Manila Standard - 2016 August 30 - Tuesday

Relentless Rody dares defiant Leila to resign

By John Paolo Bencito, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

VOL. XXX • NO. 199 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Monday Senator Leila de Lima should resign and hang herself for failing to be a woman of integrity.

“If I were De Lima, ladies and gentlemen, I will hang myself.

The innermost of your core as a female being serialized everyday, you should resign,” Duterte said in Tacloban Monday.

“You must resign. What will you tell to all the women in this Next page

MELVIN ODICTA

Top Iloilo drug lord, wife killed

By Francisco Tuyay PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said the death of alleged drug lord Melvin Odicta and his wife solves his drug problem in Iloilo and the neighboring Negros provinces. “[Odicta’s] the top drug lord.

He’s dead? That solves my problem,” Duterte told reporters in a press briefing with reporters in Catbalogan, Samar.

“He’s the number 1 drug lord.

I was informed that the Odicta Next page

DRUG WAR IN NUMBERS

3.7M FILIPINO ADDICTS

Crackdown on terrorists

CAPTION HEAD. Residents of a floodeddfsdf dsjkfdjsf ksd.jfdsf sdkjf ksdfjsdf dsjfdsklf dskjfdsflds dskjf dsfjdsf sdfkjds fkjdsf dksjfds jf village in San Juaquin in Palo, Leyte, rescue their pig from the. Lino Santos

5 batallions hunt down Maute, ASG

By John Paolo Bencito and Florante S. Solmerin danao” but played down its alleged links to the Islamic State terrorist group.

HE Defense Department on Monday “They’re very significant ... as they raided the provincial jail and their vowed to pursue relentless campaign members joined them, it has become against members of the local terror a threat. It has been a bigger threat beorganization the Maute group, which freed their cause of these escapees,” he told the Manila Standard. leader from a provincial jail over the weekend.

On Saturday, Muslim extremists carrying Islamic State group In a chance interview, Defense ers of the Maute group already insignia stormed the Lanao del Secretary Delfin Lorenzana ad- proved a “threat” to the already Sur provincial jail, freeing 28 Next page mitted that the escape of top lead- volatile security situation in Min-

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IN TRIBUTE. President Rodrigo Duterte leads the country in celebrating Monday National Heroes Day after laying a wreath at the Libingan ng mga Bayani within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City in Metro Manila. Diplomats and other dignitaries attended the celebration themed “Bawat Pilipino, Bayaning Katuwang sa Pagbabago.” AFP

Du30: Misuari willing to sit down with MILF

By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said that Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) chairman and founder Nur Misuari is willing to return to the peace negotiations with the government as he expressed that there is now a lull on all three fronts in the talks.

Next page NUR MISUARI

De-list NPA from terror groups, Manila asks US

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PRESIDENTIAL Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said Monday he had asked the United States and other partner nations to consider removing the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and National Democratic Front from their list of international terrorists to move the peace process forward.

“I trust [delisting] will move the peace process forward,” Dureza said.

P 2M BOUNTY FOR NARCO-COPS

673, 978 SURRENDERED UNDER OPLAN TOKHANG

Health goes into ‘Zika watch’ THE Health Department said Monday it is closely monitoring and testing travelers from countries where the Zika virus is endemic to prevent its spread in the Philippines.

The department made the statement following an increase in the number of Zika infections in neighboring Singapore.

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said they were watching all the ports of entry “to make sure the virus will not get to our shores.”

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WEATHER As many as 2,500 troopers deploy in Mindanao in the renewed campaign against terrorism.

750 KILLED

“They are partners, the EU and the US. I think they will concede to probably something good for the Philippines.”

Dureza on Monday also confirmed that Princess Astrid of Belgium will be visiting Manila soon to discuss her country’s ties with the Philippines.

“I flew to Brussels because the Belgian government, which

China insists on bilateral talks with PH CHINESE Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said Monday China will change its focus from pointing out its differences with the Philippines to working out their common interests―even as a senior Cabinet official scored the Chinese for breaking their promise to then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to allow Filipino fishermen to fish in the West Philippine Sea.

In a chance interview at the commemoration of National Heroes’ Day in Taguig, Zhao said that while China could not accept the UN ruling against its claims in the West Philippine Sea, Beijing was willing to move forward to enhance its ties with the Philippines.

“We cannot accept the arbitration award but we do look forward to talk to the Philippines bilateral-

ly of the troubles we have,” Zhao told reporters.

“But right now, we need to change our focus from our differences to common interests so we can concentrate on cooperation that will benefit our tw peoples.”Next page

THE southwest monsoon will continue to affect the western parts of northern and central Luzon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

The state weather bureau said cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains, which may trigger flashfloods and landslides, may be experienced in the Ilocos region, Batanes, Benguet, Zambales, Bataan and the islands of Babuyan.

Cloudy skies are expected over Metro Manila.

Printing of ballots halted THE Commission on Elections on Monday said it had temporarily suspended the printing of the ballots for the village and youth council elections in October, but it would continue with the preparations for those elections while the proposal to postpone them was pending.

“Considering the overwhelming suptwitter.com/ MlaStandard

port from the Executive branch, Congress and the Senate to postpone the elections, we will still abide by the law. It is only Congress who can postpone elections,” Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said in a statement.

“Our preparations will be in full swing

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PRESIDENTIAL PEACE ADVISER JESUS DUREZA

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Esperon, Quiambao at AFPREVA awarding NATIONAL Security Adviser Gen. Hermogenes C. Esperon Jr. will address the Armed Forces of the Philippines Retired Vet- Esperon erans Association Inc. (AFPREVA) on its 62nd Anniversary celebration on August 31 at 7 p.m. in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Col. Simplicio F. Duque, AFPREVA president, said that Esperon is expected to talk to rally AFPREVA members behind President Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs and corruption.

Esperon will be joined by Bayambang, Pangasinan Mayor Cesar T. Quiambao, a well-known entrepreneur who built the Skyway infrastructure in Metro Manila.

Esperon, Quiambao and eight others will receive the AFPREVA SANDIGAN AWARD as part of the association’s commemoration of National Heroes Day on August 29.

Chartered in 1954 by the Veterans Federation of the Philippines in accordance with Republic Act 2640, AFPREVA has been serving its members in securing their benefits and other entitlements.

Esperon was Presidential Management Staff chief under President Gloria Arroyo and AFP chief of staff under President Ramos.

The campaign against illegal drugs, now considered a security problem, has eliminated more than 2,000 pushers and users since President Duterte enforced his promise to make the country drug-free in 3 to 6 months.

Du30...

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“We have established the modality of the talks and I would like to salute Murad of the MILF and Nur Misuari for expressing his intention to join us, maybe in one place or different settings, whatever it is, it is good for me as long as we talk,” Duterte said in his speech during the commemoration of the National Heroes’ Day at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Duterte had earlier hinted that he is willing to give Misuari a safe conduct pass to join the peace talks under the proposed Bangsamoro enabling law, replacing the failed Bangsamoro Basic Law. There is a warrant of arrest on Misuari over the MNLF’s 20-day siege in Zamboanga City in 2013.

Duterte also said he doesn’t want anything to happen to the Misuari as he may lose the chance to talk peace with the Moro group if anything happens to him.

The President said he is hopeful that a long-lasting peace can be finally achieved in Mindanao now that the government is in talks with the rebel groups—New People’s Army, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and MNLF. “So now we have a lull in the three fronts that we really have been fighting ever since. We’re talking with the Communists now, maybe establish a modus vivendi somewhere with the MI and MN and let’s begin to talk about peace,” he said.

Also on Monday, Duterte expressed his disproval on the statements from the Communist Party of the Philippines which recently scored the military for allegedly militarizing communities.

The President insisted that soldiers have all the right to scout the whole land to protect communities from any threats, even if there is an indefinite ceasefire in effect.

De-list...

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hosts the EU, was interested to know about the peace process and because of the planned visit of Princess Astrid who will come in May 2017 to head a high-level economic team for investments,” Dureza said.

CPP founder Jose Maria Sison was first included in the US list of foreign terrorists on Aug. 12, 2002, and in a similar Dutch list on Aug. 13, 2002.

Later, when Sison’s lawyers announced they would challenge his inclusion in the Dutch list, his listing was withdrawn but the The Hague demanded Sison be included in the EU terrorist list in October 2002.

P4.7-b AFP pensions released P The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office said the amount of unsettled AFP pensions had reached P17.53 billion by August 2015.

“For those who were not paid by the previous administra-

tions, we are releasing the total administrative disability (TAD) pension of World War II veterans and retirees 80 years old and above. The amount was included in the 2016 budget but was not released by [former President

Benigno] Aquino,” Duterte told war veterans at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig.

Aside from the pension, P3.5 billion more are allotted to the widows and more than P 1.2 billion to AFP retirees.

Spouses of deceased World War II veterans aged 80 and above, meanwhile, are entitled to P2.72 billion in TAD benefits, while a second priority group that includes living veterans aged 80 and above still await P1.81 billion.

The spouses of war veterans aged 79 and below who constitute

Crackdown...

against the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

He said while 20 bandits had been captured, there was no sign as yet of their hostages.

He said, however, that there was a danger that the bandits would launch diversionary attacks in Manila, Cebu or Davao.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla claimed Monday the strength of the Muslim extremists have been degraded from series of battles in the recent past with the military and the police.

“I don’t have the latest assessment, but their numbers have diminished,” Padilla said.

On Saturday, 50 heavily-armed men of the group that claims support from the Islamic State stormed the provincial that caught jail guards, the military and the police flat-footed.

According to provincial jail warden Acmad Tabao, most of the escapees were highvalue target (HVT) criminals.

Tabao said the terrorists came to the gate of the provincial jail to deliver food for the detainees and the jail guards reacted too late as the armed

visitors forced their way into the compound.

He said the raiders’ objective was to spring their eight comrades that were arrested on Aug. 22 and the rest of the escapees became instant recruits of the group.

The military has declared a red alert in support of the police operations against the escapees.

“We have given out a provincewide, region-wide red alert because of this event in cooperation with the police to ensure that they are captured,” Padilla said.

But he explained that the job of recapturing the escapees belonged to the police.

“This is law enforcement. We work with the police for the pursuit and the recapture of all these prisoners and fugitives,” he said.

An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued an uncharacteristically hawkish call for the Abu Sayyaf to be destroyed.

Isabela Bishop Martin Jumoad, a member of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itenerant People and the Episcopal Commission on Mis-

the Batangas port Sunday evening before boarding a Ro-Ro (roll-on roll-off) vessel bound for Caticlan.

Carlos said they will check whether the assailants were on the same Ro-Ro, which would raise questions on why their firearms were not seized while those of the Odicta couple were confiscated.

Meanwhile, PNP chief Dir. Gen. Ronald dela Rosa said it was “public knowledge” that Odicta was a drug financier in Western Visayas.

Odicta was reportedly on the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s drug watch list as the “topmost drug financier” in the region.

“Who are the Odicta couple trying to fool when it is public knowledge that they are drug lords,” dela Rosa said.

The Odicta couple went to Camp Crame, Quezon City on Thursday to surrender themselves to Sueno and to deny their involvement in the illegal drug trade.

Meanwhile, three companions of the Odicta couple were arrested on Monday.

Now detained at the Batangas City Police detention center were Maria Victoria Laygon, Marlon Susano and Manolito Susano for illegal possession of firearms, after they were found with three handguns. The suspects failed to present necessary documents for the firearms.

On Monday, Duterte announced a P2 million bounty on policemen and their cohorts who were involved in the drug trade.

Referring to rogue cops as “ninjas,” Duterte said he will reward those who can link the policemen caught in the drug trade.

“I want the police and the armed forces to destroy the drug apparatus in this country. We all know that the Philippines is being used as a transhipment point. This must not continue,” Duterte said.

Asked to clarify about the President’s statements, Dela Rosa said Duterte is referring to every policeman who will be implicated in the earlier list he revealed and the upcoming one, which is still undergoing further verification.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar over the weekend said that the government’s unrelenting antidrug campaign, which has claimed almost 2,000 lives barely 60 days after President Duterte was sworn into office, would be entering its “second phase,” which includes the rehabilitation of some 600,000 drug users who turned to the police.

“The President wants to (end the drug problem) as soon as possible.

The President promised that within three to six months, the problem will solved by 70 to 80 percent,” Duterte said over state-owned dzRB radio.

When told the President had consistently said that drug users could not be rehabilitated, Andanar said Duterte was only referring to individuals who sniff “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) on a daily basis.

With Joel E. Zurbano, PNA

Immigration said 364 Chinese nationals were stopped from entering Manila in July as part of the bureau’s intensified campaign to prevent undesirable aliens from coming to the Philippines.

But the travel agents slammed the bureau’s admission policy, saying it was singling out their countrymen whose only desire was to visit Manila and enjoy the world-class beaches in Boracay, Bohol, Palawan and Davao.

Zhao made his statement after President Rodrigo Duterte, who spoke as a guest of honor in the same event, assured him that the

Philippines would not raise the arbitration ruling to ensure that the bilateral talks with China continued.

“I will not use the arbitral judgment now, but one day I will lay bare my position,” Duterte said.

He also appealed to China to allow Filipino fishermen to fish over the contested waters.

“I hope you treat us as brothers and not as enemies and take note of the plight of our citizens,” Duterte said. John Paolo Bencito, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Vito Barcelo

By John Paolo Bencito

resident Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered the release of P4.7 billion pension funds to the war veterans and retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and to the widows of those who died in service.

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detainees in the latest in a series of mass escapes.

Authorities however, believed that the attack was carried out to free their leader, Hashim Balawag Maute including seven others, who pledged their allegiance to the IS. Lorenzana played down eports that “bandit groups” claiming to be part of IS, had already infiltrated the country.

“We haven’t seen any indication yet. Those who are here want to be recognized, but it seems that it hasn’t happened yet because their leadership isn’t stable yet,” the Defense chief said.

“The ISIS cannot control yet these groups ... but these are just bandit groups, terrorists who do not have any sense of loyalty to anybody but wanted to be recognized for international exposure,” he added.

Lorenzana said an additional five battalions or equivalent of 2,500 soldiers, will be deployed to reinforce the government crackdown

Top...

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couple were shot dead. I cannot say anything good or bad, but that’s the path that they chose,” he said, noting that Odicta “was corrupting everybody including governors.”

Alleged Iloilo drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. and his wife Meriam were shot dead at around 1:30 a.m.

Monday at the Caticlan Jetty Port in Aklan.

Aklan police provincial director Senior Supt. John Jamili said the Odictas were onboard a 2go RoRo from Batangas to Caticlan Port, when two unidentified assailants shot the couple dead upon arriving.

“This Odicta is really being hunted in Iloilo, in Negros. He was really unlucky,” Duterte said.

“Who wants to take Odicta’s place? It’s already vacant,” he added.

Western Visayas regional police director Chief Supt. Jose Gentilles, said they are looking into the possibility that the couple’s big-time drug associates were behind the ambush-slaying, fearing what the couple disclosed when they reported to Interior Secretary Ismael Mike Sueno on Thursday.

PNP Public Information Office (PIO) spokesman Sr. Supt. Dionardo Carlos meanwhile said they will verify a report that the Odicta couple were caught carrying firearms illegally while they were at

China...

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Zhao made his statement even as a group of travel agents from China criticized the alleged discriminatory policy of the Bureau of Immigration towards Chinese nationals wanting to visit the Philippines.

The agents offer tour packages to the Philippines, but they said they had received reports that some of their clients were being turned back in Manila by Immigration officers.

On Sept. 30, 2009, however, the European Court of First Instance in Luxemburg removed Sison from the list, but Sison’s movements remained restricted because of the risk that he would be arrested due to his inclusion in the US list of terrorists.

Dureza said no formal communication about the delisting was mentioned in his visit to Brussels, but he hoped the EU and the US “will not provide the stumbling blocks” toward peace.

He met with EU representatives in Brussels following the peace talks with the NDF in Oslo.

“The EU already removed Joma Sison,” Dureza said.

“Only the CPP-NPA-NDF are listed. We did not discuss this in my meeting with them. It is premature yet.” Joel E. Zurbano

Printing...

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this September if nothing happens to postpone the elections. We will continue printing the ballots for the SK on Sept. 1.”

Jimenez made his statement even as lawmakers led by Leyte Rep. Yedda Romualdez on Monday supported the deferment of the Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay elections as the super majority would hold a caucus on Tuesday afternoon to pass a joint resolution for it.

Romualdez said she supported suspending the barangay and SK polls since the country had just held in May the very divisive presidential polls.

“There is also a broad consensus

among the officials of the Executive, Congress and even the Comelec to suspend the polls,” said Romualdez, wife of former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said he expected the postponement of the barangay and SK elections, but the members of Congress would not be amenable to abolishing the Youth and village councils.

Senator JV Ejercito, the principal author of the SK Reform Law, said he wanted to give the SK another chance, while Senator Bam Aquino wanted the same.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said his desire to scrap the youth and village councils was the reason he wanted the elections deferred. Vito Barcelo, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

the third priority group will receive P850 million TAD benefits.

Duterte stressed that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the utilization of the said fund has been signed

by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

In an interview with the Manila Standard, Lorenzana said the budget for the pension was signed during the past administration, “but Aquino failed to release it because of the election ban.”

The President also announced that P250,000 sourced from the

sion, described the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist group that “must be destroyed”.

“My heart bleeds upon learning the beheading of the boy,” Jumoad said in a statement.

“Destroy means dismantle them and apprehend them. If they fight, then the military must protect their lives too,” he said.

The prelate made the statement after authorities confirmed the beheading of the hostage in Indanan, Sulu because the bandits failed to get P 1 million ransom from the boy’s family.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this month ordered soldiers to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for ransom kidnapping and other atrocities.

Earlier, the President has ordered the deployment of more troops to pursue the bandit group.

“Since 1990 until now, the government has not eliminated the Abu Sayyaf,” said the prelate.

“The bandits are just laughing at the order of the President. I hope the order of President Duterte will be executed by the military,” he said.

With Vito Barcelo

Relentless...

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country? Follow me, you say?

Is this is how to be woman of the world?” he asked.

In a separate speech in Catbalogan City, Duterte urged his nemesis De Lima to talk about her “immoral” ways.

“Explain? You explain first your behavior and your womanhood,” he said.

The President had earlier tagged De Lima, a former Justice secretary and her lover-driver, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan of having links to the illegal drug trade.

Duterte insinuated that her loverdriver, Dayan, was the key to unraveling extent of De Lima’s involvement.

“The driver is the one who is in the matrix, he holds all the secret— he has the connection inside.”

Reacting to the President’s new tirade, De Lima said she refused to resign because this would be a sign of weakness and guilt.

“I’m neither weak nor guilty!” she said.

De Lima said she had already considered resigning when the President started bombarding her with false accusations for doing her job when she was chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and secretary of Justice.

De Lima said she would no longer answer questions about Duterte’s drug matrix, which purportedly shoed her links to the so-called Muntinlupa Connection, which also involved former governor and now Pangasinan Rep.

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So far, she said, none of those tested had been positive for the virus.

Singapore on Sunday confirmed 41 cases of Zika virus infections.

The virus is a vector-borne disease transmitted to people through the bite of an Aedes mosquito.

The infection is characterized by fever lasting for two to seven days, rash, joint pain or conjunctivitis.

Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, pain behind the eyes and vomiting.

Singapore on Monday sent teams armed with protective suits, fogging machines and insecticide to wage war on mosquitoes after the discovery of dozens of Zika infections sparked alarm in the city-state.

Inspectors from the National Environment Agency checking for mosquito breeding sites visited homes in the suburban district where 41 cases―mostly foreign workers at a condominium construction project―were reported at the weekend.

Nearly all have recovered but five more suspected cases of Zika virus infection were reported Monday by a clinic, local media said.

The five, who include foreign workers, were undergoing further tests at the Communicable

President’s Social Fund is available to the beneficiaries of battle casualties, while another P20,000 will be released to war veterans and their families as ready cash assistance.

A total of 83,346 World War II and post-war veterans and their spouses are entitled to the pension system under Republic Act 7696 enacted in 1994, wherein a veteran, with or without a service-connected or non-service connected disability, upon reaching the age of 70, is deemed totally disabled and shall be entitled to a monthly pension of P1,700.

Paynor new envoy to US

Paynor

PR ESI DE N T Rodrigo Duterte on Monday named Chief Presidential Protocol Marciano Paynor Jr. as the new Philippine Ambassador to

the United States.

Duterte also appointed Robert Borje to replace Paynor. “[Paynor] accepted it. But he needs to be confirmed first by the Commission on Appointments,” Duterte told reporters at the Malacanang Heroes Hall.

A product of the Philippine Military Academy Batch 1971, Paynor is a seasoned diplomat and acknowledged expert on foreign service, and has taken up posts in Washington, DC, Gabon, Budapest, Rome, Israel, Cyprus, and Los Angeles where he was consul general. John Paolo Bencito

Amado Espino and drug lords detained at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“I’m already tired of denying.

That’s what I will do because that’s what I know is the truth. I have no involvement there. That’s the truth!

I don’t want to speak about it anymore,” said De Lima.

Asked anew if she would attend the House inquiry on the proliferation of illegal drugs at the New Bilibid Prisons under her watch, De Lima replied: “Why should I?” “I know nothing will come out of it. I was already judged guilty by the President. And do you think that House inquiry will be anything near fair to me?

I’m already judged guilty! I’m finished in so far as President is concerned.

That’s why he is asking me to resign.

And then I will face them?” she said.

The feisty senator lamented that the President’s war against illegal drugs had became a “war against De Lima.”

“I told you, this was unimaginable, unprecedented, being done by no less than the President to a female official,” said De Lima.

She said those being perceived close were also being dragged into the drug controversy to create a whole web of operations while it was made to appear that she was a drug overlord.

While visiting PO1 Nestor Villanueva at St. Paul Hospital in Tacloban City, Duterte challenged De Lima to resign as a senator and hang herself.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier slammed De Lima for describing the upcoming House hearings “a kangaroo court.”

Diseases Center.

Singapore, despite the highest health care standards in Southeast Asia, is a densely populated tropical island with frequent rain. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water that collects in construction areas, open space and homes.

It is also one of Asia’s cleanest cities but has a chronic problem with dengue fever, which is spread by the same Aedes mosquito that carries the Zika virus.

Zika causes only mild symptoms for most people, such as fever and a rash, and has been detected in 58 countries particularly Brazil. But in pregnant women, it can cause microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with abnormally small brains and heads.

“It’s quite frightening because I thought Zika is something happening on the other side of the world.

But now it’s right here in my neighborhood,” customer service manager Josephine Kwan, who lives in the affected suburb of Aljunied Crescent, told AFP. Singapore’s first reported case of Zika in May involved a man who had visited Sao Paulo in Brazil earlier in the year.

But all of the latest cases involved local transmission.

Neighboring countries took steps to prevent the spread of the disease from Singapore. PNA and AFP

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Seniors’ benefits to rise

By Macon Araneta THE budget for the government’s pension for poor senior citizens will more than double next year to P18 billion, which would allow the enrolment of an additional 1.613 million 60-year-olds and above to a program that grants each a cash aid of P6,000 a year,” said Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto.

He said the program’s budget will shoot up to P18 billion from P8.7 billion this year.

The number of beneficiaries will rise from 1.382 million to 2.995 million.

The budget is in the appropriations of the Department of Social Welfare and Development which runs the program.

If the funding hike will be approved by Congress, Recto said 2017 will be the third straight year that the budget for the senior pension will be increased.

“It will have the highest and the fastest increase among government social programs, a six-fold increase from P3.1 billion in 2014. It is an impressive trajectory. This is one program which has been put on steroids,” he said.

The distribution of a P500 monthly pension—or P6,000 yearly—to indigent seniors is made pursuant to Republic Act No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, sponsored by then Senator Pia Cayetano.

Qualified to receive the stipend are senior citizens who are frail, sickly, or have disabilities; are not receiving pension from the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), or veteran’s pension; and do not have a permanent source of income or regular support from relatives.

The pension is said to be distributed every quarter through cash payment by DSWD Field Offices or city or municipal social welfare and development offices.

