to meet pro-RH LGU officials. and it’s how we We were told that Benguet create Pacalso wonders.

Governor wants to have a Gender and Development (GAD) Code in the province and is enlisting the assistance of NGOs in the crafting of the the fullest, and wear numercode.

The province, through the

ous hats.

These notions are dangerous as they are wrong.

An article published last year Opponents on the website Brainpickings.org about a of this lawtalks have book by the German philosopher Pieper called notJosef stopped in Leisure, the Basis of Culture. derailing it.”

The author of the online article, Maria Popova, describes the book as “a magnificent manifesto for reclaiming huhelp of PLCPD, has also organman an dignity in a group culturethat of ized advocacy compulsive workaholicalism, includes LGU representatives. triply timely in an age While RH istoday, already a law, when we have commodified doing advocacy both at the loour and aliveness so levels much remains to misbe curbed significantly. cal national take making a living forofhavBut the anti-RH groups did not very important because the adellechua@gmail.com ing a life.”

Turn to A5 it faces. The initiatives now finding out that the SC’s Foundation Inc. to its “Issue Ori- stituents who want and need to hurdles

DONALD Trump’s presidential campaign has a lot of problems. Near the top of the list is this: Suburban voters want nothing to do with him, especially in three states where he needs to compete.

The latest indicator was this week’s Washington Post survey, which showed Hillary Clinton up by 14 percentage points in Virginia among reg-of COUNCILOR Hero Bautista istered voters and eight with Quezon City has finally admitlikely Thecitydriving ted thatvoters. he is the official who tested positiveafor drug use force: She enjoys 45-point more than ina week ago. More advantage the voter-rich specifically, suburbs, the councilor said Washington almost that hethe hadmargin been using double rolledshabu up and four marijuana.

Bautista also there years ago

by Presiclaimed that although he used dent Barack Obama. drugs, he was a victim of the Thismenace. follows For similar find- it drug whatever ings in Philadelphia’s suburbs, was worth, Bautista suggested where to the Clinton’s city councilbigthatlead drug threatens to put be Pennsylvania testing should given a new out of Trump’s reach. label—illegal substance abuse intake checking.

Goodpoll grief!

A Marist College out already thisDays weekearlier, shows word the Demogot nominee around with that a 14-point Councilor cratic Bautista flunked the test. lead in Colorado.

Leedrug MirinEven the news media learned goff, director of the poll, says of the incident. Evidently, the looking at the statewide readmission was made to presponse, can embarrassing extrapolate empt a“You more that she has almost a 3-to-1 public exposé by national aulead in the Denver suburbs.” thorities including President This is aDuterte biggerhimself. advantage Rodrigo thanHero Obama held is while carryBautista the younger brother of in incumbent ing the state 2008 and Quezon 2012.

City Mayor ex-film These threeandstates haveactor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista been considered crucial for of the abusive the Liberal Party Trump—among half-doz(LP) former President Been or soofstates he has to switch nigno Aquino III and ex-House from the Democratic column Speaker Feliciano Belmonte toJr.win.

The growing suburbs is Although Hero Bautista ina these states seem to be makfirst-time councilor, he was ing that impossible.

If he given the chairmanshiploses of the Colorado, Pennsylvania city council’s powerful and comVirginia, a pathway victory mittee on public to works and isinfrastructure. hard to see. Analysts attributeTrump his quick rise to power and is especially unpopinfluence to his brother.

That ular in these venues, which idea is anotlotfar-fetched because include of college-eduQuezon City is known for pocated residents, rising diversilitical dynasties. ty and voters who are more About a week ago, Mayor tolerant social toissues.

But Bautistaonhinted the public this only is accelerating a pothat his councilor-brother litical trend in suburbs outside did, indeed, fail the drug test the South,City whichofficials. have for Deep Quezon been This trending probablyDemocratic promptedforthe councilor to insist to the news almost a quarter-century.

As media that his brother—the recently as 1988, they were mayor—was not protecting Republican bastions. him.

Demonstrating a twisted A few things changed.

The sense of logic, the councilor growing numbers of minoritystressed that he was the one group suburbanites are mainly protecting his brother.

Democrats.

White suburbanRight after the long-belated ites aren’t drawn to the admission, CouncilorRepubBautista lican Party’s to con-on declared thatcampaign he was going nect with religious cultural an indefinite leaveand from public conservatives. office to undergo rehabilitation.

Belmonte, the city “TheJoyRepublicans’ posivice mayor, announced that tioning resonates with rural the cityand council appoint a voters somewillworkingTurn to A5 Next page

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The inventions that changed our genes

By Faye Flam OF ALL living things, why do humans alone create advanced technology? Not long ago, scientists thought it was because we are the only intelligent life form on this planet. That explanation alone no longer suffices.

Over the last decade, scientists have discovered that crows can use tools, hyenas can cooperate to solve complex problems, jays can plan for the future, rats and voles can demonstrate empathy, and ducklings are capable of abstract thought.

Yet our technology is extraordinary. Why were we the ones to transform the planet? A clue comes from a recent paper on a genetic change that helped our ancient ancestors tolerate smoke after fire was invented. It’s the latest finding to bolster the increasingly compelling notion that natural selection acts on our species in a unique way. While evolution forces all living things to adapt to changing natural environments, this emerging school of thought holds, it also forces humans to adapt to our own inventions. And indeed, there’s evidence we have been physically reshaped by agriculture, dairy farming, stone tools, spears and the taming of fire.

In the paper linking the taming of fire to biological evolution, published earlier this month in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, scientists identified a genetic muta-

When humans invent technology, we also reinvent ourselves. tion that allows us to better break down the most toxic chemicals that make up wood smoke. The authors showed that all present-day humans carry this mutation, which is not present in chimpanzees or, as far as they can tell, any other animals.

(Other mammals share the same gene, but without this potentially beneficial mutation.)

By scraping DNA from ancient skeletons, scientists found that the mutation was present in the 45,000-year-old bones of a human ancestor. Importantly, they also found that Neanderthals lacked this mutation, though there’s plenty of evidence they too depended on fire to cook and keep warm.

Why didn’t they get it? Bad luck.

In the game of evolution, new versions of genes may spread because they endow individuals with a survival or reproductive advantage, but the changes appear in the first place through random chance.

The Neanderthal version of the gene wasn’t necessarily deadly, but the study’s lead author, Pennsylvania State University’s Gary Perdew, describes it as a risk factor. Regular inhala-

Suburban...

From A4 class areas but turned off many suburban voters,” notes Seth McKee, a political scientist at Texas Tech University who has researched partisan and demographic changes in American politics. “It’s hard now for suburbanites to identify with the Republican brand.”

Another factor, he notes, is the nature of migration. New residents coming into Texas suburbs, for example, are mainly from conservative areas, so the politics of those places haven’t changed. But many new migrants coming into the suburbs of cities in Virginia and even North Carolina, he says, are coming from more progressive places and are changing the politics.

Virginia is a classic case.

From 1952 until 2008 it voted Republican in every presidential

tion of smoke can weaken the immune system, he says, making people more vulnerable to tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. There’s no way to know if this contributed to the Neanderthals dying out—but having a genetic advantage may well have helped our lineage to thrive.

Similar examples abound. In his 2015 book “The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter,” Harvard anthropologist Joseph Henrich observed that the invention of milking animals would have pushed the spread of genes that allowed people to digest lactose.

But before that gene spread to all potential milk drinkers, some communities invented cheese and yogurt, which are much lower in lactose. Those inventions in turn may have dampened the spread of lactose tolerance.

Another example: Scientists suspect that genes allowing us to metabolize alcohol arose some 10 million years ago, when apes descended from the trees and feasted on partially fermented fruit. But Henrich proposes that the invention of rice wine in Asia prompted the spread of another genetic variant—one that causes people to become nauseous and flushed if they drink more than a small amount—thus protecting them from the perils of excess.

Similarly, in 2013, Harvard anthropologist Daniel Lieberman and colleagues demonstrated a connection between the invention of the spear and the human ability to throw. “We are the only species capable of throwing hard and fast and accurately at the same time,” he said. In another recent paper, Lieberman and colleagues argued that the invention of stone tools to cut up meat allowed human teeth and jaws to shrink, perhaps allowing them to become better adapted for talking.

Some people argue that evolution has stopped, Lieberman said, because technology allows us to adapt to dietary and climate changes and even new diseases without the help of natural selection. But that’s wrong, he said.

Technology has been driving evolution for a long time, and there’s no reason to think that facet of it will stop—at least, not unless our species goes extinct.

The interplay between cultural and genetic changes represents what Henrich calls a major biological transition, turning us into “a new kind of animal.” To be human isn’t to be “just a really smart, though somewhat less hairy chimpanzee,” he writes in “The Secret of Our Success.” What makes us special is our collective smarts— the advanced state of our cultural development—which appears to be intertwined with our biological evolution. In other words, when humans invent technology, we also reinvent ourselves. Bloomberg

election except 1964, when Lyndon Johnson thumped Barry Goldwater in a historic landslide.

Obama’s victories in Virginia in the two most recent elections were fueled by his winning margins in the Washington suburbs and exurbs. In 1988, when Republicans easily won the state, George H.W. Bush carried the large Washington suburb of Fairfax County with 61 percent of the vote. In 2012, when there were 200,000 more votes in Fairfax, Obama won it with 59 percent. The two most significant exurbs, Loudon and Prince William counties, cast a little over 90,000 votes in the 1988 election, with Bush winning two-thirds. Four years ago, they contributed over 340,000 votes, with Obama taking almost 55 percent.

If current trends hold, Clinton will exceed these winning margins. Bloomberg

STARK CONTRAST. Rio residents watching the opening ceremony from the Mangueira favela. AFP

Learning to love the Games

By Sebastian Smith RIO DE JANEIRO—Rio is my first Olympics, but just as for most people on the planet, the Games were a big part of growing up.

I was wide-eyed at the exploits of the world’s fastest and strongest. Schoolboys in the late 1970s and 80s UK idolized decathlete Daley Thompson. US sprinter Carl Lewis had us in awe. Little Nadia Comaneci, she of the perfect 10s, was pretty much all we knew about Romania, let alone gymnastics. We were in love.

Those memories shape you.

We played at Olympics on school sports fields. With our knobbly knees and baggy shorts we’d go out in the English rain believing we ran like Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. Shot putter Geoff Capes was a byword for the strength we all wished we had.

And on a much deeper level the Olympics caught our imagination because they represented ideals of becoming the best, of the world coming together in peace, of sportsmanship trumping money.

In other words, the kinds of things that in 2016—yet another year of doping scandals, war and terrorism—sound like a bit of a fairy tale.

Or maybe not…

It certainly looked that way in early August when I waited alongside Cariocas—the nickname for Rio residents—to watch the Olympic torch relay arrive in the city.

I have to admit I was already feeling pretty jaded.

The torch relay was not invented by the ancient Greeks, as Olympic authorities might like us to believe, but the Nazis in the 1936 Berlin Games. Now for three months this over-the-top affair had been snaking expensively

around the vast country, regularly getting in trouble.

Runners had fallen over.

Guards accompanying the runners had run each other over. Violent protesters clashed with violent police. A rare captive jaguar was brought to greet the torch, then shot dead on trying to escape. Numerous people tried throwing water over the supposedly sacred flame.

Nothing, though, could have prepared me for the grotesque cavalcade that finally lumbered down that Rio street.

The first thing appearing was not the torch. The first thing was a big Coca Cola truck on which attractive young women danced to loud music, distributing cans of soft drinks to the crowd. The second? Another Coke truck.

The third was a truck promoting Nissan cars. The fourth was a truck also featuring loud music and pretty young people dancing, this time for a Brazilian bank.

Next came an army of cops in riot helmets, even scarier looking cops on motorcycles with automatic rifles at their sides, and scarier cops still in cars with automatic rifle barrels poking from open windows. Only then, nearly lost in the growing chaos of corporate sponsors, armed men, and Cariocas trying to get free Coke, came the torch.

And in the tumult of money, brute force, protest and fleeting excitement, I realized what I’d just seen: Brazil’s entire Olympic experience in miniature.

Things weren’t meant to be this way. When Rio won the hosting rights to the Games in 2009 the country was booming. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was so popular and successful that there was giddy talk of Brazil catapulting into the ranks of pow-

erful developed nations. The Olympics would be a coming-out party.

Since the Greek gods always punished hubris, maybe they’re to blame for what happened next.

Commodity prices plummeted and Brazil’s economic miracle imploded. Then a gargantuan corruption network was uncovered, staining Lula’s reputation (and putting him in prosecutors’ crosshairs). Lula’s chosen successor Dilma Rousseff shrank into a lonely, widely hated politician facing imminent impeachment.

Her replacement, Temer, is hardly more popular.

The extraordinary result is that Lula and Rousseff refused to attend the opening ceremony, while Temer showed up but was loudly booed. And when the final stage of impeachment starts next week, the biggest emotion in this country of 204 million at the departure of Rousseff will be indifference.

But the Olympics, like that torch relay, are unstoppable.

Never mind that Rio’s state government ran out of money a few weeks before the Games, requiring a federal bailout. Never mind that public hospital and school staff and police spent months this year wondering whether they’d get paid.

The two-week party for half a million tourists, 10,500 athletes and 25,000 or so media employees had to go on. VIP limousines surrounded by motorcycle outriders roar night and day through the clogged streets of Copacabana and Barra. The rich and famous party at opulent national Olympic houses, often literally yards from abject poverty. Some visitors, like a Portuguese government minister who was mugged in Ipanema, have had impromptu tastes of the other Rio.

But tourists are being protected by 85,000 soldiers and police, so little bad is likely to happen— as long as they don’t stray a couple miles away into favelas where the only police around are locked in battles against drug gangsters.

No wonder many Cariocas came into the Olympics wishing the Games would just go away.

Inside the Maracana, Brazil at its best was on display—creative, beautiful, culturally strong. Outside, Cariocas had only their gritty worries about gun crime, lack of doctors and jobs for their children.

“I couldn’t care at all about the ceremony,” said office administrator Patricia Palma, 43, who was drinking a cold beer with friends.

“It’s always the same things they show and it’s just a lot of money taken out of our pockets.”

A few miles away in the seething favelas of Complexo do Alemao and Mare, the sense of alienation was even deeper. “The Olympics are for the rich,” said Marcos Enrique Nascimento, who drives a motorbike taxi. “No one comes here to ask us if anyone from the favela wants to see the Games.”

But sport has a strange power and once the preliminaries ended, once athletes began to run, jump, fight, sail and hit balls, the mood changed. The day after the Maracana show, I visited a new pedestrian area (one of the mayor’s beloved legacies) in the old port and found big, excited crowds. Brazilians, it seemed, were suddenly in love with the Games.

The explanation several people gave me was disarmingly simple: sheer relief that the opening ceremony had gone well. “A lot of people—definitely me— feared a disaster,” said Fabiana Amaral, an architect. “Now we’re proud.” AFP

Clinton’s liberal White House takes shape

By Jonathan Bernstein WILL Hillary Clinton be a standard-order mainstream liberal Democrat if she is elected in November? That view received some supporting evidence this week with the announcement of the leadership group for her transition planning team.

If personnel is policy—and it most certainly is—then Clinton’s choices matter.

Based on the eight people she named to her transition team, she’ll fill her administration with governing professionals who have strong ties to the party, including some with strong ties to the current president.

The team consists of chairman Ken Salazar; co-chairs Tom Donilon, Jennifer Granholm, Neera Tanden and Maggie Williams; policy wonks Ed Meier and Ann O’Leary; and chief economist Heather Boushey.

Several have worked for Clinton in the past. The one most closely associated with her is Williams, who was Clinton’s chief of staff in the White House, and was called in, in the late innings of the 2008 Democratic primary, to run Clinton’s

campaign. The two first worked together in the 1980s, when Williams was communications director at the Children’s Defense Fund. Williams is also a former chief of staff to Bill Clinton at the Clinton Foundation.

Before the Clinton White House, Williams had a career in Democratic politics, working for former Representatives Mo Udall and Robert Torricelli, the Democratic National Committee, and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank.

If personnel is policy—and it most certainly is—then Clinton’s choices matter.

Salazar, a former senator and secretary of the Interior, and Granholm, former governor of Michigan, have plenty of Democratic Party experience but aren’t known particu-

larly as Clinton people. The same is true of the economist, Boushey.

Altogether, the group has deep ties to the Democratic Party. That’s typical of recent White House staffs. But it hasn’t always been that way. John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon staffed their White Houses with loyalists who had few ties to the president’s party. Perhaps the best example was Nixon’s chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, a former advertising executive who had never worked for another Republican.

