Manila Standard - 2016 August 23 - Tuesday

PH not leaving UN after all

VOL. XXX • NO. 192 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 • WWW.THESTANDARD.COM.PH • EDITORIAL@THESTANDARD.COM.PH

THE Philippines will not leave the United Nations despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s “profound frustration and disappointment” over the statements from the international organization, Foreign Affairs said Monday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Per-

fecto Yasay defended Duterte, saying the President’s statement was made in the “wee hours” when he was already tired, disappointed, frustrated, angry and bombarded with questions from the press.

“He is only human,” Yasay told the reporters after Duterte threatened to leave the UN because it was meddling in the country.

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A ‘good run’ for PH team in Rio (A8, Sports) MEDAL STANDINGS

PARTY TO REMEMBER. An overview of fireworks during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. While the opening

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ceremony was marked by high concept performances and by an environmental message, the closing rites had more of a street feeling. Being the only city in the world with an official anthem that is actually a carnival tune, Rio must end the Games in a carnival atmosphere. AFP

6,000 booted out De Lima’s driver told to give up

By John Paolo Bencito

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ORE than 6,000 presidential appointees got the boot after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered them to vacate their offices because government corruption persists.

By John Paolo Bencito and Macon RamosAraneta THE Palace on Monday urged the driver-bodyguard of Senator Leila de Lima to come out in the open and prove he was not a bagman for the senator who collected drug money for her successful Senate campaign.

“No one is excused. If the President sees there is evidence that links you or your alleged ex-lover to drug syndicates, then nobody is excused,” said Communications Secretary Martin Andanar in an ANC TV interview.

On Saturday, De Lima pleaded with the Duterte administration for the life of her former Next page

Du30 order covers new appointees, holdovers

BUDGET DEFENSE. The government economic managers – from left, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez – discuss and defend the 2017 Natrional Budget of P3.35 trillion during the budget hearing conducted by the House Committee on Appropriation. Manny Palmero

Slain drug suspects’ kin Oil tax hike to jack up fares—govt pin the blame on police

By Macon RamosAraneta

despite their intention to surrender.

Harra Kazuo, 32, of Pasay City and Mary Rose Aquino, 23, both TWO family members of slain hooded and wearing huge dark suspected drug pushers told a Sen- sunglasses, told the Senate jusate hearing Monday that police tice and human rights committee shook down then killed their kin Next page

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez on Monday confirmed that the excise tax on fuel would be increased to P10 per liter from P4.35, and that would result in a one-peso increase in transport fares.

Under questioning from Reps.

Edcel Lagman, Antonio Tinio and Rodel Batocabe, Dominguez also

said the value-added-tax exemptions on goods and services and zero-rated transactions would be lifted and the VAT base expanded.

“The increase in excise taxes would be imposed to offset the P173.8 billion in foregone revenues that would result from the lowering of the personal income tax and corporate tax,” Domin-

guez told the House committee on appropriations led by Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles.

The exchanges took place as the House began its deliberations on President Rodrigo Duterte’s first P3.35trillion national budget for 2017.

Dominguez said the P173.8 billion in forgone revenues would Next page

A memorandum circular released Monday night will cover all 6,000 officials, including those appointed by Duterte, and holdovers from the Aquino administration that had earlier been asked to stay on the job beyond July 31.

Memorandum Circular No. 4 ordered all presidential appointees to tender their unqualified courtesy resignations within seven calendar days and “in view of the President’s desire to rid the bureaucracy of corruption ...to give him a free hand in achieving this objective.”

Exempted are: • Newly appointed Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, and assistant secretaries in their respective departments, including presidential advisers or assistants with the equivalent rank; • Other officials in the executive department, including state universities and colleges, and government-owned and -controled corporations who are appointed by Next page the President;

Proof shows SolGen, Enrile bolster 3 narco cops case for Marcos burial liable—DILG

Govt, Reds jump-start peace talks

THE Interior Department said Monday it had “prima facie evidence” against three of the five narco-generals accused by President Rodrigo Duterte of having links to the illegal drug trade.

Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno said they were set to submit evidence against former National Capital Region Police Office Chief Joel Pagdilao and former Quezon City Police

OSLO, Norway—The government said Monday it hopes to reach a peace deal with communist guerrillas within a year, as the two sides kicked off talks in Norway aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest insurgencies.

“On the part of the [government] panel, we have imposed a timeline of nine to 12 months,” said Silvestre Bello III, the head of the government delegation.

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THE government through the Office of the Solicitor General on Monday defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to allow the burial of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos at the Heroes’ Cemetery, invoking Duterte’s executive power.

The Marcos family appealed to the Supreme Court to dismiss the petitions against Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani filed by various groups, including the victims of human rights abuses and the families of the victims of twitter.com/ MlaStandard

enforced disappearances during Martial Law. Former senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Francisco Tatad on Monday also defended the government’s plan to allow Marcos’ burial at the Libingan.

Enrile said all who served as President had the right to be buried at the Libingan.

“Why should anyone of them be excluded from being buried in that piece of land called Libingan Ng Mga Bayani?” Enrile said.

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NEW STAMP. Philippine Postal Corp. employee Salome Arao shows to members of media inside the Central Post Office in Manila Monday the commemorative stamp featuring the inauguration of President Rodrigo Duterte on June 30. Danny Pata

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

6 Pinoys die in Saudi fire

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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IYADH—A pregnant woman, her husband and infant daughter were among six Filipinos killed in a weekend fire at their Saudi Arabian residence, the Philippine Embassy said on Monday.

The blaze, blamed on an electrical overload, broke out just after 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) Saturday at the apartment where three families lived in central Riyadh, Philippines charge d’affaires Iric Arribas told Agence France Presse.

All three family members, including an 18-month-old daughter, died from smoke inhalation, he said.

The father of a second family had just left for work when the building caretaker called to

alert him to the blaze. He rushed home to find that his wife, son and daughter were all dead, Arribas said.

Filipinos are one of the major expatriate communities in Saudi Arabia, working in a range of jobs from hospitality to nursing, labor and management.

The Saudi government has pledged to shoulder the airfare of retrenched overseas Filipino workers who wish to return to the Philippines, and waive immigra-

6,000...

on their mandate.

Andanar said that even the heads of the government-owned and -controlled corporations would have to leave their post, except those with fixed terms, and members of constitutional bodies.

Also on Monday, the Bureau of Customs said it has concluded its investigation into an employee who allegedly accepted P220 million in monthly bribes.

“We have also have a strong case against one of our employees, the name is Customs Police Capt. Arnel Baylosis…. I’ve already forwarded the case folder of this employee to the Department of Justice for investigation,” said Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.

“Four individuals who had direct transactions with him testified through affidavits that previously, since 2012, they had been giving bribe[s]. It’s called in the Customs ‘tara,’ amounting to at least P100 million to P220 million monthly,” said Faeldon.

“We are continuously isolating and tracking all the bureau officials that are believed to be very corrupt,” he said.

In our effort to make the bureau more transparent to the public Faeldon also announced that the Office of the Commissioner and other ports under the supervision of the BoC can be viewed online starting next week.

“We have set up, right now…

The setting up of CCTV cameras in all the frontline offices of the Bureau of Customs has been ongoing. We expect that in the next 30 more days, the big ports in Manila can now be viewed publicly.

“My office is the first one.

So that no employee will refuse the setting up of the CCTVS,” he said.

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• Career officials as defined by the Civil Service Laws, rules and regulations; • Judiciary; • Officials whose offices are created by virtue of the Constitution (e.g. constitutional commissions, the Ombudsman); and • Those whose appointments are currently being processed or who may be appointed by the President.

The same memorandum circular said that in the event that the President accepts the resignation of the head of an agency or GOCC, his or her deputy or others next-in-rank will act as officer-in-charge of the agency until a replacement is duly appointed by the President.

Any presidential appointee who fails to tender his or her courtesy resignation may be held administratively liable and meted the appropriate penalty.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said that among those appointed by the President, only the chiefs of the Land Transportation Office and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, need to vacate their office if prompted by the President.

In a press briefing in Davao early Sunday morning, Duterte said he would declare all positions in the government vacant due to reports of continuing corruption in several government agencies.

Duterte singled out the LTO and the LTFRB as among the agencies riddled with corruption.

Duterte said he has the power to dismiss appointed public officials for their failing to deliver

Govt, Reds...

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The government and the rebels hope to breathe new life into the peace process by discussing simultaneously—contrary to previous attempts—the outstanding issues of social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and an end to hostilities.

“With this new approach we are quite confident that we will be able to achieve our timeta-

SolGen, Enrile...

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Tatad, Marcos’ information minister, said it was clear that Marcos was qualified to be buried at the Libingan.

He also defended Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law in 1972.

Meanwhile, two more petitions were filed before the Supreme Court on Monday opposing Marcos’ burial at the Libingan, bringing the number of petitions pending at the high court to five.

In an 86-page comment, Solicitor General Jose Calida, acting as counsel for the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said Duterte’s decision to allow a hero’s burial for Marcos was a valid exercise of his prerogative power under the Constitution and the Administrative Code.

ble,” Bello said.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Proces Jesus Dureza said he was optimistic that the talks would bear fruit due to the bold steps taken by President Rodrigo Duterte to jump-start the discussions in Oslo.

These steps included the release of communist rebels and facilitating their travel to Norway to take part in the negotiations, he said.

But the head of the rebels’ delegation, Luis Jalandoni, was more cautious about reaching a political settlement after 30 “President Duterte, in his wisdom, deems it appropriate to inter the remains of former President Marcos in a parcel of land of the public domain devoted for the purpose of being a military shrine, and recognize his being a former President, a Medal of Valor awardee, a member of the retired military personnel, and a war veteran,” Calida said.

“President Duterte understands that if this country really intends to extricate itself from the quagmire it is presently embroiled in, history must be viewed differently... President Duterte’s order to allow former President Marcos’ interment at the [Libingan ng mga Bayani] is based on his determination that it shall promote national healing and forgiveness, and redound to the benefit of the Filipino people.” Rey E. Requejo and Sandy Araneta, with PNA

tion penalties of OFWs with expired working visas.

Previous reports state that thousands of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia are at risk of losing their jobs due to a huge budget shortfall and falling oil prices being faced by the Middle Eastern country. At present, there are about one million Filipino migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

In view of these developments, senators Joel Villanueva and Juan Edgardo Angara called on the Philippine government to ensure the availability of better job opportunities for returning OFWs. Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resource development, pushed for the expansion of government scholarship programs for returning OFWs especially in skills development or

technical-vocational education.

“Most, if not all, of our OFWs go abroad because of lack of opportunity in the Philippines.

Some of them do not want to return to the Philippines for lack of jobs suited to their skills and financial needs,” he said.

“We can give OFWs a better life here by providing assistance and incentives to those who will invest in micro, small and medium enterprises and giving them access to resources and developing their capacity for innovation,” Villanueva added.

Angara, the vice chairman of the Senate committee on labor, stressed that government must provide employment opportunities and livelihood assistance to OFWs who return home when they lose their jobs.

He said the new Overseas Workers Welfare Administra-

tion law or Republic Act 10801, which was enacted in May this year, can boost the government’s capacity to assist retrenched OFWs under the reintegration program that is one of the core programs of OWWA. Under the law Angara sponsored, at least 10 percent of the total collection of OWWA should be used for the reintegration program every year to provide training in financial literacy, entrepreneurial development, techno-skills and business counseling and to find job referrals to both local and overseas employment.

His Senate Resolution 103 sought to review the implementation of government assistance programs for stranded OFWs in Saudi Arabia.

Under the OWWA’s “Balik-

Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay” program, displaced or distressed workers can avail of either starter kits worth P7,500 or a livelihood assistance of P10,000, or a special loan facility supporting enterprise development that allows an OFW member or their legal dependent to borrow from P300,000 to P2 million.

Angara also noted that aside from financial support, retrenched OFWs may also undergo psycho-social counseling, stress debriefing and values.

Based on the latest data from OWWA, 3,858 affected OFWs in Saudi, including those still at jobsites and those already repatriated, have received financial assistance of P20,000 each, while 3,297 families of stranded OFWs were granted P6,000 each. With AFP

De Lima’s...

connect between the senator, who was then a secretary of Justice and her driver, how would you now explain [why] these things happened, the partying, drugs and even cooking shabu, went unbridled, unhampered because of the driver?”

“Were it not for that authority, these cellphones and everything else, the guns, would not have happened,” Duterte said.

In her press briefing, De Lima admitted that Dayan was indeed her long-time “driver-bodyguard” even before entering government, but said nothing 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 at a press briefing Saturday.

Andanar also defended the President against accusations of having a double standard, one for women and one for men, when it came to adultery.

He said the President had affairs while he was single.

Andanar also said the President intends to use Dayan as a witness to prove De Lima’s links to illegal drugs.

De Lima on Monday remained silent on the possibility that Dayan would be used as a witness against her.

“I would not be answering those questions at this point,” said De Lima in an interview over CNN Philippines hours before she presided over the Senate

committee on justice and human rights hearing to look into the alleged extrajudicial killings of drug suspects during the police anti-drug operations.

“What I can say at this point by way of reiteration is that I’m not in anyway connected, linked to or involved in drugs. That’s all I need to assert,” said De Lima.

Duterte has divulged De Lima’s connection to illegal drugs and tagged his former driver Ronnie Palisoc Dayan as her collector of drug money from drug lords detained at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

He also called the former justice secretary “an immoral woman” for having an illicit love affair with Dayan who is married. With Maricel V. Cruz

Kazuo said her live-in partner JP Bertes and the latter’s father Renato Bertes were executed

by Pasay policemen inside the Pasay PNP Station 4 on Libertad Street on the evening of July 6.

She said JP was a drug pusher and a drug user who got his drugs from another drug pusher in Pasay City. She was not aware if the illegal drugs came from policemen.

Aquino also admitted her parents, Rodelio and Rosalie Campos, repacked and peddled drugs supplied to them by Antipolo

policemen. He also said these policemen and her parents held pot sessions in their house, also in Antipolo.

Between sobs, she recalled seeing her parents in a morgue on June 22 or two days after she last saw them. She said police investigators told them they saw the body of her parents in separate places in Antipolo.

Kazuo cried when she remembered how policemen who barged into their house removed the panties of their two-year-old daughter, hoping to find shabu

inserted in her anus.

She said her daughter as well as her mother-in-law were present when the police were rummaging through their house. She said one of the policemen threatened to kill her live-in partner, but she said Bertes begged him not to do it in front of his family.

Kazuo said her father-inlaw later arrived at their house while the police were searching for drugs. The police, she said, did not find any illegal drugs in their house. With John Paolo Bencito

Malacañang on Monday also said the Philippines was not quitting the UN. “He was reiterating national sovereignty and the fact that he did not welcome interventions that would be considered meddling... We are not decoupling,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella

told reporters.

Yasay slammed the statements of UN Special Rapporteurs on Summary Executions Agnes Callamard and Right on Health Dainius Pūras and reminded them that the UN must follow certain procedures and protocols before making any statement.

He said the statements of Callamard and Pūras did not reflect the sentiments of the UN. “In this particular instance,

these are just statements coming from two rapporteurs who are independent contractors, independent experts, and so these are not to be considered United Nations statements,” Yasay said.

On Thursday, Callamard and Pūras urged Duterte to end the wave of extra-judicial executions and killings of alleged drug users and pushers. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and John Paolo Bencito

years of failed talks.

“I think we will try to do it in one year but it might take a little more time because the negotiations on social and economic reforms could take more time,” he said.

“It’s more complicated than some may think,” he said.

The first meeting in Oslo will cover five major points: • Affirmation of previously signed agreements; • Accelerated process for negotiations, including the timeline for the completion of the remaining substantive agenda

for the talks: socioeconomic reforms; political and economic reforms; and end of hostilities and disposition of forces; • Reconstitution of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig) list • Amnesty proclamation for the release of all detained political prisoners, subject to concurrence by Congress; and • the mode of an interim ceasefire.

Established in December 1968, Communist Party of the Philippines launched a rebellion three months later that has

so far claimed the lives of 30,000 people, according to official estimates.

The New People’s Army, its armed faction, now counts just 4,000 members, down from 26,000 in the 1980s, though it enjoys the support of the poorest people in rural areas.

The closed-door talks in Oslo wrap up on Friday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he hopes the ceasefire declared by the communist rebels would last longer than the announced seven days. AFP, PNA, Rio N. Araja

even as Chief Supt. Emmanuel Aranas, head of the PNP Crime Laboratory in Camp Crame, said at least 130 policemen had been found positive for shabu following the result of a confirmatory test in the random drug testing conducted by the Philippine National Police leadership.

He said the 130 policemen were part of the 99,598 police personnel who were subjected to a surprise drug testing nationwide.

Sueno said they were still gathering evidence against former Western Visayas police Chief Bernardo Diaz, but he was sure “we have the goods against him.”

Duterte named the four along with police chief superintendent and now Daanbantayan, Cebu, Mayor Vicente Loot as top-level coddlers of drug lords operating in the country.

“As for Mayor Loot, we already

lifted his supervision over the police and we have also canceled his licenses or permit to own guns and bodyguards,” Sueno said.

“And since he is a new mayor, we cannot come up with evidence administratively against him as mayor. But what we are doing is we are conducting lifestyle checks on him to find out that his assets are not proportionate to his income. So that is our strategy.”

The five officials have denied the allegations and declared they were willing to face any official investigation to clear their names.

Duterte said some police generals, including two who had retired and one of them since elected as a local official, were either protectors or were directly involved in illegal drugs. John Paolo Bencito and Francisco Tuyay

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bodyguard and driver, Ronnie Dayan, who is said to be the subject of a manhunt.

“I hope you don’t touch him,” De Lima said in a news conference.

“I hope you don’t arrest him. You can only arrest him if you have a warrant of arrest. But if you don’t have a warrant of arrest, please leave him alone,” she added.

In an early Sunday morning speech, however, the President said that he needed to pin down the links between the senator and her driver-bodyguard to the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary.

“Now if I do not mention the

Slain drug...

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chaired by Senator Leila de Lima that police had executed their loved ones.

Kazuo and Aquino were among the 12 witnesses to be presented

by De Lima in the Senate hearings on extrajudicial killings.

The two women insisted their slain loved ones were planning to surrender to the authorities out of fear but were shot dead by the police.

PH not...

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Proof shows...

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District Chief Edgardo Tinio on Tuesday.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, meanwhile, will file cases against retired former Philippine National Police deputy director general Marcelo Garbo Jr. whom the President said was a “drug coddler.”

“For the two, Generals Pagdilao and Tinio―we are ready with the prima facie case against them, which I will sign when I get back to my office,” Sueno told reporters in Malacañang.

“As for General Garbo, well, he is not in active duty right now. He is neither an elected official, so the CIDG will file cases against him.”

Sueno made his statement

Oil tax...

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result once the corporate tax rate was reduced to 25 percent from 30 percent, and the individual tax rate to 25 percent from 32 percent.

“The rationale behind reducing the tax rates is to make them competitive with our neighbors,” Dominguez said.

He made his statement even as House leaders on Monday vowed to scrutinize the plan of the Duterte administration to lift the VAT exemptions on food, medicine and education and to adjust the excise tax on oil products to inflation.

Nograles, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said the House had yet to receive a proposal from Dominguez who confirmed during the budget deliberations on Monday the planned lifting of the VAT exemptions on certain products.

“We will have to wait for the proposal of the Department of Finance and upon receipt of the proposal we will study it,” Nograles said.

Rep. Gwen Garcia said the Lower House would first have to receive the proposal from Finance before it could comment on the issue.

Dominguez said the reduction of the personal income tax of wage earners and those in the middle-income bracket would result in the loss of P139 billion in foregone revenues, while the reduction of the corporate tax would result in the loss of P34.8 billion.

“The petroleum excise tax to inflation has not been adjusted since 1997, thus the [proposed] increase in the tax on fuel to offset the losses to be incurred in the lowering of the income tax and corporate tax,” Dominguez said. Christine F. Herrera, Gabrielle Marie Consuelo H. Binaday and Maricel V. Cruz

News Enrile: I’ll prove charges are false

By Sandy Araneta FORMER Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said he is ready to prove his innocence and the innocence of his staff against charges filed against them over his supposed misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund.

“I am ready to prove my innocence, and the innocence of my staff in connection with the case filed against us,” Enrile said during the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Monday.

Enrile was apparently referring to his aide, lawyer Gigi Reyes, who was also implicated in the pork barrel scam, when he mentioned “innocence of his staff.”

“In the first place their complaint was so lopsided. It was a general warrant. I have handled general law, of all cases in this country, nonetheless, I know what I was doing. And I never lost one case,” said Enrile, a former Senate president and later Minority leader.

But Enrile declined to comment on the Facebook post of his daughter Katrina Ponce Enrile, who lashed at Senator Leila de Lima for “forgetting” that once upon a time, when she was Justice secretary, she also “shamed some political individuals.”

“Senator De Lima forgets that when she was the secretary of Justice she knew full well that she shamed some political individuals, one of whom was my father and she did it without abandon,” said Katrina.

Enrile was detained inside the Philippine National Police General Hospital for over 150 days, following his arrest in 2014 over graft and plunder charges. He was released on bail in 2015.

Enrile was among the legislators named by so-called “pork barrel queen” Janet Lim Napoles for allegedly pocketing government funds through fake projects and bogus non-governmental organizations.

Two other senators from the opposition whose terms ended on June 30—Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr.—were the first top government officials to be arrested following revelations by key whistleblower and former Napoles aide Benhur Luy.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DBM asks Congress for pay hike authority

By Maricel V. Cruz

B

UDGET Secretary Benjamin Diokno asked Congress to adopt a joint resolution that will allow the Department of Budget and Management to increase the salary of government employees beginning this year.

During the briefing of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee at the House of Representatives, Diokno said since the fourth Salary Standardization Law was not passed during the 16th Con-

gress, the House ought to pass an interim measure.

Such a measure will allow the Duterte administration to implement beginning this week the salary adjustment to the country’s police and military

personnel as factored in under the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017.

Diokno made the disclosure as the House committee on appropriations, chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, began its deliberations on next year’s national budget.

During his budget presentation before lawmakers, Diokno said that a total of P39.5 billion has been set aside for the military and uniformed armed personnel (MUP), including the police by next year.

The 2017 national budget amounts to P3.35 trillion, or 11

percent higher than this year’s P3.002 trillion.

Diokno said the budget for the increase in the salary of other state workers was “built-in” in the appropriation of their respective departments or agencies.

“The second tranche of salary increase is already in the 2017 budget,” Diokno told the panel.

Diokno earlier said that the take-home pay of police and military personnel will be doubled

by January 2018.

He said the pay hike will be released in three tranches so that the government could ensure there is enough money for the

Ubial bares agenda

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Time for healing. Speaking at the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, former senator Juan Ponce Enrile and Francisco Tatad agreed with President Rodrigo Duterte that allowing the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani will help heal national wounds. Lino Santos

200 fishermen jailed DFA: Indonesians had hajj papers

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan in Indonesia freed GENERAL SANTOS CITY— Around 200 fishermen from this city and other parts of Mindanao who were jailed in Indonesia due to illegal fishing and immigration violations have been repatriated by the Philippine Consulate General in Manado.

Daniel Te, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs Regional Consular Office here, said the fishermen are expected to arrive here on August 25 from North Sulawesi, Indonesia through a vessel owned by Filipino businessman Voltaire Loma.

He said Loma, who is based in Bitung, volunteered to bring home the fishermen, most of whom have already completed their sentences.

“The vessel left the Bitung port last Friday and we were informed that its arrival is on schedule, barring weather-related problems along the way,” he told PNA. Te said the Consulate General in Manado earlier processed the repatriation of the fishermen after being notified of their release from detention by the Indonesian government.

He said the Consulate immediately verified the citizenship of the fishermen, who are mostly undocumented or did not carry passports and other official travel documents, as the Philippine Constitution mandates that it can only repatriate or bring home Filipino citizens.

purpose. The pay hike will be released this year, 2017 and 2018, Nograles said.

President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to double the salary of the policemen and soldiers, as part of the administration’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

Diokno said the Budget department proposed salary adjustment for the year 2017 and 2018.

Under the 2017 General Appropriations Bill, the PNP proposed a total of P110.4-billion budget or higher by 24.6 percent than this year budget while the AFP proposed P130.6 billion.

The official said they facilitated the verification process by sending the birth certificates and other legal identification documents of the fishermen.

Based on the identification documents that they sent, he said nearly 90 percent of the repatriates are from this city and nearby Sarangani Province.