For the 2015 budget, Recto and then Senate Finance Committee chair Senator Francis Escudero worked to increase the program’s budget by P1 billion, to P5.9 billion, allowing the DSWD to take in almost a million beneficiaries.

For the 2016 budget, Recto, who chaired the Senate Finance subcommittee in charge of the DSWD budget, sponsored the increase in funding from the proposed P7.5 billion to P8.7 billion.

MEDIA AGAINST CRIME. President Rodrigo Duterte and Volunteers Against Crime & Corruption founding chariman Dante Jimenez conferred awards on the Manila Standard, represented by publisher Rolando Estabillo, and its reporter Francisco Tuyay during the VACC’s 18th anniversary celebration at Malacañang Palace on Monday. Lino Santos

DoJ: De Lima held back pork evidence

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Department of Justice, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s order, will revisit the pork barrel scam cases and address the so-called “selective justice” the previous administration was accused of in handling the controversy.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II expressed Monday the opinion there was something fishy in the way the DOJ conducted the investigation during the time of his predecessor and now Senator Leila de Lima.

“What I know is that the DOJ then suppressed evidence against other politicians (involved in pork barrel scam),” Aguirre said in an interview.

Aguirre noted that critics of the Aquino administration accused then DOJ chief de Lima of being selective in its investigation and spared administration allies.

The DOJ secretary said he would talk to Janet Lim-Napoles,

Oil firms increase fuel cost by P0.50

By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL firms raised gasoline prices by P0.50 per liter, diesel by P0.15 per liter and kerosene by P0.20 per litter effective Tuesday, the third consecutive price increase for the month.

Phoenix Petroleum, Eastern Petroleum, Flying V and Seaoil Philippines issued separate advisories regarding the price increase while other oil companies are expected to similarly issue their respective advisories.

“Effective 8/30/16 12:01am, Flying will implement price

increase on the following: gasoline by 0.50 per liter, biodiesel by 0.15/ltr and kerosene by 0.20/ltr,” Flying V said.

An Energy Department official said the prices continued to go up due to speculations regarding a possible production cut during the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC and non-OPEC meeting this month.

Last August 23, the oil firms also raised pump prices, specifically diesel and kerosene, by P1.45 per liter and gasoline by P1.35 per liter to reflect the movement in the international oil market.

Marcos burial cost to cover honors only

By John Paolo Bencito THE government will not spend a single centavo for the burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani of former President Ferdinand Marcos, a senior cabinet official said.

“No. The government will only spend on the honors [to be given.]

There will be no money out, like the transportation of the cadaver, it’s theirs,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told the Manila Standard in a chance interview.

The Supreme Court earlier issued a status quo ante order for the

deferment of the hero’s burial for the late President, who died in Hawaii in 1989, and whose remains will be transferred from Batac, Ilocos Norte to the Libingan ng mga Bayani at a still undisclosed date.

The status quo order, which has a prescribed period of 20 days, prevents Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the Department of National Defense under Lorenzana and the Armed Forces of the Philippines among others, from continuing the preparations for Marcos burial.

the jailed businesswoman tagged as architect of the anomaly involving the Priority Development Assistant Fund of lawmakers, to shed light on the matter.

“When Napoles first surfaced, she was brought to Malacañang and Mar (Roxas) accompanied her to Camp Crame. The question is why? They were obviously hiding something,” Aguirre noted.

According to him, he would ask Napoles to really divulge everything she knew about the multibillion-peso anomaly without being selective this time.

Aguirre said he believes that Napoles was fooled into cooperating with the previous administration when she did not benefit

from her supposed “tell-all” affidavit and list personally submitted to de Lima.

“Why did she cover up for others when she knew they were all guilty. She won’t be able to get away with it anyway—unless the President grants her pardon,” he stressed.

“She could be a witness again, not necessarily a state witness.

Anyway she will be in jail due to her conviction in another serious illegal detention case. The only benefit she could get is to just tell the truth,” he said.

According to Aguirre, the DOJ reinvestigation “is part of the President’s platform to rid the government of corruption.”

Aguirre also gave assurance that witnesses of the previous administration, including whistle blower Benhur Luy, would remain under the government’s witness protection program.

In the list she submitted to the DOJ in May 2014 for her bid for immunity from criminal suits in the PDAF scam, Napoles tagged nine senators in the PDAF scam: Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jinggoy

Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile, Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gringo Honasan and Francis Escudero.

However, only Revilla, Estrada and Enrile have since been charged with plunder by the Ombudsman office before the Sandiganbayan.

Former senator Manny Villar was also in the list where Napoles affixed her signature and two thumb marks.

Also in the list were Liberal Party members—former budget secretary and Batanes representative Florencio Abad and former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority head and now senator Joel Villanueva.

No charges were filed against Abad.

The list also included the names of 69 incumbent and former congressmen as well as those of alleged conduits for the implementing agencies like the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, National Livelihood Development Corp., Technology Resource Center and National Agribusiness Corp.

Neda eyes hike in cash dole

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE National Economic and Development Authority plans to increase the amount of cash subsidies received by the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the government’s social safety net program.

Economic and Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia told reporters they prefer higher cash subsidies given to 4Ps beneficiaries instead of the monthly rice allocation.

“If I were to decide, bakit (why) rice subsidy, why not outright cash, para (so) they have the freedom to do whatever they want to do with the

cash?” Pernia asked.

The Conditional Cash Transfer program, known as 4Ps, headed by the Social and Welfare department, provides grants to poor families if they send their children to school, visit health centers and attend family development sessions.

CCTs are an investment in human development that pays off when healthier and better educated young people grow up to get better jobs and break out of the poverty trap.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno was quoted as saying a rice subsidy would be given to the families on top of the cash allocations they currently receive.

EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE. Leyte

Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (left) receives a plaque of appreciation from Technnical Education and Skills Development Auithority Eastern Visayas regional director Cleta Omega for supporting Tesda’s programs.

Romualdez was the guest of honor and speaker of the 10th graduation ceremony of the Isuzu-TESDA Auto Mechaninc Traning Centre in Tacloban City.

Ver Noveno

IN BRIEF Binay eyes Senate probe of passports SENATOR Nancy Binay has filed Senate Resolution 111 urging the Senate to investigate the alleged P200-million scam involving government officials and employees in the issuance of Philippine (Hajj) passports to foreigners.

Binay said the fraudulent processing and issuance of Hajj passports to non-Filipino undermines national security and exposes the Philippines to increasing risk of terrorism.

The Bureau of Immigration recently barred 177 Indonesians from leaving the country after they were found out with fraudulently obtained Philippine Hajj passports.

The Philippine passports were allegedly provided to the Indonesians by their Filipino escorts who organized the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Macon R. Araneta

Law sought vs corporal punishment A PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Monday appealed to the leadership of the House of Representatives to prioritize a measure penalizing corporal punishment of children, stressing that the Davao City death of a three-year-old boy who suffocated inside a sack presents one of the many strong arguments for the measure.

Bagong Henerasyon partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy was referring to her House Bill 516 or the “Positive and Non-Violent Disciplline of Children Act” as she noted a “dangerous rise” in incidence of cruel punishment imposed on minors, many of them documented in the Internet.

The most recent ended the young life of Kean Gabriel, a two-year-old boy from Matina Pangi, Davao City, she said.

Kean Gabriel died of suffocation after being placed inside a sack by his stepfather, Sonny Boy Mendoza, as punishment.

Maricel V. Cruz

CHR silence on killings hit WITH the ongoing debate over alleged extra-judicial killings arising from the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs, Senator Richard J. Gordon slammed the deafening silence in the past on killings perpetrated by teams on motorcycles.

Despite the proliferation of riding in tandem killings, Gordon said there has been little noise about the issue over the last ten years and questioned the Commission on Human Rights about its marked silence on the matter.

“We were saying unexplained killings, let me ask the Commission on Human Rights. How many were killed by these riding in tandem here in our country? How come I don’t hear any noise that has been going on for the last 10 years?... People riding in tandem shooting people down and we just keep quiet,” he said.

Macon R. Araneta

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Time and other constraints

H

OUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Sunday said that passing the freedom of information bill is no longer possible this year because Congress will be busy with budget hearings and with committee memberships for the rest of 2016.

This developed even as President Rodrigo Duterte issued an executive order in July operationalizing FOI in the executive branch of government. Mr. Duterte said he hoped this would prompt the other branches to follow suit and come up with FOI measures in their respective spheres.

The executive order invokes the people’s constitutional right to information and the state policies of full public disclosure and transparency.

“I have no problem with the FOI. It’s just that the committees are not yet complete now,” Alvarez said.

The leader of the House apparently believes that an FOI Law has waited so long that it can afford to wait a little more. After all, despite the fact that the right to information is enshrined in Section 28, Article II of the 1987 Constitution, no enabling law has been passed even as the first bill was

filed as early as 1987.

Sure, Congress is set to deliberate on the 2017 budget and P3.35 trillion is not an amount to trifle with.

House committees also need to be filled so that the 17th Congress can begin its work in earnest.

Then again, lawmakers will not spend every waking moment taken up with the budget and the committee memberships. If they indeed believed that the FOI bill was important or urgent enough, they would find the time to deliberate on the FOI bill and muster a quorum to vote on it. Over the years, we have seen members of

Congress pull stunts that defied the odds if they deemed a measure truly important—or if it served their purpose.

The “straight-path” treading administration of Benigno Aquino III failed spectacularly in delivering on this campaign promise, even as it claimed to create a transparent environment in the government. The Senate, for its part, passed the measure, but the House cited several reasons for its inability to do so.

This is exactly why Speaker Alvarez’s words give us the same uneasy feeling.

EAGLE EYES TONY LA VIÑA

Peace is at hand

Odicta upon the recommendation of the Iloilo police; Fortun said his client was not in any list of drug dealers of the police and merely wanted to clear his name.

But PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa laughed off Odicta’s denials, advising the businessman to “tell it to the marines.” The alwaysquotable Dela Rosa made the remarks on Friday, the same day that he advised drug addicts and pushers to kill the drug lords who are oppressing them.

“Who is he [Odicta] fooling?”

Dela Rosa said in a speech before the Region 6 police. “Don’t you know that he is the drug lord and yet he denies it?”

That was how things stood when on Sunday night, the Odicta couple decided that they would return to Iloilo the same way they arrived: In four vans full of armed bodyguards and other hangers-on, by way of Batangas City, where they would load the vehicles in a ro-ro ferry across the inland sea to Caticlan,

I HAVE been involved—in different roles as peace and justice advocate, academic researcher, and government negotiator—in the country’s peace processes for the last 30 years. Today, I have never felt so hopeful that permanent peace is at hand with the Moro revolutionary movements (the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberal Front) and the Communist Party of the Philippines and their allied organizations, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the New People’s Army (for purposes of this article I will use NDFP to describe the affiliated organizations of the Left).

While I am concerned about the spike in extrajudicial killings and the human rights excesses in the war against illegal drugs, I am conscious that most human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, have happened in the course of these civil conflicts (all sides guilty of excesses). It stands to reason to think that the best thing for human rights in this country would be a permanent cessation of hostilities with the MILF, MNLF, and the NDFP-NPA. In this column, I sum up the state of the negotiations with the NFDP based on the agreements reached in Oslo, Norway last week. On Saturday, I will write about the state of the process with the MILF and MNLF. Interesting and good things are also happening in that process.

The most important development in the NDFP negotiations is the declaration by the protagonists in this conflict of an indefinite ceasefire effective 21 August, extending the seven-day ceasefire agreement before the talks began.

The negotiating panels also issued the “Joint Statement on the Resumption of the Formal Peace Talks in the Peace Negotiations” expressing their commitment to resume the formal talks in order to resolve the armed conflict by addressing its root causes. The negotiating panels agreed on six points, namely: reaffirmation of previously signed agreements, reconstitution of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees list, acceleration of the peace negotiations, releases of political prisoners, amnesty proclamation and ceasefire.

Over more than three decades, the Philippine government and CPP-NDF-NPA

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A drug lord’s death LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES IT WAS after 1 a.m. yesterday when controversial Iloilo businessman Melvin Odicta and his wife Meriam arrived at the Caticlan ferry jetty in Aklan. They were just getting off the ro-ro ferry after making the long journey from Batangas City when shots rang out in the dark.

When the initial confusion subsided, the Odictas were lying in pools of blood. They were taken to a local hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.

This was no ordinary case of “extra-judicial killing,” as the opponents of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war usually describe such incidents.

Melvin Odicta, alias “Boyet” and “Dragon,” was allegedly the top drug dealer in Iloilo City and its neighboring areas—the most “shabulized” part of the country,

according to Duterte himself.

Odicta was, according to sources in the city, under the protection of Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog. Mabilog was named by the president as one of the most prominent public officials protecting drug syndicates, in a list he read in public recently; Mabilog is also a second cousin of Iloilo political kingpin Senator Franklin Drilon.

Odicta gained national notoriety last year, when he and his son, Melvin Jr., and Jing-Jing Espinosa, led a group of armed men in storming a local radio station which had been reporting about Odicta’s illegal drug ring. The Odictas and Espinosa, a barangay councilman who is believed to be the second-incommand of the elder Odicta, were caught in CCTV footage during the attempted raid of the offices of dyOK Aksyon Radyo Iloilo last November.

Were the Odictas killed at the Caticlan ferry port to silence them? It would seem so, according to sources that I interviewed

in Iloilo.

The killings were certainly not perpetrated by rival gangs using Duterte’s anti-drug campaign as a convenient excuse to get rid of the competition, as the police have described some of

Odicta was the top drug dealer in Iloilo City—the most ‘shabulized’ part of the country, according to Duterte. the recent killings. According to veteran Iloilo journalist and blogger Manuel “Boy” Mejorada, the Odictas have already eliminated their main rival in the drug trade, an operation run by

the Prevendido family.

In fact, Odicta has already “graduated” to legitimate businesses in Iloilo and was allegedly grooming the heavily-tattooed Espinosa to take over the local drug trade. Odicta is the operator of a big local taxi fleet named “Melvin” and runs an airport shuttle service, Mejorada said.

But the circumstances of the killing of the Odicta couple in Caticlan merit more than just passing mention. In fact, they had just come from Manila, where they met with Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno, to deny involvement in the Iloilo drug trade and to promise that they would identify the real narcotics kingpins and their protectors among the top officials of the city. *** Odicta’s lawyer, Raymond Fortun, had sought the meeting with Sueno, I’m told, so that his client may explain himself. Fortun said the meeting last Thursday was not a “surrender” by his client, but was requested by

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Opinion

IT SEEMS strange that despite opposition to online and onthe negative reactions of hu- site electronic gaming because man rights groups like Am- of the social ills and decay that nesty International, and of oth- they foist in our communities ers like the United Nations, the as they cater to the more ecoUnited States and foreign me- nomically vulnerable portion dia against human rights viola- of our population.”

Pagcor rejected Ongpin’s tions and killings in connection with the President’s war on il- donation, prompting him to legal drugs, there has been no amend it by proposing, in anclamor from the citizenry for other letter, that his donation Mr. Duterte to stop. Over 1,200 be used exclusively for the establishment of a nationwide have already been killed.

Santa Banana, it is either Fil- network of drug rehabilitation ipinos have been desensitized, centers.

In fact, according to Ongor that they believe the government must use draconian meas- pin, before Philweb’s license ures to prevent the country expired on Aug. 10, 2016, that they even made a study of drug from being a “narco-nation.”

The previous administration rehabilitation centers in the US of President Benigno Aquino and Europe. They consulted III has done nothing to stop medical toxicologists and other the illegal drugs trade from be- drug rehabilitation specialists. ing so pervasive. As a result, Ongpin said that if Pagcor acthe Chinese triad, West Afri- cepts the donation of shares, it can syndicate and the dreaded could auction it off after an apMexican Sinaloa have made propriate period when the true the Philippines a transshipment value of Philweb has been repoint in their worldwide opera- stored.

As of this date, Pagcor has tions. This made the people so frustrated with a president who not replied to Ongpin’s offer.

With Ongpin’s resignation did not do anything against the from Philweb as chairman, illegal drug menace.

Now President Duterte is go- Dennis O. Valdes, Philweb ing against criminality, illegal president, made another offer drugs and corruption hammer to Pagcor. It was a business and tongs despite all the con- plan, submitted to Pagcor some demnation he is getting here five years ago, which would be called “Pagcor and abroad.

Text BonanMy gulay, it za” in which appears that a chosen lotthe people are tery number on his side!

President is texted by I myself a bettor to am concerned Duterte has Philweb/ Pagabout the kill- had a change of cor servers via ings.

They Smart mobile could promote heart on online phones.

He a culture of gambling. then receives lawlessness a confirmation and impunity. regarding his This could chosen numlead to othber. The bettor er problems which Duterte could find dif- saves the number in his cellphone and that effectively beficult to manage.

But I think that there is no comes his ticket. Philweb said further proof that Duterte is on that it could also include Globe the right track than the fact that in the project.

According to Valdes, the the people seem to be on his side. Apparently, they see that existing lotto earns for PCSO Duterte is the leader they have approximately P30 billion per year. Bettors though are relonged for.

The good thing that comes quired to queue (when the jackout of this is that the people’s pot is large) for hours under the trust and faith in government sun or the rain to buy tickets.

With over 100 million cell and its leaders is slowly being phones and 1.5 billion text restored.

Now, if only Philippine Na- messages per day, PhilWeb tional Police chief Ronald dela would have an advantage for Rosa, and more especially if Pagcor Text Bonanza over President Duterte himself, PCSO’s lotto system with an could stop the vigilante kill- estimated P50 billion to P100 ings, then that should put to billion a year.

Pagcor has not replied to rest all the negative reactions the offer of Valdes. Just how to his war on illegal drugs.

PhilWeb can benefit by Presi*** President Duterte has had a dent Duterte’s change of mind change of heart with regard to on online gambling is a matter online gambling. This became of speculation.

With a glimmer of hope for collateral damage when he singled out businessman Roberto PhilWeb’s resurrection, its “Bobby” V. Ongpin as an oli- share price at the Philippine garch embedded in government. Stock Exchange jumped to The change of heart gives some more than 50 percent. To me, 6,000 e-Games employees and though, what is more important workers of PhilWeb and opera- is to save the jobs and investtors of e-Games numbering 131 ments I mentioned before.

I still cannot understand how entities, and their investments of P1.8 billion nationwide, Ongpin can be embedded in some glimmer of hope that they government when he was perwould get back their jobs and secuted and even charged with ensure that their investments criminal offenses during the term of President Aquino. The are not wiped out.

Mr. Duterte now says online charges against him, though, gambling operators can go on were all dismissed by the Sanso long as they pay taxes reli- diganbayan. His only fault was giously and dutifully, and so his friendship with former First long as they operate in areas Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

Clearly, President Duterte far from churches and schools.

The Philippine Amusement must have been informed that and Gaming Corp. said, when PhilWeb contributes to Pagcor Ongpin offered to donate his an average of P6 million a day.

771 million shares in PhilWeb: Last year, PhilWeb remitted a “The issue is not RVO or total of P2.1 billion to Pagcor, PhilWeb per se. It is the Presi- and this year the target is P2.5 dent’s and his government’s billion.

A drug...

where the convoy would proceed by land to Iloilo City on the other side of Panay Island.

According to my sources, the Odictas often travel this way, not only because they employed very

stringent security measures, but also because they did not want to ride airplanes, where they could easily be detected and followed. But this time, their trip to Iloilo was stalled in the Batangas ferry port.

When the four-van convoy was about to board the ferry, it was

A5

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De Lima and the driver

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

A win-win offer

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA IT HAD all the badges of a seasonal roadshow in the Senate.

Freshman senator and exJustice Secretary Leila de Lima initiated a Senate inquiry about how the Philippine National Police uses deadly force in its ongoing campaign against the illegal drug trade plaguing the country.

The hearings were covered on national television, and Senator de Lima seemed to be enjoying the public attention. For a senator who refuses to be interpellated, de Lima sure asked a lot of questions during the hearings.

Senator De Lima brands the deaths arising from the antinarcotics operations of the PNP as extra-judicial killings, and blames President Rodrigo Duterte for them. That is why she summoned the PNP top brass to the Senate investigation.

De Lima’s mindset against President Duterte is nothing new.

When De Lima was still justice secretary and eyeing inclusion in the senatorial slate of the abusive Liberal Party of President Benigno Aquino III, her statements to the media associated Duterte with so-called “death squads” in Davao City when the latter was still the city mayor. Since Duterte was a strong contender for the presidency back then, De Lima’s tirade against Duterte was probably her way of campaigning for the LP presidential bet, Mar Roxas.

The cops are not the only ones being subjected to an investiga-

tion. De Lima herself is currently facing a query as to how and why, during her watch as justice secretary, convicted bigtime drug lords detained at the national penitentiary enjoyed special privileges like air-conditioned quarters, catered food, and access to large sums of cash, firearms, electronic appliances, mobile phones, and the internet —extra-ordinary perks which could not have been possible without the knowledge and tacit consent of the justice secretary and her prison officials.

Last August 17, the case against De Lima took a surprise turn. In a speech delivered at Camp Crame in Quezon City that day, President Duterte announced that Senator De Lima took bribes from the convicted drug lords at the national penitentiary, and that her driver was her collection agent. What’s more, Duterte said that De Lima and her driver are lovers. It was also disclosed to the news media that de Lima gifted her driver houses in Pangasinan.

Although Senator De Lima denounced the exposé, she did not categorically deny any of the allegations against her. Instead, de Lima appealed to the public’s emotion by accusing the President of bullying her. De Lima added that the President should focus his remarks against her, and that he should not include her family and friends in their fight. She also scored the President for portraying her as an immoral woman.

As expected, De Lima’s partymates in the Senate like Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan took her side and asked Senate President

Aquilino Pimentel III to initiate a collective stand against the President. Good grief!

If Pimentel knows his law, he should not allow himself be used by those LP politicians.

The Constitution provides that public service is a public trust, and that public officials are, at all times, accountable to the people.

Senator De Lima is a public official, and being so, her public life is fair game for public scrutiny and criticism. All aspects of her private life, however, are excluded from the public scope, unless her private conduct is something that involves public interest, or is a matter the public is rightfully entitled to know.

Indeed, a public official’s love life is a private matter, but when the romance smacks of involvement in an irregularity or a crime, privacy may not be invoked, and the relationship is open to public scrutiny. The adjective “public” is broad enough to include the President.

In other words, the romance between a senator and her driver is none of the public’s business, but if there are good reasons to inquire if the senator and the driver are involved in a crime, then the love affair becomes the public’s business.

The President has made a very damaging revelation against Senator De Lima, one that posits that the senator is on the payroll of the big-time drug lords in the country, and that her own driver is her bagman. Duterte’s statement regarding the driver being the senator’s alleged lover seems pertinent enough—it is easier to entrust large sums of money with a lover than with just an ordinary hireling.

Truth to tell, the President’s revelation is not so much about a senator’s alleged romance with her driver, but more about a senator allegedly receiving bribe money from convicted drug lords detained at the penitentiary. It just so happens that, according to the President at least, the senator and the driver are lovers. Unfortunately for De Lima, however, the allegation about the romantic affair is difficult for the public and the media to ignore.

De Lima drew first blood.

She accused Duterte of masterminding extra-judicial killings. Duterte retorted with his own accusation against her. De Lima, however, took offense at the President’s disclosure, and claimed that they are uncalled for. Surprisingly, De Lima does not explain how and why the disclosure is uncalled for.

From all indications, it looks like there is no valid basis for De Lima’s public protestations against the incriminating firebomb released by the President.

Her indignation is misplaced.

The senators of the LP who took the side of De Lima should refrain from needlessly turning the Senate against President Duterte, when what the President disclosed to the public is a matter of immense public interest.

Instead of wasting their time pacifying their controversial colleague, these senators should start being useful to the people by enacting a law that will get rid of the political dynasties bedeviling this country. If the record of the LP leadership from 2010-2016 is a preview of the future, the LP senators, De Lima included, would be a collective disappointment to the people.

Winners and losers in the new China the fastest rate in the world.