Later, presidents typically empowered close aides from home, such as Jimmy Carter’s Georgians (Hamilton Jordan and Jody Powell), Ronald Reagan’s Californians (Michael Deaver, Ed Meese), George W. Bush’s Texans (Karen Hughes, Karl Rove) and Barack Obama’s Chicago team (David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett).

In recent years, such aides were more likely to have had separate careers and connections. Rahm Emanuel may have been from the same city as Obama, but he had a very separate career before and after serv-

ing as Obama’s first chief of staff.

Presidents who rely on party loyalists to staff their administrations are much less independent of their parties.

They are constrained to run what the political scientist Richard Skinner calls “partisan presidencies.”

If she wins in November, Clinton is likely to incorporate in her administration a full range of groups aligned with the Democratic Party. After all, she ran her campaign based on winning their support. And her transition team has deep ties to those networks. (Here’s a nice analysis from Vox’s Matt Yglesias.)

Of course, staff can become fiercely loyal to a politician regardless of their previous biographies. And presidents are not entirely constrained by the people they hire.

Still, a candidate who surrounds herself with mainstream liberal Democrats is going to find that her policy choices strongly tend to reflect mainstream Democratic liberalism.

All of which makes a Clinton administration relatively easy to predict. She’ll be a mainstream liberal. Bloomberg

Sports

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 A6 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

TM Basketball Para Sa Bayan clinics lure best young players T

Remembering the PH’s glory days in basketball with Boss Danding

HE best young athletes from the TM Basketball Para sa Bayan clinics in Cavite, Bulacan, Cebu, and Davao are competing in the National Basketball Association’s 3-on-3 competition in Manila until today.

Czarlo Lorenzo Salvador, Laurence Cyrel Ray Guinoo, Director for TM Portfolio Nuenay, Tristan Maurice Coquilla, and Gi- and Brand Management said: “We want ero Velasquez comprise Team Davao, while to help the youth by providing resources Adrian James Canales, Marc Gabriel Cana- to this advocacy. By nurturing their talent, les, and Kyle Clapis represent Team Cebu. feeding their passion, instilling good val- LA Tenorio teaches young kids the proper way Both teams will join the NBA 3X male 10- ues, and creating opportunities, TM may be of playing basketball.

12 category.

For the male 13-15 division, all participants will come from Luzon.

Two teams were chosen for Cavite. They are composed of Rexeus Raziel Moldez, John Christian Hernandez, Lee Rodney Kiofranz Marallag, Devon Dein Diez, Steven Kurt Grado, and Justin Jolo Santos.

For Bulacan, the players are Sean Ashley Junio, Clarenz Camua, and Patrick Jasper Abuan.

All five teams were trained by basketball and national player LA Tenorio through TM Basketball Para sa Bayan clinics.

TM BPSB was developed by Globe Telecom, in partnership with Tenorio´s Method Basketball Academy, to hone the basketball skills of underprivileged youth and impart to them the value of sportsmanship and having a healthy lifestyle.

“If you have determination and will to succeed, you can overcome so many challenges and this is what we want the kids to learn. Even if they are from underprivileged background, even if they don’t play in the hard court, they still have a chance if they will work hard. That is why we bring the TM BPSB clinics to these kids to open opportunities for them such as the NBA3X,” said Fernando Esguerra, Director of Globe TM Basketball Para sa Bayan participants show off their skills.

Citizenship.

Tenorio added: “I’ve been to a lot of coun- able to bring out the potential in these kids This advocacy reinforces TM’s commitment tries but I haven’t seen a place where the and lead them towards a better life.” in the creation of a #WonderfulPH by helping TM is Globe Telecom’s value brand of- the Filipino youth through sports. passion for basketball can rival those of the Filipinos. Anywhere you go, there are kids fering. The service has gained popularNBA 3x 2016 is in its sixth year of complaying basketball in the streets or in their ity due to its very affordable text and call petition in the Philippines and is expected to be participated in by over 200 teams from yards. So our plan is to go around the coun- promo offers.

TM BPSB is part of a larger sports pro- all over the country. The event, based on try to look for players who have the potential to play for professional teams or the national gram of Globe which includes TM Football the FIBA 3-on-3 format and rules, is guarteam. We teach them the basics, the proper Para sa Bayan. Both promotes grassroots anteed to provide basketball enthusiasts and techniques. We want these kids to experi- sports development by establishing various fans the total NBA experience with Milwauence the kind of training that only a basket- sports communities across the country and kee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams as creating opportunities for higher learning. guest NBA star. ball academy can give.”

Ginebra is Japeth’s focus for now

By Peter Atencio JAPETH Aguilar has hopes that he will be able to return to the Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball roster soon.

But the 6’9 Aguilar has other things that are keeping him busy at the moment.

Preparing for their coming games in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors Cup is on his mind, and so are the limited edition, collectible action figures that fans are appreciating and snapping up.

“Focus muna ako sa mga game sa Ginebra. We are still up there,” said Aguilar during a break in their practice at a meet-and-greet event at the PBA Café inside the Metro Walk in Pasig City Thursday.

He said that he will be coming back to Gilas if they asked him to

report back to practice.

“If they still want my services, hopefully. If I’m healthy, tingnan natin,” added Aguilar.

Aguilar was joined in the event called “Bring Home the Kings” by teammates Jayjay Helterbrand, LA Tenorio, LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa, who also had action figures in their likeness.

Brand manager Paolo Tupaz said Caguioa’s action figure is the most popular and Aguilar’s is the second best-selling item, since their promo began in midJuly.

“Japeth’s is the second most popular. He’s playing well now, and the fans appreciate that,” said Tupaz.

Tupaz added that due to the demand of the collectibles, they have extended their redemption period until Oct. 15.

Japeth Aguilar holds his action figure during a Ginebra San Miguel event dubbed ‘Bring Home the Kings.’ Peter Paul Duran

Arcilla...

From A8

Collect ‘em all—Ginebra Kings action figures. Peter Paul Duran

dropping a set, yielding just 11 games while Tierro, after a sweep of his first two matches following an opening game bye, needed an extra set before repulsing Eric “Jed” Olivarez Jr., 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-1, in the quarters.

Arcilla and Tierro also moved to the doubles finals with a tough 6-2, 4-6, 11-9 victory over Joven and Jacob Lagman, arranging a title duel with last year’s singles champion Alcantara and Otico, who held off Vicente Anasta and Mark Alcoseba, 7-5, 7-5.

Meanwhile, fourth seed Khim Iglupas and second seed Clarice Patrimonio were dispute the ladies Open singles crown at presstime with the former seeking a third straight championship.

The Iligan City-based Iglupas, a Philippine Tennis Academy mainstay, stunned top seed Marian Capadocia 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-3, in the semis while Patrimonio eased out Maia Balce, 6-3, 6-1.

WE have known Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco since the early days of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos.

We hadn’t seen him for some time in recent years after occasionally meeting him in the corridors of the Araneta Coliseum during the Philippine Basketball Association games of San Miguel Beer.

When we started writing our Reflections on 50 Years in the Philippines, we realized that he would have to be an integral part of our remembering, and recently met with the Chairman of San Miguel Corporation who, to those who know him well and respect him both as a friend and a gentleman-sportsman of consummate class, refer to as “Boss Danding.”

His secretary set an appointment for 11 a.m. on Aug. 11 at his 8th floor office.

We arrived early as is our custom and were ushered into a waiting room before being accompanied by his secretary to his office.

A broad smile lit up his face as he shook our hand, obviously pleased to see us after quite some time. We greeted each other with the warmth of long-lost friends, who shared many things in common, foremost of which, at least in the beginning, was a passion for basketball.

He explained: “My passion for basketball only stems from the intramurals we were playing during my school days at La Salle.”

Unfortunately or fortunately, he recalled, “I was tasked to handle basketball for the Philippines during the administration of President Marcos as part of the Project Director concept for different sports.”

He confided ,”I tried my best to do my best for the job.”

Reminded that he indeed had accomplished a lot by building a team that won the Asian Youth Championships, stunning China before a jam-packed Araneta Coliseum crowd and in July 1985 beating the mighty United States in an epic overtime battle to win the Jones Cup with outstanding performances by shooting star Allan “The Triggerman” Caidic and the “Skywalker” Samboy Lim, who virtually took over the game in the extra period with their threepoint shooting aided by the outside sniping of naturalized player Chip Engelland and the inside presence of center Dennis Still and highflying 6’3” forward Jeff Moore, who outhustled an American squad that had eight players, who subsequently entered the National Basketball Association.

Boss Danding was his typical modest self as he told us, “Let’s just say we were lucky. We had good boys. We were able to recruit boys who came from all over the Philippines, but I think mostly the credit for that accomplishment should go to Ron Jacobs, our coach. He mentored the boys, he trained them well, he motivated them very well and the result was quite satisfying.”

Ron was a stickler for details as Cojuangco pointed out.

“I think he started scouting in the Philippines. The first guy who did scouting here. Unfortunately, he was short on luck and he passed away in a not too nice way, being in a coma 12 years before God took him. How very sad.”

Jacobs was driving home after a practice with the Busanbound Asian Games team with his lady, Mennen, an incredible woman who remained by his side through all the years of hardship and pain, when he had a stroke, had the presence of mind to park his car and allow Mennen to take the wheel and drive him to the nearest hospital, where he was regrettably made to wait before being attended to, with one of the nurses stuffing a tube down his throat and injuring his windpipe causing him to lose his voice.

We reminded Danding that he showed amazing care and concern for coach Jacobs, whom he looked after for so long at what certainly cost a small fortune.

To Mr. Cojuangco it was the

least he could do.

“I thought it was incumbent on us to treat him well because he treated us well. He took at heart the interests of the country every time we competed. Especially in the Jones cup when we played the American team,” he said.

Cojuangco remembered it as “a nice game. We won by 1 point at the end, in overtime. That was really exciting and at that time, the Jones Cup was really the Jones Cup with strong teams competing.”

To Danding, “Those are nice memories to recall once in a while.”

He remembered that we covered the games and even the Youth Championships against China. Memorable games, moments worth remembering.

We recalled that when we passed by the US dugout in Taipei, the coach said: “Let’s go and whip these guys and go home.”

When we went to the dugout of the Philippine team, which carried the colours of San Miguel Beer, Ron had a litany of detailed instructions and play situations on a giant white board. It was typical of Ron. Meticulous as always.

I’ll never forget one incident during the game when Dennis Still raced by the side of the US bench and shouted at the coach “we are gonna whip your ass!”.

According to Cojuangco, Dennis and Jeff Moore now live in France, while Chip Engelland is the regular assistant of San Antonio Spurs’ coach Greg Popovich.

Cojuangco said he had plans of inviting Chip again next year when the UAAP season comes along.

We both remembered Chip as “a nice-cultured young man who loved to visit art galleries and museums” during trips abroad.

Danding Cojuangco, a La Salleite to the core, said he is right now “taking care of the La Salle team.”

“We didn’t have too much luck last year, we didn’t make the quarterfinals, but we are hoping we can make it to the quarter finals (this season).”

To him, as to many others of the younger generation, the UAAP has “more thrills and passion involved in an amateur league than a professional league.

They are proud to represent their school and we also emphasize the schooling of the kids. In La Salle, all our players have tutors. We want to see them graduate.

Turning to the Philippine national team, Cojuangco said: “At least, the guy funding it now (Manny Pangilinan) is doing his best and he deserves congratulations for that.”

But as so many have time and again repeated, “Basketball is height and if you don’t have height, it’s almost impossible to succeed in international competitions (like the World Cup and the Olympics). It’s the same as swimming.”

We turned to basketball once again and brought up the issue of a FIBA rule which stipulates that Fil-foreigners, who wish to represent our country, have to choose the country they wish to play for at the age of 16, which we have criticized consistently because its a ridiculous rule that hurts us.

Imagine, you have to choose which country you wish to represent even before you reach voting age!

We also mentioned the fact that one or two Middle East countries embark on wholesale recruitment of tall and talented African players, give them financial incentives, provide them with passports of the country that picks them up and gives them new names.

To Danding, “there’s no pride in that.”

He suggests that the national team must “get a good coach we can all agree to, get businessmen to support the team and get players permanently for the Olympic team.”

We informed him about the Gilas cadet program, which he believes is in the right direction, but he thinks “the players must live abroad, get used to playing big guys all the time.”

“It’s a hard call, not easy and it’s not cheap,” he said.

Danding told us that Kobe Paras, who will suit up for a US NCAA Division 1 school was “supposed to be with us,” and play for De La Salle, ”but he wanted to go abroad and I said “ if it’s for the betterment of his future why not.

He is a good kid.”

Sports

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Passion for the game drives Carter-Williams R

By Angela Casco

OOKIES are always passionate, eager and driven to prove and improve themselves and ultimately, produce note-worthy performances for the world to see.

Michael Carter-Williams goes beyond what other rookies aspire for even as he expressed his desire to be one of the best in the league, obviously with the coming National Basketball Association season in mind.

“I wanna be more consistent as a player. I wanna be one of the top point guards of this league.

That’s just gonna take hard work and preparation,” the 24-yearold towering 6’6” guard of the Milwaukee Bucks said in a oneon-one interview at the media availability for the annual NBA 3X Philippines this weekend.

It has been nearly three years since he officially joined the NBA. Despite the many challenges and pitfalls, his passion and perseverance to play his games at his best burns as bright as during his first year in the league where he won the Rookie of Year Award.

Carter-Williams played for the Syracuse Orange in college and was drafted 11th overall in the 2013 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.

He was impressive during his rookie season and finished with averages of 16.7 points per game, 6.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists. He is in elite company with those numbers and is one of only three players in NBA history to average 16 points, six rebounds and six assists in his rookie season.

The other players who managed the feat are Hall of Famers and basketball legends Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson.

Carter-Williams excelled from the start. In his NBA debut on October 30, 2013, he scored 22 points, issued 12 assists, grabbed seven rebounds and tallied nine steals as he led his team to a 114110 victory over the Miami Heat.

Less than a week later, he had a 26 points, and 10 assists to power his team to a 107-104 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

He was later named the Player of

Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams dribbles down the court as he sets up his team’s offense.

to him was an opportunity to play for and study communication and rhetorical studies in a university that offered one of the best programs for it, Syracuse.

“I was kinda realistic up until college, and I think that’s when I knew that I wanted to really play basketball. I knew I had the chance to,” he said.

His freshmen season for Syracuse was described by many, and Carter-Williams himself as a tough one. He played very few minutes off the bench and even entertained thoughts of leaving the team. His sophomore year, though, was better. In fact, it became a breakout season for him.

“I just worked hard in the off-season. I put a lot of time in my game. I took everything I learned from my freshmen year and applied it to my sophomore year and I got the opportunity to play,” he said.

A highlight, indeed, as he was the first NBA rookie to post a whopping nine steals and double-double figures in his NBA debut with 22 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.

“I just go out there and give it my all, thinking like it’s my last (game),” he said when asked about his approach to the game of basketball, “I try to stay calm

Michael Carter-Williams says he is looking to be more consistent as a player and face the coming season with a prepared body and mind for the game. Peter Paul Duran

the Week in only his first week in the NBA. This is a milestone last achieved by Shaquille O’Neal in 1992.

On December 3, 2013, Carter-Williams tallied his first triple-double with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in 47 minutes of action as he powered his squad to a 126-125 double overtime victory over the Orlando Magic He was hounded by injuries after his rookie season. His stats dipped as he posted an average of 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.2

assists per game in 2015-2016.

He was unfazed even as he insisted that meeting the challenge of the seasons ahead will require hard work and preparation, something he has been doing since he started chasing the dream of a basketball career in the league.

“It started when I was younger.

I think I just fell in love with the game. I have always wanted to be in the NBA and play at the highest level,” said Carter-Williams.

Both his parents are not just former basketball players they also

coached high school teams themselves. Carter-Williams enjoyed an early exposure to the sport. He learned through watching games while his parents pointed out details by his side like players making an extra pass to set up teammates for an open look.

“My family is a basketball family, you know, and that’s what inspired me,” he said.

He revealed that he was also being pragmatic about college referring to athletic scholarships Timberwolves Dancers, from left: Ashley, Courtney, Dua, McKenna, offered by colleges and univer- Ariel, and Ashley, face the media before performing at the NBA 3X sities. One of the many offered Philippines 2016. Angela Casco

Macandili ushers dawn of the liberos

By Peter Atencio LIBEROS used to be considered as just members of the supporting cast to the superstar spikers and setters.