He said these are mainly crew members of fishing boats owned by companies based in the city that were caught illegally fishing in Indonesia’s territorial waters and were later charged with illegal entry and fishing violations.

Since January, DFA records showed that a total of 229 fishermen who were jailed in Indonesia have already returned home.

Some 136 fishermen were repatriated in February and 93 more in May through the efforts of the Consulate General in Manado and assistance from Loma and the Philippine Navy.

As of Monday, Te said around 300 fishermen from parts of Mindanao are still languishing in various jails in Indonesia.

“The DFA, through the Consulate General, has been working with the Indonesian government for the release of these fishermen,” he said.

He said they have been closely coordinating with fishing companies here to prevent incursions in Indonesia’s fishing grounds.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs still cannot identify the official who issued the passports that 117 Indonesians were carrying when they were intercepted on August 19 but they have determined that the travel documents were actually special passports issued to hajj pilgrims.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose said there is an office in the DFA that issues hajj passport, a special passport used only for a hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

“It is still the DFA who issued the hajj passport. We require different documentary requirements compared to the documents needed when issuing a regular passport,” Jose said, adding that the foreign office is looking to review its policy on hajj passports.

“We will be reviewing our policy on issuance of hajj passport after this incident,” Jose said, adding that the DFA will start their own investigation as soon as the Bureua of Immigration finishes its own probe.

Jose said the DFA is waiting

for the BI to turnover the passports used by the Indonesians.

“We will conduct our own investigation once the BI turns over the passports of these Indonesians to DFA. Currently, the passports are still in the custody of the Bureau of Immigration.

As soon as we get hold of this, we will conduct our own probe,” Jose said.

The Indonesians who were bound for Medina, Saudi Arabia on Friday were stopped by immigration authorities at the Naia when they could not even speak Philippine languages.

Health and wellness. Physician Anna Ong-Lim (right) explains health issues along with wellness

advocate Cory Quirino at the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel on Monday. Also at the forum was George Siy of the Association of Young Filipino Chinese Entrepreneurs. Lino Santos

THE health agenda of President Rodrigo Duterfe, with the unifying battle cry of “All for Health towards Health for All,” was unveiled by Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. RosellUbial at the 6th Apec High Level Meeting of Health Ministers in Lima, Peru.

Ubial said universal health care is still the centerpiece and the Duterte administration intends to prioritize the coverage of 20 million of the “poorest among the poor” Filipinos.

Duterte had earlier directed Ubial to improve public-health access to the lowest quintile of the population that involves about 20-million Filipinos and she said the Duterte agenda is more focussed on insurance coverage for the poorest Filipinos.

Ubial led the Philippine delegation which joined other panelists who shared country actions to address challenges in meeting the targets of Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and express commitment for advancing the implementation of Healthy Asia Pacific 2020.

Once the Duterte Health Agenda is finalized, Ubial said it will eliminate disparities in health outcomes especially among the poor and highly vulnerable populations.

“The over-all strategic thrust is bringing together key stakeholders that will work towards improving access to health services at the same time greatly reducing out-ofpocket costs,” she said.

The health ministers expressed their overwhelming satisfaction and approval to the new Health Agenda.

The call of the meeting for whole government approach was articulated by Secretary Ubial with the recent inclusion of Reproductive Health in the 10-Point Economic Agenda of the Duterte Administration.

The DoH chief and other officials shall continue their official visit in Havana, Cuba on August 23-26 to learn about Cuba’s popular health system and have a fruitful exchange of information with health authorities.

She said the special visit was strongly endorsed by Duterte who was impressed with Cuba’s successes in public health. She said it’s very, very famous worldwide.

“I have been telling the President I already studied the Cuban health system—on how they implement primary health care. Their focus is actually primary health care and not hospital care,” said Ubial.

“It’s primary health care at the community level. That’s what we are also trying to implement right now—community-based mental health, community-based rehabilitation services and all that,” further stated Ubial in an interview.

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Oops, yet again

T

HE irrepressible President Rodrigo Duterte was his usual self Sunday, this time threatening to pull the country out of the United Nations after the international body criticized the extra-judicial killings that supposedly accompanied his war on crime.

“Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the UN. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you,” the President said during a dawn press conference in his hometown over the weekend.

By Monday, however, the Palace had done some

damage control, saying the Philippines would not leave the UN “despite profound frustrations and disappointments.”

The Palace said the President was only asserting national sovereignty after the international body “singled out” Mr. Duterte’s campaign against crime, including illegal drugs.

The UN and other human rights groups have raised alarm over the killing of more than 1,500 people, since Mr. Duterte won the May elections. Its special rapporteur on summary executions said the promise of immunity and

bounty to those who killed drug suspects violated international law.

The President said he wants to get back the contributions to the UN since it joined in 1945 and use the money to build rehabilitation centers for drug dependents.

He may even want to set up a rival group, to which he would invite China and the African nations.

Mr. Duterte’s derision for the UN is not new. Earlier this year, he also cursed at UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for condemning “his apparent endorsement of extra-judicial killings

which is illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms.”

The President said Ban could not even solve the Middle East carnage and lift a finger in Africa.

Mr. Duterte has also attacked the UN for its hypocrisy in encouraging developing countries to cut back on their carbon emissions when it is the industrialized countries who have been historically responsible for climate change.

And now Palace officials are saying, as they have said countless times before, that the President’s words created

an impression different from that he had intended.

With the tough talk and the consequent backpedaling, the President only succeeds in making himself look silly. It diminishes whatever inherent qualities he may have as a national leader and global statesman. What the outbursts reveal is a strong tendency to feel slighted at even valid criticism, a lack of openness to hear contrarian views, a desire to quell opposition at whatever cost —and a sore absence of restraint that allows a leader to make difficult but necessary decisions.

EAGLE EYES TONY LA VIÑA

Lessons from peace processes in other countries

filing charges against everyone linked to the “pork barrel queen”—because her real job was to make sure that no Liberal Party bigwig or Executive top honcho was ever in danger of being haled to court.

And who knows what songs Napoles would sing if she is asked to do so in her cell at the Correctional Institute for Women, now that her former wards and protectors are no longer possessed with the powers they used to have? If I were Duterte, I’d stop fighting with the so-called human-rights advocates and go after De Lima by reopening the PDAF scandal.

Of course, everyone knows by now just how persistent Duterte is in pursuing the drug syndicates and their protectors in government and in uniform. But I would argue that the massive looting of government funds that took place during Aquino’s term—not only through the raiding of the PDAF Turn to A5

Turn to A5

The screwdriver

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES FOR the first time, I think the long-running word war between President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Leila de Lima is leading somewhere. And I’m not talking about that poor excuse for a Senate hearing on the killing of alleged drug pushers and users that began yesterday.

Duterte announced early on Sunday that he wants to take a “second look” at the porkbarrel scandal, in which De Lima, as Justice secretary of the previous administration, figured prominently as the designated prosecutor of lawmakers who pocketed billions in government funds. If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you would know that the prosecution of those who stole the Priority Development Assistance Fund was marked by the non-filing of cases, save for those against a dozen congressmen and three senators— all of whom were identified as enemies of the Aquino administration.

I AM truly happy and excited, and not just about the unilateral ceasefire agreements declared this weekend by the New People’s Army upon recommendation by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front, and the government of the Philippines.

I am also optimistic about the state of the peace process, hopeful that we will have soon a permanent and just settlement of the civil conflict with the national democratic revolutionary movement. If El Salvador was able to do this—enter a peace settlement with their revolutionary movement Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front—20 years ago, and if Nepal succeeded in forging peace with its communist party 10 years or so ago, and if now, Colombia is about to conclude a peace agreement with the FARC, why can’t we do the same? The insurgencies in these countries were bloodier and more vicious. Their insurgent groups were/are more hard-line than our own.

If you are for human rights, including the current excesses, you have to be for the peace process with the Moro revolutionary movements (there is also excellent progress being made there) and the National Democratic Front. We should never forget that the bulk of recorded human rights violations committed by the Marcos dictatorship and all postdictatorship governments were committed against the Moro peoples and against partisans and supporters of the national democratic revolution and in the name of the fight against Communism. If the current peace initiatives fail, it is likely that again it would be from these groups that majority of the victims will come from.

We cannot let that happen.

In its peace strategy, I am completely with the Duterte government. It is good that the current head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Secretary Jess Dureza, is a veteran and is trusted by all the parties.

The negotiators he has picked

Levi Baligod, the original lawyer of Benhur Luy, the main whistleblower of the PDAF scam that exploded on the national consciousness in 2013 and made a household name out of Janet Lim Napoles, says the number of members of Congress charged by De Lima when she was Justice secretary is way too low. A more faithful charge sheet, Baligod told me yesterday, would involve 14 senators and more than 100 congressmen now belonging to the newly opened 17th Congress.

De Lima has always made a big show out of charging those involved in the Napoles funddiversion scandal but never really delivered. If Duterte is as serious about going after De Lima as he says he is, the President needs to look no further than Napoles, now serving time for the irrelevant (to the main scandal, anyway) crime of serious illegal detention.

(If Duterte wants to throw

more personal dirt on De Lima, he can look into reports of how the senator’s ex-husband, the lawyer Plaridel Bohol, went to the office of a top official of the National Bureau of Investigation sometime that year together with the lawyer of Napoles.

CCTV footage at the bureau

When your only tool is a screwdriver, you tend to look at all problems as screws. showed Bohol and Napoles’ advocate arriving with a heavy paper bag—containing, some have speculated, crisp bundles of cash—and then leaving the

office without it.)

Again, unless you have a very bad (or a very Yellow) memory, you may recall how the entire Aquino administration and practically all of Congress dedicated themselves to shutting down the scandal. Everyone from then President Noynoy Aquino to the most unheardof congressman avoided being linked to Napoles—even as all of them were being identified on a daily basis as beneficiaries of her legendary largesse.

It may be argued that De Lima was not as involved in the PDAF scandal pulled off

by Napoles as Aquino, Florencio Abad, Mar Roxas, Paquito Ochoa, Edwin Lacierda and a host of other Executive officials (to say nothing of Senate President Franklin Drilon and a “supermajority” of senators and congressmen) in the beginning. But De Lima was certainly involved in the massive cover-up that followed, because she was in charge of

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Opinion TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Final push to save jobs, investments BUSINESSMAN Roberto said, “I am a firm believer in “Bobby” V. Ongpin is making the President’s drive against a final attempt to save 6,000 the drug menace.” And as he PhilWeb and e-Games work- point out, “the elimination of ers who may just lose their drug lords and drug pushers jobs, the operators of e-Games will not succeed unless this is cafes numbering 131 entities complemented by an effective and their investment of P1.8 drug rehabilitation program. billion; and most important- While one could agree that ly, his 771-million shares in gambling is undesirable, nothPhilWeb, which under normal ing could be more pernicious circumstances would be worth than the drug menace which P20 billion but now stand to destroys the very fabric of our become worthless. youth and our society, which The Philippine Amusement admirably, the President has and Gaming Corp. has turned chosen as his first priority.” down Ongpin’s donation of his Ongpin thus amended his 771-million shares in PhilWeb earlier donation to Pagcor to (he has since resigned as be implemented in several chairman). On August 19, he ways: wrote Pagcor’s board of direcPagcor could accept the dotors as well as its president and nation after an appropriate pechief executive officer, An- riod when the true values of drea Domingo, about his “fi- PhilWeb have been restored, nal attempt not only saving the and then auction it off. livelihood of some 6,000 indiA drug rehabilitation agenviduals and their families, but cy could be created to which also to make effective use of the donation could be funhis donation to Pagcor which neled. It should be managed has been rejected by Pagcor.” both by the government and But Pagcor said: “the issue is the private sector to ensure the not RVO nor PhilWeb per se. It effective use of the donated is the President’s and his gov- funds. This may, however take ernment’s opposition to on-line time, as it may require legislaand on-site electronic gambling tion, although Ongpin personbecause of the social ills and ally believes that it could be decay they foist on our com- accomplished by a presidential munities as they cater to the executive order. more economically vulnerable A combination of both (1) portion of our population.” and (2) above where the donaOngpin said he had no choice tion is initially channeled to but to accept Pagcor with the decision of the specific Pagcor. In his objective of letter, Ongutilizing the Pagcor must pin said he is funds for the “amending his consider Bobby purpose of donation to be drug rehabiliused exclu- Ongpin’s letter. tation as soon sively for the as an effective establishment mechanism for of a nationthe purpose wide network of drug rehabili- has been established. tation centers.”

Ongpin said that he hoped he He pointed out that the cor- would be forgiven for “one last rect valuation of his donation attempt” as contained in his is closer to P20 billion than letter. “It is a sincere attempt the P4 billion to P6 billion and no benefit whatsoever will estimated by media. Ongpin accrue to me since I have alwrote: “Before Pagcor’s deci- ready committed to donate all sion not to renew the PhilWeb my shares in PhilWeb.” license, PhilWeb had a market “I believe that it is useful capitalization of P40 billion for maintaining the format of and therefore half of it is worth the original donation with 49 at least P20 billion.” He added percent going to the govern“this is the amount which I am ment (but now amended to be personally sacrificing and do- specifically used for drug rehanating to Pagcor in the attempt bilitation) and the balance of 4.7 to save jobs and investment percent to the Ateneo de Manila losses for innocent employees University JVO (Jaime V. Ongand e-Games operators.” pin) Scholarship Foundation.”

As background, some To date, as this column goes months before PhilWeb’s li- to press, Pagcor has not recense was to expire, PhilWeb plied to Ongpin’s final offer. engaged in a serious study I have said in my earlier of drug rehabilitation cent- columns, killing drug dealers ers. They looked at how other and users will not end the drug countries in the world were menace unless drug rehabilitation facilities are built to turn addressing this need.

According to Ongpin, drug abusers into productive Philweb had identified a site members of society.

This was shown during marnear Atimonan, Quezon province, which had been used as tial law when drug lord Lim a staging area during the con- Seng was executed as a warnstruction of Balesin Island ing to those dealing in drugs.

Club, as an ideal site. It con- For a while, the drug menace sists of 2.1 hectares of land went underground until they fronting the Pacific Ocean came back again, and strong. and a virgin forest behind it. I know this because I was in“We even identified medical volved in drug rehabilitation toxicologists and other drug with DARE Foundation, put rehabilitation specialists, who up by former priest Bob Gawe would retain to man this ron. I was DARE Foundation’s vice president, and I knew the center,” he said.

“Our objective,” Ongpin drug problem quite well.

This is why I’m all for Bobpointed out “was to develop a model drug rehabilitation cent- by Ongpin’s idea for Pagcor er which can be used as a pro- and the Duterte administratotype for other centers to be tion to use his donation to put established by the government up a prototype drug rehabilitaand others in the private sector. tion center.

I know that unless the thouOngpin continued that PhilWeb had actually appropriated P100 sands of drug abusers and million per year (equivalent to drug addicts are fully rehabiliabout 10 percent of its profits), tated, the illegal drug menace plus P2 million to P3 million will continue to hound us.

As for PhilWeb, I believe it’s per month to maintain and susnot strictly and technically ontain this center.”

“Obviously, this project can line gambling since those who no longer be undertaken by play it cannot access from this PhilWeb at this point,” Ongpin homes and offices. Those who play it are in fact authorized said.

In his letter, Ongpin also by Pagcor.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

The President and the Chief Justice HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA EARLIER this month, President Rodrigo Duterte and Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno found themselves in a verbal tussle which, happily, appears to have finally dissipated after the President himself prevented the incident from escalating into something ugly and embarrassing.

The “not so friendly” banter between the heads of the executive and judicial departments of the government began after President Duterte publicly identified seven judges allegedly involved in the narcotics trade, and demanded that they surrender to the authorities or accept the dire consequences of their defiance.

President Duterte’s move was part of his ongoing campaign to fight the drug menace in the country. Earlier, the President revealed to the news media a list of elected officials involved in the illegal drug trade.

On August 8, Chief Justice Sereno wrote to President Duterte to inform him that the judges concerned should not be compelled to surrender without any warrant issued for their arrest. There being no warrants issued by any court, the Chief Justice scored the President for his bold move. She also said that the list containing the names of the judges was prematurely revealed to the public.

The next day, an obviously outraged Duterte hit back at the Chief Justice in a public speech in Cagayan de Oro City broadcast on television. After citing the slow pace of justice in the

The screwdriver...

From A4 but also of the Malampaya funds and the Disbursement Acceleration Program—is still in line with the new president’s campaign against corruption. *** Many people may consider De Lima now as the hatchet woman in the Senate of the remnants of the Aquino administration. But those who remember her clean-

Lessons...

From A4 are also excellent. Likewise, the

NDF has gathered a solid group of comrades who will be able to close this deal. I congratulate everyone from the NDF and the government, including all the lawyers, judges and the Supreme Court, who worked hard to have all the detained NDF consultants make it to Oslo, Norway for the talks this week.

As they begin the negotiations, lessons from successful processes in other countries might be good. They tell us that peace is possible no matter how far we are from each other in positions and ideology.

Let us look into the case of Nepal. In 2006, the Nepalese Government and the Communist Party of Nepal inked the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, formally ending a 10year armed insurgency which cost an estimated 19,000 casualties and around 100,000 to 150,000 displaced persons. Ten years earlier in 1996 the Maoist guerillas launched a rebellion to overthrow the Nepalese government. The government responded by imprisoning suspected rebels and journalists, prohibiting provocative statements especially against the monarchy, and shutting down newspapers. Well into the late

Santa Banana, if President Duterte thinks that PhilWeb’s e-Game is gambling, then he should also cancel Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s “Small Town Lotteries,” since that’s gambling, pure and simple.

Aside from that, what I am concerned about is the perception of foreign investors that if a publicly-listed company like

country, Duterte asked the chief justice if resort to Martial Law is a more acceptable option to solve the national drug problem. He also said that if the Chief Justice got in his way, he would order the executive department not to accord any respect for the judicial department.

When his anger and disappointment subsided, President Duterte made a public apology for his emotional outburst. After that, all was quiet on both sides of the controversy.

Political observers say that both the President and the Chief Justice have their share of shortcomings in this incident.

The principle of separation of powers provides, in theory at least, that the judicial department must refrain from conduct that may be construed as intrusion into the exclusive realm of another branch of government —in this instance, the executive department which is headed by the president. Like a doublebladed sword, the principle cuts both ways—the executive department is, in turn, expected to observe concommitant restraint from intruding in concerns which exclusively belong to the judicial department.

Such restraint is not without good reason. When a judicial officer publicizes his view on an existing legal controversy, he may find himself disabled by public opinion from passing judgment on that issue in the event it is brought to him for adjudication as a magistrate. The reason—his earlier public comments suggest, correctly or otherwise, that he has pre-judged the dispute. That is not good for a system where the cold neutrality of a judge helps make court rulings acceptable to litigants.

With greater reason, that observation holds true for the justices of the Supreme Court, as the tribunal of last resort.

Should the issue regarding the judges identified by the President reach the Supreme Court, it is very likely that the President’s camp will ask Chief Justice Sereno to inhibit herself from participating in the adjudication of that issue precisely because she already made a public announcement that has all the indications of pre-judgment. That will be unfortunate because her vote is one vote removed, and in a tight contest among the legal minds in a collegial court, one vote can spell the difference between victory and defeat.

Jurisprudence posits that the Supreme Court does not render advisory opinions, or views which do not arise from an actual case pending in its dockets.

Observers maintain that if the Supreme Court does not render advisory opinions, it should not dish out unsolicited advisories, either.

At any rate, the judges identified by President Duterte are not exactly devoid of legal remedies.

Being learned in the law, the judges can very well take care of themselves without any overtures from the chief justice. Any one among them who refuses to surrender without a warrant for his arrest can always argue his case, unless the judge himself has lost faith in the judicial system.

In addition, there is a trial court judges association which can carry the cudgels for their beleaguered colleagues, also without help from higher officials in the judicial hierarchy.

It is understandable for President Duterte to get upset at

what he considered an obstacle to his crusade against prohibited drugs. Nonetheless, to suggest that the executive department ought to hold the judiciary in sweeping contempt is unsettling.

After all, a government that openly disobeys the courts encourages public contempt for the judicial system. Inevitably, this will lead to lawlessness and, ultimately, the collapse of government itself.

On the other hand, the President’s remark about Martial Law must be evaluated realistically.

Far from being a threat to institutionalize dictatorship in the country, the president’s outburst was obviously prompted by his frustration in the slow justice system, a sentiment which, truth to tell, is shared by many.

Unlike martial law under previous Philippine charters, martial law under the present Constitution is hardly a blueprint for dictatorhip. The present charter explicitly provides that the proclamation of martial law is subject to scrutiny by Congress, and review by the Supreme Court.

In view of such restraints, it is doubtful if martial law can be deemed synonymous to dictatorship.

From an optimistic perspective, the brief but sharp disagreement between President Duterte and Chief Justice Sereno should not be seen as a threat to the constitutional order, or a step towards a constitutional crisis. It only underscores that under the principle of separation of powers, conflicts among the three branches of government necessarily will occasionally arise, and those conflicts are indicators that the constitutional government, despite all its shortcomings, is alive and kicking.

up role in the PDAF scandal know that her earlier designation was already prefigured in the first two months of the past regime, when she was just newly appointed as secretary of Justice.

That was when De Lima refused to file charges against the officials of the new Aquino administration whom she herself identified as culpable for the killing of eight Chinese tourists by a deranged Manila policeman at the Rizal Park in August 2010. De Lima even vowed that

she would resign as Justice secretary if her recommendations to hold DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and a bunch of other officials liable for the massacre were ignored.

What happened was, Aquino ignored De Lima’s investigation and the secretary completely forgot about her offer to resign. The rest is the sordid tale of Aquino’s six-year presidency, which is now (thank God) history.

Which all leads to my per-

sonal belief that if Aquino and the rest of his gang thought that De Lima would reprise the role of their defender as senator, they couldn’t have picked anyone worse for the job. De Lima has way too much baggage—not just personally—to defend even herself, when she doesn’t have the backing of Malacañang.

To paraphrase the old saying, when your only tool is a screwdriver, you tend to look at all problems as screws. It’s like that with Leila de Lima.

first decade of the 21st century, intense fighting ensued between the opposing forces, punctuated by ceasefires and attempts at negotiations. The 2006 peace accord promised to end the conflict and bring about social, political and economic transformation to this small South Asian state.

The accord included a stipulation that the king would be stripped of political rights and his property to be nationalized.

Despite continuing struggles to entrench a fully functioning democracy, Nepal has been radically transformed since the 2006 peace pact.

El Salvador is another country where we can draw lessons in peace making. El Salvador also had to endure 12 years of intense fighting between the right-wing government and leftist FMLN. In 1992, President Alfredo Cristiani signed a peace accord with the leftists.

This was followed two years later by the demobilization of the FMLN and its reconstitution as a political party. In the mid-1990s, FMLN became the second-largest political party in El Salvador. Before the peace agreement, El Salvador was a haven of authoritarian governments. Military repression and human rights abuses were rampant. The 1980s was a critical period for El Salvador.

The FMLN was on the verge

of winning the war when the United Nations and the United States stepped in. The civil war was bloody, causing around 75,000 casualties, mostly civilians. Because of the strategic stalemate, the two clashing forces decided to enter into a negotiated settlement. In 1992, a formal ceasefire, followed by demobilization, was initiated.

The peace accord stipulated for political reforms, including reforms in the military and the police which were accused of perpetrating massive human rights violations. Social reforms were also introduced such as improving the quantity and legal status of the lands to the farmers. To date, high levels of unemployment and poverty continue to plague El Salvadoran society. But it cannot be argued that the peace accord of 1992 brought the war to an end and planted the seeds that institutionalized an incipient popular democracy in this small Latin American country.

Colombia is also one troubled country. The long-drawn rebellion by the Marxist guerillas known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has been going on for more than half a century, one of the longest even counting the Communist insurgency in the Philippines. Lately, after four years of negotiations, the Colombian government of

President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC signed a ceasefire agreement to end more than 50 years of bloodletting. While a final peace agreement yet to be approved in a referendum, the agreement to end hostilities and FARC’s acceptance of disarmament are seen as historic in a war that has caused more than a quarter of a million deaths and in excess of 6 million people displaced.

The willingness to lay down arms and look for a peaceful solution to seemingly irreconcilable ideological differences are reasons why the Maoist insurgencies in El Salvador and Nepal have been finally resolved. Colombia is also on the road to peace. President Duterte’s reconciliatory tone towards the Communists and to the Moro rebels, an unmistakable olive branch offering, is a window of opportunity that can be the long-awaited breakthrough to a lasting peace. We cannot be disheartened by past failures because the experiences of El Salvador and Nepal, and now Colombia, will tell us that there is a way out of even the most intractable armed conf lict.