For workers, the shift has been just as harsh. Low-skilled laborers in fading industries are facing a contracting labor market and stagnant wage growth, even as statesponsored venture capitalists plow stunning amounts of money into technology and pharmaceutical startups. Last year, China accounted for 90 percent of newly minted billionaires, overtaking the US for the most in the world. This year, 1.8 million coal and steel workers are facing layoffs.

Signs of a growing divide are everywhere. Although reliable wage data is hard to come by, some consumption patterns are suggestive.

Highway transportation, preferred by the Chinese everyman, is down 19 percent on the year. Air travel, still mostly for the rich, is up 11 percent. International flights are increasingly popular: Chinese flying to Japan to buy toilets, Thailand for beach holidays or Europe for luxury goods are faring quite well.

Yet in many ways, China remains a developing country. More than 600 million Chinese—some

44 percent of the population—are classified as rural residents, with an average nominal yearly income of $1,620. An urban worker earns nearly three times as much, enjoys better public benefits like schooling, and gets an enormous wealth boost from real-estate appreciation.

As bureaucrats in Beijing continue creating jobs for bankers and subsidizing startups, this is creating some alarming tensions: The number of strikes and workplace protests surged to a record 2,774 last year, double the amount in 2014.

China needs to address this divergence quickly. Although the government is offering cash to laidoff workers, the bigger problem is helping them make the transition to new jobs and new lives. Coal miners don’t become medical technicians without training, or move to new cities without incentives.

The first step should be relaxing rules that prevent workers from moving. Successful economic transitions require letting labor flow freely, and restrictions on where migrants can work, and where their kids can go to school, only inhibit

this process. Retraining programs are also crucial. Many rural towns in China have become magnets for online retailers, as small-time shop-owners enter the digital age; local residents need to have the wherewithal to capitalize on such changes.

Finally, Beijing must address housing costs. In most major cities, and especially those with flourishing economies, low-skilled and migrant workers have been largely priced out. One result is that ruralto-urban migration, once an unstoppable growth engine, has effectively ceased. A program to sell empty housing held by state-owned developers to migrants at affordable prices would help. So would easing restrictions on housing investment for lower-income groups.

China isn’t alone in facing such problems. Yet its challenges are enormous. The yawning gap between winners and losers is making life much harder for a government seeking to boost growth and maintain stability. Without changes, China may very well end up with neither.

Bloomberg

entered into over 20 preliminary agreements through 40 rounds of talks initiated by five administrations. Despite these numerous preliminary agreements, substantive issues have yet to be threshed out by the parties because of suspensions, impasse or outright breakdown of past negotiations.

On the first commitment: the reaffirmation of all previously signed agreements including The Hague Joint Declaration of September 1, 1992 which provided for the framework for the negotiations. The Joint Declaration made a commitment, among others, to hold formal peace negotiations between the GRP and the NDF to resolve the armed conflict. The common goal of the aforesaid negotiations shall be the attainment of a just and lasting peace. And preparatory to the formal peace negotiations, the parties agreed to recommend the following: a.

Specific measures of goodwill and confidence-building to create a favorable climate for peace negotiations; and b. The substantive agenda of the formal peace negotiations shall include human rights and international humanitarian law, socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms,

end of hostilities and disposition of forces. The government and the NDFP also reaffirmed the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (February 24, 1995), Joint Agreement on the Formation, Sequence and Operationalization of the Reciprocal Working Committees of the GRP and the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) Negotiating panels; and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (March 16, 1998).

On the second commitment: the reconstitution of the JASIG list.

Both parties agreed on the procedure and holders of identification protected by the Joint Agreement on Safety And Immunity Guarantees.

This refers to all duly accredited persons in possession of documents of identification or safe conduct passes are guaranteed free and unhindered passage in all areas in the Philippines, and in traveling to and from the Philippines in connection with the performance of their duties in the negotiations. This list became problematic in negotiations with previous governments and their reconstitution and updating is a big step in removing a hurdle to the process.

On the third agreement: the acceleration of the peace process, including setting a timeline for the completion of the remaining

substantive agenda, including, socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and end of hostilities and disposition of forces. Work timelines will be set for guidance by the Reciprocal Working Committees on Social and Economic Reforms, and the Reciprocal Working Groups on Political and Constitutional Reforms and on End of Hostilities and Disposition of Forces.

On the fourth agreement: the release of political prisoners. The CPP-NDF expresses its gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for his efforts to fulfill his promise to order the release of NDFP consultants and his commitment to cause the release of those who are sick, elderly, overlong detained, and women based on humanitarian grounds.

On the fifth agreement: the Amnesty Proclamation. The parties agreed that the GRP negotiating panel will recommend to the President the issuance of an amnesty proclamation, subject to the concurrence of Congress, for the release of prisoners who are listed by the NDFP and who have been arrested, imprisoned or charged for alleged acts and omissions within the ambit of the Revised Penal Code or special laws in connection with alleged crimes in pursuit of one’s political beliefs. At present, according to the NDFP, there are about 550 political prisoners.

On the sixth and final agreement: an indefinite ceasefire that, after the declaration by both parties, is now in effect as noted above.

Understandably, both parties expressed their elation and confidence over the conclusion of the five- day peace talks. The Filipino people should be happy as well. Indeed, all persons of goodwill should be supporting this process.

The resumption of talks will be on October 8-12, in Oslo Norway.

With the preliminaries having been concluded, the parties are now set to start working on the substantive agenda through the various working committees.

We can only remain optimistic that the ceasefire would hold, the parties learn from past mistakes and refrain from making any action that will cause the breakdown of the negotiations. Many tough issues still have to be tackled; in spite of the trust and enormous goodwill that has been generated, there will be crises and deadlocks that can be foreseen for this process. But then again, the difficulties will be overcome by the sincerity and dogged determination of the parties. Only then can we say that peace with the NDFP has been finally achieved. And the nation will be much better for it.

stopped by elements of the PNP Highway Patrol Group. Two of the vans, which were not being used by the Odicata couple, were offloaded because of the presence of armed men in them; the other half of the convoy was allowed to proceed.

The Odictas had just arrived at the Caticlan ferry jetty and were walking off the vessel before boarding their two vans when they were cut down. It is still unclear as of yesterday if their assailants were with them on the ro-ro ferry or if they had been waiting for the couple in am-

bush at the port.

Did the Odicta drug syndicate die with the murder of Dragon, who got his name from the dragon tattooed on his chest? What about the protectors of the Iloilo drug trade in government—will they get off the hook as well, now that Odicta is gone?

The people of Iloilo, who are still smarting from the “most shabulized” tag, will be watching the Duterte administration’s handling of this sensational case. The success of the entire anti-drug campaign of the government could hang in the balance.

By Christopher Balding ECONOMISTS too often talk about policy changes in abstract, ignoring the drawbacks that even sensible reforms can bring. For years, analysts have been urging China to shift its economy away from heavy industry and toward services and consumption. Yet now that Beijing is taking heed, the costs are piling up.

Most obvious is a deepening gulf between winners and losers. A recent study from Peking University found that China has become one of the most unequal countries in the world. The richest 1 percent of households own a third of total wealth. As the government tries to transition away from coal and steel and toward tech and finance, this divergence is likely to worsen.

In fact, it’s already starting to.

Regionally, the differences between China’s old and new economies couldn’t be starker. The rustbelt province of Liaoning, long reliant on steel mills, is now in recession.

In finance-focused, high-tech Shenzhen, real-estate prices have risen by more than 60 percent in a year,

Peace...

From A4

Facebook: Dean Tony La Viña Twitter: tonylavs

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News Alvarez pushes drive vs ‘protocol’ car plates

By Maricel V. Cruz

ANTI-DRUGS BRIGADE. About 100 volunteers from different barangays in Manila pledge to help the Manila police in the fight against drugs and criminality. Danny Pata

ASIDE from pursuing a policy against special No. 8 car plates for congressmen, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Monday he would support a proposed law prohibiting the issuance and use of the so-called “protocol plates” to members of the House of Representatives.

Alvarez said the only way to permanently prevent the issuance of such protocol plates is to legislate a law for the purpose or amend existing laws to prohibit lawmakers from using the said special plates.

“I would discourage it (issuance and use of Protocol Plate No. 8). We can amend the existing law (to effect this new policy),” Alvarez, representative of Davao del Norte, told a radio interview Monday, stressing that he himself has opted not to use the protocol plates because of the resulting security treat.

“There is already a bill filed in the House of Representatives seeking to prohibit the issuance and use of the number “8” protocol license plates on vehicles of congressmen. I will study the proposal and see if I can co-author the measure,” Alvarez said, referring to House Bill 413 filed by Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco.

In filing his measure, Tiangko acknowledged a constitutional provision that “public office is a public trust.” “Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice and lead modest lives,” he said.

Tiangco wanted the use of said plate to be stopped as this has been prone to abuse as “exhibited by individuals driving or using these vehicles, whether government officials or persons posing as such.”

Tiangco proposed stiffer penalties against violators, such as face a fine of P25,000 or imprisonment of one month and one day as minimum and six months as maximum Alvarez favored the proposal of Tiangco, stressing there should be no special privilege nor special treatment to be extended to government officials.

“Why do we have to make a distinction between government officials or certain government officials? The law should apply to all. There should be no special privilege when it comes to issuance of vehicle license plates issued to all public officials. If one commits a traffic violation, then he or she must be apprehended,” Alvarez stressed.

Vacate Tadeco land, farmers urge Aquinos

By Rio N. Araja

T

HE 358.22 hectares of land that the Tarlac Development Corp. (Tadeco), owned by the family of former President Benigno Aquino III, was still fenced with barbed wire and guarded by heavily-armed men days after the Department of Agrarian Reform denied the company’s appeal to be excluded from land reform.

The Unyon ng mga Magsasaka sa Agrikultura (UMA) called on the Cojuangco-Aquino family to leave the place and pull out their goons and soldiers as directed by the agency and finally implement land reform on the land that used to be part of the Aquino family’s Hacienda Luisita.

“Soldiers stationed within this

land reform area, particularly a company under the 31st IBPA, 3rd Mechanized Battalion must also go back to their barracks and dismantle their company headquarters located in the area,” he said.

“We also call on the Department of Justice to take action on hundreds of criminal complaints filed by farm workers in 2014 re-

garding the destruction of crops, burning of huts, illegal arrests, mauling and other atrocities by the Cojuangco-Aquinos in relation to the Tadeco case.”

Florita Sibayan, Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Ambala) chairperson, herself was a victim of mauling, illegal arrest and destruction of her family’s farm lot and property within the Tadeco area, Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Luis Meinard Pangulayan confirmed that the Tadeco area was fenced with barbed wires and heavily guarded by armed men although Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano denied last week Tadeco’s appeal to retain its ownership of the land.

Ramos also hit the ex-presi-

dent’s kin for using people posing as farmer-beneficiaries to make false claims on a 500-hectare property still under dispute.

He alleged the family of the then president and their business partners in the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and Luisita Industrial Park Corp. have escalated their long-running black propaganda against farmer-beneficiaries belonging to Ambala and their leaders.

Even Mariano has not been spared from the smear campaign, he said.

“Instead of spreading deception and lies in the media, the Cojuangco-Aquinos and their minions must let Luisita land reform areas be,” he said, adding the two supposed leaders of Hacienda Luisita

farmers—Noel Mallari and Edwin Cabilangan—were allegedly agents of the Aquino family.

Ramos, along with Sibayan, expressed alarm over the CojuangcoAquino stance should the Department of Agrarian Reform revoke the conversion order on the 500 hectares of land being controlled by LIPCO, RCBC and the Luisita Land Corp., the farmer-beneficiaries would not receive the P1.33-billion shares from the proceeds of sale from the Hacienda Luisita Inc. as mandated by the Supreme Court.

On April 24, 2012, the High Court issued a landmark decision, ordering the distribution of close to 5,000 hectares of the Hacienda Luisita to about 6,000 farmer-beneficiaries based on the 1989 valuation of the land.

SC bares acts vs 13 judges, 716 lawyers

By Rey E. Requejo AS part of its campaign to cleanse the judiciary of so-called “hoodlum in robes” and erring lawyers, the Supreme Court has dismissed twelve judges and one Sandiganbayan magistrate from service, while a total of 716 lawyers have been penalized for various infractions since 2012.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno admitted that while there are corrupt members of the judiciary, the SC has never veered from imposing sanctions on them, such as dismissal from the service, and disbarment for lawyers, among other penalties.

“We are aware that corruption is an obstacle to development.

It is a complex problem, which has to be confronted though a variety of independent initiatives to strengthen integrity

and prevent opportunities for corruption among members of the judiciary. One flank in this battle against corruption is the Supreme Court’s use of its disciplinary powers,” Sereno said, in her annual judiciary report.

Citing records from the Office of the Court Administrator, Sereno revealed that the Supreme Court has dismissed 12 judges and one Sandiganbayan justice, Gregory Ong. She said the SC also suspended 13 other judges, fined 88 others, 18 were reprimanded, 31 were admonished and three has their retirement benefits forfeited.

Ong, a senior associate justice of the anti-graft court-was dismissed from the judiciary by the SC due to his links with businesswoman and alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

A HOUSE leader has asked Congress to enact a measure that allows the state to support surviving spouses and children of slain judges, justices and other officials of the judiciary.

Following the National Heroes’ Day message of President Rodrigo Duterte of looking after the welfare of the state’s partners in its war against drugs, Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu of Batangas City said the state should also address the serious challenges to the nation’s judicial system, particularly the daily risks that dispensers of justice face.

“Dispensing justice is as risky, in some cases fatally risky, as the search for justice itself by victims of injustice,” Abu, author

of House Bill 2683, also known as “Support for the Surviving Spouse and Children of Slain Judiciary Officials Act.” Abu lamented that the country, in recent years, has experienced judiciary officials being murdered, assassinated, and brutally killed by criminals in hopes of obstructing the ends of justice.

Abu cited a report by Amnesty International showing that from 1999 to 2012, some 22 judges have been murdered or assassinated in the Philippines, which translates to two judges being killed each year.

He also cited Section 2 of R.A. 9946, as amended, states that “when a justice or judge is killed intentionally while in service, the presumption is that the death is work-related.”

Rody honors policeman PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte visited on Monday the wake of a police officer in Catbalogan City, Samar and a wounded comrade confined in a private hospital in this city.

Duterte arrived in Samar’s capital city around 12:00 noon and proceeded to St. Peter’s Funeral Homes in Muñoz village in Catbalogan where PO1 Gary Cabaguing’s body lies in state.

Duterte awarded the Philippine National Police Medal of Valor (posthumous) to the slain police officer.

Cabaguing’s wife received the award. The junior police officer was shot dead while attempting to serve a search warrant to Ernesto Gonzales, 49, for involvement in illegal drugs trade and illegal possession of firearms on Aug. 24.

Malate drug dealer slain MANILA Police District policemen killed a suspected drug dealer during a police buy-bust operation in Malate late Sunday night, while a second suspect was able to flee and evade police pursuit.

PO3 Roel Candelario said undercover police asset was attempting to buy P200 worth of methamphetamines or Shabu from the suspects known by the aliases Aries Demonyo and Bekbek.

The suspects arrived at the scene on a sports utility vehicle (SUV), and the police operation went bad as Aries alighted from the vehicle and attempted to frisk the asset. The police were forced to prematurely spring their trap and Bekbek was able to drive away and evade police pursuit.

Police gave chase to Aries and was killed when he attempted to fight off his police pursuers.

Sandy Araneta

LOCAL GOVT TALK. Officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government—Undersecretary John Castriciones, Asst. Secretary Epi Densing and and Undersecretary Jayvee Hinlo—answer media queries about local governments and the police at the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel news forum on Monday. Ey Acasio

Benefits for judiciary sought

By Maricel V. Cruz

IN BRIEF

The House deputy speaker said the daily job-related risks that judiciary officials face should be counterbalanced by providing them with a grant that will encourage them to fully perform their duties and responsibilities. Hence, this bill seeks to support the judiciary by granting benefits to surviving heirs in case they are killed while dispensing justice.

“This proposed amendments to R.A. 910, as amended by R.A. 9946, as amended, will embolden our judges and justices, especially the young idealistic judges and justices, to dispense justice without fear knowing that the government has their back covered and will support them and their families, as they uphold the rule of law,” Abu said.

Ping: Strip politicos of power over police

By Macon Araneta SENATOR Panfilo Lacson wants to remove from politicians the power to appoint the head of the Philippine National Police in a province, city or municipality under their jurisdiction.

Lacson filed a bill to level up the professionalism of the police force, especially in the selection of provincial commanders and city and town chiefs of police.

Lacson, who served as PNP chief from 1999 to 2001, said his Senate Bill 971 will encourage local police commanders to concentrate on their job and not be indebted to local executives who invoke their appointive authority.

“While the constitutionality of such appointive jurisdiction is a settled question, nothing prevents the

Congress from reviewing the wisdom and logic behind said policy in order to further enhance police professionalism and to isolate the police service from political domination,” Lacson said in his bill.

He added controversies in the past have “developed a public perception that conflict of interest arises when Provincial Directors and Police Chiefs end up being indebted to local chief executives because of the latter’s appointive authority.”

Lacson’s bill, titled “An Act to Further Professionalize the Police Service Amending for the Purpose Pertinent Provisions of Republic Act No. 6975 as amended by Republic Act No. 8551 and for Other Purposes,” gives the PNP regional director the authority to choose the provincial/district director.

UP college to host conference THE Department of Communication Research of the University of the Philippines College of Communication will host the First Communication Research International Conference on Sept. 22-23 at the UP Film Center in Diliman, Quezon City.

The conference aims to discuss and exchange ideas on information issues and set directions to promote understanding of the Asean integration, create greater public awareness of the benefits and challenges of the Asean integration and develop a regional platform for open discussion and information sharing.

Dr. Elena Pernia, UP CMC dean and CRIC organizer, said the conference also aims to address the gaps in knowledge and competencies of integration with respect to media, communication, and its allied fields; conceptualize integration discourses using communication and media as a lens and advance scholarship in the field and discuss theoretical and practical issues and concerns.

Sports

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Novak, Rafa start US Open with music icon Phil Collins

N

EW YORK—Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal get their US Open campaigns under way Monday in the shadow of Arthur Ashe Stadium’s spectacular $150 million retractable roof and alongside rock music legend Phil Collins.

Defending champion Djokovic and fellow two-time winner Nadal come into the season’s final Grand Slam with injury concerns.

World number one Djokovic, the 2011 and 2015 champion, admits he is “not 100 percent” after suffering a wrist injury on the eve of the Olympic Games where he was a shock first-round loser.

The 29-year-old has also said

“personal problems” contributed to his third-round exit at Wimbledon which ended his hopes of going on to capture the first calendar Grand Slam since 1969.

Nadal, meanwhile, is also battling the effects of a left wrist problem which forced a mid-tournament withdrawal from the French Open and sidelined him until the Olympics where he was a gold medal winner in the men’s doubles.

The injury concerns, combined with the absence for the first time since 1999 of five-time winner Roger Federer, have put 2012 champion Andy Murray in the position of favourite.

Djokovic starts his bid for a third major of 2016, and 13th of his career, against Polish giant Jerzy Janowicz, who was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2013.

A serious knee injury has limited Janowicz to just six matches all year and seen his world ranking collapse to 228.

Nadal, the 2010 and 2013 champion in New York, tackles Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

The Spaniard has a 4-0 career record over world number 107 Istomin, including a win over the Russian-born player at

the 2010 US Open.

Nadal closes the daytime session on Ashe while Djokovic starts the evening entertainment.

In between, the tournament will stage its opening ceremony with Collins, making his first concert appearance in six years, headlining the occasion by reprising his “In the Air Tonight” hit.

Play on the cavernous Ashe stadium starts at 1500GMT with 2015 women’s runner-up Roberta Vinci, the Italian seventh seed, facing Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Vinci stunned Serena Williams in the semi-finals in 2015 before losing the championship match to Italian compatriot Flavia Pennetta who retired in the

immediate aftermath of her first and only Grand Slam win.

World number two Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion who can dethrone sixtime US Open winner Williams as world number one in New York, opens against Polona Hercog of Slovenia.

Action on Louis Armstrong Stadium starts with 2014 champion Marin Cilic against Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil.

That’s followed by former major winners Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

They played the longest ever women’s match at the Australian Open in 2011, a four-hour 44-minute epic won by Schiavone after saving six match points. AFP

Locals dominate Football for Better Life LOCAL teams dominated the two-day mini-football tournament at the recent Football For A Better Life second leg in Dumaguete City.

Silliman University led the onslaught by winning the boys’ 18-under against Ting Passing, with the Negros Oriental High School Football Club duplicating the feat in the girls’ 18-under group and the 14-under boys’ category in the football festival organized by Spears Activation and sponsored by PRU Life UK, in cooperation with the Azkals Foundation and the local regional football association as a grassroots football development program.

Other winners were BAM Football Club in the men’s open division, the Football Kings United in the 11 to 12 category, the Hijos FC for the 9 to 10 age group and the Futbolitos FC in the youngest mixed division, 6 to 8 years old.

The 10-leg national program, now on its second year, also featured a free football clinic, with local football hero and currently an Azkal player, Rex Cuaresma and Fil-Briton Graham Caygill from Meralco’s UFL team teaching local kids the basics of the sport.

FFABL, with former Azkal skipper Chieffy caligdong as Project Director, will have eight more legs that will culminate in Manila.

“I also started my football career as a young kid in the province and because of football, my life has really improved. This is what we are doing under the FFABL,” said Caligdong.

The next leg will be in Dipolog City.

MAN VS BEAST. French rejoneadora Lea Vicens gestures after thrusting a banderilla into a Torrealta fighting bull during San Antolin feria in Palencia, northern Spain. AFP

Superal misses low medal golf honors PRINCESS Superal closed out with flubbed back-to-back birdie putts inside seven feet and missed winning the low medal honors in the LPGA and Symetra Tour Qualifying School-Stage I at Rancho Mirage, California Sunday.

The ace Filipina shotmaker was so confident of her bid coming off a long birdie putt on No. 16 but her putts fell off short on the last two holes of the tough Dinah Shore course.

She settled for a 69 and joint runner-up finish in the first of three qualifiers leading to a dream LPGA Tour stint.

Superal, 19, finished tied with American Sarah Schmelzel, who carded a 71, at nine-under 279 in the 72-hole tournament topped

by Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea, who pooled a 278 after a 70.

Still, it was the best-ever finish by a Filipina bet in the QSchool of the world’s premier ladies tour with The Country Club ace vowing to prepare hard and stay in shape when he resumes her campaign in Stage II set Oct. 20-23 at the Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida.

“She’ll play two LPGA events in September and then head to Florida mid-October to prepare for Stage II,” said TCC coach Bong Lopez, who caddied for his prized ward during the 72hole elims played over three courses.

“She had the line on both holes but her putts just fell short.

Sayang talaga,” said Lopez, referring to Superal’s last two strokes which had she made would’ve netted her the coveted medal honors.

“Still, it was a solid finish. I always believe her skill level is good for the LPGA,” said Lopez, the man at the helm of the ICTSI golf program that has produced the likes of Cyna Rodriguez and Dottie Ardina and current wards Pauline del Rosario, Sofia Chanon, Mika Fortuna and Abby Arevalo.

Superal, the former US Girls’ Junior champion, stood at 25th among 340 aspirants after two rounds at Gary Player and Dinah Shore courses then moved up joint seventh with a sterling 68 at the Arnold Palmer layout.

Sports+Action highlights Pinoy athletes’ values AS THE nation honored Filipinos who served and fought for the country on National Heroes Day, Sports+Action (S+A), the country’s number one sports channel, relaunched with the debut of its new station ID that showcases the Filipino athlete’s journey to greatness through the values of excellence, hardwork, teamwork , resilience,and nationalism.

Filipinos witnessed S+A’s trans-

formation on Monday, as it expressed ABS-CBN’s commitment to its sports advocacy via the new SID entitled “Sumasaludo sa Pusong Palaban ng Lahing Pilipino.”

Featuring an original song performed by rapper Quest, the new SID features a mix of iconic Filipino athletes that ABS-CBN Integrated Sports’ cameras have captured in the past years covering various sporting events such

as the UAAP, NCAA, boxing, and mixed martial arts.

They include volleyball stars Alyssa Valdez and Grethcel Soltones, basketball hotshots Jeron Teng and Jio Jalalon, MMA fighters Brandon Vera and Chris Hoffman, and champion boxers Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire.

ABS-CBN Integrated Sports head Dino Laurena explained that

the new SID sends the strong message that Filipinos, athletes or not, will do everything for their family, and seeing them off in a better way is the driving force behind Filipino athletes to work hard and to persevere while putting flag and honor above all else in competitions.

“In our experience covering the games and interviewing the athletes, and in our interactions with ordinary people, we saw the

parallelism in the life of an athlete and the common Pinoy. At the end of the day, what keeps them going and fighting is the drive to better oneself, and more importantly, to make the people they love happy,” he shared.

Laurena added that ABS-CBN Sports will be playing a more active role in the journey of both Filipino athletes and ordinary Filipinos from this point on.

Busy Forum

Best of Best Taekwondo tilt set

THE latest on the Philippine Volcanoes, including their bid for a gold-medal repeat in next year’s Southeast Asian Games, highlights today’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

Two collegiate leagues along with body building and fitness buff Gemmalyn Crosby, join the Volcanoes in the guests’ list of the session aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 and presented

by San Miguel Corp. Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Officials of the Inter Scholastic Athletic Association and NCAA South will also be present, along with Grosby and manager Marissa Pangilinan.

GOLD medal winners in the country’s national and major taekwondo events nationwide will show their skills in the 2016 SMART/MVP Sports Foundation Best of the Best championships on Sunday, Sept. 4 at SM Mall of Asia.

Only champions in national regional tournaments, including ARMM, CAR, CARAGA and the NCR, as well as UAAP, NCAA, AFP-PNP Olympics, all PTA (Philippine Taekwondo Association) competitions in Metro Manila and blackbelt organizations like Taekwondo Blackbelt Brotherhood, Taekwondo Blackbelt Sorority and Philippine Taekwondo Contingent are qualified to join, according to tournament director

One of the entries in the Best of the Best tournament, De La Salle Greenhills’ Gian Carlo Gutierrez (left), is shown in action against Arellano University’s Ramier Manalata in a previous competition.

Jesus Morales III. Competition will be limited to four divisions in kyorugi (free sparring—senior and junior (male and female)—and free style poomsae (FSP).

FSP aims to present an exceptionally high level of taekwondo foot techniques like jumping yopchagi, 720” spinning kick, and kicking with acrobatic actions.

It will also feature creative and harmonious integration of different taekwondo techniques with appropriate music and choreography.

The tournament will utilize PSS (Protective Scoring System), ESS (Electronic Scoring System), electronic armors and

Guevarra, Aguilar share honors in Naga City tennis meet YOUNG Glydel Guevarra and John Benedict Aguilar enhanced their promising tennis careers by racking up two titles each while top seeds Kurt Angelo Molina and Nica Alanis lived up to the hype in the Palawan PawnshopPalawan Express Pera Padala Naga City regional age-group tennis tournament at the Naga City Tennis Club last Sunday.

The 10-year-old Guevarra mastered Aika Idioma twice,

posting a 6-0, 6-0 romp in the girls’ 12-and-under finals and scoring a 6-2, 6-1 victory for the 14-U crown in the Bicol leg of the Group 5 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

The future Iriga City star, winner of the 10-unisex diadem in the recent Olivarez Cup, failed to make it a three-title feat as she bowed to Aguilar in the 10-U semis with the latter repulsing Ryan Taller, 4-2,

2-4, 5-3, in the finals.

The unranked Aguilar, from Camalig, Albay, also took the boys’ 12-U plum with a tough 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Harry Bonavente to match Guevarra’s twotitle exploit in the event hosted by Naga City Mayor John Bongat and backed by Asiatraders Corp., exclusively distributor of Slazenger, the official ball.

“Watch out for these two young players along with a slew of

others who have been benefitting from our year-long circuit in terms of exposure and training. We hope to produce more Guevarras and Aguilars in the future through our series of tournaments nationwide,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/ CEO Bobby Castro.

Molina, from Daet, trounced Naga City’s Jolo Basa, 6-4, 6-1, to dominate the boys’ 18-U side but the local bet struck back to stun the top-seeded Molina

in a thrilling three-setter, 6-3, 3-6, 14-12, and snare the 16-U championship.

Alanis ruled the premier girls’ division with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over fellow Iriga City bet Patricia Corporal, who took the 16-U crown with a win over Katrina Salvadora while Lancelot Guevarra, also from Iriga, bagged the boys’ 14-U title with a hard-earned 6-4, 5-7, 10-2 win over Angelvanz Casyao.

socks together with IVR (Instant Video Replay) to eliminate human error and ensure accurate, fair scoring and spectatorfriendly matches.

SMART Communication and PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan is the man behind the PTA’s premier event. Pangilinan has been the patron of Philippine taekwondo and its top and upcoming jins for over a decade now.

PLDT, Meralco and TV5 are the sponsors of the day-long competition.

All martial arts enthusiasts, especially children who are interest to learn the sport, are invited to watch the tourney, which starts at 8 a.m.

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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Sports

San Beda, Mapua, Arellano U boost bids Games today

(The Arena, San Juan) 12 noon- San Sebastian vs LPU (srs) 2 p.m.- Jose Rizal vs EAC (srs) 4 p.m.- St. Benilde vs Letran (srs)

MANILA CLASICO.

Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa (left) tries to make his move against Star’s Mark Barroca in a PBA Governors’ Cup-Manila Clasico game won by the Gin Kings, 116-103, Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Thailand stint to serve Foton PH in good stead

F

OTON Pilipinas may have placed sixth in the 2016 Sealect Tuna Thailand Volleyball League.

But the valuable experience the team earned will serve the Tornadoes in good stead when they take part in the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship starting this Saturday at the Alonte Sports Center in Binan City.

The Tornadoes landed in Manila late afternoon Monday following a fruitful campaign Thailand league, just in time for the coming Asian tourney where Asia’s best club teams will be seeing action.

Foton Pilipinas absorbed a sorry setback against the Thai

national team led by stars Nootsara Tomkom and Pleumjit Thinkaow in the opener of the Sealect Tuna meet, followed by a four-set meltdown against reigning Asian champion Bangkok Glass.

But it didn’t crush the morale of the Tornadoes as they stormed back with a pair of victories over Rangsit University and Kasetsart University in the classification phase.

It, however, fell prey to 3BB Nokhonnont in its final battle, 25-19, 19-25, 24-26, 14-25, to settle for 6th place in the tourney

that served as a good warm up for the Asian club tourney.

Foton Pilipinas head coach Fabio Menta of Italy emphasized that the outcome of the tourney hardly matters as he sees a lot of positive in the young team powered by Americans Lindsay Stalzer and Ariel Usher, with Jovelyn Gonzaga of RC Cola-Army, Aby Marano of F2 Logistics and Jen Reyes of Petron serving as guest players.

“We’re quite positive,” said Menta, who was formally appointed as head coach two weeks ago. “We played against quicker, more experienced players and gave court time to our younger Filipino players. This is what the club wanted to achieve and if you consider that we only worked

Menta said hitting the goal of a semifinal finish remains doable.

“It’s not going to be easy considering that all the other teams have been working together for months and we have 60% of the team joining now with a new coach,” he said.

“But we have the talent to achieve that goal and we are working hard for that.”

He also added that as soon as they return to Manila, they would immediately address all their weaknesses.

“We need more solid blocking position and more consistency in the quick plays,” he said.

“When we are disciplined at the block, which we proved in three straight games, all correlations would work fine.”

Tierro surprises Arcilla, bags 2nd singles’ title

Edwards: Casimero slow on his feet

By Ronnie Nathanielsz WHILE Britain’s Charlie Edwards may have had only eight fights as a pro and remains unbeaten with three knockouts to his name, he is killing himself in the gym in his relentless strength and conditioning regimen and looks really ripped and ready for his International Boxing Federation flyweight battle with Filipino champion Johnreil Casimero at the O2 Arena in London on Sept. 10.

“I took a big chance in my ninth fight,” Edwards admitted, but stressed that while “Casimero can punch, I am going to be nasty, horrible and awkward and when my feet start moving after six rounds and it kicks in, things could change.”

After watching tapes of Casimero’s last fight in which he knocked out Thailand’s Amnat Ruenroeng in four rounds in a rematch which was the highlight of the IBF Convention in Beijing, China, Edwards noted that Casimero was “a little slow on his feet.”

Casimero’s promoter Sammy Gello-ani told Manila Standard that while his ward appears overconfident, he has trained hard for this title defense and there is no reason for Filipino fight fans to be worried.

He expressed confidence that Casimero, who has a record of 22-3 with 14 knockouts, will return home with his IBF championship belt.

together for two weeks and without two key players in Jaja (Santiago) and Jovelyn, coming back home with two victories is already a great result.”

The Asian club tourney will not be a walk in the park.

Ba’yi Army Shenzheng of China will be parading Asian U23 MVP Liu Yanhan and Olympic star Yuan Xinyue, while Bangkok Glass of Thailand will be bannered by Vietnamese middle blocker Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa and American wing spiker Ashley Frazier. NEC Red Rockets of Japan will also be tough as high-f lying opener Sarina Koga will carry the cudgels together with Olympic star Haruyo Shimamura.

Patrick John Tierro: My game plan worked.

PATRICK John Tierro’s gamble paid off in spades as he clinched his second men’s singles’ crown in the 35th Philippine Columbian Association Open-Cebuana Lhuillier men’s tennis tournament.

The 31-year-old Tierro came on strong as he denied fellow Davis Cup veteran Johnny Arcilla his ninth title via a 6-2, 7-6 (5) decision last Sunday at the PCA indoor shell-clay court in Paco, Manila.

“Sumugal lang ako sa bawat shots ko. It’s either make or break. Hindi kasi puwedeng magpadala sa pressure, hindi puwedeng push lang ng push, kailangan na maging aggressive. And I’m happy na nag-work ang game plan ko,” said Tierro, who now has two PCA titles under his belt. His first was in 2014.

Tierro sizzled with a 3-0 start in the first set with his vicious baseline attacks that left Arcilla struggling to catch up.

The 36-year-old Arcilla managed to get his bearings back and closed the gap to 2-4. But Tierro seemed to be unflappable as he retaliated quickly and eventually took the first set.

Arcilla shook off the sting of the first-set loss and went on to grab an early 5-3 lead in the second set, looking to forge a deciding set.

Tierro would have none of it though as he scored three straight points to steal advantage, 6-5. Although Arcilla was able to force tiebreak, 6-6, he ran out of gas and made a couple of unforced errors, which handed the victory to his younger opponent.

Tiero pocketed a whopping P50,000 cash prize, while Arcilla settled for P25,000 in the tournament supported by The Philippine Star, Dunlop, Whirlpool-Fujidenzo, Chris Sports, Mary Grace, Aseana City, PVL Restaurant, Maverick, Compass, Babolat, Just Jewels, Rexona, Palm Rock, Coca Cola Femsa Philippines, Pearl Garden Hotel, Pearl Lane Hotel, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, L&M, Broadway Motors, Stronghold Insurance and Monte.

There will be little rest for Tierro and Arcilla who will once again showcase their wares in the main draw of the PCA Open-Cebuana Lhuillier Asian Tennis Federation Tour slated on Sept. 1 to 4 at the same venue.

THE Arellano University Braves, the defending champion San Beda Red Cubs and the Mapua Red Robins fought off separate rivals Monday to move closer to Final Four semifinal slots in the 92nd National Collegiate Athletic Association Junior Basketball Tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

Veteran playmaker Guillmer dela Torre came off with 30 points as he helped carry the Braves to a 107-77 whipping of the Letran Squires, while Germy Mahinay showed the way with 12 points and rebounds for the Red Cubs in their 93-81 triumph over the University of Perpetual Help Junior Altas.

This handed the Braves and the Red Cubs their 12th triumph in 13 matches as they moved nearer a Final Four seat.

The Red Robins, led by Jasper Salenga with 19 points, drew four crucial free throws from transferee Bryan Samudio in the final minute to put away the Junior Pirates, 77-74.

This handed the Red Robins their 11th win in 13 matches as they stayed firmly in third place.

Meanwhile, the NCAA cracked the whip on three Letran players and one from San Beda for their involvement in the melee that happened in their last game at The Arena in San Juan City Friday.

Management Committee chair Jose Mari Lacson of San Beda said the league board upheld commissioner Andy Jao’s recommendation suspending Letran’s Jerrick Balanza, Chris Dela Pena and Marvin Sario and San Beda’s Antonio Bonsubre for one game.

The bench-clearing incident was triggered by the offensive foul called on Letran’s Bong Quinto for elbowing San Beda’s Jomari Presbitero with seven seconds left in the game eventually win by the Lions, 83-71.

Balanza then joined in by elbowing Presbitero in the face and was called a flagrant foul, which was later upgraded to a disqualifying foul leading to the one-game ban.

“Balanza, during deadball, hit the face of Presbitero. Sario and dela Pena entered the court.

They did not do anything but obviously it didn’t look well and could exacerbate the situation and the tension,” said Jao. Balanza, a starter, and the seldom used Dela Pena and Sario will thus miss Letran’s next game against winless St. Benilde at 4 p.m. today while Bonsubre will sit out in his team’s next outing versus Mapua on Thursday. Peter Atencio

Juico: PSC must go back to square one TO get a master plan for Philippine sports going in the right direction, the Philippine Sports Commission needs to go back to square one.

Former Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Philip Ella Juico said this as he and educator Aparicio Mequi are set to lend their expertise when they speak before sports leaders and stakeholders during a two-day gathering set from Sept. 1 and 2 at the Cachina Room of the Sheraton Hotel in P. Ocampo St., Malate, Manila.

“Start at the end by revisiting the PSC vision and mission which, if I may note, seems not to have undergone any major and substantive change since it was formulated in 1995, shortly after our assumption into office,” said Juico, who was chairman of the PSC from 1996 to 1998.

Juico, now president of a national sports association involved in the development of track and field in the country, said it will be his role to help crystallize issues in line with updating the Master Plan for Philippine Sports crafted from 1996 to 2000. Peter Atencio

Mondilla seeks 4th PH Golf Tour crown at ICTSI Splendido Classic REGAINING his winning form, Clyde Mondilla sets out as the player to beat when the Philippine Golf Tour resumes Wednesday for the P2 million ICTSI Splendido Classic at the wind-swept Splendido Taal Golf and Country Club in Tagaytay.

Miguel Tabuena and Angelo Que, who finished 1-2 here last year, won’t be around to compete against some of the world’s best in the Omega European Masters also slated this week in Switzerland, leaving Mondilla and a slew of local aces and foreign bets to fight for the top P360,000 purse in the 14th leg of the circuit sponsored by ICTSI.

Mondilla turned what had appeared to be a losing stand into a winning act, foiling Orlan Sumcad to snare the ICTSI Classic crown despite a double-bogey on the first playoff hole in Lipa City, Batangas last weekend.

The 23-year-old Mondilla hit an errant drive and needed four shots to reach the 18th of Mt. Malipunyo but Sumcad overshot the par-4 playoff hole and went out-of-bounds and made it to the green in five, enabling the Del Monte ace to snatch the victory, his third counting his backto-back feats at Eastridge and Calatagan.

But the playoff setback is expected to tough-

en up Sumcad as he resumes his quest for a breakthrough victory in the circuit organized

by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. With Jay Bayron, Tony Lascuña and Marvin Dumandan, the next top three players at ICTSI Classic, also out to press their bid along with a host of others, another down-to-the-wire finish is expected in the 72-hole championship.

Mondilla, Sumcad, Bayron, Lascuña and Dumandan, along with 15 other top pros test the tough Splendido layout in today’s (Tuesday) tradition pro-am tournament where they will be paired with guests and officials of the event’s

top backers, including Custom Clubmakers, adidas, KZG, Summit Mineral Water, Srixon, Pacsports, TaylorMade, Sharp and Champion.

Others tipped to contend are Dutch Guido Van der Valk, Japanese Toru Nakajima, Jobim Carlos, Jhonnel Ababa, Mhark Fernando, Elmer Salvador, Michael Bibat, Rufino Bayron, Mars Pucay and Cassius Casas.

Meanwhile, Mondilla’s latest victory also put him on No. 2 spot in the Order of Merit derby with total earnings of P2,365,687 with leader Lascuña, who placed fourth at ICTSI Classic, hiking his winnings to P2,585,948.

SM to open seven malls next year B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

B1

Tesla in talks with Meralco

By Alena Mae S. Flores

O

FFICIALS of US electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. will visit the Philippines next month to explore a partnership with Manila Electric Co., an official of the power retailer said over the weekend.

“We just had a first telecom.

They’re coming in a month or so… I’m sure we will talk about batteries. We just had an initial first call. They’re interested to

come in and explore,” Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services and corporate communications Alfredo Panlilio told reporters.

Meralco launched its e-vehicle charging station at the Meralco compound in Pasig City in 2013.

The company also introduced at that time the Tesla electric car priced at around P9 million to showcase e-vehicles in the country.

“It’s very initial discussions.

We haven’t formed agenda. We will show them our charging stations. The prototype was two years ago and there’s no standard in charging,” Panlilio said.

Panlilio said Tesla, aside from being an electric car manufacturer, is also a battery company.

He said discussions would likely focus on electric battery.

“It’s still very open, but explore, maybe a potential business partnership. I would think it’s more of storage, batteries. That’s what they’re pushing hard now,” the Meralco official said.

Panlilio, however, said the success of the country’s e-vehicle program depended on certain factors.

“It depends on adoption of EV on a mass scale. It’s hard for us to drive it alone. But when adoption is there, we should be ready with charging stations. It’s an ecosystem we want to develop,” he said.

“We’ve been espousing about it—the charging stations. It depends on government policies, how we can massively have more e-jeepneys. There’s a lot to do.

It’s not a matter of if it will happen,” Panlilio said.

Panlilio said he was unsure

Korean company proposes Cebu LRT

PSe comPoSite index Closing August 26, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,845.49 9.05

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing AUGUST 26, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P46.360

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P46.280 LOW P46.400 AVERAGE P46.349 VOLUME 447.000M

P400-P640.00 LPG/11-kg tank P34.15-P41.20 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P24.35-P27.75 Diesel

TRENDS IN ASSET MANAGEMENT. Citi Philippines holds a forum to share the latest trends in asset management in Asia Pacific with

a focus on the new fund structures and integration in the Philippines. Invited clients include leaders of trust entities, asset management companies, insurance companies and public sector pension funds. Shown are (from left) Citi Philippines chief executive Aftab Ahmed, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla, Citi markets and securities services head Paul Favila and Citi security services head Theresa Reyes.

Metro Pacific interested in 2 PPP projects

P28.50-P36.85 Kerosene

By Darwin G. Amojelar

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, August 26, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.4890

Japan

Yen

0.009949

0.4625

UK

Pound

1.319300

61.3329

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128951

5.9948

Switzerland

Franc

1.033912

48.0655

Canada

Dollar

0.773994

35.9822

Singapore

Dollar

0.739153

34.3625

Australia

Dollar

0.761500

35.4014

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655408

123.4473

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266745

12.4007

Brunei

Dollar

0.736431

34.2359

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000076

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028933

1.3451

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

12.6584

Euro

Euro

1.128700

52.4721

Korea

Won

0.000897

0.0417

China

Yuan

0.150130

6.9794

India

Rupee

0.014924

0.6938

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.249377

11.5933

New Zealand

Dollar

0.729900

33.9323

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031585

1.4684 Source: PDS Bridge

whether talks would include possible partnership in batteries for solar projects.

“We just agreed they come over and have a visit. We haven’t come up with an agenda. But again, those are options,” he said.

Meralco plans to put up solar rooftop projects through Spectrum while Meralco’s power generation arm Meralco PowerGen Corp. is exploring opportunities in ground-mounted solar projects.

THE tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said it is interested in joining the auction of two expressway projects north of Manila under the public private partnership scheme.

“We are looking at the PPP projects in the pipeline that are interesting to us like the Plaridel Bypass. We heard that they want to submit it to Neda board next month,” said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco.

The Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee of the National Economic and Development Authority endorsed the P9.33-billion Plaridel

PH firms expected to keep hiring in Q4

By Julito G. Rada COMPANIES are expected to continue hiring employees in the fourth quarter, as the employment outlook remains steady, results of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ business expectations survey show.

The employment outlook index for the next quarter was broadly steady at 23.6 percent from 23.8 percent in the previous quarter’s survey.

“The positive reading indicates that more firms will continue to hire new employees than those that said otherwise,” Bangko Sentral said.

The percentage of businesses with expansion plans in the industry sector, however, decreased to 28.1 percent in the fourth quarter from 30.3 percent a quarter ago.

The survey also showed that firms were expecting better financial conditions and easy access to credit in the third quarter. The financial conditions index remained steady at 1.5 percent from 1.3 percent in the previous quarter.

Bangko Sentral said this showed that firms expecting better financial conditions continued to outnumber those that said otherwise during the quarter.

“Firms were also of the view that their financing requirements could be met through available credit as respondents who reported easy access to credit exceeded those that said otherwise.

However, the number that said so decreased compared to that a quarter ago,” it said.

Meanwhile, respondents who expected inflation to go up continued to outnumber those that held the opposite view for the current and next quarters, but the number that said so declined relative to the previous quarter.

Bypass Toll Road Project to the Neda board, which is chaired by President Duterte.

The project involves the conversion of existing two-lane Plaridel Bypass Road into a four-lane toll road with expressway standards.

The new four-lane toll road will improve the road capacity and save travel time of about 80 minutes per vehicle. The project has a concession period of 30 years including three years of construction.

Franco said MPTC was also interested in the P14.2-billion Central Luzon Link Expressway Phase 2, a two-lane toll road that stretches 35.7 kilometers, which would also be bid out under the PPP program.

The project is an extension of CLEX Phase I and will connect Cabanatuan City to San Jose City, also in Nueva Ecija. Phase 1 will be constructed by the government with funding from the government of Japan.

MPCALA Holdings Inc., a unit of MPIC, earlier secured a contract to build and operate the Cavite Laguna Expressway with a premium offer of P27.3 billion, beating the P22.2-billion bid of Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc., a unit of San Miguel Corp. MPIC also controls MNTC. MPTC signed a joint venture agreement with the city of Cebu and the municipality of Cordova in April 2016 to

build the P27.9-billion CebuCordova Bridge Project. The 8.25-km bridge project, set to be completed by 2020, will connect Cebu City to Mactan Island via Cordova.

The company is also awaiting the notice of award from the Public Works Department to build an elevated expressway to connect the Northern and Southern toll road systems at a cost of P18 billion.

MPTC’s core net income amounted to P1.6 billion in the first six months, up 31 percent from P1.2 billion last year as a result of strong traffic growth and new contributions from SCTEX and CII B&R, a toll road company located in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

A KOREAN company submitted a proposal to the Transportation Department to finance and construct a light rail transit system in Cebu, a Cabinet official said over the weekend.

Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia told reporters the Korean company expressed interest to finance the project, which would decongest traffic in the metropolitan area of Cebu.

“There are number of projects already being considered for Cebu and Visayas, including the BRT [Bus Rapid Transit] and there is also a plan to have an LRT in Cebu. There’s a proponent and [it] sounds attractive when they are proposing,” said Pernia, who did not identify the Korean company.

Pernia said the Cebu LRT project was one of the unsolicited proposals the Duterte administration received from potential investors.

“That was just raised recently. I think it’s a Korean firm. It was raised to the DOTr and also to Cebu authorities,” he said.

Pernia said the development of infrastructure projects in the Visayas would draw investors and businessmen away from Metro Manila and into the central and southern parts of the country.

“Cebu is also a very attractive metropolitan area,” he said.

The project, if approved by the DOTr, will require the approval of the Investment Coordination Committee -Cabinet Committee of National Economic and Development Authority and is subject to the Swiss challenge.