Dawn Macandili turned that notion on its head as she virtually dominated the 2016 Philippine Super Liga All Filipino Conference with her impeccable passing and fearless dives and digs to lead the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers to the PSL throne by overpowering the Foton Tornadoes, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19, in the deciding third game of the championship.

and really focus on what I can do to help my team win.”

While he claims he does not have any particular ritual before a game, Carter-Williams shared that he does the basics: stretching, warming up by shooting hoops and having a good meal.

Being in a good frame of mind, he said, has also helped him through his games. For aspiring Filipino basketball players, though, he had much advice.

“Take care of your body. Eat right. And mentally, just watch a lot (of basketball games). Ask people questions. Study the game. Just practice and keep working every single day, day in and day out. Just keep following your dreams. Be positive,” he said.

Carter-Williams, together with the Timberwolves Dancers and the LA Clippers mascot, Chuck the Condor, headlined the NBA 3X Philippines 2016 held August 19-21 at the Mall of Asia.

The event is an annual 3-on-3 competition of men’s teams under-13, under-16, under-18, and open categories, and women’s teams in under-16 and open divisions. The basketball tournament is based on the FIBA 3X3 format and rules and also include entertaining activities such as local artists and DJs performing live.

Macandili was named best libero and also garnered the Most Valuable Player award.

A libero hardly scores points and is never a candidate for MVP honors.

It is a defensive specialist position and was added to the game of indoor volleyball in 1999 along with a set of special rules for play in an effort to make the game more exciting.

The libero is hardly noticed in a game by spectators although responsible for a much greater area of the court than the other members of the team.

The libero is usually the smallest player in the team. It is

F2 Logistics Cargo Movers libero Dawn Macandili (right) ducks to avoid colliding with teammate setter Kim Fajardo. Roman Prospero

F2 Logistics Cargo Movers libero Dawn Macandili receives her best libero award along with a teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers.

Roman Prospero

the libero’s main responsibility to pass the ball well so the team can properly run the offense. The libero does not have responsibilities for offense. He or she just chases down every ball.

All throughout the conference, Macandili made teammates look good with her superb passes and serve-receives as she readied the ball for offense.

With her efforts, veteran teammates like Aby Marano, Ara Galang and Kim Fajardo were able to play their game well.

“I was really surprised to win the award because liberos never win the award (MVP),” said the 20-year-old Macandili, who is entering her third

year with the La Salle Lady Spikers.

She got into volleyball when one of her batchmates in De La Salle-Lipa invited her to join. She started playing as a utility spiker.

It was when she began playing for La Salle Zobel in high school when she made the switch to libero.

She and teammate Kim Dy powered the Junior Lady Spikers to three consecutive high school titles from 2010 to 2013. This made Dy and Macandili two of the hottest recruits to the collegiate ranks when they left La Salle Zobel.

Macandili eventually joined De La Salle University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines under coach Ramil De Jesus who also brought her along to the F2 Logistics squad in the PSL. F2 Logistics spikers Cha Cruz, Mika Reyes, Ara Galang, Aby Marano and setter Kim Fajardo may have scored the points to tow the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers team past the Foton Tornadoes to win their first PSL title.

But it was only made possible because of the impeccable serve-receive and passing skills of their dominant libero, Macandili.

MCW wants to make playoffs, play for US 5

By Peter Paul Duran MILWAIKEE Bucks’ point guard Michael Carter-Williams is in town over the weekend for the NBA 3X Philippines, and the former Rookie of the Year contemplates on his career, playing for the US Team and what he expects when he enters his fourth year in the league at season’s start.

MCW headlined the premier 3-on-3 tournament at the MoA Music Hall, and the 6’6” guard, is liking Team USA’s chances, even though the only help he could give for the meantime, are his cheers.

“They’re gonna win. I think they have confidence that they’re gonna do it. They’ve been playing well and I’m pretty sure they will win,” Carter-Williams told scribes at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay, adding that his dream is to play for the national team.

“It’s definitely a goal of mine to play (for the national squad) at some point of my career. I just keep chasing those goals.”

Meanwhile, when asked about the highlights so far in his career, the Syracuse standout picks two games, his very first, and the 24-1.

“I can probably say my first game in the NBA. Just because we beat the Miami Heat and they won the championship, personally I had a really good game and I think it was one of the highlights of my career so far,” he said.

The other one, was of course, when their team smeared the perfect run of the Warriors.

“We went out there. Everyone was gunning for them, so for us to be that team to beat them is probably something that we’ll always remember,” he said about their win against then defending champs Golden State—a feat done only eight other times last season.

“I think it’s an achievement for us. It’s great that it was us (who beat them first), and it was a competitive game.”

For now, the promising 24-year-old looks at the coming season positively, and with a beefed-up, towering line-up, he just hopes everything will click.

“I think last year there were some up and down moments. I’ve worked really hard this summer on improving on some things, so I expect to be more consistent and I expect to go out there and play and just to have fun,” he said.

“We want to be better as a team and I think that’s our goal--to go out and play hard every night and make the playoffs,” stressed Carter-Williams.

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

A8

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

Sports

SILVER MEDALIST DIAZ

Paying it forward

By Peter Atencio

O

LYMPIC silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz has dreams of paying it forward.

And, she won’t be alone in her quest to develop the next generation of weightlifters, who want to follow her footsteps.

A power-generating company has come forward to provide varsity scholarships to her and a number of athletes working out at the small training gym inside their family residence at Bgy. Mampang in Zamboanga City.

The city government is tives will discuss plans to give sueto “Onyok” Velasco last did also making sure that the Diaz and the kids she trains it in boxing in 1996.

25-year-old Diaz will be scholarships.

A total of P7.5 million is now able to acquire a 300-square To be called the Alson Pow- in her hands, after President meter lot next to her home so er-Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship, it Duterte gave her an additional she can build a bigger train- will cover tuition fees, school P2 million, and the Zamboaning center. uniforms, equipment and al- ga City government added “Masaya po ako. Hindi lang lowances for Diaz and her stu- P500,000. ito para sa akin. Para din ito dents.

Atilano said he had apsa mga bata,” said Diaz, a Santillan said they already proached the company for help week after she bagged a sil- have a scholarship program in before they went to Rio, and ver medal in the 53kg division Zamboanga City, but they are he got the idea of having Alof the women’s weightlifting now modifying it with inputs sons as a sponsor after learning event in the 2016 Rio de Ja- from Diaz, Colonia, Aldanete, that the Thailand weightlifting neiro Olympics.

Atilano and other stakeholders team was also supported by a She came back to Manila in the sport. power-generating firm. with her coach Alfonsito Diaz earlier received a P5“With the result now, this Aldanete, teammate Nestor million check from the Philip- idea will be solidified,” Atilano Colonia and Philippine pine government for her silver said.

Weightlifting Association feat. Her lift ended the counDiaz currently trains at a vice president Bong Atilano try’s 20-year medal drought on small 10-square meter gym into discuss with Alsons Pow- Day 3 of the 2016 Rio de Janei- side their family compound. er Group executives of their ro Olympics.

But this will be expanded planned educational assisThis earned her the country’s once plans to purchase a neartance on her behalf. second silver medal after Man- by lot is completed.

“She wants to pay it forward. She wants to train aspiring weightlifters. We would like to help Hidilyn,” said Alsons vice president and CEO Tirson Santillan Jr. in a presentation at their offices inside the Alphaland Southland Bldgs, in Pasong Tamo, Makati.

Santillan said they recognize the fact that many of the aspiring lifters may have trouble in terms of studies while training at the same time.

He said their presence in Zamboanga City as an independent electricity producer with an existing power plant and plans to build another one, makes them part of the community.

Before Diaz and Colonia left for Rio, they have already extended help by providing a total of $3,500 in allowances to the two.

Hidilyn Diaz: Hindi lang ito para sa akin. Para din ito sa mga bata.

This time, company execuLino Santos

Hidilyn Diaz’s lift in the Rio De Janeiro Olympics ended the Philippines’ 20-year medal drought in the games.

Arcilla vs Tierro for title

TOP seed Johnny Arcilla and doubles partner No. 2 Patrick John Tierro forged another title showdown in the Olivarez Cup Tennis Championship, bundling out their respective Final Four rivals in similar fashions at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque late Friday.

Arcilla, who copped the men’s Open singles crown in the 2013 edition of the annual event when Tierro retired in the fifth set due to

cramps, imposed his will against third seed Elbert Anasta, scoring a 6-3, 6-2 triumph to clinch the first finals berth.

Not to be outdone, Tierro ended Bryan Otico’s giant-killing spree, fashioning out a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the 13th-ranked De La Salle-Zobel standout who upended the likes of No. 4 Fritz Verdad and fifth seed Ronard Joven to barge into the semis of the premier event sponsored by Palawan

Pawnshop and backed by backed by Milestone Guaranty and Assurance Corp. and Slazenger as official ball.

Arcilla and Tierro dispute the crown today (Sunday) at 11 a.m. with odds about even between two of the country’s top players also clashing for the princely P50,000 purse put up by Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez along with Rep. Eric Olivarez and Dr. Pablo Olivarez as part of the family’s long-time

commitment to boost the development of the sport.

But while Arcilla, who also won in 2014, chases his third Olivarez title in the last four years, Tierro hopes to snap a run of runnerup finishers in the event, including a four-set setback to fellow Davis Cupper Francis Casey Alcantara last year.

Arcilla gained another crack at the championship without Turn to A6

Bowlers Sy, Posadas book trip to World Cup in Shanghai

BWC national champions Sammy Say Sy and Lara Posadas display their trophies after the BWC national champions Sammy Say Sy and Lara Posadas display their trophies after the award ceremony. With them are Engr Gilbert Gavino, Coronado Lanes general manager (left) and Puyat sports executive vice president Joey Puyataward ceremony. With them are Engr Gilbert Gavino, Coronado Lanes general manager (left) and Puyat Sports executive vice president Joey Puyat.

“IT’S going to be tough but we’ll be ready!”

Veteran Sammy Say Sy and national bowler Lara Posadas happily expressed a few minutes after they clinched the right to represent the Philippines in the 2016 Bowling World Cup international finals in Shanghai (China) after bagging the national men’s and ladies’ crowns Friday at SM North Edsa Center in Quezon City.

“I’m really happy. It’s going to be my first crack at the prestigious World Cup title,” said the 26-year-old Posadas who subdued multi-titled Liza Clutario 2-0 (215-193, 183-171) in the exciting ladies’ finals.

Sy, a 53-year-old MOA Center pro shop manager, echoed the same feeling after nipping na-

tional pintoppler Raoul Miranda 2-1 (236-204, 186-222, 212-181) in the men’s division.

“This is my first time to compete in an international event like the World Cup,” Sy said.

“But I intend to practice more.

In the past, I used to compete only in Asian inter-city meets.

I feel honored because I played against six Philippine bowlers in the quarterfinals.”

Sy finished only third with 6706 after the first eight games, but he knocked out second finisher Merwin Tan 2-0 (234-194, 234-227) to earn a shot at topnotcher Miranda, who carded 7035 to pull away from Tan by 324 pins.

Posadas topped the eightgame quarterfinals with 6127, only 17 pins ahead of last year’s champion and top favorite Liza

del Rosario but 292 pins away from Clutario. Clutario foiled Del Rosario’s bid to repeat by winning their knockout match, 2-1 (226-191, 211-253, 228214).

Posadas, whose sister Apple played in the international finals in Toulouse, France in 2010, and Sy will see action at Hao’s Bowling Center in Shanghai, China on Oct. 14-23.

Nicco Olaivar finished fourth in the men’s division with 6693, followed by Jay R. Tan (6668), Paulo Valdez (6506), Alex Ngoi (6446) and Kevin Cu (6339).

Krizziah Tabora landed fourth in the ladies’ division with 5629, followed by Mades Arles (5379), Rochelle Munsayac (5259), Jo Anne Bonifacio (4879) and Myrna Bautista (4845).

French firm wants to clothe PH builders

B2

Business

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

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

B1

A

VETERINARIAN and former instructor left the comfort of the University of the Philippines’ campus in the mid-1980s to go into poultry farming.

Today, his integrated food production and supply business employs 1,800 people and leads the transformation of food retail in the country.

“We now have 1,800 employees, from farms to feed mills to stores,” says Robert Lo, the president and chief executive of Pampanga-based RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods Inc., which is engaged in poultry and livestock production, feed manufacturing, meat processing, meat shops, restaurants and food delivery service. RDF, which refers to Red Dragon Farms, is also the company behind Fresh Options Meatshops.

Lo, 57, who graduated with a degree in Veterinary Medicine from UP Diliman in 1983 before the course was transferred to Los Baños, decided to become a quail farmer in Novaliches, Quezon City in his initial foray in business in 1986. The quail business did not take off as quickly as he hoped, so he ventured into poultry farming in Pampanga as a contract grower for various companies.

“I practised as a farm animal veterinarian. After graduation, I was invited as a college instructor at UP. But the salary for instructor was low at that time and they transferred the course to Los Baños. I got tired of going to Laguna area, so I decided to go into business, with the support of my parents,” Lo, who is known as Doc Robert, says in an interview at a restaurant in Makati City.

Lo’s Binondo-based family owns a company that runs Ketch department stores in Manila and Quezon City. His decision to go into integrated farming would later build an even bigger company that is now considered a top taxpayer in Pampanga province, although he insists that RDFFLFI remains a medium-sized enterprise.

RDFFLFI owns state-of-the-art poultry farms in Pampanga and Tarlac with a combined capacity of 1.5 million birds and swine farms with 3,500 sows. It also operates its own feed mills to supply the requirements of the farms and plans to open modern slaughterhouses soon. RDFFLFI has six restaurants and aims to open five more this year. It has 84 meat shops under the Fresh Option Meatshops brand and 64 Fresh Option Express outlets in Central Luzon, Metro Manila and Calabarzon.

What makes Lo more excited is a technology that he hopes to introduce in the country from the Netherlands, where his employees have received training recently.

RDFFLFI will launch a food vending machine at SM Clark in September and hopefully in Metro Manila in the following months, he says.

Opportunities in crisis Lo believes there are opportunities in

RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods Inc. president and chief executive Robert Lo

Veterinarian aims to change PH food retail

times of crisis, which can be overcome by technology and innovation. “We don’t have to invent the wheel. We can just pick it up and use it,” he says.

Lo says RDFFLFI employs some of the brightest minds in the food supply business as consultants who recommend the best technologies to develop new products.

“We have five or six consultants.

I am very open to suggestions. We want to empower our people,” he says. Lo says of the company’s 1,800 employees, about 400 are professionals including engineers, veterinarians, food technologists and technical experts who comprise the research and development team.

“In our product development team, we have the R&D group, which is composed of the chef and the food technologists. The chef provides the art while food technologists provide the science for consistency. We are combining art and science in our products,” he says.

Lo says as the only company-owned and company-operated agri-food system business, RDFFLFI ensures the high quality of its products which go through the cold chain, from farms to stores. The co-co system allows RDFFLFI’s team to closely monitor each stage of the production process, he says.

Lo incorporated his company in 1988 under the name Red Dragon Farms because the first two names he submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry were rejected. “It was my third choice. I just got the name from the title of a book and it was the one approved by DTI,” he says.

He became a contract breeder first with San Miguel’s Magnolia, then with Purefoods and RFM Corp. In 1991, Mt. Pinatubo erupted and destroyed all four farms of RDF in Pampanga. He picked up the pieces and rebuilt the Turn to B2

New technology enables virtual tours of properties

By Jasmine Mira M. Dy and Aries F. Fallorina PROPERTY search portal PropertyAsia. ph teams up with Japanese electronics company Ricoh and distributor CameraHaus Concepts Stores to spread the use of Ricoh Theta S, a Googleaccredited spherical camera that enables 360-degree virtual tours of properties.

The partnership offers a discounted price of Ricoh Theta S camera to PropertyAsia.ph member brokers and agents who intend to use the technology to give clients a virtual tour of various properties for sale without going to the actual site.

PropertyAsia.ph managing director Joeri Stegeman says his company is the first in the Philippines to allow brokers and agents to upload 360-degree photos of houses and properties. “Once you have this camera, we can revolutionize together the whole market and make property shopping a true virtual reality experience,” he says.

Stegeman cites the benefits of the Ricoh Theta S for potential buyers, saying “360-degree photos leave no room to manipulate.” The photos’ availability online also allows buyers to be more efficient by checking more properties in little time.

“From a broker’s perspective, you don’t have to do 20 property trippings anymore when 18 people are not interested. You only do five trippings, where four people are interested,” Stegeman says.

“So it’s beneficial for your time as less time is spent on trippings and more time for getting more clients and earning more money.”

Dar Oro, marketing director of CameraHaus and Ricoh Theta, says the 360-degree technology was introduced to the market three years ago. The need for it started when it was used for the Google Street View.

“Before Theta S was born or introduced, not a lot of people were enjoying the 360 technology because

no apps were developed. There were no tools like the VR [virtual reality] scopes like right now that the people could enjoy, and there’s really no market for it that people would see,” Oro says.

It was after Facebook and Youtube introduced the 360 degree videos that people started gaining interest in the new technology.

Industries have found several ways to use the product. Oro says these industries included advertising, broadcasting and automotive sectors which used the 360-degree technology for commercials, behind-the-scene teasers and new car model introduction, respectively.

“It’s a big leap. It’s a big thing for a company in the real estate industry to have this breakthrough and for them to use a 360 scale model for [brokers and agents] to have an easier access and for customers to easily view the properties,” Oro says.

“It’s a partnership that we are excited to have with Property Asia Philippines,” he says.

PropertyAsia.ph business development manager Weyn Relleve, PropertyAsia.ph managing director Joeri Stegeman and CameraHouse Concepts Stores marketing director Dar Oro

B2

Business

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Veterinarian...

From B1

farms. As the success of the business hinged largely on the contracts with those companies, Lo felt the business would thrive on its own and so he started his own commercial growing business.

“But we still bought chicks and feeds from others,” he says. He noticed that the feed suppliers were earning more from his business, so he decided to use his nutrition background to formulate his own feeds—thus the start of feed milling business. He installed feed mills inside each farm to ensure that chickens ate quality feeds. It also kept production cost manageable.

The poultry business grew over the next five years until 1997, when massive importation and smuggling of chicken leg quarters hit the local industry. “That time we lost a lot of money. Fortunately, smuggling stopped, allowing us to recover. But we decided we could not depend on just one product, so we also ventured into swine business in 1999,” he says.

In 2000, he established Lodestar Feedmill and Veterinary Products and E-Pig as two separate companies.

The swine farms included breeding, farrowing and fattening operations.

To further hone his entrepreneurial skills, Lo obtained a Master in Entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City in 2003.

Business expansion Lo says in poultry and livestock growing, it is the traders who control the market. “Traders earn more than producers and they control the market.

So in 2005, we started our own meat shops under the Fresh Options brand,” he says.

Fresh Options stores carried pork, chicken meat and meat products that were bred, raised, dressed, processed and delivered in-house. The stores also sold beef, marinated meat and ready-tocook food.

Fresh Options now has stores in Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna. It also became the trusted meat and meat products supplier of different hotels and resorts in Luzon, including major restaurant chains, upscale coffee shops and food stall franchises.

Lo says the business grew because the company tried to find opportunities in every problem it encountered.

“When there is a crisis, you try ways to solve the crisis and you see this as an opportunity to grow further,” he says.

Lo started the meat processing business, RDF Meatshop Inc., to solve the problem of slow moving products in 2008. “We developed new and valueadded products to solve the problem of slow moving items,” he says. He established a meat processing plant or central depot in Porac, Pampanga in support of the meat retailing business.

RDFFLFI went beyond meat shops and established the food and beverage group in 2011. It opened full-scale restaurants and cafés such as Roberto’s Coffee and Tea and Meats & Match.

These restaurants now have branches in Balanga, Olongapo City, Guagua and SM Clark. “We are opening more branches this year,” he says.

In 2012, Red Dragon Farm, Lodestar Feedmill and Veterinary Products, E-Pig and RDF Meatshop Inc. were consolidated into one corporation known as RDF Feed, Livestock and Foods Inc. In 2016, RDFFLFI launched Balanghai Filipino Buffet.

Vending machine Lo feels that a new business concept

will change the way Filipinos order meals. “The new one which I am really excited about is using the food vending machine,” he says. He will introduce the vending machine inside Robbie’s Gourmet Deli at SM Clark. “Hopefully

by Sept. 9, we’re gonna open at SM Clark,” he says.

Robbie’s Gourmet Deli supplies pre-cooked and cooked food for city workers such as business process outsourcing professionals looking for convenient and affordable meals. Lo says with the use of vending machines, Robbie’s is set to change the way meals are sold in the country.

On what’s driving the expansion of the business, Lo says the growth of the Philippine economy and the good business climate with the availability of low interest rates allow RDFFLFI to continuously grow.

“We have gained acceptance in the market and we are still growing.

Secondly, a lot of banks are offering soft loans. That’s why we got the opportunity to grow with the good business climate.

Because of the better economic condition and GDP growth, meat consumption in the Philippines rose 50 percent over the past several years. But we’re still lagging behind Southeast Asian countries in terms of meat consumption. So that’s an opportunity for growth,” says Lo. Lo, who now lives in Angeles City, says Pampanga proved to be a good initial market for the company. “When we put up our first Fresh Option store in 2005, we spread streamers around Angeles and that’s how we got their attention.

Pampanga consumers look for quality products and that is why they stick with our products,” he says. Lo says RDFFLFI stays true to its mission as a trusted partner and preferred provider of high-quality fresh meats and value-added food products and services in all the markets it serves.

“We try to keep our quality, using our chiller freezers. We observe the cold chain all throughout. We never break the cold chain,” says Lo, a former president of the Philippine Veterinary Medical Association, a former chairman of Philippine College of Poultry Practitioners and a board director of United Broiler Raisers Association.

Lo expects that by 2020, RDFFLFI will open more stores and serve more markets in Calabarzon, La Union, Benguet, Isabela, Tuguegarao, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro. Employees’ contribution Lo, who owns about 97 percent of RDFFLFI, says he is giving his management team a chance to have shares in the company. “I opened up to some chosen employees, about 55 of them. They can buy 30 percent of the company at a discount,” he says. “This is because they are responsible for the growth of the company and I have to make them stay.”

Going public or listing with the Philippine Stock Exchange is not yet in Doc Robert’s plan, saying he would rather tap bank loans, given the available low interest rates. “I also would like to decide by my own,” he says, while clarifying that he has a number of consultants whom he listen to.

Lo, deriving lessons from his own experience, advises other entrepreneurs to look beyond problems. “There is always a solution to any problem.

Not only solution, but opportunities.

You should be innovative. That’s the game now—innovation. We are early adoptors of technology. If there is a new technology, we adopt. We are hungry for new technologies,” he says.

Roderick T. dela Cruz

French company enters PH to clothe builders

By Othel V. Campos A FRENCH company, taking advantage of the construction boom in the Philippines, wants to equip Filipino workers with the appropriate gear to protect them from physical risks.

“There’s a big market for protective garments. Almost all industries in the Philippines are booming and Filipinos

now are more aware and have, in fact, started being particular when it comes to safety. As we see it, government and international standards are being met. The market for safety products is growing,”says Delta Plus managing director for the Philippines Nico Namoco.

Delta Plus, a leading innovator of personal protective equipment, now

MAPÚA-NCKU PARTNERSHIP.

Intensifying its aim to develop international linkages, Mapúa Institute of Technology and National Cheng Kung University, a premier state university in Taiwan, sign a memorandum of understanding to further advance the schools’ research and development efforts in the field of engineering and science.

Shown during the signing of the agreement are NCKU College of Engineering dean Dr. PaoShan Yu (left) and Mapúa president and chief executive Dr. Reynaldo Vea. Student and faculty exchanges and joint conferences will also take place under the partnership.

IABC Philippines appoints new leaders IABC Philippines, the local chapter of San Francisco-based International Association of Business Communicators, announced the appointment of Manila Electric Co. spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga as president of the board of trustees, spearheading the new leadership team for 2016-2018.

Zaldarriaga was chosen by the association’s board and members in July. He is tasked to champion IABC’s strategic direction, cultivate membership programming and advance meaningful professional development opportunities for local chapter members.

Prior to assuming the IABC presidency, Zaldarriaga also served as vice president of the organization and chaired the successful CEO Excel Awards in 2014 and 2015.

Currently, Zaldarriaga is assistant vice president and head of public information office of the country’s biggest electricity distribution utility, Meralco.

He was previously a broadcast journalist working as a news reporter and

evening desk editor at ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. Zaldarriaga is a product of the De La Salle University, where he spent his formative grade school and high school years, before graduating with a degree in Asian Studies in 1985.

As IABC president, Zaldarriaga is set to lead the organization into new frontiers and spearhead its digital shift.

Under his watch, Zaldarriaga plans to bring the value of disruptive, innovative communication into focus – regardless of platforms – and highlight the contribution of corporate communications to business success, and, on a larger scale, to nation building.

Elpi Cuna, chairman emeritus of IABC Philippines, said: “Joe’s three decades of experience in the industry as a driver of innovative business communications will be valuable in the organization’s reinvigoration to seamlessly integrate programs and advocacies with techno-

logical advancements. It’s an exciting time for the industry, and I am confident he and the rest of the new IABC leadership will bring the organization to new heights.”

The new IABC Philippines board of trustees include Belle Tiongco as vice president, Dave Davilles as corporate secretary, Sherryl Yao as treasurer, Jeffrey Tarayao as auditor, and Richard Arboleda, Leah Caringal, Jika Dalupan, Claire Papa, Maricar Bautista and Owen Cammayo as trustees. Kane Errol Choa is the immediate past president and chairman.

IABC is a professional network of 11,000 business communication professionals in over 70 countries. IABC Philippines, now on its 33rd year, is the first IABC chapter outside the United States. Its mission is to share among its members the best global communication practices, ideas and experiences that will enable them to develop highly ethical and effective performance standards for their profession.

IABC Philippines president Joe Zaldarriaga

sees the Philippines as an important market for expansion and as a potential hub in Southeast Asia.

Delta Plus is confident about the growth of the Philippine market, where it expects sales to reach 9 million euros in three years.

Delta Plus enters the Philippine market, as the local construction industry is forecast to grow to $47 billion by 2020, up by almost 10 percent annually from 2015, according to London-based Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center.

Delta Plus, which opened an office in the Philippines in June, now has a network of 130 distributors.

The company sees the Philippines as an emerging Southeast Asian tiger and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Expansion into other Asean markets is seen to emanate from Philippine operations.

It plans to build the Asean manufacturing hub in the Philippines to serve the requirements of the entire region. Delta Plus is considered the only company with the capability to produce all kinds of personal protective equipment from head to foot.

Namoco says Filipinos have been trained well to produce the best products available in the protective gear market.

“But what sets up apart from the rest is that we are producing the entire line of PPE under one company. We don’t have a competitor at this end, although product by product, we compete with the best in the world,” he says.

Delta Plus produces safety garments such as raincoats, cover-all, jackets and trousers, safety shoes, masks, goggles, gloves and helmets.

Delta Plus eyes a production site near a port in Subic, Zambales or Batangas.

Currently, the global supply chain of Delta Plus includes Wujiang in China, Calcutta in India, Apt in France, Sosnowiec in Poland and Manchester in the United Kingdom. It also has presence in South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The company has 10,000 distributors and 23 subsidiaries worldwide.

Property

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 jdlacsamana@gmail.com

B3

CUBAO ON THE RISE.

The Araneta Group recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the CyberPark Tower 2 (CPT2), it’s latest project in the continuing redevelopment of the Araneta Center, one of Quezon City’s mixed-use business districts. At the ceremony were the top executive of Araneta Center, Inc. (ACI), led by vice chairman Judy A. Roxas, and officers of the publicly listed contractor Megawide Construction Corporation. The second PEZA-registered office tower to rise within the Araneta Center CyberPark Complex, the CPT2 is designed to meet the highly specialized requirements of the offshoring and outsourcing industry. CPT2 is the second of the five office buildings planned in the Araneta Center’s CyberPark – a P15-billion masterplanned office district within the 35-hectare Araneta Center.

HOUSING DEVELOPERS EXPO. The Subdivision & Housing Developers Association Inc. (SHDA), the largest organization of housing developers in the Philippines, will gather home developers and suppliers in a huge one-stop shop for three days at the Glorietta Activity Center in Ayala Center, Makati City. The 3rd SHDA expo will feature exhibitors will be held from August 25 to 28 and will feature exhibitors such as 8990 Housing Devt. Corp., Axeia Devt Corp., Ayala Land, Boysen Phils., Breezewoods, Chinabank, CHMI Land, Inc., Citihomes, Davies, DDC Land, DMCI Homes, Duraville, Filinvest, Hausland, Holcim, Homemark Inc., Honeycomb Builders, Jacinto Color Steel, James Hardie Phils., Lamudi Phils., Lumina Homes, Masaito, Matimco, Inc., PA Properties, PDB Properties, Phinma Properties, Prominence Properties, Property Company of Friends, Pueblo de Oro, Robinsons Banking Corporation, SM Devt Corp., Steeltech, Suntrust Properties, and United Coconut Planters Bank. At the expo, SHDA seeks to partner with the government, and other sectors, in pursuit of better housing options for Filipinos.

VANTAGE POINT. Rockwell

Primaries is pulling all the stops in pitching its latest development at Kapitolyo, one of Manila’s bustling city centers, The Vantage. The company recently set up a pop-up model unit of The Vantage, its first high-rise, vertical development, at the North Court of Power Plant Mall, which will be on display until August 31. The Vantage consists of two residential towers. The East Tower, which was launched recently, offers 1BR, 2BR and 3BR units for home owners. Rockwell Primaries, a subsidiary of Rockwell Land, currently markets three properties: 53 Benitez, The Vantage at Kapitolyo, and East Bay Residences.

MILLION DOLLAR BURBS DOWN UNDER. The number of Australian suburbs where homes command a median A$1 million ($762,000) price has surged in the wake of a four-year long housing boom driven by declining interest rates and demand from investors. Suburbs where the median value is at least A$1 million jumped 29 percent to 613 in the year ended June, and more than doubled over the past three years, according to a report from real estate research firm CoreLogic. New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, has just over 68 percent of all national suburbs with a median home value of at least A$1 million, up from 60 percent in 2008. Victoria state, with Melbourne as the capital, increased its proportion of million-dollar suburbs to almost 17 percent from about 14 percent in 2008. Home prices nationwide have soared almost 40 percent from a low in May 2012, underpinned by investors, who faced with low returns from other asset classes, took advantage of record low interest rates and a favorable tax system for landlords to pile into the property market. Bloomberg

HEALTHY LIVING. Megaworld’s town-

ship Eastwood City recently bagged the healthiest Mixed Used Community in the Neighborhood Category at the inaugural Awards for Excellence in Sustainability and Health held recently at the Net Park in Taguig City. The award was given by the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) and the Philippine Green Building Council (PHILGBC) The 18.5-hectare master-planned development was recognized for meeting ULI’s standards for the design and development of healthy environments for the benefit of the human population. Eastwood City’s integrated design promotes “walkable” convenience by placing homes, offices, retail establishment, entertainment and services within easy access to each other. There is also a variety of health, fitness and wellness facilities/ establishments that makes healthy living more convenient for the community.The Urban Land Institute is a globally-recognized organization that raises awareness on the direct link between health and real estate development.

BAY AREA WONDER. Pixel Residences, the first residential development of Aseana Residential Holdings, will be built in 2017 and is set for completion by December 2019.

Located at Aseana City in Paranaque City, the development will stand within the 107-hectare emerging business, entertainment, and tourist destination called Aseana City, which is being developed by D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Inc. (DMWAI). Aseana Residential Holdings is a subsidiary of DMWAI. “Pixel Residences features a minimalist façade design reminiscent of pixels or the small dots that make up the screens of our gadgets,” said DMWAI CEO Delfin Angelo “Buds” Wenceslao.. Soon to cover 1,785 square meter of land area, the development will be 15 storeys high with each floor housing 18 spacious units. The property’s 170 units offer studio units that are designed in an approximately 39 square meter space, one-bedroom units with approximately 66 square meters and two-bedroom living spaces with approximately 88 square meters.

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

B4

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

Property

Calabarzon, next crown jewel in PH real estate?

TRAFFIC, HIGH PRICES

DRIVE DEVELOPERS, BUYERS TO CHECK OUT PROPERTIES BEYOND MM

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he first half of 2016 saw the continued dominance of Metro Manila areas among places in the Philippines most searched for by online property-hunters. Sixteen of the top 20 neighborhoods viewed by users of the property portal Lamudi were in Metro Manila, with interest shifting slightly among the areas as the year progressed.

No surprise there, since business and investment is centered in Metro Manila. Being the location of the nation’s capital, the country’s leading financial districts, and many of its major commercial facilities and media outlets, Metro Manila is arguably the region most synonymous to the Philippines.

With its high level of urbanization and its consolidated location, many seek to live and invest in the metro.