My best wishes and prayers to everyone in Oslo and to those in the country, from the President in Malacañang to the soldiers and rebels in the mountains. We can get this done.

invectives that accompany President Duterte’s press conference and speeches. She grew up in Zamboanga and late on in Cotabato City where I married her.

And she speaks Cebuano, Ilonggo and even Waray since her mother was from Tacloban City.

She also speaks Chabacano.

My wife says that since President Duterte speaks Cebuano, being originally from Cebu, he

speaks the language of the ordinary Cebuanos with all the expletives. This is the dialect of the streets. My wife adds that is the reason why the “masa” in the Visayas and Mindanao can relate to the President.

He speaks the language of the common folk.

Meanwhile, we in Imperial Manila feel uncomfortable with the President’s cursing.

PhilWeb can be shut down, what next? Malacanang must realize that those who invested in PhilWeb in the stock market are not all Filipinos. Many investors are foreigners as well.

Pagcor needs to study Ongpin’s letter. *** My wife, of the Capistrano clan of Cagayan de Oro City, can relate to all the cursing and

News

A6

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

MMDA chief vacates post

By Joel E. Zurbano

M

ETRO Manila Development Authority chairman Emerson Carlos, who resigned on June 30 when the new administration took over, has vacated his post last Friday to pave the way for the new chairman appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I already turned over the post last [Aug 19]. I vacated [it] because there is already a new chairman: Thomas Orbos, appointed by President Duterte last week,” Carlos told Manila Standard in a phone interview.

According to an MMDA information staff, Orbos was a former

planning officer at the agency.

Replying to a question, Carlos said he would think it over first whether to accept any new post.

“For now, magpapahinga muna ako [I would have to take some rest first].”

But on July 11, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea sent a

letter to Carlos, indicating that the present administration was extending his service.

Then President Benigno Aquino III designated Carlos as the MMDA chairman last year following the resignation of Francis Tolentino who decided to run for the Senate in the May 9 elections.

The MMDA, the government agency tasked to manage the traffic situation in Metro Manila, is having a hard time tackling the worsening traffic problem which, it says, is caused primarily by the increasing number of vehicles and lack of discipline among motorists and pedestrians.

Carlos said earlier that Du-

terte should be given extraordinary powers to solve the traffic problem besetting Metro Manila and other urban areas and stop the multi-billion peso bleeding of the economy caused by these gridlocks.

With the extraordinary powers, the government would be able to create more infrastructure projects and accelerate their implementation and completion, he said.

Carlos said emergency powers can also be used by the president to rationalize traffic laws, rules and regulations being implemented by the national and local governments.

The agency is hoping the government will pursue with the

planned construction of a subway system to ease traffic in the metropolis and nearby provinces.

The subway from Southern Tagalog to Bulacan is one of the best solutions to improve the worsening traffic problem in Metro Manila.

The project forms part of the more than P2-trillion transportation plan presented to the Philippine government by Japan International Cooperation Agency in its “Road Map for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas.”The MMDA admitted that Metro Manila still needs inter-city expressway of 426 kilometers until 2030.

Faeldon reverses Lina port directive

By John Paolo Bencito CUSTOMS Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon has rescinded the midnight deals entered into by his predecessor Alberto Lina by suspending docking of foreign vessels and their loads of cargo at the sub-port of the Manila North Harbor.

Faeldon’s Memorandum Order No. 20-2016 effectively suspended Lina’s previous two orders: Memorandum Order Nos. 11-2016 and 12-2016—effectively once again treating the Manila North Harbor as a “domestic port” until further notice.

“The effectivity of Customs Memorandum Order No. 112016, allowing foreign vessels to dock and its (sic) cargoes handled and cleared at the sub-port of North Harbor and CMO No. 12-2016, prescribing the operational guidelines therefore, is hereby suspended until further notice,” part of the documents obtained by the Manila Standard read.

Before stepping out of office, then Customs Commissioner Lina, in a last-minute order, allowed the Manila North Harbor Ports Inc., one of the three major Manila ports, to engage in international trade by granting it Authorized Customs Facilities status.

When Lina’s memo came under fire, the former Customs chief said the MNHPI concession was for a “friend” identified as businessman Ramon Ang. “I would grant him an ACF even if it’s my last day in office or last minute in office on June 30,” Lina said.

In his June 9 memo, then Philippine Ports Authority officer-in-charge Raul Santos stressed Custom’s jurisdiction over certain ports is limited only to those not within the exclusive jurisdiction of other regulatory bodies, and in the Manila North Harbor Ports Inc.’s case, it legally falls under PPA. Santos warned that allowing MNHPI to handle foreign cargoes will constitute a violation of its existing contract with PPA that limited its operations to domestic cargoes only—the result of a competitive public bidding in 2009.

The PPA has said foreign vessels cannot proceed to Manila North Harbor for purposes of anchorage and/or docking at its berths and unloading of their cargoes, among others, because the MNHPI’s contract is for the provision of domestic terminal services only.

TIME FOR CHANGE. Quezon City Jail inmates who graduated from the Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System sing

national anthem during their graduation ceremony on Monday. A total of 42 inmates graduated from the program aimed at helping inmates reform their lives. Manny Palmero

FA50 Eagle grounded after Clark bird strike

By Florante S. Solmerin ONE of the two brand new South Korean-made FA50 “Golden Eagle” lead-in fighter jet platforms of the Philippine Air Force was rendered non-operational after its engine was hit and totally destroyed by a “bird strike.”

“It’s true, one of our FA50 had a bird strike and was grounded because its engine was totally destroyed. I just don’t know if it was only one or both engines,” a former officer of PAF who asked

not to be identified told the Manila Standard.

The Manila Standard tried but failed to get an immediate comment from PAF spokesman Colonel Araus Robert Musico and learned that the incident was not reported.

According to the source, the bird strike hit the FA50 jet at the PAF’s runaway at Clark Airfield in Pampanga sometime in March.

“As of now, only one of the FA50s is able to fly because the

engine of the damaged jet has not been replaced,” the source said.

In November 2015, the first batch of two of 12 FA50s ordered from the Korean Aerospace Inc. was delivered to PAF. Two more are set to arrive before the end of 2016 and the rest until 2017.

The supersonic lead-jet fighters that are yet to be armed with missiles were bought by the government with a total amount of P18.9 billion.

During the election campaign,

President Rodrigo Duterte had criticized the procurement of the lead-in jets as a “waste of money.”

At present, Duterte has prioritized the procurement of naval fast-craft and high-speed combat helicopters to first address the internal security operations especially in Mindanao where kidnapping remains a problem.

But Duterte has promised to continue modernization efforts being started by the previous administration.

Oil firms increase prices

by P1.45

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE country’s oil firms raised pump prices by as much as P1.45 per liter starting Tuesday due to market speculations a slowdown in global oil production.

The oil firms raised the price of diesel and kerosene by P1.45 per liter and gasoline by P1.35 per liter to reflect the movement in the international oil market.

This is the second consecutive weekly price increase which reflects the market’s optimism of a possible production freeze by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Analysts are eagerly anticipating the results of the planned meeting by Opec and non-Opec members at the sidelines of an energy conference in September.

Among the oil firms who issued the price increase advisories were PTT Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum and Eastern Petroleum. Other oil companies are expected to follow suit.

“Phoenix will increase the prices of gasoline by P1.35 per liter and diesel by P1.45 per liter effective 6 a.m. of August 23, 2016,” Phoenix said.

The Energy Department, in its monitoring report world oil prices also went up due to forecasts of supply decline due to refinery situations in China and Thailand.

It said losses in Nigerian output and increase in the number of rigs operating in the US oil fields also pushed up oil prices.

Analysts, meanwhile, expect world oil prices to settle between $50 to $60 per barrel by the end of the year.

World oil prices have been on a downward trend since late 2014 due to oversupply.

Oil prices also went up last August 16 by P0.55 for gasoline, P0.70 for diesel and P0.65 for kerosene.

Diesel prices in Metro Manila currently range from P25.25 to P31.30 per liter while gasoline sells from P35 to P44.55. Kerosene, meanwhile, sells from P28.55 to P39.75 per liter.

Pump prices vary depending on the brand, location of the station and market forces.

Miners seek okay of LGU share bill

By Rio N. Araja THE mining industry urged lawmakers on Monday to prioritize the approval of the revenue-sharing bill that would directly give the local government units a bigger tax.

At the Pandesal Forum in Quezon City, Michael Toledo, Philex Mining Corp. senior vice president for public and regulatory affairs, said amid the huge “excise taxes, other types of taxes, royalty fees, social development projects and infrastructure expenses,” miners nationwide welcome the review of the revenue-sharing scheme to benefit the areas of the mining operations and even the entire province.

“For one reason or another, it [bill] was not passed. The [past]

government did not give [much] importance on revenue-sharing,” he said.

“We are open to revenueshare scheme,” he said, adding mining plays an important role in the development of the rural areas.

“Let’s not forget that if there is no mining in an area, there is no government. What do I [mean] if there is no government? There are no roads, water, electricity, livelihood [opportunities], schools and hospitals where there is no mining,” he said.

“Where there are mining operations, there are developments. I am saying this not because we want to enhance and expedite the business, but it is stated in the law. We cannot evade the law.”

FOLLOW THROUGH. Senator Miguel Zubiri, guest of honor at the Cavite Biofuel Producers Inc. and Bukid Verde Inc. festival in Magallanes, Cavite, pledged to work on follow-through legislation that will shield farmers from economic integration. Standing with him are Magallanes Mayor Jasmin MaligayaBautista (third from right) and the representatives of CBPI and BVI.

2 Makati studes top international academic tilt for biopesticide invention TWO public school students in Makati City have won gold medal at the 5th World Invention Creativity Contest 2016 held at the Seoul Trade Exhibition and Convention in Seoul, South Korea last month.

The young inventors Maven Tavas and Glaiza Orion earned the award for a biopesticide solution that was exhibited under the Environment and Biology Category of the said event.

Makati City Mayor Abigail Bi-

nay congratulated them during their recent courtesy call at her office, and expressed her delight over the consecutive victories of the city’s public school students in international academic competitions.

“Congratulations to both of you for earning international recognition through your ingenuity. Thank you for all the hard work you have done to come up with an excellent invention. Your parents and your school are surely very proud of you

both, and so are we, your city government, and the people of Makati,” Binay said.

The mayor noted that students from Makati public schools who qualified to represent the country in international math competitions in Thailand and Hongkong last July also did well.

Accompanied by their school principal Ma. Corazon Jose and coach Lilybeth Lumapas, grade 10 students Tavas and Orion exhibited their invention named “The

Insecticidal Activity of Fractionated Catharantus roseous (Pink Periwinkle) Leaf Extract against Corcyra cephalonica (Rice Moth) and Tribolium castaneum (Red Flour Beetle).”

On Day One, the participants set up and decorated booths for their respective inventions. On day two, the participating teams took turns in presenting their product in front of the judges, who asked them about the product description, strength, imple-

mentation, and patent, among others.

Other countries that participated in the competition included Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, USA, Taiwan and China, among others.

WICC, organized by the Korea University Invention Association, aims to promote science and technology as an essential element in nurturing the youth’s creativity, innovation and development, and give them an opportunity to pre-

sent their inventions to an international audience.

The inventions may be created using any media and should fall under any of 10 categories: architecture; environment and biology; electric, electronic and computer; stationery and education; health and medical items; furniture and interior design; automotive, transportation, and machines; sporting goods; related to household items; and other inventions. Joel E. Zurbano

Sports

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Pacman starts training for fight

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

E

IGHT-DIVISION world champion Manny Pacquiao has begun training for his fight against unbeaten Jessie Vargas at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Nov. 5.

MEMBERS OF THE FOTON PILIPINAS team are shown before the team left Sunday to compete in the 2016 Select Tuna Thailand Volleyball

Championship in Sisaket, Thailand as part of its preparation for the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship from Sept. 3 to 11 at the Alonte Sports Center in Binan City. Aside from newly appointed head coach Fabio Menta of Italy, also with the team are imports Lindsay Stalzer and Ariel Usher, guest players Aby Marano and Jen Reyes, as well as mainstays Cherry Rondina, Maika Ortiz, Rhea Dinaculangan, Bia General, EJ Laure, Ivy Perez, Patty Orendain and Angeli Araneta.

PH Stadium is UP track team’s new home THE country’s biggest track and football stadium in the country is now the new home of the University of the Philippines track and field team.

This was announced on Saturday at the launch of the nowheretogobutUP Foundation, set up to solicit and manage contributions for the varsity athletes of perennially cash-strapped UP. According to Atty. GP Santos IV, the Chief Operating Officer of the Philippine Arena, where the Philippine Stadium is located, the assistance package includes free use of the facilities of the Philippine Stadium for training, transportation to and from the practice venue, and recovery meals for the coaches and players of the UP Men’s and Women’s Track

and Field Team.

“We are honored to partner with one of the most promising athletic programs in the country, one headed by one of the leading figures in the running movement in the Philippines,” said Santos, referring to Coach Rio dela Cruz, head coach of the UP track team.

“The Philippine Arena just wants to do its share to develop our nation’s athletes, and contribute to producing medal winners in the next Olympics in Tokyo four years from now,” said the lawyer.

Aside from hosting the practices of UP’s track hopefuls, the Philippine Arena will also shoulder the expenses for the team’s uniforms, shoes, gear, dorm, equipment and other ba-

sic needs and essential requirements like tournament accommodations.

Coach Rio, as he is fondly called by the running community, said that with assistance like that provided by the Philippine Arena, “UP’s team is on the right track.”

According to the running guru, “there’s no doubt that our country has a lot of talent, and much of that talent finds its way to UP. What we need to do to build a winning program is develop that talent—and this is what this contribution can really help us do.”

Philippine Azkals and UP Maroons’ Manager Dan Palami, who is also the President of the nowheretogobutUP Foundation, welcomed the “very generous

contributions of Philippine Arena,” as well as the commitments of the sponsors of UP’s other varsity teams.

“We all know that as a state university, UP has funding limitations; it’s time for the alumni to step up and work together to tap partners like Philippine Arena and other corporate sponsors, so that our athletes will be competitive in competitions like the UAAP,” explained Palami.

The Philippine Arena is the largest indoor arena in the world, with a seating capacity of 55,000. Located in the Philippine Arena compound in Bulacan, the Philippine Stadium, on the other hand, is the largest track and football stadium in the Philippines, with a seating capacity of 25,000.

Cilic snaps Murray’s net streak CINCINNATI—Former US Open champ Marin Cilic snapped Andy Murray’s 22 match win streak Sunday to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 title with a 6-4, 7-5 win at the Cincinnati tournament.

The 94-minute victory for the 27-year-old Croatian marked a career breakthrough as he earned his first Masters title on his 71st career attempt.

“This week is going to be remembered, it’s really, really something special,” said Cilic, who had seven aces and broke Murray three times.

“I look forward to the US Open in a couple of weeks.

I hope we can continue with good form.”

Cilic accomplished the feat on little rest, as he did not leave the court after his semifinal win over Grigor Dimitrov until 2:00 am Sunday morning due to rain delays.

Olympic silver medalist Angelique Kerber lost to Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 in the women’s final of the joint WTA-ATP tournament.

The defeat ended Kerber’s chances of replacing Serena Williams as the No. 1 ranked player in the world.

It was the German’s the second defeat in a final in just over a week after losing to Monica Puig in the gold medal Rio match.

“I tried my best, but sometimes you have days where it’s not working so good,” Kerber said.

Cincinnati is only Cilic’s second title since winning the US Open two years ago.

Murray has been on a tear this season, winning grass titles at Queen’s and Wimbledon before triumphing a week ago over Juan Martin del Potro at the Olympic final. AFP

FOOTBALL CLINICS. The second leg of the nationwide grassroots football development program Football

For A Better Life, organized by Spears Activation, in cooperation with the Azkals Foundation and sponsored

by Pru Life UK, attracted more than 100 teams from the host city and other neighboring cities and provinces. The two-day event held last week end at Cimafranca subdivision in Barangay Daro, featured a free football clinic and an age-group football tournament. The clinic was supervised local football hero and Azkal player Rex Cuaresma and Fil-Briton Meralco UFL player Graham Caygill. Photo shows some of the kids in the football clinic with Caygill and Cuaresma

In a conversation with Manila Standard after his Mahindra Enforcer team in the Philippine Basketball Association emerged victorious over Blackwater Elite, Pacquiao pointed out that he continues to play basketball because it’s his passion and it’s the same thing with boxing.

Pacquiao buried a threepoint shot and had the crowd roar every time he touched the ball during the game.

He said he will pick up the tempo of his training for the Vargas fight in a few weeks.

He insisted Vargas is no pushover and that he won’t take the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion, whose only loss was to Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley, lightly.

Vargas claims Bradley was saved from being knocked out in the final round when referee Pat Russell ended the bout 10 seconds early. Russell mistook the 10-second warning for the bell to end the title fight.

Boxing Scene quoted Vargas who said, “More than anything I would say I am happy because this fight came at the perfect time and the perfect

moment. A moment where I have a great team behind me.

They are bringing out the best in Jessie Vargas and you still haven’t see the best that I have to offer. You will see it on November 5th. That is for sure without a doubt,” said Vargas who believes his best is yet to come. “Mark my words, November 5th will be even better than the win over Sadam Ali. Just watch!”

Vargas scored a ninth-round TKO over Ali last March.

Boxing Scene said, “another key factor in Vargas’ favor is his experience against southpaws. In 2014 Vargas fought three times - all against lefties - and he feels that his experience against Khabib Allakhverdiev, Anton Novikov and Antonio DeMarco (all three were unanimous decision victories for Vargas) will prove to be invaluable.”

“Definitely it has helped me a lot and not only that but we have several times prepared for it. We have long term sparring partners that will help me prepare for but definitely those experiences will help me prepare for it,” said Vargas.

Lascuña seeks to snap Bayron’s winning run TONY Lascuña hopes to flash the form he dished out in dominating the field last year as he guns for back-toback championship in the ICTSI Classic firing off tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. Lascuña 24) at the Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country club in Lipa City, Batangas.

The former three-time Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner beat Jay Bayron, Clyde Mondilla and Robert Pactolerin by six to rule this event last year, finishing with a run of under-par scores for a 15-under 273 total, including a closing six-under 66.

But the amiable Davaoeño shotmaker will be coming into the P2 million event trying to regain his winning ways that netted him four victories, including three straight at Eagle Ridge, Forest Hills and Bacolod the last two months, as he has struggled a bit in the last three legs of the tour sponsored by ICTSI. He did turn in two top six finishes at Aboitiz and Riviera to remain in the lead in this year’s OOM derby but Bayron and Mondilla have closed in, making it a three-way battle for the coveted award with four legs left in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

In fact, Bayron is hot on back-to-back title feats in Aboitiz Invitational and ICTSI Riviera Classic while Mondilla is coming off a strong second place finish at Riviera two weeks ago, making the duo the chief threats to Lascuña’s title-retention drive.

“Jay is on a roll while Clyde is playing as good coming off an injury. But I like my chances at Malarayat although I need to putt well to win again,” said Lascuña.

But the troika will have a slew of rivals to fend off, including young guns Jobim Carlos, Justin Quiban and Keanu Jahns and veterans Jhonnel Ababa, Ferdie Aunzo, Jerson Balasabas, Rufino Bayron, Michael Bibat, Jun Bernis, Marvin Dumandan, Mhark Fernando, Anthony Fernando, Zanieboy Gialon, Charles Hong, Benjie Magada, Mars Pucay, Joenard Rates, Rey Pagunsan, Orlan Sumcad, Arnold Villacencio and Elmer Salvador.

Dutch Guido Van der Valk also tries to finally score a breakthrough win in the circuit after a number of near-misses along with fellow foreign bets Dillon Soldwisch of the US, Yuta Sudo of Japan, Koreans Park Jun Song, Kwon Hyuk Jin and Chang Chang Guo.

NLEX’s Cardona now stable after failed suicide attempt

By Jeric Lopez THERE will be more life to live for Philippine Basketball Association cager Macmac Cardona.

The NLEX guard is now reportedly stable after being hospitalized last Sunday night at the Perpetual Help Hospital in Las Pinas’ following an overdose of pills, apparently from a failed suicide attempt.

Cardona is now stable and conscious. He was never comatose, but was unconscious for several hours after arriving in the hospital.

However, he is still confined in the Intensive Care Unit of the said hospital.

NLEX immediately released a statement to express the team’s support for Cardona during these trying times.

“Macmac (Cardona) is part of the NLEX Road Warriors’ team.

We are providing whatever assistance he needs from us during this time,” said NLEX team manager Ronald Dulatre.

Dulatre also asked the public for more privacy for Cardona and his family.

“We urge the public to allow Macmac and his family to have privacy at this difficult time,”

he added.

Fellow PBA players also showed their support. Some offered best wishes and prayers to the former La Salle star through their social media accounts.

The troubled Cardona found himself in the headlines of TV Patrol, ABS-CBN’s nightly news program, after a complaint was filed against him by his live-in partner Bianca for domestic abuse.

Canino, Capilitan, Azote top Shell CDO chessfest ROMEO Canino dominated his last three matches to snare the juniors’ crown while Euniel Capilitan sustained his form to nail the kiddies’ title in the 24th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship’s Northern Mindanao leg held at the Cyberzone of SM City Cagayan de Oro last Sunday.

Canino, half-a-point behind Aaron Caresosa after six

rounds, swept his last three games, including a final round romp over Marc Villarojo, as the Liceo de Cagayan University stalwart emerged solo champion in the 13-16 category with 8.5 points.

Aldin Ranario of MOGCHS, tied with Canino heading into the last three rounds of the Swiss system tournament sponsored by

Pilipinas Shell, racked up 2.5 points, including a finalround victory over Ronald Canino, to finish second with 8 points and clinched the other berth in the national finals.

On hand during the awards rites were Melanie Bularan, Social Performance and Social Investment Manager of Pilipinas Shell, and Shell Active chess alumnus Randolf

Christopher Dalauta, now with the Engineering Department of Xavier University.

They were joined by Shell executives Janot Barretto, Social Perfomance Advisor of Pilipinas Shell, Rocci Litao, Social Perfomance Assistant of Pilipinas Shell, Janice Manzon, Executive Assistant of Vice President for External Relations of Pilipinas Shell.

That was just the start of a whirlwind of a weekend for the man called “Captain Hook.”

A few hours after the report came out, the 34-year-old Cardona posted an alarming photo on his Instagram account of a blender jar half-filled with pills.

Several hours later, it was reported that he was taken to the hospital unconscious after taking an overdose of sleeping pills.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

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

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

Sports

USA’s guard Kevin Durant (left), center DeAndre Jordan (center), forward Carmelo Anthony (right) and teammates celebrate after defeating Serbia during a Men’s Gold medal basketball match between Serbia and USA at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. AFP

Romasanta calls PH’s Rio performance a ‘good run’

R

IO DE JANEIRO — Kirstie Elaine Alora, the last Filipino athlete to compete in the Rio Olympics, carried the country’s colors in Sunday’s closing ceremonies at the iconic Maracana Stadium.

The Rio Olympics came to a close, and the Tokyo Olympics was formally introduced.

Alora said if she stays fit, she will give the Olympics another shot in 2020, hoping to do better than her already gallant stand last Saturday.

“If our association still wants me to, I will try to qualify,” said Alora.

The closing ceremony lasted three hours, and featured Brazilian music, dances by half-naked women in Carnival attire and the Japanese Prime Minister in a Super Mario costume.

Everybody looked forward to the Tokyo Olympics after Rio formally bade goodbye.

International Olympic Commititee president Thomas Bach said the Rio Olympics, like all the rest, will be remembered with joy.

People will remember the historic run of Usain Bolt and the ripples created by Michael Phelps.

“History will talk about a Rio before and a much better Rio after these Games,” said the IOC president.

For the Philippines, which won a silver medal courtesy of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, it’s time to move on to the next battles ahead – the SEA Games, Asian Games and then Tokyo.

Chef-de-mission Jose Romasanta gave an assessment of the Philippine participation here.

He called it “a good run” in that the country ended a 20-year medal drought in the Olympics. Diaz came here eyeing the bronze in the women’s 53 kg class, and won the silver.

Medals can be won in the Olympics, according to Romasanta, if the Philippines does what needs to be done. He said it has to do a better job discovering talents that can deliver the goods.