Security Bank gets investment-grade score from Moody’s GLOBAL debt watcher Moody’s Investor Service said it assigned a first-time investment-grade rating of Baa2 to Security Bank Corp. with a stable outlook.

Moody’s said in a report released Aug. 29 that Security Bank—the sixth-largest lender

in the Philippines in terms of assets—joined BDO Unibank Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Bank of the Philippine Islands in the same rating category.

It said only these four private domestic universal banks in the Philippines were rated Baa2.

This is also the same rating level given to the Philippine government and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“Security Bank’s asset quality profile compares favorably with its peer banks in the Philippines. At end-June 2016, the bank’s NPLs accounted for 0.8

FILINVEST SUPPORTS VETERANS. FDC Misamis Power Corp., a member of Filinvest Development Corp., teams up with the Filipino War Veterans Foundation Inc. to support veterans in Mindanao. FDC Misamis president and chief operating officer Mario Pangilinan (second from right) formalizes the memorandum of agreement and turns over the financial assistance to FilVets chairman Renato de Villa. With them are (from left) FilVets trustee Edgar Aglipay, FDC Misamis head Juan Eugenio Roxas, FilVets vice chairman Jesus Alcordo and FilVets president and chief executive Umberto Rodriguez.

percent of gross loans, a result which was better than the average for the banking system of 2.2 percent...,” part of the report said.

Moody’s cited Security Bank’s “strong capital buffers, boosted by the recent capital infusion from its new strategic partner, The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi-UFJ.” “The bank’s reported common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 18.6 percent as end-June 2016, an improvement from 12.2 percent seen at end-2015, and largely boosted by the capital infusion from BTMU, the bank’s new strategic shareholder, as well as retained earnings,” Moody’s said.

The P37-billion equity investment of BTMU to Security Bank is considered the biggest by a foreign financial institution in the Philippines.

Moody’s said Security Bank’s profitability metrics were stronger than its domestic peers. Its return on assets was at 1.4 percent as end-2015, higher than the 1 percent to 1.2 percent registered by other Moody’s-rated Philippine banks. Julito G. Rada

B2

Business

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Neda cites mining contribution to GDP

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

BFAR’S BOAT DONATION. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources under its ‘Bantay-Dagat’ program commits to provide at least one 30-foot boat with twin 16-HP engines to patrol Tañon Strait, the country’s largest marine protected area between Negros and Cebu. Newly-appointed Agriculture undersecretary for fisheries and concurrent BFAR director Eduardo Gongona (5th from left) makes the commitment at a recent courtesy call of officials of Oceana Philippines, an international marine conservation organization, led by lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos (fourth from left). With them are (from left) Philippine Fisheries Development Authority port manager in Bicol Carlos Jagosojos, BFAR fisheries management consultant Alma Dickson, Oceana media consultant Noel Reyes, BFAR assistant director for technical services Drusila Esther Bayate and Oceana policy and legal director Edward Lorenzo.

AN OFFICIAL of the National Economic and Development Authority said the closure of the mining industry will affect the gross domestic product.

“What is really clear on my part is that total closure of mining will really have an impact on our attainment of GDP [growth target]. That is one of the risks and one of the factors that we are looking at,” Neda director for agriculture, natural resources and environment Mercedita Sombilla said at the sidelines of the 2016 Philippine Mining International Conference at Marriott Hotel in Parañaque City.

Sombilla said data from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau showed the mining industry contributed 0.7 percent to GDP in 2015.

The Neda official said the government was completing a roadmap for the mining industry.

“One of the things that we would really want to see also is the downstream development of these minerals. We want to pursue that with a very good study so that’s why we are developing the roadmap of these minerals, for coal, gold. We have already one for copper and I think the nickel [roadmap] is already ongoing,” Sombilla said.

Sombilla said the roadmap would provide the government a view of the pros and cons of the mining industry. She said the government was aware of the contributions of the mining industry to the economy.

“We really give importance to the continuation of the mining sector. I think that what is being done now is to review, evaluate what are already in place. The auditing that is being done was mandated by the DENR secretary.

[It] will provide us with some directions on where we really should go,” Sombilla said.

SM to open 7 malls next year First 50 days of Duterte presidency ON Aug. 19, Malacañang brought to the Filipino people’s awareness the fact that President Rodrigo Duterte had completed his first 50 days in the nation’s highest office. Accustomed as they are to commemorations of Presidents’ first 100 days in office, the media were caught off-guard by the Malacañang initiative. But they quickly recovered and began to prepare summaries of President Duterte’s performance from July 1 to August 19.

I have prepared my own summary, based on media reports of President Duterte’s pronouncements and actions during the first seven weeks in office. The following are the things that the Chief Executive said and did during that period.

1. On June 30, Duterte gave the word for the official start of the war on drugs that he had signaled during the electoral campaign.

As of the media’s latest count, the Duterte administration’s war on drugs has produced approximately 1,700 deaths resulting from alleged police operations, alleged vigilante killings and DUI (death under investigation) and over 600,000 so-called surrenderers.

2. The President, in the course of defending his decision to appoint anti-mining activist Regina Lopez as Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, declared that the Philippines could “do without” a mining industry.

3. The Chief Executive declared (and later withdrew) a unilateral ceasefire in the 45-year-old war against the CPP-NDF-NPA insurgency and approved the travel to Norway of a government panel to engage in an initial round of peace talks with the insurgent group.

For that purpose he approved the temporary release of more than 20 members of the CPP-NDF-NPA leadership.

4. The President reiterated his interest in the full implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, restating the need for the Philippines to slow the growth of population.

5. On July 26, the President delivered a State of the Nation Address in which he expressed his desire for the convening of a Constitutional Convention that would propose, for the Filipino people’s approval, revisions of the Constitution, including a shift to a federal form of government. Later Mr. Duterte indicated a willingness to have the revisions undertaken by Congress convened as a constituent assembly.

6. The President expressed displeasure over what he regarded as interference by certain foreign countries—including the US and Australia—in the domestic affairs of the Philippines, and he publicly insulted the ambassador of the US, who is the alter ego of the president of that country.

7. President Duterte made public the names of high public officials—including generals, judges and local officials – who he alleged were involved in the illegal drugs trade. Later he added to the list the name of Senator Leila de Lima, who was the secretary of Justice in the Aquino administration.

8. Mr. Duterte threatened to place the nation under martial law when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pointed out to him that the disciplining of judges is the prerogative of the Supreme Court solely.

9. President Duterte engaged the services of former President Fidel Ramos as emissary to China with instructions to re-open communications with China, which had lost the case filed by the Philippines with the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration regarding the West Philippine Sea. 10. Mr. Duterte reiterated his desire to see former President Ferdinand Marcos buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Naturally this raised the hackles of all the anti-Marcos groups, especially the groups of victims of martial law.

11. Mr. Duterte embarked on a tour of Armed Forces of the Philippines camps to – by his admission – explain to the troops his move towards peace negotiations with the CPP-NDF-NPA, which required the temporary release of the jailed leaders of that group.

12. The President threatened to pull out the Philippines out of the United Nations, of whose Charter the Philippines was one of the 46 original signatories. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs subsequently stated that no such move was intended and that Mr. Duterte was merely expressing his frustration over two UN special rapporteurs’ statements about war-on-drugs violations of international humanitarian law. Mr. Duterte called the rapporteurs “sons of whores.”

13. Mr. Duterte declared that he would “not honor” the UN-sponsored treaty on climate change, which was signed by around 190 countries and territories in Paris in December 2015. One of the three countries considered most vulnerable to climate change, the Philippines is heavily dependent on international assistance in times of disaster.

14. After saying that he could not give Leni Robredo a Cabinetlevel position, President Duterte changed his mind and appointed her chairman of HUDCC (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council), making her in effect the Secretary of Housing.

These are the things that Rodrigo Duterte said and did during the first 50 days of his presidency, as reported by the media.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

M PRIME Holdings Inc., the country’s largest integrated property developer, said it plans to open seven shopping malls in 2017 to bring total leasable area to 7.95 million square meters.

SM Investments Corp., the holding company of the SM Group, said in a presentation during a recent forum the mall openings would add 293,930 sq m to leasable space mostly in provincial areas.

The biggest mall set to open in 2017 is SM Premier Cagayan de Oro with 81,133 sq m, followed by SM Puerto Princesa with 65,073 sq m and SM Ur-

danata with 46,570 sq m.

Other malls slated to open next year are SM Center Ormoc (28,408 sq m), SM Tuguegarao (25,890 sq m), SM Center Ormoc (28,408 sq m) and Cherry SM Antipolo (22,777 sq m).

Metro Manila malls account for 44 percent of total SM mall space, followed by other parts of Luzon with 35 percent, Visayas with 14 percent and Mindanao

with 7 percent.

SM Prime expects to have 67 malls nationwide by end-2017.

SM Prime had a total of 58 malls in the Philippines and six in China as of end-June this year.

The company is scheduled to open two malls before the end of the year, including Cherry SM Congressional in Quezon City and SM City East Ortigas in Pasig City to end the year with 60 malls.

Meanwhile, SM Investments is also expanding its office portfolio with a target to have 610,000 sqm of office space by 2020. The company currently has 371,000 sqm of office leasable space across six completed buildings.

The company is constructing more office buildings near ex-

isting malls, including Clark in Pampanga, Sta Rosa in Laguna and Iloilo City.

SM Investments is led by tycoon Henry Sy Sr., the country’s richest person with a net worth of $13.7 billion, according to Forbes Asia Magazine.

Aside from malls and office developments, Sy also has investments in banking, real estate and tourism-related businesses.

SM Investments posted a consolidated net income of P15 billion in the first half of 2016, up by 11 percent from a year ago.

Excluding extraordinary items, recurring income grew 8 percent.

Consolidated revenues rose 8.5 percent to P151.1 billion in the first half from P139.2 billion in the same period last year.

Regulator eyes lower public float for REITs

DBP FOREST PROGRAM. The Development Bank of the Philippines is conferred a certificate of merit for

its DBP Forest Program during the prestigious Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Awards. Shown is DBP executive vice president Anthony Robles (center) receiving the second Karlsruhe award for the DBP Forest Program. With him are Stephan Klaus Ohme (left), ministerial-counsellor at Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development Aid of Germany and Tom Hoyem, member of the city council and representative of the Lord Mayor of Karlsruhe, Germany.

E-cigarettes cut exposure to carcinogens A NEW study by American and Polish researchers found that tobacco smokers who switched to e-cigarettes substantially reduced their exposure to carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) and toxic substances after only two weeks, with their nicotine exposure remaining the same.

The e-cigarette users also reported significant improvements in chest tightness and visual disturbances, as well as a decline in nicotine withdrawal symptoms over the course of the study.

The study “Exposure to Nicotine and Selected Toxicants in Cigarette Smokers who Switched to Electronic Cigarettes: A Longitudinal WithinSubjects Observational Study” was published in the Aug. 17, 2016 advance access issue of Nicotine & Tobacco Research, one of the world’s few peer-re-

viewed journals devoted exclusively to the study of nicotine and tobacco.

The study was conducted between March and June 2011 at the Medical University of Silesia, the largest medical school in Poland. It measured seven nicotine metabolites and 17 tobacco smoke exposure biomarkers in the urine samples of 20 smokers collected before and after switching to pen-style M201 ecigarettes for 2 weeks.

Biomarkers measured were metabolites of 13 major carcinogens and toxicants in cigarette smoke. Changes in urine biomarkers concentration were tested.

Metabolites are the intermediate products of metabolic reactions catalyzed (caused or accelerated) by various enzymes that naturally occur within cells.

Biomarkers are measurable

substances in humans whose presence is indicative of some phenomenon such as disease, infection, or environmental exposure.

The study authors are scientists from the Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in New York; Department of General and Analytical Chemistry, Medical University of Silesia in Poland; and Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Departments of Medicine and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California San Francisco.

The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland.

The National Institutes of Health provided support for instrumentation and analytical chemistry

THE Securities and Exchange Commission has expressed interest to reduce the minimum public float requirement for real estate investment trust companies to 33 percent to attract issuers.

SEC chairman Teresita Herbosa said the lower public float requirement would be possible if REIT issuers showed that they deserved the incentives.

“I am willing to put it [public float at] 33 percent and let the market determine what eventually will be the public ownership because that depends on the people,” Herbosa said.

“But they [REIT issuers] would have to show the government that they are entitled to that preferential tax exemption and to show in return, what they can give back to the domestic economy,” Herbosa said.

REITs are companies that own revenue-generating property assets such as hotels, office buildings and malls and whose shares will be listed and traded on the PSE. Public investors that will buy these shares will earn from them through dividends.

The REIT law was passed in 2009, but there were no issuers yet because of unattractive features, such as the 67-percent minimum public float requirement after the third year of listing and imposition of the 12-percent value added tax on the transfer of assets to REITs. About $3 billion worth of capital raising activities from REIT, mostly from real estate firms, were put on hold because of these barriers.

Herbosa said SEC ordered its market securities and regulations department to come up with a study on what would be the attractive minimum public float requirement for REIT companies. Jenniffer B. Austria

Business

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Asian markets dip; Tokyo soars

H

ONG KONG—Japanese stocks rallied on a weaker yen but other Asian markets retreated Monday after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen hinted at a US interest rate rise by the end of the year.

In a much-anticipated speech Friday Yellen said a pick-up in the world’s top economy and an improvement in the jobs market meant “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months.”

Yellen did not give a time-

frame during her speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium of global central bankers, but Fed vice chairman Stanley Fischer later said September was a possibility.

“After a week of guessing, Dr. Yellen left little to the imagination

when she stated that the case for a Fed rate hike had strengthened, but remains very much data-dependent,” Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA, said in a note.

“Given the proximity of the granddaddy of all Fed data, the nonfarm payroll, it is without question that this week’s print will take on more importance than usual.”

The labor department is due to release jobs figures on Friday.

Expectations for a rate rise sent the dollar soaring in New York, and it extended its gains on Monday.

It bought 102.30 yen, up from 101.77 yen in US trade and well up from the 100.45 yen in Asia earlier Friday, while the euro was down more than a cent at $1.1192.

Higher-yielding, or riskier, currencies were also hit, with South Korea’s won losing one percent and the Indonesian rupiah off 0.5 percent, while Malaysia’s ringgit shed 0.7 percent.

“Much will depend on the US non-farm payroll data,” said Richard Jerram, chief economist at Bank of Singapore.

“A soft number would be no surprise after two unusually strong months, which would put paid to the chance of a move in September. We think that a move in December is more likely, followed by two or three hikes next year.”

The weaker yen boosted Japan’s exporters, sending the Nikkei stock index 2.3 percent higher at the close.

But while the greenback and Japanese traders took heart from the comments, other regional markets turned negative on the prospect of a rise in borrowing costs.

Shares in Hong Kong, where monetary policy is linked to that of the United States, fell 0.4 percent, while Sydney closed 0.8 percent lower and Seoul eased 0.3 percent.

Singapore was 0.8 percent lower in late trade, while Shanghai finished marginally lower.

In early European trade Frankfurt lost 0.2 percent and Paris was 0.4 percent off. London was closed for a holiday.

The stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices as it makes the commodity more expensive for those using weaker currencies. AFP

Gold drops for 7th day; silver retreats GOLD dropped for a seventh day, heading for the longest run of declines since May, and silver fell to a two-month low as comments from leading central bankers boosted speculation that US interest rates may rise as soon as next month, buoying the dollar.

Bullion for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.5 percent to $1,314.99 an ounce, the lowest since July 26, and traded at $1,319.73 at 9:12 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Silver slumped to the lowest level since June 30.

Gold’s rally this year has been pegged back as a September rate hike is now on the cards after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday that the case for tightening had strengthened, while her deputy, Stanley Fischer, said an increase at the Sept. 20-21 meeting was possible. On Saturday, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated a pledge to ease policy further if necessary, potentially hurting the yen.

“Fischer clarified that Yellen’s comments were consistent with a potential rate hike in September, and possibly more than one for the year,” Bryan Lum, a Singapore-based strategist with Phillip Futures Pte, said in an e-mail. “Markets took this as a signal to reposition themselves with a more hawkish outlook, which consequently saw gold turn more bearish. ” The focus this week will be on Friday’s US non-farm payroll numbers, and should the reading again be strong, a further selloff of gold can be expected, Lum said. Fed funds futures as of Friday indicated a 42-percent chance that the Fed will hike as early as next month, up from 22 percent a week earlier. Higher rates tend to hurt bullion while boosting the US currency, which rose as much as 0.2 percent on Monday. Bloomberg

$1.8-B AMTRAK DEAL. Jerome Wallut (second from left), president of Alstom Transportation Inc., an others call people over for a photo with a

scale model after an event to unveil a new high speed train at Amtrak’s Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station on August 26, 2016 in Wilmington, Delaware. Amtrak on Friday awarded a $1.8-billion deal to French manufacturer Alstom to supply new trains for its key Acela service between Washington, New York and Boston. The landmark deal for 28 new passenger trains will boost Amtrak’s speed and capacity along its most heavily used and profitable route from 2021. AFP

China’s 3 biggest airlines face $1.3-b currency hit Yen depreciates further CHINA’S three biggest airlines are poised to report losses totaling 8.5 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) from currency swings this year as a weaker yuan proves a drag amid rising traffic and cheaper fuel. The silver lining: The losses are narrowing.

Flagship carrier Air China Ltd. may face 3 billion yuan in foreign-exchange losses, while China Southern Airlines Co., Asia’s biggest by passengers, is looking at a potential hit of 4 billion yuan and China Eastern Airlines Corp. may lose about 1.5 billion yuan, according to Taipeibased Capital Securities Corp.

That compares with a combined loss of 16.2 billion yuan in 2015.

The carriers are scheduled to announce their first-half earnings this week.

A strategy to trim dollar-denominated debt may be paying off as the airlines seek to shield their earnings from declines in the yuan, according to Capital Securities. A weaker local currency typically hurts companies that borrow in dollars to pay for imports such as aircraft. An unexpected devaluation of the yuan last year led to an 18-fold surge in currency losses in 2015 for the three carriers.

“The yuan’s devaluation raised foreign exchange loss and interest costs for the airliners,” said Castor Pang, head of research at Core-Pacific Yamaichi Hong Kong. “The yuan has stabilized after a tough second quarter and this will ease the burden on their bottomline. The second-half should be much better.”

The local currency depreciated

2.3 percent against the dollar in the six months through June, making it the worst performer in Asia. The yuan, trading at about 6.67 against the greenback, is likely to weaken about 2 percent more by the end of 2017, according to the average estimate of forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.

Shares of Air China and China Eastern have declined about 2 percent and 6 percent this year in Hong Kong, compared with a 13 percent slide in the Bloomberg Asia Pacific Airlines Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., the marquee Hong Kong-based airline that is facing competition from its mainland peers, has slumped 15 percent.

Jet fuel that cost about 30 percent less on average in the first half

compared to a year earlier provided a buffer as the carriers enjoy the benefits of cheap oil helped by their policy not to hedge. They have added more routes in a market where passenger traffic is growing 12 percent annually, more than twice the pace of Europe and North America.

“Chinese carriers are in a better position in pricing than their rivals because they don’t hedge on fuel and their cost is lower,” said K. Ajith, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian Pte in Singapore. “On top of that, their international traffic is rising.”

Every 5 percent movement of the dollar translates into a loss or gain of about 3.4 billion yuan for China Eastern, and 2.8 billion yuan each for Air China and China Southern, he said. Bloomberg

after Fed rate hike hints

THE yen fell for a fourth day against the dollar after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated his readiness to ease policy further just as the Federal Reserve spurred bets a US interest-rate increase is coming in September.

A gauge of the dollar rose to a two-week high after Fed officials fueled bets that the US central bank may lift interest rates as soon as next month. Futures indicated a 42 percent chance that the Fed will raise rates as early as next month, up from 22 percent a week earlier, with US economy watchers turning their attention to payrolls data later this week.

“The yen will underperform while Fed expectations remain high,” said Imre Speizer, a market strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Auckland. “The big question is how much further the dollar is boosted, which will be related to how much more hikes markets price into the remaining 2016 FOMC meetings. December is arguably almost fully priced, but there is scope for more in September and will require a strong payrolls report.”

The yen slid 0.5 percent to 102.34 per dollar as of 7:15 a.m. in London, extending a three-day 1.6 percent decline. It lost 1.3 percent on Friday, its biggest single-day drop in more than six weeks. The currency weakened against all of its Group of 10 peers. It dropped 0.5 percent to 114.61 per euro, a four-week low. Bloomberg

Silicon Valley employs analysts with autism to test software

By Glenn Chapman SAN FRANCISCO―Corey Weiss may not be adept at body language or social cues, but he knows software.

Laser-focus on detail that comes with his place on the autism spectrum are part of what makes Weiss a top analyst at MindSpark, a young California firm mixing business smarts with social good.

“I see things others wouldn’t,” said 27-year-old Weiss, who was diagnosed with autism when he was a young boy.

“The greatest strength is it makes me more detail-oriented; I am more focused.”

MindSpark, located in the coastal city of Santa Monica near Los Angeles, employs analysts with autism to test software for companies.

The firm has been refining its model for the past three years, its roster of clients growing to include Fox Networks Group and Liberty Mutual.

This week, MindSpark opened to companies around the world.

MindSpark seeks out people on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum with behaviors that, while at odds with social norms, are advantages in working with computer technology, according to co-founder Chad Hahn.

“You have this huge pool of talented labor that not many people are looking at,” Hahn told AFP. “This is a perfect model to drive social change. Companies can really do

well by doing good.”

MindSpark has 27 analysts, five of them full-time employees and the rest paid based on the number of hours they work.

Creating a workplace community that helps manage anxiety is a part of keeping autistic employees on task, and some analysts prefer to only work parttime Analysts make about $35,000 annually, with senior analysts earning closer to $50,000, MindSpark said.

Hahn described software testing as a learnable skill, especially if people have traits prevalent in the higher functioning end of the autism population: attention to detail, pattern recognition, and a penchant for staying focused on a task.

About one percent of the world’s population is touched by autism, a developmental disability that affects people to different degrees, according to the US-based Autism Society.

The autism spectrum ranges from people who avoid eye contact and communicate with seemingly odd behaviors instead of words to those with language skills and quick minds but inability to understand social norms.

“Most people (with autism) do not have access to work despite the fact that they are willing and desire work,” said Desiree Kameka, director of community engagement at Madison House Autism Foundation.

“Tech companies being able to

Analyst Corey Weiss, who was disgnosed with Autism as a young boy, works at Mindspark on August 24, 2016 in Santa Monica, California. The firm for the past three years has employed analysts with autism to test software for companies, seeking out people on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum with behaviors that, while at odds with social norms, are advantages in working with computer technology, according to a Mindspark co-founder. AFP

create an environment that takes into consideration the accommodations adults on the spectrum need is so important.”

For those with autism, dealing with the social side of a workplace that is routine to “neuro-typical” people can be overwhelming.

Hard-wired differently EvoLibri Consulting founder Jan Johnston-Tyler, who has an adult son with high-functioning autism, called for workplaces to embrace “neurodiversity” such as autism, attention-deficits, and

learning disabilities.

“These are hard-wired, not acquired differences,” Johnston-Tyler said. “They are simply different ways of being.”

Johnston-Tyler contended that autism has been a part of Silicon Valley since its inception.

The 57-year-old mother recalled being a school girl in Palo Alto with classmates who, in hindsight, she believes were autistic but were thought of as geeks.

“Silicon Valley was built on neurodiversity; that is how we got here,” said Johnston-Tyler.

EvoLibri specializes in finding jobs or services for “neurodiverse” people.

When workplaces create supportive communities for people with autism, they tend to get intensely loyal workers who come with the benefit of looking at challenges or problems differently.

While some on the spectrum are natural for computer science, others excel in other areas such as art or media, according to Johnston-Tyler.

A challenge, she said, has been getting Silicon Valley companies to open doors to long-term careers instead of simply farming out piecemeal work on tasks such as debugging code.

“We have qualified people at a time when Silicon Valley continues to bellyache there are no qualified candidates,” Johnston-Tyler said. “They don’t want to hire people because they are different.”