But the siren call to leave the big city beckons more stridently each day, what with the worsening vehicle gridlocks, and soaring real estate prices.

Metro Manila has understandably been the focus of property development in the past few decades due to its status as an economic hub. But the metropolis’ saturation level in terms of population and vehicle volume has reached a critical stage, and looking elsewhere for areas that can be developed has become an imperative for property players today.

In its 2016 forecast, Lamudi Philippines projected that rural-urban fringe areas (“outskirts”) will be explored by more developers for mixed-use projects due

to the tightening supply of land in the city.

Property experts predict more townships sprouting across the country. Colliers International Philippines said that despite a slowdown in the residential condominium market in Metro Manila, developers will continue to pursue these developments in and outside of the capital.

Who’s afraid of big, bad MM? One popular urban-rural fringe area is Calabarzon —comprising the provinces of Cavite, Laguna,

BPOS, TECH SPACES FOR ORTIGAS. Notice something different in the Ortigas district lately? More

business and knowledge outsourcing companies (BPO/KPO) and technology outfits are sprouting up in the district, cheek by jowl with top retail and residential developments such as Capitol Commons, Greenhills shopping center, Frontera Verde, Circulo Verde, and the Greenmeadows and Valle Verde subdivisions.

Among these are news website Rappler, Denmark-based conglomerate Maersk Group, and the US-based e-payment services leader VeriFone. The Maersk Group occupies almost half of Estancia’s 19,000 square meters of office space,. Ortigas & Co. is now looking to build more BPO and KPO spaces to meet the rise in demand. Apart from Estancia, Silver City in Frontera Verde (See photo) serves as the headquarters of tech firm Anthem Solutions, which occupies 20,600 square meters of office space. Ortigas & Co. also added Launchgarage in the tenant portfolio of Circulo Verde. Dubbed as an “innovation hub” following the likes of startup incubators in tech hotspots in the US, Launchgarage promotes open collaboration to produce creative ideas.

BUCOLIC LIVING. Terrazza de Sto. Tomas, a 5.8 hectare development of Ovialand Inc. in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, offers a spacious community concept for city folk tired of congestion and pollution.

GAME-CHANGER. Despite being some 40 kilometers away from Makati’s Central Business District, Nu-

vali’s master-planning and township options have attracted the attention of serious residential buyers and entrepreneurs.

Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.

It boasts the country’s second largest gross regional product at P1.644 trillion and a buoyant real estate market. Lamudi’s report indicated that Calabarzon is the Philippines’ second most economically important region after Metro Manila.

Enrique M. Soriano III, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business, said about Calabarzon: “There is so much optimism as major property developers like Ayala and Megaworld have been investing heavily and creating portfolio growth forecasts well beyond a 20-year cycle.

Last year, leading conglomerates Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), SM Prime Holdings Inc., Megaworld Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. They have joined forces to develop the P123.8billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike.”

Soriano revealed that ALI is also investing P170 billion to develop a 700-hectare mixed-use estate in Cavite similar to other Ayala projects in Makati, Bonifacio Global City and Nuvali.

Soriano said, “Accounting for 20 percent of ALI’s revenues since 2009 and 15 percent of the parent firm’s net asset value, Nuvali is building up its leasing assets, focusing primarily on office spaces worth P12.5 billion, doubling its size from 31,000 to 60,000 sqm as part of its five-year plan.”

Growing demand, fast infrastructure He added that Megaworld is also steadily drumbeating its biggest horizontal project to date, the 1,000-plus-hectare mixed use Twin Peaks project in the Tagaytay-Batangas corridor with the first-of-its-kind vineyard concept.

“While it is inevitable that inventories will soften in the traditional CBDs in Makati, BGC and Ortigas, the southern corridor will dramatically be the next crown jewel in the next 10 to 20 years,” Soriano said.

The Lamudi report elaborated: “The provinces of Laguna, Cavite and Rizal are close to Metro Manila and for this reason, they are popular areas to

buy a home for the capital’s millions of workers. The cities of Bacoor and Dasmariñas in Cavite, San Pedro and Santa Rosa in Laguna, and Taytay, Cainta and Antipolo in Rizal are home to numerous residential subdivisions that offer houses from as low as P1 million in Cainta to as high as P35 million at Ayala Southvale in Bacoor.”

The increase in demand for property in these locales can be attributed to its close proximity to Metro Manila, as well as the continued improvement of the infrastructure around it. Projects like the forthcoming rail connectivity project between the port of Manila to an inland container terminal facility in Laguna; Cavite–Laguna Expressway (CALAX); and the Laguna Lakeshore Project, among others, are seen to make commuting and doing business between Metro Manila, Cavite, and Laguna much easier. Under the government of President Rodrigo Duterte, more such PPP (Pubic Private Partnership) projects seem to be on the batter’s deck.

Industrial estates on the move Occupancy rates for industrial estates are also evidence of the increasing interest in areas outside Metro Manila. According to CBRE’s Metro Manila Marketview for the fourth quarter of 2015, a souring relation between Japan and China has prompted investors in the former to look into other parts of Asia, such as the Philippines, for relocating their operations.

The report went on to detail that PEZA zones surveyed

by CBRE within Clark, Subic, Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas exhibit high occupancy rates, with the average occupancy rate for the said industrial parks in the said provinces to approximately be at 86 percent. As industrial facilities rise in these areas, employment will subsequently increase, with those making a living in the area likely to also increase the demand for residential property.

CBRE reported that a total of 1.13 million square meters will be added to the country’s industrial park in 2016. These are from private developers like Suntrust Ecotown (338,328

square meters), Cavite Technopark (359,664 square meters), Vista Land (243,840 square meters), and Global Gateway Logistics City (188,976 square meters).

More townships Last year was the year of townships, with several mixeduse developments being embarked on, or completed outside of Metro Manila to meet the increase in different property needs.

According to KMC MAG Group, a local associate of UKbased real estate consulting firm Savills, local developers continue to aggressively purchase significant property and increase their land banks as the market shows no sign of slowing down and townships, which are best described as secondary cities, are in themselves becoming centers of tourism, services, trade, and industry.

Major developers with significant township projects that are all but guaranteed to drive up investment potential and land values in their respective areas include Megaworld Corporation, Iloilo Business Park, and Santa Barbara Heights projects in Iloilo, Mactan New Town in Lapu-Lapu City, and The Upper East in Bacolod, among others.

Ayala Land, on the other hand, has Alvierra in Pampanga, Vermosa in Cavite, and Altaraza in Bulacan, to name just a few.

Quality of life One other thing that makes places such as the Calabarzon region an interesting option to live in is that it is rich in local history. Historical monuments and landmarks, old churches and shrines dot the region’s landscape. Aside from these, the region was home to countless historical events, which makes it easy for visitors and residents to explore the place.

With major property developers, as well as smaller but equally passionate real-estate companies, working to shape the region into a residential haven and an economic powerhouse, moving out of Metro Manila seems no longer such a difficult proposition to consider.

LGUs

HEAD. A young welder of a Balagtas, Bulacan show his skill in fabricating truck parts which is one of the leading business and trade of the province of Bulacan. Revoli Cortez

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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Taguig reforms Makati addicts

By Joel E. Zurbano

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AKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay on Thursday said the city government is planning to bring the drug dealers and dependents who surrendered to authorities to a rehabilitation center in Taguig City.

Binay said the local government, through the Makati Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MADAC), will select who need to undergo rehabilitation. She added she will sign a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Health in Bicutan to enroll clients referred by the council in the rehab program of the facility for free.

The city chief executive also revealed plans to provide livelihood training for individuals who will qualify for a scholarship program for out-of-schoolyouth.

During a recent Oath of Reformation ceremony, Binay urged the 1,057 individuals to

SPARKLER. A young welder shows off his skill in fabricating truck parts in Balagtas, Bulacan. Revoli Cortez

stand firm on their promise to totally discard their old habits and make a fresh start, seriously reminding them that it was their “last chance” to redeem themselves.

Binay told the pushers about the “no compromise” policy of the city government on drugrelated crimes that began during the administration of her father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay.

She said her administration is determined to save the people, especially the youth, from the bad influence of illegal substances, and the city government is exhausting all possible steps to win the war on drugs.

Historian Mt. Province poetess gets NCCA Writers’ Prize now UA&P full prof

By Dexter A. See

THE University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) conferred the highest academic rank of full professor on historian and playwright Dr. Paul Arvisu Dumol during its 21st University Day on August 15.

Dumol is a full-time faculty member of UA&P and teaches courses in Philippine History and Rizal. In 2012, he received the Gawad Rizal from the National Historical Commission for his work in Rizal Studies and in the propagation of Rizal’s ideas.

He wrote The Metaphysics of Reading Underlying Dante’s Commedia: The Ingegno and translated into English rare manuscripts that became published as The Manila Synod of 1582: The Draft of its Handbook for Confessors. The classic Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio, described as “the most frequently performed one-act play in Filipino,” was written by Dumol when he was in high school.

The conferment ceremony began with the citation of Dumol’s achievements by economist and UA&P cofounder Dr. Bernardo Villegas, UA&P president Dr. Winston Padojinog, past Ateneo De Manila University School of Humanities Dean Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia, and Ateneo High School Dulaang Sibol founder Dr. Onofre Pagsanghan.

Among those who attended the ceremony and the succeeding University Day Lecture delivered by Dumol include National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera, National Historical Society president Dr. Bernardita Churchill, and UA&P co-founder Dr. Jesus Estanislao.

BESAO—A 33-year-old poetess from the Mountain Province coveted the Writers’ Prize of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for her collection of poems written in the local dialect.

Gawani Aquino DomogoGaongen was honored for “Su-

kat,” her collection of poems in the local Kankanaey dialect, said Christine Godinez-Ortega, head of the National Committee on Literary Arts and NCCA chairman Felipe de Leon Jr. Gaongen now manages Gaia Café and Crafts in Sagada, which is one of the frequently visited souvenir shops in the municipality being a gateway to

the scenic Sumaguing caves.

The award includes a writing grant amounting to P250,000 for the writing of the entry piece, which is expected to be finished in a year.

During the preliminary stage, Gawani submitted 10 poems.

After a year she must complete the required 30 poems for publication by the NCCA.

For this year, the biennial NCCA Writers’ Prize was given to five writers in different categories including poetry (Kankana-ey language), novel (Rinconada language), essay (Meranao language), short story (Kapampangan language) and drama (Kinaray-a language).

The last batch of NCCA Writers’ Awardees for 2013

were Ariel Tabag for novel in the Ilokano language, Joselito delos Reyes for short story in Filipino, Hope SabanpanYu for essay in Cebuano, Rafael Banzuela Jr. for poetry in Bikolano and Jeremy Alexandre Evardone for drama in Waray language. They received the award during the 2014 Taboan Literary Festival in Subic.

Gotta eat ’em all!

By Joyce Pangco Pañares FILIPINO Pokémon trainers have joined the ranks of over 100 million players worldwide who have downloaded the Pokémon GO game on their mobile phones. It came as no surprise then that foot traffic has increased in malls and in other public areas where Pokéstops and gyms are located across the country. The latest craze of catching these “pocket monsters” and battling it out virtually with other players has spawned all kinds of creations inspired by the game that is raking in $10 million in daily revenue.

At the Red Lantern restaurant in Solaire Resort & Casino in Parañaque City, Chef Jason Ng created special Pokémon dimsum that are almost too cute to eat.

“We are the first hotel restaurant to offer these special dimsum, as Pokémon is now very famous. We want our guests to feel happy when they open the dimsum cover, and even happier when they have eaten our dishes,” Ng told Manila Standard.

“We have a saying: you use your heart in cooking dimsum because it really takes time to prepare. For these Pokémon dimsum, it takes us about an hour to make a batch. But our efforts pay off when we see the faces of our customers light up when we serve our dishes,” Ng added.

The special dimsum includes the Garden Bay (Yunnan mushroom bun with carrot dumpling stuffed with minced pork and pickled radish), Pinky Queen (porcupine bun with red bean paste), Piggy Pie (bun stuffed with custard), Lazy Egg Yolk Man (egg yolk bun stuffed with chocolate custard), and Taro Pokémon (dinosaur stuffed with taro paste).

According to Chef Richard Thong, the idea to create Pokémoninspired dimsum came about two days since the game was launched in the Philippines.

“Someone shouted, ‘There’s a Pokémon in my kitchen’ as my friend was trying to catch one of these monsters. That gave me an idea, and I asked Chef Jason to execute it,” he said.

“Red Lantern is one of Solaire’s signature restaurants. It serves authentic Chinese dishes. But one should not be afraid to think out of the box and create something new. Our menu is structured in such a way that we still keep the traditional dishes intact,” Thong added.

Wassmer said, “at Red Lantern, you don’t just catch your Pokémon. Here you can eat them all, too.”

TRAINER FOOD. A sampling of Red Lantern’s Pokemon-themed dimsum at Solaire Resort & Casino. Joyce Pañares

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LGUs

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

Zamboanga rejects plea bargain residents were later temporarily evacuated by the city government to the Mayor Joaquin EnAMBOANGA CITY—Local officials, riquez Memorial Sports Comled by Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climacoplex at Barangay Baliwasan.

City legal officer Jesus CarSalazar and Vice Mayor Cesar Ituralde, bon Jr. manifested to the Pasig said they will continue to oppose and reject City Regional Court the city’s any plea bargaining agreement that may be “unequivocal and unwavering stand against plea bargaining entered into by the Department of Justice and with MNLF leaders and memthe Moro National Liberation Front regarding bers accused of rebellion and the latter’s 21-day blitzkrieg attack on the city two counts of violation of the International Humanitarian Law in September 2013. in connection with the bloody Zamboanga siege.

At the hearing at the Pasig They said the invasion killed ians (not to mention the slain some 50 responding soldiers, rebels) and burned several semi- RTC attended by Carbon and policemen, and innocent civil- urban villages whose homeless six city councilors, the DoJ’s

By A. Perez Rimando

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panel of prosecutors submitted a counter proposal for the 138 MNLF members composed of two batches.

According to him, the DoJ’s counter proposal was made without the consent of Zamboanga City, whose main complainant is Salazar.

Hence, the city legal officer stressed that the plea bargaining agreement will, then, “reduce the charges of rebellion and IHL violations, which are punishable by life imprisonment, to a lesser crime of illegal assembly which carries a smaller penalty of four years imprisonment.”

Thus, Carbon emphasized that “whatever happens, Zamboanga will always reject such agreement.”

He said that for the first batch with 89 accused, “the DoJ prosecution panel proposed a total penalty of three years and six months for the three cases, or one year and two months for each case.”

Carbon added that for the second batch with 49 accused, the prosecution panel “proposed a total penalty of four years, or one year and four months for each of the cases.”

He explained that “if the accused are allowed to serve the

penalty in each of the cases, then, they will all be released from prison upon pleading guilty since they have already served their sentence, having been jailed for almost three years already.”

“If the accused rebels are sentenced to serve their penalties consecutively and not simultaneously, they will be released after serving three years and five months for the first batch and after serving four years for the second batch,” Carbon lamented, noting that the period of their detention would be counted as part of the service of their penalties.

50,000 school kids get vaccination ZAMBOANGA CITY—Close to 50,000 public elementary and secondary school children have been vaccinated under the school-based immunization program which started on August 1, the city health office said.

City Health Officer Rodelyn Agbuloeens said Grade 1 pupils from 197 elementary schools initially received tetanus diphtheria vaccines and measles containing vaccine while Grade 7 (first year) students from 46 secondary schools were given tetanus diphtheria and measles and rubella vaccines.

Agbulos fielded all available local physicians and nurses,

TRAFFIC. Officers of the Manila Toll Expressway Systems Inc., operator of the South Luzon Expressway, recently held a dialogue with the owners of trucks and trailers that ply the 108-kilometer toll road from Makati City to Batangas City regarding the Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection program at the Skyway System, SLEX and Star Tollway.

Coco husk weaving ups Albay income ONCE treated as a farm waste, the coconut husk has become a major source of income for mothers in the agricultural village (barangay) of Tagoytoy in Malinao, Albay.

Like many of her relatives and neighbors in the village today, Virginia Encano, 54, continues to augment her family income as a coconut husk weaver.

A widow who sends two children to school, Encano said she earns P240 each day for this venture which she does inside her house.

Her next of kin, Julie Encano, is also a weaver of the coconut by-product.

The women of Tagoytoy sell their woven coconut husks to local trader Ramil Canicula who manages Southeastern Fiber Products in Sitio Zone 3, Barangay Sta. Elena, also in Malinao.

Canicula has been in the coco fiber business for the last 25 years.

Coco geonets, or textile fashioned out of coconut

husks, is one of the major products of his company.

