Manila Standard - 2016 October 06 - Thursday

VOL. XXX • NO. 236 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

US WARNS DUTERTE

‘No free pass’ on cusswords

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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HE US State Department said that no head of state would get a free pass on “unhelpful rhetoric” but said Philippine-American ties remain strong, even after President Rodrigo Duterte told US President Barack Obama to go to hell.

“I do not want to get into a titfor-tat with President Duterte,” State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner said at a briefing.

“I would simply say that we have a very strong bilateral relationship

Palace man finds a way to ‘decode’ Digong READ MY LIPS. A defiant President Rodrigo Duterte, in this recent file photo, continues unbridled in his series of tirades against Washington,

sparked by US criticism of increasing deaths linked to his unflagging anti-illegal drugs campaign. He has said he could get weapons from Russia and China, seen by analysts as being at odds with the warm ties between the two allies. John Paolo Bencito

Gordon softens on De Lima despite walkout SENATOR Leila de Lima will be spared a Senate complaint for unethical behavior despite her walkout Monday night during the justice committee’s hearing on summary killings, committee chairman Richard Gordon said Wednesday.

“Senator De Lima has been under severe stress. I have never wanted to add to her stress,” Gordon said.

“I consider her a friend. We’re

not enemies. If she wants to talk to me about it, she can talk to me very civilly, in a very cool and collective manner.”

Gordon made the statement even as Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said the justice committee should not be reduced to a game of “my witness is better than your witness.”

He said the committee’s hearings had revealed many important points--particularly the state of

TALKING UP THE PESO

law enforcement agencies.

“We learned about the delays in the issuances of search warrants,” Angara said.

“Director General [Ronald] Dela Rosa said that the time a judge issues a search warrant greatly varies--ranging from three days to several months,” he said. He said the delays in the issuance of search warrants were hampering not only the police’s anti-drug initiatives but their operations in general.

Gordon said he will reach out to De Lima.

“I will talk to her, I will even go see her.”

He said his wife, former Mayor Kate Gordon, had called him and said De Lima was “very emotional.”

“Kate and I talk about her every night. We pity her because we went through the same ordeal, remember? We went through it,” Gordon said.

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By John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz A PALACE official on Wednesday said that ‘creative imagination’ must be used to decode President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-American tirades and urged the public not to take his remarks literally.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said when the President said he could cut ties with the United States over its criticism of his war on drugs, the threat should be taken in context.

“I think what is important is for us to understand the words ‘cut ties.’ He said, ‘it’s a possibility Next page

Graft, torture raps vs Leila set aside

By Rio N. Araja THE Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday rejected the filing of a graft and torture complaint against Senator Leila de Lima because the complainant, convicted kidnapper Jaybee Sebastian and

his wife Roxanne, the complainants, failed to appear.

Sebastian’s lawyer, Eduardo Arriba, went to the Ombudsman central office in Quezon City to file the complaint against De Lima.

However, the docket section refused to accept the documents

and advised Arriba to come back Thursday since “the complainant needs to [personally] appear so that an oath may be administered.”

Sebastian accused the former Justice secretary of gross inexcusable negligence and violation of Next page

7 CA justices among SC post aspirants July

Aug.

Sept.

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Robredo urges caution as Du30 talk tells on peso

By Julito G. Rada and Rio N. Araja VICE President Leni Robredo said Wednesday that she and President Rodrigo Duterte must be careful, because everything they say “is a matter of policy.”

Should the President seek her advice, she said, she would suggest he tone down his statements.

“We have personal thoughts that need not be mentioned in public because of our positions,” she said. “[It’s] the same with the President.”

She said it would help if government officials think before they speak, adding that the President’s tough statements

against the international community could drive away potential donors and contributors to the government’s anti-poverty programs.

“We expect so much help coming from them (foreign donors) and each incident could strain our relations with them. Just like the others, I am one with everyone also wishing the situation does not worsen,” she said.

The President’s tough talk could also hurt the peso, which could fall to more than 50 to a US dollar, Fitch Ratings’ BMI Research said in a report released Wednesday.

BMI said the peso’s weakness last month was due to the Next page

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FOURTEEN aspirants are vying for one of two vacancies in the Supreme Court this December, and it’s the post to be vacated by Associate Justice Jose Perez who will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Dec. 14.

Associate Justice Arturo Brion

will also reach his mandatory retirement age of 70 on Dec. 29.

The Judicial and Bar Council said Wednesday it had received 14 applicants and nominees for Perez’s post, and that most of them were magistrates of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.

The candidates include CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr., Apolinario Bruselas Jr., Rosmari Carandang, Stephen Cruz, Japar Dimaampao and Noel Tijam, and Sandiganbayan Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Alex Quiros.

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and a very strong people-to-people relationship.”

Asked about Duterte’s plan to move closer to China and Russia, Toner said good relations with the Next page

ZIKA VIRUS

264 SUSPECTED CASES NATIONWIDE

15 CONFIRMED CASES

12

ILOILO

1

CEBU

1

MUNTINLUPA CITY

1

ANTIPOLO CITY Source: DoH data from Jan.1 to Oct. 4, 2016

Zika virus sickens 2 in Metro THE Health department said Wednesday the second case of Zika infection in Metro Manila is a resident of Antipolo City, which was previously not in the list of areas with confirmed cases of Zika.

That case is among the three new cases of local Zika virus infection.

“We now have a total of 15 confirmed cases of Zika virus out of 264 suspected cases reported nationwide from January Next page

Newsman new envoy to China MALACAÑANG on Wednesday submitted to the Commission on Appointments nominations for former journalist Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana as the country’s Ambassador to China and current Foreign Affairs spokesperson Asec.

Charles Jose as Ambassador to Malaysia.

Sta. Romana, Duterte’s political appointee, is an acknowledged China expert and veteran

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

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TRANSPORT EYESORE. Thousands of train commuters make a landscape blot as they wait for an MRT coach at the North Avenue station in Quezon City Wednesday following two interruptions of its operation due to technical problems while lawmakers at the House of Representatives questioned budget proposals of Metro Manila Development Authority aimed at addressing traffic troubles. Manny Palmero

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Dela Rosa cites gains in drug war

By Francsico Tuyay POLICE Chief Ronaldo dela Rosa said Wednesday they were winning the war on illegal drugs and vowed to sustain the momentum against the drug syndicates.

He said most Filipinos had started feeling safe in their surroundings and workplaces after the first 100 days of the Duterte administration.

“Somehow, we have achieved the objective to a certain degree of providing the people a safe community despite the criticisms,” Dela Rosa said.

But the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino and its allies expressed dismay over what they said was the administration’s failure to end labor contractualization.

BMP head Leody de Guzman said not a single corporate entity or employment agency was closed or reprimanded for failing to obey labor laws.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, meanwhile, said Wednesday there was a 12-percent increase in employment during the first 100 days of the Duterte administration.

But he said the increase could be attributed partly to the previous administration.

So far, 1,381 drug personalities have been killed while 22,712 others were arrested since Duterte assumed office in July and declared war on illegal drugs.

At least 13 policemen and three soldiers were killed while 39 policemen and eight soldiers were wounded in the fight against illegal drugs.

Statistics also showed that 733,635 people, including 52,940 drug pushers and 680,695 drug users, had surrendered to authorities since the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa said despite criticisms that the Duterte administration was resorting to summary killings in his anti-drug campaign, the war on illegal drugs will continue. With Sandy Araneta

Robredo...

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“deteriorating investor sentiment” after Duterte criticized the US for speaking out against his bloody war on drugs.

The peso’s weakest level this year was recorded on Sept. 30 at 48.50 to a dollar. This was a seven-year low since September 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

“In the event that these fears translate into something more tangible leading to prolonged political uncertainty, we believe that a further slide of the peso beyond 50 to US dollar could be likely,” BMI said.

It further said that a selloff in the Chinese yuan and an expected interest rates hike by the US Federal Reserve before the year ends could trigger “broad-based emerging currency weakness” that will affect the peso.

The peso on Wednesday closed at 48.285, P0.04 lower than 48.245 a day ago.

Offering a contrasting view, ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said the peso would not depreciate too much this year because of the country’s solid macroeconomic fundamentals.

But Cuyegkeng revised his previous peso exchange rate forecast per dollar by yearend to around 47.50 from 46.60, taking into consideration the volatility in the financial markets.

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He said he will talk to the members of his committee because an ethics complaint is serious.

“That’s serious but you really have to watch out,” Gordon said.

“As a senator, she must remember that she must be of mild temperament and that she must be composed.”

On Tuesday, Gordon said De Lima could be censured, suspended or kicked out of the Senate once the majority of the members of the committee voted on matter, but he was not inclined to initiate a complaint.

De Lima said she walked out of the hearing because she did not want to be crucified as the senators were deliberately ganging up on her. This was after Gordon accused her of not revealing that her witness Edgar Matobato had been charged with kidnapping for ransom. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Edca valid pact, Panelo says A

By Sandy Araneta

MALACAÑANG official said on Wednesday the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which President Rodrigo Duterte has placed under review, is “valid.”

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said documents show that former President Benigno Aquino III authorized former defense secretary Voltaire Gazmin to sign the agreement on behalf

of the Philippines.

“Initially the impression was it was never signed and the former secretary of Defense was not authorized. But the documents show that Gazmin was authorized

by President Aquino. There was a

memorandum of ratification of the document, so it is a valid agreement,” Panelo told Wednesday’s forum “Kapihan sa Manila Bay, at Café Adriatico, Manila.”

“Duterte, according to the agreement, need not continue implementing the Edca. There is a provision there which says so. The agreement also says that either party can terminate the agreement. Either the President does not implement the agreement or he terminates it. The government is bound by it, but the agreement also says it can terminate it. And it can also not

implement it if it wants,” he said.

Panelo said the underlying reason for any agreement is whether it helps the country’s interest or not. If it can be seen that it no longer adds or supplements Philippine interests, the President is bound by the Constitution to not implement it or to abrogate it, he said.

He also said the President is subjecting the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty to a review “either to expand them, enhance them, or remove provisions onerous to the interests of the government.”

Zika...

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THANK YOU, MA’AM. A student of Araullo High School in Manila offers flowers to her favorite teacher during the celebration of Teachers’ Day on Thursday. N. Araga

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Philippines were not an eitheror proposition.

“We value our relations with the Philippines. They’re a strong ally, a strong partner in the region. Again, we’ve had decades of strong relations with the Philippines. We’ve had each other’s backs and we want to continue that cooperation going forward. Public comments, rhetoric aside, we believe that the foundation still exists for that relationship to continue and strengthen,” he said.

Toner added that Duterte may “still be forming his policies” since he’s only been in office for a few months.

“I’m not going to speak to the course he may take. All I can speak to is the current state of our relations, and government to government, people to people, they remain strong,” he said.

Palace...

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that he could, that he might.’ But, let’s try to use our creative imagination. We shouldn’t take his statements literally,” Abella said.

“You’ve seen the way he speaks, right? So in other words, let’s understand the context on how he said things,” he added.

In his speech before the Jewish Association of the Philippines in Makati City Tuesday night, Duterte said he would rather go to China or Russia, affirming his previous pronouncements of “crossing the Rubicon” and forging alliances with the two known US rivals, shortly after telling US President Barack Obama to “go to hell” and for the European Union to choose “purgatory” instead.

“Eventually in my time I would break up with America. I would rather go to Russia or to China.

Even though we don’t agree with the ideology, they have respect for the people,” Duterte said.

Duterte’s new tirades against the United States were in sharp contrast to his statements last September, where he said the

Toner said, however, that the US would continue speaking out against human rights abuses.

“Whenever we see or hear of credible allegations of human rights abuses, we’re never going to give that a pass,” Toner said.

Duterte on Tuesday refused to back down, despite suggestions from his allies that he be more circumspect.

To make his point, he launched into new tirades against critics of his bloody anti-illegal drugs campaign, telling Obama to “go to hell” and the European Union “to choose purgatory” because hell was already full.

“They’re telling me to stop making noises. No, I cannot stop.

I’ll lose the momentum,” Duterte said during the Sulong Pilipinas Local Governance dialogues at Makati City.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said the President was making statements that could hurt the country.

“These are unnecessary comments, [like] that go to hell [re-

mark]. For what? But the impact on the other party, that’s too serious,” Lacson said.

Senator Ralph Recto said Duterte’s recent tirade against Obama will again reflect poorly on the country.

“Unfortunately, we may all pay the price for our President’s offensive statements,” Recto said in a text message.

Senator Richard Gordon, who earlier suggested that Duterte stop talking about his plan to kill drug pushers, said he was just trying to help the President and the country become successful.

“Let us pray for him for greater leadership. No question from us about his war on drugs, just the implementation and the noise,” Gordon said.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a critic of Duterte, said some military officers have expressed concern over the President’s threats to cut ties with the United States, but said by and large, the Armed Forces were supportive

Philippines is not about to cut its security ties with Washington or with other allies.

“We are not going to cut our umbilical cord with the countries we are allied with,” Duterte said in remarks at the 48th anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing in Villamor Air Base.

“We are not cutting our alliances–military [alliances] as well.

But certainly, we will follow an independent posture and independent foreign policy,” he added.

In one of his early morning press briefings shortly after winning the presidency, Duterte earlier advised Manila-based reporters to check whether he was making “preposterous” statements or just plain serious.

Duterte went on to say that he is bipolar–a claim that, given his own warning, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Asked if the President’s statements Tuesday were official policy, Abella said Duterte had not given any definite pronouncement yet.

“He said he might. It’s not a definite yes, it’s not a definite no. The breaking up may not necessarily be a breaking up of alliances.

It may, but he is not saying that,”

Abella said.

Abella also denied that the country was leaning towards China and Russia, America’s rivals.

“I don’t think we are leaning.

It’s not a question of leaning more towards Russia and China. It just that he has expanded his options,” he said.

“We’re not only leaning towards US. We’re also looking if we can talk to Russia and China, those who could help us. In fact, he’s creating relationship with the Asean.”

Also in the same press briefing, Abella addressed fears from Vice President Leni Robredo that Duterte’s harsh words might affect international support for the government’s anti-poverty initiatives.

“From the President’s perspective, it’s not so much the aid that we’re after; it is that we want to be received with dignity and not be subservient,” he added.

Abella also said that Duterte is a “one-man revolution” changing the country.

But House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez on Wednesday said the seeming “lack of cohesion” of Duterte’s Cabinet members could hurt the country’s growth.

7 CA...

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Also seeking the post are regional trial court Judges Rowena Apao-Adlawan and Reynaldo Daway, Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta, chief state counsel Ricardo Paras, and Centro Escolar University law school vice dean Rita Linda Ventura-Jimeno.

Under the rules, names of the applicants and nominees will be published to invite public support or objections. They will then undergo psychological tests and public interviews before the JBC comes up with a shortlist to be submitted to the President.

Perez holds the distinction of being the high court’s first ‘‘homegrown’’ justice, having spent all the years of his professional life in the Supreme Court, where he started as a legal assistant in the Office of the Reporter in 1971 before being picked as one of its associate justices on Dec. 26, 2009.

Perez graduated in the top 10 of his class in both his political science and law studies at the University of the Philippines. His academic achievements gained him entry to the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Gamma Mu Honor Societies as well as the Order of the Purple Feather, the UP Law Honor Society.

Rey E. Requejo

1 to October 4, 2016,” Health Secretary Paulyn Jean RosellUbial said.

The Zika disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.

People with Zika virus disease can have symptoms including mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache.

These symptoms normally last for two to seven days.

Pregnant women infected with the virus are in danger of delivering children with microcephaly, a condition characterized by an abnormal smallness of the head, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development.

A 22-year-old woman from Cebu, who is 19 weeks pregnant with her first child, is among the 12 of the President and loyal to the chain of command.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday that the President might have been fed with wrong information about the state of the Philippines’ joint military exercises and defense agreements with the United States, amid his pronouncements that he would cut off war games and other military ties with the United States.

“After we assess this, we will be able to give the President good information so that he may also assess well...because it seems he is misinformed right now...perhaps, he has not been informed that there is a benefit to it,” Lorenzana said in an ANC television interview.

“Perhaps, the President just needs correct information so that his pronouncements are according to the facts,” he added.

To appease China, Duterte declared an end to the joint war games that the Philippines jointly conducts with its longest strategic defense

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Anti-Torture Law for transferring him to Building 14 of the National Bilibid Prison’s maximum security compound amid threats to his life.

Arriba blamed De Lima over the attempt to kill Sebastian inside the national penitentiary on Sept. 28, saying Sebastian earned the wrath of the other inmates at the maximum security when De Lima claimed he was a government informant against the illegal drug trade.

He invoked the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, citing public officials who cause undue injury to a party in the discharge of his function through evident bad faith and gross inexcusable negligence should be penalized.

De Lima also committed violation of the Anti-Torture Act on Sebastian when she placed him in isolation from October 2014 to January 2016 after he was transferred to the national penitentiary’s Building 14, the complaint said.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Wednesday main-

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journalist who lived and worked in China for more than three decades.

He is the former Beijing bureau chief for ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company. He has covered China as a producer and reporter for ABC News from 1989 until his retirement in 2010.

As a foreign journalist, he

When asked if they will be renegotiated, Panelo said “yes, if the President so desires.”

“Any agreement for that matter has its options. There is always a clause there that says you can either revise it, terminate it, or expand it. My only concern on Monday was to see whether the documents were signed by authority of the President. And they were. I have given him my legal opinion and so it is now in his hands,” the Palace counsel said.

“Maybe Duterte will decide on it soon,” said Panelo.

Zika cases that have been detected across the country so far this year.

Ubial said out of the 15 confirmed Zika cases, 12 were from Iloilo, one from Cebu, one from Muntinlupa City and one from Antipolo City.

She said all those infected acquired the virus through mosquito bites but did not have a history of travel to an affected country a month before the onset of the illness.

She said the Zika cases were confirmed by the tests conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

She asked the public to destroy mosquito-breeding places, use insect repellent and wear condoms during sex.

“This is a global concern.

While we do not want people to panic, we should not be complacent,” Ubial said. Macon Ramos-Araneta

ally, the United States—saying that the scheduled military exercises by October would be the last.

“You are scheduled to hold war games again, which China does not want. I would serve notice to you now that this will be the last military exercise. Jointly, Philippines-US, the last one,” Duterte said.

Lorenzana, who met last week with US Defense chief Ashton Carter, said he would meet with Armed Forces of the Philippines officials to assess these exercises and defense pacts with the US. US officials said the President’s threat to cancel the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement has not “translated into actions” and said the alliance between the two countries remains stable.

“In as much as our alliance with the Philippines is concerned, it’s very much solid and stable and secure and on track,” Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and John Paolo Bencito

tained that De Lima and her alleged lover Ronnie Dayan really have sex video.

Aguirre cited the affidavit submitted by De Lima’s former aide Joenel Sanchez who affirmed that he and other aides of De Lima saw two videos showing the former DOJ chief and Dayan in sexual acts.

“In his affidavit, Joenel said they saw two videos from the phone of Dayan,” Aguirre said, in an interview.

Sanchez narrated how he and the other security aides of De Lima played with Dayan’s mobile phone and discovered an intimate video.

“Joenel said he saw the videos.

Dayan left his cell phone that’s why they fiddled with it and saw two sex videos,” Aguirre said.

Aguirre said with Sanchez’s affidavit, there was no longer need to play the video before the House panel investigating the proliferation of drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison.

He added that Sanchez’s statement was sufficient to establish the intimate relationship between De Lima and Dayan.

Aguirre also said he never said he would present the video before the House hearing.

witnessed the economic rise of China and its transformation from a Third World country into a major global power.

Jose previously served as Consul General in the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai where he stayed from 2011 to 2014 and was assigned to key Asia posts like Beijing, Chongqing, and Shanghai in China, as well as Bangkok and Singapore.

Also nominated to key ambassadorial posts were: Former Makati Rep. Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Antonio Lagdameo, the United Kingdom; James Lao, Brunei Darussalam; Jose Laurel, Japan; Philippe Lhuillier, Spain; Uriel Norman Garibay, Kenya; Alan Timbayan, Qatar; and Shirley Vicario, Nigeria. John Paolo Bencito

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House passes P3.35t budget

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved the Palace’s proposed P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said the approval of the budget on second reading “is one big step towards the realization of President Rodrigo Duterte’s agenda for a true and meaningful change.”

“This budget will fuel our quest for reforms that would uplift the lives of our people and fight the many evils plaguing our nation such as drugs, crime and corruption,” Nograles said.

The Lower House also formed a small committee headed by Nograles where each of the 294 House members are required to submit their individual amendments until Oct. 10.

House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas earlier said they would pass the budget measure on third and final reading before Congress adjourns session on Oct. 19 for a Halloween break.

Once passed on third reading, the House committee on appropriations will then print copies of the budget measure. This will be then transmitted to the Senate, after which lawmakers and senators will hold bicameral conference committee meetings to reconcile differences in their respective versions.

Nograles said the 2017 national budget is expected to be signed by President Duterte as soon as the House and the Senate are able to pass and ratify the budget measure when Congress resumes session on Nov. 7.

Both the House and the Senate are expected to hold bicameral conference committee meetings when they resume sessions in November. They are expected to submit the budget measure to the President for signature by December.

Nograles maintained the proposed national budget for 2017 is a pro-poor budget as it “expands the productive capacities of the national economy to ensure that the poor are enabled to engage in the processes of and benefit from the fruits of growth, to truly bring nation building to the consciousness and reality of every Filipino.”

SENATORIAL BREAK. Senators Richard Gordon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva, Edgardo Angara, Joseph Victor Ejercito and Loren Legarda take a break during the Senate plenary session on Wednesday. Lino Santos

Cusi confirmation delayed over claim

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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HE powerful Commission on Appointments on Wednesday deferred the confirmation of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi after Senator Panfilo Lacson raised doubts on his assertion the entire country now has electricity.

“We will suspend deliberations in the ad interim appointment of Alfonso Cusi as secretary of Energy until next hearing,” announced Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon who presided over the proceeding.

Drilon said Cusi’s confirmation was put on hold until he can submit the documents being sought by Lacson.

During the confirmation hearing, Lacson confronted Cusi about the government’s

National Electrification program and asked for a note data on the same program in sitios within the more than 42,000 barangays.

Based on their standard, Cusi said all sitios already have electricity, but this was countered by Lacson, who insisted there were still places in the far north without electricity.

“I do not fully agree with you... check the data. It’s in your bundle... don’t say there is 100-percent electricity in the

entire Philippines,” he said.

He said it is important that even sitios in far-flung areas should have electricity in line with the electrification program of the administration.

In an earlier interview, Lacson told reporters he can invoke Section 20 of the CA Rules to block Cusi confirmation, but still gave him until the hearing next Wednesday to produce the documents.

Sought for comment after failing to get the CA nod in his first appearance in his confirmation hearings, Cusi said: “That’s ok. That’s fine, that is a healthy discussion at least his questions were right.”

He promised to provide Lacson next week with the data on electrification and the working figure on how much government had lost to the power purchase agreements with independent power producers.

The hearing lasted two

hours, with the committee taking a break for 30 minutes and some senators discussing Lacson’s questions.

The hearing started with San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora saying the House contingent of the CA energy committee had no questions for Cusi and was ready to endorse his nomination in plenary.

But senators in the committee had questions for Cusi, starting with Lacson who asked him about the barangay electrification program and the PPA. Drilon described the hearing as “energized” since all the House contingent were present and only two senators were absent.

Meanwhile, the CA confirmed the appointments and nominations of 22 military officers.

No member of the CA’s committee on national defense opposed when a motion was made to recommend the appointments of the military officers.

Same-sex unions Solons back jobs for Reds bill reaches straits

By Maricel V. Cruz

THE minority bloc in the House of Representatives on Wednesday turned the tables on a proposal to legalize same sex-union in predominantly Catholic Philippines.

The group’s members, Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, Deputy Minority Leader and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza as well as Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin said they signed a resolution in Congress opposing the proposed measure which shall be initiated

by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

“We are against it unanimously,” Atienza said, saying the marriage is a sacred union between man and woman.

But the opposition lawmakers were quick to say they will fight for the rights of any individual who belong to the so-called lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

Suarez said legalizing same sex union would run contrary to the natural law that marriage is a union between man and woman.