A problem is that while some with

autism may have the right job skills, they also may have trouble with life basics such as sleeping, eating and getting to the office on time.

Microsoft last year launched a pilot program aimed at recruiting people with autism for full-time jobs at the Redmond, Washington-based software colossus.

80 percent unemployed When announcing the program, Microsoft said that an estimated 80 percent of people with autism are unemployed, though many are fully capable of holding down jobs, and some possess exceptional skills in areas such as science, mathematics or technology.

Microsoft and German business software giant SAP AG are among the companies working with Denmarkbased Specialisterne, which puts people with autism in jobs such as software testers or programmers.

Often, families of people with autism have taken on the challenges of starting businesses, creating farming communities or undertaking other major projects to provide loved ones with meaningful lives.

“I am seriously concerned about what is going to happen to older adults on the spectrum today who have the potential for meaningful employment but don’t have those connections; whose parents are not part of that startup social enterprise world,” Kameka said. “It is scary to think about.” AFP

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

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

Business

Doha airport levies $10 passenger tax DOHA, QATAR—Qatar’s international airport said Monday it is to charge passengers an exit tax as the energy-reliant emirate adjusts to falling oil prices.

The 35-riyal ($10) levy is to be introduced this week, Hamad International Airport said in a statement.

The fee, to be added to airline ticket prices, will apply to tickets issued on or after August 30, as well as for travel starting on or after Dec. 1. AFP

Japan fund readies buying spree

By Yuko Takeo and Shigeki Nozawa

T

HE world’s biggest pension fund has room for a Japan stock shopping spree after the value of its investments tumbled last quarter.

The $1.3 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund would need to spend $52 billion on domestic shares to meet its target for the asset, according to Bloomberg News calculations, after the fund said Friday that holdings fell to 21 percent of investments at the end of June.

Its goal is a quarter of the portfolio. The fund also has scope to

offload $55 billion in domestic bonds after falling yields boosted their weight to 39 percent of the total, above the 35 percent level it seeks to hold.

Investors watch GPIF’s quarterly figures to estimate how much the giant fund is likely to buy or sell in the market. The prospect of further purchases is providing some solace after the

Topix index plunged 15 percent this year through Monday to the second-worst performance in developed markets.

“They have room to buy,” said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager at SBI Securities Co. in Tokyo. “They’re the type of investor that purchases when shares fall and the value of their assets decline.”

The Topix’s slump this year has been fueled by a 15 percent surge in the yen through Monday, which hurts the profit outlook for the nation’s exporters, and as investors lose faith in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s

ability to reignite the sluggish economy. The value of domestic debt has gained amid negative interest rates, with the yield on the 10-year government bond reaching a record low of minus 0.3 percent in July.

The benchmark stock gauge added 2 percent at the close in Tokyo on Monday, as the yen extended declines after Federal Reserve Chair Yellen said the case for tightening had strengthened.

GPIF posted a 5.2 trillion yen ($51 billion) loss in the quarter ended June as local stock investments slumped 7.4 percent while foreign bonds and overseas

shares also slumped. Domestic debt was the only asset class to post a profit, handing the fund a 1.9 percent return, GPIF said on Friday.

The quarterly result follows a 5.3 trillion yen loss in the fiscal year ended March, and means GPIF has now wiped out all its investment gains since it overhauled its strategy by deciding to cut bonds and put half of assets in equities in October 2014.

The calculation for GPIF buying is based on asset levels at the end of June. Stocks have since rebounded this quarter, with the Topix up 5.4 percent since the

start of July.

While GPIF’s asset allocations differ from their goals, they’re still within their deviation limits, meaning the fund can choose to stay at current levels. Norihiro Takahashi, GPIF’s president, said in July that he wants to make use of the allowable flexibility for managing investments.

GPIF targets 25 percent each for Japanese and foreign stocks, with scope to veer by 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Its 35 percent goal for domestic bonds has a 10 percent deviation limit. Bloomberg

Crude prices decline to below $47 a barrel OIL declined amid doubts producers will agree on a deal to stabilize the market when suppliers meet next month for informal talks.

Futures decreased as much as 1.8 percent in New York after rising the previous two sessions. The oil market should achieve stability soon, United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in a Twitter post. Iran’s plan to continue boosting crude output until it regains its pre-sanctions Opec market share is dimming prospects of collective action, according to Patrick Allman-Ward, chief executive officer of Dana Gas PJSC. Oil entered a bull market Aug. 18, less than three weeks after tumbling into a bear market, as prices surged partly on speculation that discussions among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may lead to action to stabilize the market. A deal to freeze output was proposed in February, but a meeting in April ended with no final accord.

“The likelihood of them actually agreeing to some kind of production freeze is relatively low,” Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney, said in a Bloomberg television interview.

“It’s certainly been so far a successful jawboning exercise.”

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery dropped as much as 86 cents to $46.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $46.94 at 11:29 a.m. in Dubai. The contract gained 31 cents to $47.64 on Friday, trimming a weekly decline.

Total volume traded was about 37 percent below the 100-day average. Prices slid 1.8 percent last week.

Brent for October settlement lost as much as 80 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $49.12 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.31 to WTI. Any decision to stabilize the market will require the full participation of all Opec members and major suppliers from outside the group, Al Mazrouei said. The UAE is the fourth biggest Opec producer, pumping 2.93 million barrels a day in July. Saudi Arabian output was 10.43 million a day the same month.

While Iran supports action to stabilize the market, it won’t participate in a freeze in output before regaining its pre-sanctions share of Opec production, state-run news service Shana reported Friday, citing Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, posted a 19.9 billion yuan ($3 billion) in profit for the first half of the year as its fuel-making business helped it weather the worst oil crash in a generation.

The US drill rig count remained unchanged at 406 through Aug. 26 after eight weeks of gains, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. on Friday. Bloomberg

Yuan trades near 5-week low against the US dollar CHINA’S yuan traded near a five-week low, with the Federal Reserve’s signals of a potential interest-rate increase putting renewed pressure on Asian currencies.

China’s exchange rate fell as much as 0.24 percent as a gauge of dollar strength extended gains. The odds of a Fed rate increase in September shot up to 42 percent following comments from Chair Janet Yellen that the case to raise US borrowing costs is getting stronger.

The yuan fell 0.16 percent to 6.6796 a dollar as of 4:59 p.m. in Shanghai, according to prices from the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. It dropped to 6.6850 earlier, the weakest since July 20. The offshore currency erased declines after the People’s Bank of China released its daily fixing, and was last trading 0.06 percent stronger.

“In the medium-term, the yuan definitely faces depreciation pressure, but the Fed won’t raise rates that aggressively,” said Gao Qi, a strategist at Scotiabank in Singapore. “If US inflation and nonfarm payroll data are strong, then yuan depreciation pressures will increase next week.”

The PBOC weakened its reference rate, which limits onshore moves to 2 percent on either side, by 0.55 percent on Monday. The cut was less than that predicted by both Scotiabank and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. The fixing suggests that the central bank will defend the 6.7 psychological level, said Iris Pang, senior economist for Greater China at Natixis SA. In light of the continued solid performance of the US labor market and the Fed’s outlook for economic activity and inflation, the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months, Yellen said in a speech Friday to central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In the money markets, the seven-day repurchase rate fell seven basis points to 2.30 percent, according to a weighted average from the National Interbank Funding Center. The PBOC offered 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) of 14-day reverse repurchase contracts at 2.4 percent Monday, as well as 60 billion yuan of seven-day agreements at 2.25 percent. Bonds declined, with the yield on 10-year government notes rising four basis points to 2.77 percent. Bloomberg

PASTA DISH BIRTHPLACE. Cooks prepare spaghetti all’amatriciana during a charity event in Piazza San Carlo in Turin, on August 28, 2016, whose profits are to help the population hit by the quake in Central Italy. More than 700 Italian restaurants have added spaghetti all’amatriciana to their menus in solidarity with the victims of an earthquake that destroyed the birthplace of the famous pasta dish. Chefs around the world are being urged to follow suit after the Slow Food movement threw its weight behind the idea, with British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver also backing the idea and urging customers to #EatForItaly. AFP

Foreign brewers fight for Vietnam beer market HEINEKEN NV’s expansion of its production in Vietnam by taking over a brewery from rival Carlsberg A/S highlights growing interest by global beer brands to quench the thirst of about 70 million locals in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

With a thriving street-side cafe and bar culture, young population and rising middle class, Vietnam is luring brewers such as Heineken, Thai Beverage PCL and Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. to expand in the country. Interest is also being piqued by the government’s plans to offload lucrative assets, with Carlsberg in line to more than double its stake in state-run Hanoi Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp. or Habeco.

“The Vietnamese beer market is of great interest to other international players, such as those from Japan and Thailand,” said Dominic Scriven, chairman of Dragon Capital which manages about $1.5 billion of investments. “This in general is reflective of greater strategic interest across many sectors from foreign investors.”

Beer consumption in the Southeast Asian country jumped about 40 percent in 2015 from 2010, according to the Vietnam Beer Alcohol Beverage Association.

Vietnamese guzzlers are expected to consume more than 4.04 billion liters of beer this year, the most in the region and up from 3.88 billion liters in 2015, according to Euromonitor International.

‘Amazing growth’ Economists predict Vietnam will be among the world’s fastestgrowing economies in 2016 as it benefits from a manufacturing industry that’s grown in importance over the years. Its citizens of legal drinking age, 18 and above, is expected to increase to 72.4 million by 2021 from 68.7 million this year, according to Euromonitor.

“The growth of the beer market in Vietnam over the past few years is nothing short of amazing, and it shows no sign of slowing down,” said Andy Ho, who oversees $1.5 billion as the managing director of VinaCapital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Heineken in July acquired Carlsberg Vietnam BreweryVung Tau in the south Vietnam port city. Carlsberg chief executive officer Cees’t Hart said the sale of the facility would allow the Danish brewer to concentrate on its existing territory in the northern part of the country, according to a Bloomberg transcript of an Aug. 17 earnings call.

Amsterdam-based Heineken, which is the second-biggest brewer in Vietnam, has seen its shares rise 0.5 percent year to date, while Carlsberg, headquartered in Copenhagen, rose 2 percent. The Vietnam Stock Index rose 17 percent over the period.

Less dominated “We have a footprint, which we would like to improve,” Hart said, referring to Habeco, based

in the capital Hanoi in north of Vietnam, in which Carlsberg is awaiting the government’s goahead for it to raise its 17 percent stake to 30 percent. “With regards to Vietnam, indeed, we focus on the territory where we are.”

Another attraction of Vietnam’s beer market is that it’s less dominated by local brewers compared with Asian countries such as Japan and Thailand, where home-grown brands take up about 90 percent of volume, said Euromonitor analyst Andrea Lianto. By contrast, Vietnamese brewers accounted for 63 percent total volume shares in 2015, giving foreign companies room to grow, she said.

Worst drought Still, there’s risk for foreign investors as Vietnam is being hit by the worst drought in 30 years and falling oil revenue, making the country’s 2016 target for growth of 6.7 percent “hard to reach,” Vu Hong Thanh, head of the National Assembly Economic Committee, said last month. The economy is expected to expand at 6.3 percent this year, according to the median

estimate of economists surveyed

by Bloomberg.

Vietnam’s government is also considering selling as much as 100 percent of its stake in state-owned Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp., known as Sabeco, a longawaited divestment that has attracted interest from Japanese and European brewers in the past.

Sabeco, brewer of Saigon Beer and 333 Beer, is the country’s largest brewer by sales with 40 percent of the market last year, followed by Heineken and Habeco with 20 percent shares each, according to Nguyen Van Viet, chairman of the Vietnam beer association. Carlsberg is in third place with 10 percent, he said.

“Urbanization there is still increasing pretty fast. The level of premium is not where it is in other countries even in Asia,” Heineken chief financial officer Laurence Debroux said in an Aug. 1 earnings call. The Dutch brewer’s performance in Vietnam has been “stunning,” she told Bloomberg Television.

Bloomberg

P22-b master plan drafted

By Romeo Dizon SAN FERNANDO—A worldfamous Filipino architect has been tasked to draft a P22million master plan to make Pampanga a resilient province of the 21st century.

Felino Palafox Jr. and Associates, an international planner, was tasked to come up with the master plan in a meeting attended by political leaders of the province including Rep. Gloria Arroyo, Gov. Lilia Pineda, San Fernando Mayor Edwin Santiago, multi-sectoral groups and other stakeholders.

Palafox was given until November of this year to finish the master plan for the medium term up to 2020. The plan will be updated and aligned to political, social and economic developments.

Arroyo has asked Palafox to lower his price by 50 percent and this will be further discussed in the coming days.

The plan will solve the perennial problems of the province—f looding and traffic—by improving roads; desilting, deepening and widening of the all the rivers and reviving the campaign against illegal fishponds along the coastal towns that block the free f low of water to Manila Bay. Also planned is the construction of more dikes and dams to contain water for irrigation and power generation.

The master plan will also develop the growth area of ClarkSubic-City of San Fernando and create eco and agro tourism facilities.

The plan aims to protect from floods several billions of pesos in micro, small and medium enterprises investments monitored by the Department of Trade and Industry as well as companies, sole proprietorship and cooperatives registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

LGUs

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

C1

Erap: Declog drains

By Sandy Araneta

M

ANILA Mayor Joseph Estrada ordered on Sunday a thorough cleanup of all clogged drainage and creeks to reduce the risks of flashfloods in the city this rainy season.

Estrada ordered the declogging operations after the city’s Task Force Manila Cleanup that conducts road clearing operations discovered that most of the sewerage in the city, especially those in Divisoria, Binondo, and Quiapo, are clogged with tons of refuse, mostly fruit and vegetable peelings, and plastic wrappers and containers.

The mayor said this is one of the principal reasons he has initiated the citywide road clearing operations: to drive away un-

ALTERNATIVE. Two vendors display herbal plants and concoctions in front of Quiapo Church in Manila. Lino Santos

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Palawan to host Mimaropa sports competition

By Robert A. Evora SABLAYAN, Occidental Mindoro—The municipal government has questioned the authority given by Department of Education (DepEd) to provincial governors to approve the hosting of regional sports competitions.

This cropped up as Occidental Mindoro Gov. Mario Gene Mendiola disapproved the hosting by

Siblayan of the Mimaropa Regional Athletic Association (Mimaropa RAA) sports meet scheduled in February 2017 despite official endorsements from the DepEd and other government agencies.

The DepEd, through Regional Director Dig Digno and Occidental Mindoro schools division superintendent of Danilo Roxas, formally invited the Sablayan local government to participate in

the bidding after it was validated by the former as qualified to host the annual regional sports event.

But at the eleventh hour of the bidding with its rival town, Brooke’s Point, of Palawan, Roxas announced that “with the absence of Governor Mendiola’s endorsement, and even if Sablayan wins the bidding, my hands are somewhat tied.”

In his letter to Digno, Mendiola stressed that “there is a need

first for ample time for discussion with authorities before the provincial government could endorse the bid to the department.”

The DepEd policy states that hosting by any municipality in any province requires first the endorsement of its governor to ensure that the “whole province is indeed in support of the activity, so that not only the host municipality will be disrupted

by the activity.” It also requires, Digno said, that the letter of intent be endorsed by the provincial governor.

Councilor Walter Marquez, however, questioned the DepEd policy. “If the provincial governor has the crucial and final approval of the province’s hosting, why was the invitation to bid not directly addressed by DepEd to the province’s officials?” he asked.

Marcos gets inabel shroud for burial

READERS. The national board of judges of the National Literacy Awards has included the City of Marilao among the Top 5 finalists for the Outstanding Local Government Unit award.

DoST scholarship application ends JUNIOR college students who would like to apply for a scholarship from the Department of Science and Technology have until September 9 to submit all requirements.

During an orientation on the DOST- Junior Level Science Scholarships (DOST-JLSS) at the University of Northern Philippines, DOST-Ilocos Sur provincial director Ramon Sumabat reminded interested applicants to submit their application before the September 9 deadline to avoid the crowd and to give them time to check the submitted documents.

Sumabat said the scholarship program is under Republic Act 10612 or “The Fast-Tracked Science and Technology Scholarship Act of 2013,” which urges students to pursue science, mathematics and engineering courses if they would like to

have the opportunity to teach science and math-related subjects in the country’s secondary schools.

The applicant must also pass the DOST – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI)’s JLSS exam which will be administered on October 16.

Successful applicants will be entitled to subsidy of tuition and other school fees, monthly living allowance and book allowance, among others. For more details on the scholarship, interested third year college students can visit DOST-Ilocos Office at Barangay Tamag in Vigan City.

Sumabat is hoping that most of the 200 students of UNP and Ilocos Sur Polytechnic College in Santa Maria town who attended the orientation will file their applications as soon as possible. PIA

AT 93, Magdalena Gamayo, the country’s master weaver of inabel clothing, got a rare opportunity to prepare a special death shroud for the burial of the remains of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Inabel is a handwoven textile clothing done on traditional wooden looms by Ilocano artisans using weaving techniques.

Representing the textile heritage of Ilocos Norte, the inabel plays an enormous part in the lifestyle and tradition of Ilocanos.

Despite her physical frailty and limitations, Gamayo, a native of Pinili town, along with other weavers in their locality, gave her all in making the inabel death shroud for the late President.

“My heart is filled with happiness for being chosen to create the keepsake but at the same time I feel mournful as if I am

making again a shroud for the people I valued,” Gamayo said in Ilocano recounting how she had created shrouds for her loved ones including her deceased daughter and husband.

Gamayo explained that the Ilocano tradition of pabaon is the way of the bereaved family giving their departed loved ones what they need after life on earth such as important personal belongings or those that represent their occupation.

“Pabaon is also a way of honoring the deceased,” she said. Gamayo revealed that the pabaon, which is seven and a half yards of inabel, is pure white with ruffles on its sides and will be used for Marcos’ blanket and pillowcase.

The color of the inabel follows the traditional Ilocano death and burial practices which only allows black or white. PIA

Baguio reviews waste management plan BAGUIO City’s 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) approved by the Solid Waste Management Commission will be reviewed because it was not approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod and had no

public consultation before it was submitted to the Commission, a city council official said.

Councilor Peter Fianza again called for waste segregation and recycling or re-using of non-biodegradable materials and for the

reduction of solid waste production in the barangays.

Fianza stressed this during the public consultation on the proposed legislations of the Environment and Natural Resources sector with Councilors Elaine

Sembrano, Lilia Fariñas and Mylen Yaranon.

According to Fianza, the city generates 140 to 150 tons of waste per day and it pays P1, 350 per ton for the tipping and transport of the generated solid waste. PIA

ENLIGHTENED. RP Energy donates a brand new generator set and solar lamps to Kinabuksan Integrated School, which is in an off-grid community in Barangay Cawag, Subic, Zambales. In photo are RP Energy’s corporate social responsibility officer Jason Gavina, Kinabuksan Integrated School officer-in-charge Dr. Euman Parong and students and faculty members of the school. Butch Gunio

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

LGUs

Erap bans cyanide cleaners M

ANILA Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday ordered the City Health Office to go after jewelry shops selling silver cleaners that contain the deadly cyanide compound.

Estrada said City Ordinance No. 8178 passed in 2008 prohibits the retail of all metal and jewelry cleaners containing cyanide. Violators are fined P5,000 or one-year imprisonment.

“We will enforce the city ordinance against the selling of these cyanide-containing silver cleaners, and the silver polish itself, we will get rid of it immediately. This product is

lethal,” Estrada said after the EcoWaste Coalition urged mayors and local health and police chiefs to ban harmful jewelry cleaners.

On August 20, the group conducted a “test buy” and managed to purchase silver cleaning products in a shopping mall in Quiapo, in a beads and accessories store on Villalobos Street, and in another silver jewelry store on Carriedo Street.

Estrada directed City Health

Officer Dr. Benjamin Yson to join the Manila Police District in surprise raids on stores selling the banned product.

“We will continuously monitor these stores to make sure that silver cleaners are not sold for household use. It’s supposed to be for limited industrial use only. Violators will be duly penalized,” he warned.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the cyanide in the silver clean-

ing products could cause serious poisoning or death.

“I urge jewelry buyers to be vigilant and make sure to check the product details. If you are offered this product, inform us immediately so that these sellers will be apprehended,” Yson said.

Cyanide is easily absorbed by the body, making it deadly to people who touch, use, or inhale it, he pointed out.

Moreover, the FDA advised the public to avoid purchasing

the polish if it has no instructions for use in English or Filipino.

Two cyanide-poisoning deaths have been reported in Manila in 2013 and 2015. The victims were Kristel Tejada, then a freshman student at UP Manila, and Alfred Cardeno, a student of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Tejada and Cardeno were both 16-year-olds at the time of their deaths in March 2013 and September 2015, respectively.

Ilocanos to vie for World Rabies prize A HEALTH expert from Ilocos Sur hopes that an individual or a group from the province will be nominated to the coveted World Rabies Day MSD Awards.

Dr. Liborio Arca, Vigan City veterinarian, urged residents of the city and the province to beat the deadline for submission of nominees for the said award on September 4.

The World Rabies Day MSD

Awards is in line with the celebration of the 10th World Rabies Day on September 28.

Arca said the announcement of Global Alliance for Rabies Control, an international group devoted to end rabies, was very timely.

“The awards system inspires Ilocanos and all Filipinos to fight for rabies-free barangays,” he said. PIA

HEART. Kapuso Foundation head Mel Changco cuts the ribbon at the turnover of the Kapuso Village Integrated School at Kapuso Village in Tacloban City on Friday. Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Romualdez, Tacloban City Councilor Aimee Grafil, DepEd Officials, sponsors and oyhrt guests witnessed the turnover. Mel Caspe

Abra river management council created TO ESTABLISH sustainable management of the environment and water resources of Abra River, various stakeholders inked a memorandum of cooperation creating the Abra River Basin Management Council.

In simple rites at the Eurotel Hotel in Baguio City on August 19, 35 regional heads of national government agencies in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the Ilocos region, presidents of four state colleges and university and governors and representatives from the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Abra, Benguet and Mountain

Province, signified their commitment to the management and protection to the resources of the Abra River.

Prior to the creation of the council, an Integrated Abra River Basin Management and Development Master Plan was formulated after a series of consultations in 2014 to 2015.

Ralph Pablo, regional director of environment department, said the master plan was created to harmonize the activities of the concerned local government units and government agencies irrespective of their mandates as

well as the efforts of civil society groups for the preservation of the Abra River.

This year, the Abra River Basin Management Council, will be the coordinating, advisory, policy planning and management body for the Abra River Basin.

“This council was created to ensure that the different programs and projects identified in the plan are implemented by the different implementing agencies and sectors,” Pablo said.

To systematize the implementation of the projects initially identified in the master plan,

the four thematic areas were also conceived, i.e. watershed management and development; water resource management and development; marine and freshwater management; and disaster risk reduction-climate change adaptation development.

Pablo, the lead convenor to the formulation of the master plan and the creation of the ARBMC, disclosed that at least P19 million is necessary for the operation of the council in the next 15 years.

He said the council’s executive committee is responsible for the resource mobilization. PIA

Erap From A1

HEALTHY. Photo shows one of the rooms of SM Foundation’s 119th FTS Wellness Center—the 29th improved SM Community Health Center—in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. Also referred to as City Health Center III, it services 12 barangays with a total population of 95,594 individuals. credit

Bacolod promotes Asean unity BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia is seeking the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs in promoting the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Community 2015 integration in the country.

Leonardia and City Administrator lawyer John Orola met with Hellen de la Vega, the Philippine director-general for Asean, at the DFA headquarters in Manila on Friday.

He asked the DFA to conduct fora with other national government agencies to fully explain in

detail the Asean integration.

In a release from the City Information Office, Leonardia said Bacolod must be aware of the impact of the integration on local business, trade and industry “Bacolod City must align its development plans and goals with the opportunities and challenges that come with the Asean Community 2015, or the integration of the economies of Southeast Asia,” he said.

Leonardia added that Bacolod is the first local government unit (LGU) in the country to ask assistance from the DFA regarding

the matter.

“We can no longer think of ourselves as simply a Philippine city, we must now think of Bacolod as a city of Southeast Asia, or even Asia, and align our goals with this,” he said.

Likewise, he said, Bacolod would be able to sell its natural and human resources on the Asean market.

Asean Community 2015 is composed of the economies of the member-states Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. PIA

disciplined illegal vendors that dirty up the city and clog the sewerage with their garbage.

He said the unabated dumping of garbage in the drainage and creeks has been a serious concern of the city government since he assumed office in 2013; he has since completed 51 flood control projects in Manila worth P1.8 billion.

Of the 8,700 tons of garbage Manila produces everyday, 30 percent or roughly 2,610 tons end up in drainage pipes and esteros, Estrada pointed out.

“Again, I’m appealing to the public to practice proper waste disposal. We all suffer when there are floods,” he said.

Task Force Manila Cleanup head Che Borromeo said he is now coordinating with the Office of the City Engineer to carry out Estrada’s directive.

“For such a long time, those vendors we have been removing have clogged our drainages. Our drainage system is full of plastics,” Borromeo lamented.

On Juan Luna and Sta. Elena streets in Binondo, which has been the subject of repeated clearing operations, Borromeo said many drainage canals are so choked with garbage that they can no longer absorb floodwaters during heavy downpours, thus causing flashfloods.

Last week, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) collected 20 truckloads of silt and garbage from the drainage on Taft Avenue, from Padre Faura to P. Ocampo.

Workers found out that the drainage was clogged with cement residues from the concrete mixers used for the ongoing construction of a residential building.

World

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

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60 die in Yemen suicide blast A

DEN—A suicide car bomb attack on an army training camp in Yemen’s second city of Aden killed at least 60 people on Monday, medical sources said.

GOODWILL. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands with Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw (center) as his wife Daw Su Su Lwi (left) looks on during a ceremonial reception in New Delhi on Monday. AFP

Russian Naval practice caused Taiwan misfire missile protects Iran nuke facility TEHRAN—Tehran has deployed a recently delivered Russian-made long-range missile system to central Iran to protect its Fordo nuclear facility, state television said Sunday.

Protecting nuclear facilities is paramount “in all circumstances” General Farzad Esmaili, the commander of Iran’s air defenses, told the IRIB channel.

“Today, Iran’s sky is one of the most secure in the region,” he added.

A video showed an S-300 carrier truck in Fordo, raising its missile launchers toward the sky, next to other counterstrike weaponry.

The images were aired hours after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a speech to air force commanders, including Esmaili, in which he stressed that Iranian military power was for defensive purposes only.

“Continued opposition and hype on the S-300 or the Fordo site are examples of the viciousness of the enemy,” Khamenei said.

“The S-300 system is a defense system not an assault one, but the Americans did their best for Iran not to get hold of it.”

The Fordo site, built into a mountain near the city of Qom has stopped enriching uranium since the January implementation of a nuclear deal with world powers.

Under the historic accord, Iran dismantled most of its estimated 19,000 centrifuges -- giant spinning machines that enrich uranium, keeping only 5,000 active for research purposes.

Iran and the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia negotiated for more than two years before signing a historic July 2015 agreement that removed some international sanctions in return for curbs on Tehran’s controversial atomic program. AFP

TAIPEI—An unsupervised Taiwanese naval officer who decided to experiment with a missile launcher and accidentally fired towards China was one of three people charged Monday over the fatal incident.

The misfiring of the supersonic “aircraft carrier killer” last month struck a damaging blow to the military’s image, embarrassing new president Tsai Ing-wen and angering Beijing.

The Hsiung-feng III (Brave wind) missile hit a Taiwanese trawler, killing the skipper on board and injuring three other crew members.

The misfire—the biggest military slip-up since Beijing-sceptic Tsai came to power in May— sparked an uproar in Taiwan and

drew a stern rebuke from China.

Prosecutors in the southern port city of Kaoshiung revealed Monday that naval officer Kao Chia-chun had been left alone in the master control room for as long as seven minutes.

Kao decided to practice without a supervisor, despite the system being in “combat mode,” prosecutors said in a statement marking the end of their investigation. “(He) did not ultimately notice that missiles no.3 and no.4 were already in ‘live-fire’ mode and went on to press...’allow launch’, ‘launch missile’, and ‘confirm’,” prosecutors stated.

One of the missiles traveled for about two minutes, automatically searching for a target before locking onto the fishing boat in the

waters off Taiwan-administered Penghu island.

Kao was charged with negligence leading to death and injuries, as well as damaging weaponry.

His supervisor Chen Minghsiu and lieutenant Hsu Po-wei, who was responsible for overseeing weapons, were charged with neglecting official public duties leading to catastrophe.

Chen should have been supervising but left Kao alone during the incident on July 1, the statement said.

President Tsai last week called for the defense ministry to hammer out a new strategy and improve its performance, while attending an annual military exercise simulating China attacks.

The mainland is the biggest military threat to self-ruling Taiwan, which Beijing sees as a breakaway province to be reunified.

Tensions have risen across the strait under Tsai as Beijing does not trust her traditionally pro-independence party.

According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, there are 1,500 Chinese missiles aimed at the island.

China launched some of the missiles into waters off Taiwan in 1995 and 1996 in an attempt to deter voters in the island’s first democratic presidential elections.

Last month’s misfire coincided with China celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Communist Party. AFP

A security official told Agence France Presse that the attacker drove his vehicle into a gathering of new recruits at the camp in northern Aden.

The assault killed 60 people and wounded 29 others, medical sources from the three hospitals where the victims were taken told AFP. Security officials had provided an earlier toll of 11 dead.

The port city, the temporary base of Yemen’s Gulf-backed government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.

Attacks in Aden are often claimed by jihadists from either Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which have both taken advantage of the chaos in Yemen to make gains in southern and southeastern regions.

But no group claimed immediate responsibility for Monday’s attack.

Yemeni authorities have trained hundreds of soldiers in Aden over the past two months to as part of operations to retake neighboring southern provinces from jihadists.

Earlier this month, Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition entered Abyan’s provincial capital Zinjibar.

Troops retook other towns across Abyan but have been met by fierce resistance in key AlQaeda stronghold, Al-Mahfid, a town which lies further east, security sources said.

The militants are still present in areas surrounding the recaptured towns and control large parts of the neighboring Shabwa province, the sources say.

The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against Iran-backed rebels has also been providing troops with air cover throughout their war against the jihadists.

The coalition intervened in Yemen in March last year and has helped government troops push the rebels out of Aden and four other southern provinces.

But authorities have been struggling to secure these provinces. AFP

China road brings progress to Nepal LO MANTHANG—In Nepal’s isolated, high-altitude desert of Upper Mustang, a new road to China is bringing economic transformation to the former Buddhist kingdom, once a centre for trans-Himalayan commerce.

The remote region is ringed with vast canyons and red mountains that, legends say, are stained with the blood of a demon killed by the founder of Tibetan Buddhism.

Yet the recently completed unpaved highway that connects Upper Mustang with China is also bringing unprecedented cultural change to a region that was closed off to foreign visitors until 1992.

In the medieval walled capital of Lo Manthang, young men have swapped Tibetan robes for blue jeans and local cafes broadcast live coverage of Euro 2016

matches to rapt viewers.

Nevertheless, while modern life holds considerable allure for many, the push to preserve traditional culture is no less important to the local Loba community.

Buddhists who speak a variant of the Tibetan language, they have lived in Upper Mustang for centuries.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the ongoing effort to restore sacred murals and monuments, supported by foreign and Nepali non-profit organizations, including the Lo Gyalpo Jigme Foundation, which is headed by the former king of Upper Mustang.

Although the region’s rich heritage escaped the ravages of the Cultural Revolution that hit neighboring China, its monuments fell prey to environmental damage. AFP

HOMECOMING. Brazilian dancers perform during official welcome home celebrations for Australian Olympians at the Sydney Opera House on Monday. AFP

Russian radio show features mental patients MOSCOW—A radio show broadcast live from a Moscow psychiatric hospital every Saturday kicks off with a jokey jingle—”Radio Through the Looking Glass, it’s nuts!”

This is a station with a difference: Russia’s first to transmit from a psychiatric institution whose presenters are all being treated for mental illness, mostly schizophrenia.

And it’s not just any psychiatric facility—this is Moscow’s red-brick Alexeyev hospital, in-

famous in Soviet times for confining dissidents diagnosed with “mental problems” under the regime’s bid to silence opponents.

It is still better known by its Soviet-era name, Kashchenko, which has entered everyday lingo as the term for “loony bin”—pejorative, maybe, but this hasn’t stopped the presenters from using it.

“Hi everyone,” quips Daniil, opening the hour-long show in a Homer Simpson T-shirt. “This is Radio Through the Looking Glass

with you, as usual. And as usual, we’re broadcasting on Saturday direct from the Kashchenko.”

Named after Lewis Carroll’s fantasy tale about Alice, the station started in 2014, broadcasts online and has caught attention in a country where there is still a massive stigma around mental illness.

The presenters are outpatients, living at home, with two saying they travel 90 minutes to take part in the novel broadcast. They range in age from the 20s to the late 40s.

Relaxed, they smoke and chat

ahead of the show. One named Dina shows a photograph of her latest sewing project. But when the broadcast goes live at 3:00 pm, the atmosphere changes as presenters take turns to discuss the show’s theme: the limits of sympathy and compassion.

“I don’t tell my tragic tale to all and sundry... but none of my friends whom I told about my mental condition have rejected me at all,” said presenter Mikhail Larsov.

Many prefer not to use their

real names but speak articulately about their situation—with no supervision from medics.

“We ourselves, let’s be honest, don’t always understand what’s going on inside ourselves—just you try explaining it to other people!” said Daniil, who has worked for two national newspapers.

Diagnosed as a teenager, he describes feeling “like there’s an opaque wall between me and the rest of the world.” After a broadcast, he struggles to stay awake, head in hands. AFP

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World TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

EU must accept Muslim migrants—Germany B

ERLIN—The refusal of some EU countries to accept Muslim refugees is “unacceptable,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday as Germany called for quotas to divide the influx throughout the bloc.

“That’s not right at all that some countries say: ‘generally speaking, we don’t want to have Muslims in our countries’,” Merkel told German public television channel ARD. Backing the idea of a quota system for taking in migrants, the German leader stressed that “everyone must do their part,” and that “a common solution must be found.”

A common European migration policy is a highly controversial issue, which will be on the agenda of an EU summit next month, with eastern members the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia refusing to take in refugees under an EU-wide quota system championed by Berlin.

Slovak President Robert Fico has vowed he would “never bring even a single Muslim” into his country.

In 2015, Germany took in around a million asylum seekers, most from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan, and this year it expects up to 300,000 more to arrive, the Federal Office for Migrants and Refugees (BAMF) said Sunday.

“We can ensure optimal services for up to 300,000. Should more people arrive, it would put us under pressure, then we would go into so-called crisis mode. But even then we would not have conditions like last year,” BAMF chief Frank-Juergen Weise told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper Merkel’s decision last September to open the doors to asylum seekers was seen in many European nations, notably those in the east, as an invitation for further mass migration.

Some, like the Slovak leader, voiced fears of the emergence of a significant Muslim community in their countries.

On Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said he does not want a “large Muslim community... given the problems we are seeing” and that each EU member should be able to choose how many migrants to accept.

German public sentiment is sharply divided when it comes to Merkel, who has not yet said whether she will stand for a fourth term in a general election expected in September or October next year. AFP

UN diffuses W. Sahara tensions UNITED NATIONS—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday urged Morocco and the Polisario movement campaigning for the independence of Western Sahara to withdraw soldiers and fighters from a buffer strip who have sent tensions soaring.

Ban said he was “deeply concerned over the tense situation that has developed in the narrow buffer strip in southwestern Western Sahara” between the Moroccan berm that marks Rabat’s area of control and the Mauritanian border.

He called on both sides “to suspend any action that alters that status quo and to withdraw all armed elements so as to prevent any further escalation,” a statement from Ban’s spokesman said.

The UN mission in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, will hold discussions with both sides to de-escalate tensions, he added.

Moroccan soldiers and Polisario fighters were “in close proximity to each other” in the buffer zone, said the UN statement.

A 1991 ceasefire brokered by the United Nations that ended 16 years of conflict between Morocco and the Polisario left the North African kingdom in control of all of the territory’s main towns and the Polisario confined to a narrow strip of the desert interior.

The far south was left as a noman’s land with neither side having a permanent presence.

Ban stressed the need to respect the ceasefire arrangements that prohibit incursions in the buffer strip. AFP

Mexico-US hidden tunnel discovered

AMAZING. Singer Grace Jones performs onstage during FYF Fest 2016 at Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sunday in Los Angeles, California. AFP

MEXICO CITY—Mexican authorities have uncovered a hidden tunnel from the northwestern state of Sonora to Arizona in the United States, the National Commission for Security said Sunday.

The discovery was made while Mexican police, inspecting a drainage pipe that crosses the border, noticed a difference in the surface of the concrete at one point, the CNS said.

After moving some material, the officers discovered a “secret excavation” of a tunnel that was nearly 1.5 meters (five feet) long on Mexican territory and more than 30 meters long in the US. Half of the tunnel was supported by wood beams and the rest was dirt and rocks -- “apparently in the process of construction, without an exit on the surface,” the CNS said.

Authorities on both sides of the border periodically discover this type of hidden tunnel, typically used by drug traffickers or undocumented migrants. AFP In April, US authorities discovered the longest tunnel yet that was used for bringing in illegal drugs from Mexico.

The 800-meter tunnel from Tijuana in the state of Baja California connected with Otay Mesa, part of the California city of San Diego. AFP

LA airport Germany, France, closed over Poland boost ties alleged gunfire

BUBBLY. A festival goer attends FYF Fest 2016 at Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sunday in Los Angeles, Califor-

nia. AFP

LOS ANGELES—Part of the busy Los Angeles International Airport was closed late Sunday due to unconfirmed reports of gunfire, airport officials said on Twitter.

“Upper/Departures & Lower/ Arrivals levels of Central Terminal Area (CTA) closed. Pls check w/ airlines if heading to LAX,” airport authorities wrote, adding that they were “working to confirm reports” of the shooting.

Airport police searched the site after the reports, and urged passengers to “remain calm” in a Twitter message.

“All precautions being taken to ensure safety of public,” airport police wrote.

The Los Angeles airport, known as LAX, is the seventh busiest airport worldwide in terms of traffic.

Los Angeles itself is the second most populous city in the United States. AFP

WEIMAR—The German, French and Polish foreign ministers vowed Sunday to increase ties between their countries when Britain leaves the EU to secure a safer and more effective union.

“Confronted by unparalleled challenges in Europe... (we must) intensify cooperation and create a new drive,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Jean-Marc Ayrault and Witold Waszczykowski said in a joint statement.

They were gathered in the eastern German town of Weimar to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the “Weimar Triangle” political forum.

They vowed to “reinforce the foundations of European integration... aspiring to a more flexible EU that reflects the different ambitions of member states regarding increased integration” once Britain had left the bloc.

Talks between the 27 EU nations remaining in the bloc are likely to be challenging, as Berlin’s preferred vision of a centralized, federal Europe

clashes with proposals for a confederation of nation states popular among leaders of eastern EU members.

The three foreign ministers gathered in Weimar also called for the bloc’s combined foreign and security policies to be strengthened with the creation of an annual European Security Council meeting of EU heads of government.

Their comments came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that the refusal of some EU countries to accept Muslim refugees is “unacceptable” and called for quotas to divide the influx throughout the bloc.

“We know that there is no simple answer to these challenges, but we are determined to confront them together in a spirit of renewed mutual confidence,” said the ministers’ statement.

The Weimar Triangle, created in 1991, is a consultative body that promotes cooperation and common interests between the three EU states. AFP

Life

A handpainted bag on display at Volkswagen Showroom

F

ROM pretty leading lady onscreen to a remarkable creative force in the art world, painter Love Marie Ongpauco-Escudero (or Heart Evangelista to her millions of TV and movie fans) explores another facet of herself as an artist in painting exquisite luxury bags.

These mesmerizing creations will be part of her upcoming exhibit, Carry Your HeART, which will be held at the Volkswagen Showroom in Bonifacio Global City on Sept. 3 and will be on display until Sept. 9.

In 2014, Love Marie surprised her adoring fans and the public when she held her first painting exhibit at ArtistSpace, Ayala Museum. Preferring oil as her medium, she shared her exquisite eye for detail and soulful touch through broad strokes and swathes of vibrant colors. Her paintings had the same musings of renowned artist Gustav Klimt, who used fascinating symbolism, gold leaf details, and a romantic palette. Unsurprisingly, Love Marie’s paintings sold out within one hour.

Love Marie continues sharing her gifts through other exhibits, and even became the first Filipina to hold an exhibit at Chan Hampe Galleries in Raffles Hotel, Singapore. Today, Love Marie challenges herself through the use of a new canvas – luxury bags.

“I’m very excited because these works really tested my sanity and pushed my limits,” she laughs. “Each entailed a painstaking process of overcoming fear. Since these are smaller canvases, owned by clients, and are incredibly valuable as is, there was a lot of pressure on me not to make any mistake,” she says. “In fact, I would even dream about them, because they occupied my mind the entire day.”

But the sleep-

isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016

ARTS, CULTURE & MEDIA

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ATTENTION TO DETAIL.

Actress and painter Love Marie Ongpauco-Escudero deviates from her traditional canvas as she challenges herself in painting luxury bags

Carry Your HeART with Love Marie Ongpauco-Escudero In her latest exhibit, Love Marie returns to the familiar symbols she adores the most

ACCORDING to contemporary Cebu exhibit curator John Vincent Castro, the term “regional art” in the Philippines bears a stereotyped notion of rurality. Often, what comes to mind in mentioning this type of art are Amorsolo-like imageries of sundrenched rice fields set against wide expanses of azure skies. This widely held thought may be rooted in the evolution of Philippine art, particularly, during the time when many artists followed the “Amorsolo classic school of painting,” a style which may have lingered on outside Metro Manila several decades after the second World War. What are notable in this period of history, however, are the contributions of Wenceslao “Tito” Cuevas (September 2, 1938 –March 19, 2012), a renowned third generation Cebuano artist, whose non-conformist attitude paved the way for Filipino modern art to emerge in the Queen City of the South.

In Transcendent: Wenceslao “Tito” Cuevas An Insight on 40 years of Abstract, ArtistSpace presents a retrospective that spans over 40 years of Cuevas’ art. It is an illustration not just of the artist’s evolution, but also, an insight on the artist’s ingenious attempt to break from a tradition that sees beauty from a painting’s photographic resemblance to the subject.

Most importantly, it is an exposition of one artist’s explorations in abstract expressionism, and his success at reinventing the style to create a signature abstraction inspired by the Cebuano local color, at the height of the style’s popularity in the international art scene.

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer

less nights paid off, as each work has become a beautiful image of whimsy, alive with color and symbolism. “Each represents me as an artist. Each is truly a unique work of art,” she shares.

For this collection, she returns to the familiar symbols she adores most, like flowers, fish, birds and womanly figures. But undeniably, her technique has become more refined. There is thoughtful precision behind every stroke, and meaningful intention behind every detail and definition.

“Since you’re limited to a smaller canvas, you should have a steady hand and be more conscious about the strokes,” she says, adding that to her, painting on luxury bags is a great departure from the wide canvases that she’s used to working on in the past.

“You have to know exactly what to do,

because there’s no margin for error.”

Unlike other works where unbridled inspiration and emotion guide her hands, she has taken a different approach, planning the perfect and meticulous execution of each. “With this, I’ve become more of a perfectionist. I really paid attention to every detail, and I really indulged. I’d wait to get into the mood and took my time with each painting.”

Though she still plays with familiar shapes and figures, she admits that there is a different feel to her paintings now.

“I guess it’s because when I had started painting bags, I had entered a new chapter in my life. Since the past exhibits, I’ve gotten married and have become a stronger woman. I’m more independent and have gained more confidence, and it shows on the bags.” Compared to previous works, which exuded a more sombre

feel and seriousness, her collection today is playful and more whimsical, reflecting her newfound freedom and confidence.

In addition, her works bear her more defined creative signature.

Through her work, Love Marie adds another dimension of luxury, exclusivity and uniqueness to each handbag. “I’m thankful to my clients for entrusting me with such an incredible piece. In return, I promised them something different, truly unique, and something they can proudly claim as being the only one.”

Carry Your HeART is presented by StarWorld, with special thanks to Volkswagen BGC, Ilustrado, Moet & Chandon, Hennessy VSOP, Glenmorangie, and Terrazas.

For more information, visit www.lovemarieescudero.com

INSIGHT ON 40 YEARS OF ABSTRACT

ArtistSpace hosts a retrospective exhibit entitled ‘Transcendent: Wenceslao “Tito” Cuevas An Insight on 40 years of Abstract,’ which presents the artist’s ingenious attempt to break from the traditional regional art

Abstract Expressionism is a genre in visual arts that originated from the US and emerged after World War II. Prior to its introduction to the Philippines, the Amorsolo style of classical realism pervaded most canvasses in Cebu, as popularized by Cuevas’ mentor, Maestro Martino Abellana, a Cebuano art pro-

fessor. Cuevas, on the contrary, deviated from the contemporary trends by exposing himself to global art, which led him to the discovery of the style. Encountering it, he related with the qualities of rebellion, anarchy and spontaneity, which the style evoked. He fell in love with the possibility of portraying Cebuano culture

through the genre that made Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning superstars of their time.

When Napoelon Abueva and Dean Jose Joya, both declared National Artists for Visual Arts, were painting the town red with their modernist art in the 50s and 60s in Manila, Cuevas was likewise

propagating modern art with the same intensity in one of the country’s major capitals. Such were the gravity of his contributions that he was recognized by local art critics and visual artists as the “Father of Abstract Expressionism” in Cebu.

The retrospective exhibition runs until Sept. 4.

Life

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A heART U Share art exhibit to help abandoned elderly N

OW on its second year, the UnionBank-hosted art exhibit aims to not only promote the extraordinary talent of Filipino artists, but also to raise funds for Kanlungan ni Maria, which now takes care of 22 elderly abandoned by relatives.

“Art is very important because it feeds the soul. Through this project, we are able to achieve three things – support our artist friends from Angono, help Kanlungan ni Maria, and promote the importance of creativity among UnionBankers,” said Edwin Bautista, president and chief operating officer of UnionBank.

The guest of honor was Lola Pina, fondly known to many as “The Amazing Lola Pina” due to a popular YouTube video where she was seen sharing her many jokes. Despite wheelchair bound, the 87-year-old graced the event with a light and happy demeanor, thanking the UnionBankers as well as the artists for their help. Her speech concluded with an emotional rendition of Filipino classic “Saan Ka Man Naroroon”, followed by a string of jokes that made the guests laugh.

“We offer our sincerest thanks to the artists and to UnionBank. The proceeds will go a long way in supporting our foun-

FOR THE LOVE OF GRANDPARENTS. UnionBank stages ‘A heART U Share’ exhibit that features artwork inspired by grandparents. Lola Pina (seated) graced the opening, together with Fr. Nante Tolentino (leftmost), UnionBank Risk and Compliance Manager Kim Unidad (third from left) and President and COO Edwin Bautista (seventh from left)

dation to continue helping the abandoned elderly who are now under our care,” Rev. Nante Tolentino, spiritual director of Kanlungan ni Maria, said in Filipino.

The common theme among the exhibited paintings was that of relationships be-

tween mother and child, grandparents and grandchildren, and love through the years.

For artist Dino Blanco, one of his favorite paintings is his Lambing ni Lola, in oil on canvas. “This shows the dynamics of a grandmother-grandson relationship.

While the grandmother is working, selling food, the grandson is right beside her, naglalambing,” Blanco said.

Meanwhile, Jovito Andres chose to showcase one of his mother and child paintings, titled Mother’s Love, in pastel

Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs

Why ‘Mulholland Drive’

is the greatest film of the 21st century

THE GIST

BY ED BIADO RANKED by BBC Culture as the no.1 film since the year 2000, Mulholland Drive has fascinated and confounded viewers since it was released in 2001.