In Malinao town, during the 1990s, Canicula formulated a “decorticating” process to intensify the use of coconut husk for the production of coconut coir fibers.

He said, however, that his operations suffered setbacks in 2007 due to the low demand for his product and ensuing financial constraints.

In December 2011, Canicula was back in business, engaging a workforce of around 500, most of them women, in coco husk weaving.

He said that today, his business has been providing “additional income to over 3,000 women who produce geonets” from what used to be farm wastes.

Canicula’s company uses a bio-engineering technology to allow installation of the geonets in erosion or landslide-risk areas such as slopes, rivers and shorelines.

The women of Malinao may have known by this time that they are also contributing to climate change mitigation efforts as they engage in coco husk weaving inside their homes.

Data from the Department of Trade and Industry in Bicol show that several years ago, Albay pioneered in coco coir manufacturing that involves technologies in coco fibertwining and weaving.

This has led to the manufacture of coconut husk-derived geonets, which have become in demand as soil erosion control material, among many other local and overseas applications.

DTI said that as a modern civil engineering construction material, geonets are suitable substitutes for scarce raw material resources like steel and cement.

Experts maintain that geonets are both cost-effective and eco-friendly in carrying out basic functions such as “filtration, drainage, separation,

reinforcement and protection.”

Engineer Ramon Orticio of DTI-Bicol noted that coconut farmers in the region used to burn their coconut husks and treat the ashes as farm wastes.

“Today this farm waste has helped prevent soil erosion in the world, aside from being a major source of income for the grassroots in Bicol,” he said.

Orticio added that former President Benigno Aquino III had directed the Department of Public Works and Highways to apply the geonet technology in government construction activities not just “to promote green engineering” but also “to minimize the effects of climate change.”

Early this year, the Board of Investments, the industry development and investment promotions arm of DTI, said industry road map forums it conducted in Bicol had found coco coir on top of the dominant thriving industries in the region. PNA

assisted by rural health workers, to urban and barangay learning centers, explaining that school-based immunization seeks “to protect children from the consequences of tetanus and diphtheria, measles and rubella which are fatal but can be prevented by vaccines.”

According to Agbulos, some children may initially experience fever and pain at the injection site and advised parents to give their affected children appropriate doses of paracetamol.

He expects fielded medical personnel to achieve 100-percent immunization of local school children by the end of August.

A. Perez Rimando

IN BRIEF Beneco officials cleared of tax evasion charges BAGUIO CITY—The Department of Justice dismissed the tax evasion charges filed against several former and current officials of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) in relation to the under-declaration of the purchase value of its real property on South Drive and the under-remittance of the supposed taxes due to lack of probable cause.

An 18-page resolution approved by Prosecutor-General Claro Arellano states that the tax evasion charges filed against Beneco general manager Gerardo Verzosa and former members of the board of directors Victorio Palangdan, now Itogon Municipal Mayor, Benny Bomogao, now a city councilor, and George Montes and a certain Kenneth Lopez, had no ground to stand on in court. Dexter A. See

Region 12 EMB deploys basura patrollers THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environment Management Bureau in Region 12 has deployed garbage or basura patrollers to address the proliferation of waste in various localities in the region.

Engineer Ronie Salmon, chief of the EMB-12’s environmental monitoring and enforcement division, said they have commissioned at least 12 patrollers to monitor the waste management practices of local government units in the area.

Based on reports of the patrollers, he said they would issue notices or citations to concerned LGUs. Should an LGU fail to act on it in a given period, he said they would later report them to their central office.

“Appropriate charges can be filed against the erring LGUs before the Office of the (Environmental) Ombudsman,” the official said. PNA

Badeo villagers slam illegal drillings KIBUNGAN—Indigenous peoples in this remote village are now up in arms against the alleged illegal drilling activities being conducted by a newly registered local power corporation without the IPs’ free and prior informed consent (FPIC) and pertinent permits from the local government and concerned government agencies.

Concerned local residents questioned the arrival of various units of drilling equipment of a Baguio-based exploration company commissioned by the COHECO Badeo, a newly registered local power corporation, which is planning to put up a 500-megawatt hydropower plant in the said village when there had been no actual consultations with the affected indigenous peoples.

COHECO Badeo has a pending application for the issuance of a pre-development service contract with the energy department which will be the basis of the conduct of FPIC by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to ascertain whether the indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities favour the put up of the hydro plant in their ancestral domain. Dexter A. See

Ilagan City hunts illegal loggers on Sierra Madre

ACT OF FAITH. Construction workers renovate the 289-year-old La Purisima de la Virgin Maria

Parish Church or the Baclayon Church in Baclayon, Bohol that was destroyed by an earthquake in 2013. Lance Baconguis

THE city government of Ilagan has intensified its drive against illegal logging after receiving reports of individuals cutting trees without permission in the eastern side of the city where the Northern Sierra Madre is located.

Mayor Evelyn Diaz said she wants a total ban on illegal logging in the city to preserve the remaining forest resources.

Diaz has sought the help of village officials in the city to guard their own areas and report to the city government any illegal logging activities to punish the parties involved.

She has also coordinated with the police and environment and natural resources officials of Isabela to apprehend and catch the people involved in illegal logging. PNA

World

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

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Syria jets strike US-backed Kurdish areas HASAKEH—Syrian regime jets pounded US-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria for a second day Friday, even after the US-led coalition scrambled jets to protect its military advisers working on the ground.

In another escalation of Syria’s bloody conflict, warplanes from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were bombarding the city of Hasakeh—targeting Kurdish forces that for months have worked closely with coalition

Blaze hits Nicaragua’s oil refinery MANAGUA—Nicaraguan firefighters on Friday were trying to bring under control a huge fire at their country’s only oil refinery that has been burning for two days, creating health fears over noxious smoke.

The blaze started Wednesday when one of four big fuel tanks exploded at the Puma Energy facility in the Pacific port of Puerto Sandino, some 70 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the capital Managua.

A second tank ignited on Thursday and fire crews were working to try to prevent the other two also being consumed.

No casualties have been reported. But the authorities have warned residents in the area to avoid exposure to the dark smoke, which was billowing up to 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) into the air, although mostly toward the ocean.

Shelters have been prepared in the event the smoke changes direction.

Four US experts and a Canadian specialist were in the country to advise officials on how to bring the fire under control, a deputy minister for government, Luis Canas, told state media on Thursday.

Puma Energy, a majority Dutch- and Angolan-owned company with headquarters in Switzerland, bought the refinery in 2011. It had previously been run by the US group Exxon.

Puma Energy issued a statement on Friday saying it was working to “contain the situation,” emphasizing that the safety of nearby residents was a priority.

“We don’t know the origin of the event that occurred, but an investigation and studies are underway to determine the causes,” it said.

Nicaragua’s energy regulator INE said unspecified “guarantees” were in place to ensure that the blaze does not result in any domestic fuel shortage. AFP

military advisers helping local fighters combat the Islamic State group.

On Thursday, the United States sent fighter jets to head off air strikes conducted by regime planes and to protect coalition advisers, but the Syrian planes had left by the time they arrived.

It was apparently the first time the coalition had scrambled jets in response to a regime action, and possibly the closest call yet in terms of Syrian forces coming

close to killing American or coalition advisers.

“This was done as a measure to protect coalition forces,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said.

“We will ensure their safety and the Syrian regime would be welladvised not to do things that place them at risk... We view instances that place the coalition at risk with the utmost seriousness and we do have the inherent right of self-defense.”

But the Pentagon warning appeared to fall on deaf ears.

Two Syrian regime warplanes attempted to fly to the area again on Friday, but were met by coalition aircraft, a US defense official said in a statement.

“The presence of the coalition aircraft encouraged the Syrian aircraft to depart the airspace without further incident,” he said. “No weapons were fired by the coalition fighters.”

Most of Hasakeh city is con-

trolled by Kurdish forces, while the rest is held by fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Since Wednesday, clashes between the two forces have rocked the city, leaving 23 civilians—including nine children—and 16 combatants dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Davis said no coalition injuries were reported in Thursday’s strike by two Syrian SU-24s, and US special operations advisers have

been moved to a safe location.

A Syrian military statement said Kurdish forces had surrounded Hasakeh and caused civilian and military casualties by shelling, and that it had taken the “appropriate response,” targeting “the source of fire and positions of those responsible for these crimes.”

The Observatory said thousands of inhabitants had begun to flee Hasakeh, where bread was running out and electricity supplies have been cut. AFP

Congo set to release 24 political prisoners K

inshasa—The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday vowed to release two dozen “political prisoners and prisoners of conscience,” including two prominent detainees who were arrested last year during a workshop on good governance in Africa.

RECORD. Kim Si-Woo of South Korea tees off the eighth hole in the second round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield County Club on Friday in Greensboro North Carolina. Kim flirted with a 59 score before settling for a course record 10-under par 60 to grab a two-shot lead after the second round. AFP

Iraqi envoy’s sons nabbed for assault LISBON—Portugal on Friday said it may take diplomatic action after the twin sons of the Iraqi ambassador were arrested on suspicion of savagely beating a 15-year-old boy.

The incident happened in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday in Ponte de Sor, central Portugal, following a brawl between local people and pupils at a nearby flight school where one of the twins is enrolled, the Portuguese media said.

A source close to the inquiry said the 17-year-old twin sons of the Iraqi ambassador in Lisbon, Saad Mohamed Ridha, were arrested but then released

because they had diplomatic immunity.

The boy suffered a fractured skull and other extensive injuries and has been placed in an artificial coma, local media said.

Amid rising anger at the attack, the foreign ministry on Friday said the incident was “a case of great seriousness.”

The ministry will take “the necessary and appropriate measures... if the judicial authorities request it,” the ministry said, pointing to the brothers’ diplomatic immunity.

The Iraqi embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. AFP

UN: 2.4m Libyans need aid

RECORD. Kim Si-Woo of South Korea tees off the eighth hole in the second round of the Wyndham

Championship at Sedgefield County Club on Friday in Greensboro North Carolina. Kim flirted with a 59 score before settling for a course record 10-under par 60 to grab a two-shot lead after the second round. AFP

TRIPOLI—The United Nations used World Humanitarian Day on Friday to plead for help for Libya, saying millions of Libyans and migrants were engulfed in a worsening crisis.

“More than 2.4 million people in Libya are in need of humanitarian assistance,” Martin Kobler, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for Libya, said in a statement.

“They lack medicines, vaccinations and suffer from poor hospitalization services. Almost 300,000 children are out

of schools and almost 350,000 Libyans are displaced within the country.”

Kobler also noted the predicament of more than 270,000 migrants who fled their home countries and are stranded in Libya.

“The humanitarian needs created by the crisis in Libya are enormous and this should serve as an incentive for us to do our utmost to give hope to the people, particularly those in urgent need of humanitarian assistance,” he added. AFP

Fred Bauma, 26, is a member of the LUCHA or Struggle for Change pro-democracy movement, which is based in Goma, in the restive North Kivu province in the east of DR Congo.

Makwambala, 33, who is from Kinshasa, works with the Filimbi civil society group that organised the good governance workshop.

They were arrested on March 15, 2015.

Theirs were among 24 names of “people who should be freed or released on bail”, according to a list signed by DR Congo’s Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba.

Accused of “inciting revolt” against President Joseph Kabila, Bauma and Makwambala were jailed in Kinshasa amid a crackdown on dissent, though their trial has now been stalled for several weeks.

On a visit to Goma this week, Kabila met LUCHA activists who demanded that the government ease its restrictions on political activity.

Kabila said he would have an answer within 48 hours.

The president visited Goma just after several dozen people were hacked to death in the town of Beni, also in North Kivu province, last weekend.

Deadly protests erupted in Beni, the site of the massacre, with angry residents accusing the government of failing to secure the area.

Justice Minister Thambwe on Friday told reporters in Kinshasa the detainees’ release was a condition set by the opposition to “ease political tensions” in the country ahead of an “inclusive national dialogue”.

Thambwe added that the aim of the slated talks was to pave the way for elections, with Kabila’s term expiring in December.

Human rights activist Christopher Ngoy, held since January 2015, should also be released.

The list of those set for release was given to the government on August 4 by the European Union’s delegation in DR Congo, Thambwe said.

All but two of the people on the original list would be freed, he said. Those who would be kept behind bars are accused of rape and fraud.

The minister also mentioned former minister Eugene Diomi Ndogala, arrested in 2014, and Jean-Claude Muyambo, who leads a small opposition movement and who was detained during a protest in January 2015.

Political tensions have soared in DR Congo as President Joseph Kabila nears the end of his term after 15 years in power. AFP

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

World

SPEED. A vintage Alpha Romeo sets the mood at Folktale Winery on Friday in Carmel, California. AFP

Brexit faces challenges in Northern Ireland D

ublin—Britain’s departure from the EU faced two separate legal challenges in Northern Ireland’s High Court Friday.

Lawyers for one group lodged an application with the court to challenge London’s decision to abide by the June 23 referendum result and proceed to leave the European Union.

In a letter last month, the group had asked British Prime Minister Theresa May to allow votes on the issue in both the British parliament and in the Northern Ireland Assembly before triggering the formal process to leave.

The politicians and activists

bringing the action want May’s government to consider the potential impact on Northern Ireland’s peace process before triggering the formal process to leave the EU. Jones Cassidy Brett, the legal firm representing the group, said: “The various assurances sought by our clients have not been forthcoming and, indeed, the response heightened their concerns about the approach the government was likely to take.”

This legal action was initiated only hours after it emerged that the court had agreed to fast-track a separate challenge by a victims’ rights campaigner, who argues that Brexit would contravene international agreements underpinning peace in Northern Ireland.

That case taken by Raymond McCord, 62, will be heard on September 5, the first official day the court is due to sit following the summer recess.

His legal team says the promptness of the hearing, and a decision this week to grant public funding to underwrite it, confirm its importance.

McCord believes Brexit would

contravene the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which effectively brought an end to the three decades of armed conflict in Northern Ireland.

“I am very concerned about the profoundly damaging effect that a unilateral withdrawal of the UK from the EU will have upon the ongoing relative stability in Northern Ireland,” he says in his affidavit to the court.

McCord believes the loss of EU funding towards conflict resolution projects in Northern Ireland could jeopardize the ongoing peace process if not replaced.

His legal costs will be met from public funds, which his lawyer,

Ciaran O’Hare of McIvor Farrell Solicitors, said were granted “only in cases of merit, complexity and public importance.”

Northern Ireland has its own legal jurisdiction within the United Kingdom, as does England and Wales, and Scotland.

The British government already faces a legal challenge to stop it beginning the process of leaving the EU without an act of parliament.

In the English courts, lawyers at Mishcon de Reya argue that the British government cannot trigger Article 50, the legal process for leaving the bloc, without a parliamentary debate and vote authorizing it to do so. AFP

2 parking spots built in Int’l Space Station MIAMI—With more private spaceship traffic expected at the International Space Station in the coming years, two spacewalking US astronauts installed a special parking spot for them on Friday.

Americans Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins floated outside the orbiting laboratory for a spacewalk lasting five hours and 58 minutes to attach the first of two international docking adaptors.

The astronauts spent more than two hours tying down the adaptor, after which robotic machinery at the space station completed the hard mate, making the attachment permanent.

“With that, we have a new port of call,” NASA commentator Rob Navias said as the space station flew over Singapore at 10:40 am (1440 GMT).

During the rest of the spacewalk, astronauts connected power and data cables for the adaptor.

The fittings will enable the space station to share power and data with visiting spaceships.

The spacewalk was the fourth for Williams, a veteran astronaut who on Wednesday will surpass US astronaut Scott Kelly’s record for the most cumulative days in space for an American.

Kelly has 520 days in space over his career.

Williams will have 534 days

in space by the time he wraps up his stint at the ISS and returns to Earth in early September.

The spacewalk was Rubins’s first. She is the 12th woman to walk in space.

NASA describes the docking adaptor as a “metaphorical gateway to a future” that will allow a new generation of US spacecraft -- the first since the space shuttle program ended in 2011 -- to carry astronauts to the space station.

The second docking adaptor is expected to be launched in late 2017, Navias said.

ISS operations integration manager Kenneth Todd called Friday’s installation a “very significant milestone on the path to establishing commercial crew capability.”

Built by Boeing, the circular adaptor measures around 42 inches (one meter) tall and about 63 inches wide.

The adaptors will work with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, two spaceships under construction that are planned to ferry astronauts to the space station.

The docking adaptor is more sophisticated than past equipment because it will allow automatic parking instead of the current grapple and berthing process, which is managed by astronauts.

