Manila Standard - 2016 September 25 - Sunday

WATCH FOR MANILA STANDARD’S SPECIAL REPORT ON THE ECONOMY SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

DUTERTE VOL. XXX • NO. 225 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

NOMICS: SUSTAINING THE HEALTH OF ECONOMIC GAINS THE NATION

Russia arms deal eyed Moscow planning donation or loan

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

M

OSCOW is planning to donate or loan military equipment and technology to Manila, only days after President Rodrigo Duterte said he would go to Russia or China if the United States did not like his “dirty mouth.”

Ambassador to Russia Carlos Sorreta announced the plan after he met with Russian officials over how the two countries could boost trade and security cooperation as Duterte discussed with Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev last May. At the same time, the US State Department also announced on Saturday that Washington approved the release of $6.725 million (more than P300 million) from the $32 million fund

EASY WEEKEND. A father attends to his son and a friend who are enjoying the peace of feeding pigeons while a young ‘crimebuster’ guards the area with his make-believe rifle. Manny Palmero, Ey Acasio

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Andanar in another news gaffe

Narc feels Leila trying to use him

By John Paolo Bencito MARINE Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, facing drug-related charges, has accused embattled Senator Leila de Lima of trying to use him to gain public sympathy, chewing her out for releasing a transcript of his supposed conver-

sation with a mistah.

“On the aspect that she could have told me but she didn’t, I mean she tried to use me,” Marcelino, who stressed he was willing to testify against De Lima, said in an ANC television interview.

“Nobody pressured or coerced me to speak against Senator De

Lima. As a matter of fact, in her press conferences showing those privilege exchanges of communication between me and my classmates, I did not give any consent to her, neither did she approach or call me to ask permission if she can show it to the media that’s Next page

Drug suspect’s trusted aide yields P24-m drugs

Aftershocks seen after 6.5 temblor rocks Mati AFTERSHOCKS are expected to continue, on a lesser frequency and extent, from the magnitude 6.5 weekend earthquake off Davao Oriental’s capital city of Mati, seismologists said.

“We don’t expect future aftershocks to be as frequent and intense as what these were immediately after the earthquake,” said Julius Galdiano, science research analyst at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

He noted frequency and magnitude of the aftershocks will decrease over time until these events stop when below-ground geologic conditions leading to the earthquake stabilize.

Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum himself said “There was no report of damage yet but since Next page

By John Paolo Bencito and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

By John Paolo Bencito

Senator Leila de Lima

Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino

Third storm threatens N. Luzon; blue alert up TROPICAL storm “Helen” [international codename: Megi] entered the Philippine area of responsibility on Saturday, threatening Northern Luzon, including Batanes province which was recently devastated by two storms, called “Ferdie” and “Gener.”

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo on Saturday asked communities to prepare for the

A TRUSTED aide of Kerwin Espinosa, son of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, surrendered to the police and turned over P24 million worth of shabu, the police reported Saturday.

Albuera town police chief Insp.

Juvy Espenido identified the aide as Max Miro who also surrendered three kilograms of shabu, wrapped and ready for sale.

Wearing jeans and a black

sweat shirt, the 40-year-old Miro handed a loaded 9-mm pistol to the police. He is also believed to be a hitman for the Espinosa drug gang.

During the first raid in the house of Mayor Espinosa, Miro and other bodyguards managed to escape. He went into hiding in Cebu with his family for three months.

Miro, however, gave himself up to Albuera police for fear of Next page his safety.

COMMUNICATION Secretary Martin Andanar again found himself in another miscommunication controversy on Saturday after he confirmed wrong information that an 18-man United Nations team would be visiting the country from Sept. 28 to 29.

Andanar confirmed in a radio interview that the UN team would arrive next week to look into accusations of extrajudicial killings in the country’s war against drugs and upon the invitation of President Rodrigo Duterte who said he will invite the UN to investigate the claims.

But Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose clarified that no UN delegation Next page

storm even she assured the public that the government is already on “blue alert” status and the DSWD has prepared assistance, if needed.

“We assure the public that the [DSWD] is doing all the preparatory measures for ‘Helen’, including repacking of additional relief goods and intensifying our coordination with local government Next page

Yahoo troubles worsen with hacking WASHINGTON—The huge Yahoo hack deals a fresh blow to the internet pioneer which has been struggling to reinvent itself, potentially impacting the pending sale aiming at giving it a new start.

The hack in late 2014 affecting some 500 million users worldwide, disclosed this week, could

further erode confidence in the online giant which has been on a downward trajectory for some 15 years, analysts said Friday.

“It’s a massive black eye for Yahoo and its brand,” said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst and consultant at Moor Insights & Strategy.

“Yahoo still has a lot of custwitter.com/ MlaStandard

tomers, and they should feel that Yahoo violated their trust. When it comes to online services, trust is a huge issue, and Yahoo has to worry about losing customers.”

The disclosure is almost certain to impact a pending $4.8-billion deal to sell Yahoo’s key internet

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

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S

LOST IN TIME. Two carriages, modeled after the Spanish-era caruajes that clogged Manila streets for

hundreds of years, find themselves among modern-day cars as they ferry tourists around the Walled City in Manila. Danny Pata

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News

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why I was surprised,” Marcelino said.

De Lima claimed Marcelino was asked by her detractors to testify against her in relation to her alleged involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs in the New Bilibid Prison during her term as Justice secretary.

De Lima added a “common acquaintance” had forwarded to her messages from Marcelino dated July 19, 2016 and Sept. 5, 2016 which thanked the lady senator for her help when he was in prison and claiming there were people after his life.

Director Albert Ignatius Ferro, OIC of the PNP anti-illegal drugs group, however, confirmed that then Justice secretary De Lima visited Marcelino on March 27 this year at the PNP Custodial Center, when the latter was arrested on January 21 during a raid in a shabu laboratory in Sta. Cruz, Manila -- claiming he was performing surveillance work.

Marcelino, who maintained he has a “very professional” relationship with De Lima, said he only explained his case to De Lima after he was incarcerated due to alleged drug involvement.

“If I will be summoned on (sic) any forum at the Senate or Congress or any inquiry I am only on the side of truth,” he added.

De Lima was tagged by President Duterte as the highest government official in the illegal drug matrix inside the National Bilibid Prison which she operated along with his long time driver-bodyguard Ronnie Palisoc Dayan.

Duterte said Dayan collected drug money for De Lima inside the national penitentiary, now a subject of a House investigation with all witnesses linking her to the illegal drug trade.

Duterte reiterated that witnesses and evidence cannot be “orchestrated” just to single her out to the illegal drug trade, following her claims the government is pressuring her associates to testify against her.

“You cannot do that wherein many would testify against you.

You cannot orchestrate a testimony. These would all clash with each other if it’s (sic) fabricated.”

De Lima accused the Duterte administration of increasing pressure and intimidation on her known associates as well as on other convicts at the New Bilibid Prison to boost their allegations she was a protector of illegal drug operations at the NBP when she was Justice secretary.

Marcelino said he will support the government in its fight against illegal drugs, adding “I risked my life including my family and career for this war.”

His lawyer, Public Attorney’s Office Chief Persida Acosta, said they would be working hard to reverse the charges against Marcelino.

Espenido said Miro’s surrender would strengthen the case against the protectors of Kerwin’s alleged drug business.

“All vital information provided

by Miro will be used as evidence for cases that will be filed at the Ombudsman against government officials identified as Kerwin’s alleged protectors,” Espenido said.

Miro turned himself in to Espenido weeks after Mayor Espinosa called for him and three others to surrender. He was the last to yield.

Also on Saturday, the Interior Department said it would tap “volunteers” nationwide to help in the unwavering fight against illegal drugs, corruption and criminality.

Under the umbrella group of volunteers to be formed, called Masa Masid or Mamamayang Ayaw sa Anomalya, Mamamayang Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga, local stakeholders, volunteers, civic and faith-based organizations and the private sector can help the government in addressing the problem of illegal drugs in their communities.

“We are banking on the participation of the common people and faith-based organizations to spark the spirit of volunteerism in all 42,000 barangays in the Philippines so we can address the long-standing battle against drugs, corruption and criminality by the end of December this year,” Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno said.

In other developments: • Anti-drug operatives from the Caloocan police have arrested two suspected big-time drug personalities who allegedly supply illegal drugs in Caloocan and parts of Manila, and seized from them about 84 grams of shabu worth P200,000.

• In Davao City, 33 drug surrenderers from five barangays are reported to have undergone a week-long disaster and management training through the initiative of Regional Public Safety Battalion 11 and Davao City’s Central 911.

In Manila, Sueno said if Filipinos would embrace volunteerism, peace and order threats could be thwarted and handled easily.

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units in Northern Luzon where the storm is expected to hit,” she said.

Taguiwalo said the DSWD has a standby fund of more than P800 million and more than 400,000 food packs for distribution, if they are required.

At the same time, she said the DSWD will continue to provide relief to Batanes residents who have yet to receive help after the two typhoons that devastated the province and forced it to declare a state of calamity last Sept. 15.

The DSWD’s Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau and its field office held a video conference on Friday to discuss emergency shelter assistance and cash-for-work to 2,241 families whose houses were damaged by “Ferdie.”

Social welfare officers are also continuously conducting psychosocial support processing to affected families in several barangays in Itbayat to help them recover from the stress and trauma they experienced during the recent typhoon.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Northern Luzon should gear for more bad weather due to Helen.

While Helen is not expected to hit land, weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said “that storm can intensify further” since it is still over water.

“Central Luzon can be affected as well,” he said, adding that the storm will likely remain inside the PAR until around Wednesday.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, Aurelio said the eye of “Helen” was 1,390 kilometers east northeast of Casiguran, Aurora, with maximum sustained winds of 110 kph and gusts of up to 140 kph, and moving toward Taiwan at 25 kph.

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THE PUNISHER AND THE ENFORCERS. President Rodrigo Duterte takes time to chat with several policewomen who greeted him upon his arrival at the Philippine National Police regional headquarters in General Santos City on Friday. Malacañang Photo

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that US State Secretary John Kerry pledged during his visit to Manila last July.

Sorreta said the plan to donate or loan military equipment was discussed when he and vice consul Luningning Camoying were briefed by officials of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC).

The FSMTC is a federal agency directly under the Office of the President of the Russian Federation responsible for control and oversight in the field of military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and foreign countries.

Russian officials who hosted the briefing are First Department on Military and Technical Cooperation with Foreign States chief Serggey Buganov; and Section on Military-Technical Cooperation with Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region chief Valery Orel.

“We welcomed the briefing, which was quite revealing, particularly the extent that Russia is able to interact with a large number of countries in this field and the different mechanisms that are employed, including acquisition and transfer of Russian military

Aftershocks...

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the quake was offshore... we expect no significant damage,” adding “[there is] no tsunami threat related to the quake.”

In its preliminary impact assessment, the US Geological Survey also said there was a low likelihood of casualties and damage from the tremor, which had a depth of 62 kilometers.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “belt of fire” where tectonic plates collide and magnitude 6 tremors are common.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat from the strong quake.

“It’s unclear when the aftershocks will stop, however,” Galdiano said. Aftershocks are tremors that follow the main shock of an earthquake.

As of noon Saturday, Phivolcs already recorded a series of aftershocks following the 6:53 a.m. earthquake, with the initial aftershock at 7:45 a.m. reaching magnitude 4.9.

Yahoo...

From A1 assets to telecom group Verizon —already a massive letdown for a company worth $125 billion at the height of the dot-com boom —which could help revive the Yahoo brand, Moorhead said.

“Verizon has got to be livid about this,” Moorhead said. “But they’re not going to talk about this publicly because it would pour gasoline on the fire.”

The analyst said he expected the sale to go through “but I would expect the price to go down five to 10 percent” following the disclosure.

In the mid-1990s, Yahoo was among the most popular destinations on the internet, helping many people navigate the emerging web.

It became the top online “portal,” connecting users to news, music and other content. But its

equipment,” Soretta said.

“This is all part of our job to explore opportunities that could contribute to our government’s efforts to modernize our defense capabilities,” Sorreta said.

Aside from the military equipment and technology, Sorreta said Russia is also willing to provide training, after-sales service and maintenance, transfer of technology, investment in domestic military production and servicing and different modes of financing.

Sorreta and Camoying were briefed after a similar meeting between a Department of National Defense delegation, led by Undersecretary for Finance and Materiel Raymundo de Vera Elefante, and Russian defense officials including officials of the FSMTC. The talks with Russia developed after Duterte met with Russian Ambassador Khovaev, who met with Duterte in Davao City a few days after the May 9 elections.

Khovaev said he was impressed

by Duterte during a “very productive” meeting where they discussed how to jump-start Philippine-Russian relations which officially started only in 1976.

Khovaev said that it was “time for Russians to discover the Philippines, and it is time for the Philippines to discover Russia,” adding that strengthened trade coop-

eration could begin before the end of this year.

The Russian envoy said there is much potential in the two country’s bilateral ties because “there were no disputes and no contradictions” and only develop “cooperation in practical terms.”

Meanwhile, the US, through State Assistant Secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement William Brownfield the $6.7 million fund was meant to boost law enforcement in the Philippines.

In an interview with online news site Rappler, Brownfield said the fund was part of the $32 million that Kerry pledged for law enforcement training and services.

US State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said that $4.665 million of the larger amount “is set to be transferred soon, via an Interagency Agreement, from INL to the US Coast Guard.”

This funding aims “to support maritime security in the Philippines.”

“There is additional money which was previously appropriated by Congress for use in the Philippines, but no decisions have to be made on that funding’s use until next year,” Rappler quoted the INL as saying.

Galdiano said Phivolcs afterwards recorded aftershocks of lesser intensity of the quake which was tectonic in origin, meaning it was caused by the movement of the earth’s crust.

Latest available data also show the earthquake struck 51 km. south 38 degrees east of Mati at a depth of 38 km., Phivolcs noted.

“We consider that earthquake a strong one,” said Phivolcs science research specialist Gail Rivera, noting earthquakes can still strike there in the future.

According to Phivolcs, different areas felt Saturday’s earthquake at varying intensities.

Phivolcs said fresh data show Mati and Baganga in Davao Oriental; Davao City as well as Tagum City and Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte reported the earthquake at intensity 5.

General Santos City; Alabel, Glan and Malapatan in Sarangani; Polomolok in South Cotabato; Butuan City, Governor Generoso and Cateel in Davao Oriental; Digos City in Davao del Sur; Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental; Braulio Dujali in Davao del Norte and Talacogon in Agusan del Sur re-

ported intensity 4, Phivolcs noted.

Areas that reported experiencing the earthquake at intensity 3 were Tupi in South Cotabato; Cagayan de Oro City; Gingoog in Misamis Oriental; Malaybalay,Valencia, Maramag, Don Carlos, Quezon and Monolo Fortich in Bukidnon; Boston in Davao Oriental; Bagumbayan in Sultan Kudarat and Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, Phivolcs continued.

Phivolcs also said Kidapawan City and Makilala in North Cotabato reported intensity 2.

Based on Phivolcs’ gauge, intensities 5, 4, 3 and 2 indicate an earthquake experienced as strong, moderately strong, weak and slightly felt, respectively.

At intensity 5, Phivolcs said earthquakes are generally felt by most people indoors and outdoors.

Phivolcs said intensity 4 quakes are felt generally by people indoors and by some people outdoors.

Intensity 3 earthquakes are felt by many people indoors, especially in upper floors of buildings, Phivolcs continued.

Few people at rest indoors feel earthquakes at intensity 2, Phivolcs added. J.P. Bencito, with PNA and AFP wires

fortunes started to fade when Google began to dominate with its powerful search engine.

After a series of management changes and revival efforts, Yahoo decided to sell its main operating business as a way to separate that from its more valuable stake in Chinese online giant Alibaba.

Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates said Verizon was effectively blindsided by the news of the hack, and may think twice about proceeding with the deal, given the liabilities it may inherit.

“Yahoo hasn’t hit bottom, which is disturbing,” Kay said.

“And if I were Verizon I would be disturbed because it’s a decaying asset. It’s declining even before I get my hands on it.”

Pace University market professor Larry Chiagouris said the news could drive people away from Yahoo, hurting its adver-

tising base, noting that “10 to 20 percent of its existing email subscribers have been contemplating moving over to Gmail or some other platform.”

“The hacking will only accelerate the loss of the subscribers and ultimately translate into a loss of advertising revenue,” he said.

Yahoo said it was working closely with law enforcement on the breach, which is likely the largest-ever hack of a single organization and included names, email addresses, birth dates, and scrambled passwords, along with encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.

Yahoo, which said the attack was probably from a “statesponsored actor,” is likely to be pressed on why it took nearly two years to discover and report the attack, a fact which could prompt inquiries in Congress.

US Senator Mark Warner said in a statement he was “most

Andanar...

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is expected to arrive in the country next week because the foreign office has not even drafted an invitation to the world body much less a discussion on the visit’s terms of reference. “[There is] no invitation yet.

We will send the letter as soon as we get it from the Palace,” Jose explained, adding that the DFA was expecting the formal letter of invitation from Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

Even before the letter is sent, Jose said the usual diplomatic practice is for the Philippines and the United Nations to agree on the dates of the visit, places that will be visited, people involved and similar details.

“The government also needs to approve those victims or the victims’ families before they can interview them. They need to ask permission from the government first,” Jose said.

The DFA spokesman said the visit is different from the annual human rights review next week that is part of the country’s commitment under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The ICESCR is a multilateral troubled by news that this breach occurred in 2014, and yet the public is only learning details of it today.”

Moorhead said the news is embarrassing for Yahoo whether or not the company failed to discover the breach in a timely manner.

“Either they knew about it and didn’t say anything,” he said, which could open up Yahoo to questions of hiding information.

“If they didn’t know about it, then they have a forensics issue.”

Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said the hack will be damaging for Yahoo and for chief executive Marissa Mayer, who took over in 2012 in a bid to engineer a turnaround.

“Like most scandals, it’s not the act but the attempt to cover it up that does the real damage,” Galloway said.

“The lag in discovery and dis-

“The threat of terrorism is looming, especially that we have these recent bombings. We need volunteers to help us in the communities and report any suspicious-looking person or activity for us to curb drugs and terror,” he said.

“Not only will the government’s peace and order efforts be strengthened; even the barangay units, as well as the national government’s unified efforts against irregularity, criminality and drugs can be sustained,” he added.

The program, which will be launched on Sept. 26, focuses on three major interventions: demand reduction strategy through advocacy and education campaigns; demand and supply reduction through information gathering and reporting; and community-based rehabilitation program.

Elsewhere in the metropolis, Sr. Supt. Johnson Almazan, Caloocan police chief, identified before a news conference the nabbed suspects as Eddie Paunan, 56, and Angelito Quitan, 35.

They were arrested by the Caloocan police station antiillegal drugs special operations task group led by Police Insp.

Cecilio Tomas Jr., in coordination with the PDEA-NCR at 4:30 p.m. along Gen. San Miguel St., Sangandaan, Barangay 8, Caloocan.

Almazan said they were also checking the identities of the suspects whether they are involved in other crimes such as killings, as the two have pending criminal cases.

In Davao City, RPSB 11 Battalion commander Sr. Supt. Joel Consulta said he tapped the disaster-prone barangays in the city for the activity and each barangay chairman submitted names of volunteer drug surrenderers to join the week-long training.

“These barangays were the disaster-prone areas in the city; through this, our drug surrenderers will be involved in disaster and management training,” Consulta said.

He said the training is part of RPSB’s contribution to the drug campaign of the national government in the rehabilitation and reform of surrenderers. With Jun David, PNA and Pearl Gajunera treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 16, 1966 which the Philippines signed on Dec. 19, 1966 and ratified on June 4, 1974.

“It is a regular thing,” Jose said of the annual review which will be conducted this year by 18 experts from the UN economics, social, and cultural rights committee at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from Sept. 28 to 29.

But the Geneva review, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the ICESCR and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, will not cover the issue of extrajudicial killings as claimed by the critics of the Duterte administration.

Aside from the Philippines, other states to be reviewed by the UN are Costa Rica, Cyprus, Poland, Tunisia, Lebanon and the Dominican Republic. The findings are expected to be published on Oct. 11.

It was not the first time Andanar was questioned for disseminating wrong information after he claimed at the leaders’ summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that Duterte would be seated between US President Barack Obama and UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon. closure gives the situation the stench of a cover-up.”

Although the public has become accustomed to news about data breaches, this news may erode confidence in the online ecosystem, according to Galloway.

“The hacks are more damaging to the ecosystem than individual companies,” he said.

“Ms. Mayer’s obscene compensation and the hack give people the sense the game is rigged and that they can trust no platform.”

At the time the deal with Verizon was announced, Mayer’s compensation during her tenure stood at $219 million in cash, stock and options, according to Equilar, a company that monitors executive pay.

That includes a severance package of $55 million if she is removed within a year of a change of control in the Verizon deal. AFP

News Subway to ease traffic, BF urges

By Joel E. Zurbano FORMER Metro Manila Development Authority and now Marikina City Rep. Bayani Fernando expressed optimism that the government will pursue the planned construction of a subway system to ease traffic in the metropolis.

“A subway is the most possible thing. All cities in the world ended up with subways. Here in the Phillippines we are only thinking about that now. We should done so long ago,” Fernando said, backing the proposals of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Among the proposals contained in the JICA study are the construction of a mega-Manila Subway System and secondary mass transport lines as well as reforming the road-based public transport system.

“We need mass transit but not at 40 kilometers per hour. It should be underground with a speed of 80 kilometers per hour,” said Fernando.

The National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Transportation had earlier planned to construct the subway or the Mass Transit System Loop traversing the major business districts of Metro Manila.

The project forms part of the more than P2-trillion transportation plan presented to the Philippine government by JICA. The government admitted that Metro Manila is still in need of an inter-city expressway of 426 kilometers until 2030 and urban and suburban railways of six main lines with 246 kilometers and five secondary lines with 72 kilometers to improve traffic.

The transport roadmap emphasizes the need to establish better northsouth connectivity and appropriate hierarchy of different transportation modes such as roads, railways, and other mass transits.

“We need the mass transit system. Before we’re said [the Metro Railway Transit system] was not right, and now we are saying is it right to have MRT,” said Fernando.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Time to free suffering Pinoys, lawmaker says

By Maricel V. Cruz

I

T’S time to free the Filipino people from the highest income taxes in Asia by increasing tax exemptions and tax brackets and do away with cumbersome reportorial requirements that are cumbersome both to taxpayers and the bureaucracy.

“Since 1997, the ordinary Filipino has been paying for the highest tax rates in Asia.

It’s time to set them free,” said Deputy Speaker and Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo.

Quimbo proposed that those earning an annual gross income of P300,000 and below be spared income taxes while the uber-rich earning P10 million and above will be imposed

a higher tax rate.

“Since the government is eyeing a radical overhaul of the income tax structure at this juncture, it will better achieve its aspiration for social justice by giving the low to middle income earners a higher income tax exemption,” Quimbo said.

The latest available data showed that there are 9,495,547 tax filers with annual income of

P300,000 and below. “With this proposal, almost 10 million taxpayers will finally be liberated from decades of suffering,” he said.

“Having an annual income of P300,000 or below for a family of five is barely enough to make ends meet with food expenses, rent, and education for three children. This does not factor in emergencies, which destabilizes their finances,” Quimbo argued.

“Thus, exempting these low to middle income earners from paying any income tax would give them some needed breathing room. They may not qualify as ‘poor’ if we apply the official poverty definitions, but these are people who are just making ends meet and are highly vulnerable

to economic shocks or crises,” he added.

He said once enacted, his proposal for a tax exemption would help these 9.5 million low to middle income earners achieve a simple and decent life. “That is a Tax Cut for Every Juan who truly deserves it,” Quimbo said.

In the current system of individual income taxation, only those who are earning the statutory minimum wage are exempted by virtue of Republic Act 9504.

Quimbo said the proposed gross income taxation would also unburden the taxpayers with the voluminous documentary requirements of personal exemptions and allowable deductions.

In proposing gross income taxation, the process will be simpli-

KILLING ME SOFTLY.

President Duterte unwinds with a ballad at the Matina Enclaves in Davao City following a trip to General Santos and Cagayan de Oro cities on Friday.

Malacañang Photo

IN BRIEF AU issues new visa regulation FAMILIES of migrants to Australia will be able to apply for a fiveyear temporary residency visa, in a move set to reduce the decade-long wait list for families seeking a permanent residency visa, the Australian government has announced.

Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke was quoted

by The Australian as saying migrants can now sponsor their family’s move and they’ll be given a five-year visa without waiting for a long time.

Families or the migrants will be required to contribute to the cost of the visa, a measure which has come about after a Productivity Commission report last week found the overall cost of hosting migrants’ parents would be up to USD2.5 billion once welfare, health care and other social benefits are given to them.

“We want to help families reunite and spend time together, while ensuring that we do so in a way that does not burden Australia’s health care system,” Hawke said, adding that only 1,500 people migrate to Australia to join family members who were already living in the country. PNA

PVAO opens new facility THE Philippine Veterans Affairs Office inaugurated on Friday a new building for its Veterans Records and Management Division as it celebrated its 44th founding anniversary.

The facility will house and integrate all records of veterans and their dependents, PVAO administrator Ernesto Carolina said.

These records are the 201 files or the pensioners/veterans records of both deceased and active pensioners and these will be consolidated into one veteran file which will be transferred from the Bonifacio Hall and the former VRMD facility to the new building, which is located at the PVAO compound in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Files gathered from the year 2001 to the present will also be stored there. As a pension management institution, records are the lifeblood of PVAO, highlighting the importance of the facility. PNA

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DepEd studying kids’ early Christmas break THE Department of Education is considering Senator Grace Poe’s suggestion that schools close two weeks earlier for the coming Christmas break to help ease usually horrendous traffic during the holiday season, an official said Saturday.

Assistant Secretary Tonecito Umali said Education Secretary Leonor Briones has already taken up the matter with the department’s Executive Committee last and it is already studying the proposal’s impact on official school calendar as set by Department Order No. 23 of 2016.

“We must ensure we don’t go lower than 180 days” of contact time, Umali said in a radio interview, noting that DO23 requires

a total of 202 class days with 180 days of required teacher-student contact.

The order also specifies that Christmas break begins on Dec. 22 so Poe’s proposal would mean a loss of two weeks of contact time in December and that must be compensated after the holidays.

DO23 was issued in accordance with Republic Act No. 7797 which also allows private schools to start the school year not later than Aug. 31 and such schools are also expected to complete the calendar at a later time but Umali did not specify how many schools opened later than public schools.

Umali said the summer break is scheduled for April 7 and that

may also be postponed because of the earlier Christmas break.

However, the official said the DepEd has also provided an allowance from which lost contact time can be drawn but the DepEd has yet to determine if the early Christmas break could be implemented with affecting summer classes that normally run from mid-April to end-May. Moreover, the education secretary can also authorize the holding of Saturday classes for elementary and secondary levels for public and private schools.

Poe’s suggestion was the second time officials blamed schools for Metro Manila’s traffic problems.

In 2014, the Metropolitan Ma-

nila Development Authority suggested cutting the school week to four days, similar to many areas in the United States but educators opposed the idea and said the education of children will be made to suffer because of the government’s inability to enforce rules.

The Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations argued that students should not be made to suffer if enforcers cannot make people obey traffic rules or phase out old vehicles.

But the Commission on Higher Education said a four-day school week is “an interesting possibility” in higher education but the proposal has to be studied carefully. John Paolo Bencito

fied for the taxpayers, he added.

Quimbo’s proposal is embodied in House Bill 20, saying “it is the first step in his Tax Reform Proposal, which is calibrated but comprehensive, partitioned but correlated, and phased but realistically doable.”

House Bill 20 also serves as the centerpiece bill in income tax reform deliberations in the House of Representatives, he said.

“I envisioned tax reform in phases so as not to severely affect the country’s fiscal health, and not to protract the muchneeded inflation-adjustment of individual income tax. That is akin to an emergency solution even while discussions on sweeping restructuring are ongoing,” Quimbo said.

Probe of toxic imports pushed THE Gabriela Women’s Party has sought a congressional probe into what they described as links between the government’s implementation of a Department of Environment and Natural Resources circular and the unregulated entry of electronic scrap into the Philippines.

In filing House Resolution 377, Gabriela Reps. Emmi De Jesus and Arlene Brosas asked the House committee on natural resources to investigate increasing importations of electronic waste in the country as permitted by the DENR through DENR A.O. 2013-22.

“We filed this resolution so that Congress can recommend further steps to impose stiffer penalties on illegal importation,” De Jesus said in the resolution.

“We can also appeal to Secretary Gina Lopez to devote her pro-environmental pronouncements into mobilizing the DENR ensure that standards are strictly followed by those involved in this industry for proper handling, disposal and recycling of electronic waste, if not remove the country altogether from this hazardous trafficking of unwanted products,” Brosas said.

Bayan Muna Rep. Isagani Zarate, chairman of the House committee on environment, coauthored the resolution.

AO 2013-22 allows the importation of recyclable materials limited to scrap metal, scrap plastic, electronic assemblies, used oil and fly ask subject to standards set by the government.

But De Jesus raised apprehensions that the circular order is being abused or ignored as data from the Environmental Management Bureau reveals that South Korea alone shipped 53,600 used computers and 215,642 used television monitors to the country.

Maricel V. Cruz

Davao has most corrupt LTFRB office—Delgra

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera DAVAO CITY—Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman Martin Delgra said a nationwide audit has shown that the regional office in Davao is the most corrupt in the agency.

Delgra said that he was shocked when he saw the numbers of case folder that their audit team uncovered in Region 11 and it was the first time he saw a regional director sign a document with an “okay for filing” even before it reached clerical personnel.

“I kept on reviewing the procedure.

There is no such thing as going to the regional director and the RD will sign okay for filing then it will go back to the other offices,” he said.

“In the first place, the regional director is the last one who will sign the paper. What does this ‘okay for filing’ mean? It can only be because of money,” Delgra charged, adding that other regions are also doing the same thing.

He said that even if former LTFRB 11 director Benjamin Go has ren-

dered his resignation, they will still look into the alleged anomalies involving Go and they will file charges as soon as they are finished with their audits and investigations.

He also made mention of retired regional director Bruno Patricio, who was previously assigned in Regions 1 and 3, and is accused of issuing fake franchises to the operators.

Delgra said hundreds of stakeholders have asked in meetings what the agency is going to do with the franchises that Patricio issued before he retired in 2013.

“During our meeting with the stakeholders, the issue came up. The operators discovered it only after he retired. When they applied for renewal, the agency did not have records of their franchise,” Delgra said.

Meanwhile, three regional directors from Regions 5, 10 and 6 retired, while one from Region 11 resigned.

The regional director of Region 8 was also suspended by the Ombudsman for three months due to neglect of duty.

SLOW DAY. A female merchant waits patiently for scarce buyers at one of the sidewalks in Manila’s Sta. Cruz district on Saturday. Ey Acasio

A4

Opinion

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2016 SUNDAY, AUGUST 21,20, 2016 SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

Shortchanged Shock value

EDITORIAL

Quality of growth

A T

SENATOR has filed a bill seeking to

The concern has plagued the millions of

We get by, anyway, as we often do—don’t

fantastic testimonies.

A neophyte senator, the are Oversubscribers at the Senate,inEdgardo connivance with Senator Leilaphone THIS week we the were remind- of prohibit expiration prepaid and mobile the Philippines, they say Filipinos a resilient lot?

Credibility aside, human boxer Emmanuel Pacquiao, Matobato appeared to wither de Lima who, as secretary of ed again that the most riveting electronic load. an estimated 80 percent of which use prepaid It will be interesting to see how far this newest hearings do not necessarily the Department of Justice, under questioning by lawmak- pointed out that a testimony memory is rarely reliable Senator Ralph Recto, author Senate credit for theirofaccounts, for so long. bill leaderprogresses.

After all, opportunities.” did not the President HE economy grewthe 6.9allowed per- ofThat Presi- —something cess these Even if one is not thatprevious was so inconsistent wasto proof. his supposed the verythe administration important ers regarding make sound cases.

Bill consumers toprisoners be abledent toatuse However much however, himself express derision of the centwants in the second Rodrigo Duterte has assured ship was not inclined to do with This sounds likeoligarchy—the a or realpaid plan coached, coerced to hardlythe credible. role in they the complain, Davao Death theupmaximumIn 848, both chambers of Con-quarter, all the load they put into their mobile accounts status quo has held sway.

There is not much very few members of the elite who determine aided by the spending that the public of consistency and conits own immediate predecessor. to sustain the growth, and not play the part of witness, How then do we convince gress, we saw various wit- security compound to enjoy Squad, supposedly led by no and without to be mindful of aasperiod choice the President two the condition andtoin course of the restperception of us? accompanied in thegiven May elections tinuity in itsthey policies isless expected to giant It isRodrigo atelecommunicasource ourselves of comfort that So- just absolute terms.

Previous memory and are that listening than privileges though werebetween nesses paradedhaving and the beyond which their money goes to waste. tion companies that provide the service.

Leave Lowly prepaid consumers do not complain Imagine how these testimonies was not just subjective. and, ontotheanswer supplyquestions side, the in good Duterte. maintain homes. the confidence of busi- cioeconomic Planning their respective Secretary chance presidents have given emphasis The bill mandates companies to refund subone, and the other may just be as bad—even all that much because they need the service so vested interests can weaken timechaldespitetotheir Matobato did Ernesto not seem able All these, theyand said,consumers were in based on their supposed inside and performance of the industry nesses alike. The Perniaa waste said: of “The achieving high growth but scribers sectors. their lost credit. will itplans may smarter stay put, and muchincluand see alternatives.

But it does notit the to testimony, if that not render shock value? to back his be claims about exchange forface money thatThus, knowledge of persons, eventsViolators services President hasworse. talked about to lenge istotohow make this growth didnolittle ensure wealth the possibility ofare fine, and a remean we go easy on demanding basic useless. wemust do this and the restsive of the squad funded Desuffer.

Lima’s and activities theimprisonment, subThe strongthat showing offseteventually the further relax businessherestrictions so that moreAssuming—and people contribute and opportunity are more justly Filipinos haveeven seen asmany hope indistributed. good played god overto, the lives of with senatorial run.cut taxes The ject of in investigation. vocation of license. production same telco giants have responsible respect from the telco providers we drop agricultural and to attract more inandbeen benefit fromhigh it. For this,and we such witnesses.

We faith—that actualit’s court cases their employvictims,ofand frequently These scenarios described At the by House The measure isthe not new. bills in pre-and forhence the dismal quality internet service incompetitiveness the know domination andcolorful profits they are brought ElofSimilar Niño vestment spur must improve the The Duterte government is truly stylare tired of them.

We want to would come out of these exgave the impression he Again, were but allment arresting, if country only thegrowth.

Representatives, convicted vious congresses have been filed havefor notlong-term amid relatively costs. after. cli- ing itself as one that breaks old phenomenon. of high ourthat markets and business see how can casesstand are built, tried, citing hearings, expect that did brand not comprehend the quescredibility of those talked one criminals imprisoned at theproduct gone first reading.

We suppose bigwho leaving for the other is not an atthe government up for its The beyond gross domestic Notably, the economic managmate to take advantage of Perhaps thewe new patterns and occasions genuine won or lost on the strength of other evidence would surface tions because of his limited about them were not in quesNational Bilibid Prison talked businessgrowth has itsmakes way ofthe making politicians toe administration tractive optioncredited for consumers.

Providers givein the people, for change. once, byWe ensuring big business at (GDP) Philipers of this surge of investments region. should watch how it sound proof. to support or debunk these educational attainment. tion. about their supposed the line. equally poor quality, anyway. the very least plays fair.

pines the fastest-growing country in Asia and the achievement of the full-year target of 6 percent to 7 percent likely.

the previous administration of President Benigno Aquino III for putting in place sound macroeconomic, fiscal and monetary policy

Importantly, we must look at the sectors and geographic areas that have been lagging behind and determine how to improve their ac-

would make good on its word to achieve the kind of growth that is actually experienced—not just read about in the papers.

Clinton to Suburban voters shun millennials: HAIL TO Trump into 3 Pick me THE CHAIR key states VICTOR AVECILLA stop Trump

By Albert R. Hunt

By Albert R. Hunt DONALD Trump’s presiden-

The narco-city of Bistek and Hero Bautista

Making sense of millennials Leisure

LONG LONG STORY STORY SHORT SHORT

ADELLE ADELLE CHUA CHUA WE a certain age speak IN Aofrecent Facebook post,ofI those younger than us disdainconducted a poll by asking fully, sometimes. friends what they would do if We say, these kids never had it they had oneeverything day to do better. Theyjust have at anything theyThey liked. their disposal. have the luxPOWER answers didfornotgranted vary uryThe of taking things much: My friends would POINT because we of the generation like that to catch up onthem sleepworked and go so to came before ELIZABETH hardspa to provide for their needs. the for a massage.

ANGSIOCO As a result, they don’ttolabor as Some would like catch hard as we do, they do something up on their reading, see a Ieasy ASKED the itwatch participants in and as hard work, movie or count binge their fathis reproductive health forum they feel entitled to getting their vorite TV series. way, theyofare almost always if theyand know young girls who Exercise (orof yoga) comes nevergotten capable doing somehave pregnant.

There was upchorus more than once, as well. altruistic. athing of yesses. I again asked Some would go toage thearticle As athe TIME Magazine by about youngest ofbeach, these go on a food trip or cook for Joel Stein said a few years ago, this girls.

A group of young people their loved ones. generation between loudly said:born “Tenroughly years old!”

Yet another loveproto theThis yearsalone 1980 explains andwould 2000 why —millennials, are lazy, entitled narcissists. tidy groups up herarehome, rearrange RH not stopping on For them, it’s not just about “me.” things and perhaps organize the law’s implementation.

We It’s about “ME ME ME.” those she had been too busy to continue to go to provinces and Theyto.may be our children or attend cities to help local government ourOne friends’ children, or said didnephews not make want units theirshe efforts nieces,ingodchildren, theytomay be to of anything at all. this important benefit ourthink neighbors orlaw students ortheir subconstituents.

The provincial The question is relevant for ordinates. We love them, but why government ofso...foreign, Benguet those us who, for fiveheaded or six do theyofseem someby Governor Cresencio Pacalso days a week, find ourselves times? is one of these LGUs. bogged down byAngela, the things Sixteen-year-old who write this inthat Baguio City is Iin have Gradeto 11 do pusuing awe Humaniwe have where by the ties andI was Social Sciences track for neither timeinvited nor energy toPhildo ippine Legislators Committee senior high school, the things we want says to do.she is on Population and Development aware thatincreasingly people ascribe unsavory And now, in adjectives toInc. theirtogeneration.

Foundation its “Issue Ori-

“They say we are materialistic, lazy, always says. responding to late,” the she question “Sometimes it’s true, but not what we want to do, the everybody is like that...I want to emerging answerwrong.” seems to prove these people be... “nothing.”

Her sister Blair, 22, says genentation on Reproductive Health I do not mean that there is eralizations, whether it is about and Sustainable Development no answer.

I mean that the the qualities of one generationanor Goals swer is(SDGs)” “nothing.” about any otherwhere issue,I tackled is just “Issues and Challenges in the plain wrong.

How does she “Nothing”—“wala” in feel TaRH Law Implementation.” about being described in a cergalog—has been underrated were beall tain manner? forThe tooother long.speakers We always “I am confident, so I don’t reamong the leaders in the RH lieve all the spaces have to be ally care what others movement including filled, and that theresay.” hasIfugao to be If Blair were toTeddy describe herself Representative Baguilat some agenda written on the and DIWA her friends—again, she does Jr.; Representative and blank spaces of our organiznot wish to generalize—she would Chair of the House Committee ers.Women say they areand just Gender very much aware on Equality think silence is Nanot thatMany they have options.

Em Aglipay-Villar; UNFPA desirable—it has to be broken “We don’t think social norms tional Programme Officer for are constraints,” she worse, adds. by music, or,and infinitely Population Development “That’s why we don’t stay in one mindless chatter.

Advocacy Vic Jurlano; Presiplace if it makes us unhappy.”

Weekends and for holidays dent of the Forum Family ••• must beand celebrated and Planning Development, Inc. According to Thegoing Guardian, spent outside, to Ben de Leon; and PLCPD’s millennials will make up halfExof places, meeting people, ecutive Director, Rom Dongeto. the global workforce by 2050. cramming upstarting so already many Different LGUs were amply Soon—if it’s not things to do that “vacation” represented and young people —it’s their decisions, their aplosesamong itsand essence andthat turns were the participants. proaches their ideas will Because barriers and into hard work. shape the world we live in. chalThey lenges to who the be full do nothing are willThose no longer thatimplementapesky teention of the law remain, and live beager we feed, send to school, either boring or lazy, missing cause there arethings LGU officials with and complain about. out on many that life will, be thatsuccolwho defy theinstead, law, hasThey to offer.

The particularly more league who knows so those much more the provision ofare modern famcessful people who than we do about how things run, ily planning to their poor have a full plate, live lifeconto or who gets accomstituents whomore wantthings and need to

plished in a shorter time and with what appears to be less effort, wo will speak before an audience so masterfully and convincingly when we fidget and rehearse for It’s how hours. useEach contraceptives, it is always generation is different and we keep sane, heartwarming to meet it makes no sense to expectpro-RH millenLGU officials. nials to behave like we and it’s how wedo or see We were told that Benguet create Pacalso wonders.

Governor wants to have a Gender and Development (GAD)They Code are in the province and is enlisting the assistance not the enemy. of NGOs in the crafting of the the fullest, and wear numercode.

The province, through the

want them to experience the same hardships I have not and yet confusions read the that we did.

Perhaps we to wanted book but subscribe the them to realize their potential thinking that leisure—moand find meaning in their lives. ments ofweunburdened conSo long as keep them groundof the Benguet provincial govtemplation, absolute presed about the of things that should ernment are commendable. ence with the universe matter, we really should not fault To for illustrate the we fact thatand we within one’s own mind them conditions ourselves need to remain on guard to in have created for them. absolute attentiveness defending our RHsame gains, I beinSecond, looking out forasthemlife—is not the cluded talk thebad. actual selves isinnotmy altogether ing devoid of activity.

They have been called the selftimeline of legal hurdles faced A tragedy, according to ie generation—loving their and continue to be faced by Popova, that leisure is own not faces, theConsider sound of their ownit voicthe law. was seen as essential tothese: the human es (although Ilaw knowonof December a few from signed into spirit but a self-indulgent other generations are luxob21, 2012.

However,who on January ury reserved for the privileged sessed about themselves as well).

2, 2013, the first work day afor New deplorable idleness reStill, thereYear, is a line that separates anti-RH groups ter served for the lazy. knowing and asserting one’s worth already started petitioning the But who’s being We from narcissism.

Supreme Court on lazy? assailing As parents of these children, wear ourselves out most days the law’s constitutionality. Just we should think that of the week thatitafter itis isgood incomover two months (March they know how to we valuecan themprehensible that go 19, 2013), the SCcannot issuedtake a Staselves so others adfrom day to day without needtus Quo of Ante Order on the RH vantage them.

Martyrdom is ing a This breather.

That breather is Law. meant the dead, indeed. So longlawascould they leisure. not be implemented July themselves do not yet. take On advanIt’s waking up on Saturday 16, 2013, the SC extended SQA tage of others, and so long as morning and to indefinitely.

It wasdeclaring only April they give everybody theinrespect 2014 prolonged oralthat arguyourself to everyone that he or after she and deserves, isn’t rements, the to SCbedecided that today isthat going your “lazy assuring?

RH Law isthey NOT unconstitutionThird, work inday”—you will dosmart exactly al save a few provisions. stead offor working hard. just the things you’d like to Millennials seem to know that because at last, do,We andrejoiced nothing more. there is more to life the law’s implementation could Often, these arethan thewaking most up in the start. morning, going towe work, already However, are rewarding things we can think goingfinding to sleep, the now out and that doing the SC’s

same thing over again the following day. up They of: catching on value sleep, their gettime and energy so they preserve ting a massage, reading, tidythem when they can. We could ing up, spending time with count as work the time we spend loved ones, hunched conversing in the office, overwith our decision a major friends. has desktops.

Nowput these young legal peoimpediment inbeeffectively admycould case it isthey writing ple,Inthey out, could dressing teenage things that do who’s not pregnancy, have a deadbe mobile, but to say theya most serious problem we have are less? line,working but are as compelling now.

Our girls preglet’s notgetting be quick to andFinally, urgent as are today’s hottest nant left and right.

Our adoleslabel their confidence as impertinews. And staring out the nence.

During our time, we decent pregnancy rates areand among window, feeling small inferred to whatever it was our parthe highest, if not the highest in significant and yet so alive entsworld. or grandparents We the In virtually said. all counamid the view. heededthe them, sometimes blindly, tries, numbers of say teenage I do really not mean to we without pondering the wispregnancies are going down— should give in to the leisure of domNOT or atinleast the logic behind but the Philippines. doing nothing all the time.

We theThe admonition.

High Court’s decision to areNow adults—we committhese kidshave arecontracepnot “talkonly allow access to ments to honor, reputations to ing back.”

They are expressing tives to minors who have been themselves and advancing their uphold, bills to pay.

But how given consent by their parents ideas.

So are longdoes as they busy we not itremain define and/or guardians makes very aware of their place (me=kid, us. difficult for government to adyou=parent) and express themIt the is, problem instead, invery theyoung few dress of selves respectfully and we logically, precious hours when allow girls Minors why becoming deny themmothers. the opportunity ourselves to do exactly whata have different contexts.

Some to show you that you raised we feel like doing, whatever it are already sexually active, even thinker, not a yes-man? is, Millennials that we with areare most alive.if not cohabiting their boyfriends a foreign, and no longer living with their Let’s begroup kind ourselves interesting, oftopeople.

They parents or Having no andpart assert ourworld claimwe to now leisure are of guardians. the inaccess to they modern habit, and will befamily increasingly reasonably regularly.

It’s planhow ning methods is a problem for so the next few years. are weinkeep sane, and it’s They how we not theTeenage enemy. It’s not a competithem. pregnancy must create wonders. tion; it’s co-existence. be curbed significantly.

Going local on RH Law implementation

ous hats.

These notions are dangerthe theare way we do. Their ous world as they wrong. older may have other Ancounterparts article published last values—loyalty to an organizaOpponents year on the website Braintion, putting duty before pleasure, pickings.org talks about a valuing dedication and sacrifice— of this law have book by the German philosobut it does not mean that one is supher notJosef stopped in Leiperior than thePieper other. called sure, the Basis of ways Culture.

I venture these to view derailing it.” millennials so we can The author of the understand online arthem came to describes these sugticle, better.

MariaIPopova, gestions, from research— the bookpartly as “a magnificent and partly from my experience manifesto for reclaiming huhelp ofwith PLCPD, has also organliving four of them in the man dignity in a culture of ized an advocacy group that same house. compulsive workaholicalism, includes LGU representatives.

First, millennials are of a certriply timely age While RH because istoday, already a world law, tain mindset ofinthean when we have commodified we have created for them. doing advocacy both at the loourMillennials’ aliveness soparents much remains to misworked cal and national levels take making a living forof havhard to provide for their needs. very important because the ing a life.”

Perhaps it faces. is because did not hurdles The we initiatives

But the anti-RH groups did not adellechua@gmail.com adellechua@gmail.com Turn to A5

tial campaign hasfearful a lot of DEMOCRATS, that problems.

Near the top the third-party presidentialofcandilist is could this: attract Suburban voters dates enough milwant nothing to do with him, lennials to cost Hillary Clinton especially three states where key statesinare stepping up efto woo young voters with heforts needs to compete. one message: Trump.was The latest stop indicator Johnson, the Libertarithis Gary week’s Washington Post an candidate, and Jill Stein, survey, which showed Hillarythe left-wing aspirant, Clinton upGreen by 14Party percentage are attracting much of their points in Virginia among reg-of COUNCILOR Bautista support from Hero younger voters. istered voters and eight with Quezon City has finally Some recent polls showadmitthem likely The driving ted thatvoters. hea total is the official attracting of city over 10 perwho positive drug and use force: afor 45-point cent tested ofShe theenjoys vote nationally more than a week ago.

More advantage in the voter-rich doing much better than that specifically, the councilor said Washington suburbs, almost with millennials. that“There hethe hadare been shabu lots using of potential double margin rolled up and marijuana.

Bautista also Clinton voters who be there four years ago bycould Presiclaimed that although he used lost Barack to theseObama. third-party candident drugs, heacknowledges was a victim of the dates,” Geoff Thismenace. follows For similar finddrug whatever it Garin, the pollster for Priorities ings inworth, Philadelphia’s suburbs, was Bautista suggested USA, the Clinton Super PAC. where Clinton’s bigthatlead to council drug “Wethe arecity making a first-class efthreatens to put Pennsylvania testing should be through given a diginew fort to reach them out Trump’sand reach. label—illegal substance tal ofmedia” saying abuse “that intake checking.

Good grief!

A Marist College poll out their vote could mean Donald Days already this week shows word the DemoTrump isearlier, president.” gotBill around that Councilor cratic nominee a 14-point Weld,with Johnson’s vice Bautista flunked the presidential candidate, saidtest. that lead in Colorado.

Leedrug MirinEven the news media learned the Libertarian ticket was takgoff, director of the poll, says of incident.

Evidently, the ingthe equally both sides. looking at thefrom statewide readmission was made to preBut he also said that he considsponse, can embarrassing extrapolate empt a“You more ers she Trump by far the greater that has almost a 3-to-1 public by focus national danger exposé and will on auatlead in theincluding Denver suburbs.” thorities President tacking him in the final six This is “Watch aDuterte bigger advantage Rodrigo himself. weeks. me on this,” dethan Obama held while carryHero Bautista is younger clared the former the Massachubrother of incumbent Quezon ing the state in 2008 and 2012. setts governor, a lifelong ReCity Mayor and ex-film These three states haveacpublican. He said Trump’s tor Herbert “Bistek” been considered crucial proposal to deport all Bautista 11 for milof abusive Liberal Party liontheillegal immigrants “reTrump—among the half-doz(LP) former President minds ofheGermany in Bethe en or soofme states has to switch nigno Aquino III and ex-House 1930s.” from the Democratic column Speaker Feliciano Voters after Belmonte the early toJr.win.

Theborn growing suburbs Although Hero Bautista is 1980s chose Barack Obama ina these states councilor, seem to be he makfirst-time was over Mitt Romney by 60 pering that impossible.

If he losesthe given cent tothe 37chairmanship percent in theof2012 Colorado, Pennsylvania and city council’s comelection, when powerful they accounted Virginia, a pathway to victory mittee on public works and for almost one in five voters.

Analysts attribisinfrastructure. hard to see.

Polls suggest they may turn ute his risenumbers to power and Trump is especially unpopout in quick smaller this influence to his brother.

That ular these venues, which timeinand favor the Democratidea is anot because ic side less because Johnson include lotfar-fetched of college-eduQuezon City is known for poand Stein are getting a slice of cated residents, rising diversilitical dynasties. tytheir andvotes. voters who are more About a isweek ago, Mayor Trump enormously untolerant onhinted social But Bautista toissues. the public popular with millennials, a fact this only is accelerating a pothat councilor-brother that thehis Clintonites like to emlitical trend in suburbs outside did, indeed, fail the drugthink test phasize.

“Young people the Deep South,is which have for Quezon City officials.

Donald Trump deeply out of been forthe This probably prompted step trending with theirDemocratic values, on issues councilor to insist to the news almost a quarter-century. affecting them, diversity As and media that hisGarin. brother—the recently as says 1988, they were inclusion,” mayor—was not Republican bastions.

But Clinton is wellprotecting aware of him.

Demonstrating a twisted her with young voters.

A problem few things changed.

The sense ofnumbers logic, of theminoritycouncilor She was clobbered by Bernie growing stressed that he millennials was the one Sanders among group suburbanites are mainly in protecting his brother. the Democratic primaries, and Democrats.

White suburbanRight afterinthe long-belated her slippage September polls ites aren’t drawn to the Repubadmission, Councilor Bautista is largely attributable to their lican Party’s campaign to con-on declared that he was going defections. nect withMonday religious cultural an On indefinite leaveand from publica she wrote conservatives. office to undergo rehabilitablog post for MIC, a news site tion.

Belmonte, city “TheJoyatRepublicans’ posiaimed millennials,the titled vice mayor, announced that tioning resonates with rural “Here’s What Millennials Have the cityand council appoint voters some workingTaught Me,” in will which she ac-a Next Turn page to A5 Next page

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Creative writing —starving for art?

Delegates have their pictures taken with Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Myanmar. AFP

The UN, Brangelina and me

By Carole Landry UNITED

NATIONS—US

Ambassador Samantha Power calls it “diplomatic speed dating” but for journalists covering world leaders at the UN General Assembly meeting, the description is probably less poetic. The madness begins in the weeks leading up to the UNGA when my email inbox is suddenly disgorging invitations to cover “high-level events” on everything from antimicrobial resistance to climate change. NGOs are offering up experts to discuss the refugee crisis and a PR firm asks if we would like to interview the foreign minister of Kazakhstan. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wife is inviting reporters to talk about “the advancement of the Turkish economy and democracy.”

Everyone is in town for the UNGA. With more than 130 leaders to cover, it’s time to be selective.

There are also invitations to receptions—I plan to attend one for a candidate to be secretary-

general because the Russians are likely to be there and it’s always informative to talk to the Russians.

As the week kicks off, the brisk 5-minute walk from the metro stop to my office at the UN turns into a 20-minute obstacle course. Streets are blocked off and NYPD officers deliver one line: “You have to go around.” This is my third UNGA but the novelty of watching Hassan Rouhani brush by has not worn off.

Leaders from all 193 countries of the United Nations get their turn at the podium in the General Assembly hall to deliver their message to the world. That makes for six days of speeches, but this year, there was also a summit on the refugee crisis.

There was talk that Angelina Jolie, who is an UNHCR special envoy, was going to speak at that summit—the UN always draws in a celebrity to generate a social media buzz—but the refugee summit came and went without Angelina. The following day, during Barack Obama’s speech at

the GA, the news broke and her absence was understood: Angelina Jolie had filed for divorce from Brad Pitt.

Many of us took a moment to absorb the news. A colleague broke away from Obama’s final speech of his presidency to the United Nations to text a friend: “Did you hear ? Angelina Jolie is divorcing Brad Pitt.” The friend replied: “Did she announce it at the UN?” Despite Angelina’s absence, other celebs turned up at UNGA. Amal Clooney joined Boris Johnson to talk about prosecuting the crimes of Islamic State.

Forest Whitaker was there to promote the UN’s sustainable development goals—there are 17 in all and they were adopted at last year’s UNGA. Stevie Wonder called Ban Ki-moon a “rock star” for promoting peace.

One of the unsung heroes of UNGA is Peter Thomson, the ambassador from far-flung Fiji who is now president of the General Assembly. He opened the debate by demanding that everyone

be quiet during the speeches. At one point, he ordered UN security guards to escort a group of chattering diplomats out of the GA hall. That man is winning hearts.

So as fewer motorcades rumble through the streets of New York as the week draws to a close, what is there to take away from this year’s UNGA? To get back to Samantha Power’s point, leaders are holding plenty of face-to-face meetings behind closed doors to discuss easing some of the pain in the world.

These are crucial conversations. And so I do hope that at this year’s UNGA, there will have been many crucial conversations. First and foremost about Syria. But also about Yemen, South Sudan, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, North Korea…

Yet, as UNGA comes to a close, familiar news pours out of Syria— Aleppo ablaze—UN pleads with Assad over food aid stuck at Syria border.

The wheels of diplomacy are turning, but probably not quickly enough. AFP

Maintaining the momentum: Building on year one of the SDGs

By David Nabarro ONE year ago, leaders of 193 countries came together to commit to ending poverty, combatting climate change, and fighting injustice. They agreed on a plan for the future of the world and its people. The plan—the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, offers a better future for billions of people around the world and for our planet as a whole.

Turning its 17 Sustainable Development Goals into reality before the 2030 target date will be one of the most ambitious undertakings the global community has ever taken. But I am confident that if people are at the center of all actions, if the commitment of stakeholders is maintained and if the spirit of partnership prevails, there will be no shortage of success in the next 14 years.

I am optimistic because of the nature of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Goals are underpinned by four powerful principles.

First, they are connected and indivisible, linking development, human rights, peace and security. Second, they are universal. They apply to every person everywhere. Third, they are to be implemented through inclusive participation of all of society.

Fourth, as they are implemented, no one should be left behind. The SDGs

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knowledged that she has to give them a more positive message.

She also wrote about her own post-college experiences. She also showed up on the satiric talk show “Between Two Ferns,” giving deadpan answers to silly questions posed by the comedian Zach Galifianakis.

In attacking Trump with millennials in mind, Democrats will focus on the environment and climate change—which Trump has called a hoax—as well as social issues and racial tolerance.

Some Clinton supporters hope that if the race still seems close in late October, then the Johnson-Weld ticket, which is on the ballot in all 50 states, might throw in the towel in the interest of defeating the Republicans. Weld ruled that out, but added, “I’m just getting a chance to go to work on Mr. Trump.” Bloomberg

have created a common purpose for the well-being of coming generations and for a planet that is fit for the future. This is why we have seen a fast, strong, and even urgent shift from all sectors toward more sustainable practices and policies.

In this first year anniversary— “SDG Year 1”—more than 50 governments, and also numerous businesses, scientists and civil society organizations have stepped up their efforts to make the SDGs a central framework for their policies and actions, and have increased their focus and investment on data collection and analysis to guide decisions and leave no one behind.

At the local level, hundreds of cities and municipalities are adopting their own plans to achieve the goals.

Thousands of communities from different sectors of society have accelerated actions under the SDG banner.

All these steps have built momentum to limiting climate change, advancing gender equality, mitigating natural disasters, addressing mass migration, and reducing inequality.

In July, 22 governments presented to the United Nations their SDG plans. They showed how they had made the SDGs a central framework for national development. They help ensure that actions are aligned, that programs work in synergy and that fi-

nancing is used as efficiently as possible. This means that development cooperation will be aligned with the SDGs. The momentum behind the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is also accelerating and so far governments of 27 nations have ratified the agreement—including the world’s largest emitters of greenhouses gases, China and the United States.

Other sectors are building momentum, too. There has been a noticeable transformation in how businesses are done with greater focus on social, economic and environmental dimensions of development. And the UN has shifted to joint working in support of aligned policies from focusing on projects to convening stakeholders, and aligning efforts so that partners can work together in an efficient and effective manner.

It is clear that enormous strides have been made.

Still, much more has to be done to implement the SDG plan. The SDGs lay out specific targets for all to solve the challenges our planet and people around the world are facing.

How do we stay on this path and realize a sustainable future?

That is where the most important stakeholder—the people—comes in.

Public support and public pressure will be essential for transforming the

SDGs from aspiration into reality. Our aim is for 2 billion people around the world to be aware of the SDGs by the end of 2017 and for another million people to become activists—to be change-agents who press decisionmakers and who hold them accountable until we have transformed our world and made it more sustainable.

Children and youth have a particularly important role to play, as the face of social movements, the drivers of social change and the torchbearers of a more sustainable future for generations to come.

The first anniversary of the adoption of the SDGs is an opportunity to celebrate all achievements made, to do more to make SDGs a reality and most importantly to thank the governments, businesses, civil society groups and young people around the world for all their efforts.

If all the relevant stakeholders continue to work towards building a sustainable and resilient world, achieving the SDG targets in the next 14 years and transforming the way we live really is a feasible objective.

And let’s face it—we really do not have a plan B. There is no planet B. (Dr. David Nabarro is Special Adviser to the Secretary General for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change.)

“WE MUST starve in a garret for our ‘ahhrt’!”

So said one Fellow at the UP 50th National Writers Workshop in 2011, referring to the stereotype of the struggling—and starving— creative writer. It was said with a rueful chuckle, but this is the reality in the Philippines, that “author” is not a full-time profession.

The major problem faced by creative writers in the Philippines today is that not enough people buy books by Filipino authors, and this lack of financial renumeration is a disincentive for the prolific creation of literature.

Creative writers struggle because there is a small niche market for their work, and this market is dominated by the few established writers who create high-quality output and have managed to make names for themselves over many years of hard work. Writers just starting out looking for publishers? Good luck with that. Lucky breaks are frequently prayed for, but not always bestowed by the publishing gods, who have their bottom line to consider. Thus the popularity of free publishing platforms online such as blogs and Wattpad, which are not accessible to those without computers or smartphones.

There is also a lack of marketing opportunities, and writers themselves have to find their own ways to sell their works. Carljoe Javier sold his Kobayashi Maru of Love from his backpack; Axel Pinpin went the indie-publishing route for his Tulang Matatabil and Lover’s Lane and. did his own distribution efforts. Joel Pablo Salud touts his Blood Republic and other works from his office.

In order to survive, creative writers need a day job, and write their creative works on their off-time, if Alas, what puts there are no “rakets” that take food on the table precedence. But what puts on the table does not does not necessarily food necessarily feed the soul. For feed the soul. most creative writers in the country, their dream of making their passion a fulltime gig will remain just that—a dream.

Why? Literary works are not very profitable.

There are few publishing companies that will touch creative works. In publishing, the biggest earners are the textbook publishers with government contracts. Also doing well are men’s magazine publishers such as FHM, as well as the celebrity mags.

Literary works, however, are of a different nature and usually have a different audience.

Most people would rather watch TV. The Philippines does not have a reading culture to speak of; we are still an oral, story-telling culture. The media we enjoy extend the story-telling function to a mass audience. What is the visual stimulation of TV but the modern-day equivalent of sitting around a rocking chair listening to Lola Basyang?

Books cost money.

TV is ‘free,’ another reason for its popularity. Buying a book can take a sizable chunk from a student’s allowance or from an average householder’s budget. With the majority of the population belonging to the C-D-E socio-demographic, they are potentially the largest market for any sort of product. In the case of books, the cost should be brought down for them to be more affordable and their purchase considered in lieu of other forms of entertainment; however, given that the present prices of books are already as rock-bottom as they can be brought, this is a major issue that will be a stumbling-block for the creative book industry until it is resolved.

Despite these constraints and others, the good news is that Filipino readers are a strong and vibrant market, as proven by the success of the recent Manila International Book Festival. The venue was packed with people, many of them millennials.

University of Santo Tomas literature professor Joselito de los Reyes’s short story collection Troya was sold out. Gawad Balagtas awardee Krip Yuson’s signing session of his third novel, The Music Child and the Mahjong Queen, was mobbed by eager fans.

F. H. Batacan’s Smaller and Smaller Circles, published internationally by Soho Crime, also sold well at the event after reaping rave reviews abroad; it is now being made into a movie.

Government, too, is involved in supporting local authors. The National Book Development Board offers grants for non-fiction works that will add to the trove of Philippine knowledge. However, financial constraints prevent similar support for fiction works.

With better government and private sector support, the environment for writers can be made more conducive for the creation of literature, while support from the public—the readers— is crucial in order to create a tipping point for an expanded and active reading culture.

Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember

Why a space program might be good for the Philippines

By Pecier Decierdo THE Philippines’ first microsatellite Diwata-1 recently beamed back the images it took from orbit. Hokkaido University, one of the partners in developing Diwata-1, described the images as being “world-best” for a microsatellite of its class.

The 50-kg microsatellite was developed by the Department of Science and Technology and the University of the Philippines-Diliman in cooperation with Hokkaido and Tohoku Universities. The microsatellite orbits Earth at about 400 km above the planet’s surface.

Many hope that Diwata-1 will be just the first of many projects in a Philippine space program. The fulfillment of this hope might be within reach. Diwata-1 will be followed by another Filipino-made microsatellite to be launched in 2017. Diwata-1 and its sister will be the Philippines’ contribution to a 50-micosatellite alliance planned by nine countries. Among these countries are our neighbors Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Each of these countries have their own space programs.

The fact that we are lagging behind our neighbors in space science is one of the facts

advocates point out to encourage more support for a Philippine space program. Advocates also highlight the massive benefits the Philippines will reap by investing in space.

Some question, however, whether a space program should really be one of the government’s priorities at the moment. They argue that with problems like high poverty rates, food insecurity, the effects of climate change, and more, there are better ways to spend the country’s limited budget.

Others question whether having our own space program will really be worth the cost. Existing satellites and those that will be sent by neighbors might be enough for our purposes.

There are also the issues of opportunities for corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies. Some worry that “unnecessary” government projects might lead to waste of more of public money.

But the benefits of investing in a space program far outweigh these worries, which can be addressed adequately and resolutely.

A space program can help us tackle some of our most urgent problems. For example,

our efforts in disaster risk reduction and management will greatly benefit from a space program. Having our own satellite will make it easier for us to take high-resolution images; these images, in turn, can help us plan for and manage the effects of natural disasters. Imagine the number of lives that can be saved.

After all, we pay other countries and private corporations for the use of their satellites. This costs money, too. It might be wiser to invest in our own space program in the long run. Having our own program will allow us to choose which technologies are most suited for our purpose. The high quality of the images taken by Diwata-1 speaks for this.