“It’s about time we come up with a really organized approach, a documented program, professional in manner, management style,” he said.

“We need a third eye. We need to commission an independent body with the objective of assessing what really has to be done,” said the first vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

Romasanta is speaking from experience because as head of the now-defunct Project: Gintong Alay, he managed to steer the country to great heights in sports.

“We need an agency or a group to champion this. I’m batting for a management group to help everybody through it and to help organize our plans,” he said before the closing ceremony.

Romasanta said the Philippines can’t keep going back to the drawing board

Diaz pleads more aid for her sport RIO Olympic Games’ silver medalist AW1C Hidilyn F. Diaz expressed hope that more support and incentives will be given to athletes participating in weightlifting.

She also wished that Zamboanga City, her hometown, will become the country’s hub for weightlighting and be given the necessary equipment and facilities to make this happen.

Diaz said such support will be a definite morale boost to athletes.

She made this statement shortly after being presented by the “Outstanding Achievement Medal” by Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Gen. Ricardo Visaya at the GHQ Canopy Area, Camp Aguinaldo,

Quezon City on Monday.

Diaz was also given a “Plaque of Recognition” for her “extraordinary achievement and distinguished service rendered as the first female Filipino athlete to win a silver medal (in the Olympic Games).”

“Airwoman First Class Diaz brought national pride which merited public recognition of the highest order for her accomplishment as the country’s lone athlete-delegate to the said international event to win a medal for the Philippines,” Diaz’s “Outstanding Achievement Medal” citation read.

The silver medalist was given a hero’s welcome by the Philippine Air Force last Aug. 18 in an awarding ceremony at the Vil-

lamor Air Base, Pasay City.

She was also promoted to the AW1C or one step higher from her former rank of AW2C The 25-year-old Diaz, a native of Zamboanga City, won her silver medal in the women’s 58kg class event, which was won by Chinese Hsu Shu-ching of Chinese Taipei via a record-breaking fashion.

In the snatch event, she only tallied 88 kgs, but recovered in the clean and jerk lift, successfully lifting a 112 kg lift in her second attempt, for a total of 200 kg, against Hsu. Her silver medal win on Aug. 7 (Brazil time) was the Philippines’ first Olympic medal in 20 years and the first ever for a Filipina. PNA

Braves defuse Light Bombers, 85-80

By Peter Atencio THE Arellano University Braves banked on the heroics of Guilmer de la Torre in the endgame to repulse the Jose Rizal University Light Bombers, 8580, Monday in the 92nd National Collegiate Athletic Association junior basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

De la Torre’s timely triple in the last 1:17 allowed the Braves to hold off JRU’s late rally.

Arellano posted its 11th win in 12 games to share the lead with the defending champion San Beda Red Cubs.

Sam Abu Hijle showed the way with 27 points and 13 rebounds to carry the Red Cubs to an 80-66 smothering of the Lyceum Junior Pirates.

Arellano and San Beda stayed on track for the top two slots in the Final Four semifinals.

The Light Bombers, behind Jeremiah Guzman with 20 points, gave the Braves a scare when they threatened, 77-81, in the last 1:41.

A charity from Marlon Espiritu and then a trey from De la Torre in the ensuing play allowed the Braves to keep their distance, 85-77.

“That’s what happens when you relax. It’s really difficult to win.

Guilmer (Dela Torre) is like that.

He’s reliable. That’s automatic,” said Braves’ coach Tylon Darjuan.

In other games, Jasper Salenga and Sherwin Concepcion shot 17 points each to power the Mapua Red Robins to a 9166 swamping of the San Sebastian Staglets. The Robins tallied their ninth victory in 11 outings.

The Letran Squires got crucial baskets from rookies Neil Guarino and Miguel Labrador in the closing minutes to turn back the University of Perpetual Help Junior Altas, 78-70.

after each international competition, and can’t rely on sports summits that doesn’t really mean a thing.

“Hindi puwede dakdakan lang (It can’t be all talk). It has to come in an organized manner. We can all have our two cents’ worth. But we need to put things in fine form and professionally done,” he said.

To be successful in the Olympics, the Philippines must first identify the sports where Filipinos can really excel, and then find the talent from as far as the eyes can see.

“Why not go to the provinces to look for kids with physical attributes for a certain sport? Somebody has to have that eye for this and recruit them,” he said.

“What I’m saying is there should be an organized and identified steady stream of athletes for particular sports if we want more qualifiers in the Olympics,” he added.

Then the Philippines can really look forward.

Sports body to consult stakeholders IN an effort to strengthen the country’s grassroots program, the Philippine Sports Commission will hold a series of consultative meetings next month.

PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said they will formulate the policy of the Philippine government after they have met with the many groups involved in sports by the third week of September.

“These consultation meetings will be for all the stakeholders to appreciate the plans of the PSC for Philippine sports,” said Ramirez.

While strengthening the PSC’s grassroots program, Ramirez said they are also setting the stage for the revival of the Philippine Sports Institute.

This will be done in partnership with the Philippine Olympic Committee and the various national sports associations under the POC. “The government is taking the lead here because we’re funding it. As for the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Games, the Olympics and other international competitions, that’s with our partner, the POC,” said Ramirez.

Peter Atencio

USA stars rip Serbia for 3rd gold in a row RIO DE JANEIRO—Completing a third consecutive unbeaten run to gold, the United States crushed Serbia 96-66 in Sunday’s Rio Games basketball final to win its sixth Olympic title with NBA talent in seven tries.

Kevin Durant scored 18 of his 30 points in the second quarter to trigger the rout, stretching the USA’s Olympic winning streak to 25 games and its decade-long unbeaten string to 76 in what was the final gold medal match of the Games.

With the win, US forward Carmelo Anthony became the first man with three Olympic basketball gold medals.

He was on the 2004 team that settled for bronze, a result that sparked a re-organisation of the USA programmed that has gone unbeaten in the Games since.

“It was a special moment for me,” Anthony, 32, said of the third gold. He ruled out returning for Tokyo 2020.

“I know this is the end. This is it for me. I committed to this in ‘04. I’ve seen the worst and I’ve seen the best. I’m here today three gold medals later.”

It was the USA’s 15th overall men’s basketball gold medal since the sport was first added to the Olympic line-up in 1936.

It was also the farewell game for US coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will be replaced by San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

A Serbian team that tested the US squad before falling 94-91 in a group stage game —the closest call yet in the Americans’ long Olympic win streak—stayed close for barely a quarter before the NBA playmakers went wild.

Serbia led 14-11 with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter when the Americans, who opened the game shooting only 5-of-17 from the floor, began a 32-8 run to break it open.

Durant, who joins the NBA Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors next season, had 14 points in the pivotal spurt including a spectacular steal and fast-break slam dunk.

Although it went unbeaten, the USA was played a little too close for comfort in most of its Rio Games.

That raised doubts about the ability of the newly assembled team to play as a unit and handle the perpetual motion of international play.

Anthony and Durant were the only players to return from 2012.

“It was the best thing that happened for us,” centre DeMarcus Cousins said of those wake-up calls. AFP

NU recovers in time NATIONAL University blew a huge lead in the second set but recovered in time to repulse University of Santo Tomas and hack out a 25-21, 29-27, 25-13 victory at the start of the quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Collegiate Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig Monday.

Aiko Urdas and Jaja Santiago pumped in a hit each as the Lady Bulldogs pulled through in an extended second set duel which they dominated at 21-13 only to crumble with miscues and poor service reception. After another slow 0-3 start in the third, the defending champions rattled off five straight points and went on to dominate their rivals to post the lopsided set win and complete their sweep of the España-based squad in the mid-season conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

“This is a morale boosting win for us especially that we’re coming from a loss,” said NU assistant coach Edjet Mabbayad, referring to their stinging 15-25, 25-27, 17-25 defeat to the Ateneo Lady Eagles last Saturday that kept the latter in the quarters hunt.

NU, which finished the Group A elims with a 3-1 card, still has to wait for the result of the AteneoTechnological Institute of the Philippines knockout match for the last quarterfinal berth being played at presstime to determine its carryover mark.

NU setter Risa Sato (5) foils UST’s Christine Francisco’s attack to underscore the Lady Bulldogs’ solid net defense during their quarterfinal match in the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference.

windowset Liberty to exit local exchange

B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

B1

Govt plansstandard to revamp GOCCs Standard standard

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

HE government plans to overhaul the operations of government-owned and -controlled corporations by stripping them of commercial functions, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Monday.

T

Dominguez said the government was looking at splitting the commercial and regulatory functions of several GOCCs,

including the National Food Authority, and continue the privatization of government’s power assets handled by Power

Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.

“We will continue the privatization program, particularly in PSALM where the [energy] assets are. So we’re also making a big push in privatization,” Dominguez told reporters at the sidelines of the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee hearing at the House of Representatives.

Dominguez denied reports the government might abolish

1

NFA. “That has been discussed and still under discussion. It’s not abolition of NFA. It’s separating the commercial from regulatory functions,” Dominguez said.

Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. earlier said he would recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte the abolition of NFA, National Irrigation Administration and National Electrification Administration.

Evasco said NFA might be

turned into pure regulatory body, after incurring a P167billion debt. He said NEA was also causing trouble to hundreds of electric cooperatives.

Dominguez said the government should be involved only in regulatory functions and dispose off commercial functions.

The Finance Department earlier said it planned to unload more properties for privatiza-

tion, including United Coconut Planters Bank and Philippine Postal Bank in three years.

Dominguez said the government also planned to privatize casinos and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., which handles regulations of the gaming industry and the operation of state-owned casinos.

“I am sure those will be under consideration, also the banks that we still have,” Dominguez said.

Miners bullish overstandard $34-b project pipeline Standard standard standard sta Petron Standard standard sta files application THE Philippines mining crackdown will separate good companies from bad ones and the industry is optimistic over prospects for $34 billion in projects to be developed in the next six years.

Most of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines’ 20plus members meet international standards and comply with the country’s environmental regulations, executive vice president Nelia Halcon told a briefing in Manila Monday.

In terms of the pipeline, “these projects have been approved and it’s only a matter of pushing their development,” Halcon said, referring to ventures that include the $5.9-billion Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato province and Philex Mining Corp.’s $900-million Silangan project in Surigao del Norte. “We’re always hopeful,” she said.

President Rodrigo Duterte

tasked Environment Secretary Gina Lopez with leading an audit of the nation’s mining industry for environmental compliance, and she has suspended at least eight nickel-ore miners that failed to meet standards.

Lopez said in July that she won’t allow Tampakan to start operations, while earlier this month she said the developers of the project must explain why its environmental permits shouldn’t be suspended for alleged violations.

Mining can do a lot of good if the government regulates the industry and listen to experts, University of the Philippines National Institute for Geological Sciences director Carlo Arcilla said Monday.

Arcilla said while mining could do some environmental damage, the industry could also engage in responsible mining.

“Mining is a complicated business. It’s easy to condemn,

2

but it can do a lot of good provided that it is regulated, the environment is protected and the government is willing to listen to experts,” Arcilla said at Pandesal Forum in Kamuning, Quezon City.

The mining industry consists of 40 large-scale metallic mining companies, 65 non-metallic firms, and an estimated 300,000 small-scale and illegal operators throughout the country.

Environment Secretary Regina Lopez said, however, the capital-intensive extractive industry was not labor-intensive, employing only 250,000 Filipinos, or 0.6 percent of total labor force.

“This is how unsustainability manifests itself. Irresponsible mining has a perverse vicious cycle: mining businesses produce mining-related jobs for affected communities. Obviously, communities stay long after

mining operations close down.

The people are not given sustainable livelihoods that outlive mining,” Lopez said.

Arcilla said even if the industry was contributing only 1 percent to the local economy, “it might mean 100 percent to the involved communities.”

“Secretary [Lopez] has a very good heart but she has to be informed. There is no smoke without fire. There are really complaints and they should be answered. There are really problems in the mining [industry],” Arcilla said.

“But the thing is, mining is not over until the land is fully rehabilitated. It’s like construction of a building. There’s no construction site that looks good. When you are extracting soil, it really doesn’t look good. The problem comes in when the miner doesn’t rehabilitate,” Arcilla said.Bloomberg, with Anna Leah E. Gonzales

standard standard sta to sell P40-b fixed bonds

By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL distributor Petron Corp. filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register and sell P40 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds.

“The first tranche of the bonds to be offered has an aggregate principal amount of P15 billion, with an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion,” Petron said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday.

Petron did not disclose where it would use the proceeds from the bond issue.

The company said earlier it planned to put up over 250 new service stations in the Philippines and Malaysia this year.

There are nearly 2,800 Petron

stations in the two countries.

Petron president and chief executive Ramon Ang also said the oil firm was mulling over a plan to establish 12 retail stations along the 88.5-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

Ang also said Petron would upgrade the Port Dickson refinery in Malaysia. The company rebranded to Petron some 550 stations which the company acquired from Exxon Mobil.

Petron’s $2-billion refinery upgrade in Bataan started full commercial operations in January with higher utilization rate and increased production of higher-value fuels.

Ang said the company would also continue its retail expansion program both in the Philippines and Malaysia.

3

AN ALL-TIME HIGH FOR THE SELFIE REVOLUTIONS

Selfie expert OPPO F1s debuts in PH, sells out in three days OPPO F1s enters Philippine market and sold over 19,000 phones in just 3 days. A road show was held simultaneously in Metro Manila, Davao, and Cebu to mark the smartphone’s first day in stores. The selfie craze is at an all-time high as OPPO’s latest camera phone sells out in concept and dealer stores nationwide.

Nicknamed the ‘selfie expert’, the F1s made its debut in Philippine stores on August 19.

As of August 21, F1s were sold out across the country.

“We never expected that consumers would be this enthusiastic about the F1s. It’s overwhelming to know that our first units sold out in three days ,” said OPPO Marketing Brand Manager Stephen Cheng. “We are excited to deliver more F1s units to stores, especially because we want more people to have the ultimate selfie experience.”

Amazing selfies anytime, anywhere The latest addition to OPPO’s F1 series captures vibrant selfies at any time of the day,

thanks to its 16-megapixel front-facing camera that has a 1/3.1-inch sensor and a large f/2.0 aperture.

The latest iteration of its beautification app, Beautify 4.0, also comes with an Auto Mode Screen Flash and eight filters for amazing selfies just the way users want them to be.

The phone’s panorama feature also makes it more convenient to take ‘groufies’ while the palmactivated shutter allows for easier and faster selfies.

The F1s is further equipped with an equally powerful 13-megapixel rear camera that has its own plug-ins such as the upgraded Expert Mode, Ultra-HD, GIF, and double exposure.

Powerful, speedy, beautiful Just like its predecessor, the F1 plus, the F1s uses fingerprint recognition that can unlock the phone in 0.22 seconds.

The phone’s fingerprintactivated app launch assigns fingerprints to up to five apps or contacts for quick access through the home button.

An octa-core processor

OPPO customers enjoying the show and waiting for exciting games brought by OPPO Philippines

OPPO Manila Sales Team leading the crowd to have fun and do the OPPO dance craze—SM North Edsa backed by a 3GB RAM, 32 GB ROM, and the ColorOS 3.0, adds power to the phone’s hardware. Thanks to the power optimizations of the ColorOS combined with a 3075mAh battery, users can hope to use the phone all day.

The sleek metal body of the F1s has a 5.5-inch 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 4 screen to create an exceptional gaming and movie experience for users.

Available at zero percent interest Financial service provider Home Credit, OPPO’s longtime partner, is also offering the F1s at zero percent interest for six months. The promo kicked off on the first day of the F1s in stores.

The smartphone’s suggested retail price is PhP12, 990.

OPPO customers patiently waiting for their F1s—SM Manila

B2

Business

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks up; Megaworld gains T

HE stock market gained Monday, ignoring the losses registered in the rest of the region on improving growth prospects.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 50.46 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,981.21 on a value turnover of P6.3 billion.

Gainers beat losers, 107 to 84, with 50 issues unchanged.

SM Investments of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. added 1 percent to P695, while unit SM Prime Holdings Inc., the biggest integrated property company, climbed 1.2 percent to P29.

Megaworld Corp., the largest lessor of office spaces, advanced 3.3 percent to P5.04, while Cebu Air Inc., operator of the biggest budget carrier, rose 2.5 percent to P125.

Most Asian markets fell Mon-

day but the dollar rose on bets on a US interest rate hike this year after the Federal Reserve’s vice chairman said the country’s economy was picking up.

Stanley Fischer said Sunday the world’s top economy was meeting all the Fed’s targets and that growth would improve, hinting that borrowing costs could rise this year.

Fischer was speaking as his boss, Janet Yellen, prepares to give a closely watched speech at the Jackson Hole gathering of global central bankers Friday.

His comments provided some much-needed support to the dol-

lar following the release last week of minutes showing Fed policymakers wanted to keep their “options open” for monetary policy as they assess the global outlook.

The board was divided on the near-term danger of inflation, with some seeing little threat but others worried that there could be a sudden upward push on prices as the jobs market tightens.

However, the latest comments raised the possibility that the bank could lift rates at its next policy meeting next month.

In afternoon trade the dollar bought 100.78 yen, up from 100.20 yen in New York Friday and much better than the levels below 100 yen touched in the middle of last week following disappointing economic data.

The euro eased to $1.1281 from

$1.1324.

“Janet Yellen’s speech on Friday will have the biggest impact on short-term market moves, especially if she follows in Stanley Fischer’s relatively hawkish tone,” Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG Ltd, told Bloomberg News.

The weaker yen helped Japan’s Nikkei stock index to end 0.3 percent higher, while Hong Kong added 0.3 percent although other markets struggled. Sydney fell 0.2 percent and Shanghai closed 0.8 percent lower, while there were also steep losses in Seoul, Singapore and Taipei.

In early European trade London, Paris and Frankfurt each fell 0.3 percent.

Oil prices sank more than one percent after last week’s rally af-

ter Iraq said at the weekend that it intends to increase shipments, according to Bloomberg News, while US firms again increased their rig count. The stronger dollar also hit demand as it makes crude more expensive for anyone holding other currencies.

West Texas Intermediate slipped 1.7 percent to $47.71 and Brent fell 1.7 percent to $50.01.

The losses come after a sevenday rally that saw the commodity enter a bull market—a 20-percent rise from recent lows—as it emerged that the Opec producers club and its rivals will meet next month, with speculation they could discuss ways to tackle an oversupplied market.

However, there remain doubts about whether a deal to address output would be reached. AFP

THE STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 0.92 2.6 890 1.01 100 30.5 75 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 0.74 1.02 625 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 59 2.65

AG Finance 3.45 Asia United Bank 47.6 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 113.20 Bank of PI 105.00 China Bank 38.3 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 3.70 Bright Kindle Resources 1.50 COL Financial 16.4 Eastwest Bank 21.25 Filipino Fund Inc. 6.95 First Abacus 0.78 I-Remit Inc. 1.87 Manulife Fin. Corp.

580.00 MEDCO Holdings 0.690 Metrobank 89.8 PB Bank 14.7 Phil Bank of Comm 24.00 Phil. National Bank 60.60 Phil. Savings Bank 100.2 PSE Inc. 280 RCBC `A’ 32.3 Security Bank 215.6 Union Bank 73.40 Vantage Equities 1.5

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 148

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 32

20.6 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 79 3.95 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5 5.25 12.98 6.75 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 1450 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17

15.32 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 34.1 2.3 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.37 3.87 8.45 3 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 801 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 1.2

Aboitiz Power Corp.

46.4 Agrinurture Inc. 3.13 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.83 Alsons Cons.

1.8 Asiabest Group 14.18 C. Azuc De Tarlac 207.80 Cemex Holdings 12.66 Century Food 16.84 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 147 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 23.5 Concepcion 59.85 Crown Asia 2.23 Da Vinci Capital 5.78 Del Monte 12.7 DNL Industries Inc. 11.300 Emperador 7.72 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.00 EEI 8.99 First Gen Corp.

25.2 First Holdings ‘A’ 72.2 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.20 Holcim Philippines Inc. 16.00 Integ. Micro-Electronics 6.75 Ionics Inc 2.320 Jollibee Foods Corp.

252.60 Liberty Flour 41.00 LMG Chemicals 2 Mabuhay Vinyl 4.15 Manila Water Co. Inc. 26.5 Maxs Group 32.1 Megawide 14.24 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 313.00 MG Holdings 0.270 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 4.80 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.5 Petron Corporation 11.36 Phil H2O 3.16 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 6.33 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.68 Pryce Corp. `A’ 3.86 RFM Corporation 4.21 Roxas Holdings 3.7 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 220.2 Splash Corporation 3.05 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.153 TKC Steel Corp.

1.99 Trans-Asia Oil 2.36 Universal Robina 191.5 Victorias Milling 4.68 Vitarich Corp.

2.24 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.24

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 0.66 1455 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.225 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 1.15 2.26 0.152 837 49.55 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 1.5 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ F&J Prince ‘B’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital JG Summit Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

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

0.390 75.65 16.04 1.22 6.18 0.390 0.385 896 8.81 12.70 6.28 7.01 7.05 0.215 1530 82.00 7.77 0.78 17.38 7.29 0.0360 1.210 1.900 84.00 2.28 688.00 1.37 0.95 207.000 0.3100 0.2010 0.285

10.5 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 5.6 1.44 1.97 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9

6.74 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 2.8 0.79 1.1 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 23 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1

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

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

Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc.