BENEFIT. Owners of Pulse Nightclub Orlando Rosario Poma (second from left), Barbara Pomo, and producer Jason Felts arrive at the Benefit for onePULSE Foundation at NeueHouse Hollywood on Friday in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Colombia: A tree for each Civil War victim MITÚ—Colombia launched an initiative on Friday to plant a tree for each of the more than eight million victims of the country’s 50-year armed conflict.

President Juan Manuel Santos, whose government is negotiating peace agreements with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), planted the first tree Friday near the southeastern city of Mitú.

Trees for the “Forests of Peace” project will be planted throughout the country, sponsored by people around the world via the non-government organization Saving the Amazon website, Santos said.

The plan is to “plant a number equal to that of the victims of armed conflict, in excess of eight million,” he said.

Bogota on Friday asked the United Nations to supervise Colombia’s ceasefire with the FARC rebels, even before the country votes on a peace deal to end the long-running civil war.

The government and the country’s biggest rebel force, the FARC, laid the groundwork for a full peace deal when they signed a definitive ceasefire in June.

Meanwhile, Colombia started circulating a new 50,000-peso banknote on Friday bearing the likeness of late Nobel-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The light purple piece of money, worth the equivalent of $17.40, “pays honor to a person who carried Colombia’s name far and wide from the middle of the last century,” the head of the country’s central bank, Jose Dario Uribe, said. AFP

‘Russia just drilling troops in Ukraine’ WASHINGTON—The Pentagon on Friday moved to tamp down talk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying extra troops along the border were associated with a regular military exercise.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday said he could not rule out a “full-scale” Russian invasion.

His warning came amid increasing violence in the proMoscow separatist east and accusations that Russia is increasing its forces, replenishing munitions and building up military hardware in the region.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the United States was concerned by the increasingly strident rhetoric from both Ukraine and Russia.

“We are concerned about Russia’s continued occupation of Crimea, and we are concerned about the heightened level of violence in eastern Ukraine,” he said.

“What we don’t see (is) this unicorn a lot of people are chasing, this idea that there’s some massive short-term build up or movement about to happen.”

Russia holds military exercises in the region each year, with the next one due next month.

“I think we are seeing movements associated with the upcoming exercise, we are not seeing this massive buildup of forces that has been suggested,” Davis said, noting that the United States continues to monitor the situation closely.

Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of trying to escalate a 28-month conflict in Ukraine’s rust belt that has claimed more than 9,500 lives and began just weeks after Russia annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. AFP

Facebook application woos video enthusiasts SAN FRANCISCO—Facebook on Friday took direct aim at videoloving adolescents, and Snapchat, with the release of a new iPhone app that allows teens to watch clips about the lives of their classmates.

The app, called Lifestage, was released with no fanfare, and is available for anyone to download on iPhone, although seeing profiles of other users is reserved for

those 21 years of age or younger.

The social network allows users to make video clips to describe likes, peeves, dance styles, and other aspects of their character.

Those clips are woven together to serve as public profiles that can be viewed by other Lifestage members, provided they are young enough.

A tool in the app lets users block and report older folks.

“Lifestage makes it easy and fun to share a visual profile of who you are with your school network,” the app’s iTunes store description says.

Once enough students at any given school are on the app, it becomes “unlocked.”

“Once your school is unlocked, you can access the profiles of others in your school community (and all over!) so you can get to

know people better in your school and nearby schools,” the description said.

Lifestage users are invited to share video snippets whenever they wish.

The app comes as a challenge to Snapchat, the vanishing message service that became a hit with teenagers and which lets members share pictures and video clips. AFP

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

D1

SUNDAY LIVING

Scholastic Asia President Frank Wong

A

Championing in the literacy Philippines

LITERACY, the phenomenon of children choosing not to read despite being able to, is a cause for concern in many nations, including the Philippines.

The loss of reading habit among children is usually caused by a lack of interest in books and by frustrating reading experiences springing from comprehension deficits.

The Scholastic Readers Cup, now on its fourth year, is a saving grace as far as this matter is concerned. The world’s largest publisher of children’s books is behind this inter-school competition that promotes books and reading.

Apart from celebrating the limitless power of reading to educate, to nourish the soul and to transform lives, it is also Scholastic’s way of appreciating and recognizing the exemplary efforts of education vanguards - from the school directors and principals to the teachers and librarians - in improving the country’s literacy rate and state.

Representatives from Scholastic’s 159 reading partner schools graced the 2016 Readers Cup held at the Isla Ballroom of Edsa Shangri-la Hotel on Aug. 4.

The schools are Scholastic’s partners in the Assessment & Enrichment Program for Reading (AEP) and the Independent Reading Program (IRP).

Through this partnership, Scholastic is able to provide schools with a supplementary Reading program that assesses students’ reading comprehension levels, matches each child with the right books, monitors independent reading, and enriches classroom reading instruction.

During the Readers Cup celebration, Scholastic’s partner educators were treated to a sumptuous lunch buffet, wonderful tokens and raffle prizes, and joyous entertainment by the UP Concert Chorus and the country’s Prince of Pop, Erik Santos.

The highlight of the event was the awarding of the 2016 Readers Cup winners. The schools that read the most number of books in their category (based on student population) were declared winners. The Scholastic Readers Cup champion schools for 2016 –

Scholastic Asia, headed by its president Frank Wong (fourth from left), gives awards to the schools that read the most number of books in their category

St. Paul College Balayan (28,972 books read), Saint James Academy (80,688 books read) and Dr. Yanga’s Colleges, Inc. (104,248 books read) – each won a Reading Center make-over to make their library an even more inviting place for pleasure reading.

School principals and program coordinators were also recognized through the Scholastic Principal and Coordinator Achievement awards. Winning educators were from schools that achieved the highest average in books read for every student, and the most improved in terms of their students’ reading comprehension skills.

For the grade school with the highest For high school, the awardees were average number of books read per stu- Fr. Erwin B. Aguilar, OSJ and Nora dent, the awards went to Sister Maria Beleno, principal and program coordiYolanda Carinator, respecdad Y. Orpilla, tively of Holy SPC, and Joy Family AcadMagahis, prinemy. Students cipal and proof Holy Famgram coordinaily Academy tor, respectively read an averof St. Paul Colage of 108 lege Balayan. books each for Students of St. school year Paul College 2015-2016.

Balayan read an average of 91 books For schools with the most improved each for school year 2015-2016. students in terms of their Lexile (reading

The 2016 Scholastic Readers Cup continues to empower young minds and inspire educators

comprehension) growth, the top winners for grade school were Bryan C. Riddin and Maria Elena O. Camatog of International British Academy. For high school, the top winners were Danna Manding and Jayson Esteban of Mother Goose Special System Inc., Urdaneta.

The Readers Cup also celebrates and recognizes the contributions of librarians with the Scholastic Librarian Achievement Award given to the Scholastic Reading Center Managers of schools with the highest average of books read per student. Top awardee Next page

GMA Kapuso Foundation

is ‘Outstanding Blood Services Partner’ TWO decades of upholding the value award of the Philippine Red Cross as of volunteerism and helping extend one of its “Outstanding Blood Servicand save lives, GMA Kapuso Founda- es Partner of the Year 2016” recently. tion (GMAKF) received the highest Since 1996, GMAKF has advocated the value of volunteerism through blood donation with their Sagip Dugtong BuGMAKF EVP and COO Rikki Escuderohay Bloodletting Project.

Catibog (right) receives the ‘Outstanding GMAKF Executive Vice PresiBlood Services Partner’ award from dent and COO Rikki EscuderoPhilippine Red Cross Chairman Sen. Catibog accepted the award, which Richard Gordon, Secretary General Oscar was presented by PRC Chairman Palabyab and Gov. Rosa Rosal

Sen. Richard Gordon, Secretary General Atty. Oscar Palabyab, and Red Cross Gov. Rosa Rosal.

“All of us have something within us that we can share with our neighbor, and by giving blood, we can be champions of the marginalized and those in need,” says Escudero.

A total of 5,428 blood bags equivalent to 2,436,000cc were generated by GMAKF for the Red Cross in 2015.

Life

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Mindanao party-list representative wins

Asia HRD Awards

By Ayunan G. Gunting

A

NAK-Mindanao party-list Congresswoman Sitti Djalia Turabin Hataman is one of this year’s recipients of the Asia HRD Awards. Organized in Malaysia, this international award recognizes individuals who have made a difference in society or organization in the area of human resources. The HRD Awards is held in different countries every year.

Although she is also dubbed as the first lady of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), being married to Governor Mujiv Hataman, Sitti has held her own.

Before she became the representative of the Anak Mindanao Partylist, Hataman campaigned for Moro women empowerment.

On her award, she said, “I have served communities and individuals, especially women whose lives I am forever honored to be a part of.”

In 2007, Sitti established Pinay…

Kilos!, a civil movement that sought to

improve women’s status. The program educated Muslim women on diverse topics such as family planning, women’s reproductive health, the Mindanao political situation, and the peace process and livelihood programs. These programs helped women to be more engaged in their communities.

Over time, investors started to enter ARMM, capitalizing on its resources such as rice, rubber and palm oil. Sitti pointed out that an empowered Moro society emerges from an empowered community led by women, the front liners of the homes.

With the support of the Reproductive Health Law, allowing families to make informed choices about having children, and an ARMM counterpart, Moro women feel they are in charge of their lives.

Moreover, Sitti sets an example to women of being more involved in social issues such as human rights violations, social displacement in war and drugs.

She also inspired women that they can also achieve higher positions to serve the community.

Sitti became the first female executive director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), formerly Office of Muslim Affairs. Her main challenge was to change the conservative mindset of the people in the organization. She motivated people to be more innovative in their thinking and to make the most of resources for programs that will have a lasting beneficial effect in the communities.

“Excellence is something we strive for in everything we do because the people deserved nothing less,” said Sitti.

Congresswoman Sitti Hataman wins Asia HRD Award for her work on women empowerment in ARMM

St. Benilde holds hike-bike event for deaf scholars

DLS-CSB President Brother Dennis Magbanua with hike-bike finisher Richard Romero

THE scholars of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) were beneficiaries of the recent hike and bike fund-raising event hosted by the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB).

Dubbed as Green Fun Racers, the activity in support of the college’s deaf achievers, was held at the La Mesa Nature Reserve.

Associates of DLS-CSB, along with their friends and colleagues from the Lasallian and Benildean communities participated in three different categories: 6km hike, 9km bike ride and 15km bike ride.

YSA Skin Care Corp.

President Robert Nazal II is the new president of Rotary Club of Sta. Mesa, Quezon City

New Rotary Sta. Mesa president ROBERT Gerard Nazal II, president of YSA Skin Care Corporation, is the new president of Rotary Club of Sta. Mesa, Quezon City. He assumed leadership following the awards night at One Shangri-la Place, Ortigas on July 27.

Nazal’s vision for the club is for its members to set the example of the Rotary way of service and how to enjoy life in an ambience of peace and love.

The centerpiece of his leadership will be servant leadership.

“We, Rotarians, have proven time and again, that serving humanity is the highest calling. Service to humanity has been the cornerstone of Rotary since its earliest days, and has been its main purpose ever since. We share our lives with our fellow human beings, especially those in need.

We share our expertise, our time, and our resources at the limit of what we can give without being asked. When we serve, we do so with heart. ‘Puso,’ as we proudly say.

There is no small and insignificant, or minor service. Because all our service is done with all our hearts, minds, strength, even souls,” Nazal said in his keynote speech before members of the Rotary Club of Sta. Mesa on its most recent anniversary.

“We are not alone. In all these, we have God who sees the desire of our hearts to help. And He will be with us, in every project, every program, every endeavor, every time we humble ourselves and serve others. And when our task is done, we shall thank God and give back to Him and our neighbors what we have, and thus, continue the cycle of servant leadership,” he adds.

Nazal studied at the Ateneo De Manila University from Grade School, High School and College graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdis-

ciplinary Studies minor in Business Economics. He furthered his education by finishing his Masters in Applied Business Economics at the University of Asia and the Pacific.

His mother, Isabel Lopez Nazal, a dermatologist, involved him in the preparation of skin care products when he was a young boy. After graduation from college, he started overseeing both production and distribution of consumer products. He started with family-owned product YSA papaya soap then eventually released other FMCGs such as YSA Papaya with Kojic soap and lotion, the GlutaMAX whitening line, and Nice Day Coffee and Anagen Hair Growth System. Robert has led the growth of YSA Skin Care Corporation into becoming one of the top corporations in the Philippines.

Nazal is currently president of PERRC Construction and Development Corporation, a company involved in construction and development of vertical and horizontal structures. Aside from that, he is CEO of MRMJ Mining Corporation and Ephesus Minerals Corporation, both involved in exploration of minerals in different mining sites. He is also involved in Real Estate as president of Noveltown Ventures Inc and South Eastern Belle Holding Inc..

He is married to Sheila, currently the Operations director of YSA Skin Care Corporation. They are blessed with three children.

As Nazal takes on a new role as All Star President of Rotary Club Sta. Mesa, he vows to exert the same enthusiasm and passion in implementing his projects that will lead him and his members to serve humanity better.

Bikers ready to start their cycle down the La Mesa Nature Reserve trail

Holy Spirit Manila launches Center for Continuing Education THE century-old College of the Holy Spirit Manila is up for bigger, bolder things in its fold. Adapting to the changing landscape of the academe, while sustaining fine traditions of the school, College of the Holy Spirit Manila (CHSM) looks forward to implementing new, exciting programs and initiatives, ongoing renovation, upgrades of the school grounds and facilities.

CHSM is now under new management by the Holy Spirit Alumni Man-

agement Corporation (HSAMC) composed of 14 alumnae and one who isn’t, but who is well-recognized in the education field.

The Alumni Management Corporation spearheads the launching of the Center for Continuing Education (CCE) of the College of the Holy Spirit Manila. CCE is primarily offering short non- degree courses starting with Language and Social Enterprise Courses.

They embark on a journey with the in-

troduction of Social Entrepreneurship and what better way to create stronger awareness than hold a symposium having social entrepreneurs sharing their first hand experiences.

Championing...

heroes in our quest for a more globally competitive Philippines. By shining the spotlight on these individuals and institutions, we hope to inspire other educators to raise more and better readers and life-long learners, too.”

With Scholastic, a forerunner in the world of literacy and education, the hope to keep the torch burning for educators who have relentlessly devoted their lives in their profession is beaming.

Through its literacy programs – the Assessment & Enrichment Program

for Reading (AEP) and the Independent Reading Program (IRP) – as well as through the Scholastic Readers Cup, Scholastic Philippines continues to direct links to the future by contributing in the empowerment of young minds and in building a nation of readers.

From D1

was Avelina Villadores, librarian at Holy Family Academy whose students read an average of 96 books each for school year 2015-2016.

Frank Wong, president of Scholastic Asia, said, “The Scholastic Readers Cup is one way of giving recognition to the noble educators who champion reading and learning. They are the real

For more information on CCE and its upcoming activities, visit CHSM’s official Facebook page @collegeoftheholyspiritmanila, email amc@holyspirit. edu.ph, or call (02) 735-6021 or 7356022 local 107 or 109

For more information on Scholastic’s education initiatives and more, visit www.scholastic.asia or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ScholasticAsia.

Showbiz

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Filipinos prefer Kapamilya shows T

HE comprehensive and informative news and current affairs programs and values-oriented entertainment programs of ABS-CBN are the choice by more Filipino households with an average national audience share of 47 percent against GMA’s 32 percent, according to data from Kantar Media.

‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’ top-billed by Coco Martin is still the most watched primetime series on local television

Half of the total Philippine households tuned in to ABS-CBN’s primetime block, hitting a whopping national audience share of 50 percent, a solid 20-point lead over GMA’s 30 percent. The primetime block is the most important part of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investment in to reach more consumers effectively.

Aside from primetime, ABS-CBN also ruled all time blocks nationwide for the month of July that include the morning block (6 a.m. to 12 nn) with 42 percent; noontime block (12 nn to 3 p.m.) with 45 percent; and afternoon block (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) with 47 percent.

ABS-CBN once again dominated the list of most watched programs in the country

with its values-oriented programs. Topping the list as the runaway winner is FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano with an average national TV rating of 43.1 percent, beating its new rival Encantadia with a distant 19.9 percent.

TV Patrol” remains the most-watched newscast in the country with 32 percent, while current affairs programs Rated K and SOCO rated at 23.3 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively.

Newest primetime game show Minute to Win It, on the other hand, debuted strongly with an average national TV rating of 17.3 percent against Wowowin’s 14.5 percent.