Having our own space program will let us benefit more from the programs of our neighbors. If we want to gain from what the Vietnamese or Indonesians are learning, we need to have technologies and infrastructures similar to theirs.

We are already spending a lot on space science. The problem is, this spending is scattered among different institutions: the Philippine At-

EVERYMAN

mospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, Department of National Defense, and the Philippine Rice Research Institute.

So yes, we are already spending public money on space science. We just need to spend it more wisely. Having a space agency that manages the space program might make the operation not only more cohesive but also more efficient.

A cohesive space program has the potential to start a positive ripple effect. Aside from hiring engineers and scientists, a space program will also need lawyers, accountants, and a host of other professionals.

Studies done in other countries show that for every space program job created, nearly a dozen support jobs emerge.

Of course, we need to be vigilant about how our future space program’s budget is spent. Such a program is primarily a tool, and there is always the danger that this tool may not be used well.

The cost doesn’t have to be so high.

What needs to be high is our ambition.

(Pecier Decierdo is a science communicator for The Mind Museum.)

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Bianca Carlos and Chanelle Lunod during their schools’ second doubles match. The UP tandem trailed 6-11 in the early going before they tightened the screws against their opponents. Castilo’s clever shot-making and Inlayo’s blazing smashes propelled the duo to 21-16 victory. The second set was even more lopsided with the UP pair prevailing 21-14.

Inlayo again teamed up with Castilo to prevail in the first doubles match against La Salle with UP winning the tie, 4-1. With Inlayo playing so well coach Tosi Alcasid finally gave her the chance to play in a singles match against UST. Inlayo, the pride of Antipolo City, acquitted herself well with a straight set 21-8, 2114 victory.

A national juniors player in girls doubles and mixed doubles, Inlayo said she didn’t have any difficulty adjusting to playing alone.

“I felt okay. I didn’t feel awkward. It was a different case last year when I just practiced and played in doubles. This year I trained in singles as well.

Team managers Pacita Co, Conrado Co and Mervin Deato as well as head coach Tosi Alcasid and coaches Andrei Babad and Melvin Llanes join the UP ladies badminton team in front of the net. The players include: Jessie Francisco, Marina Caculitan, Poca Alcala, Jeline Lopez Masongsong, Bea Bernardo, Lea Inlayo, Ann Marañon and Gelita Castilo.

UP Lady Fighting Maroons target badminton 3-peat will also win the title. It will be male counterparts.

The pretty Inlayo seems to more difficult. But we believe the men’s team is also capable transform whenever she takes HE University of the Philippines Lady of winning. They are all fired the badminton court. She plays Fighting Maroons have been unbeatable in up. They really want to move with so much naked aggression up. They’ve been in fourth that friends and spectators alike badminton competition in the University place for three years. My aim often tell her she plays like a man Athletic Association of the Philippines. is for them to just move up. But rather than a girl.

“I’m used to being told that they have the heart to move I play like a man. I don’t mind They look poised to continue UAAP MVP and Rookie of higher,” said Co. While UP’s newbie veterans really. I just tell them that apthat winning run and team man- the Year who has been absent Alcala and Castilo may have pearances and demeanor are not ager Pacita Co is confident that from competition the past two been dominant their past few important while on the court. they will go on to win their third seasons.

“We’re happy that she’s (Cas- games last year’s Rookie of the I always focus on winning the consecutive UAAP championtilo) with us. Last year they (Al- Year Inlayo has been spectacu- point and I don’t really pay atship this year.

“We are expecting to get the cala and Castilo) were already lar. Rather than playing with tention to my appearance. I just title again this year. We are aim- with the team. But they were not finesse and guile like most remember to play my best and ing to get the three-peat. We’ve allowed to play. This year we female players Inlayo relies stay humble,” Inlayo said.

Inlayo and Castilo started already won two titles in a row. hope to get the three-peat with on speed and power, complete tentatively against Ateneo’s with a jump smash, like her Hopefully, we will be able to their help,” said Co. This season Alcala and Casachieve it (three-peat). That is tilo led UP to three consecutive our goal,” said Co. The Lady Fighting Maroons victories (actually their 21st return a powerhouse lineup of consecutive victory spanning former UAAP Most Valuable three UAAP seasons) over AtPlayers Jessie Francisco and eneo, La Salle and University Bea Bernardo as well as last of Santo Tomas. So far, Alcala season’s Rookie of the Year has won two singles and three Lea Inlayo along with Marina doubles matches. Castilo has Caculitan and Jeline Lopez won three singles and two doubles matches.

Masongsong.

Both the UP men’s and ladies’ The powerhouse squad then got even better with two key ad- teams steamrolled past rivals Atditions Poca Alcala and Gelita eneo, La Salle and UST to vault to the top of the standings. Team Castilo.

“They (Alcala and Castilo) officials hope the trend continwere both my former players. ues the rest of the tournament.

Alcala was supposed to play The UP team manager said last year. Gelita our other new the biggest obstacle will be La player is actually a veteran. Salle for the ladies team. For She transferred. She used to the men’s team, the biggest obplay under my club (Allied Vic- stacle will be NU and La Salle. tor Badminton Academy). She She said the men’s team may played for the national team and not be as star-studded as the lathen joined Ateneo. She lost her dies’ team, but they more than spot at Ateneo so we gave her a make up for it with their never- The UP men’s badminton team include clockwise back row, from left: chance,” said Co. say-die spirit.

Wakee Deato, coach Andrei Babad, coach Melvin Llanes, Vincent ManuCastilo is herself a former “Hopefully, the men’s team el, Jojo Malelang, Betong Pineda, Jm Bernardo and Miggy Leonardo.

By Reuel Vidal

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UAAP Rookie of the Year Lea Inlayo holds up her index finger after winning another match for UP. Tosi Alcasid

Eve r yone in the UP team now train for singles matches. I didn’t feel any pressure.

I just tried to enjoy every game and kept thinking that this is for UP,” said Inlayo.

The UP ladies badminton team has been unbeaten for the past three seasons. The girls are hoping to preserve that win streak and garner the coveted three-peat. The men’s badminton team, which placed fourth the past two seasons, isn’t doing too badly either. They are unbeaten in their first three matches.

UP coach Alcasid and team officials are silently hoping to preserve both streaks and win not just a three-peat but a double championship as well.

Poca Alcala lunges forward as she tries to retrieve a shuttlecock which landed just beyond her reach. Tosi Alcasid

Korean-American teen scores breakthrough win

By Homer Vidal

Micah Shin (right) gets some sage advice from fellow Davao-based pro Elmer Saban who opted to caddy for him.

NINETEEN year old KoreanAmerican Micah Shin finally scored a breakthrough win in the local pro circuit when he ruled the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open crown at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac last weekend.

If you think success came easy, then think again. Shin has been slogging through the local pro circuit against the country’s best golfers with little success for the past three years before finally annexing his first pro title.

“It took me three years to win and I hope I can do it again,” said the teenager in a published report after he finally overcame his penchant for late-round collapses after taking early leads.

He did it in style by outsteadying current Order of Merit leader Tony Lascuña but not before another late round fumble which almost cost him the title.

Shin limped home with a double-bogey on the tricky parthree 17th hole. Luckily, he had built a big enough lead, after a brilliant third round 65, to coast to victory.

He may have wavered in the 17th but Shin, who also benefitted from the sage advice and calming influence of fellow Davao-based pro Elmer Saban who caddied for him, scrambled in the last hole to salvage par in the 18th to bring home the victory.

As if the three-year wait wasn’t long enough. Shin had to wait another hour before he could claim his victory after thun-

derstorms and lightning halted play of the final group. But after waiting three long years Shin certainly didn’t mind waiting another hour.

“I couldn’t ask for more. It was a memorable Saturday for me. My effort and hard work didn’t go to waste. I had no problem with my game, except on the 17th,” said Shin in a published report.

Shin wound up with a 14-under 274, despite that misstep in the 17th when he dumped his 4-iron tee shot into the water to finish the hole with a two-over par five, to pocket the P450,000 top purse.

Shin hopes to grab more golf titles which should come easier now especially since he’s finally gotten the monkey, or the pressure to win a maiden pro title, off his back.

Sports

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

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IARGAO:

urfers’ haven

Defending champion John Mark Tokong and perennial top winner Piso Alcala (inset) will have their hands full against the world-class field in the 22nd Siargao International Surfing Cup.

Dream come true for Pinoy UFC bet

By Peter Paul Duran IT might be a far-off dream, but a fighter from a humble town in Visayas is making his aspirations become a reality through countless hours of training and an adamant will.

And Jenel “The Demolition Man” Lausa apparently still needs to be pinched to make him realize, that his dream is being fulfilled.

After the UFC’s decision to tap the promising regional champ and include him in the UFC FIGHT NIGHT® Manila: LAMAS vs PENN matchcard, the former boxing titlist was surprised at first when the news came, but he is more than willing to slug it out with China’s Yao Zhikui in front of a home crowd at MoA Arena.

“When I got the news from my sports agent that UFC will sign me up, I was very happy and excited,” said the Iloilo native Lausa, who carries a 6-2-0 record coming into the match.

“It’s a very great opportunity for me. It’s something that I cannot say no to. When it comes to my fight on Oct. 15, I am preparing and training hard for it,” added Lausa, referring to his clash with “The Conqueror,” who has a 2-4-0 winloss-draw record.

Fulfilling a dream come true after years of hard work and sacrifice, Lausa is ready to make the most of this opportunity with the world’s premier MMA organization.

Hailing from humble origins,

Max Holloway shows off his skills during an open workout in Megamall.

Below is Jenel ‘The Demolition Man’ Lausa. Peter Paul Duran

Lausa has been able to make a living through his fighting skill and understands that being in UFC will only open more opportunities for him to create a better livelihood for his family.

“I know that my opponent, Yao Zhikui, and I will put on a great show, as we are both very good fighters. Lastly, I want to say thank you to all the people who paved the way for me to be part of the UFC.” Asked what his expectations are of his match with Zhikui, Lausa is confident he has the skill set to deliver a

good performance.

“All I can say is that I’m better in striking than him,” Lausa said in Filipino during Max Holloway’s open workout at Megamall in Mandaluyong recently.

“I’m not sure in Jiu-Jitsu, I think we’re pretty even. Let’s just see how it pans out after the match,” he added as his opponent is no stranger to the Philippines, having earned his first UFC victory in last year’s UFC event in Manila.

A regional flyweight titleholder, Lausa became the first homegrown title-holder to fight

for the world’s premier MMA organization. Lausa is currently riding high on a four-fight winning streak and will now look to duplicate his success on fight night in front of thousands of passionate Filipino fans.

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HE world’s best surfers, including the Philippines’ very own John Mark Tokong, Piso Alcala, and Philmar Alipayo are currently in Gen. Luna, Siargao Island to compete in the 22nd Siargao International Surfing Cup. Sanctioned by the World Surf League and the Asian Surfing Championships, the tourney drew a 64-man field with from Australia, United States, Hawaii, Brazil, Indonesia, France, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Israel and New Zealand.

Leading the charge of the local surfers are defending champion Tokong, perennial top winner Alcala, and Alipayo, who is riding high on his recent conquest of the West Sumbawa Pro 2016 in Bali, Indonesia.

The surfing sensations to watch out for are Israeli Yonoton Klien, and winners of the Championship Tour in Chris Zaffis and Sandon Whittiker.

Situated on the Pacific seaboard of Surigao del Norte, the Cloud 9 surfing spot is listed as eighth in the World’s Top 50 Best Surf Spots compiled by CNNGo, the travel news website of the Cable News Network.

Presented by the Department of Tourism in partnership with the Municipality of Gen. Luna, the Province of Surigao del Norte, and House of Representatives-Congressional Office, and co-presented

by Siargao Bleu Resort and Spa, and Silangan Mining Corp., the tourney is the country’s most-awaited surfing event offering a total cash prize of $ 50,000.

Also supported by Globe, Kudosurf, Nature’s Spring, and Siargao Tourism Development Council, the sporting event kicked off Saturday with the Siargao Surf Break 2 Reggae Party.

It draws to a close on Thursday with the awarding ceremonies and the Go Surf Music Festival.

According to Siargao International Surfing Cup Contest Director Gerry Degan, this year’s edition will be again be a QS (Qualifying Series) 1500, the second level competition run by WSL, the sport’s global governing body.

The winner gains 1,500 points to move up in their international rankings en route to the top level competition—the Championship Tour.

The ASC gave the Cup a 6-star surfing ranking in 2014, making it one of the qualifying stops for the Asian Circuit, giving Siargao the rating of ASP- World Qualifying series 1 Star and ASC Grade 6, ASC tour’s highest rating.

Started in 1994, the Cup has made the island the mecca of surfing in the Philippines and a training ground for athletes to international tournaments, particularly the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when surfing becomes an official medal event.

Philippine rugby teams preparing early for 2017 SEA Games

By Peter Atencio WITH the 29th Southeast Asian Games just around the corner, the national men’s and women’s rugby teams are preparing early to defend the medals they won during the 2015 edition of the games.

Director of Rugby for the Philippine Rugby Football Union Matthew Cullen

said this as the Philippine Volcanoes began their bid to retain the gold medal won by the national men’s squad, and improve on the national women’s squad’s bronze-medal finish.

“We think it’s really best to start now, nine months out,” said Cullen.

The Volcanoes talked about their preparations during a meet-and-greet with

fans and supporters Thursday evening at the Pioneer Market St. in Mandaluyong.

To sharpen the national squad’s fighting form, they are joining a series of international tournaments against the best in Asia.

Their campaign will boost their bid to duplicate their double podium finish in the SEAG.

“Our athletes are preparing for nine months, playing in top-level competitions,” added Cullen.

The Volcanoes’ men’s side is joining first two legs of the 2017 Asian 7s series in Dubai and India.

On the other hand, the Lady Volcanoes will be in the Bangkok 7s from Nov. 12 to 13.

“Hopefully, we can get to the Asian Games,” said Cullen.

Jake Letts, captain of the 2015 champion team, said they hope to finish their prep work by February.

“Our first step is to finish first in February, which I am confident we can after a silver-place finish this year,” said Letts.

How 2 DLSU engineers formed a construction B2 giant

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WO ladies are leading the digital revolution in the Philippines as top executives of an IT conglomerate that opened the world of virtual reality for local industries.

“We at Synergy 88 are very excited to be in the midst of this digital revolution. Technology gives us incredible power to change the world in almost every facet of society. From education to agriculture, finance, marketing and finance. You name it, and technology is right there at the helm of development. The possibilities are limitless,” says Jackeline Chua, the managing director and co-founder of Synergy 88, an IT conglomerate that employs 200 Filipino professionals.

“We are committed to the continuous flow of change, disruption and revolution. Constant innovation and evolution is in our DNA. We not only create products or services, but we also create products that help improve the everyday life of ordinary people. Synergy 88 wants to put its most valuable assets--the Filipino talent front and center of the digital entertainment industry,” says Chua, who obtained degrees in political science and marketing management from the De La Salle University.

Synergy 88, which is comprised of six companies that provide IT services and solutions to various industries, formed a new company called Renderbee Technology Inc., which became the first local firm to render virtual reality, or VR solutions to the real estate sector. Renderbee offers 3D visualization, based on the architect’s blueprint. It allows real estate clients to experience roaming around a virtual building, house or subdivision even before construction begins.

“We saw there is a growing demand since most of the studios catering to the real estate market are foreign companies whose developments are done elsewhere and not in the country. So we established Renderbee Technology Inc. Our team is comprised mostly of graphic and multi-media artists, with some of them having architectural background,” says Maria Carmencita Burgos-Nepomuceno, the chief executive of Renderbee.

“More or less, the Synergy Group has about 200 in-house artists. We have dedicated approximately 30 to 40 multi-media artists and developers for Renderbee,” says Nepomuceno.

Nepomuceno says women are increasingly becoming active in the IT industry. “Women are now empowered. We are not just constrained to traditional industries.

We see there are a lot of female graduates now, even in our company, who are already taking part in the IT industry as artists, developers,” she says.

Chua says Synergy 88 is the only Philippine company with the most advanced VR devices and the only studio in the country that has animation, gaming and publishing services under one roof. “As an outsourcing company, it is the first and only Microsoft-certified studio.

We have created environment assets for top selling global games and local concepts as well,” she says.

“As a local industry leader, our corporate social responsibility includes partnering with academic institutions to develop homegrown talents. By doing so, we not only address the educational and industry skills gap and enable Filipinos to reach international standards, but more importantly provide and create jobs that reduce the number of Filipinos leaving their families,” Chua says in a news briefing

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

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2 ladies open the world of virtual reality in PH

Renderbee Technology Inc. chief executive Maricar Burgos-Nepomuceno (left) and Synergy 88 co-founder and managing director Jackeline Chua

that handles TV commercial production and audio-visual campaigns.

ASI Studios, a partnership between Synergy 88 and Singapore’s August Media Holdings, has a team of 140 highly trained artists and technicians.

Chua says ASI is set to engross primetime audiences in the Philippines with the country’s first animated drama for adults next year.

“We are in the process of doing it right now [animation film]. We started the production already. The animation, we are doing it in our company. Preproduction is being done in Japan. It is a partnership with a big broadcast network in Japan,” says Chua.

Nepomuceno, a 10-year veteran of the IT industry who has a political science degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and a Master’s in business administration from Ateneo de Manila University, sees VR as the next major technology that will sweep the Nepomuceno country. He says Renderbee, which was service animation studio based in derived from the words ‘rendering’ and at RCBC Plaza in Makati City.

“This is our unique strength. This is Quezon City; Synergy 88 Digital, ‘bee’, is set to lead the adoption of 3D synergy. Our wish is for future Filipinos a Manila-based art-strong creative and VR designs. to become digital natives. Our country digital solutions studio that provides “Renderbee was established in 2015 as can become a force to reckon with in games and non-game applications; a brand and was later on as incorporated the digital world,” she says.

Kalaro Games Philippines Inc., the as a company early this year. Originally Synergy 88 provides services such publishing arm of Synergy88; South Renderbee came about just as a product as multi-media production, game Eastern Data Center Inc., a carrier- line of one of our sister companies back development, publication, digital neutral data center which provides IT in 2015. Coming from trade exhibits, graphics, animation, co-location and solutions such as co-location and web shows and talk with students, the web-development and rendering development services; DGx Hub, an academe and schools, we saw there was innovative digital graphics studio and actually a need, a demand for students, services.

Aside from Renderbee, other game software provider; and Synergy for faster computer processor to render member companies of the Synergy 88 Productions, a full service multi- their projects into 3D models. For an 88 Group are ASI Studios, a full media digital production company ordinary computer processor, it can take two hours. But with a Render farm, it will take just seven to eight minutes,” says Nepomuceno.

“If your are to render an animation, it will take a three-minute animated regulations becomes an avenue become more responsible. walkthrough 80 days to finish. With “There is no cogent reason why to abuses. House Bill 2648 cites the Render farm, we can finish it in six “scams” and various acts of terror some should not be applied to prepaid days,” she says. as examples of how the unregulated users in our country,” Gatchalian said.

“Based on this demand and supply, we A similar bill was met with sale of prepaid SIM cards have been created our own Render farm. We are the used to perpetuate criminal activities, oppositions who claimed that it would first and only mainstream Render farm aided by the near absolute anonymity be an infringement to the constitutional service provider in the Philippines,” says right to privacy of communication. of a prepaid SIM. Nepomuceno, explaining that a Render The Valenzuela solon, however, The bill fills in this gap by requiring farm is a cluster of servers assembled telecom providers to maintain a said the registration of SIMs only for the purpose of rendering 3D images, registry of all users, including prepaid goes as far as identifying the user of computer-generated imagery and visual the number, and not the content of subscribers, said Gatchalian. effects.

If passed into law, an original the communication which remains “In layman’s terms, we can render purchaser of prepaid SIM would be absolutely private. designs and blueprints faster than usual,” Records show that out of the 100 required to present valid identification she says. “With the Render farm, we are for registration before he could million SIM cards actively used in the able to speed up the workflow process country, at least 97 percent are prepaid. purchase, he said. for architects, interior designers and real Gatchalian noted the recent Gatchalian said that currently, estate developers.” landline phone users and postpaid bomb threats to various educational “Based on the discussion we had with subscribers already go through some institutions following the Davao blast developers, we saw there was a need form of registration. In Singapore, earlier their month, as another reason and there was a demand. Surprisingly, as in other countries, the trend is to why the proposed SIM registration bill we learned that the current service require the registration of SIMs. The should be deliberated at the “soonest providers are actually foreign companies effect is that the users are made to possible time.” that cater to their demands. With the

Solon urges registration of SIM cards amid threats VALENZUELA City Representative Wes Gatchalian has asked the House of Representatives to approve a bill mandating the registration of SIM cards in the wake of anonymous bomb threats received by schools and establishments in Metro Manila.

Gatchalian, in a letter dated Sept.

8, 2016, asked House Committee on Information and Communications technology chair Rep. Victor A. Yap to deliberate on proposals to regulate the issuance of SIM cards in response to increasing number of bomb threats via anonymous text messages, which followed the Sept. 2 Davao City bombing.

Gatchalian said House Bill No. 2648, which he filed, seeks accountability.

“With progress in technology, we have made leaps and bounds in our ability to communicate, so much so that it has outpaced the laws,” said Gatchalian.

He said a gap in government

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

current team of professional artists and multi-media artists who have experience in architectural 3D modeling, we created architectural designs for project developers, architects, interior designers and students,” says Nepomuceno.

Renderbee is taking VR solutions beyond video games and into mainstream industry. “Renderbee is able to see the growing demand for virtual reality or VR in the architectural industry. Last year, we started hearing about VR for movies and games, which is probably the trend nowadays. But we also saw the potential of VR for different types of industries such as in the field of architecture,” says Nepomuceno.

“In the Philippines, we are probably the first to provide development of VR for the architectural industry. We make project designs and plans come to life even before they are built,” she says.

“Real estate clients can now experience going through condo unit, buildings and even subdivisions through what we call Renderbee VR.” Nepomuceno says Renderbee will open a door for more opportunities as it shares ideas with the people and enterprises, using the infrastructure and the talents of Synergy 88. “The market itself is very huge. Right now, what we are trying to do is educate the market,” she says. “We probably haven’t tapped 5 percent of the market, because we just started this year. We have gained increasing demand already. It is more of educating the market to increase it even more.”

“Synergy 88 Group, including Renderbee’s primary goal is not just for our own profit. We see that we can actually tap the talent of young people in the Philippines. Our primary goal is to share the technologies of the world to our countrymen, to Filipino people by helping businesses attain their business goals and by contributing to the development and betterment of the country,” says Nepomuceno.

“We believe that virtual reality would be welcomed by the Filipino people as the next cellphone, mobile phone or technological part of our everyday life,” she says.

Chua says she sees an enormous potential for VR solutions and other digital services. “Internet penetration is growing. Right now, 58 million Filipinos have Internet access. Since we are selling digital products, it is so easy to reach and make products available to this market via the Internet,” she says.

“I firmly believe that the Filipino, who by nature is passionate, dedicated and hardworking is highly capable of innovation. Couple with excellent communication skills, he or she can be a valid force in the digital world,” says Chua. Roderick T. dela Cruz

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Business

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

How 2 DLSU engineers formed a construction giant

By Jasmine Mira M. Dy and Aries F. Fallorina

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DGAR Saavedra, the 38-year-old cofounder, president and chief operating officer of industry giant Megawide Construction Corp., plans to join more public-private partnership projects as the Philippines rebuilds its infrastructure system.

“A lot of our plans and strategy now is to get more PPP projects,” Saavedra says during the Anvil Business Summit 2016 organized by the Association of Young FilipinoChinese Entrepreneurs at Marriott Hotel Manila in Pasay City.

Saavedra established Megawide with Michael Cosiquien in 1997 after graduating with a degree in civil engineering from De La Salle University in Manila a year earlier.

The partners took Megawide public in 2011.

From building projects for SM Group, Megawide expanded to government infrastructure projects.

“So I would say, more than half of our revenues and earnings are coming from these PPP projects, from airports, to school buildings, now to transport terminal project,” says Saavedra.

Megawide is now on its third PPP project, as the construction of Southwest Integrated Transport Terminal starts.

“This project is a vision to ease the worsening traffic in Metro Manila,” Saavedra says.

It followed the “construction of classrooms in more than 1,700 sites on different locations on seven different municipalities in Luzon” and the expansion and operation of MactanCebu International Airport.

“It’s the spirit of believing in ourselves that led us to this new business,” Saavedra says. “We were able to develop the skills in winning the bid in PPP.” Saavedra, the youngest among five siblings who grew up in a small town in Mindanao playing ‘sipa’ and other local games, treasures his experience as a child “because I learned to relate to people from all walks of life.”

“When I was about six years old, my parents decided to send me to Zamboanga City with my ‘lola’, where I can be enrolled in a private school.

I still remember the day when I was away from them. It was the loneliest day in my life. It was very hard for me because I’m the youngest among the five siblings and I’m very attached and close to all of them,” he says.

Saavedra says this experience

Megawide Construction Corp. president and chief operating officer Edgar Saavedra

defined what he is today. “This is how I learned my independence early. From the town and [being a] sheltered child, I became a strong and resilient person.

During summer, I would go back to my town to work for my father who assigned me as a timekeeper and errand boy in our shipping business. Such small learning, I realized now, were very important in molding my behavior and personality as an entrepreneur,” he says.

The next major development in Saavedra’s education was when he went to college at De La Salle University.

“Many people choose this school based on the prestige of the quality of education. But me, I just chose my school back then because I thought it was cool to study there. This was where I met Michael Cosiquien who later became my partner in the business and who shares the same drive and passion for the company as myself. I also met many new friends who also later joined us in helping grow the company,” he says.

Saavedra chose electronic engineering as his first course, “because I thought it was fun and I loved playing computer.”

“One day, I realized I couldn’t see myself as an electronics engineer. I asked myself what I am gonna do after graduating. I imagined myself running and preparing shots for televisions. I thought it is what an electronics engineer does. So I decided to shift to civil engineering. Now you know why I’m in the construction business right now,” he says.

It was after college that Saavedra and Cosiquien decided to go into construction business together. “Our first project was

a P5-million residential building in Quezon City. I remember we didn’t even know how to do a proper bidding for the project so we had someone to do it for us. We were fresh graduates and we had no idea on how to [do estimates]. But we have [pushed through] the construction business,” says Saavedra.

He says being new to the industry turned into an advantage because they felt they had “nothing to lose.” And soon enough, they found a “silver lining” amid the crisis.

“That was in 1997. And it was the time of Asian financial crisis. So many people warned us about starting business during that time. But we went ahead anyway partly out of bravado but also out of our inexperience. It was the hard part but we were able to find a silver lining.

There was a surplus of materials during the crisis. So we were able to get them at a cheaper price. Hiring employees back then was also a lot easier since job opportunities were limited. So we got the chance to hire more skilled workers and engineers easily,” he says.

As newbies in the construction industry, Saavedra and Cosiquien had to rely on personal research and “forming relationships with experts to improve [their] construction methods.”

“Through email, we were able to meet a German national who happened to be married to a Filipina and was willing to help us introduce the technology in the Philippines,” Saavedra says. “In connecting with experts from around the world, we were able to learn about the latest construction technologies and advanced techniques and methods.”

“We became the company with the

most advanced formworks system in the country and this eventually led us to the prefabricated concrete or precast― another new technology that gave us the edge because we delivered better quality construction at a faster time with lesser manpower,” Saavedra says.

In 2007, Megawide was awarded the Berkeley and Grass Residences, two big projects of SMDC, the residential housing arm of the SM Group.

“Everyone wanted to get those projects. We were neophytes and everyone was struck to see that we use many new technologies from Germany which allowed us to give competitively and offer a quick turnaround time,” Saavedra says.

This opened a flourishing relationship with the SM Group’s Sy family who eventually became shareholders in Megawide through Sybase Equity Investments Corp.

In their attempt to go public, Saavedra and Cosiquien started consulting college friends at DLSU about “branding and business development.” Eventually, their former classmates Oliver Tan and Louie Ferrer became the company’s financial consultant and marketing consultant, respectively, which led to their “initial public offering” in 2011.

“Our shares were oversubscribed and we were able to raise capital to invest in a highly advanced precast production company, now considered as one of the largest and most progressive in Southeast Asia. We were able to invest in more formal technologies and highly advanced equipment. We now have the capability to undertake bigger and more projects with faster turnaround. This

gave us another advantage to compete with other big companies,” Saavedra says.

Saavedra says being inexperienced and “suwail” at first, they were “not influenced by traditional practices.” He says they “sought out own solutions to come up with fresh ideas.”

“We dove into every piece of technology we encountered and deepened our understanding of construction processes to find their value,” Saavedra says.

Recently, the Megawide group welcomed CitiCore Power, “an allrenewable energy producer with assets in solar, hydro and biomass,” with whom they plan to “produce 1,000 megawatts of clean energy for the country.”

“While we wanted to enter the energy sector, we want to keep our focus for renewable energy only, as a part of our commitment to generate a healthy energy surplus and to do our part in mitigating the effects of climate change,” Saavedra says.

Megawide posted a P1.5-billion profit out of P15-billion revenue in 2015.

Sybase Equity of the Sy family is selling its 17.2-percent stake in Megawide as the latter diversifies into power. The Sy family is already into the power sector with a controlling stake in National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, which prevents it from engaging in power generation.

“Today, Megawide has become an innovative engineering and infrastructure developer with assets in construction, airport, progressive property development and renewable power generation,” Saavedra says.

On how Megawide became a successful company, Saavedra says drive and passion played important roles. “In our early days, we didn’t know much about running a construction company because we had no experience, but we loved what we were doing, so this gave us the drive to achieve our goal. We were very passionate for our work. We’re almost like a fool, otherwise, we would’ve given up,” he says.

“But my greatest learning has to be the simplest. Our growth was not by any means conventional, nor did we find any shortcuts. There is no set of formula for success. We just get going. Because we didn’t know what the future would hold for us, we made our mistakes and had our failures. But they eventually became learnings and skills that we used to get to where we are now,” he says.

Saavedra now shares six simple keywords to young engineers: believe, drive, fate, learn, skills, and goals.

“Because you need to believe in yourself, you need to love your work, then you will have the drive to keep on doing it.

Never be afraid of failure because this will give you learning and eventually turn this to be your skills. With your skills, you will have a bigger chance to achieve your goals. I guess, that’s how I ended up here,” says Saavedra.

Millennial eyes to retire at 50

Ysabel Benitez

THE face of the economy is rapidly changing and at its core are millennials who are raising the standards for their careers, seeking greater purpose and incentives that are beyond the nine to five grind.

Ysabel Victoria Benitez is one such millennial. She stepped on the gas right from her first day of work. She drove towards her dreams, only to find herself burned out at 23.

Now at 27, she is living her life goals.

Joining the world’s top financial advisors at the Million Dollar Round Table, she shares in the new path of success millennials enjoy, paved by Insular Life.

Millennial challenge Ysa had high hopes when she joined the corporate world. From a young age, her dreams were crystal clear. “I want a threebedroom house with a two-car garage in Pasig or Quezon City. I want to travel once or twice a year. I want to get married at age 30,” she said.

After less than five years of working long hours, she found herself face-fallen and dreading the future.

“When I look at my dream board, when I look at the things I want to achieve and the salary I’m getting every single cut off, I knew, that it would take me years and years and years to actualize them,” she said. Eventually, her restlessness grew and compelled her to explore other career options. Luckily, she didn’t have to look far; her mom, Elvie Benitez, provided her a life’s worth of reasons why an insurance career is the best choice.

The deliberate choice “My mother is a single mom. Life insurance has been her bread and butter. Imagine all

three of us siblings went to private schools and no one was left wanting. On Sundays, we even eat out in nice restaurants. The life insurance business is very generous to its agents,” she said.

Her respect for her mom’s career had taken root right then, for she experienced firsthand the honesty, sincerity, and real impact of the insurance business on the lives of its partners. Today, she experiences Insular Life’s generosity, herself.

In less than three years, she has earned her qualification to the Million Dollar Round Table, an elite organization comprised of the top five percent of the world’s financial advisors. Joining other top-performing financial advisors, she took part in the annual conventions hosted in Toronto and New Orleans.

But for Ysa, nothing beats the fulfilment that her new career brings. “A child will be going to college, a couple will get to retire comfortably, there’s that fulfilment that you can rest your head at the end of the day and feel that your clients achieved their goals.

They were able to plan for the quality of life that they wanted, and I played a part in making that happen.”

Taking the reins of the future This millennial financial advisor now leads a team of 25- to 39-year-olds in building a career in insurance. She is urging them to start their own dream boards and explore the vast opportunities in the business.

Ysa holds big hopes for her team, seeing in them her own drive for success. “We’re a very passionate generation. There are a lot of things that we really want to do and I think these are

big-ticket items. With big ticket dreams, you need a career that can support them,” she said.

With Ysa’s coaching, her team of millennials applies financial planning and are making their personal finances a model for their clients. They continue to hone their know-how with conventions and trainings offered for free to Insular Life advisors, adding to the success stories their team are composing at Insular Life.

One advisor managed to completely wipe out her family’s debt. All of them are leaving behind old habits of “one day millionaire spending” in favor of building real, tangible wealth. Most of their team members are themselves Insular Life policyholders, baring their trust in the products and the company that they now share with their clients. Just recently, their team has committed to make the journey to 10,000 — an effort to reach 10,000 millennial clients in three years’ time.

Exhilarated by this new mission, Ysa and her team continue to set more goals: “We’re seeing a lot of houses and cars in our dream boards, and very common also is to slow down at age 50. We’ve set our retirement funds already. We’re looking at a lot of traveling too.”

Personally, she has had fruitful three years in the insurance business. “I haven’t been able to cross off the house yet because we’re actually building my mom’s dream retirement house. I owe that to her. For the longest time, she’s sacrificed so much for us, and it brings me so much happiness to be able to do that for her.” Her dream reveals the other face of millennials—a group that is caring, generous, and purpose-driven.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 jdlacsamana@gmail.com

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Familiar neighborhoods top list of most-searched areas in Phi

HE first half of 2016 saw the continued dominance of Metro Manila neighborhoods among places in the Philippines most searched for by online property-hunters.

Sixteen of the top 20 areas or neighborhoods viewed by users of the Lamudi website were in Metro Manila, with interest shifting slightly among the areas as the year progressed.

Fairview in Quezon City was top among the areas or neighborhoods searched by online property-hunters.

This Quezon City district was the

most searched area in Metro Manila and the Philippines in the first half of 2016. Although Fairview remained the most searched area from April to June 2016, search volume for this popular Quezon City location dipped 22% from Q1 to Q2 2016.

Fairview was followed by the Fort Bonifacio area in Taguig. Home to Bonifacio Global City (BGC), this area generated almost 150,000 pageviews of properties in the first half of 2016. Interest for this location among online property-hunters increased 14% from Q1 to Q2 2016.

Fort Bonifacio was followed two other Quezon City locations: Tandang Sora and Batasan Hills. But like Fairview, online property-hunters’ interest for these areas also waned between Q1 2016 and Q2 2016. Pageviews for Tandang Sora dropped 38% between the first two quarters of 2016,

while those for Batasan Hills dropped 15% during the same period.

Fifth on the list was BF Homes in Parañaque. Properties in this residential area, home to many restaurants, generated almost 130,000 page-views in the first half of 2016. In addition, search volume for BF Homes increased 9% between Q1 2016 and Q2 2016.

Wrapping up the top 10 most searched areas/neighborhoods were Legaspi Village (Makati), Novaliches (Quezon City), Talon Dos (Las Piñas), Poblacion (Makati), and Cubao (Quezon City).

From highest to lowest, the top 11 to 20 most-searched areas/ neighborhoods included Talamban (Cebu), Malate (Manila), Don Bosco (Parañaque), Banilad (Cebu), Guadalupe (Cebu), Commonwealth (Quezon City), Salcedo Village (Makati), New Manila (Quezon City),

Lahug (Cebu), and Bel-Air (Makati).

Together, these 20 areas/ neighborhoods made up more than 24% of all searches conducted in the first six months of 2016. There were a total of 4,536 areas/neighborhoods all over the Philippines included in this data analysis.

According the Lamudi, the results of this analysis offer insights on which specific locations property-hunters are researching for online.

Although certain locations are easily remembered due to high real estate activity, notably by major property developers (e.g., Legaspi Village, Salcedo Village, and Fort Bonifacio), some are constantly in prospective homebuyers’ mind, perhaps because they have been popular residential areas for many years (e.g., BF Homes, Tandang Sora, Batasan Hills, New Manila).

MODERN COMFORTS. The Residences at Alphaland Makati Place promises an innovative home automation app that can be downloaded and installed on mobile gadgets of a unit owners, such as smartphones and tablets, so they can access the home automation system even when they are away for business, or out on a trip. This system involves a main panel that controls lighting and appliances for the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms, as well as a mobile tablet pre-installed with the system’s app (Inset). The property’s fiber-optic connectivity provides optimum speed capacity and future adaptation, assuring the efficiency of the automation system. Residents can also check on their units remotely through their mobile gadget by installing their own CCTV that can be synched with the app.

Similarly, they can program the system to turn on the air conditioning before arriving home. The Residences, as part of the entire Alphaland Makati Place structure, is also registered as a Green Building under the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

TOP OF MIND. Certain areas are easily remembered due to high real

estate activity (e.g., Legaspi Village, Salcedo Village, and Fort Bonifacio).

But some neighborhoods have a cachet about them because these have been popular residential spots for many years (e.g., BF Homes, Tandang Sora, Batasan Hills, New Manila).

AMAIA SCAPES TOUCHES DOWN IN CDO. Amaia Land Corp., a residential arm of Ayala Land Inc., will be opening its first community in Cagayan de Oro (CDO). Located along Macapagal Drive in Barangay Bulua, the development’s first phase covers 2.64 hectares, and will have 97 residential units. Buyers can choose from various house models, namely Bungalow Pod, Twin Pod, Single Home, Twin Home, and Carriage Pod. Lot areas range from 65 to 120 square meters. The development is managed

by Ayala Property Management Corporation.

SUBURBAN CHILL. DMCI Homes brings a resort-inspired lifestyle to

Bacoor, Cavite with its new development, Alea Residences. Set to be the first mid-rise condominium development along the Las Piñas-Talaba Diversion Road at Barangay Zapote 3, Alea will have four buildings - Darma, Surya, Raja and Budi – with six to seven residential storeys each.The development’s design is distinctively Asian, with greeneries and terraced gardens that flow into its swimming pools (see photo), play area, activity lawn, barbeque and picnic areas. Alea is the newest inclusion in DMCI Homes’ portfolio of condo developments for young families.

DESIGN LEGEND IN TOWN. Design ingenuity and innovation are

at the forefront of an ongoing furniture art exhibit at the South Court of the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell, Makati City. Award-winning designer Karim Rashid (Inset) collaborated recently Sixinch Philippines, a joint venture between the RGC Group of Companies, makers of Uratex foam in the Philippines, and Belgium-based foam maker SixInch Design B.V.B.A. Rashid’s works are perennial winners of the Red Dot Award, the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award, I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review, and IDSA Industrial Design Excellence Award. Among his creations include luxury goods that were used by prestigious brands such as silver flatware and home accessories maker Christofle, champagne brand Veuve Clicquot, Italian houseware brand Alessi, Paris Baguette, French luxury fashion house Kenzo and German luxury fashion brand Hugo Boss. Shown in photo is Rashid’s “River must flow” design.

Avoiding...

From to B4 directly parallel other doors that lead outside. Easy exits mean money earned may be quickly dissipated and never saved. There seems to be a remedy for this, which is to make inside doors face walls, if only for the interpretation that walls bar money from going out; a stopgap measure, so to speak.

As for stairs, they should always turn right, that being the righteous path. This particular belief applies best to the marital bond. An opposite direction signifies infidelity. Note that the vernacular term kaliwete (left-handed) refers to the wanton spouse.

The right steps Since we are on the subject of stairs, can steps be far behind?

Among the Tagalogs, stair steps are erected with a ritual that calls for alternate counting to three, using the chant “Oro, plata, mata” (Gold,

silver, death) for each count. Of course, the counting commences with the lowest rung. The topmost step should never end with “mata,” that being a symbol of bad luck. On the other hand, “oro,” and “plata” represent good luck.

cashier or the place where money is kept should not be located under the staircase. In homes, neither should rice be kept there because it translates to stepping on the grace of God whenever one goes up or down the stairs.

When planning a structure An orientation towards with two or more storeys, the the east is also required for stairway should not be positioned at the center of the structure so stairs. as not to divide the building into Ilocanos position their stairs so two equal parts. that they rise with the morning sun.

To them, if it were the other way Beware of bargains around, meant turning one’s back on fate.

Ilocanos of the northernmost But builders in Pandi, Bulacan, part of the Philippines cut down believe that a stairway facing east aratiles trees growing in front is considered bad luck. They say of their houses to prevent their anything facing the early sun dries daughters from being illicitly up ahead of all others, and in the impregnated. It seems, however, same token, wealth taken into the that this particular superstition house will dry up much faster. applies only to original For business establishments, homeowners. Tenants or renters especially the small ones, the are exempt.

Septic tanks whose tops protrude from the ground are asking for an offering in the form of human life.

To avert tragedy, septic tanks should never rise beyond ground level; better yet, they should be sunken.

The mother of all jinxes is a house that had been the scene of a traumatic event, like a robbery or murder. It is the tendency of the owners of such a house to offer it for sale at the earliest opportunity. So beware of bargains.

Some people fear financial bad luck when termites invade a house. Termites are termites, however. Superstition or not, houses made of wood are most vulnerable to these pests. They can easily devour a house in what can be described as a most expensive meal.

Bedrooms, mirrors, “tumbok”

It is advised that one must plan the doors of one’s bedrooms in such a way that when it is opened, one would face neither the foot nor head of the bed.

There should always be ample space between the door and the bed itself. Position the bed such that the headboard does not rest against a window opening.

Neither should you put any bed under a cross beam, regardless of whether the beam is of wood or concrete, and position the bed so that the occupant will not be lying perpendicular to the beam.

Mirrors should never face a house’s main door because it is believed that the mirror will send out the blessings that are supposed to go inside the house. This means that the residents of the house will experience financial difficulties and bad luck.

During construction, residents or the carpenters working on the

house offer a pig or a chicken’s blood through pouring it to the foundations or posts of the house. This is an ancient pagan Filipino belief that is done to prevent spirits living in the area from being upset with the family and the construction workers.

My builders surprised me during one site visit when I saw them twisting posts clockwise before cementing it in its place. Doing this, they explained, makes the house safe from typhoons.

A house that is built in the middle of a crossroad and faces the dead end, or what is called “tumbok” in Filipino, is bad news for its residents. This also applies to buildings, apartments, and all other structures.

The same is believed by people who believe in Feng Shui. Living in a house which is positioned that way will cause bankruptcy, or death to its occupants.

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Property

Avoiding stairs that veer left,

TAKING IN THE RAYS. Orienting your house to take in the rays of the morning sun by having wide windows is a sound planning practice.

gourmet termites

By Joel Lacsamana

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uilding my house almost a decade ago gave me first-hand experience of certain superstitions Filipinos have when it comes to their abodes.

I approached most of these beliefs with amusement, but was intrigued enough to do additional research as the construction progressed and ended up following some of them on the advice of my architect, a grizzled veteran of many a project, and his builders.

A number of them were based on sound planning practices. For example, orienting the building to take in the rays of the morning sun by having wide windows facing the rising sun, as well as to admit the southeast breezes to cool your house.

Two faces of the house taking in the morning sun is ideal. This can be achieved if a corner of the house faces the morning sun by having it face east. I didn’t want to take any chances: I had more windows built (more than in the originally blueprint), and large ones at that, so my house had better chances of

DINING PREFERENCE.

Kapampangans, lovers of good cooking and a festive atmosphere when dining, tend to go for well-lighted dining rooms. Ilokanos, low -key in their cuisine, tend to prefer a more solemn, subdued ambience.

absorbing natural and spiritual building a house within a family graces. Segurista. compound or between two relatives, to make sure that the roof is not Keeping luck in, higher than theirs. Why? Their their lives might never progress, or will misfortune away always be worse.

My architect suggested that when A sibling’s house must also not be

built too close to that of his parents such that rainwater from the eaves of the main house pours onto the roof of the sibling.

Building a house on a deadend lot must be avoided as much as possible. Either a financial

misfortune, or worse, a death in the family will befall its occupants.

Applicable to both house owner and tenant, if the former is not residing in it, this superstition is attributed to Pampangos in Central Luzon.

An imperative ritual in building

a house, perhaps the Ilocano counterpart of the cornerstonelaying ceremony, is to imbed the foundation posts with loose coins— for good luck.

Doors inside houses must not Turn to B3

REAL DEAL. AboitizLand is building

The Outlets, a 9.3-hectare shopping destination at Lipa-Malvar Batangas, the heart of the Calabarzon region.

The development will feature a variety of international and local brands, offering discount shopping 365 days of the year. “Filipino families like driving out of town on weekends, and The Outlets will provide them with a new destination where they can get authentic branded items at discounted prices from international and local brands year-round,” said Rafael Fernandez de Mesa, VP for business innovation, AboitizLand. The Outlets also promises to give retailers an edge in terms of locational convenience by granting opportunities for store expansion, inventory unloading, and customer reach by means of introducing premium brands to a target market with no prior access.

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

C1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

A FINE DAY. Mt. Daraitan rises and Tinipak River flows in Tanay, Rizal. Erwin Leyros

405-MW coal plant opens

By Lance Baconguis

C

AGAYAN DE ORO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday switched on FilInvest Development Corp. Utilities Inc.’s FDCI-Misamis coal power plant in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

Duterte justified the fuel by saying a stable supply of electricity is required by potential investors.

The Misamis Oriental Chamber of Industries Inc. said the island is losing close to P300 million each day because of power outages.

Juan Eugenio Roxas, senior vice president of FDC Utilities Inc. and FDC Misamis Power head, said their 405-megawatt coal power plant is a multi-billion peso investment by FDC Misamis that will use the circulating fluidized bed boiler technology, the latest in coal-fired

power generation.

The technology removes more than 95 percent of sulfur emissions and emits negligible nitrogen oxide. It generates useful byproducts such as calcium sulfate for cement production.

Roxas said their new power plant, which runs on 10 percent

of the power it generates, is the biggest investment of the FDC group.

The plant’s 3,135-MW turbine provides the Mindanao grid with 365 MW of distributable power.

The power plant is the second coal power plant to go online Next page

‘Builders DENR, LGU agree to develop Lanao river basin must unclog drains’

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Office of the Building Official has ordered developers and contractors of ongoing constructions in Makati—include 47 high-rise building—to regularly declog the drains around their job sites to prevent floods.

Mayor Abby Binay directed acting city engineer and OBO chief. Engineer Elmer Acuesta to issue a memorandum calling the builders’ attention to residues of construction materials clogging the drains.

“We issued the directive following frequent floods near construction sites, despite regular maintenance of our drainage system and waterways by our city engineering personnel,” Acuesta said.

The OBO also required developers and contractors to submit a maintenance report every month to the city Department of Engineering and Public Works’ district offices until the completion of the projects.

“All concerned entities should strictly comply with the directive by regularly clearing their project sites of all construction debris, including concrete mixtures, soil, gravel and sand,” he said.

Acuesta said his office will issue a work stoppage order to those who fail to comply with his memorandum dated Sept. 13, 2016. He said random checks will be conducted at construction sites by a team of engineers and pesonnel from the enforcement division of the OBO and DEPW, in coordination with barangay officials.

“We expect the full cooperation and support of all concerned in keeping our drainage system freeflowing to keep our streets floodfree, and also prevent the spread of water-borne diseases like dengue and leptospirosis,” Acuesta said.

LANAO del Sur Gov. Soraya Alonto Adiong and Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Northern Mindanao Regional Director Ruth Tawantawan agreed to implement the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Program (INREMP) at the Sulo Riviera Hotel in Diliman, Quezon City on Wednesday.

The program aims to increase revenues from watershed management and livelihood invest-

ments and and spur sustainable socio-economic development in Mindanao through effective management of the Lake Lanao River Basin, watershed conservation and reduction or reversal of environmental degradation.

Adiong said that after 12 years of advocacy, coordination and discussions on the development of Lake Lanao, which started during the term of her late husband, Rep. Mamintal Adiong

Sr., she was very happy to sign a memorandum of agreement to change the lives of the Maranaos. She added that the Maranaos derived their name from “Ranao” or “lake” which identifies them as “people of the lake.”

Adiong added that Lake Lanao is not merely for the Maranaos but for the entire Philippines as the said lake is the source of water that propels the turbines of the six hydroelectric plants along the Agus River.

DENR Secretary Gina Lopez said that after six months, she expects a good and big difference in Lanao del Sur with Adiong and DENR-10 supervising the INREMP. Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto said it was high time measures were taken to preserve and protect Lake Lanao which was once named Sultan Alauya Alonto Lake.

A $100 million loan from the Asian Development Bank with

SDR13.250 million co-financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will fund the implementation of the INREMP. The four priority areas to be developed are the Chico Basin in the Cordillera Autonomous Region, the Wahig-Inabanga River Basin in Bohol, Lake Lanao in Lanao del Sur, and the Upper Bukidnon River Basin in Bukidnon.

Lance Baconguis

Erap’s 1-stop shops

By Sandy Araneta

AGRI. Representatives from India’s Ministry of Agriculture studied the National Food Authority’s methodology in conducting Commercial Stock Survey and mandates. The Philippines is the only country among Asean nations that conducts the survey. The group of 15 agriculture officers from India, led by Pushpa Thottan, adviser of the price and market division of India’s Ministry of Agriculture, is in the country to strengthen their Agricultural Market Information Systems (AMIS) project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization- India. Andrew Rabulan

Mangyan tribe receives 50 solar lamps

THE National Geographic Channel and the World Wide Fund for Nature recently gave 50 portable solar lamps to the Taw’Buid—an indigenous Mangyan group inhabiting the remote mountains of Mindoro.

Park rangers protecting the Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park also received new hammocks, rain gear and all-weather patrol uniforms from the Primer Group of Companies.

The deployment is part of NGC’s Earth Day Run, which has been supporting WWF projects since 2013. Race proceeds reforested Isabela with 20,000

fruit-bearing trees in 2013 and deployed fiberglass bancas for Palawan fishermen in 2014.

Proceeds from NGC’s 2015 race funded the solar lamp deployment, which was held inside the Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park on September 3. About 15 million Filipinos lack regular access to electricity and Mindoro’s Taw’Buid tribesfolk are no exception, relying on kerosene and firewood to light their homes.

“We gave portable solar lamps because burning fossil fuels accelerates climate change,” says WWF-Philippines president and chief executive officer Joel Palma.

“Solar energy is an economical and safe power source because there are no emissions to trigger respiratory ailments. Our goal is to cover basic Filipino needs while fighting climate change.”

Held last April, NGC’s Earth Day Run 2016 will fund WWF’s marine conservation drive for Apo Reef in Mindoro, the largest coral reef in Asia.

The reclusive, forest-dwelling Taw’Buid or Batangan tribe with approximately 20,000 members is the most numerous of the eight Mangyan subgroups. Most live in simple thatched huts, few of which have been seen by out-

siders, owing to the traditional fear harbored by Taw’Buid for outsiders, called Siganon. Many still wear Amakan loincloths made from pounded tree bark and smoke potent tobacco in pipes called Bakto.

As very few have access to electricity, most cut trees for firewood, used to both light homes and provide heat in fire pits, where families congregate and talk each night. The solar lamps will help ease the strain on Mindoro’s forests while giving tribes both light and a means to charge what few electronic gadgets they have.

THE city government of Manila on Friday formed a special team to attend to all the concerns of the city’s 896 barangays.

Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada directed the Manila Barangay Bureau (MBB) to create a one-stop shop to “receive, answer, process and follow-up on the complaints, requests for assistance and queries of barangay officials.”

“Excessive red tape has no place in our administration; that is a disservice to our beloved Manileños,” Estrada said.

He said the MBB was created because he could not immediately act on the concerns of two million residents.

The bureau links the Office of the Mayor to the barangays and implements policies, issuances, programs, projects, laws and ordinances that may affect communities.

Arsenic Lacson, the officerin-charge of the MBB, said he is now setting up the barangay one-stop shop.

“It will deal with funding requests, appeals for assistance such as road repairs, garbage collection, conduct of social services to the communities, complaints, inquiries, everything,” Lacson explained.

C2

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

LGUs

Free college tuition pushed A

LBAY 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda filed in July a bill granting universal access to tertiary education, patterned after the Australian model of college financing for all.

HB 2771, titled “Universal Access to Tertiary Education Act of 2016,” to address illiteracy, and in the long run help solve poverty, has long been overdue, Salceda said.

“Courses in private universities average P30,000 per semester. Even the P1,000 per semester tuition fee in state universities and colleges, however, can be beyond the reach of a family of five which needs at least P8,778 a month to meet only their basic food and non-food needs, let alone send one child to college,” he pointed out.

Quoting former US Fed chairman Bernard Bernanke, Salceda added: “From a macroeconomic standpoint, education is so important because it is so directly linked to productivity, which, in turn, is the critical determinant of the overall standard of living.”

A government study shows that in 2014, the median daily earnings of college graduates were 116 percent higher than those of high school graduates who in turn registered 26 percent more earnings than elementary graduates. Even those with college units only enjoyed a 27 percent advantage over those HB 2771 provides free public tertiary or higher education for

all qualified students enrolled in any bachelor’s degree and technical/vocational program offered in all state universities and colleges and establishes a Higher Education Contribution System (HECS) that grants concessional loans to, and collects repayments from Filipino students admitted and enrolled in private colleges and universities.

HECS grantees must be Filipino citizens.

To qualify for HECS participation, colleges and universities must have CHED accreditation.

To qualify for admission to HEIs, students must satisfy admission requirements, must be Filipino citizens, and have insufficient family income. If there are more applicants than the HECS budget can subsidize, they will be chosen on “first come, first serve” basis.

Students already enrolled in HEIs who want to avail of HECS, would have their education assistance deducted or credited to their billing at the start of each semester for the remaining semesters until they complete their baccalaureate courses. Private HEIs would be required to submit a list of their grantees and total HECS releases every semester end, after verification of which, they will be

reimbursed. Beneficiaries will repay their HECS loans when they get employed. Payments will be collected monthly by either the Social Security System or the Government Service Insurance System as a percentage of their income, on top of their regular monthly contributions. Repayments will be triggered only when their gross income reaches the compulsory repayment threshold (CRT) or the minimum annual gross income level.

“No job, no repayment, but if one is educated, he can easily land a job and can pay back.

Thus, the entire education system should be compelled to be effective and efficient to produce graduates for good paying jobs, here and abroad,” Salceda said.

HECS, he added, is an “expansive and enabling” approach patterned after the Australian model of educational assistance also called HECS. The system has been tested with impressive results by the Albay Higher Education Contribution Scheme (AHECS), which Salceda introduced when he was governor. It has helped 88,444 college scholars in the past nine years, many of whom have already graduated and are now either entrepreneurs or gainfully employed here and abroad.

The bill provides that the government shall seek long term funding from bilateral and multi-lateral institutions which provide concessional interest rates, multi-year release with tenor up to 30 years.

Trike drivers guide tourists THE Department of Tourism and the City Tourism Office (CTO) on Friday gave a two-day seminar to train Dagupan’s tricycle drivers to work as tourist guides.

Martin Valera, director of the Ilocos region’s tourism office, welcomed the more than 30 participating tricycle drivers, personnel of the City Action Service Team (CAST) and the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) to the seminar held at the city museum.

Valera underscored the tricycle drivers’ important role in promoting the city’s tourism industry.

“I had a very sad experience about being charged exorbitantly on three occasions when I rode a tricycle here and I feel that this is not helping promote our tourism industry,” he recounted.

The two-day seminar aims to teach the participants how to develop their communication skills and their self-esteem, customer relations, effective customer service, the art of driving

Gwapotel closed for renovation

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Metro Manila Development Authority has announced it will partially close the Workers’ Inn (formerly Gwapotel) in the Port Area in Manila next week for a major renovation.

MMDA officer-in-charge Thomas Orbos said the renovation will begin Monday, September 26.

He, however, pointed out that the budget hotel for workers, travelers, and students will only be partially closed as many still patronize it.

“We don’t want to displace our regular clientele which averages 500 daily. And more im-

portant, closing down the facility would worsen traffic because these people would be stranded while waiting for a ride during rush hours,” Orbos said.

The four-story facility will be closed from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. starting Monday to make way for the renovation and repair work on the plumbing, leaking roofs, damaged ceilings, worn out vinyl tiles, broken windows and clogged drainage system.

The renovation will also improve the lighting fixtures and re-upholster the beds and the pillows, and debug and disinfect the premises.

and driving decorum, as well as tourism trends.

City tourism officer Sharon Maramba said they will also orient them on the different places of interest in the city and the components of the city’s tourism industry, promotions and marketing.

As a bonus, the participants will be given lectures on gas and fuel maintenance and updates on the rules, fees and requirements of the Land Transportation Office for the registration of their tricycles. PNA

RETRO. Builders rush the completion of The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Museum at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. Lino Santos

Zubiri appeals Ombudsman suspension BUKIDNON Gov. Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. filed on Friday a motion for reconsideration of the six-month suspension meted out to him by the Office of the Ombudsman in Manila, itwas learned at a press conference at the Bukidnon provincial office in Malaybalay City on Thursday.

The suspension order stemmed from the case filed by former provincial government employee Carlos Ycaro, who retired in 2014.

The graft court suspended Zubiri for “grave abuse of authority amounting to oppression and violation of Section 5(a) of the ethical standards for public officials and em-

ployees (RA 6713).”

The office of the governor received the suspension order on September 20. He was given until next week to submit his motion.

The motion he filed Friday stated: “[T]he findings that respondent Zubiri, Jr. refused to approve the clearance and terminal leave application of the complainant is incorrect and has no legal and factual basis.”

He chided the Office of the Ombudsman for suspending the wrong governor because at the time Ycaro submitted his documents, the provincial chief executive was Alex Calingasan.

In his motion, Zubiri said Ycaro’s papers were not signed because he failed to account for some P11.26 million of provincial properties including chairs and equipment.

It said Zubiri’s name was “merely superimposed on the clearance and application for terminal leave of the complainant [Ycaro] despite the fact that he was not a signatory thereto.”

During a hearing at the regional trial court in Bukidnon for the same case last month, Ycaro reportedly admitted it was Calingasan who superimposed Zubiri’s name on the document.

Besides, the motion said,

405-MW...

From C1

WELLNESS. Mandaluyong Mayor Carmelita Abalos leads the ribbon-cutting at the blessing of new classrooms in the Jose Fabella Memorial School.

The rooms will be the venue for K-12 classes in beauty and wellness, such as nail care, massage and hairdressing in a salon-and-spa room.

this year after Aboitiz’s Therma South Power Inc. Romeo Montenegro, director for investment promotion and public affairs of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said that ideally, Mindanao needs at least a six-percent energy investment growth to comfortably answer the power demand.

Montenegro said that during the term of former President Benigno Aquino III, 10 coal power plants were approved by the Department of Energy.

Roxas said 85 percent of their electricity output is already sold to power distribution utilities. He said they expect all the distributable power to be sold within the year.

The power rates of independent power plants are regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission of the energy department.

The website of the National Grid Corporation of the Philip-

Ycaro’s papers should have been signed by the various department heads such as the human resource management, general services and the budget office before the governor can sign it.

Also, the motion said, Ycaro did not comply with all the requirements for the approval of his leave application.

These requirements include clearance from all accountability, a copy of his leave card, the approved leave application, the complete service record, the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, a photocopy of his appointment and a notice of salary adjustment. pines reports that the Mindanao power reserve jumped from almost negative to 710 MW as of Friday, it has a system capacity of 2280 MW and a peak capacity of 1570 MW. “A lot of investors are just waiting for a stable power supply in Mindanao, so now more infrastructure projects will come in, which would then eat up the supply,” Montenegro said.

He said that with a stable base load provided by the coal plant, the next step is to process and fast-track renewable energy projects in Mindanao.

“We would like to have a stable mix of RE and non-RE power sources to propel Mindanao’s economy,” Montenegro said.

Mindanao has been plagued by a decade-long power problem because its only source of power then was the Agus-Pulangi hydro power electric plant constructed in the 1960s.

German-made Steag was the first independent power plant constructed since then and went online in 2007 at the height of massive blackouts in Mindanao.

World

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

C3

Xi begins party promotions A

fter taking charge of the world’s largest political party four years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping is starting to put his personal touch on the organization.

A who’s who of reshuffled provincial leaders sheds light on the president’s effort to remake party leadership. The top officials of influential regions are all but guaranteed a seat on the 200-plus-member Central Committee at a twice-in-a-decade meeting next year. If they get there at a young enough age, they can aspire to the highest levels, even becoming potential Xi successors.

“The recently promoted officials have a good chance to break into higher-ranking party circles at the party congress next year,” said Huang Weiping, director of Shenzhen University’s Contemporary Chinese Politics Research Institute. Their prospects “also look promising” for 2022, he said, when China is expected to anoint its next top leader.

The president’s reshuffle effort is still ongoing ahead of an annual party meeting in October, with 17 of 31 top regional officials replaced since April. Massive changes in the party’s senior ranks are expected in the lead up to next year’s party congress.

While not all promoted leaders have explicit personal connections to Xi, the maneuvering reflect his leadership style.

The June appointment of Li Qiang -- Zhejiang’s former No. 2 -- to lead neighboring Jiangsu province was among the most eye-catching. Li was promoted in 2004 to secretary of Zhejiang’s

provincial party committee, which was headed by Xi. Li’s efforts to develop “smalltown economies,” or clusters of high-tech and innovationfocused businesses, received a personal endorsement last September from Xi’s finance-andeconomic chief, Liu He. Li has a weighty gig in Jiangsu, a coastal province with an economy larger than Indonesia’s where seven high-ranking officials have fallen to corruption probes since Xi came to power.

Several officials who worked under Xi during his brief stint in the financial hub of Shanghai in 2007 were also promoted. Du Jiahao, who oversaw the Pudong district’s development as a financial and trade center, was appointed party secretary of central Hunan province. The Shanghai native rides a bicycle to work to get to know the place and has pledged to help win Xi’s battle for “supply-side” reform.

Some promotions broke with past patterns. The party secretary job in Tibet went to the Himalayan region’s relatively unknown deputy leader, Wu Yingjie. Unlike each of his nine predecessors since 1980 who were parachuted in from other regions, Wu boasts deep experience in Tibet and arrived there when Mao Zedong was still alive. At his inauguration last month, Wu pledged to fulfill Xi’s “deep hope” for Tibet.

Bloomberg

23 killed as minibus falls in Kashmir river MUZAFFARABAD—At least 23 people were killed when a minibus plunged from a mountain road into a river in a remote area of Pakistan-administered Kashmir late Friday, officials said.

The accident took place at Nausehri, some 45 kilometers (27 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, when the minibus driver lost control.

The vehicle veered off a road, falling 100 meters (110 yards) into the gushing river, local government and rescue officials said.

“More than 23 people were

killed and three others wounded in the bus accident,” local government official Ashfaq Gilani told Agence France Presse.

“We have only found three bodies and three wounded people. More than 20 other passengers and the wreckage of the bus have been swept away by the river,” he added.

“We have presumed them dead as there is no chance of their survival,” Gilani said.

Rescuers said the terrain was difficult and that they would resume the search for the remainder of the passengers at dawn on Saturday. AFP

PADDLE. A rowing team competes during the dragon boat race in Thailand’s southern province of Narathiwat on September 23. The annual fiveday rowing festival includes teams from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. AFP

Regulate wildlife trade—CITES official JOHANNESBURG—Thousands of conservationists and government officials open talks in Johannesburg on Saturday to thresh out regulating international trade in elephant ivory, rhino horn and hundreds of endangered wild animals and plants.

The meeting, described by organizers as the largest and most important event on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species signed by more than 180 countries, will be attended by around 3,500 delegates and opened by South African President Jacob Zuma.

The plight of Africa’s rhino and elephants, targeted for their horns and tusks, is expected to dominate much of the 12-day meeting. “(We) will consider changes to the trade controls of close to 500 species of wild animals and plants, including elephant, lion, pangolin, rhino and rosewood,”

CITES secretary general John Scanlon said.

“While all 183 CITES parties are deeply committed to the survival of wild animals and plants, they sometimes have differing views on the best way to achieve this.”

A coalition of 29 African countries is pressing for a total halt to the ivory trade to curb poaching of elephants, but other delegates believe it would only fuel illegal trading.

A recent census revealed that the savannah elephant population has declined by 30 percent over seven years.

Britain’s Prince William said in a pre-CITES speech this week that the census confirmed that “one of our planet’s most treasured species is on course for extinction at the hands of poachers and traffickers.”

He added that when he was born there were one million el-

ephants roaming Africa, but they could be extinct in the wild when his one-year-old daughter Charlotte turns 25.

CITES forbids trade in elephant ivory, but Namibia and Zimbabwe have made a proposal asking for permission to sell off stockpiles to raise funds for local communities that co-exist with the animals.