The distinction is based on a poll the publication conducted, surveying 177 critics from all over the world.

“Some are newspaper or magazine reviewers, others write primarily for websites; academics and cinema curators are well-represented too,” it says on bbc.com. So there is a fair chance that this may actually be the global consensus. And this writer agrees.

Directed by the mystifying David Lynch, the neonoir mystery Mulholland Drive is the second of a trio of movies dubbed (unofficially) “the LA trilogy.” The first is Lost Highway (1997) and the third is Inland Empire (2006).

Structured in similar ways, the three pictures have narratives that cannot be taken at face value and requires some level of interpretation to be understood. Each is heavy with philosophical references and allusions, as well as symbolisms and explorations of universal themes discreetly woven into the story.

This type of narrative is later distinguished as Lynchian, author David Foster Wallace defines the Lynchian style as “a particular kind of irony where the very macabre and the very mundane combine in such a way as to reveal the former’s perpetual containment within the latter.”

It’s confusing, it’s frustrating and it’s incredibly arousing.

And what appears to be the perfect balance can be found in Mulholland Drive. Lost Highway was not particularly macabre and Inland Empire simply took disturbing to a whole new otherworldly level.

Mulholland Drive straddles it all right in the middle, with just the right amount of craziness to make its viewers go, “WTF am I watching,” but driven with the desire to finish the film in what would turn out to be a futile effort to gain some understanding of all those WTF moments.

Even the soundtrack is a work of genius. Aside from the eerily dark score, the song choices, particularly the ones performed at key scenes – Rebekah del Rio’s a cappella Spanish version of “Crying” called “Llorando,” sung at the pivotal Club Silencio sequence, and Connie Stevens’s “Sixteen Reasons” lipsynched at the audition sequence – were places so strategically that they could very well be their own characters and not just songs that the characters were miming to.

Mulholland Drive was a feat that has never been, and perhaps will never be, duplicated by any director.

Employing a host of avant-garde techniques, including transitions that are either abrupt of nonexistent, nonlinear narration and intertextuality, the film neither feels convoluted nor absurd. An entire semester in film school can be spent just dissecting every nuance in the film and figuring out what they mean and/or allude to.

Dozens upon dozens of analyses have been published online. But to this day, even after repeated viewing, theories remain theories. While there are agreements among commentators and some interpretations are more widely accepted than others, there is still no definitive explanation of what Mulholland Drive really means.

Is it a simple tale about an aspiring Hollywood actress whose dreams and aspirations consumed her to spiral out of control? Is it a commentary on the Hollywood system as a whole? Was half of it just a dream?

A fantasy? An illusion? A hallucination? Or is a tale

The David Lynch film, Mulholland Drive, continues to confound viewers 15 years since its release

that takes place solely within a criminal mind? What part of the movie is true, and which parts are made up? Is it all made up?

After seeing Mulholland Drive a few times and reading every possible interpretation and theory brought up online, this writer still isn’t convinced that we’ve truly figured it out. What if the clues have been misleading us all along?

I suspect that we’re still missing a vital piece of this great Lynchian puzzle. Perhaps that piece isn’t meant to be found in the first place.

It’s the kind of mystery that – 15 years since its release – still makes one want to watch it all over again to look for more clues and restart the discussion. And that, my friends, is how a truly great film operates.

Embracing and extending life in her art

Girl with Flowers Dancing with Mother 24x36

Lady with Bouquet of flowers 24x36

on canvas. “Mother and child is one of my favorite subjects to paint. The inspiration for these paintings come from my own childhood and my relationship with my own mother,” he said in Filipino.

As for Monserrat Muros, her favorite among her showcased paintings is a picture of a child praying, titled Panalangin, in oil on canvas. What makes the painting striking for her is that a child praying is a precious and priceless moment. Being able to watch a child pray, unbridled by negative thoughts, is one of the most pleasant subjects she was able to paint.

“A heART U Share is not simply an ordinary exhibit for its purpose is to help through art. We invited artists to showcase their God-given talent to us, and by buying their art, we also help an institution to generate funds for their daily operations. As UnionBankers, we live the value of Ubuntu – we engage the community because a person becomes human only when he belongs.

And this is how we give back to the community,” said Kim Richard Unidad, UnionBank’s risk and compliance manager and organizer of the exhibit.

Other featured artists included Aaron Villamayor Bautista, Berny Supsupin, Charlie Val, Nani Reyes, Norberto “Ambhet” Lugtu, and Carlos “Totong” Francisco II. Proceeds from the sold paintings will help support 22 elderly at Kanlungan ni Maria.

ERBU at the Gallery by the Garden is a painting exhibit by ERBU (Eve Red Buhay), until Sept. 8 and Sept.

13 to 27 at the Gallery by the Garden, 108 Gamboa St., Legaspi Village, Makati. It features new renditions of essential life themes, themes that keep morphing yet with their essence remaining constant through one’s personal time.

In her own words, ERBU “derives inspiration from raw life, emotions, passions, sensitivity and mundane living.

She is a spontaneous artist and keeps a canvas on easel, brushes and acrylic paints on her bedside table, so that in the deep, dark night, when colors and forms crave to come out of her mind’s twilight, she can just jump out of bed and paint.

The calling to paint was always simmering in her sinews, ERBU, a middle child of a close-knit family of five artistic siblings. Hence, the urge to apply colors on canvas naturally flowed out of her, in simple confined strokes at the start, then became layered with whimsical fruits, flowers and fabric patterns, then later radiated in shaded textures and

twirls – evolving like a spontaneously choreographed dance.

ERBU broke out of her fragile shell into the art world with nary a mission then but to express herself. She was a woman, 20 years ago, who was nimbly juggling home-child caring, being a widow and mother of two young women - one still a college student then and another just starting out in her career.

ERBU has mounted 14 solo exhibitions that have shuttled her back and forth from her first one in 1999 in Chicago, back to Metro Manila galleries of Ayala Museum in 2000, and numerous times in the fine dining restaurant- gallery of Le Souffle’ to the United Nations headquarters in New York for the Philippine Week in 2009. Back home again, her 2015 exhibit at the Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City, dubbed Some-Are-Stories, was special because it featured a trilogy of creative works: acrylic paintings by ERBU, mixed media paintings by her daughter, Eve “Honey” Javier and photographs by daughter Jill Ann and husband Dominic Paras.

SOIL and Stones, Souls and Songs, a major traveling exhibition based on the effects that China’s transformation has brought to the world, is scheduled to open at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) on Sept.6.

The country plays a dominant role in unleashing the forces of global market based on its seismic metamorphosis over the past decade.

It has modified the forms of production, labor, landscape and environments, as well as wider societal structures. This motion has given birth to revisionisms of past issues and founding myths in the face of historical and ecological threats.

While many stories can be traced to the nation, Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs primarily focuses on the changes on Earth with shifting geopolitical order in the postcolonial and post-Cold War Era, with the unease and violence that accompanies the reconstruction of traditional economic and cultural patterns.

The exhibit will highlight art practices, case studies, new commissions and certain artworks from the Kadist Collection, an interdisciplinary organization. It includes international artists such as Pio Abad, Kawayan De Guia, Edgar Fernandez, and José Maceda (Philippines); Josh Faught, James T. Hong (USA); Sheela Gowda, Prabhakar Pachpute (India); Trương Công Tùng (Vietnam); Peter Kennedy and John Hughes (Australia); Li Binyuan and Li Ran (China); Pratchaya Phintong and Chulayarnnon Siriphol (Thailand); Abdoulaye Konaté (Mali); Ion Grigorescu (Romania); Shitamichi Motoyuki (Japan); Walter Smetak (Brazil); Dominique Zinkpé (Benin); Jimmie Durham (Italy).

Other participants will be Mariana Castillo Deball (Mexico / Germany); Meschac Gaba (Benin / Netherlands); Simryn Gill (Australia / Malaysia); Taloi Havini (Papua New Guinea / Australia); He Xiangyu (China / Germany); Haegue Yang (South Korea / Germany); Trevor Yeung (Hong Kong); and Tuguldur Yondonjamts (USA / Mongolia).

Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs is organized by Kadist Art Foundation, based both in Paris and San Francisco, in collaboration with Para Site, Hong Kong and MCAD, Manila.

The event is curated by Cosmin Costinas and Inti Guerrero, both members of the Independent Curators International, a hub that connects exhibit directors with art spaces.

The show will run till Dec. 4.

MCAD is located at the DLS-CSB School of Design and Arts (SDA) campus, Dominga Street, Malate, Manila.

For more information, kindly contact Patricia Paredes at patriciaana. paredes@benilde.edu.ph or (02) 2305100 loc 3897.

Showbiz

T

HE one thing Up Dharma Down’s Armi Mallari, Philpop finalist Yumi Lacsamana and rapper Sheyee have in common is a shared love for music. The three accomplished performers are set to judge at this year’s Greenwich #UltimateBandkada competition where up for grabs is prize money worth P100,000.00 and a recording deal with a major music label.

Just as the best and most creative combination of toppings can create the best pizza flavors, Greenwich believes that the best musical groups are those who can perfectly mash-up different genres to create new tunes. With this in mind, they launched The #UltimateBankada Search to encourage young Filipinos to show off their unmatched creativity. The top eight finalists were recently announced and are currently on a music boot camp with mentors from the music industry such as Thyro, The Juans and Donnalyn who will teach them how to be an overall performer.

Two of these lucky finalists are Alab and Happy Ending.

The five-piece band Alab, whose members grew up listening to the music of Hanson, The Moffats, Rivermaya and Eraserheads, describe their music as ‘Pogi Rock’

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The group, who put an electronic-rock spin on Miley Cyrus’ hit “Wrecking Ball” for their audition, joined the competition to gain more experience and exposure in the music industry. Of course, the end goal is to bag the title as the Greenwich Ultimate Bandkada.

And how exactly do they plan to do that? “Enjoy lang, you don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. Be yourself, and let your music speak for you,” he adds.

For the band, Happy Ending, lead singer Perlin Huberit sees themselves as friends who perform rather than as a musical group. The tight bond between

had to work [outside of music], but we decided to continue and pursue our passion,” adds Perlin.

After spotting the callout for auditions on their Facebook feeds, they decided to give it a shot and play one of their original songs during the auditions. “We play a lot of our original songs. We write from experience, from what we feel, from what other people feel and go on from there,” he adds.

The men of Happy Ending plan on enjoying the journey throughout the competition.

Winning aside, they aim to champion OPM and inspire more generations of musicians.

the band’s members Mervin Madio (bass), Jeric Manuel (drums), Revirr Montezor (rhythm, guitar), Primitivo Bacurio (guitar), and Perlin are what they hope will lead them into bagging first place for this year. The group was established in 2012, but since then, members have been in and out for different reasons. “Some of our members

On Sept. 10, the top 8 finalists will be perform a mashup of a Greenwich theme song using two different genres at Valkyrie Nightclub in Bonifacio Global City.

Find out more about season two of the Greenwich Ultimate Bandkada by visiting the official website www.ultimatebandkada. com.

Armi Mallari, Yumi Lacsamana and Sheyee judge music mashup competition Banking on their burning passion for their craft, versatility and years of experience playing music as their edge, Alab, a band composed of Jaworski Sison (vocals), Butch Bantog (guitar), Charles Lumahan (bass), Rickson Ruiz (drums), and Beejay Valera (trumpet and guitar) is one of the eight hopefuls in the final round of season two of the Greenwich Ultimate Bandkada Search.

“The band has been together for two years only but us as a barkada, since we were kids,” said Jawo. Now that they’re a little older and have their own careers outside of music, the members of the group see making sweet tunes as a way to distress, relax, and ultimately, strengthen their friendship. “Playing together is how we bond,” he adds.

The band boasts a unique sound which they like to jokingly

call “pogi rock”—a style that is uniquely theirs, one that’s “pogi ’yung tunog at ’yung lyrics.” Put simply, it’s like a boy band but rock. Some of their biggest music influences include Southborder, Rivermaya, Eraserheads, and ‘90s favorites Hanson and The Moffats. When it comes to their favorite go-to jam session songs, they admit they love rocking to Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and even John Mayer.

Igorot cop in Misters of Filipinas 2016 MALE contestants can command followers as much as females in beauty pageants. We saw this in international winners Alexander Aquino, June Macasaet and Neil Perez and in other popular candidates in bikini beach bodies contests, like Century Tuna Superbods and Mossimo Bikini Summit.

Of this year’s batch of aspirants at Misters of Filipinas 2016, one guy easily stands out for his distinct manly Pinoy-look. Christopher Comicho Dulagan, 23-year-old police inspector of the Philippine National Police (PNP), is a proud Igorot from the picturesque mountain town of Sagada in Mountain Province. He represents the Cordilleran region.

Chriz is the best specimen of the modern Igorot – bright, brave, tenacious, industrious and friendly with a good sense of humor and an exceptionally fine physique.

Generating buzz after going viral in the social media, he is seeking to follow in the footsteps of Mister International

2014 Mariano Flormata, Jr., making him one of the hot favorites to win in the finals of Misters of Filipinas 2016.

“I decided to give the pageant a try to break the stereotype of being just an ordinary Igorot. I see in the pageants theme “Masculinity and Responsibility” the chance to explore and prove that cops can succeed in other fields of endeavor.

It is also an opportunity to help promote the good image of law enforcers, the PNP organization and the on-going war against illegal drugs,” said the member of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Masundayaw Class 2016.

Chriz was asked to join Misters 2016 after he was spotted in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo while taking to the Manila Police Department (MPD) station a snatcher the police caught.

A newly assigned officer at the Plaza Miranda PCP-MPD, Chriz currently supervises a police best practice, a feeding program that caters to the poor and indigents families in the area.

The fourth among nine siblings, Chriz

Mr. Gay World Philippines official candidates

endured hardships and struggled for 17 years growing up in Sagada. His father died at the age of 35 due to a vehicular accident and its only her mother who single-handedly brought them up by taking hard jobs in the provinces.

Young Chriz looked for work to help augment his mother’s little earnings from planting vegetables after the death of his father when he was in Grade 5.

He would find work in construction sites carrying bags of gravel and sand.

Chriz was completing a course in Criminology at the Mt. Province State College when he transferred to Silang, Cavite after passing the entrance examination at PNPA in 2011. In the police service, he aims to continue with his advocacy to protect and strengthen partnership with the vulnerable members of society, including children, old citizens and LGBT members.

“Working in the police service, I believe the discipline and perseverance required from us would work to my

THE biggest and the most prestigious gay men beauty search is on. The grand finals will be held on Oct. 2 at the UP Theater in Diliman. The Mr. Gay World Philippines 2016 winner will represent the country at the Mr. Gay World 2017.

In an official shoot with photographer Raymond Saldana, Mr. Gay World Philippines 2016 first batch of official candidates posed

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

56 Dangerous situation (2 wds.)

58 Slip back 60 Boulder’s st.

61 — colada 62 Use force 63 Mr. Moto’s reply (2 wds.)

64 Natural elevs.

65 Made mention of DOWN 1 Comic-book heroes (hyph.)

2 Met role 3 Money holder 4 Edge a doily 5 Not at sea (2 wds.)

6 Bird of prey 7 Grad 8 Fair grades 9 Men and boys 10 Iraq neighbor 11 Solar deity 12 Onetime Italian coins 13 Bugling beasts 19 Glances over 22 Slalom run 24 Venetian magistrate 25 Wins at rummy 26 Grassy places

27 Farewell 28 Hay bundler 29 Road shoulders 30 “Damn Yankees” vamp 31 Some South Africans 32 Liszt opus 33 Epics 35 Full-strength 38 Wallet stuffer 39 Overcharge 41 Monsieur’s daughter 42 Imaginary troublemaker

PERFECT SPECIMEN. Christopher

Dulagan, a police officer who hails from the mountain town of Sagada, is one of the front-runners in this year’s Misters of Filipinas male pageant

Mr. Gay World Philippines 2016 at UP Theater

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Hobby knife (hyph.)

6 Per person 10 Garden green 14 La Scala locale 15 Toward shelter 16 Water or tel.

17 Proofreads 18 Conjecture 20 Velvety surface 21 Rudders 23 Bamboo stalks 24 Capsule, maybe 25 Moo goo — pan 26 Works hard 29 Crepe cousins 34 Saying 35 Lowly laborers 36 Ms. Hagen of films 37 Ruse 38 Rolls tightly 39 Slimy critter 40 Bridal notice word 41 Terra — 42 Dutch cheese 43 Makes it through 45 Deletes data 46 Bullring yell 47 Arduous journey 48 Reel 51 It has an eye 53 Objective

advantage during the pageant. This competition has strengthened my spiritual life and has made me closer to God. I hope that my fellow police officers, PNPA alumni and especially, my fellow Igorots will give me support as I compete in Misters of Filipinas 2016,” the 5-foot-10, police hunk said.

Aside from the Friday-morning feeding program at Plaza Miranda, Chriz has been actively participating in the PNP’s “Laban sa Droga” campaign, speaking in classrooms and distributing leaflets to the school children, like in Kabayanan Elementary School in San Juan City where he was invited as guest together with the beauties of Miss Philippines Earth 2016.

Chriz’ popularity among netizens has made him a force to be reckoned with and will surely give the other 29 candidates a run for their money when the finals of the Misters of Filipinas comes on Sept.18 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.

44 Kind of doll 45 Goof it up 47 Forum wear 48 Pet lovers’ gp.

49 Tigger’s pal 50 Night fliers 51 Comedy routine 52 Opry’s st.

53 Client mtg.

54 Shrink’s reply (2 wds.)

55 Blend 57 45 or 78 59 Centurion’s sweet nothing?

with Wilbert Tolentino, the new Philippine national director and executive producer.

Christian Lacsamana, the current title holder placed 2nd runner-up in Mr. Gay World 2016 in Malta. He took home other special awards including Mr. Gay Popularity, Mr. Social Media and Best in National Costume.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

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Showbiz

HISTORY Channel personalities welcome event-goers at the History Con Manila 2016, the biggest entertainment convention of its kind featuring interactive exhibits and on-ground activities

Past and present meet in a historic event in Manila

By Nickie Wang

I

T’S ONLY in a cosmic activity where stars descend from the sky and join the mortals in gleaning fragments of the past while they virtually make history in making each minute count at present time. And that’s what exactly just happened at the History Con Manila 2016.

More than a thousand fans flocked to the World Trade Center on Thursday to witness the first-ever entertainment convention of its kind featuring on-ground activities and interactive exhibits with a star-studded lineup of popular HISTORY personalities who made a rare appearance at the landmark event.

The four-day ticketed convention was jam-packed with activities and displays that brought History Channel to life and immersed visitors in the History® experience.

From the Philippine presidential cars display to a photo exhibit of Filipino veteran soldiers during World War II, and from antique and vintage collectibles to active games like boxing, wrestling, airsoft, wall climbing and archery, there were more than a dozen activities

visitors were able to enjoyed.

With exhibitors ranging from cars to motorcycles, outdoor gears and tech gadgets, the event was designed not just for history buffs but also for young students and adults as well.

“Last year it was just a simple idea. We wanted to find a way of connecting to our audience and allow them to feel, live, and see history come alive in an entertaining way.

It’s an experience beyond the television screen,” said Prem Kamath, deputy managing director of A+E Networks Asia, distributor of History Channel, during a press conference held on Aug. 25.

Also present at the press conference to talk about their shows and what to expect on History in the next coming months were Ancient Aliens’ Giorgio Tsoukalos, Storage

Attendees discover the historical significance of Philippine Presidential limousines, which are on display at the World Trade Center

Apart from high end cars and automotive, History Con also features vintage collectibles like these restored motorbikes

Wars’ Brandi Passante and Jarrod Schulz, Gangland Undercover’s Damon Runyan and Ian Matthews, Photo Face-off’s Justin Mott, and the cast of Celebrity Car Wars including its host Bobby Tonelli and Filipino celebrities KC Montero, Joey Mead King and Marc Nelson and professional car driver, Gaby Dela Merced.

These History personalities made an appearance at the convention where they mingled with the event-goers and signed autographs. Meanwhile, writer and television personality Giorgio Tsoukalos, who is known as the proponent of the idea that ancient alien astronauts interacted with ancient humans, conducted a two-day special talk on Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s the first time this kind of convention is happening in Manila. In fact, it’s the first time it’s happening anywhere in the world. It reinvents the way we connect with our audiences, as an on-ground extension of our brand that offers something for everyone, whether they’re our loyal fans who just can’t get enough of History, or they’re curious onlookers who are new to our brand,” Kamath told the press.

Like the channel, History Con

Nadine Lustre

Newest face of Sony Personal Audio From left: Bravo Brand Endorsers Robin and Rommel Padilla with Bravo Dietary Supplement for Men Press Launch hosts Lourd De Veyra and Jun Sabayton

Bravo Brothers

ON AUG. 19, Bravo Dietary Supplement for Men was introduced to the market with celebrity endorsers Robin and Rommel Padilla. Along with the product’s contents and benefits, the true essence and definition of a certified Bravo Man was discussed in the event. Robin and Rommel Padilla are the most appropriate face of a certified Bravo Man. Bravo Dietary Supplement for Men’s brand promise, “Mabagsik,” is embodied by the Padilla brothers, Robin and Rommel are known to be Men that Pinays’ swoon over.

This is because of the utmost respect, love, happiness and understanding they project towards women.

Bravo Dietary Supplement for Men is a dietary supplement that can give men an incredible love making experience. Each

500mg capsule of Bravo contains Maca Root Extract that helps increase fertility, Jathropha that improves sexual performance by helping sustain a powerful erection and Corynaea Crassa, a Peruvian aphrodisiac that increases libido and is commonly known as the “Peruvian Viagra.” These allnatural ingredients can help men deliver an outstanding performance that can make every woman cry “Bravo!” with gusto. Note that, Bravo is not a medicinal drug and should not be used to treat symptoms of any disease.

Be a certified Bravo Man like Robin and Rommel Padilla. Take Bravo dietary supplement for men. Bravo Dietary Supplement for Men is recommended for men, not just for those who experience erectile dysfunction. Bravo! Ang Bagsik Mo.

CAN I turn the music up?” asked Nadine Lustre while singing and dancing in between takes during a photo shoot for her latest endorsement.

One of the biggest names in the local showbiz industry and a music-lover at heart, Lustre is the newest face of Sony Philippines’ Personal Audio Category.

“I can’t imagine my life without music,” said the 22- year old actress and singer. “I listen to music every day—in the shower, in the car, travelling.

During shoots, it gives me energy; it hypes me up.

It helps me bond with my friends; it controls my emotions. Music is my life.”

Lustre was chosen to endorse Sony’s recently launched h.ear™ and Extra Bass™ highresolution audio lines. “We at Sony are really excited to reveal Nadine as the newest endorser for Personal Audio. She perfectly captures that distinct lifestyle we associate with each line-up— the stylish, trendy traveler for the h.ear™ series and the life of the party for the Extra Bass™ series.

The team was thrilled to find out that for Nadine, music was more than a career, but a lifestyle,” said Alvin de Vera, senior director for Brand and Customer Communications, Sony Philippines.

Visit www.sony.com.ph for more inquiries.

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was epic in scale and covered a broad range of genres and interests, with dedicated areas for the paranormal and science fiction, survival and adventure, motoring, history and culture.

Each booth had its own distinct theme that showcased History’s most popular series including Ancient Aliens, Swamp People, Storage Wars, Alone, Pawn Stars, Counting Cars, Leepu & Pitbull, Ride N’ Seek with Jaime Dempsey, Photo Face-off, and Celebrity Car Wars, which is History Asia’s brand-new original production that follows celebrities as they compete in automotive challenges.

In addition, guests were also invited to make history by participating in three worldrecord-breaking attempts at History Con. One of the Guinness World Records that HISTORY aimed to break at the Convention was the record for the longest TV-watching marathon – currently set at 94 hours.

In conjunction with History Con, local middle school and universities in Metro Manila were invited to take part in the History Bee Inter-school Competition. A talent search for History’s next Digital Host was also launched.