7.990 1.25 2.950 0.260 41.100 3.1 5.11 5.6 0.570 1.07 0.160 0.650 59.95 0.800 1.08 1.94 1.14 4.88 0.128 39.00 3.37 30.00 1.69 3.29

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.46 3.24 47.75 47.5 115.00 113.30 105.00 104.80 38.25 38.15 4.00 3.90 1.54 1.48 16.68 16.3 22.15 21.25 6.97 6.97 0.84 0.74 1.97 1.87 600.00 600.00 0.740 0.670 90 89.55 14.7 14.68 24.00 24.00 61.00 60.20 100.3 97 280 277 32.5 32.3 215.8 213.6 74.00 73.15 1.5 1.49 INDUSTRIAL 46.5 46 3.16 3.05 0.83 0.81 1.8 1.76 15.3 13.02 200.00 180.10 12.8 12.5 17.06 16.94 149 146 23.85 23.4 59.8 59.7 2.28 2.22 5.77 5.7 12.9 12.7 11.400 11.220 7.78 7.69 6.03 5.87 9.00 8.65 25.4 25 73.6 72.3 12.80 12.20 16.10 15.92 7 6.46 2.330 2.300 253.00 250.60 49.55 43.00 2 2 4.18 4.16 26.75 26.5 32.1 31.7 14.4 14.06 313.80 312.00 0.295 0.270 5.05 4.75 3.45 3.37 11.36 11.30 3.15 3.15 6.35 6.23 1.70 1.65 4.05 3.85 4.20 4.20 3.7 3.68 221 220 3.07 3.04 0.155 0.150 2.03 1.90 2.36 2.33 192.3 189.7 4.72 4.72 2.53 2.22 1.24 1.23 HOLDING FIRMS 0.395 0.385 76.50 75.05 16.28 16.04 1.26 1.17 6.26 6.20 0.405 0.390 0.400 0.385 902 893 9.04 8.81 12.86 12.56 6.58 6.5 6.01 6.01 7.10 7.00 0.213 0.203 1545 1525 82.85 81.60 7.9 7.67 0.82 0.78 17.5 17.1 7.43 7.23 0.0360 0.0350 1.200 1.200 1.910 1.900 83.95 82.85 2.28 2.28 695.00 685.00 1.38 1.37 1.11 0.95 210.000 207.400 0.3150 0.3100 0.2030 0.1980 0.290 0.280 PROPERTY 8.050 7.950 1.31 1.25 3.190 2.970 0.260 0.260 41.200 40.850 3.12 3.08 5.16 5.03 5.6 5.6 0.6 0.580 1.06 1.01 0.164 0.159 0.650 0.640 61.8 60 0.790 0.780 1.09 1.07 1.95 1.93 1.19 1.16 5.05 4.89 0.129 0.119 39.00 38.00 3.46 3.38 31.40 30.00 1.75 1.68 3.36 3.26

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.46 47.75 114.70 105.00 38.2 3.90 1.52 16.3 21.9 6.97 0.76 1.96 600.00 0.670 89.7 14.7 24.00 60.60 100.3 280 32.45 213.6 73.50 1.49

0.29 0.32 1.33 0.00 -0.26 5.41 1.33 -0.61 3.06 0.29 -2.56 4.81 3.45 -2.90 -0.11 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 0.46 -0.93 0.14 -0.67

99,000 27,000 802,660 729,310 94,000 3,000 171,000 13,300 541,000 100 28,674,000 6,000 180 16,761,000 1,600,640 20,500 1,400 52,610 110 140 24,200 681,620 114,650 107,000

46.15 3.13 0.83 1.77 14.2 200.00 12.66 16.96 147 23.8 59.7 2.28 5.7 12.86 11.380 7.75 5.96 8.70 25.15 73.6 12.30 15.96 7 2.300 253.00 49.55 2 4.16 26.75 32.1 14.22 313.00 0.285 5.01 3.38 11.30 3.15 6.35 1.65 4.04 4.20 3.68 221 3.07 0.150 1.95 2.34 191 4.72 2.43 1.24

-0.54 0.00 0.00 -1.67 0.14 -3.75 0.00 0.71 0.00 1.28 -0.25 2.24 -1.38 1.26 0.71 0.39 -0.67 -3.23 -0.20 1.94 0.82 -0.25 3.70 -0.86 0.16 20.85 0.00 0.24 0.94 0.00 -0.14 0.00 5.56 4.38 -3.43 -0.53 -0.32 0.32 -1.79 4.66 -0.24 -0.54 0.36 0.66 -1.96 -2.01 -0.85 -0.26 0.85 8.48 0.00

1,146,500 712,000 233,000 2,161,000 197,400 50 18,110,800 2,919,000 1,170 10,834,600 2,180 385,000 41,700 67,100 3,462,200 614,900 14,088,700 2,017,600 544,600 391,570 5,600 11,000 6,890,300 1,120,000 309,320 7,300 10,000 9,000 710,000 721,000 2,288,000 96,160 6,090,000 38,000 668,000 4,734,200 3,000 509,800 390,000 1,290,000 10,000 9,000 20,740 252,000 11,470,000 2,983,000 212,000 1,422,000 6,000 81,488,000 219,000

0.395 75.75 16.28 1.26 6.20 0.390 0.385 902 9.01 12.60 6.5 6.01 7.10 0.213 1539 82.85 7.9 0.78 17.48 7.35 0.0360 1.200 1.900 83.95 2.28 695.00 1.37 1.07 210.000 0.3100 0.2030 0.280

1.28 0.13 1.50 3.28 0.32 0.00 0.00 0.67 2.27 -0.79 3.50 -14.27 0.71 -0.93 0.59 1.04 1.67 0.00 0.58 0.82 0.00 -0.83 0.00 -0.06 0.00 1.02 0.00 12.63 1.45 0.00 1.00 -1.75

390,000 2,089,280 4,277,900 116,000 13,900 11,550,000 1,190,000 234,820 856,000 12,336,500 200 1,200 199,000 190,000 87,510 2,059,810 1,779,800 56,000 2,712,300 16,123,600 9,300,000 10,000 285,000 147,850 40,000 279,360 201,000 3,232,000 2,060 1,350,000 1,560,000 500,000

7.990 1.27 3.180 0.260 41.200 3.12 5.11 5.6 0.580 1.01 0.160 0.650 61 0.790 1.08 1.95 1.19 5.04 0.120 39.00 3.4 31.40 1.73 3.35

0.00 1.60 7.80 0.00 0.24 0.65 0.00 0.00 1.75 -5.61 0.00 0.00 1.75 -1.25 0.00 0.52 4.39 3.28 -6.25 0.00 0.89 4.67 2.37 1.82

703,200 3,262,000 12,042,000 10,000 4,295,700 636,000 21,800 200,000 5,090,000 22,000 13,600,000 3,811,000 883,100 11,000 3,896,000 14,203,000 193,000 52,252,000 15,010,000 700 736,000 1,323,600 785,000 226,000

968,275.00 34,453,981 46,976,486.00 2,547,940.00 -195,880.00 511,770.00 -11,620 108,000.00 -76,570.00 -109,470,815.00 -1,086,253.00 159,010 -49,666,796.00 2,929,193.50 26,640,325.00 5,310.00 17,762,632.00 -22,516,672.00 321,890.00 125,580 86,580.00 8,943,800.00 612,586.00 7,434,309.00 278,463.00 -3,632,875.00 11,850,890.00 5,249,791.00 870.00 -18,685,796.00

620,135.00 -4,900,580.00 7,965,216.00 -5,582,750.00 -380,180.00 18,122,406.00 -1,569,907.00 -119,000.00 -44,100.00 -305,000.00 56,480.00 30,720.00 -18,880.00 -48,688,064 -63,230.00

96,438,632.50 -8,901,550.00

-4,000.00 26,542,315 3,471,649.00 -22,364,176.00

3,429,135.00 -21,116,977.00 1,963,810.00 -4,559,522.00 -8,023,250.00 2,000.00 190,733.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

10.5 66 1.09 14.88 28.5 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 4 2720 8.41

1.97 35.2 0.63 10.5 18.2 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 2.58 1600 5.95

1.97 119.5 7 5.8 12.5 0.017

1.23 102.6 3.01 4 8.72 0.011

0.8200 2.2800 5.93

0.041 1.200 2.34

12.28 3.32 3.2 95.5 1 2.46 15.2

6.5 1.91 1.95 3.1 0.650 1.8 6

1.040 22.8 6.41 4 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.37 14.54 3 2.28 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 3.06 0.020 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 1.54 0.012 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

70 553 525

33 490 500

120 8.21 12.28 111 1060

101.5 5.88 6.5 101 997

1047

1011

78.95 84.8

74.5 75

66,618,595.00 -35,620.00 -162,400.00 -37,200.00

6.98

0.8900

949,470.00 11,340.00 -6,269,530.00

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

5,018,020.00 -519,820.00

130.7

105.6

4,100.00

21,342,578.50

SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

SHARES

FINANCIAL

50,525,249

INDUSTRIAL

181,989,562

HOLDING FIRMS

45,241,560.00 121,000.00

PROPERTY

High

77,019,296 160,218,732

SERVICES

206,107,324

MINING & OIL

281,387,800

GRAND TOTAL

961,269,418

28.65 0.94 1.030 6.360

Low

29.35 28.55 0.98 0.95 1.050 1.020 6.410 6.300 SERVICES 2GO Group’ 7.16 7.3 7.18 ABS-CBN 50.3 50.7 50.15 APC Group, Inc. 0.600 0.600 0.590 Asian Terminals Inc. 11.6 11.6 10.78 Berjaya Phils. Inc. 5.75 5.8 5.75 Bloomberry 6.44 6.63 6.44 Boulevard Holdings 0.0950 0.0960 0.0940 Calata Corp.

2.74 2.78 2.73 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 122 125 122 Centro Esc. Univ.

9.13 9.5 9.5 Discovery World 2.1 2.33 2.2 DFNN Inc. 5.06 5.30 4.99 Easy Call “Common” 3.05 3.17 3.03 Globe Telecom 2146 2162 2138 GMA Network Inc. 6.37 6.40 6.34 Golden Haven 15.80 16.00 15.46 Harbor Star 1.36 1.63 1.35 I.C.T.S.I. 80.6 81.6 79 Imperial Res. `A’ 21.00 21.40 20.70 Imperial Res. `B’ 171.5 172.5 156 IPeople Inc. `A’ 11.58 11.8 11.58 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.0087 0.0087 0.0087 IPM Holdings 9.30 9.34 9.25 Island Info 0.300 0.310 0.300 ISM Communications 1.4900 1.4900 1.4100 Jackstones 3.5 3.8 3.5 LBC Express 12.6 12.5 12.5 Leisure & Resorts 4.60 4.89 4.61 Liberty Telecom 2.90 2.55 2.20 Macroasia Corp.

2.35 2.30 2.29 Manila Broadcasting 21.45 21.35 21.00 Manila Bulletin 0.570 0.610 0.610 Manila Jockey 1.99 2 2 Melco Crown 4.18 4.38 4.01 Metro Retail 5.40 5.40 5.30 NOW Corp.

3.910 3.930 3.800 Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 11.26 11.34 11.26 PAL Holdings Inc. 6.09 6.08 6.00 Paxys Inc. 2.5 2.5 2.5 Phil. Seven Corp.

130.00 133.00 129.00 Philweb.Com Inc. 5.66 6.22 5.30 PLDT Common 1824.00 1848.00 1827.00 PremiereHorizon 0.440 0.440 0.430 Premium Leisure 1.020 1.020 0.990 Puregold 45.40 45.85 45.50 Robinsons RTL 82.00 83.95 81.95 SBS Phil. Corp.

6.35 6.55 6.30 SSI Group 3.24 3.40 3.24 STI Holdings 0.640 0.640 0.620 Travellers 3.5 3.54 3.49 Waterfront Phils.

0.330 0.330 0.330 Yehey 6.390 6.490 6.030 MINING & OIL Abra Mining 0.0040 0.0040 0.0039 Apex `A’ 3.12 3.15 3.00 Atlas Cons. `A’ 4.00 4.00 3.92 Atok-Big Wedge `A’ 9.62 9.62 9.62 Basic Energy Corp.

0.215 0.220 0.215 Benguet Corp `A’ 2.2100 2.12 1.88 Benguet Corp `B’ 2.5500 2.1100 2.1100 Century Peak Metals Hldgs0.58 0.58 0.57 Coal Asia 0.425 0.425 0.420 Dizon 8.31 8.96 8.03 Ferronickel 0.840 0.840 0.810 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.275 0.285 0.275 Lepanto `A’ 0.198 0.203 0.197 Lepanto `B’ 0.217 0.220 0.220 Manila Mining `A’ 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 Manila Mining `B’ 0.0110 0.0120 0.0120 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 1.7 1.72 1.68 Nickelasia 5.74 5.92 5.65 Nihao Mineral Resources 2.74 2.8 2.68 Oriental Peninsula Res. 1.0300 1.0100 0.9800 Oriental Pet. `A’ 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 Petroenergy Res. Corp.

4.14 4.23 4.17 Philex `A’ 8.74 8.73 8.55 PhilexPetroleum 3.90 3.97 3.75 Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 Semirara Corp.

112.00 114.80 112.00 TA Petroleum 3.54 3.67 3.54 United Paragon 0.0095 0.0095 0.0095 PREFERRED ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 50.4 50.45 50.05 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 538 530 525 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 539.5 533.5 531.5 DD Pref 104 103.9 103.5 First Gen G 119 115.5 115.4 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.08 6.09 6.08 Leisure and Resort 1 1.02 0.98 MWIDE PREF 110 111.5 111.4 PCOR-Preferred A 1040 1050 1050 PCOR-Preferred B 1150 1140 1140 PF Pref 2 1038 1030 1030 PNX PREF 3A 111 104 104 SMC Preferred B 78.5 78.55 78.5 SMC Preferred C 81.5 81.4 81.1 SMC Preferred D 78 78 77.95 SMC Preferred E 79 79 77 SMC Preferred F 79 79.2 79 SMC Preferred G 79 79 78.5 SMC Preferred H 77.25 77.8 77.55 SMC Preferred I 77.7 78 77.7 WARRANTS & BONDS LR Warrant 2.000 2.000 1.850 SME Alterra Capital 4.75 4.74 4.51 Makati Fin. Corp.

4.1 4.2 3.8 Italpinas 5.13 5.25 5.14 Xurpas 16.2 16.2 16.02 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS First Metro ETF 131.3 131.3 130.5

TRADING SUMMARY

-6,221,240.00

-578,720.00 279,365.00

Close

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

29.00 0.97 1.020 6.330

1.22 3.19 -0.97 -0.47

9,944,400 3,445,000 269,000 3,158,000

-41,090,355.00

7.21 50.5 0.600 11.58 5.75 6.54 0.0940 2.77 125 9.5 2.2 4.99 3.04 2160 6.37 15.80 1.60 80.5 20.80 171.9 11.8 0.0087 9.34 0.300 1.4400 3.62 12.5 4.69 2.30 2.29 21.35 0.610 2 4.28 5.33 3.820 11.3 6.07 2.5 133.00 5.30 1845.00 0.440 1.000 45.60 82.00 6.54 3.33 0.630 3.49 0.330 6.460

0.70 0.40 0.00 -0.17 0.00 1.55 -1.05 1.09 2.46 4.05 4.76 -1.38 -0.33 0.65 0.00 0.00 17.65 -0.12 -0.95 0.23 1.90 0.00 0.43 0.00 -3.36 3.43 -0.79 1.96 -20.69 -2.55 -0.47 7.02 0.50 2.39 -1.30 -2.30 0.36 -0.33 0.00 2.31 -6.36 1.15 0.00 -1.96 0.44 0.00 2.99 2.78 -1.56 -0.29 0.00 1.10

24,100 24,010 918,000 5,800 2,000 7,623,800 31,600,000 1,869,000 1,010,350 15,100 27,000 433,800 16,000 33,690 85,700 273,700 4,552,000 2,494,150 34,300 910 62,300 15,000,000 1,157,500 13,960,000 1,526,000 313,000 600 1,471,000 8,825,000 37,000 1,200 13,000 20,000 22,110,000 4,255,600 5,122,000 1,883,600 97,800 5,000 860 5,759,600 41,720 1,390,000 31,538,000 4,791,200 540,200 9,941,700 9,588,000 4,194,000 411,000 30,000 2,000

0.0039 3.01 3.98 9.62 0.215 1.9900 2.1100 0.57 0.420 8.23 0.830 0.275 0.200 0.220 0.0100 0.0120 1.7 5.9 2.76 1.0100 0.0120 4.23 8.70 3.76 0.0120 113.70 3.65 0.0095

-2.50 -3.53 -0.50 0.00 0.00 -9.95 -17.25 -1.72 -1.18 -0.96 -1.19 0.00 1.01 1.38 -9.09 9.09 0.00 2.79 0.73 -1.94 0.00 2.17 -0.46 -3.59 -7.69 1.52 3.11 0.00

60,000,000 887,000 160,000 700 400,000 237,000 72,000 112,000 310,000 21,000 32,476,000 190,000 6,010,000 50,000 141,600,000 3,200,000 773,000 10,057,300 154,000 77,000 10,000,000 190,000 634,000 2,287,000 8,800,000 1,440,870 86,000 1,000,000

50.4 525 531.5 103.5 115.4 6.08 1.01 111.5 1050 1140 1030 104 78.5 81.1 77.95 77.8 79.2 79 77.55 78

0.00 -2.42 -1.48 -0.48 -3.03 0.00 1.00 1.36 0.96 -0.87 -0.77 -6.31 0.00 -0.49 -0.06 0.25 0.00 0.39 0.39

230,650 1,260 3,700 172,470 10,000 319,300 6,577,000 1,780 200 5 110 48,600 15,500 22,270 170 34,600 2,400 106,900 7,910 346,600

1.870

-6.50

1,713,000

9,400.00

4.55 4.19 5.18 16.14

-4.21 2.20 0.97 -0.37

3,496,000 54,000 195,100 259,600

472,770.00

131.3

0.00

3,630

2,616.00

5,004,988.00

18,000.00 6,690,153.00 312,410.00 62,022,639.00 229,700.00 12,680.00 18,537,890.00 -68,896.00 -46,200.00 52,009,767.00

-2,339,500.00

-637,570 1,787,840.00

-34,461,070.00 -2,850,171.00 686,400.00

-615,627.00 14,335,000.00 99,200.00 -16,904,170.00 -33,436,610.00 -2,651,361.50 64,650.00 724,430.00 -1,557,610.00 -538,880.00

-91,800.00 -55,460.00

Canada’s TVI eyes 2016 IPO

By Jenniffer B. Austria TVI Pacific Inc. of Canada said it may pursue a planned P1.51-billion initial public offering for local unit TVI Resources Development Corp. in the second half of 2016.

TVI Pacific said in a recent corporate presentation the Philippine IPO would give the company an opportunity to raise funds to finance acquisition and development activities.

“The PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) listing will allow TVI Pacific to monetize portions of its TVIRD holdings which will represent an ongoing source of non-dilutive funding during a time when capital is difficult to raise for new project acquisition and development activities,” TVIRD said.

The listing will also significantly enhance TVI Pacific’s investment value. TVI Pacific holds a 30.66-percent interest in TVIRD. TVIRD originally planned to hold its maiden share offering in 2015. The company decided to defer it to 2016 because of the delay in securing regulatory approvals and volatile market conditions.

Latest preliminary registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that TVIRD planned to sell 408 million shares consisting of 272.02 million in primary shares and 136 million in secondary shares at an offering price of up to P3.71 apiece.

The shares represent 15 percent of the outstanding common stocks of the company after the IPO.

PNB’s savings unit nets P182.7m

By Julito G. Rada

-13,316,380.00

18,363,198.00 -242,880.00

-101,724.00 -419,200.00 13,773,052.00

335,419.00 8,288.00 -1,944,121.00 -361,200.00 198,460.00

-5,054,400.00

3,675.00 -1,101,636.00

VALUE 1,837.09 (up) 3.40 521,503,804.85 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 12,146.92 (down) 0.46 1,574,453,632.88 HOLDING FIRMS 7,905.88 (up) 59.25 1,540,926,456.05 PROPERTY 3,631.31 (up) 39.74 SERVICES 1,601.34 (up) 11.02 1,006,711,070.91 MINING & OIL 10,627.54 (up) 65.54 1,379,134,549.54 PSEI 7,981.21 (up) 50.46 274,247,638.3415 All Shares Index 4,723.01 (up) 25.51 6,319,001,425.596 Gainers:107; Losers: 84; Unchanged: 50; Total: 241

PNB Savings Bank, a unit of Philippine National Bank, said net income in the first half jumped 156 percent to P182.7 million from P71.4 million a year ago on the sustained strength of its core businesses.

The bank said in a statement Monday the first six months’ performance surpassed its 2015 full year net income of P167.2 million.

Net interest income increased 53 percent, driven by the sustained growth in core business as bookings on both housing and auto loans doubled. Loan portfolio stood at P23.5 billion, more than double its year-ago level.

“Despite the aggressive expansion of the lending business, the bank’s asset quality remained well-managed as gross non-performing loans ratio declined further to 2.65 percent from 4.03 percent a year ago,” it said.

The bank intensified its deposit generation as total deposits reached P18 billion, up 88 percent year-on-year from P9.53 billion. Growth in deposits was primarily fueled by the increase in long-term deposits that were matched with the long term assets of the bank.

PNBSB’s total resources as of end-June 2016 tgotaled P30.2 billion, up 44 percent.

Capital base stood at P11.35 billion, translating into a doubledigit capital adequacy ratio that was well above the minimum 10 percent required by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Business

B3

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Govt studying plan to give fuel subsidy

MERALCO LIGHTS UP VILLAGE.

Residents of Bagong Parañaque Homes II in Barangay La Huerta finally get connected to Manila Electric Co.’s power service after the city government, through Urban Mission Areas Development Office, teams up with Manila Electric Co. and One Meralco Foundation to undertake the project through the Community Electrification Program.

Shown during the ceremonial switchon ceremony are Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez (center) and Meralco area manager Manny Macatangay along with Parañaque Rep. Eric Olivarez, Parañaque First Lady Janet Olivarez and public information office chief Mar Jimenez.

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE government is studying a plan to provide fuel subsidies to the poor to reduce the impact of higher excise tax on petroleum products, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Monday.

Dominguez said under the plan, the higher income groups should pay more taxes than the poor.

The Finance Department recommended an increase in excise tax on fuel from the current P4.35 to P10 per liter of gasoline and P6 for diesel products.

Dominguez cited data showing that of the 20 million families in the Philippines, about 2 million families or 10 percent were consuming 60 percent of the oil.

He said 200,000 of the top income families in the Philippines were consuming 20 percent of oil supply in the country.

Dominguez said the proposed tax reform would involve granting targeted subsidies, similar to the cash allowance given to 4Ps [Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program], to the people who needed support to offset the possible increase in value added tax and excise tax on oil products.

“So rather than using the VAT to support poor people, we will use targeted subsidies. So in general, for the lower income people, the result should be actually beneficial and not eroding their incomes,” he said.

“As a general rule, the rich will have to pay more in taxes while the vulnerable sectors of society will be protected through highly targeted subsidies and the conditional cash transfer program. We will ensure that ordinary workers and the bottom 50 percent of households will be fully protected through social protection programs,” Dominguez said.

Liberty set to exit local bourse

By Darwin G. Amojelar

P

LDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. would shell out P364.94 million to acquire the remaining shares in Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. as a part of the latter’s plan to exit the local bourse.

The new owners of Liberty Telecoms through Vega Telecom Inc. are making the tender offer for up to 165.88 million common shares representing 12.82 percent of the issued and outstanding common stock held by the public for P2.20 per share or for a total of P364.94 million.

The offer period is set on Aug. 24 to Sept. 21, while settlement is on Oct. 31.

PLDT and Globe offered to buy the remaining sharehold-

ers after they each acquired 50 percent of Vega Telecom, a subsidiary of San Miguel for P69.1 billion. Vega Telecom owns Liberty Telecoms.

The purpose of the tender officer is for Liberty Telecoms to comply with the requirement for voluntary delisting of its common shares with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“If Liberty Telecoms is delisted, its common shares will no longer be traded on the PSE and

this could affect investors’ ability to liquidate their investments,” the company said.

The new board of directors of Liberty Telecoms has to approve the filing of a petition for the delisting of the company. subject to the approval of the PSE. Vega Telecoms said it would continue the business of Liberty Telecoms and would review strategic options and take steps necessary to reduce and eliminate the current loss-making position of Liberty.

Liberty Telecoms posted a net loss of P158 million in the first half, lower than P427-million loss in the same period last year.

The company’s revenues went down 14 percent to P127 million in January to June from P145 million in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Commission is unlikely to recall the mobile frequencies acquired by PLDT and Globe Telecom from San Miguel even if the Philippine Competition Commission rejected the transaction.

“The agency that has the authority over spectrum is NTC. If you have the power to issue, you also have the power to recall. But any actions by the commission should study the impact on the public,” NTC deputy commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said.

Cabarios said the spectrum sharing would continue even if PCC rejected the transaction “unless the parties will write to the commission that they will stop the sharing of frequencies.”

“So, if you recall, what will

happen? Naturally, it would affect public interest and public welfare. So that’s your problem,” he said.

Cabarios said the consumers were expected to see a significant improvement of the 700-megahertz frequency sharing before the end of the year.

The regulator earlier approved the co-use by Globe and Smart Communications of frequencies assigned to Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc. on conditions the broadband and Internet access speed would improve in a year, with the companies required to submit a progress report on a quarterly basis.

Globe was allowed to use the 703-720.5/758-775.5 megahertz, 880-885/925-930 Mhz, 17101717.5/1805-1812.5MHz, 23802395 MHz and 2555-2595MHz.

‘The Emperor has no clothes’ WHENEVER I think about the things that are happening in this country today, I am reminded of a Hans Christian Andersen story that I heard when I was young. The story was about a little boy and the Emperor of his country. I thought at the time that it was a story for children and that I would have no use for it when I had grown up. I was wrong: I find the story very relevant to what is happening today to this country and to the Filipino people.

The story was about two weavers who promised to make for a vain Emperor the finest suit from a fabric invisible to anyone “unfit for his position” or “simply stupid.” They mime dressing that Emperor up in that suit. Because the Emperor himself did not want to appear stupid or unfit for his position, he pretended he could see the magnificent suit. Every one of his ministers, fearing of appearing unfit for their position, was all praises for the imaginary suit. As His Imperial Majesty made his way down a grand procession to display his magnificent suit, his subjects bowed and kowtowed, playing along with the pretense, not wanting to appear stupid. Then a child in the crowd, with all innocence, blurts out that the Emperor had no clothes.

True enough, the Emperor was dressed only in his imperial shoes. Everyone in the room knew it, and could see it, but only an innocent, guileless little boy pointed out the obvious fact.

I have been reminded of this story, and am bringing it to the knowledge of people who have not heard or read it, because the situation in this country today resembles the situation depicted in the story. There are present-day counterparts of the characters in the story.

Today, there is an Emperor-like character in this country, an Emperor-like figure who thinks he has an overwhelming mandate from the people and who conducts himself in the manner of someone who thinks that his imagined overwhelming mandate gives him the right to do and say anything. There are also millions of people who, for one reason or another – loyalty, opportunism or fear – believe that everything that the Emperor-like figure does and says is acceptable, proper and moral.

Like the subjects of the Emperor in the story, they see today’s Emperor as fully clothed even though he is going around in his birthday suit.