On rhino horn trafficking, CITES banned that trade 40 years ago, but prohibition has not reduced illicit hunting, which has recently boomed in South Africa.

Around 5,000 white rhino -- a quarter of the population -- have been slaughtered over the past eight years, with the majority killed in South Africa, home to 80 percent of the world’s rhino.

Rhino poaching is driven by insatiable demand in Vietnam and China for the horn, which is mistakenly believed to have medicinal powers curing everything Manila from hangovers to cancer.

Standard TODAY

Other species high on the CITES radar are pangolins, rock geckos, tomato frogs and the African grey parrot.

Scanlon warned that illegal wildlife trafficking was “occurring on an industrial scale, driven by transnational organised criminal groups.”

Besides animals, timber will be in focus.

When it first came into force in 1975, CITES only regulated a handful of timber species, but three years ago there were 600 types of timber listed under its appendices.

This year there are 250 species proposed for listing, especially of sought-after rosewood.

Illegal wildlife trade is valued at around $20 billion a year, according to CITES, and is ranked among the world’s largest illicit businesses of arms, counterfeit goods, drugs and human trafficking. AFP

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Roxas Boulevard Corner Pablo Ocampo, Sr. Street Manila 1004

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE DOF 6TH FLOOR (OSEC-PHASE 2) SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION OF FURNITURE /FIXTURES/WORK STATIONS 1.

2.

The DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE (DOF), through the Government of the Philippines under the General Appropriations Act for FY 2016, intends to apply the sum of amount in words: Fifteen Million Two Hundred Five Thousand Eight Hundred Thirty Five and 80/100 Pesos(PhP 15,205,835.80) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments for the DOF 6TH FLOOR (OSEC-PHASE 2) – SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION OF FURNITURE/ FIXTURES/WORKSTATIONS (the “Project”). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The DOF, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), now invites Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) registered suppliers to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder projects. Bidders should have completed, within six (6) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project which is equivalent to fifty percent (50%) of the ABC for the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. However, only those who have purchased the Bidding Documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre-bid conference and raise or submit written queries or clarifications.

4.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens, sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA No. 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act No. 138.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders starting on September 26, 2016 up to October 17, 2016 at the General Services Division, 7th Floor, EDPC Building, BSP Complex, Pablo Ocampo Sr. St., Roxas Blvd., Manila and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (PhP25,000.00).

6.

7.

MENDING. A villager walks across a restored section of the Great Wall in Suizhong County in northeastern China’s Liaoning Province, on Wednesday. Bloomberg

8.

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the DOF websites, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The DOF will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on October 3, 2016, 11:00 a.m. at the DFG Conference Room, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered to the BAC Secretariat, General Services Division 7th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex P. Ocampo Sr., Street corner Roxas Boulevard, Manila on or before October 17, 2016, 9:45 a.m. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on the date indicated above at the DFG Conference Room, 4th Floor DOF Building. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend.

“LATE BIDS SHALL NOT BE ACCEPTED”

Pyongyang filmfest bans Hollywood \PYONGYANG—Sex and graphic violence were largely a no-no, although a glimpse of naked Russian buttocks made the cut, while a Bollywood offering was well received and Hollywood was locked out completely.

The Pyongyang International Film Festival, which opened a week after North Korea triggered global outrage with its fifth nuclear test and wrapped up on Friday, is a world away from Berlin,

Sundance and other established names on the festival circuit.

While big-name jury members pose in front of media scrums on the Croisette in Cannes, in Pyongyang they ran three-legged races and rolled on the grass popping balloons with their bodies on a sports outing organized between screenings.

“Every day, there’s been something I wasn’t expecting,” said Al Cossar, a jury member from New

Zealand.

PIFF was launched in 1987 and has been held every two years since 1990.

It began life as the Pyongyang Film Festival of Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries, but selection has been gradually broadened since 2000 to include entries from Britain, France and elsewhere.

The actual selection process is opaque -- none of the attend-

ing foreign delegates were able to shed much light on how it worked -- and is in the hands of the Korea Film Export and Import Corp.

(KorFilm) which controls theatrical distribution in North Korea.

The vice head of KorFilm, Kim Jae-Hyok, said the organizing committee, of which he is chairman, looked for films that “reflected the mission of the festival which is self-reliance, peace and friendship”. AFP

9.

The schedule of bidding activities is as follows: ACTIVITIES Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid Issuance and Availability of Bid Documents Pre-Bid Conference Request for Clarification Issuance of Supplemental Bid Bulletin

10.

11.

SCHEDULE September 25, 2016 starting September 26, 2016 October 3, 2016, 11:00 am October 7, 2016 (thru e-mail) October 10, 2016

Deadline for Submission of Bids

October 17, 2016, 9:45 am

Opening of Bids

October 17, 2016, 10:00 am

The DOF reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: Lilia R. Tan, Head- BAC Secretariat Department of Finance BAC Secretariat, General Services Division 7th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex P. Ocampo Sr., Street corner Roxas Boulevard, Manila Telephone N.: 526-8475 Telefax No.: 525-4227 Email Address: ltan@dof.gov.ph./rramirez@dof.gov.ph

(MS-SEPT. 25, 2016)

(SGD.) GIL S. BELTRAN Undersecretary and DOF-BAC Chairman

C4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

World

Cruz backs Trump anew I

n a dramatic reversal from his controversial non-endorsement at the Republican convention in July, Texas Senator Ted Cruz firmly backed Donald Trump’s bid for the White House on Friday.

“A year ago, I pledged to endorse the Republican nominee, and I am honoring that commitment. And if you don’t want to see a Hillary Clinton presidency, I encourage you to vote for him,” he said in a message posted to Facebook.

In response, Trump put out a warm statement saying he was “greatly honored by the endorsement” by “a tough and brilliant opponent.”

Meanwhile, rock legend Bruce Springsteen has described Donald Trump as an embarrassment to the United States, saying the Republican presidential candidate is a demagogue with simple solutions.

Springsteen, who has dramatized the plight of workingclass Americans in his music, said he understands how Trump could seem “compelling” to people who are economically insecure.

On the other hand, President Barack Obama had a bit of advice Friday for Hillary Clinton, his Democratic Party’s White House nominee, who soon faces Trump in the first presidential debate.

Asked what suggestions he might offer Clinton ahead of the debate Monday, the president told ABC News: “Be yourself and explain what motivates you.”

Obama added that Clinton “is motivated by a deep desire to make things better for people.”

The issue has weighed heavily on Cruz, 45, who faces reelection to the Senate in 2018 and has kept the door open to running for president again.

Gallup tracking surveys found that Cruz’s net favorable rating among Republicans fell by a jarring 35 percentage points in the weeks after the convention, dipping into negative territory.

Cruz’s show of support came days after Republican national committee chairman Reince Priebus suggested he may block Republicans who don’t back Trump from running for the party’s nomination again.

It also followed news of Heidi Cruz, his wife, rejoining Goldman Sachs in the Houston office. She took an unpaid leave last year to aid her husband’s campaign. AFP

Merkel meets Balkan leaders VIENNA—German Chancellor Angela Merkel, stung by several setbacks at the ballot box over her refugees policy, was due in Vienna Saturday for potentially tense talks with the leaders of countries along the Balkan migrant route.

They include Prime Minister Victor Orban of Hungary who has been sharply critical of Merkel’s “open-door” policy, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece, a country now home to 60,000 stranded migrants, and Boyko Borisov, premier of newly under-pressure Bulgaria.

Orban called on Thursday for all illegal migrants to be deported from the European Union to “large refugee camps” on an island or in North Africa where their asylum claims could be processed.

EU President Donald Tusk and Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos were also expected, along with representatives from hosts Austria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia, plus non-EU Serbia, Macedonia and Albania.

Last year hundreds of thousands of people, many fleeing the Syrian war, trekked up from Greece though the western Balkans northwards, particularly into Austria, Germany and Scandinavia.

In March though, under pressure from Austria, Balkan countries closed their borders, and the flow has since slowed dramatically, although 100-150 still make it to Austria every day, Vienna says.

The same month the EU struck a deal with Turkey -- home to more than three million refugees -- under which Ankara halted the influx in return for billions in aid and other sweeteners.

The pact may yet collapse, however, in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

Greece meanwhile remains under severe strain.

An EU scheme to share out large concentrations of migrants who have gathered in Greece, and also in Italy, has not met expectations, and extra administrative assistance promised by the EU has been insufficient. There was also a huge fire at a refugee camp on Lesbos on Monday. AFP

US 28th in healthcare ranking ROCK. Recording artist Bono of music group U2 performs onstage at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP

Kosovo hacker gets 20 year sentence WASHINGTON—A computer hacker who helped the Islamic State group by providing stolen personal data on more than 1,000 US government and military workers was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Ardit Ferizi, a 20-year-old citizen of Kosovo known by his hacking moniker “Th3Dir3ctorY,” was sentenced in a US fed-

eral court in Virginia, the justice department said.

“This case represents the first time we have seen the very real and dangerous national security cyber threat that results from the combination of terrorism and hacking,” said John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security.

“This was a wake-up call not

only to those of us in law enforcement, but also to those in private industry,” his statement read.

Malaysian police arrested Ferizi in September 2015 on behalf of a provisional US arrest warrant.

The suspect was extradited to the United States for prosecution.

The so-called “terrorist hacker” pleaded guilty in June in US court for his role in the IS group’s

targeting of US government personnel for attacks.

He admitted he had given hacked data to an IS member who posted a 30-page document on Twitter -- a virtual hit list containing names, email addresses, email passwords, locations and phone numbers for about 1,300 US military and other government personnel. AFP

Virtual orchestra plays Sibelius’ 5th in London

ELEGY. A person walks past a chalk-drawn tribute to Justin Carr in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday at the site where Carr was shot on September 21 during a demonstration following the shooting by police of Keith Lamont Scott the previous day. AFP

LONDON—Music fans will be able to immerse themselves into the world of an orchestra thanks to a virtual reality experience launched in London on Friday.

Visitors to the Virtual Orchestra at the Southbank Center can don virtual reality headsets and experience how it feels to be among the performers as EsaPekka Salonen conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony.

With the headsets they are transported backstage at London’s Royal Festival Hall and then into the center of an orchestral performance conducted by the Finnish maestro.

“You are sitting in the front row of the orchestra with the principal conductor Salonen conducting you,” Luke Ritchie, the

Philharmonia Orchestra’s head of digital, told Agence France Presse.

“We wanted you to hear what it’s like to sit in the viola section in the front of an orchestra, (for) people to get an insight of the dynamics.”

Gillian Moore, director of music at the Southbank Center, said she hoped the pre-recorded footage would open up people’s enjoyment of classical music.

“This is all part of Southbank Center’s belief that everybody should have access to art and culture,” she said.

“We’re constantly trying to find new ways to do that, including the use of the latest technology.”

The free experience runs at the Southbank Center until October 2. AFP

EVERY study ranking nations by health or living standards invariably offers Scandinavian social democracies a chance to show their quiet dominance.

A new analysis published this week—perhaps the most comprehensive ever—is no different. But what it does reveal are the broad shortcomings of sustainable development efforts, the new shorthand for not killing ourselves or the planet, as well as the specific afflictions of a certain North American country.

As this developed, the use of a controversial pesticide, sprayed from overhead on a Miami neighborhood, was a “key driver” in ending the local spread of the Zika virus there, US health officials said Friday.

Aerial spraying with naled, which is banned in the European Union, and with a larvicide called Bti provided a “one-two punch” that helped wipe out Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, said Tom Frieden, chief of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iceland and Sweden share the top slot in the world ranking with Singapore as world leaders when it comes to health goals set by the United Nations, according to a report published in the Lancet. Using the UN’s sustainable development goals as guideposts, which measure the obvious (poverty, clean water, education) and less obvious (societal inequality, industry innovation), more than 1,870 researchers in 124 countries compiled data on 33 different indicators of progress toward the UN goals related to health.

Bloomberg

Life

Pandora’s I Am We Are Unique book

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

YOUNG LIFE

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

D1

UNIQUELY BEAUTIFUL. Pandora’s Autumn 2016 collection is composed of pieces that boast of architectural lines, soft shapes, whimsical colors and on-trend designs that are versatile to be worn on any momentous ocassion.

I

F one were to ask a man to describe a woman, the words he would probably use are mysterious, unfathomable—an enigma.

From the regular woman on the street to the most distinguished ladies in the upper echelon of society, women have always been inscrutable to the sons of Adam. Women are distinct to their very core.

This is the essence of what Pandora’s Autumn Collection desires to capture—the uniqueness of being a woman.

Pandora celebrates the exceptionality of women who emerge from life’s trials and challenges to become as strong and magnificent as sterling silver and as brilliant as sparkling gems.

As it always does, Pandora encourages women to ponder on and celebrate their lives. This season, it does so by taking women on a journey of reflection and self-discovery with its recently launched global campaign aptly entitled, “Unique As We Are.” In collaboration with writer, editor and stylist Tata Mapa, Pandora Philippines decided to put together a book featuring the remarkable stories of 10 special women, stories that tell how these women strive to live extraordinary lives in their own ways. The stories of these 10 women, though unique to them, are stories that women of all ages, cultures and beliefs can relate to.

Mapa affirms, “For uniqueness lies in each woman, no matter who she is and what her circumstances might be.

And it is a quality that need not to be manufactured or created, only discovered, honed and admired.”

Featured in the book are stories of artist Valerie Chua, healing arts practitioner and teacher Tin Jacinto, broadcast journalist Mitzi

The UNIQUENESS of Being a Woman

Creative consultant Chi Datu-Bocobo

Interior designer Nina Santamaria

Author Samantha Sotto

Artist Valerie Chua

Borromeo, photographer and videographer Carmen Del Prado, psychoneurologist and integrative health practitioner Lia Bernardo, author Samantha Sotto, interior designer Nina M. Santamaria, artist and writer Grace Katigbak, consultant and coach Rachel Consunji and artist and creative consultant Chi Datu-Bocobo.

The 2016 Autumn Collection

This year’s Pandora Autumn Collection is made up of classic, unique pieces that are versatile enough to be worn anytime and on every momentous occasion of a woman’s life, as a clear declaration of the wearer’s individuality and exceptionality. It boasts of bold and stylish architectural lines, soft shapes, whimsi-

cal colors, on trend and nature-inspired pieces that can be customized to fit the taste of every woman.

This season’s collection is divided into three series, highlighting vintage style designs, vivid colors and luminosity.

The Vintage Allure series takes its cue from an abstract Art Deco-inspired mood.

It elevates elegance to a whole new level

with its glittering sterling silver shapes and timeless stone cuts, effectively recapturing the beauty of times past.

The Shimmering Droplets series takes a step beyond classic with its innovative new flower dome cut, colourful and pearlescent stones, pavé clusters and pastel-hued enamel. This series boasts polished studs with detachable embellished ear jackets and playful stacking rings, allowing one to either dress up or dress down as the mood and occasion fits.

The Petite Memories series introduces the new Pandora floating locket with petite elements. This new concept mixes Victorian-styled lockets with trios of decorative essentials inspired by stars, love or family. The versatility of this series allows one to personalize the locket by choosing elements encased behind oval windows of sapphire crystal glass. Dangle bracelets have also been added to the series to make celebrating one’s individuality easily attainable.

Uniting tradition with innovation, classic designs by Pandora now come in a unique blend of metals in a pink hue. In addition to this year’s Autumn jewelry is the launch of the Pandora Rose collection, crafted with shades of copper, gold, silver and rose — a great accent to any skin tone. The Rose Bows set of ring and matching pair of earrings captures femininity with vintage and timeless elegance. The TwoTone Allure series combines hues of sterling silver and warm blush pink motifs for a luminous and textured look. My Princess Tiara, Shimmering Feather, Infinite Shine and select pieces of well-loved Pandora jewelry are also designed with the unique new Pandora Rose metal blend.

LJ Moreno expands pastry business

By Robbie Pangilinan STARTING with just cake pops, The Lollicake Factory has grown into a pastry business that offers a variety of delicious and craveworthy sweets.

“We now do fully styled dessert buffets and offer venue styling packages for small events,” announces actress-turned-entrepreneur LJ Moreno-Alapag who started her cake pops business in 2011 out of her frustration in finding out that no local bakeshops, not even online cupcake makers, sold cake lollipops in the Philippines.

Besides its basic lollicakes and the cutest customized lollicakes, The Lollicake Factory now also makes customized birthday cakes, cupcakes, cakes in a jar and butter cookies.

“We also offer lollicake decorating station for kids’ parties or company events. We will soon be offering school party packages that include savory meals as well,” adds the former preschool teacher.

The Lollicake Factory’s deliciously moist cake balls in signature designs are handcrafted with love and covered in candy melts. Lollicake flavors include LJ’s favorite red velvet,

The Lollicake Factory’s popular moist cake balls in fun designs come in various flavors.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE LOLLICAKE FACTORY’S FACEBOOK PAGE

buttercream, chocolate, mocha, cookies and cream, cheesecake, peanut butter, chocnut, dulce de leche, carrot cake, and the newest lollicake flavor, lemon.

Husband Jimmy Alapag’s favorite flavor is buttercream but without the chocolate coating.

“Jimmy doesn’t each much chocolate so he prefers eating the lollies before they get coated,” says LJ, who tests out new lollicake f lavors in her home kitchen before teaching her bakers the perfect recipe.

Before LJ and Jimmy tied the knot in California, she tasted her first red velvet cake lollipop at the bakeshop where she ordered her wedding cake. After the first bite, LJ was in-

stantly hooked. Craving for the cake pop back in Manila and not finding one anywhere, LJ did some research and tried to make one on her own. It turned into an enjoyable hobby and LJ baked them for herself and for family and friends who spread the word around that her lollicakes were heavenly.

The Lollicake Factory is at G/F 103 Westdale Residences, West Capitol Drive, Brgy.

Kapitolyo, Pasig City and at 2/F Robinsons Magnolia (in front of Toys R’ Us), Dona M. Hemady Ave., Quezon City.

Call 09997774443 or 4010717, or visit The Lollicake Factory on Facebook for more information.

LJ MorenoAlapag’s (left) cake pops business now offers fully styled desert buffets and venue styling packages

Life

D2

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Christmas in September at Digital Walker

D

IGITAL Walker welcomes all gadget and tech enthusiasts at SM Megamall ‐ Mega Trade Hall 3 from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 for their very first Christmas Comes Early Sale. With discounts up to 90 percent off, it’s definitely an early Holiday treat for the tech crazy fans out there.

The much‐anticipated sale includes several well‐known brands such as Fitbit, Belkin accessories, Coloud headphones, Marshall speakers, Crumpler bags and more.

The three‐day event has surprises in store for lucky buyers. A raffle promo is open to anyone with a minimum purchase of P3,000.00 while one lucky customer per day will get to

take home one of these coveted gadgets: iPad Mini4, iPhone 6s, or a Marshall Woburn amplifier.

There will also be lots of random giveaways during the sale.

Digital Walker carries the widest selection of consumer technology products that range from smartphones, tablets, cameras, cases, speakers, headphones, earphones and many more.

For more information, follow Digital Walker on Facebook or on Instagram and Twitter @digitalwalkerph.

TECHIE CHRISTMAS. Digital accessories provider Digital Walker offers its early

Yuletide sale that includes a wide selection of discounted consumer technology products.

ERICKA MACARAYAN

From timid lass to accomplished change maker FRESHMAN student Ericka Macarayan majoring in Industrial Engineering shyly boarded the bus that would take her and 39 other delegates to the first ARC Young Leaders Camp (ARCYLC) in Antipolo City. That was some five years ago, and she admits to being timid then as she wasn’t actually expecting to be selected to the camp.

But Ericka knew it was an opportunity she needed to grab and it turned out to be one of the biggest decisions in her life. The camp changed her.

Looking back, Ericka admits that the ARCYLC was the first youth seminar she attended. She confesses to having had no idea that in the camp, she’d be able to meet Filipino change makers like Efren Peñaflorida, Bam Aquino, Kesz Valdez and Emanuel Bagual. The ARCYLC, which aims to gather high-potential student achievers interested in developing their skills as responsible leaders, is one of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of ARC Refreshments Corporation (ARC), the licensed bottler of RC Cola International in the Philippines.

In the camp, the then 18-year old attended workshops and panel discus-

sions that helped hone her leadership skills further. “Through the camp, I gained insights on reality. It made me realize the people’s needs around me and my purpose in life. The experience also motivated me to pursue community leadership programs so I joined Emanuel Bagual’s M.Y. Rights (Mind Your Rights) to make sure the things I do will always be towards helping people,” shares Ericka.

Through the organization, Ericka was able to better understand the situation of street children. From then on, she vowed to make sure everything she does will be for the benefit of others.

Having joined many volunteer works, Ericka always believes she can do more. She applied and luckily became a delegate of various seminars held abroad such as in Korea, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. She was also able to publish a paper focusing on integrity in the ASEAN Online and was even asked to present that paper in Indonesia.

“I was able to accomplish all these because of the opportunity presented to me five years ago,” she said. “During the camp, I learned the values that

make ARC stand out. These values— good governance, respect, excellence, accountability, integrity, teamwork— have made me a better person and a woman for others.”

Ericka had just graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering at UST and is now keen on pursuing a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering at the National Taiwan University (NTU). Ericka says she had always wanted to study technological innovations to help improve the quality of the healthcare industry.

She dreams of being part of a team that can one day bridge the gap between Science and Engineering, develop new procedures and products in healthcare, solve clinical problems as well as design new systems.

“I’d like to use my background in engineering and combine it with biological systems to find new ways of treating patients,” she beams. When asked why she opted to study in Taiwan, she said that she had always wanted to pursue a post-graduate degree in a prestigious university like NTU, a world-class university that is now at the forefront of engineering

ARCYLC alumna Ericka Macarayan (right) with fellow change maker Emanuel Bagual

education. It offers exemplary curriculum and cutting-edge technology that Ericka believes could help enhance her knowledge in engineering.

But more than the technical side, the NTU curriculum also deals with application of engineering concepts in organizational and human aspects – things that Ericka is definitely very much interested to pursue.

After the graduate program, Ericka sees herself pursuing a doctorate degree and then working primarily with different government and private institutions in creating sustainable and efficient technological innovations. She is eyeing Europe or the USA for her doctorate degree.

Ericka pursues further studies not just to learn. She has always dreamt of establishing her own social enterprise — just like Rags-to-Riches (R2R) of Resse Ruiz, another inspiration she met at the ARCYLC. Again, it is her unfathomable wanting to help others that she wants to have her own social enterprise. And she prepares herself for that by attending seminars, reading

The ARC Young Leaders Camp helped Ericka (center) hone her leadership skills further

books, and gaining more knowledge on managing such organization.

“Always do more than what is expected of you,” and “Give back and pay it forward.”

If there’s one thing that she continually learns from her volunteer works and trips abroad, it is to give her best in everything she does, no matter how big or small. She also believes in the power of dreaming big because nothing is impossible as long as one perseveres for the things she wants in life. The ARCYLC has also served as her inspiration, allowing her to discover all the “WHY’s” in her life—the one thing that keeps her doing the things she does.

“It’s only through giving that we are able to receive more. Through ARCYLC, I was able to realize my responsibility to other people, especially the youth. Now, I want to give back, just like ARC did,” beams Ericka.

More than anything, the ARC Young Leaders Camp experience has taught her to give more than what is asked for and to pay it forward.

Aspiring Singaporean entrepreneurs shine at International Trade Challenge A TEAM of student entrepreneurs from Singapore has been crowned winners of the FedEx Express/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge (FedEx/JA ITC) Asia Pacific Finals in Hong Kong.

Challenged to come up with an idea for a travel security product or service for the UK, team Kung Fu Pandas – made up of Colin Chee and Tan Jie Ying – impressed the judges with their product “RobStop,” a convertible bag with slash-proof body panels made of stainless steel mesh that can help to thwart pickpockets and protect all important personal belongings while traveling.

In total, 48 students from eight AsiaPacific markets (Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) took part in this year’s contest.

“We came up with an idea that we thought would work and that we believed in, but some of the other team’s

proposals were really outstanding, so we didn’t expect to be the winners,” said Colin Chee and Tan Jie Ying. “Taking part in the contest has been a really eye-opening experience, and it’s made us realize that, with some planning, research and a good idea, it’s surprisingly easy to set up a business in real life.”

Evelyn Tsui and Tanya Tam of Team DOTS from Hong Kong took second place in the contest with their idea of “Secure Egg,” a compact portable device that helps elderly travelers in emergency situations by enabling them to connect to their families or even the police at the push of a button.

Team LOHAS, also from Hong Kong, came third. Team members Michelle Ng and Vanessa Kwang devised “KidSafe,” a backpack that tracks children’s whereabouts. Once the backpack leaves the “safety zone” set by parents, the parents receive an automatic alert.

“Modern technology makes international markets more accessible to

even the smallest business than ever before,” said Karen Reddington, president, FedEx Express Asia Pacific. “I’m delighted that, by supporting FedEx Express/Junior Achievement International Trade Challenge, we are helping to develop and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to recognize the opportunities for themselves. The program has grown considerably in both size and stature over the last 10 years, which is a testament of a huge success that FedEx is proud to be associated with.”

“It is remarkable that FedEx/JA ITC has now been running for 10 years and we are very proud that it has not only endured, but actually grown considerably,” said Vivian Lau, president, JA Asia Pacific. “Our goal for the program was always to inspire young people to think big in what they can achieve in the world of business, and to enable them by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills through challeng-

JA Asia Pacific President Vivian Lu (leftmost) and FedEx Express Asia Pacific President Karen Reddington (rightmost) with (second from left) third prize winners Vanessa Kwang and Michelle Ng from Hong Kong, first prize winners Colin Chee and Tan Jie Ying from Singapore, and second prize winners Tanya Tam and Evelyn Tsui from Hong Kong.

es that were as close to real life as possible. The feedback of previous years tells us that participants really benefited from the program, and we will work to ensure it remains equally valuable in the years to come.”

The FedEx/JA ITC program is jointly organized by FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and the world’s largest express transportation company,

and JA Asia Pacific, a member of JA Worldwide. It aims to inspire and educate high school students about global business and mold them into the next generation of entrepreneurs by challenging them to devise practical, workable business proposals.

For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/AsiaPacificITC.

D3

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Hello Kitty

‘Green Day’s American Idiot’

earns 10 citations

is coming to town

T

HIS year’s Yuletide celebration becomes extra special for kids as one of the world’s well-loved characters, Hello Kitty, comes to Manila. She’ll be spending the holidays in the Philippines and shall be inviting kids, families and fans of all ages to watch their show entitled Hello Kitty Live – Fashion & Friends.

Made possible by Royale Chimes Concerts and Events Inc. and Zen Tiger Live, Hello Kitty – Fashion & Friends will have a two-week run (total of 16 shows) at the Meralco Theater from Dec. 20 to Jan. 1, 2017. For the first time, everyone will be given the chance to physically enter the world of Hello Kitty as the interactive show take to the stage the adventures and the latest development in the continuing evolution of her persona.

Set in modern-day London, Hello Kitty is a young girl who is full of dreams and ambition for her future. But before she can get there, she is faced with a challenge ahead. Luckily, Hello Kitty is not alone and with the help of her twin sister Mimmy, bestfriend My Melody and

‘Hello Kitty Live - Fashion & Friends’ is a unique show for fans of all ages starring Hello Kitty, her family and other Sanrio characters

boyfriend Dear Daniel, she will take on this amazing opportunity that can change her life forever!

Also featured in the story are troublemaker Bad Badtz-Maru and the easy going Pom Pom Purin.

The story portrays values on friendship, respect, kindness, hard work, talent and a passion for creativity. Mom and Dad will definitely find this show as something that could educate their children aside from making them happy during the Christmas season.

Making Hello Kitty Live

more exciting are the fantastic fashion and costumes designed

by Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand Tokidoki. Adding fun to the show is the lively and pop soundtrack, which includes songs from Clean Bandit, Charli XCX, Kylie Minogue, Flo Rida, Echosmith and Bruno Mars, among others.

During its Manila run, the audience will also get a chance to have their photos taken with the cast after the show upon availing of the ‘meet and greet’ pass on a first come, first serve basis. For Citibank debit and

credit cardholders, you can get first access to tickets with a 15 percent discount until Oct.15.

After the pre-sale of Citibank, tickets will be available to the general public at all Ticketworld outlets (891-9999 or log on at www.ticketworld. com.ph).

Hello Kitty Live – Fashion & Friends is supported by Marco Polo Hotel, Ortigas (official residence of Hello Kitty and friends) and Warner Music Philippines. For more info, call (0906) 418-0786 or (0918) 4972121.

THE Philippine production of Green Day’s American Idiot led by Globe Live and 9 Works Theatrical is nominated in 10 categories in the 2016 Philstage Gawad Buhay midyear citations.

On its 9th year, Gawad Buhay is the only award giving body for the performing arts.

The high-octane musical is one of the top theatrical plays nominated in major categories including Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical; Outstanding Stage Direction for a Musical by Robbie Guevara; Outstanding Musical Direction

by Daniel Bartolome and Onyl Torres; Outstanding Choreography for a Play or Musical by PJ Rebullida; Outstanding Costume Design by Mickey Hirai; Outstanding Set Design by Mio Infante; Male Lead Performance in a Musical for Nel Gomez; Female Featured Performance in a Musical for Yannah Laurel and Ela Lisondra; and the only citation for Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Musical.

“We are proud of these recognitions for our first Globe LIVE production together with 9 Works Theatrical. This further validates Globe LIVE’s vision of being able to mount productions at par with world-class shows.

This is only the beginning for Globe LIVE, and Filipinos can expect even better acts and live events at our one-of-a-kind outdoor venue, “says Globe Stores and Retail Transformation Head Joe Caliro.

Held in July at the new Globe Iconic store entertainment zone, Green Day’s American Idiot ran for nine successful shows with its unique open-air setup, making it the biggest and only outdoor theatrical play in the Philippines.

The musical’s story is a journey

of three young men as they face the harsh realities of the world around them – a symbolic post-9/11 America – where they must face the challenges of love, teen pregnancy, war, drugs, and loss. The musical brought the incredibly biting and riveting music of Green Day that features a surprisingly profound understanding of the pains and frustrations of today’s youth.

Gawad Buhay’s independent panel of critics, scholars, artists and theater enthusiasts concluded the midyear citations based on various artistic and technical aspects of the nominated productions. Productions and performances are honored in a quarterly basis, all by members of the jury that watched all productions of Philstage membercompanies for the entire year.

The prestigious organization reviewed more than 10 acts for the first half of the year including popular local plays such as 3 Stars and a Sun and Almost Maine.

Philstage is an organization of professional performing arts companies in the Philippines.

Its members include 9 Works Theatrical, Actor’s Actors Inc., Ballet Manila, Ballet Philippines, Full House Theater Company (Resorts World Manila), Gantimpala Theater Foundation, PETA, Philippine Ballet Theatre, Philippine Opera Company, Repertory Philippines, Red Turnip Theater, Stages, Tanghalang Pilipino and Trumpets.

This coming holiday season, Globe Live and 9 Works Theatrical is set to deliver their next musical A Christmas Carol, which will be about the timeless story of true meaning of giving.

Follow @enjoyGlobe on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/globeph for the latest updates.

The cast of ‘Green Day’s American Idiot,’ a musical about three young men facing the harsh reality of the world

Ex Urbandub vocalist Gabby Alipe goes solo

FRONTMAN NO MORE. Gabby Alipe releases his new single and prepares for the launch of his first solo album

FORMER lead band vocalist of Urbandub Gabby Alipe had gone solo with the release of his debut single “Visions” on Sept. 23. It is the first track to be released from his upcoming first solo EP entitled A New Strain this October.

“Visions” is all about having a positive mindset in life.

“That no matter what struggles you may face, as long as you have a clear vision of your goals, no matter the hindrance or road blocks, you have the potential and can achieve anything in life and everything will fall into place, all in good time,” Alipe said.

After Urbandub decided to go their separate ways in 2015, MCA Music signed Alipe as a solo artist.

“I’ve had a very good working relationship with MCA, even while Urbandub was still signed to their

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Sunday, September 25, 2016

ACROSS 1 Toweled off 6 Goody-goody 11 Backpack toter 16 South America’s Gran — 21 Dwight opponent 22 Ward off 23 Pismire 24 Daisy Mae, finally 25 Old English courts 26 Waugh and Baldwin 27 Swiftly 28 Bathysphere designer 29 Pat on 30 “— the Barbarian” 32 Late summer flower 34 Great Lake canals 36 Fall behind 37 Cassini of fashion 39 Zipping through 41 Ship of 1492 43 Illinois town 45 Glutted 47 Fix a manuscript 49 Beginning (hyph.)

51 In sync 54 Wet behind the ears 55 A twist of — 56 “Great” dog 60 Characteristics 61 Before anything else 62 Answer back 64 Ms. Zadora 65 El — (Peru volcano) 66 Sediment 67 Pageant winner 68 Harder to find 70 Fortas or Vigoda 71 Ms. Lombard 73 Wall Street optimists 74 Canal city 75 Foam-ball brand 77 Stripe 78 Healing plants 79 Confused 80 Sit in on a class 82 Macrame units 83 Pine exudation 84 Infest 87 Rumormonger 88 Heavy volume 89 View from an oasis 93 Mischievous one 94 Chalet features 95 Kudos 97 Glamorous wrap 98 PC chip maker 99 Fruits or birds 100 Top choices (hyph.)

101 Lifeguard beats 103 She loved Lennon 104 Morose 106 Icy precip 107 Pinpoint

108 Vine valley 110 Bulrush or cattail 111 Ms. Moreno et al.

112 Obsessed 113 “Me and Bobby —” 115 Lunar phenomena 116 Ms. Streep of films 117 Long for 120 Groovy 122 A moon of Jupiter 124 Actor — Ray 128 So far 129 Mind reading 131 Light bender 133 Nervous 135 Early U-235 regulator 136 Tape over 138 Chocolate bean 140 The blahs 142 Novelist — Zola 144 Neighbor of Betelgeuse 145 Borg of tennis 146 “Just Shoot Me” lead 147 Major artery 148 Tarot readers 149 Locations 150 Astaire sister 151 Godzilla foe DOWN 1 Ralph — Emerson 2 Without a flaw 3 Annapolis frosh 4 Have a bite 5 Kind of jockey 6 Frisked about 7 Straightened the rug 8 Philadelphia sch.

9 Solstice mo.

10 Bride in “Lohengrin” 11 Kind of pad 12 Hover ominously 13 Retail giant 14 Old trade grp.

15 66 and I-80 16 Bionic being 17 Ground breaker 18 “The Jungle Book” wolf 19 Cigar type 20 Rolex rival 31 Singers Hall & — 33 Used up money 35 Exterior 38 Astronaut’s garb (hyph.)

40 Dragon slayer 42 Rock tumbler stones 44 Hunk’s pride 46 Prank 48 Make rumpled 50 British prep school 51 Hindu’s true self 52 Large family 53 Stun gun 54 Traffic sign 55 Has a hunch

57 58 59 61 62 63 66 67 69 72 73 74 76 78 79 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 90 91 92 94 95

Chaucer’s month Reunion attendee Dog- — (shabby) Weather system Calls the shots Fountain in Rome Down the — (lost) Sales rep’s goal Put — — to (scotch) Kareem — -Jabbar Ink stains Bouquet holders Silly comedy Archer and Rice Pay by mail Europe-Asia divider “Home Alone” kid Facetious tribute Easy-to-find constellation Pat’s cohost Legally impede Wobbled, as a rocket Takes a crack at WWII craft (hyph.)

Nick of “Cape Fear” Maneuvered slowly Soprano — Farrell Gratify

96 99 100 102 105 106 107 109 111 112 114 115 116 117 118 119 121 123 125 126 127 130 132 134 137 139 141 143

Powerful adhesive “Fish Magic” painter Low voice Florida town Strongly advises Round buildings Istanbul moolah Fifi’s boyfriend Foot soldier’s food Rich and loamy Fish baskets Zimbabwe capital Not automatic Batik artists Spine-tingling Phase Orlando attraction “Tootsie” actress Clan leader River-mouth deposit Canoe anagram Toxic wastes, briefly Flat-topped hill Wine label info Sun. homily Chili pepper Jarrett of NASCAR Cattle call

label. It’s always great to work with people who are very encouraging and give the artist free reign to express themselves and their art. I couldn’t be more grateful to still be signed to a label that treats you like family.” Alipe said.

Gabby Alipe also shared how he started singing from being part of a band and now as a solo artist.

“Never really was a singer. Never thought I’d end up being a front man for a band. I always saw myself as a songwriter and guitar player. My journey as a musician started in high school. I joined different bands as a guitar player. While in college, I was a working student, and began playing in bands in the local Cebu music scene, as a bass player. When my former band didn’t want to write original material, I decided to form Urbandub

with my friend Jed Honrado, which led me to sing, only because nobody knew who we were or was interested joining our group as our vocalist. I became a singer by accident. 16 years later, after Urbandub’s run, I’m embarking on a new challenge as a solo artist.” Alipe said.

“Visions” is now available through digital downloads via Spinnr and iTunes and streaming also at Spinnr, Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer.

For bookings and inquiries, contact MCA Music Artist Management at +639209682991 or email mcabookings@umusic.com.

For more updates and information on Gabby Alipe, log on to the following pages: FacebookMCA Music (Universal Music Philippines), Instagram- mca_music, Twitter- @mcamusic.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

D4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Showbiz

Encantadia continues

its strong ratings performance

T

HE grand return of Encantadia, GMA Network’s popular ISAH V. RED and well-loved telefantasya, has been consistently receiving good reviews. It also continues to increase its TV ratings not only in viewer-rich Urban Luzon but also across National Urban Philippines, according to data from the more widely recognized industry ratings supplier Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

Based on people data for NUTAM (National Urban Television Audience Measurement), Encantadia scored a rating of 10.8 percent from Sept. 5 to 9, followed by an even stronger average of 11.2 percent from Sept.

12 to 16 (based on overnight ratings).

Meanwhile, in Urban Luzon, the hit telefantasya posted a rating of 12.4 percent from Sept. 5 to 9, and a rating of 12.8 percent in the following week.

Moreover, Encantadia took the no.1 spot in the overall list of top 10 programs in Urban Luzon for the period of Aug. 15 to Sept.

16 with a people rating of 12.5 percent. Completing the list of Kapuso programs in the top 10 are

Richards as Lakan, a Mulawin who will have a big impact in the lives of the Sang’gres and the Kingdom of Lireo.

Catch the new and exciting developments in Encantadia airing weeknights after 24 Oras on GMA Telebabad. ****

‘Usapang Real Love’ is first interactive rom-com on TV

GMA Network continues its commitment to provide innovative programs to its loyal Kapuso viewers as it launches the first-ever interactive rom-com series Usapang Real Love (URL) today right after GMA Blockbusters.

URL is an extraordinary mini-series that bridges the power of social media and romantic comedies in one game-changing television endeavor.

It features one-of-akind love stories headlined by

Descendants of the Sun, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, Magpakailanman, Pepito Manaloto, and 24 Oras.

Now as the retelling of the series ended and the sequel begins, fans will surely be in for a treat every night.

Viewers are already being introduced to the new character named Paopao (played by Yuan Francisco), the little boy who became the keeper of the fifth jewel of Encantadia and the special participation of Alden

Kapuso love teams, which will be told in four weekly episodes.

URL engages netizens through the video challenges posted on the UsapangRealLove Facebook page.

The audience is invited to submit video entries by sending it as a message on Facebook, uploading it on Instagram or tweeting it on Twitter and tagging @ UsapangRealLove with the hashtag #MagpaFANsin. The chosen video will be featured on TV. Kapuso teen stars Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali headline the first story entitled “Dream Date”.

Joining Miguel and Bianca in this episode are Jak Roberto, Yayo Agila, Lloyd Samartino, Jade Lopez, Ces Quesada, and Gene Padilla.

Meanwhile, its second story features the first team up of Andre Paras and Mikee Quintos in “Perfect Fit.” Joining them are William Lorenzo, Mickey Ferriols, Arra San Agustin, Jay Arcilla, Vince Gamad, and Bern Josep “Bekimon” Persia.

Catch these delightful love stories in Usapang Real Love 4:45 p.m., Sundays on GMA. Get the latest updates of Usapang Real Love from the official website of GMA Network www.gmanetwork. com and official Facebook page of GMA Network www.facebook.com/ GMANetwork

‘Technology helps me become a better mom’—Regine Velasquez-Alcasid MOMS are generally perceived as superwomen. Aside from being the driving force of the household, many moms also play different roles in the work place and in the community, a task that often brings her intermittent time away from her caboodle.

But how does a “super mom” make sure that even in her absence, she has peace of mind knowing that her family is safe and secure where they are?

Technology is the answer. The modern-day mom can be more efficient in juggling multiple roles while focusing on the most important job of all: raising the family..

Just ask Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, also better known as the doting mother of four-yearold Nathaniel James, more fondly known as Nate. Regine exemplifies the modern-day Filipino mom who strikes the balance between her hectic work schedule and her role as a family woman. And she attests that she has peace and comfort while wearing both hats.

How does she do it? “Technology helps me become a better mom,” she revealed.

“Specifically, I get a lot of help from

PLDT HOME.” Regine, who is also an ambassador for the brand, added, “They have a suite of products and services that are designed to give moms like me peace of mind through the power of technology. So far, super helpful talaga siya for me especially when I have to be away for work.”

As the leader in digital innovations for the home, PLDT HOME designs its products to provide peace of mind for parents like Regine so they can effectively multi-task while ensuring the safety of their families. Among these products are the Fam Cam and the Smart Watch from PLDT HOME. The Fam Cam is a home monitoring system which allows parents to check on their children remotely, and even communicate with them. The Smart Watch, a personal favorite of Nate, is a multi-functional gadget, which kids can use to take photos, play music, and even record voice messages.

According to Regine, they use the Smart Watch to easily talk to Nate because he can directly answer calls using his watch when it is connected to their Telpad or a smart phone. The Alcasids also use it as a WiFi remote for the Telpad or smart phone cameras

so it’s easier to take selfies or groufies wherever they are.

Regine also shared how the watch helps teach Nate to be more responsible and aware of his surroundings. For instance, Nate simply has to click on a button and the connected device will make a sound so it can be located. The Smart Watch will also vibrate if Nate is more than 10 meters away from the paired device so if the Telpad or smart phone is with Mommy Regine or Daddy Ogie, it will remind him to go back to them. “Nate really loves his Smart Watch,” Regine said. “As a parent, this is a gadget na approve sa akin kasi I can really see that it helps us bond better as a family.”

Following his mother’s footsteps, Nate was recently launched as the new ambassador for the Smart Watch.

“We’re very excited to have Nate on board,” PLDT VP and Home Marketing Director Gary Dujali said. “He represents the kids of his generation – perennially curious, smart and dynamic.

Together with his mom, we look forward to reaching to more families and educating them about the ways technology can help bring them closer.”

Regine said, “Siyempre, I’m super proud of my baby boy! PLDT HOME

SMART PARENT. Regine Velasquez exemplifies the modern Filipino mom who strikes the balance between her busy schedule and her role as mother to four-year-old Nate

is close to our hearts and as a family, we are proof that technology can really help make our lives safer and easier.”

PLDT HOME subscribers who upgrade to a Telpad plan automatically get a free IMbps HOME DSL speed boost, and for only an additional

P199 per month, they can already top up with a Smart Watch. The watch is also available to existing Telpad subscribers. Simply order online and it will be delivered for free. For more information, visitpldthome.com/ telpad/smartwatch