ABS-CBN also pioneered viewing of content online with video-on-demand services on TFC.tv for Kapamilyas living

abroad and iWant TV and SKY On Demand locally.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN continues to lead the way in addressing the change in Filipinos’ viewing habits, as more and more Filipinos are consuming content online, by boosting the offerings of iWant TV. The high viewership of ABS-CBN content in both television and online indicates that many Filipinos are consuming ABS-CBN content on multiple screens, which is in tune with the company’s goal of making content accessible to every Filipino anytime and anywhere through its new digital platforms, including overseas with the TFC subscribers as well a s those on-the-go with ABSCBNmobile.

Liza Soberano shares her secret to feeling fresh and pretty DUBBED as the biggest “It” girl today, it can be easily said that Liza Soberano is one heck of a busy young girl. From starring in a daily top-rating TV soap to juggling various endorsements from here and there, you can just wonder how this girl is able to keep up with all the pressure and still remain looking fresh and pretty every single time. Yet just like any other girl, Liza has her good and bad days.

With all the busyness that she needs to keep up to, nothing can possibly redeem an awful day of stained panties caused by daily discharge. But ask the 18-year old pretty lady and you’d find out that she can’t be bothered at all wearing her favorite white panty and just feel pretty all day.

“I keep myself feeling fresh on icky days by taking more showers and frequently washing up. I also like to put powder when I feel sticky,” Liza quipped. “However, nothing compares to the feeling of wearing

clean panties, especially when worn with Carefree.”

“Carefree panty liners are a lifesaver. I wear them and I feel pretty, fresh, and awesome all day,” said Liza who collaborated with panty liner brand Carefree to encourage girls to embrace wearing white panties, be worry-free from stains and other ‘dyahe’ feeling down there, and just feel pretty all day.

Exclusive to Carefree, Liza has happily picked designs of white panties to drive home this message for “Pretty In White Panty” campaign. On seeing the designs, Liza said “It’s fun to see all these cute designs; white panties have become really underrated. With this campaign, I’m happy to inspire girls who want to feel pretty and fresh on a daily basis.”

Liza has invited girls all over the country to come up with their own white panty designs, with her and Carefree choosing

the best entries worthy of some really cool prizes through the Carefree “Prettify Your Panty” app.

“I feel that creating these white panty designs represent how every girl can turn the most ordinary and drab of days into something extraordinary, looking pretty all the way,” concluded Liza.

Together with Liza, other girls on the social media space also encouraged their girl squads to embrace feeling pretty in white panty. Among those girls who chose their own designs and rallied behind Liza’s back were Patricia Henson, Dana Decena, Cristina Decena, Sophie Ramos, Chin Chin Obcena, Rochelle Abella, Lexie Puzon, Janeska Sibug, Jazmin Reyes, and Camey Flores.

So girls, wear your white panties with confidence for that all-day fresh and pretty Ultimate ‘It’ girl Liza Soberano feeling; Liza and Carefree has your back.

‘American Ninja Warrior’ returns on AXN

Sports competition ‘American Ninja Warrior’ airs new season

AMERICAN Ninja Warrior, one of the most watched sports competition series on television, returns on AXN for a sixth season.

As in previous seasons, hundreds of contestants from all over the United States will test each other’s strength, stamina, and endurance as they hurdle the challenging obstacles of the qualifying rounds in the regional competitions to be held in five locations: Venice Beach, California; Dallas, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; Miami, Florida; and Denver, Colorado.

The top 100 competitors will vie in the national finals in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the U. S. version of Mount Midoriyama, the grueling obstacle course in Japan, has been

constructed for the finals course of the competition.

Competitors should complete the first three stages consisting of a total of 23 obstacles before advancing to the finals stage where they attempt to climb the 8-story Mount Midoriyama, a 75-foot rope climb in 30 seconds or less. The winner receives $500,000.00 and the coveted title “American Ninja Warrior.”

Unlike any other competition on television, American Ninja Warrior was nominated as Favorite Reality Show in the 2015 Kids’ Choice Awards and as Favorite Competition TV Show in the 2016 People’s Choice Awards. This year, as proof of its growing popularity among viewers, American Ninja

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Sunday, August 22, 2016

ACROSS 1 Baloney!

6 Common practice 11 Alabama town 16 Takes it easy 21 Public persona 22 On no occasion 23 Sampan dweller 24 Pub sign (2 wds.)

25 Galileo taught there 26 Brenda or Ringo 27 Entered (2 wds.)

28 Lash — of oaters 29 Grasslands 31 Excellence 33 Overcast 35 Work — — sweat 36 — be a while 37 Lady’s honorific 39 Eatery 41 Pricey entree 43 Hungrier 46 Imitation chocolate 48 Cosmic force 49 Barracks bane 52 Overdue 54 Do a road job 56 Oxidizes 60 Filled with fizz 62 Part of LAPD 64 Glitterati member 66 Mies van der — 67 WWII enlistee 68 Mighty — — oak 70 Pit or stone 72 Melanges 74 Look sleepy 75 Depot info 77 Cigar end 79 Sevareid or Clapton 81 Walloping 83 Wormed the dog 85 Paris girlfriend 87 Bounder 89 Closet 90 Feel crummy 92 Buttonhole (3 wds.)

95 Jack of “Barney Miller” 96 Newtonian force 100 Film — (grim genre) 101 Nature’s bandage 103 Bucolic 107 Linda of “Blue Bayou” 109 Legal document 111 Rushed off 113 Lover of Aeneas 114 Feign 115 Gavel-banger’s cry 117 Mark’s successor 119 — it on thick 121 “Ulalume” poet 122 Fictional plantation 124 Sir, in Seville

126 Cleans house 128 Casino employees 130 Put in office 132 Steel rod 134 Friar of legend 136 Juicy steaks (hyph.)

137 NRC predecessor 139 Pooped out 141 Cloudy 143 Wonton morsels 147 He played Phileas Fogg 149 Easy way out 150 Cartoon shrieks 154 Comics caveman 155 Window-rattling 157 Like many showers 159 At no charge (hyph.)

161 Frat letter 163 Skimpy skirts 165 Year fractions 167 More feasible 168 Kidney-related 169 “The Zoo Story” penner 170 Portable home 171 Zipping through 172 Detroit dud 173 Elegance 174 Ships’ booms 175 Ms. Witherspoon DOWN 1 — Longstocking 2 Nobody’s fool 3 Of ocean abysses 4 Christina of pop 5 Prove durable 6 Beat an incumbent 7 Lift anchor (2 wds.)

8 “Mogambo” star 9 Pathogen 10 Used poor judgment 11 Great Lakes port 12 Arcane 13 Came to the suet 14 Damsel 15 Declare invalid 16 Jeep feature (2 wds.)

17 Actress — Hartman 18 Swagger 19 Neutral shade 20 Asparagus morsel 30 Blow away 32 Rocker — Ocasek 34 House site 38 Middle Ages quaff 40 Calf-roping event 42 Ill-humored 44 Beyond (pref.)

45 66 and I-80 47 Round starters 49 Cut timber 50 Groovy 51 Ocean predators 53 D’Artagnan prop 55 Simon and Sedaka 57 Braga in “Moon Over

58 59 61 63 65 69 71 73 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 91 93 94 96 97 98 99 102 104 105 106 108

Parador” Beach sandal Marsh grass PC fodder Reptile home Canoes and tugs Make insensitive “Runaround Sue” performer Lion’s track Blackens Well, to Yves Poolroom supply Haughty Me, too!

Plenty, to a poet Apiece Polygraph flunkers Kind of straits Travel choice Riled up Better than lite (hyph.)

— nous (between us) Waiter, at times Piece on a string Age on the vine Really go for Loamy deposit Doctrine

110 112 116 118 120 123 125 127 129 131 133 135 138 140 142 143 144 145 146 148 151 152 153 156 158 160 162 164 166

Slow run Calorie counters Herald of spring Symphony or tome Applies makeup Mil. school Curiosities Wind-driven spray Be shamed (2 wds.)

Blab (2 wds.)

Edits Buzzer predecessor Exec Dolores — Rio Lets go Our, to Pierre — and aahed Blooms Wild shrub Frog relatives Shortstop — Banks Wails Suit material Pickle choice Over one’s head Romanov title — kwon do Cagers’ org.

Ecol. bureau

Warrior has been nominated for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in the upcoming 68th Emmy Awards.

American Ninja Warrior Season 6 is again hosted by American actor and comedian Matt Iseman, former NFL football player and sports analyst Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, and ESPN sportscaster and model Jenn Brown as the sideline reporter.

American Ninja Warrior Season 6 airs Tuesdays-Thursdays at 7:55 p.m. on AXN AXN is available on Cable Link Channel 38, Cignal Digital TV Channel 61, Global Destiny Cable Channel 61, Dream Channel 20, Gsat Channel 12, SKYCable Channel 49.

‘Godzilla: Resurgence’ at end of August THE king of all monsters is back in Godzilla: Resurgence and brings the audience back to Godzilla’s origins as he emerges in modern Japan for the first time. The film is co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, and stars Hiroki Hasegawa, Satomi Ishihara, and Yutaka Takenouchi Produced by Toho, Godzilla: Resurgence as reported by Box Office Mojo, debuted at no.1 in Japan on its opening weekend earning an impressive $6,122,434.00 across 441 screens.

The monster movie stomps into action when an unknown accident occurs in modern-day Japan, at Tokyo Bay’s Aqua Line. All of the sudden, a giant creature immediately appears, destroying town after town with its landing reaching the capital.

Godzilla: Resurgence opens Aug. 31 in cinemas from Pioneer Films.

Trailer link: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=oUxqEB8ILrM

A scene from the new Godzilla movie

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

D4

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

Showbiz

The cast of ‘Sandosenang Sapatos’ with Vice President Leni Robredo (second row, fifth from right) joined by UNICEF, SM Malls, and PWD partners officials. Photo by Sonny Espiritu

Moving stories of

differently-abled children

By Nickie Wang

E

LEVEN-YEAR-OLD Gabe Querubin was born prematurely with a deformed right lower leg, fused fingers on his left hand, and a missing finger on his right hand. But he doesn’t let any of these stop him from doing his daily activities. In fact, he learned to walk and dance on his own.

Gabe loves to play basketball and ride his bicycle. He excels in Science and English in school and likes building with his LEGO bricks. Gabe’s ability and creativity doesn’t stop at toys and games — he also helps his mother in baking and wants to become a pastry chef.

The differently-abled kid was among the 10 inspiring children featured in a photo exhibit mounted by SM Malls in cooperation with UNICEF in commemoration of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week.

Other talented children featured were Alexandra Tal-

lod, Arianne David, Elai Tovera, Francis Guangco, Iana Cadhit, James Malabiga, Marina Villa, Miguel Gabriel Sagle, and Ryan Manahan.

Entitled See What I Can Do, it was developed in collaboration with the Camera Club of the Philippines and was formally launched at SM Mall of Asia on July 18 and was on display at select SM malls including SM City Cebu from Aug. 13 to 19 and will be at SM City Davao from Aug. 22 to 29.

Complementing Gabe’s story was a heartwarming musical about a father’s incomparable

love for his disabled child, which served as the highlight of the launch of the photo exhibit.

The musical was staged at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall under the auspices of Tangahalang Pilipino Artistic Director Nanding Josef and writer Luis Gatmaitan.

Entitled Sandosenang Sapatos, the musical was an original Filipino children’s story centered on a rather sensitive topic where the central character is a young girl born without legs.

The girl’s name is Susie. In the story, the audience is taken inside her dream, where she begs the Shoe Fairy to grant her feet outside the real world.

It is Susie’s father’s (who is a shoemaker) dream to have a ballerina daughter and the young girl feels pressed for time as he is dying.

When the dreaded day comes, Susie continues to dwell on her dream but this time, she refuses to receive the yearly gift of shoes that is given to her by the Shoe Fairy on her 12th birthday. The Shoe Fairy then admits that the

shoes are not from her but from her late father. They are then reunited as father and daughter dancing the waltz for the first time.

The story ends in the real world where the 12 shoes in Susie’s dream are translated into reality as her sister and mother find them stacked in their late father’s shoe shop.

The program was attended by Vice President Leni Robredo, SM Supermalls President Annie Garcia, and UNICEF Deputy Representative Julia Rees.

“If I go back in time, I want to know how these giants of humanities overcame their difficulties, and how they were empowered enough to let their talents shine,” Robredo said referring to successful personalities with known disabilities.

“Imagine what would have happened if somebody failed to notice their brilliance as a child or they were excluded in their communities, can we even imagine the loss we’ll have,” she added.

Various PWD partner groups such as the Autism Society

Differently-abled Gabe Querubin (11) with VP Robredo during the exhibit’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo by Sonny Espiritu

Philippines, Down Syndrome Association of the Philippines, AKAP Pinoy, and National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA) also attended the event.

Meanwhile, UNICEF, as part of its work to reach the most vulnerable children, is working

with the Department of Health and Philhealth on improving access to assistive devices and rehabilitation services for the benefit of children with disabilities, especially those who are poor or live in disasteraffected areas.

Gabby Concepcion now a full-fledged Kapuso FROM Kapamilaya to Kapuso…that’s what Gabby Concepcion did when he inked an exclusive contract on Aug. 17 with GMA Network, Inc. During the contract signing, Gabby said he is very honored and excited about this new milestone in his career as a Kapuso, “I am very, v e r y grateful.

I think it’s going to be a good year.

dedicated two songs – “As Long as Malapit na ang birthday ko so I’m Around You” and “More Than this is really a good birthday a Thank You,” –that Garth Garcia gift. Definitely, we are doing penned, to her doting and loving other shows in GMA.” father, PAF retired Col. Ricardo L. The Kapuso actor headlined ISAH V. RED Nolasco, Jr.. the hit primetime series Produced by EZ Events Because of You with Carla Productions and directed by Rodgil Abellana and Rafael Rosell.

Flores of Kagandahang Flores, the He became a household name because of his role in the show where he was program was hosted by MYX VJ Alex Diaz.

The traditional 18 Candles, 18 Treasures, tagged for his onscreen moniker “Boss Yummy.”

Gabby happily announced that the network has 18 Roses, and 18 Gifts were participated in by already lined up projects for him, “Meron kaming family, relatives and friends of Hannah who is a gagawing comedy show. Pahinga muna tayo sa freshman HRM student at De La Salle Universitydrama. Magpapatawa at magpapasaya muna tayo Dasmarinas.

The famous Hannah’s Beach Resort & ngayon. Kaya tuloy-tuloy nila akong mapapanood Convention Center in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, after ng role ko as Boss Yummy.”

Atty. Felipe L Gozon said he is very happy that twice awarded by Gawad Amerika Foundation as Gabby is joining GMA’s stable of stars because “Most Outstanding Tourist Destination, is named he is a brilliant actor, “Si Gabby matagal ng after the debutante. *** uma-appear sa ating mga shows at nakita Mark Herras and Megan Young are taking naman natin na maganda ang pagtanggap ng manonood sa kanya maliban sa magaling na things to the next level but only through their artista at gwapo pa, talagang asset si Gabby characters as Conan and Ava in the Kapuso series kahit saang TV station mapunta. Kaya tayo Conan My Beautician.

After admitting to his co-beauticians at Salon ay nagpapasalamat na napili na naman niya Paz that he is just pretending to be gay to support tayo.” his sick mother, Conan (Mark) finds himself *** Budding singer-composer Hanna pretending to be another person yet again. This Nolasco celebrated her 18th birthday with a time, he has to pretend to be the “fake” boyfriend masquerade dinner-dance ball last night at of Ava (Megan).

As they engage in their make-believe relationship, the Rizal Ballroom of Shangrila-La Makati Hotel. The debutante wore gowns by Conan and Ava get closer to each other. On a night Renee Salud and Gideon Sy of Drezzee. of their supposed “bonding,” the two unexpectedly McCoy de Leon of PBB Celebrity Edition share their first kiss. It’s a kiss that is bound to change everything. was her escort.

Will Conan still be able to control his growing The performers included Elmo Magalona, Davey Langit, grand winner feeling towards Ava? What happens when Prince of 2016 Himig Handog Songwriting (Rodjun Cruz), the guy Ava’s parents want her to Contest, Miguel Aguila, Garth Garcia marry, finds out about their fake relationship?

And what will Chika (Cacai Bautista) do when and Mark Mabasa. Hannah herself

she discovers that the Conan that her cousin Prince knows is the same Conan she has been looking for all this time?

Don’t miss the riot comedy series every Sunday, 5 p.m. after GMA Blockbusters on GMA-7. (30)

Plot thickens in ‘Conan My Beautician,’ which stars Mark Herras and Megan Young