How about the little boy? In today’s national situation is there a counterpart of the little boy who, in all youthful innocence, tugged at his father’s trousers and exclaimed “The Emperor has no clothes!”

Many Filipino boys have already said “The Emperor has no clothes,” and as the Emperor has committed mistake after mistake, their number is steadily growing.

Yes, the Emperor is every bit as naked as the day he was born. Unfortunately, there are many in this country today who have neither the integrity nor the courage to say that indeed the Emperor is wearing no clothes.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

7-ELEVEN FRANCHISEE. 7-Eleven franchise officers and specialists welcome visitors at the recently-

concluded Franchise Asia Philippines Expo 2016 at SMX Convention Center in Mall of Asia, Pasay City. 7-Eleven, through its local licensee Philippine Seven Corp., presents successful franchise packages, which can be availed through regular new store franchise or through property conversion. The investment packages, ranging from P3.5 million to P5 million, offer suitable franchise partners a unique opportunity to benefit from a proven system and ongoing support.

MAP pushes subway in Edsa

By Othel V. Campos THE Management Association of the Philippines threw its support behind a proposal to build a multi-line subway system in Metro Manila.

MAP said in a statement most large cities in Asia had subways, with Metro Manila a notable exception. The group recommended that Edsa be used as the priority line for fasttrack planning and implementation of the subway starting from North Avenue to Makati, complementing the Metro Rail Transit Line 3.

The route can be part of an overall urban improvement plan to transform Edsa into a world-class efficient, lessvehicle centric, calmer and pleasant tree-lined pedestrian friendly avenue, the group said.

MAP also pushed for a presidential executive order to encourage planners and prospective proponents to pursue the project and name the Edsa subway “Mabuhay Metro Line 1” to signify a resurgent Philippines, said MAP governor-in-charge for traffic and transportation Eduardo Yap. Trade undersecretary Noel Kintanar earlier said the government would revive the previously planned east-west oriented subway along Edsa to serve Taguig-Bonifacio Global City, Ayala Center and Mall of Asia in Pasay.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. said it was supporting the granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to resolve the traffic problem.

Aboitiz, EDC power plants undergo maintenance

By Alena Mae S. Flores ABOITIZ Power Corp. subsidiary Therma South Inc. said a 150-megawatt unit of the 300MW Davao baseload power plant will undergo a 17-day maintenance outage starting Aug. 22 for preventive maintenance.

“This maintenance activity is necessary to review unit 1 and to implement some corrective measures as needed which should be similar in nature to the coverage of work done in the recently planned outage of unit 2 from June 18 to July 13,” said Therma

South president and chief operating offer Sebastian Lacson.

The maintenance activity started Aug. 21 and is expected to last until Sept. 7.

“We are confident that after this outage, TSI should be better equipped to reliably meet the needs of our customers. As always, we will try our best to keep the duration of this interruption to a minimum,” Lacson said.

Meanwhile, Energy Development Corp. said the 77-megawatt unit 2 of Malitbog power plant experienced a “flashover” inside the high voltage terminal box last week, which caused the

plant to trip.

“On Aug. 17, 2016, the 77MW Malitbog unit 2 power plant experienced a flashover inside the high voltage terminal box, which caused Malitbog unit 2 to trip at around 5 p.m. on that day,” EDC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

EDC said that at the time of the incident, Malitbog unit 2 was offline and was in the process of testing and commissioning of its automatic voltage regulator under the supervision of ABB, the manufacturer of tAVR, as a part of a 30-day scheduled maintenance outage.

“The incident did not have any impact on the grid as Malitbog unit 2 was not synchronized to the grid at that time, and no injuries were sustained by any of the personnel involved,” the company said.

Malitbog power plant is a part of the Unified Leyte geothermal power plants, which are whollyowned by EDC. The Unified Leyte geothermal power plant complex consists of 232-MW Malitbog power plant, 125-MW Upper Mahiao, 180MW Mahanagdong power plants and the 51-MW optimization plants.

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

B4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

Business

Fed official signals rate hike F

EDERAL Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer signaled that a 2016 rate hike is still under consideration, saying the US economy is already close to meeting the central bank’s goals and that growth will gain steam.

“We are close to our targets,” Fischer said in a speech at the Aspen Institute in Aspen, Colorado on Sunday. “Looking ahead, I expect GDP growth to pick up in coming quarters, as investment recovers from a surprisingly weak patch and the drag from past dollar appreciation diminishes,” he added, without giving explicit views on his rate outlook.

Fischer’s remarks come less than a week before Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks Aug. 26 at

an annual symposium hosted by the Kansas City Fed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Investors are looking for clues from central bankers on the timing of potential interest-rate increases amid modest economic growth, strong job gains, and only moderate increases in inflation.

“It would be quite an event if Fischer went out so close to Yellen’s speech this week and said something” the Fed Chair disagrees with, said Roberto Perli, a partner at Cornerstone Macro

LLC and former Fed board economist. “While I don’t expect Yellen to provide much rate guidance in Jackson Hole, I think she will echo Fischer’s upbeat assessment of the US economy.”

The central bank boosted borrowing costs for the first time in seven years in December, and has left the benchmark lending rate unchanged at its five meetings so far this year. On Sunday, Fischer said the behavior of employment has been “remarkably resilient” even as the economy has passed through several shocks, while GDP growth has been “mediocre at best.”

While the economy has done “less well” in moving toward the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target, Fischer said the central bank’s preferred price benchmark, mi-

nus food and energy costs, at 1.6 percent was “within hailing distance of 2 percent.”

Fed officials at their most recent policy meeting in July debated progress on inflation, with most continuing to forecast it would rise to their 2 percent target over the medium term versus a minority group which saw downside risks to prices, minutes from the gathering showed.

“He is pushing back a little bit against the views of the market and some of his more dovish colleagues,” said Michael Hanson, senior global economist at Bank of America in New York. “He is saying it makes sense to consider some additional normalization of rates.”

Fischer spent much of his speech discussing the slowdown in worker output per hour, or pro-

ductivity, noting that it increased 1.25 percent per year on average from 2006 to 2015, compared with 2.5 percent from 1949 to 2005.

“A 1.25 percentage point slowdown in productivity growth is a massive change, one that, if it were to persist, would have wide-ranging consequences for employment, wage growth, and economic policy more broadly,” he said.

Fischer said monetary policy isn’t equipped to boost productivity growth. He said the “key” to boosting output per hour “is more likely to be found in effective fiscal and regulatory policies,” citing improved public infrastructure, better education, and incentives for private investment. Bloomberg

VW stops operation in 6 plants FRANKFURT, Germany— German auto giant Volkswagen said on Monday it would halt production at six plants for several days as a legal dispute with two key suppliers deepened.

Around 27,700 workers at factories in Emden, Zwickau, Kassel, Salzgitter, Brunswick, and the firm’s home base of Wolfsburg would see their work hours slashed by the end of August, the group said in a statement.

VW had been forced to take the drastic measures at the factories that produce some of its most popular models including Passat sedans and Golf compacts after the two suppliers of gearbox parts and seat covers halted deliveries.

“Although the state court in Brunswick issued temporary injunctions requiring the suppliers to resume deliveries, they so far haven’t fulfilled this obligation,” the statement read.

Instead, the components’ manufacturers are appealing the court decision.

VW said it would resume talks with the suppliers on Monday.

While the group “wishes to achieve a result through negotiations,” it may also pursue legal means, a spokesman said.

The parts suppliers say that VW broke off several contracts with no advance warning or compensation, leaving them with no choice but to suspend deliveries to protect their own businesses and workforce.

Reports in German media suggest that VW has been seeking concessions from all of its suppliers, amounting to several billion euros. AFP

NIGHT TUBE SERVICE. Two women take a ‘selfie’ while posing for a photographer on a platform inside Oxford Circus tube station in central London on August 19, 2016 on the night of the launch of the 24-hour night tube service. The Night Tube—a new service that will see the Victoria and Central lines run all night on Fridays and Saturdays was launched overnight Friday. It is expected the night tube will transport about 200,000 people between now and the end of the year. Bloomberg

Oil ends seven-day advance SINGAPORE―Oil prices eased in Asia Monday, ending a seven-day rally, following news that Iraq will boost crude exports, while the dollar strengthened on speculation the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates this year.

The commodity entered a bull market last week―after rising more than 20 percent from recent lows below $40 a barrel―on hopes producers will take action to ease the supply glut.

But gains were chipped in Asia after Bloomberg News reported that Iraq, Opec’s second-biggest producer, will increase exports by about five percent after an agreement to resume shipments from three oil fields.

At around 0720 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down 97 cents, or 2.0 percent, at $47.55 a barrel. Brent fell 98 cents, or 1.93 percent, to $49.90.

Analysts said a stronger dollar ahead of the Fed’s annual symposium of global central bankers from Thursday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, also dented demand as it makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Fed chair Janet Yellen will address the conference Friday, with investors focusing on what she has to say about its plans for monetary policy.

Talk of a fresh rate rise were fanned at the weekend

by Fed vice chairman Stanley Fischer who said Sunday the US economy was picking up and meeting all the bank’s targets.

The greenback rose against the yen, euro, pound and higher-yielding currencies Monday.

“Oil is buffeted by US dollar gains and news that Iraq plans to boost its exports, stoking fears that the supply glut will worsen,” said Bernard Aw, an analyst with IG Markets in Singapore.

“Fresh developments about an Opec discussion on a possible output freeze next month could provide a base for oil prices,” he told AFP. AFP

Chinese firm receives US nod to take over Syngenta for $43b CHINA National Chemical Corp. received approval from US national security officials for its takeover of Swiss agrochemical and seeds company Syngenta AG, seen as the biggest regulatory hurdle that the $43-billion acquisition faces.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has cleared the transaction, the companies said in a statement on Monday.

The deal, expected to be completed by the end of the year, is still subject to antitrust review by regulators worldwide, according to the statement.

“The CFIUS approval removes a major potential hurdle

and should come as a relief to Syngenta shareholders,” Christian Faitz, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said in a note.

Shares of Syngenta jumped as much as 12 percent. Since announcing the deal in February, the stock has traded below ChemChina’s bid price amid investor concerns that regulators in the US might block the deal. The takeover is leading a record wave of Chinese acquisitions that has prompted US officials to consider claims that some purchases could threaten national security.

Syngenta, which got more than a quarter of revenue last year from seeds and crop protection

in North America, would help transform state-owned ChemChina into a global pesticide and agrochemical giant. CFIUS, which is led by the Treasury Department and includes officials from the Defense and State departments, reviews acquisitions of US businesses by foreign investors for risks to American security and can recommend that deals be blocked. The committee often imposes conditions on transactions before clearing them, such as restricting the foreign company’s access to parts of the US business.

ChemChina is proposing to pay $465 a share plus a 5 Swiss franc

special dividend for Syngenta. At current exchange rates, the offer had been equal to about 451.87 francs a share versus the Aug. 19’s close of 380.80 francs, according to Kepler’s Faitz. Stock of the Basel-based company traded 11 percent higher at 422.4 francs as of 9:02 a.m. in Zurich.

The deal has come at a time when other major players in the agrochemical and seeds industry plan to merge, or are holding talks together. Dow Chemical Co. is combining with DuPont Co., and Bayer AG is targeting genetically-modified seeds maker Monsanto Co. Only BASF SE has remained on the sidelines of

the consolidation wave.

Approval by CFIUS may trigger criticism in the US A group of farm-state senators in March called on Treasury to closely scrutinize the Syngenta takeover, saying it could affect food security and safety as well as the US farm sector. In June, Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, called the deal “concerning” and said the US needs to consider “strategic questions” before approving the sale of agricultural assets to foreign governments. Reuters earlier reported the expected clearance earlier, citing unidentified people. Bloomberg

Better Gmail THERE are now more than 1 billion active message open, to go back to the inbox users of Gmail, 75 percent of whom access their mail on a mobile device. As useful as G+I = Go to your inbox mobile access is, however, it is on the desktop that Gmail shines, particularly if you take G+T = Go to sent mail advantage of some of its more less well known features. Here are a few that can help you G+A = Go to all mail get the most out of Google’s free web-based e-mail service.

G+D = Go to drafts 1) Turn on keyboard shortcuts. This is real old school, but all grizzled computer users will tell you that a keyboard shortcut will take you anywhere faster than a mouse. So go to Settings (it’s in the dropdown menu when you click on the gear icon) and in the General tab, scroll down until you find Keyboard Shortcuts and enable them. Don’t forget to scroll down some more and save your new settings.

Once the shortcuts are enabled, you can type Shift-? to get a help screen chockfull of useful shortcuts, including: C = Compose a new message R = Reply to a message you have selected U = Refresh your inbox, or, if you have a

4) See how many unread messages you have. Another feature you can enable with Labs, this gives you a visual reminder of the number of unread messages you have on the Gmail icon in fromsomeone@gmail.com: – Finds any e-mail its browser tab. from that “someone@gmail.com”

5) Use archive to keep your inbox is:unread – Finds all unread e-mails uncluttered. You can store away messages you most likely won’t be needing soon by filename:pdf – Finds emails with PDF archiving them. This will take them out of attachments (you can use other file extensions) Tab+Enter = Send a message you are your inbox, but they will still be in the All Mail link on sidebar. composing has:attachment – Finds all messages that have an attachment 6) Change the number of messages you see / = Put the cursor in the search box on a page. An option in the General tab in the after:2016/01/01 – Find e-mails sent or 2) Get a preview pane. If you’re missing the Settings menu, Maximum page size lets you received after Jan. 1, 2016 preview pane that traditional e-mail clients such choose how many messages appear one page of as MS Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird have, your inbox. Choose among 10, 15, 20, 25, 50 or larger:15M – Find e-mails larger than 15BM you can add one to Gmail by going to Settings > 100.

Labs and enable Preview Pane. With this feature 9) Disable conversation view, if you 7) Quickly call up e-mail with one contact. don’t like it. When Gmail first hit the scene, enabled, a new icon to the left of the gear lets you toggle the preview pane on or off, and choose To see every e-mail a person has sent you, hover it introduced conversation or threaded over the sender’s name in the inbox or in a message view as a way of organizing between a vertical split or a horizontal split. message, and click on the “Emails” link in the the inbox. I’ve grown accustomed to it, 3) Undo sent mail. Gmail gives you 30 seconds Contact card pop-up. but some people don’t like it. To disable to take back an embarassing e-mail you didn’t conversation view, go to the General tab 8) Use operators to speed up your in the Settings. mean to send out. Enable this in the General tab of Settings. With this feature enabled, a new searches. You can use operators in search to Undo link will appear in the message saying find what you need quickly. Here are a few Column archives and blog at: useful ones: your message has been sent. http://www.chinwong.com

LGUs

STREET PARTY.

Students compete in the Longganisa Festival street dance competition in Guinobatan Albay. The festival promotes the longganisa de Guinobatan.

Danny Pata

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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Navotas crimes down 50% T

HE crime rate of Navotas has gone down by 50 percent, the Navotas City Police reported, making the flood-prone city a safer place to live in.

In a statement, the police said they recorded 139 crimes in the first semester of this year compared to the 293 incidents in the same period last year.

“This reflects our steadfast determination to fight criminality to keep our constituents safe from any harm,” Navotas Mayor

John Rey Tiangco said.

Tiangco partly attributed the steep decline of the city’s crime rate to its strengthened and continued anti-drug campaign.

“Around 70 percent of crimes is drug-related and since we stepped up our efforts to fight illegal drugs, we were also able

Taguig initiates ‘wholistic’ rehab

By Joel E. Zurbano SINCE Taguig does not have enough drug rehabilitation centers to treat the hundreds of drug addicts who responded to the Duterte administration’s Oplan Tokhang, it came up with an alternative solution—a wholistic approach that may help the national government in the implementation of its vigorous antiillegal drugs campaign.

The Taguig Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Tadac) carried out a Drug-Free Community Program that aims to transform drug dependents into productive members of the society.

The two-month program engages drug dependents in physical activities to train the participants in a healthy lifestyle and naturally detoxify harmful chemicals from their body as they perspire.

The participants are given seminars and counseling to assure them of the guidance and support from the community.

A medical checkup and drug testing are administered to reinforce their commitment to the rehabilitation program.

And to prepare them to return to the community, a livelihood program equips them with marketable skills while awaiting recovery.

“The current drug situation has reached alarming proportions and the national govern-

ment needs the help of local government units to eradicate the drug epidemic,” said Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano.

She said this is Taguig’s response to the lack of drug rehabilitation centers in the country.

Local government units are mandated by law to assist the national government in enforcing RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Cayetano, who also chairs the League of Cities of the Philippines, appealed to all sectors of society, especially families, to show their love to one another and support each other because lonely people are more vulnerable to drug abuse.

“Studies indicate that loneliness has a connection to drug addiction. That is why we need the love and support of our loved ones to protect the members of the family from drug addiction.

Our program will rehabilitate not only the body but also the mind poisoned by the illegal substance,” the lady mayor added.

“These are baby steps in our fight against illegal drugs. We will work hard to make the program a success,” Cayetano said.

Records from Taguig City Police station show that during the implementation of Oplan Tokhang, 483 drug dependents in the city have surrendered and joined its programs.

to deter related crimes,” he said.

“We want to make our city drug-cleared within three to six months. Seven out of 14 barangays should be declared free of illegal drugs by September 30,” Tiangco added.

Tiangco concurrently heads the Navotas Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Nadac).

From January to July this year, Navotas police arrested 221 drug offenders including 61 pushers, 114 in possession of drugs, and 46 users.

“Our success in halving our city’s crime rate was largely due to the help of our constituents.

They send us messages through Text JRT (John Rey Tiangco) to report names of drug personalities,” the mayor said.

About 698 drug offenders have also voluntarily surrendered to him and Navotas Police Chief PSSupt. Dante Novicio from July 1 to August 11.

“We have established a recovery center where substance use disorder (SUD) patients will be

able to get counselling or become part of a support group,” Tiangco said.

“We are also conducting a series of seminar-workshops to equip our police, barangay officials, health workers, educators, and other community members with the knowledge and skills to handle and help SUD patients,” he added.

NADAC, in partnership with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, is also giving lectures to Grade 6 pupils on drug

MMDA: Don’t dump trash in waterways THE Metro Manila Development Authority has renewed its call to the public to refrain from dumping their wastes into waterways in order to prevent floods during the rainy season.

The agency made the statement following its cleanup operations in various waterways after heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon caused floods in different parts of Metro Manila last week.

“Dear fellow Filipinos, espe-

cially those living near rivers, let us please not dump our solid waste just anywhere,” MMDA Flood Control and Sewerage Management Director Baltazar Melgar said on Sunday.”

“This week, our flood control personnel are cleaning our waterways which have been collecting garbage, so that when the rains return, we will be prepared,” Melgar added.

He said huge volumes of waste in clogged waterways hinder the

function of pumping stations, making it harder for them to absorb water from the Manila Bay and the Pasig River, especially during heavy rains.

“While operating the pumping stations we collect two truckloads of garbage because uncollected garbage is carried by the current to the pumping stations,” Melgar said.

In 2002, the formulation and implementation of flood control functions were transferred from

TO BOOST the supply of electricity in Ilocos Norte, a onemegawatt (MW) solar energy farm installed in the nearly onehectare vacant lot at the back of the main office of Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (Inec) in Barangay Suyong in Dingras town was recently opened.

The Korean Bosung Pow-

ertech Philippines Inc. (BPPI was launched in July, witnessed

by Ferdinand Villareal of the National Electrification Administration and local officials.

Jiang Moon, BPPI president, said the solar farm project which supplies the power distributor in the province has 3,240 sheets of 310 solar modules, a 950-kilowatt inverter, a 1,000-kilovolt-amp step-up transformer

the Department of Public Works and Highways to the MMDA. These include cleanup of waterways and maintenance of pumping stations.

The DPWH, meanwhile, remains in charge of the construction of flood control infrastructure.

In May, the MMDA installed electric motor-driven pumps in 12 out of its 54 pumping stations in the metropolis, with each engine being able to pump 350 drums of floodwater per second. PNA

‘Invest in Capas falls’

By Romeo Dizon

CREATIVE. The Lucban Artists Guild exhibits the paintings of its members at SM City Lucena until August 30.

Korean solar farm secures Ilocos energy supply

By Brenda Jocson

awareness and prevention. The council has already visited four out of the city’s 15 elementary schools.

In addition, the NADAC is spearheading the city government’s sports clinic program to steer the youth’s attention away from drugs and towards meaningful activities. It conducts trainings and tournaments in basketball, volleyball, badminton, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis, soccer, track and field, and poomsae.

and high voltage switch gear.

“This is the first renewable energy project of BPPI in the country through a build-operate-transfer which will be turned over to Inec,” Jiang said.

He said the $3-million BPPI solar farm is also expected to generate 1.6 megawatt hours’ annual generation and earn P11 million in annual revenue.

Inec general manager, engineer

Felino Herbert Agdigos, explained that under the mutual BOT scheme, BPPI will turnover the entire solar farm’s facilities to Inec free of charge after 15 years of operation.

“With this new project, the province’s supply of power voltage quality will definitely improve due to the project’s proximity to the distribution system,” Agdigos said.

Inec is the country’s first electric cooperative to tap renewable energy. The BPPI project is an addition to two existing solar plants in the province.

These are the 7.9-MW solar farm installed by Energy Development Corp. in Burgos town and the 20-MW solar power plant project of Soleq Philippines Inc. in Currimao town.

CLARK FREEPORT—Endowed with rich natural resources, Capas town in Tarlac is looking for investors who can develop its three waterfalls and make it the tourist capital of Central Luzon.

Marissa V. Vital, a municipal tourism officer, said the three waterfalls covered by ancestral domain are located in Sitios Culut and Cuadra both in barangay Sta. Juliana, which is the jumping point for Mt.Pinatubo trekkers Vital said both local and foreign investors are invited as the local government is not in a financial position to develop the falls into first class tourist spots. The other tourists spots in the municipality were developed by the Koreans.

In the past six years, the area was not developed by the Department of Tourism as it concentrated more on seminars instead of improving the sites, some stakeholders said.

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

LGUs

NGCP lines, tower parts stolen

By Butch Gunio

M

EXICO—Owing to an improved line safety campaign focusing on public engagement and a new media approach, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has registered a decrease in electrocution incidents involving power transmission facilities across the country.

However, while the campaign resulted in a decrease of electrocution incidents, the NGCP noted an increase in transmission line and tower parts pilferage since 2014.

Information sessions focusing on transmission line safety and right-of-way were conducted in barangays and local government units identified as crucial to NGCP operations, particularly

project completion, said NGCP Central Luzon corporate communication officer Ernest Vidal.

Records show electrocution incidents decreasing from a peak of 29 in 2012 to a five-year low of 17 in 2015. No employee-related accidents were also recorded from 2015 to present.

For the first semester of 2016 alone, the nationwide campaign had reached 120 barangays, 474 media outfits and 320 local government units. In the weeks leading to the national elections in May, NGCP also carried out 12 forums in Commission on Elections-identified poll hotspots to reiterate line safety reminders and to

increase public vigilance against ROW violations, said Vidal.

The campaign is widening its audience reach with NGCP’s partnership with the Movie Television Review and Classification Board for the free airing of NGCP safety videos in cinemas nationwide.

Civilians, particularly the mobile-savvy generation, are also continuously being encouraged to report transmission-related incidents with the launch of the 0917-TIPNGCP (0917-8476427) / 0918-TIPNGCP (0918-8476427) hotline and email (TIPNGCP@ ngcp.ph).

In 2015 alone, 13 incidents of stolen parts from transmission

lines, substations, and other related facilities were reported to NGCP. Five cases have been reported from January to May 2016.

“While NGCP is very pleased to report the positive development in line with our safety advocacy to lower electrocution incidents, we continue to warn the public to respect transmission line clearances.

We are also concerned with the prevailing increase of pilferage of our tower parts and lines.

This greatly reduces the safety and reliability of our operations, not just in the local area, but on a national scale. We are appealing to the public to sup-

port our cause and help prevent power interruptions by reporting theft and pilferage of NGCP facilities to 0917-TIPNGCP (8476427) or 0918-TIPNGCP,” NGCP statement said.

R.A. 7832 or the Anti-Electricity and Electric Transmission Materials Pilferage Act of 1994 prohibits the possession, control, or custody of electric power transmission line/material by any person not engaged in the transmission or distribution of electric power, or in the manufacture of such materials. Law offenders face 12 to 20 years of imprisonment and fines ranging from P50,000 to P100,000.

Cebu, Dutch city eye brgy medics CEBU City and its sister city, Haarlemmermeer of The Netherlands, will establish villagebased emergency medical response units and health care facilities to improve its emergency services.

Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council head Nagiel Bañacia said this would also decongest the city government-run Cebu City Medical Center.

Bañacia said Barangay Mabolo had been chosen as the project pilot locality being a disaster high-risk area.

Bañacia said the city was also looking into the improvement of the present ambulance system by making sure both city and barangay emergency rescue personnel were well-trained.

Bañacia said their evaluation on the city’s ambulance services revealed a need to have proper personnel training, updated equipment and upgraded health center capacity.

Bañacia said the ambulance staff must first undergo a com-

prehensive training on emergency response before they could have the vehicles back.

He said Vriendschapsband Haarlemmermeer Cebu (VHC), a Dutch non-government organization, would provide funding for the training of emergency medical responders and ambulance personnel, which costs P20,000 each and would be handled by the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf) starting in November.

Eighteen city government paramedics are being trained as emergency medical technicians at the Eruf center in Mandaue City, which is accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

After the training, the city will then purchase new equipment as part of the ambulances’ upgrade.

VHC will allocate a total of 45,000 euros or about P2.3 million for the program’s entire three-year course. The city will be receiving 15,000 Euros annually from VHC. PNA

CHANGE THAT CAME. Photos of Carriedo Street in Sta. Cruz in Manila before and after the road clearing by the city government. Residents and businessmen pray that Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada would be able to stop the illegal vendors from returning to the street. Revoli Cortez

LGUs warned vs cyanide silver cleaner THE EcoWaste Coalition, a toxics watch group, has urged mayors and local health and police chiefs to crack down on vendors of silver jewelry cleaners containing the deadly cyanide compound.

The group’s plea for action came on the heels of a recent public health warning from the Food and Drugs Administration against three brands of cyanide-laden silver-cleaning products.

The FDA last week warned the public against buying, using and storing Silver Sparkle Flat Silver Dip, Unisilver Silver Dip and Cleanse Silver (Copper) Cleaner “as these pose imminent hazards and danger to

both human and animal health” due to their cyanide content.

“All local government units and law enforcement agencies are requested to ensure that the abovementioned brands are not sold or made available in their localities or areas of jurisdiction,” the FDA Advisory 2016-088 said.

“We ask our local government, health and police officials to heed FDA’s request and promptly launch joint law enforcement operations to rid the marketplace of cyanide-laced silver cleaning solutions,” stated Thony Dizon, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect.

“Any delay in responding to the FDA’s request will mean

more consumers having access to this poison that had already fatally harmed many people, including innocent children who mistook the clear liquid for drinking water,” he added.

On Saturday, the EcoWaste Coalition went to the same silver jewelry shops in a shopping mall in Quiapo, Manila where the FDA got the said silver cleaning products and managed to buy Silver Sparkle Flat Silver Dip for P55 and Unisilver Silver Dip for P69.

The latter is even offered free of charge for every P500 worth of purchase in single receipt.

In addition, the group also bought a totally unlabeled silver cleaner for P60 from a beads and

accessories store in Villalobos St. It also obtained a partially labeled silver cleaner for P80 from a silver jewelry store on Carriedo Street.

“We request Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada to go after the stores selling these highly toxic products and revoke their business permit outright to show that he means business when it comes to protecting the public health and safety from cyanide poisoning,” Dizon said.

According to the FDA, “cyanide is classified as poisonous which can be rapidly absorbed by the body through inhalation, ingestion and dermal absorption.” PNA

Federalism movement launched in Cebu

ENTERPRISE. A Leyteño who practices biodiverse farming by raising animals and planting rice tends his flock of ducks in a newly harvested rice field in a far-flung village of Ormoc City. Mel Caspe

IN BRIEF DA: Sarangani a ‘model province’ THE Department of Agriculture declared Sarangani a “model province” during a recent dialogue of Secretary Manny Piñol with local government officials led by Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon.

Piñol said that a DA Project Management Office will be established in Sarangani and that the province will serve as a model for his projects.

The DA has also provided 70 fiber glass boats (bangkas) to be distributed to capacitate poor citizens in coastal areas and to fishermen who returned home after being apprehended in Indonesian waters.

The fiber glass boats will also be used to strengthen Piñol’s program with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the “Bantay Dagat.”

The DA chief also handed over agricultural equipment, post-harvest facilities and tractors to the provincial government, and allocated millions of pesos for the construction of more farmto-market roads in Sarangani.

Marilao gives free birth certificate registration THE local government of Marilao City in Bulacan announced the free registration of children 12 years old and below who have no birth certificates.

Mayor Tito Santiago said the children may be taken by their parents or guardians to the Municipal Civil Registry on weekdays.

Santiago said the free birth certificate is part of his campaign to uphold children’s rights and welfare.

For information, applicants may call ( 044)896-2931 local 1121 OR 09437015768.

The provincial government of Bulacan has also declared August 30 a special non-working holiday in commemoration of the birthday of Marcelo H. del Pilar, the Great Propagandist, who was born in the province.

THE Hugpong Federal Movement of the Philippines on Monday launched its Cebu chapter to widen the dissemination of information on federalism.

Erwin Tindoc, Hugpong Federal Movement of the Philippines regional vice president, said more people in Cebu would understand President Rodrigo Duterte’s federalist advocacy through the local chapter.

“Many groups have expressed support. Duterte is campaigning for this because of poverty, criminality and narco-politics,” he said.

Tindoc said Hugpong Visayas so far has 25,000 volunteer leaders from different sectors of the community.

These leaders were tasked to conduct an information drive in their respective barangays, he said.

Tindoc said they were pushing for a referendum during the Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay polls on Oct. 31 to determine whether the people would favor the shift to a federal government.

Those who are for federalism have to choose between a constituent assembly or a constitutional convention as a mode of changing the constitution.

“The two questions are included in the ballot. We just need six million votes to push it,” Tindoc said. PNA

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

World

Standard

TODAY

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

51 die in blast at Turkey wedding U

NITED NATIONS— UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon decried Sunday the suicide bombing that killed 51 people at a wedding in southeastern Turkey, and called for swift punishment for the perpetrators.

Boko Haram kills 10, seizes 13 in raid KANO—Boko Haram Islamists have killed 10 people and abducted 13 others in a raid on a village near the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok where the militants kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls in 2014, locals told Agence France Presse Sunday.

Armed jihadists on motorcycles invaded Kubrrivu at dawn on Saturday, firing on the residents as they were sleeping and looting and burning homes before fleeing into the bush with 13 women and children seized from the village.

“The Boko Haram attackers rode on four motorcycles, three on each, and opened fire on the village as residents slept,” said Luka Damina, a resident of nearby Kautikeri village where Kubrrivu residents fled to safety following the attack.

“They burnt down the whole village after looting food supplies and livestock and taking away women and children,” Damina said.

Ayuba Alamson, a community elder in Chibok, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, confirmed the attack, saying 13 people were abducted in the raid.

“After killing 10 people and burning the entire village, the gunmen made away with 13 people, including seven women, five boys and a girl,” Alamson said.

In 2014 Kubrrivu was burnt down in a deadly Boko Haram raid which forced residents to flee.

A year later they returned and rebuilt their homes after Nigerian troops recaptured swathes of territory from the Islamists in a series of military successes against them.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since 2009.

The audacious mass kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014 provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention to Boko Haram’s brutal tactics.

A total of 218 girls are still missing. AFP

The United States also blasted the “heinous” bombing and offered its assistance to Ankara in the fight against “the scourge of terrorism.”

“We extend heartfelt condolences to the friends and families of the victims and we wish a full and speedy recovery for the many who were wounded,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

“We stand by our ally and partner Turkey and reaffirm our commitment to defeating the common threat of terrorism,” Toner said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that a child as young as 12 carried out Saturday’s attack at a wedding in the town of Gaziantep near the Syrian border, probably for the Islamic State group.

A spokesman for the National Security Council, based in the White House, condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms.”

“The perpetrators of this barbaric act cynically and cowardly targeted a wedding, killing dozens and leaving scores wounded,” NSC spokesman Ned Price said.

“We are in close touch with Turkish authorities, and Vice President Biden will visit Ankara on Wednesday, August 24 to reaffirm our commitment to work together with Turkey, our valued NATO Ally and partner, to confront the scourge of terrorism.” AFP

DISUNITY. Sha Hailin, Shanghai Municipal Committee United Front Work Department director, waves as he arrives at Songshan airport in Taipei on Monday.

Angry Taiwanese protested against a visit by a top Shanghai official, which they slammed as pushing for China’s unification of Taiwan AFP

10 dead in central Somalia bombings WASHINGTON— The White House expressed outrage Sunday over twin explosions which claimed the lives of at least 10 people in central Somalia, condemning the attacks as “cowardly.”

“The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in Puntland, Soma-

lia,” read a statement from the National Security Council, which advises President Barack Obama.

“Today’s cowardly attacks targeting Puntland security forces, government officials, and civilians are another attempt by terrorists to weaken Somalia ahead of its historic

scheduled political transition this autumn toward greater representation,” the statement said.

“We join international expressions of outrage against these brutal terrorist acts,” the White House continued, offering condolences to the loved ones of the victims.

“We will continue

to stand by Somalia in its fight against terrorism and extremism and support Somalis in their quest for a peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous future.”

The Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for the blasts in the town of Galkayo, some 700 kilometers

(440 miles) northeast of Mogadishu.

The US State Department decried Shabaab’s “vicious and persistent attacks” in a separate release, vowing to help “rebuild a more peaceful, inclusive, and secure country for the citizens of Somalia.”

Shabaab carries out regular attacks

against government, military and civilian targets using suicide car bombers and gunmen.

An Al-Qaeda aligned group, Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in the capital Mogadishu.

It is expected to try and violently disrupt elections due to be held in September and October.

AFP

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY CARAGA REGION Butuan City INVITATION TO BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF HAULING SERVICES FOR THE TRANSFER OF IMPORTED RICE FROM GID ALEGRIA, AGUSAN DEL SUR TO GID MANGAGOY, BISLIG CITY AND GID DUPLEX, TANDAG CITY, SURIGAO DEL SUR The NATIONAL FOOD AUTHORITY, through its Corporate Operating Budget for CY 2016, intends to apply the sum of ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND PESOS (Php1,180,000.00), the APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (ABC),for the contract hauling services for the transfer of rice from Alegria, Agusan del Sur to Bislig City and Tandag City, Surigao del Sur:

CONTRACT NO.

SOURCE RECEIVING MINIMUM NO. OF WAREHOUSE WAREHOUSE TRUCKS

I-ADS-H2016

GID Alegria, Agusan del Sur

II-ADS-H2016

GID Alegria, Agusan del Sur

GID Mangagoy, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur GID Duplex, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur

QUANTITY (bag of 50 kg)

APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (INCLUSIVE OF VAT) (Php) PER BAG

TOTAL

BIDDING FEE (Php)

5

10,000

26.00

260,000.00

500.00

5

40,000

23.00

920,000.00

1,000.00

The NFA now invites interested truck owners/ operators to submit their bids for the hauling of rice stocks from Alegria, Agusan del Sur to Bislig City and Tandag City, Surigao del Sur. Bidders should have completed within the immediate last two years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project.

The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II. Instructions to Bidders (ITB).

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

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested bidders on August 23, 2016 – September 12, 2016 (working days only) from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable bidding fee for every lot as specified in this Invitation.

National Food Authority Caraga Region will hold a Pre-bid Conference on August 30, 2016 at 9:00 A.M., 2nd Floor, Rudy Tiu VIII Bldg., J.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan City. Only those who have purchased the Bidding Documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre-bid conference and raise or submit written queries or clarifications.

Bid must be submitted to the address below on or before September 12, 2016 at 10:00 A.M. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted. Bid opening shall immediately follow at 10:01 A.M. at same venue in the presence of the Bidders or Bidders’ authorized representatives.

The National Food Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: Ms. Hyde Beth M. Pascual Information Officer III BAC Secretariat Head National Food Authority Caraga Regional Office 2nd Floor Rudy Tiu Bldg. VIII, J.C. Aquino Avenue, Butuan City Tel No. (085) 815 3284 (085) 225 6701 Fax No. (085) 342 7898 (SGD) PROCOPIO B. TRABAJO II Acting Assistant Regional Director Chairperson, BAC (MS-AUG. 23, 2016)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

World

FLYING COLORS. Brazilian singer Roberta Sa performs during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. AFP

London mayor slams Labor leader LONDON— Labor’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan delivered a blow to Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday by declaring his support for MP Owen Smith in the race for party leadership.

“Jeremy’s personal ratings are the worst of any opposition leader on record and the Labor party is suffering badly as a result,” Khan wrote in the Observer, the Sunday version of the center-left Guardian newspaper.

“Jeremy has already proved that he is unable to organize an effective team and has failed to win the trust and respect of the British people,” he added.

Voting began Monday to decide if veteran leftist Corbyn will remain leader of the party, with an ill-tempered campaign deepening divisions that threaten the party’s future.

Ballots and online voting forms were due to be sent to party members, who will have until September 21 to decide whether to replace Corbyn with MP Owen Smith, previously little know outside Westminster.

The 46-year-old triggered the election by declaring his candidacy last month, warning that Corbyn’s leadership was making the possibility of a split in the party “dangerously real.”

Smith, a former member of Corbyn’s top team, is also targeting voters to the left of the party, promising a “socialist revolution.”

“Not some misty-eyed, romantic notion of a revolution where we are going to overthrow capitalism and return to a socialist nirvana... but a cold-eyed, practical socialist revolution where we build a better Britain,” he said last month.

Corbyn, 67, is favorite to stay as leader, retaining the support of most trade unions and many who signed up last year to propel him to a shock win in the leadership election called following the party’s thrashing in the general election.

But he has failed to win over many of the party’s MPs, 80 percent of whom backed a recent vote of no-confidence in their leader. AFP

Chileans rally vs very low pension benefits S

antiago—Hundreds of thousands of people protested Sunday against Chile’s privatized pension system, a legacy of late dictator Augusto Pinochet that opponents say is leaving many retirees destitute.

NEW WAVER. Singer Boy George of Culture Club performs at The Pearl concert theater at Palms Casino Resort on August 21, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP

UK bars Islamist extremism in prisons LONDON—The UK government on Monday unveiled plans to tackle Islamist extremism in prisons, including banning offensive literature and removing inmates from worship if they promote beliefs deemed against “fundamental British values.”

The justice ministry said extremism in prisons was a growing threat which needed to be treated as an “urgent priority”.

“For the highest risk terrorists and radicalizers, the government will use all the measures at its disposal, including separation from the mainstream prison population,

to contain their risk and prevent the spread of poisonous ideologies.

“Extremists cannot be allowed to prey on the vulnerable,” the ministry said in a response accompanying the review on extremism in prisons.

New measures to be brought in include greater vetting of prison chaplains and tighter controls on worship.

“We will ensure that governors use their existing powers to remove prisoners from corporate worship where they are behaving subversively or promoting beliefs that run counter to fundamental British values.

“We do not, however, believe

it is the right course of action at present to alter the provision of worship more generally or, for example, to pursue in-cell alternatives,” the ministry of justice said.

A total of eight measures will be introduced, including a review of staff training and the removal of literature considered extremist and offensive.

The government said it had additionally created a new department—the Security, Order and Counter Terrorism Directorate— which will be in charge of developing the plan to counter Islamist extremism in prisons. AFP

Trump: ‘Fair and humane’ immigration plan WA S H I N G T O N — D o n a l d Trump’s vow to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants if elected president appeared to be undergoing a shift Sunday as the struggling Republican candidate reaches out to minorities alienated by his harsh rhetoric.

The New York real estate magnate intends to lay out specifics of his immigration plan over the next few weeks, Trump’s new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said.

Asked on CNN’s State of the Union whether they will include

a “deportation force” that Trump has previously called for, Conway said, “To be determined.”

Trump met with Hispanic supporters at his Trump Tower headquarters in New York on Saturday, when several participants told Spanish-language network Univision that he said his plan will include finding a way to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants.

Trump acknowledged “that there is a big problem with the 11 million people who are here, and that deporting them is neither possible nor humane,” Univision

quoted Jacob Monty, a Texas immigration lawyer who attended the meeting, as saying.

The billionaire candidate, who has slid precipitously in polls since last month’s Republican convention, told the group of Hispanic conservatives that his plan would grant undocumented immigrants legal status “that wouldn’t be citizenship but would allow them to be here without fear of deportation,” Monty added.

If true, it would mark a sharp reversal for a candidate who launched his campaign for the

presidency with a vow to build a giant wall on Mexico’s border, while disparaging illegal immigrants from Mexico as criminals and rapists.

He has repeatedly called for mass deportations of people staying in the country illegally, a stance critics say is inhumane and unrealistic.

“What Donald Trump said yesterday in that meeting differed very little from what he’s said publicly, including in his convention speech last month in Cleveland,” Conway told CNN. AFP

Launched in 1981, Chile’s “pension fund administrators” have been held up by pro-market politicians and pundits worldwide as a model of how to privatize a national pension system.

But opponents say the system has left the 10 million Chileans enrolled in it with extremely low retirement benefits—far short of the Pinochet regime’s original promise of 70 percent of workers’ last paychecks, they maintain.

Waving Chilean flags and banners calling for reform, a sea of demonstrators swarmed Alameda Avenue in central Santiago, in one of the largest marches of recent years in Chile—a country that has seen a succession of major protests calling for education and labor reforms.

Organizers put the turnout in the capital at 500,000 to 600,000 people. Smaller protests were held in other cities around the South American country.

Facing pressure to overhaul the system, President Michelle Bachelet announced a package of 12 planned reforms two weeks ago.

They include a universal mini-

mum pension, cuts to fund administrators’ commissions and a requirement for employers to contribute to the system for the first time, taking the total contribution from 10 to 15 percent.

The average pension is currently around $400 a month, less than the minimum wage.

The private administrators manage about $170 billion. Any losses on investment are borne by the contributors.

Pinochet’s dictatorship, which lasted from his 1973 military coup until 1990, remains heavy baggage for Chile.

Despite the atrocities committed by his regime, which killed an estimated 3,200 people and tortured 38,000, Chile’s constitution and much of its policy framework still date to his rule.

Chile’s first female president, Bachelet won a second term in 2013 promising deep reforms.

But the center-left leader’s popularity has since tumbled to 15 percent amid a corruption scandal involving her son, and it is unclear whether she still has the political capital to deliver on her reform agenda. AFP

2 French volunteers killed in Madagascar A N TA N A N A R I V O — Tw o young French volunteers found dead Sunday on an island off the northeast coast of Madagascar were likely murdered, French and Madagascan authorities said.

Local mayor Bessaou Ismak Ado Crophe on the resort island of Sainte Marie told Agence France Presse that the bodies of both victims, a man and a woman in their twenties, showed signs of head trauma, with officials suspecting murder.

“They spent the evening in a nightclub and were found on the beach nearby,” he said.

“I saw the bodies. Both had injuries to the head.”

The two had in recent months been volunteering at Cetamada, a local environmental non-profit organization working to protect ocean mammals.

The French foreign ministry in a statement condemned the “odious crime that claimed the lives of two French nationals.”

It offered its condolences to the families and said an investigation was under way in Madagascar.

Madagascan Tourism Minis-

ter Roland Ratsiraka said he had spoken to the French ambassador to the Indian Ocean island and that the consul would be visiting Sainte Marie on Monday.

“The government strongly condemns this act and will ensure that the investigation will be transparent,” he said.

Cetamada vice-president Jean-Jacques Ravello, who is also France’s honorary consul to Sainte Marie island, called the incident “barbaric.”

“I do not want to minimise this barbaric act, but we’ve been bringing dozens of volunteers here for 15 years and we’ve never had a problem this big,” he told AFP. He said fellow volunteers had gathered together following the incident and were “shocked psychologically.”

In 2012, a French couple was found dead on a beach in southern Madagascar.

A year later, two Europeans were attacked and killed by a mob on the northwest island of Nosy Be, suspected of involvement in the death of an eight-year-old local boy. AFP

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

ARTS, CULTURE, TECH & MEDIA

..

JEFR E reconnects with his Filipino roots

Jefre’s carabao sculpture at SM Aura in Taguig City

J

EFRЁ has been steadily gaining recognition on the Manila creative scene. As the internationally acclaimed public artist and former landscape architect brings his considerable talents from his Florida studio to create even more thought-provoking pieces here at home, it won’t be long ‘til JEFRЁ becomes a Filipino household name.

Born and raised in Chicago to parents from Ilocos Sur and Laguna, Jefre Manuel Figueras studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before pursuing a degree in Landscape Architecture at Ohio State University.

“I went into the arts at the Art Institute of Chicago in the beginning ‘cause I wanted to pursue my passions from high school into college. But then my parents were concerned about the struggles of a starving artist, saying, how am I gonna make money in art?

So I went to Ohio State to study Urban Design and Landscape Architecture to be a city planner.”

His first decade out of college had him working for established firms like Skidmore Owings and Merril; and working for clients and involved in partnerships with some of the biggest

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industry names Santiago Calatrava, BIG Architect’s, Zaha Hadid and Philippe Starck – until a heart attack changed his view of the world and the legacy he wanted to leave.

At the age of 35, JEFRЁ underwent triple bypass surgery, quit the firm, and used his $401 thousand retirement fund to join competitions and study at Morpho Ecology at the Architecture Association in London.

The Beacon, a 60-foot art installation in Lake Nona Town Center in Florida

“When I came back from London, I decided not to go back to a firm. I started my own practice (now known as StudioJEFRЁ) and joined competitions. In the US, there are a lot of competitions that have public funding. There were 300 to 400 people who would apply and then they would shortlist the three finalists. You would present your idea and if you won, you were awarded the project. In my first year, I was a finalist in 12 projects.

You hope to win one... I won eight in my first year. I was the fastest emerging artist to win that number of competitions in my first year, I believe it was credit to proposing site specific art as a form of catalyst for economic redevelopment.”

To u r i n g the cities of Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Antonio and across the Atlantic to London and Abu Dhabi, one is bound to find a JEFRЁ creation.

H i s

Jefre Manuel Figueras

works have a way of simultaneously imbibing the culture within its surroundings and turning that culture into a stand out, modern piece.

Take, for example, The Beacon and The Code Wall both showcased in the heart of Lake Nona’s Medical City in Florida. Inspired by advancements in technology, medicine, and their roles in his own life, JEFRЁ collaborated and commissioned with world-renowned digital artists to complete his largerthan-life digital museum.

Comparing himself to other artists, JEFRЁ notes that he is not a “theme or material-based studio artist” – and that helps set him apart from the rest of the pack. Context, primarily through getting to know the community’s locals, is central to his site-specific works.

“When I go into a city and they ask me to do artwork and they ask what kind of art I wanna do, I say ‘Art that inspires people, art that can one day be considered your Eiffel Tower or what he describes as a city’s postcard moment.

So if I can do the Philippines’ Interna-

tional Monument or Iconic Destination, that would be my dream.”

JEFRЁ’s first entry to his native homeland was made possible by The Net Group, developers of Net Lima and Net Park. He is on the process of creating a sculpture called “Selfie” – something he hopes to be BGC’s most iconic piece as he completes it by the end of the year.

That, then, led to JEFRЁ’s introduction to the developer giant SM Group.

He became one of the first artists commissioned for permanent art sculptures at SM Aura (Sculpture Contour Series) and at SM Ecom 5 (Talking Heads).

The former “explores the concept of the unknown customer service representative” in a country known for its business process outsourcing industry while the latter features “four culturally symbolic animals” executed in layers mimicking the artwork site – an upscale shopping mall – and another Philippine icon, the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Since starting his own practice, JEFRЁ has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as the Consultant of the Year for 2016 and as an Up and Coming International Public Artist by the Marlborough Gallery in New York City. As a landscape architect, he has been given the Designer Award of Merit by the AIA in 2008 and named as one of seven Faces of Design by the Florida Inside Out architecture magazine in 2007.

Out of the slew of recognitions, JEFRЁ is most honored by his recent 2016 nomination by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum Award for the category of Design Mind. He is looking forward to his future endeavors locally and nationwide.

For his latest works, like his official Facebook page www.facebook.com/ Studio-JEFRE and follow him on Instagram @jefre_miami.

Albay artists’ first exhibit ARTISTS from Albay have joined forces for an exhibition of their work at Ayala Malls Legazpi.

Art Albay features work by 17 Albay visual artists. It opened on Aug 13.