“The problem here is the children would be affected in the event the husband and wife would separate and marry a person with their respective same gender and they would live under one roof,” Suarez, speaking in Filipino, told reporters. Maricel V. Cruz

LAWMAKERS Wednesday backed the plan of the Duterte administration to provide decent jobs and livelihood assistance to members of New People’s Army who may rejoin mainstream society once a peace agreement is forged between the rebel returnees and the government.

Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez welcomed efforts undertaken by government peace panel chairman and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to talk to the National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines for initially considering members of NPA to work

for the government.

“We welcome the sincerity of President Duterte to talk peace and the statement of Secretary Bello to immediately provide jobs and livelihood assistance to our brothers and sisters in the communist movement,” said Romualdez, wife of former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, both president of the Philippine Constitution Association and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.

She said the rebel returnees deserve to be given the necessary assistance from the government to have them reintegrated to mainstream society and enable them to start a new life.

gerous drugs and 105 of those were recorded from July 1 to date,” Manzanilla said in a press conference.

“Also, the conduct of summary hearing procedure is already on the process in order to determine the extent of administrative liability which may lead to their dismissal from service,” he said.

Manzanila said while the PNP Internal Affairs Office is conducting its investigation, the policemen will be relieved from their post and assigned to holding units.

Cops seize drugs from Sino, Russian AIRPORT and Customs authorities arrested three foreigners caught in possession of 27 kilos of prohibited substance, suspected to be cocaine and shabu, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Wednesday afternoon.

The suspects were Chinese nationals Chan Kawai and Pau Homanevan and Russian Kirdyushkin Yuri, who arrived at the Naia Terminal 3 on board Emirates Air Flight EK332 around 4:30 p.m. from Rio Grande, Brazil via Dubai.

Customs policemen found cocaine in powder form while the liquid form are still the subject of verification from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

About 7.4 kilograms of suspected cocaine in powder form and 2.5 kilos of liquid cocaine was found in Yuri’s luggage, while nine kilos of powder shabu were found hidden inside the luggage of the two Hong Kong nationals.

Officials said the latest apprehension was the biggest haul of cocaine so far and the second interception this month at the airport.

Customs Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement Group Arnel Alcaraz ordered Naia -Enforcement and Security Service chief Reggie Tuason to strictly monitor all the luggage of arriving passengers to prevent the entry of any illegal substance into the country.

Last Sunday, a 22-year-old Filipino was arrested at the Naia terminal 3 for smuggling 4.8 kilograms of cocaine found in his two suitcases after he arrived from Brazil via Dubai on the same Emirates Air flight.

But the suspect Jonjon Villamin claimed he didn’t know his two checked-in luggage contained the prohibited substance, saying he was only asked to bring the luggage to the Philippines by a Brazilian friend he met in Manila two years ago.

Joel E. Zurbano

Court resets LWUA case

Only 105 of 150,000 positive in drug tests THE Philippine National Police confirmed on Thursday that 105 policemen were found positive for drug use, according to the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management.

Senior Supt. Fausto Manzanila Jr. said the 105 cops were among the 150,160 personnel from various police offices and stations nationwide who underwent random drug testing from January to October 4.

“Of these, 161 were confirmed positive for the presence of dan-

IN BRIEF

HOUSE GROUFIE. Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (2nd left) thanks former Health secretary Janette Garin for giving 500 wheelchairs to indigents in Leyte. The ladies were accompanined by TUCP Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza (left) and PBA Rep. Jericho Nograles. Ver Noveno

THE Sandigabayan on Wednesday postponed the arraignment of Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, his brother, Valenzuela City Rep. Weslie Gatchalian and Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay over the Local Water Utilities Administration’s acquisition of a thrift bank in 2009.

The anti-graft court reset the arraignment to Oct. 20 as it has yet to resolve at least two pending motions filed by the lawmakers’ co-accused in the case. The legislators were originally scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 15 but the court reset it to Oct. 5 to resolve pending motions.

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Mentors

O

N WEDNESDAY, as in any other year on Teachers’ Day, school children presented their tutors with glowing tributes. They talked about their appreciation for the big and small things their teachers have done for them.

They brought to focus sacrifices made.

In the Philippines, however, there are many other ways to commemorate the day for teachers.

We can talk about the still-poor state of pay and benefits for teachers amid challenging working conditions and. As a result, it

is less attractive as a career choice than it was generations ago.

We can also mention how in the appointment and promotion of teachers in various schools, other considerations aside from merit and compe-

tence prevail. These have damning consequences on the quality of the management of educational institutions.

We can emphasize how guidance from a teacher has helped a student get by with personal or career decisions and draw from, perhaps, our individual experiences.

Then again, not all teachers are found in classrooms donning uniforms and computing grades at the end of the term.

Stretching the definition, anybody who comes into contact with an impressionable younger person and who has the chance to affect that person’s thinking could well be called a teacher.

And so there are teachers in schools, in homes, on traditional and social media, and in government offices. If children see in these mentors, for instance, that it is all right to preach one thing and do another, that it is ac-

ceptable to look at just the end without consideration for the means, or that it is the norm to shoot down questions and criticism however valid they may be, then there is no doubt they would embrace these practices later on.

It will not be because they are bad individuals.

It will be because they do not know any better.

We can only hope that he or she may inspire the young to at least strive to know better.

DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

No need for negotiations

must stop talking. He only needs to cut out the gratuitous swearing and the unnecessary profanity.

I believe that Duterte only needs to realize that his mouth is actually keeping him from getting things done. And because he is a man who is obsessed with getting results, whether it concerns his war on drugs or stamping out corruption, I think all the criticism about his gutter language will make him realize how unproductive all of the cursing has been.

As De La Salle political scientist Antonio Contreras explained, Duterte has already made himself perfectly and foul-mouthedly clear. And by repeatedly engaging in “incendiary rhetoric,” he runs the risk of alienating even the people who support him.

WE ARE all familiar with the line “less talk, less mistakes; more talk, more mistakes.”

This in gist was what administration ally Senator Dick Gordon was trying to tell President Duterte. Senator Gordon is not the only one who wants the President to be more circumspect with his utterances. The whole nation does. The problem that this is causing is totally unnecessary.

The President, however, keeps on plodding along. He seems totally aware of the repercussions of what he is doing, yet he continues to use the same expletives and profane language. As he said, he has not trained to be a statesman and would rather leave that to others.

So, why does he continue doing it? Does he have a hidden purpose? Maybe he is doing it to provoke an aggressive response from the United States so he will have a reason to really break from it and embrace China. His tilt towards our giant neighbor is too obvious that this might be the reason why his Special Envoy to China, former President Fidel Ramos canceled a planned trip there. It might be that FVR sees no point anymore. After all, President Duterte is already doing the job himself and there is no more need for negotiations.

What happens to the decision issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration now? Will the Philippines, for which the decision was made, set it aside thereby giving China a great diplomatic victory? I have no personal knowledge as to why our President is so antagonistic towards the United States but one friend related to me an incident when President Duterte was mayor of Davao. It seems that an American treasure hunter caused an explosion in his hotel room that caused the amputation of one of his legs.

While still recuperating in a hospital, a private jet landed in Davao and spirited the man away, thereby avoiding investigation. This, I was told, got Duterte fuming mad. It seemed to him that the Americans can do anything they want in this country.

Turn to A5

Turn to A5

The first 100 days (1) LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES (First of two parts) MAY you live in interesting times, the English say, referencing a supposed Chinese curse. The Chinese don’t really have such a curse, although they do have a saying that it is better to be a dog in times of peace than to be a human in a chaotic period.

I don’t know of anyone who would trade places with a dog, in whatever time. But there seem to be more and more people lately who think we’ve had a surfeit of tumult in the past three months and who may be desperately seeking the relative (and dog-like) peace of old.

Tomorrow, President Rodrigo Duterte completes his first hundred days in office.

As House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez quipped recently, it feels like a year has passed already.

And it has been, by universal agreement, a tumultuous, action-packed three months for the Philippines and Duterte, the man from Davao who practically no one outside his city really knew and who took over after six years of the somnambulist Aquino regime. As Duterte completes the first of many imaginary milestones he must pass in his six-year term, it’s now time to ask: Has change really come, as noisily as you please? Or is the racket merely the sound of Duterte’s voice, cursing and threatening to kill once again?

Any serious observer of the Duterte administration must

acknowledge that the new government is certainly a lot more than the President’s daily invective-laced speeches or the ever-growing body count

The cursing and swearing must end, but the war on drugs must continue and even intensify. (approaching 3,000, by most estimates) of drug pushers and users killed either by the police or by drug syndicates in the ongoing “war.” They

should figure in the equation, but they are by no means the only measure of Duterte’s performance as president.

Most media outlets would prefer to dwell on Duterte’s potty mouth and his war on drugs, but that would be like judging Noynoy Aquino by his smoking and his sloganeering.

The result would be an incomplete and inaccurate picture.

But let’s jump right into those “problem areas” right away, okay? First, let’s talk about Duterte’s foul mouth and what needs to be done about it.

Duterte’s mouth has gotten him into all sorts of trouble, that much is true. It has gotten so bad that even his allies have been pleading with him to stop using the foul language that he seems all too comfortable with or to stop making speeches altogether.

But I don’t think Duterte

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Opinion TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Is Faeldon on the way out?

SANTA Banana, whenever embassies here. They know President Duterte opens what’s happening. his foul mouth, incurring *** negative reactions here and Because of space conabroad, we see his officials straints in my column yeslike Ernesto Abella, Martin terday, I was not able to fully Andanar, and even Salvador explain how the religious sect Panelo and Perfecto Yasay Iglesia ni Cristo, represented stumbling all over the place by one of its top leaders, has defending him. been lobbying for its four I don’t blame them. They proteges to key positions in have to earn their pay. But the bureau. when these lapdogs blame Supposedly, it’s payback media for misinterpreting time. The Iglesia supported the President’s words of tak- the Duterte-Bongbong taning them out of context, or dem in the May 9, 2016 eleccall journalists irresponsible tions. enemies of democracy who But, the real reason, I am should be punished with the told by Customs oldtimers, full force of the law, I draw is that there is now demoralithe line. zation at the BoC because of I am chairman emeritus of what’s been happening since the Manila Overseas Press Nicanor Faeldon took over.

Club and a lifetime member Faeldon has imported some of the National Press Club. I 40 co-plotters to join him in fully agree with the National an attempt to clean up the Union of Journalists of the graft-ridden agency.

Philippines that “threatenMy sources said that as a ing journalists when their result of the presence of Faelreportage is disagreeable don’s imported outsiders to or erroneous is criminal, is help him clean up Customs, helping spread these threats, longtime employees of the especially if any harm should bureau are being threatened befall the subjects of such op- or intimated. position.”

In the first place, PresiThe threats made by Du- dent Duterte’s appointment terte’s lackeys have spread of Faeldon was wrong. Faelall over social media. His don does not know how the supporters have threatened bureau works, especially its bodily harm on journalists, rules and regulations. like Karen Lema and Manuel He has to depend on advisMogato, for “malicious” re- ers who may have their own portage against the President. agendas.When I was at the J o u r Philippines nalists, as Herald, I messengers covered of fact, Customs simply reand I know Long-time port whatthat newever comes employees of comers must out of the the Bureau of undergo President’s six months mouth. If Customs are said of trainjour nalists to be running ing before com mit they can m i s t a k e s , circles around the be familiar we should former mutineer. with how be told so the agency that we works. can correct In the ou r s elve s . meantime, But when smugglers we are accused of malicious and corrupt Customs personreporting and threatened nel run circles around the with bodily harm, that is an- new appointee. Finance Secother thing. retary Sonny Dominguez, I We will not stop reporting am told, is not happy either on facts as we see them. The with what’s happening under threats are part of the job.

Faeldon.

The President should really This is why the Iglesia is just talk less. taking advantage of the con*** fusion and demoralization at President Duterte’s eco- the bureau to push for the apnomic team composed of pointment of its four proteges.

Finance Secretary Sonny *** Dominguez, National EcoThe Senate Committee on nomic and Development Au- Justice, now under Senator thority director general Er- Richard Gordon, should end nesto Pernia, and Trade and the probe on extrajudicial Industry Secretary Ramon killings. It’s becoming farLopez, among others, will be cical—a total waste of time! leaving soon for the United Worse, it’s the taxpayers who States to attend the World foot the bill.

Bank and International MonFor one thing, what has etary Fund meetings. They the Senate investigation prowill also have a dialogue with duced? Nothing, except for American businessmen and the opportunity for some media, notably New York senators for grandstanding.

Times and Washington Post, I refer to Alan Peter Cayin an effort to explain the eco- etano, who is always quick nomic agenda of the Duterte to defend the President. My administration. gulay, he is no longer a senaI consider this timely in tor, who is supposed to be inthe wake of so many negative dependent and objective. He reports about the President’s has become a lapdog! cursing. I have been told that Then, there’s Antonio Trilthe same economic team may lanes, who has become an ally also talk to the European Un- of Senator Leila de Lima in an ion after the President told attempt to the two to pin down the EU to “go to purgatory.” the President on the issue of Business leaders of the Phil- the Davao Death Squad. But ippine Chamber of Commerce their witness, Edgar Matobato, and Industry must keep their has been proven to be a false traps shut. They claim that Du- witness with all his inconsistterte’s foul mouth is not spook- encies on the DDS. It was ening foreign investors. It is. tertaining to listen to him, but The fact that efforts are no solid proof has been heard. made by the administration’s If Justice Secretary Vieconomic team to conduct taliano Aguirre truly has the damage control shows that proof against De Lima, sue foreign investors are already her. Only then can we judge having second thoughts about whether she is guilty or not. the Philippines. My gulay, The Senate hearings make businessmen overseas also for good entertainment and read reports. They have their nothing else.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

A5

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The Executive branch: A quick check MINORITY REPORT DANILO SUAREZ THE House of Representatives wrapped up its plenary budget deliberations for the 2017 budget. While this budget is passed under the Duterte administration, we should all remember that the per-agency preparation was done under the previous administration. Nevertheless, this initial budget by the new dispensation can offer us a glimpse of the paradigm shift in priorities.

True to President Duterte’s election promise that he will eradicate drugs and criminality, the Department of Interior and Local Government was given an increase of P150.05 billion, with the Philippine National Police getting P110.4

billion to supplement their crime-suppression activities.

Complementing this peaceand-order budget in the civilian sector is the P147.762- billion budget for Defense.

The infrastructure budget was increased to P860 billion.

We all recall the lack in infrastructure from the past administration. In terms of sectoral allocation, 40 percent of the national budget—or P 1.345 trillion—is for social services, which includes the budget for education that the Constitution tells us should be given the highest budget. Almost 30 percent is dedicated to economic services which includes the Department of Agriculture. The rest of the pie goes to general public services (20 percent) and debt service and interest payments (10 percent).

While we are pleased that there appears to be financial

support across the board to all our government agencies, our experience with the previous administration makes us wary of making concrete statements on the thrust of the government based merely on budget allocations. This administration puts money where it’s needed. The challenge now is in proper and efficient spending.

The President is hands-on with his approach towards achieving peace and order.

This is understandable, given his 22 years as Davao City mayor. Now, he heads not just a city. He is the chief executive, the one responsible for the Cabinet, their programs and budget that has been subject of our deliberations for the past two months. The deliberations on the budget impressed upon me the lack of cohesion in the official family. For example, the President said that there

is no silver bullet that would solve traffic immediately, but the improvement of the traffic condition would depend on the speculative plans of the DOTr. In fact, the minority has submitted a resolution to remove the window of the number coding scheme because this automatically takes 20 percent of vehicles off the road everyday.

However, this is not being given much attention and no concrete and immediate actions are being done about the issue.

The President’s micro management style would be useful in assuring that the money Congress has given his government will be spent properly on relevant projects that will be implemented and completed. It must be said that any failure on the part of his Cabinet would ultimately be a poor reflection on his administrative capacity as chief executive.

Colombia needs a Plan B for peace Bloomberg editorial TO WIDESPREAD dismay, Colombians voted on Sunday to reject an agreement that might have ended Latin America’s longest-running armed conflict—a decades-long insurgency that has taken more than 220,000 lives, displaced more than 10 percent of the country’s people, and inflicted enormous economic damage.

The upset underlines the risks of government by referendum—as if further proof of those hazards were needed.

The important questions for Colombia now are these: What went wrong, and what happens next?

Many Colombians apparently felt that the deal struck

by President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC rebels was too generous to the insurgents. Rather than punishing the widely detested group, the proposed agreement guaranteed it political representation.

Such concessions when con-

No need...

From A4 I could not confirm whether the story is true or not. But it appears that the animosity started way back. In spite of the President’s rhetoric, however, the US continues to issue statements to the effect that US-Philippine relationship is ironclad. The ongoing war games will not be the last after all. This is because in planning these war games, one does not only plan for one but also the next one. It is my understanding that the next game which will be next year is already the subject of planning from both sides.

What we should watch out is at what stage the rhetoric of the President starts to bite into the relationship. The President’s men cannot keep on contradicting him and issuing clarificatory statements. On the US side, sooner or later, the State Department and the White House will also run out of statements

The first...

From A4 “The president has already made his point [and] the world has taken notice. If he keeps repeating his tirades [he will not only] mess up our international alliances, [there is also] the possibility that his local support will take a hit when people get tired of his antics,” Contreras wrote. “This is not just about Duterte. This is also about us, and there are many like me who would like him to succeed. And honestly, his ‘go to hell’ and ‘putang ina’ are no longer cute.”

I agree. And Duterte, if he knows what’s good for the en-

flicts are wound up are always hard to swallow, but are often the lesser evil—as in this case.

The alternative to coming to terms with the rebels was not victory, but more years of violence. Colombia’s army has been capturing and killing FARC revolutionaries for half a century, yet the war has ground on. Despite some recent gains, a military end to the conflict was not in sight. Setting aside 10 seats out of 272 in Colombia’s parliament for two terms was an affordable price to pay for peace.

And it’s unclear, in fact, that most Colombians disagree. The turnout for the referendum was low—roughly two-thirds of the electorate stayed home—and the margin of victory for the No side was narrow. Hurricane Matthew didn’t help, depressing turnout in areas that had earlier helped Santos win reelection. Official complacency also played a part: Pre-referendum signing ceremonies and hoopla featur-

ing the likes of Bono,Ringo Starr, and numerous heads of state may have led Colombians to think their votes didn’t matter.

The result is hard to read for another reason. The underlying politics is complicated—no simple matter of elite opinion clashing against populist anger, or of FARC’s victims on one side against the blithely unaffected on the other. The No voters included wealthy landowners, led by ex-President Alvaro Uribe, whose families and fortunes have suffered in the fighting, and whose economic interests were threatened by the agreement’s provisions.

At the same time, in some of the areas that had suffered the worst FARC massacres, the rural poor voted overwhelmingly for peace.

The fact remains, an agreement reached after four years of talks, with the widespread support of the international community, is now in limbo.

Santos has reached out to lead-

ers of the No campaign and ordered his negotiators back to Cuba, which hosted the talks and helped to broker the deal.

For now, the FARC’s leaders have pledged to maintain a ceasefire. There’s hope the agreement can be modified and revived.

If so, the government would be wise to seek a way for the legislature to consider it without another popular vote. With or without another referendum, though, any revised agreement will need to be sold more effectively to a country paying closer attention.

Colombia has many other problems to address, from aburgeoning cocaine trade to a yawning budget deficit.

Economic inequality, a forbidding geography, and the vast gap between those who live in the cities and the countryside all cry out for attention. Without a peace agreement, healing those divisions will be not just difficult but impossible.

to explain President Duterte’s tirades. The US side has lately been referring to the favorable rating of the US by Filipinos —about 85 percent. It is a rating that is even higher than the way Americans view their own country. To the US, this probably is a huge anchor and rightly so if they are not dealing with a President named Duterte.

At what point, will one side blink? I do not think President Duterte will because he probably has made up his mind to chart a tectonic foreign policy shift. Whether the whole nation realizes it or not, we are witnessing a monumental event in our foreign relations that could change our historical relationship with the country that gave us our democratic traditions. *** Senator Leila de Lima has been increasingly showing erratic behavior in the Senate hearing. There could be two explanations here. One is that she is under severe emotional

stress due to the psychological warfare being wage by the administration or that she is vying for a FAMAS award for her acting abilities because she has something to hide.

As an old goat in the police service, I am betting on the latter. As a lawyer, she knows pretty well that whoever loses his or her cool first loses the ballgame. In other words, her emotional outbursts are just for show. They are not genuine. Putting aside the issue of vigilante killings in the antidrug campaign which should be condemned and properly investigated by the Police, the Duterte administration has barely scratched the surface when it comes to unmasking corrupt government officials who have lined their pockets with money coming from the drug trade.

Uncover this and more than half the battle is won. Killing the small traders and users will not eradicate the problem.

On the contrary, finding those

high government officials who protect the drug lords in exchange for money will drastically reduce the problem.

The President said he will be coming out with another batch of names. Hopefully, this time, the names would be vetted properly to avoid another round of apologies from the President. The key to this as I was reliably informed can be found in the National Penitentiary which was the center of the drug trade in the last administration.

Although the President already said that he would not talk to criminals, he probably should reconsider and listen to what Jaybee Sebastian, for instance, has to say. Who knows, he might hit the mother lode of information.

In the last public statement of the President, he said that criminality had gone down by 50 percent. Does this now mean that the state of lawlessness and emergency can now be lifted?

tire country, must agree, eventually, as well. *** As for Duterte’s war on drugs, I think it should continue and even gain momentum simply because no recent government has gone after this social menace with the intensity and focus that the new president has. For the first time, I think the drug syndicates are feeling the pushback from the authorities, something that I’ve have to go back to Martial Law years for if I wanted to find a comparison.

Some may not agree with Duterte’s methods in fighting the illegal rings. But I think most Filipinos will accept

that there will be drug users and pushers who must die, if only to save our children and grandchildren from their clutches.

For far too long, previous governments have only paid lip service to stamping out the problem of illegal drugs. Duterte’s focus on the national drug problem—as well as on the problems of criminality and corruption—is just him delivering on a campaign promise, a promise that got him elected, after all.

My first objection to those who have a problem with Duterte’s anti-drug drive is that they cannot offer up proof that the government is actually kill-

ing its own people. The second has to do with the fact that only the drug syndicates and Duterte’s political enemies, together with their allies in some media, are the ones protesting the war on drugs; to the ordinary Filipino under constant threat by the drug menace, the campaign, while often bloody, is actually a welcome development.

And so the cursing and swearing must end, but the war on drugs must continue and even intensify. We’ll consider what other things Duterte has done—and hasn’t done—in the past 100 days in tomorrow’s piece.

(Concluded tomorrow)

A6

News

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

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1m sign plea seeking FM burial at Libingan L

AOAG CITY—More than one million signatures calling for the burial of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has been prepared for submission to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Before the presentation of signatures, organizers said a simple mass will be held in front of the SC to intercede for the former president’s burial at the Heroes’ Cemetery.

The first half of the campaign was launched online a month ago through a Change.org petition, “#ilibing na si President Ferdinand Marcos sa Libingan ng mga Bayani”.

On-ground efforts began on the same day, but were mostly revital-

ized over the past two weeks.

“The signatures gathered signify that there are numerous Filipinos who are in favor of the burial of the late president at the LNMB,” explained lawyer Hyacinth Rafael-Antonio, who received the signatures from the supporters as lawyer of the Marcos family.

James Caesar Ventura of the Sirib Ilokano Kabataan Association said, “the signature campaign is to reiterate that there’s massive public backing and sup-

port for President Duterte’s decision to give a hero’s burial to the former president and World War II veteran.”

The campaign was spearheaded in parts of Metro Manila by groups such as the Buong Bayan Magkaisa Youth Movement and Friends of Imelda R. Marcos 24k.

FIRM 24k member Hazel Kaye Mendoza said many wanted to sign the petition in recognition of Marcos’ good projects for the country.

Meanwhile, Harrold Toledana, president of the BBM Youth Movement, said they want Marcos to be buried at the Heroes’ Cemetery so the country could start its healing process.

He led the group’s campaign around the Mall of Asia and other

parts of Pasay City.

In Quezon City, the United Marcos Loyalists in the Philippines and Kilusang Kaisipang Diwang Pilipino carried out the gathering of signatures.

UMLP president Vince Avena noted that it is about time for the country to move on. “This cannot happen as long as we let the past dictate our life as a country today,” he said.

Explaining that the KKDP does not identify as a “loyalist group,” its secretary general Robert dela Cerna said they nonetheless believe in Marcos’ accomplishments.

“Though we do not ask that the past be forgotten… who are we to withhold from him the kind of burial he deserves?” Avena added.

Pro-burial netizens also contin-

ue to share the online petition link on social networking sites.

“Intelligent, industrious, caring, affectionate, a good ruler,” Facebook user Sunsun Maday-a wrote of Marcos.

Twitter user @chilishers of Baguio City used the “#ilibingNa” hashtag to say, “For a peaceful and progressive Philippines, we should all unite, forgive, love one another, and not [be] divisive.”

“It is heartening to know that many have not forgotten my father,” said Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos.

The petition mirrors the support given to former senator Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. in his vice presidential bid in the last election, with the bulk of signatures coming from the Marcoses’ bailiwick in the Ilocos region. PNA

Leyte mayor arrested ALBUERA, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Jr. is now detained in a sub-provincial jail after his arrest on Wednesday for violating laws against illegal drugs and firearms.

Leyte police provincial director Sr. Supt. Franco Simborio took Espinosa from the Albuera police station where he had been under protective custody to a sub-provincial jail in Baybay City at 10:50 a.m.

Judge Carlos Arguelles of the Regional Trial Court Branch 14 in Baybay City issued the warrant of arrest on Tuesday or a day after the provincial prosecutor’s office recommended the filing of cases against the mayor and his son Kerwin, the alleged top drug lord in Eastern Visayas.

The Espinosas are facing charges for violations of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. Arguelles said the court only issued the warrant of arrest on Wednesday since it took time for the provincial prosecutor’s office to complete preliminary investigation.

The prosecutor found on Tuesday “probable cause” for the filing of criminal complaints against the Espinosas.

“We should not be faulted, the court only acts on cases that are filed. The court has nothing to do with the delay if there’s any because the case was only filed on Monday afternoon. Yesterday I conducted personal examination on the resolution of the prosecution including the evidence and I was satisfied that a probable cause exists against the accused,” he told reporters.

“The provincial prosecution follows its own rules,” Arguelles added.

The judge vowed that there would be no special treatment for the mayor, asserting the “superiority of the court’s power to detain him in an ordinary penal institution.” PNA

THERE will be no street diggings and other road repairs for two months starting November to ease traffic in the metropolis during the holiday season.

Last Tuesday, Metro Manila Development Authority officerin-charge Thomas Orbos met with representatives of utility companies and discussed about the government’s traffic plan during the “ber month” period until early January next year.

MMDA and the Department of Transportation officials are expecting an influx of consumers in malls, restaurants and entertainment venues will crowd the roads during the holiday season.

Orbos said road diggings must be temporarily stopped because they tend to cause traffic snarls on major and secondary roads especially with the expected increase in the volume of vehicles and pedestrians during Christmas rush.

Parañaque defers plate coding plan PARAÑAQUE City has suspended the reimplementation of its number coding scheme in order to include “window hours” when the scheme will not be enforced.

Mayor Pablo Olivarez said the reimposition of the unified vehicle volume reduction program, or the number coding scheme, on all roads of the city was postponed to next month after residents complained that the ordinance did not provide the so-called window hours.

Instead of Oct. 1, the scheme will be fully implemented effective Nov. 3 or after the observance of All Souls’ Day without any dry run because of the worsening traffic.

Under the amended traffic code, he said, the scheme will be implemented from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. On national and city roads covered by the number coding scheme include: Dr. A Santos Avenue or popularly known as Sucat Ave.; Quirino Avenue; Ninoy Aquino Ave., road leading to Ninoy Aquino International Airport; Doña Soledad Road; East Service Road; and West Service Road.

Like in the most cities in Metro Manila, vehicles with license plate ending 1 and 2 are prohibited to travel in the city on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays, 5 and 6 on Wednesdays, 7 and 8 on Thursdays and 9 and 0 on Fridays, Jimenez said.

He explained that other national road within the city shall be covered by the new ordinance though its implementation will be made by the Metro Manila Development Authority. Joel Zurbano

Raps filed vs 2 CDO officials

SENATE CENTENNIAL. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III (left) joins his father, former Senator Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel Jr. (right) Juan Ponce Enrile and Franklin Drilon, all of whom served as Senate presidents at different times, in marking the centenary of Senate of the Philippines. Joseph Vidal/PRIB

Ubial clarifies legal use of marijuana

By Macon Ramos-Araneta AFTER actor Mark Anthony Fernandez claimed that he used marijuana for medical reasons, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial confirmed on Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration does grant exemptions for “compassionate use” of marijuana.

However, Ubial said the FDA has not received any application for a special permit although the law does allow marijuana use for medical purposes.

“We are telling groups that want to make it or use it for medical purposes, they can ask for exemptions from the FDA if they are going to use marijuana

for medical purposes,” Ubial said in a television interview.

Ubial said she is aware that some doctors might recommend marijuana to their patients, but “there is a process [and] an exemption must be secured from the FDA.” Based on her experience, Ubial said she knows of no incident where a marijuana use permit was requested from the FDA, an attached agency of the DOH. She said the bills filed in the Senate and House of Representatives to legalize cannabis are still in limbo, but groups or individuals who want to use marijuana for medicinal purposes may apply for a special permit

from the FDA. Ubial issued the statements after actor Fernandez, who was arrested in possession of one kilogram of marijuana in Pampanga, claimed he uses marijuana to prevent cancer.

The actor insisted he is using marijuana because he does not want to be afflicted with cancer like his father, the late Rudy Fernandez, also an actor.

But Ubial declined to comment on Fernandez’ claim, deferring to the Dangerous Drugs Board to make an assessment.

“I leave it up to the DBB because we have a law on certain amount [that can be legally used],” she said, adding that there are 400 different chemi-

cals in the raw form of marijuana and only one of them has health benefits, cannabidiol (CBD).

In other countries, she said they are able to separate the substances and produce marijuana leaves that have higher CBD content.

Marijuana use has been decriminalized in some countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, albeit the possession and sale still come with restrictions.

Colombia, for example, sets the limit at 22 grams for personal use and 20 plants for cultivation. Certain states in the US also recently approved the medical use of marijuana.

MM diggings stop starting November

By Joel E. Zurbano

IN BRIEF

Violators will be fined and penalized heavily under Section 3 of the MMDA Amended Regulation No. 11- 002 series of 2011.

Under MMDA amended regulation, the agency imposes fines of at least P1,250 and not more than P25,000 or imprisonment of not less than 30 days but not more than six months of jail term or both for violators.

To make traffic flow more manageable, the MMDA has coordinated with the Department of Public Works and Highways and the other concerned groups to ensure that the roadways are free from obstructions and serviceable to vehicles and pedestrians during the holiday break.

The agency clarified that not all government infrastructure projects are covered by the order as some that are classified as urgent in nature were granted exemptions under MMDA Ordinance No. 2, Series of 1991.

The MMDA reiterated its call that no government agency can le-

gally conduct road diggings without securing the necessary permits from the MMDA and local government units where the project is being constructed.

Orbos earlier urged Metro Manila mayors to consider putting up night markets in their respective areas to help sidewalk vendors do their business during the holiday season.

He came up with the idea as the agency resumed its campaign clearing sidewalk and major roads of illegal vendors and other obstruction which contribute to the worsening traffic condition in Metro Manila, especially with the onset of the pick buying months.

Orbos said the MMDA is willing to assist the LGUs in setting up night markets and provide proper places for merchants to keep them off the sidewalks.

The MMDA is also supporting the proposal of Senator Grace Poe to have an early Christmas break for students to ease traffic in the metropolis.

EVEN MORE DRUGS. Quezon City police chief Sr. Supt.

Guillermo Eleazar inspects some of the ecstasy party drugs that were seized from a Filipina and her Dutch boyfriend in Bacoor City with other cohorts. Ey Acasio

THE Office of the Ombudsman indicted on Wednesday Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno and city public services officer II Glenn Bañez for graft.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales ordered the filing of information for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, or Republic Act 3019, before the Sandiganbayan for unlawfully entering into an agreement with Ajinomoto Philippines Corp. on the company’s tax liabilities.

In 2013, Bañez issued a notice of assessment to Ajinomoto covering its 2006 to 2012 tax deficiency of P2.9 million.

Last 2014, the city entered into a settlement agreement with waiver, release and quitclaim accepting the company’s offer of P300,000 as full settlement of its local business tax deficiency.

The agreement was entered into in exchange for Ajinomoto’s withdrawal of the civil case it filed before the Regional Trial Court of Misamis Oriental.

Airport acts vs pilferage MANILA International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal on Wednesday ordered his men to strictly implement the “no pocket” policy at the baggage breakdown and build-up areas of the airport to prevent pilferage allegedly perpetrated by baggage handlers.

In a report submitted to Monreal, MIAA assistant general for security Allen Capuyan said during a recent inspection, his office discovered at least 20 individuals, employed by airline service providers, violated the policy while some other ramp personnel were found to have manually stitched their uniform pockets.

The policy was first implemented in November 2008 in a bid to deter baggage theft incidents.

Monreal also appealed to airline operators to consider imposing a policy on aircraft cleaners prohibiting them from wearing jewelry when boarding an aircraft as a parallel effort from their end.

“This will further promote the virtue of honesty as it will encourage aircraft cleaners to turn over valuable items, especially jewelry, that they find inside the aircraft while cleaning,” he said.

Monreal said that the Airport Authority will continuously carry out random inspections at the baggage breakdown and buildup areas to penalize those caught not adhering to the policy. He also sought the cooperation of partner airlines to police their ranks and help MIAA in ridding the ramp areas of scalawags.

Joel E. Zurbano

Sports

A7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sharapova targets April return after reduced ban L AUSANNE —Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova hailed the reduction of her twoyear doping ban on Tuesday as one of the “happiest days” of her life, immediately targeting a return to action in April 2017.

The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cut to 15 months Sharapova’s ban imposed by an independent tribunal appointed by the International Tennis Federation for testing positive for meldonium.

“I’ve gone from one of the toughest days of my career last March, when I learned about my suspension, to now, one of my happiest days, as I found out I can return to tennis in April,” Sharapova said.

The 29-year-old tested positive

for the banned medication meldonium during January’s Australian Open, throwing her glittering career—35 WTA singles titles and more than $36 million in career earnings—into serious jeopardy.

In its verdict, the CAS “found that Ms Sharapova committed an anti-doping rule violation and that while it was with ‘no significant fault’, she bore some degree of fault, for which a sanction of 15 months is appropriate”.

Sharapova openly admitted she had been taking meldonium for 10 years to help treat illnesses, a heart issue and a magnesium deficiency.

She said it had entirely escaped her attention that the product had been added to the banned substance list published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on January 1, just before the Australian Open.

“I have taken responsibility from the very beginning for not knowing that the over-the-counter supplement I had been taking for the last 10 years was no longer allowed,” Sharapova said in her facebook post Tuesday.

“But I also learned how much better other Federations were at notifying their athletes of the rule change, especially in Eastern Eu-

rope, where Mildronate (the trade name of meldonium) is commonly taken by millions of people.”

Sharapova added: “Now that this process is over, I hope the ITF and other relevant tennis anti-doping authorities will study what these other Federations did, so that no other tennis player will have to go through what I went through.”

Steve Simon, CEO of the WTA, said he had faith in the tennis anti-doping programme (TADP).

“The TADP has a comprehensive and fair process in place and we support the final (CAS) result,” Simon said.

“We are pleased that the process is now at completion and can look forward to seeing Maria back on court in 2017.” AFP

Iloilo, Kalibo netters rule Cebuana meet LOCAL players from host Iloilo City and Kalibo, Aklan dominated the competition at the recent Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series, now on its first decade of producing young tennis champions from different parts of the country, as they won 7 of the 9 categories in the tournament that attracted 156 entries.

Iloilo City was led by boys’ and girls’ 18-under champions, with Matthew Crisosto beating Al Francis Andrade from Kalibo, 8-5, in the finals of the boys’ side, while Grace Zapanta had an easy 8-1 victory over Roxas City bet Claire Clavaton in the distaff side.

Other winners for the host city were Marben Erl Mosquera, who posted an 8-3 win over another local bet to rule the boys’ 14-under group and 10-under champion Jeff Jimenea, 4-1, 4-1 winner over Guimbal’s Felix Gomez in the tournament also sponsored by official ball Dunlop Sports.

For Kalibo, the netters who delivered were led by 12-under cham-

pion Jan Roger Lamparero, who beat Roxas City bet Drixcyn Jann Guillano, 8-4, in the finals, girls’ 14-under winner Averille Sacapano, who brushed off Iloilo City’s Avril Andrea Suace, 8-4, in their championship meeting, and Andrade, who had a 8-1 victory over Lorenzo Angelo Legaspi, also from Kalibo for the boys’ 16-under title.

“What we saw in this leg were all new faces, but with the potential to be champions in other legs in the near future. Again, this is the objective of this developmental series that we initiated ten years ago,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President/ Chief Executive Officer of Cebuana Lhuillier and current Chairman of the Philippine Tennis Association.

Other winners in the leg supported by IloIlo Vice mayor Joe Espinos III, were girls’ 16-under champion Tracy Cheldette Llamas from La Carlota City after defeating Clavaton, 8-1, in the finals, and Althea Rose Martinez from New Washington in Aklan as she beat Jenny Abigail Sacapano, 8-3 in the finals.

Jet Spikers surprise Warriors in 5 sets Games Saturday

12:30 p.m. – Champion vs Army (S Turf) 4 p.m. – Coast Guard vs UP (V League) 6 p.m. – UST vs BaliPure (V League)

AIR Force blew a 2-1 set lead and a 6-2 edge in the fifth but fought back from three down at endgame to hack out a 25-20, 22-25, 25-7, 22-25, 15-12 victory over Pocari Sweat yesterday in the Shakey’s V-League Season 13 Reinforced Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

The Lady Jet Spikers rode on the power hits of May Ann Pantino, Judy Ann Caballejo, Jocemer Tapic and Joy Cases then pounced on the Lady Warriors’ erratic finish to pound out the victory.

Air Force likewise bucked the import-backed Pocari Sweat to bounce back from its four-set setback to the UST side in last Saturday’s inaugurals of the seasonending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s.

Air Force took six of the first eight points in the decider but sputtered in the face of Pocari’s strong fightback that saw the Lady

Warriors seize a 10-7 lead on a Michelle Gumabao ace.

But Cases took over, defying the Lady Warriors’ tall net defense with her vicious attacks and accounting for three of the Jet Spikers’ next five points, the last an off-the-block hit that shoved them on top 12-11.

Air Force went 2-up on a Breanna Mackie wide hit then the Jet Spikers’ cashed in on the Lady Warriors backto-back errors to clinch the victory.

Despite boasting of imports in Mackie and Kay Kacsits and FilAm setter Iris Tonelada, the Lady Warriors still groped for form and had to lean on mainstays Myla Pablo and Gumabao to stay in the match.

Meanwhile, Customs sat out Kanjana Kuthaisong and Nattanicha Jaisen it its game against Laoag last night after the Thai reinforcements failed to secure their International Transfer Certificates in time for their second game.

The team has complied with all the requirements except for the ITC after the access codes that will allow them to get the ITCs for clearance to Pocari Sweat’s Breanne Mackie hammers in a kill against Air Force’s Judy Ann Caballejo during their Shakey’s V-League Reinforced Conference clash at play have been denied. the Philsports Arena.

Foton, Petron still teams to beat in PSL Grand Prix LAST year’s finals protagonists —Foton and Petron—are still the solid forces to look out for when the 2016 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix fires off this Saturday at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan.

After representing the country in the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship, hopes are high for the Foton Tornadoes,

who will march into this prestigious inter-club tourney with seasoned imports, upgraded roster and a new head coach.

Former Most Valuable Player Lindsay Stalzer will be back together with fellow American Ariel Usher to carry the scoring loads, while prized middle blocker Dindin Manabat will finally reunite with her sister, Jaja

Santiago, after a brief hiatus from playing in the club league.

But the most impressive move was the acquisition of head coach Moro Branislav of Serbia, who will also call the shots for PSL-F2 Logistics Manila in the FIVB Women’s Club World Championship from Oct. 18 to 23 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Branislav will be bringing with

him a wealth of international experience, highlighted with stops in club teams from countries like Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Belarus and North Korea.

“Foton team has all the right pieces to win the PSL title,” said the 59-year old guru, who guided April 25 Sports Club of North Korea to back-to-back

appearances in the AVC club tourney. “My job is to put together all those pieces and complete the championship puzzle.”

Branislav said Manabat and Santiago will form the defensive fortress at the net together with Angeli Araneta and Maika Ortiz while Stalzer, Usher, Patty Orendain, EJ Laure and Sisi Rondina will supply the offense.

Suzuki Cup Experience Photo Contest set

Marikina City’s pride and honor. Table Tennis Women's Singles-

Class 8 Bronze Medalist Josephine Medina, a resident of Brgy. Concepcion Dos, bagged a bronze in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Paralympics. A cash incentive was given to Medina by Mayor Marcy Teodoro (extreme left) at the Freedom Park during the city’s recent flag-raising ceremony. Also present during the occasion are (from left) Councilors Joseph Banzon, Manny Sarmiento, Paul Dayao, Thaddeus Antonio Santos and Marikina Sports Center Administrator Angelito Llabres.

AS preparations for the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup continue to heat up, with the Philippines co-hosting the world-class tournament for the first time, Suzuki Philippines Inc. intensifies the excitement with an online promo that will give football fans a chance to score great prizes.

The AFF Suzuki Cup, inaugurated in 1996, is a biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation. Suzuki has been the title sponsor of the Cup since 2007.

Through the AFF Suzuki Cup Experience Facebook

Photo Contest, two lucky winners and their companions will be able to witness the games up close and cheer on for the national football team on the opening day of the tournament, Nov. 19 as the Philippine Azkals try to outscore Singapore, an ASEAN powerhouse.

The matches will be held at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan.

Game face on!

The online photo contest will run from Oct. 1 to 31.

Prizes at stake include two sets of 4 passes to the games, and other Suzuki premium items.

Plus, the winners, whose names will be announced on Nov. 9, will get a free ride in the all-new Suzuki Ciaz to and from the venue so they can fully enjoy this one-of-a-kind experience in great style!

Complete mechanics of the promo can be found at the Suzuki Philippines’ and Suzuki Motorcycles Philippines’ Facebook pages.

This is only the first of the many activities, games and surprises which fans of the much-awaited tournament can look forward to as the dates of the competitions draw near.

Wroclaw 2016: WBF Statement THE World Bridge Federation (WBF) has just released the following statement, concerning the Open Women’s Pairs Championship: The WBF Executive Council has deliberated in respect of occurrences at the World Bridge Games held in Wroclaw during the Finals of both the Open and Women’s Pairs Championships.

Having read the reports from the Head Tournament Director and the Championship Operations Director, the Council has become apprised of the unusual situation whereby the players and supposed winners, recognize themselves, that they failed

to adequately check the scores obtained within the time scale provided for within the Conditions of Contest.

Those players, rather than raise the issues through official channels, chose to air their grievances via social networks sites. Human errors, whether by competitors, referees, judges or otherwise are an integral part of any sport competition.

In all sports contests it is important to have certainly of the result that has been obtained according to the respective rules and regulations that are applied and cannot be modified despite, unfortunately, that they may have influenced the result.

Dura lex sed lex-the law is harsh but it is the law.

However, the Executive Council has considered the peculiarity of the circumstances

and facts of these particular cases and has expressed its view that the truth cannot and should not be ignored.

Consequent upon the advice received from the High Level Players Commission, the Executive Council has exceptionally resolved to award the titles, the gold medals and the masterpoints ex aequo to Auken-Welland (Germany) & Bach-Cornell (New Zealand) in the Open and to Levi-Asulin (Israel) & Pilipov-Sver (Croatia) in the Women, without further alteration of the ranking lists.

The Executive Council therefore remits the same to the WBF Secretariat to provide the necessary executions and related communications as appropriate.

Lausanne, 29 September 2016.

Gianarrigo Rona President.

-oOoI feature a game which Golfermike and I played on Bridge Base Online this week.

Good defense by Golfermike and Sylgen 1 defending A SIX NOTRUMP CONTRACT Board 14 North KSC 1 ♠A973 ♥108 ♦A7 ♣AKQ53 West East W Golfermike Sylgen ♠J10854 ♠Q3 ♥J ♥QK7632 ♦104 ♦K983 ♣J9874 ♣106 South Govindrao ♠K6 ♥AQ954 ♦QJ652 ♣2

6NT South Ns: O EW: O West North East South 1♥ Pass 2♣ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♦ Pass 3NT Pass 6NT Pass Pass Pass Continuation of last week’s article between the USA-Spain 4. During the next hour, nothing happened, nobody asked us for anything nor questioned, and the organization never filed the complaint. We were ignored by the organizers until it was time to start the match (5th segment).

5.When the match started, our Captain asked Mr. Antonio Riccardi what verdict had he reached based on our findings. He answered in a very angry

manner that we had to start to play and told us that we would have an answer in no less than a month.

6. At that point, we had the feeling that the only thing organizers wanted us to do was to sit, play, lose and leave.

Nobody attended our complaint and our situation was completely ignored. As if in a way they only wanted to get rid of us. The incompetence of the TD’s and organizers and the lack of an official response, made the Captain of the Spanish Team, refuse to play the 5th segment until some sort of precautionary measure was taken such as lining up another pair that wasn’t Bathurst-Lall or playing the standard CC recognized by the WBF. (To be continued) Comments to: sylvia.alejandro@yahoo

Tagum netfest lures huge field OVER 250 entries set out for the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional tennis tournament Tagum leg beginning Thursday with organizers tapping two venues at the Tagum Tennis Club and Davao del Norte Sports Complex to accommodate the huge field.

Davao’s Danna Abad, coming off a win and a runner-up finish in last week’s stop of the nationwide circuit sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger in Digos, Davao del Sur, banners the field in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under divisions with Nicole Bautista, Jazzelle Madis and Winona Cabardo out to foil her bid.

Tenielle Madis likewise tries to extend her domination of the 10-unisex section with the rising star from Mlang also vying in the girls’ 12-U class along with Jilian Manangking, Poula Taketomi, Jonamil Prado and Jasmen Kadalum.

“The tremendous response by the youth of Tagum and nearby provinces only inspires us to put up more and more tournaments, especially in the far-flung areas where there is a wide base of young players,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Manangking, meanwhile, gains the top seeding in the 14-U category of the event held in partnership with the Province of Davao del Norte, which also includes Jessica Mae Carcueva, Joanne Gornes and Prado.

Keen competition is also seen in the boys’ side with Lordrenz Pacheco, Arnel Retonio, Earljan Casal, Lord Badal, Adrian Garsota, Lawrence Colina, Raphael Raganit and Alexis Bucao tipped to clash for the 18-U crown.

“We guarantee another successful staging of the event even with this big number of entries,” said Col. Danny Alinas, president of Tagum City Tennis Club.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M+ 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

Sports

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

A8

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

Guiao leaves Painters for NLEX

By Jeric Lopez COACH Yeng Guiao will have a new team to coach.

In a shocking twist, Guiao jumped ship and left Rain or Shine to head to the NLEX Road Warriors, who will be looking to turn their fortunes around in the Philippine Basketball Association around.

This development caught many by surprise even as NLEX was actively looking for a mentor that can steer the ailing team to new heights.

Guiao, a seven-time PBA champion coach on three different teams, is also set to receive a corporate job on the side, aside from his coaching gig, under the Manny V. Pangilinan group of companies.

The Road Warriors decided to let go of coach Boyet Fernandez, who was the team’s tactician since it joined the league two years ago. Fernandez, however, was unable to spearhead the team to success.

While Guiao’s coming was a surprise, Fernandez’s ouster wasn’t.

In its two-year campaigns so far in the league, NLEX never came close to reaching the semifinals despite a veteran core. It made the quarterfinals on most occasions before eventually bouncing out of tournaments.

Two weeks ago, reports indicated that Guiao and Rain or Shine were already in talks for a contract renewal but these bogged down.

Right after Guiao’s transfer, the Elasto Painters immediately re-appointed Caloy Garcia as their head coach, a job he previously held before the former Pampanga congressman joined the team.

Guiao left Rain or Shine after coaching the team for six years and delivering the franchise’s first two championships, including the Commissioner’s Cup title this season.

The last time Guiao shifted teams was in mid-2010, when he left then PBA squad Air21 to go to Rain or Shine.

Rain or Shine management wanted Guiao back but eventually, the veteran coach saw a more lucrative offer from NLEX, prompting him to transfer.

Meanwhile, prospective teams for the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants have until Oct. 28 to submit their letters of intent, tournament director Eric Castro announced yesterday.

Adamson’s Nicholas Paranada drives past two UST defenders in a UAAP game won by the Falcons, 79-52. Brosi Gonzales

Falcons soar past Tigers; Sarr stars with 25 boards T

By Peter Atencio

HE University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers out-rebounded the Adamson Soaring Falcons, but their awful shooting in the end proved to be their undoing.

Cameroonian big man Papi Sarr carried much of the rebounding load for the Soaring Falcons as they went on to swamp the Growling Tigers, 79-52, Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Sarr’s efforts underneath contributed much to the Soaring Fal-

cons’ fourth win in seven games at the end of the first round of the 79th Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

Coach Franz Pumaren took note of Sarr’s double-double performance after he finished with 16 points and 25 rebounds, say-

ing that as the second round be- riors, held down the Growling gins this Saturday, the other bigs Tigers to just eight points in of the Falcons should be reinforc- the third period. ing him in the shaded lanes.

As UST struggled with “That’s the thing that we’re their 27 percent field goal working on. We are shooting, AdamGames Today relying too much son capitalized on (MOA Arena) 2 p.m. UST vs UE on Papi in getting their foe’s nine big 4 p.m. Ateneo vs UP the rebounds. Our turnovers in the big man coach is second half, to lead already calling the attention of by as much as 27 points. our players. Papi can’t get all Seldom-used Nicholas Pathe rebounds most of the time,” ranada, who had 14 points, and said Pumaren.

Jerick Ahanmisi, who tallied 11, The Falcons, who bounced joined hands for 13 points in back from two straight losses, the third as they led the Falcons including a 57-64 setback to 59-37 advantage. the University of the East WarKent Lao shot 13 for the

Southwoods-Masters pulls away BAGUIO CITY—Defending champion Manila SouthwoodsMasters nearly matched its opening day output Wednesday to build a commanding 23-point lead over Cebu Country Club halfway through the 11th Philippines Ladies Interclub golf team championships at the Camp John Hay course.

Top gun Pauline del Rosario led the charge with 56 points while Mikhaela Fortuna and Serafina Kim added 53 and 43, respectively as SW-Masters tallied 152 points for a two-day total of 305.

The 17-year-old Del Rosario, who is set to turn pro next year, made eight consecutive pars before scoring her first birdie on the ninth hole. She was oneunder through 15 holes before finishing with back-to-back birdies and a bogey.

Fortuna, on the other hand, had two birdies against four bogeys.

“It’s too early to celebrate.

There are still two days left.

CCC can still play better,” said SW-Masters captain Marie Claire Wong who did not count for the team with 42 points.

After a respectable 149 points Tuesday, CCC struggled with 130 points.

Mary Kim Hong was CCC’s top scorer with 49 points followed by Jyra Mae Wong (44).

The third scorer was either Catrina Martinez or Riko Nagai who each had 37.

Competition in the other divisions was closer.

Alabang Country Club slowed down with 131 points, but hung on to a nine-point lead over Valley Golf South.

Scoring for ACC were Diane

Jang 48, Ana Luisa Mendoza 45 and Joan Dayrit-Morales 38.

Valley Golf South collected 125 points from Marielle Isabela Tee (50), Ma. Consuelo Fregil 38 and Evangeline Apuhin 37.

Tied for third spot with 245 points were Tagaytay Highlands (118) and Rancho Palos Verdes (120).

In the Sportswriters class, Eagle Ridge, led by Eden Hernandez’s 50 points, opened an eight-point lead over Camp Aguinaldo Team A. Eagle Ridge has a tworound total of 246.

Other scorers for Eagle Ridge were Jung Soon Hak (40) and Cathy Neish (35).

Apo Golf was in far third with 227 after posting 112 points in the second round.

Alabang Ladies Golf Chap-

Kings get chance to end drought

ter seized the lead in the Friendship bracket after drawing 105 points from Luarlyn Barclay (40), Videlyn Toralba (38) and Shirley Plaza (27).

Alabang now has 200 points, 13 points ahead of first-day leader Wack Wack with Victorias taking the third spot with 177 points.

Major sponsors of the 72hole event include Solar Entertainment Corp., Airbus, Business Mirror, Mareco Broadcasting Network, People Asia and Manila Broadcasting Corp. Other backers are Philippine Daily Inquirer, Fonterra, Mega Fiber, Mastercard, Tanduay Distillers and Zalora.

The results: Championship: Manila Southwoods Masters 305 (153, 152) Cebu Country Club 279 (149, 130)

Pauline Del Rosario

Chiefs wary of Lions’ winning tradition THE Arellano University Chiefs are aware years, after both teams met for the title in of the winning tradition of the San Beda Red Season 90.

Lions when Game 1 of the the 92nd NCAA “They have the history. For us, we will work basketball tournament’s best-of-three finals on adjustments and play smart basketball,” said begins today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Codinera after they cruised past the Mapua Historically, the Red Lions have cham- Cardinals, 92-80, on Friday last week to clinch pionship experience after the first finals berth.

Games Today reaching the finals for 11 AU’s Jio Jalalon, who (Game 1 at the Mall of Asia Arena) straight seasons. sprained his ankle in their first 1 p.m. San Beda vs Mapua (jrs) Chiefs’ coach Jerry Co- 3:45 Final Four match with Mapua, p.m. San Beda vs Arellano (srs) dinera said that with the is expected to be back in shape team coming into the fight after the team was able to rest, prepared, they will do justice to their clash some six days before Game 1. for the crown with the Red Lions when acIn their rubber match, Jalalon led in scoring tion starts at 3:45 p.m. with 22 points, to go with eight rebounds, nine Earlier, the San Beda Red Cubs will duel assists and three steals. with the Mapua Red Robins at 1 p.m. in the His teammate Dioncee Holts, whose triple junior finals. with 29.5 remaining won for the Chiefs the It will be their second finals’ clash in three game, will be in good shape as well, after being

Jarin

Codinera

sick with the flu early in the Final Four.

Much is also expected of big man Lervin Flores, who is doing well in the last days of the season, with his career-high 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

On the other hand, coach Jamike Jarin

Growling Tigers, who fell behind with their 2-5 card, putting their chances of making it to the Final Four in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, Richard Escoto’s timely three-point play in the last 1:26 helped carry the defending champion Far Eastern University Tamaraws to a 78-75 triumph over the National University Bulldogs.

With their 76-71 lead, the Tams went on to earn their fifth win in seven games and finished second at the end of the first round.

Monbert Arong showed the way with 20 points.

said the Red Lions will be the underdogs when they take the chance to win back the crown they lost to the Letran Knights last year.

“They (Chiefs) are good. They have the best (players). You lose your six best last year, and your best center during the season, and you still end up in the finals. We’re struggling and we’re the underdogs,” said Jarin after the Red Lions came off with a 7863 stopping of the University of Perpetual Help Altas in their rubber match.

Jarin said the bench contributed valuable points and minutes, complementing the games of key players like Davon Potts, Robert Bollick Jr. and Javee Mocon.

“The bench players. That’s the beauty of it. They are ready to contribute,” sadded Jarin. Peter Atencio

THE quest to end its eight-year title drought is very much alive for Barangay Ginebra.

The Gin Kings are now in a good position to finally quench their championship thirst after making the finals for the first time in three years.

First year Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who is now remarkably in his 30th finals appearance as a PBA tactician, is jubilant that in his maiden season with the Gin Kings, they were already able to make the finals even without injured star big man Greg Slaughter at the helm.

“It’s just surreal. It’s really an incredible team-effort on our part to get to the finals and beat a very talented team in the semifinals,” said Cone, who is now bound to shoot for his 19th title and first with Ginebra. “We’ve been learning a lot in this journey and I’m just glad we’re in the finals and we were able to make it despite some odds.”

Without Slaughter manning the middle for Ginebra, defending champion San Miguel Beer was favored against the Gin Kings coming in their best-of-five semifinals series.

However, Barangay Ginebra was able to defy the odds to enter the finals via a 3-2 edging of the Beermen in a thrilling showdown.

Moreover, Ginebra impressively dethroned San Miguel in the knockout Game 5 last Tuesday night, taking a dominant 117-92 victory.

Looking ahead, the obstacle that now stands in the way of Ginebra and its championship aspirations is Meralco, an upstart team in its finals appearance, a hungry squad that finally got over the hump as it continues to mature. Jeric Lopez

Power rates seen stable in October B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

B1

Araneta takes over PhilWeb

By Jenniffer B. Austria

F

ORMER trade minister and businessman Roberto Ongpin agreed to sell his entire stake in gaming company PhilWeb Corp. to businessman Gregorio Araneta for P2 billion.

PhilWeb said in a disclosure to the stock exchange RVO Group of Companies, the holding firm of Ongpin, concluded a sale and purchase agreement with Gregorio Araneta Inc. The transaction involves RVO’s 771,651,896 million shares, equivalent to 53.76 per-

cent of PhilWeb at a price of P2.60 per share.

The buying price is a huge discount to PhilWeb’s closing price of P6.22 per share on Wednesday. The transaction will be done in two tranches.

The first tranche of 653,151,896 shares is to be com-

pleted through a special block sale, for approval by the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The second tranche will consist of 118,500,000 shares consisting of partially paid shares, which are now fully paid but need to be registered for listing at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

PhilWeb said the second tranche would be scheduled as soon as the registration of the shares at the PSE was completed and would be transacted at the same price as the special block sale for the first tranche.

“After the divestment by the RVO Group of Companies of its

stake in PhilWeb is concluded today and after his resignation from PhilWeb in early August, Ongpin will have no further involvement with PhilWeb. Mr. Gregorio Ma. Araneta III has been elected as chairman, and Mr. Dennis Valdes will remain as president,” PhilWeb said.

With the divestment of Ongpin, the new management of PhilWeb will now reapply for the continuation of its license with regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for its nationwide network of eGames cafes.

Ongpin hired KPMG (R. G. Manabat & Co.) as its finan-

cial advisor for the transaction.

Ongin, who was named by President Duterte as one of the oligarchs in the country that his administration wanted to destroy, earlier announced plans to sell his entire stake in PhilWeb after Pagcor rejected all his offers just to have the gaming license of the company renewed.

PhilWeb’s gaming license expired on Aug. 10, which resulted in the closure of its 286 operating e-Games cafes across the country, majority of which are owned and operated by independent operators.

IN BRIEF Ayala, MPIC expect to start LRT project LIGHT Rail Manila Corp., a consortium led by Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said it will accelerate the construction of Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite extension project to meet the 2019 target completion date.

“We are hoping that we can give the notice to proceed within the year. The target date [of completion] would be 2019. Hopefully we should be done, but we will see if we can still meet the target,” LRMC president and chief executive Jesus Francisco said.

The project is expected to be fully operational by May 2019.

Francisco said the company was expecting the government to deliver the remaining right of way this month.

“We are waiting for the right of way and we are also awaiting the relocation of the informal settlers. By October, hopefully they [the government] would be able to do that,” Francisco said.

LRMC is a responsible for the construction of the 11.7-kilometer extension from the present end point in Baclaran to the Niog area in Bacoor, Cavite. The project cost is almost over P40 billion, which includes the rehabilitation of LRT Line 1 and the extension of the system to Cavite.

Darwin G. Amojelar

PSE wants lower tax on stock trade THE Philippine Stock Exchange is pushing for a lower stock transaction tax to boost trading volume and increase government revenues.

PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat said while the proposed removal of the initial public offering tax was a positive move, the reduction in the stock transaction tax would have a more significant impact on the capital markets and revenues for the government.

“When you compare ourselves to Asia and Asean, we are middle to higher level in terms of friction cost. So if you lower the STT even more, the government’s take will be larger because of higher trading volume,” Sicat said.

“It is not increasing the nominal amount but decreasing, because it reduces friction cost per unit and because you are not more competitive in the region, you also see more flows,” he said.

Sicat said when the government shifted from capital gains tax to lower STT, volumes at the stock exchange started going up.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which was tasked by the Finance Department to review the corporate tax on capital markets, is inclined to remove the IPO tax and increase the STT. Jenniffer B. Austria

BPI’S AWARD.

BPI Family Savings Bank, BPI’s retail lending arm, is named the Philippines’ Best SME Bank at the 10th Annual Best Financial Institution Awards organized by Alpha Southeast Asia Publishing in ceremonies held at the Conrad Centennial Singapore. Shown are BPI retail lending head Ginbee Go (right) and SME loan division head Cedoy Roces (left) accepting the award for BPI Family Savings Bank from Alpha Southeast Asia chief executive Siddiq Bazarwala.

RED TAPE REDUCTION. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (center), National Competitiveness Council private sector chairman Guillermo Luz

(right) and United Kingdom’s Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad (left) lead the contract signing of a program that aims to cut red tape in the Philippine business environment. The UK through the Asia Pacific Bilateral Programme Fund granted technical assistance to the NCC to support the Project Repeal, an initiative inspired by the UK’s Red Tape Challenge.

September inflation rate climbed to 2.3%

By Gabrielle H. Binaday and Julito G. Rada INFLATION rate accelerated to 2.3 percent in September, the fastest in 18 months, on higher prices of food and non-food items, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday.

The National Economic and Development Authority said inflation rate in September climbed from 1.8 percent in August and 0.4 percent in September 2015.

The September inflation was the fastest since the 2.4 percent recorded in March 2015. This brought the average inflation rate in the first nine months to 1.6 percent.

“The increase in inflation can be attributed to the decline in production since August and the low base effect for non-food items,” said Neda officer-in-

charge Rosemarie Edillon.

The September 2016 inflation was still within the forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Philippines of 1.6 percent to 2.4 percent.

Food inflation climbed to 3.1 percent in September 2016 from 2.5 percent in the previous month following the adverse effects brought about by the series of tropical cyclones that devastated the country.

“Rice prices will remain stable since the 250,000 MT of rice imported from Thailand and Vietnam is expected to arrive by the end of October,” Edillon said.

The risk of La Niña phenomenon developing in the fourth quarter of 2016 was still looming over the country, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical

Services Administration.

“We must keep on strengthening the agricultural sector through a comprehensive agricultural development program that aims to increase the resiliency of the sector and create a balance in agricultural policy,” said Edillon.

Bangko Sentral nGovernor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the current monetary policy settings remained appropriatedespite the acceleration in inflation.

“Inflation for September at 2.3 percent was within our forecast range and brought year-to-date average to 1.6 percent. This outturn is consistent with our expectation that inflation will slowly inch up towards the national government target range over the policy horizon,” Tetangco said in a text message to reporters.

“This also confirms that at [the] moment there is no compelling reason to change settings in our policy rates,” Tetangco said.

Tetangco, however, said monetary authorities would continue to be on their toes and closely monitor developments both here and abroad.

He said these included financial market volatility and impact of possible adjustments to the tax structure on consumption patterns and relative prices of assets to see how these may be addressed by adjustment in any of Bangko Sentral’s other policy tools including macroprudential measures.

The sustained robust economic growth and manageable inflation environment prompted the Monetary Board of Bangko Sentral to maintain the prevailing interest rates in its latest meeting on Sept. 22.

Businessmen name LTO, Customs as most corrupt

By Othel V. Campos BUSINESSMEN listed the Bureau of Customs and Land Transportation Office as the most corrupt government agencies in the last year of the Aquino administration, poll group Social Weather Stations said in its latest survey.

The SWS survey on the perception of enterprises on corruption covered seven areas with 950 entrepreneur respondents on Feb. 2 to May 6, 2016, the fourth survey under the Aquino term.

SWS president Mahar Mangahas said among government agencies rated by the respondents, the Bureau of Customs landed as most corrupt with a net satisfaction rating of -68 percent.

It was followed by the Land

Transportation Office with -47 percent; the House of Representatives at -28 percent; Bureau of Internal Revenue, -27 percent; Transportation Department, -25 percent; and Public Works Department at -22 percent.

“The Senate rated far better than the House of Representatives, among the business people with -3 percent,” said Mangahas.

The business sector gave good ratings for the Securities and Exchange Commission with +55 percent; followed by the Trade Department with +43 percent; Labor Department with +38 percent; Office of the President and the Health Department both with +37 percent; and Civil Service Commission with +35 percent.

Improved tax system likely to raise P726b A SIMPLIFIED and improved tax administration will raise an additional P726 billion worth of revenues for the government, according to the Finance Department.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said in a recent tax reform forum that P726 billion or about 6.44 percent of gross domestic product could be collected if the tax administration and tax policy in the Bureau of Internal Revenue would be improved.

“We can collect around P726 billion or 6.44 percent of GDP if we simplify, address inefficiencies, and remove loopholes in BIR tax administration and tax policy,” Dominguez said.

He said the relaxation of the bank secrecy law for tax fraud cases and making tax evasion a predicate crime to money laundering would be critical to bridging the gap.

Dominguez said automating electronic filing and payment, reducing the number of pages and fields in tax forms, preparing simpler forms for micro and small taxpayers could bridge these inefficiencies.

The agency also plans to expand the large taxpayer service from 2,000 to at least 3,000 large corporations and hire young Filipinos of competence and integrity into 10,000 vacancies at the BIR. Gabrielle H. Binaday

B2

Business

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market retreats; MPIC rises S TOCKS retreated Wednesday from a twoday advance, on concern central banks in the US and Europe will reduce stimulus.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 79 points, or 1 percent, to close at 7,639.79.

This reduced the total gains this year to 9.9 percent.

The broader all-share index also lost 38 points, or 0.9 percent, to settle at 4,531.66, on a value turnover of P6.5 billion.

Only three of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. which rose 0.8 percent to P7.20 and developer Ayala Land Inc. which gained 0.6 percent to P39.75. Bank of the Philippine Islands added 0.1 percent

to close at P105.40.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets also traded lower Wednesday. The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index fell 0.3 percent to 455.11 as of 4:10 p.m. in Hong Kong, led by losses in Indonesia and New Zealand.

Bonds, currencies and stocks were shaken Tuesday after Bloomberg News reported the European Central Bank was likely to gradually taper asset purchases as it ends quantitative easing, citing officials who asked not to be identified.

The odds the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by December climbed to 61 percent on

Tuesday, from about 50 percent a week earlier. The Topix added 0.6 percent on Wednesday after the yen fell the most against the dollar in more than a month.

“Equity markets are retreating following hawkish comments from Fed officials and talks the ECB may curb stimulus,” Margaret Yang, an analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said by phone.

“There are uncertainties remaining. We will see a pick up in volatility ahead of the U.S. Elections.”

The dollar pushed on with this week’s rally against global currencies, including hitting another three-decade high against the beleaguered pound.

Investors were given a weak lead by their US counterparts after comments from two top Federal Reserve officials fanned speculation it will lift borrowing costs be-

fore the end of the year.

Talk of an increase returned after data last week showed US factory activity rebounded in September, while trading floors gear up ahead of a crucial jobs report Friday.

On Tuesday Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester said she saw a strong case for a rate hike in November. They were followed

by Richmond Fed head Jeffrey Lacker, who said a rise was needed to avert a surge in inflation that could lead to sharp rate hikes later.

“A December rate hike seems almost certain, and it sounds like that may be followed by two more rate hikes next year instead of one,” Chihiro Ohta, a Tokyobased senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg also cited unnamed

European Central Bank officials on Tuesday as saying there was an “informal consensus” that it should gradually scale back its bond-buying programme in steps of 10 billion euros.

The news from Europe and the US comes as analysts warn the years of cheap cash are likely coming to an end, with the US economy picking up.

Talk of higher US rates has boosted the dollar this week and on Wednesday it toyed with 103 yen in the morning before dipping back to 102.90 yen, slightly up from its level in New York.

The greenback also stormed higher against higher-yielding Asia-Pacific currencies, including the Australian dollar, South Korean won, Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit.

With AFP, Bloomberg

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 0.92 890 1.01 100 30.5 75 91.5 80 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 0.74 625 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 52 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

AG Finance 3.65 Asia United Bank 47.65 Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. 110.50 Bank of PI 105.30 China Bank 38.3 BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. 3.79 Bright Kindle Resources 1.40 COL Financial 16.06 Eastwest Bank 19.52 Filipino Fund Inc. 6.64 First Abacus 0.7 Manulife Fin. Corp.

640.00 MEDCO Holdings 0.860 Metrobank 86.55 PB Bank 14.38 Phil Bank of Comm 22.50 Phil. National Bank 57.90 Philippine trust Co. 239 PSE 270 RCBC `A’ 35.85 Security Bank 232.2 Sun Life Financial 1455.00 Union Bank 75.20 Vantage Equities 1.46

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92

20.6 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 3.95 4 74 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 2.65 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 238 0.315 2.18 234 5.28 1.3 2.17

15.32 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 20.2 71.5 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 2.3 1.63 33 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 2.09 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 161 0.138 1.02 152 4.28 0.640 1.2

Aboitiz Power Corp.

45.65 Agrinurture Inc. 3.8 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.91 Alsons Cons.

1.66 Asiabest Group 16.16 Cemex Holdings 12 Century Food 16.38 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 115 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 23.7 Concepcion 60 Crown Asia 2.11 Da Vinci Capital 7.12 Del Monte 12.14 DNL Industries Inc. 11.650 Emperador 7.37 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.95 EEI 7.62 First Gen Corp.

24.65 First Holdings ‘A’ 72 Holcim Philippines Inc. 16.48 Integ. Micro-Electronics 6.08 Ionics Inc 2.210 Jollibee Foods Corp.

251.40 LMG Chemicals 2.14 Mabuhay Vinyl 4.43 Macay Holdings 27.85 Manila Water Co. Inc. 31 Maxs Group 29 Megawide 15.5 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 308.20 MG Holdings 0.260 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.11 Petron Corporation 10.20 Phil H2O 3.44 Phinma Corporation 11.42 Phinma Energy 2.27 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 6.00 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.54 Pryce Corp. `A’ 3.75 RFM Corporation 4.20 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 201.2 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.149 TKC Steel Corp.

1.80 Universal Robina 185 Victorias Milling 4.63 Vitarich Corp.

2.28 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.20

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 5.29 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 0.0670 2.31 1.61 2.99 84.9 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.225 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 2.26 0.152 837 5.3 49.55 3 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 0.030 1.23 0.550 2.26 59.3 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179

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

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

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

0.375 77.60 16.00 1.20 6.05 0.360 0.360 880.5 8.3 12.82 6.5 7.96 0.209 1418 6.30 76.20 5.4 8.28 0.81 14.8 7.14 0.0390 1.170 1.960 2.55 82.00 685.00 1.23 0.92 230.000 0.3100 0.2020

10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.97 1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.72

6.74 12 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 1.1 0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 0.39

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

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

Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Realty `A’

7.500 7.00 1.21 2.540 0.265 39.500 2.98 5.1 0.590 1.22 1.020 0.166 0.590 58.3 0.760 1.00 1.87 1.19 4.81 0.208 0.405

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.65 3.45 47.6 47.5 110.50 109.40 105.40 104.60 38.25 38 3.80 3.79 1.39 1.39 16.2 16.06 19.6 19.24 6.86 6.80 0.75 0.7 641.00 641.00 0.850 0.790 86.9 84.85 14.4 14.38 22.50 22.50 58.55 57.80 249 239 269 260 35.85 35.7 232.2 225 1456.00 1456.00 77.00 75.35 1.49 1.44 INDUSTRIAL 46.2 45.65 3.89 3.72 0.92 0.87 1.68 1.62 16.16 15.68 12 11.82 16.5 16.24 125 115 23.7 23.5 59.95 57.1 2.11 2.08 7.15 6.41 12.34 12.08 11.600 11.280 7.37 7.26 5.95 5.88 7.62 7.50 24.85 24.4 72 71.55 16.50 16.30 6.1 6.02 2.220 2.180 249.80 247.00 1.95 1.94 4.4 4.3 27.90 27.85 31.8 30.8 29.1 28.4 15.6 15.4 310.00 307.80 0.260 0.255 3.11 3.1 10.36 10.18 3 3 11.60 11.48 2.26 2.23 6.00 5.90 1.51 1.50 3.82 3.75 4.20 4.18 217.6 217 0.149 0.146 1.86 1.80 185.8 181.5 4.63 4.63 2.31 2.24 1.21 1.20 HOLDING FIRMS 0.385 0.365 78.00 76.50 16.00 15.80 1.20 1.19 6.10 6.03 0.360 0.350 0.360 0.360 880 860.5 8.41 8.24 12.82 12.64 6.1 6.1 8.19 8.05 0.207 0.201 1425 1397 6.28 6.15 76.40 74.90 5.4 5.4 8.27 8.14 0.81 0.8 14.8 14.26 7.2 7.04 0.0390 0.0370 1.170 1.160 1.980 1.920 2.54 2.54 82.00 80.30 688.00 670.00 1.26 1.22 0.92 0.90 230.000 229.200 0.3250 0.3150 0.2020 0.1990 PROPERTY 7.500 7.380 6.30 6.30 1.21 1.17 2.540 2.420 0.265 0.265 39.750 39.100 2.98 2.9 5.1 5.08 0.600 0.580 1.24 1.22 1.050 1.030 0.165 0.162 0.580 0.570 58.3 57.5 0.760 0.750 1.02 1.00 1.88 1.85 1.18 1.16 4.8 4.65 0.214 0.191 0.415 0.415

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.63 47.5 110.10 105.40 38 3.79 1.39 16.18 19.3 6.86 0.75 641.00 0.800 85 14.4 22.50 57.80 240 260 35.85 226 1456.00 76.40 1.44

-0.55 -0.31 -0.36 0.09 -0.78 0.00 -0.71 0.75 -1.13 3.31 7.14 0.16 -6.98 -1.79 0.14 0.00 -0.17 0.42 -3.70 0.00 -2.67 0.07 1.60 -1.37

17,000 12,200 1,228,680 838,190 217,300 70,000 1,000 17,600 705,400 5,000 124,000 50 16,225,000 3,026,930 7,100 1,000 191,160 430 2,150 123,600 1,586,090 5 154,300 42,000

45.9 3.83 0.88 1.62 16.08 11.86 16.5 125 23.6 59.95 2.1 6.55 12.24 11.360 7.29 5.92 7.50 24.85 72 16.50 6.02 2.190 249.80 1.94 4.3 27.85 31 28.4 15.5 308.00 0.255 3.11 10.34 3 11.60 2.26 5.91 1.50 3.77 4.19 217.6 0.148 1.83 185 4.63 2.28 1.20

0.55 0.79 -3.30 -2.41 -0.50 -1.17 0.73 8.70 -0.42 -0.08 -0.47 -8.01 0.82 -2.49 -1.09 -0.50 -1.57 0.81 0.00 0.12 -0.99 -0.90 -0.64 -9.35 -2.93 0.00 0.00 -2.07 0.00 -0.06 -1.92 0.00 1.37 -12.79 1.58 -0.44 -1.50 -2.60 0.53 -0.24 8.15 -0.67 1.67 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

616,200 1,022,000 4,114,000 653,000 900 5,959,800 1,341,900 450 305,100 17,960 303,000 6,272,400 73,200 3,097,200 2,414,500 5,610,300 699,800 1,092,300 186,760 71,300 412,300 481,000 318,640 20,000 18,000 500 4,320,500 290,800 1,184,200 73,720 150,000 5,659,000 4,369,200 2,000 11,500 155,000 1,135,000 51,000 526,000 401,000 1,300 6,950,000 1,345,000 855,010 5,000 7,746,000 94,000

0.365 76.80 15.90 1.19 6.05 0.350 0.360 867.5 8.41 12.82 6.1 8.16 0.207 1400 6.15 75.00 5.4 8.27 0.81 14.5 7.2 0.0370 1.160 1.920 2.54 81.40 677.00 1.23 0.90 230.000 0.3150 0.2020

-2.67 -1.03 -0.62 -0.83 0.00 -2.78 0.00 -1.48 1.33 0.00 -6.15 2.51 -0.96 -1.27 -2.38 -1.57 0.00 -0.12 0.00 -2.03 0.84 -5.13 -0.85 -2.04 -0.39 -0.73 -1.17 0.00 -2.17 0.00 1.61 0.00

220,000 744,590 3,477,400 25,000 12,100 460,000 250,000 163,380 2,432,100 2,354,300 100 186,600 310,000 383,740 8,200 1,173,060 100 209,600 754,000 4,775,400 29,130,800 113,000,000 95,000 848,000 1,000 104,640 209,550 101,000 254,000 7,100 740,000 130,000

7.380 6.30 1.18 2.420 0.265 39.750 2.98 5.08 0.590 1.24 1.050 0.163 0.580 57.5 0.760 1.01 1.87 1.16 4.65 0.191 0.415

-1.60 -10.00 -2.48 -4.72 0.00 0.63 0.00 -0.39 0.00 1.64 2.94 -1.81 -1.69 -1.37 0.00 1.00 0.00 -2.52 -3.33 -8.17 2.47

71,700 6,000 2,840,000 1,727,000 4,650,000 12,872,200 668,000 16,800 273,200 56,000 23,000 14,090,000 3,804,000 368,780 514,000 4,255,000 17,164,000 28,000 14,650,000 224,730,000 20,000

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

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

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

1.97 119.5 7 5.8 12.5 0.017

1.23 102.6 3.01 4 8.72 0.011

0.8200 2.2800 5.93

0.041 1.200 2.34

12.28 3.32 3.2 95.5 2.46 15.2

6.5 1.91 1.95 3.1 1.8 6

1.040 22.8 6.41 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.37 14.54 3 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

0.0098 5.45 17.24 0.330 12.7 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 0.236 6.5 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

70 553

33 490

120

101.5

8.21 12.28 1047

5.88 6.5 1011

84.8

75

6.98

0.8900

15

3.5

328,048.00

12.88

5.95

-35,400.00

130.7

105.6

574,830.00 22,962,953 28,939,361.00

-11,340.00 -5,536,158.00 -29,498 -2,172,670.00 -34,618,955.50 -66,529.50 -62,310 -281,066,404.00 2,453,932.00 5,821,080.00 3,280.00

Close

Primex Corp.

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

High

Low

4.16 32.50 1.68 3.29 28.35 1.04 1.020 5.360

4.39 3.9 32.95 31.50 1.68 1.62 3.3 3.25 28.35 27.50 1.07 1.03 1.020 1.000 5.350 5.220 SERVICES 2GO Group’ 7.5 7.56 7.48 ABS-CBN 49 49 48.8 APC Group, Inc. 0.570 0.570 0.550 Berjaya Phils. Inc. 5.21 5.26 5.26 Bloomberry 4.51 4.52 4.37 Boulevard Holdings 0.0940 0.0970 0.0930 Calata Corp.

3.43 3.5 3.41 Cebu Air Inc. (5J) 107.9 107.7 104 Centro Esc. Univ.

9.94 9.96 9.8 Discovery World 2.49 2.8 2.6 DFNN Inc. 7.00 6.99 6.72 Globe Telecom 2040 2040 1960 GMA Network Inc. 6.24 6.29 6.24 Golden Haven 14.70 15.02 14.56 Harbor Star 2.07 2.45 2.08 I.C.T.S.I. 79.95 79.5 78 Imperial Res. `A’ 18.74 19.18 19.00 Imperial Res. `B’ 136 149 149 IPeople Inc. `A’ 11.7 11.8 11.7 IP E-Game Ventures Inc. 0.0100 0.0110 0.0099 IPM Holdings 9.24 9.23 9.21 Island Info 0.250 0.260 0.246 ISM Communications 1.4700 1.4900 1.4500 Jackstones 3.56 3.54 3.5 LBC Express 10.92 11.96 11.5 Leisure & Resorts 5.30 5.30 5.10 Liberty Telecom 2.22 2.22 2.20 Macroasia Corp.

2.32 2.25 2.20 Manila Broadcasting 21.45 19.54 19.32 Manila Jockey 2 2 2 Melco Crown 3.89 3.93 3.8 Metro Retail 5.26 5.27 5.17 NOW Corp.

3.410 3.400 3.360 Pacific Online Sys. Corp. 11.46 11.46 11.32 PAL Holdings Inc. 5.41 5.60 5.55 Phil. Seven Corp.

139.00 138.00 138.00 Philweb.Com Inc. 5.88 6.35 5.90 PLDT Common 1700.00 1660.00 1622.00 PremiereHorizon 0.430 0.435 0.425 Premium Leisure 1.030 1.020 1.000 Puregold 43.50 43.55 42.75 Robinsons RTL 77.00 76.95 76.80 SBS Phil. Corp.

6.24 6.22 5.85 SSI Group 2.93 2.94 2.80 STI Holdings 0.670 0.690 0.660 Travellers 3.27 3.3 3.2 Waterfront Phils.

0.365 0.365 0.355 Yehey 5.390 5.390 5.260 MINING & OIL Abra Mining 0.0036 0.0038 0.0035 Apex `A’ 3.04 3.00 2.85 Atlas Cons. `A’ 4.22 4.20 4.03 Basic Energy Corp.

0.220 0.215 0.210 Benguet Corp `A’ 2.1100 2.15 2.1000 Benguet Corp `B’ 2.1300 2.1700 2.0200 Century Peak Metals Hldgs0.59 0.59 0.58 Coal Asia 0.410 0.410 0.400 Dizon 8.36 8.59 8.02 Ferronickel 1.070 1.060 1.000 Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. 0.270 0.270 0.265 Lepanto `A’ 0.194 0.192 0.189 Lepanto `B’ 0.203 0.200 0.190 Manila Mining `A’ 0.0110 0.0120 0.0110 Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. 1.49 1.5 1.45 Nickelasia 7.54 7.5 7.21 Nihao Mineral Resources 2.91 2.91 2.85 Omico 0.5000 0.5000 0.4800 Oriental Peninsula Res. 0.8800 0.8800 0.8800 Oriental Pet. `A’ 0.0100 0.0120 0.0100 Oriental Pet. `B’ 0.0120 0.0110 0.0110 Petroenergy Res. Corp. 4.10 4.20 4.20 Philex `A’ 8.60 8.48 8.15 PhilexPetroleum 3.78 3.88 3.65 Philodrill Corp. `A’ 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 Semirara Corp.

122.00 122.40 119.00 TA Petroleum 3.43 3.4 3.31 United Paragon 0.0096 0.0096 0.0095 PREFERRED ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 48.5 48.6 48.55 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 533.5 540 540 DD Pref 103.7 103.7 103 First Gen G 120 118.6 118.6 FPH Pref C 515 506 505 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.01 6.01 6.01 Leisure and Resort 1.03 1.04 1.04 PF Pref 2 1022 1024 1022 PNX PREF 3B 113 114 114 SMC Preferred C 81 83 82.95 SMC Preferred F 79.1 80.3 80 SMC Preferred G 79 79 79 SMC Preferred H 78 78 78 SMC Preferred I 77.9 77.9 77.9 WARRANTS & BONDS LR Warrant 2.410 2.400 2.350 SME Alterra Capital 3.35 3.35 3.26 Makati Fin. Corp.

3.21 3.21 3.21 Italpinas 4.54 4.53 4.49 Xurpas 14.22 14.22 13.84 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS First Metro ETF 127.4 127.5 125.5

MS -4,385,270.00 -13,322,754.00

-7,194

-1,070,005.00

6,419,212.00 -15,164,618.00 4,426,219.00 -4,199,822.00 6,090,890.00 2,387,834.00 188,180.00

7,734,952.00

35,237,830.00 -3,280,765.00 -6,051,736.00 -2,992,486.00 18,610.00 1,918,570.00

144,950.00 -184,800.00 9,000.00 465,880.00 979,110.00 238,700.00 21,900.00 18,450.00 -35,175,068 -781,590.00

22,942,927.00 3,717,110.00

-90,000.00 -52,472,010 8,888,280.00 6,412,568.00

237,475.00

-45,133,005.00 -6,280.00 51,535,056.00

530,941.00

-13,411,642.00 48,346,255.00

-2,440,416.50 10,051,560.00 -296,548.00

249,644,900.00 1,266,290.00

-11,600.00 -5,450,077.00 -57,820.00 135,000.00 3,499,860.00 -16,980,150.00 -144,150.00

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

25,071,772

INDUSTRIAL

70,893,895

HOLDING FIRMS

166,034,628

PROPERTY

336,068,515

SERVICES

308,300,415

MINING & OIL

2,690,894,866

GRAND TOTAL

3,599,087,994

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

4.26 32.65 1.64 3.25 27.80 1.07 1.010 5.350

2.40 0.46 -2.38 -1.22 -1.94 2.88 -0.98 -0.19

3,876,000 1,971,700 105,000 18,000 6,583,300 13,530,000 231,000 3,575,200

3,161,910.00 -7,904,440.00

7.54 48.95 0.570 5.26 4.44 0.0940 3.45 105 9.8 2.78 6.95 1965 6.29 14.94 2.42 79.5 19.14 149 11.8 0.0100 9.23 0.247 1.4800 3.5 11.88 5.10 2.20 2.25 19.36 2 3.83 5.17 3.380 11.32 5.55 138.00 6.22 1622.00 0.425 1.000 42.75 76.85 6.00 2.90 0.660 3.22 0.365 5.390

0.53 -0.10 0.00 0.96 -1.55 0.00 0.58 -2.69 -1.41 11.65 -0.71 -3.68 0.80 1.63 16.91 -0.56 2.13 9.56 0.85 0.00 -0.11 -1.20 0.68 -1.69 8.79 -3.77 -0.90 -3.02 -9.74 0.00 -1.54 -1.71 -0.88 -1.22 2.59 -0.72 5.78 -4.59 -1.16 -2.91 -1.72 -0.19 -3.85 -1.02 -1.49 -1.53 0.00 0.00

99,100 14,900 156,000 1,500 9,342,000 85,250,000 1,199,000 2,271,960 7,800 32,000 72,000 124,765 42,300 199,100 29,561,000 404,660 2,300 40 1,800 21,200,000 466,000 85,340,000 510,000 142,000 4,800 1,623,700 161,000 60,000 8,300 10,000 3,072,000 6,512,700 1,207,000 5,100 1,600 20 4,385,500 317,110 2,240,000 14,595,000 1,035,400 749,940 173,000 815,000 29,546,000 394,000 70,000 43,100

0.0036 2.86 4.12 0.215 2.1500 2.1700 0.58 0.410 8.30 1.020 0.270 0.190 0.199 0.0110 1.45 7.25 2.85 0.5000 0.8800 0.0120 0.0110 4.20 8.39 3.65 0.0130 121.00 3.31 0.0095

0.00 -5.92 -2.37 -2.27 1.90 1.88 -1.69 0.00 -0.72 -4.67 0.00 -2.06 -1.97 0.00 -2.68 -3.85 -2.06 0.00 0.00 20.00 -8.33 2.44 -2.44 -3.44 8.33 -0.82 -3.50 -1.04

2,419,000,000 1,151,000 136,000 -36,990.00 70,000 22,000 3,000 29,000 460,000 10,700 110,566,000 -18,788,680.00 590,000 19,580,000 6,860,000 9,650.00 27,300,000 698,000 178,600.00 11,492,700 -1,378,155.00 125,000 643,000 141,000.00 57,000 73,500,000 300,000 5,000 3,374,600 -3,274,711.00 3,840,000 -221,510.00 8,600,000 202,580 2,520,858.00 82,000 19,100

48.6 540 103.5 118.6 505 6.01 1.04 1022 114 83 80 79 78 77.9

0.21 1.22 -0.19 -1.17 -1.94 0.00 0.97 0.00 0.88 2.47 1.14 0.00 0.00 0.00

301,200 2,530 28,020 18,120 5,400 20,000 16,000 2,000 90 20,000 3,530 11,900 6,200 1,130

2.350

-2.49

366,000

3.27 3.21 4.49 13.94

-2.39 0.00 -1.10 -1.97

613,000 3,000 70,000 1,120,900

125.7

-1.33

14,830

-100,164,440.00 -499,705.00 4,536.00

2,287,630.00 960.00 -476,770.00 12,093,735.00

-100,265,320.00 -23,030.00 -3,266,609.50

-38,100.00

2,669,513

-1,214,800.00 3,436,285.00

-2,120,414.00 -77,629,010.00 342,920.00 -5,172,175.00 -19,779,086.00 52,650.00 51,860.00 -68,000.00 9,730.00

-1,935,045.00 -297,000.00 -2,077,872.00

-6,954,326.00

VALUE 1,823.09 (down) 15.17 945,767,566.692 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,944.11 (down) 23.08 921,998,080.972 HOLDING FIRMS 7,587,54 (down) 78.79 1,568,528,661.122 PROPERTY 3,483.71 (down) 24.31 1,457.22 (down) 39.28 1,022,489,988.73 SERVICES MINING & OIL 11,172.28 (down) 209.69 1,726,834,605.984 PSEI 7,639.79 (down) 79.45 285,535,013.416 All Shares Index 4,531.66 (down) 38.74 6,491,178,533.00 Gainers: 58; Losers: 127; Unchanged: 43; Total: 228

ATI handles record volume

By Darwin G. Amojelar ASIAN Terminals Inc. said it is ready to handle the growing international cargo volume at the Port of Manila, including the cargo rush normally associated with the holiday season.

ATI’s Manila South Harbor made history as it handled over 100,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of international containers in September, the first time it exceeded the level in a single month, while maintaining world-class production levels.

Prior to this, it twice broke all-time record volume, handling over 94,000 TEUs in May and over 95,000 TEUs in June.

ATI said without any signs of slowdown, Manila South Harbor’s production averaged above the industry standard of 25 gross moves per crane per hour and even recorded world-class levels of over 30 GMPH in previous months, comparable to the production of leading global ports in Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Production is measured by how many containers a crane moves from ship to shore per hour. Higher GMPH reflects efficient handling of containers at berth, which redounds to faster turnaround of ships and trucks and ultimately quicker delivery of goods to consignees.

M. Water unit gets P4-b loan

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales MANILA Water Philippine Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manila Water Company Inc., signed a P4billion fixed-rate term loan facility with Security Bank Corp. and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company.

Manila Water said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the terms of the loan included an option to increase the size of the facility to a maximum of P7 billion.

Manila Water said the MWPV’s loan was the single largest capital raising activity of a subsidiary.

“The proceeds of the loan will be used to partly finance the company’s capital expenditures related to its Estate Water business, future acquisitions and other general corporate requirements,” Manila Water said.

MWPV signed a memorandum of agreement with Ayala Land Inc. and its subsidiaries early this year.

Under the agreement, MWPV through its Estate Water Division, will provide water and used water services and facilities to all property developments of ALI Group.

Manila Water said that prior to the agreement, ALI Group provided in-house water and used water services in their development projects.

MWPV, apart from being an operating company, also serves as Manila Water’s holding company for its local projects.

Building on its success in the East Zone, Manila Water organized MWPV to explore potential water and used water projects in key metropolitan areas in the Philippines.

Currently under MWPV are LagunaAAA Water Corp., Boracay Island Water Company Inc., Clark Water Corp. and Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. Manila Water currently provides water and wastewater services to over 6.2 million residents of eastern Metro Manila and Rizal province.

Business

Power rates seen stable in October

By Alena Mae S. Flores

P

OWER distributor Manila Electric Co. said it expects generation charges to remain stable this month despite the impact of peso depreciation and higher coal prices.

“We are seeing a strong possibility that lower charges from the WESM [wholesale electricity spot market] may be able to offset the upward pressure of the peso depreciation and higher coal prices,” Meralco senior vice president and head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said.

Meralco’s generation charge was at P3.94 per kilowatt-hour in September, slightly higher than P3.85 per kWh in August. “[Generation charge is] flattish with a

possibility of slight reduction,” Fernandez said.

He said the estimate excluded transmission and other charges which would also have an impact on the overall rates.

Meralco releases its generation charges usually in the first week of the month.

Fernandez earlier said Meralco was waiting for the billing of its suppliers “to see if they will already compute the forex effect and the more updated coal prices in their bills to us.”

“We’re now at record lows, I think the pressure is to keep it where it is, but there are already pressures for a slight increase in generation cost,” he said.

Meralco consumers experienced slightly lower power rates in September as the residential rate for a typical household went down by P0.0451 per kWh. Residential rates went down to P8.46 per kWh in September, which translated into a reduction of around P9 in the electricity bill of a household with a monthly consumption of 200 kWh.

Meralco said the reduction was due to the downward movement in the transmission charge, which more than offset a higher generation charge.

Meralco’s rates went down despite the series of yellow and red alerts experienced in late July to early August.

Luzon plunged to a series of yellow and red alerts on July 26 to Aug. 5 on thin power reserves as many power plants were on maintenance shutdown while others suffered technical problems forcing them to undergo forced outage.

Cost of power from independent power producers increased by P0.17 per kWh due to the reduction in the operating hours of Quezon Power Philippines Ltd., which went on forced outage on Aug. 5 to 8 and First-Gas Sta. Rita, with Modules 10 and 20 which scheduled maintenance on Aug. 13 to 14 and the whole August supply month, respectively. Meralco sourced 35.6 percent of power requirements from the IPPs in August.

MITSUBISHI’S CERTIFICATION.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. is confirmed as the first auto assembler to be certified with the latest version of the Integrated Management System from TÜV Rheinland. Shown during the awarding of the certificates are (from left) TÜV Rheinland key account officer Ma. Luisa Francisco, senior manager Pinky Villacrusis, managing director Tristan Loveres, MMPC president and chief executive Yoshiaki Kato, MMPC executive vice president Yasuhiro Maruyama and MMPC senior vice president Yasuki Maruyama.

Investors swarm BSP’s P110-b term deposits

By Julito G. Rada BANKS and trust entities swarmed the P110 billion worth of term deposits auctioned by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, the biggest amount since June 8.

Data showed the seven-day P10-billion deposit offering attracted total bids of P35.2 billion, with a weighted average accepted yield of 2.5 percent, matching the floor rate in the overnight deposit facility.

The month-long P100-billion deposits put on auction block drew total tenders of P187.489

billion and fetched a weighted average accepted yield of 2.55 percent.

The amount offered to the public Oct. 5 was the biggest since Bangko Sentral started the weekly auction on June 8 this year.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a text message the regulator would need more data points on the TDF auctions before it could make any adjustment in the reserve requirements of banks.

“While these are important, the TDF results are not the only factor to consider for a change in

the RR. The outlook on inflation, any brewing pressures in other segments of the financial market are some of the other factors,” Tetangco said.

“There is no black box for this… it is just a matter of timing,” he said.

Tetangco earlier said the auction results continued to be in line with the regulator’s expectations. “And so there does not seem to be need right now to make refinements to the path of gradual upward adjustment in auction sizes that are in the pipeline,” he said.

Bangko Sentral adopted the

interest rate corridor system in June in a bid to improve the transmission of monetary policy through calibrated auctioning.

Continuous oversubscription from banks and trust entities encouraged Bangko Sentral to increase for the fourth time beginning Oct. 5 by another P20 billion the weekly volume in the TDF auction, or from the previous P90 billion to P110 billion.

The seven-day tenor deposits continue to account for P10 billion, but deposits with a month-long tenor was increased to P100 billion from P80 billion.

Major issues facing Philippine economy A NUMBER of developments during the last 100 days either have begun to cause grave damage to the Philippine economy or threaten to do so.

Government agencies and diehard defenders of the new administration can say whatever they wish on the issue of international confidence in and respect for the Philippines, but inflows of investment, capital, trade and assistance are not enhanced by shows of animosity and disrespect towards international institutions, foreign governments and foreign leaders. It is a mistake to attribute the emerging signs of international backlash—especially the decline of the Phisix (Philippine Stock Exchange index) and the depreciation of the peso—to international market trends solely. Foreign governments and private investors are highly sensitive to bad governance, administrative irresponsibility and erratic behavior on the part of national leaders.

There is no such thing as an unnecessary or dispensable industry in today’s Philippine economy, where unemployment and underemployment rates remain at nag-

gingly high levels. Certainly not the mining industry, which produces a number of key minerals— including gold, copper, nickel and chromite—and some of whose components have been operating for close to a century.

Considering that today’s Philippine economy needs all the jobs that it can get its hands on, the object of government policy should be the raising of the operating standards—especially the waste disposal practices—of the mining companies, not their suspension or closure. There are two classes of mining operations in this country: responsible mining and irresponsible mining. The authorities should go hammer-and-tongs against the irresponsible mining companies but give all-out support to the responsible ones.

“Regular” employment, with all the attendant social-security and other benefits, is undoubtedly something much to be desired for all employees in this country. But, given that not all—probably the majority of— entrepreneurs can provide such benefits and remain competitive, the choice for such entrepreneurs boils down to (1) not renewing the contracts, at “endo” time, of contractual employees whose renumeration they can no longer afford or (2) violate

the new prohibition against the “endo” practice, knowing that DoLE (Department of Labor and Employment) lacks the capability to effectively enforce the prohibition. Would non-renewal of “endo” contracts be good for the economy? Would the nonregular choose non-renewal over continued receipt of income?

In going after businesses like SM and the 7-11 conveniencestore chain DoLE clearly is going after the low-lying fruit. But how about the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that are not so visible and are limited in their capacity to provide employment of any kind? These latter establishments precisely are the ones that the Minimum Wage Act amendment sought to keep alive. Must the high-lying fruit be forced to violate the new DoLE rule?

A hardened Filipino politician of times past is recorded as having uttered the dictum “Politics is addition.” In a paraphrase applicable to today’s highly politicized environment, economic development is addition. Being still a middle-income Third World economy, the Philippines is in no position to reject any unconditionally proferred foreign aid. The Philippine economy needs all the resources—the dollars, the euros, the yuans and the deutschemarks—that come its

way. It cannot adopt a “We don’t need your aid” posture. Every bit of aid counts. Certainly, the Filipinos who comprise the 26.7 percent comprising this country’s poor don’t want Malacañang or Congress to tell aid donors to stop giving the Philippines economic assistance.

This country should not strive to be independent. It already is independent: didn’t the Senate vote in 1991 to not renew the Military Bases Agreement and thereby close down the US military bases in this country? What this country should strive, in its policymaking, is real, not phony, independence—the kind of independence that the likes of South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan to the position of international respect and economic prestige that they enjoy today. In getting to where they are those countries’ leaders—the Chiang family, the South Korean generals and Lee Kuan Yew—treated international institutions and foreign leaders with civility and maturity, not insolence and bluster.

To keep its vulnerable economic development process going, the Philippines needs to pursue an independent foreign policy that seeks to make new friendships without straining or ending tried-and-tested ones.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

B3

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Govt expects rice sufficiency by 2020

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the government expects to achieve rice sufficiency by 2020, instead of 2019.

Piñol said the rice sufficiency status would not be achieved by 2019 because the funds for the Rice Productivity Enhancement or Ripe program was not approved.

The Agriculture Department is seeking a total budget of P71 billion for 2017 to achieve higher rice production.

The budget includes the first tranche of the three-year Ripe program which aims to achieve rice sufficiency by 2019.

The Ripe program calls for a review of the water management and irrigation policies.

Piñol said the rice program would cost the government P64 billion over the next three years. The first tranche of the budget covers P31 billion.

Under the rice program, the government aims to achieve rice sufficiency by 2019.

It set the rice production target at 18.517 million metric tons for 2017, 20.342 million MT for 2018 and 21.626 million MT for 2019.

“The Ripe was not approved. With the implementation of this program, I am positive that by 2020, we can achieve rice sufficiency,” Piñol said.

Faster internet key to PH development INTERNET speed is now considered part and parcel of a company’s decision to relocate to a foreign investment site. Like tax incentives, cheap labor and power rates, and a stable economic environment, faster internet speed is a major consideration that can seal an investment decision.

The Philippines until recently had one of the slowest internet speeds in this part of the region. But with a new government backing reforms in the telecommunications sector, the Philippines has slowly moved up in the information and communications technology world rankings. Out of 167 countries, the Philippines rose 7 ranks from 105th in 2010 to 98th in the International Telecommunication Union-ICT Development Index (IDI) of 2015. Within the 32 countries listed in the Asia & Pacific region, the Philippines ranked 15th. The Philippines ranked 5th out of 10 among Asean nations, outpacing Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The United Nations E-Government Survey 2016 on E-Government Development Index, meanwhile, showed that out of 193 countries, the Philippines’ rank improved to 71st from 95th the previous year, or a 24-notch leap. The Philippines ranked an impressive 3rd out of the 10 Asean countries—higher than Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The Global Connectivity Index separately ranked the country 38th out of the 50 countries in its list. Edging Indonesia and Vietnam in its cluster, the 38th spot represents an improvement of four notches from 2015.

The Philippine ICT sector is clearly getting better in the global stage. The government of President Rodrigo Duterte is on the right track as reflected in the improving rank of the Philippines in the ICT sector.

Local telecommunications companies have accelerated the rollout of more cell sites in the Philippines. Local government units, thus, must seriously look into reducing sharply the number of permits required in installing the equipment. Going through as much as 25 to 30 permits from LGUs for one cellsite (with only one permit required from the National Telecommunications Commission) simply deprives consumers of getting a service that may actually be readily available.

Globe Telecom Inc. recently claimed in a public hearing with Senator Bam Aquino that out of the 1,000 additional cell sites it was ready to fire up, only less than 500 had been completed since the permits for rest were still pending with the LGUs. President Duterte’s proposal to build a National Broadband Network and widen the coverage of free wi-fi are perfect complement to what has been accomplished so far in the sector. The NBN will have far-reaching effects and contribute a great deal to connectivity, thereby, pushing our global rankings even higher.

The collective effort of the government, the private sector, and a highly critical public is necessary to ensure the current ICT gains are capitalized on even further.

Dengue’s economic cost Dengue is fast becoming a major global health issue, with the International Dengue Initiative estimating the economic burden of dengue at about $8.9 billion worldwide.

The initiative groups about 40 experts from different disciplines, infectious disease specialists, health specialists, epidemiologists and virologists, with extensive experience in dengue and vaccines, along with the Latin American Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

According to the study of Coudeville Shepard in 2011, the cost of an outpatient case can be as high as $486 in Mexico and $1,336 in Panama. The economic impact far exceeds those of cholera, infection by the human papillomavirus, rotavirus and canine rabies.

Overall, the disease is associated with 1.1 million disability-adjusted life year, a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.

Health Secretary Paulyn Rosell-Ubial knows well dengue’s deadly cost to the Philippine economy. Ubial, during the pre-plenary conference on the proposed 2017 budget plans and programs of the Department of Health on September 27, 2016, said the DoH anti-dengue vaccination program would continue on its second phase for the three pilot areas where it was first applied—the National Capitol Region, Calabar (Region IV-A) and Central Luzon (Region III).

Responding to Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn Garcia (3rd District Cebu) who cited the urgent need to expand the vaccination program to Regions 6 and 7 which are also dengue “hotspots,” Ubial promised the inclusion of the two regions to the second panel of experts who will review the next phase of the program.

As of June 2016, dengue cases increased to 5,891, with 47 deaths in Region 7, or up 158 percent from the same period last year. On a national perspective, Central Visayas ranked third in the list of regions with the most number of reported dengue cases in the entire country. Iloilo province in Region 6, aside from being a dengue hotspot, is also emerging as a focal area for zika infestation, which like dengue has no known cure and no vaccine yet.

The dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, has been approved by Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil and El Salvador, and other countries are also moving toward mass or public immunization programs like what the Philippines started in April 2016.

E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or b usiness@thestandard.com.ph or extrastory2000@gmail.com

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

B4

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

Business

IMF warns of threat to growth W ASHINGTON―The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said protectionist political trends risked “turning back the clock” on free trade, warning of a low-growth future for the global economy.

In its new World Economic Outlook report, the global crisis lender also sounded an alarm over what it called a “dangerous” credit binge in China.

With Britain voting this year to secede from the European Union and US presidential candidates disfavoring open borders, the IMF said populist politics imperiled trade liberalization and economic growth.

The Fund notably cut its outlook for the United States, the world’s largest economy, but upgraded those for Japan and the eurozone.

It also downgraded forecasts both for growth in global trade volume and for advanced economies’ output, saying that prospects for richer countries had darkened this year, in part due to the protectionist talk.

“It is vitally important to defend the prospects for increasing trade integration,” said IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld.

“Turning back the clock on trade can only deepen and prolong the world economy’s current doldrums.”

Global GDP is expected to grow this year by 3.1 percent before rising to 3.4 percent next year, estimates that are unchanged from July.

“Taken as a whole, the world economy has moved sideways,” Obstfeld said in remarks accompanying the new forecast.

He said that “sub-par growth” was stirring negative economic and political forces around the

world.

The IMF downgraded its outlook for advanced economies this year by 0.2 percentage points to 1.6 percent but raised it slightly for emerging and developing economies to 4.2 percent. Next year’s forecasts were unchanged.

“Over the medium term, while we expect that advanced economies will continue along a disappointingly low growth path, emerging market and developing economies should accelerate,” said Obstfeld.

The IMF said global growth still faces notable uncertainties, such as further economic shocks in China, a continued fall in commodity prices and the sudden im-

position of new trade barriers.

“Geopolitical tensions could flare up, adding to the humanitarian crises already afoot in the Middle East and Africa,” the report said.

Following a lackluster second quarter, the United States suffered the report’s sharpest downward revision of 0.6 percentage points, with growth now foreseen at 1.6 percent this year― slower than the eurozone―and 1.8 percent in 2017.

Japan was a surprise bright spot, however, with forecasts revised upward. The Japanese economy is now due to grow by 0.5 and 0.6 percent this year and next. AFP

Emerging markets face uneven outlook BEIJING—Developing nations continue to be the backbone of global growth, but face a series of headwinds including a slowdown in China, weak demand in advanced economies, low commodity prices and political strife, the IMF warned Tuesday.

The International Monetary Fund said the outlook for emerging markets was lopsided, with India a bright spot but sub-Saharan Africa enduring either tepid growth or recession as they are hit by a low demand for raw materials.

Once considered a key driver of global growth, developing nations have been battered since the financial crisis, as crucial custom from sputtering Western economies has dried up, while governments struggle with huge debts.

In an update to its World Economic Outlook the IMF said emerging economies had enjoyed “a period of relative calm in recent months” after the global turmoil unleashed at the start of the year by worries over China’s economy.

It also increased its forecast for expansion this year in developing nations, to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent estimated in July, saying they would make up more than three-quarters of projected world growth.

But it said: “The outlook for these economies is uneven and generally weaker than in the past. While external financing conditions have eased with expectations of lower interest rates in advanced economies, other factors are weighing on activity.”

It said these included the slowdown in China, “whose spillovers are magnified by its lower reliance on import- and resource-intensive investment, commodity exporters’ continued adjustment to lower revenues; spillovers from persistently weak demand in advanced economies; and domestic strife, political discord, and geopolitical tensions in several countries.”

China, considered one of the key engines of the global economy is seeking a recalibration to make consumer spending a key driver for growth, instead of the massive government investment and cheap exports that have underpinned its decades-long rise.

But the transition is proving painful as growth rates sit at 25-year lows and key indicators continue to come in below par. AFP

NEW YORK—People shop in a Brooklyn mall on October 4, 2016 in New York City. In a global economic forecast released on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund lowered growth expectations for the US this year by 0.6 percent and next year by 0.3 percent. AFP

‘Brexit has little impact on Asia’ SINGAPORE—Britain’s shock decision to leave the European Union will not be as damaging to developing Asia’s economies as feared, the World Bank said Wednesday as it increased its growth forecast for the region this year.

Countries in the Mekong region led by Myanmar are projected to expand at the fastest pace in the next three years, the bank said in an updated report on East Asia and the Pacific, though Thailand was projected to be a laggard.

World Bank chief Asia economist Sudhir Shetty said the upgrade for the regional economy came after the group noticed positive early results from the June 23 vote

by Britain to leave the EU. “That has translated also into relative stability in terms of exchange rates and in terms of capital flows, so that has been helpful for this region,” he told Asia-based journalists in a video conference from Washington.

Global markets went into free-fall immediately after the vote as dealers feared a recession in Britain that could hit the global economy.

But since then, world markets have rallied and Britain’s economy is picking up.

Shetty said based on the bank’s initial analysis “the bottom line right now is that there’s likely to be very little impact of Brexit” over the short term as the region is “not very connected” to Britain in terms of trade and financial links.

The region’s developing economies will grow 5.8 percent this year, the Washington-based institution said, up 0.1 percentage point from its forecast made in April. It also tipped 5.7 percent growth in 2017 and 2018.

The bank, however, warned a hike in US interest rates, widely expected in December, and a potential sharp slowdown in China could impact its forecast.

Myanmar, which has embraced democracy following decades of military rule, will grow 7.8 percent this year, 8.4 percent in 2017 and 8.3 percent in 2018. AFP

Italian farmers cultivate fragrant citron in ancient Jewish tradition

By Angus Mackinnon SANTA MARIA DEL CEDRO, Italy―There’s less than a month to go until the Jewish festival of Sukkot, and New Yorker Hershel Mann is feeling the heat under the broiling sun of southern Italy.

Beads of sweat trickle down cheeks framed by greying sidelocks as Mann, a Hassidic Jew, turns a lime-green citron fruit over and over.

Finally, he delivers his verdict. “It’s a nice shape, it’s clean, it’s a good size: it’s kosher!”

Orchard owner Angelo Cava smiles as he looks on in vest and shorts. Citrons that pass muster for Sukkot sell for around 10 euros ($11) apiece, more than 10 times the rejects destined for processing into candied fruit, jams, soft drinks and anti-aging cosmetics.

The next “etrog,” as the fruit is called in Hebrew, does not make the grade.

“No buono,” says Mann, pointing to a handful of tiny black spots that indicate that this citron has been nibbled by an insect and is therefore deemed unclean.

“The Bible tells us that the Sukkot fruit has to come from a beautiful tree,” Mann explains.

“We have learned that this means the citron and, for us, the best come from Calabria.”

Expensive business The annual descent of dozens of rabbis, their trained assistants and other ultra-Orthodox Jews on this southern region has

become a pilgrimage of sorts, one with roots in centuries of shared Italian and Jewish history.

Notoriously hard to grow, the fragrant citron is one of four symbolic plants (along with palms, willow and myrtle) held while saying prayers during Sukkot, which begins this year at sundown on October 16.

Translated into English as “Feast of the Tabernacles,” the week-long festival celebrates the unity of the Jewish people and the biblical account of their escape from slavery in ancient Egypt to the promised land via 40 years in the desert.

Mann could pass for a diamond trader as he studies another newly-picked citron with a magnifying eyepiece.

And like the gems business, there can be big money involved―with the best Calabrian etrogs changing hands for as much as $2,000$3,000 in New York in the runup to Sukkot.

In London, a top price would be around €600 ($780/695 euros) but a shortage this year could push that higher, according to one dealer who was happy to share some tricks of the trade anonymously.

“I grade them 1-4,” he said.

“Some of the 3s and the 4s might not be a perfect shape or have some slight blemish. But it is a selling thing, you need them to sell the best ones.

“People want the best. It’s God’s fruit, if you buy his fruit, He will be good to your fruit (children).”

Samuel Ekstein from New York City controls the quality of a lime-green citron fruit in Santa Maria Del Cedro, southern Italy, on September 14, 2016. In the Jewish tradition, Cedar is considered the most beautiful fruit of the tree, but in Santa Maria del Cedro, a village in the province of Cosenza, it is above all an integral part of the culture and local economy. AFP

Labor of love Samuel Ekstein, a member of the Satmar branch of Hassidic Judaism, sells cameras in Manhattan when he is not in Italy sourcing citrons.

“It is a hard business,” he says.

“Sometimes you have a good year, good fruit and you can sell them all. Sometimes you have problems and you don’t have good fruit. What happens is, you (will have) lost all your money. It all depends on God. If he wants you to make money, if not, you know... it’s a risky thing.”

According to local expert Francesco Fazio, an ex-mayor of

Santa Maria del Cedro, Calabria’s production of citrons dates back to the arrival of the first Jews in Italy more than 2,000 years ago.

A community has survived in Rome continuously since then but Jews were expelled from Calabria in the first half of the 16th Century as Spanish rule brought the anti-Semitism of the inquisition to southern Italy.

“The community was destroyed but they left many markers, including the Eastern method of farming,” Fazio said.

Citron growing dwindled generally but survived along the Riviera dei Cedri thanks to the

favorable coastal micro-climate.

“An irreplaceable local culture has been passed down from father to son,” said Fazio.

“Through sacrifice and despite poverty, a piece of history has been preserved for humanity.”

Local farmer Alessandro Farace says growing citrons is a sometimes painful labor of love.

“It is not an easy fruit to grow.

And the needles can really hurt you. It’s very delicate and now with climate change, there seem to be more insects that attack it.

“You have to have a passion for it. But it is our tradition and

if we stopped doing it, where would they get their citrons from?”

Not from Israel Calabria’s citrons used to reach Jewish communities worldwide via wholesalers in Genoa―until some curious rabbis visited Calabria in the 1950s. To their horror, they discovered much of the fruit being produced from hybrid citron/bitter orange trees.

“The Torah asks us to pray on a citron,” says Shimon Lahiany a Jerusalem-based “mashgiach”―a rabbi or authorized supervisor of kosher food production.

He has been coming to Calabria for 20 years now on behalf of his Chabad (Lubavitch) sect.

“A grafted citron can be better for the farm, but we are not allowed to bless it for the simple reason it is no longer a citron,” he said.

Grafted trees usually have a giveaway bulge on the trunk.

“But sometimes it’s under the ground―you need people who have had the rabbinical training to spot them.”

Kosher citrons are also produced in large quantities in Israel and Morocco. But for some Hassidics, buying produce from Israel is not an option.

“We believe the Jewish people are not allowed to (form) a nation before the Messiah comes,” explains Ekstein.

“So we don’t take from Israel something we need for a holy (purpose).” AFP

LGUs

Bicol trade fair opens THE 20th Orgullo Kan BikolGayon Bicol Trade and Tourism Fair will open today at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall with Vice President Leni Robredo as the guest of honor.

The event presented by the OK Bikol Association Inc., the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Tourism will run until October 9.

Robredo, a former congresswoman of Camarines Sur, is the highest Bicolano government official of the country.

Other guests of honor are Undersecretaries Zenaida Maglaya of the DTI and Alma Rita Jimenez of the DOT. In 1996 the DTI launched Orgullo Kan Bikol (Pride of Bicol), which displayed the region’s cottage industries and generated some P200 million in actual receipts, excluding business transactions signed after the show.

The expo is Bicol region’s vehicle for developing homegrown entrepreneurs, especially those who will join the Manila market for the first time.

A total of 108 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and seven institutional exhibitors take part in this year’s show.

The DTI helped producers developed world-class packaging for export-quality processed food products. The DTI also aids micro, small and medium enterprises develop their products under the guidance of local designers who teach them new designs.

OKB-Gayon Bicol is supported by the various provincial, city and municipal local government units which display their One Town, One Product specialties such as abaca products, home furnishings, fashion accessories, health and wellness concoctions, pili-based candies and novelty items.

The expo will feature processed food and beverage products which have been certified Halal by the Islamic Da’wah Council of the Philippines to make them more competitive in the global market.

The expo also promotes Bicol’s popular and new travel destinations. In recent years, Bicol recorded the highest tourist arrivals among all the regions due to its diverse natural attractions, festivals and accessibility from Manila and the Visayas.

With Albay province as gateway and anchor destination, the region has been clustered with the Almasor (Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon) Tourism Alliance and the Camarines NorteCamarines Sur-Catanduanes (3C) Tourism Link.

Spicing up the four-day fair are performances by the CamSur Cultural Dancers, the All Star Band of Legazpi City, MAG Dancers of Iriga City, and surprise entertainment numbers and guest appearances from Bicolano artists and celebrities.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

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SCOUT LEADER. Mayor Jaime Fresnedi and Muntinlupa boy scouts celebrate Boys and Girls Week on Monday. Selected student leaders will be immersed in city departments to have a feel of day to day operations.

P20-m guns for cops M

ANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Tuesday procured P20 million worth of brand new guns to arm members of the Manila Police District who have not been issued service firearms.

Estrada said the old days were over when policemen only carried batons shaped like “patola” (sponge gourd) to fight crimes.

He said policemen should not report for duty everyday unarmed, or need to buy guns

Net shops must obey laws MAKATI Mayor Abby Binay threatened to close internet cafe’s and computer shops that open to students during school hours or operate without a mayor’s permit.

Several internet cafe’s and computer shops have been closed since August and charges were filed against their operators.

Binay urged residents to report violators to her office through the city’s official Facebook account, MyMakati.

She cited the Republic of Gamers computer shop in Barangay Pio del Pilar that was closed down by the Business Permits Office in August.

Despite a closure order issued in February, the establishment continued to operate. The previ-

ous city administration did not enforce the order.

Charges have also been filed against the directors of Busko99 Corp. and its owner for violating the Revised Makati Revenue Code, City Ordinance 2002-122 and the Makati City Child and Youth Welfare Code or City Ordinance 2004-A-025.

Since July, the BPO has closed down 58 establishments including Ryukatel Internet Cafe in Barangay Poblacion, JPCS Ticketing Center & Jenel Photo Video and Computer Services in Barangay Bankal, and Lakbayan Hotel and Lakbayan Dormitory in Barangay Pinagkaisahan.

City Ordinance 2002-122 prohibits grade school and high

school students from entering billiard halls, computer shops, movie houses and malls during school hours.

A Child and Youth Welfare Code provision prohibiting the operation of network gaming shops and other similar establishments within a 100 meters of an education or religious institution strengthened the 2002 ordinance.

The code also raised the fine from P1,000 to P2,000 or four months in jail for the first offense, P3,000 or a six-month imprisonment for the second offense, and P5,000, closure and confiscation of gaming and other equipment, as well imprisonment of not more than 12 months for the third offense.

themselves.

“Our policemen put their lives on the line for us every single day. They need service firearms to defend themselves and protect the citizenry,” the Manila mayor pointed out.

Estrada served as city mayor of San Juan for 17 years and was elected in Manila three years ago. He makes sure the local police are equipped for their duties.

He has allotted P1.9 billion for Next page

LGU buys police cars, ambulances THE city government of Marikina has assured its citizens of a faster response and pro-active services from Philippine National Police Marikina, Rescue 161 and Traffic Management by providing them with 16 police cars, 10 ambulances and four traffic patrol cars, Mayor Marcy Teodoro announced.

Newly dressed up and finetuned to suit the needs of the police, rescuers and traffic patrolers, these refurbished service vehicles were publicly launched and turned over at the Freedom Park on Monday morning.

The 16 barangays in Marikina now has its own police mobile.

Teodoro renewes his commitment to establish a police pre-

cinct in every barangay.

Furthermore, the 10 ambulances will allow Marikina Rescue 161 a five-minute response time in any health emergency.

To further enhance the services of Rescue 161, Teodoro confirmed that more ambulances will be dispatched in the future.

The four traffic patrol cars will be supported by three power motorbikes to enable the officers of the Transportation Management and Enforcement Division to strictly implement the traffic rules of Marikina.

Rev. Alejandro Pestaño of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of the Abandoned blessed the vehicles before they were turned over.

Relic of St. Teresa of Avila in Veritas

FECUND. Farm workers harvest tobacco in a farm in Claveria, Misamis Oriental where the crops grow all year round due to its pocket climate not found anywhere in the Philippines. Lance Baconguis

THE image and first class relic of Saint Teresa of Avila are enshrined in the Our Lady of Veritas Chapel in Quezon City from October 6 to 15, 2016.

Saint Teresa is the patron of lacemakers, religious, headache sufferers and the sick and her feast day is on the 15th of October.

Devotees seeking healing and making petitions may visit her relic and image from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Radio Veritas chapel on the second floor of Veritas Tower, 162 West Avenue corner Edsa in Quezon City.

There will be an off-air novena for nine days leading to Saint Teresa of Avila’s feast celebration. For inquiries, please call Renee Jose or Rey Isabela at (02) 925-7932 to 39 local 129.

One of the few female Doctors of the Church, she was born in Gotarrendura, in the province

of Ávila, Spain in 1515. After the death of her mother she was sent for her education to the Augustinian nuns at Ávila.

In the monastery she suffered greatly from illness. During these years of suffering she began the practice of mental prayer, eventually she started to have visions and a vivid sense of the presence of God. At 43, she wanted to found a new convent that went back to the basics of a contemplative order: a simple life of poverty devoted to prayer. This effort met strong opposition but, in 1562, she received an approval for a new foundation, the Discalced Carmelites. When another Doctor, Saint John of the Cross, joined, a new foundation for men was placed under his care.

Saint Teresa was canonized

by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 and was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

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LGUs

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

Antipolo eyes rehab center

THE local government of Antipolo is planning to build a rehabilitation center for the drug surrenderees, said Mayor Jun Ynares.

Almost 1,200 drug users and pushers have surrendered, the mayor said.

Representatives of the Department of Health-Tagaytay Rehabilitation Center trained 220 barangay health workers of Antipolo to examine and classify the drug suspects who surrendered to the police.

The trainees were supplied copies of the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test questionnaire on frequency of drug use.

The health workers were also trained to determine the proper intervention for the drug users and pushers.

Local officials met with the owners and managers of private rehabilitation centers in Rizal where they may be sent.

HEALTHY. Local chief executives and municipal health officers in Eastern Visayas completed the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program of the Department of Health, Zuellig Family Foundation and the UP Manila-School of Health Sciences. Mel Caspe

Laguna cops open text hotline

By Roy Tomandao

A

TEXT hotline that enables Laguna residents to air their concerns to the provincial police was launched at Kampo Heneral Paciano Rizal in Barangay Bagumbayan in Sta. Cruz, acting provincial director Senior Supt. Joel Pernito announced.

The hotline, “Ibato Mo, Txt Mo sa Pulis Laguna” is a 24/7 text service that allows citizens to report crimes and the whereabouts of suspects to specified numbers of the provincial headquarters and concerned police stations that will act on complaints particularly about drug users and pushers under the anti-drug campaign “Double Barrel.”

The provincial police released four mobile phone numbers under different network providers. They are Globe: 0995-0065793, Smart: 09081557899, Sun: 0943-4511118 and Talk & Text: 09501147646. By using these numbers, the concerned public can send text message for free using Unli Text promo.

The Laguna PPO said their text service does not intend to clash with the “Text Bato” hotline project of the PNP but to support its goal of significantly enhancing the PNP’s readiness to address the public’s police concerns and improve the peace and order situation in the province.

Personnel on duty at the

Provincial Tactical Operation Center will immediately transmit messages to the unit/station concerned and copy furnish the staff duty officer and the officer of the day and the result of action taken for their information and reference. All messages will be stored on the data bank/computer exclusively for the purpose.

Best real Parking required in Baguio buildings—mayor estate reporting cited

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY—Businesses that converted their parking areas to commercial spaces face closure, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said.

Domogan said the provision of parking spaces in buildings is required for building and occupancy permits and

FOR their outstanding reportage on little-explored topics about sustainable construction—from inclusive rebuilding strategies to giving voice to indigenous peoples’ aspirations for a school of their own— one national and four community newspapers made it to the final in this year’s Journalism Awards for Sustainable Construction Reporting (JASCOR).

Three stories from the Philippine Daily Inquirer for the national newspaper category, and five from the Baguio Chronicle, the Mindanao Observer, SunStar Cebu, and The Freeman earned the judges’ nod.

JASCOR promotes stories in the print media that support sustainable construction. It is jointly organized

by Holcim Philippines and the Philippine Press Institute.

The LafargeHolcim Group said sustainable construction is “building in a way that is socially, economically, environmentally, functionally, and aesthetically balanced to meet today’s needs and to conserve resources for future generations.”

Now on its third cycle, the JASCOR awards ceremony is set on Nov. 10, 2016 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City.

JASCOR screeners and judges evaluated stories published from Aug. 1, 2015 to July 31, 2016.

Holcim Philippines and PPI will choose a Sustainable Construction Story of the Year for the national newspaper category and the community newspaper category. Each of the two winning stories will get a cash prize of P50,000 and a trophy.

The remaining finalists will each receive consolation prizes of P10,000 each.

The Inquirer will receive the Merit Award for Sustainable Construction Reporting and a cash prize of P75,000 for having the most number of finalists this year.

For more details about JASCOR, please contact PPI at (02) 5279632/527-4478 or e-mail pressinstitute@gmail.com and dongil.carreon@lafargeholcim.com.

the city will cancel the occupancy permits of violators.

“We have given the establishment owners sufficient time to convert the commercial spaces to parking spaces to decongest our major roads where vehicles are illegally parked,” Domogan stressed.

The mayor directed concerned

offices to inspect erring business establishments and cancel their building and occupancy permits immediately.

He said the business owners requested for sufficient time to comply, citing contracts with lessees who converted the parking slots to commercial spaces.

The National Building Code and related ordinances require owners of buildings to provide parking spaces for their lessees.

Domogan appealed to building owners not to wait for the inspection because they might be meted stiffer penalties aside from possible closure until they restore the parking spaces.

Ayala Land’s Vermosa estate is next Alabang AYALA LAND has launched its newest master-planned, mixed-use estate Vermosa, a 700-hectare project in Imus, Cavite it described as the “next” Ayala Alabang.

In a statement, ALI said Vermosa encourages walking and physical activities by integrating features that promote healthy and active living in its residential, business and commercial developments.

The estate is on Daang Hari road, only 12 kilometers south of Ayala Alabang, and aims to be an epicenter of diverse sports and lifestyle pursuits, said Jay Teodoro, Ayala Land senior division manager and Vermosa Estate head. “It is also less than an hour’s drive away from Makati and other major urban centers, making Vermosa a very viable first home community.”

The Vermosa Sports and Lifestyle Complex has the only International Association of Athletics Federations-certified track oval in the Philippines, a FINA-certified Olympic-size swimming pool and a sports science laboratory.

The sports science laboratory studies how the human body can improve performance in intensive sports activities and exercises and gives training programs and physiological services.

It also promises a holistic approach to fitness and health through programs

P20-m...

From C1 crime prevention, which includes P136 million in back allowances of MPD members and 41 new mobile patrol cars and 110 electric personal transporters.

The mayor renovated the main headquarters of MPD in United Nations Avenue at a cost of P20 million, its first refurbishing since it was built in 1949.

MPD director Senior Supt. Joel Coro-

managed by Optimum Sports―a group of coaches and trainers led by Marc Velasco who have trained athletes for international competitions.

A sports-themed shopping center housing organic and farmers markets, sports and hobby shops, sports bars, spas and health stores will also be built.

Lush greenery will freshen office solutions, retail boutiques, entertainment complexes, institutional centers, integrated bike and pedestrian lanes, and open, interactive spaces for future communities such as The

Courtyard by Ayala Land Premier and Alveo’s Ardia. The more affordable Avida will be launched in the first quarter of 2017.

Upon full build-out, Vermosa will house more than 30,000 residents who will enjoy pedestrian-centric walking paths, dedicated bike lanes and a landscaped linear park stretching as far as 10 kilometers over the entire estate.

The commercial center can be reached via a 10-minute walk or bike ride from any point in the estate.

Vermosa will have two central business districts covering more

than 100 hectares. The low-density, campus-type Vermosa Midtown will have various retail and commercial establishments including an Ayala Mall regional shopping center that will open in early 2018. De La Salle Santiago Zobel School will also open its second campus in Vermosa Midtown next year.

The second phase will feature a fullblown CBD that will be developed over the long term.

For information visit the official Facebook page, @Vermosaph or www.vermosa.ph.

nel said around 300 Manila policemen, most of whom are new recruits, are still without service firearms.

But with the P20-million budget released by Estrada, each of them would soon be issued their own guns, he assured.

“Unlike other police districts in Metro Manila and in the provinces, we can now say that there are no more unarmed cops here in Manila,” the MPD chief, expressing his gratitude to Estrada, said.

The budget for guns came from the P137 million allocated by Estrada this year for the 4,652-strong MPD, according to Coronel.

The gun budget bought 400 units of Glock 9-mm semi-automatic pistols, 60 M4 carbines (a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 Armalite assault rifle), eight Sig Sauer sniper rifles, ammunition and other necessary gears and equipment.

The Commission on Audit reported that more than one out every 10 uni-

formed personnel of the PNP fights crime unarmed.

The PNP currently has 147,041 uniformed officers assigned to offices, units or regions, yet only 124,738 of them have handguns and 16,140 cops are unarmed, the CoA said.

The state auditing agency said the PNP should address this issue, considering that the National Police Commission, through a resolution, has required the issuance of short firearms to all policemen as early as April 1993.

World

‘Train to Busan’ skips Busan fest

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EOUL—The 21st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) kicks off Thursday, with an extended row over artistic freedom and a boycott by high-profile local cineastes threatening to undermine its reputation as Asia’s premier movie showcase.

This year’s event will screen some 300 films from nearly 70 countries, including 66 features that will be receiving their world premieres.

The World Cinema section will include a number of top award winners from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, including Ken Loach’s Palme D’Or recipient “I, Daniel Blake” and “It’s Only the End of the World” which won the Grand Prix for director Xavier Dolan.

The main focus will, as usual, be on Asian films, with the Korean drama “A Quiet Dream” by Korean-Chinese director Lu Zhang opening the festival, and “The Dark Wind” by Iraqi director Hussein Hassan bringing down the curtain.

The prestigious annual event has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with the municipal government of the host city Busan since the screening in 2014 of a controversial documentary about the Sewol ferry disaster.

The film, “Diving Bell,” criticized the government’s handling of the sinking in April 2014 that killed more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren.

The screening went ahead despite the fierce opposition of the Busan city mayor, and then chairman of the festival organizing committee, Suh Byung-Soo. A subsequent flurry of official probes targeting organizing committee members and an unprecedented cut in state funding last year were seen as exacting political revenge and an assault on the festival’s creative independence.

Four major South Korean domestic filmmakers’ groups, including the Producers’ Guild of Korea and the Directors’ Guild of Korea (DGK), have said they will boycott this year’s BIFF, which runs from October 6-15.

The groups have hundreds of members including the Cannes award-winning film director Park Chan-Wook and Bong Joon-Ho, who helmed the 2013 dystopian Hollywood sci-fi movie “Snowpiercer.”

There is particular anger over the treatment of former BIFF director Lee Yong-Kwan who was forced to step down last year in the face of embezzlement charges.

Lee was instrumental in getting “Diving Bell” screened and supporters say the case against him is politically motivated. A Busan court is set to hand down a verdict in late October, with prosecutors seeking a one-year jail term.

In a bid to smooth things over, the Busan city government -- a major BIFF sponsor -appointed the well-respected former founding director of the festival, Kim Dong-Ho, as the new chairman of the organizing committee in June, replacing Mayor Suh. And a month later, the municipal authorities adopted new rules aimed at ensuring the committee’s independence. AFP

22 refugees die off Libya ABOARD THE ASTRAL, Italy—At least 22 Europe-bound migrants died on Tuesday in an overloaded wooden boat off Libya, most of them having suffocated, an AFP photographer said.

“It was a wooden vessel and there were about 1,000 people on three levels. I counted 22 bodies and there are still others in the hold,” photographer Aris Messinis, who was able to board the vessel, said by telephone.

Messinis was traveling on the Astral, a ship chartered by Spanish NGO ProActiva Open Arms, which rescues migrants at sea.

Towards 2000 GMT the Astral rescuers moved back to allow the Italian navy to take care of the survivors and retrieve the bodies, the photographer said.

Contacted by AFP, the navy had no immediate comment.

With numerous rescue boats en route to Italy to unload more than 6,000 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean on Monday, the Astral was left alone to deal with the overloaded boat for several hours, aided only by lifeboats dropped by a Spanish military plane until the navy arrived at midday.

“There was panic aboard, there were people jumping into the water,” Messinis said.

The Astral’s rescue operations had begun before dawn and lasted until nightfall.

The Italian coastguard, which is coordinating rescue efforts in international waters north of Libya, said earlier that at least 1,800 migrants had been rescued off the Libyan coast on Tuesday. AFP

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

World

UK Independence Party head quits

US ‘pirating’ Russia diplomats—minister MOSCOW—Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday blasted what it termed “pressure” on its US-based diplomats by US intelligence, which it accused of increasingly numerous “recruitment attempts” on Moscow’s diplomatic staff.

“The situation surrounding Russian diplomats in the United States is getting worse all the time,” deputy foreign minister Sergei Riabkov said.

He said the number of attempts at recruiting diplomats had “significantly increased” over the past two-and-a-half years.

“The US intelligence services do not shrink from using the most miserable means of pressure, including threats to the health of (diplomats’) family members,”

Ryabkov said in a statement.

He also accused Washington of creating “artificial difficulties” and “invented restrictions” on their movements, preventing diplomats being able fully to carry out their duties.

Riabkov also accused Washington of carrying out “intense espionage activities” in Russia under diplomatic cover, saying the US military attache in Moscow was regularly seen in proximity to Russian strategic military sites.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have dived close to Cold War levels notably following the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine while neither country sees eye to eye on how to resolve the war in Syria. AFP

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ONDON— Britain’s eurosceptic UK Independence Party was thrown into turmoil on Tuesday as its leader Diane James quit, citing “personal and professional reasons” for stepping down just 18 days after her election.

“It has become clear that I do not have sufficient authority, nor the full support of all my MEP colleagues and party officers to implement changes I believe necessary and upon which I based my campaign,” James said in a statement published on her Twitter account.

“For personal and professional reasons, therefore, I will not take the election process further,” she added, explaining she would not formalize the leadership process with the UK Electoral Commission.

James said she would continue her work as a UKIP member of European Parliament, dampening earlier speculation that she would also be resigning from her EU role.

The Times newspaper said James felt shaken after being spat at on a train last week and was additionally reluctant to lead UKIP without assurances about the party’s funding.

Media reports had earlier suggested she had decided to step down due to her husband’s ill health.

UKIP Chairman Paul Oakden said he received confirmation of James’ resignation “with regret”, adding he would call an emergency meeting of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to make preparations for a new leadership contest.

“Whilst the decision is unfortunate, it is one that Diane is entitled to make. We thank her for all her work as leader, and as a hard working MEP, a role she will continue with her customary vigour,” Oakden said.

Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim tweeted that he had spoken to James before news of her resignation and “could sense unease.”

The media reaction in Britain focused on the brevity of James’ reign, with The Telegraph running a clock counting the time, to the second, since the UKIP leadership election.

James, 56, was elected leader on September 16 to replace Nigel Farage -- one of the bestknown faces of the “Brexit” campaign -- who quit following Britain’s shock vote to leave the EU, saying his life’s ambition had been achieved. AFP

WOMANLY. Supporters hold up signs as they listen to US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speak at The Springs Preserve on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Warren is campaigning for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former Nevada attorney general and US Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto. AFP

130,000 vote early in US polls ‘Stop trafficking of WASHINGTON—Tens of thousands of Americans have already cast their votes for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump or other candidates well ahead of November’s presidential election, part of an early voting tradition that is gaining popularity.

With 35 days still to go, it has not yet been a voting deluge. According to professor Michael McDonald, an early voting specialist at the University of Florida, about 130,000 people have already voted -- out of 130 million expected voters.

Early ballots will be officially counted on Election Day, Tuesday November 8.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has sought advice from supporters about how to improve his performance in the second presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.

An e-mail sent out Tuesday by his campaign includes a 30-ques-

tion “debate preparation survey” for supporters ahead of their showdown.

The US electoral system is a decentralized operation: the nation’s 50 states organize the vote and the ballot counting, each in its own way.

Americans have two early voting options: By mail. This is available across the 50 states. Voters usually must request the ballots in advance. In 20 states, they must provide an excuse for voting by mail. Three states -- Colorado, Oregon and Washington -- mail ballots to every registered voter.

In person. Voting booths, for example in county administration offices, are open early with varying degrees of access, in 37 states and the District of Columbia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Voting in person largely begins in October. Three states have al-

ready begun in-person early voting, including Iowa. Ohio residents can begin voting in person on October 12.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Ohio on October 14 for a “Get Out the Early Vote” rally for Clinton in Cleveland, according to the Clinton campaign.

There is no access to the ballots cast, but there are some clues about whom the early voters might be supporting.

Americans register according to party -- either as Democrats, Republicans, independents, or members of other parties -- and electoral authorities sometimes provide statistics on the number of voters in each party who requested ballots.

In Iowa, for example, twice as many Democrats as Republicans have requested absentee ballots, suggesting an advantage for Clinton. AFP

endangered species’ JOHANNESBURG—A global conference on wildlife trade wrapped up on Tuesday after adopting a slew of decisions to curb rampant trafficking of threatened species such as sharks and pangolins.

Officials and conservationists meeting under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have been gathered in Johannesburg for the past 11 days seeking to toughen restrictions on the trade of species nearing extinction.

While the negotiations at times exposed bitter divisions -- with African nations at one point accusing Western charities of “dictating” how to protect their elephants -campaigners hailed increased protection for hundreds of plant and animal species.

“We were encouraged that governments fully embraced the precautionary principle by making

decisions in the best interest of the species in the wild,” said Susan Lieberman, vice president of policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society.

All trade of the reclusive, scalecovered pangolin -- the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal, prized as an edible delicacy and an ingredient in Asian traditional medicine -- will now be banned.

International trade in African grey parrots, whose numbers have been decimated by poaching in recent years, has also been outlawed, while 13 species of sharks and rays won increased protection.

But a vote against strengthening the ban on ivory sales exposed a sharp split over elephant conservation.

A coalition of 29 African countries -- led by Kenya and Benin -had pressed for African elephants to be put in the CITES “Appendix I” category which would ban all trade of tusks. AFP

Rechargeable battery vies for Nobel

KERCHIEFS. Afghan vendor Sadeq sells shawls alongside a road in Mazar-i-Sharif on Tuesday. AFP

STOCKHOLM—The Nobel Chemistry Prize is to be announced on Wednesday, with observers suggesting it could go to gene-editing, the invention of the rechargeable battery or the discovery of new periodic elements.

Sweden’s biggest daily Dagens Nyheter tipped scientists at Russian, Japanese and US institutes that added four new elements to the periodic table: nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts) and oganesson (Og).

John Goodenough -- a 94-yearold US scientist who invented the rechargeable lithium ion battery that is present in cell phones, computers and electric cars -- was another of the favorites for the honor, mentioned by Dagens Nyheter and Swedish radio SR. Also seen as Nobel-worthy was a technique known as CRISPR that

can edit parts of the genome of stilldeveloping embryos by cutting out, replacing or adding parts to the DNA sequence.

It was named by influential US journal Science as 2015’s breakthrough of the year due to its potential to revolutionize health and medicine.

But it could be too early for the jury to award it a Nobel this year, Dagens Nyheter noted, as a bitter patent dispute is currently being waged over who discovered it first.

Sweden’s other main daily Svenska Dagbladet nonetheless also mentioned CRISPR as a possible winner.

It also pointed to Hong Kong doctor Yuk-Ming Dennis Lo, the director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences.

Lo discovered a technique to detect chromosome abnormalities

in unborn fetuses, such as Down’s Syndrome, where previous methods could cause a miscarriage.

Meanwhile. one of the British scientists who won the Nobel Prize for Physics Tuesday said he was “pleased as punch” and celebrated with a sushi lunch and a glass of wine.

Michael Kosterlitz, a professor of physics at Brown University, Rhode Island and currently a visiting scholar in Finland, said he found out that he had won while in a “rather noisy underground car park.”

On Tuesday, the physics prize went to British scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz for their work in on “topology,” a highly specialized mathematics field studying unusual phases or states of matter which may one day yield superfast and small computers. AFP

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

WELLNESS & ENVIRONMENT

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

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First premium SLEEP BOUTIQUE SLEEP TIGHT. Sealy and Focus Global Inc. launch the first premium Sleep Boutique at Shangri-La PLaza, where customers can check and experience firsthand the matrress brand’s Premier, Advance and Prestige collections.

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OCUS Global Inc. announces its partnership with the world’s largest bedding provider, Sealy mattresses. From being the exclusive distributor of Tempur, the pioneer brand in memory foam mattresses, the company proudly introduces another industry leader in the mattress industry under the spring category.

Sealy, the preferred mattress brand of top international chain of hotels, launched the first premium Sleep Boutique at Shangri-La Plaza.

For more than 130 years, Sealy has built a heritage of producing fine quality mattresses by emphasizing its steadfast commitment to research and development. It is the only brand in the market that uses PostureTech® Titanium Coil, a revolutionary patented technology that provides superior comfort, support and the correct spinal alignment when you sleep. This technology was designed with the help of the Orthopedic Advisory Board (OAB), a panel of eminent orthopedic surgeons, clinicians and sleep experts. Made from twice-tempered Titanium alloy, Sealy coils are light, durable and strengthened to retain their resiliency over time.

“This is a significant milestone for both Focus Global and Sealy. This stunning sleep boutique that you see before your very eyes today would never have come about if not for the fact that in Focus Global, Sealy has found a partner who is professional, an expert in premium branding and marketing, and a well-established local company that has profound knowledge of the local consumer,” said Dennis Tan, regional sales manager, Sealy Asia.

The 112-sqm. store opened with Sealy’s Premier, Advance and Prestige collections and offers a suite of helpful services by the Sales Team, including complimentary mattress recommendations for custom-sized beds.

The Sales Team in the Sleep Boutique is on hand to give recommendations to clients

Sealy is the only brand in the market that uses PostureTech titanium coil technology that provides superior comfort, support and the correct spinal alignment when the user sleeps.

“We are extremely proud to open Sealy in the country because it has such great potential. It being the preferred mattress of top hotel chains says a lot about the brand; and makes it a perfect addition to our portfolio of global brands. While Tempur mattresses are made of memory foam, Sealy mattresses use patented coils so it’s a spring

mattress brand. Sealy and Tempur complement each other, serving people with different preferences,” said Focus Global Inc. President Stephen Sy. Sealy Sleep Boutique is open Monday to Thursday at 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday to Sunday at 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Level 5, Main Wing, Shangri-La Plaza, Tel no. (02) 535-3978.

Modern comforts within reach

ENVISIONED to become one of Metro Manila’s master-planned, contemporary green urban developments, Ayala Land’s Cloverleaf Balintawak is an 11-hectare estate that offers a balanced lifestyle, bringing residential towers, commercial and open spaces, office complexes, and a medical facility in one setting that is conveniently connected to northern Metro Manila’s major roads—Edsa-Balintawak, A. Bonfacio Avenue, and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

Cloverleaf Balintawak is situated at the intersection of Edsa and NLEX, directly connected to the LRT Balintawak station and close to the soonto-be-completed Skyway Stage 3 extension project along A. Bonifacio Avenue, which will cut Makati-Balintawak travel time to a 20-minute drive.

With its strategic location, Cloverleaf

Balintawak will be one of the most accessible establishments in the northernmost tip of Quezon City.

Headlining the amenities are Ayala Land’s residential projects, Avida and Alveo, with a total of five towers in more than a hectare of land. The construction of a regional mall is also in full swing.

With 2.2 hectares fully-equipped facilities, including a supermarket, a six-screen cinema complex, and a department store, local and foreign fashion brands for optimum shopping, and a wide array of dining options—elements that provide a new lifestyle experience for nearby and potential residents to enjoy.

Cloverleaf Balintawak will also be packaged as an urban haven with a work-conducive core, featuring office spaces—for various enterprises that will provide local employment

The upcoming opening of Cloverleaf Balintawak is seen to offer a balanced lifestyle in a convenient location in the north of Metro Manila.

and retail business opportunities—and lush foliage that will envelope open areas and mixed-use components of the city’s newest urban development.

To address a growing trend of healthCommercial spaces and open areas will provide residents of the 11-hectare estate a new care needs, as well as to solidify Cloverkind of living experience where work, play and relaxation meet. leaf Balintawak’s holistic approach to ur-

ban development, the 250-bed Qualimed Hospital—a flagship medical facility of Ayala Land’s hospital brand—will also be constructed within the vicinity, offering quality, affordable, and accessible medical care services.

With simultaneous constructions on-

going, Cloverleaf Balintawak is on track to opening Ayala Malls Cloverleaf and launching Avida Towers Cloverleaf Tower 2 in 2017. The Qualimed Hospital is expected to open in the next two years, while the Avida Towers Cloverleaf Tower 1 will be completed in 2019.

Life

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

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OT many people understand what cholesterol is and its role in maintaining a healthy body. The common misconception on this fatlike substance is that it is harmful but there is more to cholesterol than most people think.

Cholesterol, a basic structural component of cells, is manufactured by the liver and comes from the food we eat. It has two types— high-density lipoproteins (HDL) or the ‘good cholesterol’ and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or the ‘bad cholesterol.’

The HDL is called good cholesterol because aside from taking the excess cholesterol back to the liver to flush it out of the body, it also has several vital functions to keep it in right condition.

This type of cholesterol is used by the body glands to produce hormones and it also assists the liver in yielding bile acids for fat digestion. Most importantly, it is one fundamental element in the body’s cell membranes and structure.

The LDL, on the other hand, is the bad cholesterol because it gathers in the walls of blood vessels. The body may be put at risk because of the blockage it causes. It is the LDL that causes health problems like heart disease and high blood pressure.

An excess of bad cholesterol is capable of forming plaque inside the arteries, making these passageways narrower. This plaque may eventually rupture resulting to blood clots. Subsequently, the blood will have difficulty in flowing through the arteries, which will then impede in the proper circulation of the blood.

Once this happens, the person may experience peripheral arterial disease.

It triggers painful cramps, leg numb-

How does cholesterol affect the body?

DEALING WITH THE BAD. Stroke and heart attack are two of the major consequences that can happen to a person who has too much bad cholesterol in his body, making it crucial for him to control it with medication and healthy lifestyle.

ness or weakness and sores in the lower body parts that don’t easily heal.

Stroke is another health condition caused by high levels of bad cholesterol.

This happens when blood does not reach the brain properly. This causes the brain

cells to slowly die due to the deprivation of oxygen.

But the most common consequence of high levels of bad cholesterol is a heart attack. When plaque builds up through the coronary arteries, a section of the

heart muscle will be blocked and the blood flow will be disrupted causing cardiac arrest.

Thus, it is important that people with predisposition to heart disease, strokes or hypertension go for regular check-ups and

maintain a consistent treatment regimen.

“The cases of people with high cholesterol levels in the country are alarming.

For Filipinos at age 20 and up, 47 percent was reported to be suffering from high cholesterol. What’s more worrying is the fact that people are not aware of it because it shows no symptoms until they experience its consequences later on,” said Tomas Marcelo Agana III, president and CEO of Pharex.

Agana added, there is a need to help people take control of their body’s cholesterol level more easily. That is why Pharex has developed its 15-day Compliance Pouch or Pharex CP15.

Pharex HealthCorp., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies, has long advocated that patients adhere to the prescribed medical treatment regimen.

“We are bringing them Pharex CP15 because we believe that people who are suffering from chronic illnesses like hypercholesterolemia and hypertension should be able to consistently take their medication so that they will be able to have a better quality of life,” he concluded.

Pharex CP15 helps the patient be in a healthy condition by controlling the cholesterol it needs. The supply of safe and effective medicines packed in the pouch is good to last until the next payday. The quality of the medicines are surely maintained as it comes in a water-proof and resealable foil kit, which is convenient to take anywhere.

Pharex CP15 is available in all leading drugstores. For more information, call (02) 433-8088 loc. 820.

Battling everyday tough malodors with Downy DOWNY, the leading global fabric care brand, hosted a ‘malodor challenge’ among select mommy celebrities and media. The participants joined in a cooking demonstration with Chef JP Anglo as the brand introduces its best formulation in fabric softener which helps fight against 10 tough smells on clothes for longer lasting freshness.

Dubbed #DownyBoomBoomPow, the campaign invites people to identify the tough malodors they face in their daily routines and prove that the newest Downy innovation is the solution to these dilemmas.

Before the event, members of the press were each given an apron to wear during the cooking demonstration, which unbeknownst to them were pre-washed with the latest Downy fabric softener.

Chef JP exclusively prepared several everyday Pinoy dishes which emit strong odors, such as Grilled Vietnamese Pork Belly and Sizzling Sinigang Fried Chicken with Batwan Gravy, plus the special dish of Grilled Bangus with Talangka wrapped in Banana Leaves intended to really put Downy to the malodor challenge. After enjoying these delicious dishes, the guests were asked to inspect their aprons for any tough smells, which might have stuck to it such as food smell, sweat and smoke. To their surprise, the aprons were as fresh and clean as ever—effectively demonstrating the effective malodor removal and freshening benefit of Downy’s best ever formula.

“In Filipinos’ daily lives, they normally face situations or activities resulting to unnoticed bad odors such as body odor, sweat, food smell, smoke and

vehicle exhaust stuck on their clothes.

Downy extensively understands our consumers’ concerns and need for fresh scent on their family’s clothes, so we are really delighted to provide them with the best ever formulation of Downy that can help them fight against malodors on their fabrics,” said Louie Morante, Regional Brand Communications manager for Procter & Gamble ASEAN. Chef JP shared his experiences in unpleasant odors on clothes. He said, “I work all day in the kitchen and sometimes the exhaust isn’t as effective as I’d like it to be. So naturally I’m exposed to all sorts of smells and more often than not, these smells stick to my clothes all day long.

That is why I’ve been on the lookout for something that can help me fight these persistent odors.”

Guests were also entertained by Bianca Gonzalez, who shared her experiences in worrisome odor on clothes and clothing care tips and tricks for long-lasting freshness. “As a mom with an active and busy lifestyle, I encounter a lot of various smells, some of them not so pleasant. The worst part is when they stick to my and my family’s clothes! I try to remove these stubborn odors by using natural remedies like baking

From left: Downy Brand Manager Cedric LeGoff, Kelly Misa, Patty Laurel, Chef JP Anglo, Camille Prats, Pia Guanio, Bianca Gonzalez and P&G Fabric & Home Care Regional Communications Manager Louie Morante introduce the power of the new Downy fabric softener which contains the breakthrough Malodor Removal Technology

powder, but sometimes it needs something more powerful – which is why I always use Downy,” the popular TV host said.

In a recent survey on malodors, the top 10 tough malodors on clothes are vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke, smoke from burning garbage, sweat and body odor,

wet socks, kulob, fried fish, barbecue, garlic and onions.

Upping its ante in the market, the newest technology from Downy softener contains the breakthrough Malodor Removal Technology which does not just “mask” malodor with aromatic ingredients, but effectively eliminates tough malodors which stick to clothes completely. This prevents the odorcausing material from being released again. The Perfume Micro Capsules, which are spread and embedded on fabric while washing, will help bring back

the refreshing fragrance on clothes.

This innovative product formulation is also complemented with modern and colorful product packaging for all five Downy fragrances – Sunrise Fresh (for quick drying, even indoors), Antibac (to keep germs away for the whole family), Garden Bloom (for wonderful floral freshness), Single Rinse (for quick rinsing with less water), and Baby Gentle (for the safety of sensitive baby skin).

The new formula from Downy is now available in supermarkets nationwide.

Reach the pinnacle of seating comfort with Olympia chairs NOTHING beats the comfort of sitting down after a strenuous time doing a myriad of things while standing up. Your chair should offer comfort to relax your body and reach the peak of seating comfort.

The Olympia Chair from the Uratex Monoblock Lifestyle Collection offers more than just comfortable seating. It is the epitome of modern symmetry in smooth, sleek and bold designs with matte finish while its slender backrest features clean, horizontal lines making these chairs a beautiful and stunning addition to any contemporary living space.

Uratex makes sure the Olympia is a true representation of durability by using the latest plastic injection technology to provide the necessary balanced comfort and support as you sit on it. Olympia has anti-static feature that helps reduce surface marks so it will be easy to clean after each use. Plus, it is designed with anti-slip foot pads so the chair stays in place no matter how fidgety you are on your seat.

Just like any Uratex Monoblock chair, the Olympia is lightweight so you can stack it neatly and orderly no matter where you are, making it ideal

for everyday use. The collection is available in Arm Chair and Bistro Chair models. It comes in red, blue, gray, yellow and black.

Made of 100 percent virgin plastic resin, the Uratex Olympia Monoblock Lifestyle Collection is certified by the Bureau of Product Standards in the Philippines and has been consistently recognized by Superbrands for its relentless commitment to quality.

The Lifestyle collection comes in arm chair model

Olympia chairs feature sleek and bold design making them a perfect addition to any contemporary living space

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

Horacia, played

by Charo SantosConcio, in a scene from the acclaimed Lav Diaz’s opus

“The Voice Kids’ alum Kyle Echarri drops his debut album produced by MCA Music

Filipino directors and actors support premiere of

‘Ang Babaeng Humayo’

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HILIPPINE movie industry’s respected directors and actors gathered to support the premiere night of Lav Diaz’s newest film Ang Babaeng Humayo on Sept. 27 at the UP Town Center.

Led by ABS-CBN chief content officer and actress Charo Santos, the premiere of Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion award-winning film was attended by directors Mae Cruz-Alviar, Don Cuaresma, Brillante Mendoza, Mac Alejandre, Mel Chionglo, and Olivia Lamasan, scriptwriter Ricky Lee, and Star Creatives COO Malou Santos.

Kapamilya stars Kaye Abad, Nikki Valdez, Bea Alonzo, Iza Calzado, Pokwang, McCoy De Leon, and Ellise Joson also graced the event and showed their support for the movie.

“Ang Babaeng Humayo is a film experience you shouldn’t miss. Our generation is fortunate to experience Director Lav Diaz’s art. Hats off to Ms. Charo Santos. What a comeback!” said director Mae Cruz-Alviar on her Instagram post.

“Congratulations Ma’am Charo for your brilliant performance in the movie! It is not an easy task to carry a four-hour film but you did it so effortlessly. Amazing performances from John Lloyd Cruz, Nonie Buencamino, Michael De Mesa, Shamaine Buencamino, Cacai Bautista, and everyone else in the cast.

Lastly, congratulations to Lav Diaz. It is my first time to watch your work in its entirety. No wonder you’ve been winning all these awards. Mabuhay Ang pelikulang Pilipino,” said Iza also on her Instagram account.

“It was brilliant. They were all excellent. Engaging,” Bea quipped.

Ang Babaeng Humayo with the international title The Woman Who Left, tells the story of Horacia (Charo Santos), a woman seeking revenge after being imprisoned for decades for

Jericho Roales and Arci Munoz, stars of the ABS-CBN romantic drama

Comediennes Kakai Bautista (center) and Mae Paner join Charo Santos-Concio (first from left) at the premiere night of ‘Ang Babaeng Humayo’

a crime she didn’t commit.

In her guesting in the morning show Magandang Buhay recently, Charo shared how she prepared for her role in her much-awaited comeback movie.

“I went to the correctional (institution) for women. I interviewed a few inmates there so that I know what it feels like for a person to be imprisoned and how it feels like when your

whole life stops. I also disguised myself here as a tomboy so I also studied how to do that,” she said.

Charo added that it was a nostalgic journey for her since the movie was mostly shot in her hometown, Calapan, Mindoro.

Ang Babaeng Humayo was produced by ABS-CBN’s Cinema One Originals and Lav Diaz’ Sine Olivia and distributed

by Star Cinema.

‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ wins in nationwide ratings MORE viewers nationwide tuned in to the pilot week telecast of ABS-CBN’s newest primetime teleserye Magpahanggang Wakas starring Arci Munoz and Jericho Rosales.

Data from Kantar Media showed that Magpahanggang Wakas enjoyed a solid lead in ratings as it recorded a weekly average national TV rating of 25.9 percent for its pilot week (Sept. 19 to 23) versus GMA’s Alyas Robin Hood, which only garnered 20.9 percent.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, October 6, 2016

ACROSS 1 Type of pad 6 Triangular sails 10 Budget item 14 Posh hotel lobbies 15 Coats cupcakes 16 Census data 17 Dorm dwellers 18 Battery word 19 Journey 20 MIT grad 21 Fragrance 23 Drops leaves 24 Hodgepodges 26 Makes eager 27 Said yes 29 Robin of balladry 31 Pottery sheep’s “wool” 32 High mountains 33 Sort of tent 36 Scram! (4 wds.)

40 Itch 41 Pops the cork 42 Avec’s opposite 43 The “March King” 44 Back-fence yowler 46 Varieties 48 Major oil hub 49 Fountain treats 50 Flat-tasting 52 Play about Capote

55 Come to a standstill 56 Hired muscle 57 George who was a she 59 Obi-Wan portrayer 60 Summery 61 Pick up on 62 Cook’s smidgen 63 Modeling medium 64 Livy’s togs DOWN 1 Add some brandy 2 School near Windsor Castle 3 Monk’s chant 4 Facilitate 5 Movie canine 6 Fast-talks 7 Click-on item 8 Big swig 9 Former JFK arrival 10 Just as soon 11 Snowy-white bird 12 Has to have 13 Sounds of reproof 22 New England catch 23 — kebab 25 Dog’s leash

26 Ship’s trail 27 “— -Breaky Heart” 28 Clarified butter 29 Insurance giant 30 Dit opposites 32 Corporate VIP 33 Soothing 34 Forearm bone 35 Discreet summons 37 Supermarket buy 38 Musical work 39 Doctrines 43 Grab

44 Large cask 45 Most venerable 46 Furry treedweller 47 Runs in neutral 48 Cronyn’s mate 49 Upstream spawner 50 Prepare eggs 51 Kinks’ tune 53 Sub — (secretly) 54 Arapaho foes 56 Truck mfr.

58 Novelist — Tolstoy

Aside from its strong viewership, Magpahanggang Wakas has also garnered positive feedback from netizens, who posted their comments about the show’s cast, director, plot, and production value on Twitter.

Magpahanggang Wakas airs after Till I Met You on ABS-CBN and on ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167).

Catch up on the show’s past episodes via iWanTV or skyondeman.com.ph for Sky subscribers.

Kyle Echarri:

‘I just want to be me’ IT’S easy to dismiss 13-year-old Kyle Echarri as just another pretty boy determined to make his mark in showbiz. But he’s much more than that. All he has to do to prove his doubters wrong is open his mouth to sing. Once he does, anyone with a working pair of ears will see—or hear, to be more precise—that he’s truly exceptional. Listening to him sing will put a smile on anyone’s face.

In 2015, he auditioned for the second season of The Voice Kids. He chose to sing the One Direction song “Night Changes.” His rendition of it was so charming that two of the show’s coaches turned their chairs for him within seconds.

(Kyle’s Blind Audition also made quite a big splash online when it premiered on the show’s official YouTube channel. It has been viewed over four million times and counting.)

Kyle joined Sarah Geronimo’s team, and together they worked on building up his confidence so he could loosen up onstage. Kyle learned a lot from her, which helped him sail through the Battles and SingOffs despite the fact that part of him found the other contestants kind of intimidating.

“It was nerve-racking but fun,” he says. “I was scared because I was competing with seasoned kids who have had voice lessons or joined other competitions. But The Voice Kids made me love singing even more and I also made lots of friends. I also learned a lot from Coach Sarah. She would always remind me to perform with confidence while keeping my feet on the ground because humility is important too.”

Unfortunately, his journey came to an end in the semifinals.

Even so, Kyle says he doesn’t regret anything about the experience. In fact, he’d do it all over again if he could. Not that he needs to, mind you—his career is doing just fine even if he didn’t win The Voice Kids.

Soon after he was eliminated, he was cast in the top-rating ABS-CBN teleserye On the

Wings of Love as Brent Wyatt, the half-brother of Nadine Lustre’s character Leah Olivar.

Kyle enjoyed being on set and says he hopes to do more acting in the future.

“I like acting. It’s also one of my dreams to be an actor.

When I was younger, I used to act out scenes with my toys. I’m open to working with everyone.

If someone offers me another acting job, I would take it,” he admits.

However, Kyle’s next television gig brought him back to music. He took part in another televised singing competition, but not as a soloist. On We Love OPM: The Celebrity SingOffs, which ran for three whole months, from May to July this year, he was one-third of the boy group Voice Next Door. He’s used to going at it alone, but We Love OPM showed him how fun it can also be to sing with others.

“I feel so blessed that I was given the chance to be part of that show. It was wonderful to be able to collaborate with Voice Next Door under the guidance of Mr. Richard Poon,” he says.

Kyle got into music at the tender age of three, although he had no formal training growing up. Kyle honed his talent on his own by singing along to hits by his favorite artists whenever and wherever he could. “I would sing in the bathroom, in the car, basically anywhere I could sing along to the music I would hear.”

Now, with the release of It’s Me Kyle, his debut solo album under MCA Music, he’ll get to sing his own songs—definitely in better venues than the back seat of his parents’ car. Kyle says he feels very lucky to have been given a record deal even if he didn’t make the grand finals of The Voice Kids. He’s also thrilled to be an MCA Music artist, because their people really helped him through the recording process. He’s also thankful for the guidance of Cornerstone Talents and Star Magic, both of which work closely with MCA Music in shaping his career.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016

Showbiz H

OW many years have we not heard Sharon Cuneta, known to many Filipinos as the Megastar, sing in a concert?

After a long hiatus, the country’s Megastar Sharon Cuneta stages a limited engagement concert at The Theater at the Solaire Resort and Casino

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haron sings again

It has been a while and many of her fans have been wondering if she would be on a stage again with a microphone and sing for them.

Now, Sharonians all over the world, your favorite singer… and actress…is back on the stage and will serenade you once again.

On the 15th of this month, she owns the stage of The Theatre at Solaire at the Solaire Resort and Casino as she is the featured star in a concert billed simply as Sharon. Don’t miss it because she will only be there for another gig after that on the 28th . Showtime folks is 8p.m. and knowing the management of the theatre, the show will start promptly.

For Filipinos, the name “Sharon” belongs to the one and only Megastar – Sharon Cuneta.

With her vast influence in all media platforms that covers the music, TV, movies, endorsements, print, and social media – Sharon Cuneta has conquered every inch of it. But she remains first and foremost an adored singer. Hers is a golden voice that continues to move many. The musicality, passion and soul she puts into every song turns it into a masterpiece.

“In only a little over a year The Theatre at Solaire has established itself as the home of mega musicals. We also want it to be the home of OPM concerts.

We are delighted that our list of

ISAH V. RED

OPM icons is expanding, but to have clinched Sharon Cuneta’s concert comeback after a long hiatus is a coup,” exclaimed Audie Gemora, Solaire Resort & Casino’s director for Entertainment.

The megastar has breathed life into masterpieces by renowned Filipino songwriters and composers. She is favored by most to sing our enduring movie themes and love. While some songs have come and gone, most of Sharon’s remain well-loves classics.

From her chart-busting “Mr. DJ”, “Bituing Walang Ningning”, “Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas”, “Pangako Sa ‘Yo”, “Maging Sino Ka Man” … expect a complete repertoire of all our favorites.

“From the very start, we knew that a two-night concert was a perfect call for a show of this caliber. Indeed, fans and longtime followers of Sharon will be delighted,” said Gemora.

The lure and frenzy of the concert stage remains to be the Megastar’s true passion.

“What a perfect way to celebrate an illustrious career,” said Gemora. “The Theatre at Solaire is the Crown Jewel of Solaire Resort and Casino and a venue of world-class performances.

Visit our website, check out our shows,” he added.

Visit www.ticketworld.com. ph for ticket information.

PLDT Home unveils Smart Home in partnership with global heavyweights

Leading telco and digital services provider PLDT through its consumer business unit PLDT HOME is bringing the Smart Home suite of services to Filipino families with a string of partnerships with leaders in retail and entertainment.

“This is a new era in digital as we make Filipino homes stronger, safer, more comfortable and more enjoyable via PLDT’s Smart Home which has powerful connectivity and an integrated suite of innovative, reliable and family-friendly products and services,” PLDT FVP and Head of Home Operations Oscar A. Reyes Jr. said. “This is made possible with several local and global partnerships that we entered into recently which are aimed at enhancing and enriching the lives of millions of digitally connected Filipinos powered by PLDT Home and Smart Communications for mobile services.”

New world-class partners As an industry leader in the Philippines, PLDT HOME continuously pursues strategic and global partnerships to stay ahead of the game. Today, the company also announced key alliances with new partners including U.S.-leading video streaming platform from Roku Inc. for Internet TV; global internet television network Netflix for an extensive library of award-winning TV and movie titles; e-commerce giant Amazon for online shopping; and iWant TV, the leading player in the over-the-top (OTT) content platform in the Philippines.

The partnership with Amazon will soon open the door for Filipino book lovers to enjoy the popular Kindle e-book reader.

The Roku streaming platform allows users to easily stream their favorite TV shows and movies on their TV screens. It is the streaming platform with the highest engagement in the U.S. because of its diverse content offerings and user-friendly interface. Notably, Roku’s partnership with PLDT is its first streaming deal in Asia, making

the Philippines the first country in the region to join the ranks of Roku’s international markets including Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia. Roku services will be launched commercially in the country early next year. iWant TV lets users stream their favorite ABS-CBN shows, both past and presently airing. Popular teleseryes like On The Wings of Love, Dolce Amore, Ang Probinsiyano, and Till I Met You are easily accessible on-demand so avid followers can catch up on the latest plot twists and turns. News and current affairs shows are also available for streaming.

With Netflix, users can watch today’s top original Netflix series such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Marvel’s Daredevil and Stranger Things. Netflix continually adds new TV programs and films to the service, bringing the joy of entertainment to over 81 million members in 190 countries.

Depending on the subscription plans, members can create up to four profiles within a single Netflix account. Profiles allow different members of the household to have their own personalized Netflix experience built around the films and TV programs they enjoy. There are also parental control settings to ensure a safe-viewing experience for kids. This will limit a child’s profiles to a variety of child-friendly titles they can enjoy.

Pillars of the home “PLDT’s Smart Home is a home where digital innovations advance the security, safety, convenience and entertainment experiences at home and beyond. It is a home where communication and connection are made easier by digital technology,” Reyes pointed out.

PLDT’s Smart Home is built on these key pillars: connectivity, peace of mind, entertainment, and convergence and automation.

The connectivity that binds the Smart Home is enabled by the country’s most powerful broadband,

From left: PLDT VP and Home Marketing Director Gary Dujali, PLDT FVP and Home Operations Head Oscar A. Reyes, PLDT Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, PLDT and Smart EVP and Consumer Business Group Head Ariel P. Fermin and Atty.Mike Toledo, Philex Mining SVP for Corporate Affairs and Head of MVP Media Bureau

LADY IN RED. Asia’s Songbird and PLDT ambassador Regine Velasquez-Alcasid

PLDT Home Fibr, which delivers the Philippines’ first and fastest Internet of up to 1 Gbps. This allows for highspeed browsing of multiple websites and the country’s first symmetrical speed service which provides equal upload and download speeds.

Peace of mind is a commitment to parents manifested through PLDT Home’s products and services designed to help parents feel more secure about the safety of their children especially when they have to be away. These products and services include the home monitoring system Fam Cam; the multi-functional kidfriendly gadget Smart Watch; and the cyber safety solution Family Zone, all best used with the Telpad.

When it comes to world-class entertainment, PLDT HOME has always been at the forefront of providing subscribers with diverse and compelling content—from well-loved kid-friendly content like games and e-books (Disney through Telpad) and sports (Fox Sports, NBA Premium HD via Cignal) to gaming (Steam) and video-ondemand (iflix). Subscribers also enjoy the benefits of compact access to information and entertainment through the most powerful PC in a stick—the TVolution Stick. Adding to this entertainment suite are the partnerships with Netflix, iWantTV and Roku.

Finally, PLDT HOME has pioneered the convergence of wired and wireless connections through the data sharing feature which allows

subscribers to seamlessly share data to pre-connected mobile accounts with leading wireless service provider Smart Communications, thus revolutionizing the way families share and enjoy their high-speed connection.

Home of the future “PLDT’s Smart Home evolved from our pioneering concept of the Connected Home,” Reyes said. “The connected home was our vision of the modern Filipino home wherein families are connected, entertained and secured with the help of digital innovations powered by PLDT HOME. It was the starting point of our journey. In response to the fastchanging digital needs of Filipino families, we are fortifying that vision with the launch of PLDT’s Smart Home. It is a more integrated version of the connected home, where each product or service interacts with each other to perform harmonized tasks meant to ease and enrich the lives of our subscribers. It’s a Home that cares; it listens, protects, interacts and simplifies our lives.

He furthered, “We don’t want to wait for the future to dictate the trends and the innovations. We are charting our own course and shaping the future through innovative use of technology, global partnerships, world-class content and a keen awareness of and commitment to our subscribers needs. Today is the beginning of the digitally connected and empowered home that we are building for Filipino families.”