The art activity was initiated by Apo Gonzales, president of Artes Bikol Ex-

Cesar Gueta with his acrylic on canvas painting titled Albay Blooms

press (ABX), the only active local art organization in Albay, in partnership with Ayala Malls Legazpi.

The 17 participating artists are Cesar Gueta, Maria Magdamit, Renato Jimenez, Toy Nantes, Djai Tanji, Carlo Magno Vargas, Camilo Reverente, Rene Alde-

coa, Anne Cadiz, Miguel Zuniga, Benny Santayana, Jose Rico, Alex Scarella, Vicky Balunzo, Jopermeister Red, Ricardo Ariola, and Amador Barquilla.

The art exhibit is free to the public on the ground floor of Ayala Malls Legazpi and runs until end of August.

Furniture designer Milo Naval (second from left) leads the ribbon cutting at the opening of Art Albay Now art exhibit at Ayala Malls Legazpi. With him are Gigi Manzanilla, Gay Raneses Maruyama and exhibit organizer Apo Gonzales

Life

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Great moments for the Filipino tenor

By Pablo A. Tariman

T

HE Filipino tenor has not gone beyond native shores in the ‘40s, ‘50s and the ‘60s with such native talents like Don David, Octavio Cruz and Aristeo Velasco, among others.

But it didn’t mean they were less talented. In one production of Pagliacci at the FEU Auditorium in the mid-50s with the Canio of Arrigo Pola (Pavarotti’s teacher in his native Modena), Velasco as Arlecchino (Colombina’s lover) reportedly got more applause than Pavarotti’s teacher.

In the ‘70s, Noel Velasco and Frankie Aseniero were the tenors to cheer. Aseniero reportedly had modest success in some opera houses in Germany. Moreover, Velasco got more media mileage when he won the Pavarotti International Voice Competition in Philadelphia in the early ‘80s. Manilans saw the first Tamino (Magic Flute) and Don Jose (Carmen) of Velasco and was never heard from except for some outreach engagements in his alma mater and in his native Isabela.

With only a few knowing it, there was an Iloilo-born Filipino tenor named Otoniel Gonzaga who was making ripples at the Curtis Institute when he won the Marian Anderson Voice Competition. Gonzaga was a hit in the European opera circuit singing at Frankfurt Opera and other opera houses for several seasons. He also invaded Boston Opera, the turf of Sarah Caldwell who founded the short-lived Opera Company of the Philippines cooked in Malacanang before People Power.

Singing the role of the Duke (Rigoletto) in Hamburg, Gonzaga didn’t realize that the great Placido Domingo was in the audience. When he knocked at his dressing room after the performance, Gonzaga heard the voice, “Could a countryman of yours come in?”

When he opened the door, he was shocked to see the King of Opera himself greeting him. Gonzaga recalled, “He liked my performance and he thought I was Mexican. I told him I was a Filipino.”

What Gonzaga didn’t know was that Domingo sang Cavaradossi in Tosca at the CCP in 1979 with no less than the complete contingent of the San Francisco Opera courtesy of the CCP and Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Tenor Noel Velasco (right) with Pavarotti after winning the Pavarotti competitions in Philadelphia in the early ‘80s

Filipino tenor Rodell Rosel with Spanish tenor Placido Domingo

Gonzaga made his Manila debut in the late ‘80s with the PPO and his last one with Lea Salonga also with the PPO under Julian Quirit in 2006. On the same year, he sang his last in Manila with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra under Rodel Colmenar. He shared the standing ovation with soloist Camille Molina and Dulce.

While no one was looking, tenor Arthur Espiritu made his La Scala debut in 2007, the first Filipino tenor to set foot in that highly revered temple of opera as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte.

Espiritu made it to La Scala after winning the Teatro alla Scala award at Vienna’s Belvedere International Singing Competition in 2007.

In 2009, Rodell Rosel debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York opposite Renee Fleming under conductor Edo de Waart.

“The Met stage has the best acoustics any singer can ever hope for, and the most embracing audience one could ever wish for,” he told this writer.

After Der Rosenkavalier, in the same year, Rosel returned to the Met as Natha-

nael in Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), this time conducted by James Levine.

Rosel later invaded LA Opera where he was heard as Tamino (Magic Flute) and later as Spoletta (Tosca) with Placido Domingo conducting.

When Espiritu debuted in Manila in 2010 with pianist Najib Ismail, Filipinos finally discovered the tenor they could all identify with after a drought of good tenors for many years. Thus far, Espiritu got rave reviews for his Manila productions of La Traviata (Alfredo), Barber of Seville (Count Almaviva) and his latest the lead role (in concert version) in Rossini’s Cenerentola.

But is the country promoting its good classical singers the way Spain, Korea and Canada take extra pride in their singers?

Spain highlighted the last Barcelona Olympics with performances of their leading tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras.

Canadian tenor Ben Heppner sang in the winter Olympics as countdown for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

In his native turf, Espiritu has a loyal fol-

Don David as Canio in Pagliacci with Armida Siguion Reyna as Nedda

lowing of discerning voice aficionados who wonder why he is not in the season line up of the national orchestra or any other orchestra of consequence in the country.

With his credential and his latest opera conquest in Europe, Espiritu is the tenor for both millennials and non-millennials.

If there is a next PPO invasion of Carnegie Hall, Espiritu should be in there to tell Filipinos overseas that the Philippines is not wanting in world-class singers.

If Filipinos want to get in touch with their leading tenor, he should watch him at the Ayala Museum Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m. for the Philippine premiere of Schubert’s monumental song cycle Die Schone

Mullerin (The Maiden on the Mill) with pianist Najib Ismail.

The levels of emotion in the Schubert song cycle will certainly reveal the vocal versatility of tenor Espiritu in close collaboration with pianist Ismail.

As Schubert once said, “I am composing like a god, as if it simply had to be done as it has been done.”

(The Aug. 26 evening of song cycle Die Schone Mullerin (The Maiden on the Mill) at the Ayala Museum is made possible through grants from Ayala Museum, 98.7 DZFE-FM The Master’s Touch and Lyric Piano. For tickets, contact the Cultural Arts Events Organizer at 0920-9540053 or 0906-5267241.)

Triple Fret performs

for CCP’s special concert series TRIPLE Fret, the country’s leading guitar ensemble and the only guitar trio of its kind in the Philippines, is the second featured artist of the CCP Special Concert Series on Aug. 24, 7:30 p.m. at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino.

This classical-contemporary guitar trio composed of guitarists Jenny de Vera, Iqui Vinculado and Marga Abejo are all graduates of premier schools in the country - the UP College of Music and the UST Conservatory of Music.

They have attended masterclasses conducted by David Russell, Carlos Bonnell, Rafael Serrallet, Carsten Link, Lester Demetillo and other influential guitarists. The group stands out for its extensive repertoire of Spanish guitar pieces, tangos, jazz standards, Filipino traditional, love songs and well-loved classical pieces all infused with a style uniquely their own. In 2014, the group released their first independent album entitled #GITARA FILIPINA, which All-female classical contemporary guitar trio Triple Fret was launched in a sold out concert at the Ayala Museum.

Abejo. Jeffrey Malazo is a DCPMA They were awarded first prize in the (Diploma in Creative Performing MusiGuitar Ensemble Category in the 2014 cal Arts) Guitar graduate from the UP Tarrega Malaysia International Festival College of Music under Prof. Lester in Malaysia. In 2015 they again garDemetillo. nered the First Prize at the 27th Japan The program includes Joaquin TuGuitar Ensemble Festival in Shinagawa, rina’s Danza from Jardin de Oriente, Tokyo.

Op. 25 arranged by Lester Demetillo, Recently, the group received the 2016 Albeniz’ Cordoba, Gregorio Labja’s National Commission for Culture and Usahay arranged by Malazo, Santhe Arts (NCCA) Ani ng Dangal for tiago Suarez’ Katakataka arranged by Music, the only guitar recipient of the Demetillo, Restie Umali’s Pandangaward. Triple Fret has given numerous guhan arranged by Agot Espino and performances in Europe and Asia. It’s Demetillo, Bach’s Concerto in D minor, most distinguished performances in EuBWV 1043 arranged by Ramon Verrope include the Tong Tong Fair in the gara, the Philippine premieres of AgusNetherlands, the SOL Guitars Festival tin Avila’s Novem (for Triple Fret) and in Valencia, Spain; and the Guitarra Gerald Garcia’s Le Grazie arranged Festival in Siguenza, Spain in honor of

by Malazo, the world premiere of Jenthe world-renowned luthier Jose Romanifer (for Triple Fret) by Malazo, Paulo nillos. The members also performed Triple Fret’s musical director, composer and Bellinati’s Baiao de Gude and Eraserfor the Syrian children refugees in the arranger Jeffrey Malazo head’s Ang Huling El Bimbo, arranged Syrian Refugee Camp in Kilis, Turkey.

by Malazo.

For the Aug. 24 concert, Jeffrey tor, composer and arranger will take For ticket inquiries, call (02) 832Malazo, the group’s musical direc- the place of Triple Fret member Marga 2304 or 891-9999.

Romy Carlos’ oil on canvas titled Pangunahing Mananayaw (2016)

Different Filipino figures VARIOUS figurative paintings that depict the Filipino at work, during leisure, in motion and at rest will be displayed at a group exhibit at Gateway Gallery in Gateway Tower, Araneta Center, Quezon City.

The Filipino Portrait Artists Guild, Inc. mounts the said exhibit, dubbed as Pigura opening 5 p.m. on Aug. 25.

Twenty-one artist-members present their respective artwork that showcase

Adi Baen Santos’ Kalinga sa Kinabukasan

the artists’ level of understanding of the human figure in relation to his or her environment, showing variety of styles, composition and influence.

The artists participating in the exhibit include Donat Alvarez, Mardy Aguilar, Adi Baen, Grandier Bella, Cee Cadid, Carlos Castro, Romy Carlos, Rick De Villa, Norman Dreo, Tess Duldulao, Esther Garcia, Horacio Gillego, Sen Lacson, Lea Lim, Nemi Miranda, Lupicinio Ng, Alvin Montano, Noel Pocot, Menchu Sarmiento, Bing Siochi and Myke Velasco.

The Filipino Portrait Artist’s Guild, Inc. is a professional nonprofit organization formed in April 2010 to promote the art of portraiture and figurative works. The members are of various ages and come mostly from the esteemed UP College of Fine Arts. Its members are the resident artists of Gateway Gallery where they hold regular portrait sketching every Thursday.

Cultural Center of the Philippines President Dr. Raul Sunico is guest of honor at the opening.

The exhibit will run until Sept. 8.

For inquiries on the exhibit, contact (02) 588-4000 local 8300 or email gatewaygallery@aranetagroup.com. Gateway Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Showbiz

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

M

AGTANGGOL, a political whodunit film directed by Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez based on a story by producer and investment banker Juanchito “Jojo” Dispo, will be shown at the Power Plant Cinema in Rockwell from Aug. 24 to 30 as part of its weeklong celebration of the National Heroes Day.

The film, the first offering of Felix and Bert Productions, revolves around a fictional political clan rocked by a scandal as one scion – a senator who is a strong advocate for protecting the rights of overseas Filipino workers – was tagged as a principal suspect in a spate of killings of abusive OFW employers.

Tom Rodriguez, who plays Senator Juancho Magtanggol, considers his first venture in the political thriller genre an eye-opener. “I didn’t realize the gravity of violence committed against our kababayans who only want to improve the plight of their respective families.

Leaving your family behind to work overseas is already painful.”

Magtanggol dares to ask the question “Sino ang bayani ng mga bagong bayani?”

Sanchez, who previously directed the independent films Ang Mga Kidnaper Ni Ronnie Lazaro, Ang Anak Ni Brocka, and Lasponggols, among others, co-wrote the screenplay with fellow Bahay

Konseptos members Henrie Famorcan Enaje and Henry Dela Cruz, Jr. while Topel Lee served as director of photography.

Aside from Rodriguez, the film also stars Joonee Gamboa, Dina Bonnevie, Ejay Falcon, Denise Laurel, Albie Casiño, Yam Concepcion, Kim Domingo, William Martinez, Ricky Davao, Epy Quizon, Giselle Sanchez, Lui Manansala, Cholo Barretto, Chanel Latorre, Myrtle Sarrosa, Buboy Villar, Raul Morit, Sunshine Teodoro, Basti Santos, Dido dela Paz, Archi Adamos, Hector Macaso, Bombi Plata, Dwight Gaston, Victor Medina, Bani Baldisseri, and Miguel Gonzales, among others.

Dispo reveals he is donating part of the proceeds to the OFW fund. “I’ve traveled to a lot of places with high concentration of OFWs. I’ve talked to many ambassadors around the world about them, have had first hand exposure with many OFWs. I’ve heard their stories. I want to help.”

Tom Rodriguez (leftmost) joins Ejay Falcon (on a wheelchair) and Albie Casiño (standing) in a groundbreaking film that highlights the plights of Overseas Filipino Workers

‘Magtanggol’ goes to

Rockwell

The coolest kid on the block and his new favorite gadget EAT Bulaga’s very own pint-sized cutie is not just huggable and lovable.

He’s also smart when it comes to his techie toys.

Bae-by Baste, or Sebastian Benedict off-camera, is one of the co-hosts in the Philippines’ longestrunning noontime variety show, and he is known for his irresistibly adorable antics. Like any kid his age, he loves his fair share of gadgets and his number one choice these days is the Smart Watch.

The Smart Watch from PLDT HOME is today’s coolest gadget for kids, and parents love it too. It can be used for taking photos, playing music and even recording sounds, music or funny messages. Kids can also get notifications from games or apps like Facebook, and calls and text messages through the watch when it is paired with the PLDT HOME Telpad or a smart phone so Mommy or Daddy can easily send messages and friendly reminders if

needed.

Bae-by Baste’s Papa Sol and Mama Sheila, as well as brother Sam-sam, are all on the Smart Watch craze. They love how it can be used as a WiFi remote for the Telpad or smart phone cameras so it’s easier to take selfies or fun family groufies together.

Another cool feature that Papa Sol and Mama Sheila like is the anti-loss feature because it lets them know if the connected Telpad or smart phone is too far away. You can also click a button on the watch so that the connected Telpad or smart phone will make a sound to help locate it when it is misplaced. This is especially handy for kids who can’t help but be their usual carefree selves.

With the Smart Watch, there’s no down time when it comes to fun and bonding wherever Bae-by Baste is.

Now, he’s not just the cutest ‘bae-by’ on noontime TV, he’s also definitely one of the coolest.

PLDT Home subscribers who upgrade to a Telpad plan automatically get a free 1Mbps Home DSL speed boost, and for only an additional P199.00 per month, they can already top up with a Smart Watch. The watch is also available to existing Telpad subscribers. Simply order online and it will be delivered for free. For more information, visit pldthome. com/telpad/smartwatch.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, August 23, 2016

ACROSS 1 Doesn’t hesitate 5 Baker’s buy 10 Pastrami purveyor 14 Get groceries 15 Singer — Lennox 16 Weeps over 17 Gas main 18 Diving birds 19 Baha’i origin 20 Stalactite of sorts 22 Move without touching 24 — Rica 25 “—’s Folly” (Alaska) 26 Checkup 28 From Donegal 32 Always 35 TV knob 37 “Winnie-thePooh” donkey 38 Witty remark 39 — on (incited) 41 Flee hastily 42 Slanted, as type 45 Cotton gin name 46 Pant 47 Heirloom 48 Stem-to-stern timber 50 Clinks glasses 54 Late- —

58 Grandeur 61 Not fixed 62 College credit 63 Stand for 65 Beef-rating org.

66 Tuneful Paul — 67 Thin-shelled nut 68 Smirk’s kin 69 Cad 70 Ringlet 71 Screws things up DOWN 1 Tomato jelly 2 Tijuana kid 3 Pith helmets 4 Ghost 5 Connecticut campus 6 U2 producer 7 Make — — of it 8 Tendon 9 Physicist Nikola — 10 Wash-and-wear (hyph.)

11 Mark’s successor 12 Nonsense poet Edward — 13 Can’t be 21 Not strict 23 Huron neighbor 25 Urban haze 27 With, to monsieur

29 Kansas town 30 Mex. matrons 31 Tough fiber 32 Sheik colleague 33 Pull the lever 34 Etc. relative (2 wds.)

36 Size above med.

37 McClurg of sitcoms 40 Tundra animals 43 Word-for-word 44 Laptop symbol 46 Drop or bead 49 Environmental prefix

51 Get used to 52 Prudent 53 In a — (quickly) 55 Tightwad 56 Chief’s adviser 57 Brings up 58 Jahan was one 59 Cornbread 60 Leia Organa’s brother 61 For the guys 64 “— Rheingold”

Meanwhile, Sanchez believes the film is very relevant to the present times and he encourages Filipinos to watch it “because everyone has an OFW relative somewhere around the world somehow. This is the story of the Filipino worker. This is the story of the Filipino family. This is your story.”

Power Plant Mall is located at Rockwell Drive corner Estrella Street, City of Makati 1200, Metro Manila. For inquiries, you may call 898-1440 to 41 / 898-1702 loc. 2133 / 0 9 1 7 5778161.

Five-time No. 1 DJ in the world, Armin Van Buuren, is set to rock Manila’s party scene again

World renowned DJ and electronic producer returns to Manila

ARMIN Van Buuren is coming back for more.

After the huge success of Armin Only Intense Manila, Armin is back in Armin Only Embrace.

Armin Only Embrace is a five-hour-long experience in which worlds are linked by live performances, dance acts, visuals, special effects and, above all, by the five-time No.1 DJ in the world. Together with his team, the DJ brings a next-level experience to the world, something that is completely new to the dance scene. He will end the night with a special vinyl hour.

Armin Only Embrace is the biggest thing Armin has ever done.

“A show like this has never been shown before,’’ says Van Buuren. ‘‘The rehearsal process for this show lasted three weeks. This

is the first time people will experience such a trance event, its unique’. You can compare it with a large-scale rock show, but with four hours of non-stop dance music.”

Armin Only Embrace focuses on Armin’s sixth and most recent studio album Embrace.

The legendary DJ’s spectacular show is also special in that it features different music styles.

Artists and bands including Kensington, Mr. Probz, Eric Vloeimans and Cimo Fränkel are part of the tour. Armin’s world tour had a sensational kick-off on May 6 and 7 n a soldout Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam.

Armin Only Embrace happens on Nov. 25, 8 p.m. at the Mall Of Asia Arena.

It is presented by Heineken® and produced

by MCA Music.

Tickets will be available at SM Tickets.

Call 470-2222 or visit www.smtickets.com

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

D4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016

Showbiz After a long hiatus….

KAPAMILYA COMEBACK. Actor

Aga

Aga Muhlach returns to ABS-CBN as judge in the upcoming reality show, ‘Pinoy Boyband Superstar’

Muhlach

is back T

HE Philippines’ original heartthrob, ultimate leading man, and award-winning actor Aga Muhlach has finally returned to his home, ABS-CBN.

The actor signed a contract with the network as one of the superstar judges in the newest search for the biggest Filipino boyband, Pinoy Boyband Superstar.

It will be Muhlach’s first-ever stint as a judge in a talent competition. In the program, he will join Vice Ganda, international K-pop sensation Sandara Park, and Yeng Constantino in evaluating aspiring band members.

“The show is about giving back and mentoring. When it was offered to me, we talked about it – me and my wife. I said, I think this is the right path. Ito ang unang pagbukas ng pinto sa tamang pagpasok,” said Muhlach.

“I have long wanted to return to ABSCBN. I’m happy to be back,” he added.

Aga’s illustrious career as one of the most distinguished celebrities in the country began when he was just seven. But he rose to popularity after starring in the 1980s film Bagets, which ultimately made him a matinee idol.

He is also known as one of the most versatile actors in the industry who has ventured into both drama and comedy via

box-office hit films such as Basta’t Kasama Kita, Sana Maulit Muli, All My Life, and sitcoms, such as Oki Doki Doc. Aga’s charm and appeal is undeniable among female audiences, making him a credible judge in Pinoy Boyband Superstar. In fact, the defining legacies of his career includes being one of the top leading men in showbiz who has teamed up with the most sough-after actresses in the industry.

Aside from these, Aga also dabbled in music via his first starring role in the teen flick Campus Beat, which had its own official soundtrack.

Aside from being a top product endorser and popular role model, Aga has also collected acting accolades from different award-giving bodies such as Gawad Urian and FAMAS Award.

Aga signed his contract in an event attended by ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Katigbak, COO for broadcast Cory Vidanes, Head of finance for broadcast and integrated news and current affairs Cat Lopez, and Aga’s manager, Ethel Ramos.

‘Pamilya Ordinaryo’ tops Cinemalaya 2016 PAMILYA Ordinaryo by Eduardo Roy, Jr., a compelling portrait of teen age street dwellers and their desperate search for their kidnapped baby scooped five major awards while veteran actor Tommy Abuel was named Best Actor for his role as a man tormented by his past in Dagsin

by Renato ‘Atom’ Magadia, Jr. at the 12th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival Awards Night on Aug. 14 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater.

Pamilya Ordinaryo won Best Film, Best Direction, Best Performance of an Actress, Best Editing and the NETPAC Award in the full length category. Besting eight films in the full length feature category, the film was lauded “for its strong sense of realism, the mix of narrative and the use of real CCTV footage combine to make it more gritty and dramatically powerful…” while NETPAC praised it “for its grim but engaging narrative about a non-ordinary family...” As Best Film winner, Pamilya Ordinaryo won P350,000.00 cash award and the Cinemalaya Balanghai trophy.

Eduardo Roy, Jr. was cited for his masterful control of his work and for creating a clear vision for his powerful story. This is Roy’s third time around at Cinemalaya. In 2013 Cinemalaya, he won major awards, including the Special Jury Prize for Quick Change that

went on to earn critical success internationally. He debuted at Cinemalaya with Bahay Bata in 2011.

Hasmine Killip won Best Actress for her role as Jane, the 16-year-old mother of infant Arjan. Killip was cited “for her brilliant, gritty and moving performance as a young teenage girl living in the street jungle of Manila.”

Carlos Francisco Manatad won Best Editing and was cited for “precision and a relentless rhythm that maintains the momentum of a hopeless search for a missing child.”

Multi-awarded actor Tommy Abuel added another feather to his cap with his outstanding performance in Dagsin by Renato Magadia, Jr. In the film, Abuel plays an aging and newly widowed judge who spends his days bound to a wheelchair and held hostage by his past. Abuel was cited “for an extraordinary performance that is the soul of the film. From the very first frame, till the last image, all we see is his soul’s torment...”

Mercury is Mine by Jason Paul Laxamana won the Special Jury Prize and Best Screenplay awards. The film was cited for its “deft balance of comedy, drama and dark satire” and its screenplay, written by the director, Laxamana, was praised for exploring multiple themes of acceptance and rejection of the other within a delicious context of food and film. Pokwang stars in the film as Carmen, the cook

WINNERS CIRCLE. Cinemalaya Main Competition winners pose with their trophies together with the members of the Cinemalaya Organizing Committee, Main Competition jurors and NETPAC jurors. and owner of an eatery at the foothills of Arayat in Pampanga while her Mercury, played by Bret Jackson, is the young American who waits on tables.

Tuos by Roderick Cabrido, which starred Nora Aunor, won five awards for Best Cinematography (Mycko David), Best Production Design (Steff Dereja), Best Sound (Monoxide Works), Best Original Music Score (Jema Pamintuan), and Audience Choice.

Lollie Mara for Ang Bagong

Pamilya ni Ponching tied with Elizabeth Oropesa for I America for the Best Supporting Actress award.

The Best Supporting Actor award was given to the ensemble cast of Hiblang Abo consisting of Lou Veloso, Jun Urbano, Leo Rialp, and Nanding Josef.

The jury decided “no one actor is better than the others––they all build a group.”

Now on its 12th year, Cinemalaya has supported and promoted the production of 127

full feature independent films and 106 short films. Many of these films have won awards in local and international competitions and festivals.

Through the annual festival, Cinemalaya has showcased over 1,000 works by independent filmmakers including full feature films, shorts, documentaries, Filipino film classics, and art films.

Cinemalaya this year was held at the CCP and in Ayala Theaters in Greenbelt 3 and Glorietta,

Makati, Fairview Terraces, TriNoma, and UP Town Center, Quezon City, Solenad, Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and Ayala Center Cebu.

Cinemalaya is a project of the Cinemalaya Foundation, the Cultural Center of the Philippines in partnership with Ayala Malls Cinemas. Established in 2005, Cinemalaya is an all-digital film festival and competition that aims to discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers.